Apple’s not too happy that Masimo’s W1 watch didn’t exist when Masimo filed its complaint. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge There was no question that Apple would appeal when the International Trade Commission banned Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 sales last year. Well, if you’ve got some time, you can now read all 916 pages of Apple’s appeal to the Federal Circuit. A quick recap: the Apple Watch ban centers around whether Apple infringed upon medical device-maker Masimo’s pulse oximetry patents. The ITC sided with Masimo, concluding that Apple had infringed their patents, and that the infringement was harming domestic industry. The ITC is an agency similar to a court that often deals with imported “articles” that may or may not violate intellectual property law. The word “article” matters more than you’d think, since the statute that created the ITC... Continue reading…

Anker’s latest offering even doubles as a StandBy-ready stand. | Image: Anker The list of Qi2 smartphones expanded ever so slightly this week, with the iPhone 12 joining the ranks of Qi2-certified phones thanks to a recent update. That means we can safely say that all MagSafe-compatible iPhones — including the iPhone 13, 14, and 15 — are officially Qi2-ready. The timing couldn’t be better, either, as Anker is currently offering 20 percent off its 6,600mAh MagGo Power Bank, bringing your total down to $55.99 (about $14 off) at Amazon and Anker’s online storefront (the latter with code WSCPEW1AZM).We’ve long been fans of Anker’s MagSafe-compatible power banks, but previous models could only charge newer iPhones at the slower 7.5W speed. Anker says the 15W charging coils in the Qi2 version can take an iPhone 15 Pro... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Tesla will reveal its long-promised robotaxi on August 8th, Elon Musk just posted on X. The forthcoming autonomous vehicle is said to be built on Tesla’s next-generation vehicle platform. The announcement came on the same day that Reuters reported that the company had canceled its plans to build a more affordably priced electric vehicle, said to be in the range of $25,000. Musk reportedly told employees that instead of building a mass-market EV, he wanted to focus completely on an autonomous vehicle that would make other vehicles obsolete. Tesla Robotaxi unveil on 8/8— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2024Musk has long teased the possibility of a Tesla robotaxi, even showing off a completely covered vehicle during a 2023 event... Continue reading…

If you use the internet, you probably do so through a router. Routers don’t directly connect to the internet – that's what modems are for – but routers are still a crucial part of many household networks because they act as communication hubs. With any of the best Wi-Fi routers, you can set up your computer anywhere in the house, play multiplayer titles on your Xbox Series X, and turn on lights with your phone. While routers make life far more convenient, like many other modern electronics, you should update their firmware to keep them running smoothly.

If you have a Steam Deck, you've probably realized that it's basically just a full-fledged computer. It runs Linux, and there's a full desktop that you can access, complete with normal day-to-day applications that you can run. It's super easy to access the Steam Deck's desktop mode, and you can use the Discover application to download and run basically anything.

Image: Kristen Radtke / The Verge In a motion Meta filed on Friday to try and get the FTC’s monopoly claims dismissed, it includes details of how much advertising revenue Instagram brought in over the last few years. At $32.4 billion for 2021 alone, that’s even more than YouTube, which pulled in $28.8 billion in the same year. Business Insider previously pointed out the lead it has over Google’s video unit, and mentions that YouTube gives up 55 percent of each advertising dollar it makes to content owners who upload videos while Instagram coughs up a lot less. Image: Composite of filing from District Court, District of Columbia, and Alphabet 2021 Annual Report (PDF) The gap is also there even if you look further back. In 2020 and 2019, Meta lists... Continue reading…

Former employees of Best Buy’s in-house tech support and repair team Geek Squad say there were mass layoffs this week, 404 Media reports. A former Geek Squad agent tells the outlet that they received an email on Tuesday about a work from home event the following day regarding a “company change.” “Our leadership gave individual calls stating we were being let go for the simple fact that the company couldn’t afford to pay us, more or less. It was extremely short notice and devastating,” an ex-Geek Squad worker told 404 Media.Over at r/GeekSquad, recently laid-off Geek Squad agents have posted photos of their badges in solidarity and referred to themselves as belonging to a Geek Squad “sleeper cell”, writing that they’re “going sleeper”... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple is loosening its App Store restrictions and opening the marketplace up to retro game emulators. In an update on Friday, Apple announced that game emulators can come to the App Store globally and offer downloadable games. Apple says those games must comply with “all applicable laws,” though — an indication it will ban apps that provide pirated titles.The move should allow the retro console emulators already on Android — at least those that are left — to bring their apps to the iPhone. Game emulators have long been banned from iOS, leaving iPhone owners in search of workarounds via jailbreaking or other workarounds. They’re also one of the key reasons, so far, that iPhone owners in the European Union might check out third-party app... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge The entire time I was playing Final Fantasy VII Rebirth — the second part of a planned trilogy of FF7 remakes — I couldn’t stop thinking about replaying the first game from 1997. When the credits rolled on Rebirth, I had a difficult decision to make: how to play the original? There is no shortage of options. The game has been ported to most modern platforms, and I still have the original PlayStation discs (all three of them). But ultimately I decided on a beloved but oft-forgotten piece of video game hardware, the PlayStation Vita. And you know what? This little thing still absolutely rules.My rekindled love affair with the Vita started because of FF7, and I’ve been been making my through the game in fits and starts. But it has also... Continue reading…

We're now less than two months away from laptops launching with Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X Elite chipset, and this is going to be big. It's not going to be like previous Snapdragon PC chips, where there would only be two or three mainstream products available. We're talking big-time premium laptops, such as the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6, along with entries from every other major OEM, all within the first week or so of launch. OEMs are so confident in this chipset that products like Microsoft's best-selling Surface PCs won't even be offered to consumers in an Intel variant.

Photo by Spencer Platt / Getty Images Infrastructure in the US has always been a sore subject, but when a 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck the New York City region on Friday, many people were rightfully nervous about the structural integrity of the surrounding bridges, tunnels, and buildings.The earthquake’s epicenter was near Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, but people in neighboring states, including New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania still felt the short-lasting shake. A 4.8 magnitude earthquake is on the lower end of the Richter scale, and its effects are described as potentially causing windows to break or small objects to fall.But experts say the relatively minor quake is nothing to worry about. “When you look at that, in terms of this scale, it’s a pretty minor... Continue reading…

In a surprise move, Apple announced changes to its App Review Guidelines that will allow retro game emulators to be distributed through the App Store. Historically, Apple did not permit game emulators on the App Store, but the company has reversed this stance on the type of app. Starting today, retro game emulators are able to pass Apple's app review process and offer downloadable games on the latest iPhones and other Apple devices. Though Apple may have made the decision due to pressure from the European Union and its Digital Markets Act (DMA), the company has decided to make game emulation apps available to users worldwide.