Technology

On Monday, a jaw-dropping Halo Infinite video kept showing up on my Twitter feed that looked like something out of a Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild speedrun. The video, from Australian YouTuber “Mint Blitz,” begins with Master Chief armed with a massive hammer behind a Warthog vehicle. In an impressive sequence taking place over a matter of seconds, Mint Blitz swings the hammer to send the Warthog flying while almost simultaneously using Master Chief’s new grappling hook on the vehicle to slingshot himself into the air like Spider-Man. As he’s soaring high above Zeta Halo’s treetops, he uses the thruster powerup — and then, inexplicably, just keeps flying forward. After 39 seconds in the air, he finally lands, gracefully setting down on top of a tall tower that’s likely supposed to ot...

Things have chilled out considerably this week, both in terms of how cold it has become in parts of the US and how few deals there are compared to the hectic Black Friday and Cyber Monday extravaganza. However, that’s not to say there aren’t some fantastic offers happening both in-store and online. We’ll be keeping a close eye on deals in the next few weeks to make sure you get what you’re looking for ahead of the holidays. Alright, let’s get to the deals. I can’t remember the last time an Apple product was discounted so swiftly. That’s what is happening to the third-gen AirPods, which debuted at $179, but are now just $139.99 at Amazon (the correct price will reflect at checkout). While they resemble the AirPods Pro with their shorter stems, the latest AirPods lack active noise cancellati...

The first season of Invasion on Apple TV Plus feels a little incomplete. Across its 10 episodes, which chart a handful of humans grappling with an alien invasion, the story slowly teases out the reality of what’s happening. There are hints here and there — a haunting artificial voice, a mysterious alien-killing weapon, a kid with seizures that may or may not show the future — but the biggest reveal of all doesn’t even happen until the very last shot in the final episode. It still managed to pull me in — but that pull has a lot to do with potential. Rather than standing on its own, the initial season of Invasion feels like the first chapter of a much grander science fiction epic. Invasion gets off to a slow start. Unlike most stories about an alien invasion, which tend to focus on the alien...

I hate leaving unfinished business, but that’s what I did on November 27th of last year. I ended my review of the most ridiculous, most advanced PC monitor ever made — the 49-inch Samsung Odyssey G9 — by wondering out loud whether a similarly sized OLED television might actually be better. That question has been burning in my skull for many, many months, but I’m happy to say I finally have an answer. This September, I took delivery of both LG’s latest 48-inch C1 OLED television and Samsung’s upgraded 49-inch Odyssey Neo G9, with its Mini-LED backlit screen that attempts to rival OLED for deep blacks and adds explosive brightness. I’ve used them back to back ever since, swapping again and again between the latest and greatest gigantic gaming monitors and between work and play. I used them a...

This morning, Jeff Bezos’ spaceflight company Blue Origin is slated to launch another crew of customers to the edge of space and back. The crew cabin will be a little more crowded than usual: a total of six passengers will ride to space inside Blue Origin’s New Shepard tourist rocket, the largest group the company has ever sent up on one flight. That makes this flight a bit unusual. The launch also comes after an FAA investigation into the safety of Blue Origin’s rockets came to an inconclusive resolution. On board are a mixture of celebrity guests and paying spaceflight enthusiasts. Notably, Michael Strahan, a host for Good Morning America and former NFL rusher for the New York Giants, will be flying, along with Laura Shepard Churchley, the eldest daughter of Alan Shepard, who was the fir...

The Matrix Awakens single-handedly proves next-gen graphics are within reach of Sony and Microsoft’s new game consoles. It’s unlike any tech demo you’ve ever tried before. When we said the next generation of gaming didn’t actually arrive with Xbox Series X and PS5, this is the kind of push that has the potential to turn that around. And it’s free to download on those consoles right now, so you should really give it a go. Just don’t expect it to make you question your reality — the uncanny valley is still alive and well. I jacked into The Matrix Awakens today after watching our exclusive interview with Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss — they play Neo and Trinity, I’m sure you know — and hearing breathless praise around its Game Awards debut. At first, I was wowed by how realistic Keanu Ree...

If you’ve wanted to get your hands on the Nintendo Switch OLED’s dock, you’re in luck — Nintendo is now selling it on its online store for $70, $10 more than the original dock. The newer version of the dock has a slightly more rounded design, comes in white, and (most importantly for some gamers) trades one of its USB 2.0 ports for an ethernet jack. It’s nice to have the option to buy a second dock for your Switch OLED, should you need an extra or a replacement. You could also pick one up if you’ve got a non-OLED Switch and your dock is getting to the point where it needs a replacement. Nintendo’s own FAQ says the OLED’s dock is compatible with the regular Switch, though you may need to do a software update to get full functionality. If you want LAN, this is probably the dock to get If you...

OnePlus released the Android 12-based OxygenOS 12 to the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro this week, but the company has already pulled it following reports of bugs and issues from users. “We are aware of the issues caused by the OxygenOS 12 update and our software team is fixing them,” OnePlus said in a statement to Android Police. “We will suspend this software update and roll out a new iteration as soon as possible.” The release has been widely panned. Android Police called it “just awful,” highlighting the need to toggle settings to get the 120Hz display to work again and that some menus “straight-up crash” as examples of issues. 9to5Google agreed: “For a so-called ‘stable’ release, OxygenOS 12 is riddled with bugs and issues that honestly make it very hard to suggest that you update and install on...

Tim Cook has pushed Apple’s value within close range of $3 trillion, and a lot of that has to do with the former operations lead’s ability to manage a relationship with China, where many of its products are made and, increasingly, many of them are sold. A report this week from The Information relies on unnamed sources and internal documents to peel back some of the details about Apple’s ties with China. A 1,250-word MOU between Apple and China’s National Development and Reform Commission reportedly runs for five years and accounted for $275 billion in spending That includes a request Apple reportedly received in 2014 or 2015 about a small group of uninhabited islands that China and Japan apparently have a dispute over in terms of who owns them. Going by either the Senkaku Islands or the Di...

Instagram head Adam Mosseri used his story to answer people’s questions about the company’s plan to bring back the much-missed chronological feed, which he promised during his appearance at a Senate hearing on Wednesday. In a Q&A on Friday, he said that the company is testing out two versions of the feature and that it’s “targeting early next year” as a release window. One version of the chronological feed would let you “pick your favorites and they show up at the top in chronological order,” he said. The other would let you see the posts from everyone you’re following in chronological order, though he didn’t mention how recommended posts would be interspersed. Instagram wants to release the feature “early next year.”Images: Adam Mosseri When a follow-up question asked Mosseri wh...

Last night’s Game Awards had some really cool surprises. We got a new Alan Wake announcement, we got the slit scared out of us by Slitterhead, and an adorable pot friend (like an actual friend in a pot, not a cannabis companion) dropped some Elden Ring lore on us. But there was one surprise that left me and my colleagues at The Verge confused, curious, and breathless for more: what game has alligator brides in it and how can we get our hands on it? Ming-Na Wen, savior of China and Boba Fett’s right hand, appeared during the Game Awards to present the award for Best Narrative (which, by the way, went to the very well-deserving Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy). During her speech, she mentioned that as the mother of a gaming-obsessed kid, she enjoys when games are more than just, “blowing up...

Google parent company Alphabet announced its fifth quarter in a row of record profits ($18.9 billion) and second straight quarter of record revenue ($65.1 billion) in October, but a company executive told employees that Google wouldn’t automatically adjust their salaries to account for inflation. According to CNBC, Google’s VP of compensation Frank Wagner told employees at a company all-hands meeting on December 7th that Google doesn’t “have any plans to do any type of across-the-board type adjustment” when asked about the inflation rate in the US. Wagner did hint that the company’s compensation budgets “reflected” the higher cost of labor that comes with increased prices, according to CNBC. However, he said that the company would rather pay any increased wages based on performance rather ...