Technology

Microsoft and the fashion brand Gucci have teamed up on a ridiculously expensive Gucci-themed Xbox Series X that will be released in limited quantities next week. It looks bad, in my opinion; the Gucci Xbox Series X has double G patterns plastered all over it, which I feel ruins the sleek aesthetic of the console’s original design. And it’s completely unaffordable to the average person, costing a cool $10,000, according to Gucci’s website. All this for just $10,000.Image: Gucci With that five-figure sum, you do get a few extras, including two Gucci-themed Xbox controllers, a subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (though it’s unclear for how long), and an Xbox-branded suitcase in which to carry the console and controllers. And you’re also buying the exclusivity of having one of 100 of the...

Apple’s latest iOS 15.2 beta is making the iPhone 13 Pro’s macro mode simple by adding a button to let you turn it on and off (via 9to5Mac). The icon, which looks like a little flower, pops up whenever you’re close enough to an object to take a macro photo and lets you easily switch between having Auto Macro mode on and off without having to go into settings. A video from ZolloTech shows how the feature currently works in iOS 15.2 beta 2: if you have Auto Macro turned off, the button will appear when you get close to something. Tapping it seems to basically turn Auto Macro back on, and your phone will switch into macro mode. Tapping the button again turns Auto Macro off and switches you back to the regular camera. <div class="c-imageslider" data-cid="apps/imageslider-1636...

The prosecution and defense continue to argue over evidence in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse for killing two people during a protest in Wisconsin, with a surprising amount of confusion from both the defense and Judge Bruce Schroeder about what happens when you pinch-to-zoom on a touchscreen device. On Wednesday, Schroeder stated it was up to the prosecution to prove that zooming on a video in with an iPad doesn’t alter or manipulate the footage. “iPads, which are made by Apple, have artificial intelligence in them that allow things to be viewed through three-dimensions and logarithms,” the defense said as part of its objection, adding that the iPad “uses artificial intelligence, or their logarithms, to create what they believe is happening. So this isn’t actually enhanced video, this is Ap...

Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service just leapfrogged Google Stadia in performance, with a new $200-a-year tier that practically gives you the power of an RTX 3080 desktop graphics card in the cloud. But if you’re grandfathered into the original $4.99 a month “Founders” tier, or pay $100 a year for “Priority” access, you may not be getting quite what you expected — because Nvidia has quietly revealed it’s capping the frame rates of 12 specific games to ensure consistent performance. Nvidia now has an official support page (via 9to5Google) explaining the practice, after Redditors and others revealed that a variety of games were locked to frame rates lower than 60fps. It appears that Nvidia’s been doing this for quite a while but only for a handful of demanding games. I did a little sea...

The classic X-Men: The Animated Series is getting a sequel series on Disney Plus in 2023: the newly announced X-Men ‘97, which “explores new stories in the iconic ‘90s timeline of the original series.” The announcement was made in the most fitting of fashions, of course: the “Sad Wolverine” meme from the original show. Beau DeMayo will be the head writer for the upcoming show, with original X-Men: The Animated Series showrunners Eric and Julia Lewald and director Larry Houston set to help consult on the show. Additionally, returning cast members Cal Dodd, Lenore Zann, George Buza, Alison Sealy-Smith, Chris Potter, Catherine Disher, Adrian Hough, and Christopher Britton will be part of X-Men ‘97, although Marvel’s announcement notes that while some of those actors will be reprising their ro...

President Biden has selected Robert Califf as his pick for the next head of the Food and Drug Administration, the White House announced today. Califf is currently a senior advisor for Verily Life Sciences and Google Health, two divisions of parent company Alphabet. He was brought on in 2019 to lead health strategy and policy for the groups. Califf, a cardiologist, previously served as the FDA commissioner during the last year of the Obama administration. He also founded the Duke Clinical Research Institute, which runs clinical trials. “As the FDA considers many consequential decisions around vaccine approvals and more, it is mission critical that we have a steady, independent hand to guide the FDA,” Biden said in a statement. “I am confident Dr. Califf will ensure that the FDA continues it...

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) wants to kill a $4,500 federal tax credit for union-made electric vehicles because he thinks they’re “wrong” and “not American.” And he picked an awfully tone-deaf moment to say this: at an event hosted by Toyota celebrating a $240 million investment in its West Virginia facility, where he accepted three giant novelty checks for charity from the Japanese automaker. The $4,500 tax credit proposal would be in addition to the $7,500 federal tax credit that currently exists (and which the White House is trying to extend) for electric vehicles. It would only go to buyers of EVs that were made by a union workforce — meaning pretty much just the Detroit-based automakers. Toyota has vehemently opposed the union-made tax credit along with Volkswagen and Honda. Tesla CEO E...

MiHoYo, the company behind the popular free-to-play game Genshin Impact, has given fanfiction writers the all-clear to create their own stories with the game’s characters or universe — even if they want to make money from their works (via Kotaku). Commercialized fanfiction has long existed in a legal gray area, and MiHoYo making clear rules about how fans can sell it and physical merchandise is a big move for such a popular video game. In an update to the rules for fan-made merchandise, posted on MiHoYo’s community site, the company said that “novels or stories written by fans” won’t need to be officially declared, “whether for profit or not.” That means that creators won’t have to fill out any forms letting the company know they intend to profit off of stories written about Genshin ...

It wasn’t too long ago that the idea of paying $800 for a Chromebook would get you laughed out of a room. In some circles, it still will. I myself have criticized all kinds of Chrome OS devices for being too expensive for what they offer, and I maintain that the $259.99 Chromebook Duet is one of the best bargains in today’s laptop market. So I opened up my review unit of Asus’ $828 Chromebook CX5 prepared to complain. While that would be a midrange price for a Windows laptop, it’s high for a Chromebook (and most other reviewers have panned the thing for its price). But the CX5 has done a great job of convincing me that my knee-jerk was misplaced — there’s almost nothing, apart from the operating system, separating this laptop from an excellent midrange Windows notebook. Chromebooks have gr...

A modified iPhone X that has a USB-C port instead of a Lightning port has sold on eBay for the princely sum of $86,001. The phone, which is the work of robotics engineering student Kenn Pillonel, can use the physical connector for both charging and transferring data. But Pillonel warns that the buyer shouldn’t use the groundbreaking device as a regular phone, take it apart, or update the OS — any of which could risk breaking it. The fact that the mod has sold for over eighty times its original sale price shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Although Pillonel has open-sourced his work on the project in a Github repository containing technical details, CNC instructions, and information on the custom PCB the design uses, actually replicating the modification is no mean feat. Especially since...

It’s Friday once again, and two more Fridays from now will be the big one: Black Friday. I bet you’re also thinking to yourselves, “Just where has the time gone?” Well, it’s flying by for all of us, and while our excellent (if I say so myself) Verge Deals team has been hard at work on our beautiful Verge Holiday Gift Guide for you to peruse and adding a bunch of hot early Black Friday deals to shop, we even have some exceptional deals for you today. First up, we have an exclusive deal on the Google Nest Learning Thermostat (third generation) for Verge readers. You can save $70 on the Nest Learning Thermostat at Wellbots. Use the coupon code THEVERGENEST through December 1st to bring the price of the stainless steel, white, or polished steel finishes all the way down to $179. This is one of...

If you’ve been holding off to catch Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings or Jungle Cruise on Disney Plus, today’s the day. More than a dozen films and series are arriving on the service today as part of the service’s Disney Plus Day celebration. The event kicks off at 6 AM PT/9 AM ET and will give viewers access to exclusive looks, teasers, trailers, and more. These will be unveiled throughout the morning, and fans will be able to follow along from Disney Plus’s official Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts. In addition, Disney Plus is dumping a veritable truckload of content onto its streaming service today, including: Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings Jungle Cruise Home Sweet Home Alone Olaf Presents A collection of fan-favorite shorts from Walt Disney Animation Studios...