Microsoft is preparing to unveil its latest gaming console to the world, and we now know at least one of the titles it will be showcasing on stage in Redmond tomorrow: FIFA 14. EA Sports has announced (via Facebook) that a next-generation version of the enormously popular soccer franchise —...
Soccer fans, get ready
When Defense Distributed created the first 3D-printed "Liberator" pistol, it did so on a professional-grade Stratasys printer well out of the reach of most would-be weapon makers. The prohibitive cost, among other things, made the gun seem more...
Men diagnosed with ADHD as children had higher rates of obesity and larger body-mass indices (BMI) than their peers not diagnosed with childhood ADHD, according to a study published online in the journal Pediatrics today. However, it's important to keep in mind that correlation does not imply causation, and the findings of this study do not go so far as to say ADHD causes obesity, or vice...
Plants vs. Zombies Adventures combines a thing you like with a thing you don't: it's a spin-off of Popcap's terrific strategy franchise, but it's also a game that's exclusively available on Facebook. Despite the social network's best efforts, Facebook is still viewed as a home for spammy, sub-par games, not a platform for truly great titles. But games like Adventures could help change that. While it contains many of the same features and a similar structure to other games on Facebook (there's even farming), Adventures still maintains that same addictive gameplay that made the original Plants vs. Zombies such a hit.
If, for some reason, you haven't played PvZ, the basic structure is simple: Zombies come shambling in from one direction, and you'll need to place various kinds of plants to keep them from reaching your home. Some plants...
There's a zombie on your lawn
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...
Three and a half hours of Google
Boeing's 787 Dreamliner airplane has officially returned to the skies in the US following an embarrassing and costly battery problem that grounded the company's flagship plane for most of 2013. United Airlines flight 1 left Houston on time just after 11:00AM CT and is scheduled to land in Chicago at 1:35PM CT. Hopefully for Boeing, this will be the end of the 787's problems — the FAA lifted...
In an effort to highlight the harsh and stringent laws that many people around the world contend with, Amnesty International has rolled out a tool that analyzes your Facebook profile for potential "crimes" under international law. It's called Trial by Timeline, and aside from laying out which crimes you'd be guilty of (and where), the Facebook web app also lists punishments that accompany such convictions. It's been developed by Amnesty International in New Zealand, a country the organization refers to as among the freest on Earth.
The results are chilling: working for a media outlet led...
Google's new unified messaging platform, Hangouts, has made some worry about the future of Voice, the company's web-based phone service. Google has now clarified that full Voice functionality will soon be part of Hangouts. Users discovered that an update to the Gmail web app disabled the ability to make outbound calls from a computer, and there was no promise that the feature would return. However, in a post on Google+, the company's Nikhyl Singhal says that "outbound/inbound calls will soon be available." He advises that Google Talk will remain available for Gmail users until they add full Voice functionality to Hangouts, so if you need...
Three months ago, celebrated video game publisher Valve did something completely out of character: it fired up to 25 workers, in what one employee dubbed the "great cleansing." At the time, co-founder Gabe Newell quickly reassured gamers that the company wouldn't be canceling any projects, but it just so happens that one project managed to get away.
Valve was secretly working on a pair of augmented reality glasses... and those glasses are...
"It was just a no-brainer that when we were not at Valve... we just had to do it." Jeri Ellsworth
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...
As television channel counts have ballooned, there's more programming than ever out there — but the hardest part can actually be finding something decent to watch. NextGuide Web, launching today in a closed beta, tackles that problem directly from your web browser. If the name sounds familiar,...
When current FCC head Julius Genachowski announced his resignation earlier this year, President Obama nominated former CTIA CEO Tom Wheeler as his long-term replacement. But today, an interim chair will step up and make history: Mignon Clyburn has...
Google+ received some significant updates at Google I/O last week, many of which focused on a new and improved photo experience for users, and now the company is bringing that experience to its Android app. Just like the desktop version, Google+ for Android now includes auto...
After leveraging its customers as a test audience, Amazon has begun choosing which of the 14 pilots it will produce as part of the company's first major foray into original programming. Viewer feedback and engagement have led to Alpha House (starring John Goodman) and Betas (centered around a...
A ruggedized variant of Samsung's Galaxy S4 might not be too far away from launching after new leaked images have captured the device in operation. Photos of the Galaxy S4 Active, acquired by GSMArena, show Samsung has significantly altered the design of the original Galaxy S4, adding three front screen hardware buttons and a reinforced rear shell with four screws on the back — though they might just be for...
Seamless and GrubHub — two internet food delivery powerhouses — have officially announced that they will join forces in a merger. Both services offer websites and mobile apps allowing users to order food online to their homes or businesses,...
Now that Yahoo has officially unveiled its plans to purchase Tumblr for $1.1 billion, it's inevitable we'll see some user backlash. Rival blog host WordPress claims that backlash has already begun: founder Matt Mullenweg says that imports from Tumblr to WordPress rose from the typical rate of...
If you run a website, you have access to a potential wealth of data about your visitors: their location, gender, approximate age, and maybe even...
After a relative lull in activity, it looks as though the Chinese hacking group uncovered in a February security report has resumed its attacks on...
Samsung is to unveil a new super-high resolution panel which could set the standard for notebook displays. This week, the company will launch a 13.3-inch QHD 3200 x 1800 panel with 276 pixels-per-inch (PPI), and offers greater pixel densities than Apple's Retina MacBook Pro 13 (227 PPI) and Google's Chromebook Pixel (239 PPI). Just last week, S...
Samsung appears to be making good on its promise to port Galaxy S4 features to the Galaxy S III. A test Android 4.2.2 update, discovered by SamMobile, includes the lockscreen effects and widgets,...
Jolla has just unveiled its first smartphone, which will go on sale this year for €399 (roughly $510). Running the company's MeeGo-derived Sailfish OS, it features a 4.5-inch display, a dual-core processor, an 8-megapixel camera, LTE (in selected markets), removable back covers, 16GB of onboard storage, and a microSD slot. According to Jolla, the handset will be "compliant" with Android apps, although it's not sure how many apps will be supported, nor is it clear where users will download the apps from.
Breaking Bad is on a brief hiatus in the middle of its fifth, final season, with shooting already wrapped on what may be the most anticipated eight episodes in recent television history. But for all the show's success, creator Vince Gilligan believes that things may have been very different if not for a shift in viewing habits enabled by the show's availability on Netflix. In a lengthy interview with Vulture, Gilligan says that much of Breaking Bad's momentum can be put down to...
Google new Hangouts messaging service is quite impressive — it takes Google's old and neglected Talk service and upgrades it with always-on communication, support for images, video calling, and much more. But for all of the improved service that...
Sometimes the simplest games are the most difficult. That's certainly the case in Rebound, a game in which the only goal is to get a pole as far to the right as possible, but where actually getting very far is incredibly challenging. The trick is...
Barnes & Noble’s E Ink e-readers are getting an update next month that will add a web browser and email client, reports TechCrunch. Citing an unnamed source, it writes that the Nook Simple Touch and Simple Touch with GlowLight will start receiving the updates on June 1st.
The Nook Simple Touch shipped with a limited, hidden web browser when it was first released in 2011, but Barnes & Noble removed the function in a software update a few...
The first live video call from a smartphone at the peak of Mount Everest has been made by British explorer Daniel Hughes, as part of his effort to raise money for the Comic Relief charity. The call, made with an HTC One, is not the first mobile call made from Everest's heights — but it's the first video call to be made using a smartphone. Speaking to the BBC, Hughes said that "as you can see, this is the world's first live video call, never...
