Technology

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. The Oculus Quest 2 is an all-around solid piece of hardware, and it’s a very popular holiday gift since there are some great deals happening now. But anyone who already owns one can tell you that the company’s straps leave a lot to be desired. The cloth strap included in the box isn’t supportive, and while the $50 Elite Strap addresses that, it’s quite fragile. Mine broke within a year of normal use, and surfing Oculus’ Reddit page will show you that some people’s straps meet a similar fate. A popula...

Banking organizations in the United States have set out to clarify what role banks can play in the cryptocurrency economy. In a statement released on Tuesday, the three agencies — The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency — said that they had collectively conducted “policy sprints,” a method of preliminary analysis, on the various issues that may arise when banking with crypto. The agencies said that while the emerging cryptocurrency market “presents potential opportunities and risks for banking organizations,” they wanted to “provide coordinated and timely clarity” in order to protect customers and assure compliance with existing laws and regulations, as well as determine if certain ventures ar...

Spotify is testing a new TikTok-style video feed in its beta iOS app that shows fullscreen video clips as songs are played, TechCrunch reports. The feature was first spotted by Chris Messina, who posted a video of the feed in action. When available, the video feed is accessible from a new fourth tab in the navigation bar labelled “Discover.” Individual tracks can then be liked as you scroll through the feed, and there’s also a three dot menu icon to bring up options for each song. Spotify confirmed the test in a statement provided to TechCrunch, but declined to comment on if or when it might see a wider rollout. “At Spotify, we routinely conduct a number of tests in an effort to improve our user experience,” a spokesperson said. “Some of those tests end up paving the way for our broader us...

For the first time, the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, has agreed to testify in front of Congress over the app’s potential dangers and negative impact on young people. Mosseri is expected to appear before the Senate panel the week of December 6 over a series of hearings regarding the protection of children from online scenarios. Mosseri’s appearance comes after this year’s hearing with Meta‘s global head of safety, Antigone Davis and former employee turned whistle-blower Frances Haugen. Davis’ concerns regarding Instagram and Facebook’s effects on teenagers, particularly young girls have caused quite a stir amongst the public, politicians, as well as regulators. Earlier this September, Davis shared with congress that the company ran a research that confirmed that Instagram was in fact co...

The Pentagon has officially established a task force specifically to deal with UFO sightings. Named the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group, the new task force succeeds the previous Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force from the U.S. Navy and will focus on detecting and identifying UFOs within American airspace. Its establishment follows from a report back in June when the Office of the Director of National Intelligence found that out of 144 “unidentified aerial phenomenon” sightings, only one case was solved, with all other cases having too little data for proper determination. “Incursions by any airborne object into our [Special Use Airspace] pose safety of flight and operations security concerns, and may pose national security challenges,” an official ...

After the recent announcement renaming of Staples Center to Crypto.com Arena, the news has now caused Crypto.com‘s currency, CRO token, to increase approximately 70% in value. The cryptocurrency company, which is based out of Singapore, is expected to shell out $700 million USD over 20-years for the renaming of the building. This is expected to be the greatest deal of its kind in history. Forbes recently reported that the value of CRO has gone up at least 69.9% since last week’s announcement. It reportedly ” hit an all-time-high of $0.7984 on Sunday…making it the 13th largest cryptocurrency by market cap.” At the start of the month, CRO was only trading for just $0.2097 USD. CoinShares International’s chief strategy officer Meltem Demirors recently commented on the upward movement sta...

There is never a better time to dive into the smart home than Black Friday and its close cousin Cyber Monday. Traditionally, tech deals on home gadgets are huge this time of year, plus, it’s the only time you’ll find real bargains on gear from some of the smaller companies, such as Eve, Level, and Nanoleaf. Whether you’re thinking about dipping a toe into this home automation shindig with a smart speaker or maybe a connected door lock, or want to bolster an already impressive smart home setup, it’s worth investing some cash this holiday season. Also, if you just want to upgrade your home cleaning routine or have a way to check in on Fido now that you’re back at work (the separation anxiety is real), this is a good time to get a great bargain on smart cameras, robot vacuums, and even a smar...

Pinterest has settled a lawsuit brought against it by shareholders who claimed that the company’s workplace discrimination against women and racial minorities hurt its reputation, according to NBC News. The company reportedly agreed to spend $50 million on improving its diversity and equity, and will let former employees talk about racial or gender discrimination they experienced, even if they were bound by a non-disclosure agreement. Other financial details of the settlement weren’t disclosed. The lawsuit was filed against the company’s executives in November 2020, with shareholder claiming that the company was acting irresponsibly by doing nothing to address “widespread claims of race and gender discrimination.” The complaint also accused the company’s CEO of “surrounding himself with ye...

As of last Thursday night, ConstitutionDAO found itself in possession of around $49.8 million it wasn’t able to spend. The group’s organizers only had a mandate to spend the crowdfunded money on one thing — a rare copy of the US Constitution that they failed to win at auction — so instead of trying to get community approval to use the money toward some other goal, they instead began the process of returning the funds to backers. Returning that much money has been a tricky process, though. Backers have to manually request refunds, so even a week later, tens of millions of dollars are still sitting in ConstitutionDAO’s pockets. And because all of the money was collected in Ether, and sending funds over Ethereum incurs high transaction costs, getting money back has become an expensive proposi...

It has been less than a year since NBA Top Shot served as an introduction for many sports fans into the world of NFTs, and now the NFL is lining up a similar arrangement. In September, the league announced a partnership with the company that runs Top Shot, Dapper Labs, and now we know the name of the service that will distribute the video highlight clips that make up the “Moments” that become NFTs: NFL All Day. This effort is separate from the Ticketmaster-powered NFTs that the NFL is tying to selected games this season (like the Lions’ annual Thanksgiving appearance on national TV), but launching the branding now doesn’t feel like a coincidence. There will be many blockchain and NFT discussions amongst family members on Thursday, between these NFL promotions and even the Macy’s parade. NF...