Having released an upgraded version of its Windows desktop client earlier this year, WhatsApp has now launched a native macOS app that the company says will offer similar features for Mac users. Originally conceived as a mobile app, WhatsApp gained a native Windows version last year after several months of beta testing, enabling users to chat directly from their PC without having to connect their phone. Prior to the launch of the native desktop apps, users had to use the web version of WhatsApp to access the service on their computers.

Samsung’s smart appliances will work in LG’s ThinQ app. | Image: Samsung The smart home is all about interoperability these days. First came Matter, making Apple, Amazon, Google, and Samsung play nice, and now large appliance manufacturers LG, Samsung, GE, and Vestel are going all kumbaya. Today, at the IFA tech show in Berlin, LG and Samsung announced that before the end of 2024, their respective smart home apps will be able to control each other's appliances and TVs. So, LG’s ThinQ app can tell you when you left the door open on your Samsung Family Hub smart fridge, and Samsung’s SmartThings app can set your LG washer to delicate mode. You should also be able to control each company’s TV’s with their competitors’ apps.This cooperation is the work of the Home Connectivity Alliance, an industry coalition... Continue reading…

If you're doing some last-minute shopping for back-to-school season, and you're looking for a new laptop, this Chromebook deal is for you. Best Buy is discounting the Acer Chromebook 516, one of the best Chromebooks on the market, by a whopping $150, bringing it down to just $499 for a limited time. This laptop features a large 120Hz display, premium design and is powered by an Intel i5 processor. Deals this good don't come often, so you'll want to jump on this one while you can.

Apple's MacBooks are some of the best laptops that you can buy that can really do it all. The MacBook Air is perfect if you're looking for something portable, while the MacBook Pro series is great for creatives. Of course, regardless of which one you choose, you'll be getting a great design, quality construction, powerful Apple processors, excellent battery life, and much more.

Image: Samsung You can’t just stick any regular TV out on the back porch and expect it to survive; there’s a reason outdoor TVs usually sell for a hefty premium. They’re designed to withstand the elements over an extended time while offering enough brightness to overcome direct sunlight. Samsung has a special line of outdoor TVs called The Terrace that’s part of the company’s “lifestyle” series, which also includes The Frame, The Sero, and The Serif. And today, it’s adding the biggest-sized screen to that lineup yet: a new 85-inch Terrace is now available for preorder. And it costs $19,999. Yep, a buck shy of 20 grand. It’s worth highlighting that Samsung has made some fresh upgrades for this 85-inch model. It now offers “Neo QLED” picture technology... Continue reading…

In a world where a number of brands put out countless excellent smartwatch models, finding the right pick can be tricky. However, in my personal opinion, the new Apple Watches have become the best for most users. While their compatibility is currently limited to iOS only (and that will likely never change), they still offer the most advanced features for Apple users and are uncontested in a lot of key areas, including the five below.

It's been a couple of years since Google introduced its Locked Folder feature for Android smartphones, giving users the ability to add an extra layer of privacy with captured photos and videos. Now, Google Photos is expanding access to devices outside of Android, which means, iOS and web users will now be able to access Locked Folder too.

Khabib Nurmagomedov has Conor McGregor in a chokehold. | Photo By Stephen McCarthy / Sportsfile via Getty Images The NFL, NBA, and UFC are looking to inject some urgency into the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to have the law shut down illegal livestreams sooner. The sports organizations believe that the law needs to define more specifically how quickly a DMCA takedown notice should take effect, according to a letter they sent to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) seen by TorrentFreak.DMCA was signed during the Clinton administration in 1998 and specified that takedown notices be processed “expeditiously,” as written in Section 512 of the act. In the letter sent to the USPTO, dated August 23rd, the NFL, NBA, and UFC urge the government to change the “expeditiously” verbiage to “instantaneously or near-instantaneously.”When I... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube wants to give content creators who violate its guidelines a second chance. Creators will now get the option to take an “educational training course” when they receive a community guidelines warning, and in exchange, YouTube will lift that warning from their account.YouTube previously issued a lifetime warning to channels that violated its content guidelines and removed the video in question. The lifetime warning stayed on a YouTuber’s account forever and preceded the strikes that a creator would receive for breaking its rules again.Under YouTube’s new policies, the platform will still take down the video in violation of its rules, but it will give creators a chance to get rid of YouTube’s warning by having them take a class... Continue reading…

Image: Specialized Specialized announced the second e-bike from its resurrected Globe brand, the Haul LT, a long-tailed (the “LT” in the name) cargo bike with fat tires, a sturdy aluminum frame, and a $3,500 price tag.A quick recap: in 2022, Specialized announced it was bringing back its defunct Globe logo for a lineup of heavy-duty e-bikes that could carry a ton of stuff but wouldn’t break the bank. The first, the Haul ST, went on sale earlier this year and instantly won accolades for its utility, ride quality, and whimsical design. A Class 3 e-bike with a 700-watt rear-hub motor and 772-watt-hour battery, the Haul LT looks every bit the Haul ST’s successor. Design-wise, the two bikes are nearly indistinguishable, aside from the extended rear rack.... Continue reading…

Photo illustration by Alex Parkin / The Verge How do you define what it means to be you in the all-digital 21st century — and how should systems protect that? Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge When the Securities and Exchange Commission denied Grayscale its petition for a Bitcoin ETF, that action was “arbitrary and capricious,” an appeals court ruled today. The SEC ruling has been vacated.Last year, Grayscale applied for the approval for the fund and was denied. An ETF, or exchange-traded fund, is a pooled investment that is tied to a specific set of assets, which might be an index, a sector, a set of commodities, or something else. Grayscale’s is “something else” — Bitcoin. That could let large investors, such as pension funds, invest in Bitcoin. The SEC has previously approved ETFs that track Bitcoin futures, but not so-called spot ETFs, which directly track Bitcoin price. Grayscale wanted to convert its Bitcoin trust to... Continue reading…