A Canadian woman says she has gotten over 50 Amazon packages she didn’t order
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
A woman in British Columbia, Canada, has received over 50 Amazon packages that she’s never asked for, as reported by CBC. As a result of getting these shipments, which she hasn’t had the chance to refuse upon arrival, the United Parcel Service (UPS) has sent her customs bills for more than $300.
“They keep coming and it just doesn’t end,” Anca Nitu said to CBC. Nitu told the news outlet that it’s somehow tied to her own Amazon account — one that she said has been sitting dormant.
Amazon told CBC in a written statement that Nitu’s case has been addressed and “corrective action” is being taken. The company advises anyone receiving packages unexpectedly to report it using the Report Unwanted Package form online.
This isn’t the same glitch as the time Sonos sent $15,000 worth of products in 30 shipments (6x what was ordered) to an unsuspecting apartment dweller. Sonos initially charged them for the speakers and only offered a refund if they sent them back. Sonos eventually blinked and let the person keep the speakers, as we all learned that FTC rules say, “you never have to pay for things you get but didn’t order.”
British Columbia’s Better Business Bureau told CBC it believes this is part of a scheme carried out by certain Amazon sellers who are trying to dodge extra fees for returned products. For overseas sellers, the shipping, warehouse, and disposal fees can add up much faster, making it cheaper to ditch unwanted goods by sending them to private addresses in the same region.
For Nitu, it’s possible that her account information was phished or that her identity was otherwise stolen to associate her with certain seller accounts. “I don’t know what Amazon is allowing them to do because they got a hold of my name, my address and my old phone number,” Nitu said.
Meanwhile, Nitu is getting a whole lot of shoes, and while she’s not paying for the product, UPS is charging duty for it. According to the Canadian Border Services Agency website, couriers are to hold packages until duties are paid, which doesn’t seem to be what UPS is doing. UPS declined to comment to CBC until after they’ve talked to Nitu.
Cadillac’s Escalade IQ makes all other EVs look small
Image: Cadillac
Cadillac’s $130,000 all-electric Escalade IQ is a completely new take on the larger-than-life luxury SUV.
Cadillac’s new Escalade IQ is large, and, well, it can charge.
The automaker revealed a new electric version of its massive luxury SUV today at an event in New York City, showing off the IQ’s complete design for the first time since announcing it in May and teasing its backside and tessellated front lights in June. The Escalade IQ will begin production next summer at GM’s Michigan Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center — though a delivery timeframe has not yet been announced.
Let’s just get the three biggest numbers out of the way. The 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ will start at $130,000. And the vehicle is carrying a whopper of a battery: 200kWh, good for a range of 450 miles on a single charge, according to Cadillac’s estimates. (The EPA will weigh in later.)
Escalades are big sellers in the luxury SUV segment, but Cadillac has some competitors that are beating the IQ to market. Rivian and Mercedes-Benz are two automakers already delivering their electric three-rows to customers, with the R1S and EQS, respectively. And, although not in the upper-luxury tier, both Kia’s EV9 and Volvo’s EX90 seven-seater EVs will be out before IQ production begins.
Although the new Escalade IQ still exudes the sort of battleship-on-wheels vibe of its gas-powered predecessors, it’s now got a leaner profile. It’s quick like a supercharged V8 Escalade, with 0–60 mph acceleration in under five seconds (on “Velocity Max” mode).
The special mode on the Escalade IQ can output up to 750 horsepower and up to 785 lb-ft of torque. That power stems from the IQ’s dual-motor “eAWD” system that operate as individual powertrains.
Image: Cadillac
A more sculpted rear on this Cadillac.
The new Escalade IQ design pushes the 24-inch wheels further into the corners, and the profile has a longer hood and more sloped roofline for a more planted and sportier look. Plus, the glass on the sides and panoramic roof edge closer to the frame, which makes the IQ look sleeker. “We have added more sculpture to every surface,” Cadillac Exteriors design manager Jawook Koo said.
Cadillac leaves space up front for vertical daytime running light blades and LEDs that will animate when easing to a stop and departing from a standstill. And the rear has a bit of a hunch compared to older Escalades that resembles the design language of the automaker’s Lyriq EV.
Image: Cadillac
Longer hood, more slope in the rear.
The IQ is being called “GM’s most aerodynamic full-size SUV ever.” That certainly helps Cadillac get to 450 miles of range, but really, it’s the astronomically large batteries in the belly of the beast that’s doing most of the work. As an EV, it gets one-pedal driving with regenerative braking, and any excess heat produced around the vehicle is captured into the Ultium Energy Recovery heat pump thermal system and used for cabin heating.
There are two versions of the IQ that offer slightly different looks: Luxury and Sport. The former includes metallic brushed aluminum finishes on the wheels, moldings, and other exterior areas, while the Sport goes with dark metal design touches. This Escalade still comes in the common black finish, but there are another six paint options, plus a dual-tone one that blacks out the roof. (No word yet if there will be a Mary Kay pink.)
There are four different interior themes that can be selected for the IQ, regardless of which exterior trim is purchased. Inside, ambient lighting can be adjusted to 126 different color choices, and an illuminated trim package affords more lighting options that make decor pop.
Image: Cadillac
So much screen to look at all the time.
The IQ wouldn’t be a luxurious juggernaut without some excessive tech. Where previous models had a 38-inch curved OLED display spanning the driver’s instrument panel to the infotainment screen, the new IQ goes bigger with a 55-inch pillar-to-pillar LED screen.
The screen is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 12 Cockpit Platform and uses the company’s 5G modem for connectivity. Navigation is provided by Google, thanks to Google built-in software. Drivers get Google Maps, hands-free commands via Google Assistant, charging station information, and Google Play app support. Cadillac does not mention Apple CarPlay or Android Auto support, which may follow GM’s decision from earlier this year to no longer include the popular phone mirroring features in future vehicles.
There’s a whole lot of driving tech in the IQ, too. It’s got GM’s Super Cruise advanced driver-assist system (ADAS), enabling hands-free driving on over 400,000 miles of mapped highways in the US and Canada. It’ll be included with the vehicle as part of OnStar for three years, after which owners must subscribe to an OnStar Super Cruise plan.
Image: Cadillac
Super Cruise can drive while you pose with your hands.
Escalade IQ’s got a four-wheel steering “Arrival Mode” feature that’s similar to the GMC Hummer EV’s crab walk mode. While the Hummer shows off how its four-wheel turning can help maneuver it around a mountain boulder blockade, the Escalade is instead focused on getting into and out of tight parking spaces that it otherwise would have no business attempting to enter. Cadillac claims that IQ is the “most maneuverable” Escalade yet.
Four-wheel steering works while driving, too, providing the IQ with better stability at high speeds, better control for towing (IQ can tow up to 8,000 pounds), and decreases the turning diameter at low speeds by turning wheels on each axle in opposing directions. The vehicle has independent front and rear suspension that can raise the Escalade up to one inch or lower it by two. And Magnetic Ride Control 4.0, which Cadillac also includes in its ultra-expensive Celestiq, gives the IQ millisecond suspension response time to road bumps, making rides comfortable for both the driver and the expected high-profile passengers.
Image: Cadillac
I’d rather be back here with my screens.
Image: Cadillac
Available power doors can be opened from the command center screen in the center row.
Buyers who would rather be driven in their Escalade can order the special executive second-row seating option that adds a bunch more amenities. With the package, you get stowaway trays, 12.6-inch rear personal screens, a “command center” screen to control stuff like doors, dual wireless phone chargers, ports for HDMI and USB-C, and massaging seats that include speakers in the headrest.
Escalade IQ comes with a 19-speaker AKG Studio sound system and can be upgraded to a 36-speaker AKG Studio Reference option. But those with the executive package can raise the stakes to a 40-speaker version that includes 360-degree “immersive” audio because why not?
No amount of interior options in the world is going to matter to pedestrians and cyclists, who are increasingly at risk of injury thanks to really large vehicles like the Escalade. But Cadillac does have some features that might help those on the outside. When traveling in between 5 and 50 mph speeds, the IQ can “reduce the severity” of injury to people and bicyclists using automatic emergency braking technology. It’s not a silver bullet to save pedestrians and can be less reliable at higher speeds, according to AAA tests. When IQ travels at lower speeds, it can activate Low Ride Mode, which brings down the vehicle height, too. And HD Surround Vision gives drivers high-quality camera feeds in any direction to avoid people and objects.
Image: Cadillac
Why trunk when so much frunk?
The Escalade IQ also auto brakes at intersections to help detect cross-traffic vehicles, and there’s Blind Zone Steering Assist that can nudge drivers back into their lane when switching into one without realizing there’s a car in the way. Once the driver gets to the destination safely, IQ can help parallel or perpendicular park with automatic steering, braking, and shifting. And for garages, there’s Smart Controls that includes a Universal Remote that pops up on-screen to get you access to... wherever you’ve got access.
The electric Escalade has a whole lot of storage and family-hauling capability. It’s got third-row seats that allow for a maximum of seven passengers, and they’re also power folding for more cargo. And if you need even more storage, well, there’s an expansive “eTrunk” up front, thanks to the lack of a gas engine.
It’s gonna be a good frunk, real talk. There’s 12 cubic feet of storage in there, which is more than the 10.7 cubic feet afforded to the Chevy Silverado EV. It’s big enough to hold two golf bags, according to Cadillac, and since the grille is just for looks, it goes up with the frunk, making access to the bed and storage trays in there really easy.
If you like motorized things, there’s an option to make all four doors open and close with just the press of a button. There’s even an option for the driver door to automatically open as the fob-holder approaches — similar to Tesla’s Model X or the Mercedes-Benz EQS. Even the EV charge port door is motorized, revealing a CCS port (Tesla’s standardized NACS port that GM and others are adopting isn’t here yet). But for now, it can support 800-volt charging at compatible stations that can charge up to 100 miles worth of range in just 10 minutes.
Image: Cadillac
Oh, that’s not NACS.
The Escalade IQ is built on GM’s Ultium electric vehicle platform, which is shared with every EV the company has in its pipeline: from the Silverado EV pickup to the planned rebirth of the reasonably sized Bolt EV. Since Ultium batteries are modular, Cadillac is able to stack 24 modules on the underside of the IQ that’s “producing more than 200 kWh of available energy.”
GMC’s Hummer EV similarly has a 212.7 kWh battery module, which weighs 2,923 pounds — or more than the weight of a Honda Civic. One benefit GM is bringing with its large EV batteries is bidirectional charging. It’ll allow vehicles like the Escalade IQ to power your home during an outage and works with GM’s Ultium Home system. The IQ will also get Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) offboard power enabled via a software update.
The big batteries aren’t making the Escalade IQ any cheaper, though. But, with a little more efficiency, maybe Cadillac can get close to the current range with a slightly smaller battery next time.
Sony’s DualSense controllers for the PS5 are still on sale for just $49
The ongoing PlayStation promo drops the price of nearly every color, including the classic white model. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
The PlayStation 5 is fun to play by yourself, but nothing beats some local co-op with a friend. Like most gaming consoles, however, Sony’s next-gen offering only comes with a single controller — which is what makes Sony’s ongoing summer sale worth checking out. Now through August 19th, you can pick up a second DualSense Wireless Controller for $49 (up to $25 off) at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy.
Sony’s default controller for the PS5 adds an immersive element to your gaming thanks to its terrific haptics and adaptive triggers, which make it one of the best controllers around. It also features a built-in mic so you can chat online, along with a 3.5mm headphone jack for plugging in a headset or a pair of wired earbuds if you prefer to go old-school. The wireless controller even charges quickly thanks to its support for USB-C and comes in a variety of slick colors, including purple, red, and camo. The latter colors normally retail for $74.99 and rarely get discounted as low as the black and white models, meaning now is as good as it gets in terms of deals.
Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Flip 5 may be hogging all the spotlight, but Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Plus is still a terrific phone in its own right. Although not a foldable, the slab-style phone offers a more capable camera system and better battery life. It’s also cheaper right now, given it’s on sale at Amazon and Best Buy for $799.99 ($200 off) in its unlocked, 256GB configuration. That matches the phone’s all-time low and remains the best discount we’ve seen since Prime Day.
The Galaxy S23 Plus offers most everything you’d desire in a modern flagship, which is why it’s currently our favorite Android phone. Its spacious 6.6-inch screen boasts a fast 120Hz refresh rate, for example, while its camera features a telephoto lens that’s capable of taking stunning photos. The long-lasting phone also offers speedy performance, while IP68 water resistance means it should be able to withstand a bit of splashing around at the pool.
Their active noise cancellation isn’t quite on the level of Apple’s or Sony’s, but Sennheiser’s third-gen earbuds outperform their rivals when it comes to sound. They offer intricate, detailed sound their competitors simply can’t match while retaining a comfortable design that holds up over long periods of time. At the same time, they come with perks that make for an even more enjoyable listening experience, including optional wing tips and multipoint Bluetooth support.
If you’re looking for a pair of gaming-focused desktop speakers, right now, the SteelSeries Arena 3 speakers are on sale for $99.99 ($30 off) at Amazon and Best Buy. That’s only $6 shy of their all-time low and the second-best price we’ve seen them go for since they launched last year.
While we didn’t spend a ton of time with the speakers, our first impressions were positive. We found that they offer a nice full sound, which you can better fine-tune using SteelSeries’ accompanying software. While the budget speakers lack RGB lighting and a subwoofer — two facets that define the higher-end Arena 7 and Arena 8 models — they still feature four-inch drivers for PCs, Macs, and other electronics. Plus, they come with more 3.5mm ports than the Arena 7 while also offering Bluetooth support.
We’re not done quite yet...
Apple’s latest Mac Mini is on sale at B&H Photo in its base configuration with 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM for $499 ($100 off) or with expanded 512GB storage for $679 ($120 off). These are the best prices of the year on the latest Mini. The Apple desktop comes with a fast M2 chip and Wi-Fi 6E support, as well as a decent selection of ports. Read our review.
Anker’s 313 Power Bank is on sale in black for $15.39 (about $7 off) at Amazon when you clip the on-page coupon for 30 percent off. You can also buy it for the same price at Anker when you use offer code WSCPXX1PFH. It’s a relatively compact power bank overall, but it still provides 10,000mAh of power, letting you charge your phone or other gadget on the go.
The new Amazon Fire Max 11 tablet is on sale at Amazon and Best Buy starting at $189.99 ($40 off) with ads and 64GB of storage. Although it’s the fastest and most capable tablet in Amazon’s current lineup, the budget-friendly slate pales in comparison to an iPad, and we don’t recommend it for work purposes. However, it still offers a decent 11-inch LCD screen and better hardware than Amazon’s cheaper Fire tablets, making for a decent entertainment device if you’re embedded in Amazon’s ecosystem. Read our review.
Patreon podcasters can now use Spotify to distribute exclusive content
Image: Patreon
Patreon podcasters will now be able to put their premium content in front of millions of Spotify users.
A new integration with Spotify is available starting today, allowing podcasters to distribute premium content on Spotify. The feature was first announced earlier this year and is now available to all creators and fans.
When a creator links their two accounts, Patreon-exclusive episodes will appear on a new Spotify page, with lock and “paid” tags on episodes behind the paywall. If they’re not a Patreon subscriber, a pop-up will direct them to become a paying patron to access the episode. All existing and future episodes will be available for streaming.
Subscribers can also link their accounts and listen to Patreon-exclusive content directly on Spotify. Creators themselves have to turn on the syncing in order for listeners to access the episodes.
Patreon is hugely popular for paid podcasts, but it’s been tricky for creators to lock down their exclusive shows. Some provide private RSS feeds so subscribers can listen in the app of their choice, but that link could also be shared around to people who don’t pay. Creators can lock down their shows by publishing them to Patreon directly, but then fans had to listen inside the Patreon app. And either way, listening in Spotify wasn’t an option.
Podcasters will be able to add promotional banners to their free Spotify pages, directing listeners to the exclusive content page. Banners are available to podcasters on platforms besides Patreon as well.
Patreon-exclusive episodes are coming to Spotify at a time when Spotify’s own podcasting playbook is due for a revamp — the company has juggled a series of high-profile departures, public dust-ups, and rounds of layoffs leading to canceled original shows.
YouTuber subjects the Galaxy Z Flip 5 to a week of continuous folding to see when it breaks
After over 400,000 folds, the phone’s screen developed a pink line along its right side. | Image: Mrkeybrd
If you’re wondering how many times Samsung’s latest foldable flip phone, the Galaxy Z Flip 5, might survive when subjected to the stresses and strains of the real world, YouTuber Mrkeybrd has an answer for you: 401,146. Between August 2nd and today, his channel has run a livestream of the phone being continuously folded and unfolded by a series of testers. Initially, Samsung’s foldable was being compared to Motorola’s recently released Razr Plus (known as the Razr 40 Ultra outside of the US), but the screen on Motorola’s foldable died after just 126,266 cycles.
Mrkeybrd’s test is hardly as scientific as the kinds of robotic automated folding and unfolding Samsung has shown off in its promotional materials for the Flip 5 and Fold 5, but that’s kind of the point. The experiment subjected the phones to a large amount of variation in the speed and force with which they were folded and unfolded, which arguably reflects the kinds of stresses actual people, rather than machines, will put the phone under. “This livestream isn’t sponsored nor influenced by Samsung and Motorola,” the livestream’s video description reads.
Samsung’s foldable didn’t fail all at once. After around 223,000 folds, the phone developed a fault with its hinge, and prior to Mrkeybrd officially calling an end to the test, the phone could be seen springing open of its own volition. But the Flip 5 appeared to be broadly usable until the 400,000 mark, when it was submerged in water and covered in flour and eggs. Its hinge appeared to grow increasingly unusable after that point, until the YouTuber called an end to the experiment when a pink line was visible running down the right-hand side of the screen. Other tests included heating the phone while it was opened and closed and opening and folding it underwater.
Yes, I, too, would love to know how much longer the phone might have survived if it hadn’t been subjected to this:
Image: Mrkeybrd
At the 400,000 mark, the phone was subjected to a pretty intense water and dust test and died soon after.
Given Samsung’s flip phone has an IP rating of IPX8, which means it’s protected against being submerged in water but isn’t protected against dust (for now), it seems likely the flour played a part in the phone breaking. But being able to survive 400,000 folds would still mean the phone should survive over 10 years of use if you unfold and fold it around 100 times a day.
Motorola’s new Razr performed far less well. 126,266 folds still theoretically translates to a little under 3.5 years of use if you open and close the phone 100 times a day, but it suggests the phone isn’t as durable as Samsung’s competing device.
Image: Mrkeybrd
The final tallies for the two phones.
In a similar test last year, Mrkeybrd folded and unfolded the Galaxy Z Flip 3 418,500 times before calling the experiment to an end. But looking back at the footage of the test, it looks like the Z Flip 3 was failing to stay closed by itself far earlier than the official end of the test, which also included submerging it in water and covering it in dust and sand. So there’s a certain amount of interpretation involved when deciding how many folds a foldable can “survive.”
This Is a Reminder That You’re Probably Oversharing on Venmo The mobile wallet service is a cautionary tale of how apps born a decade ago or more may be exposing more information than you would like.
Barstool Sportsbook operator rebrands as ESPN Bet in a new $1.5 billion licensing deal
ESPN Bet pitch and app mockup | Image: Penn Entertainment
As ESPN’s future drifts in the direct-to-consumer wind, a deal with Penn Entertainment will let the sportsbook rename existing properties, like its Barstool Sportsbook, to ESPN Bet. In return, Penn is scheduled to pay ESPN $1.5 billion over the next ten years, as well as $500 million in warrants to buy shares of the operation and, potentially, the ability to appoint a board member.
In early 2022, then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek said Disney’s opportunity “extends to sports betting, gaming, and the Metaverse.” Now, Chapek is gone, the metaverse team is dismantled, and new/old CEO Bob Iger described its gambling strategy in an interview as “...we’re not actually causing the bets to be made. We’re just enabling people to link to companies that do that.” Iger is also trying to navigate to a direct-to-consumer future for ESPN and is reportedly looking for partners (including major sports leagues, maybe) as the network’s cable TV customer base continues to shrink as viewer habits move to streaming.
In practice, this is what Iger’s plan looks like, with ESPN providing promotional services, access to ESPN talent, and branding betting content on its platforms under the ESPN banner.
As part of the deal, Penn is undoing its arrangement with Barstool, the company it purchased, in steps that were completed in February, for over $500 million, and selling that company back to founder Dave Portnoy “in exchange for certain non-compete and other restrictive covenants,” as well as an agreement that Penn gets half of any deals he makes to resell or monetize Barstool.
In a video posted to social media, Portnoy confirmed that “for the first time in a decade,” he again owned 100 percent of Barstool, complimenting Penn and saying he continued to own stock in that company. According to Portnoy, “Every time we did something, it was one step forward, two steps back. We got denied licenses because of me. You name it.”
Besides the Insider reports detailing “degenerate gambler” Portnoy’s sexual misconduct allegations in 2021 (a lawsuit over the report was dismissed and then appealed before the appeal was eventually withdrawn), other issues the partnership experienced included running into trouble for stuff like a “Can’t Lose Parlay” promotion.
Apple’s M3 Max MacBook Pro rumored to have 40 GPU cores and up to 48GB of RAM
The M2 Max model of the MacBook Pro 16. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Over the weekend, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman dug into the specs of a Mac Mini in testing with the new generation of Apple Silicon, and today, he’s reporting that in the high-end 16-inch MacBook Pro, at least one version of the M3 Max chip seen in testing contains 16 CPU cores and 40 GPU cores as well as up to 48GB of memory.
Extensive rumors about Apple’s hardware refresh cycle are a sign summer is ending and we’re moving into the fall, and now that Apple has delivered on its promise of a new Mac Pro — even if it’s less exciting than many had hoped for — the M3 refresh cycle appears ready to get started. New MacBooks (Pro and Air), as well as Mac Mini and iMac desktops, are set to launch over the next year starting in October, and Gurman notes the update 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro are “likely” to launch in 2024.
More specifically, according to the report, test logs he’s seen from a third-party app developer point to a split in the CPU cores with 12 high-performance (four more than the current M2 Max in laptops) and four efficiency cores (the same number as the M2 Max), which could increase processing power for stuff like video editing or extreme Excel sports while maintaining similar battery life to previous models.
GM’s BrightDrop is bringing its electric delivery vans to Mexico
Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge
BrightDrop, the electric delivery spinoff of General Motors, is bringing its battery-powered delivery vans to Mexico as its next market. The company now covers all of North America after expanding to Canada last year.
The first two products that will be available to customers in Mexico will be the company’s Zevo 400 and Zevo 600 delivery vans. The Zevo 600 sports a 165 kWh battery pack for 250 miles of range. The Zevo 400 is smaller and nimbler — though we’re still waiting for more specific specs when it starts production later this year. Customers in Mexico will be able to place orders for the vans through BrightDrop’s website also starting later this year.
BrightDrop EVs are built at GM’s CAMI Assembly plant in Ontario, Canada, where GM says that production of the Zevo 600 is ramping up with the Zevo 400 “on track to begin in the next few months.”
GM created BrightDrop in 2021 as part of a major effort to reboot the delivery space for the electrified era. Electric delivery vans aren’t BrightDrop’s only products. It aims to be an e-commerce delivery ecosystem that includes software, access to charging station providers, and even an electric propulsion-assisted pallet that can be used in the warehouse or on the street for delivery and package pickup.
BrightDrop has deals with several major delivery and utility companies, including Walmart, FedEx, and Verizon. The pandemic has fueled a boom in home delivery, with experts predicting that the number of delivery vehicles in the largest 100 cities around the world will increase by 36 percent over the next decade. More trucks equal more tailpipe pollution, at least 36 percent or 6 million tons, according to the World Economic Forum.
The stakes are huge for BrightDrop and for GM. Last year, the company confidently predicted that it would reach $1 billion in revenue by 2023, making it one of the fastest companies to ever achieve that milestone. But GM’s EV sales have slowed, quarter over quarter, as the company has run into supply chain challenges in terms of getting its Ultium battery vehicles built.
Earlier this year, BrightDrop CEO Travis Katz told Decoder that the company was going to make more money faster than Tesla. “To put that in context, it took Tesla 10 years to hit $1 billion,” Katz said. “I feel like this combination, this startup backed by a large company, is paying off pretty well for us.”
WhatsApp is working on 32-person voice chats
Illustration: The Verge
WhatsApp’s latest beta has a new voice chat feature that lets groups of up to 32 people connect for a spoken session, according to beta notes published by WABetaInfo. WhatsApp beta version 2.23.16.19 is rolling out to testers on Android, adding features similar to Telegram and Discord chats, Slack’s Huddles, and even Meta’s own Messenger platform.
If it’s live in your version of the app, you’ll notice a waveform icon within group chats — but only if the WhatsApp account has the feature enabled and includes compatibility with the group. Tapping the button immediately launches voice chat, along with its own interface. Then, anyone in the group, up to 32 people, can just jump in and start talking. Unlike the existing group calls feature, group voice chats will not make everyone’s phone ring.
When everyone leaves, the session remains active but will automatically end after an hour. Voice chats in WhatsApp are, like its other messages, end-to-end encrypted by default.
The new WhatsApp voice chat feature may show up on non-beta installations as well since WABetaInfo notes it's a broader release. While Meta isn’t early to the party with this feature — Telegram has had voice chat features since 2020 — WhatsApp has the benefit of being one of the most widely used chat apps in the world, with over 2 billion users.
PayPal launches PYUSD stablecoin backed by the US dollar
Image: PayPal
PayPal is launching its own stablecoin: PayPalUSD (PYUSD). The company says the cryptocurrency token is “fully backed by U.S. dollar deposits” and can be bought or sold on PayPal’s app or website at $1.00 per PYUSD.
With PYUSD, you can make person-to-person payments, fund purchases with the currency at checkouts, and transfer PYUSD between PayPal and other outside wallets. PayPal says that you can also convert the currencies supported by PayPal to and from PYUSD as well.
Stablecoins take their name from the fact that they’re centralized and backed by existing government-supported currencies like the US dollar or the Euro. The US government is still hashing out how to regulate stablecoin and other forms of cryptocurrency. After all, stablecoins aren’t always that stable, as we saw with the collapse of Tether and TerraUSD.
PYUSD is launching today and will become available “in the coming weeks” to customers in the US with PayPal Balance accounts. It’ll also be available on the PayPal-owned Venmo app “soon.”
PayPal’s decision to make its own stablecoin doesn’t come as a surprise — PayPal currently lets users buy, transfer, and sell cryptocurrencies in the app, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin. It also obtained its New York BitLicense last year, which allows customers in the state to buy and sell cryptocurrency. More broadly, the US government has been exploring the creation of its own digital currency.
The stablecoin is built on Ethereum and issued by the Paxos Trust Company, a firm based in New York that provides a regulated blockchain infrastructure to clients. Paxos was recently ordered to stop offering Binance’s BUSD cryptocurrency as New York regulators crack down on businesses in the crypto industry.
“The shift toward digital currencies requires a stable instrument that is both digitally native and easily connected to fiat currency like the U.S. dollar,” said Dan Schulman, the president and CEO of PayPal, in a statement.
Crypto’s Next Craze? Orbs That Scan Your Eyeballs. Sam Altman, OpenAI’s chief executive, has started Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency project that aims to scan billions of human irises.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 review: the flip phone we’ve been waiting for
It’s a big update year for Samsung’s flip-style foldable — and a much larger cover screen makes all the difference.
Being able to declare an absolute category winner is rare in the smartphone space. But in the case of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, it’s actually quite easy: this is the best flip-style folding phone you can buy.
It’s a small category, so that helps. It’s even smaller if you’re looking at options available in the US since your choices are basically the Flip 5 or Motorola’s Razr Plus. They have a lot in common, including the fact that they both offer a much bigger, much more useful cover screen than their predecessors. They share the same $999 price tag, too. But Samsung’s flip phone is more durable, its cover screen widgets are more useful, and its camera system is better overall.
That’s not to say that the Flip 5 is the perfect flip-style phone or the best phone you can buy for a thousand bucks. It’s durable for a foldable, but that big “X” in its IPX8 rating means there’s no guarantee against dust intrusion — and dust in a folding phone spells real trouble. You’ll find better camera hardware on most other $999 slab-style phones, including a telephoto lens, and you’ll struggle to get through a full day of heavy use with the Flip 5 on a single battery charge. If any of the above is a major concern, then a flip-style phone might not be for you. But if you are willing to put up with these tradeoffs, then the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is an excellent device.
The flip form factor is particularly good for someone who wants to get more of the basic chores done on their phone without getting sucked into mindlessly checking app notifications and scrolling through news feeds unintentionally. The bigger, improved cover screen on the Flip 5 makes it possible to respond to a text quickly, glance at walking directions, or check the weather without coming face-to-face with absolutely everything on your phone. It’s a powerful tool in the fight for your attention, and the Z Flip 5 is hands-down the best option in its class.
Hooray for widgets!
Let’s start with the main attraction: that 3.4-inch cover screen (excuse me, Flex Window, according to Samsung). That may not sound like much, but it’s more than 3.5 times bigger than the 1.9-inch screen on the Z Flip 4. It’s like getting out of a Smart Car and into a sedan — buckle up because you can go places now. Rather than just checking notifications, you can use a full QWERTY keyboard to respond to texts. You can see your daily schedule alongside a monthly calendar in the same view.
Samsung provides a bunch of handy widgets you can enable, disable, and rearrange to your liking. They’re excellent and take great advantage of the available screen real estate; the weather widget shows you current conditions at a glance, and you can scroll down for the next week’s forecast. Tapping on a calendar event brings up all the details. It’s all as the good lord intended — and a much better experience than on the Motorola Razr Plus.
In no particular order, here are some things I used the cover screen to do in the past week:
Respond to text messages
Sign my kid out of daycare
Check arrival times at my bus stop and note that I am definitely missing the next bus
Read my Threads notifications (all four of them)
Dismiss approximately 2,000 spam calls
Widgets are great, but part of the appeal of a flip phone — at least for me — is the ability to run certain apps on the cover screen. You need a bit of a sense of adventure here because lots of apps are unequivocally awful on a small screen. But I’ve discovered a few of the apps I use for quick tasks are actually fine on the cover display. It’s a hassle many Flip 5 owners probably won’t want to go through, but for the adventurous few, it’s a big benefit to owning a flip phone.
For reasons mentioned above, Samsung makes it very difficult to run just any old app on the cover screen. You can enable a handful of preselected apps through the Labs menu, but for anything outside of messaging apps, Google Maps, or YouTube, you need to download Good Lock (and an additional module called MultiStar) from the Galaxy App Store. Then you can add additional apps to the cover screen.
You don’t want to scroll through Instagram posts on a screen this small, but it’s totally suitable for quick-hit tasks like checking transit arrival times or translating an unfamiliar Spanish word to English. Placing a mobile order for your neighborhood Starbucks is a stretch, but I’m happy to report that it can be done.
Some apps don’t work quite as well on the Flip 5’s cover screen as they do on the Razr Plus’ slightly bigger display. I had trouble typing in certain apps since Samsung’s cover screen keyboard doesn’t give you a persistent text input box, and whatever you’re writing is liable to get covered up by other UI elements. But on either phone, there’s a very experimental vibe to using a full app, so proceed at your own risk.
Can you run Spotify on the cover screen? Yes. Should you? Maybe not.
The Flip 5’s cover screen itself isn’t the nicest screen I’ve ever used, but it does the job. It’s a 720 x 748 60Hz panel — not as sharp or smooth as the Razr Plus’ screen. But it does get bright enough for use even in direct sunlight, and it’s not a screen you want to look at a lot of photos or play games on, anyway. One thing it has over the Razr Plus? An always-on display. You can see the time, date, battery percentage, and app notification icons without having to tap the screen. Quite literally, you love to see it.
On the downside, the AOD does seem to drag down battery performance noticeably. The Z Flip 5 has a small 3,700mAh battery, so that’s a legitimate concern. With the AOD enabled, I was able to get through a full day of heavy use with 4.5 hours of screen-on time — but only with a nail-biting 5 percent left in the tank as I was calling an Uber at the end of the night.
On a more typical day with three hours of screen-on time, I had 40 percent left by the end of the night. It’s good enough to get most people through a full day, but heavy users will want to work in a midday top-off to avoid going to phone battery jail.
Look, no gap.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 For Galaxy chipset is just as snappy here as in the S23 series. It seems to run a little warmer in the Flip 5, maybe because there’s less space for cooling mechanisms, but it never got too toasty in my pocket. The base model Z Flip 5 comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage — a bump up from the Flip 4, which started at 128GB. There’s 25W wired charging (BYO charging brick, of course) and 15W wireless charging with 4.5W reverse wireless charging to top off your earbuds. I have to open the phone and set it juuust so on my stand-style Belkin Qi charger, but it works.
The Z Flip 5 and its bigger Fold 5 sibling are the first Samsung foldables that close flat — previous versions had a visible gap between the two halves near the hinge when closed. The gap is gone, a new droplet-style hinge is in, and there has been much rejoicing. It makes the Z Flip 5 a bit sleeker-looking, though it feels just as chunky as ever in the pocket of my joggers.
The side rails are a flat, polished aluminum that looks nice and feels sturdy. Samsung says that the new hinge’s design can withstand impacts better, but the phone’s IPX8 rating is the same as last year’s. That means it’s resistant to full immersion in water, which is no small feat on a phone with moving parts, but there’s no guarantee against dust intrusion. Samsung’s apparently working on that, but in the meantime, it’s a bad idea to take the Flip 5 to the beach.
The Z Flip 5 provides a healthy amount of lock screen customization.
The Flip 5’s new cover screen provides a bigger canvas for lock screen customization, and Samsung provides a lot of personalization options. It’s a lot like customizing a smartwatch face — you pick a basic wallpaper style, select your favorite fonts and colors, and save it. From the cover screen itself, you can long press to view and switch between your customized lock screens. As a lock screen enjoyer, I’ve wasted plenty of time trying to get the background color framing a photo of my kid just right. You got me, Samsung.
New to the Flip and Fold this year is an updated flex mode panel — that’s the set of controls that you can enable when you use the phone in an L-shaped laptop mode. You don’t need it in an app like YouTube that’s already optimized for folding phones, but it’s handy for the physical therapy video I follow every day most days that’s only available embedded in a browser window.
The Flex Mode panel looks a little less beta now.
I can tap the screen to move the video to the top half of the screen, and the flex mode panel now includes a thumbnail image and customizable controls. This is a very minor update in the grand scheme of things, but it makes the experience of using the phone in this way feel a little more polished and a little less “beta.”
More important than minor software tweaks, the Z Flip 5 continues to come with a strong software support policy: four years of OS updates and five years of security patches. Motorola, on the other hand, is offering three years of OS updates and four years of security patches — and it doesn’t exactly have a great track record for timely updates. Of all the reasons to consider the Flip 5 over the Razr Plus, that’s a strong one.
Flip phone photography is fun.
Generally speaking, folding phones don’t come with the latest camera hardware. That continues to be true of the Flip 5 — same as last year, it comes with a 12-megapixel f/1.8 stabilized main camera and a 12-megapixel ultrawide. There’s a 10-megapixel selfie camera on the inside screen, but one of the nice things about the flip form factor is that it’s easy to use the better rear-facing cameras for selfies, so it’s kind of just there for video calls.
The imaging hardware is run-of-the-mill, and so are the Z Flip 5’s photos. The main camera does just fine in good lighting and turned in a few shots I really dig — give it ample indirect lighting and some vibrant colors, and you’ll be impressed. Portrait mode is good, if not class-leading, like the S23 cameras.
Overall, though, it’s a fairly mediocre camera system for a $1,000 phone. There’s no telephoto lens, and I’m not impressed with Samsung’s digital zoom. Photos from the ultrawide in good lighting are a little flat, and colors look off in dim lighting with plenty of smoothed-over noise. Even low-light selfies with the main camera are hit-and-miss — it chose a shutter speed of just 1/35sec in a dim arena that left me with just one sharp photo out of a handful.
Video clips are fine overall. Samsung says it’s using AI to improve low-light video quality, and I think my low-light video clips look alright. But above all, it’s fun shooting photos and video with a flip phone. You can fold the phone into an L shape and set it down on a table for an instant tripod and hands-free video. You can hold it up camcorder style or move the image preview to the bottom half of the screen like an old-school twin-lens reflex camera and shoot from the hip.
I seem to get the most natural reactions in photos and videos of my toddler when my phone isn’t right in front of my face using any of those methods. I feel a little more engaged in the moment, too. In any case, I’m hoping Samsung upgrades the cameras on the Z Flip 6 so we can get the best of both worlds: good hardware and all that flip phone fun.
Not a perfect flip phone, but a much better one.
There are plenty of ways that the Galaxy Z Flip 5 could be a better flip phone — the cameras could use an upgrade, I’d like to run apps more easily on the cover screen, and dustproofing would be a welcome addition. It’s a bit sleeker with the new fold-flat hinge but still a chunky device that would benefit from some trimming down.
Even though it could be better, it’s easily the best widely available flip phone option right now. For the same price as the Motorola Razr Plus, you get a more consistent camera, robust water resistance versus splash resistance, an extra year of software updates, and much better cover screen widgets. That’s really no contest. The Oppo Find N2 Flip is another option outside of the US, but its cover screen is smaller and less useful, and its durability is uncertain since it lacks any kind of IP rating.
If you’re considering jumping from a traditional slab-style phone to a flip phone, the Z Flip 5 is a great entry point. The cover screen isn’t just a neat party trick — it’s a genuinely useful tool that made my life a little easier in numerous ways while using the phone. It’s a device best suited for someone with a sense of adventure and curiosity when it comes to technology — someone willing to try a new way of doing things and able to roll with it when you inevitably hit a snag. For that kind of person, the Z Flip 5 is a truly rewarding experience.
A Zoom Call, Fake Names and an A.I. Presentation Gone Awry A.I. start-ups are competing fiercely with one another as a race to get ahead in the technology intensifies.
With No Date Set, Musk and Zuckerberg Trade Barbs on ‘Cage Match’ Elon Musk, in an early-morning post, said he planned to livestream the event on his own platform. Mark Zuckerberg called for a “more reliable” platform, adding, “I’m ready today.”
The PlayStation 5 is on sale for $50 off this weekend
Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart are all slashing the price of the next-gen console for a limited time. | Image: Sony
Earlier this week, we saw a rare deal drop on the PlayStation 5 — only for it to disappear as quickly as it arrived. If you missed out on the Monoprice deal, however, you now have another chance at saving $50 on Sony’s next-gen gaming console.
Right now, the disc-equipped PS5 is on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and GameStop starting at $449, the lowest price we’ve seen on the standalone console since it launched at the tail end of 2020. Typically, we only see discounts on various bundles, which save you from having to purchase titles such as God of War Ragnarök and Final Fantasy XVI but rarely dip below $500 or so.
The PlayStation 5 is a fast, powerful console that’s capable of playing games at up to 4K resolution with a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR support. The large entertainment device also comes with a single DualSense Wireless Controller, which features excellent haptics and adaptive triggers for a more immersive experience. That said, if you’d like an extra controller for playing with friends, you can also pick up a second one on sale at Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, and GameStop starting at $49 ($21 off). That discount applies not only to the base white and black colorways but also to the purple, red, and camo models, making now a great time to pick up a controller for co-op play.
Zuckerberg says he gave Musk an August 26th fight date but he’s ‘not holding my breath’
Laura Normand / The Verge
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he’s “ready today” to fight Elon Musk, who owns Twitter (currently rebranding as X), and that although he had suggested August 26th as the date for their cage match, Musk hasn’t confirmed and he’s not holding his breath. Zuckerberg included a screenshot of Musk tweeting about lifting weights to prepare.
In response to Musk’s announcement that the fight would be “live-streamed on X” with proceeds going to a charity for veterans, Zuckerberg suggested they “use a more reliable platform that can actually raise money for charity.” The Meta CEO also said he loves the sport and “will continue competing with people who train no matter what happens here.”
Meta itself has declined to comment beyond Zuckerberg’s posts. This of course doesn’t mean the fight is confirmed for August 26th, which is just shy of three weeks away at this point.
Thieves stole $300,000 in gaming trading cards at Gen Con 2023
Image: Gen Con
A pair of thieves waltzed into Gen Con 2023 and stole as much as $300,000 of gaming cards in Indianapolis (via IndyStar). The cards, which were sitting in boxes on a pallet, were stolen using a pallet jack while vendors were setting up for the long-running yearly gaming convention that Dungeons and Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax started.
As for what cards were taken, that’s unknown. IndyStar reported that a worker at a local Indianapolis board game store thought the packaging resembled that of Magic: the Gathering, Pokémon Trading Card Game, and the unreleased Disney Lorcana. Ravensberger, the company that makes Disney Lorcana, tweeted that all of its product is accounted for. Convention-goers waited for as much as 16 hours for the card game, which Ravensberger used Gen Con 2023 as a pre-release venue for.
Indianapolis Police issued a pair of tweets Friday and Saturday asking for help from the public in identifying two people caught on surveillance video taking the pallet:
This isn’t the only recent card game theft in the Indianapolis area. In May, local media reported a thief broke into a gaming store in Indianapolis suburb Brownsburg and shoved an estimated $15,000 worth of Magic: the Gathering cards into a pizza delivery bag.
The cards can be incredibly valuable — see that time Post Malone, who is known for his spendy MTG habits, bought the “One Ring” card, which is probably worth somewhere between $1 million and $2 million. That’s quite a bit more than the paltry $615,000 that an autographed Black Lotus recently commanded.
Apple may be testing an M3 Mac Mini
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Apple could have a Mac Mini powered by its new M3 chip in the works for 2024, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in his Power On newsletter today. Gurman says Apple is now testing a computer at its campus under model identifier Mac 15,12, but whether it's a Mac Mini is his speculation.
Gurman says the company is testing an eight-core CPU and a 10-core GPU Mac with 24GB RAM that’s running macOS Sonoma 14.1. Those specs are similar to the base model M2 Mac Mini, except for the memory installed — so far, entry-level Apple silicon Macs have started at 8GB RAM. (I wouldn’t read anything into that though; it would be very surprising if Apple jumped to 24GB for the base model.)
Gurman points out that in Apple’s earnings call, the company said it expected a double-digit decline in Mac revenue in the fourth quarter of this year, and Gurman reiterates that he doesn’t expect any M3-powered Macs to come before the first fiscal quarter of 2024 begins in October.
That brings the total expected M3 Macs up to six and covers all of the company’s primary desktops and laptops, including the iMac, which is expected to see its first refresh since 2021 soon. Unsurprisingly, Gurman doesn’t yet seem to expect M3 versions of the Mac Studio and Mac Pro, both of which only made the jump to Apple’s M2 silicon this year at WWDC. If you haven’t yet, check out our reviews for the 2023 Mac Studio and 2023 Mac Pro.
The cage match is back: Musk says Zuck fight will ‘be live-streamed on X’
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images
Elon Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s cage match will be livestreamed on Musk’s Twitter, currently rebranding as X, according to a tweet from Musk posted early this morning. Musk says the proceeds will go to charity for veterans.
Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino reposted Musk’s tweet with a comment that she is clearing her calendar. On Zuckerberg’s side, though, things appear to be quiet for the moment, as he has not commented on Threads or Instagram so far this morning.
The cage match goes back to June, when the two billionaires agreed to the fight via a series of social media posts on their respective platforms (Musk on Twitter, Zuckerberg on Instagram). Talk of the fight has been relatively quiet since the end of June though, and in late July, a Reuters story quoted the Zuck as saying he wasn’t sure if the fight would “come together.”
Whether this actually means the fight will happen is still up in the air, especially given Zuckerberg’s comment last month. If it does, Zuckerberg, who has been seen training heavily and even winning MMA fights, remains favored to win on Sports Betting.
We’ve reached out to both Meta and Twitter about Musk’s tweet, and will update if we hear more.
Schumer Wields Political Heft in Bid for New York Chips Funds The Senate majority leader helped deliver billions of dollars in federal funding for semiconductors. Now he’s pushing for his state to reap benefits.
Striking writers met with Hollywood studios for the first time in months
Image: The Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) met yesterday with representatives of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to confidentially discuss resuming talks, but the meeting ended without a definite agreement to resume negotiations (via Deadline). After the AMPTP withdrew to “consult with their member studios,” the WGA sent an email to its members disclosing the particulars of the discussion, saying studios had leaked details of the meeting to the press.
In the Friday talk, according to WGA’s letter to its members, the AMPTP said it was willing to offer more for “a few writer-specific TV minimums,” and was willing to discuss studio AI use, but wouldn’t consider success-based residuals or preserving writers’ rooms. (Disclosure: Vox Media’s editorial team, which includes The Verge, is also unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East.)
— Writers Guild of America West (@WGAWest) August 5, 2023
The WGA also said in its email that the AMPTP didn’t seem willing to address several other proposals from its demands, such as establishing minimum streaming residuals. According to the letter, WGA representative Ellen Stutzman made clear to the AMPTP that “all the fundamental issues” raised by the strike must be addressed in a new contract, including health care with better funding, strikiing writers’ reinstatement, and the “right for individual WGA members to honor other unions’ picket lines.”
Even so, talks are expected to continue soon, according to “a source close to the situation” who spoke with Variety, which reported that the two sides expect to resume communications “in the coming days” once leadership from each has talked over the Friday meeting with their membership. Variety reports that the mood in the meeting room was “a little stiff,” but “not so tense that near-term negotiations are impossible.”
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