Valve is pushing out another update to Team Fortress 2, its 356th since it first shipped the game as part of The Orange Box in 2007. But there’s something special this time around — the new content, titled Robotic Boogaloo, is the first to be created entirely by fans. Polygon reports that the...
Hats on hats on hats
What's cooler than a laser light show? One that combines real-time control, motion tracking, and Daft Punk. For the past week, artist and hacker Memo Akten has been uploading videos showing off what he's learned using a laser projector and the...
With the PlayStation 4, Sony is trying to lower the friction in buying games from PSN by letting you start playing games while they're still downloading. Now it looks like the new feature will actually make it to the PlayStation 3 in time for the PSN release of Naughty Dog’s anticipated The Last of Us on June 14th. Speaking with Naughty Dog creative director Neil Druckmann and game director...
I/O is Google’s biggest event of the year, a three-day soiree for the company and its developers to talk about the present and future of Google’s products. It’s also the week Google tends to make its biggest announcements — from the Nexus 7 to Google TV, Chrome to Glass and everything in between, Google plays its biggest cards every year in the middle of May.
This year’s rumors began almost as soon as last year’s I/O ended. Would 2013 be the year Google merged Chrome OS and Android into a single operating system, under Sundar Pichai’s leadership? Would Google release a new tablet (or several)? Was Google Now poised to take over the internet? What about new apps for Glass? Add in Google’s penchant for device giveaways — last year’s attendees went home with a Chromebook, Chromebox, Nexus 7, Nexus Q, and Galaxy...
Three and a half hours of Google
An update to the Google Music app broke compatibility with the ill-fated Nexus Q — but it appears Google may have a new media streamer waiting in the wings to replace it. A recent FCC filing provides some sparse details on a mysterious product referenced as the "H840 Device." Google is mentioned as the product's manufacturer, and it's described as a "fixed base station" with 802.11b/g/n...
Nexus Q, take two
Google Glass in its current form might be the ultimate early-adopter status symbol, but project leaders at Google think it will grow into a broadly-accepted product. "There's a real opportunity for Glass to become mainstream," product director Steve Lee said today at Google I/O. "We were surprised at how quickly there was a positive reaction."
Lee was speaking to a large crowd gathered for a...
After years of sluggish service, train operator Amtrak has begun a network-wide overhaul of its onboard Wi-Fi service. Piggybacking on a number of different mobile networks, the new service uses 4G connectivity to improve speeds. The upgrade is already complete on the 400-mile Washington to Boston route, and has also rolled out on some state routes in California. Amtrak promises the rest of its Wi-Fi enabled trains, which serve 75 percent of its passengers, will be upgraded by "late summer."
Despite the speed upgrade, Amtrak is still limiting the service. Bandwidth-heavy services such as Netflix and Pandora will continue to be...
The Classics are must-see, must-read, must-play works revered by The Verge staff. They offer glimpses of the future, glimpses of humanity, and a glimpse of our very souls. You should check them out.
British band Lush’s first full-length album, Spooky (4AD, January, 1992) is a relic of a past which no longer exists, but which incessantly reminds you that it once did. You hear its reverberations in predecessors like Black Tambourine and in...
Much of the time is spent fading in and fading out
Chinese telecommunications giants ZTE and Huawei are set to face an EU investigation for anti-competitive behavior. Although the pair have both seen moderate success marketing their consumer devices in the region, the investigation is regarding the companies' infrastructure equipment, which...
Welcome to The Verge: Weekender edition. Each week, we'll bring you important articles from the previous weeks' original reports, features, and reviews on The Verge. Think of it as a collection of a few of our favorite pieces from the week gone by, which you may have missed, or which you...
The hottest space in mobile tech right now is messaging, with all the apps that let you skip past high-priced SMS and send texts for free (or very cheap). Just this week, we've heard that BlackBerry Messenger will soon work on iPhone and Android...
Google has been pushing self-driving car technology for much of the last few years, and Audi showed off its own self-driving vehicle at the last CES, and now Mercedes-Benz is throwing its hat into the ring. According to The New York Times, the automaker showed off its "virtual...
It appears that Canada will become the latest country to look into the business practices of search giant Google. The Financial Post reports that Canada's Competition Bureau — a law-enforcement agency focused on ensuring competitive conditions in the marketplace — has notified Google that it...
A group of cybersecurity experts has come out in opposition to a White House-backed proposal that would dramatically expand the FBI's wiretapping capabilities for internet communication services.
In a new research paper, the group argues against new regulations under what's being called CALEA II, an extension to the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, which mandated law enforcement backdoor...
TechCrunch is reporting that two of the largest players in online food delivery have been talking about joining forces. GrubHub and Seamless, which offer websites and mobile apps that allow users to order food online for delivery to their home or...
Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Danny. Happy birthday to you.
Dell introduced Project Ophelia to the world at CES back in January, and now it's revealed shipping timeframes for the Android-powered MHL stick....
After announcing that it would soon start blocking cookies from third-party advertisers by default in Firefox, Mozilla has walked back on its plans while it continues to test the system. In a blog...
Cellphone carriers have generally met net neutrality proposals with varying levels of hostility, but Verizon and MetroPCS have been particularly belligerent: in 2011, they sued to overturn the...
NASA's Curiosity rover has stolen much of the spotlight on Mars lately with its discoveries of once-watery environments and strange, door-handle shaped rocks. But this week, NASA's older rover...
Bang With Friends, the somewhat-controversial hookup app that lets users anonymously pick which of their Facebook friends they'd like to "bang" and then notifies users when there's a match, has had...
The Verge is in San Francisco for the 2013 Google I/O conference. We take the time to reflect on the three hour developer keynote, check out some...
Google used its biggest event of the year to reveal a major overhaul to Google Maps, an ambitious messaging initiative called Hangouts, and a redesigned Google+ filled with new features. The three-day long developer event is taking place between Wednesday, May 15th and Friday the 17th for 2013. Google has a lot in store for the event, and you can follow along here for the latest.
Residents in the Boston area will have the chance to see a pretty unique art installation this weekend. On Sunday evening, hundreds of LED-enabled umbrellas will light up Cambridge thanks to a collaboration between MIT and a Connecticut-based dance group known as Pilobolus. The event is called...
