Airbnb is starting up an experimental design group to work on odd new hospitality projects that could one day become major company initiatives. The group is called Samara, and its first project is to build "community centers" to draw tourists to small, little-traveled towns.FastC … | Continue reading
Fitbit wants you to know: it has a bunch of new stuff coming out this year.During the wearable-maker's second quarter earnings call today, Fitbit co-founder and CEO James Park said more than once that the company would introduce more products before the end of the year — "more ne … | Continue reading
Last May, pictures of a weird, elevated bus that glides above traffic began circulating on the internet. Predictably, everyone freaked out. The so-called “straddling bus” was held up as a solution to China’s notorious traffic problems, but all anyone wanted to talk about was how … | Continue reading
Have you ever stared at a bag of grapes in your fridge and thought to yourself, wow why did I buy these grapes when I could have just bought wine? I think I reach this point pretty much every winter, usually during snow storms when all I have in my pantry is mac and cheese and al … | Continue reading
The Rio Olympics are kicking off on August 5th, but Rio de Janeiro’s waterways show alarming levels of pollution that could be dangerous for athletes and tourists alike. The Olympics and Paralympic aquatic venues are teeming with dangerous viruses and bacteria from untreated sewa … | Continue reading
Prototypes of real-life eyedropper tools already exist (like the Spector, which can identify fonts and colors), and the Cronzy pen is no different when it comes to detecting colors. But what makes Cronzy special is that it contains ink cartridges that let you actually draw these … | Continue reading
Remember that time CNN made Wolf Blitzer talk to a hologram of Jessica Yellin which made America ask the question, why would we ever need holograms? No? Blocked it out? Well lucky for you, a company called HoloVit wants to reinvigorate that nightmare give you the ability to watch … | Continue reading
I grew up at the foot of a dormant volcano in the Cascades, and like many of my classmates, I climbed it a few times as a teenager. Mountains — real, tree-bare, snow-capped mountains — feel like alien worlds. Air is thinner; water boils faster. Wind scours any signs of life from … | Continue reading
Three more top officials at the Democratic National Committee, including the CEO, have resigned in the wake of last month's hacked email revelations, the Washington Post and Associated Press report. Continue reading… | Continue reading
A hacker group called Pravvy Sector reportedly accessed and leaked a massive 150GB data trove from the Central Ohio Urology Group on Twitter today, Motherboard reports. It’s unclear how many patients were affected, but the health care organization boasts that it has the "largest … | Continue reading
In 2009, Batman: Arkham Asylum managed to capture something that had eluded video games for decades: the feeling of being Batman. The brutal hand-to-hand combat, the high-tech tools and investigations, that sensation of skulking around in the dark undetected, all of it was there … | Continue reading
Microsoft is opening up sales of its HoloLens augmented reality headset. In a blog post today, project head Alex Kipman said that all developers and business customers in the US and Canada can now order up to five HoloLens development kits apiece, instead of going through an appl … | Continue reading
The parents of actor Anton Yelchin, who was killed in a roll-away accident involving his Jeep Grand Cherokee last month, have filed a wrongful death suit against Fiat Chrysler (FCA), the car’s manufacturers, according to Reuters. But a spokesperson for FCA says the car company ha … | Continue reading
This Thursday, seven teams of researchers will face off in a live hacking challenge at Defcon, competing for a grand prize of $2 million. It’s a common sight at the conference, but this challenge comes with a twist — instead of human teams, Thursday’s challenge will be entirely a … | Continue reading
Everybody knows how the hero’s journey goes. Joseph Campbell laid it out clearly in 1949’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces, and countless books, films, and comics have followed the pattern: the call to adventure, the journey into the unknown, the challenges, the transformation, an … | Continue reading
The NFL is extending its partnership with Snapchat to include the first ever sports channel for the mobile app's Discover tab. By swiping left on the app, users can now seek out NFL videos made for Snapchat alongside football news and popular topics of interest. The partnership f … | Continue reading
The 15-year-old porn studio Naughty America operates on a subscription model. Yes, in an age of rampant piracy when nude bodies are a Google search away, people still pay for porn. But the business isn't what it used to be. The studio and other porn sites now face the threat of e … | Continue reading
A pair of hackers have compromised their Jeep Cherokee, fooling the car into doing dangerous things like turning the steering wheel or activating the parking brake at highway speeds. It’s the same pair that hacked their Jeep remotely last year. But, because this version of the ha … | Continue reading
Flossing is annoying as hell, and now it turns out it might not even be that useful. Though it’s been recommended by medical professionals and the US government for decades, there’s no good evidence it actually works to prevent cavities and gum disease, The Associated Press repor … | Continue reading
Both Google and Amazon have committed to developing autonomous drones that can deliver packages with minimal human oversight. Unfortunately for the tech giants, the Federal Aviation Administration does not currently allow drones in the US to operate without a human pilot or beyon … | Continue reading
Academy Award winner and perennial stepdad Leonardo DiCaprio played a little joke on his friend Jonah Hill recently. The joke was: "I'm a fan of yours, snapping your picture on the streets of New York City! Kidding! Actually I'm just your friend Leo!"This joke is so dumb, sure, b … | Continue reading
Microsoft's Windows 10 Anniversary Update is here and ready to download. The software maker first started testing its Anniversary Update back in December, and now all Windows 10 users get to experience the new features and improvements free of charge. Chief among them is a new Wi … | Continue reading
Google's "Accelerated Mobile Pages," more commonly known as AMP, are meant to be a reboot of the mobile web. Designed to fix mobile webpages that suck because they're too slow, they have been available in a specialized carousel at the top of search results since February. When yo … | Continue reading
Snapchat started making location-specific photo filters a couple years ago, and today it's doing the same thing for stickers. It announced a new feature today called geostickers, which are stickers that'll only be available in specific locations.For now, Snapchat is starting with … | Continue reading
At a number of different points in Netflix’s Stranger Things, a fantastic new drama that builds upon a nostalgia for 1980s science fiction films, the viewer is asked, for one reason or another, to suspend their disbelief. Why does Wynona Rider’s distraught mother character own so … | Continue reading
Synesthesia is an interesting neurological phenomenon where a response in one sense is interpreted as a response in a different one, such as seeing sounds as colors. On a related note, Philips announced its new Nitro line of speakers and headphones, which all share the ability to … | Continue reading
We finally made it to the season finale! Will JoJo choose Robby, the former competitive swimmer, or Jordan, the former NFL quarterback? By the end of this post we will know, and I will have updated my resume to "Former Bachelorette Recapper." Sweet relief!This episode is three-ho … | Continue reading
The Tilt Brush virtual reality painting tool is now also a trippy music visualization tool. An update today will add what the developers call an "audio reactive" mode, which makes brush strokes pulse to the beat of any music that’s played on your computer. While it doesn’t seem h … | Continue reading
I had never heard of Nextdoor when I lived in New York City. Social media services catering to individual neighborhoods weren’t useful in an apartment building where most tenants lasted a year, and longtime residents kept to themselves. In my first year in Texas, however, I’ve re … | Continue reading
Pinch to zoom is intuitive at this point. So is a double tap to like. But maybe eventually these gestures will become a relic of past technology as we develop new ways to interact with devices or, woah, switch to voice control. Qeexo, a company based in California, thinks it has … | Continue reading
Telegram is one of the most popular chat applications in Iran, boasting tens of millions of accounts — but those users may not be as secure as they think. According to researchers Collin Anderson and Claudio Guarnieri, who spoke first to Reuters, dozens of those users have been c … | Continue reading
Samsung's new Galaxy Note 7 comes with all of the features that the Note smartphone line is known for. It has a large display, works with the S Pen stylus, and is water-resistant. But it also has another, long-rumored feature that is slowly finding its way into more consumer elec … | Continue reading
Samsung is finally officially putting its first 360-degree camera on sale in the United States. The Gear 360, which was announced at Mobile World Congress back in February, will hit retail shelves on August 19th, along with the new Galaxy Note 7 and the new version of the Gear VR … | Continue reading
Samsung has today officially launched the Galaxy Note 7, the latest in its line of stylus-equipped flagship smartphones. The Note 7, which is not called the Note 6, blends many of the features from last year’s Note 5 with the design and waterproofing of this year’s excellent S7 E … | Continue reading
Samsung today announced an updated version of the Gear VR, the company’s mobile virtual reality headset. It features a new touchpad, USB Type-C compatibility, and a slightly wider field of view. The revamped Gear VR will still cost $99, and it goes on sale August 19th, with preor … | Continue reading
Logitech's Create Keyboard Case is already one of the most popular keyboards for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, so it makes sense that it would make a smaller version for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. The keyboard connects to your iPad using the Smart Connectors, so there's no Bluetooth pairin … | Continue reading
The Mr. Robot virtual reality experience that premiered — then quickly disappeared — last week during Comic-Con is now online for good. For anyone with a Gear VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, or Google Cardboard, the 13-minute video is available through the Within app on these platform … | Continue reading
Huawei plans to release its Honor Note 8 phone in China this month. Another new midrange Android phone, we know. But the Note 8 is different in a couple ways. Mainly, it has a 6.6-inch display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels and a decently sized 4,500 mAh battery. Also, … | Continue reading
This is The Harper Spin, a weekly column from seasoned auto critic Jason H. Harper. He’s raced at Le Mans, crushed a car in a 50-ton tank, and now, he’s bringing his unique style to The Verge.Ferrari is one of the world’s most recognized brands. Not just car brands — brands, peri … | Continue reading
The customer isn't always right. For example, the management at South Coast Plaza would prefer that you, or I, or any visitor for that matter, not refer to the mammoth complex as "a mall." South Coast Plaza is a luxury shopping experience, and a global shopping destination, home … | Continue reading
It’s official: Ubisoft’s post-pandemic shooter The Division is being adapted for film. Today the publisher officially announced the film — which was first rumored back in June — and as previously reported the movie will star Jake Gyllenhaal, who also led another Ubisoft adaptatio … | Continue reading
Microsoft announced its new Xbox One S console back at E3 in June, and began immediately downplaying the amount of additional processing power over the original model. While Microsoft admitted there is a "small amount of additional processing power," Eurogamer's Digital Foundry h … | Continue reading
It's been a little less than a year since Jon Stewart signed a four-year contract with HBO, and now we're getting a clearer idea of what that means for viewers. His new show will be an "animated parody of a cable news network," according to Variety. Casey Bloys, HBO's programming … | Continue reading
In a bold expansion designed to capture more of users’ everyday photos and videos, Instagram today introduced "stories," a secondary feed of ephemeral content that is available for only 24 hours from the time of posting. The feature is nearly identical to the central feed in Snap … | Continue reading
Samsung's goal with the Internet of Things is to connect literally everything, and apparently one of the first things up is your shoes. A Samsung spinoff company, called Salted Venture, announced a... | Continue reading
There’s no way to talk about the Xbox One S without talking about the console it’s replacing, the Xbox One. So I will just start by saying the really obvious thing: the Xbox One S is what the original Xbox One should have been.That assessment is both totally fair and wildly unfai … | Continue reading
A month ahead of its debut, Ava DuVernay's original series, Queen Sugar, has already gotten a second season order on OWN. The network announced yesterday that after the show's 13-episode first season, the drama from the Selma director and executive producer Oprah Winfrey will con … | Continue reading
With vinyl music sales climbing up and up every year, you’ve likely wondered which turntable is the best choice to help kick off your own collection. Going record shopping is a nice break from your Spotify playlists and iTunes collection. There’s just something inherently more pe … | Continue reading