Technology news

A broken cellphone with a rechargeable battery lies in a collection container for hazardous materials at a waste sorting facility. | Photo by Jens Büttner / picture alliance via Getty Images Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries used in everyday gadgets, electric vehicles, and to store renewable energy could be a growing source of the “forever chemicals” that pollute soil and waterways, new research suggests.
“Forever chemicals” encompass thousands of different kinds of

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that it seized two domain names and more than 900 social media accounts it claims were part of an “AI-enhanced” Russian bot farm. Many of the accounts were designed to look like they belonged to Americans and posted content about the Russia-Ukraine war, including videos in which Russian President Vladimir Putin justified Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.The Justice Department claims that an emplo

The game is an oldie but goodie, especially with multiple people playing. | Screenshot: Nintendo If you have a sudden or anticipated need for Joy-Con replacements or additional controllers to supplement the pair that came with your Nintendo Switch, the ongoing Walmart Deals event is where you want to be. Until July 11th, the retailer is selling the red and blue Joy-Con bundled with a copy of Super Mario Party for $69 ($31 off). The Joy-Con controllers retail for about that much on their own, and

Image: The Verge Mark Matlock, a political candidate for the right-wing Reform UK party, clarified in The Independent that he is a real person, not an AI bot, as some suspected.Perhaps it was the glossy, hyper-smooth skin in a campaign image or the fact that Matlock had apparently missed events like the election count — but earlier this week, a thread on X questioned whether Matlock existed at all. “We might be on the verge of a HUGE SCANDAL,” the post read.
We might be on the

The second-gen AirPods Pro are one of several Apple devices that have dropped to an all-time low ahead of Prime Day. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Amazon Prime Day may kick off on July 16th, but if you can’t wait or you’re not a Prime member, Walmart’s competing sales event is worth a look. Now until July 11th, the retailer is discounting a whole bunch of gadgets and goodies, from the latest AirPods Pro to the Nintendo Switch OLED. What’s more, Walmart is offering ha

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Google’s Pixel Watch 3 may have a brighter 2,000-nit display with smaller bezels and an ultra wideband (UWB) chip, according to a new report from Android Authority. And it won’t just be a new display and chip — the Pixel Watch could be getting a battery boost, too. The rumored 45mm Pixel Watch will have a 420mAh battery, up from the 306mAh of last year’s watches, while the 41mm model will only get a 310mAh battery.
Over the week

Photo: Games Done Quick Summer Games Done Quick concluded over the weekend, raising $2.5 million for Doctors Without Borders. While the figure didn’t break any records, the speedrunning charity event hit a major milestone, reaching a lifetime total of over $50 million raised across all events and charities in its 10-plus-year history.
With the general news out of the way, let’s talk about the highlight of the weeklong stream: a shiba inu named Peanut Butter.
You may remember him. He

You can fit this PC in your pocket. | Image: Linglong Headless portable PCs packing everything except a display are growing in popularity among enthusiasts who don’t want to settle for a laptop they can’t easily upgrade — and now Chinese manufacturer Linglong is taking things further with this folding keyboard PC.
Tom’s Hardware points to a presentation posted by the company showing the tiny PC that’s reminiscent of the folding wireless keyboards that were popular w

Illustration: The Verge Since last year, Google has monitored dark web leaks of stolen account information for Google One subscribers, such as phone numbers and physical addresses. But, starting later this month, Google’s dark web reports will be available to anyone with a Google account.
According to a Google support page about the transition, the free service will be part of Google’s “results about you” page. This is where you can currently check for information Google

Finally, Europe has regained independent access to space. The continent reestablished a sovereign launch capacity on Tuesday with the maiden flight of the Ariane 6 rocket. However, the mission didn’t go entirely to plan. Built to take satellites into orbit, Ariane 6 lifted off from the European Spaceport in French Guiana at 16:00 local time (21:00 CEST). The rocket then soared into the cosmos with a payload of satellites and experiments. Ariane 6 then released the fight batch of cargo. Bu

One of the affected HP LaserJet printers. | Image: HP Last May, I told you how HP’s bestselling printer can lock you to the company’s own subscription ink for life, with no way to cancel, with its dastardly HP Plus scheme. But HP has decided to remove those shackles from future laser printers, at least.“We will no longer be offering HP+ on any LaserJet series products moving forward,” spokesperson Nick Lucido tells The Verge.Druckerchannel reports that HP is also quietly

In a collab between big tech and telcos, Meta and Vodafone today announced the roll-out of network optimisation across 11 different markets in Europe to free up capacity and boost video quality.  It is no secret that video content has exploded on the internet over the past couple of years. And it’s not just your ice-bathing guys or gals pushing the latest longevity schtick on YouTube, or Lady Gaga doing the “Wednesday dance.”  Everyone from LinkedIn “thought le

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Like Windows and macOS computers, Chromebooks handle file deletion in two steps. Initially, the files aren’t actually deleted, even though they disappear from view. They’re kept around in what is called the Trash, just in case you ever need them back, and then are wiped automatically after a certain amount of time. However, if you’re dealing with sensitive information or selling your device, you can also permanently erase them.ChromeOS,

This is a screenshot of Vampire Survivors on Steam, not an iOS device. It still effectively communicates the absolute chaos of actually playing the game. | Image: Poncle Vampire Survivors, the hit bullet hell survival game where you take on hordes of pixelated monsters, is coming to Apple Arcade on August 1st, Apple announced on Tuesday.
The game is already available for free on iOS, but this new version (technically called Vampire Survivors Plus) will be ad-free and include two DLC packs, Legac

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Sony’s pro-focused PlayStation 5 controller hardly ever drops from its high $199.99 price point, but thankfully today is a little different. You can get the DualSense Edge for $174.99 (about $24 off) via Walmart’s online-only deal, dropping the specialized gamepad down to its lowest price to date.The highlight of the DualSense Edge is its impeccable software integration with the PS5. You can fine-tune up to four profiles that each have your

Photo by Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images House Republicans advanced an effort to void the Biden administration’s EV tax credits, even as electric vehicle sales in the US continued to grow year over year.
The House Ways and Means Committee voted in favor of a bill that would undo the federal EV tax credits, arguing that the rules would result in US taxpayer dollars flowing to Chinese companies. The tax credits were “pushed by radical environmentalists and some EV producers” a

Image: The Verge Anonymous messaging app NGL will no longer be offered to kids under 18 after the company struck an agreement to settle a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission and Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.The novel settlement terms — which are still subject to approval by a judge — indicate the latest effort by the FTC to crack down on companies that violate kids’ privacy or otherwise harm them. The commission has issued several complaints involving the

A flooded motel is seen after the passage of Hurricane Beryl in Surfside Beach, Texas, on July 8th. | Photo by Mark Felix / AFP via Getty Images Widespread power outages in the wake of Hurricane Beryl pose a new threat as temperatures soar in Texas this week.Beryl tore through the Lone Star State yesterday, killing at least six people and knocking out electricity for around 2.7 million customers. Power was still out for more than 2.2 million on Tuesday morning. The blackouts could last days to w

Image: Razer Razer is launching a new Snap Tap mode for its Huntsman V3 Pro keyboards today that’s designed to appeal to competitive gamers. Snap Tap is very similar to Wooting’s promised Rappy Snappy feature and works by prioritizing the latest input between two selected keys to allow Counter-Strike 2 and Valorant players to counter-strafe more quickly.
The Snap Tap mode means you don’t have to release the previous key when you’re strafing, so if you enable A and D for S

Image: Apple In the official trailer for Time Bandits, the new Apple TV Plus series from Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement seems to revel in every bit of the dreamlike pseudo-reality of the 1981 film it’s based on. The show focuses on a young kid named Kevin (Kal-El Tuck) who finds a time portal in his room and links up with a band of time-hopping thieves. It’s set to premiere on July 24th for Apple TV Plus subscribers and runs for 10 episodes.
While the series is an adaptation of Te

Image: Meta Soon, when WhatsApp users are added to group chats by someone they don’t know, the group will display a “context card” with key information such as who created the group, when it was created, the group description, and if the user was added by someone in their WhatsApp contact list. The idea of the feature is to better protect users against spam or scam activity in group messages.There’s also a button to allow users to quickly leave the group message, plus a l

This is only the second time Heritage Auctions has offered a Nintendo PlayStation prototype controller. | Image: Heritage Auctions In 2020, a rare prototype of the never-released Nintendo PlayStation console sold for $360,000 at auction. Another unit may never be found, but a second prototype controller from the failed Nintendo and Sony collaboration is going up for auction in August.
The Nintendo PlayStation was Sony’s first attempt to break into the gaming market. It was more or less a S

Image: The Washington Post The Washington Post is sticking a new climate-focused AI chatbot inside its homepage, app, and articles. The experimental tool, called Climate Answers, will use the outlet’s breadth of reporting to answer questions about climate change, the environment, sustainable energy, and more.
Some of the questions you can ask the chatbot include things like, “Should I get solar panels for my home?” or “Where in the US are sea levels rising the fastest?&rd

Belgian startup Textgrain is building the world’s first AI model that will be capable of detecting hate speech online in all 24 official EU languages. Founded in 2016, Textgrain is a spinoff from the University of Antwerp. The company develops AI-based data management and analysis tools for enterprises, with services ranging from text analytics to measuring online sentiment on social media platforms and websites. It also focuses on the analysis of hate speech. In June, Textgrain was among

Image: Sling TV Sling TV will now put ads on your screen when you pause live or on-demand content, according to an announcement from its parent company, Dish. But you won’t have to deal with this extra dose of ads if you don’t want to — the pause ad example shared by Sling TV says you can “turn off Pause Ads” from the settings menu.
That comes as a relief in an industry where it’s getting harder and harder to escape intrusive pause ads. Want to stop a show to

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Netflix is continuing its push into live events, this time with a comedy special from Joe Rogan. Called “Burn the Boats,” the event will stream live from San Antonio, Texas, on August 3rd at 10PM ET. Netflix says this will be Rogan’s first comedy special in six years, and it will be the podcaster and former Fear Factor host’s third with the streamer; he previously released two taped events in 2016 and 2018.The announcement i

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images AI leaders are increasingly optimistic about the technology’s potential in the health sector, especially when it comes to personalized bots that can comprehend and address individual health concerns.
OpenAI and Arianna Huffington are now jointly funding the development of an “AI health coach” through Thrive AI Health. In a Time magazine op-ed, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Huffington stated that the bot will be tr

Aidan Monaghan After 24 years, Ridley Scott is back with a follow-up to Gladiator, and the sequel’s new trailer promises bread, circuses, and buckets of blood.
Set decades after the events of the first film, Gladiator II will tell a new legend about how a now-grown Lucius Verus (Paul Mescal) becomes an enslaved gladiator, despite his being the Roman empire’s former heir. Though Lucius can vividly recall some moments from his childhood, his memories of his mother Lucilla (Connie Niels

TNW Conference 2024 showed us plenty of pathways the future of tech may take. As I mull over this year’s event, there are several lessons that stand out for Europe’s tech community while it seeks to navigate current challenges and opportunities. Tech growth in Europe We live in unprecedented times, to use one of the holdover clichés from the COVID era. The world is tackling several crises simultaneously: an attempted shift away from fossil fuels in the midst of lagging econom

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge Welcome to the inaugural meeting of the board of The Vergecast Inc. The one and only item on the agenda for today? Build the greatest tech company in the history of the universe. We will borrow, steal, and buy the best products and businesses from tech companies around the world in order to offer the best possible line of products. Money is no object, though we’d like to make some at some point. Let’s begin.
On this episode of The Vergecast, our cohosts

Image: Nick Barclay / The Verge Spotify is launching the ability to leave comments on podcasts. The company already lets Spotify podcasters offer polls and Q&As, so this new feature could give creators new ways to interact with their audiences.
Comments will be private by default (similar to Q&A responses), so creators will have to approve each comment they want to appear. Creators can choose to have comments available for their whole show or just for specific episodes, and, if they don&