Technology

Comcast is announcing a new version of its hexagon-shaped xFi Pods, the mesh Wi-Fi extender pods it sells to extend Wi-Fi networks around your house, with more Wi-Fi bandwidth (up to 500Mbps, which it says is twice as fast) and a second wired Ethernet port on each pod as well. (Disclosure: Comcast is an investor in Vox Media, The Verge’s parent company.) The company originally began selling its Wi-Fi extender pods to consumers in 2018 in packs of three or six plugs, but the new ones come in packs of one or two. Comcast is recommending one pod for a 3-4 bedroom house, and two for 5+ bedrooms or houses with thick walls — which were its same recommendations for its 3-pack and 6-packs respectively, before. Image: Comcast Similar to its predecessor, the xFi Pods maintain a six-sided polygonal d...

macOS Big Sur, Apple’s upcoming release of its Mac operating system, will finally let you watch 4K HDR Netflix content, but it turns out it’ll only work on 2018 or later Macs with Apple’s T2 security chip, according to a new Netflix support document (via Apple Terminal). That means the full list of Macs that can watch 4K content on Netflix, at least for now, is as follows: iMac (2020) iMac Pro Mac Pro (2019) Mac mini (2018) MacBook Air (2018 or later) MacBook Pro (2018 or later) There’s an easy way to check whether your Mac has a T2 chip, as Apple points out on its website. Disappointingly, older iMacs and pre-2018 Mac laptops that could theoretically play Netflix 4K content, whether on their built-in displays or via an 4K or 5K external monitor, won’t be able to. It’s not clear why the T2...

If you’re not the inbox zero type — and I’m definitely not — you might sometimes rely on Gmail’s “Select all conversations that match this search” option to read, archive, or delete hundreds or thousands of messages at once. Except we can’t do that anymore, and neither can a number of angry Gmail users we’ve spotted. The option has up and disappeared. @gmail Hey, how come there’s no longer an option to “Select all conversations” to mark thousands as read at once? I’m typing “is: unread” + selecting the “All” check box, but instead of “Select all conversations” at the top of my screen, it says “No results found”…? pic.twitter.com/dercwGE5OE — Laura McQuillan (@mcquillanator) September 30, 2020 incredible that the ...

Jeffree Star, one of YouTube’s most prominent figures and the owner of a multimillion-dollar cosmetics company, is being accused of sexual misconduct and other bouts of physical violence, according to a new report from Insider. Insider spoke to four people who said Star “groped men around him without consent” and five people who said they saw Star use a short-range stun device on people as a means to intimidate them. Star’s attorney denied all allegations made in the Insider piece, which goes back years to Star’s days as a MySpace celebrity in the late 2000s. The story describes alleged instances of Star using his celebrity and influence to reportedly harm people around him. In one instance, Star allegedly tased a homeless teen he knew, invited him back to his apartment, gave the teen Ambi...

In Android 11, Google has added new functionality to its multitasking pane or recent apps view — that handy flow of thumbnails that lets you view all your active apps and choose which one you want to use. As of Android 10, you’ve been able to choose from three different ways, not only to access your multitasking pane, but to navigate your home screen. These three methods are named, appropriately, after the types of buttons that appear at the bottom of the screen: gesture navigation, two-button navigation, and three-button navigation. In this article, I’ll explain how Android 11 added a couple of interesting features to two out of the three methods. But first, here’s how you switch from one to the other. Pull down from the top of the screen to access your app drawer, and tap on your setup i...

Respawn’s battle royale Apex Legends is getting its long-awaited crossplay feature next week, the developer announced on Thursday. Crossplay will arrive on October 6th alongside the new limited-time “Aftermarket Collection” event. The feature, first announced back in June, is launching into beta for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC platforms, meaning those three groups of players will be able to play with and against one another for the first time since the game’s February 2019 launch. There won’t, however, be cross-progression, meaning you can’t take your console account with you to PC or vice versa, as you can in games like Destiny 2, Fortnite, and Warzone. Get revved up for the Aftermarket Collection Event. Take part in the cross-play beta, dive into the new “Flashpoint” LTM, take on cha...

For anyone who wanted to watch Mulan but didn’t want to sign up for Disney Plus, the movie is heading to Amazon, FandangoNow, Vudu, and other digital retailers on October 6th. The film is currently available to preorder for $29.99. Mulan debuted on Disney Plus on September 4th as a “Premier Access” title. Disney Plus subscribers could spend an additional $30 to own the film. In order to keep the film, however, they had to keep up their Disney Plus subscription, which costs $6.99 a month. Now, Disney is making the movie available (for purchase) to anyone, anywhere. Mulan is available to preorder in SD, HD, or 4K UHD. Disney’s decision to move Mulan, which was originally intended for a theatrical release, to Disney Plus came at a pivotal moment for the company. Like other studios, Disney’s t...

Bossa Studios, the developer behind the cult classic Surgeon Simulator and the recently released Surgeon Simulator 2, has taken the bold step of making Surgeon Simulator 2 free for doctors, nurses, and surgeons working in Britain’s National Health Service. To get your copy, all you need is a working NHS email address, a PC, and this link. The Surgeon Simulator franchise is known for its antic, physics-based model of surgery; it is in no way similar to the actual thing itself, which for casual players is a blessing. “Surgeon Simulator 2 is absolutely NOT a viable medical training tool,” said Dr. Idris Morgan in a press release. Morgan is a real doctor who also streams and makes YouTube videos under the name Doctor Mim. A screenshot of Surgeon Simulator 2. Bossa Studios “However, I do enjoy ...

Google’s new Chromecast can run Microsoft’s xCloud if you’re prepared to sideload the game streaming service, The Verge can confirm. The functionality was previously demonstrated over on Reddit by u/kiddj55, and we’ve since been able to install the Xbox Game Pass app on our own hardware and access cloud streaming to play Gears of War 5. Much like Google’s Stadia game streaming service which also works, xCloud isn’t yet officially supported on Google’s new hardware. That means you’ll have to sideload xCloud if you want to install it. The process involves finding an APK for the Xbox Game Pass app online, finding a way to transfer it to your dongle (here’s a guide from Android Police on doing exactly that), and then change the Chromecast settings to allow apps installs from “Unknown Sources.”...

Today, let’s talk about a couple little things that could turn into a big thing. In January 2019, Mike Isaac reported a noteworthy development about Facebook at the New York Times. In the months to come, he said, Facebook would unify the technical infrastructure powering Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. To the user, these changes would be invisible. But to Facebook itself, there were clear strategic imperatives to merge the apps. Among them: the move came just as the US government was beginning to consider an effort to break the company up. In the nearly two years since, the government’s effort has accelerated. On September 15th, the Wall Street Journal reported that an antitrust case against the company could come by the end of the year. But Facebook’s effort to puree its family of apps...

Google’s fall hardware presentation was a slickly-produced 30-minute affair with four products, as expected. You can experience it with our liveblog here or catch up on the biggest announcements here. Outside of some very neat software tricks, there were no big surprises. But it turns out that we didn’t know every single detail there was to know about the Pixel 5 and the Pixel 4A 5G. And with every new small detail it became clear that Google has decided to play it extremely safe with these phones. Every decision it made was about bringing costs down without compromising the fundamentals. “What the world doesn’t seem like it needs right now is another $1,000 phone,” hardware boss Rick Osterloh told a small group of reporters after the event. I asked him directly if these phones were design...