Arkane Studios detailed everything new in Redfall’s Game Update 2 in a blog post on its website. In addition to the performance mode, the update adds things stealth takedowns, more enemies in the open world, some changes to controller settings, improvements to screen narration, and a lot more. It seems like a pretty substantial patch.
Will it be enough for a Cyberpunk 2077-style turnaround, though? I’m dubious about that — I liked the at-launch Cyberpunk2077, which I actually finished, a lot more than I liked the at-launch Redfall, which I stopped playing after a few hours. Fingers crossed, though. And Arkane has already promised that two DLC characters are in the works, so there should be more news about Redfall to look forward to some point down the line.
The best phone to buy right now
Photo Illustration by William Joel / The Verge
Bad news: flagship phones cost a small fortune these days. Good news: we can help you pick the right one and get the most for your money.
It’s high season for new phones, and a fresh crop of new devices — including iPhones — has a lot of people wondering whether it’s time to upgrade. Whether you’re in the market for a new Apple or Android phone, there’s no shortage of great choices right now. Generally speaking, it’s been a year of modest mobile tech updates, but they’ve been important ones.
Foldable phones are getting more useful with bigger cover screens as on the Galaxy Z Flip 5, smartphone camera zoom has reached new heights on Samsung’s top-tier flagship, and the iPhone finally made the jump from Lightning to USB-C. And if you’re coming from a phone that’s three or four years old, you’ll find that the incremental advances over the past few years will add up for a significantly upgraded experience.
If you’re looking to spend a little less and still get the best smartphone on a budget, you can find something really good for under $500. For those recommendations, check out our guide to budget smartphones.
Best iPhone for most people
Screen:6.1-inch 2556 x 1179 OLED, 60Hz refresh rate /Processor:A16 BionicCameras:48-megapixel f/1.6 main with sensor-shift IS, 12-megapixel ultrawide, 12-megapixel selfie /Battery:not advertised /Charging:27W wired, 15W wireless MagSafe, 7.5W Qi /Weather-resistance rating:IP68
Last year, we recommended buying a new iPhone 13 rather than the 14 — the minor updates on the standard 14 just weren’t worth it with the 13 available for $100 less. This year is a different story. The iPhone 15 levels up in several important ways, starting with the adoption of the new Dynamic Island. That’s the free-floating, pill-shaped notch at the top of the screen that expands to show important status and time-sensitive information. There’s still much more it could do, but it’s a useful addition and one that app developers will consider as they design future updates.
There’s also that new port: Lightning is out, and USB-C is in. That might be a bit of a pain at first since you’ll need to swap out old Lightning cables and accessories you were using with your last iPhone, but in the long run, it’s going to be a positive change. You’ll be able to use the same cable that you use to charge your laptop, iPad, and many of your other gadgets, which is awfully handy when you’re packing for a trip. Plus, you can finally share charging cables with the Android phone owners in your life — and that’s sweet, sweet charging harmony.
Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge
There are some useful camera upgrades, too, starting with a new high-resolution 48-megapixel main camera sensor. With more pixels available than the previous 12-megapixel chip, it can use the middle of the sensor to offer a lossless 2x crop. That’s especially handy on the standard iPhone 15, which lacks a dedicated telephoto lens.
And this generation of iPhones offers a handy new feature for fans of Portrait Mode — the ability to add the portrait effect after capture. When the phone detects a face in the scene, it will automatically save the depth information needed to create the soft-focus background effect when you’re editing your photo. It’s especially useful for those moments when taking a second to switch to portrait mode would mean missing a cute shot of your kid or pet.
Screen:6.6-inch 1080p 120Hz OLED /Processor:Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy /Cameras:50-megapixel F1.8 main with OIS, 10-megapixel 3x telephoto with OIS, 12-megapixel ultrawide, 12-megapixel selfie /Battery:4,700mAh /Charging:45W wired, 15W wireless /Weather resistance:IP68
The S23 Plus is a minor update to its predecessor, but the upgrades are good ones. It still has a large 6.6-inch display with a smooth-scrolling 120Hz top refresh rate, and it’s a lovely screen to use — not as high-res as the Google Pixel 7 Pro’s 1440p display, but it’s top-notch. Some tweaks to the display tech and a bigger 4,700mAh battery give the S23 Plus stronger battery performance than its predecessor, so you can get through a full day of heavy use with a little more wiggle room than the outgoing model afforded.
There’s also a new chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. It’s included in all models sold across the globe, and that’s a good thing — it is whip-fast. It handles daily tasks without a problem and heavier tasks like gaming with remarkable ease. Otherwise, there’s a lot that’s familiar about the S23 Plus. It still starts at $999, though the base model now comes with 256GB of built-in storage.
Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge
The S23 Plus includes a big screen and a highly capable Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset.
The rear triple-camera system is also recycled from last year’s model, and for the most part, that’s fine. The 50-megapixel main sensor produces punchy, vibrant 12-megapixel photos by default. Portrait mode photos from either the main sensor or 3x telephoto camera are fantastic, with excellent subject isolation. Outside of portrait mode, the 3x camera looks a lot more average. It’s a shorter focal length than the 5x telephoto on the Pixel 7 Pro, so it’s a bit less useful for distant subjects.
Our least favorite part of a Samsung phone is the out-of-box software experience, as it comes with a lot of duplicate apps to replace or accompany Google’s stock apps like Messages, Google Calendar, and Google Assistant. Unless you’re a Bixby fan, you’ll need to take a little time to de-Samsung the S23 Plus. The Pixel 7 Pro offers a much more streamlined experience right out of the gate. But there’s good news: the phone ships with One UI 5.1 and is slated to receive four more OS platform upgrades and five years of security updates. That means you can keep using the phone safely well into the future and get the most out of your investment.
The iPhone 15 Pro manages to do something rare in the premium class: it actually got a little smaller year over year. It’s just a millimeter less on the width and height, but it makes the phone a little more comfortable to hold. The new titanium build that you’ve surely heard so much about by now in Apple’s ads makes a significant difference, too: the 15 Pro is 19 grams lighter than the 14 Pro. That’s a welcome change because the 14 Pro was awfully heavy.
There’s the new Action Button on the side of the phone replacing the mute switch, and it’s incredibly useful if you have the patience to program a shortcut for it. Otherwise, you can map it to one of a few preprogrammed functions like jumping straight into the camera app in video mode or turning on the flashlight. It’s also easier to reach on the 15 Pro than the bigger Pro Max, where it’s more of a reach on the taller frame.
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
The 15 Pro is the smaller of the two Pro models and doesn’t come with the longer telephoto lens of its bigger sibling, but it’s an excellent choice for most people who want a great device with plenty of bells and whistles.
The regular 15 Pro misses out on the longer 5x lens on the Pro Max; you get the familiar 3x zoom lens instead. That’s something to consider if you’re a photographer who’s fond of longer telephoto shots. But you do get access to two new digital “lenses”: a 28mm and a 35mm equivalent. They’re available by tapping the 1x icon in the camera app, and they’re not the result of simple up-rezzing or cropping, so the quality is a bit better than you’d get just cropping your shot after the fact. If the phone’s native 24mm equiv. lens feels too wide to you, then you have a couple of great alternatives now.
The 15 Pro comes with Apple’s newest mobile chipset, the A17 Pro, enabling console-quality gaming. That’s not a feature everyone will use, but it’s there if you want it, and the A17 Pro is a powerful processor on the whole. The phone inherits the always-on display introduced in last year’s Pro models, and we’re really liking it with iOS 17’s new StandBy mode feature — just set the phone to charge in landscape orientation, and you’ll get a handy bedside clock.
None of this comes cheap at $999, but if you can splurge, then the Pro model really does get you some worthwhile upgrades over the standard 15.
Screen:6.8-inch 1440p 120Hz OLED /Processor:Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy /Cameras:200-megapixel main with OIS, 10-megapixel 10x telephoto with OIS, 10-megapixel 3x telephoto with OIS, 12-megapixel ultrawide, 12-megapixel selfie /Battery:5,000mAh /Charging:45W wired, 15W wireless /Weather resistance:IP68
The S23 Ultra is Samsung’s kitchen sink flagship phone. It’s a maximalist experience with a built-in stylus, four rear cameras (including two telephotos), a massive 6.8-inch screen, and the top-shelf Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. It’s hard to imagine what you could cram into this device without turning it into a foldable (please turn it into a foldable, Samsung).
All that hardware comes at a high starting price of $1,200, so it’s not our top pick for just anyone looking for a great Android phone. But if you’re looking for the best of the best — particularly if you live in the US where choice is limited — it’s at the very top of our list. The camera system is impressive; portrait mode photos are excellent, and it’s capable of very good images all the way to 30x zoom. There’s a new 200-megapixel main camera sensor at the heart of the rear camera array, and it does a good job of bringing out fine details in both good lighting and low light conditions.
Image: Allison Johnson / The Verge
The Galaxy S23 Ultra stands alone with a maximalist feature set.
The integrated S Pen isn’t new or updated for 2023, but it’s still a nice tool to have at the ready when you need to jot down a quick note. That massive screen is detailed, and scrolling is smooth, with a variable refresh rate up to 120Hz all the way down to 1Hz. The sizeable 5,000mAh battery powers it through a day of heavy use, but don’t count on getting a lot more than one day out of it.
Our usual gripes with Samsung software apply here, too, and if anything, they’re a little more glaring on such a pricey phone. The phone will happily download a bunch of extra apps you probably don’t want during setup, although you can opt out of a fair chunk of them and hide most of the ones you can’t uninstall. But Samsung’s healthy software support policy is fitting of a $1,200 phone: you’ll get four OS platform upgrades and five years of security updates. Not quite as good as Apple, but among the best on Android.
At $499, the Pixel 7A is one of the pricier midrange phones you can buy, but the extra features it provides are well worth the money. It offers a nice 6.1-inch OLED with a 90Hz top refresh rate for smooth scrolling — not quite as nice as the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G’s 120Hz screen but a step up from the 6A’s 60Hz display.
Other new features this year include the Tensor G2 chipset from Google — the same on 2022’s flagship 7 and 7 Pro — with a healthy 8GB of RAM, an updated 64-megapixel main camera, and wireless charging. Factor in the 7A’s hearty IP67 dust and water resistance, its sturdy aluminum frame, and the fact that it continues to offer the best photo quality in the class and that $499 price tag starts to look like a pretty sweet deal.
Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge
It’s on the pricey side for a midrange phone, but the Pixel 7A is a heck of a good deal for its feature set.
Battery life on the Pixel 7A is just average. It will get through a day of moderate use with a bit left in the tank, but if you add in a battery-draining activity like gaming or an extended video streaming session, you’ll probably need to top it off before the end of the day. Otherwise, the 7A is an easy pick if your budget is modest. It’s scheduled to get three OS upgrades and five years of security patches, so it’s well positioned to go the distance, too.
There are other phones under $500 worth considering, and they’re all covered in our guide to the best inexpensive phones. But if you’re looking for the absolute most you can get from a $500 phone, then look no further than the 7A.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 has two things that the Flip 4 didn’t: a large cover screen and a legitimate competitor. The Motorola Razr Plus is another worthy flip-style foldable, and there are good reasons to consider it, but for the same $999 price, the Flip 5 simply offers more for your money.
The Flip 5’s 3.4-inch cover screen provides a lot of useful ways to interact with your phone without having to open it up. There are widgets for checking your calendar and the weather, and a full QWERTY keyboard allows you to send quick messages and emails right from the cover screen. You can run any app you like if you’re adventurous, but Samsung makes you jump through quite a few hoops to do this. If you want to run apps more easily, then the Razr Plus is the better option.
Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge
A bigger cover screen makes a world of difference on a flip-style foldable.
On the inside, the Flip 5 continues to offer a good 6.7-inch display that’s ready to handle all of the usual stuff you do with your phone. There’s a capable camera system, too, and using the rear-facing cameras with the phone folded partway or with the cover screen is a lot of fun. Long-term durability is a bit uncertain as it is with all current foldable phones, but the Flip 5 is at least fully water-resistant with an IPX8 rating. That’s better than most foldables, including the merely splash-resistant Razr Plus.
Samsung promises four years of OS upgrades and five years of security updates for the Flip 5 — a year longer than Motorola plans to support the Razr Plus and one of the best software support policies on Android. That’s one of several good reasons to pick the Flip 5 over the Razr Plus, and it’s enough to keep Samsung’s flip phone ahead of the competition for now.
We’ve recommended Samsung’s Galaxy Fold as the best folding phone for several years now — partly because it’s really good, but partly because competition was practically non-existent. The latest edition in the series, the Fold 5, now has a worthy challenger: the Google Pixel Fold. We think that the Fold 5 is still the best folding phone for the money (and at $1,800, it’s a lot of money), even though Samsung still has some room for improvement.
For starters, the Fold 5’s tall and narrow aspect ratio isn’t our favorite. Using the phone’s 6.2-inch cover screen with the device closed still kind of feels like using a remote control. But the real action is on the massive 7.6-inch inner screen, where Samsung’s robust multitasking software sings. You can run up to four apps at once with a floating window on top — Google only allows you to run two apps in split-screen on the Pixel Fold. That kind of flexibility opens up a ton of possibilities for what you can do with the Fold 5.
Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge
The Fold 5 is an incredibly powerful multitasking tool.
On the downside, the Fold 5’s camera system isn’t quite as good as the Pixel Fold’s. In fact, Samsung’s own Galaxy S23 Ultra offers a much better camera system overall and is $600 cheaper than the Fold 5. As it stands, the Fold 5 is capable of good photos, but its processing is somewhat inconsistent, and its 3x telephoto lens feels a bit limited.
The Fold 5 is rated IPX8 — as is the Pixel Fold. That means it’s fully water resistant, but there’s no guarantee against dust intrusion. Dust is the enemy of a foldable phone, so that’s something to take into account if you’re a first-time foldable buyer. But Samsung has steadily improved the overall durability of its folding phones over the years, whereas the Pixel Fold is very much a first-gen product without a proven track record.
There are a lot of points in favor of the Fold 5, but there are plenty of people who would be happier with the Pixel Fold. If the Fold 5’s narrow aspect ratio will drive you bananas, you’re a fan of Pixel image processing, and turbo-charged multitasking isn’t a priority, then the Pixel Fold is a better choice. For everyone else, the Galaxy Fold still can’t be beat.
Screen:6.7-inch 1080p 120Hz OLED /Processor:Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 /Cameras:50-megapixel F/1.9 main with OIS, 50-megapixel ultrawide, 32-megapixel selfie /Battery:4,700mAh /Charging:45W wired, 15W wireless /Weather resistance:IP54
The Nothing Phone 2 isn’t for everyone, but for the right kind of person, it’s a very good alternative to the Galaxies and Pixels of the world. It’s a style-driven device, from the dot-matrix-inspired UI to the flashing light strips on the back panel. Will its unique hardware and software features help you take back your attention span as Nothing claims? Eh, probably not. Mostly, it’s just a cool-looking gadget and a thoughtfully designed device.
The Phone 2 is equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset, which is a slightly older but still very capable processor. Its 6.7-inch 1080p screen supports a fast 120Hz top refresh rate, and its lowest 1Hz refresh rate allows it to offer an information-rich always-on display. The camera system is good, though not quite as consistent as the Pixel 7’s. There’s wireless charging, fast 45W wired charging, and an all-day battery.
Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge
The dot-matrix theme is carried out through the entire interface.
That’s all of the good news. The bad news is that it’s only rated IP54, meaning it’s not fully dustproof, and it’s only resistant to splashes rather than full immersion in water. Most other phones at this price offer a full IP68 rating, and a couple of cheaper midrange phones, like the Pixel 7A, even include a more robust IP67 water resistance. The Phone 2 also lacks official support for Verizon’s network, which rules it out for a lot of people in the US.
There’s the glyph interface, too — those lights on the back of the phone. It’s a neat idea with some interesting applications if you invest a little time in tweaking it. You can flip it over to silence notifications when you need some time to focus and hand-pick certain “essential” alerts to light up the glyph. Personally, I find it less helpful than a traditional focus mode or even the Phone 2’s always-on display. But others might find it useful, and if nothing else, it looks neat.
The Phone 2 isn’t the best choice for sheer value — the Pixel 7A is a much better value proposition. It’s not the best choice for someone who just wants a phone to get them through their day with minimal hassle. But it’s undeniably different, and if you’re looking for something outside of the ordinary with a certain visual appeal, then it’s a worthy candidate.
There are a few other devices that didn’t quite make the cut for any of the above categories but are still worth mentioning. The Samsung S23 Plus just edged out the Google Pixel 7 Pro as our pick for the best Android phone for most people. The Pixel 7 Pro is still a great device, and the $899 price tag is attractive (and often marked down). We like its software out-of-the-box better than Samsung’s, and its camera system sometimes outdoes the S23 Plus’ — especially with its longer 5x telephoto lens. But while its custom Tensor G2 chipset is capable, it’s unclear how it will hold up in the long run.
Pixel 6 and 7 owners have also reported their fair share of software bugs and unusual hardware problems. Google seems to be doing the right thing and repairing phones under warranty, and the Pixel series’ frequent updates mean that bugs are usually fixed in a timely manner. Samsung, on the other hand, is pretty much on cruise control with the S23 Plus.
The iPhone 15 Plus is worth considering if you prefer iOS and you like a bigger phone. Its $899 price isn’t exactly cheap, but the entry price of Apple’s other big phone — the 15 Pro Max — went up to $1,199 this year. The 15 Plus also offers outstanding battery performance; even a heavy user can manage to squeeze two full days out of a single charge.
The Asus Zenfone 10 is a delightful little phone that’s engineered with one-handed use in mind. It comes with a 5.9-inch screen, a highly capable Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, and a capable camera system with robust gimbal-like stabilization. It will only be sold unlocked in the US and won’t fully work on the Verizon network, but for a few dedicated small phone fans, it’s a winner.
Update October 6th, 6:50PM ET:Replaced the iPhone 13 with the iPhone 15, replaced the iPhone 14 Pro with the iPhone 15 Pro, and replaced the iPhone 14 Plus with the iPhone 15 Plus as an also-consider.
Save $65 on Google’s Pixel Buds Pro ahead of their big software updates
The Pixel Buds Pro will be getting software updates with new features over the next few weeks. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
What a perfect time, then, for the Pixel Buds Pro to drop to a new low price. You can get Google’s flagship wireless earbuds for just $134.99 ($65 off) at Wellbots when you use code VERGE65 at checkout until October 11th. The Pixel Buds Pro are some of the best earbuds you can buy today, particularly if you’re a Pixel phone owner and want to take advantage of exclusive features like Google’s Clear Calling. But they’re not just about software tricks — they also offer very good noise cancellation, multipoint connectivity, lengthy battery life, and a decent transparency mode. Sadly, today’s deal does not include the upcoming blue color option that Google just announced, but Wellbots has the charcoal and fog colors on offer.
The latest Nest Doorbell records a wide, 145-degree angle view at 960 x 1280 resolution with HDR, and it also offers a 6x zoom when you need to look closer at details. If you subscribe to Google’s $3.99 per month membership, you get added features like package detection and facial recognition that tells you when familiar people appear at your door. It also syncs up with the Google Home app for easy access via Google Assistant smart devices, so you can see who is at your door on a connected Nest Hub, for example. The wired Nest Doorbell comes in four simple colors to best blend in with your home decor.
Google’s Nest Wifi Pro mesh router is on sale in a one-pack for $159.99 ($40 off) at Wellbots with code VERGE40 or in a two-pack for $219.99 ($80 off) with code — you guess it — VERGE80. The Nest Wifi Pro is an excellent Wi-Fi 6E-compatible router if you don’t need speeds beyond one gigabit. Plus, its rounded design with light and soft colors looks less overtly tech-y, making it easier to blend in with your home decor.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is once again back down to $39.99 ($30 off) at Target (PS5, Xbox). That’s as low as the lightsaber-wielding action-adventure game gets, and it recently received a large patch that fixed some performance and graphical issues.
The latest Apple Watch SE in its smaller 40mm size is on sale at Amazon for $219.99 ($29 off) when you click the on-page coupon. If you don’t care if you’re missing an always-on display on your smartwatch, it’s hard to beat the SE’s value. It’s got the same processor as last year’s Apple Watch Series 8 and has just a few fewer sensors (blood oxygen, EKG, and temperature sensor), but it’s more than capable of notifications and basic fitness tracking.
The Razer Kishi V2 is selling for its lowest price of $79.99 ($20 off) at Amazon. The mobile game controller comes with Lightning (for iPhone 14 and older) or USB-C (Android / iPhone 15), allowing you to play mobile and streamed console / PC games on your phone with a proper gamepad.
Was Sam Bankman-Fried’s bean bag chair a lie too?
Choose your college roommates carefully... | Photo illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo by Drew Angerer, Getty Images
Two of Bankman-Fried’s MIT roommates make a damning case for the prosecution.
The difficult part of a fraud case is usually establishing a defendant knowingly lied — unless, apparently, the defendant is Sam Bankman-Fried.
Today the government has made a brisk case for one count in the indictment and is close to making a case for a second one, as two of Bankman-Fried’s college roommates testified against him. We also heard about Bankman-Fried’s love life and bean bag chair.
Yesterday, the prosecution called as its first witness a customer, Marc-Antoine Julliard, who works as a commodities trader. Whether it was smart of him to invest in crypto is sort of irrelevant. The important part of his testimony? As the result of Bankman-Fried’s tweets — “FTX is fine. Assets are fine.” — he did not withdraw his money from the exchange as it went belly-up.
The next witness called, Bankman-Fried’s former college and Bahamas roommate Adam Yedidia, testified that Bankman-Fried knew as early as late June or early July 2022 that the entire enterprise was in trouble. They had the conversation on a padel tennis court in their luxury Bahamas complex, the Albany.
Yedidia was testifying with immunity, because he was worried that as a developer, he might have unwittingly written code that contributed to a crime. He gave the impression of an extraordinarily serious elf, in a suit and glasses, and was a deliberate speaker, taking a beat after questions to think before bobbing his head close to the microphone to answer.
Yedidia worked for Bankman-Fried twice: first as a trader at Alameda Research for two months in 2017 before returning to a PhD program, then from 2021 onward for FTX as a software developer, where he lived — along with Bankman-Fried — in the Orchid, a $35 million penthouse apartment in the Albany. The jury saw photographs of the luxury apartment, which had a cream and gray interior and a gorgeous balcony with a pool.
We also saw a screenshot of a Signal groupchat called “People of the House,” where Bankman-Fried said, “Heh, I’ve been mentally assuming that aggregate rent collected would be zero dollars” and that he had “been assuming that it’s basically just Alameda paying for it in the end.”
Yedidia testified that he quit FTX after getting a phone call telling him that Alameda had used FTX customer funds to repay its loans. He resigned in November 2022, just before FTX went bankrupt.
The prosecution used Yedidia’s testimony to introduce some of FTX’s promotional videos that explained how to transfer money from their bank accounts or crypto wallets to FTX, a clever way to show the jury how the financial plumbing worked. For a period of time, customer deposits in the form of wire transfers went to a bank account called “North Dimension,” which was controlled by Alameda Research.
Alameda got the deposits because FTX was having trouble opening a bank account, Yedidia said. FTX didn’t disclose to customers that Alameda was in control of the “North Dimension” account, either. “I figured Alameda was just holding the money,” Yedidia said. He testified it would have raised concerns for him if he’d known that Alameda was spending the money, because that would mean if a customer came to withdraw, their money wouldn’t be there.
Yedidia knew all this because he worked on a process to automate the processing of customer deposits and withdrawals around July 2021. In writing the code, he introduced a bug that made Alameda’s liabilities look larger than they were. The bug was discovered in December 2021, and had exaggerated the liabilities by $500 million. Yedidia fixed it in June 2022; by then, it was exaggerating Alameda’s liabilities by $8 billion.
During that time, Yedidia said he witnessed a meeting between Sam Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh. Singh later told Yedidia that the meeting had been to do a full accounting of Alameda Research and FTX. Everyone in that meeting except Bankman-Fried later pleaded guilty to criminal charges and is cooperating against Bankman-Fried in this case.
In the process of fixing the code, Yedidia discovered that after the bug was caught and the erroneous $8 billion was removed, Alameda was still $8 billion in the hole. That concerned him because “it seemed like a lot of money for Alameda to be owing FTX.” So he asked Bankman-Fried about the money on the padel tennis court.
Yedidia said he asked if things were okay, and Bankman-Fried replied, “We were bulletproof last year, but we’re not bulletproof anymore.” He said Bankman-Fried looked worried while he said it, but he trusted Sam. Besides, he was just a dev — his job was to make sure the code ran well. Other people could handle the money.
At one point, prosecutor Danielle Sasson asked if Bankman-Fried really slept in a bean bag chair. Yedidia said that in the Bahamas, that didn’t happen as often as it had in Hong Kong: “I think he would take occasional naps, but not with much frequency.”
We got some other details on Bankman-Fried’s personal life “Sometime in early 2019, the defendant told me that he and Caroline [Ellison] had had sex and asked if it was a good idea for them to date,” Yedidia said. He told Bankman-Fried it was not a good idea. At the time, she was just a trader at Alameda Research and Bankman-Fried’s subordinate. Later, she would become the co-CEO.
The cross-examination was rough going for the jury, the observers, and the judge, who reprimanded defense counsel Christian Everdell for repeating the same questions the government had just asked. During the meandering cross-examination, Everdell first established that Yedidia didn’t deal with customer money, interact with investors, or otherwise have much contact with FTX’s finances. He tried to coax Yedidia into saying Bankman-Fried didn’t spend much money on himself, and to suggest Yedidia’s immunity agreement may have compromised his testimony.
The main thing Everdell accomplished was teeing Sasson up for an absolutely deadly re-cross. Yedidia explained that in the “bulletproof” conversation, he understood Bankman-Fried to be expressing doubt about Alameda’s ability to repay its customers. He also noted that Bankman-Fried had a second apartment in the Albany, which he did not share with roommates. (He did not say if it contained a bean bag chair.) And though a comment from Yedidia near the end of his testimony — when he said that “FTX defrauded all its customers” — was stricken from the record, the jury certainly heard it.
Following Yedidia, Matt Huang, a co-founder of venture capital firm Paradigm, took the stand. This testimony was similar to Julliard’s, establishing what investors were told by Bankman-Fried, without speaking to what Bankman-Fried knew. Paradigm invested $278 million in FTX in two funding rounds; that investment is worthless now.
Huang was soft-spoken and clearly doing his best to be boring — taking the stand in a fraud trial is the sort of thing that can be very embarrassing for investors. After explaining that Paradigm was primarily focused on cryptocurrencies, Huang gave details on the firm’s investment in FTX in 2021.
In the process, Huang had a “handful” of Zooms with Bankman-Fried and met with him four times in person. In considering the investment, Huang said that the company’s team, its market, competitors, and financial information were things he took into consideration. He got some information on FTX from Bankman-Fried himself, in an email shown to the court.
FTX was attractive as an investment because it was growing really fast, Huang said. In a Powerpoint presentation shown by FTX, there was a slide that said FTX was a “custodian.” Huang explained that meant FTX took customer deposits and held them, then processed withdrawals. He said that if he’d known FTX was using customer deposits for its own purposes, he most likely wouldn’t have invested. In crypto, he explained, there was a general expectation that customer deposits weren’t spent.
In an email to Bankman-Fried, Huang noted some concerns Paradigm had. Specifically, the firm was concerned about governance, and the relationship between FTX and Alameda. If Alameda had special access to FTX, customers would want to trade elsewhere if they found out, Huang said. Following that email, Huang says he was told that there was no preferential treatment for Alameda.
We were shown a balance sheet sent by Bankman-Fried to Huang, which showed an annualized net profit of $322 million in 2021, which Huang took to mean that the company had made “about $80 million” in profit that quarter. The balance sheet also showed an annualized set of trading expenses of $63 million, which Huang took to mean that FTX had trading expenses of $15 million in that quarter. He testified that the profits would look artificially high if not all of the expenses were recorded, and that he expected the numbers being shown to him to be generally accurate.
Huang knew there was no board of directors for FTX before he invested, he testified, but that he’d pressed Bankman-Fried to create one. “He told us that he didn’t think investors had that much to add, but he did represent that he would be creating a board at some point,” Huang said.
Huang’s testimony was immediately followed by Bankman-Fried’s alleged co-conspirator (and other former roommate) Gary Wang, who walked stiffly into the courtroom and appeared frankly miserable. Wang was a co-owner of Alameda Research and FTX, as well as the chief technology officer at FTX. Within moments of sitting down, he admitted he’d committed financial crimes and listed the people he’d committed them with: Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, and Nishad Singh.
“We gave special privileges to Alameda Research on FTX, which allowed it to withdraw unlimited amounts of funds from the platform, and we lied about this to the public,” Wang said. Alameda could withdraw unlimited amounts of money — including customer funds. It could place orders on FTX slightly faster than other market-makers. It had a $65 billion line of credit, where other market-makers had, at most, tens of millions. All those privileges were written into the code, which Wang was responsible for.
Wang hasn’t finished his direct testimony and hasn’t sat for cross-examination yet. He could undermine his own credibility, though the prosecution seems to have prepared for that possibility. When Wang testified that Alameda Research had been so named because it obscured that the firm dealt with crypto, making it easier to get a bank account, that testimony was followed by video of Bankman-Fried saying substantially the same thing on a Blockworks podcast. When Wang testified about his ownership stake, we saw documents signed by Bankman-Fried that backed up what he said.
Today alone the prosecutors seem to have the wire fraud case involving FTX customers made, and are close to making the conspiracy to commit securities fraud on investors in FTX. I expect we will hear from more investors and customers, as well as other people to back up Wang and Yedidia’s accounts. But I found Yedidia credible, even likeable, and by placing him immediately after a customer, he underlined that the customer had been lied to. Wang’s testimony immediately following investor testimony accomplished the same thing. I have a hard time seeing how the defense digs itself out of this hole.
Canada isn’t trying to silence podcasters
Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images
The Canadian regulatory body that oversees radio, television, and online streaming services put out a news release last week about a provocative new rule. Any online streaming service that operates in Canada, offers broadcasting content, and earns more than $10 million in annual revenue will need to complete a registration form by November. This includes online services that offer podcasts, the release stated.
The move has drawn some criticism on social media as well as in op-eds in a number of Canadian news outlets, which suggest that the rule is the beginning of an effort by the government to control speech on podcasts. A spokesperson for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) told Hot Pod that that simply isn’t the case — and a look at the actual text of the announcement backs that up.
“What is available online will not change. The CRTC will not censor content Canadians listen to and watch online. You will be able to continue to listen to and watch the content of your choice,” CRTC spokesperson Mirabella Salem wrote in an email.
CRTC also isn’t requiring individual podcasters to register, and it maintains that the law isn’t intended to police user-generated content. “Individuals who upload content or use social media to share podcasts will not be required to register. Content and digital creators will not be regulated, just as creators, artists and producers are not regulated today,” Salem wrote.
The registration rule appears to be a part of the Online Streaming Act — a wider effort by the Canadian government to get major tech companies like Netflix and Spotify to pay for and/or prioritize Canadian content on their platforms. This could mean anything from Netflix greenlighting Canadian movies and TV in order to keep doing business in Canada to YouTube users in Canada seeing more Canadian content.
Both Canadian radio and broadcast television have for decades been required to meet certain quotas of “CanCon,” or Canadian content. The CRTC’s goal now appears to be to rope online streaming into this equation. “The Decision taken by the CRTC relates to the registration of online services like Apple and Spotify,” wrote Salem.
The CRTC registration form (which is available for anyone to view in a Word doc online) is pretty straightforward. Streaming services are asked to note the languages of the content they host, the type of content, and some other pretty basic information that is easily Google-able.
But that likely won’t be the end of it. University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist tells CBC, “I think a lot of people take a look at this and feel like it’s the thin edge of the wedge [and] that more regulation is on the way,” said Geist in an interview with CBC News.
In a world where American tech giants (with the exception of the Swedish Spotify in this example) are behind the algorithms that influence the information we see online, Canada isn’t alone in trying to get some skin in the game. Since 2018, the European Commision mandated a “Netflix quota,” which requires that 30 percent of the content available on streaming services in Europe is made in the region. Indeed, CRTC’s goal appears to be to make sure Canadian and Indigenous content is available in an online content ecosystem controlled primarily by foreign companies.
Where this gets complicated is how it could eventually be applied to platforms like YouTube or Apple Podcasts, which primarily host user-generated content. YouTube believes it will have to promote some amount of Canadian content at the expense of recommendations tailored specifically to a user’s interests — and it sounds like major podcast platforms could face similar requirements.
What that looks like in practice is unexplored terrain, and we’ll have to wait on the CRTC to come out with rules to know the answer. But the result isn’t likely to be stifling censorship, as some fear, so much as less space devoted to international shows, so that local content can get a boost. In other words, a familiar world for radio listeners up in Canada.
WNYC lays cuts 20 roles — and More Perfect
WNYC has begun to hand out pink slips. In a post on X, WNYC producer Alyssa Edes announced that she and the rest of the team behind the Supreme Court history podcast More Perfect have been let go.
A total of 20 employees were cut across New York Public Radio, according to an internal memo viewed by Hot Pod. Three staffers accepted a voluntary buyout. The media outlet is also making a strategic shift to focus on local, New York City-focused news and doing away with its short-run and seasonal podcasts.
“With some rare exceptions, we won’t be moving forward with new seasons of our short-run and seasonal podcast-only titles, and, unfortunately, it means we’ll be saying goodbye to the colleagues who create those shows. While we are eliminating positions and closing open roles in many other departments, I want to acknowledge that the teams within Studios are the most impacted,” wrote New York Public Radio CEO LaFontaine Oliver in the memo.
WNYC’s plan to cut roles was announced last week. LaFontaine Oliver, New York Public Radio’s president and chief executive, attributed budget issues to a “free fall in the advertising marke,” according to The New York Times.
Amazon is shutting down the Amp live radio service
Amazon is planning to shut down its live radio app Amp, Bloomberg reported yesterday. The app will officially shut down on October 31st, according to a post on Amp’s official X account on Wednesday night. Back in August, Engadget wrote a profile on Amp that spelled out a lot of the service’s troubles — as well as why its homegrown feel was such a draw for users. Unfortunately (and as the profile points out), Amp’s low profile worked against it.
“Unlike Clubhouse, which enjoyed an early surge of popularity, Amp has largely gone under the radar since launch. ‘The thing we’re maniacally focused on every day is making sure that the product is right before stepping out and bigger and bigger fashion,’ Sandler said. But many people I’ve mentioned it to aren’t aware of it — and Amp’s not even included on the list of Amazon products/services Wikipedia page,” wrote Engadget’s James Trew.
Here are the best Apple Watch deals right now
The Apple Watch Series 9 isn’t a massive step up from the prior model, but it does offer a few new features. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Less than a month ago, Apple launched its latest batch of smartwatches, introducing the Apple Watch Ultra 2 ($799) alongside the new Apple Watch Series 9 ($399). Each wearable has its own pros and cons, as does the second-gen Apple Watch SE ($249), but the introduction of the new wearables also means there are now more Apple Watch models on the market than ever before — and a lot more deals to be had.
But with all of those options, which one should you pick? Generally speaking, you want to buy the newest watch you can afford so that it continues to receive software updates from Apple. The latest update, watchOS 10, just launched on the Apple Watch Series 4 and newer, though no one can say with certainty whether the Series 4 will get the next big software update or whether it will be exclusive to newer watches.
Picking up a watch from the latest (or a recent) generation ensures you’re getting a smartwatch with an updated design, a robust number of features, and plenty of sensors. Now, let’s get into the deals.
The best Apple Watch Series 9 deals
The Apple Watch Series 9 represents the latest wearable in Apple’s flagship Series lineup. It introduces a slightly faster S9 SiP chip and a second-gen ultra wideband chip, which allow for onboard Siri processing and precision finding with your iPhone. It also offers a brighter, 2,000-nit display and works with Apple’s new “double-tap,” a feature that lets you tap your thumb and index finger together to carry out various actions. While the improvements are welcome, the Series 8 isn’t a vast departure from the prior model, the Series 8.
Last year, Apple introduced the flagship Series 8, which brought an updated processor, new temperature sensors that enable menstrual tracking and Crash Detection, and a host of other refinements that made it a minor upgrade over the Series 7. While it’s no longer the latest model, it’s still readily available — often at a discounted price. In fact, the deals we’re seeing on the Series 8 right now are some of the best we’ve ever seen, likely as a result of the Series 9’s arrival.
Although the stock is a bit limited at the moment, you can still pick up the 41mm Series 8 with GPS at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart for $319 ($80 off), which remains one of its lowest prices to date. The better deal, however, is on the larger 45mm configuration, which is available at Amazon in select styles for $254.99 ($174 off) when you clip the on-page coupon.
If you’re looking to snag a cellular model, the 41mm configuration is currently available in select styles at Amazon and Walmart for $399 ($100 off). Walmart is also selling the 45mm variant starting at $399 ($130 off), which marks its lowest price to date.
The Apple Watch SE received a refresh in late 2022. It has the same chipset as the Series 8, which is great, but with fewer sensors, no always-on display, and a slightly outdated design compared to the Series 8 and Series 9. Those omissions might take this out of the running for some people, but it still may be exactly what you’re after. Best of all, it starts at $249 for the 40mm Wi-Fi / GPS model, which is $30 less than the previous generation’s baseline cost. Opting for cellular connectivity bumps up the starting price to $299 for the 40mm size (44mm adds $20 to each configuration).
Right now, the 40mm Apple Watch SE with GPS is available for $219.99 ($30 off) at Amazon when you clip the on-page coupon; it’s also on sale for the same price at Target if you belong to the retailer’s free-to-join Target Circle program. The GPS-only model is also available at Amazon and Target in the 44mm sizing for $249.99 ($30 off) — either with a coupon or as part of Target’s Circle program — or in the LTE configuration at Amazon starting at $269.99 ($30 off).
Apple’s latest Apple Watch Ultra launched at $799 last month with GPS and LTE support, much like the original model. The ultra-capable smartwatch has the most features, sensors, and ruggedness of any Apple Watch model available thus far, along with a display that’s 50 percent brighter than the first Ultra. The 49mm smartwatch also packs Apple’s new S9 SiP and second-gen ultra wideband chips, just like the Apple Watch Series 9, while maintaining long-lasting battery life, precise GPS tracking, and a bevy of diving-friendly sensors.
While we haven’t seen any significant discounts on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 given how new it is, it’s currently on sale at Amazon in select styles starting at $774 ($25 off). You can also pick up the second-gen wearable at Best Buy and Target, where it’s available for its full retail price of $799.
Apple released the first-gen Apple Watch Ultra at the tail end of 2022. It was the most capable watch the company had ever released at the time, one buoyed by a host of advanced sensors, a more rugged build, and a number of features squarely aimed at outdoorsy types (including a programmable Action button). While newer, the second-gen model is a pretty incremental update overall, making the last-gen Ultra a pretty attractive deal when you can find it at the right price.
In May, we saw select Apple Watch Ultra configurations plummet to an all-time low of around $702 ($97 off). Although it’s currently not available at that price, Apple’s premium wearable is on sale at Amazon and Best Buy in select configurations starting at $719 ($80 off), its second-best price to date.
While all of the Apple Watch models and colorways covered here are encased in aluminum (except the Ultras, which have a titanium build), Apple does make a more premium range built out of stainless steel and titanium. These offerings are functionally and aesthetically similar to their aluminum counterparts, with slightly refined colors and finishings — polished for the stainless steel and brushed for the titanium. However, they start at much steeper prices of $749 and above. They, too, can often be found on sale, but they’re never discounted as low as the standard base models, so we don’t include them here.
Sony confirms server security breaches that exposed employee data
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge
Sony is sending out notices to some current and former Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) employees warning that their personal information was compromised in a system breach that occurred in May. The letters went out to about 6,800 affected individuals, as reported by Bleeping Computer. The publication also received confirmation from Sony that another breach occurred in September.
A ransomware group known as Cl0p claimed responsibility for breaking into a Sony server in June. The breach occurred via a vulnerability in the file-sending MOVEit Transfer platform that SIE was using. Sony is one of many organizations that have been affected by MOVEit cyberattacks.
Progress Software, the creator of MOVEit Transfer, told its clients (including Sony) about a vulnerability in its platform on May 31st, Sony says in the letter. After the warning, SIE discovered that a breach occurred on May 28th and that hackers downloaded data off the server.
The server included personally identifiable information of US-based employees, and Sony is providing credit monitoring services to those affected. Sony says it has since fixed the vulnerability.
Sony launched an investigation last month into a second breach in which hackers acquired 3.14GB of data. Sony confirms this server is located in Japan and is used for internal testing for its Entertainment, Technology and Services business, according to a statement sent to Bleeping Computer. Sony is investigating this incident and has taken the server down. Hackers that were responsible leaked files that included data from the SonarQube platform, certificates, a license generator, Creators’ Cloud, and more. Sony said that this latest incident had “no adverse impact on Sony’s operations.”
Comcast and Charter have begun rolling out the first Xumo streaming box
Image: Charter / Comcast
In April 2022, cable operators Comcast and Charter announced a partnership that the companies said would produce “a next-generation streaming platform on a variety of branded 4K streaming devices and smart TVs.” A few months later, we learned that this joint effort would be called Xumo, and now the first hardware device is making its way to customers. It’s called the Xumo Stream Box, and at the outset, it’s available within Spectrum’s service footprint — with availability for Comcast’s Xfinity customers to follow.
As the consumer exodus from traditional cable continues, the Stream Box is meant to be an end-all, be-all solution that combines inexpensive subscription bundles with an avalanche of FAST (free ad-supported television) programming. It’ll also include plenty of preinstalled third-party streaming apps — yes, including Disney Plus — making the device a competitor to Roku, Amazon’s Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, and other devices. The Stream Box uses Comcast’s Entertainment OS platform as its foundation and comes with a voice remote for universal search.
Live TV is definitely the focal point: according to a press release, when you start up the Stream Box, the first thing you’ll see is “live video playing from the device’s primary video service app such as Spectrum TV, Xfinity Stream, or Xumo Play” with a guide for easy channel surfing. But if you’re not in the mood for live content, there’s “a curated, content-forward viewing experience that blends AI-driven personalization and human-led editorial recommendations to help customers find something to watch without having to jump in and out of apps.” Each member of a household can also make their own personalized “My List” with shows and movies they want to watch across numerous streaming services.
Image: Charter / Comcast
Yep, looks like your typical nondescript streaming device to me.
None of that stands out as particularly unique when contrasted with any number of streaming devices. Take a quick glance at the Stream Box’s homescreen, and it almost looks like Android TV. And I’d argue the company’s stated goal of developing “a complete entertainment experience that breaks down the streaming silos and makes TV easy again” is the same north star that guides much of the competition. But for the two partners, this is really about adapting to the reality that traditional linear viewership is in a state of decline, with on-demand streaming continuing to surge.
Charter and Comcast are taking slightly different approaches in how they’ll offer Stream Box to their respective customers. Charter cable subscribers can get one free box at no extra charge for the first year; additional units are available at an added cost. (You can either buy them outright for $60 or pay a monthly $5 service fee.) Meanwhile, Comcast will target the Stream Box at new Xfinity internet customers when it begins rolling out the hardware in its own markets sometime in the next few months. This is only the starting point for the 50/50 Xumo partnership, with other devices and Xumo TVs to follow as two influential cable providers try to maintain their foothold amid major shifts in how people seek out entertainment.
Hyundai’s future EVs will also have Tesla’s EV charging port
Did they just tape it on there? | Image: Hyundai
Another major automaker is jumping on the Tesla bandwagon. Hyundai announced today its plans to adopt the North American Charging Standard (NACS), aka the “Tesla plug,” for its future electric vehicles.
Hyundai models compatible with Tesla’s NACS plug will start arriving in the fourth quarter of 2024. In the first quarter of 2025, the automaker will also provide adapters to its current customers so they can access Tesla Supercharger stations. Hyundai’s current EV lineup, which includes the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6, both have charging ports that are compatible with the Combined Charging Standard, or CCS, for DC fast charging.
Hyundai and Kia are both involved in a joint venture with BMW, GM, Stellantis, and Mercedes-Benz to build out a nationwide network of fast EV charging stations. The plan is to install at least 30,000 high-speed EV chargers by 2030, with the first ones to open summer 2024 in the US.
Tesla’s Supercharger network is widely recognized as superior to many of the third-party EV charging stations, most of which feature CCS plugs and the less utilized CHAdeMO charging standard. The company says it has 45,000 Superchargers worldwide, 12,000 of which are located in the US.
And while other EV charging stations struggle with software glitches and faulty chargers, Tesla says its Superchargers are nearly perfect in their reliability. The company says that the average uptime of Supercharger sites last year amounted to 99.95 percent, down marginally from 99.96 percent in 2021.
Until recently, Tesla Superchargers were exclusive to Tesla owners, but that began to change several years ago when the company started offering access to non-Tesla EVs. Earlier this year, the Biden administration announced that Tesla would begin to do the same in the US as a prerequisite to tap into some of the $7.5 billion for EV charging in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Unlike in Europe, Tesla Superchargers in the US use a proprietary connector — this was Tesla’s “competitive moat,” the thing that initially offered protection from other automakers. In order to allow non-Tesla vehicles to access the chargers, the company installed a device called the “Magic Dock,” in which a CCS adapter is applied to the connector.
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Image: Charter / Comcast
