Technology

Google pushed out a significant firmware update to its Pixel Buds this week, adding several new features to the true wireless earbuds including a “bass boost” setting, sharing detection (so you can individually set volume for each earbud when sharing one of them with someone), attention alerts, and more. The updated firmware was also supposed to address the connectivity and audio dropout problems that some early Pixel Buds buyers have been complaining about. After some time listening to the Pixel Buds today, I’d say Google succeeded at the first bit; bass boost makes for a very real improvement to sound quality if you were disappointed by low-end performance before. But the Pixel Buds’ wireless signal is still weaker than it should be, and the frustrating music disruptions remain. After ap...

It’s been just over a week since Fortnite developer Epic Games initiated an unprecedented antitrust legal fight with Apple over its App Store rules, and the lawsuit is shedding new light on how the companies came into conflict. Today, Apple entered into evidence a series of emails from Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, in which he asked top Apple executives to exempt Fortnite from its standard 30 percent cut and to allow Epic to offer its own mobile app store. New emails made public as part of Epic’s lawsuit Beginning in June, the emails show extensive discussions between Sweeney and Apple before Epic took action to incorporate an alternate payment mechanism into the Fortnite app, which resulted in it being ejected from the App Store last week. The emails show Sweeney lobbying Apple for the power to i...

WordPress, the iOS app, lets you build and manage a website right from your iPhone or iPad. Separately, WordPress.com also happens to sell domain names. Now, WordPress founding developer Matt Mullenweg is accusing Apple of cutting off the ability to update that app — until or unless he adds in-app purchases so the most valuable company in the world can extract its 30 percent cut of the money. Heads up on why @WordPressiOS updates have been absent… we were locked by App Store. To be able to ship updates and bug fixes again we had to commit to support in-app purchases for .com plans. I know why this is problematic, open to suggestions. Allow others IAP? New name? — Matt Mullenweg (@photomatt) August 21, 2020 Here’s the thing: the WordPress app on iOS doesn’t sell anything. I just check...

Palantir, the controversial analytics and data mining firm, still relies heavily on its US government contracts for revenue despite its public statements that it was branching out into more corporate clients, according to screenshots of the company’s S-1 filing acquired by TechCrunch. The financials, which the New York Times also has viewed, show Palantir has not once turned a profit since its founding in 2003. Add to that the news it’s moving out of Silicon Valley because of “increasing intolerance and monoculture,” and you end up with a picture of a company that doesn’t have a lot of growth potential. It’s now clear Palantir is dependent on the current administration in Washington to maintain its existing revenue streams. Palantir confidentially filed for an IPO last month, but has yet t...

Run The Jewels has teamed up with Sketchfab, an online platform to share and sell 3D artwork, for a remix challenge of the duo’s iconic pistol and fist logo. The logo has always inspired reinterpretation by fans — but now, the group is looking to reward those fans directly. Fans can download the 3D model used in the production of their latest album cover, RTJ4, and put it into their own creations. To enter, artists have to upload their project to Sketchfab with the tag #RTJ4D. The prizes don’t look too bad either: XP-Pen tablets, a year subscription to Substance by Adobe, and, of course, RTJ 4 merch. While this 3D model was used in the production of the Run The Jewels 4 album art, the final image on the cover was of a physical item based on those mock-ups. You can learn more about that pro...

A blistering 130-degree Fahrenheit (54.4 degrees Celsius) temperature reading in Death Valley, California, on August 16th quickly made headlines, but it could take months or even years before the number can officially break world records. If the temperature is verified, it will become the third hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth and the hottest temperature recorded on the planet since 1931. Verifying that number, however, is a complex process that can come with a lot of controversy. In the past, it’s involved shipping instruments across the globe, assembling teams of experts, and, in one case, fleeing gunfire during an ongoing revolution. It also involves intense scrutiny from weather experts around the world — all with their own interpretations of which temperatures should actuall...

Fortnite’s next season, which kicks off on August 27th, could be a full-season collaboration with Marvel, as suggested by a teaser released by Epic Games on Friday. But due to Epic’s public dispute with Apple over the iPhone maker’s App Store policies, Epic currently isn’t able to update Fortnite on iOS. That means iPhone and iPad players will miss out on the new season unless something changes between Epic and Apple before Thursday. Apple yanked Fortnite from the App Store on August 13th after Epic added a direct payment system into the game, which goes against App Store rules. Epic then sued Apple, released an in-game short parodying one of Apple’s most famous commercials, and began telling iOS players that they wouldn’t be able to play the upcoming season because Apple pulled Fortnite f...

When a trailer for Crysis Remastered leaked online in July, fans criticized the game’s graphics for looking far too much like the original’s from over 10 years ago. But today, Crytek released a new trailer that shows drastic improvements to the game’s visuals, and it announced the remaster will be coming to multiple platforms next month. Crysis Remastered will now launch on the PS4, Xbox One, and Epic Games Store on September 18th for $30. In July, following backlash from fans, Crytek announced that it would delay these versions of the game by several weeks. Crytek acknowledged the leaked trailer in its delay announcement and promised to use the extra time “to get Crysis Remastered up to the PC- and console-breaking standard you’ve come to expect from a Crysis game.” ‘Crysis Remastered’ la...

Brydge, the maker of keyboard accessories for iPads and other tablets, has a line of new accessories for Windows 10 devices that includes two new keyboards for the Surface Pro and Surface Go: the $149.99 Brydge 12.3 Pro Plus and $139.99 Brydge 10.5 Go Plus. Both keyboards are designed to do the same thing: turn your Surface device into a traditional clamshell laptop. And after testing both models for a couple of weeks with a Surface Pro 5 and a Surface Go 2, I can confirm they do exactly that. The keyboards function similarly to the models that Brydge has for Apple’s iPad: they connect to your device via Bluetooth and have hinge clamps the tablet slides into. The hinges are stiff, so the tablet doesn’t move when you touch it or are using it on an unstable platform such as your lap, and the...

When the pandemic hit this spring, a lot of teachers turned to Minecraft during their mad scramble for tools that could make remote learning work. Earlier this year, Microsoft added an “education” section to the Minecraft marketplace, and since March, 63 million pieces of content have been downloaded. While Minecraft: Education Edition isn’t new, its digital nature makes it an almost ideal tool for this strange time. It allows for multiplayer activities, is available on a large range of devices, and — perhaps most importantly — is something kids already enjoy doing. “We already had a lot of the features in the game, so we were well-suited from the beginning,” says Deirdre Quarnstrom, GM of the Minecraft Atlas division, which focuses on broader initiatives like education. The educational of...

If you’re used to working in an office full of coworkers, but are now forced to labor from home, you may be feeling that things are a little quiet — too quiet. The solution might be to listen to whatever music, talk, or other background audio can keep your spirits up and your attention focused. You may be listening to the same music or podcasts that you listened to through your headphones in the office. Or you may have decided you need something completely different to get you through your work-at-home days. We polled the staff of The Verge to find out what what they are listening to during working hours, be it a podcast, an album, a favorite musician, a music genre, whatever. Here’s what they told us. Read on — and who knows? You might be motivated to try a whole new audio experience. Wri...

Google launched the Pixel 4A in August but told us we’d have to wait to see the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4A 5G. They’re due to arrive sometime this fall (probably in early October), but new renders purportedly showing the Pixel 5 give us some idea what to expect. The renders come from regular leaker @OnLeaks and Indian tech site PriceBaba. There are no real surprises here, with the images showing a fingerprint sensor on the rear; square-shaped camera array containing what looks to be two cameras, a flash, and an unknown sensor; and a holepunch front-facing camera in the top left of the display. It’s hard to judge the render’s authenticity, but the sand-blasted texture on the case looks the same as the side-on peek of the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4A 5G Google shared earlier this year. Grid View What’s a ...