Technology

/ To celebrate the game’s 20th anniversary, Valve is offering Half-Life 2 for free until November 18th with additional content including developer commentary mode, improved graphics, and more.

/ The AI bot’s analysis and commentary are supposed to ‘complement’ other hosts on ESPN’s SEC Nation show. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: ESPN ESPN is testing an AI-generated avatar with the Saturday college football show SEC Nation. Dubbed FACTS, it’s going to be “…promoting education and fun around sports analytics” with information drawn from ESPN Analytics, which includes data like the Football Power Index (FPI), player and team statistics, and game schedules. We haven’t seen the avatar in action, but it sounds like a bot-ified version of stats encyclopedia Howie...

/ Facebook will use ‘views’ to measure how content on the platform is performing, regardless of format. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: Nick Barclay / The Verge Facebook is making “views” its primary metric to measure the performance of content, bringing it in line with Instagram metrics. Views will be measured not just on video content but also on photos, text posts, and more. When Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced the switch to views this summer, he said that having one consistent metric across the platform would make it easier for creators to understand how their con...

/ You’ll be able to create feeds to keep tabs specific topics and communities. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: The Verge Threads is testing a way to create custom feeds for certain profiles or topics, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Friday. The upcoming feature should make it easier to keep tabs on different interests, such as your favorite sports team or even technology-related news. It sounds similar to the custom feeds feature Bluesky rolled out last year — but Threads’ version seems a lot simpler. To create a custom feed, just search and tap into a topic. From the...

/ The chairman of CATL isn’t a believer in Elon’s cylindrical battery quest. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: Tesla Robin Zeng, the founder of the world’s largest EV battery company, says Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s big bet on 4680 cylindrical cell technology “is going to fail and never be successful.” Zeng, the chairman of China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), tells Reuters that when Musk visited China in April, “We had a very big debate, and I showed him. He was silent. He doesn’t know how to make a battery.” Tesla’s “tabless” 4680 cells, which are used in ...

/ The AI tool is designed to make it easier to access and understand NASA’s database of information.

/ In January, you’ll be able to trade ‘certain’ cards, according to the game’s developers. a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>The Pokemon Company Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket has been a big hit since its worldwide launch last month, and the team behind it has shared a brief roadmap of a couple updates to come — including the ability to trade cards with other people. “We are aiming to add a feature that allows certain cards to be traded starting in January, 2025,” according to an update from the team on the official Pokémon forums. “We are planning to gradually expand the selectio...

/ The OP-XY is a sequencer, synthesizer and sampler that’s available now for $2,299. a:hover]:text-black [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-e9 dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray-63 [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-13 dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63″>The Teenage Engineering OP-XY feels like an upgraded version of the company’s six-year-old OP-Z.a:hover]:text-black [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-e9 dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray-63 [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-13 dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63″>The OP-XY includes several inputs and outputs, including USB-C and analog audio connections.

/ For weeks, Kamala Harris supporters got an endless stream of content signaling her victory. The filter bubble has now popped. a]:text-gray-13″>If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.