Technology

If things go as expected, four new dedicated video game handhelds will launch this year. And each is primed to offer something different. The next Switch has a brighter, more vibrant OLED screen; Valve’s Steam Deck is a gaming PC in your hands; and Analogue’s Pocket handheld recreates the original Game Boy hardware while adding modern upgrades like a better LCD display and the option to connect to an HDTV. And then there’s the Playdate from Panic. Whereas the aforementioned handhelds are almost uniformly technological upgrades, the Playdate offers something much weirder. It looks kind of like a Game Boy that comes from an alien world. There are familiar elements, like a D-pad and face buttons, but many of its games are controlled by a crank that slots into the side. And those games are onl...

Google is updating its “about this result” feature for search results with an interesting new addition: context about how and why the company’s algorithm landed on the specific results for the links that it surfaces when you search for things. The company added the “about this result” information box earlier this year as a way to help users properly vet sources that they weren’t familiar with using data sourced from Wikipedia. The menu — accessed by clicking the triple dots at the corner of a search result— pops up and tries to provide additional background information about a website. The update that’s rolling out today, though, doesn’t add more context about websites that might appear in search results, but rather helps shine a light inward on Google’s algorithm and how it links search t...

Many websites — including banking pages, brokerages, and gaming services — were affected for just over an hour Thursday, as part of a major internet outage. During the outage, consumers were unable to access services like Ally Bank, Fidelity, Sony’s PlayStation Network, Airbnb, and more. Several airline sites were also affected: Delta, British Airways, and Southwest’s sites were either down, or had important functionality like flight check-ins broken. Many sites appear to be functional again after Akamai, a content delivery network that hosts much of the internet, started rolling out a fix to its service. “We are continuing to monitor the situation and can confirm this was not a result of a cyber attack on the Akamai platform” says Akamai in email to The Verge. It quickly became clear that...

Lucid Motors is on the precipice of completing a merger that will give the Saudi-owned electric vehicle startup $4.5 billion in fresh capital. But the deal is being held up, in part, by spam filters. The California-based startup is merging with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, called Churchill Capital IV that is already listed on the New York Stock Exchange. For the merger to go through, Churchill shareholders have to approve a number of proposals that outline the terms. That vote was supposed to close today, but Churchill extended the deadline to Friday because not enough shareholders have approved a key proposal. There are a few possible reasons why. The first is the spam filter issue. To participate in that vote, shareholders are sent a specific code. It’s possible, Churc...

We’re not saying they’ve been discontinued, but if you head over to Google’s online store in the US and Canada, you’ll find that there doesn’t seem to be any option to buy its second-generation true wireless Pixel Buds. Its more recent Pixel Buds A-Series are still available, but the dedicated listing for the Pixel Buds themselves has disappeared. Google won’t officially say whether the second-generation Pixel Buds are reaching the end of their life. What it will confirm is that they’re “out of stock in the Google Store in the US and Canada at this time” and that it doesn’t have additional stock. “Some third-party retailers may still have inventory available and they remain on sale in other markets as inventory allows,” a spokesperson says. “As inventory allows” definitely makes it sound l...

One way jet-setters can cut down on climate pollution from aviation is to choose more fuel-efficient itineraries — if they can figure out which flights pollute least. A passenger on a more fuel-efficient itinerary might generate 63 percent less carbon dioxide pollution on average than a passenger traveling to and from the same locations on a less efficient itinerary, a new report found. Cheaper flights tend to be more fuel-efficient There’s even more good news for consumers concerned about climate change: cheaper flights tend to be more fuel-efficient and thus less polluting. Itineraries among the cheapest 25 percentile of plane fares actually cut passengers’ emissions by about 55 percent compared to the most polluting itineraries, the report found. It’s possible airlines are passing on sa...

Through August 18th, a vast selection of digital PS4 and PS5 games are discounted through Sony’s online store. You can get these discounts through the consoles themselves, through the mobile app, or by signing in and purchasing them through its website here. There are 1,264 games and other kinds of content on sale, and it’s a great time to load up on PS5-exclusive games that rarely see a discount, as well as newer PS4 releases that are compatible on the newer console. Some of the standouts include Returnal for $49.69 (30 percent off its original price), Demon’s Souls for $49.69 (30 percent off), Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales for $35 (usually $50), and Hitman 3 for $30 (usually $60). The new Mass Effect Legendary Edition that includes the remastered trilogy of sci-fi action RPG games i...

After months of delays, director Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is actually coming out on October 22nd. That means that it’s time for the marketing to start spinning up for the film again, starting with a new trailer — the first in nearly a year — for the upcoming sci-fi epic. The new trailer gives a much better look at the actual story of Dune, which is set in a far-future interstellar empire that relies on a mysterious “spice” to enable trade and travel among the stars. That spice is only found on one planet, the desert world of Arrakis (hence the title), which leads to no small amount of conflict over who controls the world — and thus, the spice. Also, there are sandworms. SANDWORM Dune is based on the iconic science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, and the movie has a ridiculously packed cast ...

California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) says that renowned game publishing studio Blizzard Entertainment, and its owner Activision Blizzard, have created a culture of “constant sexual harassment” and gender-based discrimination, in a new lawsuit filed Tuesday that claims top executives were aware and/or involved. And in the hours since the suit was revealed, numerous women have already stepped forward to corroborate the allegations. The details are so disturbing that we’re going to start with a trigger warning right now. The idea that male employees held “cube crawls” is one of the tamer allegations in the lawsuit: Female employees almost universally confirmed that working for Defendants was akin to working in a frat house, which invariably involved male employees dri...

LG has announced an updated version of its high-tech, air-purifying face mask, the terribly-named LG PuriCare Wearable Air Purifier. The company hasn’t announced pricing or widespread availability, but says the PuriCare will launch in Thailand next month “with other markets to follow once approved by local regulators.” Between the ongoing pandemic and widespread air pollution, there’s reason to think there’ll be demand for products like this. LG first announced the mask last year, which uses replaceable air filters and built-in fans to filter the air. LG says the new version has a smaller and lighter motor, as well as built-in microphones and speakers that amplify the wearer’s voice. (Video of the original mask shows that it muffled speech quite effectively.) The latter technology, which L...

Instagram‘s latest feature promises to give its users more control over what they deem to be “sensitive content.” Instagram has defined “sensitive content” as posts that may “potentially be upsetting” to other users. These posts “don’t necessarily” break site rules, but could be seen as offensive to others including “sexually suggestive or violent” posts. According to their press release, Instagram will now provide a new feature called the Sensitive Content Control, where users can determine just how much or little sensitive content they see. Users will also have the option to leave things as is. An Instagram spokesperson said, “We’ve started to move in this direction with tools like the ability to turn off comments or restrict someone from interacting with you on Instagram. Today we’re ta...

Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey hopes that Bitcoin will bring “world peace.” During a Bitcoin webinar on Wednesday, the cryptocurrency advocate expressed his hopes that Bitcoin would create a better future.  “My hope is that it creates world peace or helps create world peace,” he said. “We have all these monopolies off balance and the individual doesn’t have power and the amount of cost and distraction that comes from our monetary system today is real and it takes away attention from the bigger problems.” Explaining how a more balanced economic and monetary system would help us focus on bigger issues, Dorsey went on to say that “All these distractions that we have to deal with on a daily basis take away from those bigger goals that affect every single person on this planet and incr...