The Samsung Galaxy Card is issued on Visa by Barclays US Consumer Bank, with applications opening on July 22nd. Samsung says the card is available as both virtual and physical, metal cards, and that users can earn “a host of cash rewards and other benefits.” It’s essentially an Apple Card — launched seven years ago — but for people loyal to Samsung products.
Business
The Verge’s latest insights into the ideas shaping the future of work, finance, and innovation. Here you’ll find scoops, analysis, and reporting across some of the most influential companies in the world. Our coverage also includes interviews with innovators and policy makers at the frontiers of business and technology on Editor-in-Chief Nilay Patel’s Decoder; a behind-the-curtain look at Silicon Valley with Alex Heath’s Command Line; and exclusive reporting on Microsoft’s strategy in Tom Warren’s Notepad.


The country’s gambling regulator ordered local internet service providers to block access to the Polymarket website on Friday, citing noncompliance concerns with rules for gambling and gaming services. The regulator also said that some bets on the platform “appeared to be rigged.”
SPCX sunk another three percent in extended trading after last night’s aborted Starship launch, falling further beneath its IPO price of $135. The record-setting IPO made Elon Musk the world’s first (paper) trillionaire. Today he’s worth $838.1 billion. Concerning.
The thirteenth, and first post-IPO, flight test of SpaceX’s massive Starship vehicle was supposed to occur Thursday night, but when the countdown hit zero just before 7PM ET, “Some of the engines didn’t start, triggering an automatic launch abort,” writes Elon Musk.
The $14.8 billion acquisition offer for the German food-delivery giant, would give Uber ownership over services like Glovo and Foodora to expand its reach into 99 markets. In an effort to avoid antitrust scrutiny, it’s selling off operations to an investment firm in 14 markets where Uber Eats and Delivery Hero overlap.


The $53 billion offer was submitted earlier this month, but Stripe and private equity firm Advent have yet to receive a response. They “are seeking to advance discussions in the coming weeks,” according to sources speaking to Reuters.
The WGAE and WGAW are jointly filing a lawsuit alleging the merger violates antitrust law, following a similar lawsuit filed by a dozen state attorneys general. The WGA says it has “opposed the merger since day one,” adding:
[T]he proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. merger would reduce competition between buyers of film and television writing services, giving the combined entity increased incentive and ability to suppress writers’ compensation, erode deal terms, create new barriers for emerging writers to build sustainable careers and diminish the volume and diversity of content reaching audiences.
Disclosure: The Verge’s editorial staff is also unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East.
The team went up for sale following its Super Bowl win in February. After rumors that Tim Cook or Mark Zuckerberg might buy the team, Vinod Khosla has emerged as the new owner, according to ESPN. The Khosla family will have to give up its ownership stake in the 49ers first, though.



Business Insider’s Peter Kafka on the Comcast split, and why the dream of content plus pipes keeps failing.
Block has reached a $45 million settlement with 46 US states over allegations of inadequate fraud protection for its mobile payment service. The platform was accused of misleading users about its safety, and for expanding marketing when fraud claims recently spiked instead of strengthening protections. It must now provide 24-hour customer support and cease deceptive marketing.
Once a cutting-edge audio brand, Sonos has lost a lot of its luster. Last month, the company cut three percent of its staff, which we now know included several veteran execs.
The cuts include Dana Krieger, a vice president of design who worked as Sonos for 12 years, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Also leaving are Kate Wojogbe, a top user experience executive who was with the company for nearly 10 years, and Scott Fink, a 15-year veteran who helped spearhead the company’s home theater work…
After nine straight quarters of growth, worldwide PC shipments dropped by 4.9 percent year-over-year, according to IDC. The research firm places the blame for the decline squarely on the memory chip shortage driven by the AI arms race.
Memory chip demand by AI datacenters continues to be very good for Samsung, and some of its workers who are eligible for average annual bonuses of $340,000 this year. Per Reuters:
Samsung Electronics on Tuesday flagged a 19-fold jump in second-quarter operating profit, surpassing its combined earnings over the past three years.

Its founders insist the event platform offers a simple service for free. But in a time when users are aware of privacy and surveillance, Partiful has to prove it’s not too good to be true.
ITV is selling its media and entertainment business, including the ITVX streaming platform and free-to-air channels, to Comcast-owned Sky for up to £1.6 billion ($2.13 billion). The acquisition excludes ITV’s studio operations and will create the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, better positioning it to compete with YouTube and streaming rivals like Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and Netflix.



The CEO of Digitas on why overpromising with AI is a dangerous path for marketers.
The President’s annual disclosure noted that companies owned by Trump and his family received more than $800 million from the WLFI token and $635 million in royalties from Trump memecoins, report Reuters, WSJ, and CNBC.
CoinDesk points out the more than $50 million in Bitcoin, $25 million in ETH, investments in Coreweave and Coinbase, and $6 million from an NFT licensing agreement.
[DocumentCloud]
Before plans to spin up its own prediction market app, Meta explored acquiring Kalshi, NPR reports. Meta is now reportedly working on an app known as “Arena” internally, which would allow users to bet with points rather than real money, as Kalshi and Polymarket do. If an acquisition had happened, it wouldn’t be the first (or second, or third) time Meta piggybacked on what was trendy.
After more than a year and a half in court, satirical news site The Onion is rebooting Alex Jones’ InfoWars — even as the conspiracy channel hangs in legal limbo. Comedian and writer Tim Heidecker has been tapped as creative director, and he came on the show to share his vision for the platform. Also mentioned: peptides, The Beatles, and the state of Tim’s vocal chords. Enjoy!
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Forget for a moment that it’s morally disgusting to let people bet on wildfires; people have already spent $1.2 million doing it. The real question is when someone will commit financially-motivated arson in order to win their bet — because unlike other major environmental events, massive fires are easy to create.
[High Country News]
The Play design tool for Mac and iPhone won an Apple Design Award for innovation last year, and could be used to prototype iPhone app interfaces before it was pulled from the App Store. Apple doesn’t specifically mention how it’ll use Play, but its IP could be used to improve Xcode developer tools.
[MacRumors]

After taking over Weber, Blackstone founder Roger Dahle’s new job is integrating his griddle empire with what used to be his biggest competitor.




SpaceX bonds are creating losses for the fast-money types who piled in at the offering. “Bond types either aren’t sure that SpaceX will hang on to its investment-grade credit ratings, or will only get involved if they get paid a fat risk premium for doing so,” the Financial Times explains. SpaceX stock is, as of this writing, trading below its IPO price. Gee, if only someone had pointed out that this company is a stinker.
[Financial Times]
You may remember the period when Zuck tried to pretend he was Very Manly (MMA fighting, Joe Rogan appearance). He seems to be walking that back now, like he realized he overstepped with that horrible attempt at streetwear. Gentlemen, if you want to look like a grown-ass man, the kind who is competent and in charge? Make a mood board of Cary Grant outfits. (If you want to go more contemporary, Colman Domingo.) Fashion is only trivial if you’re stupid — your style expresses your persona before you say a single word, and Zuck’s is still “wannabe.”
President and COO Gwynne Shotwell has apparently told investors that SpaceX plans to launch a new terrestrial Starlink service that would sell mobile contracts directly to individuals in the US — a threat that could extract better revenue-sharing deals from its current telecom partners. Analysts think a T-Mobile acquisition makes sense to accelerate the move and solve SpaceX’s spectrum deficit issue.
Malik, who founded the tech blog GigaOm in 2001 before eventually transitioning into venture capital, died on Wednesday at Stanford Hospital “after a long health journey with his heart,” said Om’s family in a post on his website.
[On my Om]


















