Technology

Amazon revealed its new cloud gaming service, officially called Luna, at its annual Alexa hardware event today. That makes it an immediate competitor to Google’s Stadia, Microsoft’s xCloud, Sony’s PlayStation Now, and a number of other services from major game publishers all eager to try the code on how to stream video games over the internet. But in a revealing interview with Protocol published after the event, Amazon’s Marc Whitten, the company’s vice president of entertainment devices and services, clarified one of the most vital questions around Luna that wasn’t answered during the reveal: what’s the business model? And from what we can glean from the interview, it’s looking a whole lot like the cable of video games, for better and for worse. Whitten tells Protocol that Luna won’t foll...

Should we invite Amazon’s internet-connected cameras and voice assistants into our homes? That’s been a contentious topic for years — but today, Amazon effectively said “screw it” and announced an entire automated flying indoor robot security system. Yes, that’s right: Amazon’s Ring division now has a camera that can theoretically go anywhere in your home, not just the direction you initially point it. Or, in Amazon’s words: An Innovative New Approach to Always Being Home. Needless to say, the staff of The Verge has a few questions about that. In no particular order and without naming names: Can it go up and down stairs? Why does it look like an air humidifier? What’s battery life like? Does the drone play slap bass? How does it map your house, anyhow? Where do those pictures go? Could som...

Amazon unveiled a radically redesigned $49.99 fourth-generation Echo Dot smart speaker today that doesn’t look like a dot at all — instead, the new Dot is shaped like a ball, or maybe an orb. The new design is a notable departure from the look of previous Echo Dots, which were short, puck-like cylinders that could be said to resemble, well, dots. If you just can’t get on board with having a ball-shaped smart speaker but are in the market for a new Dot, I have good news for you: Amazon is still selling that dot-shaped third-generation Echo Dot. Amazon confirmed to The Verge that it’s keeping the older Dot in its lineup in part to provide an option for those who want to mount their Dot to a wall. An Echo Flex, a small Echo speaker that plugs right into a wall outlet, is another option. And a...

Facebook suspended the accounts of more than 200 people on September 19th who were connected to an event protesting the construction of the contested Coastal GasLink pipeline. The suspension shows how vulnerable activists are to the actions of social media platforms in the midst of a pandemic, when protesting in person comes with more risk than usual. Indigenous activists have opposed the pipeline’s construction, which would cut through the Wet’suwet’en Nation’s territory if built. The suspensions curbed one of the few outlets left on which activists can protest while socially distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19. It left some scrambling to communicate without Facebook messenger, and it has Wet’suwet’en activists rethinking how effectively they can push back against pipeline develo...

Left 4 Dead 2, Valve’s iconic zombie shooter, turns 11 next month. Today, the game gets a final, massive update — The Last Stand, created by the Left 4 Dead community update team and endorsed by Valve itself. It’s also the first new content added to the game since 2012, according to Polygon. (That was the community-made DLC Cold Stream.) The update adds tons of new content to the game: new weapons, new maps, new enemy types, unused dialogue, and even a new campaign. The update is free to download, and Left 4 Dead 2 itself is also free to play until September 28th — so there’s no reason not to grab it right now. And this isn’t the first — or highest-profile — time that Valve has endorsed a fan-made update to one of its games. That honor goes to Black Mesa, a remake of the original Half Life...

Following a teaser from the Xbox Game Pass team yesterday, Microsoft has announced that Doom Eternal is heading to the company’s gaming subscription service. The 2020 sequel to the fantastic 2016 reboot will arrive on Xbox Game Pass for consoles on October 1st and will launch on Game Pass for PC later this year. It’s the first game to arrive on Xbox Game Pass from ZeniMax Media, which Microsoft announced it was acquiring earlier this week. ZeniMax is the parent company for several high-profile gaming studios, including Bethesda and id Software, Doom’s developer. Now that Microsoft owns all these gaming IPs, it makes sense that games not already on the service will eventually make their way to both platforms. Xbox head Phil Spencer confirmed that particular detail, noting in a blog post tha...

Let’s be honest: trying to preorder a PS5 has been anything but easy. That said, if you want to try to secure Sony’s next-gen console ahead of its November 12th launch, you’ll have another shot at nabbing one at GameStop tomorrow. Both models of the PS5 will be in stock on GameStop’s website, though the retailer has yet to mention what time it will open preorders online. If you’d rather try your luck in person, you can always go to a GameStop near you. And if you decide to brave the line at a physical store, you can either pay for your PS5 in full or drop a $50 down payment to make sure you get one. (Although it’s unclear how many or which units each store will have.) Whatever you choose, remember that it’s still really difficult to get your hands on a PS5 right now, no matter who you are....

The upcoming OnePlus 8T will support 65W fast charging via the company’s new Warp Charge 65 standard, OnePlus confirmed today. The company is advertising that you’ll be able to get “a day’s power in 15 minutes” using the new technology, and it specifically says a 15-minute charge will restore 58 percent of the battery’s power, with a full charge of the phone’s 4,500mAh battery taking just 39 minutes. Faster charging speeds tend to mean more heat generation, but OnePlus says the 8T features a “new heat dissipation system” to keep it cool while it charges. The phone apparently has 12 temperature sensors to keep an eye on how hot the handset gets. However, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau confirmed the phone won’t support wireless charging in an interview with PCMag. 65W fast charging is more than twice ...

Spotify wants to turn more of its original podcasts into TV shows and movies. The company announced a partnership today with Chernin Entertainment, the production company behind Ford v Ferrari, Hidden Figures, and New Girl, to develop TV and movie pitches based on Spotify-exclusive and original podcasts. The “first look” partnership means Chernin will get first dibs on developing pitches around Spotify IP. Spotify says its library now consists of more than 250 original shows from which Chernin can work off initially. “Spotify has one of the largest libraries of unattached IP that exists in the world today and that library is being added to daily,” Chernin said in a prepared statement. “This treasure trove of content plus the acceleration of new voices and stories provides an enormous oppor...

Tribeca Film Festival is expanding its games recognition in 2021. The festival is opening submissions that recognize video games as official selections, particularly those that “demonstrate artistic excellence in storytelling” as part of the first Tribeca Games Award. To help guide this process, Tribeca has formed an advisory board that includes Hideo Kojima, Sam Lake, Geoff Keighley, Kiki Wolfkill, Bing Gordon, Nia DaCosta, and Jon Favreau. The festival has previously highlighted games such as God of War, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Firewatch, and What Remains of Edith Finch. “In the 10 years since we first welcomed a game to Tribeca’s official program, we’ve seen an exciting convergence of games, film, and immersive experiences,” said festival co-founder and CEO Jane Rosenthal in a prepar...

The Google Pixel 5 is rumored to launch in a new green color (green-ish? green-like?) in addition to black, but you don’t have to wait until later this month to see what that will look like. That very configuration of Google’s upcoming flagship phone seems to be laid bare in a leaked marketing shot, spotted by WinFuture (via 9to5Google). The phone is face-down on its screen, leaving its rear fingerprint sensor and all-plastic back visible, and both details line up with the rumors so far. Somewhat unsurprisingly, given how much Google tech tends to leak, this image also serves up yet another look at Google’s Nest Audio smart speaker and its new Chromecast running the refreshed Google TV interface. Both products were recently spotted at retail stores in the US, so not only does this leak see...

Zoom has canceled a webinar due to be held at San Francisco State University (SFSU) this Wednesday featuring Leila Khaled, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) who took part in two plane hijackings in 1969 and 1970. YouTube and Facebook also intervened to stop the talk, according to reports. The webinar was cancelled after pressure from Israeli and Jewish lobby groups including the Lawfare Project. They noted that the US government has designated the PFLP a terrorist organization, and claimed that by hosting Khaled on its service, Zoom was exposing itself to criminal liability for providing “material support or resources” to a terrorist group. “the international pin-up of armed struggle” A 2001 profile of Khaled from The Guardian described her as “the intern...