Sean Hollister
The Verge
California, United States
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Past articles by Sean:
Nerf is bringing back three original Super Soakers this spring
In 1982, NASA engineer Lonnie Johnson accidentally invented a pressurized water gun that went on to become one of the coolest summer toys. Now, Hasbro’s bringing back three of the original Super Soakers with that initial pressured-air system, dubbed the XP20, XP30, and XP100. → Read More
Folding glass: how, why, and the truth of Samsung’s Z Flip
The Galaxy Z Flip is truly a folding glass phone, but Samsung didn’t invent the glass and it’s not glass alone — it’s made by German manufacturer Schott and has a soft, scratchable plastic layer up top. Here’s how folding phones work and why they hopefully won’t need protective layers for long. → Read More
You can blame Nvidia, not just Activision Blizzard, for their GeForce Now falling-out
Nvidia didn’t actually get permission to keep its games on GeForce Now after launch. While Nvidia confirmed it reached out to Activision ahead of launch to ask, there was a "misunderstanding" about whether Activision actually gave that permission. → Read More
Andrew Yang has withdrawn from the 2020 presidential race
Andrew Yang, the tech savvy Democratic presidential candidate who ran on a platform warning against the threats of artificial intelligence and automation, is dropping out of the race, CNN reports. Yang is doing so on the eve of the New Hampshire primary, after earning just 1 percent of the delegates in the Iowa Caucuses last week. → Read More
Nvidia’s GeForce Now is losing all Activision Blizzard games, a bad sign for cloud gaming
Today, Nvidia is revealing that Activision Blizzard is no longer playing ball with the GeForce Now streaming service, pulling down its catalog of games including Overwatch, WoW, and the Call of Duty series. → Read More
The person in charge of Google’s fractured culture is stepping down
Google human resources chief Eileen Naughton is stepping down later this year, the company confirms to The Verge (via Fortune). Her title was VP of People Operations; according to Google, the team’s goal is to be "the champions of Google’s culture." But Google’s culture hasn’t been healthy. → Read More
Watch Motorola’s ‘real’ flip test for the new Razr foldable
We have a brand-new video of the folding screen Motorola Razr for you to watch — because Motorola was apparently so unhappy with CNET’s original fold test, it decided to share a video it’s calling "The real razr flip test." More robots! → Read More
Nvidia is no longer attending Mobile World Congress, citing coronavirus risk
The world’s biggest mobile trade show just took another blow — graphics giant Nvidia, one of the conference’s sponsors, just announced it’s not sending employees to Mobile World Congress 2020 in Barcelona due to the "public health risks around the coronavirus" that have been putting off some other exhibitors and attendees too. → Read More
Google Chrome will crack down on crappy video ads this August, which isn’t as altruistic as it sounds
On August 5th, Google’s Chrome web browser will start blocking long, “non-skippable” preroll ads, ads that block a big chunk of your video, and mid-roll ads, if the video you’re watching is under eight minutes long. → Read More
Your Philips Hue light bulbs can still be hacked — and until recently, your network
We saw how a flying drone could hack an entire room full of Philips Hue smart light bulbs from outside a building by setting off a virus-like chain reaction that jumped from bulb to bulb. Today, we’re learning it never got fully fixed — and researchers have figured out a way to exploit that very same issue to infiltrate your home or corporate network. → Read More
Coronavirus pushes ZTE to cancel its press conference at the year’s largest phone show
Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, is the world’s biggest mobile trade show, but the coronavirus will be making it a little smaller this year — Chinese phone manufacturer and telecom giant ZTE just confirmed that it’s canceling its press conference at MWC 2020, citing secondary effects of the virus outbreak. → Read More
Nvidia’s GeForce Now is finally out of beta, challenges Google Stadia at $5 a month
Nvidia’s finally ready to let North America and Europe sign up to pay for its GeForce Now service, starting at $5 a month for a "Founder’s" subscription, while also offering unlimited one-hour free trials that don’t even require a credit card. → Read More
Google now has a ‘multibillion-dollar’ hardware business, has paid $80B to Android app devs
Google’s hardware division is a “multibillion-dollar” business, the company revealed during parent Alphabet’s Q4 earnings call. It’s impossible to say which devices are leading the charge, be they Pixel phones and laptops; Nest doorbells, cameras, speakers, routers, and thermostats; or (less likely) Chromecast dongles. → Read More
Apple is closing all offices and stores in China through February 9th
Apple is no longer just closing one store in China over coronavirus worries — Apple is closing them all. The company is shutting down all its corporate offices, stores, and contact centers in mainland China through February 9th, according to a statement provided to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. → Read More
Roku will keep Fox apps after all, agree to let you stream the Super Bowl
Late Friday, Roku and Fox announced that they’ve reached a new agreement that will ensure the Fox apps keep on working without pause — and they’ll be restored to the Roku app store this weekend ahead of the game, Roku tells The Verge. → Read More
This Cybertruck-inspired iPhone 11 Pro costs $15K and isn’t made by Tesla or Apple
Just as Tesla’s Cybertruck shook up the world of automobile design, a Cybertruck-inspired phone has emerged to inspire the same sort of design in phones. It’s from Caviar, it’s effectively a fancy-looking Apple iPhone 11 Pro, and it may cost upwards of $15,000 → Read More
Amazon’s Echo Show can now scan barcodes to flesh out your shopping list
Amazon has just added the ability for the Echo Show 5 and Echo Show 8’s camera to scan barcodes, and automatically add those items to your shopping list. I might do that when I’ve got an empty package I’m about to toss in the trash. → Read More
Roku is losing Fox apps just in time for you to miss the Super Bowl, maybe
Roku is pulling all of its Fox apps off of the platform, effective tomorrow, one day before the Super Bowl, over a carriage dispute. Seven channels in total are leaving, unless Roku and Fox strike a last minute deal. → Read More
Pilots just sued American Airlines to force a halt to China flights
American Airlines had already canceled some flights to China due to the coronavirus outbreak — which was officially designated a global health emergency by the WHO earlier today, having sickened thousands around the world — but the airline’s independent union, Allied Pilots Association, is now suing for a temporary restraining order on all American Airlines flights between the US and China… → Read More
Apple must pay $837 million for infringing Wi-Fi patents from Caltech, jury decides
Broadcom is being asked to pay $270 million as well → Read More