Vibe

The best trailers of E3 2021

Guardians, vampires, rabbids, and lots of chaos The 2021 edition of E3 was perhaps the weirdest yet. After taking a year off due to the pandemic, the world’s biggest gaming event returned in a digital-only format. A lot of big names were still present — like Microsoft, Nintendo, and Square Enix — and there were… Read more

Sony WF-1000XM4

Our Verdict You won’t find many true wireless earbuds that come close to matching the all-round brilliance of the Sony WF-1000XM4 For Clear, detailed bass performance Wonderful sense of musicality Comfortable Class-leading battery life Against Missing Sony’s Multipoint feature Lacking ear tip choices No aptX HD How do you improve on arguably the best all-round… Read more

Fortnite season 7 has Superman, flying saucers, and a virtual influencer

As expected, aliens have invaded Fortnite’s battle royale island. The game’s latest season — Chapter 2: Season 7 — is called “Invasion,” and it’s just kicked off with a sci-fi vibe that’s a big change from last season’s prehistoric theme. Among the changes are flying saucers that players can hack and then pilot, weapons like… Read more

Apple announces iPadOS 15 with homescreen and multitasking improvements

Weeks after introducing its most powerful iPad Pro devices ever, Apple is today announcing the latest version of iPadOS — and there’s a clear focus on making Apple’s tablets more capable productivity machines. At least if you find yourself using split-screen mode a lot, that is. Otherwise, there aren’t any radical changes for the platform…. Read more

Netflix’s Sweet Tooth makes the end of the world a little cozier

Gus may have antlers like a deer, but he’s a puppy dog at heart. The main character of Netflix’s new series Sweet Tooth, based on the comic by Jeff Lemire, is a young boy struggling to survive in a world ravaged by a pandemic. But while the world around him descends into chaos, Gus, played… Read more

Nanoleaf’s light-up wall panels now look like wood accent pieces

Nanoleaf, the company best known for illuminated panels that you stick to your wall, has announced the new Nanoleaf Elements line, a set of wall panels that are designed to look as nice turned off as they do when on. The new Elements line accomplishes this through a wood-like veneer that allows the light to… Read more

TikTok changes text-to-speech voice after voice actor sues

TikTok has changed the voice on its text-to-speech feature, just weeks after an actor claiming to be the original voice filed a lawsuit claiming she never agreed to be featured in the app. The new voice has been showing up in TikToks over the past day — often in videos of people commenting on the… Read more

Home Sick Pilots is a haunted house story with a punk rock edge

Comics have never been bigger: with Marvel TV shows, DC movies, and indie adaptations growing by the day, comic books have never been more prominent in pop culture. This biweekly Verge column recommends comic series new and old, whether you’re a longtime fan or a newcomer. Haunted house stories are usually pretty dreary. It helps… Read more

HBO’s Pause with Sam Jay turns the stuffy late-night talk show into a party

There’s a quality that some long-running chat podcasts have that can feel like a brick wall for new listeners. Existing relationships, in-jokes, and context that friends and co-hosts have are additional barriers to feeling like you’re a part of the conversation. The casual hangout and chat format is tantalizing for its naturalism, but it also… Read more

I do not understand this chair

It started with a tweet from Roadshow editor-in-chief Tim Stevens. A picture of a chair that seemed to effortlessly skim the line between office chair, La-Z-Boy recliner, and Victorian throne. An utter affront to design, taste, and style. This chair: Stumbled across this chair online today. I find its middle-management, aspirational evil overlord aesthetic oddly… Read more

Epic fights Apple in court by playing Candy Crush

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Expert testimony continues Sometimes I reflect on my life and wonder where I went wrong, such that I am sitting on a wooden pew in federal court, watching a Google search for Candy Crush Saga on the display monitor. This is a huge trial with major stakes for… Read more

Zuma Lumisonic: an ultra-compact speaker light from the engineer of B&W’s Nautilus

Home News (Image credit: Zuma) New British tech company Zuma has launched what it is calling a “world first high-performance product that combines audio and light to give users an incredible immersive experience”. The Zuma Lumisonic is an ultra-compact two-way loudspeaker with a low-energy LED light, all housed within an easily installable ceiling light fixture…. Read more

The art of making simple but tough rhythm games

Unbeatable.Image: D-Cell Games Unbeatable and Rhythm Doctor make the genre more accessible — and challenging By Alan Wen May 6, 2021, 10:00am EDT From the trailer’s opening, with its striking, pastel-colored anime visuals, loud rock guitar riffs, and energetic vocals, Unbeatable looks and sounds incredible. Wrapped in turn-of-the-millennium influences in both its anime and rock… Read more

The Royal Navy is testing using jet suits to fight high-seas piracy

The British Royal Navy has apparently been testing using jet suits to board ships like a scene out of some scrapped Christopher Nolan film, according to a new video released by UK-based Gravity Industries. Business Insider writes that the tests were conducted over three days on the HMS Tamar, a Royal Navy Batch 2 River-class… Read more

Returnal is dark, challenging, and the perfect PS5 showcase

We’re nearly six months into the life of the current generation of game consoles, but there are still vanishingly few high-profile exclusives that show off what the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X can do. After getting through the initial wave of launch titles, I’ve spent most of 2021 using my PS5 to play Fortnite…. Read more