Technology

Over the span of just a few days, console gaming will change in a big way. That’s because both Sony and Microsoft are launching their next-generation consoles in the form of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X (along with the cheaper Series S). As with previous new consoles, a big focus is on power: these machines can play games in 4K, support features like ray tracing, and load gameplay experiences incredibly fast, thanks to SSDs. And with the exception of the budget-priced Series S, they’re also massive pieces of hardware, towering gaming consoles that will likely dominate your living room. But the biggest differences between the next Xbox and PlayStation have little to do with specs; they’re much more philosophical. For the Series X, Microsoft has focused on creating a unified experienc...

Three days after Election Day, President Trump is still tangling with moderators in an effort to spread false claims about supposed election fraud. The president tweeted eight times on Thursday night and saw fully half of the tweets restricted by Twitter, blocking retweets and replies as it has done with previous infractions. The tweets came after a lull of several hours, during which a number of the president’s surrogates sent out tweet-length statements through other channels. “Twitter is out of control,” the president said in one of the unlabeled tweets, “made possible through the government gift of Section 230!” The tweets include the allegation that election observers were prevented from entering counting stations in Philadelphia and Detroit, a claim contradicted by direct testimony f...

Xiaomi has announced the Mi Box 4S Pro, a streaming box capable of 8K video playback. The product was revealed on Weibo and is already available to order in China for 399 yuan, or about $60. The box has 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and supports HDMI 2.1. It comes with a Bluetooth remote that offers voice control. It’s not clear exactly which services will have 8K content available, or whether there are other ways to view your own 8K files on the device. The Mi Box 4S Pro runs Xiaomi’s own MIUI for TV software. A company representative tells Android Authority that there are currently no plans to share for a global release, although Google’s own new Chromecast is an excellent option in the US at $49.99. (But no 8K support, of course.) Xiaomi briefly made the only Android TV streaming player ...

Panasonic is working with one of Japan’s biggest railway companies to solve a new problem that has sprung up in recent years: a rise in people dropping wireless earbuds onto train tracks. JR East, the part of Japan’s formerly private railway group that covers the Tokyo and Tohoku regions of the country, says that there were 950 incidents of dropped earbuds across 78 Tokyo train stations in the July-September quarter, Jiji Press reports. The figure apparently accounts for a quarter of all dropped items. According to JR East, station staff normally use a grabber-style “magic hand” tool to pick up larger items that fall onto tracks, like hats or smartphones. But the gravel between the rails makes smaller objects — like, say, a left AirPod Pro — more difficult to retrieve, meaning staff someti...

For people who stumbled their way onto One American News Network (OANN)’s YouTube channel over the last few days, it might be easy to think President Trump won the 2020 election. Videos titled “Trump won. Dems try to pull a fast one” and “Trump Won. MSM hopes you don’t believe your eyes,” started appearing on OANN’s YouTube channel on November 4th — one day after people cast their votes in the federal election. The videos are full of lies predicated on people’s fears that would trigger moderation on another network, including: “It appears that Trump won by such a large margin, now they’re actually pumping out illegal ballots into the battleground states to actually beat him.” “They think that they can add 100,000 votes that no one gets to see or review, and all 100,000 votes are for Joe Bi...

Apple’s iPhone 12 and 12 Pro are the “default” size iPhones this year. But Apple also has two more new devices: the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max. One is Apple’s smallest iPhone in years — and the other is its biggest iPhone ever. Here’s a first look: From left to right: the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max. iPhone 12 mini If you’ve seen the iPhone 12 already, it’s basically that, but smaller. Same processor, same cameras, same design, same everything. But instead of a 6.1-inch screen, the iPhone mini has a 5.4-inch display. But thanks to the iPhone X-style bezel-less design, the 12 mini is actually a physically smaller phone compared to the bezeled, 4.7-inch design that Apple has used on the iPhone 6, 6S, 7, 8, and the new version of the SE. And by the standards...

Facebook is seeing an increase in worrying activity around the US election, according to reports from The New York Times and BuzzFeed News. According to BuzzFeed News, which viewed a post on Facebook’s internal message board, the company has been tracking a rise in “violence and incitement trends” associated with hashtags and keywords. Facebook did not respond for comment about a potential rise in the organization of violent activity on its platform by the time of publication, but Facebook spokesperson Liz Bourgeois told BuzzFeed News that the company is “staying vigilant in detecting content that could incite violence during this time of heightened uncertainty.” In a statement given to The Verge and others, Facebook said that the company is seeing a rise in misinformation about the electi...

Facebook plans to put the name of the winner of the US presidential election at the top of Facebook and Instagram once it’s been projected by a majority of media outlets, the company says. The company also will label presidential candidates’ posts with a link to its voting information center, according to Facebook spokesperson Tom Reynolds. The company plans to “show the candidate’s name in notifications at the top of Facebook and Instagram that say ‘A Presidential Winner Has Been Projected — <name> is the projected winner of the 2020 US Presidential Election,’” Reynolds explained in an email to The Verge. Facebook will put the name of the winner of the US election on Facebook and InstagramFacebook Facebook will rely on “a majority opinion from Reuters as well as independent decision...

Facebook and TikTok have blocked hashtags that were being used to spread misinformation and conspiracy theories about the presidential election. The hashtags generally revolved around unfounded claims that Democrats are trying to manipulate the election to defeat President Trump. On Facebook, the blocked hashtags include #stopthesteal, which has been broadly used to make unsubstantiated claims of election fraud by Democrats, and #sharpiegate, which incorrectly alleges that the use of Sharpie markers caused Trump votes to go uncounted in Arizona. TikTok blocked #sharpiegate, #stopthesteal, and the more general term #riggedelection. Both sets of blocked hashtags were spotted by TechCrunch. Social media companies have been trying to quickly stamp out election misinformation this week While Tw...

Elon Musk has branched out from rockets and cars into booze — as Tesla has launched Tesla Tequila on its website today. If you have $250 burning a hole in your pocket, you can pick up your very own lightning-shaped bottle. A screenshot of Tesla’s website. The original branding was Teslaquila, but that must have been jettisoned somewhere along the way. (Well, the idea did start as an April Fools’ Day joke.) Orders are limited to two bottles, and only people in some states can receive them because of “industry regulations.” Elon was found passed out against a Tesla Model 3, surrounded by “Teslaquilla” bottles, the tracks of dried tears still visible on his cheeks. This is not a forward-looking statement, because, obviously, what’s the point? Happy New Month! pic.twitter.com...

Cable networks, broadcast networks and Twitter cut short their broadcasts of President Donald Trump’s speech from the White House briefing room Thursday; some outlets fact-checked the president’s unproven statements rather than carry them live. Trump began his remarks by baselessly claiming that Democrats were committing “fraud” and trying to “steal” the election. “If you count the legal votes, I easily win,” the president said, even though the counting of legal votes is still happening. There are several key states, including Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Arizona, which are still tallying votes. Neither the president nor the Democratic nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, has enough electoral college votes yet to win. Many of those votes are mail-in ballots, including from active militar...

Apple debuted a collection of privacy features when it announced iOS 14, but the company’s privacy “nutrition label” concept did not arrive with the launch of the new operating system in September. Today, Apple announced that developers will be required to provide the information for those “labels” starting December 8th. Like a normal nutrition label that lists ingredients and caloric content, these privacy “labels” should give you a better idea of what’s going on inside an app before you download it from the iOS App Store or Mac App Store. The labels will list what information an app collects, and present that visually on the app page, much like looking at the backs of labels in a grocery store. A mockup of an iPhone displaying the App Store labelsImage: Apple The catch, of course, is tha...