Technology news

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple is splitting its App Store division in half, according to a report from Bloomberg. While one group of employees will run the App Store, the other will manage its approach to alternative marketplaces that have started opening up in the European Union.
As part of the change, App Store vice president Matt Fischer will leave the company after more than a decade in the role. “This has been on my mind for some time, and as we are also reorganizing th

Chick-fil-A The streaming space has become so crowded that it’s hard to imagine why any company would want to break in now, but that is apparently what Chick-fil-A (yes, the fast food chain) is planning to do.
Deadline reports that Chick-fil-A is working with a number of production companies and traditional studios to create multiple original shows for a streaming platform debuting sometime later this year. Initially, the restaurant is said to be focused on family-friendly unscripted progr

Image: GMC GMC says its limited “Denali Edition 1” launch versions of the new Sierra EV pickup truck are now being delivered to their first customers and are available for purchase at dealerships nationwide.
GMC’s 2024 Sierra EV is parent company GM’s third electric pickup truck built on the Ultium EV platform after the just-launched Chevy Silverado EV. It’s also GM’s second GMC-branded EV after the beastly Hummer EV Pickup (which now also comes in SUV format)

Lil Jon joins the Georgia delegation at the DNC roll call to raucous applause. | Photo by Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images Compare clips from the Democratic National Convention, which kicked off on Monday in Chicago, to the Republican National Convention in July. They feel like different universes.
At the RNC, during the roll call of votes nominating Donald Trump, states were called out to scattered applause along with the number of votes. The room was mostly quiet, and it sounded more like a

Photo by Brandon Bell / Getty Images A telecom company that transmitted the deepfake robocall of President Joe Biden’s voice has agreed to pay $1 million to resolve an enforcement action from the Federal Communications Commission, the agency announced.
Lingo Telecom relayed a fake Biden message to New Hampshire voters in January, urging them not to turn out for the Democratic primary. The FCC identified political consultant Steve Kramer as the person behind the generative AI calls and prev

Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images A telecom company that transmitted the deepfake robocall of President Joe Biden’s voice has agreed to pay $1 million to resolve an enforcement action from the Federal Communications Commission, the agency announced.
Lingo Telecom relayed a fake Biden message to New Hampshire voters in January, urging them not to turn out for the Democratic primary. The FCC identified political consultant Steve Kramer as the person behind the generative AI calls and previo

A lineman tends to fallen power lines in the East End neighborhood of Houston, days after Hurricane Beryl made landfall, on Thursday, July 11, 2024 in Houston. | Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images The US has dealt with 60 percent more weather-related outages during warmer months over the past decade than it did during the 2000s, according to data crunched by the nonprofit research organization Climate Central.It’s a trend that raises health risks as the planet heats up.

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge If you subscribe to Twitch channels from Twitch’s mobile app, you might have to pay a bit more starting in October.
Twitch announced on Wednesday that Tier 1 and gift subscriptions in more than 40 countries will have a higher price on the mobile app starting on October 1st. According to emails from Twitch shared by Dexerto and on Reddit, Tier 1 subscriptions will cost $7.99 per month, an increase from the current Tier 1 price on the app of $5.99 per

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge AI-enabled ammunition vending machines could facilitate mass shootings and let people circumvent federal bans prohibiting people with certain criminal convictions from buying ammunition, two senators warn.
Massachusetts Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) asking it to “closely examine” facial recognition-enabled ammunition vending machines that have recently bee

Illustration: The Verge Google representatives gave ad buyers tips on how they could reach teens, even though the company bars targeted advertisements to users under the age of 18 based on their demographics, according to a report from Adweek.Three unnamed ad buyers told Adweek that Google sales reps suggested they might be able to reach teens by targeting a group of “unknown” users, whose “age, gender, parental status, or household income” Google doesn’t know. Adwe

Image: Microsoft Microsoft says it’s planning to allow Windows testers to try out its controversial Recall AI feature in October. The software giant was originally planning to launch Recall with its Copilot Plus PCs in June but was forced to hold back the feature after security concerns were raised.At the time of the delay on June 13th, Microsoft promised the feature — that screenshots nearly everything on your PC —would be available for Windows Insiders “in the coming we

Image: Umar Shakir / The Verge Tesla is issuing a new recall for more than 9,000 of its Model X SUVs due to roof cosmetic trim pieces that could fly off while driving because they may have been adhered without primer. It’s the second such recall from the company to address the issue on the Model X, the first one issued in 2020, and it is again specific to early 2016 vehicle models.
Tesla often pushes software updates to address recalls, including a repeat Autopilot safety issue where it do

Magic Editor’s new tool helped us add the bike and car with nothing more than a text prompt. | Photo: The Verge As it turns out, a rabbit wearing an AI-generated top hat was just the tip of the iceberg.
Google is the latest phone company this year to announce AI photo editing tools, following Samsung’s somewhat troubling, mostly delightful sketch-to-image feature and Apple’s much more seemingly tame Image Playground coming this fall. The Pixel 9’s answer is a new tool cal

A new firmware update brings audio sharing to the Beats Studio Pro. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Apple has released a firmware update for the Beats Studio Pro that finally brings audio sharing to the headphones, allowing an iPhone or iPad to stream audio to two pairs of wireless headphones simultaneously. The new feature, spotted by 9to5Mac, was noticeably missing when we reviewed the Beats Studio Pro last year, but now better positions the headphones as an alternative to Apple’s mor

The Yale Assure Lock 2 is one of the many smart locks that work with Airbnb. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge Airbnb is expanding its smart lock integration, allowing the company to generate door codes from Yale and August directly within its app. This means more guests can easily find the code they’ll need to unlock their vacation rental, while hosts won’t have to worry about generating and sending new codes to every visitor.
The smart lock company Schlage became the f

Gimme that excellent desk clock action while charging all the things. | Image: Nomad Nomad is course-correcting from a small design blunder last year on its three-in-one MagSafe charging stand. Like its predecessor, the new Stand One Max for 2024 is a wireless multi-charger for a compatible iPhone, Apple Watch, and set of AirPods. However, now you can charge all of those devices with your phone in landscape orientation, allowing you to use Apple’s nifty StandBy mode for glanceable informat

Up Catalyst has closed a €2.36mn seed extension round to accelerate the development of an industrial pilot reactor that turns CO2 emissions into carbon materials. According to the Tallinn-based startup, the reactor will be able to produce 100 tonnes of CO2 per year. These can deliver 27 tonnes of advanced carbon materials, such as carbon nanotubes and graphite — a key component of EV batteries. The company’s technology isolates CO2 from flue gasses from heavy industry emitters.

The ROG Rapture GT-BE19000 is an 80s retro-future headcrab. | Image: Asus Asus announced three new Wi-Fi 7 products today, including a tri-band ROG Rapture GT gaming router, a dual-band router, and a new Wi-Fi 7 USB adapter.
The ROG Rapture GT-BE19000 has a familiar, 80s retro-future look shared by predecessors like the quad-band GT-BE98, along with most of the same specs, including two 10Gbps and five 2.5Gbps ethernet ports. It also supports 320MHz channel bandwidth on the 6GHz band, which unlo

Photo by Alex Cranz / The Verge Last year, Amazon launched the Echo Show 8 Photos Edition that could default to displaying owners’ favorite pictures — as long as they paid an extra fee. Now it looks like that plan has been abandoned, with the Echo Show 8 Photos Edition and its accompanying $2 / month PhotosPlus subscription nearly erased from Amazon’s website.
One customer received a message saying the service has been canceled and that Amazon will no longer offer the subscript

Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza’s ideas on religion, ethics, and human freedom laid the foundation for many of the basic morals and values of modern society.  And now you can tap some of the 17th century philosopher’s old-school wisdom straight from your smartphone. Today, the Dutch Humanist Association launched a WhatsApp chat where a Spinoza-inspired chatbot can provide answers to your most pressing questions.  Is humanity doomed? Are we alone in the universe? Is this a

Image: Microsoft Microsoft is launching a new $29.99 Xbox Adaptive Joystick early next year that’s designed for players with limited mobility. It’s a wired companion for existing Xbox controllers, and includes four buttons, an Xbox thumbstick, and two additional buttons for bumper and trigger controls.
The Xbox Adaptive Joystick allows you to operate a controller without having to use both hands, making it ideal for any players who might have difficulty using the thumbsticks on exist

 Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast — the show where we discuss the latest developments in the European technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most interesting people in the industry. In today’s episode, Ioanna and Andrii talk about the international expansion of Bolt, the benefits of Europe’s big tech regulation, the recent blue moon appearance, electric vehicles in Norway, and more. You’ll also hear an on-stage interview with Le

Six Super Mario: Mario Kart-themed Lego sets will debut on January 1st, 2025. | Image: Lego After teasing the next expansion of its Super Mario line back in March, today, Lego announced the first six Mario Kart sets that will release just after the holidays on January 1st, 2025.
Lego’s Mario Kart collection includes new buildable versions of characters like Yoshi, Donkey Kong, and Toad; baby versions of Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach; and several kart designs, from motorcycles to flying

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Paramount Plus recently raised its prices, and sadly, it’s too late to lock in a subscription at the previous rate. Luckily, in honor of the NFL season opener on September 5th, new and returning subscribers can get 50 percent off an annual subscription to Paramount Plus Essential and Paramount Plus with Showtime through September 6th.
When you do the math, the current discount drops the price of an annual Essential plan to $29.99 (from $59.99), which

In a UK first, drones have successfully delivered blood packs, flying beyond the visual line of sight, where the pilot can no longer see them as they travel. The flights were part of a joint trial between the NHS and healthcare logistics startup Apian. Its aim was to test the viability of blood samples following drone transport. To do this, the research team sent 10 identical blood packs between Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s Wansbeck Hospital and Alnwick Infirmary, and bac

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Ford is canceling its electric three-row SUV and delaying the launch of a new electric pickup truck until 2027. The Expedition-like SUV had already been delayed to 2027; with its cancellation, the company will now pivot to making new gas and hybrid-powered three-row SUVs.
Ford now says it won’t release any new electric vehicles until it can ensure profitability on the models within the first year of launch and prioritize a new commercial EV van that

Microsoft’s new Xbox console options will be available worldwide by the end of October. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is launching three new Xbox Series S / X console options in October. There’s the $449.99 white discless Xbox Series X, a 2TB “Galaxy Black” special edition Xbox Series X priced at $599.99, and a $349.99 1TB Xbox Series S. All three models will be available in the US on October 15th, with other markets to follow on October 29th.
The white coating on the exte

While billionaires have pushed Kamala Harris to depart from President Joe Biden’s antitrust policy, the Democratic Party seems to be doubling down.
The word “competition” comes up 18 times in the party’s 2024 platform, compared to nine in the 2020 version. Other key policy areas, like tackling junk fees and noncompetes, are mentioned several times in the 2024 platform as well, compared to just one passing reference to noncompetes in the 2020 document. Notably, those are

While billionaires have pushed Kamala Harris to depart from President Joe Biden’s antitrust policy, the Democratic Party seems to be doubling down.
The word “competition” comes up 18 times in the party’s 2024 platform, compared to nine in the 2020 version. Other key policy areas, like tackling junk fees and noncompetes, are mentioned several times in the 2024 platform as well, compared to just one passing reference to noncompetes in the 2020 document. Notably, those are

Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch After launching remotely during Covid in 2020, Nothing has now mandated that its 450 employees will have to come into the company’s London office five days a week. In an email to staffers last week, Nothing CEO Carl Pei suggested that those unable to transition from remote working should leave the company, and they should “find an environment where you thrive.”
Pei’s goal, according to the email he published on LinkedIn,