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Hoto’s 25-piece electric screwdriver set is down to its lowest price yet
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/22/24276194/hotos-25-piece-electric-screwdriver-set-nintendo-switch-game-deal-sale
Netflix closes AAA game studio before it ever released a game
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/22/24276700/netflix-gaming-studio-closure-blue
Meta brings back face scanning to combat scams and account hacking
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/22/24276593/meta-facebook-instagram-facial-recognition-tools-test-celeb-bait
Epic’s ambitious digital asset shop is now open
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/22/24276113/epic-games-fab-marketplace-digital-assets-live
Celebrity jet-tracking accounts have vanished from Threads and Instagram
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/22/24276546/meta-threads-instagram-elonjet-celebrity-jet-tracking-suspended
iRobot’s budget-friendly Roombas add a self-emptying option
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/21/24275897/irobot-robovac-robot-vacuum-essential-self-empty-dock
Amazon says it ditched plastic air pillows
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/21/24276049/amazon-plastic-air-pillows-packaging
One-third of DHS’s border surveillance cameras don’t even work
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/21/24276110/border-patrol-surveillance-cameras-not-working-mark-green
Streamer’s apology for racist rant exposes the rot in streaming culture
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/21/24275996/asmongold-palestinians-racist-rant-apology-twitch-streaming-culture
Qualcomm’s new mobile chip is the 8 Elite
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/21/24273802/qualcomm-8-elite-oryon-cpu-android-smartphone-soc
Anker’s Solix C300 DC power station has hit a new low price for Verge readers
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/21/24275682/anker-solix-c300-dc-portable-power-station-iphone-16-pro-max-case-deal-sale
The GameCube’s retro styling lives on in this customized PS5 DualSense controller
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/21/24275805/killscreen-cubesense-ps5-dualsense-controller-nintendo-gamecube
Disney’s still looking for a new CEO — but not this year or next year
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/21/24275676/disney-new-ceo-announcement-2026-bob-iger
Kwikset takes a smart approach with its new smart lock
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/21/24273662/kwikset-halo-select-new-smart-lock-matter-thread-wifi
Apple’s AirPods Pro hearing health features are as good as they sound
https://www.theverge.com/24275178/apple-airpods-pro-hearing-aid-test-protection-preview
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge
The first cracks are starting to show in Netflix’s push into gaming. First reported in Game File and confirmed by Netflix, the streaming company has quietly closed of one of its studios, the first in the three years since the company began its foray into gaming.
According to Game File, the shuttered studio was known as Blue. In 2022, Netflix announced it hired former Overwatch executive producer Chacko Sonny to run the studio. Since then, Blue had brought on a number of game industry veterans with experience working on high profile franchises including Halo and God of War. Reportedly, Blue was developing a multi-platform AAA game for an original IP (https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/17/23686693/netflix-joseph-staten-aaa-game-halo-veteran) but was closed before the game could be announced or released.
Netflix has released a...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/22/24276700/netflix-gaming-studio-closure-blue)
Facebook is getting ready to scan your face again. | Image: Meta
Facebook and Instagram are testing new facial recognition tools that could help users quickly restore compromised accounts and combat fake celebrity-endorsed scams. Meta announced its plan (https://about.fb.com/news/2024/10/testing-combat-scams-restore-compromised-accounts/) to roll out experimental features that can scan a user’s face to verify their identity by comparing it against profile pictures on Facebook and Instagram.
The first usage of these tools aim to protect both celebrities and everyday people from so-called “celeb-bait” ads that impersonate notable figures to trick users into visiting scam websites. Meta currently uses automated technology like machine learning to detect content that violates its policies but says celeb-bait can be difficult to distinguish from legitimate ads.
“If our systems suspect that...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/22/24276593/meta-facebook-instagram-facial-recognition-tools-test-celeb-bait)
Epic Games’ Fab marketplace, which is designed to serve as a unified place to get digital assets like environments and animations, is now live, the company announced today (https://www.unrealengine.com/blog/fab-epics-new-unified-content-marketplace-launches-today). The launch of the marketplace is an important step in Epic’s plans to make it easier for developers to acquire assets for developing games — and, maybe someday, to let them make content for an interoperable metaverse (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/5/24262376/epic-unreal-engine-6-fortnite-metaverse-plans).
The company first revealed its plans for Fab — which will combine offerings from the Unreal Engine Marketplace (https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/store), Sketchfab Store (https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=66960X1514734&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsketchfab.com%2Fstore&referrer=theverge.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theverge.com%2F2024%2F10%2F22%2F24276113%2Fepic-games-fab-marketplace-digital-assets-live), Quixel (https://quixel.com/), and ArtStation Marketplace (https://www.artstation.com/marketplace/game-dev) into one place — in March 2023 (https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/22/23645601/epic-games-fab-asset-marketplace-state-of-unreal-2023-gdc). While Epic initially planned to launch Fab in 2023, the company later delayed (https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=66960X1514734&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsketchfab.com%2Fblogs%2Fcommunity%2Fannouncing-fab-the-next-phase-for-sketchfab%2F&referrer=theverge.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theverge.com%2F2024%2F10%2F22%2F24276113%2Fepic-games-fab-marketplace-digital-assets-live) the launch to 2024.
Epic is offering an 88 percent revenue share for goods sold on...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/22/24276113/epic-games-fab-marketplace-digital-assets-live)
Jack Sweeney says that 38 of his jet tracking accounts have been suspended. | Illustration: The Verge
Meta has suspended several Threads and Instagram accounts that track the private jets of celebrities such as Mark Zuckerberg (https://www.instagram.com/ZuckerbergJet/), Elon Musk (elonmusksjet" rel="nofollow">https://www.threads.net/@elonmusksjet), Jeff Bezos (https://www.instagram.com/BezosJets/), Kim Kardashian (https://www.instagram.com/kimkjet/), and former US president Donald Trump (trump_jets" rel="nofollow">https://www.threads.net/@trump_jets).
Jack Sweeney, who gained notoriety for his @ElonJet account on X and maintained many of the suspended accounts, said on Threads (jacksweeney/post/DBah3gRgv4M" rel="nofollow">https://www.threads.net/@jacksweeney/post/DBah3gRgv4M) that the development is “reminiscent of all my accounts getting suspended on Twitter (https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/23/23524060/twitter-elon-musk-jet-tracking-elonjet-elonjetnextday).” The shuttered accounts, which used publicly available data to show the flight paths of private jets, initially displayed a message on Monday that read, “The link you followed may be broken, or the page may have been removed.”
Meta provided no direct warning or explanation for the suspensions, according to Sweeney, who says the...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/22/24276546/meta-threads-instagram-elonjet-celebrity-jet-tracking-suspended)
The Roomba Combo 2 Essential can clean and mop floors for up to two hours on a single charge. | Image: iRobot
The new Roomba Combo 2 Essential and Roomba Vac 2 Essential (https://media.irobot.com/2024-10-21-iRobot-Brings-More-Power-and-Self-Emptying-to-Affordable-Roomba-Essential-Lineup) include a dock for self-emptying their dirt bins — a feature missing from the budget-friendly Essential robovacs (https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/4/24120812/irobot-roomba-combo-essentials-robot-vacuum-price-release-date) that iRobot introduced six months ago. The 2-in-1 Combo 2 features both vacuuming and mopping capabilities for $424.99 (https://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/8532386/type/dlg/sid/verge/https://www.irobot.com/en_US/roomba-combo-2-essential-robot-plus-autoempty-dock/Y054020.html) and is slightly more expensive than the Vac 2, which only sucks up dust and dirt for $399.99.
The Combo 2 is now the most expensive option in iRobot’s Essential line and slightly pricier than the $400 DreameBot D10 Plus (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VKZT1FQ?tag=theverge02-20), our current choice for the best budget robot vacuum and mop (https://www.theverge.com/23846479/best-budget-robot-vacuum-robot-mop). The Vac 2 is available via “select retailers” in North America (including Target (https://goto.target.com/c/482924/81938/2092?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fp%2Firobot-roomba-vacuum-2-essential-robot-and-auto-empty-dock-black%2F-%2FA-93037003&sharedid=theverge.com) and Best Buy (https://howl.me/cnlCKhjc3bf), so far) and has the same features as the Combo except for the mopping...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/21/24275897/irobot-robovac-robot-vacuum-essential-self-empty-dock)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Amazon says that it has gotten rid of plastic air pillows at its warehouses.
“As of October 2024, we’ve removed all plastic air pillows from our delivery packaging used at our global fulfillment centers,” the e-commerce giant said in an October 9th blog post (https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/sustainability/how-amazon-is-reducing-packaging).
It’s a welcome change following years of pressure from environmental groups to stop plastic pollution flooding into oceans. The company is still working to reduce the use of single-use plastics more broadly in its packaging.
“Fantastic news for the world’s oceans”
“The fact that the world’s largest e-commerce company has made plastic air pillows history globally is fantastic news for the world’s oceans,” Matt Littlejohn, senior vice president of strategic initiatives at the...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/21/24276049/amazon-plastic-air-pillows-packaging)
Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images
The House Committee on Homeland Security is looking into (https://homeland.house.gov/2024/10/17/chairman-green-sends-request-to-dhs-for-information-following-reports-of-non-functional-cameras-at-the-southwest-border-security-lapses/) Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) surveillance network in the wake of a report that nearly one-third of the agency’s cameras along the US-Mexico border don’t work. Privacy advocates say this is just the latest instance of expensive border surveillance infrastructure not working as advertised.
An internal Border Patrol memo obtained by NBC News said that “several technical problems” had contributed to a large-scale outage of the Remote Video Surveillance Systems, a series of surveillance towers and cameras that have been used to remotely surveil the border since 2011. According to the memo, approximately 150 of the 500 cameras are non-operational. The memo says that the Federal...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/21/24276110/border-patrol-surveillance-cameras-not-working-mark-green)
Image: YouTube / Asmongold TV
Asmongold apologized for his racist comments regarding Palestinians, revealing that streaming culture has made him a ‘psychopathic version’ of himself.
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/21/24275996/asmongold-palestinians-racist-rant-apology-twitch-streaming-culture)
The 8 Elite comes with a new Oryon CPU. | Image: Qualcomm
Just a few years after changing its mobile chipset naming conventions (https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/22/22796541/qualcomm-snapdragon-branding-naming-scheme-changes-updates), Qualcomm has gone and done it again. The Snapdragon 8 Elite is the company’s newest high-end smartphone SoC, and like the laptop chips it borrows its “Elite” name from, it comes with a new Oryon CPU. The company says that this shift enables faster performance and — lest we forget about AI — offers on-device support for multimodal intelligence.
The Oryon CPU inside the 8 Elite hasn’t been borrowed directly from the laptop chips; Qualcomm is calling it a second-gen chipset. It replaces the Kryo CPUs Qualcomm has used in previous mobile chipsets and comprises two prime cores with six performance cores. There’s an X80 5G modem-RF chip (https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/26/24083395/this-is-not-the-snapdragon-8-gen-4) and an Adreno GPU with a new sliced...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/21/24273802/qualcomm-8-elite-oryon-cpu-android-smartphone-soc)
The Solix C300 DC, one of Anker’s latest power stations, provides a healthy balance of power and portability. | Anker
Having an alternative power source ready for sudden outages or extended off-grid adventures is never a bad idea. Thankfully, the Anker Solix C300X DC Portable Power Station is a neat, affordable option that loads you up with enough power and USB ports to charge several devices concurrently. And right now, Wellbots (https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1264455&u=1225169&m=83747&urllink=www.wellbots.com%2Fproducts%2Fanker-solix-c300x-dc-portable-power-station-288wh-90000mah-with-carry-strap&afftrack=vergeanker102124) is offering it to Verge readers for $148 (about $52 off) with promo code VERGEANKER26.
To be clear, this particular version excludes the three AC ports offered on the more expensive Solix C300 (https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Portable-Generator-Traveling-Emergencies/dp/B0D62GMQ3F?tag=theverge02-20). That said, it’s a viable alternative if you don’t anticipate plugging in hardware with AC plugs. It offers the same 90,000mAh (288Wh) capacity and spreads up to 300W of power across four total USB-C ports (two deliver up to 140W, one up...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/21/24275682/anker-solix-c300-dc-portable-power-station-iphone-16-pro-max-case-deal-sale)
Killscreen has taken inspiration from the Nintendo GameCube for its latest customized DualSense. | Image: Killscreen
Following the 30th anniversary versions of the PlayStation 5 (https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/19/24249013/sony-playstation-ps5-pro-30th-anniversary-retro) featuring an old-school gray colorway, Killscreen has announced a customized version of the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller (https://www.killscreen.io/product/indigo-clear-cubesense-ps5-controller/) called the CubeSense, which comes with a purple shell and custom joysticks inspired by the Nintendo GameCube.
Killscreen’s customized controllers are all based on a standard DualSense Wireless Controller, so while the CubeSense pairs a matte purple shell on the front with a transparent one on the back, its red, green, and light gray face buttons don’t match the unusual button layout (https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/14/24244670/8bitdo-mod-kit-gamecube-controller-bluetooth-hall-effects-joystick) Nintendo used for the GameCube’s gamepads.
But for a starting price of $149, Killscreen has swapped out the standard DualSense’s joysticks for versions that closely...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/21/24275805/killscreen-cubesense-ps5-dualsense-controller-nintendo-gamecube)
Image: The Verge
Disney will announce a replacement for CEO Bob Iger in “early 2026,” according to an update from the company (https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241021972311/en/The-Walt-Disney-Company-Board-Names-James-P.-Gorman-as-Chairman-Effective-January-2-2025) on Monday.
The entertainment giant has been on the hunt for a new leader since Iger’s return to Disney in 2022 (https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/20/23470368/disney-ceo-bob-iger-in-bob-chapek-out). Last year Iger extended his contract (https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/12/23793027/disney-ceo-bob-iger-contract-2026) with Disney until December 31st, 2026, and, as The New York Times notes, delayed retirement four times during his previous run as the company’s CEO before eventually handing control over to Bob Chapek in 2020.
Even though we’re still years away from hearing who will replace Iger, CNBC reports (https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/21/disney-ceo-succession-plan-board-chair.html) that Disney has interviewed several potential candidates in “recent weeks,” including ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro, Disney experiences chairman Josh D’Amaro, and Disney entertainment co-chairmen...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/21/24275676/disney-new-ceo-announcement-2026-bob-iger)
The Halo Select smart lock is Kwikset’s first to support Matter. It works over Thread and can also be used as a Wi-Fi lock. | Image: Kwikset
The Halo Select is Kwikset’s first new smart lock in five years, and its new features, updated design, and creative approach to connectivity could make the long wait worthwhile.
The Halo Select (http://www.kwikset.com/halo-select) is a ground-up redesign of the company’s Halo line (https://www.kwikset.com/halo) and its first lock to support Matter (https://www.theverge.com/23568091/matter-compatible-devices-accessories-apple-amazon-google-samsung). It works with the new standard over the low-power, mesh networking protocol Thread (https://www.theverge.com/23165855/thread-smart-home-protocol-matter-apple-google-interview) and, interestingly, has the option of skipping Matter and using Wi-Fi.
“You have Wi-Fi, which is what most customers want today, but it’s also future-proofed with Matter and Thread.”
It’s a clever move by Kwikset. Smart locks have limited features in Matter today (https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/8/23753915/matter-smart-lock-aqara-u100-apple-home-key), but the standard offers greater interoperability and Thread promises better battery life (a key feature in a...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/21/24273662/kwikset-halo-select-new-smart-lock-matter-thread-wifi)
The AirPods Pro 2 will soon offer more robust hearing protection and a new hearing aid feature. But it’s the hearing test that really hooked me.
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/24275178/apple-airpods-pro-hearing-aid-test-protection-preview)
Simply telling playtesters not to share any details hasn’t exactly worked out. | Image: The Verge
Nintendo has updated the official website for its mysterious “Switch Online: Playtest Program (https://playtest-p.nintendo.com/en-us)” today, privately revealing more information to participants about what it entails. The playtest is running from October 23rd, 9PM ET until November 5th, 8PM ET, and is only available to the roughly 10,000 people who have already registered (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/9/24266478/nintendo-switch-online-invite-application-beta-playtest) for the program.
The test software is now available to download ahead of the start of gameplay, and requires 2.2GB of free space. Participants didn’t sign an NDA, but Nintendo requested in the playtest terms and conditions that users refrain from sharing any details about it — which has gone about as well as can be expected. While Nintendo has already started issuing copyright strikes (https://x.com/Ethan_ThisGuy/status/1848221882496987233) to take leaked media...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/21/24275596/nintendo-switch-online-beta-playtest-program-leak-mmo)