Technology

Instagram has announced that it will no longer be supporting the separate IGTV app, saying in a blog post that it will instead focus on keeping all video in the main Instagram app (via TechCrunch). While the writing’s been on the wall for Instagram’s YouTube competitor for a while, the official shutdown announcement marks the end of an era for one of Instagram’s forays into video. In its post, Instagram says that it’s getting rid of the standalone IGTV app as “part of [its] efforts to make video as simple as possible to discover and create.” The post also says that any videos in the main app will have a full-screen viewer and tap-to-mute, and that Instagram is working on a consistent way to share the different types of videos (such as video posts or Reels). The company is also planning on ...

Along with its 100W charging-capable Magic 4 phone, Honor has announced new Earbuds 3 Pro that include built-in temperature monitoring technology. According to Honor, this technology is an industry first, that owners can experience once the €199 buds are released. Temperature monitoring, among other signals, has become especially important to tracking someone’s health during the pandemic, and checking your temperature at home using infrared ear thermometers is already widely available. Wearables incorporating temperature monitoring sounds like something that isn’t far off, and the idea even reportedly caught Apple’s eye while developing updates to its AirPods. Image: Honor Wearers can tap the buds three times to activate temperature monitoring, with continuous measurement and even an “abno...

Elden Ring is finally here. The huge game, from Dark Souls developer FromSoftware, is set in a world created in part by Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin. It largely lives up to the massive hype, but it hasn’t had a perfect launch. Bandai Namco issued a PSA on the day of release promising updates to fix a PS5 save bug and some PC issues. And The Verge’s Ash Parrish wrote about how the game’s character creator fails Black players. We’ll be covering Elden Ring closely as Bandai Namco releases updates and as players discover the many secrets hidden in the Lands Between. You can find our stories about the game right here.

DisplayPort 2.0 is finally starting to make its way out into the world after months of delays, and the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) is working hard to make sure that customers will be able to actually tell whether cables or devices support the benefits of the standard with a new certification program, the group announced today. The new program is specifically aimed at clarifying when a device supports the DisplayPort UHBR (Ultra-high Bit Rate) data transfer rates supported by DisplayPort 2.0. To that end, VESA is introducing new DP40 and DP80 UHBR cables. DP40-marked cables will be guaranteed to support the UHBR10 standard of 10Gbps across four lanes for a total of 40Gbps, while DP80 cables will support the UHBR20 standard (at up to 20Gbps) across four lanes for a total o...

Netflix will not distribute a number of state-run channels in Russia as mandated by a new law, the company says, following reports that it could soon be forced to carry the networks. Variety reported Monday that Netflix was among a number of services added to a register maintained by Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor of content distributors that reached over 100,000 subscribers. The new law, which Variety reports has not yet fully gone into effect, requires large streamers to carry 20 Russian broadcast channels, including state-funded Channel One. Channel One was among a number of channels The Associated Press cited last week as skewing the narrative to align with the Kremlin’s messaging around Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Other channels named by Variety include NTV as well as Spa, a c...

Rockstar Games has released a major update for the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy that brings improved performance across all platforms, including graphics modes that are included with the likes of the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Generally, the update improves stability, fixes checkpoint issues and collision detection, along with touching up numerous textures and signage. It also addresses errors where achievements weren’t earned under specific circumstances. All of the fixes are listed on Rockstar’s support site (it’s an exhaustive list), with specific update notes listed under each game. These fixes seem minor, but they could make particularly difficult sections within each game a little easier to bear. The collection, which launched in November 2021, arrived rife with bugs. But it seems to be gett...

I’m obsessed with a stick in Destiny 2: The Witch Queen. That’s a sentence I never thought I’d utter before the new glaive weapon arrived in the game last week. Released as part of The Witch Queen expansion, the glaive is a powerful and versatile… stick. Or “stabby stabby murder sticks,” as Bungie described the glaives last week. You can melee with it and slay enemies at close range, shoot a projectile from afar, or block an attack. I’ve been hooked on the glaive ever since it dropped at the beginning of The Witch Queen campaign. I feel truly invincible with the glaive in Destiny 2, and it’s the first new weapon type in years that has made such an immediate impact on the way I play the game. When I first started using the glaive, it felt intriguing and unique, allowing me to perform ...

Bruce Wayne has been so thoroughly deconstructed and analyzed as both a fictional hero and cultural icon that it would almost be unfair to expect Matt Reeves’ The Batman to bring all that much new to the conversation. But that expectation is something Warner Bros. saddled upon The Batman by implicitly asking viewers to just kinda ignore its other recent Bat-related films, and to instead see this feature as the beginning of the franchise’s future. Unfortunately, the new Dark Knight doesn’t rise to the occasion. Gotham is a rotting tinderbox on the brink of utter social collapse as The Batman opens on the city just a couple years into Bruce Wayne’s (Robert Pattinson) career as the Dark Knight. Inexperienced as this new Batman is, he’s well past his days of merely looming in people’s imaginat...

Update 12:50PM ET, February 28th: Walmart has sold out of the Xbox Series X for now, however, the Xbox Series S is available today at Woot for $249.99. The disc-less console features less storage and isn’t as powerful as the Series X, but it can handle the same games. Good news for those who have yet to nab the Xbox Series X: right now, Walmart is selling Microsoft’s next-gen console for its usual price of $499. Even better, unlike previous restocks, this one is open to all and not just those who subscribe to the retailer’s premium subscription service, Walmart Plus. This restock came up very suddenly out of the blue, and it isn’t utilizing Walmart’s typical queue system, so be sure to keep trying to add the console to your cart, even if you receive an error message. Microsoft Xbox Series ...

Hundreds of thousands of people have fled Ukraine Contributors: Verge Staff On February 24th, Russia invaded areas of Ukraine near its northern, eastern, and southern borders. It’s a significant military action that could have alarming consequences, and more than 500,000 people have reportedly fled from Ukraine to neighboring countries as of February 28th. Peace talks between the two countries have begun at the Belarus border. Tech companies have responded to the crisis in various ways, with the focus on trying to reduce online misinformation and avoid putting Ukrainians in danger. Google has disabled Maps traffic data in Ukraine to protect citizens, for example, while Facebook has removed a Russian misinformation network. But Russia has blocked Twitter and partially blocked Facebook, whic...

Continuing its expansion of recreated classics, Bang & Olufsen has unveiled its Beosytem 72-22. The new offering celebrates the 50-year anniversary of Bang & Olufsen’s Beogram 4000 turntable. Bang & Olufsen’s 4000 Series turntable was first developed in 1972 by Danish industrial designer, Jacob Jensen, on a mission to evolve the turntable. “No-one should care about how bridges are built – the point is to find out how to get to the other side in the best possible way,” explained Jensen. The new Beosystem 72-22 features an updated and hand-customized Beogram 4000c turntable with pearl-blasted titanium tone aluminum and solid walnut wood. Additionally, the music system comes complete with Beolab 18 stereo speakers and is presented in a solid walnut presentation box. Rounding out t...

Last July, TikTok made it possible for users to post videos up to three minutes long. Now, the platform is expanding even longer content, introducing 10-minute videos. Matt Navarra, a social media analyst, reported that he received a notification saying he could upload longer videos. The platform said that in order to access the new feature, he should be using the latest version of the app or web browser. TikTok creeping in on YouTube territory I can now upload videos up to 10 minutes long pic.twitter.com/P2Mbf4ygWV — Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) February 28, 2022 “We’re always thinking about new ways to bring value to our community and enrich the TikTok experience,” a TikTok spokesperson told The Verge. “Last year, we introduced longer videos, giving our community more time to create and b...