Technology news

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge National Public Data (NPD) confirmed last week that it suffered a security breach dating back to December last year. An alleged stolen NPD database containing 2.9 billion lines of data, including Social Security numbers, was advertised on the dark web in April by a hacker group known as USDoD for $3.5 million, and the stolen data has since been posted publicly in various locations.
Now, Krebs On Security reports a roughly identical website to NPD calle

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge National Public Data (NPD) confirmed last week that it suffered a security breach dating back to December last year. An alleged stolen NPD database containing 2.9 billion lines of data, including Social Security numbers, was advertised on the dark web in April by a hacker group known as USDoD for $3.5 million, and the stolen data has since been posted publicly in various locations.
Now, Krebs On Security reports a roughly identical website to NPD calle

Image: Turtle Beach Turtle Beach’s redesigned Stealth 700 Gen 3 wireless gaming headset is redefining #donglelife by including two USB transmitters, allowing it to quick-switch across consoles and PC / Steam Deck at the push of a button once it launches September 22nd — with preorders available now for $199.99.
This isn’t the first headset to try the one-button switching thing, but the new Stealth 700 goes a very different route than Logitech’s pricier Astro A50 X, which

Starting on August 21st, 2024, new Anova customers will have to pay a yearly or monthly fee to use the companion app. | Image: Anova Starting on August 21st, 2024, Anova will be introducing a subscription fee for new users of its sous vide cookers who want to take advantage of additional features available through its mobile companion app, including controlling the appliance remotely.
Similar to the Snoo, a smart bassinet that recently locked previously free features behind a monthly subscriptio

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Starting tomorrow, August 20th, Paramount Plus's latest price hike will go into effect, meaning today is your last day to subscribe at the current rate before prices increase on several plans. Right now, new customers can still lock in a subscription to Paramount Plus Essential for $5.99 a month before the price jumps to $7.99. What’s more, new and returning subscribers can still get a month of Paramount Plus Essential for free with promo code OGGMPZ

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple has launched a web app for its Podcasts app, and you can access it right now at podcasts.apple.com. The app works on Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari, MacRumors reports.
If you’ve used the Podcasts app for Mac or iOS, the web app should feel pretty familiar: there are sections like a Browse tab where you can see featured podcasts, a Home tab where you can check out episodes from the shows you follow or that Apple thinks you might be interested

Image: The Verge / Kenishirotie (via Getty) The real intent of Ticketmaster’s push for non-transferrable tickets was to make it harder for fans to use rival platforms like StubHub and SeatGeek, the newly updated complaint in the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation alleges. The complaint, which was amended Monday after 10 states joined the DOJ’s lawsuit, cites internal Ticketmaster documents obtained during the legal

Image: The Verge / Kenishirotie (via Getty) The real intent of Ticketmaster’s push for nontransferable tickets was to make it harder for fans to use rival platforms like StubHub and SeatGeek, the newly updated complaint in the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, alleges. The complaint, which was amended on Monday after 10 states joined the DOJ’s lawsuit, cites internal Ticketmaster documents obtained during the leg

Waymo’s sixth-gen robotaxi is already being tested on public roads.| Image: Waymo Waymo published a blog post today previewing its new sixth-generation robotaxi, which is an electric minivan manufactured by the Chinese automaker Zeekr.In the post, Waymo VP of engineering Satish Jeyachandran touts the new robotaxi as more high tech than past iterations, while also featuring fewer sensors to help reduce costs for the Alphabet-owned company. And within its high-powered computer, it contains a

Google’s Pixel 9 is poised to usher in a whole new era of weird vacation photos. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge I had no problem taking out the vaping couple on a beach towel. They’re in the background of one of my vacation photos, and they’re really mucking up the vibe. The Google Pixel’s Magic Editor feature takes them right out with a few taps, and you know what? I felt fine about that. It’s drawing the line that I’m having a hard time with.
My taken-on

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images Former President Donald Trump posted what appeared to be a series of AI-generated images over the weekend to drum up support for his presidential candidacy, including a false endorsement from pop star Taylor Swift.
The posts show how Trump might wield generative AI in a way that confounds attempts to police AI-created election disinformation, thanks in part to long-standing legal precedent allowing candidates to lie in political ads. They arrive on

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images Former President Donald Trump posted what appeared to be a series of AI-generated images over the weekend to drum up support for his presidential candidacy, including a false endorsement from pop star Taylor Swift.
The posts show how Trump might wield generative AI in a way that confounds attempts to police AI-created election disinformation, thanks in part to long-standing legal precedent allowing candidates to lie in political ads. They arrive on

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images Former President Donald Trump posted what appeared to be a series of AI-generated images over the weekend to drum up support for his presidential candidacy, including a false endorsement from pop star Taylor Swift.
The posts show how Trump might wield generative AI in a way that confounds attempts to police AI-created election disinformation, thanks in part to long-standing legal precedent allowing candidates to lie in political ads. They arrive on

Unitree’s G1 humanoid robot can fold down for storage and transport but weighs as much as a small child. | Image: Unitree Robotics Robots capable of performing human-like tasks have so far been relegated to laboratories, factories, and captivating YouTube demos. But Unitree is readying its G1 humanoid robot for mass production with a $16,000 price tag that somehow feels both expensive and reasonable for a robot that looks this capable, as spotted by New Atlas.
The Unitree G1 is an upgraded

Image: Square Enix Square Enix has finally shared a release date for the PC version of Final Fantasy XVI: September 17th, 2024. The single-player RPG first launched on PS5 in June 2023, with two DLC chapters following in December (Echoes of the Fallen) and April (The Rising Tide).You can now preorder Final Fantasy XVI on Steam and the Epic Games Store, and there are complete editions that include both DLCs available for preorder, too. You can also check out a demo for the game from both stores,

SportAI has grand plans for tennis analytics. The startup wants to not only enhance a player’s technique, but also the racket they swing. The Norway-based business analyses sports footage in real-time. It then delivers instant, personalised feedback. For tennis players, the system serves up coaching advice. For racket makers and retailers, the insights can return product recommendations. “The AI analyses a player’s technique, identifying specific needs based on their style and

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge GM is laying off 1,000 salaried employees in its global workforce Monday, CNBC reported today. The cuts will affect the automaker’s software and services division, including about 600 employees working at GM’s tech campus near Detroit.
In an email to The Verge, GM spokesperson Kevin Kelly said that as the company builds its future, it needs to “simplify for speed and excellence, make bold choices, and prioritize the investments that will ha

The sun continues setting on the Touch ID home button for iPads. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge “Never say never.” I know, but I’m not sure if Apple’s ninth-gen iPad is going to get any cheaper than this before it’s outright gone. That’s because after dropping to consecutive all-time lows of $229 and then $224, the tablet from 2021 with 64GB of storage is now selling for just $199 ($130 off) at Amazon and $199.99 at Best Buy. The 256GB configuration is als

Scientists from the Dutch Black Hole Consortium are on a mission to find novel black holes. But the task is a monumental one, as the light from the genesis of a black hole fades quickly, so they’re asking ordinary folks to pore over pictures of possible candidates, using an app called Black Hole Finder, to help them decide where to train their telescopes.
The images are collected by BlackGEM telescopes in Chile that, when a gravitational wave is detected, immediately start scanning the sk

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Zoom’s webinar calls can now support up to 1 million simultaneous viewers, as fundraising groups continue to use the video conferencing platform to raise money for Vice President Kamala Harris’ election campaign. Now, Zoom customers who want to hold large virtual events can accommodate anywhere from 10,000 to 1 million attendees.
Over the past several weeks, several political groups have used Zoom to host massive fundraising events for Harris.

The role comes with height and motion requirements that line up with expectations for Optimus. | Image: Tesla Tesla is employing people to help train its humanoid Optimus robot by wearing motion capture suits and mimicking actions that it will be expected to perform. The position, advertised as a “Data Collection Operator” on Tesla’s career site, pays up to $48 per hour and requires walking for over seven hours a day while carrying up to 30 pounds and wearing a VR headset for &

Image: Raspberry Pi Foundation There’s a new Raspberry Pi 5 in town: a 2GB variant that knocks the price of the microcomputer down to $50. The lower RAM doesn’t necessarily mean it comes with fewer capabilities, just that it won’t be apt to some RAM-intensive tasks. Raspberry Pi Foundation CEO Eben Upton says the device is “functionally identical to its predecessor.”
When the Raspberry Pi 5 was released last year, it only came in a 4GB variant for $60 and an 8GB ver

Female-led Apheros has raised $1.85mn to tackle a pressing problem for the tech sector: the exponential energy consumption of data centres. Data centres are the foundation of our digital infrastructure, housing the servers, data storage systems, and networking equipment necessary to power everything online. They’re also critical for the development of emerging technologies, such as AI and high performance computing (HCP), which are driving up energy demand. According to the International

Procreate CEO James Cuda has made his distaste for generative AI known. | Image: Procreate Many Procreate users can breathe a sigh of relief now that the popular iPad illustration app has taken a definitive stance against generative AI. “We’re not going to be introducing any generative AI into our products,” Procreate CEO James Cuda said in a video posted to X. “I don’t like what’s happening to the industry, and I don’t like what it’s doing to arti

Finland’s first-ever commercial hyperspectral satellite has successfully launched into space. The satellite — named Hyperfield-1 — is the brainchild of Finnish startup Kuva Space. Kuva equipped the spacecraft with a hyperspectral camera, which captures detailed data on wavelengths of light. When materials on Earth absorb these wavelengths, they produce “spectral fingerprints.” The hyperspectral camera will record these fingerprints, which Kuva will analyse wit