Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Snapchat is apologizing for a controversial Juneteenth filter that allowed users to “smile and break the chains,” saying the filter had not gone through its usual review protocols. The filter was panned by critics on Friday morning shortly after its release for its tone deafness, and was disabled by about 11AM ET.
“We deeply apologize to the members of the Snapchat community who found this Lens offensive,” a Snap spokesperson said in an email to The Verge. “A diverse group of Snap team members were involved in developing the concept, but a version of the Lens that went live for Snapchatters this morning had not been approved through our review process. We are investigating why this mistake occurred so that we can avoid it in the…
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Pandora Pandora is giving podcast hosts more information about the listeners they reach on its platform starting today. The company just announced its new Podcast Analytics feature with the goal of giving podcasters more data about their listeners, like where they live, how long they listen to each episode, and the number of thumbs up or thumbs down their show receives. For access to their analytics, podcasters have to sign up for Pandora For Podcasters, which is free but requires podcasters to submit their show’s RSS feed.
This move makes Pandora’s podcast product more equitable with Apple and Spotify, which both already offer data dashboards. Spotify specifically incorporates the music listeners enjoy, in addition to their podcast habits,…
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The new X1 Extreme (pictured) can be equipped with an Nvidia GeForce 1650 Ti GPU. | Image: Lenovo In case you were worried we might go a month without Lenovo announcing some new ThinkPad laptops, the company’s come through with updates to several of its models. There are new P Series models, as well as a new third-generation X1 Extreme, all running Intel’s 10th Gen processors. The big news here, is that as well as the spec bump these laptops will all support Lenovo’s new Ultra Performance Mode, which it says gives you more control over performance settings.
The idea behind Ultra Performance Mode is that you can use it to go beyond the normal restrictions placed on things like acoustics and temperatures. It’s essentially a new power setting, a company spokesperson told PCWorld. For example, it might be useful if you need your laptop…
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The Zendure SuperTank is loaded with ports, and its display shows the current battery level. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Zendure’s SuperTank portable battery that’s capable of delivering up to 100W of power to charge your laptop normally costs $129 at Amazon, but you can clip a coupon on its product page to save $10. Add it to your cart, then to get an additional 30 percent off the battery, add one of its $10 USB-C to Lightning cables or any other charger, hub, or cable that Zendure makes on this page to your cart. You’ll then see the price drop at checkout. The final price will vary depending on what you buy, but for the battery and the cable I mentioned above, my final price was $87 before tax. Your price may vary depending on which color you choose.
In case you haven’t heard of Zendure, I tested the SuperTank along with a few other high-wattage…
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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge AT&T has confirmed that it’s cutting thousands of jobs and closing hundreds of stores, Axios reports. While the company has not confirmed the total number of jobs affected, the cuts reportedly include 3,400 technician and clerical jobs as well as managerial and executive roles. And 250 retail locations will be closed, including both AT&T and Cricket Wireless branded stores, the Communication Workers of America confirmed — although AT&T said most of these employees will be offered alternative jobs at the company.
Although AT&T said that the store closures had been planned previously, the pandemic has reportedly caused it to bring these plans forward. The company also blamed “changed customer behaviors” for its decision in a statement…
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Photo by BERTRAND GUAY/AFP via Getty Images A cheap, common steroid improves survival rates for COVID-19 patients on ventilators, according to a press release from the research team. The drug, called dexamethasone, reduced deaths by one-third in patients on ventilators, and by one-fifth in patients who needed supplemental oxygen, according to the team. It did not help patients who were able to breathe on their own.
Steroids like dexamethasone blunt inflammation in the body. Researchers think that some patients with severe cases of COVID-19 have dangerously high levels of inflammation as part of an overactive immune response to the virus and that calming that down with an anti-inflammatory like dexamethasone could help ease their symptoms. That’s also why people shouldn’t take…
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Triumph, the premium British motorcycle brand most preferred by James Bond, is out with a new two-wheeler of a different sort. The Trekker GT is the world-famous motorcycle maker’s first electric bicycle, and, at first glance, it appears to be a highly capable commuter model. It won’t be cheap, though: the bike will be going on sale in Europe, the UK, and the US for £2,950 ($3,318).
The bike has a minimalist design, with much of the battery, wiring, and drivetrain tucked inside the hydro-formed, lightweight aluminum frame. Triumph says the Trekker GT is “perfect all-road choice for commuting, fitness and everyday riding fun” — although we’d have to test it before we could agree.
A minimalist design Triumph outfitted its first e-bike…
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Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Amazon’s Echo Studio is its first great-sounding smart speaker, and you can get it for $170 today. That’s $30 off its regular price, which we only saw happen once before a few months ago. What makes this deal even better than that one is you can get a free Philips Hue white ambiance bulb for no extra charge. Since the Echo Studio uses the Zigbee standard for Internet of Things devices, you won’t need a Hue Bridge to use the bulb.
Where the Echo Studio holds its own compared to Amazon’s other smart speakers is with sound quality. It’s massive compared to the Echo and Echo Dot, so you can expect bigger sound, and it supports Amazon’s 3D audio format that adds extra layers to the sound of music to amp up immersion. What’s also notable about…
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EA has announced a new Star Wars game, Star Wars: Squadrons, a first-person space combat game that will have players flying the series’s famous starfighters in head-to-head single-player and multiplayer battles.
Developed by Motive Montreal (which previously contributed to both Battlefront II and Anthem), Squadrons will let players fly a variety of Star Wars ships, including the X-Wing, A-Wing, Y-Wing, U-Wing, TIE Fighter, TIE Interceptor, TIE Bomber, and TIE Reaper fighters.
EA won’t be revealing gameplay until the company’s EA Play Live event on June 18th at 4PM PT / 7PM ET, but it promises a variety of multiplayer modes, including “Fleet Battles,” where the goal is to work with your teammates to destroy a capital ship, as well as…
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Photo by James Bareham / The Verge Tesla has started adding a wireless phone charger and USB-C ports to Model 3 vehicles built at its Fremont, Calif. factory, Elektrek reported. As first reported by Drive Tesla Canada, the features were already available in Tesla’s Model Y, and the carmaker began adding them last month to its Chinese-made Model 3 vehicles.
The Model Y, which Tesla began delivering to US customers in March, comes standard with the Qi wireless phone charger, but until now, it’s only been available to Model 3 vehicles as an aftermarket add-on, according to Elektrek .
Tesla lowered the prices of its Model 3, Model S, and Model X in North America last month, as well as the prices of the Model S and Model X cars sold in China. Its Chinese-produced Model 3 cars…
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