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…

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…

Image: Firaxis Games It seems like Steam has a new themed sale event every other week, and this week, it’s Strategy Fest. As part of the sale, which started officially yesterday and lasts until 1PM ET on September 4th, you can get deals on a slew of strategy games of all stripes.Of course, you can expect all the fan favorites to be deeply discounted. Civilization VI is at a “there is no real justification for not buying it” price of $5.99, or 90 percent off, while Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition is half off at $19.99.But if you’re new to strategy games or strategy game-curious, those titles can be a bit overwhelming as starting points. Fortunately, Steam curated this bundle of games widely to include titles you might not think of as strategy games... Continue reading…

If you want to get into development, one of my favorite programming languages is Python. It's a multi-paradigm language that supports imperative, functional, procedural, and object-oriented programming. It's wide open, can be used for practically anything, and is a go-to language for many when working in artificial intelligence or machine learning. I use it for a lot of automation, and it's even the language that some of the testing tools that we've used are written in.

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…

The iPhone 14 Pro Max and iPhone 14 Pro. | Image: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple’s next big product launch is nearly here. The company just sent invitations for an event on September 12th at 1PM ET / 10AM PT, where the company is expected to announce the iPhone 15 lineup and new Apple Watches.In the invite sent by Apple, the company says its “Wonderlust” event will take place live from Apple Park. The invite also includes the Apple logo in gray, blue, and black, which may tease the color options that the iPhone 15 Pro lineup is rumored to come in. Image: Apple Apple’s event invitation. The iPhone 15 lineup will probably be the star of the event. The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are expected to look a lot like the iPhone 14 but with a couple of key differences. The notch at the top of... Continue reading…

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.

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…

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.

We've been reading rumors about the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro for a very, very long time. Fortunately, these unofficial whispers will soon be confirmed, as Apple has just sent out invites for a special event taking place on September 12 at 10:00 a.m. PT. While the Cupertino firm doesn't explicitly mention the iPhone 15 series, it's safe to assume that it will be revealing these new iPhones on that day.