Technology

According to reports, Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase‘s Super Bowl LVI ad caused it to crash and pushed it to the top of the App Store. During a commercial break for the big game between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals, Coinbase ran a simple ad showing a QR code bouncing around a black screen for 60 seconds. Those that scanned the code were taken directly to Coinbase’s site and met with an invitation to receive $15 USD in free Bitcoin for signing up and a chance to win $3 million USD in prizes. The push to enter the world of cryptocurrency saw the exchange receive an unprecedented 20 million hit surge in traffic forcing its site to crash. Forced to “throttle traffic for a few minutes,” the Coinbase team was able to get the site back up. It has been reported that 30-second Supe...

SpaceX has officially unveiled plans for its first commercial spacewalk, slated to occur later this year. The Washington Post reported that Jared Isaacman, the billionaire entrepreneur who founded Shift4 and led Inspiration4, has launched a Polaris Program initiative that would feature “up to” three crewed SpaceX flights. The first of the flight missions, the Polaris Dawn, is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2022 and is set to include the first commercial spacewalk. Isaacman said that the aim is “to send a crew of four farther than any other human spaceflight in 50 years and feature the first private-citizen spacewalk.” The second flight is expected to be aboard SpaceX’s Dragon, which NASA now uses to fly its astronauts to the International Space Station. The third flight of the series ...

Tesla‘s chief designer Franz von Holzhausen has publicly called out Apple for its inability to be innovative for its iPhone and Car products. Von Holzhausen is best known for the designs of the Tesla Model S, 3, X and Y and most recently, the Cybertruck. In a recent conversation on Spike Feresten’s podcast Spike’s Car Radio, the chief designer said, “The sad part about Apple products now is like there’s nothing to look forward to. I feel like it’s just a continuation. It’s just a slight refinement on the same thing. Inspirationally, it’s been hard to get super motivated by what they’re doing.” He continues to criticize one of Apple’s main products, its wearable Apple Watch and although he does admit that he also uses one, Van Holzhausen said that he only does so “because of the fitness thi...

Super Bowl LVI may have been the first crypto bowl. It’s not that cryptocurrency-related ads completely overwhelmed the Super Bowl commercial breaks to the exclusion of all other advertisements. In fact, there were more ads for the Super Bowl’s more traditional fare of booze, cars, and movie trailers than there were crypto commercials. But cryptocurrency made a splash at the Super Bowl — one of the most-watched and highest-profile advertising events on the year — in a bid to try and win over mainstream customers (in addition to a largely young and male minority that’s embraced digital currency so far.) But despite the hype, none of the cryptocurrency commercials at the big game made any attempt to actually sell people on anything other than spending more money on crypto. LeBron James was t...

Google’s January outline revealed plans to spend 2022 trying to make the Android and Chrome OS experience match Apple’s ecosystem integrations, including a feature that would mirror a messaging app from your Android phone on your Chromebook. Thanks to 9to5Google, which did some digging in the recently-released Android 13 developer preview, we might have an early look at what that feature will look like. Google first outlined the mirroring feature in January. Image: Google Based on what 9to5Google found, it appears that Google will essentially enable streaming apps to your computer. And the feature might end up working on non-Chrome OS computers, too, as 9to5Google says it used the web app involved on both Chrome OS and on Windows 11. Here’s how the feature works, according to 9to5Google: Y...

There aren’t a lot of ultra-portable handheld PCs anymore, outside of the GDP pocket and its gaming-focused successors. With tablets, smartphones, and even handhelds like the Steam Deck diluting the marketable needs of owning a laptop, there isn’t much space for mini laptops beyond the simple joy of owning a fun-sized version of a traditional computer. But that’s not stopping DIY-er Penk Chen from building their own handheld PC called the Penkesu — a retro-futuristic ultraportable laptop with a mechanical keyboard. It could very well have existed as a working sci-fi movie prop in the ’90s or an R&B video plot device in 2002. The case for the Penkesu is built using 3D printed parts paired with hinges designed for the Game Boy Advance SP. The clamshell lid is fitted with a wide 400 x 1,2...

On Monday, a judge ruled that Heather Morgan, aka Razzlekhan, should be released on bail after she and her husband were arrested for allegedly helping to launder billions of dollars worth of stolen Bitcoin. Morgan and her husband Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein were already granted bail last week by another judge, but the government got an emergency stay on the previous order, saying that the couple could potentially use millions of dollars worth of un-seized Bitcoin to flee the country. Monday’s hearing took place to review the release order and consider further prosecution and defense evidence. You can read both of the written arguments below, which largely reflect what the parties argued in court. The presiding judge decided that Morgan could await her trial at home if she made bail, but she ...

This story is part of a group of stories called Only the best deals on Verge-approved gadgets get the Verge Deals stamp of approval, so if you’re looking for a deal on your next gadget or gift from major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Target, and more, this is the place to be. Today is officially Valentine’s Day in the US, a day meant for expressing love and celebrating romance — or just eating a bunch of candy and chocolate. If you’re a sentimental procrastinator and in need of a last-minute gift, we have some great suggestions for you in our Valentine’s Day gift guide. We’ve also rounded up a wealth of last-minute ideas, which includes digital options and many gifts that are still available for in-store pickup. After all, at this point, anything is better than a bouquet ...

Watching The Cuphead Show, Netflix’s new adaptation of the Studio MDHR run-and-gunner featuring two anthropomorphic cup brothers, it’s hard to say who exactly the series is for. Like the game before it, The Cuphead Show revolves around Cuphead (Tru Valentino) and his brother Mugman (Frank Todaro), two rambunctious talking cups who love each other almost as much as they enjoy beating one another up whenever their kindly guardian, Elder Kettle (Joe Hanna), isn’t watching. Though the boys enjoy getting into all sorts of mischief in and around their tiny cottage, they know that there’s a world of adventure waiting for them on the rest of the Inkwell Isles, where they’re not meant to wander without supervision. It’s during one of the brothers’ excursions into town to spend time at a carnival th...

Verizon confirmed it is experiencing a major outage that appears to be affecting Georgia and small pockets of Florida, according to a report from local news site WTXL Tallahassee. Wireless customers report they can’t make calls, connect to data service, or send and receive text messages. According to a chart from Down Detector, reports of connectivity problems started around 2PM ET, with issues mostly reported in Georgia. Outages are mainly affecting customers in Georgia.Screenshot: Downdetector “We are aware of network disruptions impacting some customers in parts of Georgia,” Verizon spokesperson Karen Schulz told The Verge. “Our engineers are working to quickly identify and resolve this issue.” It’s unclear what has caused the outage or when connectivity is expected to return, but the o...

GiveSendGo, a crowdfunding website that was being used to source donations for the “Freedom Convoy” protest mounted by Canadian truckers, has been taken offline in an apparent hack and information about alleged donors leaked online. On Sunday night, the GiveSendGo domain began to redirect to a new domain — GiveSendGone[.]wtf — and show a video loop from Disney’s Frozen, as first noted by Daily Dot journalist Mikael Thalen. The video was accompanied by text criticizing the fundraising site and linking it to the January 6th insurrection in the US. GiveSendGo, which brands itself “the number one Free Christian crowdfunding platform,” had already emerged as the go-to platform for fundraising to cover legal fees for Trump supporters accused of participating in the Capitol insurrection. It quick...

A lot more people might be about to start using Rich Communication Services (RCS), the new messaging standard that has had a long and messy rollout, as Google’s Messages app looks to be the new messaging default for newer Samsung devices. While the Galaxy S21 lineup shipped with Samsung Messages by default last year in the US, 9to5Google noticed its Galaxy S22 Plus review unit had Google Messages set as the default when set up from scratch, and that’s the case with The Verge’s Galaxy S22 Ultra review unit as well. RCS offers many improvements over SMS texting, such as typing indicators, read receipts, and the ability to share higher resolution photos and larger files, but adoption in the US has taken years. Google has largely led the charge and even rolled out end-to-end encryption to its ...