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Illustration: The Verge

Apple Music subscribers can now transfer their playlists over to YouTube Music, according to a recent support document spotted by MacRumors. Up until now, Apple did not offer native tools for transferring playlists to rival music services, making YouTube Music the first.
There are some caveats, however. Only songs available on YouTube Music can be transferred over, which means you won’t be able to migrate audio files like podcasts or audiobooks. You also can’t transfer curated or non-collaborative shared playlists, music files, or the folders you’ve created to organize playlists in Apple Music.

To move your playlists over to YouTube Music, you must have an active ‌Apple Music‌ or iTunes Match subscription, as well as an active YouTube Music account. Once logged into Apple’s Data and Privacy page, simply select “Transfer a copy of your data” and follow the onscreen instructions. Depending on how many playlists you’re migrating, it could take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours.
Apple Music still doesn’t allow users to transfer playlists to other services, though, so you’ll still need to use a third-party tool to move your playlists to Spotify, Amazon Music, and other streaming services. However, Apple might be looking into making importing playlists easier. In February, Redditors noticed an Apple Music on Android beta that lets you use third-party service SongShift natively, allowing you to move playlists from Spotify and other services to Apple Music.

Illustration: The Verge

Apple Music subscribers can now transfer their playlists over to YouTube Music, according to a recent support document spotted by MacRumors. Up until now, Apple did not offer native tools for transferring playlists to rival music services, making YouTube Music the first.

There are some caveats, however. Only songs available on YouTube Music can be transferred over, which means you won’t be able to migrate audio files like podcasts or audiobooks. You also can’t transfer curated or non-collaborative shared playlists, music files, or the folders you’ve created to organize playlists in Apple Music.

To move your playlists over to YouTube Music, you must have an active ‌Apple Music‌ or iTunes Match subscription, as well as an active YouTube Music account. Once logged into Apple’s Data and Privacy page, simply select “Transfer a copy of your data” and follow the onscreen instructions. Depending on how many playlists you’re migrating, it could take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours.

Apple Music still doesn’t allow users to transfer playlists to other services, though, so you’ll still need to use a third-party tool to move your playlists to Spotify, Amazon Music, and other streaming services. However, Apple might be looking into making importing playlists easier. In February, Redditors noticed an Apple Music on Android beta that lets you use third-party service SongShift natively, allowing you to move playlists from Spotify and other services to Apple Music.

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Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

A French investigative judge has charged Telegram CEO Pavel Durov with enabling illegal transactions among other alleged offenses, according to reports from NBC News and Le Monde. Durov had been arrested Saturday as part of an investigation into child sexual abuse material and other criminal activity on Telegram.
French prosecutors will release Durov under judicial supervision on a €5 million bail, but he won’t be allowed to leave France. As noted by Le Monde, Durov also faces charges of refusing to comply with authorities and complicity in the criminal distribution of CSAM.
Durov was arrested as he deplaned in Paris on a warrant issued by France’s OFMIN agency that’s tasked with preventing violence against minors. An agency official cited Telegram’s “lack of moderation and cooperation” for the investigation. The judge ordered Durov to be released from police custody Wednesday morning prior to being brought to court for his “first appearance and a possible indictment,” according to a Paris prosecutor’s office statement reported by The Associated Press.
Telegram said in a statement on Sunday that Durov has “nothing to hide” and called the claim that the platform is responsible for its users’ abuse of it “absurd.” The platform serves as a major information source, particularly in countries like Russia, where unfiltered news can be otherwise hard to come by. But it’s also widely known as a home base for terrorists and other bad actors.
Durov and his platform are known for being extremely hands-off when it comes to moderation, typically only doing so when compelled to do so by outside forces, like government regulators.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

A French investigative judge has charged Telegram CEO Pavel Durov with enabling illegal transactions among other alleged offenses, according to reports from NBC News and Le Monde. Durov had been arrested Saturday as part of an investigation into child sexual abuse material and other criminal activity on Telegram.

French prosecutors will release Durov under judicial supervision on a €5 million bail, but he won’t be allowed to leave France. As noted by Le Monde, Durov also faces charges of refusing to comply with authorities and complicity in the criminal distribution of CSAM.

Durov was arrested as he deplaned in Paris on a warrant issued by France’s OFMIN agency that’s tasked with preventing violence against minors. An agency official cited Telegram’s “lack of moderation and cooperation” for the investigation. The judge ordered Durov to be released from police custody Wednesday morning prior to being brought to court for his “first appearance and a possible indictment,” according to a Paris prosecutor’s office statement reported by The Associated Press.

Telegram said in a statement on Sunday that Durov has “nothing to hide” and called the claim that the platform is responsible for its users’ abuse of it “absurd.” The platform serves as a major information source, particularly in countries like Russia, where unfiltered news can be otherwise hard to come by. But it’s also widely known as a home base for terrorists and other bad actors.

Durov and his platform are known for being extremely hands-off when it comes to moderation, typically only doing so when compelled to do so by outside forces, like government regulators.

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Image: Meta

Meta is opening up Horizon Worlds, its 3D social platform, to users between the ages of 10 and 12, the company announced on Wednesday. As part of the rollout, parents will have a significant amount of control over what experiences their preteens can access, and experiences will get age ratings to help parents determine which ones are appropriate for their children.
For a preteen to use Horizon Worlds, they’ll have to have a parent-managed Meta account and request access to Horizon Worlds itself. Once a parent has approved that, preteens can request access to individual experiences, or parents can mark a setting that lets their preteen jump into all experiences that fall within a certain age rating. (Meta will rate experiences as appropriate for ages 10 and up, ages 13 and up, and ages 18 and up.)
Meta has a few other protections in place for preteens, too. Voice chat is disabled for Meta accounts managed by parents, though parents can allow voice chat with certain contacts. Preteens will be shown as offline by default unless a parent changes that. And Horizon Worlds’ personal boundary setting will be on for accounts managed by parents to prevent other users from getting too close in virtual space.
Horizon Worlds used to only be available in VR, but some experiences are now accessible from the Meta Horizon mobile app, too. Meta recently redesigned the app to put a bigger focus on Horizon Worlds.
Last month, Meta also announced that preteens with parent-managed accounts would, with parental approval, be able to chat or call with others in mixed reality and virtual reality experiences.

Image: Meta

Meta is opening up Horizon Worlds, its 3D social platform, to users between the ages of 10 and 12, the company announced on Wednesday. As part of the rollout, parents will have a significant amount of control over what experiences their preteens can access, and experiences will get age ratings to help parents determine which ones are appropriate for their children.

For a preteen to use Horizon Worlds, they’ll have to have a parent-managed Meta account and request access to Horizon Worlds itself. Once a parent has approved that, preteens can request access to individual experiences, or parents can mark a setting that lets their preteen jump into all experiences that fall within a certain age rating. (Meta will rate experiences as appropriate for ages 10 and up, ages 13 and up, and ages 18 and up.)

Meta has a few other protections in place for preteens, too. Voice chat is disabled for Meta accounts managed by parents, though parents can allow voice chat with certain contacts. Preteens will be shown as offline by default unless a parent changes that. And Horizon Worlds’ personal boundary setting will be on for accounts managed by parents to prevent other users from getting too close in virtual space.

Horizon Worlds used to only be available in VR, but some experiences are now accessible from the Meta Horizon mobile app, too. Meta recently redesigned the app to put a bigger focus on Horizon Worlds.

Last month, Meta also announced that preteens with parent-managed accounts would, with parental approval, be able to chat or call with others in mixed reality and virtual reality experiences.

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Image by Alex Castro / The Verge

Reddit is experiencing a widespread outage that’s impacting the entire site and subreddits. If you try and visit Reddit right now, you’ll be met with a “Server error. Try again later” message in a red banner at the top of the site. The same outage error can be found on subreddits and individual posts, too.
The status page for Reddit says the site is currently experiencing “degraded performance” and that engineers are “currently investigating this issue.” Reddit went down shortly after 4PM ET, and the latest status update was posted at 4:16PM ET.
This latest outage follows similar issues with Reddit in April, where users were met with the same “try again later” message after a back-end issue knocked Reddit completely offline. In recent months, Reddit has been fighting AI bots and striking deals with OpenAI, and the internet’s forum even went public with an initial $6.5 billion valuation.

Image by Alex Castro / The Verge

Reddit is experiencing a widespread outage that’s impacting the entire site and subreddits. If you try and visit Reddit right now, you’ll be met with a “Server error. Try again later” message in a red banner at the top of the site. The same outage error can be found on subreddits and individual posts, too.

The status page for Reddit says the site is currently experiencing “degraded performance” and that engineers are “currently investigating this issue.” Reddit went down shortly after 4PM ET, and the latest status update was posted at 4:16PM ET.

This latest outage follows similar issues with Reddit in April, where users were met with the same “try again later” message after a back-end issue knocked Reddit completely offline. In recent months, Reddit has been fighting AI bots and striking deals with OpenAI, and the internet’s forum even went public with an initial $6.5 billion valuation.

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The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Meta is working on a smaller mixed-reality device that looks like a large pair of glasses, according to a report from The Information. The glasses, reportedly codenamed Puffin, may not arrive until 2027 — if the project comes to fruition at all.
Sources tell The Information that the glasses could weigh around 110 grams, putting it somewhere between Meta’s lightweight Ray-Ban smart glasses and the bulkier Quest 3 headset. It seems Meta will have to make some adjustments for the device’s smaller form factor, though, as The Information reports the glasses may have an external pack containing its battery and processor — similar to the wired battery pack that comes with the Apple Vision Pro.
The mixed reality glasses are rumored to feature pancake lenses, which could allow the device to have a slimmer profile. It will also reportedly offer video passthrough so wearers can see their surroundings beyond the displays, as well as use hand- and eye-tracking for controls.
This latest rumor could suggest that Meta is exploring ways to make its devices more appealing to users who may not want to don a heavy headset for long periods of time. Last week, a report from The Information revealed that Meta had ended development on a high-end mixed-reality headset codenamed La Jolla. Meta is also getting ready to reveal its new Orion smart glasses during the company’s Connect conference in September.

The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Meta is working on a smaller mixed-reality device that looks like a large pair of glasses, according to a report from The Information. The glasses, reportedly codenamed Puffin, may not arrive until 2027 — if the project comes to fruition at all.

Sources tell The Information that the glasses could weigh around 110 grams, putting it somewhere between Meta’s lightweight Ray-Ban smart glasses and the bulkier Quest 3 headset. It seems Meta will have to make some adjustments for the device’s smaller form factor, though, as The Information reports the glasses may have an external pack containing its battery and processor — similar to the wired battery pack that comes with the Apple Vision Pro.

The mixed reality glasses are rumored to feature pancake lenses, which could allow the device to have a slimmer profile. It will also reportedly offer video passthrough so wearers can see their surroundings beyond the displays, as well as use hand- and eye-tracking for controls.

This latest rumor could suggest that Meta is exploring ways to make its devices more appealing to users who may not want to don a heavy headset for long periods of time. Last week, a report from The Information revealed that Meta had ended development on a high-end mixed-reality headset codenamed La Jolla. Meta is also getting ready to reveal its new Orion smart glasses during the company’s Connect conference in September.

Read More 

Image: Amazon

Amazon’s Lord of the Rings show continues to be phenomenal in ways that only a truly wild budget could make possible. The first season of Amazon’s The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power series was a spectacular piece of storytelling that took details from J.R.R. Tolkien’s appendices and forged them into an intricate exploration of Middle-earth’s history. Uneven pacing sometimes made the show seem like yet another fantasy slog borne out of Hollywood’s exhausting obsession with trying to will “the next Game of Thrones” into existence. But The Rings of Power’s visual splendor was nothing short of astonishing — especially for a streaming series — and each of its lead performances was a testament to how much more compelling classic fantasy characters could become when given the chance to exist beyond their canons.
The Rings of Power feels even more grandiose in its second season now that it no longer has to dance around the first’s big secret about Sauron’s newest face. With that (admittedly important) bit of plot now spelled out, the show has the space to dig into its many subplots. That digging gives The Rings of Power organic reasons to go bigger with its action set pieces and delve deeper into the minds of its many characters. The new batch of episodes also firmly establishes that showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay have an impressive grasp of how to temper their own ideas with pieces of Tolkien’s lore. What stands out this time around, though, is how much more Amazon really, really wants you to see The Rings of Power putting its sizable budget to work.
After introducing Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) as a shipwrecked refugee early in its first season, The Rings of Power took great care to keep viewers and its other characters in the dark about his actually being Sauron in disguise. Much to the annoyance of other elves like Elrond (Robert Aramayo) and Gil-Galad (Benjamin Walker), Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) never believed that Sauron was truly dead. But the truth of Halbrand’s identity still came as a shock to her because of how close they’d grown during their journey across the Sundering Sea.

Image: Amazon

With the nature of Sauron’s deception now revealed to its audience, The Rings of Power shifts gears to give you a deeper understanding of why Lord of the Rings’ villain is such an infamous figure. Season 2 adds more complexity to Sauron with glimpses further back into the past that explore what he represents in a world filled with all manner of magical beings. To some extent, he’s a cunning person whose aspirations for world domination make him seem all too human. But one of the more fascinating ideas the series highlights this season is how Sauron embodies a dark, primordial force older than the world itself.
Elements of Christian mythology have always been present in Tolkien’s larger legendarium, and The Rings of Power’s second season leans into them heavily through its depiction of Sauron as a shapeshifting deceiver whose power stems from playing on people’s desires. In the show’s present, that idea is unpacked thoroughly through its focus on elven smith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) as he ponders what else he might be able to make with the newly discovered magical ore mithril. And in the much more distant past, the depth of Sauron’s treachery is unpacked with a zoomed-in examination of Adar (Sam Hazeldine), one of the world’s very first orcs.
The long-term, Machiavellian nature of Sauron’s scheming is one of the character’s most defining and well-established features in Tolkien’s books. But Vickers makes these chapters of Sauron’s story feel fresh with a more quietly imperious performance that sells him as a kind of fallen angel whose deadliest weapon is his corruptive influence over others. Seeing Sauron / Halbrand interact with a wider array of characters as his true self this season recontextualizes everything about his season 1 dynamic with Galadriel. It adds a deeper significance to the time we’ve already seen Sauron / Halbrand spending in the orc-infested Southlands as it was transformed into an early Mordor. And Sauron being increasingly transparent about the nature of his ring-centric plans makes the show’s approach to weaving its multiple subplots together feel all the more necessary.
Because of the show’s size, it still struggles to make some of those subplots — like the drama unfolding with queen Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) and politician Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle) in Númenor — shine as brightly as others. The Rings of Power feels most like a Game of Thrones aspirant when it’s focused on its human characters. To be fair, they give this season another way of illustrating how Sauron’s existence brings out an existential darkness in the world. But their stories just aren’t as exciting compared to the more magical things going on elsewhere in Middle-earth.

Image: Prime Video

When it’s following Galadriel on her quest to convince other elves that their already-forged mithril rings are an asset too precious to destroy, this season comes alive with an intrigue that showcases Clark’s ability to make the character feel like a more nuanced presence than her depiction in Peter Jackson’s films. This is true of Aramayo’s Elrond as well, who exists as this season’s voice of reason cautioning everyone to steer clear of anything that might be tainted by Sauron’s influence. And that recurring beat plays beautifully into the way this season deploys Edwards’ Celebrimbor as a reminder of how doomed many of The Rings of Power’s characters are in the grand scheme of things fated to play out down the line.
Even the show’s proto-Hobbits Nori (Markella Kavenagh) and Poppy (Megan Richards) become more fascinating as they continue on their adventure with the Stranger (Daniel Weyman) to Rhûn. A lot of that has to do with the fact that the Stranger just talks a lot more to his diminutive friends rather than accidentally unleashing magic that terrifies them. But it’s also because The Rings of Power puts those characters in new, more interesting places and pits them against threats that give their arcs a welcomed sense of urgency.
Whereas you could see season 1’s budget in the visual intricacy and grandeur of places like Lindon and Khazad-dûm, season 2 shows off its expensiveness with a surprisingly large number of action-focused set pieces featuring CGI that looks magnitudes better than what other streamers are offering up. Almost every episode features a climactic moment that genuinely feels like it’s meant to be watched in a theater with composer Bear McCreary’s majestic score blasting. And they all work to reinforce the larger idea that Middle-earth is entering an era of peril that none of its heroes are really prepared to navigate with any sense of certainty.
The Rings of Power has always been an experiment in bringing Tolkien’s ancillary footnotes alive and using them to add texture to an iconic myth. The show succeeds on that front even though it sometimes tries to do a bit too much with all of its interweaving threads in just eight episodes. But in that short span, it’s clear this season is cooking (or forging) with some real heat.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power also stars Ismael Cruz Córdova, Owain Arthur, Sophia Nomvete, Maxim Baldry, Tyroe Muhafidin, Lloyd Owen, and Leon Wadham. The new season’s first three episodes hit Amazon Prime on August 29th.

Image: Amazon

Amazon’s Lord of the Rings show continues to be phenomenal in ways that only a truly wild budget could make possible.

The first season of Amazon’s The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power series was a spectacular piece of storytelling that took details from J.R.R. Tolkien’s appendices and forged them into an intricate exploration of Middle-earth’s history. Uneven pacing sometimes made the show seem like yet another fantasy slog borne out of Hollywood’s exhausting obsession with trying to will “the next Game of Thrones” into existence. But The Rings of Power’s visual splendor was nothing short of astonishing — especially for a streaming series — and each of its lead performances was a testament to how much more compelling classic fantasy characters could become when given the chance to exist beyond their canons.

The Rings of Power feels even more grandiose in its second season now that it no longer has to dance around the first’s big secret about Sauron’s newest face. With that (admittedly important) bit of plot now spelled out, the show has the space to dig into its many subplots. That digging gives The Rings of Power organic reasons to go bigger with its action set pieces and delve deeper into the minds of its many characters. The new batch of episodes also firmly establishes that showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay have an impressive grasp of how to temper their own ideas with pieces of Tolkien’s lore. What stands out this time around, though, is how much more Amazon really, really wants you to see The Rings of Power putting its sizable budget to work.

After introducing Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) as a shipwrecked refugee early in its first season, The Rings of Power took great care to keep viewers and its other characters in the dark about his actually being Sauron in disguise. Much to the annoyance of other elves like Elrond (Robert Aramayo) and Gil-Galad (Benjamin Walker), Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) never believed that Sauron was truly dead. But the truth of Halbrand’s identity still came as a shock to her because of how close they’d grown during their journey across the Sundering Sea.

With the nature of Sauron’s deception now revealed to its audience, The Rings of Power shifts gears to give you a deeper understanding of why Lord of the Rings’ villain is such an infamous figure. Season 2 adds more complexity to Sauron with glimpses further back into the past that explore what he represents in a world filled with all manner of magical beings. To some extent, he’s a cunning person whose aspirations for world domination make him seem all too human. But one of the more fascinating ideas the series highlights this season is how Sauron embodies a dark, primordial force older than the world itself.

Elements of Christian mythology have always been present in Tolkien’s larger legendarium, and The Rings of Power’s second season leans into them heavily through its depiction of Sauron as a shapeshifting deceiver whose power stems from playing on people’s desires. In the show’s present, that idea is unpacked thoroughly through its focus on elven smith Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) as he ponders what else he might be able to make with the newly discovered magical ore mithril. And in the much more distant past, the depth of Sauron’s treachery is unpacked with a zoomed-in examination of Adar (Sam Hazeldine), one of the world’s very first orcs.

The long-term, Machiavellian nature of Sauron’s scheming is one of the character’s most defining and well-established features in Tolkien’s books. But Vickers makes these chapters of Sauron’s story feel fresh with a more quietly imperious performance that sells him as a kind of fallen angel whose deadliest weapon is his corruptive influence over others. Seeing Sauron / Halbrand interact with a wider array of characters as his true self this season recontextualizes everything about his season 1 dynamic with Galadriel. It adds a deeper significance to the time we’ve already seen Sauron / Halbrand spending in the orc-infested Southlands as it was transformed into an early Mordor. And Sauron being increasingly transparent about the nature of his ring-centric plans makes the show’s approach to weaving its multiple subplots together feel all the more necessary.

Because of the show’s size, it still struggles to make some of those subplots — like the drama unfolding with queen Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) and politician Pharazôn (Trystan Gravelle) in Númenor — shine as brightly as others. The Rings of Power feels most like a Game of Thrones aspirant when it’s focused on its human characters. To be fair, they give this season another way of illustrating how Sauron’s existence brings out an existential darkness in the world. But their stories just aren’t as exciting compared to the more magical things going on elsewhere in Middle-earth.

When it’s following Galadriel on her quest to convince other elves that their already-forged mithril rings are an asset too precious to destroy, this season comes alive with an intrigue that showcases Clark’s ability to make the character feel like a more nuanced presence than her depiction in Peter Jackson’s films. This is true of Aramayo’s Elrond as well, who exists as this season’s voice of reason cautioning everyone to steer clear of anything that might be tainted by Sauron’s influence. And that recurring beat plays beautifully into the way this season deploys Edwards’ Celebrimbor as a reminder of how doomed many of The Rings of Power’s characters are in the grand scheme of things fated to play out down the line.

Even the show’s proto-Hobbits Nori (Markella Kavenagh) and Poppy (Megan Richards) become more fascinating as they continue on their adventure with the Stranger (Daniel Weyman) to Rhûn. A lot of that has to do with the fact that the Stranger just talks a lot more to his diminutive friends rather than accidentally unleashing magic that terrifies them. But it’s also because The Rings of Power puts those characters in new, more interesting places and pits them against threats that give their arcs a welcomed sense of urgency.

Whereas you could see season 1’s budget in the visual intricacy and grandeur of places like Lindon and Khazad-dûm, season 2 shows off its expensiveness with a surprisingly large number of action-focused set pieces featuring CGI that looks magnitudes better than what other streamers are offering up. Almost every episode features a climactic moment that genuinely feels like it’s meant to be watched in a theater with composer Bear McCreary’s majestic score blasting. And they all work to reinforce the larger idea that Middle-earth is entering an era of peril that none of its heroes are really prepared to navigate with any sense of certainty.

The Rings of Power has always been an experiment in bringing Tolkien’s ancillary footnotes alive and using them to add texture to an iconic myth. The show succeeds on that front even though it sometimes tries to do a bit too much with all of its interweaving threads in just eight episodes. But in that short span, it’s clear this season is cooking (or forging) with some real heat.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power also stars Ismael Cruz Córdova, Owain Arthur, Sophia Nomvete, Maxim Baldry, Tyroe Muhafidin, Lloyd Owen, and Leon Wadham. The new season’s first three episodes hit Amazon Prime on August 29th.

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The Ioniq 9 will be based on Hyundai’s Seven Concept that was revealed in 2021. | Image: Hyundai

Hyundai’s next electric vehicle for the US will be the Ioniq 9, a beefy, three-row SUV that will be manufactured at the company’s factory in Georgia, Hyundai executives announced during an investor day conference this week.
It’s a sign that while other automakers continue to second-guess their EV investments amid slowing demand, the South Korean automaker is intent on growing its share of the plug-in market by introducing new vehicles in popular segments.
The Ioniq 9 will be based on the Concept Seven, which was first revealed in 2021. At that time, Hyundai said the concept would be built on the automaker’s Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP), which also underpins the Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, Kia EV6, Kia EV9, and Genesis GV60.
The Ioniq 9 will be built at the same Ellabell, Georgia-based Metaplant where the company soon will start producing the Ioniq 5. (Assembling EVs in the US, as opposed to South Korea, will help qualify for the federal EV tax credit of $7,500.)
Hyundai is intent on growing its share of the plug-in market
During the conference, Hyundai Motor President and CEO Jae Hoon Chang said a production version of the Ioniq 9 will be shown off at the Los Angeles Auto Show later this year, according to InsideEVs.
Hyundai also said it would increase its share of hybrids in its lineup, in an acknowledgment that US consumers these days are more inclined to buy them over a full EV. Hyundai says the North American market in particular is facing a shortage of hybrids, which it aims to correct.
The Concept Seven was advertised as capable of charging from 10 percent to 80 percent in about 20 minutes, with a range of “over 300 miles.” But during the investor day event, Hyundai executives would explore developing Extended Range Electric Vehicles, or EREVs, to provide even more range than that. Some EREVs, like the BMW i3 and Chevy Volt, use small gas engines to recharge the battery pack, but not operate the motors.
Hyundai executives theorized being able to produce EREVs with a range of over 900 km, or 560 miles, when fully charged, according to InsideEVs.
The Seven was one of the biggest concepts we’ve seen from the South Korean automaker, with a wheelbase that stretches 10.5 feet, which is longer than the Cadillac Escalade. The extra-tall grille also puts this concept firmly in the “dangerously large” camp of vehicles that includes the Escalade and other oversized SUVs and trucks.

The Ioniq 9 will be based on Hyundai’s Seven Concept that was revealed in 2021. | Image: Hyundai

Hyundai’s next electric vehicle for the US will be the Ioniq 9, a beefy, three-row SUV that will be manufactured at the company’s factory in Georgia, Hyundai executives announced during an investor day conference this week.

It’s a sign that while other automakers continue to second-guess their EV investments amid slowing demand, the South Korean automaker is intent on growing its share of the plug-in market by introducing new vehicles in popular segments.

The Ioniq 9 will be based on the Concept Seven, which was first revealed in 2021. At that time, Hyundai said the concept would be built on the automaker’s Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP), which also underpins the Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, Kia EV6, Kia EV9, and Genesis GV60.

The Ioniq 9 will be built at the same Ellabell, Georgia-based Metaplant where the company soon will start producing the Ioniq 5. (Assembling EVs in the US, as opposed to South Korea, will help qualify for the federal EV tax credit of $7,500.)

During the conference, Hyundai Motor President and CEO Jae Hoon Chang said a production version of the Ioniq 9 will be shown off at the Los Angeles Auto Show later this year, according to InsideEVs.

Hyundai also said it would increase its share of hybrids in its lineup, in an acknowledgment that US consumers these days are more inclined to buy them over a full EV. Hyundai says the North American market in particular is facing a shortage of hybrids, which it aims to correct.

The Concept Seven was advertised as capable of charging from 10 percent to 80 percent in about 20 minutes, with a range of “over 300 miles.” But during the investor day event, Hyundai executives would explore developing Extended Range Electric Vehicles, or EREVs, to provide even more range than that. Some EREVs, like the BMW i3 and Chevy Volt, use small gas engines to recharge the battery pack, but not operate the motors.

Hyundai executives theorized being able to produce EREVs with a range of over 900 km, or 560 miles, when fully charged, according to InsideEVs.

The Seven was one of the biggest concepts we’ve seen from the South Korean automaker, with a wheelbase that stretches 10.5 feet, which is longer than the Cadillac Escalade. The extra-tall grille also puts this concept firmly in the “dangerously large” camp of vehicles that includes the Escalade and other oversized SUVs and trucks.

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The Sonos Ace — which are down to an all-time low right now — feature excellent ANC and the ability to sync with Sonos soundbars. | Image: Chris Welch / The Verge

It’s always sad when summer comes to a close. However, on the bright side, Labor Day represents yet another long weekend — not to mention an opportunity to save on a slew of goods before the holiday shopping season kicks off in earnest. Although Labor Day isn’t until September 2nd, many retailers are already offering steep discounts on a range of tech, some of which rival the Prime Day deals we saw in July.

Right now, for instance, Apple’s last-gen iPad is on sale for less than $200. Other Verge-approved items have also fallen to an all-time low, including Sonos’ Era 100 speaker, Amazon’s latest Echo Spot, and the entry-level Kindle. Granted, we’ve seen many of these products go for slightly less in the past — and it’s possible we’ll see even better deals during Amazon’s next Prime Day event in October — but now is a great time to pick up last-minute school supplies or begin chipping away at your wishlist. After all, it rarely hurts to get ahead, even if you’re wallet might say otherwise.

Speaker deals

Some of Ultimate Ears’ newest portable speakers are also on sale through September 2nd. Right now, for instance, Amazon, Best Buy, and UE are selling the UE Megaboom 4 for $169.99 ($30 off). The UE Wonderboom 4 is also down to $79.99 ($20 off) — an all-time low — at Amazon, Best Buy, and direct from UE. Both Bluetooth speakers offer USB-C support, a rugged IP67 rating, and a new megaphone feature that amplifies your voice when you speak into it. However, the larger Megaboom 4 delivers more robust sound and longer battery life, allowing for up to 20 hours of playback.
You can also buy last year’s UE Epicboom for $269.99 ($30 off) from Amazon, Best Buy, and Logitech. The speaker sits above the Megaboom 4 in the lineup, delivering more powerful, 360-degree sound. It doesn’t really offer a lot of additional perks beyond that, though it does feature USB-C charging and an IP67 rating like all of the aforementioned UE models. Read our review.

You can also buy the fifth-gen Echo Dot in blue, black, or white with a Sengled smart bulb for $29.99 ($40 off), which is one of its better prices to date. The latest Dot delivers more powerful sound than the Echo Pop while retaining Alexa support. It can also function as a Wi-Fi extender for Eero mesh networks and features a built-in temperature sensor. Read our review.
Earbud and headphone deals

Apple’s AirPods Max are on sale for $399 ($150 off) at Amazon and Best Buy, which is nearly their best price to date. It’s possible that Apple could replace them with a new USB-C model at its “Glowtime” event on September 9th, but at the moment, few headphones offer as good value if you’re an iPhone owner. They pair well with other Apple devices, after all, and feature exemplary sound and noise cancellation. Read our review.
The second-gen AirPods are also on sale for $89 ($40 off) at Amazon and Walmart, which is $20 shy of their all-time low. They lack advanced capabilities like noise cancellation and multipoint connectivity, but they remain a reliable pair of wireless earbuds that deliver good sound and long battery life. Again, we may see several new AirPods models in just a few weeks, so you may want to wait if you’re after the latest and greatest earbuds. Read our review.

Smart home deals

If you’re looking for a video doorbell, the Ring Battery Doorbell Plus is our favorite battery-powered model on the market — one that’s currently available for $119.99 ($30 off) from both Amazon and Ring. The responsive doorbell offers an impressive feature set for the price, including 1536p HD video and a head-to-toe view, allowing you to see your entire porch.

Ring and Amazon are also selling the battery-powered Ring Battery Doorbell Pro for $149.99 ($80 off), which matches its all-time low. Like the aforementioned Doorbell Plus, the Pro sports 1536p HD video and a head-to-toe view; however, the newer doorbell features radar-powered motion detection, which allows it to deliver far more accurate alerts.

The latest Ring Indoor Cam is available for $39.99 ($20 off) from Amazon and Ring, which is $10 shy of its best price to date. Along with 1080p video, the indoor camera features a built-in siren, motion-activated recording, and color night vision. It also sports a physical privacy cover that lets you disable audio and video recording.

Ring’s standard Stick Up Cam is available from Amazon and direct from Ring for $69.99 ($30 off), which remains one of its better prices to date. The indoor, battery-powered 1080p camera has multiple mounting options, along with support for both color night vision and two-way audio.

TP-Link’s Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Slim (EP25) is on sale at Amazon in a four-pack for $34.99 ($15 off), which matches its all-time low. The smart plug offers a lot in common with the Kasa KP125M, our top pick for most people, including reliable performance and energy monitoring. However, it lacks support for Matter, even if it is compatible with Siri, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant.

Eufy’s RoboVac 11S Max is on sale at Amazon for $139.99 ($110 off), its best price yet. Eufy’s basic bot offers good suction and a decent-sized dustbin for the price, rendering it a good option if you don’t need advanced cleaning features like AI obstacle avoidance or mops.

TV and streaming stick deals

You can buy the latest Amazon Fire TV Cube for $109.99 ($30 off) at Amazon and Best Buy. The fabric-covered streaming device / Echo speaker hybrid offers better performance than its predecessor, primarily due to a faster processor and updated support for Wi-Fi 6E. Like previous models, it also integrates well with Alexa, allowing for extensive hands-free voice control capabilities. Read our review.
Tablet and e-reader deals

Amazon and Best Buy are also selling the Kindle Kids for $94.99 ($25 off), which is better than its Prime Day price and $15 shy of its all-time low. The ad-free Kids model is identical to the standard Kindle, but like the kid-friendly Kindle Paperwhite, it comes with one year of Amazon Kids Plus, a colorful cover, and a two-year hardware protection plan.
If you’re looking for a budget-friendly entertainment device, we’d recommend the last-gen iPad. If you’re on a really tight budget, though, Amazon is also discounting its Fire tablets. Its highest-end model — the Amazon Fire Max 11 — is on sale with ads and 64GB of storage starting at $169.99 at Amazon and Best Buy. It can’t quite rival an iPad in terms of performance or capabilities, but it does stand out from the rest of the Fire lineup with an 11-inch, high-res LCD screen. It’s also one of Amazon’s speedier models, one that can be used with a stylus and an add-on keyboard. Read our review.

Miscellaneous deals

Epicka’s Universal Travel Adapter is on sale for $19.99 at Amazon. The adapter works in over 150 countries and comes with one USB-C port and four USB-A ports, so you can charge a wide range of electronics while traveling.
Now through September 2nd, MasterClass is offering a 50 percent discount on the first year of its annual membership plans. The online learning platform offers more than 200 expert-taught classes, helping you learn more about cooking, photography, gaming, and other topics. Yearlong plans typically start at $120, so you’d be paying $60 for unlimited access to all classes, as well as downloadable workbooks.

The Sonos Ace — which are down to an all-time low right now — feature excellent ANC and the ability to sync with Sonos soundbars. | Image: Chris Welch / The Verge

It’s always sad when summer comes to a close. However, on the bright side, Labor Day represents yet another long weekend — not to mention an opportunity to save on a slew of goods before the holiday shopping season kicks off in earnest. Although Labor Day isn’t until September 2nd, many retailers are already offering steep discounts on a range of tech, some of which rival the Prime Day deals we saw in July.

Right now, for instance, Apple’s last-gen iPad is on sale for less than $200. Other Verge-approved items have also fallen to an all-time low, including Sonos’ Era 100 speaker, Amazon’s latest Echo Spot, and the entry-level Kindle. Granted, we’ve seen many of these products go for slightly less in the past — and it’s possible we’ll see even better deals during Amazon’s next Prime Day event in October — but now is a great time to pick up last-minute school supplies or begin chipping away at your wishlist. After all, it rarely hurts to get ahead, even if you’re wallet might say otherwise.

Speaker deals

Some of Ultimate Ears’ newest portable speakers are also on sale through September 2nd. Right now, for instance, Amazon, Best Buy, and UE are selling the UE Megaboom 4 for $169.99 ($30 off). The UE Wonderboom 4 is also down to $79.99 ($20 off) — an all-time low — at Amazon, Best Buy, and direct from UE. Both Bluetooth speakers offer USB-C support, a rugged IP67 rating, and a new megaphone feature that amplifies your voice when you speak into it. However, the larger Megaboom 4 delivers more robust sound and longer battery life, allowing for up to 20 hours of playback.
You can also buy last year’s UE Epicboom for $269.99 ($30 off) from Amazon, Best Buy, and Logitech. The speaker sits above the Megaboom 4 in the lineup, delivering more powerful, 360-degree sound. It doesn’t really offer a lot of additional perks beyond that, though it does feature USB-C charging and an IP67 rating like all of the aforementioned UE models. Read our review.

You can also buy the fifth-gen Echo Dot in blue, black, or white with a Sengled smart bulb for $29.99 ($40 off), which is one of its better prices to date. The latest Dot delivers more powerful sound than the Echo Pop while retaining Alexa support. It can also function as a Wi-Fi extender for Eero mesh networks and features a built-in temperature sensor. Read our review.

Earbud and headphone deals

Apple’s AirPods Max are on sale for $399 ($150 off) at Amazon and Best Buy, which is nearly their best price to date. It’s possible that Apple could replace them with a new USB-C model at its “Glowtime” event on September 9th, but at the moment, few headphones offer as good value if you’re an iPhone owner. They pair well with other Apple devices, after all, and feature exemplary sound and noise cancellation. Read our review.
The second-gen AirPods are also on sale for $89 ($40 off) at Amazon and Walmart, which is $20 shy of their all-time low. They lack advanced capabilities like noise cancellation and multipoint connectivity, but they remain a reliable pair of wireless earbuds that deliver good sound and long battery life. Again, we may see several new AirPods models in just a few weeks, so you may want to wait if you’re after the latest and greatest earbuds. Read our review.

Smart home deals

If you’re looking for a video doorbell, the Ring Battery Doorbell Plus is our favorite battery-powered model on the market — one that’s currently available for $119.99 ($30 off) from both Amazon and Ring. The responsive doorbell offers an impressive feature set for the price, including 1536p HD video and a head-to-toe view, allowing you to see your entire porch.

Ring and Amazon are also selling the battery-powered Ring Battery Doorbell Pro for $149.99 ($80 off), which matches its all-time low. Like the aforementioned Doorbell Plus, the Pro sports 1536p HD video and a head-to-toe view; however, the newer doorbell features radar-powered motion detection, which allows it to deliver far more accurate alerts.

The latest Ring Indoor Cam is available for $39.99 ($20 off) from Amazon and Ring, which is $10 shy of its best price to date. Along with 1080p video, the indoor camera features a built-in siren, motion-activated recording, and color night vision. It also sports a physical privacy cover that lets you disable audio and video recording.

Ring’s standard Stick Up Cam is available from Amazon and direct from Ring for $69.99 ($30 off), which remains one of its better prices to date. The indoor, battery-powered 1080p camera has multiple mounting options, along with support for both color night vision and two-way audio.

TP-Link’s Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Slim (EP25) is on sale at Amazon in a four-pack for $34.99 ($15 off), which matches its all-time low. The smart plug offers a lot in common with the Kasa KP125M, our top pick for most people, including reliable performance and energy monitoring. However, it lacks support for Matter, even if it is compatible with Siri, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant.

Eufy’s RoboVac 11S Max is on sale at Amazon for $139.99 ($110 off), its best price yet. Eufy’s basic bot offers good suction and a decent-sized dustbin for the price, rendering it a good option if you don’t need advanced cleaning features like AI obstacle avoidance or mops.

TV and streaming stick deals

You can buy the latest Amazon Fire TV Cube for $109.99 ($30 off) at Amazon and Best Buy. The fabric-covered streaming device / Echo speaker hybrid offers better performance than its predecessor, primarily due to a faster processor and updated support for Wi-Fi 6E. Like previous models, it also integrates well with Alexa, allowing for extensive hands-free voice control capabilities. Read our review.

Tablet and e-reader deals

Amazon and Best Buy are also selling the Kindle Kids for $94.99 ($25 off), which is better than its Prime Day price and $15 shy of its all-time low. The ad-free Kids model is identical to the standard Kindle, but like the kid-friendly Kindle Paperwhite, it comes with one year of Amazon Kids Plus, a colorful cover, and a two-year hardware protection plan.
If you’re looking for a budget-friendly entertainment device, we’d recommend the last-gen iPad. If you’re on a really tight budget, though, Amazon is also discounting its Fire tablets. Its highest-end model — the Amazon Fire Max 11 — is on sale with ads and 64GB of storage starting at $169.99 at Amazon and Best Buy. It can’t quite rival an iPad in terms of performance or capabilities, but it does stand out from the rest of the Fire lineup with an 11-inch, high-res LCD screen. It’s also one of Amazon’s speedier models, one that can be used with a stylus and an add-on keyboard. Read our review.

Miscellaneous deals

Epicka’s Universal Travel Adapter is on sale for $19.99 at Amazon. The adapter works in over 150 countries and comes with one USB-C port and four USB-A ports, so you can charge a wide range of electronics while traveling.
Now through September 2nd, MasterClass is offering a 50 percent discount on the first year of its annual membership plans. The online learning platform offers more than 200 expert-taught classes, helping you learn more about cooking, photography, gaming, and other topics. Yearlong plans typically start at $120, so you’d be paying $60 for unlimited access to all classes, as well as downloadable workbooks.

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Image: Ubisoft

What Ubisoft’s new game lacks in innovation, it makes up for in fan service. Star Wars Outlaws isn’t a game you play because you want to experience the most innovative open world. It’s not full of ideas that will shake up the genre, and its structure and gameplay can get pretty repetitive. In a lot of ways, it’s standard stuff. But for a certain kind of player, none of that will matter. Because what makes Outlaws notable is the Star Wars part — it’s an average open-world game but an incredible Star Wars simulator.
The game takes place between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and puts players in the role of Kay Vess, a low-level criminal who gets in way over her head very quickly. She’s a wise-cracking Han Solo type with an adorable companion named Nix who is half puppy, half axolotl. The setup is a cliche crime caper: Kay joins a crew to pull off one huge score, with plans to retire safely on all the cash she’s about to steal. Things go sideways, and not only is Kay left penniless — she has also pissed off an incredibly rich and powerful member of the criminal underworld. Whoops!
From there, the story takes an interesting turn, and the rest of the game is spent preparing for another crack at the loot. That means Kay has to build up her underworld credentials by taking on jobs, find a crew that can help pull off the heist successfully, and generally improve her skills and gear for a better shot. It’s a fun premise that works well with the open-world structure, ensuring everything you do in the game is building toward a big payoff at the end.

Image: Ubisoft

Perhaps the most unique thing about the game is the way factions work. There are four criminal syndicates you’ll be dealing with, and your status with them will change over the course of the game depending on what you do. Taking on a mission to appease the Crimson Dawn might piss off their rivals, for instance, and dealing with them all can feel like spinning plates. Getting in the good graces of a gang opens up new mission paths and other opportunities, while angering them can make certain areas off limits and — if things get really bad — have them attack you on sight. It doesn’t fundamentally change the game, but the structure does force you to make some interesting and occasionally tough decisions about whose side you’re on.

Much like with the Star Wars Jedi series, if you’re simply looking to be taken to a galaxy far, far away, Outlaws is a great option. There’s nothing quite like racing across the deserts of Tatooine on a speeder bike or landing on a new planet and heading into the local cantina to ask around. All of the details — the visuals, the sound, the storylines — feel perfectly like, well, Star Wars. Like you’re in one of the movies, able to walk around and soak in the details.
I always love market scenes in fantasy and sci-fi; they’re a great way to quickly get a sense of the culture of a place at a glance. And I spent far too much time in Outlaws wandering around snapping photos of street food vendors and watching patrons in cantinas. It’s not only a way to feel immersed in Star Wars in a way that’s impossible in other mediums, but it often pays to linger; multiple times, I leaned against a wall on a crowded street, only to overhear details for an interesting side quest.
Part of what makes this work is how dense Outlaws is. As opposed to, say, Starfield or No Man’s Sky, sci-fi games that offer giant — but mostly empty — planets to explore, Outlaws is more practical in scale. There are a handful of worlds, and while each has some open expanses to drive through, most of your time is spent in cities, settlements, bases, and other detailed and busy spaces. This doesn’t make Outlaws feel small, but rather more human in scope. You don’t need to spend hours scouring through nothingness to feel like you’ve seen what the game has to offer.

Image: Ubisoft

The problem is that what you’re doing at any given moment is largely identical to every other open-world game of the last few years. The missions revolve around either sneaking into an enemy base to steal something or going somewhere to collect an item and return it. There’s lots of crawling through vents, disabling cameras and alarms, and shootouts with very dumb stormtroopers and criminal thugs. Sometimes, you have a choice for how you approach a mission — you might sneak in the back door, versus going in guns blazing — but mostly, the moment-to-moment action follows a familiar pattern.
As opposed to a game like Tears of the Kingdom, where you have the tools to approach missions in inventive ways, in Outlaws, you’re largely following one of a handful of predetermined paths. Worse still, the game often forces you into specific modes, most notably some very tedious stealth sequences. It’s a structure seen across so many games in the genre, from Assassin’s Creed to Horizon to Ghost of Tsushima; I was having a lot of Starfield flashbacks during my playthrough.
How much you enjoy your time with Outlaws will depend on how much you want to live this fantasy. The underworld of Star Wars has always had some of the universe’s most interesting stories and characters, and here’s a chance to experience it all firsthand. That involves some plodding missions and conventional gameplay, which can be a tough sell if you’re burned out on open-world games already. But when you’re on edge infiltrating Jabba’s palace or enjoying the sights and sounds of the bustling Canto Bight, it’s easy to forget all of that for a few blissful moments.
Star Wars Outlaws launches August 30th on the PC, Xbox, and PS5.

Image: Ubisoft

What Ubisoft’s new game lacks in innovation, it makes up for in fan service.

Star Wars Outlaws isn’t a game you play because you want to experience the most innovative open world. It’s not full of ideas that will shake up the genre, and its structure and gameplay can get pretty repetitive. In a lot of ways, it’s standard stuff. But for a certain kind of player, none of that will matter. Because what makes Outlaws notable is the Star Wars part — it’s an average open-world game but an incredible Star Wars simulator.

The game takes place between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and puts players in the role of Kay Vess, a low-level criminal who gets in way over her head very quickly. She’s a wise-cracking Han Solo type with an adorable companion named Nix who is half puppy, half axolotl. The setup is a cliche crime caper: Kay joins a crew to pull off one huge score, with plans to retire safely on all the cash she’s about to steal. Things go sideways, and not only is Kay left penniless — she has also pissed off an incredibly rich and powerful member of the criminal underworld. Whoops!

From there, the story takes an interesting turn, and the rest of the game is spent preparing for another crack at the loot. That means Kay has to build up her underworld credentials by taking on jobs, find a crew that can help pull off the heist successfully, and generally improve her skills and gear for a better shot. It’s a fun premise that works well with the open-world structure, ensuring everything you do in the game is building toward a big payoff at the end.

Perhaps the most unique thing about the game is the way factions work. There are four criminal syndicates you’ll be dealing with, and your status with them will change over the course of the game depending on what you do. Taking on a mission to appease the Crimson Dawn might piss off their rivals, for instance, and dealing with them all can feel like spinning plates. Getting in the good graces of a gang opens up new mission paths and other opportunities, while angering them can make certain areas off limits and — if things get really bad — have them attack you on sight. It doesn’t fundamentally change the game, but the structure does force you to make some interesting and occasionally tough decisions about whose side you’re on.

Much like with the Star Wars Jedi series, if you’re simply looking to be taken to a galaxy far, far away, Outlaws is a great option. There’s nothing quite like racing across the deserts of Tatooine on a speeder bike or landing on a new planet and heading into the local cantina to ask around. All of the details — the visuals, the sound, the storylines — feel perfectly like, well, Star Wars. Like you’re in one of the movies, able to walk around and soak in the details.

I always love market scenes in fantasy and sci-fi; they’re a great way to quickly get a sense of the culture of a place at a glance. And I spent far too much time in Outlaws wandering around snapping photos of street food vendors and watching patrons in cantinas. It’s not only a way to feel immersed in Star Wars in a way that’s impossible in other mediums, but it often pays to linger; multiple times, I leaned against a wall on a crowded street, only to overhear details for an interesting side quest.

Part of what makes this work is how dense Outlaws is. As opposed to, say, Starfield or No Man’s Sky, sci-fi games that offer giant — but mostly empty — planets to explore, Outlaws is more practical in scale. There are a handful of worlds, and while each has some open expanses to drive through, most of your time is spent in cities, settlements, bases, and other detailed and busy spaces. This doesn’t make Outlaws feel small, but rather more human in scope. You don’t need to spend hours scouring through nothingness to feel like you’ve seen what the game has to offer.

The problem is that what you’re doing at any given moment is largely identical to every other open-world game of the last few years. The missions revolve around either sneaking into an enemy base to steal something or going somewhere to collect an item and return it. There’s lots of crawling through vents, disabling cameras and alarms, and shootouts with very dumb stormtroopers and criminal thugs. Sometimes, you have a choice for how you approach a mission — you might sneak in the back door, versus going in guns blazing — but mostly, the moment-to-moment action follows a familiar pattern.

As opposed to a game like Tears of the Kingdom, where you have the tools to approach missions in inventive ways, in Outlaws, you’re largely following one of a handful of predetermined paths. Worse still, the game often forces you into specific modes, most notably some very tedious stealth sequences. It’s a structure seen across so many games in the genre, from Assassin’s Creed to Horizon to Ghost of Tsushima; I was having a lot of Starfield flashbacks during my playthrough.

How much you enjoy your time with Outlaws will depend on how much you want to live this fantasy. The underworld of Star Wars has always had some of the universe’s most interesting stories and characters, and here’s a chance to experience it all firsthand. That involves some plodding missions and conventional gameplay, which can be a tough sell if you’re burned out on open-world games already. But when you’re on edge infiltrating Jabba’s palace or enjoying the sights and sounds of the bustling Canto Bight, it’s easy to forget all of that for a few blissful moments.

Star Wars Outlaws launches August 30th on the PC, Xbox, and PS5.

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Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

TikTok must face a lawsuit over the viral “blackout challenge” that several parents blame for their children’s deaths, a Pennsylvania-based appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The ruling illuminates how courts are thinking about platform accountability in the wake of a major Supreme Court ruling this year and could highlight the potential limits of a key tech immunity shield.
TikTok’s algorithmic recommendations on the For You Page (FYP) constitute the platform’s own speech, according to the Third Circuit court of appeals. That means it’s something TikTok can be held accountable for in court. Tech platforms are typically protected by a legal shield known as Section 230, which prevents them from being sued over their users’ posts, and a lower court had initially dismissed the suit on those grounds.
But the appeals court said the speech at issue is TikTok’s own, and sent the case back to the lower court to reconsider. It will be up to that court to determine if TikTok can be held responsible in this particular case, where it faces charges including strict products liability and negligence.
The ruling is particularly significant because it shows one area where courts may find the limits of Section 230 immunity. In July, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in a case known as Moody v. NetChoice, over Texas and Florida’s social media laws. In their decision, the justices provided a guide to how lower courts could determine what kinds of actions by social media platforms could be considered First Amendment-protected speech. The justices included content moderation and curation in that bucket.
The ruling is particularly significant because it shows one area where courts may find the limits of Section 230 immunity
But SCOTUS did not weigh in on “algorithms [that] respond solely to how users act online,” and since the Third Circuit believes TikTok’s algorithm falls into this category in this case, the judges said that its content recommendations to specific users qualifies as TikTok’s “own first-party speech.” Section 230 only protects online platforms from being held liable for how they deal with third-party speech, like for hosting their users’ posts (or choosing to remove them).
The Third Circuit’s opinion draws on Moody in its explanation of why TikTok should have to face a lawsuit from the mother of ten-year-old Nylah Anderson, who “unintentionally hanged herself” after watching videos of the so-called blackout challenge on her algorithmically-curated FYP. The “challenge,” according to the suit, encouraged viewers to “choke themselves until passing out.”
“Given the Supreme Court’s observations that platforms engage in protected first-party speech under the First Amendment when they curate compilations of others’ content via their expressive algorithms, it follows that doing so amounts to first-party speech under [Section] 230, too,” Third Circuit Judge Patty Schwartz wrote in the opinion of the court. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Had Anderson searched for the blackout challenge on TikTok, Schwartz wrote in the court’s opinion, “then TikTok may be viewed more like a repository of third-party content than an affirmative promoter of such content.” The judges said they reached their conclusion “specifically because TikTok’s promotion of a Blackout Challenge video on Nylah’s FYP was not contingent upon any specific user input.”
The judges said that the algorithm that determines what shows up on a user’s FYP decides what third-party speech to include or not in its compilation, and then organizes the videos it chooses to show. “Accordingly, TikTok’s algorithm, which recommended the Blackout Challenge to Nylah on her FYP, was TikTok’s own ‘expressive activity,’ … and thus its first-party speech,” the opinion says.

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

TikTok must face a lawsuit over the viral “blackout challenge” that several parents blame for their children’s deaths, a Pennsylvania-based appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The ruling illuminates how courts are thinking about platform accountability in the wake of a major Supreme Court ruling this year and could highlight the potential limits of a key tech immunity shield.

TikTok’s algorithmic recommendations on the For You Page (FYP) constitute the platform’s own speech, according to the Third Circuit court of appeals. That means it’s something TikTok can be held accountable for in court. Tech platforms are typically protected by a legal shield known as Section 230, which prevents them from being sued over their users’ posts, and a lower court had initially dismissed the suit on those grounds.

But the appeals court said the speech at issue is TikTok’s own, and sent the case back to the lower court to reconsider. It will be up to that court to determine if TikTok can be held responsible in this particular case, where it faces charges including strict products liability and negligence.

The ruling is particularly significant because it shows one area where courts may find the limits of Section 230 immunity. In July, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in a case known as Moody v. NetChoice, over Texas and Florida’s social media laws. In their decision, the justices provided a guide to how lower courts could determine what kinds of actions by social media platforms could be considered First Amendment-protected speech. The justices included content moderation and curation in that bucket.

But SCOTUS did not weigh in on “algorithms [that] respond solely to how users act online,” and since the Third Circuit believes TikTok’s algorithm falls into this category in this case, the judges said that its content recommendations to specific users qualifies as TikTok’s “own first-party speech.” Section 230 only protects online platforms from being held liable for how they deal with third-party speech, like for hosting their users’ posts (or choosing to remove them).

The Third Circuit’s opinion draws on Moody in its explanation of why TikTok should have to face a lawsuit from the mother of ten-year-old Nylah Anderson, who “unintentionally hanged herself” after watching videos of the so-called blackout challenge on her algorithmically-curated FYP. The “challenge,” according to the suit, encouraged viewers to “choke themselves until passing out.”

“Given the Supreme Court’s observations that platforms engage in protected first-party speech under the First Amendment when they curate compilations of others’ content via their expressive algorithms, it follows that doing so amounts to first-party speech under [Section] 230, too,” Third Circuit Judge Patty Schwartz wrote in the opinion of the court. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Had Anderson searched for the blackout challenge on TikTok, Schwartz wrote in the court’s opinion, “then TikTok may be viewed more like a repository of third-party content than an affirmative promoter of such content.” The judges said they reached their conclusion “specifically because TikTok’s promotion of a Blackout Challenge video on Nylah’s FYP was not contingent upon any specific user input.”

The judges said that the algorithm that determines what shows up on a user’s FYP decides what third-party speech to include or not in its compilation, and then organizes the videos it chooses to show. “Accordingly, TikTok’s algorithm, which recommended the Blackout Challenge to Nylah on her FYP, was TikTok’s own ‘expressive activity,’ … and thus its first-party speech,” the opinion says.

Read More