Meta is expanding its paid verification badge to business accounts Illustration by Nick Barclay / The VergeBusinesses on Meta platforms will soon be able to purchase a blue check to get exclusive features and support. The expansion was announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg at an event today. Earlier this year, the company announced Meta Verified for creators, a $12 per month subscription that gives creators a blue …

Nikon’s new ZF is a retro-styled full-frame camera aimed right at our nostalgic hearts The Nikon ZF is the company’s latest camera. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The VergeAfter nine years of occasionally chasing the retro-camera-with-modern-features unicorn, Nikon may have finally gotten the formula right. The Japanese camera maker is announcing the Nikon ZF, a modern mirrorless camera packed with fairly high specs — like a 24.5-meg…

Roblox is rolling out in-experience subscriptions, but you can’t buy them yet Image: RobloxRoblox 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 increa…

Justice Department and Google spar over public access to antitrust trial files Illustration by Cath Virginia / The VergeThe Justice Department has removed access to publicly posted trial documents in US v. Google amid a dispute over how files should be made available online, according to reporter Leah Nylen of Bloomberg. Nylen, reporting from the courtroom, said that Judge Amit Mehta will make a decision in the morning on …

The case for creating new art for every podcast episode Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeThis is Hot Pod, The Verge’s newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up here for more. Happy Tuesday! Got a super-packed issue of Hot Pod today for everyone. First off, I’ll take a look at Spotify’s chief public affairs officer’s lengthy new blog post about Apple’s App Store policies. Also…

WhatsApp appears to be about to launch its long-overdue iPad app Illustration: The VergeA few lucky WhatsApp beta testers got a surprising treat this week: the company appears to be testing a version of its iOS app that is also optimized for the iPad. As first spotted by WABetaInfo, version 23.19.1.71 of WhatsApp’s TestFlight app includes the new iPad app as well. From what we can see in screenshots, the iPa…

Microsoft’s new Xbox controller borrows great ideas from Stadia, Steam, and Sony Microsoft’s new core gamepad, codenamed Sebile, may become the new default Xbox gamepad in May 2024. | Image via court documents, text removed by The VergeNew Xbox for 2024! New hybrid Xbox for 2028! But can we just appreciate Microsoft’s leaked Sebile controller for a sec? The $70 pad could arrive in 2024 chock-full of the best parts of Sony’s…

Microsoft addresses the huge Xbox leaks: here’s Phil Spencer’s full memo Image: Laura Normand / The VergeXbox chief Phil Spencer has just emailed Microsoft employees about the massive Xbox leak that happened earlier today. In the internal memo, obtained by The Verge, Spencer says Microsoft’s Xbox plans “were unintentionally disclosed” as part of the FTC v. Microsoft case. Documents revealed a lot: a disc-less Series …

Amazon made a new version of its cashierless tech that doesn’t need cameras Go ahead, wear that new jersey right out of the store. | Image: AmazonAmazon’s Just Walk Out technology is both extremely cool — just grab what you want and walk out the door, no checking out or paying necessary — and extremely complicated. Amazon’s system uses computer vision, which requires a complex system of cameras and sensors just to make …

Fitbit updates its app and teases something for September 28th Is that a Charge 6 I see? | Image: FitbitIt’s been a big day for Fitbit fans. On Tuesday morning, the Google-owned subsidiary started rolling out its new Fitbit app, and later in the day, it teased news on September 28th about a new Fitbit device. The news teaser is brief: it’s a six-second video on X (formerly Twitter) showing a person swinging…

Resident Evil Village on the iPhone 15 Pro actually looks pretty good Screenshot from Vincent Zhong’s iPhone 15 Pro review.In a recent interview with IGN, an Apple executive claimed that the iPhone 15 Pro was “going to be the best game console.” I was skeptical; although Apple boasted about the capabilities of its new GPU in its A17 Pro chip and said high-fidelity games like Resident Evil Village, the Resident Evi…

Climate Week NYC: news and protests surrounding the UN Climate Ambition Summit Representative Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) speaks to a crowd ahead of the March to End Fossil Fuels in New York City on September 17th, 2023. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The VergeHundreds of governments and thousands of protesters descended upon New York City this week to ramp up action on climate change. Continue reading…

Max will start offering a live sports tier in October Illustration: The VergeMax, the streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, is adding a live sports tier in the US on October 5th. The Bleacher Report Sports add-on will cost $9.99 per month, with current Max subscribers getting the tier for free until February 29th, 2024. The upcoming sports tier will feature live games from Major League…

The best stuff Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents bought using FTX money An object lesson in filial piety! | Illustration: The Verge; Image: Getty ImagesThe lawyers who represent what’s left of FTX filed suit against Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents, saying they “exploited their access and influence within the FTX enterprise to enrich themselves, directly and indirectly, by millions of dollars.” The point of the suit is t…

Neuralink is recruiting subjects for the first human trial of its brain-computer interface Neuralink’s N1 implant is ready for its first human users. | Image: NeuralinkA few months after getting FDA approval for human trials, Neuralink is looking for its first test subjects. The six-year initial trial, which the Elon Musk-owned company is calling “the PRIME Study,” is intended to test Neuralink tech designed to help those with paralys…

The UK passes massive online safety bill Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeThe UK’s Online Safety Bill is ready to become law. The bill, which aims to make the UK “the safest place in the world to be online,” passed through the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday and imposes strict requirements on large social platforms to remove illegal content. It will be enforced by UK telecom regu…

Toyota is making AI-trained breakfast bots in a ‘kindergarten for robots’ Do you want some frittata? | Image: Toyota Research InstituteYeah, so Toyota Research Institute (TRI) used generative AI in a “kindergarten for robots” to teach robots how to make breakfast — or at least, the individual tasks needed to do so — and it didn’t take hundreds of hours of coding and errors and bug fixing. Instead, researchers accompli…

The Fire TV should be at the heart of Amazon’s smart home Symbiosis between its Fire TVs and its Alexa smart home ambitions could help Amazon create a smart home that works for everyone. | Photo by Chris Welch / The VergeAmazon’s fall hardware event is taking place this week, and the company will undoubtedly be searching for its next big hardware hit. But how about making its existing hardware (and sof…

Your iPhone can now restore your Apple TV if the streaming box has problems Image: AppleIt’s rare that I ever encounter any bugs or software problems with the Apple TV 4K that stop me in my tracks. But in the event you do have trouble, restoring Apple’s streaming box has always been something of a hassle. With the older Apple TV HD, you’ve got to plug it into a Mac via the rear USB port. But this isn’t even an option fo…

The step-up model of one of our favorite mechanical keyboards is down to just $71.99 Epomaker’s TH80 Pro is a great entry-level mechanical keyboard, regardless of which switches you opt for. | Image: EpomakerIt’s hard to beat the tactile feel and durability of a good ol’ fashioned mechanical keyboard. Fortunately, if you’re someone who’s looking to kick their membrane keyboard to the curb, Epomaker’s TH80 Pro represents a great …