Technology

A new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says the 2021 iPhone may have an always-on display similar to Apple’s Watch, and which Android phones have had for some time. Gurman wrote in his Power On newsletter that the phones will have improved battery life, a smaller notch on the screen, better video recording, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a faster A15 chip. It isn’t the first time a leak has suggested Apple is working on always-on screens for upcoming iPhones. Leaker Max Weinbach hinted earlier this year that Apple may use the same kind of low temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) panels that its Watches have on future iPhones. That’s in keeping with Bloomberg’s previous reporting that “at least one” of the four new iPhones will include an LTPO display. The technology dynamically adjusts W...

Following the tweet last week confirming Square‘s plans for making a hardware wallet for Bitcoin,  Twitter and Square founder Jack Dorsey has announced that Square is planning on creating a new business, joining existing Seller, Cash App, and Tidal products, with the sole goal of making it easy to create “noncustodial, permissionless, and decentralized financial services,” with a focus on Bitcoin. Details regarding this new platform currently dubbed “TBD” are yet to be revealed, but similar to the new Bitcoin hardware wallet, this project will be completely open-source with Github accounts to be announced soon. TBD has established a Twitter account with a yellow cap with “@TBD54566975” writing as the profile picture and a meme picture of Drake as the cover photo. Jack Dorsey and colla...

One of the most powerful new features in iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey, is Focus mode. At its core, a Focus mode is a more customizable version of Apple’s existing Do Not Disturb and is accessed from the same menu on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. But Focus modes are far more customizable, allowing for more granular triggers for when you’re filtering out notifications. To set up a Focus, head over to “Settings” > “Focus” and hit the plus button to add a new Focus. You’ll also be able to see existing Focus modes that you’ve set up and edit them. Apple offers a variety of preset Focus modes to start with, including Personal, Work, Fitness, Gaming, Reading, and more. You’re not limited to Apple’s preset suggestions, though some of the presets — like the Driving, Fitness, or Gaming ones — ...

You’re not having deja vu. Six years after launching a line of Linux game consoles that went down as one of the biggest tech flops of the past decade, Valve is trying once again. Only this time, its Steam Machine dreams and unusual touchpads have been rolled into a 7-inch handheld PC that looks and works like a Nintendo Switch. It’s called the Steam Deck, and you can read all about its specs, extensive controls and TV docking station right here. I’m not deluding myself into thinking it’s a Switch-killer. (Even if the Steam Deck’s $399 starting price might seem close to Nintendo’s $350 Switch with OLED screen, you’re not getting Mario, Zelda and Metroid on a Steam Deck.) But having watched Valve closely over the past nine years, I don’t believe it will flop like the Steam Machines either. H...

Online-only British supermarket Ocado has had to cancel some customers’ delivery orders after a Friday robot collision at one of its warehouses caused a fire, the company said. The fire at the company’s Erith warehouse east of London “appears to have been caused by the collision of three bots on the grid,” the company said in a statement on Sunday. No one was injured, and the damage was limited to less than 1 percent of its grid, according to Ocado. The grocer’s warehouses are populated with washing machine-sized robots that move products around on a grid system. The Verge’s James Vincent wrote about Ocado’s plans in a 2018 feature story. He described the process: Deliveries are unpacked into crates; crates are placed onto conveyors; and conveyors carry the crates to shelves, where human “...

Intuit, the parent company of tax filing software TurboTax, is exiting an IRS program that allows many Americans to file their taxes for free. The IRS partners with the Free File Alliance, a nonprofit coalition of tax software companies that offer no-cost tax filing services for the Free File program. Intuit says in a blog post on its website that part of the reason it’s leaving Free File— which is available to 2020 filers with adjusted gross income of $72,000 or less— is the “restraints” of the program. “With the Free File program surpassing its founding goals of e-file and free tax preparation, and due to the limitations of the Free File program and conflicting demands from those outside the program, we are not able to continue in the program and deliver all of the benefits that can help...

Since 2019, Amazon has sold nearly 400,000 hair dryers that could shock someone if they fell into a pool of water, 24,000 carbon monoxide detectors that didn’t actually detect carbon monoxide, and an unspecified number of “children’s sleepwear garments” that didn’t meet flammability requirements, according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Now, the US safety regulator wants to force Amazon to recall those products. This past week, it sued the company in a case that could be the latest to hold Amazon accountable for products offered by its third-party sellers. But here’s the thing: Amazon has already recalled these specific products. They’re no longer for sale. Amazon says, and the CPSC acknowledges, that the giant retailer has already stopped selling these products, alre...

Facebook continued its pushback Saturday against President Biden’s comment that social media platforms were “killing people” with COVID-19 misinformation, in a blog post from its vice president of integrity Guy Rosen. The post states that the “facts tell a very different story to the one promoted by the administration in recent days.” “At a time when COVID-19 cases are rising in America, the Biden administration has chosen to blame a handful of American social media companies,” Rosen wrote. “While social media plays an important role in society, it is clear that we need a whole of society approach to end this pandemic. And facts — not allegations — should help inform that effort.” (The post was titled “Moving Past the Finger Pointing: Support for COVID-19 vaccines is high on Facebook and g...

Though we’re hitting the sleepy, dog-days of summer and there aren’t any big sale events on the horizon, there are still plenty of great deals out there if you know where to look. This week we found bargains on bundles of Google’s Nest Hub and Nest Thermostat, HyperX’s excellent gaming headset, the best Chromebook you can get right now, and Amazon’s kids-focused Fire HD tablets. Check them out below. For a limited time, you can pick up a Google Nest Hub (second-gen) and a budget-friendly Nest Thermostat for $167 through BuyDig’s official storefront on eBay. If you prefer a smart speaker over a thermostat, BuyDig is also offering the same Hub model with a Google Nest Audio for $140, more than $100 off what they would cost if you were to purchase them separately. Read our review. Google Nest...

Podcasting can be a fun and incredibly creative field — but also a very demanding one. Your skill set not only has to include familiarity with a variety of audio hardware and software, but you also need imagination, a good feel for what will sound good to your audience, and a very sensitive ear. Andrew Marino is The Verge’s senior audio director, and is responsible for producing almost everything you hear in our podcasts. We asked him to show us his desks — both of them — and tell us a bit about them, and about himself. What is your background, and what do you do at The Verge? Hello! I am an audio engineer / creator living in Brooklyn, NY. My background is mostly in audio / visual technology, whether that is making music, podcasting, video producing, or playing with fun media formats. That...

Tesla has started offering a monthly subscription for its Full Self Driving package for $199 per month (h/t Electrek). Tesla owners who bought the since-discontinued Enhanced Autopilot package can get the FSD subscription for $99 per month, according to Tesla’s support page. Until now the automaker had sold its FSD package for a one-time fee of $10,000, but the monthly subscription lets users test-drive (literally) the FSD features without a long-term commitment. Tesla owners can cancel their monthly FSD subscription at any time, according to the terms on the Tesla website. Only Teslas that have the FSD computer hardware 3.0 (HW3) or above plus either Basic or Enhanced Autopilot configurations are eligible to subscribe to FSD; other owners can purchase a hardware upgrade for $1,500 to make...

The Sony Xperia 1 III is a great phone that I won’t recommend to many people. Once again, Sony has created a beautiful device with some unique, marquee features like a 4K-ish OLED 120Hz screen, great photo-taking amenities like a physical shutter button and a high-quality manual camera app, and top-notch hardware for entertainment consumption, like dual front-facing speakers and an honest-to-god headphone jack. You won’t find that combination among the other big-name flagships on the market. But reader, it is $1,300. That’s a $100 increase over last year’s model, and more than an iPhone 12 Pro Max ($1,199) or a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra ($1,249, but often on sale for less) with an equivalent 256GB of storage. That is simply a lot to ask someone to pay for a phone. Verge Score 7.5 out of 10 ...