verge-rss

Photo by Mathew Tsang / Getty Images

A regularly updated stream of everything we see. For much of the film industry, the beginning of September means one thing: it’s time to head to Toronto. We’re on the ground once again at the Toronto International Film Festival, better known as TIFF, which has been home to some notable premieres over the years. But this time, we’re covering things a little differently — and it’s going to get pretty busy. This page will be home to all of our thoughts on the many films we’ll be watching, sort of like a running live blog full of small reviews (and a few big ones) of everything we see.
And there’s a lot to check out in 2024. That includes Francis Ford Coppola’s controversial Megalopolis; Mike Flanagan’s latest Stephen King adaptation, The Life of Chuck; Marielle Heller’s oddball comedy / horror flick Nightbitch; the postapocalyptic family film The Wild Robot from Chris Sanders; and whatever the heck Rumours actually is.
The festival runs from now through September 15th, so stay tuned here for all of the latest.

Photo by Mathew Tsang / Getty Images

A regularly updated stream of everything we see.

For much of the film industry, the beginning of September means one thing: it’s time to head to Toronto. We’re on the ground once again at the Toronto International Film Festival, better known as TIFF, which has been home to some notable premieres over the years. But this time, we’re covering things a little differently — and it’s going to get pretty busy. This page will be home to all of our thoughts on the many films we’ll be watching, sort of like a running live blog full of small reviews (and a few big ones) of everything we see.

And there’s a lot to check out in 2024. That includes Francis Ford Coppola’s controversial Megalopolis; Mike Flanagan’s latest Stephen King adaptation, The Life of Chuck; Marielle Heller’s oddball comedy / horror flick Nightbitch; the postapocalyptic family film The Wild Robot from Chris Sanders; and whatever the heck Rumours actually is.

The festival runs from now through September 15th, so stay tuned here for all of the latest.

Read More 

The Verge

Negotiations for a new carriage deal between Disney and DirecTV are continuing into this weekend, reports Deadline. Meanwhile, the two are lobbing messaging at customers who are left out in the cold as the first NFL weekend kicks off.
It’s been a week since DirecTV customers have been able to watch channels like ABC or ESPN. Disney published posts on Instagram and elsewhere, Variety wrote, pointing DirecTV viewers to alternatives like Spectrum or Disney’s own Hulu with live TV subscription to watch things like the US Open tennis tournament or the upcoming Monday Night Football game between the Jets and the 49ers.
Last week, Disney accused DirecTV of “an agreement that undervalues our portfolio,” while DirecTV insisted that Disney is just trying to “maximize profits” at customers’ expense.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ABC (@abc)

DirecTV posted yesterday that it’s offering credits to affected customers if they subscribe to Sling or Fubo, and accused Disney of doing “everything it can to keep you from watching your favorite team unless they offer it to you exclusively.” The company also pointed out Disney’s past carrier disputes that led to blackouts of Spectrum last year, Dish in 2022, and YouTube TV in 2021.

The Verge

Negotiations for a new carriage deal between Disney and DirecTV are continuing into this weekend, reports Deadline. Meanwhile, the two are lobbing messaging at customers who are left out in the cold as the first NFL weekend kicks off.

It’s been a week since DirecTV customers have been able to watch channels like ABC or ESPN. Disney published posts on Instagram and elsewhere, Variety wrote, pointing DirecTV viewers to alternatives like Spectrum or Disney’s own Hulu with live TV subscription to watch things like the US Open tennis tournament or the upcoming Monday Night Football game between the Jets and the 49ers.

Last week, Disney accused DirecTV of “an agreement that undervalues our portfolio,” while DirecTV insisted that Disney is just trying to “maximize profits” at customers’ expense.

DirecTV posted yesterday that it’s offering credits to affected customers if they subscribe to Sling or Fubo, and accused Disney of doing “everything it can to keep you from watching your favorite team unless they offer it to you exclusively.” The company also pointed out Disney’s past carrier disputes that led to blackouts of Spectrum last year, Dish in 2022, and YouTube TV in 2021.

Read More 

Image: Team Asobi

The sequel to a simple pack-in game is a flawless love letter to both PlayStation’s history and video games in general. It is 9PM, and all I want to do is sleep. I barely have the energy to speak, let alone play a video game. But I have a job to do, and it’s reviewing Astro Bot by its release date, so I make a deal with myself to play just two levels, then go to bed…
Five hours later, my face burns from smiling. I’m convinced I could build, then run through, a brick wall. That’s the type of way Astro Bot will make you feel.
Astro Bot, out now on PlayStation 5, is a collect-a-thon platformer. You play as the robot Astro adventuring in space in his PS5-shaped mothership with 300 of his friends — some of them simple bots, others robot-ified versions of famous video game characters. Suddenly, he’s attacked by an unsubtle-as-hell Xbox-green alien monster who trashes his ship and scatters its parts and his 300 friends to far corners of the universe.
Astro Bot is filled with standard platformer tropes, but it pulls off a sense of wonder in their presentation. As you explore galaxies to find your fellow robots and unlock new parts of the game, you’ll find a lot of familiar elements, only to see them executed in quirky and delightful ways. Just about every platformer has an ability that lets you shoot across longer distances, but none of them let you do it by strapping a bulldog to your back.

Image: Team Asobi
The bulldog power-up acts like a rocket to propel you across big gaps.

The different levels Astro explores have themes that you’d expect. There’s a jungle planet, a volcano planet, and worlds of pirates, ghosts, and gardeners. Some worlds require special powers to navigate, and those, too, are pretty standard in function if not in form. The monkey power-up lets you scale walls, while the mouse ability shrinks you down to access tiny spaces. There’s even a Super Mario Sunshine-esque F.L.U.D.D power that uses liquid to move Astro around.
I’m convinced I could build, then run through, a brick wall. That’s the type of way Astro Bot will make you feel
The developers at Team Asobi didn’t reinvent the platforming wheel here, but like any good platformer, it’s the unique ways the powers are used that make them special. Instead of water, that F.L.U.D.D. power-up sucks up a green goo it then spits out to create platforms of grass. I giggled like a toddler using it to defeat a special enemy by literally sucking its green, goopy brains out.
One power-up — which I won’t describe beyond saying it’s really cute since figuring it out is a big part of the fun here — truly captures the essence of Astro Bot. When I first found it, I could not understand it at all. It seemed useless; I felt silly for getting stumped by what had been, up until that point, an incredibly simple game. And unlike with most of my pickups, the game wouldn’t help me. Astro Bot typically displays a little tutorial box for how to use it, but this time, it deliberately left me hanging. Playing a game is like being in a conversation with its developers without the ability to speak directly, and it felt like communication had broken down.
But then I remembered that communication between player and developer is not only what to do but also what to feel. And suddenly, it felt like they were hovering just over my shoulder, holding back their laughter as a dear friend would while they waited for me to get a joke. They’d intentionally held back an explanation because they wanted me to experience the feeling of figuring it out for myself. They wanted me to laugh, like I suspect they did when designing it.
And when I finally got it, the jolt of understanding was so friggin’ powerful that I laughed myself into spontaneous sobbing saying aloud to no one, “Astro Bot, I would die for you.”

Image: Team Asobi
He gets by with a little help from his PlayStation friends.

There are so many moments exactly like that. I thought bots you rescued were simply currency used to advance to the next level, only to realize that in the game’s hub world, they’re your friends putting their very bodies on the line to help you access even more collectibles. Some distinctive PlayStation-themed bots — think one wearing Aloy’s red hair or Kratos’ beard — serve a more special purpose. When you rescue them, they can give you that character’s power and take you to a special level modeled on a game like Horizon Zero Dawn or Uncharted, so detailed that they’ll even include side quests from the original. And I defy you to feel something other than the warmest nostalgia during the final boss fight and credits sequence — I didn’t know just how much emotion a PlayStation Move controller could make me feel.
From my two-hour demo at Summer Game Fest earlier this year, I knew Astro Bot would be something special. It was a simple, joyous little platformer crafted as a celebration of PlayStation’s past. And if that’s all it was, it’d make for a great little pit stop on the 2024 game calendar as we travel toward the bigger, more anticipated releases like Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Echoes of Wisdom, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.
But Astro Bot is so much more than a mascot platformer plucked from the late ’90s and retooled for modern audiences and hardware. It is the kind of game that reminds us why video games exist in the first place: love. (Yeah, I know that sounds corny — but I’m serious.) Astro Bot exemplifies the great love that compels us to play, make, write about, and share video games with our friends and family. Even if it will keep you up way past your bedtime.

Image: Team Asobi

The sequel to a simple pack-in game is a flawless love letter to both PlayStation’s history and video games in general.

It is 9PM, and all I want to do is sleep. I barely have the energy to speak, let alone play a video game. But I have a job to do, and it’s reviewing Astro Bot by its release date, so I make a deal with myself to play just two levels, then go to bed…

Five hours later, my face burns from smiling. I’m convinced I could build, then run through, a brick wall. That’s the type of way Astro Bot will make you feel.

Astro Bot, out now on PlayStation 5, is a collect-a-thon platformer. You play as the robot Astro adventuring in space in his PS5-shaped mothership with 300 of his friends — some of them simple bots, others robot-ified versions of famous video game characters. Suddenly, he’s attacked by an unsubtle-as-hell Xbox-green alien monster who trashes his ship and scatters its parts and his 300 friends to far corners of the universe.

Astro Bot is filled with standard platformer tropes, but it pulls off a sense of wonder in their presentation. As you explore galaxies to find your fellow robots and unlock new parts of the game, you’ll find a lot of familiar elements, only to see them executed in quirky and delightful ways. Just about every platformer has an ability that lets you shoot across longer distances, but none of them let you do it by strapping a bulldog to your back.

The different levels Astro explores have themes that you’d expect. There’s a jungle planet, a volcano planet, and worlds of pirates, ghosts, and gardeners. Some worlds require special powers to navigate, and those, too, are pretty standard in function if not in form. The monkey power-up lets you scale walls, while the mouse ability shrinks you down to access tiny spaces. There’s even a Super Mario Sunshine-esque F.L.U.D.D power that uses liquid to move Astro around.

The developers at Team Asobi didn’t reinvent the platforming wheel here, but like any good platformer, it’s the unique ways the powers are used that make them special. Instead of water, that F.L.U.D.D. power-up sucks up a green goo it then spits out to create platforms of grass. I giggled like a toddler using it to defeat a special enemy by literally sucking its green, goopy brains out.

One power-up — which I won’t describe beyond saying it’s really cute since figuring it out is a big part of the fun here — truly captures the essence of Astro Bot. When I first found it, I could not understand it at all. It seemed useless; I felt silly for getting stumped by what had been, up until that point, an incredibly simple game. And unlike with most of my pickups, the game wouldn’t help me. Astro Bot typically displays a little tutorial box for how to use it, but this time, it deliberately left me hanging. Playing a game is like being in a conversation with its developers without the ability to speak directly, and it felt like communication had broken down.

But then I remembered that communication between player and developer is not only what to do but also what to feel. And suddenly, it felt like they were hovering just over my shoulder, holding back their laughter as a dear friend would while they waited for me to get a joke. They’d intentionally held back an explanation because they wanted me to experience the feeling of figuring it out for myself. They wanted me to laugh, like I suspect they did when designing it.

And when I finally got it, the jolt of understanding was so friggin’ powerful that I laughed myself into spontaneous sobbing saying aloud to no one, “Astro Bot, I would die for you.”

Image: Team Asobi
He gets by with a little help from his PlayStation friends.

There are so many moments exactly like that. I thought bots you rescued were simply currency used to advance to the next level, only to realize that in the game’s hub world, they’re your friends putting their very bodies on the line to help you access even more collectibles. Some distinctive PlayStation-themed bots — think one wearing Aloy’s red hair or Kratos’ beard — serve a more special purpose. When you rescue them, they can give you that character’s power and take you to a special level modeled on a game like Horizon Zero Dawn or Uncharted, so detailed that they’ll even include side quests from the original. And I defy you to feel something other than the warmest nostalgia during the final boss fight and credits sequence — I didn’t know just how much emotion a PlayStation Move controller could make me feel.

From my two-hour demo at Summer Game Fest earlier this year, I knew Astro Bot would be something special. It was a simple, joyous little platformer crafted as a celebration of PlayStation’s past. And if that’s all it was, it’d make for a great little pit stop on the 2024 game calendar as we travel toward the bigger, more anticipated releases like Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Echoes of Wisdom, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

But Astro Bot is so much more than a mascot platformer plucked from the late ’90s and retooled for modern audiences and hardware. It is the kind of game that reminds us why video games exist in the first place: love. (Yeah, I know that sounds corny — but I’m serious.) Astro Bot exemplifies the great love that compels us to play, make, write about, and share video games with our friends and family. Even if it will keep you up way past your bedtime.

Read More 

Starliner just after undocking from the ISS. | Screenshot: YouTube

The Boeing Starliner spacecraft successfully completed its uncrewed flight back to Earth, NASA announced overnight. The return ended the Starliner’s most recent flight test months later than intended and leaves its original crew, NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams, aboard the International Space Station until next year.
The Starliner touched down right on time at 12:01 AM ET at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico, according to NASA. Officials at the agency hailed its successful descent:
“I am extremely proud of the work our collective team put into this entire flight test, and we are pleased to see Starliner’s safe return,” said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Even though it was necessary to return the spacecraft uncrewed, NASA and Boeing learned an incredible amount about Starliner in the most extreme environment possible.”

Touchdown, #Starliner! The uncrewed spacecraft landed at New Mexico’s White Sands Space Harbor at 12:01 am ET (0401 UTC) on Saturday, Sept. 7. pic.twitter.com/Q5lITEzATn— NASA (@NASA) September 7, 2024

“This was an important test flight for NASA in setting us up for future missions on the Starliner system,” Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program said in NASA’s release.
The Starliner originally launched despite helium leaks that NASA found to be within acceptible limits. NASA then delayed the return flight after finding more leaks and issues with Starliner’s reaction control thrusters. Astronauts Wilmore and Williams are expected to return aboard a SpaceX dragon capsule when NASA’s Crew-9 mission ends in early 2025.

Starliner just after undocking from the ISS. | Screenshot: YouTube

The Boeing Starliner spacecraft successfully completed its uncrewed flight back to Earth, NASA announced overnight. The return ended the Starliner’s most recent flight test months later than intended and leaves its original crew, NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams, aboard the International Space Station until next year.

The Starliner touched down right on time at 12:01 AM ET at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico, according to NASA. Officials at the agency hailed its successful descent:

“I am extremely proud of the work our collective team put into this entire flight test, and we are pleased to see Starliner’s safe return,” said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Even though it was necessary to return the spacecraft uncrewed, NASA and Boeing learned an incredible amount about Starliner in the most extreme environment possible.”

“This was an important test flight for NASA in setting us up for future missions on the Starliner system,” Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program said in NASA’s release.

The Starliner originally launched despite helium leaks that NASA found to be within acceptible limits. NASA then delayed the return flight after finding more leaks and issues with Starliner’s reaction control thrusters. Astronauts Wilmore and Williams are expected to return aboard a SpaceX dragon capsule when NASA’s Crew-9 mission ends in early 2025.

Read More 

You can buy a disassembled iPhone 4S framed for just $99. | Image: Grid Studio

If you’re a fan of all things retro, Grid’s framed disassembled gadgets are a celebration of vintage tech you will likely find charming. The company turns obsolete smartphones, gaming consoles, controllers, and other old-school gizmos into collage-like artwork placed in shadowbox-style frames, making for incredibly unusual pieces of home or office decor. And right now through September 12th, many of our favorite Grid items are up to around 40 percent off in honor of the company’s fourth anniversary.

A wide range of nostalgia-inducing gadgets are on sale; you can check them all out here. You can, for instance, buy the translucent Game Boy Color and the iPod Photo from 2004 for $159.20 when you use promo code GRID4 at checkout. For me, though, the most noteworthy deal is the iPhone 4S, which is down to an all-time low of $99 ($70 off). It was my first smartphone ever and will always hold a special place in my heart as a result — plus it’s also the first iPhone to support Siri. That said, if you want to go even further back in time, you can consider the first-generation iPhone 2G for $299 — a whopping $400 discount on the 2007 smartphone.

Other deals we’re digging

The new TP-Link Tapo D225 Video Doorbell Camera is on sale for the first time, receiving a small $10 discount from Amazon and TP-Link that drops it to $89.99. We were impressed by how much value the doorbell offers, with free smart alerts for people, packages, and pets, and even local 24/7 recording at no extra cost. The 2K-capable video doorbell can run on battery, but you can also hook it to your doorbell wiring. Just bear in mind that you can’t use your existing chime. Read our review.
Paramount Plus has extended the 50 percent off deal we covered a few weeks ago. Now through September 23rd, new and returning subscribers can still get 50 percent off an annual subscription to Paramount Plus Essential (now $29.99) and Paramount Plus with Showtime (now $59.99). The latter lets you watch Showtime content, but both plans also grant access to the Paramount Plus library as well as let you livestream select NFL games.
You can buy the AeroPress Original from Woot for just $29.99 ($10 off), which is one of its best prices yet, until 1AM ET on September 13th. A Verge favorite, the portable coffee maker makes it easy to brew delicious coffee and espresso without the need for electricity, so you can take it anywhere, including while camping.

You can buy a disassembled iPhone 4S framed for just $99. | Image: Grid Studio

If you’re a fan of all things retro, Grid’s framed disassembled gadgets are a celebration of vintage tech you will likely find charming. The company turns obsolete smartphones, gaming consoles, controllers, and other old-school gizmos into collage-like artwork placed in shadowbox-style frames, making for incredibly unusual pieces of home or office decor. And right now through September 12th, many of our favorite Grid items are up to around 40 percent off in honor of the company’s fourth anniversary.

A wide range of nostalgia-inducing gadgets are on sale; you can check them all out here. You can, for instance, buy the translucent Game Boy Color and the iPod Photo from 2004 for $159.20 when you use promo code GRID4 at checkout. For me, though, the most noteworthy deal is the iPhone 4S, which is down to an all-time low of $99 ($70 off). It was my first smartphone ever and will always hold a special place in my heart as a result — plus it’s also the first iPhone to support Siri. That said, if you want to go even further back in time, you can consider the first-generation iPhone 2G for $299 — a whopping $400 discount on the 2007 smartphone.

Other deals we’re digging

The new TP-Link Tapo D225 Video Doorbell Camera is on sale for the first time, receiving a small $10 discount from Amazon and TP-Link that drops it to $89.99. We were impressed by how much value the doorbell offers, with free smart alerts for people, packages, and pets, and even local 24/7 recording at no extra cost. The 2K-capable video doorbell can run on battery, but you can also hook it to your doorbell wiring. Just bear in mind that you can’t use your existing chime. Read our review.
Paramount Plus has extended the 50 percent off deal we covered a few weeks ago. Now through September 23rd, new and returning subscribers can still get 50 percent off an annual subscription to Paramount Plus Essential (now $29.99) and Paramount Plus with Showtime (now $59.99). The latter lets you watch Showtime content, but both plans also grant access to the Paramount Plus library as well as let you livestream select NFL games.
You can buy the AeroPress Original from Woot for just $29.99 ($10 off), which is one of its best prices yet, until 1AM ET on September 13th. A Verge favorite, the portable coffee maker makes it easy to brew delicious coffee and espresso without the need for electricity, so you can take it anywhere, including while camping.

Read More 

Regular iPhone, rise up. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Look, I get it.
People aren’t buying phones like they used to, so Apple’s really gotta put the squeeze on us every upgrade cycle. And recently, that has meant pushing more people toward the Pro iPhone, rather than the regular one. Every year for the past few years, Apple has withheld more and more features for its Pro phones, bring them down to the standard iPhone at a drip. But that might be changing this year, if the rumors are true, and to that I say: it’s about damn time.
In the past couple of cycles only the “Pro” models have gotten the latest Bionic chipset. That doesn’t just mean that the Pro models are more powerful — it also means that the regular iPhone won’t be eligible for the same feature updates that the Pro models get over the coming years. The iPhone 15 Pro models are eligible for Apple Intelligence while the standard models aren’t.
This year could look different. Rumors suggest that the whole iPhone 16 series would get an A18 chipset, though Apple may still reserve the most powerful version for the 16 Pro models. Even if that’s the case, it’s very likely that all of the iPhone 16 models will be able to run Apple Intelligence, which Apple is hoping will be a big upgrade driver.

Other rumors also point out that the regular iPhone might get not one but two new buttons this year: the action button introduced on last year’s Pro models and the capture button we’re expecting to see on the iPhone 16. More buttons! In this economy! It’s still possible that the capture button will be a Pro-only feature, but I think that would be a real shame. You don’t need to be a professional phone user (what even is that) to appreciate a dedicated shutter button.
By all accounts, this could be a year where the regular iPhone catches up a little to the Pro, and that’s music to my ears. Personally, I’d love to see Apple do even more for the regular iPhone, starting with the dang screen refresh rate. It’s 2024 and Apple still charges $799 for a phone with a 60Hz screen. That’s probably going to hold true for another year too. Looks pretty shabby when Android phones up and down the budget spectrum offer 120Hz displays.
At the very least, it looks like Apple is about to bring a little more balance back with the iPhone 16 series. I think that’s how it should be — the Pro iPhone should feel like you’re getting something extra, not being cornered into paying more for an essential feature. All Apple has to do is bring back the Mini; then all of my hopes and wishes for the regular iPhone will come true. I can dream, right?

Regular iPhone, rise up. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Look, I get it.

People aren’t buying phones like they used to, so Apple’s really gotta put the squeeze on us every upgrade cycle. And recently, that has meant pushing more people toward the Pro iPhone, rather than the regular one. Every year for the past few years, Apple has withheld more and more features for its Pro phones, bring them down to the standard iPhone at a drip. But that might be changing this year, if the rumors are true, and to that I say: it’s about damn time.

In the past couple of cycles only the “Pro” models have gotten the latest Bionic chipset. That doesn’t just mean that the Pro models are more powerful — it also means that the regular iPhone won’t be eligible for the same feature updates that the Pro models get over the coming years. The iPhone 15 Pro models are eligible for Apple Intelligence while the standard models aren’t.

This year could look different. Rumors suggest that the whole iPhone 16 series would get an A18 chipset, though Apple may still reserve the most powerful version for the 16 Pro models. Even if that’s the case, it’s very likely that all of the iPhone 16 models will be able to run Apple Intelligence, which Apple is hoping will be a big upgrade driver.

Other rumors also point out that the regular iPhone might get not one but two new buttons this year: the action button introduced on last year’s Pro models and the capture button we’re expecting to see on the iPhone 16. More buttons! In this economy! It’s still possible that the capture button will be a Pro-only feature, but I think that would be a real shame. You don’t need to be a professional phone user (what even is that) to appreciate a dedicated shutter button.

By all accounts, this could be a year where the regular iPhone catches up a little to the Pro, and that’s music to my ears. Personally, I’d love to see Apple do even more for the regular iPhone, starting with the dang screen refresh rate. It’s 2024 and Apple still charges $799 for a phone with a 60Hz screen. That’s probably going to hold true for another year too. Looks pretty shabby when Android phones up and down the budget spectrum offer 120Hz displays.

At the very least, it looks like Apple is about to bring a little more balance back with the iPhone 16 series. I think that’s how it should be — the Pro iPhone should feel like you’re getting something extra, not being cornered into paying more for an essential feature. All Apple has to do is bring back the Mini; then all of my hopes and wishes for the regular iPhone will come true. I can dream, right?

Read More 

A still image of Doom on a volumetric display. | Photo by James Brown (@ancientjames)

In 2022, I introduced you to James Brown, the Weta Workshop graphics engineer whose hobby is building amazing displays. Now, he’s built a crystal ball filled with shimmering, spinning volumetric light — and of course he’s playing Doom on it.
But not just any Doom. Voxel Doom, where every dot of the game’s graphics lives in 3D space, just like the dots of the volumetric display he’s created.

As he explains on YouTube, the physical illusion is fairly simple: “It’s like a hologram fan, but instead of spinning a 1D strip to make a 2D image, it spins a 2D panel to make a 3D image.” On his Mastodon, he breaks it down a bit more with visual aids:

Brown’s been working on this for over a year now: if I’m not mistaken, he introduced the project in August 2023 by channeling his inner Doc Brown, saying “If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 300rpm you’re going to see some serious shit.” But he’s since discovered it needs to spin a good bit faster than that for a smooth image, particularly when he’s trying to film it. So keep your fingers away.

You can follow his progress on his Mastodon, where he’s not just playing Doom — you can find volumetric lunar landers and skulls and dino heads, for example. He just published this to his YouTube too:

When we first checked in with Brown, he’d just finished putting real computers inside Lego computer bricks:

GIF by Sean Hollister / The Verge; Video by James Brown

And yes, they can play Doom.

A still image of Doom on a volumetric display. | Photo by James Brown (@ancientjames)

In 2022, I introduced you to James Brown, the Weta Workshop graphics engineer whose hobby is building amazing displays. Now, he’s built a crystal ball filled with shimmering, spinning volumetric light — and of course he’s playing Doom on it.

But not just any Doom. Voxel Doom, where every dot of the game’s graphics lives in 3D space, just like the dots of the volumetric display he’s created.

As he explains on YouTube, the physical illusion is fairly simple: “It’s like a hologram fan, but instead of spinning a 1D strip to make a 2D image, it spins a 2D panel to make a 3D image.” On his Mastodon, he breaks it down a bit more with visual aids:

Brown’s been working on this for over a year now: if I’m not mistaken, he introduced the project in August 2023 by channeling his inner Doc Brown, saying “If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 300rpm you’re going to see some serious shit.” But he’s since discovered it needs to spin a good bit faster than that for a smooth image, particularly when he’s trying to film it. So keep your fingers away.

You can follow his progress on his Mastodon, where he’s not just playing Doom — you can find volumetric lunar landers and skulls and dino heads, for example. He just published this to his YouTube too:

When we first checked in with Brown, he’d just finished putting real computers inside Lego computer bricks:

GIF by Sean Hollister / The Verge; Video by James Brown

And yes, they can play Doom.

Read More 

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft that launched NASA’s Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station is pictured docked to the Harmony module’s forward port on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. | Image: NASA

The Starliner is flying home empty after undocking autonomously, while the astronauts it took to the ISS will make a separate trip back to Earth in 2025. After years of delays, the first crewed flight test of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft launched on June 5th, carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams to the International Space Station for what was supposed to be a short trip. However, after thruster issues and some leaks, their return trip on Starliner was postponed and eventually canceled.
On September 6th at 6:04PM ET, the Starliner spacecraft autonomously undocked from the ISS and began to return home without its crew, who will stay aboard the ISS until they return to Earth with SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission in 2025.
During a press conference in August, NASA Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stich justified the decision, saying, “…there was just too much uncertainty in the prediction of the thrusters.” Before the spacecraft undocked, NASA traced a series of strange sounds it had been emitting to an “audio configuration between the space station and Starliner.”
Follow along here for all of the updates as Starliner and its crew make their way back to Earth.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft that launched NASA’s Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station is pictured docked to the Harmony module’s forward port on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. | Image: NASA

The Starliner is flying home empty after undocking autonomously, while the astronauts it took to the ISS will make a separate trip back to Earth in 2025.

After years of delays, the first crewed flight test of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft launched on June 5th, carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams to the International Space Station for what was supposed to be a short trip. However, after thruster issues and some leaks, their return trip on Starliner was postponed and eventually canceled.

On September 6th at 6:04PM ET, the Starliner spacecraft autonomously undocked from the ISS and began to return home without its crew, who will stay aboard the ISS until they return to Earth with SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission in 2025.

During a press conference in August, NASA Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stich justified the decision, saying, “…there was just too much uncertainty in the prediction of the thrusters.” Before the spacecraft undocked, NASA traced a series of strange sounds it had been emitting to an “audio configuration between the space station and Starliner.”

Follow along here for all of the updates as Starliner and its crew make their way back to Earth.

Read More 

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Rumors about the Watch Series 10 have been relatively scant in the runup to Apple’s event next week, where it’s expected to debut alongside the iPhone 16. However, a report from 9to5Mac says it will have an upgraded ECG sensor capable of detecting sleep apnea.
That backs up today’s reporting from Bloomberg, which says the Watch Series 10 will be capable of identifying whether someone shows signs of sleep apnea — a condition that causes people to suddenly stop breathing during sleep. If the watch determines that the user may have sleep apnea, it will then recommend that they see a medical provider for more tests.

Some other upgrades potentially coming to the Watch Series 10 include slightly larger displays and a thinner case, as well as better water resistance that will allow for support of the Apple Watch Ultra’s Depth app. As reported by 9to5Mac, Apple may also make adjustments to the way its sensors process health data. It could start looking for signs of atrial fibrillation on the Health app instead of on the Apple Watch.
Despite all these new additions, there may still be one big feature missing from the Watch Series 9: a blood oxygen sensor. Apple removed the sensor from existing watches following a patent dispute with Masimo.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Rumors about the Watch Series 10 have been relatively scant in the runup to Apple’s event next week, where it’s expected to debut alongside the iPhone 16. However, a report from 9to5Mac says it will have an upgraded ECG sensor capable of detecting sleep apnea.

That backs up today’s reporting from Bloomberg, which says the Watch Series 10 will be capable of identifying whether someone shows signs of sleep apnea — a condition that causes people to suddenly stop breathing during sleep. If the watch determines that the user may have sleep apnea, it will then recommend that they see a medical provider for more tests.

Some other upgrades potentially coming to the Watch Series 10 include slightly larger displays and a thinner case, as well as better water resistance that will allow for support of the Apple Watch Ultra’s Depth app. As reported by 9to5Mac, Apple may also make adjustments to the way its sensors process health data. It could start looking for signs of atrial fibrillation on the Health app instead of on the Apple Watch.

Despite all these new additions, there may still be one big feature missing from the Watch Series 9: a blood oxygen sensor. Apple removed the sensor from existing watches following a patent dispute with Masimo.

Read More 

Illustration: The Verge

Meta has finally pulled the curtain back on what its plans for third-party chats in WhatsApp and Messenger will look like. The change, which is coming for users in the European Union, introduces new options to put Messenger and WhatsApp messages in the same inbox as third-party chats or keep them separate.
It’s building new notifications into Messenger and WhatsApp as well, which will let users know when they can link chats from newly supported apps. Meta says it has “gone above and beyond the ‘basic’ features required for interoperable messaging” and will offer rich messaging features, like reactions, direct replies, typing indicators, and read receipts.

Image: Meta

It will also start including the option to create groups with other people in third-party chats next year. But Meta’s plan for interoperability goes beyond messaging — the company says it will roll out support for third-party video and voice calls in 2027.
Meta has been working on bringing third-party chats into WhatsApp and Messenger for users in the EU for quite some time. The company is considered a “digital gatekeeper” under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which means it must comply with requirements to make WhatsApp and Messenger interoperable with third-party apps, like iMessage, Telegram, Google Messages, Signal, and others.

Image: Meta

There are some hurdles it will have to overcome, as other companies that want to integrate with WhatsApp and Messenger will need to use the same Signal Protocol to keep messages private. In a copy of the agreement third-party apps have to sign, Meta says it will make the Signal Protocol available to partners upon request.

Illustration: The Verge

Meta has finally pulled the curtain back on what its plans for third-party chats in WhatsApp and Messenger will look like. The change, which is coming for users in the European Union, introduces new options to put Messenger and WhatsApp messages in the same inbox as third-party chats or keep them separate.

It’s building new notifications into Messenger and WhatsApp as well, which will let users know when they can link chats from newly supported apps. Meta says it has “gone above and beyond the ‘basic’ features required for interoperable messaging” and will offer rich messaging features, like reactions, direct replies, typing indicators, and read receipts.

Image: Meta

It will also start including the option to create groups with other people in third-party chats next year. But Meta’s plan for interoperability goes beyond messaging — the company says it will roll out support for third-party video and voice calls in 2027.

Meta has been working on bringing third-party chats into WhatsApp and Messenger for users in the EU for quite some time. The company is considered a “digital gatekeeper” under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which means it must comply with requirements to make WhatsApp and Messenger interoperable with third-party apps, like iMessage, Telegram, Google Messages, Signal, and others.

Image: Meta

There are some hurdles it will have to overcome, as other companies that want to integrate with WhatsApp and Messenger will need to use the same Signal Protocol to keep messages private. In a copy of the agreement third-party apps have to sign, Meta says it will make the Signal Protocol available to partners upon request.

Read More