Technology

Verizon is buying Tracfone in a deal worth more than $6 billion, the company announced Monday. The deal means the largest mobile network virtual operator (MNVO) in the US will become part of the largest wireless provider in the country. Tracfone is the largest reseller of wireless services in the US, with 21 million subscribers, around 850 employees, and a network of more than 90,000 retail locations. It’s owned by Mexico-based América Móvil, and along with the Tracfone brand, operates the Net10 and Straight Talk brands in the US. More than 13 million Tracfone customers already rely on Verizon’s wireless network; Tracfone doesn’t run its own physical network in the US and instead rides on other cellphone carriers’ systems for a fee. The acquisition gives Verizon a bigger foothold in the va...

LG is no stranger to two-screen smartphones in recent years, but the company has just officially announced its boldest foray into a dual-screen device in recent memory: the LG Wing. It’s a wild-looking, swiveling-display smartphone that looks to — quite literally — offer a new spin on what a phone can do. The new phone is inspired by LG’s current trends of dual-screen smartphones like the G8X ThinQ and the Velvet, along with the company’s classic swiveling LG VX9400 feature phone released over a decade ago. The Wing is set to be the first device under LG’s new “Explorer Project” branding, aimed at exploring ways to “breathe new life into what makes a smartphone.” Wing’s most interesting feature, of course, is the two OLED panels. The first is a standard 6.8-inch main screen without any bez...

This story is part of a group of stories called Only the best deals on Verge-approved gadgets get the Verge Deals stamp of approval, so if you’re looking for a deal on your next gadget or gift from major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Target, and more, this is the place to be. Both Amazon and Staples are offering the best price yet on Apple’s AirPods Pro wireless earbuds. They’re normally $250, but you can get $50 off right now. I’ve said in the past that this kind of discount is rare, but that might be changing since two retailers are currently offering the deal. For those who might be unaware, these are Apple’s earbuds that have a noise cancellation feature, along with better sound quality than the less expensive AirPods offer. Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Lenovo’s t...

Microsoft’s new Xbox Series S should offer impressive next-gen performance for its $299 price, but where does that leave the Xbox One X? According to Microsoft, the 4K-targeting Xbox from 2017 will still hold some advantages over the Series S — at least when it comes to running Xbox One X-enhanced current-gen games. “Xbox Series S was designed to be the most affordable next-generation console and play next-generation games at 1440p at 60fps,” Microsoft says in a statement to VGC. “To deliver the highest quality backwards compatible experience consistent with the developer’s original intent, the Xbox Series S runs the Xbox One S version of backward compatible games while applying improved texture filtering, higher and more consistent frame rates, faster load times and Auto HDR.” What this m...

Ikea has started selling colorful accessories for its Sonos-compatible Symfonisk speakers. Owners of the $99 Symfonisk bookshelf speaker can now buy either red or blue fronts, while owners of the $179 Symfonisk lamp speaker can buy new washable fabric sleeves in the same colors. In the UK and the Netherlands, the Tradfri Gateway is currently discounted from £25 to £22, or from €32.95 to €24.95. The Tradfri Gateway is required for Ikea blinds, lights, and speakers to interact, and to control them via scenes, timers, the Home Smart and Sonos apps, or the Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant voice assistants. The Gateway is still priced at $35 in the US. The Symfonisk bookshelf speaker in red or blue.Image: Ikea The Symfonisk speakers were previously only available in white or black. The colorfu...

Amazon’s home networking company Eero could be about to launch its first routers with support for Wi-Fi 6, according to a pair of leaks. ZatzNotFunny reports that two devices — a Eero 6 Gateway and Eero 6 Extender — have hit the FCC, and has also posted an image of a third device’s box, the Eero Pro 6. Wi-Fi 6 is the latest version of the Wi-Fi standard and it delivers faster speeds and better support for more devices connecting to a single router. Eero is adding support for the new standard a little later than some of its competitors, who had Wi-Fi 6 products available last year. However, this year the prices of Wi-Fi 6 routers have started hitting more mainstream price points and are now much more widely available. The router’s label published by the FCC.Image: FCC A photo of one of the ...

Since I am The Verge’s resident “weird animal stories” expert (see: murder hornets and the story of eagle vs. drone) of course my colleague suggested I would want to look into this gaming chair that is made to look like a giant scorpion. Sigh. This is the Cluvens IW-SK zero-gravity esports gaming chair and workstation. It can, according to the Cluvens website, support an ultra-wide 49-inch monitor, or three curved 27-inch monitors, and comes with HDMI/DP cables to connect them. It weighs 265 pounds, is 65 inches long, 47 inches wide and 82 inches tall when fully extended. So it’s not going to just neatly fit in a corner, you’ll need a bit of room. Let me just state for the record that I am neither A) an avid gamer or B) a fan of insects, especially the ultra-poisonous ones like scorpions. ...

It looked like Twitter might finally, at long last, be allowing users to edit their tweets. Users began noticing it Sunday afternoon: If you delete a tweet reply, then try to reply again, the “deleted” text reappears, allowing you to fix any mistakes and re-send it. The Verge’s Tom Warren demonstrated how it works: But on Sunday evening, a Twitter spokeswoman gave us the sad news that it’s just a bug. hey tom – unfortunately, we’re not testing this. it’s a bug and we’re looking into it. — liz kelley (@lizkelley) September 14, 2020 Editable tweets are something Twitter users have long pined for, and begged Twitter to implement. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is on the record saying Twitter would “probably never” introduce an edit button. However, Twitter has rolled out othe...

It can be hard to tell a difference between AirPods and the many earbuds that resemble them, but checking the box is always a good start. US Customs and Border Protection tonight tweeted that its officers had “recently seized 2,000 counterfeit Apple AirPods from Hong Kong, valued at $398K had they been genuine.” There’s also this press release on the situation, which praises CBP officers for “protecting the American public from various dangers on a daily basis” and says that “the interception of these counterfeit earbuds is a direct reflection of the vigilance and commitment to mission success by our CBP officers daily.” The only problem is, based on the agency’s own photos, the seized products appear to be legitimate OnePlus Buds — transported in a box that plainly says as much. But CBP p...

Zipline is partnering with Walmart for a new drone delivery operation in the US, the companies announced. The program is for on-demand deliveries of health and wellness products and will begin in a trial early next year near Walmart’s headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. Zipline’s launch and release system allows for on-demand delivery in less than an hour, and operating from a Walmart store, can service a 50-mile radius. Earlier this year Zipline announced it was partnering with a hospital system in North Carolina to make contactless deliveries of medical supplies and personal protective equipment. And this year wasn’t the first time Zipline’s drones have been used for medical supply deliveries. In 2016, it launched the first national drone delivery system in the world to deliver blood ...

Microsoft says it’s not acquiring parts of TikTok’s operations, after its bid was rejected by TikTok owner ByteDance. After weeks of talks and very public back and forths involving the Trump administration, Microsoft ultimately failed in its attempts to acquire TikTok. “ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft,” says Microsoft in a statement. “We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests. To do this, we would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety, and combatting disinformation, and we made these principles clear in our August statement. We look forward to seeing how the service evolves in these i...

Nvidia said Sunday it is acquiring chipmaker Arm from SoftBank for $40 billion. Arm will operate as an division of Nvidia and will remain headquartered in the UK, and, will “continue to operate its open-licensing model, while maintaining its global customer neutrality,” the company said. But the deal is still likely to face intense regulatory scrutiny. SoftBank bought Arm in 2016 for $31 billion. The British company’s intellectual property helps power mobile device processors for companies including Apple, Samsung, and Qualcomm. Arm has likely only increased in value since the SoftBank acquisition, with Microsoft making an ARM-based Surface and a version of Windows for Arm, and Apple planning to switch future Macs to Arm-based chips. Nvidia is the leading maker of GPUs, which Arm also desi...