Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Netflix confirms to The Verge that it has begun booting longtime subscribers off their Apple iTunes billing plans, and will require them to pay Netflix directly using a credit card or debit card instead. Earlier today, The Streamable reported that Netflix had begun telling customers in “some territories,” but Netflix representative Momo Zhao confirms to us that all “members on the basic plan who were using an iTunes method of payment” will need to sign up directly. It’s been a good run for anyone who signed up before Netflix stopped accepting subscriptions through Apple’s payments system. One person indicated today on X that they’d kept the streaming service’s old $9.99 price for years. Netflix stopped working with Apple Pay and... Continue reading…

The Verge The president of Crunchyroll, Rahul Purini, announced that the company is working to compensate customers who will lose their digital libraries in the upcoming Funimation / Crunchyroll merger on April 2nd. “[We] are working really hard directly with each [customer] to ensure that they have an appropriate value for what they got in the digital copy initially,” Purini tells Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel during this week’s Decoder podcast. “As people reach out to us through customer service, we are responding and handling each of those requests as they prefer.” When asked what “appropriate value” meant, Purini said, “So it could be that they get access to a digital copy on any of the existing other services where they might be able to... Continue reading…

Illustration: The Verge Microsoft has announced a new multiyear partnership with Mistral, a French AI startup that’s valued at €2 billion (about $2.1 billion). The Financial Times reports that the partnership will include Microsoft taking a minor stake in the 10-month-old AI company, just a little over a year after Microsoft invested more than $10 billion into its OpenAI partnership.The deal will see Mistral’s open and commercial language models available on Microsoft’s Azure AI platform, the second company to offer a commercial language model on Azure after OpenAI. Much like the OpenAI partnership, Microsoft’s partnership with Mistral will also be focused on the development and deployment of next-generation large language models.Mistral is announcing a new... Continue reading…

Seagate’s speedy storage expansion cards are reminiscent of retro memory cards but also expensive without these periodic sales. | Image: Seagate Update February 26th, 1:30PM ET: The 1TB model of Seagate’s Storage Expansion Card has sold out, but you can still save $110 on the 2TB version.We’ve griped long enough about the ballooning install sizes of the latest AAA games, but complaining won’t slow the trend. Without some miraculous development in data compression technology, the only remedy today is to buy extra storage. Xbox Series X and S gamers have had it the roughest with the exorbitant markups on its proprietary storage cards, but regular discounts are starting to make them a little more affordable. For example, Seagate’s 1TB Storage Expansion Card is down to $125.99 at Amazon ($94 off), which is the lowest price we’ve seen so far. The 2TB card is also on sale for $249.99... Continue reading…

Image: Fiat Stellantis-owned Fiat revealed five new concepts that it says will serve as inspiration for a future family of vehicles that will come in a variety of powertrains while sharing the same platform. The new lineup, inspired by the Italian automaker’s Panda city cars, will kick off in July 2024 with a new city car, followed by a new vehicle each year for the following three years. In addition, the concepts preview a pickup truck, a fastback sedan, an SUV, and a camper. Fiat is hedging its bets, committing to producing not only electric versions of each vehicle but also hybrid and internal combustion engine versions. The automaker says this is to “ensure maximum relevance to customers wherever they live in the world.”The new lineup,... Continue reading…

Image: Square Enix I have a pet conspiracy theory. The greatest minds in card game design don’t work at Wizards of the Coast on Magic: The Gathering or at Ravensburger on the Disney-themed breakout hit Lorcana. But somehow, through some eldritch pact made with the gods of the collectible card game, Square Enix managed to snag the greatest minds in card game design and has kept them in a vault for the last 30 years working on Final Fantasy card minigames. That’s the best explanation I can come up with for how good Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s Queen’s Blood card game is.This minigame has nearly eclipsed my enjoyment of Rebirth itself, a game a number of critics are saying is possibly the best game of this generation. I didn’t gasp in awe when I first saw... Continue reading…

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge Apple could soon face an investigation over its decision to discontinue iPhone web apps in the European Union, according to a report from the Financial Times. The European Commission has reportedly sent Apple and app developers requests for more information to assist in its evaluation.“We are indeed looking at the compliance packages of all gatekeepers, including Apple,” the European Commission says in a statement to The Verge provided by spokesperson Lea Zuber. “In that context, we’re in particular looking into the issue of progressive web apps, and can confirm sending the requests for information to Apple and to app developers, who can provide useful information for our assessment.” When reached for comment, Apple pointed The Verge... Continue reading…

“Odysseus captured this image approximately 35 seconds after pitching over during its approach to the landing site.” | Image: Intuitive Machines (X) The Odysseus lander is likely to remain operating for another 24 hours on the Moon’s surface, despite being tipped over onto its side. Intuitive Machines, the private space company behind Odysseus, tweeted a few images taken by the spacecraft and gave more updates on how long the team expects it will remain operational. Because of Odysseus’ landing position, the panels and antennas aren’t oriented exactly as planned, making it harder for it to generate power and communicate. Controllers on Earth will continue to collect data until its solar panels are no longer exposed to sunlight, which they anticipate will happen on Tuesday morning. Flight controllers intend to collect data until the lander’s solar panels are no longer exposed to... Continue reading…

Bose’s foldable QuietComfort Ultra Headphones are an excellent pair of noise-canceling headphones, if you don’t mind the color white. | Image: The Verge Traveling can be stressful, which is why, if you’re planning on enjoying a relaxing spring break next month, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones can make for a great travel companion, especially if you’re flying. The noise-canceling headphones can help ensure you get some peace and quiet even before you land at your destination, and right now, they’re down to a new low of $349.99 ($80 off) at Staples.Unlike the last-gen Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, the QC Ultra fold down for easy storage, which is one of the reasons they remain our favorite pair of noise-canceling headphones for traveling. The long-lasting headphones are also more comfortable to wear than our top pick, the Sony WH-1000XM5, so you won’t need to worry about ear... Continue reading…

Image: Playstack In Casino Royale, James Bond gets a bit of poker advice: You never play your hand. You play the man sitting across from you.Okay, but what if you just played your hand? What if no one was sitting at the other end of the table? Balatro, a new turn-based card game available on most platforms, takes the mechanics of poker and turns them into the basis of a compelling roguelike, the subgenre of games where each playthrough is a single perilous attempt.Balatro is a poker game inasmuch as Scrabble is a word game. Knowing the language and probabilities of poker will help you, but ultimately, this is a logic game. There are no bluffs, no pots, just the pure composition of poker hands satisfyingly paired with a thrilling game loop.This makes B... Continue reading…

Whenever you buy a new laptop, you want to get the most out of it. Lenovo announced an incredibly exciting lineup of new laptops at CES this year with some of its flagship machines getting upgrades. The new Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i is one of those laptops this year that's getting a huge upgrade. This year's version now has Intel Core Ultra processors and an OLED panel. If you're interested in a Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i, then you should get some accessories to maximize its potential. A smart choice would be a docking station, so you can not only charge it but also connect other devices or monitors. Check out our top picks for the best docking stations for the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i (2024) and get more from your new laptop.

The first computery thing I do in the year 2024 is nudge a 3.5-inch floppy disk into a USB floppy drive that I bought from an online merchant working out of Singapore’s onetime hotbed of ’90s computer piracy. I’m briefly startled by the drive’s low mechanical whirring — a warm, ambient background score that instantly transports me back to my childhood. Some of my first painfully preteen journals were hidden poorly on nondescript floppies just like this one. I click on the disk’s sole file, an MP3 titled “Inability to Perform Social Activities Is Considered Inferior,” and Yasuyuki Uesugi’s growling wall of experimental noise rolls through my apartment like a rogue wave at the beach. The track is one minute, 27 seconds long,... Continue reading…