Technology

If you’ve ever thought, “I would like my digital avatar to wear poorly rendered designer clothing,” I have excellent news for you. Meta is launching an online store where Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger users can purchase digital clothing for their avatar. The first brands on the store are Prada, Balenciaga, and Thom Browne, and clothes include a motocross outfit, a logo hoodie, and suits. In a Facebook post, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said more brands would be added soon. “Digital goods will be an important way to express yourself in the metaverse and a big driver of the creative economy,” he says. Luxury fashion houses are increasingly partnering with technology companies to create branded digital garments. Last year, Fortnite introduced Balenciaga skins so players could purchase garmen...

Nintendo is bringing the original Pokémon Snap for Nintendo 64 to Nintendo Switch Online on June 24th. If you’ve had a hankering to return to the original game after playing last year’s New Pokémon Snap or want to check it out for the first time, you’ll be able to visit Pokémon Island for a photography adventure very soon. As with other N64 games on the Switch, you have to subscribe to Nintendo’s premium Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack to be able to play Pokémon Snap. Since launch, Nintendo has really rounded out the selection of N64 games, adding classics like The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, F-Zero X, and even the Microsoft-owned Banjo-Kazooie. Some games have had emulation issues, but Nintendo has shown it’s willing to fix things — fingers crossed there aren’t any problems with...

Nintendo is bringing the original Pokémon Snap for Nintendo 64 to Nintendo Switch Online on June 24th. If you’ve had a hankering to return to the original game after playing last year’s New Pokémon Snap or want to check it out for the first time, you’ll be able to visit Pokémon Island for a photography adventure very soon. As with other N64 games on the Switch, you have to subscribe to Nintendo’s premium Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack to be able to play Pokémon Snap. Since launch, Nintendo has really rounded out the selection of N64 games, adding classics like The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, F-Zero X, and even the Microsoft-owned Banjo-Kazooie. Some games have had emulation issues, but Nintendo has shown it’s willing to fix things — fingers crossed there aren’t any problems with...

In a rather spectacular conclusion to a lawsuit filed by Bungie in August of last year, the owners of the Destiny 2 cheat domains, Veterancheats, LaviCheats, and Elite Boss Tech, will have to pay a settlement totaling roughly $13.5 million in damages. The math of this settlement comes from a fine of $2,000 per violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s anti-circumvention provisions — 17 US Code Section 1201 a and b — multiplied by the roughly 6,765 unique downloads of the program in question. According to a report by Andy Maxwell on TorrentFreak, Bungie accused the defendants of breaching copyright law in addition to racketeering, fraud, money laundering, and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Cheating in games like Destiny 2 has caused developers to employ increasing...

In a rather spectacular conclusion to a lawsuit filed by Bungie in August of last year, the owners of the Destiny 2 cheat domains, Veterancheats, LaviCheats, and Elite Boss Tech, will have to pay a settlement totaling roughly $13.5 million in damages. The math of this settlement comes from a fine of $2,000 per violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s anti-circumvention provisions — 17 US Code Section 1201 a and b — multiplied by the roughly 6,765 unique downloads of the program in question. According to a report by Andy Maxwell on TorrentFreak, Bungie accused the defendants of breaching copyright law in addition to racketeering, fraud, money laundering, and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Cheating in games like Destiny 2 has caused developers to employ increasing...

Uncharted, the movie where Tom Holland recreated some of the PlayStation series’ iconic scenes, will be coming to Netflix on July 15th for US customers, according to What’s on Netflix. While apparently many people have already seen the film (it reportedly made over $400 million during its theater run), this will be its streaming debut. If you’re trying to decide whether to add it to your summer watchlist, I recommend reading my colleague’s excellent review to see how it holds up as a movie (spoiler: about as well as those ancient buildings Nathan Drake is always destroying). I’ll also add that, as a longtime Uncharted fan, it definitely didn’t feel essential for the series, but my wife and friend who’ve never played any of the games thoroughly enjoyed it. Your mileage may vary, is what I’m...

Uncharted, the movie where Tom Holland recreated some of the PlayStation series’ iconic scenes, will be coming to Netflix on July 15th for US customers, according to What’s on Netflix. While apparently many people have already seen the film (it reportedly made over $400 million during its theater run), this will be its streaming debut. If you’re trying to decide whether to add it to your summer watchlist, I recommend reading my colleague’s excellent review to see how it holds up as a movie (spoiler: about as well as those ancient buildings Nathan Drake is always destroying). I’ll also add that, as a longtime Uncharted fan, it definitely didn’t feel essential for the series, but my wife and friend who’ve never played any of the games thoroughly enjoyed it. Your mileage may vary, is what I’m...

Readdle, best known for its PDF and document productivity apps for iOS, also makes a comprehensive Calendars app that combines tasks, to-dos, and reminders — and, today, that app is now available for Mac (via 9to5Mac). Officially titled Calendars by Readdle, it joins the Ukraine-based company’s collection of Mac apps like PDF Expert and Spark email. Fans of the Calendars by Readdle app will be excited to know that the Mac app syncs up with the iPhone / iPad versions and that cross-device use will not cost extra on top of the $19.99 per year Pro subscription plan. You can use the main calendar part of the app for free, although you will miss out on the integration features with apps like Google Tasks and Apple’s Reminders as well as the weekly planner feature, meeting room bookings, weather...

Readdle, best known for its PDF and document productivity apps for iOS, also makes a comprehensive Calendars app that combines tasks, to-dos, and reminders — and, today, that app is now available for Mac (via 9to5Mac). Officially titled Calendars by Readdle, it joins the Ukraine-based company’s collection of Mac apps like PDF Expert and Spark email. Fans of the Calendars by Readdle app will be excited to know that the Mac app syncs up with the iPhone / iPad versions and that cross-device use will not cost extra on top of the $19.99 per year Pro subscription plan. You can use the main calendar part of the app for free, although you will miss out on the integration features with apps like Google Tasks and Apple’s Reminders as well as the weekly planner feature, meeting room bookings, weather...

TCL’s entry-level Stylus 5G makes sense for someone on a strict budget who absolutely must have 5G and a built-in stylus. That’s quite a specific demographic, and I’m not sure many people meet all of that criteria. The TCL Stylus 5G is available for $258 from T-Mobile or $269 from Metro by T-Mobile — they’re the exact same model — and for now, those are the only ways to purchase it in the US. The Stylus 5G is also the third notable budget stylus phone to arrive on store shelves in the US this year, alongside the 2022 versions of Motorola’s Moto G Stylus and Moto G Stylus 5G. Got all those product names straight? Good, there’s a quiz later. Verge Score 5 out of 10 Good Stuff Inexpensive Useful pre-downloaded stylus apps Sub-6GHz 5G support Bad Stuff Only two years of security updates Lacklu...

I’m confused. I’m playing Final Fantasy VII, and my partner is playing Resident Evil 4. My ears perk up as I hear the familiar and unmistakable heavy metal guitar chords of this song as Trigun appears on the TV. I have no idea what year it is. Late last night, Crunchyroll announced that a new Trigun anime series is in the works, and it seems like 2023 will be the year of maximum millennial nostalgia bait. The new show, Trigun Stampede, will be produced and animated by Orange, the same studio that worked on the “what if Zootopia but hornier” anime, Beastars. During its time on American television, Trigun was hugely popular, fitting in nicely with the space western aesthetics of Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star while also serving as an early example of a good English dub. Written by Yasuhiro Nig...

Elon Musk may want out of his deal with Twitter, but he has some ideas about how to run the bird app, and they involve layoffs, subscriptions, and… a sarcasm button. Musk turned up on Thursday for a video chat with Twitter employees, and the employees promptly leaked its contents to reporters — including my Verge colleague Alex Heath and The New York Times’ Mike Isaac, who ran a liveblog of the event while it was happening. An apparent digression about aliens notwithstanding, the meeting’s results were fairly predictable but illuminating for anybody who’s spent too much time obsessing over ominous phrases like “authenticate all humans” in the past few months. Sign up for the newsletter This Week in Elon A limited-run newsletter occasionally revived when there’s Too Much Elon News. In Thurs...