Новости за 01.10.2021

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Learning a new language on an Android device? If the language uses a different alphabet or employs accents that your primary language does not, you may need to add a new software keyboard to your phone.

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Every Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where co-hosts Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn discuss the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

NBC has an excellent story that takes a look at the trend of young adults attempting to buy prescription or recreational drugs from dealers on Snapchat — and ending up with fentanyl instead. The report tells the story from the perspective of several parents who have lost children and who suspect that they bought the pills using the popular chatting app. It also goes into how Snapchat is trying to deal with the problem and the difficulties that come with that moderation... Читать дальше...

Photo by EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZ/AFP via Getty Images

Since the dawn of time (around five or six months ago), people all over the world (Twitter users in the United States) have been puzzling over a very important question: why doesn’t the COVID-19 vaccine card fit in a wallet?

Discord is ending its Stage Discovery | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Discord said Friday it’s going to sunset its Stage Discovery tool on October 4th, less than six months after it launched.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Days after announcing new safety tools designed to protect streamers against hate raids, Twitch is experimenting with a new feature that will allow users to pay money to promote a stream. Rumors have been circulating on social media that the new feature is in the works, and a Twitch spokesperson has now confirmed to The Verge that it is testing the feature with a small number of streamers.

Image: Netflix

South Korean internet service provider SK Broadband is suing Netflix to pay for the increased network costs and bandwidth usage the streaming service’s content has drawn in South Korea, Reuters writes. The company cites Squid Game and D.P., two popular Korean Netflix dramas, as part of the cause.

Image: Google

Google has stopped working on its Plex service, which aimed to let you do your banking through the Google Pay app. The service was supposed to let users sign up for checking or savings accounts offered by a variety of traditional banks that the user would then manage through the app. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Google canceled the project due to a series of missed deadlines and because an executive who pushed for the project left the company.

Photo: Nikola Motor Company

A federal judge has administratively closed a $2 billion patent infringement lawsuit hydrogen trucking startup Nikola filed against Tesla in 2018, essentially pulling it off the Northern District Court of California’s docket because the two companies stopped responding. Nikola has until October 6th to show cause as to why the case should continue. Otherwise, the case of Nikola v. Tesla will be dismissed.

Seinfeld has officially moved over to stream on Netflix today, with a new 4K upgrade that promises to make the show look better than ever. But while Netflix has upgraded the iconic “show about nothing” to even crisper resolution, Netflix is hewing to the same strategy that Hulu and other HD releases of the show have used: a more modern-looking 16:9 aspect, instead of offering the original 4:3 aspect ratio in which the show originally aired.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Apple’s iPhone 13 lineup just launched last week, but some users ran into a frustrating issue where they couldn’t use their Apple Watch to unlock their new phones while wearing a face mask. The company had promised that a fix was on the way, and it appeared earlier this week in an iOS 15.1 beta, but now, the fix is live for everyone as part of the iOS 15.0.1 release.

Ring’s founder Jamie Siminoff announced a new video doorbell this week, from another company. | Image: Blink

In December 2017, Amazon spent $90 million to acquire Blink, a Kickstarter-funded startup that developed a super energy-efficient chip to power its battery-operated smart home security cameras. In January 2018, Blink announced its first video doorbell. The next month, Amazon dropped a cool billion on Ring, a smart home security camera company known for essentially inventing the video doorbell. Читать дальше...

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

A major annoyance of using a Samsung phone is finally getting fixed, as the company seems to have finally pulled ads from some of its stock apps. One Verge staffer reports that they aren’t seeing ads in the Samsung Weather, Samsung Pay, and Samsung Health apps, though they said they had to force quit and reopen the Health app to remove the ad banner. 9to5Google says that it’s seeing that ads have been removed as well.

PS Plus subscribers gain access to online multiplayer, monthly freebies, and more. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Anyone who owns a PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5 should consider becoming a PlayStation Plus subscriber — it’s one of the best deals in gaming, after all. Thankfully, if you’re not currently a subscriber or want to extend your membership, you can pick up a year of PS Plus at Eneba for $37 by using promo code VergePSPLUS at checkout. Once subscribed, you’ll be able to take advantage of a variety of perks... Читать дальше...

Hisense

Hisense’s U6G QLED TV in the 55-inch size is discounted at Amazon and Best Buy today. Normally $649.99, you can pick it up from either Best Buy or Amazon for just $520. Its quantum dot LED-backlit display should offer better contrast and color accuracy than the many low-end models available around the $400-$500 price range. It has Google Assistant built in, too, along with support for a bevy of streaming apps, including YouTube, Disney Plus, HBO Max, and more. It has four HDMI ports and a native refresh rate of 60Hz. Читать дальше...

If you’re a reputable Chinese gadget manufacturer with millions of dollars at stake because Amazon banned your ass for inflating user reviews... do you roll over? File a lawsuit? Or change a single letter in your name and try to sneak back onto Amazon anyhow?

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If you play video games on the PC then there’s a good chance at some point in your life you’ve purchased something from Humble Bundle: a digital storefront that regularly announces time-limited, pay-what-you-want game bundles, each of which sets aside a slice of the proceeds for charity. This week, the company announced that it’s now raised more than $200 million for good causes around the world — so: well done, gamers.

Neopets was a hugely popular virtual pet adoption site launched in 1999.

Virtual pet franchise Neopets is getting into NFTs — a seemingly inevitable move for a site with a long and varied history that has spawned a dizzying array of merchandise and offshoots, from magazines and cards to mobile games and a (promised) animated series.

“Google” is the most searched term on Bing “by far,” according to a lawyer working for Google’s parent company, Alphabet. According to Bloomberg, Google made the argument while trying to get its $5 billion antitrust fine from the EU overturned, using the statistic as evidence that people use Google by choice, not force.

Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Following a public standoff earlier this week, YouTube TV and NBCUniversal have agreed to a “short” extension over the streaming service carrying several of the broadcaster’s channels. That means that at least for now, YouTube TV will continue to carry more than a dozen major NBCUniversal-owned channels, including NBC regional sports networks. But it also means YouTube TV’s monthly subscription cost won’t be getting $10 cheaper. Читать дальше...

Photo By Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images

Electronic Arts is promoting chief studios officer Laura Miele to chief operating officer, the company announced Thursday. The change is a big promotion for Miele, who already had significant leadership at the company overseeing 25 different studios. The new role will give Miele greater oversight over the company and arguably makes her the most powerful woman in gaming, an industry where there are few female executives, fewer in the C-suite... Читать дальше...

iPhone assembler Foxconn is buying an automotive factory from struggling EV startup Lordstown Motors for around $230 million, the companies announced late Thursday. Foxconn says it has agreed to build Lordstown Motors’ electric pickup truck at the plant, which is where General Motors used to make the Chevrolet Cruze, and that the startup will remain a tenant there. Lordstown Motors will also “agree to provide Foxconn with certain rights with respect to future vehicle programs.”

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Five9 will remain independent — its deal to be acquired by Zoom is off. Though a press release from Five9 says it was “terminated by mutual agreement,” it’s also the case that Five9 shareholders rejected the $14.7 billion deal.

Image: Marvel Studios

Three months after Scarlett Johansson sued Disney over its streaming release of Black Widow, arguing she stood to lose millions of dollars because her salary was based on the box office performance of the film, the suit has now been settled, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and The New York Times and others. Representatives for Johansson confirmed the settlement to The Verge as well.