Technology

Every Wednesday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where editor-at-large David Pierce is joined by The Verge’s expert staffers in a deep exploration of how gadgets and software affect our lives. On today’s episode, we have a variety of stories from across The Verge. At the top of the show, David and managing editor Alex Cranz chat with health technology reporter Nicole Wetsman and senior privacy and cybersecurity reporter Corin Faife about the privacy vulnerabilities for people seeking abortions in a post-Roe United States and how people can protect their information. Later in the episode, David reports on why the internet is so bad at recommendations, with insights from executives at Yelp, Pocket, Pinterest, and Likewise. In our final segment for today, senior revie...

1Password is trying to solve the situation where you go to log on to a website and wonder something like “did I sign in with Google, Apple, or an actual email and password combo” or “which of my five Google accounts did I use for this?” The company has announced that its password manager will let you save which single sign-on (SSO) service you used on a site, so it can automatically log you in with that same account when you return. This feature comes as big companies are gearing up a campaign against passwords as a concept. According to a blog post, the feature is currently available in the beta version of 1Password for the browser and currently supports logging in with Facebook, Google, and Apple. 1Password says it’ll add more providers in the future. Saving the info of what sign-in serv...

Snapchat has launched a subscription service aimed at bringing new features to users on the platform. Simply called Snapchat+, the subscription service is being billed as “a collection of exclusive, experimental and pre-release features.” Users can now click on the Snapchat+ icon on their profile to sign up for $4 USD per month. According to the company, the subscription will enable it to unveil new features to the most “passionate members” of its community. Among the new features is the ability to pin a friend to the top of a user’s chat history and to view who re-watched a Story post. The subscription is currently available in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The company plans to add additio...

Hyundai is offering an early look at its upcoming all-electric sedan, the Ioniq 6. It comes as Bloomberg reports that the company’s EV market share is quietly surging in Europe and the US, causing even Tesla’s Elon Musk to take notice. If last year’s all-electric Ioniq 5 crossover SUV took inspiration from 70s designs, then Top Gear says that the 6 draws inspiration from streamlined vehicles from the 20s and 30s like the Stout Scarab. If you liked the look of Hyundai’s Prophecy concept car from 2020, then the Ioniq 6 is the vehicle it’s morphed into. The South Korean automaker is focused on showing off the design of the Ioniq 6 rather than its technical specifications for now, so there are no firm details on its battery size or range. But the car is using the same Electric Global Modular P...

You don’t buy Bowers & Wilkins headphones out of practicality. The company’s latest over-ear pair, the $399 PX7 S2, isn’t going to be the default, obvious choice for most people shopping for noise-canceling headphones. But where the British audio brand seeks to separate itself from Sony, Bose, and other competitors is in craftsmanship and nailing the small details. These are headphones where the elegant design is just as much of a selling point as sonic performance. With this new model, Bowers & Wilkins is promising advancements in comfort, noise cancellation, and even better sound fidelity. The company delivers on all of those fronts, even if there are still weaknesses elsewhere. The PX7 S2 headphones look very similar to the outgoing PX7s, with an overall style that has stayed co...

Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown will star in a new Netflix film from the Russo brothers, directors of Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War. The Electric State is a retro-futuristic sci-fi movie that follows Brown, a robotic companion, and an “eccentric drifter” as she travels through the American West in search of her brother, Netflix said in its casting announcement. Away from the involvement of Brown and the Russo brothers, the most interesting aspect of The Electric State is that it’s based on an illustrated book by Simon Stålenhag. Stålenhag is the artist behind some incredible retro futuristic illustrations, and his other books include Tales from the Loop, which Amazon recently adapted into a TV series of its own. Millie Bobby Brown will star in The Electric State, a sci-f...

When Jonathan van Immerzeel goes on vacation, he packs a decidedly unusual suitcase. In addition to sunblock, swimming shorts, and a passport, the intrepid creator takes a drone, green screen, and audio recording equipment. This is so that he can document every aspect of his surroundings, usually untouched wilderness, in as much high-fidelity detail as possible. He does so in the name of research, seeking inspiration for his next hit shader, essentially a program that renders graphics, which he then publishes on the Unity Asset Store. In fact, van Immerzeel, maker of “Stylized Grass Shader” and “Stylized Water 2,” says that creating these tools for game development, understanding the minutiae of nature, and translating that into virtual form, has helped foster an appreciation for the actua...

CASETiFY has reunited with Nickelodeon‘s SpongeBob SquarePants to release a second drop. The new collection follows February’s initial drop and features character-inspired cases with the faces of SpongeBob, Patrick and Squidward on CASETiFY’s Impact and Puffy Cases, a special-edition 3D AirPods Pro case modeled and shaped after SpongeBob, a personalized MagSafe wallet featuring sponge-shaped initials and accessories available for the iPhone, iPad, MacBook, AirPods and AirPods Pro, MagSafe wallets and AirTags. In addition, there are CASETiFY Co-Lab app exclusive accessories for Plankton and his restaurant the Chum Bucket, being offered for iPhones, AirPods and AirTags. Check out the collection above. The SpongeBob x CASETiFY collection is available now online and in CASE...

One of the difficulties of cryptocurrency is figuring out who to believe. Case in point: the conflict between Mark Lamb, CEO of CoinFlex, and Roger “Bitcoin Jesus” Ver, an early Bitcoin investor. Lamb says Ver owes his company $47 million and is the reason the company froze customer withdrawals last week. Ver denies this and says that, in fact, CoinFlex owes him money. Well, things have gotten worse CoinFlex, an exchange, froze withdrawals on June 27th, saying that it would restart withdrawals on June 30th with one condition: CoinFlex needs to sell tokens related to a debt owed by a “certain high net worth individual.” (The company did not initially name Ver.) Eleven days ago, we pointed out a few crypto firms with problems that could cause further ripples throughout the industry and noted...

Amazon is limiting customers to three units of emergency contraceptive pills a week in response to a spike in demand after the Supreme Court ended federal abortion rights, the company told CNBC. Other retailers are also limiting purchases of drugs like Plan B and Aftera — CVS and Rite Aid are likewise limiting customers to three pills per customer. The companies say there is enough supply of the drugs but that they’re trying to keep them on the shelves consistently. The drugs, often called the morning-after pill, can prevent pregnancy if taken after unprotected sex. On the Amazon website, users can only select up to a quantity of three for Plan B. But as of publication, the website shows an option to select up to 30 units of My Choice, another brand of emergency contraceptive. In the after...

Hacktivist collective Anonymous has just set its sights on Terra LUNA‘s Do Kwon for the loss of some $45 billion USD in investors‘ assets. Said to have had malicious intent from the beginning, Anonymous is bringing to light Do Kwon’s arrogance, and stating that his actions were that of a scammer involved in money laundering and fraud. While recognizing that businesses fail and that people make mistakes, Anonymous has been tipped off that Do Kwon was in the know from the start, and that he was cashing out some $80 million USD a month at the height of LUNA and TerraUSD — the algorithmic stablecoin not backed by any treasury. Do Kwon has denied his cash withdrawals and has stated that he lost big like the rest of the investors in the market, but Anonymous is looking to uncover the truth and b...