Here are over 40 last-minute gifts you can still nab before Christmas

Here are over 40 last-minute gifts you can still nab before Christmas

A Disney Plus subscription provides access to the full catalog of Star Wars, including recent series like Ahsoka. | Image: Suzanne Tenner / Lucasfilm Ltd.

Yes, Christmas is tomorrow — and yes, we know you have yet to buy a gift. We understand that life gets busy, though, and sometimes it feels like the holidays creep up on you out of nowhere. But before you spiral into a full-blown panic attack, take a deep breath. Luckily for you, the internet is filled with a treasure trove of gift cards, subscriptions, and other great digital gifts you can buy as late as Christmas Day itself.

To help make your life a little easier, we’ve curated a list of some of the best digital gifts we’ve either used ourselves or gifted to our friends and family. We’ve organized the list by interests, too, so you can find the perfect present whether your loved one is into the arts, exercise, or something else entirely. That way, you’ll at least be able to gift something more thoughtful than a generic Amazon, Best Buy, or Walmart gift card — even if those are still totally viable options in our book.

Gifts for film and TV buffs

Regardless of whether you’re shopping for a movie buff or an avid sports fan, there are a number of subscriptions on the market that’ll grant your giftee access to a wide range of content. Below are some of the most popular, as well as a few catered toward anime diehards, horror lovers, and those looking for something more niche.

• A gift card to a major streaming service like Netflix (Amazon, Target, Best Buy, or Walmart) or Max is a good gift that’ll cater to all kinds of passions. On Netflix, they can spend their holiday binging Carol and the End of World, The Crown, Onimusha, and Squid Game: The Challenge. Max viewers, meanwhile, can catch up on everything from Barbie to The Last of Us, Euphoria, and House of the Dragon.
• A Criterion Channel gift card grants access to over a thousand classic and contemporary Hollywood, international, art house, and independent movies. It also features programming spotlighting directors, stars, genres, and themes, including a “15-minute-a-month film school.”
• For the anime lovers in your life, a Crunchyroll gift card provides access to hundreds of anime shows and films shortly after they air in Japan, including Jujutsu Kaisen, Blue Lock, and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury. They can even use the gift to purchase Crunchyroll’s extensive collection of anime figures, vinyl records, and clothes.

Gifts for the gamers

If you’re not sure which type of games your giftee prefers, you can gift them an Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo subscription. Not only will these memberships grant him access to free digital titles but they also come with perks such as online multiplayer and cloud-based saves, among other incentives.

• If your giftee is a PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5 owner, a membership to PlayStation Plus grants them access to free titles and discounts every month, lets them play games online, and allows them to access cloud-based backups. PlayStation Plus memberships start at $9.99 a month, and you can subscribe directly via PlayStation or buy a three-month subscription with a PlayStation Plus gift card, which is available at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target for $30.
• Nintendo Switch lovers, meanwhile, might enjoy an annual subscription to Nintendo Switch Online, which starts at $19.99 a year (Amazon, Best Buy, and GameStop). The membership lets giftees play with more than 70 retro games released during the NES, SNES, and original Game Boy eras. They can also play online with friends and access cloud saves.
• If you’re willing to fork out extra money, you can also buy an annual Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription. In addition to offering all the same benefits as the Switch Online membership, it also grants access to Game Boy Advance, Sega Genesis, and Nintendo 64 games, as well as DLC content for some titles. Individual plans cost $49.99 (Amazon, Walmart), while a family plan — which allows for up to eight accounts — is currently available via gift card at Amazon and Walmart for $71.89 ($8 off).
• Alternatively, you could buy a gift card to a store like GameStop (Amazon, GameStop), which is useful if you don’t know which console your giftee prefers or want to give them the option of buying accessories and games.

Gifts for the adventurers and globe-trotters

Is your giftee in dire need of a screen break? Fortunately, the internet is filled with travel-oriented gifts, ranging from the obvious — like airline gift cards — to national park passes.

• A GetYourGuide gift card provides an easy way to take advantage of guided tours and fun tourist attractions at various destinations around the world, allowing your loved one to explore volcanoes like Italy’s Mount Etna or swim with sharks in Cape Verde.
• A Pack & Go gift card (Amazon and Target) covers almost everything your giftee will need while on vacation. They can use it on a Southwest Airlines flight, buy gas from Chevron or Texaco if they’re on a road trip, and even book an Airbnb or place a Grubhub order.
• For aspiring polyglots, a Rosetta Stone membership will make it easy to learn everything from French to Arabic to Japanese from the comfort of their home. Along with lessons, memberships come with helpful extras, including speech recognition tech to get the accent just right. At the moment, Rosetta Stone is offering up to 50 percent off of its plans, with the 12-month tier for learning just one language starting at $126 ($42 off).
• Finally, a gift card to a rideshare service like Uber (Amazon, Best Buy, Target) or Lyft (Amazon, Best Buy, Target) will come in handy when they need a ride to the airport. It will also come in handy if their New Year’s Eve plans include popping a few celebratory shots.

Gifts for health and wellness fans

For health and wellness enthusiasts, many services offer a wealth of streamable fitness classes to help them get fit at home. Other gifts can help your giftee practice self-care and lighten their load with meditation or even massages. Below, we’ve listed out a range of options that’ll help your giftee take care of both their body and mind.

• A gift card for Headspace, a popular mindfulness app, offers members access to hundreds of expert-taught meditations, each designed to help them relax, sleep better, and improve their mental health. A subscription will run you $12.99 monthly or $69.99 annually.
• Fitbit Premium subscriptions start at $9.99 a month and are available to all, even if your giftee doesn’t own a Fitbit (though, they’ll be able to enjoy more in-depth metrics if they do). A membership comes with thousands of guided and customizable workouts, which cover everything from martial arts and dance to meditation. Fitbit also offers guided programs covering topics like nutrition, along with the option to one-on-one with a professional health coach for an extra $54.99 per month.
• For those who prefer in-person classes to virtual, a gift card to a subscription service like ClassPass will let your giftee try out thousands of gyms and fitness studios in their local area, not to mention nearby salons and spas.
• If your giftee is too busy to prepare healthy meals every day, a gift card to Fresh N Lean, Blue Apron, HelloFresh, or any meal prep service that offers a healthy selection of meal kits will be very welcome.

Gifts for foodies

Whether they’re a diehard foodie, a wine connoisseur, or a caffeine addict, the internet is filled with subscriptions and gift cards for all types. Here are just a few of our favorites:

• A Sur La Table gift card (Sur La Table, Kroger, Staples) is a great gift for the beloved chef in your life. They can use it to buy whatever they need for the kitchen, as well as to take online cooking classes where live instructors help students make everything from chicken piccata to tiramisu. Classes start at $29 per household, with each taking between 90 and 120 minutes a pop.
• For those with a sweet tooth, Goldbelly’s monthly ice cream subscription allows them to enjoy up to six pints of ice cream or 24 ice cream sandwiches a month, all of which are sourced from small creameries all over the country. It’s a pricey subscription, however, with a three-month plan going for an eye-watering $299.85.
• These days, it feels like there’s a Starbucks pretty much everywhere you look now, meaning a Starbucks gift card (Amazon, Best Buy, or Target) can help your giftee get their caffeine fix whenever, wherever.
• Sometimes, it’s better to leave the cooking to somebody else. For foodies, a gift card to a food delivery service like DoorDash (Amazon, Target) means they can nab some crab rangoons from their favorite Chinese restaurant without leaving home.

Gifts for music lovers

Whether your giftee is a musician or just loves to unwind with some music, there are a lot of digital presents you can buy. We all know about Spotify gift cards (Amazon, Best Buy, or Target), but there are also other streaming services that you can gift as a subscription, some of which we’ve highlighted below.

• For the true audiophiles out there, a Tidal gift card (Walmart, PayPal, or Best Buy) is great because it will allow them to stream music in the highest audio quality possible. The ad-free service starts at $10.99 per month while paying $9 extra per month allows giftees to enjoy support for lossless FLAC audio, Dolby Atmos Music, and Sony’s 360 Reality Audio formats.
• If you know somebody who’s always wanted to learn to play the guitar, a Fender Play subscription can help them do so thanks to a continuously updated catalog of hundreds of instructor-led video lessons. A subscription typically starts at $9.99 a month, but right now you can gift an annual subscription for $74.999 (half off).
• A Vinyl Me, Please subscription is perfect for those who love spinning records. Every month, giftees receive vinyl records from their choice of music genre, whether that’s hip-hop, rock, or jazz. The packages also come with booklets so they can learn more about the record, along with access to exclusive discounts. Three-month subscriptions start at $128 and come with a total of four records (one of which is a limited-time bonus).
• Lastly, a Ticketmaster gift card is a present that’ll allow your loved one to watch their favorite musicians perform live, whether that’s Olivia Rodrigo, Bad Bunny, or The Rolling Stones.

Gifts for the bookworms

Obviously, you could just gift a bibliophile a book and they’d probably be happy. But what if you don’t know what your giftee is into or simply want to give them more options? In that case, a gift card to their favorite bookstore or a subscription to something like Kindle Unlimited, which grants members access to millions of ebooks and even select audiobooks, is a good idea. That said, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite alternatives below.

• For fans of Marvel and DC comics, as well as manga like Fairy Tale, a Comixology Unlimited subscription is perfect. For $5.99 a month, they’ll be able to enjoy over 45,000 comics and graphic novels, not to mention more than 2,400 manga titles from their phone or tablet. Subscribers also get discounts on select digital books.
• You can also gift a Book of the Month membership, which currently starts at $59.99 for a three-book plan. The company curates a small selection of five to seven bestsellers and classics for members every month, making it easy to quickly choose something to read.
• If your giftee prefers to pick up books from brick-and-mortar bookstores, a gift card to Barnes & Noble (Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or Best Buy) might be a good idea. For those into buying books from local bookstores, there’s also a gift card for Bookshop.org.
• For those who prefer traditional newspapers and magazines, you can gift a subscription to The New York Times or The Washington Post, or publications catered to specific interests like Cosmopolitan and National Geographic.

Gifts for the creatives

Movie buffs and bibliophiles are easy to shop for, but what do you get the creative type? It’s actually not that hard — just buy them something to help them create, whether that’s an online course or access to a new tool. Below are a few subscriptions and gift cards creators will love that you can also buy last minute.

• A MasterClass membership (which starts at $10 a month) provides access to classes taught by world leaders and other subject matter experts, including screenwriters, musicians, and business experts. Right now, the company will throw in a second membership for free when you sign up, so you can gift it to another person on your list (or enjoy it yourself — we’re not here to judge!).
• An Adobe Creative Cloud subscription ($59.99 per month) is a good gift for both aspiring and experienced creative professionals alike, providing access to popular services like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, InDesign, and other Adobe apps.
• If you know somebody trying to learn how to code, a subscription to the coding educational platform Codecademy ($29.99 per month) can help them build their portfolio with online courses, a community, fun events, cheat sheets, and other resources. There’s even a plan for those looking to change career paths, one that offers all the above as well as technical interview help. That latter is currently available for $120 a year (half off) when you use promo code BYE2023.
• For giftees into arts and crafts, a Craftsy membership ($113 a year) grants access to more than 2,000 live and on-demand classes led by experts covering everything from baking and cake decorating to woodworking and painting. Members also get to connect with other crafters in the Craftsy community and attend live events.

Gift cards for pretty much anyone

• Sometimes the best gift card is one that’ll give your giftee a ton of options, especially if you’re having a hard time figuring out what they want. Gift cards from major retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target are perfect in these situations, namely because they’ll let your giftee choose whatever they like from a wide range of departments.

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The PlayStation Portal is flawed but fun

The PlayStation Portal is flawed but fun

It does one thing well, and yet there are other multi-use devices that are arguably better, but dammit sometimes I’m lazy.

Sony is often at its best when it’s at its weirdest, like making donut-shaped earbuds that are actually super comfy or a speaker and lamp combo that totally looks like a bong for some reason. But when it comes to the PlayStation Portal, the weirdness isn’t just in the design, it’s at the core foundation of “Why does this thing exist?”

PlayStation Remote Play is far from a new feature, and it’s something you can use with multi-purpose devices like a phone, tablet, or laptop at no additional cost. So why spend $200 on a dedicated piece of hardware for only this one feature? After spending a lot more time with the PlayStation Portal since my initial hands-on, I think I’ve finally figured it out: this thing is an air fryer.

You may be asking, “Wait, how is a gaming handheld a home cooking appliance?” Well, much like an air fryer, the Portal is a device that costs a not-insignificant amount of money that does just one thing with only one way of doing it (it streams games off your PS5 via Wi-Fi), while other multi-use devices can pull the same task (PS5 Remote Play works on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, iPadOS, and even the PS4). And also like an air fryer, you likely already have a device that does the same thing as the Portal (many home ovens offer convection heating, which is how an air fryer cooks). But I’ll be damned if firing up some crispy chicken nuggets in 10 minutes or grabbing a quick game session while in bed aren’t the same kind of convenience.

The PlayStation Portal is all about conveniences — taking your games from your console and moving them around your house or even out into the world. However, with a reliance on Wi-Fi performance, your world of convenience comes crashing down as soon as you struggle with poor connectivity or when one of the Portal’s many strange quirks rears its ugly head.

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Sony's PlayStation Portal isn't the new PSP you're looking for. #playstation #playstationportal #ps5 #psp #tech #techtok

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In my time with the Portal, I’ve mostly had the “it just works” experience, especially after a post-launch software update that seemed to make some small performance improvements. I connect it to my PlayStation 5 and within a few seconds I can bring my games to most parts of my home and play them fine on the Portal’s crisp and colorful eight-inch LCD — complete with those nifty DualSense haptics.

It sounds foolproof when I sum it up like that, but booting up the Portal and connecting (the only thing it does when you turn it on) is a very “your mileage may vary” moment. It may work fine. It may not work at all. It may require some tinkering with your home network settings. I’ve been lurking in the r/PlayStationPortal subreddit to get a gist of the vibe from its community, and amid the troubleshooting help and people posting their W’s about how great their Portal works even on a roadtrip you occasionally see some massive frustration.

For my home testing, my PS5 is connected via ethernet and I have gigabit internet over a mesh Wi-Fi network with three Google Nest Wifi Pro routers. Even with all of that, there are of course spots in my home where connectivity can get a little dicey. Sometimes, for what seems in the moment unexplainable, a game will freeze up and skip whole seconds of gameplay. I never quite know if it’s because another device on my network is suddenly soaking up bandwidth, or there’s more congestion from my ISP in the neighborhood, or maybe it’s just a strange anomaly. You never really know why, but you have to live with the reality that every once in a while you might have your swings in Spider-Man 2 or your axe throws in God of War Ragnarök disrupted. It may test your patience at times, but it’s the trade-off of relying on Wi-Fi in exchange for not taking up the family TV or bringing your game into a different room.

In this photo we were streaming over 30 miles away from my PlayStation 5, and it worked very well. That was, until we accidentally turned off the console while remote — rendering the Portal useless until I returned home.

This is where one of the PlayStation Portal’s biggest oversights can’t help but make you wonder if things could be better. The Portal only supports Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), which has been around since 2014. It has more than enough bandwidth for Sony’s listed minimum requirement of 5Mbps download and upload speeds and even well beyond the recommended speed of 15Mbps, but why does a new device released in late 2023 (one that relies on Wi-Fi, mind you) not ship with a Wi-Fi 6 or 6E radio? While not all homes have Wi-Fi 6E routers, the ones that do should be able to play their Portals on the less congested 6Ghz band. It’s one of the Portal’s many baffling oversights, especially since Wi-Fi 7 devices are rounding the corner.

This is a very “YMMV” device

But the Portal’s illogical quirks go well beyond its Wi-Fi spec shortcomings. This thing has an Airplane Mode. Why? It’s a paperweight without Wi-Fi. It doesn’t play any games or media off of local storage — it doesn’t even tell you how much internal storage it has — and it doesn’t stream any content that isn’t beamed to it from your PS5. It also lacks an auto-brightness adjustment, doesn’t come with any protective case (the only options out there are from third parties), and only supports one user login at a time. Do you share your PS5 with another person or have multiple accounts within your family? If you plan to share the PlayStation Portal as well then be prepared to manually log out and log back in (including with 2FA if you have it activated — which you should) on it every single time someone else wants a turn.

All of these quirks and shortcomings make the Portal feel like a half-measure, or the bones of a bigger project that got its funding cut part way through development. Though perhaps nothing feels as egregious as the omission of Bluetooth audio. The Portal thankfully has a 3.5mm headphone jack, but if you want wireless your only option is Sony’s new proprietary PlayStation Link audio devices — which carry premium prices while lacking premium features like active noise cancellation. Of the two headphones announced thus far, only the $199.99 Pulse Explore earbuds have come out yet (and are still hard to find in stock). The $149.99 Pulse Elite headset isn’t due out until late February.

If you can live with the quirks, this is a cozy way to play some PS5 games.

Sony’s Pulse Explore earbuds work well on the Portal, and yes, their proprietary PlayStation Link connection yields noticeably less latency than using the same earbuds in Bluetooth mode on another device with Remote Play. But in no way does that justify omitting Bluetooth entirely from the Portal. Bluetooth can be slow and inefficient but it performs well enough and it’s a convenient feature that should be present on this device that’s all about convenience and simplicity. Asking your customers to spend yet another $150 to $200 just to use wireless audio on your $200 remote player is pretty lousy — especially since the more expensive (and noise-canceling) Sony InZone H9 wireless headset some PS5 diehards may already own can’t even be used via its USB dongle. The saving grace of the Portal in regards to audio are its built-in speakers that don’t sound too tinny and the fact that you can always fall back to wired audio (which circumvents any latency anyway).

Despite all these frustrating quirks, the Portal delivers a nice all-in-one experience. You can have a higher quality Remote Play experience on an iPad or laptop with much larger screens, and you can have a more portable experience with a collapsible phone controller like the BackBone One, but all of those solutions are clunkier. Nothing is quite as simple as picking up the Portal and turning it on.

Many Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally owners have found ways to use Remote Play with free software like Chiaki, but you still have to put in a bit of legwork and tinkering to get it set up. I’ve used it on my original Deck, and it’s mostly fine — successfully mimicking even the DualSense touchpad and share button thanks to community-made downloadable button layouts — but you’re just never going to have all those DualSense haptics (if you care).

The PlayStation Portal shortcuts the initial setup labor and confusion of Remote Play to give you a somewhat turnkey, streamlined solution. It can be handy alongside your PS5 if you’re a parent or a busy person looking to squeeze in short game sessions despite someone else using the TV, or if you want to add a level of comfort to your gaming by allowing you to chill in bed while playing. But all the caveats and hangups of Remote Play are still here.

Some of the various ways you can stream your PS5 via Remote Play.

My biggest recommendation for people considering a Portal is to first connect your PS5 via ethernet (seriously, Wi-Fi on both ends of this equation ain’t gonna be a good time), and test out the PS Remote Play app using your home Wi-Fi on your laptop, tablet, or phone. If it performs well enough to your liking, especially for the kinds of games you like to play, then a Portal may make some sense.

Sony’s first attempt at a handheld since the PlayStation Vita may be a strange, limited device that only serves one purpose but it serves that purpose well if your home Wi-Fi isn’t plagued with gremlins. Hopefully, Sony is testing the waters of what’s to come more than simply releasing a half-baked product. There seems to be a demand (at least for now), as Portals are heavily backordered. I’m cool with nerdy niches and single-use devices when they’re good, and overall I’ve enjoyed the Portal despite its numerous flaws. But it mostly makes me long for a return of a true portable PlayStation handheld, which I hope Sony is working on for the future.

Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

AI companies would be required to disclose copyrighted training data under new bill

AI companies would be required to disclose copyrighted training data under new bill

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Two lawmakers filed a bill requiring creators of foundation models to disclose sources of training data so copyright holders know their information was taken. The AI Foundation Model Transparency Act — filed by Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Don Beyer (D-VA) — would direct the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to work with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to establish rules for reporting training data transparency.

Companies that make foundation models will be required to report sources of training data and how the data is retained during the inference process, describe the limitations or risks of the model, how the model aligns with NIST’s planned AI Risk Management Framework and any other federal standards might be established, and provide information on the computational power used to train and run the model. The bill also says AI developers must report efforts to “red team” the model to prevent it from providing “inaccurate or harmful information” around medical or health-related questions, biological synthesis, cybersecurity, elections, policing, financial loan decisions, education, employment decisions, public services, and vulnerable populations such as children.

The bill calls out the importance of training data transparency around copyright as several lawsuits have come out against AI companies alleging copyright infringement. It specifically mentions the case of artists against Stability AI, Midjourney, and Deviant Art, (which was largely dismissed in October, according to VentureBeat), and Getty Images’ complaint against Stability AI.

“With the increase in public access to artificial intelligence, there has been an increase in lawsuits and public concerns about copyright infringement,” the bill states. “Public use of foundation models has led to countless instances of the public being presented with inaccurate, imprecise, or biased information.”

The bill still needs to be assigned to a committee and discussed, and it’s unclear if that will happen before the busy election campaign season starts.

Eshoo and Beyer’s bill complements the Biden administration’s AI executive order, which helps establish reporting standards for AI models. The executive order, however, is not law, so if the AI Foundation Model Transparency Act passes, it will make transparency requirements for training data a federal rule.

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Chrome’s password safety tool will now automatically run in the background

Chrome’s password safety tool will now automatically run in the background

Image: The Verge

Google’s Safety Check feature for Chrome, which, among other things, checks the internet to see if any of your saved passwords have been compromised, will now “run automatically in the background” on desktop, the company said in a blog post on Thursday. The constant checks could mean that you’re alerted about a password that you should change sooner than you would have before.

Safety Check also watches for bad extensions or site permissions you need to look at, and you can act on Safety Check alerts from Chrome’s three-dot menu. In addition, Google says that Safety Check can revoke a site’s permissions if you haven’t visited it in a while.

Google also announced an upcoming feature for Chrome’s tab groups, also on desktop: Chrome will let you save tab groups so that you can use those groups across devices, which might be handy when moving between a PC at home and a laptop when traveling. Google says this feature will roll out “over the next few weeks.”

Image: Google

The company also teased that it will bring features powered by Gemini, its new AI model, to Chrome “early next year.” That’s not a surprise — CEO Sundar Pichai had already said Gemini would make its way to Chrome — but I’m curious to see what it means in practice all the same.

Behold! Someone is investing in a podcast company

Behold! Someone is investing in a podcast company

The Verge

Behold! Someone is investing in a podcast company

Could it be a sign that the tide is turning? Danish podcast and audiobook subscription service Podimo announced a new funding round worth €44 million ($48.4 million). Participants in the round include previous investors Augustinus Fabrikker and HighlandX, as well as the Danish Export and Investment Fund.

“This investment allows Podimo to continue our strong growth trajectory while orienting the company towards profitability,” Morten Strunge, CEO of Podimo, said in a statement. “This funding isn’t solely about financial support. While profitability remains a key objective, our investment focus extends beyond financial milestones. We are resolutely committed to enhancing our product and sustaining a healthy business model that benefits creators and listeners alike.”

As other companies, most notably Spotify, back away from exclusivity, Podimo is sticking with it. The app has a library of more than 70,000 audiobooks and 1,000 exclusive podcasts. According to the release, the company’s subscriber base has expanded by 80 percent in the last year. But it still has not entered the major English-language markets. The app is only available in Latin America and a handful of European countries including Denmark, Norway, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and Finland.

Earlier this week, I talked about Podimo with Podnews’ James Cridland, The Squeeze’s Skye Pillsbury, and Oxford Road’s Dan Granger on The Media Roundtable (episode out December 27th if you aren’t swimming in a sea of eggnog). And it is definitely an interesting company! But it is also not clear to me (despite previously asking for financials) how well the model is working when similar endeavors have faltered (i.e., Luminary). I also have not been able to get my hands on it, so if you have and have opinions on the app, feel free to reach out.

New York’s attorney general says SiriusXM’s annoying cancellation process is actually illegal

SiriusXM is getting sued by the state of New York for making it too difficult for subscribers to cancel their plans. The suit claims that customers who want to cancel are required to chat over the phone or online with an agent who bombards them with questions and offers. “Sirius deliberately wastes its subscribers’ time even though it has the ability to process cancellations with the click of a button,” the suit reads.

I am not going to lie, I chuckled at the idea that SiriusXM is getting slammed for wasting people’s time, a thing of which most companies (and humans) are guilty. But SiriusXM’s alleged practices do seem excessive, if true. Attorney General Letitia James’ office claims that SiriusXM’s own data reveals that because of all the wait times and obstacles, it takes subscribers an average of 11.5 minutes to cancel by phone and 30 minutes to cancel online. The suit is seeking damages for affected customers, as well as a $5,000 penalty to the state of New York for each violation.

“Having to endure a lengthy and frustrating process to cancel a subscription is a stressful burden no one looks forward to, and when companies make it hard to cancel subscriptions, it’s illegal,” James said in a statement. “Consumers should be able to cancel a subscription they no longer use or need without any issues, and companies have a legal duty to make their cancellation process easy.”

Clearly, some people have managed to endure SiriusXM’s cancellation process. The company reported a drop of 336,000 subscribers to its flagship satellite radio service in the first nine months of 2023.

“It’s telling that the New York Attorney General issued a press release before providing SiriusXM with a copy of the complaint,” SiriusXM spokesperson Jessica Casano-Antonellis said in a statement. “Like a number of consumer businesses, we offer a variety of options for customers to sign up for or cancel their SiriusXM subscription and, upon receiving and reviewing the complaint, we intend to vigorously defend against these baseless allegations that grossly mischaracterize SiriusXM’s practices.”

The long-term trend away from broadcast means that SiriusXM has had to get creative about its future. That is why it snatched up Stitcher in 2020 and Team Coco in 2022, and handed out lucrative distribution deals to top podcasts Crime Junkie and Pod Save America. It is also why the company revamped its app last month as something that looks and flows more like a typical streaming app.

We’ll have to see how successful the lawsuit is. I think if SiriusXM’s practices are ruled to be illegal, then that is less an audio world problem than it is a subscription-based business problem. Genuinely, what would happen to every gym in NYC?

The Apple Watch ban is preventing repairs of many models

The Apple Watch ban is preventing repairs of many models

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Not only has Apple halted online sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra Series 2 (with in-store sales to follow), but the company’s ongoing patent rift with medical device maker Masimo has another ripple effect: out-of-warranty hardware repairs for several Apple Watch models are now unavailable to customers. That’s according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who reports that Apple has informed customer service employees that out-of-warranty hardware repairs and whole unit replacements for the Apple Watch Series 6 onward (with the exception of the SE) will be unavailable for the duration of the ban imposed by the US International Trade Commission.

If you own one of the models included in the ban and your device is out of warranty, well, you should be extra careful with Apple’s smartwatch starting right now. Products under warranty (or the extended AppleCare Plus program) aren’t affected by this situation. Customers will be notified when hardware replacements are permitted, according to Gurman’s report.

This gives Apple yet another critical reason to resolve the patent dispute with Masimo. The Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 are currently unavailable from Apple’s online store during the final stretch of holiday shopping, though both models can still be purchased in Apple’s physical stores, which will pull the devices after December 24th. Third-party retailers can continue selling them after that, but supply is likely to dwindle since Apple is barred from importing more Apple Watch devices until it resolves the patent dispute.

The patent dispute revolves around the SpO2 sensor built into the Apple Watch Series 6, 7, 8, 9, Ultra, and Ultra 2. Apple is said to be working on a software update that could avoid further infringement of Masimo’s patents, though the medical device maker believes the issue fundamentally relates to hardware and will require deeper changes.

X was down

X was down

Image: The Verge

Elon Musk’s X platform, previously known as Twitter, mostly stopped working for more than an hour. In mobile apps, the timelines wouldn’t refresh, and on the web, a placeholder message proclaimed, “Welcome to X! This is the best place to see what’s happening in your world. Find some people and topics to follow now.” The global internet trackers at Netblocks noted a “significant international outage” that wasn’t linked to any country-level blocks or filtering.

At about 1:35AM ET, shortly after this article was published, access to timelines was restored, although we haven’t heard what caused the problem.

Oddly, posting to the site still worked, even if the posts disappeared after a refresh, and accounts followed with notifications turned on still appeared in that feed, along with push notifications for new posts. There was even a Space hosted by New York Times reporter Ryan Mac, with over 800 people discussing the outage despite the inability to see new posts.

Image: Screenshot of Twitter.com

“Welcome to X!”

The blanked-out timelines also meant accounts for owner / CTO Elon Musk, Support, or X CEO Linda Yaccarino couldn’t display any useful information, and the API Status page for the service didn’t update to note any issues.

On DownDetector, reports of problems appear to have started just before 12:30AM ET, and so far, we’ve seen no indication of what might have caused the problem or how long it could take until service is restored.

This isn’t the only major outage for the site in recent days. Another issue broke outgoing links for a couple of hours last week. As usual, the platform’s PR account email responded only with an automatic “Busy now, please check back later” message, so anyone paying for Premium service (or hoping to be paid) will have to check elsewhere for news on its status.

Update December 21st, 1:50AM ET: Updated to note that service has been restored.

N.J. Deli Scheme Leads to Guilty Plea to Securities Fraud

N.J. Deli Scheme Leads to Guilty Plea to Securities Fraud James T. Patten admitted to orchestrating misleading trades involving the deli’s parent company in an apparent bid to enrich himself and two co-defendants.

Here are the shipping and return policies for all the big-name retailers

Here are the shipping and return policies for all the big-name retailers

Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images

With the holidays now just around the corner, everyone is double-checking their lists and figuring out the fastest way to get those gifts in time. Thankfully, many retailers are offering generous shipping policies for their products, with some offering free two-day shipping or even same-day delivery if you pay extra. And just in case the gift you choose isn’t quite right, many retailers are also offering extended return policies so your giftee can get something more to their liking.

For your convenience, we’ve collected the current return policies for several major retailers below, highlighting which will give you a little more time to place that order or start a return. Hopefully, knowing more about how much leeway you have will help lessen that inevitable holiday angst (fingers crossed).

Amazon

Shipping: Same-day delivery is not available on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. However, Prime members can get free same-day delivery on select products in qualifying ZIP codes through December 24th, provided they meet the “minimum threshold” (which varies by location) of eligible items in their cart. One-Day Delivery with no minimum purchase amount required is also available to Prime members for qualifying products through December 23rd, while Two-Day Delivery is available through December 22nd. Non-Prime buyers will find shipping options on the order page of each specific product.

Returns: During the holidays, most items purchased between November 1st and December 31st can be returned until January 31st, 2024. Apple products, however, must be returned by January 15th, 2024. Note that this policy applies to both Prime and non-Prime buyers.

Apple Store Beijing

Apple

Shipping: Apple has a guide outlining specific cut-off dates for most items, which you can find here. Generally speaking, however, Apple recommends that you order products by 12PM on December 21st if you want to receive them by Christmas Eve, though engraved items won’t ship in time by Christmas. If you buy directly from Apple, standard shipping is free on all orders. Apple also offers two-hour delivery from local stores if you pay $9 extra.

Returns: Except for T-Mobile-financed iPhones, all products purchased online between November 3rd and December 25th can be returned through January 8th, 2024. Purchases made after December 25th are subject to the usual terms and conditions, and must be returned within 14 calendar days of your initial purchase date.

Target

Shipping: Target offers free two-day shipping on many orders if you spend $35 or more or use your Target RedCard. If you place an order by 6PM local time on December 24th, you can take advantage of same-day delivery. If you pay extra for Shipt, you can also get gifts within an hour on Christmas Eve provided you place orders before 4PM local time.

Returns: Target allows electronics and entertainment items (excluding Apple products) purchased between October 1st through December 24th to be returned as late as January 24th, 2024, for a full refund. Apple products (excluding phones) purchased during the same window must be returned by January 9th, 2024. Any phone purchases made must be returned by January 8th, 2024.

Walmart

Shipping: For eligible orders of $35 or more, Walmart provides free next-day delivery in eligible ZIP codes, free two-day delivery, or free standard shipping. However, be aware you must order your gifts by 2PM local time on December 21st to get them in time for Christmas. Walmart Plus subscribers also get free next-day and two-day shipping with no order minimum.

Same-day delivery is available on December 24th for orders made by 12PM local time. If you’re willing to pay a $10 Express Delivery fee, Walmart will also deliver your packages in less than two hours on Christmas Eve if you order by 12PM local time. Plus subscribers may be exempt from paying this fee, however, as members get one Express Delivery for free during the month of December.

Returns: Most items purchased between October 1st and December 31st may be returned until January 31st, 2024. Some exceptions, like phones, may apply.

B&H

Shipping: During the holidays, B&H offers free two-day and next-day shipping on select items, including discounted products. Most other products are eligible for free standard shipping (that’s one to seven business days), and free expedited shipping (one to three business days) is generally available for items over $49.

Returns: B&H allows purchases bought between October 29th and January 1st, 2024, to be returned or exchanged through January 31st, 2024 (with the usual exceptions of non-returnable items such as computers or TVs whose packaging has been opened).

Photo by Umar Shakir

Best Buy

Shipping: Best Buy is offering free next-day and two-day shipping on qualifying orders for My Best Buy Plus and My Best Buy Total members. Non-members, meanwhile, can get free next-day shipping on qualifying orders totaling $35 or more.

If you’re ordering a gift for Christmas, you have until 11:30AM ET on December 21st if you want your gift to ship for free and arrive by December 23rd. Some items also qualify for free next-day delivery through December 23rd. If you place an order by 12PM local time, you can also take advantage of free same-day delivery on December 23rd or 24th.

Returns: Purchases made between October 27th and December 30th can be returned through January 13th, 2024. This doesn’t include items that come with a third-party contract, such as phones, cellular tablets, and wearables (which have a 14-day return period), or holiday products, such as tree decorations and major appliances, which have a 15-day return window. My Best Buy Plus and Total members also have until January 13th for any purchases made between October 24th and November 16th, or 60 days from receipt, whichever is longer.

Costco

Shipping: At Costco, shipping fees depend on the product and the shipping method, though in many cases shipping is free. The wholesale retailer also offers a variety of delivery options, including “white glove” service for larger appliances. You can get your gift in time for Christmas without paying for shipping when you place a qualifying order by 2:59PM ET on December 20th. Same-day delivery is also available on some items via Costco’s partnership with Instacart.

Returns: Costco generally has an open return policy, except for electronics such as TVs and computers, which have a 90-day return window. There are other exceptions, though, which are listed on its return page.

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge

GameStop

Shipping: GameStop currently offers free shipping on orders over $35. It also offers same-day delivery in certain locations if you order from your local store at least three hours before closing.

Returns: Products purchased between November 19th and December 24th can be returned by January 13th, 2024. The package must be unopened, however, and certain items like trading cards, clearance items, and seasonal products can’t be returned.

Dell

Shipping: Most of Dell’s products come with free standard shipping (no minimum purchase necessary), and some gifts may ship for free in time for Christmas if you place your order by December 21st. The delivery window can vary based on your order, but Dell does offer expedited shipping options as well as a delivery date estimate based on the zip code you provide at checkout.

Returns: Dell offers a 30-day return policy with some exceptions; a restocking fee of up to 15 percent may be charged.

DJI

Shipping: DJI offers free shipping on purchases of $149 or more. Otherwise, shipping fees are specified on the order form. Shipment times can vary for each product depending on availability.

Returns: DJI offers returns within 14 days of receiving the purchase, provided it remains in like-new condition or suffers from some type of manufacturing defect.

Google

Shipping: All standard orders qualify for free shipping with no minimum. Just note that this applies to the lowest-cost shipping available, which may not be the fastest.

Returns: Google hasn’t outlined any special holiday return policies. Currently, all purchases are still subject to the standard terms and conditions, which allow you to return most items up to 15 days after receipt. However, Nest Thermostats and Verizon contract phones have an extended, 30-day return window.

HP

Shipping: For many items, standard (three- to six-day) shipping is free. You can get your gifts in time for Christmas if you place an order by December 20th, though you’ll have to pay extra for priority shipping. HP will not ship or deliver items on Christmas, Thanksgiving, or New Year’s Day.

Returns: Items purchased between November 1st and December 1st can be returned until January 15th, 2024. There are exceptions, however, and select items may be subject to a restocking fee of up to 15 percent. Returns totaling more than $250 may also require additional review before your return request is approved.

Microsoft

Shipping: Most products sold through the online Microsoft Store include free two- to three-day shipping with express shipping available for an additional fee. To receive your gifts by Christmas Eve, however, you’ll have to place your order by 2PM ET on December 22nd.

Returns: You can return most physical products purchased online from the Microsoft Store within 60 days of receiving the product, provided they’re in like-new condition. The item must also be in its original packaging with all parts, manuals, and anything else that was originally sent with the product included. Items exempt from this policy include digital gift cards and gift cards for services and subscriptions, as well as select hardware (including the HoloLens 2).

Newegg

Shipping: Many of Newegg’s items come with free shipping and are delivered within one to five business days; for details, check the individual product page. If you want your gifts to arrive in time for Christmas, you’ll have to place your order by December 21st.

Returns: Qualifying items purchased between October 9th and December 31st can be returned or replaced until January 31st, 2024.

Sam’s Club

Shipping: According to the Sam’s Club FAQ, the shipping cost for most items varies based on the item’s size, weight, shipping method, and delivery address. Plus Members get free shipping on many online items, and same-day delivery is available for free if you’re a Club or Plus member and place your order by 1PM local time (or by 12PM local time on Christmas Eve).

Returns: Sam’s Club has no specified return period; some return periods may be stated for specific products. For example, electronics and major appliances have a 90-day return window, while phones are subject to a 14-day return policy.

Sonos

Shipping: Sonos offers free shipping on all of its products, with in-stock items typically shipping the same day they’re purchased. If you want to receive your items by Christmas, though, you’ll likely have to pay extra for two-day or express shipping.

Returns: Sonos gives you 45 days to return a purchase and even offers free return shipping. However, you must have bought the product directly from Sonos and the return must be initiated within 45 days of your purchase. The product must also include the original packaging and be in new or as-new condition to be eligible.

Update 6:20PM ET, December 20th: Updated the shipping deadlines and return policies as they pertain to the 2023 holiday season.

The four podcast stories that will shape 2024

The four podcast stories that will shape 2024

Image: The Verge

This is Hot Pod, The Verge’s newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up here for more.

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Hello! Apologies for the late send, I have been buried in Hot Pod Summit prep. I promise it will be worth it! We’re putting together a great lineup for 2024. We’re still working on our invitation list — if you’re interested in attending, let us know here.

This is about the time yakky media folks like myself come out with predictions for next year. Nick Quah published takes from people across the industry today for Vulture. Yesterday, The Podglomerate’s Joni Deutsch had a piece for Nieman Lab with her own predictions. I highly recommend checking out both!

Today, I don’t have predictions so much as stories on which I am keeping a close watch. Let’s get into it.

Talent deals up for renewal

Many of those big-money, multiyear deals announced in 2020 and 2021 are coming up for renewal in 2024. Companies spent tens of millions of dollars (or, in Joe Rogan’s case, hundreds of millions of dollars) to snatch up top podcasting talent. Now, they have to decide: was it worth it, and will it be worth it to play that game again?

As media companies become more austere in their spending, it is easy to assume that we won’t see these minimum guarantee deals again. But celebrity chat shows, for better or worse, have endured. Rogan is still untouchable, SmartLess is bigger than ever, and Apple just named Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ podcast Show of the Year. One agent told me that despite the doom and gloom of the industry, their clients have had a growth year. These hosts have audiences, and audio companies are going to have to pay up to keep them.

That is not to say everyone will get a renewal or that a renewal will mean the same kind of deal as before. Arrangements in which the minimum guarantee is smaller but the revenue potential is higher (like with Trevor Noah’s Spotify deal) could become more common.

And not everyone may get a renewal, after all! It’s hard to see how Spotify would not fight for Rogan or SiriusXM would not pay to keep Ashley Flowers. But maybe that is less of a priority for, say, Dax Shepard. Armchair Expert ranked ninth on Apple Podcasts in 2020 and was snatched up by Spotify in 2021. Since then, it has lost its buzz, and Spotify decided to distribute it across platforms earlier this year (which the company has not done with its two biggest stars, Rogan and Alex Cooper). Today, Armchair Expert ranks 30th on Spotify and 118th on Apple. That is nothing to sniff at, but I would be surprised if he got another $50 million deal.

Regulatory changes in Europe

Some long-simmering tech regulation in Europe is going to come to a head next year. This has been championed first and foremost by Spotify, which has railed against Apple’s control over in-app payments for subscriptions and audiobooks. But if things shake out the way the EU intends, it could make for a more competitive audio industry overall.

In 2022, the European Union adopted the Digital Markets Act as law, which prevents “gatekeeper” companies (Apple, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, ByteDance, and Microsoft) from employing practices that derail smaller tech companies. There is a lot involved, but one of the key tenets is banning those companies from self-preferencing their own products and services in places such as search (Google) or marketplaces (the App Store). Those companies have until March to be in compliance with the new law.

This could potentially be great for Spotify’s bottom line. It could also make it easier for audio startups to compete in the open market. The tangible effects in the US next year will be minimal, if they are anything at all. But if the next great audio company can emerge in this new landscape, the podcast industry may have something to gain in the long run.

More AI (duh)

This year, I noticed a distinct shift in the industry’s attitude toward AI. When I left for maternity leave in April, people (including me!!) seemed to be really nervous about what innovations in AI technology would mean for podcasting, especially as examples mostly came in the form of fully AI-generated podcasts like The Joe Rogan AI Experience. When I got back in September, it seemed like people had reached the stage of AI acceptance.

I don’t think that means we will see too many significant podcasts that are totally AI. Instead, I think it means we will see AI seep into podcasting in subtle ways. Voice cloning technology, like that by ElevenLabs, is getting better and has been used by studios like Dear Media for Believable: The Coco Berthmann Story and Vox Media Podcast Network for Land of the Giants’ season on Tesla. Spotify’s new tool that automatically translates podcasts into other languages could be a game-changer for scaling shows. And there are probably a million other ways it can be used that I am not thinking about because that is simply not how my brain works.

If my vibe earlier this year was that the robots will destroy all media jobs (still a possibility!!), I am more hopeful that there are ways AI can be deployed that do not fundamentally alter the core of a podcast.

A year for reinvention

I know you are already aware of this, but a lot of people were laid off this year. It has been devastating to watch talented producers, engineers, and ad professionals be cut adrift because of companies that got into podcasting without a solid strategy. Unfortunately, some of them won’t be able to wait around for those jobs to come back and will move on to other sectors. But some will remain and make things that push the industry forward.

I want to be clear, this is not a replacement for good jobs that allow people to live their lives while making good work (and, you know, have health insurance). But out from under the thumb of corporate overlords who demand yet another true crime show or haphazardly throw in programmatic ads or impose (and then change) metrics, people in podcasting will innovate. Maybe that means funky show concepts that would never get approved by a SiriusXM or Spotify. Or that could mean alternate business models and ownership structures. Or maybe we will even get that long-anticipated fix for podcast discovery.

This time last year, things (rightfully) seemed bleak. And people have a lot of right to feel betrayed by the companies that threw money at podcasting just to drop it a few years later. But I am hopeful that 2024 will bring good things in podcasting, though probably not from the people or places you expect.

Anything you are thinking about going into the new year? Feel free to reach out at ariel.shapiro@theverge.com.

NASA Streams Cat Video From Deep, Deep Space

NASA Streams Cat Video From Deep, Deep Space Using laser communication, NASA streamed a cat video from almost 20 million miles away, or 40 round trip flights to the moon.

Volkswagen, Porsche, and Audi finally say they will use Tesla’s EV charging plug

Volkswagen, Porsche, and Audi finally say they will use Tesla’s EV charging plug

Image: VW

Volkswagen Group, which also owns Audi, Porsche, and Scout Motors, is finally doing what nearly every other automaker has already done: announce its intention to adopt Tesla’s electric vehicle charging standard.

VW said it is “exploring adapter solutions” so that its current EV owners can access Tesla’s Supercharger network and expects to have something to roll out by 2025. That same year, you’ll start to see new VW electric vehicles rolling off the assembly line with Tesla’s charging port natively installed. All told, VW says the deal will give its customers access to 15,000 Supercharger locations in North America.

VW said it is “exploring adapter solutions”

Of course, VW is incredibly late to this parade. Things started rolling in November 2022, when Tesla announced that it was renaming its charging technology to the North American Charging Standard (NACS) and would be opening it up to other automakers. Ford came first, then GM, and then, well, everyone else.

Volkswagen Group, one of the world’s largest automakers, with brands like Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Porsche, and Lamborghini under its umbrella, stayed mum throughout. All we got was some reporting that the company was “in talks” with Tesla. That story followed the news that Electrify America, VW’s EV charging subsidiary, would begin adding Tesla charging plugs itself. The rest of Germany’s auto industry soon followed, including BMW, Mini, and Mercedes-Benz.

Until recently, Tesla Superchargers were exclusive to Tesla owners. In fact, it was one of Tesla’s main selling points: consistent, exclusive, and abundant EV charging. But that began to change several years ago when the company started offering access to non-Tesla EVs —first in Europe and then in the US after the Biden administration said it would be a prerequisite to tap into some of the $7.5 billion for EV charging in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

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.

Now, with VW out of the way, Tesla can train all of its attention on the last real holdout: Stellantis, which owns brands like Jeep, Chrysler, Ram, Dodge, Peugeot, Fiat, and many more.

Disney drops Marvel lead Jonathan Majors following assault verdict

Disney drops Marvel lead Jonathan Majors following assault verdict

Image: Disney

Disney has dropped Jonathan Majors from his leading Marvel role as Kang the Conqueror after he was found guilty of reckless assault in the third degree and of harassment, according to The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. The verdict comes after a two-week trial following Majors’ arrest last March after an altercation with his ex-partner Grace Jabbari.

Marvel had been setting up for Majors to be the next supervillain for the franchise, but now the company is changing course. It’s unclear if Disney plans to recast Kang or change its planned storylines more drastically. Majors had already appeared in both seasons of Loki and in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and was set to star in one of the next planned Avengers movies, subtitled The Kang Dynasty. However, THR says that Marvel may be looking to focus on a new villain instead and that The Kang Dynasty “is now being referred to as Avengers 5.”

After his arrest, Majors was released by his managers at Entertainment 360 and his publicity firm The Lede Company. Disney waited until the end of his trial to drop him. Disney didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

Majors was accused of assaulting Jabbari. Though he was guilty of the two previously mentioned charges, he was acquitted on charges of intentional assault in the third degree and aggravated harassment in the second degree, THR reports.

Majors’ sentencing will be February 6th, 2024.

EU opens formal DSA investigation into X in wake of Israel-Hamas war

EU opens formal DSA investigation into X in wake of Israel-Hamas war

Image: The Verge

X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, may have broken the European Union’s tough new Digital Service Act rules, regulators said as they announced the opening of an official investigation today.

In a press release, the European Commission said it’s focussing on four areas: the spread of illegal content, the effectiveness of X’s measures to combat the spread of disinformation, the transparency of X, and the potential “deceptive design” of X’s user interface.

“The higher the risk large platforms pose to our society, the more specific the requirements of the Digital Services Act are,” said Margrethe Vestager, EU Executive Vice-President. “We take any breach of our rules very seriously. And the evidence we currently have is enough to formally open a proceeding against X.”

We have opened formal proceedings to assess whether X may have breached the #DSA in areas linked to:

risk management
content moderation
dark patterns
advertising transparency
data access for researchers

More information on next steps: https://t.co/VHJjIsVftY pic.twitter.com/oygKah5GIq

— European Commission (@EU_Commission) December 18, 2023

“Today’s opening of formal proceedings against X makes it clear that, with the DSA, the time of big online platforms behaving like they are ‘too big to care’ has come to an end,” said Thierry Breton, EU commissioner for Internal markets.

Developing...

How May Mobility went fully driverless while avoiding the pitfalls of robotaxis

How May Mobility went fully driverless while avoiding the pitfalls of robotaxis

Image: May Mobility

You probably haven’t heard of autonomous vehicle operator May Mobility because the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company is exceptionally good at avoiding the types of headlines generated by other AV companies.

In its six years in operation, there haven’t been any injuries, crashes, blocked intersections, or mass layoffs. While there have been some struggles, the company has proven to be an outlier among AV operators by continuing to raise money while others have seen their funding dry up.

And now, May Mobility is ready to go fully driverless, a milestone that has the company taking stock of its successes — and looking ahead to the future.

“The most capital-efficient AV company that the world has ever seen”

“It’s not robotaxis,” May Mobility CEO Edwin Olson said of his company’s business model. “We’re selling long-term transportation contracts, primarily to businesses and governments, which builds us a really easy on-ramp to deploy the technology step by step, keeping our burn rate low. And being really the most capital-efficient AV company that the world has ever seen.”

Robotaxi ventures like Waymo and Cruise say the future of autonomous driving is an Uber-like service in dense cities. They argue that the only way to recoup the costs of developing the technology is to run a 24/7 service without safety drivers, targeting as broad a section of consumers as possible.

That is not May Mobility’s strategy, which is instead focused on fixed-route transportation in geofenced, easily mapped business districts, college campuses, and closed residential communities.

“Our strategy here is to really stack the deck in our favor,” Olson said. “I think most people think about rider-only as being like a technological milestone. And it is, but it’s way more than that.”

“Our strategy here is to really stack the deck in our favor.”

May’s first fully driverless service on public roads will launch in Sun City, Arizona, a retirement community outside of Phoenix. The company is working with app-based microtransit service Via to connect it with potential riders. Its vehicles — Toyota Sienna minivans retrofitted with autonomous sensors and hardware — will be free to use but will only operate Monday through Friday in the afternoons.

While Phoenix has its fair share of driverless vehicles — Waymo operates there, as did Cruise before a pedestrian injury in San Francisco forced it to ground its fleet — Sun City hasn’t seen as much activity. But Olson says it’s perfect for May’s first driverless service. The lanes are wide, the pedestrian walkways are separate and protected, and the weather is mostly sunny and clear.

“We want to start in the most slam-dunk kinds of environments,” Olson said.

There has been no shortage of challenges. May’s first vehicle platform was a modified GEM shuttle that could carry around six passengers. But the vehicle struggled in inclement weather and would break down frequently, according to a 2020 story in VentureBeat. Moreover, the company found it difficult to achieve Level 4 operations in which a safety driver could be removed from the vehicle.

And its municipal partners were starting to get frustrated by the slow progress. A top Rhode Island official slammed May in a 2019 interview, criticizing the company’s inability to prove its vehicles were safer than human drivers and failing to equip its shuttles with working air conditions.

But May has shown perseverance. While other companies have shuttered or been shut down, the firm continues to putter along, currently operating in four cities.

“We have had incidents. Most of them not our fault,” Olson said. “You know, these downtown environments can be chaotic and complex.”

“We have had incidents. Most of them not our fault.”

Much like other AV companies, May’s driverless vehicles will be monitored by a team of remote employees. The vehicles aren’t being joysticked — which is to say, they aren’t remote-operated — but the remote monitors can send suggestions when problems arise. Even so, the vehicle can choose to override the suggestion if it decides the situation is unsafe, Olson said.

Robotaxi companies like Cruise generated praise from some customers but also outrage for incidents in which its vehicles blocked emergency vehicles or created traffic headaches. Olson said that May won’t have the same problems because its customers are the cities themselves. May is incentivized to address municipal concerns or risk having its contract terminated.

“We take the welfare of cities extremely seriously,” Olson said. “We want to be the good guys in the space. We don’t want to be clogging or adding to congestion.”

E.V. Start-up Founder Could Get Prison Term in Fraud Case

E.V. Start-up Founder Could Get Prison Term in Fraud Case Trevor Milton, who founded the truck company Nikola, will be sentenced on Monday in a fraud case that exposed the excesses in the electric vehicle business.

Blue Origin will livestream its first launch in over a year tomorrow

Blue Origin will livestream its first launch in over a year tomorrow

Blue Origin will stream the launch on its site. | Screenshot: The Verge

Space tourism company Blue Origin has set its sights on a New Shepard launch window that starts tomorrow at 9:30AM ET, its first attempt since the rocket booster failed during its September 2022 launch. The company says its New Shepard rocket will launch from its Launch Site One in West Texas. Blue Origin will livestream the launch on its website 20 minutes before the countdown.

This will be the 24th launch of the reusable New Shepard rocket, and will carry 33 science payloads. Most of its launches have been uncrewed, but as Engadget noted, six of them have had human beings on board, including William Shatner. Last year, Blue Origin’s uncrewed NS-23 launch failed, prompting a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigation.

The FAA said in its September report that the “proximate cause” of the failure was an engine nozzle that succumbed to “higher than expected engine operating temperatures,” but that debris from the mishap was entirely contained in the “designated hazard area.” The agency gave the company 21 corrective actions to keep the same failure from happening again, “including redesign of engine and nozzle components” and organizational changes.

The rocket will also be carrying 38,000 postcards sent by students participating in Blue Origin’s Club for the Future program promoting STEM education. Club for the Future accepts physical postcards for New Shepard missions, but the club also sends along a hard drive filled with digital submissions.

Peloton’s app now pairs with third-party treadmills for some subscribers

Peloton’s app now pairs with third-party treadmills for some subscribers

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Peloton is opening up its app to third-party treadmills for running, walking, or Tread Bootcamp classes. Pelo Buddy spotted a new support page on Peloton’s site announcing that the app can now record and display metrics on any treadmill that uses Bluetooth FTMS. The offer is only open to subscribers of the company’s most expensive subscription workout plan, Peloton App Plus.

To pair, you’ll start a Tread class in the Peloton app, then tap the “Connect a Bluetooth Device” option. Pick your treadmill from the list, and a green check mark lets you know when it’s connected.

Peloton says users can check their incline, speed, pace, and distance via the app during a class session. After the class is over, the app will also show estimated calorie burn and elevation gain. Also, sessions on third-party treadmills will still count towards challenges and badges.

The Peloton of today is markedly different from the one that surged during the pandemic-spurred home exercise equipment boom. The company struggled to meet that demand and then had months of cascading problems like safety recalls, federal investigations, layoffs, and high-profile departures before things quieted down again. Now, the more subscription-focused Peloton deals with much milder problems.