Mill’s ambitious smart trash can isn’t going to solve the food waste problem

Mill’s ambitious smart trash can isn’t going to solve the food waste problem

This $400 kitchen bin eats your leftovers and promises to turn them into chicken food rather than landfill. A nicer-smelling kitchen and less waste are great, but not at this price.

At around 1AM on Sunday morning, my partner sat bolt upright in bed and whispered urgently, “There’s someone in the kitchen!” After listening sleepily for a few seconds to the muffled clunking noise, I replied, “No, there’s not; that’s just the smart bin eating an avocado pit.”

For most couples, this would have necessitated a further middle-of-the-night conversation, but for my long-suffering spouse, the word “smart” was all he needed to hear to roll his eyes and huffily go back to sleep.

The noise-making contraption was the Mill Kitchen Bin — a full-sized, sleek-looking Wi-Fi-connected trash can packed with sensors and an industrial-grade food grinder. It had hit a snag (a large pit) during its otherwise quiet nightly business of munching through its load of melon rinds, egg shells, coffee grinds, half-eaten peanut butter sandwiches, and chicken bones. Over nine hours or so, it worked on shredding, shrinking, drying, and dehydrating the food remnants we’d thrown in the 27-inch-tall, 16-inch-wide bin during the day, turning them into “food grounds” by morning.

The concept here is similar to the electric countertop “composters” you may have heard of — electronic gadgets that grind, dry, and dehydrate uneaten food. But instead of attempting to turn it into compost intended for your garden or houseplants, as those composters do, Mill wants you to ship the food grounds it regurgitates back to the company every month or so, where it turns it into food for chickens.

At least, that’s the plan. Mill CEO and co-founder Matt Rogers tells me they’re still working through some “R&D and regulatory processes” for the feed part. But the idea is that “Food is much more valuable than compost,” he says. “We should keep food as food.”

The Mill reduced the volume of waste leaving my house, resulting in less space taken up in the landfill

He’s not wrong. As with Roger’s prior efforts (which include the category-defining Nest Learning Thermostat), the Mill is designed to tackle a huge climate issue. This time, it’s household food waste instead of household energy use. “It’s a massive problem. We throw away about 40 percent of the food we grow, half of which comes from us at home,” he says.

Consequently, food is the most common item in landfills, where it gives off the greenhouse gas methane as it decomposes. It’s a big, little-discussed, global problem, which is a wildly massive issue to tackle with a pricey smart kitchen bin. “It’s this perfect blend of technology meets design meets climate,” says Rogers of the new invention. Mill provides an alternative if you don’t have the time, space, or expertise to manage a compost bin, or if you have all of the above but have nowhere useful to use the compost.

A food mill

I’ve spent a few months with the Mill in my kitchen, and while there is good tech and design here, the bin in its current form is not the solution to food waste. What it is is a very expensive smart rubbish bin that will make you feel better if you can’t / won’t compost or are unable to make any other effort to reduce what you throw out.

You can’t buy the bin outright. Instead, it’s a subscription model, so you’re basically renting it. You either pay $396 a year ($33 a month) or $45 monthly plus a $75 bin delivery (for a total of $615 for the first year). If you reserve a Mill bin today, Mill tells me it should be shipped to you in about two months. There’s no minimum time commitment, and the monthly fee covers all parts, repairs, replacements, and costs / materials for shipping the grounds back. You don’t have to ship the grinds back, but you still pay monthly either way.

While the bin will reduce the amount of trash that leaves your house, there are cheaper solutions for managing your food waste responsibly, including proper meal planning, non-electric countertop compost bins (if you’ve nowhere to put your scraps, there are organizations that can use them), and municipal and private composting programs. But Mill’s selling point is ease of use, and it’s a lot easier and less smelly than any of the above.

The Mill bin is as easy to use as a regular kitchen bin.

Dropping food scraps into the pedal-operated Mill is as easy as throwing them in the trash, but unlike a regular trash can or countertop composting, the Mill isn’t messy, doesn’t smell bad (even with shrimp shells in there for three days), and never attracts flies.

For me, the main benefit was that I only had to empty it about once a month (an easy process), and because I was inputting less in my regular trash bin, that went out less often, too. Mill reports one customer who shipped a 25-pound box of food grounds back to them kept “8.5 standard trash bags out of the landfill.”

But, unless you can offset its cost by paying for a smaller garbage can from your municipality, Mill is a solution for rich people who care about the planet. Those of us who care about the planet but aren’t able to spend $33 a month for a more convenient way to do good and can’t recoup any costs from downsizing our garbage can are just going to have to keep sticking our food scraps in the freezer and lobbying the local council for better community composting.

Henrie was not entirely sure what to make of the Mill.

A solution for a problem we shouldn’t have

We shouldn’t waste food, yet we do. My family of four wastes an unconscionable amount due to busy schedules, picky eaters, and a too-big refrigerator that hides leftovers until they walk out on their own.

We have chickens and a bunny rabbit, so fresh scraps from chopping veggies and fruits mostly find a happy home. But there is a very long list of things chickens can’t eat, including avocados, potatoes, onions, coffee grinds, and anything in butter, oil, or salt (so, most of what I cook).

However, the Mill can eat all these things, which made me skeptical about how Mill Industries will turn these food grounds into healthy chicken food for local farms. According to Mill, the grounds go through several processing steps to make them safe for chickens. “We’re able to test it and blend it to get the right nutritious ingredients,” says Rogers.

But it turns out this is a thing they haven’t actually done yet, at least outside of the research stages. I wanted to try out their chicken food on my chickens, and while Rogers told me I could feed them the grounds directly, the company is still “working to make them into a safe chicken feed ingredient.”

As it stands, the Mill is basically a glorified trash compactor that you pay monthly for the privilege of using

To create food for any creature, you need approval from the Food and Drug Administration and the version for animals, the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). As no one has ever made commercial chicken food from household leftovers before (it has been done with restaurant and grocery store scraps), Mill needs approval for its process.

While it’s not there yet, the company is getting close. This week, AAFCO approved a new definition for animal feed ingredients made from Dried, Recovered Household Food. There are still more regulatory hoops to jump through, but Mill spokesperson Molly Spaeth tells me, “We expect the two additional procedural votes to be completed by January 2024 at the latest. We have started [chicken feed] production now and are distributing in an R&D capacity until we have that full clearance in January.”

I’m not intimately familiar with regulatory processes for animal food, but right now, Mill’s product doesn’t deliver on its core promise of turning your food waste into commercial chicken food. Until that’s a proven solution — i.e., the hens are happy — it’s basically a glorified trash compactor that you pay monthly for the privilege of using.

The industrial-grade grinding bucket is the guts of the Mill. It fits in the top of the bin.

A smarter kitchen bin

Hungry chickens aside, as a smart trash can, the Mill works well. It made disposing of my food waste easier than my nascent attempts at composting (which is not as simple as it sounds), and I felt less guilt dumping leftovers from my plate or chopping board in there than throwing them in the bin destined for the landfill.

The list of foods the bin can’t take is significantly smaller than things my chickens can’t eat — you shouldn’t put in large bones, hard shells, corn husks, rotten food, or copious amounts of sugar like a whole cake (who throws away a whole cake?!). There’s a handy list of dos and don’ts that attaches magnetically to the bin.

Unlike most of the tech in my smart home, the Mill required minimal attention. Open it with the foot pedal, discarded food goes in, the lid locks at 10PM each night, and the lengthy grinding begins (you can adjust the start time in the accompanying app). Setup was as easy as unboxing, popping in the bucket and large charcoal filter, and plugging it in — although I needed help as the whole contraption weighs a whopping 50 pounds.

Using the bin with its companion smartphone app required setting up an account with my email address. I then paired it via Bluetooth and connected it to my Wi-Fi. The app can send push notifications when the bin is full and if there are problems, and it is also where I could set what time the grinding would begin. It recommends 10PM, and I got a fright when I watched TV in the living room one night, and the bin made a very loud clunking sound as it locked the lid. The grinding process itself, however, is surprisingly quiet (avocado pits notwithstanding).

The bin doesn’t have to be online all the time, and connectivity isn’t required to use it. Its onboard sensors that detect weight, humidity, and moisture run using on-device algorithms to determine how long to grind and dry the food scraps and don’t rely on a cloud connection. However, connectivity helps keep track of the time it needs to automate the dehydration cycles and allows for firmware updates and tweaks to the algorithms.

While I was testing the bin, it received an update that shortened the drying time by an hour or so, ending around 6AM instead of 7AM. Mill also monitors things like the status of the charcoal filter to send a new one automatically and offers up troubleshooting tips in the app if a jam happens.

Subtle LED lights on the bin’s faux-wood lid tell you what it’s doing — grinding, mixing, locked and hot, or ready to be emptied. You can press and hold its single physical button to unlock it while it’s working to add extra scraps, although this process took a beat longer than was useful when you’re in the middle of making breakfast.

The food grounds generally resemble dirt, but when the bin got jammed, Mill told me to soak them to try and clear it out. The resulting sludge was so immovable I had to send the bucket back to Mill to deal with.

When the Mill got jammed, I learned about the other LED icon — two flashing red dots. This was my worst experience with the bin, and the troubleshooting steps the app took me through to try and clear it were sticky, gross, and unsuccessful. In the end, Mill overnighted a new bucket (the removable part, not the whole bin) and had me send my one back for “an examination,” a process included in the product’s warranty.

According to Spaeth, Mill determined the jam was likely caused by adding a bunch of old chard on top of an almost full bucket of overly dehydrated scraps, causing the grounds at the bottom to turn into cement. That firmware update that came a few weeks later and adjusted the drying time was designed to correct this problem so as not to turn the food scraps into powder. But the jam experience was so icky that had I been paying for the service, I would have canceled it on the spot.

Thankfully, once the dark jam days were over, emptying the bin and sending the grounds off to Mill was simple. Everything you need for this is included in the monthly subscription price. I just scheduled my mail delivery person to collect the prelabeled box on his next visit using Mill’s app. This means no extra truck rolling to collect my box and my two months’ worth of food waste — which, based on how many fewer trips to the garbage cart I took, would’ve taken up around four trash bags of space on a diesel garbage truck — fit into a box smaller than my last Amazon delivery package and weighed just over 8lbs.

Emptying the Mill bin when it wasn’t jammed was really simple and definitely less stinky than taking out the regular trash.

According to the report Mill sent me after processing my waste (not a sentence a tech reviewer ever expects to write), I potentially saved -27kgs on CO2 equivalent emissions by using the bin. This included offsetting the energy use of the bin and the shipping footprint. This impact report is similar to the home report a Nest thermostat sends estimating energy saved. This type of positive reinforcement has been shown to help people change their habits. For Rogers, that’s where he sees Mill’s potential success, fundamentally altering people’s daily behaviors.

The Mill impact report said my 8.2 lbs of food waste had saved the equivalent of not burning 31 lbs of coal. The company uses a Lifecycle Assessment to calculate the overall impact of each part of its process.

As it stands, though, this product feels more like a proof of concept. Ultimately, food waste is a problem too big for a Silicon Valley startup to solve singlehandedly. Solutions need to come from municipalities. Approximately 5 percent of US cities currently have a green bin program for food — something that is more common but still not prevalent in Europe. Even when Mill’s $400-a-year bins do effectively close the nutrient food cycle by producing commercial chicken food, we need better local solutions. If Mill is still shipping garbage across the country, then greenwashing accusations start to hold water.

Rogers recognizes this and makes it clear that how Mill is starting is not how it plans to scale. Mill has already partnered with several cities and has plans for more. Mill’s current solution is imperfect, but it does offer a potential alternative to existing systems that do too little. If Mill can scale to provide a viable infrastructure locally — where my food grounds are delivered to a local processing center, and the resulting chicken food goes to nearby farms, that seems like a win-win.

But that is a very big If. As it stands, my kitchen scraps are flying 3,000 miles or so from South Carolina to Mill’s only feed facility in Mukilteo, Washington, and so far, no local chickens have consumed a grain.

The Mill (which should only be used indoors) is a well-designed piece of tech that significantly reduced the volume of trash leaving my house. But it’s not going to singlehandedly solve the food waste problem.

The “Mill”ion-dollar question

I enjoyed using the Mill — I like how it looks, and the convenience promise paid off — but I won’t pay $33 a month for it, and I doubt there are many people who will. Is it better than throwing your discarded food into the regular bin or down the garbage disposal? Yes. At a minimum, and chicken feed aside, the Mill bin dramatically reduced the volume of waste leaving my house, resulting in less space taken up in the landfill and that big diesel garbage truck.

But that just isn’t a compelling enough payoff for most people to invest monthly in a smart kitchen bin. It’s no 15 percent off your energy bill, as the Nest promises, which is a hard enough sell for a device that costs half the amount this bin does.

The experience did make me more aware of how much food we waste. But rather than pay for a fancy device to fix that problem, I’m determined to do a better job of meal planning and eating my leftovers in a timely fashion.

If the promise of the food grounds becoming chicken food pans out and if Mill can scale to a point where municipalities offer these bins to their taxpayers for free or reduced costs, similar to how energy companies give rebates on smart thermostats, I can see more value. If they also eliminate the cross-country shipping issue, that would be even better. But today, it feels like an over-engineered solution to an enormous problem that a few thousand people who can pay for the privilege of feeling better about their waste management just isn’t going to impact.

Photos and video by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

As Hollywood Strikes Roll On, Viewers Catch Up With a TV Glut

As Hollywood Strikes Roll On, Viewers Catch Up With a TV Glut After years of being inundated with new shows, some are using a pause in production to finally watch all the stuff they missed when it came out.

Google Slides is getting native support for annotations

Google Slides is getting native support for annotations

Circling! Underlining! And more! | Image: Google

Google is adding a new annotation feature to its Slides presentation software that’ll let users doodle on their work while presenting it. The search giant hopes that having the ability to “circle, underline, draw connections or make quick notes” will make for presentations that are “more engaging, interactive and impactful.”

While Microsoft PowerPoint users have long had the ability to doodle on their decks, Google Slides users haven’t been so lucky. In response people have developed workarounds like using Chrome extensions like Annotate and Web Paint to draw over their browser while presenting. Needless to say, having the feature natively built into Slides should be much simpler.

Releasing for everyone in the coming weeks

According to Google’s blog post, the annotation feature is accessible via the three dot menu that’s available on the bottom left of the screen while presenting. There’s a pen tool with a few different color options, as well as an eraser.

The feature will be rolling out to most Google Slides users in the two weeks following August 23rd, but anyone on a rapid release domain will get it in the next couple of weeks. Annotations will be available to all Google Slides users, regardless of whether they have a paid Google Workspace account, or a free Google account.

Olivia Rodrigo just released a new song — and a new Instagram feature

Olivia Rodrigo just released a new song — and a new Instagram feature

Image: Instagram

A new Instagram feature allows users to add music to their grid posts — and Olivia Rodrigo is the first person to do it.

The feature was introduced today by Rodrigo, who used it to unveil her new song, “bad idea right?” Instagram users can attach a song of their choice to soundtrack a carousel post with multiple photos or videos, similar to how tracks can be added to Stories or Reels. The feature appears to be in the process of rolling out to users.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Olivia Rodrigo (@oliviarodrigo)

Sadly, The Verge did not get a preview of the song and post under embargo, so I can’t really tell you much about it. But if it’s anything like “good 4 u” off of her last album, I already like it.

Instagram is also releasing a handful of new features besides this one. First, followers will have a new incentive to make Reels: when a fan uses the “add yours” sticker to make a video based on a prompt, they’ll have a chance to be highlighted by the original creator or artist. When a creator selects a submission to be highlighted, the video appears at the top of a landing page, showing other Reels stemming from the sticker prompt. Creators will be able to pin up to 10 Reels to highlight, and fans will get a notification if their video is selected by the creator.

Instagram is also expanding its collaborative publishing feature to include up to three other accounts as co-authors of posts. The Collabs feature allows both public and private accounts to jointly share content and have it appear on each account’s feed.

Regulators Agree to Expansion of Driverless Car Services in San Francisco

Regulators Agree to Expansion of Driverless Car Services in San Francisco Autonomous Cruise and Waymo taxis have been buzzing around the city for some time, and now they can offer round-the-clock rides for pay.

Robotaxis get the green light to expand to 24/7 service in San Francisco

Robotaxis get the green light to expand to 24/7 service in San Francisco

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Waymo and Cruise were approved to operate their robotaxi services 24/7 in San Francisco, after a contentious public hearing in which residents voiced their support and opposition to the vehicles.

The vote by the California Public Utilities Commission allows the two companies to operate their vehicles at any hour of the day throughout the city of San Francisco.

Currently, the companies only offer limited service. The vote in favor of the companies essentially gives robotaxis full access to the peninsula and its residents. They are now able to operate similarly to Uber or Lyft — travel anywhere in the city, at any time of day, and charge money for the rides.

The six-and-a-half hour hearing featured a variety of voices, many of them from the disabled community, speaking to the pros and cons of autonomous ride-hailing services. Residents opposed to the companies spoke of blocked traffic and robot cars allowed to run roughshod throughout the city. Supporters praised the vehicles as safer than human drivers and the potential boon for disabled riders. After hours of public testimony, those opposed to the vehicles appeared to have a slight edge over the supporters.

San Francisco is being “pimped out” by big technology companies, a resident named Michael Martinez said during the hearing. He accused Waymo and Cruise of “trotting out blind people and their dogs” to generate sympathy for their cause. “You guys aren’t stupid,” he told the four commission members. “Don’t be stupid.”

But the disabled community wasn’t unified in favor of the expansion. Rebecca Miller, who had visual impairment, urged the commission to vote no, citing concerns about pedestrians and a need for more affordable transportation like transit.

“A car needs to have a driver in it,” a woman who drives for Lyft said. “It’s insane not to have a driver in it.”

For months, San Francisco city officials have been pleading with the state to delay the vote, citing a spate of incidents in which autonomous vehicles have stopped traffic, blocked buses, or obstructed emergency vehicles. The city’s transit agency and fire and police department have all logged complaints with the CPUC, calling for the commission to reconsider the plan for 24/7 service.

Developing...

Wisk and Archer Will Collaborate on Air Taxis and End Legal Fight

Wisk and Archer Will Collaborate on Air Taxis and End Legal Fight Wisk Aero, owned by Boeing, entered a financial and technological partnership with Archer Aviation and dropped a lawsuit claiming theft of trade secrets.

We asked LG for a burn-in warranty on its OLED monitor — and it’s delivering

We asked LG for a burn-in warranty on its OLED monitor — and it’s delivering

LG’s 27-inch OLED monitor. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge

OLED might be the future of monitors, but first, they need to finish addressing burn-in fears. In my recent review of LG’s 27-inch OLED desktop gaming monitor, I wrote how the company’s warranty explicitly excludes “burned-in images resulting from improper usage.” And when I reached out to clarify, I couldn’t get a straight answer about burn-in coverage from the company.

But after four months of conversations with The Verge, LG Electronics has changed that warranty. LG now has a two-year burn-in warranty for its OLED gaming monitor in the US, Christopher De Maria, LG’s head of consumer PR for North America, tells The Verge.

The new warranty, which De Maria says also applies retroactively to any LG 27GR95QE-B monitors that have already been sold, doesn’t exactly spell it out that way. Technically, it says LG will only cover “normal and proper use” and specifically excludes “Damage or failure of the Product resulting from misuse [or] abuse.”

But LG Electronics product marketing director David Park makes it pretty clear: “Now, as long as you use the monitor as intended (personal PC monitor) in a residential setting (does not support commercial usage like retail signage display) burn-in is covered.”

“Normal use means the product is used for what it was created to do. In this case that is gaming (professional and casual) as well as desktop computing such as Windows, etc,” De Maria tells The Verge.

Page 2 of LG Gaming OLED Monitor Warranty

Contributed to DocumentCloud by The Verge (Vox.com) • View document or read text

That’s important because companies will often take evidence of damage as evidence of abuse, like how some companies will deny warranty service on water-resistant phones if any water penetrates inside. For years, OLED enthusiasts and monitor manufacturers have warned that you shouldn’t leave the same content on the screen for too long, some even going so far as to hide the Windows taskbar and browser chrome to avoid burn-in.

But LG Display and Samsung Display, the companies that make the OLED panels inside these monitors, now have so many built-in protections and manage their brightness so much that they’re confident they can stave off burn-in for quite some time.

So confident that they offer a burn-in warranty to monitor manufacturers — some of which don’t pass along that warranty to you.

After we pointed that out to LG Electronics and published our skeptical but largely favorable review, the company finally confirmed it will cover burn-in.

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge

Another image of LG’s 27-inch gaming OLED.

Acer and Asus, which also sell monitors with the same LG Display panel, still don’t cover burn-in. Neither answered our question about why they don’t pass along LG Display’s burn-in warranty to their own customers, with the Acer Predator X27U and the Asus ROG Swift OLED PG27AQDM.

“Discretion” is not a guarantee

“While burn-in is not considered part of our formal 3-year monitor warranty coverage, in practice, our customer care team has discretion to assist customers with this rare issue and authorize repair services, free-of-charge,” says Acer media relations manager Erin Davern.

Asus gaming PR lead Cat Tompkins said the company would need to talk to LG about its burn-in warranty before providing an official statement for this story.

Dell’s Alienware and Corsair both sell OLED monitors with three-year burn-in warranties, and Alienware even offers next-business-day replacement. Corsair uses the same LG Display screen, while Alienware uses a Samsung QD-OLED panel.

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

Alienware currently offers large curved ultrawide QD-OLED screens from Samsung.

“Our warranty is built around the fact that we trust in that pixel refresh function to help mitigate burn-in,” says Alienware PR specialist Frank Cestone.

“When QD-OLED technology was introduced, we knew there was an opportunity to address the broader concerns around OLED reliability,” Dell VP of display technologies Yoon Lee tells The Verge. She writes that Dell saw it as an opportunity to “further differentiate Alienware from its competitors.”

Dough claims it will offer a two-year burn-in warranty, too.

I would still argue that two or even three years of burn-in protection isn’t necessarily enough for a device you could easily use for a decade — but going from a zero-year guarantee to a two-year one is a big move for LG.

How to verify your Threads account using your Mastodon profile

How to verify your Threads account using your Mastodon profile

Image: Samar Haddad / The Verge

As explained in a recent article, Meta has rolled out the ability to verify a link to your Threads profile on social media platforms like Mastodon, according to a Threads post from Instagram head Adam Mosseri. In other words, the Mastodon account on your profile will show a verified checkmark for a Threads profile — so you’re using your Threads account to signal to people looking at your profile on Mastodon that you own the Threads link you’re pointing to.

It’s a pretty straightforward process. However, while it worked for us, at least one Verge staffer had problems with it, as did some others who tried it, so there’s a chance it may not work for you.

Here’s how we were able to do it:

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

Now, my Threads account is verified on Mastodon.

• On Threads, go to your profile (using the bottom-right profile icon).
• Select the Edit profile button.
• Where it says Link, add your Mastodon profile URL. (You can do this by copying and pasting your full Mastodon URL — say, https://mastodon.social/@jaypeters — from your browser into the Link box in Threads.)
• Now, go to your Mastodon profile and select Edit Profile. (This may differ slightly depending on the app you use.)
• There should be a place (again, depending on the app you use) to add a new link. Add your Threads profile URL and save the changes. (You can do this by copying and pasting your Threads URL — say, https://mastodon.social/@jaypeters — from your browser into Mastodon.)
• After you make and save that change, your Mastodon profile should show a green verification checkmark next to your Threads profile URL.

Success! (Hopefully.)

Here are the funniest things being auctioned off at Twitter HQ

Here are the funniest things being auctioned off at Twitter HQ

Yup, even the building signs are up for grabs. Providing you’re the one arranging the ‘grabbing’. | Photo by David Odisho/Getty Images

Now that Elon Musk’s plan to rebrand Twitter to X is in motion, the company is looking to sell a bunch of stuff tied to its previous image in what feels like a comically unhinged estate sale. Hundreds of items from X’s San Francisco headquarters will be available to buy via an online auction next month that’s running from September 12th to 14th.

Everything currently has an opening bid set at $25 so there’s the potential to grab some real bargains here. Most of the listings are for the kind of office equipment you’d expect from a big corporation, like desks, printers, and laptop docking stations. Several of the lots being advertised — such as soundproof office booths and designer chairs — were also listed in an auction back in January. There’s plenty of new stuff up for grabs though, and some of it toes the line between tragic and downright amusing.

Here are some of our favorite listings from the Twitter Rebranding auction:

A repurposed barn from Montana

Image: X / Heritage Global Partners

Looks a little breasy, though the lack of roof will likely require this to be installed inside anyway.

Playfully dubbed “The Lodge,” this 20 x 20-foot seating booth features four tables and L-shaped benches. The booth was apparently reconstructed from a Montana barn, and can now be yours for as little as $25 (as long as nobody else bids on it!).

A tribute to Robin Williams comprised of celebrity tweets

Image: X / Heritage Global Partners

This could genuinely be a sweet momento for someone who’s still mourning this legend.

A perfect gift for any super fan I’m sure. This 13-foot long mural uses screenshots of celebrity tweets paying tribute to Robin Williams to form a mosaic of the beloved comedian.

Various bird-shaped memorabilia

Here’s your chance to own a unique collector's item or two. Now that X is de-feathering its brand, these bird-themed props could find refuge in your home instead. Most of these are decorative signs or wall art, but there’s also an attractive wooden coffee table or a “Larry art boulder” for those who can spare the room. If that’s not iconic enough though...

The literal building signs (if you have the permits to remove them)

Yep, you can take home the Twitter logo building fascias located on 10th street and Jessie street. By which I mean, you literally need to take them. A note on these listings discloses that these signs are still mounted on the side of X’s HQ, and that the buyer will be responsible for “hiring an SF Licensed Company with appropriate permits” to remove them. It’s evidently too much hassle for Musk to arrange himself.

Hashtag and ‘@’ symbol props

Pretty self-explanatory. I can’t imagine their new homes will have as much history with these symbols as Twitter did, but perhaps there’s a boujiee internet cafe somewhere that can make good use of them.

A 34-foot agamograph

Image: X / Heritage Global Partners

I think we’d all like to know, honestly.

An agamograph (for those unaware) is a type of image that changes depending on what angle you view it from. In this example, the piece shifts from a wide-eyed emoji, to the question “What’s Happening?” — something I’m sure the remaining legacy employees at X have been asking themselves for months.

A hand-painted celebration of former President Obama’s re-election

Image: Debbie Fass / X

I’m not judging, it would be very...patriotic? I guess?

Such an unusual statement piece needs something on par to complement it...

A hand-painted celebration of Ellen DeGeneres’ 2014 Oscar selfie

Image: Debbie Fass / X

I, too, love to display recreations of famous tweets around my home.

Ah, perfect.

A swinging sofa shaped like a bird-cage

Image: X / Heritage Global Partners

I absolutely would buy this myself if shipping it to the UK wouldn’t bankrupt me.

Okay, honestly this is kind of cute. Here’s hoping someone buys it for their cottage-core-loving girlfriend or something so it doesn’t end up in the trash.

A ton of Google Jamboards

Image: X / Heritage Global Partners

Made good use of all those Google Jamboards huh...

There are almost 100 individual listings for Google’s 55-inch interactive whiteboard, most of which are apparently brand new and still in their original packaging. If you want to buy one from Google directly it’ll set you back almost $5,000 so the $25 starting bid on these might be more palatable. It’s a little depressing to imagine that all these Google Jamboards have just been gathering dust considering they’re such a hefty investment.

Samsung is kicking off its One UI 6 beta program

Samsung is kicking off its One UI 6 beta program

EMBARGOED until February 1st 2023 at 1PM ET | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Samsung is launching its beta program for One UI 6, its version of Android that’s based on Android 14. Key features for this next revision are a simplified design and more customization options.

On the design front, “many elements have been tweaked to create a more modern look and feel,” according to a press release from Samsung. That includes a new default font and new emoji you can use from the Samsung Keyboard. The company has also updated the look of the Quick Panel so that you can more easily get to commonly-used features.

Image: Samsung

Two screenshots showing what you can expect in Samsung’s One UI 6.

As for customization, One UI 6 will let you choose specific lock screens that are tied to certain Modes and Routines, which sounds a lot like what you can do with the iPhone’s lock screens and Focus modes.

Unfortunately, the One UI 6 beta will only be available on the Galaxy S23 lineup to start — if you’re about to pick up one of Samsung’s latest foldables, you’re out of luck for now. But if you’ve got an S23 phone and you’re in the US, Germany, or South Korea, you can check out the One UI 6 beta beginning Thursday.

Dozens of Children Die in Hot Cars Each Year. Back-Seat Sensors Could Save Them.

Dozens of Children Die in Hot Cars Each Year. Back-Seat Sensors Could Save Them. A moment of forgetfulness by a distracted or sleep-deprived parent can be devastating. Experts and child-safety advocates have called for interior motion sensors in all vehicles.

Google Docs and Drive are getting support for eSignatures

Google Docs and Drive are getting support for eSignatures

Users will be able to request full signatures or initials, with the ability to auto-generate a date for when it was signed. | Image: Google

Google is adding native support for eSignatures to Docs and Drive in an attempt to make it easier for users to request signatures and sign documents from within its cloud-based productivity software, the company has announced. Google is now releasing the ability to request and leave eSignatures in beta, after more than a year of testing the feature in alpha.

There are plenty of pieces of software that already offer eSignature support, ranging from cloud-based options like Dropbox through to local programs like Adobe Acrobat. So Google’s addition of this feature is more about offering parity with its competitors rather than forging new ground, and means user’s shouldn’t have to switch between different apps and tabs as much while working on contracts once it’s rolled out.

Image: Google

The signature request interface in Drive.

Screenshots published by Google show how Docs and Drive users will be able to request a full signature or initials from recipients, and there’s also a “date signed” box that can be set to auto-fill. Multiple signature requests can be generated from the same template contract, and Google says it also includes the ability to track the status of pending signatures. It sounds like you’ll only be able to request signatures from Gmail users for the time being; Google’s blog post notes that “the ability to request an eSignature from non-Gmail users” won’t arrive until later this year.

Although the feature is leaving alpha and entering beta, Google’s eSignature feature won’t be widely available to all Workspace users just yet. Workspace individual subscribers will get access to an open beta of the feature in the next couple of weeks, but other Workspace Business or Enterprise subscribers will only get access if their admins specifically request it via this form. There’s no mention of if or when the feature might come to Google’s free personal accounts.

Logitech’s new laptop stand and keyboard folds down into a cute little box

Logitech’s new laptop stand and keyboard folds down into a cute little box

When set up, the Casa Pop-Up desk looks like any other laptop stand. | Image: Logitech

Logitech’s Casa Pop-Up Desk is the company’s new attempt to offer a neat and ergonomic desk setup that can be easily folded away at the end of the day. For £179 (around $227, though Logitech is yet to confirm a US release), you get the laptop stand itself, as well as a wireless keyboard and trackpad that tuck inside of it.

Although it’s almost certainly cheaper to put together the same setup more cheaply with accessories from different manufacturers, the appeal of the Casa Pop-Up Desk is how neatly everything fits together when not in use. You’ve got your “Casa Keys” wireless keyboard and your “Casa Touch” touchpad, and they’re designed to fit inside the “Casa Book” laptop stand when you pack everything away at the end of the day. The stand also includes an additional storage slot, which Logitech says fits things like charging cables or stationary.

Image: Logitech

Once packed away, the stand can go on your shelf next to other aesthetically pleasing things.

The Casa Pop-Up Desk is available in off-white, rose, and green / graphite in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. We’ve checked in with Logitech to see when it might get a wider release, including in the US.

Amid Sextortion’s Rise, Computer Scientists Tap A.I. to Identify Risky Apps

Amid Sextortion’s Rise, Computer Scientists Tap A.I. to Identify Risky Apps Researchers who found that a fifth of social networking apps have received multiple user complaints about sexual exploitation have launched a website to help parents vet apps.

A Canadian woman says she has gotten over 50 Amazon packages she didn’t order

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

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.

IQ can “reduce the severity” of injury to pedestrians

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

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.

Read our Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus review.

There are a lot of excellent noise-canceling wireless earbuds on the market, but if superb sound quality is your number one priority, you can’t beat Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 3. And right now, they’re on sale for $179.95 ($100 off) at Amazon and Best Buy.

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.

Read our Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 review.

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.
• Nintendo Switch owners can buy Hori’s Split Pad Compact for $38.99 ($10 off) at Target and Walmart in the light gray / yellow colorway. The nifty Joy-Con alternative is essentially a more compact version of the Hori Split Pad Pro, one that’s suitable for smaller hands but offers the same functionality. Read our guide to the best Nintendo Switch controllers.
• 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

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.