Technology

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...

With just a week to go until the PlayStation 5’s launch, Sony has shared three new videos to help people set up their new consoles on launch day. The videos not only give us a better look at the console’s new UI, but also reveal a few handy features in the PS5’s settings. One video shows how to set up your PlayStation account on the new console. After you connect your PS5 to the internet, you’ll be presented with two ways to sign in. One option is to fill in standard sign-in ID and password boxes, a process that I personally dread — it’s cumbersome to type in my credentials with a controller. But Sony will also let you sign in by scanning a QR code with the PlayStation app, which seems a heck of a lot easier to me. [embedded content] Another video shows how to change numerous system settin...

If you haven’t already done so in the lead-up to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X / S, it’s time to toss aside what you’ve come to expect from a new console launch. This one’s going to feel different. Sony today confirmed that its retail partners will only be taking online orders when the console goes on sale next week on November 12th, and now Best Buy is saying that it won’t be making any of the next-gen consoles available to walk-in customers for the entirety of the holiday season. It’s buy online or nothing. “While our stores won’t have devices for purchase on launch day or throughout the holiday season, keep an eye on BestBuy.com, where they’ll be available for purchase as soon as we have them available,” Best Buy’s Katie Huggins wrote in a blog post. “This means there’s no n...

As of Thursday morning, a huge Facebook group called “Stop the Steal” was organizing rallies and fundraising to challenge election results across the US. The group accumulated more than 300,000 members in the less than 48 hours it existed before Facebook removed it on Thursday afternoon. “In line with the exceptional measures that we are taking during this period of heightened tension, we have removed the Group ‘Stop the Steal’ which was creating real-world events,” a Facebook company spokesperson said in a statement. “The group was organized around the delegitimization of the election process, and we saw worrying calls for violence from members of the group.” “We have removed the Group ‘Stop the Steal’ which was creating real-world events.” The Stop the Steal group, created on Wednesday, ...

Uber is still getting pummeled by COVID-19. The company lost $1.1 billion over the last three months, with its adjusted net revenues down 20 percent compared to Q3 of 2019. Gross bookings in its ride-hailing division, or the amount of money it takes in before paying drivers, fell 50 percent year over year. It’s a steady improvement over the second quarter, in which Uber’s ride-hailing business was down 73 percent year over year. But there was no mistaking the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the company’s core transportation business. Uber brought in $2.8 billion in adjusted revenue. Meanwhile, gross bookings in its Uber Eats delivery business grew 134 percent year over year, thanks to increased demand for food and grocery deliveries. It wasn’t as grim a quarter as the first three mon...

Razer, best known for its gaming PCs and accessories, has announced the Razer Book 13, a new laptop for business and productivity. You’ll be able to buy it sometime in November, starting at $1,199.99. From the outside, the Razer Book 13 doesn’t look all too different from the Blade Stealth 13, Razer’s 13-inch gaming laptop. It has the same Razer logo on the lid, the same per-key RGB keyboard, and the same compact, minimalist build. But Razer has made a few tweaks that could make the Razer Book a better choice for school or office work. The one I’m most excited about is the 16:10 screen, which adds a bit of extra vertical space compared to the Blade Stealth (and many other consumer laptops). The most recent Dell XPS 13 has the same aspect ratio, and I definitely notice the extra room while ...