Technology

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. Saturday is your last chance to get in on Best Buy’s multi-day sale, but don’t worry if you miss out. Black Friday is a few weeks away, and this year, retailers are offering very good sale prices almost every day. Wherever those deals come from, we’ll be putting them in deal posts for you to check out. What follows are the best deals that have made the rounds on The Verge earlier this week, as well as some new inclusions we think you’ll enjoy. Sony’s WH-1000XM4 wireless noise-canceling headphones com...

A jury in Texas has ruled that Apple has to pay VirnetX $502.8 million in royalties for VPN on Demand, a feature that lets iOS users access a VPN connection, Bloomberg reported. The two companies have been involved in a legal battle for ten years, with VirnetX— sometimes referred to as a patent troll — arguing that Apple’s VPN on Demand and FaceTime use its technology. Apple said in a statement it plans to appeal the decision: “This case has been going on for over a decade, with patents that are unrelated to the core operations of our products and have been found to be invalid by the patent office. Cases like this only serve to stifle innovation and harm consumers.” Earlier this year, a US appeals court rejected Apple’s request to reconsider a split decision ruling that found it infringed ...

Earlier this month, the public got its first glimpse of Iris Xe Max, Intel’s new discrete GPU for thin-and-light laptops, at an Acer press event. Today, Intel revealed the full first wave of laptops that will include this GPU, some of which are available for purchase now in certain countries. The laptops include the Acer Swift 3X, the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 2-in-1, and the Asus VivoBook Flip TP470. The Inspiron 15 is available in the US at Best Buy; Acer has previously said to expect the 3X in the US in December. Both the Swift 3X and the Inspiron 15 are also available in China through JD.com. Intel says the Asus VivoBook is coming “shortly” to both the US and China. Intel announced its Tiger Lake processors, including its new Xe integrated graphics, earlier this year.Photo by Monica Chin /...

Once again Riot has turned the opening ceremonies of the League of Legends World Championship final into a technological showcase. This year at Pudong Football Stadium in Shanghai, the ceremony was split into a few different parts: it opened with virtual K-pop group K/DA performed via augmented reality, which was followed by a melody of anthems from past Worlds events. At the end, as the players were introduced, a virtual, towering version of League character Galio — known as the stone colossus — appeared on stage. While the event wasn’t as visually impressive as last year’s holographic showcase, it was still an impressive feat considering the restraints created by the ongoing pandemic. The main cast of performers were virtual, but they were accompanied by a few dozen real-world dancers an...

With just a few days to go before the November 3rd presidential election, former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign has launched a new custom map in Fortnite. First reported by Mashable, the “Build Back Better with Biden” map is located in “Reboot City,” and is aimed at promoting the campaign’s message that the environment and economy are connected. The solo-player, adventure-type map takes about 20 to 30 minutes to play, and made its debut Friday night. “Our digital program is built around how people spend time, and the most effective ways reach them in those places,” Christian Tom, the Biden campaign’s director of digital partnerships said in a statement to The Verge. “We see interactive, digital-first experiences like gaming as an opportunity to bring our campaign to a new place and pl...

Sean Connery, the Scottish actor who brought James Bond to the silver screen as part of a four-decade career, has died at 90, the BBC reported. Connery played Ian Fleming’s 007 spy in seven films, starting with Dr. No in 1962, a role he got without taking a screen test, according to Variety. He reprised the role in From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds are Forever, and Never Say Never Again. Connery died in his sleep in the Bahamas, according to the BBC, and had been in poor health for some time. Over the course of his prolific career, Connery won an Oscar— Best Supporting Actor for the 1987 film The Untouchables— and three Golden Globe awards. His filmography also includes star turns in The Man Who Would Be King, The Hunt for Red October, Indiana Jo...

Google is introducing custom backgrounds for its Meet videoconferencing platform, the company announced in a blog post. If you use Meet in Google’s Chrome browser you should be able to access the feature in Chrome OS as well as on Windows and Mac laptops and desktops. The feature is “coming soon” to mobile, Google says. There’s no browser extension needed to activate custom backgrounds; you should be able to add a background image from your own photo collection or from a library of images provided by Google that includes landscapes, abstract art and (for some reason) offices. Google Meet custom backgroundsGoogle It may take up to a week before all Google Meet users can access the new custom background option, the company says. Rival videoconferencing services Microsoft Teams and Zoom both ...

One of the countless impacts of the coronavirus pandemic is that it halted the NYC Department of Sanitation’s recycling program that picks up your e-waste by appointment. The program is still paused, and it isn’t set to resume its normal cadence of accepting e-waste at drop-off sites until at least June 2021. Thankfully, you have a few short-term options if you need to get rid of some tech in the coming weeks. Earlier in the pandemic, the Lower East Side (LES) Ecology Center drop-off site near the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn permanently shut its doors. It was one of the few drop-off sites in New York City that accepted and recycled e-waste, diverting 1 million pounds of e-waste from landfills in 2018, according to Christine Datz-Romero, LES Ecology Center co-founder and executive director. H...

Lately, I’ve been thinking about pandemic safety and Swiss cheese. It’s an uninspiring cheese, but it’s a good visual metaphor for a layered approach to infection control. This ‘Swiss Cheese Model’ has been around since at least the 1990’s, when it was proposed as a way of thinking about how accidents happen. During the pandemic, it’s been pressed into a different kind of service, used to visualize disease prevention instead of accidents. In a pandemic as widespread as this one, no single action can keep a person from getting sick. There will always be flaws (holes) in any approach. Washing your hands won’t keep you from breathing in the virus — and wearing a cloth mask won’t completely protect you if you’re stuck in a stuffy room with an infected person. But stack them together with some ...

Everyone focuses on what’s blowing up on TikTok, but here’s something that’s been getting a bit of attention over on Byte: some playful little skeletons. Over the past month, designer Andre Zimmermann has been posting short looping clips of meddlesome skeletons getting into low-stakes hijinks, like running off with food from a table or knocking a plant off a ledge. “They sort of became these jerks,” Zimmermann said. “Like a cat.” They’re the furthest thing from spooky, but their mischievous antics feel a bit more comforting during what’s already a high-stress Halloween. Your browser does not support HTML5 video. My favorite of Zimmermann’s not-quite-spooky animations shows a humanoid collection of skulls dancing to a looping disco track. To make it, Zimmermann said he imported a motion-cap...

Almost a quarter of all transactions at Starbucks stores in the US are mobile orders through the company’s app, an earnings document revealed yesterday. Ordering ahead through the Starbucks app is the company’s suggested way to get in and out of its locations faster during the pandemic, hopefully making it easier to maintain social distancing in the process. Starbucks launched “Mobile Order & Pay” in 2015, combining the company’s existing payment system with new online ordering features that let you order ahead for pickup at stores. This week’s new stats show how popular that feature has become, slowly growing over time until it dramatically increased over the course of 2020 — from 17 percent at the end of last year all the way to 24 percent of US retail orders last quarter. Starbucks’...

Today, exactly one year after Apple first launched the AirPods Pro — and thus the same day the very first AirPods Pro owners will see their one-year warranties expire — Apple has launched a repair program that offers free repairs or replacements for another whole year if your AirPods Pro experience issues with noise cancellation or static. Specifically, Apple will fix: Crackling or static sounds that increase in loud environments, with exercise or while talking on the phone Active Noise Cancellation not working as expected, such as a loss of bass sound, or an increase in background sounds, such as street or airplane noise Apple says only a “small percentage of AirPods Pro” are affected by the issues, but it apparently wasn’t just an early batch — Apple says affected units were manufactured...