Here are a few discounted chargers to make use of iOS 17’s StandBy mode

Here are a few discounted chargers to make use of iOS 17’s StandBy mode

Apple’s StandBy mode is a convenient feature that gives you a good excuse to buy a MagSafe stand. | Image: Apple

The iPhone 15 and iOS 17 do a whole bunch of new things that many of us here at The Verge enjoy, but one of our favorites is Apple’s StandBy mode. The simple little feature turns your iPhone into a small smart display once you place it on a MagSafe / magnetic Qi stand in landscape orientation. This allows you to see an assortment of full-screen widgets, including a pleasant desk clock, a calendar, or both.

Using the new StandBy mode may involve some menu diving if you want to customize it to your liking (which is definitely part of the fun), but getting started is as simple as turning on the feature and plopping your phone on a charger sideways.

Of course, if you don’t already own a magnetic charging stand for your iPhone, you’ll need to grab one to take advantage of the handy new feature. Luckily, a number of great options are currently discounted, allowing you to pick up a StandBy-compatible stand and achieve those 15W (or 7.5W) charging speeds without spending a fortune.

The best deals on StandBy-ready charging stands

Leading us off, Belkin’s latest BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Wireless Charger with MagSafe is on sale direct from Belkin for $129.99 ($20 off) with promo code FALL23. It’s a progressive code that allows you to save more money as you spend above certain tiers, so if you cross the $150 threshold, it will instead save you $40. The real play here is to add an inexpensive accessory like this $7.99 USB-C to USB-A cable and get both for a total of $117.98.

Belkin’s multi-charger — which looks a whole lot like a techy tree — not only charges your iPhone at true 15W MagSafe speeds, but also fast-charges compatible Apple Watch models (including the Series 7, 8, and 9). It can also charge a pair of AirPods or another Qi-enabled device on its base, making it one of the best 3-in-1s you can get for home use.

If you want to spend a little less or don’t need an Apple Watch charger, the 2-in-1 version of Belkin’s charger is also on sale at the manufacturer’s site for $89.99 ($10 off) when you use offer code FALL23. However, just like with the aforementioned 3-in-1 charger, the discount increases if you add an item to your order (like that one-meter cable), allowing you to knock $20 off your total instead of a mere $10.

The Belkin BoostCharge Pro 2-in-1 Wireless Charger with MagSafe is, as it sounds, a smaller version of the triple charger above. It takes up slightly less space, still charges an iPhone at up to 15W, and is StandBy-compatible by mounting the phone to it sideways. Just be aware that the AirPods charging spot is recessed, meaning you can’t charge a second phone down there.

If you want a StandBy-compatible charger that takes up less space on a desk or table and travels well, look no further than the Anker 3-in-1 Cube with MagSafe — which is currently on sale direct from Anker with delayed shipping for $119.96 (around $30 off) when you use promo code ANKER20%OFF at checkout. The Anker Cube is about as small as you can get for a multi-charger that charges a MagSafe iPhone, a pair of earbuds, and an Apple Watch (via an adorable slide-out shelf). The lid tips to display your phone at varying angles, too, and allows for a very compact and low-height StandBy mode experience.

On a tighter budget but still want a multi-charging stand that will work for StandBy mode and charge other devices? Well, if you don’t mind your iPhone charging at slower 7.5W speeds, the ESR HaloLock 3-in-1 Charger Stand for Magsafe is currently selling for $51.99 ($13 off) at Amazon when you click the on-page coupon for 20 percent off.

ESR’s economy-level stand doesn’t support proper MagSafe charging speeds, but its magnetic Qi charging should be adequate for most situations if you don’t need the quickest top-ups. It also charges a pair of AirPods and an Apple Watch, and its niftiest feature is that the Apple Watch pad can be removed and used independently via its USB-C plug.

The best deals on StandBy-ready charging pucks and battery packs

It isn’t just bulky stands that work with iOS 17’s StandBy mode. You can also opt for Belkin’s BoostCharge Pro with MagSafe charging puck and its cute little kickstand, which is currently available from Amazon for $29.99 ($20 off) and from Belkin for $26.99 ($23 off), the latter with promo code CLR10. Not only is this the best charging puck you can buy thanks to its lengthy braided cable and support for 15W charging speeds, but it’s also one of the few that supports StandBy mode given it props your phone up via a built-in kickstand.

And just for good measure, here’s a discounted battery pack you can use with Apple’s StandBy mode. The Anker 622 Magnetic Battery (MagGo) is on sale at Amazon in multiple colors for $39.99 ($30 off) when you click the on-page coupon.

Anker’s MagGo charger may not charge at full MagSafe speeds but it features an unfolding origami-like kickstand that, while small, is strong enough to support a Max-sized iPhone. You can also mount your MagSafe-compatible iPhone to the magnetic Qi battery pack in a horizontal orientation, letting you take full advantage of StandBy mode while your phone is charging via the 5,000mAh battery.

These are the biggest wins in the WGA’s new labor contract

These are the biggest wins in the WGA’s new labor contract

The Simpsons creator Matt Groening draws strike sign collectibles for picketers. | Image: Brittany Woodside / The Writers Guild of America

From its new writers room staffing minimums to guarantees that staffers will receive a bigger cut of streaming residuals, the WGA’s new labor contract is set to fundamentally improve working conditions in the entertainment industry.

After months of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers insisting that there was nothing it could do to bring the Writers Guild of America’s labor strike to an end (aside from threatening to financially ruin people and trying to hire scabs while controlling messaging through PR firms) Hollywood’s studios finally caved this week by agreeing to a new contract.

(Disclosure: The Verge’s editorial staff is also unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East.)

The WGA made it crystal clear from the jump that its members were ready for the fight of their lives in pursuit of a new minimum basic agreement — the official guidelines that determine how workers are compensated for their labor — designed to better address the tectonic shifts in the entertainment industry. But however good a new deal you might have been hoping for, what the WGA managed to achieve is truly monumental in a way that can’t be overstated, and it’s going to make the business of TV and movie making much more equitable over the next few years.

Though the WGA’s members have until October 9th to cast ballots deciding whether they want to ratify the new proposed contract, leadership from the boards of both the WGAE(ast) and WGAW(est), as well as the guild’s negotiating committee, all voted unanimously to recommend the “exceptional” deal, and it’s not hard to understand why that is.

WGA / Brittany Woodside

A striking WGA member holding a sign depicting the Cryptkeeper that saying “no writers, no die-alogue.”

Minimum pay bumps and the end of TV “mini-rooms”

The WGA’s new contract guarantees “staff writers and Article 14 writers (story editors/executive story editors)” will see increases in their basic weekly wages for the next three years — 5 percent in the first year, 4 percent in the second, and 3.5 percent in the third. Sixty days after the contract is ratified, writer-producers like the showrunner and other above-the-line co-producers who have writing responsibilities will receive a new minimum weekly rate “amounting to a 9.5 percent premium over the story editor / executive story editor rate.” When staff writers are individually responsible for writing particular episodes, they must now be paid script fees on top of their basic weekly wages.

In addition to straightforward pay bumps, the WGA has also secured television writers more resources by way of minimum staffing requirements designed to roll back the rise of “mini-rooms” in which very small teams would be hired (and generally underpaid) to pen full-sized projects. Now, rather than the AMPTP being able to keep writers rooms’ artificially small, their headcounts will be determined by the length of a show’s season (except for in instances similar to The White Lotus and Yellowstone where a single person writes every episode).

Going forward, at least three writers must be hired for shows consisting of six episodes or fewer. If a season has between 7-12 episodes, five staff writers must be hired, and for shows with more than than 13 episodes, that number jumps to six. At all sizes, at least three of the writers in a show’s room must also be writer-producers, and it’s going to be interesting to see over the next few years what impact that specific rule is going to have on the pipeline that develops new junior staffers just getting into the industry.

Staffing minimums were one of the biggest changes that the WGA pushed for during contract negotiations. But because of the writer-producer requirement, there has been some valid concern that newer writers might still struggle to find opportunities outside of larger rooms where there’s more space for them as well as more seasoned staffers at higher levels.

It’s important to note that these minimums aren’t necessarily maximums, meaning that showrunners should be able to push for more bodies at the onset of a gig. And even though studios are almost guaranteed to push back on those kinds of asks, the new contract does include other benefits like minimum writers room lengths that are designed to assist newcomers with their professional development.

Getty Images / Mario Tama

Striking WGA (Writers Guild of America) members picket with striking SAG-AFTRA members outside Netflix studios.

Showrunners are writers whose prep time is valuable, and writers need to be on set

As common as the word “showrunner” has become in our lexicon, it’s never been an official role codified into the WGA and AMPTP’s contract, which is partially why some studios like Marvel have gotten into the habit of downplaying the title when talking about its projects. The new contract clearly defines showrunners as head writers and people responsible for making hiring decisions regarding a project’s other staff writers.

Part of a showrunner’s job is reaching out to other writers in the earliest stages of a project before it’s even been officially greenlit for the first time or for a new season. Under the new contract, once at least three writer-producers, including the showrunner, are attached to a gig before it’s been officially greenlit, that development room is guaranteed at least 10 weeks of employment.

After a show has been greenlit, “the minimum staff must be guaranteed at least 20 weeks or the entire duration of the post-greenlight room, whichever is shorter.” Also, while the overall number of “weeks worked in the development room can be credited against the guaranteed weeks in the writers’ room,” the time they are paid for in development rooms explicitly cannot be credited against the time they’re paid for full-on writers rooms.

By definition, these new rules ensure a certain level of job security that’s crucial to professional development at all levels. This same is true of the contract’s mandate that a showrunner and two writer-producers must be paid to work on set “for the lesser of 20 weeks of production or the duration of production.”

One of the more nuanced points the WGA’s members emphasized throughout the strikes is how, in addition to literally putting writers in better positions to provide last-minute rewrites in the midst of productions, being on set and able to actually see the process of how one’s writing is produced on a technical level is key to professional growth. Now, writers are guaranteed to have a chance to see their work coming to life, and the contract also makes it so that those two non-showrunner spots don’t always have to go to the same people, meaning that multiple staffers can have that same opportunity.

Getty Images / Photo by Michael M. Santiago

Members of Writers Guild of America (WGA) East and SAG-AFTRA walk a picket line outside of the HBO and Amazon NYC headquarters.

Screenwriting second steps and speedy payments are in

Studios used to be able to choose at their own discretion whether to bring writers back in for paid rewrites, known commonly as second steps, but that process is now required and comes with a flat compensation rate. Whenever a screenwriter is hired to draft a screenplay, they must be tapped for a second step for 200 percent of their MBA minimum, regardless of whether they’re writing original or non-original screenplays. Streaming movie writers working on projects with budgets of $30 million or more will see their story and teleplay minimum compensation jump to $100,000, as well as a 26 percent jump in their residual payment rates.

Per the contract, studios will also now be required to pay screenwriters in a more timely fashion. Should a writer be hired for a deal that pays less than 200 percent of their minimum MBA-guaranteed rate, they must be paid “50 percent of their fee on commencement.” Even if the writer hasn’t turned in a script nine weeks into their deal, studios are required to pay them another 25 percent of their fee, and the final 25 percent is due upon final delivery of a script.

In the same way paying people more materially improves their working conditions, so, too, does ensuring that employees are paid expediently because of how it puts money in people’s bank accounts. This also demonstrates that studios are actually committed to giving workers what they’re owed.

Workers being forced to wait for checks while companies take their sweet time paying invoices is an all-too-common situation that — by design — is often difficult for individuals to quickly rectify. While this contract is obviously specific to the WGA, at a time when more and more workplaces are organizing, it wouldn’t be surprising to see other unions push for similar protections.

WGA / J.W. Hendricks

Better residuals and more streaming data transparency

Bigger residual payments and access to more data about how streaming shows are actually performing were two of the most contentious issues the AMPTP fought the WGA on, and while the studios probably won’t be getting into the business of radical transparency anytime soon, the union did make some very significant wins. Though the public won’t be made privy to hard stats about how streaming films and TV shows are performing on various streamers, the AMPTP has agreed to share “the total number of hours streamed, both domestically and internationally, of self-produced high budget streaming programs” with the WGA.

Those figures will be kept confidential, but the WGA will be able to share them with members in aggregate form, and it will use them to determine viewership-based bonuses as well as new foreign streaming residual rates the union says will amount to a 76 percent jump in payments over the next three years. Shows and movies made for streamers that are viewed by 20 percent or more of a platform’s domestic subscribers within the first 90 days of the project’s premiere will receive bonuses “equal to 50 percent of the fixed domestic and foreign residual” they’re already receiving.

How this is all going to shake out isn’t entirely clear yet because the new contract’s method of determining residual payments is tied up in viewership metrics that vary from platform to platform. What we’re likely going to see going forward, though, is an even sharper uptick of promotion for new projects’ upcoming releases with an emphasis on getting people to watch within the windows that ultimately impact the size of these bonuses.

The WGA is keeping its eye on AI

Regarding the use of artificial intelligence tools, the WGA has been emphatic about its desire to keep the technology from harming human writers. While the new contract doesn’t ban AI’s use for MBA-covered work full stop, it does put in place a number of restrictions designed to prioritize human labor in the business of writing.

If writers hired by studios want, they’ll be free to “use AI when performing writing services, if the company consents and provided that the writer follows applicable company policies.” But studios cannot require hired writers to use AI tools, and they must also disclose to their writers “if any materials given to the writer have been generated by AI or incorporate AI-generated material.” The contract does explicitly prohibit the use of AI “to write or rewrite literary material” that might have been considered as the source material for a script, “meaning that AI-generated material can’t be used to undermine a writer’s credit or separated rights.”

Unsurprisingly, the AMPTP refused to give up its ability to train learning models on the scripts studios already own. But the WGA has reserved the right to “assert that exploitation of writers’ material to train AI is prohibited by MBA or other law,” suggesting that the organization intends to act as a litigious watchdog in the future. This provision comes just a few days after California state Senator Scott Wiener (D) proposed a bill designed to regulate AI at a state level. The bill would place a number of restrictions and transparency requirements on large language models and other kinds of “frontier” model systems that require a certain level of computational power.

If passed, the bill would also require the companies behind these AI tools to run rigorous tests to assess potential safety risks that would have to be disclosed to the state. We’re still a ways out from California’s senators being able to vote the bill — the exact terms of which are still being hammered out — into law. But it’s very easy to imagine a situation in which these regulations became a vital part of the WGA’s plan to hold the AMPTP accountable regarding Hollywood’s adoption of AI.

It’s going to be way easier for teams to get healthcare

In order to qualify for healthcare benefits, the WGA’s members have to make a certain amount of money annually — a rule that’s long made it much more difficult for writing duos and teams who typically collect their fees as if they were a single person. While these kinds of groups’ fees will still technically be divvied up, under the new contract, all writers will be documented as receiving the team’s full payment — which will make it significantly easier for them to hit the required minimums to receive insurance.

The Humane Ai Pin makes its debut on the runway at Paris Fashion Week

The Humane Ai Pin makes its debut on the runway at Paris Fashion Week

The Humane Ai Pin, up-close on a model at coperni’s Ready to Wear show during Paris Fashion Week, September 29th, 2023. | Photo by Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

It’s Paris Fashion Week, and Humane was designer Coperni’s latest buzzy tech name to be included. Humane’s Ai Pin — a device we’ve so far only seen in silhouette on the company’s website or peeking out of Humane co-founder Imran Chaudhri’s breast pocket in a TED demo earlier this year — was pinned on the clothes of multiple Coperni models during its presentation. And it’s a rounded-corner square thing that makes me think just a little of a Star Trek: TNG-style communicator.

The Coperni showcase doesn’t answer our many questions about the device since nobody seems to have used it on the runway as far as we can tell, but at least we know basically what it will look like now. We still have no real idea how self-contained it is, whether it supports third-party apps, or how you interact with it generally. Those questions will be important, especially with potential competition on the way from Chaudhri’s former Apple colleague Jony Ive and OpenAI.

Anyway, here are some more pictures and videos from the showcase, starting with a close video of Naomi Campbell wearing it, from Vogue’s TikTok account:

@voguemagazine

Blink and you may have missed the one and only #Naomi opening Coperni’s spring 2024 runway during ParisFashionWeek.

♬ original sound - Vogue

Photo by Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

A model wearing the Humane Ai Pin during Coperni’s show on September 29th in Paris.

@decadencechic0

COPERNI SS24 #fashionshow at #parisfashionweek #coperni #fashionstyle #runwaymodels #catwalk #mannequin #tiktokfashion #decadencechic

♬ son original - decadencechic

Photo by Justin Shin/Getty Images

A close-up of the Humane Ai Pin from Coperni’s showcase, at the Paris Fashion Week show on September 29th, 2023.

Smart glasses need to be stylish to really go mainstream

Smart glasses need to be stylish to really go mainstream

Style is crucial to wearable devices in a way that’s not necessarily true of other personal gadgets. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

When I first saw the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses a few weeks ago, I noticed something. In the event space Meta had so carefully prepared, there was a wall showcasing the different frames, colors, and lenses. It was meant to visualize all the different style options — more than 150, in fact. But standing about 10 feet away, they all blended together.

That bothered me.

For the most part, my hands-on with the Meta smart glasses went better than I’d expected. Photo and video quality was dramatically improved thanks to the new 12MP camera. Pain points like audio leakage seemed to be addressed because they now have five microphones instead of one. Sound quality was also better and supported spatial audio. You could livestream with them! After a few demos, this was a device I could imagine a content creator or home video aficionado buying.

I just didn’t like how I looked in the two pairs I tried. One was the Wayfarer, and the other was the new rounded Headliner. While Wayfarers are a popular, classic style, there are still plenty of folks who don’t like the way they look. On me, the bold black frames overpowered my face, and combined with clear lenses, my eyes seemed smaller — a thing I’m self-conscious about. Granted, it was a short demo, and I simply may not have been used to them. But if I didn’t end up liking either of the two available frames, would having 150 variations matter? This wouldn’t be an issue on Zenni Optical. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of frames to choose from, in different materials, colors, and lenses. It might take a while, but I know I’m going to find something that makes me feel good when I look at myself in the mirror.

Image: Meta

You can see the differences up close, but if you move back a few feet, they all blend together.

Limited style options were a problem I’ve had with every pair of smart glasses I’ve ever worn, from the defunct Focals by North to the Bose Frames and nearly every prototype of Google Glass. (I look like a total jabroni in the Bose Frames Tempo.) That’s because smart glasses, generally speaking, are tricky to do well. You have to provide a compelling use case, cram in enough tech to make sure they work well without being uncomfortable, and they have to look good. I have trouble naming a company that’s done all three.

The thing is, if you’re mass-producing a gadget, the human body is kind of your enemy. No two people’s faces or vision are the same. Low nose bridges, strong prescriptions, astigmatism, and face shapes are all things you have to accommodate. At the same time, it behooves wearable makers to pursue designs that work for “most people.” While that works with phones, tablets, and even smartwatches, it’s less effective for something you wear on your face. Again, just because most people look alright in Wayfarers doesn’t mean everyone wants to wear them.

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

They look better as sunglasses, but that makes them largely useless indoors.

When I wore the Razer Anzu for testing, I thought they looked alright on me. My spouse hated how they made me look. The nicest thing my friends and colleagues said to me was, “I don’t hate them.” Vanity may be a sin of pride, but if eyes are windows to the soul, I want my glasses to be a fetching pair of curtains. The Razer Anzu would’ve needed to be as necessary to my life as a smartphone for me to go all in on function over form. They weren’t. Now I wear a pair both my spouse and I like, and the Anzu collect dust in a drawer.

That’s why it’s a problem that all smart glasses tend to look the same. Not everyone will like how a wide, boxy, thick frame will look on them. You could have the most powerful smart glasses ever, but it means jack if people don’t want to wear them.

I hate to say it, but if smart glasses are ever to become mainstream, looks matter. Companies need to give people as many options as they’d find online or at their local optician. The parable of Google Glass hammered home the lesson that outlandish design (and dubious privacy) evokes ridicule. You’ve likely never heard of Epson’s Moverio glasses because you’d never get a date wearing them. You probably forgot about the Echo Frames, not just because sticking Alexa in your glasses is unnecessary but also because the design is utterly forgettable.

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

The frames are on the thicker, bolder side. Some people look great with these kinds of frames, but they can be overpowering on other faces.

That’s why, of all the smart glasses I’ve seen so far, the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses might actually have a shot. At $300, they’re pricey but on par with regular Ray-Bans. This time around, there’s a clear use case: hands-free video that you’d actually share to social platforms. Socially, privacy is still a concern, but the TikTok era has also turned everyone into a potential content creator. For better or worse, every time I go out, I assume I’ll be an extra in the reel of someone else’s life. And while 150 variations still aren’t enough to make everyone want a pair, there’s a better chance of finding a combination you like than if you only had two or three options total.

Style aside, at the end of the day, these glasses still need to work and work well. That’s why, despite my reservations about how I look in them, I’m cautiously optimistic that, unlike the Anzu, the upgrades might encourage me to stick around. I won’t know for sure until I get my review unit, but I’m eager to find out.

The Pixel 8 is Google’s best opportunity to bring its AI ideas together under one roof

The Pixel 8 is Google’s best opportunity to bring its AI ideas together under one roof

Google Assistant, but make it Bard. | Illustration: The Verge

If there’s one job I’d like AI to take from me, it’s my daily email deleting ritual.

Every morning at 8:30AM, Google Calendar pings me with a reminder containing just one word: EMAILS. Thus, my formal workday begins as I speed-delete nearly every email that landed in my inbox overnight. They are largely useless and clog up the space between legitimate emails that I need to read and respond to.

Imagine for a minute, though, if you could just tell an AI assistant to show you your most important emails and delete all the rest. I asked Google Assistant on a Pixel 7 Pro to do this, and it just wordlessly escorted me to my inbox so I could deal with it myself. Thanks a bunch.

Google, like almost every other tech company in the world, is all about AI right now. The company showcased a lot of new ideas for generative AI at I/O earlier this year — tools to help you compose a new message in Gmail, write a job description in Google Docs, and build a template for your dog walking business in Google Sheets.

They’re hit or miss. Sometimes they’re useful: I asked it to expand a bullet point list of notes into some care instructions for my houseplants, and it added some helpful context about how often to water them. But often, the answers it gives you are obvious, like the weekly meal plan I asked Google Sheets to build for me. When prompted to come up with healthy meal and snack ideas, it had some good suggestions but left me to fend for myself in the snack column with “fruits, vegetables, nuts, or yogurt” in every cell.

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

A Bard-style upgrade for Google Assistant could be awfully handy.

Then there’s Bard — the AI chatbot that Google seemingly rushed out the door to compete with Bing earlier this year. It wasn’t very impressive in its early state, though it’s gotten more useful throughout the year. With a recent update, you can give Bard access to your Gmail and Google Docs and ask it questions about them. It’s actually pretty useful. I asked it to find any important emails in my personal Gmail, and it returned one about fresh hop week at a local taproom. You know me too well, Google.

We’re now in the thick of Techtember, and Google’s fall hardware event is fast approaching. We’ll see the Pixel 8 (that’s no surprise — Google already told us in like 20 different ways), and what I’m most interested to see is how it starts bringing together the company’s various ideas about AI and its usefulness in our daily lives.

Right now, Apple is allergic to saying AI, and Microsoft has some computers to sell you but nothing shaped like a phone. If AI is truly going to take the pain out of our daily chores like every tech company wants us to believe, then the Pixel ought to be the device that shows us how that works. I’m not all that interested in having generative AI write emails for me regularly when I’m sitting at my computer, but I can think of a bunch of things I’d like an AI assistant to be able to do for me on my phone.

For all its strengths, Google’s current Assistant is still mostly a tiny repeating machine

Giving me a rundown of those important emails and interpreting them into reminders or to-do list items would be a good one, for a start. I’d listen to Google Bard Assistant do that while I make my morning coffee. Maybe if I asked it to find a good time to go for a run, it could cross-reference my calendar and the hourly precipitation forecast, make a suggestion, and remind me 10 minutes before it’s time to head out the door. For all its strengths, Google’s current Assistant is still mostly a tiny repeating machine. It can tell me when my next meeting is or the likelihood of rain today, but it can’t put these two concepts together and make a suggestion.

Realistically, these kinds of features are still a ways off. One of the major barriers to letting AI run wild on your phone is processing power. AI needs a lot of it, and Google — like other companies — offloads the heavy lifting to the cloud when you ask Bard to summarize a document or write up a meal plan. Consequently, it takes a while — much longer than most of us would tolerate from an on-device assistant.

Google’s custom Tensor chips are supposedly designed with the goal of doing more of this processing locally, but is its third-generation chipset up to the task? Given how common overheating complaints are about Pixel 7 phones, it seems unlikely that Tensor G3 will suddenly be ready to run a lot more complicated processes on-device. Still, even with Tensor’s current limitations, the Pixel 8 should offer us a glimpse of what AI can actually do for us.

Realistically, a full Bard-on-your-phone assistant is probably still cooking. Google has also taken a cautious approach to implementing generative AI, for better or worse, and the features announced at I/O are largely in beta. There was a report earlier this year that Google was shaking up the Assistant team and aiming to make the product more Bard-like, and my guess is that we’ll see plenty of flavors of this future in next week’s announcement.

Apple’s dark sci-fi comedy Fingernails turns love into science

Apple’s dark sci-fi comedy Fingernails turns love into science

Image: TIFF

Fingernails, a sci-fi romcom coming to Apple TV Plus from director Christos Nikou, imagines a future where one very specific technology has changed the world. In this timeline, scientists have figured out how to conclusively determine if two people are in love. This upends relationships as we know them, with couples sticking steadfastly to the results of the test; if they get a negative result, they end up splitting up. It’s a cute conceit for exploring the ways relationships can grow stale or change over time, and Fingernails builds on that with its darkly comedic vibe. It also has a surprising amount of body horror — the nature of which you might be able to glean from the title.

The film centers on Anna (Jessie Buckley), a teacher who is in a long-term — and test-approved — relationship with her boyfriend Ryan (Jeremy Allen White). They’ve reached the comfortable phase of their relationship; things aren’t exactly exciting anymore, but it could be worse than cuddling on the couch and watching documentaries every night. Plus, science has assured them that they’re meant to be together. Things take a turn when Anna starts a new job at The Love Institute, which not only performs the aforementioned love tests but also offers a series of lessons to prep couples for success. For reasons that aren’t made entirely clear, she keeps this new gig a secret from Ryan.

The Love Institute is like a business founded on the principles of Nora Ephron films. The waiting room is consistently filled with the sound of falling rain because it induces romance, while the lesson plans involves sniffing out your partner in a crowd, shocking yourself when they leave the room, and watching a steady diet of Hugh Grant movies together. Oh, and then there’s the test itself. If you haven’t guessed yet, it works like this: researchers pull off a fingernail from each person, and then place them in a giant retrofuturistic microwave to be analyzed. The whole thing only takes a few minutes but leaves a physical reminder that the test took place. Despite all of the fingernail pulling going on, love blossoms between Anna and her new co-worker Amir (Riz Ahmed) as they spend their days trying to help couples survive the test.

Now, I have a few questions about the world of Fingernails. It’s never really made clear why people put so much stock in this test. Married couples divorce after a negative result; families are broken up because of a simple test. Some people take it multiple times to be sure despite the fact that — and it bears repeating — you have to have a fingernail pulled off as part of the test. In the case of Anna, as she slowly becomes infatuated with Amir, she questions her feelings even more because science says she should be with Ryan. It’s a big thing to not explain because the test is the motivation behind pretty much everything that happens in the movie.

You need to put those questions out of your mind to fully enjoy Fingernails — it’s also good to not overthink when exactly the movie takes place, with its futuristic love test and otherwise very retro setting, one that seems completely devoid of smartphones. But it’s worth it because it’s the kind of slow-burning, darkly funny romance that’s pretty rare. The gruesomeness of the test is contrasted by the ridiculousness of the love training; at one point, a researcher wonders aloud if setting a theater on fire during a Hugh Grant marathon would inspire an even deeper connection. And the stars at the heart of the love triangle all put in strong, believable performances that — despite a seemingly predictable setup — had me guessing how things would finally end up.

Ultimately, the worldbuilding, vague as it is, serves largely as window dressing for a straightforward yet well-crafted story about how relationships evolve over time. It’s sweet and funny and occasionally grotesque — the rare romantic comedy that might make you wince.

Fingernails starts streaming on Apple TV Plus on November 3rd. This review is based on a screening at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Ukraine’s War of Drones Runs Into an Obstacle: China

Ukraine’s War of Drones Runs Into an Obstacle: China As the war with Russia stretches on, so too does a contest to make more and deadlier flying machines. That means a fight over global electronics supply chains that run through China.

Supreme Court to Hear Challenges to State Laws on Social Media

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Passkeys: all the news and updates around passwordless sign-on

Passkeys: all the news and updates around passwordless sign-on

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Follow along as websites, apps, and services adopt passkeys in preparation for a passwordless future.

The need to remember lengthy, complicated passwords to sign into your accounts could soon be a thing of the past thanks to passkeys: a new login technology that replaces passwords with authentication mechanisms built into your own devices. That means you can use Face ID on your iPhone, Windows Hello on your PC, or the fingerprint sensor on your Android phone to authorize access to your websites, apps, and services — providing they support passkey sign-on.

Passkeys are built on WebAuthn (or Web Authentication) tech and stored directly on your device. They are supported by companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft because they’re more secure than passwords or PINs which can be stolen. Password managers can help backup and sync passkeys across all your devices.

It’s expected that passkeys will eventually replace passwords entirely, though it’s going to take some time. Here you can follow all the updates and developments — including which companies have rolled out support in preparation for a passwordless future.

Samsung Galaxy S24 leak shows a familiar design ahead of early 2024 launch

Samsung Galaxy S24 leak shows a familiar design ahead of early 2024 launch

Early renders show a very similar looking phone to last year’s Galaxy S23. | Image: SmartPrix / OnLeaks

If you were hoping for a revolutionary design for next year’s Samsung Galaxy S24 you might be disappointed. Unofficial renders of the upcoming phone published by SmartPrix in collaboration with leaker OnLeaks show a very similar looking phone to this year’s Galaxy S23 including a squared off design, and no defined camera bump around its three raised camera lenses.

Based on this leak, any visible changes will minimal. SmartPrix reports that the Galaxy S24 is ever so slightly taller and thinner than the S23 that came before it, and the overall screen size is reportedly slightly bigger corner-to-corner at 6.17-inches rather than 6.1-inches. There are still three camera lenses visible on the rear of the phone, which SamMobile notes are rumored to be the same resolution as the S23; 50-megapixel main, 12-megapixel ultrawide, and a 10-megapixel telephoto with a 3x optical zoom.

Image: SmartPrix / OnLeaks

The three-camera layout appears to remain intact.

Leaker Ice Universe adds that the Galaxy S24’s screen is likely to have a 1080p resolution, with a peak brightness of 2500 nits. Battery size is reportedly rated at 4,000mAh, with a maximum fast charging speed of 25W.

A spec bump to Qualcomm’s 2024 flagship processor (likely to be called the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3) seems likely for US models, but SamMobile reports that Samsung might once again equip the phone with its own Exynos processor in other global markets after exclusively using Snapdragon for the Galaxy S23.

Galaxy S24:
147 × 70.6 × 7.6mm 6.2" 168g 4000mAh
FHD+ resolution, 2500nit, 25w

Galaxy S24+
158.5 × 75.9 × 7.7mm 6.7" 195g 4900mAh
WQHD+ resolution, 2500nit, 45w

Galaxy S24 Ultra:
162.3 × 79 × 8.6mm 6.8" 233g 5000mAh
WQHD+ resolution, 2500nit, 45w

— ICE UNIVERSE (@UniverseIce) September 29, 2023

Rumors also suggest Samsung might launch the Galaxy S24 slightly earlier in the year than its last two flagships, which were revealed on February 1st, 2023 and February 9th 2022. 9to5Google recently reported on a prediction from leaker Ice Universe who namechecked a January 18th release date for the Galaxy S24.

Fact Checkers Take Stock of Their Efforts: ‘It’s Not Getting Better’

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Insecticides Can’t Stop These Mosquitoes. Now What?

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Watch Linda Yaccarino’s wild interview at the Code Conference

Watch Linda Yaccarino’s wild interview at the Code Conference

Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Vox Media

On Wednesday evening, X CEO Linda Yaccarino appeared on stage at the Code Conference with frustration and protest. “I think many people in this room were not fully prepared for me to still come out on the stage,” she told interviewer Julia Boorstin, senior media and tech correspondent at CNBC.

Yaccarino sounded rattled. She’d found out earlier in the day that Kara Swisher, a Code Conference co-founder, had booked a surprise guest to appear an hour before her: Yoel Roth, Twitter’s former head of trust and safety. He has been an outspoken critic of the direction Elon Musk has taken the site.

In his interview with Swisher, Roth recounted how Musk put him personally in danger. Musk suggested on Twitter that Roth had advocated for sexualizing children — a completely unfounded claim — which led to death threats and his address being posted online. “I had to sell my house. I had to move,” Roth said. He encouraged Yaccarino to think about how Musk could turn on her, too, and said the site was bleeding users and advertisers.

These criticisms are nothing new, but Yaccarino was visibly bothered by having to appear shortly after a well-known critic of her company. “I’d be happy to respond,” Yaccarino said. “I think I’ve been given about 45 minutes [notice].” The conference’s 300-some seat ballroom was packed for her appearance; I caught Swisher reclining on a couch in the back before things kicked off, waiting to see the results of her surprise play out.

“I work at X, he worked at Twitter.”

Throughout the interview, Yaccarino repeated that she’s only been on the job at X for 12 weeks, as if to say there’s only so much she could have done by now. But in that time, she’s managed to do one thing consistently: dismiss concerns about X, whether it’s the platform’s disinvestment in moderation or Musk’s chaotic leadership.

Her dismissive stance was very much on display Wednesday night. She wrote off Roth’s claims about the platform’s performance as outdated (“I work at X, he worked at Twitter,” she said); she said the Anti-Defamation League — which Musk is threatening to sue — pays too much attention to the anti-Semitism on X and not enough to the improvements the platform has made; and she argued that despite the panic around advertisers fleeing, most of the big ones are coming back.

These were not satisfying answers if you’re a person who thinks Musk is destroying Twitter or stoking harassment. But they were, for the most part, confident answers. Yaccarino answered slowly and carefully, and she seemed determined to push the complaints aside as simply collateral damage for reinventing the platform.

“X is a new company building a foundation based on free expression and freedom of speech,” she said at the start.

“We talk about everything.”

Boorstin prodded Yaccarino for hard numbers on how X is doing amid all these crises. Yaccarino said the company would be profitable “in early ’24.” The platform has 200-250 million daily active users. “Something like that,” Yaccarino said. She went to check her phone, as if to confirm the number, but never finished checking. Later, she suggested that X has 540 million monthly active users and 225 million daily active users. (That would be slightly down from the 238 million daily users Twitter had before the acquisition.)

It was hard to know whether Yaccarino wasn’t prepared enough or if she simply didn’t want to give definitive answers. At one point, Boorstin asked about Musk’s recent statement that X will eventually charge all users to post on the platform, and Yaccarino appeared unable to speak to the proposed change.

“Can you repeat?” Yaccarino asked.

“Elon Musk announced you’re moving to an entirely subscription based service,” Boorstin said. “Nothing free about using X.”

“Did he say we were moving to it specifically or is thinking about it?” Yaccarino asked.

“He said that’s the plan,” Boorstin said. “Did he consult you before he announced that?”

“We talk about everything,” Yaccarino said. She never clarified X’s plans.

The interview was filled with rocky moments like this, but Yaccarino didn’t run. As the clock ran out on the interview, Boorstin said she would let Yaccarino stay as long as she wanted — and Yaccarino took her up on it. Even when Yaccarino finally said she needed to leave, she stuck around for a few more questions. At close to 40 minutes, it was the longest interview of the conference.

It was a long conversation and a far more complicated one than Yaccarino may have wanted to have. At the top of the interview, she tried to push aside concerns about X with a statement of confidence. “It’s a new day at X, and I’ll leave it at that,” she said.

But it could never be that simple. As long as Musk is in the mix, she’ll always need more time to explain whatever’s going on at X.

The 2024 Honda Prologue EV will have 300 miles of range

The 2024 Honda Prologue EV will have 300 miles of range

That’s a lovely blue on the Prologue. | Image: Honda

Honda revealed that the upcoming 2024 Honda Prologue is “expected” to get an EPA-estimated 300 miles of range on a single charge while announcing a slew of new specs for its first all-electric SUV. Built on GM’s Ultium platform, it achieves this range thanks to the 85kWh battery inside, which is the same size as the Chevy Blazer EV.

The two vehicles have many similarities inside and out, from the 121.8-inch wheelbase to the 11-inch driver instrument display. However, the official EPA range for Chevy’s SUV is already known, at 279 miles on a full charge.

Both the Prologue and the Blazer have Google built-in software, but Honda’s EV includes the wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto support that GM has decided its EVs will do without.

Honda will include several charging package options for Prologue (and Acura ZDX) buyers that include public charging credits. One package includes an 11.5kW home charging station with a $500 Honda Home Electrification installation service incentive plus $100 in public charging credit.

Honda PR representative Chris Martin tells The Verge in an email that the credits work specifically with EVgo and its roaming partners, including ChargePoint. Honda’s EVgo partnership enables customers to find chargers, see real-time stall availability, and initiate a charge, all within the new HondaLink app.

The second charging package option includes a slower (but portable) 7.6kW charger, a $250 install credit, and a $300 public charging credit. Finally, the third option eschews the Level 2 home charging offerings (in case you already have one or live in an apartment) and gives you $750 in public charging credits instead.

Regardless of your package of choice, new Honda and Acura EV owners will also get a free sampling of DC fast charging at Electrify America stations, up to 60kWh. That’s probably good for a free one-way road trip from New York City to Niagara Falls. Just remember that you won’t get to take advantage of Electrify America’s fastest 350kW charging options since the Prologue only supports up to 155kW. Honda says you can get 65 miles of range in about 10 minutes of fast charging.

Honda will deliver the first Prologue EVs in early 2024, and it will start in the “upper $40,000s.” It might even qualify for the $7,500 federal tax incentive, considering the Chevy Blazer is included in the list. Honda plans to introduce 30 new EVs globally by 2030 with a sales volume of 2 million vehicles.

Honda, like Toyota, is slow to kick-start its electrification process compared to other automakers, so it’s built the Prologue on GM’s platform as a stopgap. The Prologue is Honda’s first electric vehicle in the US since the automaker’s compliance 2015 Honda Fit EV model, while its next one, a larger SUV, will come in 2025 and run on the company’s own e Architecture platform.

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The Raspberry Pi 5 is finally here

The Raspberry Pi 5 is finally here

Photo by Emma Roth / The Verge

Despite doubts that the Raspberry Pi 5 would launch this year, the latest version of the microcomputer has arrived with some notable upgrades at a $60 starting price. Not only is it supposed to perform better than its predecessor, but it’s also the first Raspberry Pi to come with in-house silicon.

Powering the brain of the Raspberry Pi 5 is a 64-bit quad-core Arm Cortex-A76 processor that runs at 2.4GHz, allowing for a two to three times performance boost when compared to the four-year-old Raspberry Pi 4. The device also comes with an 800MHz VideoCore VII graphics chip that the Raspberry Pi Foundation says offers a “substantial uplift” in graphics performance.

I got to try out the device for myself. While I didn’t have time to do much tinkering with it, I found that it boots up pretty quickly, while also loading webpages fast when compared to my older Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+. It does get pretty hot, but luckily the Raspberry Pi sent over an active cooling component that I could mount directly on the board.

Photo by Emma Roth / The Verge

Additionally, the Raspberry Pi 5 features a component made by the Raspberry Pi Foundation for the first time: the southbridge, also known as a part of the motherboard that helps it communicate with peripherals. With the RP1 southbridge, the Raspberry Pi Foundation says the microcomputer “delivers a step change in peripheral performance and functionality,” enabling faster transfer speeds to external UAS drives and other peripherals.

It also opens up two four-lane 1.5Gbps MIPI transceivers that let you connect up to two cameras or displays. There’s also a new single-lane PCI Express 2.0 interface for the first time, offering support for “high-bandwidth peripherals.” However, the Raspberry Pi Foundation notes that you’ll still need a separate adapter, such as an M.2 HAT (Hardware Attached on Top) for you to take advantage of it.

In terms of ports, you can expect dual 4Kp60 HDMI display outputs with support for HDR, a microSD slot, two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, and a 5V DC power connection via USB-C. Some other nice-to-haves include support for Bluetooth 5.0 and Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) and peak SD card performance that’s “doubled” with the SDR104 high-speed mode. Together, all these upgrades make the Raspberry Pi 5 even more versatile, whether you’re using it as an ultra-budget desktop PC, a media server, or even a DIY security system.

The Raspberry Pi 5 will come with a couple of different RAM options at launch, costing $60 for the 4GB version and $80 for 8GB. That makes it slightly more expensive than the Raspberry Pi 4, which is priced at $55 for 4GB of RAM and $75 for 8GB. The Raspberry Pi 5 will be available to purchase before the end of October.

Ilia Calderón’s Questions at GOP Debate Catch Candidates Off-Guard

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Apple will have to face an antitrust lawsuit alleging iOS Apple Pay dominance

Apple will have to face an antitrust lawsuit alleging iOS Apple Pay dominance

Illustration: The Verge

California Northern District Judge Jeffrey White partially denied (PDF) Apple’s request to dismiss a proposed federal class action lawsuit over Apple Pay, reports Reuters. Three credit unions argued Apple violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act by charging too much in processing fees and being too exclusionary by not letting other digital wallets access its NFC-scanning hardware.

The judge agreed with the credit unions’ argument that because QR code payment apps (like Venmo) lack Apple Pay’s convenience and functionality, and it's too expensive to switch to Android, iOS tap-to-pay is a market unto itself. And Apple is the only player in a certain market that would have other competition if not for that little NFC reader detail that makes it a monopoly say the lawyers.

Lawyers representing the credit unions also claimed Apple Pay is “unlawfully tied” to Apple phones, tablets, and watches. Judge White also sided with Apple’s argument that the claim fell flat because Apple Pay is free, and the company doesn’t force people to use it. But overall, the judge writes that the claim that Apple has a monopoly is “plausible.”

He agreed that the company charges “arbitrary and inflated fees” for payment processing and wrote that the lack of competition in the iOS digital payments market is harmful to consumers. No NFC access for third-party apps sounds anticompetitive to Judge White. The EU deemed Apple Pay anticompetitive in a preliminary 2022 ruling, also citing Apple’s exclusionary use of the iPhone’s NFC reader.

Apple and the credit unions will meet again in court on December 1st at 11AM PT.

Kia’s three-row EV9 electric SUV will start at $54,900

Kia’s three-row EV9 electric SUV will start at $54,900

Image: Kia

The 2024 Kia EV9 will start at $54,900 for the Light RWD trim before destination fees or adding options like a bigger battery or two extra motors for AWD. When announced earlier this year, the EV9 caught everyone’s attention since there are few (and costly) seven-seater fully-electric vehicles on the market, and the automaker’s entry looked like it was primed to disrupt.

The EV9 will come standard with 19-inch wheels, dual 12.3-inch screens up front, a 5-inch screen for HVAC controls, CarPlay and Android Auto, a wireless phone charger, advanced driver assistance features like automatic braking and cross traffic check, and support for ultra-wideband smartphone key access (though that requires a subscription). It can charge its battery from 10 to 80 percent in under 25 minutes when connected to a 350kW DC fast charger (Car and Driver’s preview found it supports up to 230kW speeds).

Other options for three-row electric SUVs are limited and include the Tesla Model X that costs at least $83,490 with seven seats, and while the cheapest Rivian R1S starts at $78,000, ordering one with a shipping date in 2024will have you looking at a $92,000 quad-motor configuration. And while a bit cramped, Tesla’s Model Y with seven seats costs $52,990, and it qualifies for the $7,500 federal tax credit.

But by comparison, similar-size gas-powered three-row SUVs are still available for quite a bit less. Kia’s own 2024 Telluride starts at $36,000 (about $40,000 when said and done). The EV9 is about the same height and width and just slightly longer than the Telluride.

Kia’s EV9 will initially ship from South Korea for availability by year-end. It doesn’t yet qualify for the federal tax credits due to complex new rules that foreign automakers are pretty mad about. But the EV9 might qualify after Kia starts assembling it in the USA sometime next year at a new factory in West Point, Georgia. Other trims in the lineup, including the Light Long Range, Wind, Land, and GT-Line, will have prices announced “later.”

Adobe’s full Photoshop on the web launch includes its popular desktop AI tools

Adobe’s full Photoshop on the web launch includes its popular desktop AI tools

Adobe says it no longer has plans for a free-to-use version of the online photo editing software. | Image: Adobe

After almost two years in beta, Adobe’s Photoshop on the web service — a simplified online version of the company’s desktop photo editing app — is now generally available starting Wednesday, September 27th. According to information Adobe shared with The Verge, Photoshop on the web is launching with the popular Generative Fill and Generative Expand tools that were recently released for the desktop version of Photoshop.

Powered by Adobe’s Firefly generative AI model, these features are available for commercial use and allow users to quickly add to, remove from, or expand an image using text-based descriptions in over 100 languages, all while matching the original image’s lighting conditions and perspective.

Image: Adobe

Here’s a screenshot of what Photoshop for the web looks like now that it’s out of beta.

Photoshop on the web also provides many of its desktop equivalent’s most commonly used tools but with a redesigned layout that provides new Photoshop users with a more “streamlined” user experience. This includes the Contextual Task Bar feature — which suggests the most relevant steps to take in your workflow — that was added to the desktop Photoshop app earlier this year.

Tools that share similar workflows — like those used to select objects and retouch images — are named and grouped together on the toolbar to make the software easier to navigate. This view can be disabled for experienced creatives who prefer the look of the desktop version of Photoshop’s user interface. Adobe says that desktop features like the patch tool, pen tool, smart object support, polygonal lasso, and more will be added “soon.”

Photoshop on the web also enables users to invite others to collaborate on projects and allows those without an active Photoshop description to view and comment on files.

The web-based Photoshop service is included as part of all Photoshop paid plans (which start at $9.99 per month) and will not be available as a free-to-use experience at launch. Adobe started testing a “freemium” version of its Photoshop for the web experience in June last year after the initial beta release of Photoshop for the web in 2021.

The company previously said that it hoped to offer a free version of the service that provided most of Photoshop’s core desktop functions. But Ashley Still, Adobe’s senior vice president of digital media, has now told The Verge that the creative software giant “does not have immediate plans for a freemium offering” and that new users can instead check out Photoshop on the web through “free interactive demos and in-app tutorials” on Adobe’s website before committing to a subscription.

Pokémon are coming to the Van Gogh Museum to teach the world about art

Pokémon are coming to the Van Gogh Museum to teach the world about art

A comparison of ‘Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat’ and Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘Self Portrait with Grey Felt Hat’ | The Pokémon Company, the Van Gogh Museum

If the Pokémon Company’s video teasing its upcoming collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum was already enough to have you thinking about booking a ticket to Amsterdam, the promise of an impressionistic Pikachu promo card might just do the trick.

In celebration of the Van Gogh Museum’s 50th anniversary, it has teamed up with the Pokémon Company for a special event designed to introduce young artists to Van Gogh’s work, and to teach people about the way he was profoundly influenced by Japanese art.

“This collaboration will allow the next generation to get to know Vincent van Gogh’s art and life story in a refreshing way,” the Van Gogh Museum’s general director Emilie Gordenker said in a press release. “The Van Gogh Museum and The Pokémon Company International have drawn on many years of educational expertise to create a special experience for children, their supervisors, and we hope many others at the Van Gogh Museum.”

Along with on-site activations that guide museum visitors through a selection of Van Gogh’s paintings and delve into the stories behind them, an online exploration of his fascination with Japanese culture will also be available. Along with on-site activations that guide museum visitors through a selection of Van Gogh’s paintings and delve into the stories behind them, an online exploration of his fascination with Japanese culture will also be available.

Even if you can’t make it to the actual museum to snag a ‘Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat’ card in-person, the promos will also be available through the Pokémon Center included in orders from a special collection inspired by the collaboration. But for those looking to make a trip of it, the Pokémon x Van Gogh Museum collaboration is set to run from September 28th until January 7th, 2024, and tickets for general admission to the museum (which are required to get in and can only be purchased online) are available now.

Sony’s PlayStation Chief to Retire Next Year

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How Uber learned to stop fighting and play nice with taxis

How Uber learned to stop fighting and play nice with taxis

Image: Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Former foes have turned friends. Uber is listing more and more taxi drivers in its app, most recently in Los Angeles. How did the two sides come together? In short, money.

For over a decade, Uber and taxis have been locked in a desperate battle for control of cities across the world. In one corner, the century-old practice of raising your hand to hail a ride. In the other, pressing a button on your smartphone to summon a car.

But while Uber has succeeded in decimating the cab industry in many cities, it has failed to completely wipe it out. In fact, the taxi business is thriving, with the number of drivers in the US almost tripling in recent years. And now, there are signs that the long and bitter struggle between Uber and taxis is fading as more and more taxi fleets are choosing to be folded into Uber’s cold, technological embrace.

Uber and taxis have been locked in a desperate battle for control of cities across the world

The latest is Los Angeles Yellow Cab, which announced today its plan, along with its partner fleets, to list approximately 1,200 taxis in Uber’s app as part of a pilot program. The pilot has received approval from the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, allowing taxi driver onboarding to begin this week in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Orange counties. Drivers will start receiving Uber trip referrals in the coming weeks.

Los Angeles joins New York City, San Francisco, and a host of other major cities around the world that feature their taxis in Uber’s ridehail app. It also represents the emergence of a new and unexpected alliance between taxi owners and the tech company that vowed to disrupt their business.

“I firmly believe that Uber and taxi are better together,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement to The Verge. “We look forward to giving every taxi driver in the world access to Uber trips while continuing to earn the trust of our taxi partners and drivers globally.”

Uber’s legacy of playing fast and loose with the rules has irked taxi owners, who have accused the company of ignoring local regulations when it moves into new markets. Uber notes that the taxi business had many flaws before it arrived, including predatory loans.

Still, fleet owners and driver associations have largely been helpless as they’ve watched their customers flock to the new platform that promised easy electronic hailing and seamless payment. Medallion prices in New York and elsewhere plummeted, and lenders who made a living by financing the taxi industry went out of business.

Uber was happy to fuel the vitriol. “We’re in a political campaign, and the candidate is Uber and the opponent is an asshole named Taxi,” Uber co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick said in 2014. “Nobody likes him, he’s not a nice character, but he’s so woven into the political machinery and fabric that a lot of people owe him favors.”

Uber’s legacy of playing fast and loose with the rules has irked taxi owners

But a curious thing has happened. After it failed to completely wipe out and replace the taxi business, Uber instead turned to taxis to help fuel its next stage of growth. The company has said that, by 2025, it hopes to list every taxi in the world on its app. And for once, taxi owners are eager to be involved.

“We do what we do really great,” said Ron Sherman, chair and CEO of Creative Mobile Technologies, or CMT, one of Uber’s partners in New York City. “Okay and I hate to say it, but what they do is really great too.”

Photo by Jeffrey Greenberg / Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Where using Uber may get you a taxi

Uber is slightly vague in how it describes the breadth of its growing taxi business, declining to discuss the exact number of cities and drivers. Taxis are featured in the Uber app in 33 countries around the world, with “hundreds of thousands” of taxi drivers receiving trip referrals from the company. Some of the largest markets by volume include Hong Kong, Poland, South Korea, Sweden, and Turkey. Last year, Uber struck a deal to include around 14,000 of New York City’s iconic yellow taxis in its app.

What Uber does like to talk about is the potential for taxi drivers to make a lot more money by accepting trip requests through its app. Taxi drivers are “on track to make well over $1 billion in earnings this year,” the company said.

Taxi drivers are “on track to make well over $1 billion in earnings this year,” the company said

When a taxi is hailed through Uber, the company gets a cut, though it declined to say how much. Uber’s average global take rate for rides in the third quarter of this year was 28.9 percent, up from 23.5 percent in Q3 of 2022.

In San Francisco, where taxi drivers have been accepting fares through the Uber app since November 2022 under an ongoing pilot program, drivers were found to earn an average of $1,767 per month from Uber trips alone. That’s almost 24 percent more on average than drivers who do not accept Uber trips, according to Q2 data compiled by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. For taxi drivers participating in the pilot program, nearly a quarter of their revenue each month came from third-party referrals like Uber.

The partnership has taken many different forms. In South Korea, Uber created a joint venture with SK Telecom to compete in the country’s high-value mobility market. In Hong Kong, one of the largest taxi markets in the world, Uber acquired the city’s leading e-hail app, HKTaxi, to list more taxi drivers in its app.

How Uber connects with taxi drivers

Uber is using its technological know-how to fuel the expansion. The company’s engineering team wrote an API to help taxi technology providers connect seamlessly with Uber’s customers. In that way, someone hailing a ride with the Uber app can connect with a taxi if it happens to be the closest vehicle. Fares are presented upfront, much like they would be with an Uber trip. And the taxi drivers who receive the trip requests will be paid the same rate as an Uber driver.

“Most of our business is the Uber rider app talks to the Uber driver app,” Sachin Kansal, vice president for product at Uber, said in an interview. “But as we wanted to have some other driver app prompt to our system, we needed to provide this API.”

“We needed to provide this API”

The API was built specifically to enable taxis that are connected to either Curb or Arro, the two smartphone apps that are owned by New York City’s licensed technology providers, to receive trip requests through Uber. But now, it’s being used globally, Kansal said, with taxi owners across the world using it to connect their drivers to Uber customers.

Depending on the city, riders will see different things in their app when they hail a ride. Some riders will see a standalone feature to request a metered taxi. In other markets, taxis are included among the vehicles riders may get when using UberX, its primary ridehail product.

“There is enough demand to go around,” Kansal said. “We actually want to continue to build our core technology... such that we can bring every taxi in the world on the Uber platform.”

Kansal, who is a former executive at Flywheel, an app-based taxi operator in San Francisco, has leveraged his knowledge of the taxi industry to spearhead this effort to a variety of fleets and proprietary tech into Uber’s platform.

“Sachin’s experience in the taxi industry combined with our team’s passion for solving problems with technology have delivered a cutting edge integration that is a win for everyone,” Khosrowshahi said.

Why taxis?

Before the pandemic, Uber was struggling to become profitable, but there was no question that Uber’s model of using venture capital funds and other investments to subsidize fares and undercut the taxi industry was having its desired effect. The impact in New York City was particularly acute. Nearly a thousand drivers filed for bankruptcy, with at least six drivers dying from suicide.

Still, despite these efforts, taxis were continuing to thrive in the US and overseas markets. Uber began making offers to list cabs in its app in the hopes the increase in supply would help attract new customers while salvaging its business in key markets.

When covid hit, the ridehail and taxi businesses both dried up. And when lockdowns eased, Uber struggled to find enough drivers for its customers, forcing it to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on driver bonuses and incentives aimed at attacking the shortage.

Taxi operators say those efforts are starting to pay off, with drivers in multiple markets reporting an increase in earnings after they began to accept trip referrals from Uber. Some are even going so far as to predict the new partnerships will lead to a resurgence of the taxi industry, which has struggled with low wages, expensive loans, and heightened competition.

“We are seeing a lot of experienced rideshare drivers now consider driving a taxicab and now getting a professional cab driver’s license,” said Hansu Kim, president of Flywheel Technologies, which partners with Uber in San Francisco, “because they’re realizing through this partnership they can get that business from rideshare and also the taxi business.”

“We are seeing a lot of experienced rideshare drivers now consider driving a taxicab”

But why work with Uber when the company has shown a willingness to fight efforts to raise wages for drivers while preventing them from organizing and refusing to reclassify them as employees? The answer, in short, is money.

Some of Uber’s biggest costs are around insurance and liability. By offloading a certain percentage of its trips to taxi drivers, it can reduce those costs while also increasing revenue. The company recently reported an operating profit for the first time in nearly 14 years in service. Maintaining those profits while increasing its supply is a win for Uber. And owners say it’s a win for taxi drivers, many of whom have struggled for years to match the company’s technological prowess.

“The minute people can make money,” CMT’s Sherman said, “nobody cares who the trip’s coming from.”