Technology

Starting today, US Twitter users will get prompts in their home timelines to encourage them to vote early, as the November 3rd presidential election approaches. The updates will include push alerts directing to on-Twitter public service announcements, prompts to vote early and find early voting options from nonpartisan voting advocacy group BallotReady, and interactive features, including an animated “like” button” and custom emoji for the hashtags #VoteEarly, #IVoted, #IVotedEarly, and #YoVoté. “As voters face unprecedented challenges when casting their ballot in the upcoming 2020 US elections, Twitter is doing what we can to ensure that people have access to the reliable information they need in order to exercise their right to vote,” the company said in a blog post authored by Twitter p...

Microsoft is bringing Xbox touch controls to 10 games on its xCloud game streaming service today. xCloud launched last month with just Minecraft Dungeons supporting these new touch controls, but the list now includes big names like Streets of Rage 4, Dead Cells, and Killer Instinct. These touch controls will allow players to play games without an Xbox One controller. “Touch controls have been one of the top-requested features for cloud gaming,” explains Catherine Gluckstein, Microsoft’s head of Project xCloud. “For each title that uses Xbox touch controls we’ve worked to create an experience designed specifically for that game on mobile devices.” Microsoft has been working with game designers and players to mimic the controls you’d normally find on a physical controller. Xbox touch control...

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. If you were tossing around picking up Apple’s new iPad Air, which my colleague Dieter Bohn says is the best tablet for most people despite costing $600, it won’t actually cost you $600 to buy one at Walmart and Amazon. Right now, you can pick up a 64GB base model in green for $560. This is a relatively small discount, all said, but any deal on the as-of-yet unreleased iPad Air that features USB-C charging, a brand-new design, and powerful internal specs is a good one in my book. Apple iPad Air (2020)...

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved subpoenas on Thursday to force Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to testify before the body regarding complaints of anti-conservative bias on their platforms. Last week, the New York Post published a report alleging that Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son, introduced his father to an executive at the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. For months, President Trump’s reelection campaign has targeted Biden’s alleged connections to Ukraine as the foundation of political attacks. Reporters disputed the Post’s allegations, and Facebook and Twitter moved to reduce the article’s reach. Facebook signaled that the article was subject to third-party fact-checking, and Twitter banned linking to the story entirely. This lit a fire under Republican...

Porsche’s all-electric Taycan is the first car to get full Apple Podcasts integration, allowing owners to natively access Apple’s library of 1.5 million shows see its podcast charts, the company has announced. The car’s infotainment system is also getting support for Apple Music’s lyrics feature, which will be displayed on the passenger-side display. The features are available in new Taycan cars now, and will roll out to existing cars in January, the company says. Apple Podcasts has previously been available to stream to the Taycan’s infotainment system via Apple CarPlay, but the native app means you don’t have to connect your phone to start listening. It also means the app can stream over the vehicle’s built-in data connection (you get three years of data with the purchase of the car). Ap...

Microsoft announced a new effort today to reduce pollution coming from some of its employees’ flights. It plans to buy credits for sustainable aviation fuel to cover travel on the commercial flight routes most frequented by its employees during business trips. It will buy the credits from Dutch company SkyNRG, which will then supply cleaner-burning fuel to Alaska Airlines. The less-polluting flights will be operated by Alaska Airlines for travel between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (near Microsoft’s corporate headquarters) and San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles international airports. The fuel could emit 80 percent fewer CO2 emissions The fuel that SkyNRG provides would be made in the US with used cooking oil or other plant oils. When it’s burned, the fuel could emit 75 perce...

Ubisoft is merging its loyalty program, Ubisoft Club, and desktop app Uplay into Ubisoft Connect, the developer announced. In addition to a rewards program, it will introduce crossplay and cross-progression in games such as Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Watch Dogs: Legion. The new hub will be available for free, but it requires a Ubisoft account. Ubisoft Connect “aims at giving the best environment for all players to enjoy their games and connect with each others whatever the device,” Ubisoft said. Players who use the service will be able to earn Ubisoft Connect XP for playing games and completing in-game challenges. Gaining XP will allow players to level up their Ubisoft Connect accounts, which will award a second currency, Units, that can be used to unlock various rewards for different g...

Tesla sent out the first “Full Self-Driving” beta software update to a select group of customers this week, CEO Elon Musk tweeted Tuesday. On an earnings call Wednesday, Musk said more Tesla owners would get the update as the weeks progress, with the goal of a “wide release” by the end of the year. Only those customers in Tesla’s Early Access Program will receive the software update, that will enable drivers to access Autopilot’s partially automated driver assist system on city streets. The early access program is used as a testing platform to help iron out software bugs. FSD beta rollout happening tonight. Will be extremely slow & cautious, as it should. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 20, 2020 Musk said that Tesla was approaching this software update “very cautiously” because the “wo...

Facebook Dating, the social network’s competitor to Tinder and other dating apps, launches today in Europe after a long delay from its planned Valentine’s Day debut. The dating service offers the same features in Europe as it does in the US, using the existing profile you’ve created on Facebook to find potential matches. Facebook tailors these matches with your preferences, Facebook activity, and, if you opt in, groups and events. Facebook originally planned to launch its dating service in Europe back in February While the service still only appears as a tab in Facebook’s mobile app, it’s deeply integrated with the rest of the social giant’s products. Your profile can pull stories and photos from Instagram, you can initiate Messenger video calls from chats, and the splashy Secret Crush fea...

NASA shared astonishing images of its OSIRIS-REx spacecraft touching an asteroid yesterday, revealing how the vehicle stirred up rocks and debris on the object’s surface when it made contact. The goal of the tap was to collect a sample of material from the asteroid, but the engineers behind the spacecraft say they won’t for sure if they collected anything until this weekend, when they spin the vehicle and measure how much material is inside. “the sampling event went really well, as good as we could have imagined.” However, the OSIRIS-REx team feels confident that they got something. “Bottom line is from analysis of the images that we’ve gotten down so far, is that the sampling event went really well, as good as we could have imagined it would,” Dante Lauretta, the principal investigator of...

National security officials announced Wednesday that Iran and Russia obtained voter registration information that could support efforts to interfere in the 2020 presidential election. The officials also confirmed that Iran sent threatening emails designed to intimidate voters. “Iran and Russia have taken specific actions to influence public opinion relating to our election. Some voter registration information has been obtained by Iran and separately by Russia,” Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said in a press conference Wednesday evening. “This data can be used by foreign actors to attempt to convey misinformation.” “Do not allow these efforts to have their intended effect” Voter registration information is often publicly available, so there’s no indication that either Iran...

I’m not going to pretend it makes obvious sense, but famed former Apple designer Jony Ive and his firm LoveFrom will soon be working for Airbnb. Yes, the company that primarily makes it easy for you to rent someone else’s home needs design help, and they’re going to the man best known for turning consumer tech on its head — as well as the occasional all-diamond diamond ring, a Christmas tree that is actually just a tree, and a magazine cover with no content. So if you’ve been been put off renting one of Airbnb’s recently introduced, exorbitantly priced Luxe accommodations because they have too many furnishings, perhaps this is just the ticket? Dude loves minimalism. A “multi-year relationship” Airbnb is calling the deal a “special collaboration” as well as a “multi-year relationship to des...