In what may be a first for the Federal Drug Administration, the agency has sent a letter to the makers of an iPhone medical app asking why its approval wasn't sought before release. The uChek app analyzes photos of urine samples to give users quick health information. On Tuesday, the FDA told...
Smartphone app or medical device?
Does the Xbox One actually require an internet connection? Will used game buyers or sellers have to pay an extra fee? Microsoft hasn't made it clear, but a report at Polygon now claims that the answers are "yes" and "no" respectively. According to...
Developers in Argentina have begun receiving letters from Google informing them that "Google Play will no longer be able to accept payments on behalf of developers registered in Argentina starting June 27, 2013." The change applies to both paid apps and apps that use in-app purchases. The move appears to be related to new, restrictive regulations the Argentine government has imposed on currency...
Craigslist and eBay are great services when you're looking to sell unwanted items, but what about things strangers aren't likely to buy? On Bondsy, a new mobile app aimed at helping users barter and trade, several pounds of unwanted bacon were recently swapped for a bag of coffee beans, a collection of unused T-shirts traded hands for some plumbing services, and a smartphone found a new owner in exchange for a dinner. "There are a lot of things you own that aren't easy to put a price tag on," said founder Diego Zambrano. "But they often have a lot of value to someone in your social network."
For the stuff you can't sell or bear to throw away
Yarn. Yoda. Youth. Yolk. Yuks. Yawn. Yowl. Yak. Yeah. Yells. Yacht. Yellow. Yogurt. Yoga. Yammer.
The singular constant keeps on keeping on
Once upon a time, two wandering adventures found a third traveler and henceforth would meet to high five and spend sixpence for a lager about seven days a week. This isn't their story — but do join us for today's Vergecast as we toast an incredibly long a news-filled week. And stay tuned tomorrow for Top Shelf... it may or may not be about video games this week.
Update: for technical...
Chet Kanojia, CEO and founder of Aereo
The nation's largest television broadcasters filed a copyright lawsuit against FilmOn.TV and its Aereokiller service yesterday, alleging that the service retransmits TV programming without authorization or compensating them, according to a story in Variety. Aereokiller is the flippantly-named competitor to Aereo, the company that uses dime-sized antennas to capture over-the-air TV transmissions and then streams them to subscribers by way of the internet.
This is part of an escalating fight for control of the country's TV airwaves. The broadcasters...
A few hours after we got a look at a potential Gmail for Android redesign, a new screenshot for Gmail on the web has apparently leaked to The Next Web. The new interface shows four tabs at the top of the inbox: Primary, Social, Promotions, and Updates — with a reported fifth tab for offers. Apparently, incoming mail will be split between these different buckets depending on its content. For example, Twitter and Google+ emails would be shuttled off to the Social tab, while mailing list emails would go into the Forums tab. Alongside the new tabs for the web, a second screenshot revealed similar functionality for Gmail on Android.
A satellite image of this week's tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, captured by NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer. (Credit: NASA.)
It's been nearly 150 years since scientists first made efforts to forecast the arrival of tornadoes. But as indicated by this week's storm in Moore, Oklahoma — which killed 24 people and ravaged thousands of homes — they still can't anticipate these potentially deadly weather events with much time...
The science of predicting the unpredictable
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has a reputation for taking on big, entrenched industries (see his prohibition on indoor smoking and attempted ban on large sodas, for two notable examples). But if Bloomberg said anything like what he is reported to have told the owner of one of New York...
As the Xbox 360 aged, rumors swirled around Microsoft’s next-generation console. Would we see an Xbox 720? An Xbox Infinity? A Nextbox? All those rumors turned out to be wrong: in Redmond today, Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One, set for release by the end of 2013. While the name was kept...
A number of experimental features in Google Glass have been uncovered by the Android hacking community, including one that puts the headset in a constant listening mode awaiting an owner's command. Another lets you quickly snap a photo with an eye...
The latest video from chiptune rock stars Anamanaguchi doesn't have as many meows as the first, but it does have a space-bound slice of pizza. The video is for the title track off of the band's new album, Endless Fantasy, and the funding for the slice's voyage came from...
Google is announcing today that it's working together with Microsoft on a new YouTube application for Windows Phone. Following a fight with Microsoft over its unauthorized YouTube app, the pair appear to have resolved some of their differences. Google demanded that Microsoft should remove its app...
As of today, AT&T's prepaid GoPhone customers now have access to the company's burgeoning LTE network. Previously, prepaid users could only connect to the carrier's older 3G and Edge networks — not a major stumbling block for most, since the company sells no LTE-ready prepaid phones. But it did stink for those who were hoping to get LTE-capable devices, such as an iPhone 5 or HTC One, running on AT&T's...
Google is working on building up wireless networks in sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and other developing regions, reports The Wall Street Journal. Google is said to be "deep" in the process of funding and building such networks, and is...
The game console of the future will be a tiny box and a large connection to the cloud. Projections will illuminate across your living room, turning your furniture Pleasantville black-and-white to project the somber tone that the game detects from your heartbeat. "You are the controller" — but...
HTC may follow Samsung's lead and produce a "Google Edition" of its latest flagship smartphone running stock Android. According to sources that...
With the first phase of Microsoft's Xbox One reveal complete, the company now looks ahead to E3 where it plans to give gamers a more thorough look at the upcoming console. Polygon is today...
When Cody Wilson of Defense Distributed released the first 3D-printed gun files online, he saw it as a logical combination of the First and Second Amendments: a way to make access to firearms as...
Dutch scientists are facing criticism from international health officials for filing a patent on one strain of a deadly Middle Eastern virus, and now the World Health Organization has said it will...
It looks like Google has a redesigned version of Gmail coming up, if a slide shown off during a developer event at Google I/O last week is any indication. As spotted by Android Police, a slide...
The Verge staffers aren't just people who love technology. They're people who love stuff. We spend as much time talking and thinking about our...
The Hangover Part III hits theaters this weekend, but if you're in the mood for something else there's plenty of new movies on the way. To get a sense of what's yet to come, here are some of the week's most coolest coming attractions.
In the first level of Element4l, I died 28 times before making it to the end. It's not because the enemies are particularly tough (there aren't any), or the action is too fast paced (it's pretty relaxed), but because the game's unique control scheme is just so different. And death, it seems, is a...
