verge-rss

Photo by John Thys / AFP via Getty Images

On the heels of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s massive payday, the company released its latest quarterly production and delivery report, showing drops from last year in both production and deliveries.
Tesla reported producing 410,831 vehicles over the three-month period that ended in June, a 14 percent drop compared to the second quarter of 2023. Tesla reported delivering 443,956 vehicles to customers during Q2 of 2024, a 4.76 percent drop from the 466,140 vehicles it delivered in Q2 2023.
This continues a trend that began earlier this year in which Tesla reported its first year-over-year sales drop since 2020. The company is continuing to struggle with demand as customers have more choices than ever when shopping for an electric vehicle. It did turn around last quarter’s sequential drop in deliveries, with an increase of 14.8 percent compared to Q1.
Tesla has also been dealing with some real struggles that have affected its production, like the ramp-up of the newly refreshed Model 3 at its factory in Fremont, California, and shutdowns related to supply chain issues at its Gigafactory in Berlin.
But production woes can’t totally explain the drop in customer deliveries. Tesla’s market share has shrunk as legacy automakers continue to release new models. It’s now hovering at around 50 percent of the market, down from 80 percent share in 2020. And while other automakers are reporting double-digit growth in EV sales, Tesla’s sales continue to drop.
There’s a litany of reasons for this: Musk’s online antics, gaps in the company’s vehicle lineup, and increasing competition. The vast majority of Tesla’s sales — over 90 percent — come from just two models: the Model 3 and Model Y. The Cybertruck, the company’s great stainless steel hope, is extremely polarizing and perennially recalled.
Tesla doesn’t break out its numbers regionally, so it’s impossible to pinpoint the company’s major weaknesses. Registration trackers indicate Europe is a growing problem. But China, Tesla’s most important market, may be looking up thanks to lowered interest rates and new incentives.
It’s looking like it will be a busy summer for Tesla. As it continues to sift through the wreckage of this year’s multiple rounds of layoffs, the company is expected to report its second quarter earnings later this month. And then, on August 8th, there’s the big robotaxi reveal, where Musk will make his most forceful pitch for Tesla’s future as an AI and robotics company.
That may be the future, but the present is still cars.

Photo by John Thys / AFP via Getty Images

On the heels of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s massive payday, the company released its latest quarterly production and delivery report, showing drops from last year in both production and deliveries.

Tesla reported producing 410,831 vehicles over the three-month period that ended in June, a 14 percent drop compared to the second quarter of 2023. Tesla reported delivering 443,956 vehicles to customers during Q2 of 2024, a 4.76 percent drop from the 466,140 vehicles it delivered in Q2 2023.

This continues a trend that began earlier this year in which Tesla reported its first year-over-year sales drop since 2020. The company is continuing to struggle with demand as customers have more choices than ever when shopping for an electric vehicle. It did turn around last quarter’s sequential drop in deliveries, with an increase of 14.8 percent compared to Q1.

Tesla has also been dealing with some real struggles that have affected its production, like the ramp-up of the newly refreshed Model 3 at its factory in Fremont, California, and shutdowns related to supply chain issues at its Gigafactory in Berlin.

But production woes can’t totally explain the drop in customer deliveries. Tesla’s market share has shrunk as legacy automakers continue to release new models. It’s now hovering at around 50 percent of the market, down from 80 percent share in 2020. And while other automakers are reporting double-digit growth in EV sales, Tesla’s sales continue to drop.

There’s a litany of reasons for this: Musk’s online antics, gaps in the company’s vehicle lineup, and increasing competition. The vast majority of Tesla’s sales — over 90 percent — come from just two models: the Model 3 and Model Y. The Cybertruck, the company’s great stainless steel hope, is extremely polarizing and perennially recalled.

Tesla doesn’t break out its numbers regionally, so it’s impossible to pinpoint the company’s major weaknesses. Registration trackers indicate Europe is a growing problem. But China, Tesla’s most important market, may be looking up thanks to lowered interest rates and new incentives.

It’s looking like it will be a busy summer for Tesla. As it continues to sift through the wreckage of this year’s multiple rounds of layoffs, the company is expected to report its second quarter earnings later this month. And then, on August 8th, there’s the big robotaxi reveal, where Musk will make his most forceful pitch for Tesla’s future as an AI and robotics company.

That may be the future, but the present is still cars.

Read More 

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Netflix is following through on its plan to phase out its cheapest ad-free tier for existing subscribers. As spotted in numerous posts on Reddit, Netflix is now asking some basic plan subscribers to choose a new plan to stay subscribed to Netflix.
One Reddit user received a notification on their Netflix app, saying “Your last day to watch Netflix is July 13th. Choose a new plan to keep watching.” Subscribers paying $9.99 / month for the basic plan will have to choose either the $6.99 ad-supported tier, the $15.49 ad-free tier, or the $22.99 ad-free 4K premium plan.

Judging by the posts on Reddit, it looks like most users receiving the prompt are located in Canada or the UK, which tracks with Netflix’s plan to phase out the basic tier: in January, Netflix announced that it’s taking away the tier for existing subscribers in the second quarter of this year, starting with Canada and the UK. The streamer’s pricing page in both Canada and the UK says the “Basic plan has been discontinued” and that “you can change your plan at any time.”
Last year, Netflix discontinued its basic plan for new or returning members in the US, Canada, and the UK. Netflix hasn’t said when it will start phasing out the basic plan for existing subscribers in the US. The Verge has reached out to Netflix for more information but hasn’t yet heard back.
Like many other streamers, Netflix continues to nudge users toward its ad-supported plan, which, as of May, had grown to over 40 million users.
Disclosure: The Verge recently produced a series with Netflix.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Netflix is following through on its plan to phase out its cheapest ad-free tier for existing subscribers. As spotted in numerous posts on Reddit, Netflix is now asking some basic plan subscribers to choose a new plan to stay subscribed to Netflix.

One Reddit user received a notification on their Netflix app, saying “Your last day to watch Netflix is July 13th. Choose a new plan to keep watching.” Subscribers paying $9.99 / month for the basic plan will have to choose either the $6.99 ad-supported tier, the $15.49 ad-free tier, or the $22.99 ad-free 4K premium plan.

Judging by the posts on Reddit, it looks like most users receiving the prompt are located in Canada or the UK, which tracks with Netflix’s plan to phase out the basic tier: in January, Netflix announced that it’s taking away the tier for existing subscribers in the second quarter of this year, starting with Canada and the UK. The streamer’s pricing page in both Canada and the UK says the “Basic plan has been discontinued” and that “you can change your plan at any time.”

Last year, Netflix discontinued its basic plan for new or returning members in the US, Canada, and the UK. Netflix hasn’t said when it will start phasing out the basic plan for existing subscribers in the US. The Verge has reached out to Netflix for more information but hasn’t yet heard back.

Like many other streamers, Netflix continues to nudge users toward its ad-supported plan, which, as of May, had grown to over 40 million users.

Disclosure: The Verge recently produced a series with Netflix.

Read More 

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge

The Apple Vision Pro is many things. But for us, and for many other users, it’s one thing in particular: a really, really, really big screen. Since Apple started shipping its spatial computing headset five months ago today, we’ve tested the device as a TV, a computer monitor, a game console, a mega-chill way to relax on the beach, and much more.
On this episode of The Vergecast, we talk about the past, present, and future of the Vision Pro. We chat with The Verge’s Wes Davis and Victoria Song about their experiences with the device, along with what they’ve liked and what they’d like to change. It seems pretty clear that the first version of the device wasn’t a groundbreaking, market-moving hit, so what next? Apple is reportedly working on a cheaper model with significantly lower-res displays, but does that dim the appeal of that really big screen? We have some thoughts and some ideas for Apple.

After that, to get another perspective on the first five months of the Vision Pro, we talk to the phones behind one of the platform’s most fun apps. The app is called Television, and it’s made by the folks at Sandwich. They tell us about the process of building a headset app without access to a headset, how they think about the future of the Vision Pro, and how the headset app business is really going.
Finally, we circle back to what’s next for the Vision Pro and take a hotline question on making Apple’s wearable more… wearable. I still can’t believe I’m saying this, but: the answer might be plastic.

If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started:

Everything we know about Apple’s Vision Pro
Apple Vision Pro review: magic, until it’s not
Apple’s Vision Pro team is reportedly focused on building a cheaper headset
Vision Pro apps: the good, the bad, and the ridiculous
Apple announces visionOS 2 with 3D photo transformations and an ultrawide Mac display
Apple skipped over the best visionOS 2 updates
The Vision Pro will get Apple Intelligence and ‘Go Deeper’ in-store demos
The Vision Pro isn’t destroying your eyes, but maybe get eye drops
The Television app for Vision Pro

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge

The Apple Vision Pro is many things. But for us, and for many other users, it’s one thing in particular: a really, really, really big screen. Since Apple started shipping its spatial computing headset five months ago today, we’ve tested the device as a TV, a computer monitor, a game console, a mega-chill way to relax on the beach, and much more.

On this episode of The Vergecast, we talk about the past, present, and future of the Vision Pro. We chat with The Verge’s Wes Davis and Victoria Song about their experiences with the device, along with what they’ve liked and what they’d like to change. It seems pretty clear that the first version of the device wasn’t a groundbreaking, market-moving hit, so what next? Apple is reportedly working on a cheaper model with significantly lower-res displays, but does that dim the appeal of that really big screen? We have some thoughts and some ideas for Apple.

After that, to get another perspective on the first five months of the Vision Pro, we talk to the phones behind one of the platform’s most fun apps. The app is called Television, and it’s made by the folks at Sandwich. They tell us about the process of building a headset app without access to a headset, how they think about the future of the Vision Pro, and how the headset app business is really going.

Finally, we circle back to what’s next for the Vision Pro and take a hotline question on making Apple’s wearable more… wearable. I still can’t believe I’m saying this, but: the answer might be plastic.

If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started:

Everything we know about Apple’s Vision Pro
Apple Vision Pro review: magic, until it’s not
Apple’s Vision Pro team is reportedly focused on building a cheaper headset
Vision Pro apps: the good, the bad, and the ridiculous
Apple announces visionOS 2 with 3D photo transformations and an ultrawide Mac display
Apple skipped over the best visionOS 2 updates
The Vision Pro will get Apple Intelligence and ‘Go Deeper’ in-store demos
The Vision Pro isn’t destroying your eyes, but maybe get eye drops
The Television app for Vision Pro

Read More 

Leon Kennedy in the Resident Evil 4 remake. | Image: Capcom

Capcom is developing a new Resident Evil game, Resident Evil 7 director Koshi Nakanishi confirmed during a summer “Capcom Next” livestream on Monday.
“We’re making a new Resident Evil,” Nakanishi said during the show. “It was really difficult to figure out what to do after 7. But I found it, and to be honest it feels substantial. I can’t share any details just yet but I hope you’re excited for the day I can.”
That’s admittedly not much to go on, but I get the sense he’s hinting that this new game is the next major entry in the franchise. If that’s the case, we’ll have to see if Capcom calls it Resident Evil 9 or finds some sort of clever subtitle, like it did with the logo for Resident Evil Village.
The news of a new Resident Evil followed updates for a few other games. The just-announced Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster will be released on September 19th with improved graphics and some new quality-of-life upgrades. Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, a new tower defense game in a setting inspired by Japanese mythology, is getting a demo today ahead of its July 19th release. (My colleague Ash Parrish was a big fan of the game at Summer Game Fest.) And Resident Evil 7 for iOS, which launches on July 2nd, will have an auto-fire feature to make the game easier to play with virtual controls.

Leon Kennedy in the Resident Evil 4 remake. | Image: Capcom

Capcom is developing a new Resident Evil game, Resident Evil 7 director Koshi Nakanishi confirmed during a summer “Capcom Next” livestream on Monday.

“We’re making a new Resident Evil,” Nakanishi said during the show. “It was really difficult to figure out what to do after 7. But I found it, and to be honest it feels substantial. I can’t share any details just yet but I hope you’re excited for the day I can.”

That’s admittedly not much to go on, but I get the sense he’s hinting that this new game is the next major entry in the franchise. If that’s the case, we’ll have to see if Capcom calls it Resident Evil 9 or finds some sort of clever subtitle, like it did with the logo for Resident Evil Village.

The news of a new Resident Evil followed updates for a few other games. The just-announced Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster will be released on September 19th with improved graphics and some new quality-of-life upgrades. Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, a new tower defense game in a setting inspired by Japanese mythology, is getting a demo today ahead of its July 19th release. (My colleague Ash Parrish was a big fan of the game at Summer Game Fest.) And Resident Evil 7 for iOS, which launches on July 2nd, will have an auto-fire feature to make the game easier to play with virtual controls.

Read More 

Image: Samsung SmartThings

Samsung has launched a new demand response program for its SmartThings smart home platform. Flex Connect allows your SmartThings connected appliances to communicate with the grid and automatically reduce energy use when there’s a spike in demand, which could help avoid blackouts. While demand response programs have made for some scary headlines, many experts believe connecting our smart homes to the grid is critical for managing the strain on our energy network.
Flex Connect is available in New York and California and works with SmartThings Energy — an energy management solution. It taps into SmartThings’ AI Energy Mode to automate how smart appliances and connected devices like lights and thermostats respond to demand response events.
AI Energy Mode, which Samsung says can save up to 70 percent of energy consumption when using Samsung products, is a smart program that learns your household’s routines and automatically adjusts appliances and devices’ energy use to save energy based on targets you set in the app.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Alongside appliances, SmartThings Energy can automate devices connected to smart plugs, such as this Eve Energy plug.

According to Samsung, when a demand response signal is received from your utility company, Flex Connect can automatically turn on the AI Energy Mode to save extra energy use in supported appliances, automatically power off devices — including third-party lights and plugs — and automatically adjust supported thermostats to lower their energy use.
All of this could save you money if you are on time-of-use rates or get you some cash through rebates offered by your utility for participation. Samsung is also adding the sweetener of earning Samsung Rewards points through Flex Connect, which can be used to buy products on Samsung.com.
If you don’t have any supported appliances, you can still use the SmartThings Energy feature to receive alerts when an event is triggered. This way, you can know to adjust your thermostat or not run your dryer.

The Flex Connect program is optional, and you can choose which devices you want to enroll, as well as change them at any time. Any appliance or device that works with SmartThings Energy can be connected to Flex Connect. While the compatible devices list is dominated by Samsung appliances, several third-party plugs, lights, and thermostats are supported. Some notable brands include Wemo, TP-Link, Aeotec, Ecobee, Sengled, and Resideo (Honeywell Home). There’s also support for Tesla products, including the Powerwall and Loop EV chargers.
Samsung is also part of Matter, and with the recent addition to the new smart home standard of support for more large appliances and energy reporting from smart devices, it’s likely we’ll see more compatible devices coming to the platform soon.
Samsung hasn’t provided specific details on how utilities will work with the program, if there are plans to expand to more states, or when Flex Connect will go live. We’ll update this post with more information when we receive it.

Image: Samsung SmartThings

Samsung has launched a new demand response program for its SmartThings smart home platform. Flex Connect allows your SmartThings connected appliances to communicate with the grid and automatically reduce energy use when there’s a spike in demand, which could help avoid blackouts. While demand response programs have made for some scary headlines, many experts believe connecting our smart homes to the grid is critical for managing the strain on our energy network.

Flex Connect is available in New York and California and works with SmartThings Energy — an energy management solution. It taps into SmartThings’ AI Energy Mode to automate how smart appliances and connected devices like lights and thermostats respond to demand response events.

AI Energy Mode, which Samsung says can save up to 70 percent of energy consumption when using Samsung products, is a smart program that learns your household’s routines and automatically adjusts appliances and devices’ energy use to save energy based on targets you set in the app.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Alongside appliances, SmartThings Energy can automate devices connected to smart plugs, such as this Eve Energy plug.

According to Samsung, when a demand response signal is received from your utility company, Flex Connect can automatically turn on the AI Energy Mode to save extra energy use in supported appliances, automatically power off devices — including third-party lights and plugs — and automatically adjust supported thermostats to lower their energy use.

All of this could save you money if you are on time-of-use rates or get you some cash through rebates offered by your utility for participation. Samsung is also adding the sweetener of earning Samsung Rewards points through Flex Connect, which can be used to buy products on Samsung.com.

If you don’t have any supported appliances, you can still use the SmartThings Energy feature to receive alerts when an event is triggered. This way, you can know to adjust your thermostat or not run your dryer.

The Flex Connect program is optional, and you can choose which devices you want to enroll, as well as change them at any time. Any appliance or device that works with SmartThings Energy can be connected to Flex Connect. While the compatible devices list is dominated by Samsung appliances, several third-party plugs, lights, and thermostats are supported. Some notable brands include Wemo, TP-Link, Aeotec, Ecobee, Sengled, and Resideo (Honeywell Home). There’s also support for Tesla products, including the Powerwall and Loop EV chargers.

Samsung is also part of Matter, and with the recent addition to the new smart home standard of support for more large appliances and energy reporting from smart devices, it’s likely we’ll see more compatible devices coming to the platform soon.

Samsung hasn’t provided specific details on how utilities will work with the program, if there are plans to expand to more states, or when Flex Connect will go live. We’ll update this post with more information when we receive it.

Read More 

It looks even more ancient than a Fallout terminal, and that’s awesome. | Image: Atari

It’s always worth revisiting the classics, and there’s no shortage of retro consoles and emulators to enable that. The Atari 400 Mini is more niche than we’re used to, however, and that’s what makes it so intriguing. The 8-bit retro replica console has dropped to $102 ($18 off) at Amazon in a limited-quantity opportunity that’s nearly halfway claimed.

The Atari 400 was one of the brand’s first home consoles and computers, noted for the inclusion of a keyboard alongside its iconic joystick. It launched in 1979, which probably explains why I haven’t heard of most of the games in the lineup (my feet touched the planet in 1988). Asteroids, Star Raiders II, Centipede, and Berzerk ring a bell for me, and I’ve even played a few of them over the years, but there are more in the list of 25 that I was simply too late for (you can find a full lineup in our hands-on here).
It supports not just Atari 400 games but also emulates titles that launched afterward up to the Atari 5200. If you want more games, you can use one of the console’s five USB ports to sideload extras using a flash drive, provided you have digital copies of them. That port is also where you plug in the classic joystick that comes with it or keyboards, controllers, and other supported peripherals.
You can play in 720p over HDMI, either in the classic 4:3 aspect ratio that CRT sets of the era were confined to or a “pixel perfect” mode that does a fine job of scaling it for modern displays. There’s even an option to overlay your games with digital scanlines to really sell the effect. You can also rewind gameplay up to 30 seconds, and it supports snapshot saves with up to four slots per game so you never have to lose your progress.
The Verge’s Andrew Webster felt many of the games have aged about as well as they could. Atari’s had plenty of examples to get it right, after all, with so many other retro consoles to reference such as a clone of its own 2600 and similar options from long-time rivals like Sega and Nintendo. You could probably pass if you’re already flush with 8-bit treasure, but it’s a reasonable purchase if you’re looking for something unique and obscure for your collection.

It looks even more ancient than a Fallout terminal, and that’s awesome. | Image: Atari

It’s always worth revisiting the classics, and there’s no shortage of retro consoles and emulators to enable that. The Atari 400 Mini is more niche than we’re used to, however, and that’s what makes it so intriguing. The 8-bit retro replica console has dropped to $102 ($18 off) at Amazon in a limited-quantity opportunity that’s nearly halfway claimed.

The Atari 400 was one of the brand’s first home consoles and computers, noted for the inclusion of a keyboard alongside its iconic joystick. It launched in 1979, which probably explains why I haven’t heard of most of the games in the lineup (my feet touched the planet in 1988). Asteroids, Star Raiders II, Centipede, and Berzerk ring a bell for me, and I’ve even played a few of them over the years, but there are more in the list of 25 that I was simply too late for (you can find a full lineup in our hands-on here).

It supports not just Atari 400 games but also emulates titles that launched afterward up to the Atari 5200. If you want more games, you can use one of the console’s five USB ports to sideload extras using a flash drive, provided you have digital copies of them. That port is also where you plug in the classic joystick that comes with it or keyboards, controllers, and other supported peripherals.

You can play in 720p over HDMI, either in the classic 4:3 aspect ratio that CRT sets of the era were confined to or a “pixel perfect” mode that does a fine job of scaling it for modern displays. There’s even an option to overlay your games with digital scanlines to really sell the effect. You can also rewind gameplay up to 30 seconds, and it supports snapshot saves with up to four slots per game so you never have to lose your progress.

The Verge’s Andrew Webster felt many of the games have aged about as well as they could. Atari’s had plenty of examples to get it right, after all, with so many other retro consoles to reference such as a clone of its own 2600 and similar options from long-time rivals like Sega and Nintendo. You could probably pass if you’re already flush with 8-bit treasure, but it’s a reasonable purchase if you’re looking for something unique and obscure for your collection.

Read More 

Photo by Getty Images

Car dealerships hamstrung by outages following two cyberattacks against CDK Global in June might finally be able to use their systems again this week, as the company says it aims to get dealers back online by July 4th.
“We are continuing our phased approach to the restoration process and are rapidly bringing dealers live on the Dealer Management System (DMS),” Lisa Finney, a CDK Global spokesperson, says in a statement to The Verge. “We anticipate all dealers connections will be live by late Wednesday, July 3 or early morning Thursday, July 4. Our Customer Care channels have also been restored and customers can call, chat, or submit eCases if they need assistance.”
CDK Global provides software for nearly 15,000 car dealerships, and following two cyberattacks on June 19th and June 20th, it proactively shut its systems down. As a result, some dealerships, which rely on CDK Global’s software for things like tracking car sales and scheduling maintenance, have had to resort to using pen and paper.
BleepingComputer reports that the BlackSuit ransomware group was behind the attacks on CDK Global, and the company has called the hack a “cyber ransom event.”
CDK Global has already brought “two small groups of dealers” and “one large publicly traded dealer group” back live on its DMS, according to a statement given to CBS MoneyWatch.

Photo by Getty Images

Car dealerships hamstrung by outages following two cyberattacks against CDK Global in June might finally be able to use their systems again this week, as the company says it aims to get dealers back online by July 4th.

“We are continuing our phased approach to the restoration process and are rapidly bringing dealers live on the Dealer Management System (DMS),” Lisa Finney, a CDK Global spokesperson, says in a statement to The Verge. “We anticipate all dealers connections will be live by late Wednesday, July 3 or early morning Thursday, July 4. Our Customer Care channels have also been restored and customers can call, chat, or submit eCases if they need assistance.”

CDK Global provides software for nearly 15,000 car dealerships, and following two cyberattacks on June 19th and June 20th, it proactively shut its systems down. As a result, some dealerships, which rely on CDK Global’s software for things like tracking car sales and scheduling maintenance, have had to resort to using pen and paper.

BleepingComputer reports that the BlackSuit ransomware group was behind the attacks on CDK Global, and the company has called the hack a “cyber ransom event.”

CDK Global has already brought “two small groups of dealers” and “one large publicly traded dealer group” back live on its DMS, according to a statement given to CBS MoneyWatch.

Read More 

Photo: Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images

At some point in the future, a new “Multi-Purpose Tap” concept will let payment cards or devices like smartwatches and phones accomplish multiple things at once when using NFC. With this in play, a customer in a store might tap their phone with Apple Wallet or Google Pay on a terminal that simultaneously checks their ID if they’re buying booze, add points to their loyalty account, pay for their goods, and provide them with a digital receipt.
Some of the concept’s goals are laid out today in a PDF from the NFC Forum, the nonprofit consortium of tech companies that guides and promotes the NFC standard and which includes Apple, Google, and Sony among its roster.

Image: NFC Forum
NFC Forum slide on Multi-Purpose Tap.

No more paper, just receipts on my phone? Sign me up. The forum says that this could also be used to share details about a product, like the best way to recycle it, when you use an NFC tap to pay.

However, the Multi-Purpose Tap vision the forum presents raises some privacy questions. The forum highlights how it also means you, the customer, no longer have to enter your details into a separate tablet next to a register to get your points. But it “could also be used to trigger specific, targeted marketing communications.” That’s less appealing.
The details of how retailers and payment-processing companies would use this in the real world are unknown, but making it too easy for a retailer to link activity to an individual profile can cause all kinds of problems.

Photo: Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images

At some point in the future, a new “Multi-Purpose Tap” concept will let payment cards or devices like smartwatches and phones accomplish multiple things at once when using NFC. With this in play, a customer in a store might tap their phone with Apple Wallet or Google Pay on a terminal that simultaneously checks their ID if they’re buying booze, add points to their loyalty account, pay for their goods, and provide them with a digital receipt.

Some of the concept’s goals are laid out today in a PDF from the NFC Forum, the nonprofit consortium of tech companies that guides and promotes the NFC standard and which includes Apple, Google, and Sony among its roster.

Image: NFC Forum
NFC Forum slide on Multi-Purpose Tap.

No more paper, just receipts on my phone? Sign me up. The forum says that this could also be used to share details about a product, like the best way to recycle it, when you use an NFC tap to pay.

However, the Multi-Purpose Tap vision the forum presents raises some privacy questions. The forum highlights how it also means you, the customer, no longer have to enter your details into a separate tablet next to a register to get your points. But it “could also be used to trigger specific, targeted marketing communications.” That’s less appealing.

The details of how retailers and payment-processing companies would use this in the real world are unknown, but making it too easy for a retailer to link activity to an individual profile can cause all kinds of problems.

Read More 

Thunderbolt 5 cables, like their TB4 and TB3 predecessors, have USB-C tips. | Image: Cable Matters

Intel’s Thunderbolt 5 might be the best USB-C cable ever, with 120Gbps of single-direction bandwidth, 240 watts of power, and enough oomph to drive external SSDs, eGPUs, and high-resolution, high-refresh-rate monitors from a single cable at unheard-of levels. But first, it’d have to ship! Today, Cable Matters is shipping the first three certified Thunderbolt 5 cables, which bring us one big step closer to something practical instead of theoretical.
Available today from Amazon in 1-foot (0.3m), 1.6-foot (0.5m), and 3.3-foot (1m) lengths for $23, $27, and $33, respectively, the new cables obviously don’t do anything on their own — you’d need a computer with a Thunderbolt 5 port and a dock or accessory of some sort to get some real use out of it.

But as of today, the only laptop we’ve heard of with a Thunderbolt 5 port is the Razer Blade 18, and even there, it’s not guaranteed. You’d have to buy the $4,500 Mercury edition of the laptop to get that port. (You do also get an Intel i9 and a mobile RTX 4090 for the money.)

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge
A Razer Blade 18 at CES with a Thunderbolt 5 port.

And unless you own two of those laptops, there’s still probably nothing special you can do with a Thunderbolt 5 cable as of today because the peripherals we saw at CES aren’t yet ready: Belkin, J5Create, OWC, and Sabrent do not yet list any of those Thunderbolt 5 products on their websites, and Hyper still shows its $400 dock as being out of stock with a “Sign up to be notified” button.
But if you do have two of the exact same $4,500 Razer laptops, could you use Thunderbolt Share to transfer files between them at ludicrous speed? Inquiring minds want to know. If not, I suppose you could use it as a USB4 / Thunderbolt 4 cable for now.
According to Cable Matters’ press release, its cable is manufactured by Lintes, the same company that provided the prototype cable we saw at CES.

Thunderbolt 5 cables, like their TB4 and TB3 predecessors, have USB-C tips. | Image: Cable Matters

Intel’s Thunderbolt 5 might be the best USB-C cable ever, with 120Gbps of single-direction bandwidth, 240 watts of power, and enough oomph to drive external SSDs, eGPUs, and high-resolution, high-refresh-rate monitors from a single cable at unheard-of levels. But first, it’d have to ship! Today, Cable Matters is shipping the first three certified Thunderbolt 5 cables, which bring us one big step closer to something practical instead of theoretical.

Available today from Amazon in 1-foot (0.3m), 1.6-foot (0.5m), and 3.3-foot (1m) lengths for $23, $27, and $33, respectively, the new cables obviously don’t do anything on their own — you’d need a computer with a Thunderbolt 5 port and a dock or accessory of some sort to get some real use out of it.

But as of today, the only laptop we’ve heard of with a Thunderbolt 5 port is the Razer Blade 18, and even there, it’s not guaranteed. You’d have to buy the $4,500 Mercury edition of the laptop to get that port. (You do also get an Intel i9 and a mobile RTX 4090 for the money.)

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge
A Razer Blade 18 at CES with a Thunderbolt 5 port.

And unless you own two of those laptops, there’s still probably nothing special you can do with a Thunderbolt 5 cable as of today because the peripherals we saw at CES aren’t yet ready: Belkin, J5Create, OWC, and Sabrent do not yet list any of those Thunderbolt 5 products on their websites, and Hyper still shows its $400 dock as being out of stock with a “Sign up to be notified” button.

But if you do have two of the exact same $4,500 Razer laptops, could you use Thunderbolt Share to transfer files between them at ludicrous speed? Inquiring minds want to know. If not, I suppose you could use it as a USB4 / Thunderbolt 4 cable for now.

According to Cable Matters’ press release, its cable is manufactured by Lintes, the same company that provided the prototype cable we saw at CES.

Read More 

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Silvergate Bank, once a cornerstone of the crypto financial world until its collapse in early 2023, defrauded its investors by lying about its anti-money laundering controls and misleading investors about how the fallout from the FTX collapse would affect it, the Securities and Exchange Commission says in a lawsuit. Also named in the suit were the company’s chief executive officer, chief risk officer, and chief financial officer.
Silvergate said it had an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program tailored specifically to crypto but actually didn’t adequately monitor “approximately $1 trillion” in transactions, the complaint says. Silvergate also didn’t notice “nearly $9 billion in suspicious transfers” by FTX entities.
When FTX collapsed, the crypto industry panicked, leading to a run on Silvergate and a liquidity crisis. At that point, Silvergate’s chief financial officer Antonio Martino “engaged in a fraudulent scheme to mislead investors about the Bank’s dire financial condition,” the SEC alleges. Martino knew the bank had borrowed billions, which it would have to repay in January and February 2023. The only way that could happen would be by selling securities, but Martino approved an earnings release that “falsely stated the Bank expected to sell only $1.7 billion in securities during the First Quarter of 2023, of which it had already sold $1.5 billion.”
That earnings release understated Silvergate’s losses from its securities sales, the SEC complaint alleges. Martino also lied on the bank’s quarterly earnings call, according to the complaint.
Developing…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Silvergate Bank, once a cornerstone of the crypto financial world until its collapse in early 2023, defrauded its investors by lying about its anti-money laundering controls and misleading investors about how the fallout from the FTX collapse would affect it, the Securities and Exchange Commission says in a lawsuit. Also named in the suit were the company’s chief executive officer, chief risk officer, and chief financial officer.

Silvergate said it had an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program tailored specifically to crypto but actually didn’t adequately monitor “approximately $1 trillion” in transactions, the complaint says. Silvergate also didn’t notice “nearly $9 billion in suspicious transfers” by FTX entities.

When FTX collapsed, the crypto industry panicked, leading to a run on Silvergate and a liquidity crisis. At that point, Silvergate’s chief financial officer Antonio Martino “engaged in a fraudulent scheme to mislead investors about the Bank’s dire financial condition,” the SEC alleges. Martino knew the bank had borrowed billions, which it would have to repay in January and February 2023. The only way that could happen would be by selling securities, but Martino approved an earnings release that “falsely stated the Bank expected to sell only $1.7 billion in securities during the First Quarter of 2023, of which it had already sold $1.5 billion.”

That earnings release understated Silvergate’s losses from its securities sales, the SEC complaint alleges. Martino also lied on the bank’s quarterly earnings call, according to the complaint.

Developing…

Read More