Nick Barclay / The Verge The Wire, an independent news outlet based in India, retracted its story that accused Meta of granting an Indian politician special permissions to remove posts on its platforms. In an update posted on Sunday, The Wire says it has decided to retract its report after “certain discrepancies” emerged in the evidence it used to back up its claims.
“Our investigation, which is ongoing, does not as yet allow us to take a conclusive view about the authenticity and bona fides of the sources with whom a member of our reporting team says he has been in touch over an extended period of time,” the outlet explains. “We are still reviewing the entire matter, including the possibility that it was deliberately sought to misinform or deceive The Wire.”
So…
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The Verge After Facebook’s Bitmoji-style avatars invaded Instagram and Messenger, now they’re coming to Whatsapp, too. According to a report from WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is rolling out support for customizable avatars in the latest 2.22.23.9 beta on Android, but only for some users.
Those with access to the feature will see a new “Avatar” category in their settings menu that they can use to customize the digital version of themselves. Just like on Meta’s other apps, WhatsApp will then generate a sticker pack with the avatar in various poses, which users can use to express themselves when messaging family and friends.
WhatsApp is releasing the ability to set up an avatar to some lucky beta testers on WhatsApp beta for Android!
An avatar is the best…
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And you might actually want to keep it on your phone, solving the issue of having to carry it around and remember it
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Image: Bethesda If you played The Elder Scrolls Online using Google’s now-doomed Stadia cloud gaming service, I have some good news. Bethesda is making good on its promise to let people port their ESO accounts over to Windows and Mac, including all their progress, characters, purchased content, achievements, and inventory items.
According to several members of the Stadia subreddit, the company has been sending out emails to players with instructions on how to get the game up and running on their computers, which basically just involves logging into the Elder Scrolls Online site and downloading the game. The company has also posted the information on its website. The one downside is that you won’t be able to transfer your account to the PlayStation or…
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M3gan the doll sitting among her fellow playthings. | Universal Pictures The poster alone for Universal’s upcoming horror M3gan, from director Gerard Johnstone, was enough to make it seem like the feature might be worthy of a spot in the great killer doll canon. But watching the movie’s trailer, it’s clear that M3gan’s going for a very of-the-moment kind of madness that owes just as much to Tesla’s totally real and almost functional robots as it does the Child’s Play franchise and classics like Small Wonder.
Written by Akela Cooper and co-producer James Wan, M3gan tells the tale of Gemma (Allison Williams), a roboticist whose work and personal life collide when her niece Cady (Violet McGraw) is suddenly orphaned after a car accident. Though Gemma’s not exactly keen on raising a child herself, in Cady, she…
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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple has reinstated the apps made by the Russian technology group VK on the App Store after the company provided proof that it’s not “majority owned or controlled by a sanctioned entity” (via The Guardian). The company removed the VK-owned social network VKontakte, email app Mail.ru, and others last month in response to sanctions the UK put on the financial institutions that own the Russian firm.
“The apps from this developer were removed from the App Store, as required by law, after multiple requests were made to the developer to provide documentation to verify that they were not in violation of UK sanctions,” Apple spokesperson Peter Ajemian said in an emailed statement to The Verge. “Subsequent to the removal, the developer has…
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The device appears to extend and retract with the push of a button. | Image: Motorola At parent company Lenovo’s Tech World 2022 event, Motorola is showing off a rollable mobile phone in a quick video demo. With the press of a button, the screen extends and retracts, with a moving wallpaper to match.
The demo video only gives us a glimpse of the front of the device, and the screen appears to wrap around the phone, rolling up from the bottom edge. At least as far as prototypes go, this concept appears to be on the “operational” side of the spectrum — there are at least battery and cellular indicator icons on screen. The rolling display is a flexible OLED panel, measuring 6.5 inches when extended and retracting down to “just over” 4 inches.
Image: Motorola The device wallpaper expands and contracts… Continue reading…

Image: G4 TV Comcast is shutting down G4 after attempting to relaunch the gaming channel last year, according to a report from Deadline. The channel first appeared on linear cable back in 2002 until it met its demise as the final studio shows were axed in 2012, and it was eventually replaced by the Esquire Network.
Dave Scott, the CEO of Comcast’s Spectacor division, announced the shutdown in an internal memo obtained by Deadline before it was even sent, saying that the channel has had low viewership and has not “achieved sustainable financial results.”
I don't have a job anymore! Looking for new opportunities if anyone is interested in a social/digital content producer https://t.co/cgeaOCj7x2
— Kendelle Lyn (@KendelleLyn) October 16, 2022 A…
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Laura Normand / The Verge SpaceX CEO Elon Musk reversed his decision to stop funding the Starlink terminals sent to Ukraine, saying on Twitter that the company will continue to provide “free” satellite internet service to the government even if it means the company loses money.
“The hell with it,” Musk writes on Twitter. “Even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free.”
The hell with it … even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 15, 2022 On Friday, a report from CNN revealed that SpaceX asked the government if it can pay for any…
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Kristen Radtke / The Verge Workers at Apple’s Penn Square store in Oklahoma City have voted to unionize with the Communications Workers of America, with 56 yeses, and 32 nos. According to the National Labor Relations Board, which oversaw the election, all regular full-time and part-time employees at the store were eligible to vote, 95 in total.
The election was only the second one carried out for a US Apple store. In June, workers in Maryland voted to unionize in association with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Another election was scheduled to happen in Atlanta, but the CWA called it off, claiming that the company had made a fair election “impossible” by intimidating workers.
Apple has faced several complaints about anti-union…
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