Everything from the last week of everything is gambling now
Everything from the last week of everything is gambling now Kalshi is facing backlash from its own users after a class action lawsuit was filed last week alleging it failed to pay out as promised for wagers regarding when Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would leave or be removed from office. Khamenei was killed […]
The Trump phone was a no-show at the world’s biggest mobile show
The Trump phone was a no-show at the world's biggest mobile show Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone’s whereabouts. This time, we tried, and failed, to find it at the world’s biggest mobile trade show. This week […]
This phone starts fires on purpose
This phone starts fires on purpose Until now, most mobile phone companies have worked to ensure their phones won’t start fires. (Occasional Samsung devices excepted, of course.) But this week at Mobile World Congress, we found a company that dared to go in a different direction. Oukitel’s WP63 rugged smartphone includes a built-in fire starter, […]
Lawmakers just advanced online safety laws that require age verification at the app store
Lawmakers just advanced online safety laws that require age verification at the app store A package of child safety bills is headed to the House floor following an hours-long session that left Democrats and Republicans divided. On Thursday, lawmakers on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce voted to advance the Kids Internet and Digital Safety […]
Prediction markets in the news are a dangerous gamble
Prediction markets in the news are a dangerous gamble Today on Decoder, let’s talk about prediction markets, which continue to insert themselves into the news cycle and the news itself in increasingly weird, unsettling, and potentially illegal ways. My guest today is Liz Lopatto, senior reporter at The Verge, who owns what we cheerfully call […]
Tim Sweeney signed away his right to criticize Google until 2032
Tim Sweeney signed away his right to criticize Google until 2032 Epic CEO Tim Sweeney might be one of the most outspoken people in the history of the world. He fought two of the world’s most valuable and powerful companies almost all the way to the US Supreme Court, insulting them again and again: “crooked,” […]
Google isn’t waiting for a settlement — the 30 percent Android app store fee is dead
Google isn't waiting for a settlement — the 30 percent Android app store fee is dead In November, Epic and Google jointly proposed a settlement that would change Android’s fate globally without cracking open Google’s Android monopoly quite the way it otherwise might. Today, Google has decided it’s not waiting for that settlement to be […]
Kalshi voids some bets on Khamenei’s ouster because it’s ‘directly tied to death’
Kalshi voids some bets on Khamenei's ouster because it's 'directly tied to death' In a statement on X, Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour said his company would pay out positions on “Ali Khamenei out as Supreme Leader?” at the last trading price before his death. Mansour said that Kalshi doesn’t “list markets directly tied to death” […]
Polymarket defends its decision to allow betting on war as ‘invaluable’
Polymarket defends its decision to allow betting on war as 'invaluable' It might be World War III, but at least I won $20. | Image: Polymarket / The Verge Polymarket has been allowing people to bet on when the US would strike Iran next. Obviously, now that it’s actually happened and people have died, the […]
The Trump phone sure looks a lot like this HTC handset
The Trump phone sure looks a lot like this HTC handset The HTC U24 Pro may not be gold, but its design is otherwise awfully similar to the Trump phone’s. | Image: HTC Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the […]