Technology

Microsoft is committing to launching its next-generation Xbox Series X console in November. The company had previously only confirmed a vague “holiday 2020” release date for the Xbox Series X, but at least we know the month now. Microsoft isn’t providing a specific date, but I have been hearing recently that the first week of November looks like it’s lining up to be the launch time for the Xbox Series X. That could, of course, slip further into November with the uncertainty around pandemic-related manufacturing and more. The November launch date for the Xbox Series X is being revealed today as Microsoft and 343 Industries make the difficult decision to delay Halo Infinite to 2021. Microsoft had been planning to launch the Xbox Series X… Continue reading… You Deserve to Make Mo...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge On Tuesday, Google beat back a lawsuit over alleged scraping of song lyrics from Genius, a lyrics and commentary site. A federal judge in the Eastern District of New York found that while the claims of scraping were credible, the scraping did not constitute a copyright violation, and the lawsuit was dismissed as a result. Genius alleged in December 2019 that Google was lifting its lyrics. The scraping was demonstrated by sneaking a clever text watermark into Genius’ lyrics entries, in one case using a series of apostrophes to spell out “red handed” in Morse code. The watermark subsequently appeared in related Google searches, without a link or attribution to Genius. Earlier that year, Google published a blog post proclaiming the company… Contin...

The Last of Us Part II is getting its first major update this week, with developer Naughty Dog adding a slew of new visual and audio effect modifiers, optional cheat codes, and two new difficulty settings. The update will be available for all owners of the game for free on August 13th, and it should add a bit of much-needed replay value for those who may want to try the existing New Game Plus option or players still interested in trophy hunting. The bulk of the update is a set of new visual and audio effects, alongside cheat codes, that can make The Last of Us Part II a much trippier and less stressful affair. For instance, you can give the game an 8-bit retro aesthetic or a hand-drawn one reminiscent of Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead… Continue reading… You Deserve to Make M...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Teens and young adults who vape are far more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 than those who don’t, a new study by Stanford researchers found. A young person who has vaped and smoked cigarettes was seven times more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19, according to the study published today in the Journal of Adolescent Health. Someone who only vaped was five times as likely to be diagnosed. Public health officials should be concerned about vaping as they try to get the ongoing pandemic under control and as the number of younger people testing positive grows, experts tell The Verge. Not only that, but young vapers’ vulnerability to COVID-19 should inform how regulators address the popularity of e-cigarettes, say the new paper’s… Continue rea...

Photo by Long Wei/VCG via Getty Images Rumors about Xiaomi’s Mi 10 Ultra have been swirling this week, and the company has now formally announced the product. Xiaomi revealed key features of its anticipated handset in a press release and a series of tweets. “Whatever you can imagine, #Mi10Ultra has it,” the company said. The highlight is that the Ultra supports 120-watt wired fast charging. It has a 4,500mAh battery (the same size as that of the Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus); Xiaomi claims it’ll fully juice up in 23 minutes and hit 41 percent after just five minutes. The Ultra also supports 50W wireless fast charging. Xiaomi claims you can get a full charge in 40 minutes going this route. For our 10th Anniversary, we’ve prepared some products tailored for this important moment! M… C...

Image: TCL TCL introduced its new lineup of midrange 5- and 6-series 4K TVs for 2020. Like previous years, they pack in a lot of value, with good design, four HDMI ports, and built-in Roku software that might eliminate the need to buy a streaming device. Importantly, they also pack in complete support for HDR standards, so you won’t be left out of the next HDR-enabled Super Bowl game, whenever that will be. It features what TCL calls the “HDR Pro Pack”, with support for Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG. What warrants most of your attention, though, are the premium features, like contrast-rich QLED screens and accurate Mini-LED backlighting, that have slid down the pricing scale and are much more affordable. At the low end, the 50-inch 5-series TV… Continue reading… You Deserve to ...

Photo credit should read JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images Apple has released public betas for the next big Apple Watch and Mac software updates. On the Mac, Big Sur (as the OS is called) has a ton of visual differences that I think will grow on you — they make macOS look just a little more like iOS. It also does a weird new thing with links — which also makes the Mac feel just a little more like iOS, too. The link behavior popped up on Twitter yesterday: if you’re an Apple News Plus subscriber, clicking links to publications that are part of that subscription bundle will take you to the Apple News app instead of your browser. iOS 14 will do the same thing. If you’re paying for Apple News Plus, this may be exactly what you want to happen. Instead of opening a page with a paywall, you just ...

Photo by Matthew Horwood/Getty Images Boeing’s 747-400 aircraft, first introduced in 1988, is still receiving critical software updates through 3.5-inch floppy disks. The Register reports that security researchers at Pen Test Partners recently got access to a British Airways 747, after the airline decided to retire its fleet following a plummet in travel during the coronavirus pandemic. The team was able to inspect the full avionics bay beneath the passenger deck, with its data center-like racks of modular black boxes that perform different functions for the plane. Pen Test Partners discovered a 3.5-inch floppy disk drive in the cockpit, which is used to load important navigation databases. It’s a database that has to be updated every 28 days, and an engineer visits each… Continue re...

Microsoft is allowing Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers to try its new game streaming feature (xCloud) early tomorrow, August 11th. The software giant will launch a new version of the Xbox Game Pass beta app for Android, which includes game streaming. While the game streaming feature, known previously as xCloud, will be officially available on September 15th, anyone can grab the beta app from the Google Play Store and try it early from tomorrow onward. “As we approach the launch of cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on September 15, we’re entering a limited beta period to ensure a smooth transition of the cloud gaming experience to the Xbox Game Pass app on Android,” explains a Microsoft spokesperson in a statement to The Verge…. Continue reading… You Deserve to Make ...

In-flight internet provider Gogo is trying to sell its commercial airline business as it continues to lose money during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company announced on Monday. CEO Oakleigh Thorne said on a conference call that the company has had “extensive discussions with multiple parties” and that he “feel[s] optimistic that a deal may happen.” A sale would be a huge change of course for Gogo, which pioneered in-flight connectivity. But the attempted sale comes as Gogo, like many other businesses in the air travel industry, is struggling. The company, which provides in-flight connectivity to major airlines like Delta, United, and Alaska, lost $86 million on $96 million in revenue during the second quarter of 2020. Its sessions per… Continue reading… You Deserve to Make Mone...

Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images A California judge ruled that Uber and Lyft must classify their drivers as employees in a stunning preliminary injunction issued Monday afternoon. The injunction is stayed for 10 days, however, giving Uber and Lyft an opportunity to appeal the decision. Uber said it planned to file an immediate emergency appeal to block the ruling from going into effect. Uber and Lyft are under increasing pressure to fundamentally alter their business models in California, the state where both companies were founded and ultimately prospered. At issue is the classification of ride-hailing drivers as independent contractors. Uber and Lyft say drivers prefer the flexibility of working as freelancers, while labor unions and elected officials contend this… Continue...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google is going to let you use Chrome apps for a little while longer, as the company on Monday announced an extension to its planned timeline to end support for the software (via 9to5Google). If you aren’t familiar with Chrome apps, they’re apps that you install in Chrome that work similarly to apps that you’d launch from your desktop — like this one for read-it-later app Pocket. But they aren’t widely adopted — Google said that “approximately 1 percent of users on Windows, Mac, and Linux actively use Chrome packaged apps” all the way back in August 2016 when it first announced plans to wind down support for the platform. Chrome apps will work on Windows, Mac, and Linux until June 2021 In January, Google said Chrome apps would stop… Continue re...