Belkin’s convertible charger can either stand upright or be used like a traditional pad. | Image: Belkin Belkin is embracing the new magnet-enhanced Qi2 wireless charging standard with a pair of new products being announced at Berlin’s IFA 2023 tech show. There’s the BoostCharge Convertible Qi2 Wireless Pad to Stand (yes, that’s the name), which can either work like a traditional Qi pad or hold a phone upright while it charges — great for the iPhone’s new StandBy feature. There’s also the BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Pad with Qi2, which is equipped with a pair of wireless charging pads (one 15W and one 5W) plus a USB-C port for charging a third device like an Apple Watch via an optional dongle.Announced at CES earlier this year, Qi2 is a new version of Qi wireless charging that effectively integrates the magnets from Apple’s... Continue reading…

Meta is reportedly all set to end the cross-app messaging support between Instagram and Facebook Messenger. The feature was rolled out back in 2020 with much fanfare when Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri announced the cross-platform messaging feature, making it easier for Instagram users to message their Facebook friends, and vice-versa. However, that feature is now seemingly going away after less than three years.

The Acer Chromebook 516 GE was one of the first gaming-specific Chromebooks, announced 2022. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The point of cloud gaming is it doesn’t require a powerful PC; a Chromebook should do just fine. Today, Google and Nvidia are ready to prove it by giving away a free, no-strings-attached GeForce Now subscription to every modern Chromebook owner. You don’t have to buy a new machine, and there’s no recurring subscription. You don’t have to enter any credit card information, Google spokesperson Peter Du confirms to The Verge. As long as you’ve got a Chromebook from 2017 or newer, you can simply head over to Google’s Chromebook Perks page and hit the “Get perk” button to redeem a three-month subscription to the Priority tier of Nvidia’s GeForce Now.If you’ve purchased a gaming Chromebook, the deal’s even sweeter: you get three months of... Continue reading…

Image: Bethesda Softworks The latest release from Bethesda is reminiscent of games like Fallout and Skyrim, but with a new level of wonder and adventure — and a whole lot of polish. Continue reading…

Taylor Swift performing onstage. | Photo by Hector Vivas/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management While there are undoubtedly still Taylor Swift fans out there who are salty with Ticketmaster for causing them to miss out on seeing the Eras Tour live, AMC’s getting ready to offer them a chance to see their idol in all her glory at movie theaters across the country.Variety reports that AMC is bringing Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour — a filmed recording of Swift’s newest show — to every single one of its US theaters for multiple daily showings on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays beginning this October. Along with showings in regular theaters, AMC also plans for The Eras Tour to play in a number of its premium IMAX and Dolby locations. Here in the US, there are also plans in the works for the show to come to more theater chains,... Continue reading…

While Microsoft, Sony, and Nvidia all got into casual gameplay recording in 2013, AMD graphics cards were noticeably lacking in that department. While Nvidia users could use ShadowPlay to easily record games, AMD users had no such equivalent. However, AMD has since caught up with Radeon ReLive, arguably surpassing Nvidia when it comes to recording games. Here's everything there is to know about Radeon ReLive and why it's a key reason that AMD GPUs still rank among the best gaming graphics cards.

Image: Bethesda Game Studios Prepare to get lost in space with Bethesda’s next big game. Continue reading…

The ScanWatch 2 will cost $349.95 and features a temperature sensing module. | Image: Withings After nearly three years without a new smartwatch, Withings is kicking off IFA 2023 by announcing not one but two ScanWatch hybrid watches.The $349.95 ScanWatch 2 is Withings’ latest and greatest hybrid smartwatch, with a new temperature tracking module that uses a combination of four sensors: a thermistor; heat flux; PPG (the green LED for measuring heart rate); and accelerometer. Data from the four sensors will then be fed into an algorithm that uses movement, heart rate, and skin temperature to deliver health insights. Withings also introduced a slightly pared-down, fashion-first ScanWatch Light for $249.99. Unlike most smartwatches these days, the ScanWatch 2’s temperature tracking isn’t intended for advanced cycle tracking,... Continue reading…

Back in May, I theorized about a future where Nvidia and AMD both stop offering budget GPUs, and you need around $300 to purchase a new graphics card. With Nvidia, this is already a reality as the company hasn't offered a new GPU cheaper than $200 since its GTX 16 series, which was already a gimped version of the RTX 20 series. I always figured AMD would stick to the low end of the market since its only competition was Intel and because AMD has traditionally been one of the best manufacturers of budget cards.

Chinese giant Baidu officially launched its chatbot, Ernie Bot, after the government approved its application, alongside that of several other AI companies. Ernie Bot is now available for download from app stores or Baidu’s website. Much like its main rival, ChatGPT, users can ask Ernie Bot questions or prompt it to help write market analysis, give marketing slogan ideas, and summarize documents. The company told The Verge Ernie Bot is available globally, but users need a Chinese number to register and log in. The Baidu app is available on US Android and iOS app stores but is only in Chinese. Baidu also opened a plug-in market for Ernie Bot.Company representatives said the Ernie Bot surpassed 1 million users in the first 19 hours... Continue reading…

Despite Samsung releasing the Galaxy Z Fold 5, some retailers and wireless carriers are still offering Galaxy Z Fold 4. During its time, the Z Fold 4 took top honors as the best foldable phone in 2022, and while it's a generation older, it still offers a lot of great features like a large 7.6-inch main screen and a 6.2-inch cover screen, both of which support up to a 120Hz refresh rate.

Starfield, the new space RPG from Skyrim maker Bethesda Game Studios, is launching today without Nvidia’s upscaling technology. AMD is Starfield’s “exclusive PC partner,” with both Bethesda and AMD engineers working together to optimize the game for multithreaded code on Xbox and PC, Ryzen 7000 processors, and Radeon 7000 series graphics cards.It’s still unclear what this exclusivity contract means for Bethesda, but AMD made it clear to The Verge last week that there’s nothing stopping Bethesda from adding DLSS to Starfield. “If they want to do DLSS, they have AMD’s full support,” said AMD gaming chief Frank Azor. That could mean there’s a period of exclusivity where only AMD’s FSR 2 technology is supported, or Bethesda could have... Continue reading…