How the Trump administration could ‘ban’ TikTok

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The Trump administration is apparently considering a ban on Chinese social media apps, including the popular video app TikTok. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo mentioned the possibility on July 7th, saying it was “something we’re looking at” in a Fox News interview with Laura Ingraham — and on July 31st, President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he planned to personally ban the app using his own authority, instead of potentially forcing its Chinese owner to divest it.

The comments could easily have been bluster. But Pompeo also compared TikTok to Huawei and ZTE, two companies that have suffered very real consequences after drawing US government ire. With tension rising between the US and China, Trump trying to ban TikTok...

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The Best Guitars for Beginners, According to Our Readers

Holy shit: A lot of you really like the guitar. There were so. many. passionate and helpful responses to our call for the best guitar for beginners. I didn’t bargain for a master class in purchasing your first axe, but that’s exactly what I got, and I implore anyone exploring guitar to go check out all the wonderful…

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Battletoads will arrive on Xbox One and PC on August 20th

Battletoads will make its way back to the Xbox One and PC. Rare is announcing today that Battletoads will be available on August 20th on Steam, the Microsoft Store, and as part of Xbox Game Pass. The original game, developed by Rare and released in 1991, was a cult classic, and Microsoft confirmed its return at E3 last year.

Much like the original, there will be beat ‘em up, platforming, and even racing stages. The all-new Battletoads has been developed by Dlala Studios in partnership with Rare, and it pays homage to the original with the ‘90s cartoonish style. Rare is promising additional gameplay deep dives ahead of the launch, and the launch trailer teases a large amount of gameplay.

Battletoads will launch on August 20th on Steam,...

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Amazon has a Marketplace problem

Photo by Graeme Jennings-Pool/Getty Images

Massive tech companies may have been the focus of this week’s antitrust hearing, but one of the most arresting speeches came from a much smaller outfit.

Partway through the hearing, Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA) played testimony from a third-party textbook seller on Amazon, who believed the company had started blocking their store as it grew more successful. At the time of the testimony, they hadn’t been able to sell a book for ten months, and despite hundreds of messages to Amazon, they couldn’t get an answer as to why.

“I’m concerned this is a pattern of behavior,” McBath told Bezos. “What do you have to say to the small businesses that are talking to Congress because you simply aren’t listening to them?”

“I’m concerned this is a pattern of...

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Here’s where you can buy a Nintendo Switch

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The Nintendo Switch, like everything else that can lighten the mood during this incredibly tough time, is in short supply. And as soon as retailers like Best Buy, Amazon, and Walmart gets it in stock, it quickly sells out. It can be disheartening to miss out on the opportunity to buy a Switch — but fear not! The purpose of this article is to help you do just that without paying more than it would usually cost at retail.

We’re keeping a lookout across the web to find where, when, and how you can buy a Nintendo Switch (the one you can dock to your TV or remove for portable use) or a Switch Lite (the portable-only version of the console) as well as any bundles that seem like good deals.

Keep in mind that stock — even Switch consoles that...

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Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip includes the Galaxy Watch Active 2 for free

Samsung is hosting a few discounted bundles at Amazon and Best Buy, one of which includes its Galaxy Z Flip foldable phone and a Galaxy Watch Active 2 44mm smartwatch for $1,380. That’s the normal price for the phone, but the savings come in the form of getting the watch, which costs around $249 right now, for free. Given that there have been very few deals on the unlocked version of the Z Flip, this is a decent value if you were thinking of investing now.

This bundle is also active for the Galaxy S20, and likewise, there’s no price drop below its normal $1,000 price. If you watch our deals coverage regularly, you probably already know that it’s been sold for as low as $800 unlocked. But if you’re in need of a phone right now, at least...

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SpaceX’s Crew Dragon slated to bring NASA astronauts home for the first time this weekend

This weekend, two NASA astronauts are slated to return home to Earth inside SpaceX’s new passenger capsule, the Crew Dragon. It’ll be the first time that the Crew Dragon carries passengers back to the planet’s surface, ultimately proving if the vehicle can safely transport people to space and back.

Veteran astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will be aboard the spacecraft. The duo made history at the end of May when they launched to the International Space Station inside the Crew Dragon, marking the first time a privately made vehicle carried people to orbit. The launch heralded the return of human spaceflight in the US. The last time people flew to orbit from the United States was in 2011, with the last flight of the Space Shuttle....

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Twitter permanently suspends white supremacist David Duke

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Twitter has suspended the account of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke for “repeated violations of the Twitter Rules on hateful conduct,” a spokesperson confirmed to The Verge on Friday. “This enforcement action is in line with our recently-updated guidance on harmful links.”

Duke joined Twitter in September 2009, an archived version of his page shows, and his account had more than 53,000 followers.

YouTube suspended several white supremacists’ channels last month, including Duke’s, for violating its hate speech policies. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which describes Duke as a neo-Nazi and Holocaust denier, says Duke “built an international reputation as the American face of white nationalism and pseudo-academic...

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Secure Your Home Now With This U-Bolt Pro Smart Lock and Take 28% Off

U-Bolt Pro Smart Lock | $44 | Meh

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We Still Don't Know All the Long-Term Consequences of 'Mild' COVID-19

Surviving COVID-19 is one thing. Becoming healthy again is another. Recent studies have found that even people who didn’t seem to have life-threatening cases show signs of damage to their heart. We don’t know what the future has in store for them.

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If You Won't Wear a Mask to Stop Coronavirus, How About Surveillance?

Facial recognition technology raises ethical dilemmas and privacy concerns. Is it okay that our phones, computers, and social media apps not only recognize us, but also collect and store data about our faces? These concerns grow as the tech becomes more accurate, and more government agencies, private businesses, and …

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This 'Stay Calm' Video Series Is Great for Expectant Moms

Pregnancy can be a time of joy and fear, excitement and stress—sometimes all at once. There are more resources online for pregnant women than ever before, but sometimes it’s nice to actually see and hear someone else’s experiences, especially during a time when we’re all so physically isolated. That’s why Very Well…

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There’s unproven tech in the NBA’s COVID-19 prevention plan

It didn’t surprise James Gilmore to hear that the NBA was turning to smart rings to help manage the risk of COVID-19 inside its “bubble” at Disney World, where the league hopes to finish the rest of the season. “The NBA, and the NBA Players Association, has been at the forefront of embracing wearable technology for individual players,” says Gilmore, an assistant professor who studies the use of wearable technology in daily life at Clemson University.

All players inside the bubble have the option of wearing an Oura ring, normally marketed as a sleep and activity tracker. Health data collected by the ring, the league says, will be used to flag changes that could indicate someone has symptoms of COVID-19, even if they don’t feel sick.

The...

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Why Am I Locked Out of My Netflix Account?

Living in quarantine for the past however many months—how long has it been, anyhow?—I can think of few things worse than what happened to one Lifehacker reader recently. No, they didn’t get coronavirus. That would definitely be the worst-case scenario. They did, however, get locked out of their Netflix.

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The Verge’s back-to-school gift guide 2020

Everything you’ll need and want when you start school

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Chrome’s autofill is getting more secure and convenient

You’ll be able to use security options like a fingerprint to enter credit card details. | Image: Google

Google is updating its Chrome browser to let you automatically enter saved passwords and credit card details into forms more easily and securely, the company has announced. The browser will now use biometric authentication like a fingerprint to autofill credit card details without having to ask for your three-digit CVC each time, and a new dialog box will let you pick from a list of saved account credentials to sign into a website without having to tap into individual form fields.

As well as offering convenience, both features are designed to make transactions more secure on the web. Biometric security makes it harder for someone to make an online purchase if they have access to your device. You’ll still need to enter your CVC the first...

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TikTok has a bold new plan to win over regulators

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Programming note: It’s time for our summer vacation! The stretch between January and today is the longest uninterrupted period we have ever written The Interface, and so we’re taking a break to recharge. We return August 17th.

On any other day, the memo that Kevin Mayer published Wednesday might have been the talk of the tech world. TikTok’s new CEO, who was thrust into a crisis over the future of the Chinese-owned app from the moment he took the job, has quickly emerged as the company’s top diplomat.

In his blog post, he came bearing economic gifts for the country that is currently blocking his app from federal and military devices, and threatening to ban it completely — as India recently did. Mayer promised to expand a fund for...

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Halo Infinite multiplayer will be free-to-play and up to 120fps, leaks reveal

An Irish retailer has revealed that Halo Infinite’s multiplayer mode will be free-to-play and support up to 120fps. Smyths Toys Superstores briefly posted details (Google Cache) about Halo Infinite multiplayer on a promotional page this week before quickly removing them once the internet discovered the references.

“The legendary Halo series returns with the most expansive Master Chief campaign yet and a groundbreaking free-to-play multiplayer experience,” read the listing. “Enjoy up to 120 FPS and greatly reduced load times creating seamless gameplay with Xbox Series X.”

The listing on Smyths Toys Superstores.

Klobrille, an Xbox leaker that accurately revealed previous Halo Infinite details, backed up the claims that...

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Who wouldn’t want their Echo Dot to look like Baby Yoda?

Image: Otterbox

There are plenty of things I could tell you about Otterbox’s new stand for the third-generation Amazon Echo Dot smart speaker. I could tell you about its “durable materials” or how it’s designed to “securely” hold on to your Echo device. The Amazon listing even claims its “precision-fit, non-slip base” is “engineered for optimal audio output.”

But you and I both know that none of that really matters, because what’s really important here is that this base adds little tiny Emmy-nominated Baby Yoda* ears to the sides of your Echo Dot. If you want to pretend that you’re actually speaking to The Mandalorian character every time you ask Alexa to set a timer, then this is (probably) the easiest way to do it.

Image: Otterbox ...

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Oppo launches mid-range Reno 4 Pro for $470

Oppo has announced the Reno 4 Pro for international release. It’s a mid-range phone that isn’t a million miles away from sister company OnePlus’ new Nord in specs, design, and pricing.

The Reno 4 Pro has a matte back panel with a gradient design and a glossy finish on the quad camera bump. It feels very thin and light by today’s standards, at 7.7mm thick and 161g. The camera bump bears the legend “INNOVATIVE QUADCAM” in capital letters, which is a pretty amusing thing to write on a camera bump, but otherwise this is an attractive device.

The phone looks good from the front, too, with a 6.5-inch 90Hz 1080p AMOLED screen with the slightest of curves on the edges. Unlike other curved screens, this panel doesn’t stretch right...

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Google is now making it easier to find Black-owned businesses

Google is launching a new tool that allows businesses to identify themselves as Black-owned through the company’s Maps and Search listings. The new feature is part of the company’s pledge announced last month to support the Black community with “initiatives and product ideas that support long-term solutions.”

When searching for a business through Google.com or Google Maps, you’ll now be able to see a new badge to represent Black-owned businesses — it’s a black heart over an orange three-striped background, like the one you can see in these images. They need to claim their business on Google and verify they own it by mail, phone or email before they can apply for the badge; it’s not clear how or whether Google can actually tell if...

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Twitter says a spear phishing attack led to the huge bitcoin scam

Illustration by Grayson Blackmon / The Verge

Twitter provided an update about the unprecedented July 15th attack that allowed hackers to tweet from some of the most high-profile accounts on the service, in a blog post and a series of tweets published Thursday evening. Twitter now says that a few employees were targeted in a phone spear phishing attack. While Twitter doesn’t quite say, that presumably means hackers called up Twitter employees while posing as colleagues or members of Twitter’s own security team, and got them to reveal the credentials they use to access internal systems.

Twitter had previously said its own tools were compromised in the attack, but up until this point, the company hadn’t specified how that had happened. “This attack relied on a significant and...

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In the pandemic economy, tech companies are raking it in

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

From a pure entertainment perspective, I am genuinely sorry that the House’s antitrust hearing targeting the big four tech companies — Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google — took place Wednesday instead of next week. Because literally a day after a meeting attempting to determine if Big Tech was too big, three of the four companies in the hearing got bigger. (Google’s parent company, Alphabet, had a decline in revenue of about 2 percent, mostly due to a decline in search ads — but this was still better than analysts predicted.)

None of these companies wanted their earnings numbers read aloud to them before questioning began

The hearing was about how tech companies have consolidated their power. The coronavirus seems to be making that...

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Microsoft’s Edge browser is crashing if you have Google set as default search

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft’s new Edge browser is randomly crashing when users type into the address bar tonight. The issues appear to be affecting Edge users who have selected Google as the default search engine. Microsoft says it’s aware of the problems and the company’s Edge team is investigating.

Microsoft recommends turning off Search Suggestions in edge://settings/search. The Verge has tested this workaround and it solves the problem if you have Google set as your default search engine.

Are you seeing Edge crash when trying to type into the address bar? The team is looking into it! In the meantime, as a workaround, please turn off Search Suggestions here: edge://settings/search. We'll follow up once we have more!

— Microsoft Edge Dev (@MSEdgeDev) J...

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Tired of Your Dull Kitchen Knives? Upgrade the Whole Set, and Trust Me, You’ll Save on Replacements Later

My very first adult investment, after my car, was buying a really good knife. For the next four or five years, that knife was my only knife, and I guarded it with the intensity of a mama bear. The importance of a quality kitchen knife can’t be understated. It followed me from New York City to Milwaukee, sliced…

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An unprecedented Nintendo leak turns into a moral dilemma for archivists

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

For the past week, Nintendo fans have resembled digital archaeologists. Following a massive leak of source code and other internal documents — appropriately dubbed the gigaleak — previously unknown details from the company’s biggest games have steadily trickled out. Those poring over the code have uncovered a new Animal Crossing villager, early prototypes for games like Pokémon Diamond, cut characters from Star Fox, a very weird Yoshi, and strange titles like a hockey RPG. Perhaps the biggest discovery has been a Luigi character model from Super Mario 64.

From a historical and preservationist perspective, the leak is an incredible find. It’s a rare look into the process and discarded ideas of one of the most influential — and secretive —...

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Thursday's Best Deals: Blue Light Rx Glasses, PUBG Funko Pops, The World of Cyberpunk 2077 Deluxe, Craftsman Cordless Drill, 50 Ring Pops, Sunday Scaries CBD, and More

A sale on blue light prescription glasses at GlassesUSA, a discount on PUBG Funko Pops, a marked down copy of The World of Cyberpunk 2077 Deluxe Edition, a Craftsman cordless drill, a fuckton of Ring Pops, a Sunday Scaries ‘Supermom’ CBD package, and a Honey Adult Play summer sale lead Thursday’s best deals.

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Behold, the First Federal Dietary Recommendations for Babies and Toddlers

For the first time, the United States government is adding infants and toddlers from birth to age two to its official advice on diet and nutrition. Because, you know, infants and toddlers are also humans who can benefit from healthy nutrition habits. Especially given that, as the new advisory report states,…

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Razer’s last-gen Blade 15 gaming laptop is $500 off at Amazon

Image: Razer

Razer’s Blade 15 gaming laptop is $500 off at Amazon, dropping the price to a very reasonable $1,100. This machine is its previous-generation model, which affects the overall design and internal components only in a few minor ways that might not matter to you if you’re just looking for a well-crafted, feature-packed Windows 10 machine. First off, it has Intel’s 9th Gen Core i7-9750H, but it likely won’t show its age since it’s a six-core processor that’s fairly new. More pressing is that the keyboard is Razer’s older design that wedged the up arrow between the forward slash and right Shift keys. I find that arrangement to be annoying, but not necessarily a deal-breaker. Also not so great is the small 256GB NVMe M.2 SSD that comes...

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OpenAI’s latest breakthrough is astonishingly powerful, but still fighting its flaws

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The ultimate autocomplete

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The Weeknd will perform in a virtual TikTok concert on August 7th

Image: TikTok

On August 7th at 8:30PM ET, TikTok will play host to a live virtual concert from The Weeknd, where he’ll perform a series of tracks from his latest album, After Hours, the social network announced today. Rather than appearing in person like a typical TikTok video or its previous live-streamed music events, The Weeknd will be represented by a digital avatar in what TikTok is calling its “first-ever in-app cross reality experience.” It says viewers will be able to interact with the singer as he performs.

The event is just the latest example of big-name musicians performing virtually. Fortnite’s recent events, such as Travis Scott earlier this year or Marshmello’s concert from 2019 are two of the highest-profile examples, each drawing in...

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How Microsoft Flight Simulator returned to the skies

A spectacular comeback for a Microsoft icon

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This Free macOS 8 Emulator Lets You Play 'Oregon Trail'

macOS 8, not to be confused with OS X 10.8—which you’re probably much more familiar with—is a 1990s-era operating system that found a home on ancient Apple systems with decidedly old-school names, such as “Power Macintosh” and “PowerBook.” But now, you can use it for free on any modern Mac or Windows PC—or at least …

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Keep Emergency Cocktails in Your Freezer

Every Friday morning I make a cocktail (for work), and every Friday morning I resist the urge to drink the entire cocktail right then. I taste it, obviously, but I’m not as young as I once was, and writing while drunk is not as fun as Hemingway said it would be. Instead of dumping the drink down the drain—which would…

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NASA’s life-hunting Mars rover is officially on its way to the Red Planet

Photo by Joel Kowsky / NASA

NASA’s latest Mars rover — a six-wheeled SUV-sized robot named Perseverance — successfully launched from Florida this morning, embarking on a nearly seven-month journey to the Red Planet. Once it reaches Mars, it will attempt a harrowing landing to the surface and start exploring the planet’s terrain, hoping to solve the biggest lingering mysteries about Mars’ past.

The primary focus of Perseverance’s mission is to find out if Mars ever hosted life some 3.8 billion years ago. The rover is equipped with multiple instruments to search for signs of ancient microbes that may be lurking in the rocks and dirt on Mars. But most important of all, Perseverance is decked out with a sophisticated drilling system, designed to dig up samples of the...

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The Motorola Edge is a more accessible flagship phone

Almost-flagship features at an almost-flagship price

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Riot ends sponsorship with controversial Saudi city Neom following outcry

Photo: Riot Games

Less than a day after announcing that the controversial Saudi megacity Neom would become a major sponsor of the League of Legends European Championship, Riot has reversed the decision. The news comes after fans, LEC staff, and Riot employees criticized the decision, due largely to the Saudi government’s long history of human right abuses, which extends to the creation of Neom itself, a city billed as a kind of sci-fi wonderland.

In a statement, Alberto Guerrero, Riot’s director of esports for the EMEA region, said:

As a company and as a league, we know that it’s important to recognize when we make mistakes and quickly work to correct them. After further reflection, while we remain steadfastly committed to all of our players and fans...

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Peacock has added 10 million customers since April

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Comcast’s new Peacock streaming service has added 10 million customers since its limited launch in April and national launch in mid-July. The announcement was a bright spot in the cable giant’s otherwise mostly grim second quarter earnings report, as it continued to feel the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on its entertainment divisions. Net income for the quarter fell 4.4 percent to $2.99 billion on revenue of $23.7 billion.

“NBCUniversal successfully launched Peacock in Cable’s footprint in April, ahead of the streaming service’s U.S. nationwide launch earlier this month, with 10 million sign-ups to date,” Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said in a statement announcing the earnings results. Peacock, considered a relatively...

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EU will reportedly open full investigation into Google’s Fitbit acquisition

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google’s $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit will reportedly face greater scrutiny from EU regulators. Reuters reports that the deal will face a full-scale antitrust investigation, which the European Commission will reportedly open next week. Regulators and consumer advocacy groups have shared fears about Google’s planned acquisition of Fitbit, related to the search giant gaining access to sensitive data like fitness activities, heart rates, sleep patterns, and more.

Consumer groups from across Europe, the US, Mexico, Canada, and Brazil have labeled Google’s Fitbit deal a “test case” for regulators’ abilities to prevent data monopolies. Google has been trying to appease European regulators by offering not to use Fitbit’s health data to...

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Google One will backup iOS or Android devices for free

Image: Google

Google One, the cloud storage service that Google launched back in 2018, will now backup your iOS or Android phone for free with your Google account. The iOS app will be able to backup your photos, videos, contacts and calendar events, consolidating what’s offered by different services like Photos and Drive into one place, Android Authority notes. Meanwhile the Android app, which could already backup a range of files from your phone, will now offer backups without a Google One membership.

Along with backing up your files, Google One is also being updated to make it easier to manage which files are being stored. This storage management feature is available from either the app or the web, and will let you manage files saved from Drive,...

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How to watch NASA launch its next rover to Mars today

On Thursday morning, NASA is scheduled to launch its next rover to Mars, the beginning of a years-long mission to figure out if the Red Planet ever hosted life. The rover, called Perseverance, is equipped with instruments to look for evidence of ancient Martian microbes, but its prime goal is to excavate samples and leave them on Mars — so that one day they can be returned to Earth for study. There’s even a tiny helicopter aboard named Ingenuity.

Perseverance’s ride to Mars is the Atlas V rocket, made and operated by the United Launch Alliance. Atlas V rockets have previously flown four NASA missions to Mars, including the Curiosity rover, which landed on the Red Planet in 2012. For this flight, the rocket is equipped with four small...

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Galaxy Z Flip 5G now up for preorder if you’d rather not wait for the Note 20

Image: Samsung

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 5G, the 5G version of the foldable phone it released earlier this year, is now available for preorder as an unlocked device on Samsung.com. Prices start at $1,499.99, a $70 premium over the previous LTE version. Along with 5G connectivity, that price gets you a slightly upgraded Snapdragon 865 Plus processor. Otherwise, the two phones are almost identical.

Samsung is widely expected to announce a host of new devices at its Galaxy Note 20 Unpacked event on August 5th, including the new Galaxy Z Fold 2. The Z Fold is a tablet-sized device that folds to become the size of a smartphone, while the Z Flip is a more traditional flip phone device that folds in half to become more compact. The Z Fold 2 will reportedly also...

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Huawei overtakes Samsung as world’s biggest smartphone vendor, says report

Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge

For the first time ever, Huawei has shipped more smartphones worldwide over a quarter than any other company, according to a new report from analyst firm Canalys. Huawei has long harbored ambitions to overtake Samsung as the world’s biggest smartphone seller, and going by the numbers from Canalys, that’s just what happened during the April-June period this year.

That doesn’t mean Huawei will hold onto the top spot for long, as the results were clearly influenced by the ongoing pandemic. Canalys’ figure of 55.8 million Huawei smartphones shipped is actually down 5 percent year-on-year, while Samsung slid 30 percent to 53.7 million. More than 70 percent of Huawei’s devices are now sold in China, which hasn’t been hit as hard by COVID-19 as...

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What Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple have in common

On Wednesday, lawmakers squared off with the chief executives of the tech industry’s four most powerful players, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. Even though each company is under antitrust scrutiny for different reasons, the committee used this week’s hearing to point out similarities between all four, making the case for future regulatory reform.

Since last June, lawmakers have been engaged in a sweeping antitrust investigation into the tech sector, honing in on how some of the most notable names in the industry have grown too big by allegedly stifling competition. Lawmakers have heard hundreds of hours of testimony and obtained over one million documents throughout their investigation, a process that made it difficult for CEOs...

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Samsung’s profits are up despite COVID-19 pandemic

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Samsung posted better than expected earnings for the second quarter of 2020, with operating profit up 23 percent year-on-year to 8.15 trillion won ($6.84 billion) despite a 6-percent fall in revenue. The Korean conglomerate says it experienced a greater recovery from the impact of COVID-19 than it had initially forecast and managed to optimize its expenditure, even though sales of devices like smartphones were down from last year.

Samsung expects smartphone sales to rise next quarter due to the launch of the Galaxy Note 20 and an unnamed foldable phone, likely the leaked Galaxy Z Fold 2. Its display business, which supplies panels for other device makers, saw demand fall but had earnings boosted due to a “one-time gain.” This is...

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Netflix is bringing back Black sitcoms Moesha and Sister Sister, and I cannot contain my excitement

Photo by Walt Disney Television via Getty Images Photo Archives/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images

Spread the word: Netflix has secured the rights to stream some of the best Black sitcoms from the 90s and 2000s — including my personal favorites Moesha, Sister Sister, and The Parkers, all of which I fondly remember watching as a little girl. I still remember running to my room to turn on the TV, singing the R&B theme songs for each show (they were so energetic and catchy that I memorized the lyrics word by word), and how amazing it was to see TV sitcoms targeted to my demographic. There weren’t a ton of black TV shows, with black female leads taking charge, that focused on things I personally struggled with growing up.

I was pretty young when these three shows had their initial runs (I was born in 1995), but thanks to reruns...

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The Emmys will be held virtually this year and may feature nominees in their homes

Photo by: Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

The 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards will be an all-virtual event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a representative confirmed to The Verge, and it sounds like the new format could lead to peeks inside the lives of some of your favorite television stars, according to a letter from the executive producers (and host Jimmy Kimmel) that was published by Variety. USA Today also obtained a copy of the letter.

“We are assembling a top notch team of technicians, producers and writers to work closely with Jimmy Kimmel and with you and your team to make sure that we can film with you (and loved ones or whomever else you choose to be with) at your home, or another location of your choice,” reads part of the letter, which was reportedly sent to nominees...

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Having Trouble Sleeping? You Need to Try Water Pillows (and Other Tips to Help You Get Some Rest)

Remember water mattresses? God, those were awful. Absolutely the worst. But there is some logic behind sleeping on something that’ll contour to your body while still providing support. It’s just that it’s not all that great for your whole body. Let me introduce you to the world of water pillows.

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Fight Crab delivers chaotic crustacean combat

If ever there were an animal that didn’t need to use weapons, it’d be the crab. They are walking battle tanks that wear built-in suits of armor and have giant weapons mounted on the front. And yet, here’s Fight Crab, a fighting game about crabs that stab each other with machetes and shoot each other with revolvers.

Fight Crab is the work of Calappa Games, a Japanese indie developer with a fixation on the aquatic. Prior work includes Neo Aquarium and Ace of Seafood, the latter of which is essentially underwater Ace Combat with laser-shooting fish. What brooding widowers are to Christopher Nolan, supernatural marine creatures are to Calappa.

The premise is obviously absurd, but this is a game with a pretty conventional design. It’s a...

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The best Chromebooks to buy in 2020

The best Chromebooks for every type of user

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It's Time to Get Our Kids Back on a Regular Sleep Schedule

Between the decimation of normal life in the spring and this long, boring-ass summer we’re all wading through, one thing parents may have become extra lax on is a consistent bedtime. Some days I decide enough is enough (for now) and my son needs to go to bed at a decent hour but mostly I’m just like, “What does…

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Wednesday's Best Deals: Sony WH-XB900N Headphones, VyprVPN, Xbox Gift Card, Tom Nook Switch Case, Antimicrobial Keychain Tools, Fenty BOGO, and More

A pair of Sony WH-XB900N noise-canceling headphones, a discount on 2 years of VyprVPN, a $100 Xbox gift card for $90, a Tom Nook case for Nintendo Switch, a cheap set of antimicrobial keychain tools, free shipping at the Disney Store, an Under Armour Gold Box and a BOGO sale at Fenty Beauty lead Wednesday’s best…

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