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Image: Square Enix
The game’s final episode also teases a larger Life is Strange universe to come.
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/24289524/life-is-strange-double-exposure-review-pc-ps5-xbox)
Image: Netflix
We still don’t have a firm premiere date, but Netflix has officially confirmed (https://x.com/netflix/status/1854161874201325856) that the fifth — and final — season of Stranger Things will start streaming next year. Aside from that, the streamer also released the titles (https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/the-title-of-stranger-things-season-5-episode-1-revealed) for all eight episodes in the new season, which might provide some hints as to what to expect:
Episode 1 - “The Crawl”
Episode 2 - “The Vanishing of …” (note: this one is intentionally left incomplete, presumably for spoiler reasons)
Episode 3 - “The Turnbow Trap”
Episode 4 - “Sorcerer”
Episode 5 - “Shock Jock”
Episode 6 - “Escape from Camazotz”
Episode 7 - “The Bridge”
Episode 8 - “The Rightside Up”
That’s not a lot of info, but then again we haven’t heard much since season 4 wrapped up in 2022 (https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/2/23192070/stranger-things-4-volume-2-review). Sarah Connor has... (https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/17/23762473/stranger-things-meets-sarah-connor)
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/6/24289501/stranger-things-season-5-2025-netflix)
AMD’s 7800X3D successor is also better at non-gaming workloads this time around.
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/6/24288948/amd-ryzen-7-9800x3d-review-cpu-processor-benchmark-test)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Lyft is teaming up with a trio of autonomous driving startups as it races to keep up with Uber, which has also struck a number of deals to put robotaxis on its platform.
Today, the ridehail company said it was teaming up with three different autonomous driving companies: Mobileye, May Mobility, and Nexar. Mobileye and May Mobility plan on deploying autonomous vehicles on Lyft’s network, while Nexar, which makes smart dash cams, will work with Lyft on using its “video telematics to create data-driven solutions that accelerate the deployment of AV technologies.”
Nexar said it has “over 45 petabytes of real-world footage, spanning 200 million miles driven monthly, with over 5 trillion images and over 59 million videos,” which it says...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/6/24289475/lyft-may-mobility-mobileye-nexar-autonomous-robotaxi)
The DJI Goggles N3 headset, DJI Neo drone, and RC Motion 3 controller. | Photo: The Verge
I’m hoping DJI’s affordable new FPV goggles will be the missing puzzle piece (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/17/24272736/these-leaked-dji-goggles-n3-could-be-the-missing-puzzle-piece) — a way to cheaply buy the “It feels like I’m flying!” experience I had with the DJI Avata (https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/25/23311957/dji-avata-fpv-drone-goggles-2-price-release-date-preview) for maybe $400 or $500 tops, rather than the current $800 to $1,000 you might have to pay.
See, the company announced its budget $199 Neo drone (https://www.theverge.com/24236503/dji-neo-vs-hoverair-selfie-drone-specs-price-hands-on) in September that works with goggles, and today it’s announcing the $229 DJI Goggles N3 (https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=66960X1514734&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dji.com%2Fgoggles-n3&referrer=theverge.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theverge.com%2F24285651%2Fdji-goggles-n3-price-release-date-hands-on). Add a $99 RC Motion 3 controller and you get airplane-like flight, with first-person video that puts you in the virtual cockpit.
But I can’t quite confirm that it’s worth your money yet — because DJI says my unit likely shipped with a defect, and I’ll need a little more testing time. More on that below.
At $229, the Goggles N3 are definitely...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/24285651/dji-goggles-n3-price-release-date-hands-on)
Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge
The European Commission has opened a formal investigation (https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_5681) into Corning to determine whether it has broken antitrust rules with its dominant Gorilla Glass product. Corning’s Alkali-aluminosilicate glass is used to protect most of the top phones and tablets, with both Samsung and Apple using it extensively across their range of devices. The EU is concerned that Corning has used a variety of exclusivity contracts to exclude rival glass makers from the phone market.
“It is very frustrating and costly experience to break a mobile phone screen. Therefore, strong competition in the production of the cover glass used to protect such devices is crucial to ensure low prices and high-quality glass,” says outgoing (https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/16/24221618/margrethe-vestager-will-not-return-as-eus-competition-chief) EU competition chief Margrethe...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/6/24289450/corning-eu-antitrust-investigation-gorilla-glass)
Sundar Pichai. | Image: Laura Normand / The Verge
Google CEO Sundar Pichai told employees ahead of Election Day to make sure “the products we build” are “a trusted source of information to people of every background and belief.”
“As with other elections, the outcome will be a major topic of conversation in living rooms and other places around the world,” Pichai said in an internal memo on November 4th obtained by The Verge and first reported on by The Washington Post. “And of course, the outcome will have important consequences.”
“Whomever the voters entrust, let’s remember the role we play at work, through the products we build and as a business: to be a trusted source of information to people of every background and belief. We will and must maintain that.”
Naturally, Google has...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/5/24289170/google-ceo-election-memo-employees-trump-harris)
Illustration by Laura Normand / The Verge
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is pushing back on claims that his return-to-office mandate was a “backdoor layoff.” In a transcript of an all-hands staff meeting seen by Reuters and CNBC (https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/05/amazon-ceo-andy-jassy-5-day-office-mandate-isnt-a-backdoor-layoff.html), Jassy said the move “is very much about our culture and strengthening our culture.”
In September, Amazon announced that it would start making employees return to the office (https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/16/24246428/amazon-return-to-office-five-days-a-week) five days per week starting January 2nd, 2025. The e-commerce giant previously required employees to work in the office three days per week (https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/17/23604485/amazon-return-to-office-three-days-a-week). Some speculated that the five-day-per-week mandate (https://fortune.com/2024/10/02/amazon-rto-layoffs-in-disguise-andy-jassy/) is a “layoff in disguise,” (https://www.inc.com/joe-procopio/are-return-to-office-mandates-really-just-mass-layoffs-in-disguise/90983360) intended to push out employees who couldn’t or wouldn’t make the full return.
“A number of people I’ve seen theorized that the reason we were doing this is, it’s a backdoor...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/5/24289159/amazon-ceo-andy-jassy-defends-return-to-office-policy)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
The Mozilla Foundation laid off 30 percent of its workforce and completely eliminated its advocacy and global programs divisions, TechCrunch reports.
While Mozilla is best known for its Firefox web browser, the Mozilla Foundation — the parent of the Mozilla Corporation — describes itself as standing up “for the health of the internet.” With its advocacy and global programs divisions gone, its impact may be lessened going forward.
“Fighting for a free and open internet will always be core to our mission, and advocacy continues to be a critical tool in that work. We’re revisiting how we pursue that work, not stopping it,” Brandon Borrman, the Mozilla Foundation’s communications chief, said in an email to The Verge. Borrman declined to...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/5/24289124/mozilla-foundation-layoffs-advocacy-global-programs)
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge
It takes me a minute to figure out what’s going on in this TikTok livestream happening on the morning of the US presidential election.
The screen is split in two. On the top, a man is streaming himself from the chest up, shouting at viewers. On the bottom is an electoral map of the US, with each state colored red (Republican), blue (Democrat), yellow (third-party), or tan (unclaimed). The man appears to be auctioning off the Electoral College.
“Uh oh! Two Texas blues just came in, ladies and gentlemen!” he shouts, clicking to change the state of Texas from red to blue. A few seconds later, Texas goes red again. “It’s a neck and neck game right here!” he says. “It’s anybody’s game right here! Oh! I just got an Arizona blue!”
...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/24288837/tiktok-live-presidential-election-results-electoral-map-votes)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued a warning (https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/fbi-statement-on-bomb-threats-to-polling-locations) that fake bomb threats are being emailed to US polling locations in multiple states that “appear to originate from Russian email domains.”
“None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far,” the FBI says. The agency says it is working closely with state and local law enforcement to respond to any election threats and urges the public to “remain vigilant” and report suspicious activity to state and local authorities.
Fake bomb threats were sent to polling locations in Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin, prompting “at least two” sites in Fulton County, Georgia, to be evacuated on Tuesday, according to Reuters. Officials said both locations were “re-opened after about 30...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/5/24288999/polling-location-bomb-threats-russian-emails-fbi-2024-election-day)
Image: Swisspod
About a year ago, I wrote a story with the headline “The hyperloop is dead for real this time,” (https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/21/24011448/hyperloop-one-shut-down-layoff-closing-elon-musk) based on the news that Hyperloop One, one of the biggest companies pursuing Elon Musk’s dream of tube-based, 700mph travel, had shut down.
Well, I stand corrected. The hyperloop, in fact, lives on — as a 1/12th scale model in Switzerland.
Sure, this isn’t exactly the full realization of Musk’s 2013 white paper (https://www.theverge.com/2013/8/12/4614940/elon-musk-reveals-plans-for-high-speed-hyperloop), in which he theorized that aerodynamic aluminum capsules filled with passengers or cargo could be propelled through a nearly airless tube at speeds of up to 760mph. These tubes, either raised on pylons or sunk beneath the earth, could be built either within or between cities. Musk called it a “fifth mode of transportation” and argued...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/5/24288954/hyperloop-swisspod-test-worlds-longest-scale-model)
Watch the game, set up a Halo 2 LAN party, or look at footage of other trucks. | Image: Toyota
Toyota revealed a custom Tundra pickup truck that can pop out five big-screen TVs (https://pressroom.toyota.com/toyotas-ultimate-tailgate-tundra-scores-with-fans-at-the-2024-sema-show/) from its bed for a wild tailgating experience designed to let you watch football from “any angle.” The one-off vehicle is a prototype built for the 2024 SEMA show in Las Vegas, where it’s on display alongside many other cool concepts (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/5/24282790/sema-2024-ev-concept-kia-dodge-mopar-restomod), including Toyota’s Jeepy (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/1/24285553/toyota-should-make-this-awesome-looking-jeep-alternative) open-air Land Cruiser.
This “Ultimate Tailgate Tundra,” however, is unlike anything else at the show in terms of gadgety engineering:
With the push of a button, a custom-built staging shell rises from the bed of the truck on four electric actuators, revealing five 55-inch weatherproof outdoor screens.
Image: Toyota
I guess the cooler goes in the cab.
Image:...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/5/24288874/toyota-ultimate-tailgate-tundra-sema-2024-concept-tvs)
Illustration: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Photo: Getty Images
Elon Musk is a busy man right now. He’s supposedly running X, SpaceX, Tesla, and Neuralink, all while actively campaigning for Trump (https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/16/24271770/elon-musk-trump-pennsylvania-talks). But despite those myriad concerns, Musk still finds the time to play Diablo 4. He’s even said he’s pretty good at it, claiming in a recent interview with Joe Rogan that he’s in the top 20 of Diablo 4 players — a feat that apparently only two Americans can claim. If this sounds like the unearned boasting from the same guy who claimed his Cybertrucks are bulletproof (https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/29/23979850/tesla-cybertruck-delivery-design-production-problems-delay)... it is.
The Pit is a timed dungeon in Diablo 4. Players are given 15 minutes to clear out monsters and the final boss, with each death shaving an increasing amount of time off the overall timer. Players who can complete The Pit earn endgame...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/5/24288836/elon-musk-top-20-diablo-4-players-the-pit)
Amazon’s MK30 drone. | Image: Amazon
Amazon is starting up drone delivery operations (https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/transportation/amazon-drone-delivery-arizona) at its Tolleson, AZ, same-day delivery site. Customers who live in the West Valley Phoenix Metro Area are eligible to receive packages via Prime Air and will have “access to the over 50,000 everyday essentials” that include household, beauty, and office/tech supplies — which Amazon claims is its largest selection yet for fast drone deliveries.
The news came after Amazon announced it was shutting down its testing zone location (https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/22/24137383/amazon-prime-air-drone-delivery-closing-lockeford-california-phoenix-arizona) in Lockeford, California. The new Tolleson location integrates drone deliveries into Amazon’s delivery network for the first time, and the drones will deploy right next to the fulfillment center.
Amazon is using its latest MK30 drones that can carry up to 5 pounds...
Continue reading… (https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/5/24288735/amazon-arizona-tolleson-phoenix-drone-prime-air-launch)
Life is Strange: Double Exposure ends with a disappointing finale
https://www.theverge.com/24289524/life-is-strange-double-exposure-review-pc-ps5-xbox
Netflix confirms Stranger Things season 5 is coming in 2025
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/6/24289501/stranger-things-season-5-2025-netflix
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D: the best gaming CPU
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/6/24288948/amd-ryzen-7-9800x3d-review-cpu-processor-benchmark-test
Lyft is also partnering with robotaxi companies
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/6/24289475/lyft-may-mobility-mobileye-nexar-autonomous-robotaxi
I flew DJI’s $199 drone with its new $229 Goggles N3
https://www.theverge.com/24285651/dji-goggles-n3-price-release-date-hands-on
Corning’s Gorilla Glass under EU antitrust investigation
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/6/24289450/corning-eu-antitrust-investigation-gorilla-glass
Google CEO says the company should be a ‘trusted source’ in the election
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/5/24289170/google-ceo-election-memo-employees-trump-harris
Amazon’s CEO defends return-to-office policy
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/5/24289159/amazon-ceo-andy-jassy-defends-return-to-office-policy
Mozilla is eliminating its advocacy division, which fought for a free and open web
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/5/24289124/mozilla-foundation-layoffs-advocacy-global-programs
The fever dream of TikTok Live election results
https://www.theverge.com/24288837/tiktok-live-presidential-election-results-electoral-map-votes
The FBI says Russian emails are sending fake bomb threats to polling stations
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/5/24288999/polling-location-bomb-threats-russian-emails-fbi-2024-election-day
The hyperloop lives on as a 1/12th scale model in Switzerland
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/5/24288954/hyperloop-swisspod-test-worlds-longest-scale-model
Toyota mounted five big-screen TVs to this Tundra truck
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/5/24288874/toyota-ultimate-tailgate-tundra-sema-2024-concept-tvs
Elon Musk’s ‘top 20’ Diablo IV claim is as real as his self-driving cars
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/5/24288836/elon-musk-top-20-diablo-4-players-the-pit
Amazon starts drone deliveries in Arizona
https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/5/24288735/amazon-arizona-tolleson-phoenix-drone-prime-air-launch