Wednesday’s top tech news: Hurray for foldable competition – The Verge

Google Messages has started letting some users react with any emoji

2022-11-23T17:22:09-05:00

And just like that, Messages are now way more fun.

Google has started letting some users of its Messages app react to text messages with any emoji, instead of limiting them to the standard set of seven that have been available in the app for a while now (via 9to5Google). The feature's similar to what other messaging platforms like Slack, WhatsApp, and paid versions of Telegram have - pressing and holding on a message gives you the standard emoji reactions, but you can then access the picker to react with whatever you want.

The expanded emoji reactions appear to be a limited test at this point - 9to5Google says it's heard two reports of it being rolled out, and while one person on The Verge' …

Read the full story at The Verge.

An alleged crypto scam involving a bank called Polybius is headed to court

2022-11-23T14:47:44-05:00

Two Estonians have been arrested and are facing extradition to the US after being accused of defrauding thousands of people out of around $575 million with a crypto Ponzi scheme, according to the US Department of Justice. Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin, along with four unnamed co-conspirators, were allegedly behind a scam crypto mining company called HashFlare and a fake crypto bank project called Polybius.

The scheme began in 2013 when Potapenko, Turõgin, and the others started a company called HashCoins, according to an indictment, which you can read in full below. HashCoins said it built cryptocurrency mining equipment, though the DOJ …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Elon Musk proposes letting nearly everyone Twitter banned back on the site

2022-11-23T13:40:13-05:00

Now that Elon Musk has let us know that he's totally done with his moderation council myth, he's put up a new poll asking users if he should let most suspended accounts back onto the site. On Wednesday, he asked: "Should Twitter offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam?" He gave users 24 hours to vote, and so far, "yes" is ahead by a wide margin.

Musk previously ran a poll asking whether he should allow former president Donald Trump back onto the site, with the "yes" responses winning out by a relatively narrow margin. The general amnesty poll has been up for less …

Read the full story at The Verge.

OnePlus Nord N300 5G review: fast charging isn’t enough

2022-11-23T12:20:16-05:00

The N300 provides good battery life and fast charging but cuts too many corners to hit its low price point.

This N300 5G is OnePlus' latest budget phone, and it takes the company's signature fast charging to a lower price bracket than ever before. For now, it's only available through T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile. It's listed for $228 full price at T-Mobile, but it's also prominently featured as one of the carrier's "free" phones with two years of service.

"Free" phones are easy to come by, and although the OnePlus Nord N300 has a neat feature that's rare in budget phones, you can do better. This is doubly true if you're paying for it out of pocket - there are better options around the same price and some worthwhile upgrades if you can spend a l …

Read the full story at The Verge.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special turns Christmas into lore

2022-11-23T12:00:00-05:00

Dave Bautista as Drax. | Image: Disney

The sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe has set its sights on the holidays. It started quietly, with a black-and-white monster movie released ahead of Halloween. But now, with The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special on Disney Plus, the MCU has gone ahead and turned the most wonderful time of the year into another piece of its complex and ever-expanding narrative.

Now, to be fair, it's at least a fun addition to the MCU. The special clocks in at less than an hour and is basically a feel-good Christmas story with some sci-fi shenanigans thrown in. Peter Quill (Chris Pratt, doing his best Super Mario impression) is understandably sad follo …

Read the full story at The Verge.

New York pauses permits for the most polluting crypto mining

2022-11-23T11:24:08-05:00

Governor Kathy Hochul greets the crowd at Election Night Watch Party at Capitale in New York City on November 9th, 2022. | Photo by Lev Radin / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Efforts to crack down on crypto's pollution notched a big win yesterday when New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill into law that presses pause on a particularly dirty form of crypto mining. The law imposes a two-year moratorium on any new permits for certain fossil fuel power plants seeking to mine crypto.

In one high-profile case, a struggling gas plant in New York's Finger Lakes region overcame economic headwinds by mining Bitcoin. Environmental advocates hoped the moratorium would prevent any other gas or coal plants, which might have otherwise shuttered, from turning into crypto mines.

The moratorium is limited to crypto mining …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Netflix is hiring for a ‘brand-new AAA PC game’

2022-11-23T09:35:57-05:00

Netflix wants to make more than just mobile games. As spotted by Mobilegamer.biz, the company recently put up job listings for a game director, art director, and technical director at its newly announced Los Angeles games studio, alongside roles like producer and engineer, for a project described as "a brand-new AAA PC game." Since it's an unannounced project, there aren't many details beyond that. But in the listing for game director, Netflix says that it's looking for a "creative leader of one of Netflix's first generation of internally developed original games."

Netflix's desire to expand into games isn't new, but the company's efforts h …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Mercedes locks faster acceleration behind a $1,200 annual paywall

2022-11-23T09:24:10-05:00

Mercedes-EQ EQE and EQ EQS models are eligible for an Acceleration Increase add-on, which boosts performance for a $1,200 yearly subscription. | Image: Mercedes

Mercedes is the latest manufacturer to lock auto features behind a subscription fee, with an upcoming "Acceleration Increase" add-on that lets drivers pay to access motor performance their vehicle is already capable of.

The $1,200 yearly subscription improves performance by boosting output from the motors by 20-24 percent, increasing torque, and shaving around 0.8 to 0.9 seconds off 0-60 mph acceleration when in Dynamic drive mode (via The Drive). The subscription doesn't come with any physical hardware upgrades - instead, it simply unlocks the full capabilities of the vehicle, indicating that Mercedes intentionally limited performance to l …

Read the full story at The Verge.

This credit card-sized Continuity Camera mount is clever and affordable

2022-11-23T08:55:10-05:00

Using the Elephant Card to mount an iPhone 11 Pro to a 12-inch MacBook for a Zoom conference call.

The Elephant Card is a portable mount for Mac owners who want to use their iPhone as a webcam with macOS Ventura's new Continuity Camera feature. Not only does it fold flat for easy portability, but it also works with or without iPhone cases in my testing and attaches to both my MacBook's display and desktop monitor.

Better yet, it actually resembles an elephant with its tusks and ears creating the mounting points. That's adorable, made even more so by the mount's tiny $7.99 / €7.49 price tag, which returns to the regular $9.99 / €9.90 list price after Monday, November 28th.

To use the mount, you simply unfold the two "tusks" that hold yo …

Read the full story at The Verge.

This cube can control your smart home

2022-11-23T08:08:35-05:00

Aqara Cube T1 Pro | Image: Aqara

The smart home still needs buttons. Or - in the case of the new $22.99 Aqara Cube T1 Pro - gestures. Voice control and sensors, while useful, aren't always the best way to turn the lights on, open the shades, or kick off routines or scenes. Sometimes you just want a tactile remote control to do the job for you. The Cube T1 Pro is an updated version of Aqara's wireless Cube controller that fills this niche with a host of new gestures for controlling smart home devices, while adding support for Apple Home and Amazon Alexa.

The Cube T1 Pro lets you push, flip, twist, shake, or tap the cube to activate your gadget or scenes. It shows up as six …

Read the full story at The Verge.