Technology

Amazon has officially filed its objections to the Amazon Labor Union’s win in Staten Island, New York, and is asking the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to order a new election. The objections expand upon a document the company recently submitted that signaled its intent to fight the election results — the company now says that ALU members “intimidated employees,” “recorded voters in the polling place,” and “distributed marijuana to employees in exchange for their support,” according to an excerpt posted by Financial Times reporter Dave Lee. The full complaint was not immediately available from the NLRB on Friday. The Amazon Labor Union didn’t immediately reply to The Verge’s request for comment. In a statement emailed to The Verge, Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said: “Based on th...

Nissan revealed a prototype production facility in Yokohama, Japan, on Friday, where the company says it plans to manufacture solid-state batteries for use in electric vehicles. The company said in a statement that it plans “to establish a pilot production line at its Yokohama Plant in fiscal 2024, with materials, design and manufacturing processes for prototype production on the line to be studied at the prototype production facility.” Nissan aims to bring its first EV with all-solid-state batteries to market in 2028. All-solid-state batteries could, in theory, charge more quickly, hold more power, and last longer than lithium-ion batteries that most EVs use now. Nissan said it expects to eventually use the batteries across its vehicle lineup, including its pickup trucks. It said its all-...

The cost of Amazon Prime is going up in Canada just months after the company announced a price increase for US subscribers. The price increase marks the first hike for Canadian subscribers since the service launched there in 2013. Currently, Amazon charges $79 for an annual subscription or $8 monthly. After the price increase, Prime memberships in Canada will cost $99 per year or $10 per month. Student subscriptions will hike a dollar from $4 to $5. Andrew Gouveia, a spokesperson for Amazon Canada, tells The Verge that the price change will go into effect on April 8th for new subscribers and after May 13th for existing members, who will see the price change reflected at the time of their renewal. The Toronto Star earlier reported the news. Earlier this year, Amazon announced that Prime mem...

Google has introduced emoji reactions to Google Docs, the company reported in a new post on its Workspace blog. The new feature is intended to function as a less formal alternative to comments, while still allowing readers to share their opinions about document content. The emojis that make up the feature are from the latest iteration of Emoji 14.0. The emojis will also automatically be set to the gender-neutral options for any gender-modifiable emojis and emoji skin tone and gender preferences will be saved per individual emoji. Emoji reactions will be on by default and can’t be disabled by users. To react with an emoji, users simply hover over the content and click the “Add reaction” icon. Emoji preferences will also be shared with Google Chat, so preferences will carry over from one pla...

Despite SpaceX implying that the US didn’t give money to send Starlink terminals to Ukraine in March, a report from The Washington Post reveals that the government actually paid millions of dollars for equipment and transportation. The report found that the US Agency for International Development, or USAID, paid $1,500 apiece for 1,333 terminals, adding up to around $2 million. USAID disclosed the number of terminals it bought from the company in a press release from early April that has since been altered to remove mentions of the purchase. According to space reporter Joey Roulette, SpaceX donated 3,667 terminals to Ukraine, or around $10 million worth, after also factoring in the three months of data it provided with the terminals. However, it’s possible this donation was partially subsi...

Since its launch in 2005, Etsy has become well known as the place to go for handcrafted, one-of-a-kind items from a wide variety of creators. Unfortunately, over the last few years, that rosy reputation has darkened a bit. To begin with, buyers have been noticing an influx of mass-market goods that are noticeably not handmade. But there has been a lot of discontent online from sellers as well, due both to the increased number of manufactured goods and to increased expenses such as mandatory market plans. The final straw may have come In early April of this year when Etsy announced it is raising seller transaction fees from 5 percent to 6.5 percent. As a result, a large number of Etsy sellers plan to go on strike between April 11th and 18th and are calling for a boycott of the site by buyer...

Wildly popular celebrity competition series Dancing With the Stars is heading to Disney Plus, marking the first live series to debut exclusively on the streaming service. The series previously aired 30 seasons across 16 years on ABC, Disney’s broadcast TV network. Disney said the series has an exclusive two-season pickup on Disney Plus and will premiere in the US and Canada in the fall. The show will be shot in front of a live audience by BBC Studios’ production arm in Los Angeles. Specifics about Disney Plus’ rights to past seasons are unclear. Asked whether Dancing With the Stars will air on broadcast at all moving forward or whether Disney Plus will get the entirety of the show’s catalog, Disney spokesperson Heather Levine told The Verge that the company will have additional details to ...

See this white brick? It puts out a measly 30W of power to a single device, yet Apple charges $50 for it. Please do not buy one because we now have firm evidence that Apple is about to replace it with something much, much better — a 35W charger with two ports, likely powered by gallium nitride (GaN) technology that might also make it smaller. That’s the word from 9to5Mac, which got this particular scrap of information from by far the most reliable source of Apple leaks: Apple’s own website. Apparently, the company accidentally threw a support document live for an “Apple 35W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter,” and 9to5 managed to snap a screenshot before it was pulled. 9to5Mac screenshotted an official support document confirming the name “Dual USB-C Port 35W Power Adapter”Screenshot by 9to5Mac...

StoryTerrace, which bills itself as a “personal biography” service, has reportedly launched the first virtual reality biography. The company says that the new initiative allows users to carve out their space in the metaverse by integrating VR into memoirs and storytelling. Using a simple headset, the service allows users to come face-to-face with their loved ones or ancestors in the digital realm, as they listen to and watch the hologram describing personal histories. StoryTerrace calls its service an evolving development from the traditional methods of legacy preservation from hardback books and the first significant move towards employing VR in the publishing arena. In a promotional video, StoryTerrace demonstrates the creation of a hologram using 30 different 4K cameras. Developers then...

Following a successful debut collaboration at the beginning of the year, CASETiFY and Peanuts have reunited for a second run to deliver a brand-new lineup of original character-inspired designs. The Hong Kong-based lifestyle brand — which most recently invited Yusuke Hanai to decorate an array of Impact Cases — offers Peanuts fans the chance to get their hands on a range of lifestyle and tech products, with accessories extending including iPhone cases, AirPods and AirPods Pro cases, wireless chargers and more. Additionally, fans can personalize both their phone cases and water bottles with their name or monogram alongside characters including Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty, Franklin, Lucy Van Pelt, or Linus Van Pelt. The full Peanuts x CASETIFY collection is available to buy now i...

An apparent prototype smart speaker from defunct smartphone manufacturer Essential has popped up in an eBay listing spotted by a keen-eyed Redditor. It offers a tantalizing glimpse at what the ambitious-yet-unreleased “Essential Home” device could have been and seems to be partially functional. The listing’s photos show the device’s circular screen illuminated, with elements like its lock screen and settings menus visible. The seller is asking for $900 plus shipping for the prototype. If you have no memory of the Essential Home then we wouldn’t blame you. The smart speaker was announced in May 2017 alongside the Essential Phone, and the company told Wired that it hoped to ship both later that summer. The phone would eventually release in August, but the smart speaker was nowhere to be foun...