Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Spotify’s long-awaited HiFi tier could finally be getting closer to launch. Code within the Spotify app reveals new details about the “Supremium” tier, which could feature 24-bit lossless audio, the ability to create playlists with AI, and more, as spotted by u/Hypixely on Reddit. Spotify first announced the more expensive HiFi tier in February 2021, but the feature has been stuck in limbo since then. The last we heard about the tier was in June of this year when a Bloomberg report found Spotify had rebranded the HiFi tier as “Supremium.” The Redditor’s…
Image: Roblox Roblox is now rolling out the ability for developers to create subscriptions that they can sell in their experiences, according to a forum post. The company announced in July that it was working on these tools, saying that they could help developers “establish a recurring economic relationship with their users and potentially increase the predictability of their earning,” and now developers can actually start to plan out their offerings. Roblox users won’t be able to buy subscriptions just yet, however; that won’t be possible until sometime in November, according to the post. When they can, users will pay…
Photo by Nilay Patel / The Verge The iPhone 15 Pro could come with better 5G connectivity. That’s according to data from SpeedSmart (via 9to5Mac), which indicates that the iPhone 15 Pro will offer up to 24 percent faster download 5G speeds when compared to its iPhone 14 Pro predecessor. As shown by the data from SpeedSmart, the biggest jump occurred on Verizon’s network, which showed an average download speed of 195.83Mbps on the iPhone 14 Pro, as opposed to 243.06Mbps on the iPhone 15 Pro. Meanwhile, the iPhone 15 Pro on T-Mobile had the fastest average 5G download speeds…
Image: PlayStation Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will come with an even bigger map. The developers behind the sequel — Insomniac Games — have announced they’re “nearly doubling” the size of Marvel’s New York. With the expanded map, you’ll get to swing your way past the East River and web your way across Queens and Brooklyn while completing story missions, side quests, and city activities along the way. There are also new “Web Wings” that help you get across the city faster. You’ll also get to switch between playing as Peter Parker and Miles Morales “near-instantly,” with both characters having different side…
Image: Microsoft Microsoft is testing a new background removal tool in Paint. The feature is rolling out now to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels (version 11.2306.30.0) and lets you remove an image’s background with a single click. To use the tool, testers can open an image with Paint and then hit the background removal button on the left side of Paint’s toolbar. From there, Paint will automatically detect the subject of an image and cut away the background. Microsoft notes that you can also manually select the portion of the background that you want to remove. Image:…
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Zoom is trying to expand its video chat platform into a full-service office suite, and its latest addition hits on the need to create and share documents. The company is adding a feature called Notes that allows users to create, share, and simultaneously edit a text document. Notes will appear alongside a video call where Zoom’s chat box usually is. People in the call can hop in to make edits as the meeting is happening, making it easier to keep paying attention to the conversation than if they had to switch over to…
British Airways and other flights are affected during this busy bank holiday. | Photo by Urbanandsport / NurPhoto via Getty Images The UK is suffering a major disruption to air travel due to unspecific “technical issues” affecting flight control computer systems. Britain’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS) says it has “applied traffic flow restrictions to maintain safety,” with several airlines reporting disruptions felt at airports across the world. Hundreds of flights in and out of the UK have been delayed, according to The Guardian, with delays of up to 12 hours reported. Despite the disruption, NATS says that UK airspace…
The Falcon-9 launches NASA’s Crew-7 mission into space. | Screenshot: Wes Davis / The Verge SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center this morning at 3:27AM ET, NASA announced today. The rocket pushed four astronauts on NASA’s Crew-7 mission into orbit before a scheduled Sunday morning dock with the International Space Station (ISS). The mission brings astronauts from four countries to the ISS — Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA, the European Space Agency’s Andreas Mogensen, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furakawa, and Konstantin Borisov, a Russian cosmonaut. When the Dragon spacecraft — named Endurance — autonomously docks…
The Verge Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Threads that he’s “ready to fight” X owner Elon Musk but not to believe that there’s a scheduled date until he confirms it. Musk claimed Friday morning that the fight would be livestreamed on X and “Meta,” and that everything you’d see on camera “will be ancient Rome.” Italy’s culture minister promptly indicated in a statement that the planning isn’t as far along as Musk suggests, nor will any event actually be held in Rome. Now Zuckerberg is indicating that the rest of the details are a surprise to him, too. “I…
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A woman in British Columbia, Canada, has received over 50 Amazon packages that she’s never asked for, as reported by CBC. As a result of getting these shipments, which she hasn’t had the chance to refuse upon arrival, the United Parcel Service (UPS) has sent her customs bills for more than $300. “They keep coming and it just doesn’t end,” Anca Nitu said to CBC. Nitu told the news outlet that it’s somehow tied to her own Amazon account — one that she said has been sitting dormant. Amazon told CBC in a…
Illustration: The Verge Microsoft is facing mounting criticism in the wake of last month’s attack on Azure. In a post on LinkedIn, Amit Yoran, the CEO of the cybersecurity company Tenable, says Microsoft’s cybersecurity track record is “even worse than you think” — and he has an example to back it up. On July 12th, Microsoft disclosed a major breach targeting its Azure platform, which it traced to a Chinese hacking group known as Storm-0558. The attack affected around 25 different organizations and resulted in the theft of sensitive emails from US government officials. Last week, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR)…
An iPhone 14 Pro Max. | Image: Nilay Patel / The Verge Some big changes are expected to come to this year’s iPhone 15 Pro lineup — but they might come alongside a price hike, too. In Bloomberg this morning, reporter Mark Gurman confirmed a handful of details that have been floating around all year about what to expect when the next iPhone lineup is announced in just over a month. The new Pro models will both come with titanium frames, instead of stainless steel, making them stronger and lighter, according to Gurman. Their screens will also have thinner bezels,…
Image: Techland Tencent, the billion-dollar Chinese holding company that owns either wholly or in part game studios like Riot Games, Epic Games, and many others, is in the process of adding another studio to its long list of subsidiaries — Techland. CEO Pawel Marchewka announced the news, saying, “Teaming up with Tencent will allow us to move full speed ahead with the execution of the vision for our games.” Techland is a Polish studio known for its zombie survival games, including the Dying Light and Dead Island series. Last year, after a lengthy delay, the studio released the highly anticipated…
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Photo: Getty Images Around 12AM ET last night, Twitter owner Elon Musk started tweeting — and did so for hours — about the Twitter rebrand to X, the one-letter name he’s used repeatedly in company and product names forever. It started with a tweet saying “soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,” followed by a second tweet adding that “if a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we’ll make go live worldwide tomorrow.” Musk then, over the next several hours, gestured at the change in…
Image: Dotemu The team over at Capy Games has a real knack for inventive takes on seemingly simple puzzle games. I first realized this when playing the colorful Critter Crunch way back in 2009, and nowadays, I’m reminded of it whenever I squeeze in a few rounds of Grindstone on my phone. Tucked away in between those two releases was Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes — which originally debuted on the Nintendo DS — an often overlooked game that might just be the most engrossing puzzle RPG I’ve ever played. Now it has a new lease on life with…
Not to be all Marie Kondo about it, but my Mac Studio sparks joy in me every day, and it’s not because it’s the fastest computer I’ve ever owned. It’s also not strictly about the front-facing ports Apple gave it, nor is it the village of ports that live in the back. It’s the mustache. See, I found this mustache sticker in the back of a drawer in my house. I don’t know where it came from, only that it was there, and the moment I found it, I knew immediately where to put it: smack-dab in the middle of…
Image: Getty Images The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has lost what may be its final attempt to block Microsoft from buying Activision Blizzard. It’s the second loss for the FTC after a US federal judge denied its request for a preliminary injunction earlier this week to block Microsoft from acquiring Activision Blizzard until the conclusion of a separate FTC administrative case. The FTC appealed the decision by Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, and now the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied its request for emergency relief to prevent Microsoft from closing the deal until the result of the FTC’s appeal…
Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge An important deadline just passed for the biggest tech platform companies in the world to notify the European Union (EU) that they are gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Seven companies have officially acknowledged they meet the criteria: Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, ByteDance (TikTok), Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp), Microsoft, and Samsung. Companies on the list have a market capitalization of over €75 billion ($82 billion) and own a social platform or app that has at least 45 million monthly users or 10,000 active business users. The statement published by EU commissioner Thierry Breton…
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Reddit is pressuring moderators who have set their subreddits to private to reopen their communities this week, according to messages seen by The Verge. The company has given moderators deadlines to lay out their plans for reopening but said that they can’t stay closed. The timeframes given generally indicate a deadline of sometime Thursday afternoon. Reddit was vague about the exact repercussions but seemed to suggest this was the final warning stage. “This community remaining closed to its [millions of] members cannot continue” beyond a the deadline, the admin (Reddit employee) account ModCodeofConduct…