TheVerge

The smartphone industry could experience a record-breaking decline in 2026 as a result of the RAM shortage stemming from memory-hungry AI giants. That’s according to the latest report from the International Data Corporation (IDC), which forecasts smartphone shipments to plummet 12.9 percent this year, marking its “lowest annual shipment volume in more than a decade.” … Read more

The Samsung Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus are “more of the same for more money,” my colleague Allison Johnson reported this week. Now, Samsung is confirming what we previously only suspected: RAMageddon is partly to blame. Samsung’s Won-Joon Choi, the COO of its mobile business, tells The Verge that the memory shortage alone made a … Read more

The Federal Trade Commission is encouraging companies to adopt age verification technologies by announcing it will not enforce a children’s online privacy law against certain websites that collect and use minors’ personal data in order to verify their ages. “Age verification technologies are some of the most child-protective technologies to emerge in decades,” Christopher Mufarrige, … Read more

In January, Qualcomm hinted to The Verge that it might finally bring its powerful Arm-based Snapdragon processors to Windows gaming handhelds at the 2026 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco – just in time to challenge Nvidia’s own first Arm gaming CPU and Intel’s first dedicated handheld gaming chips. But plans have shifted, Qualcomm now … Read more

Students are seen on the campus of Columbia University on April 14, 2025, in New York City. An immigration judge ruled on April 11 that Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian student protester from Columbia University and a US permanent resident detained by the Trump administration, can be deported, his lawyer said. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / … Read more

Netflix’s sports docuseries obsession started a few years ago with F1: Drive to Survive, but when the eighth season premieres after midnight tonight, it will also be available on Apple TV. Now that Apple TV has a five-year deal to be the US streaming home for F1 races, subscribers in the US will be able … Read more

The iPhone and iPad have been approved to hold NATO-restricted information, according to an announcement on Thursday. That means off-the-shelf devices running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 can handle classified information “without requiring special software or settings,” Apple says. The NATO-restricted designation is the lowest level of classified information, and it applies to information that … Read more

The sleeve can’t charge your laptop. | Image: Razer Razer has announced an expensive new laptop sleeve that’s not made from an exotic animal or encrusted in diamonds. What potentially justifies paying $129.99 for Razer’s Laptop Sleeve 16″ are the pair of wireless charging pads integrated into its cover flap. While you’re out and about, … Read more

The Cricut Explore 5 will be available in taupe and teal color options. | Image: Cricut Cricut has announced new versions of two of its cutting machines that could appeal to crafters struggling with limited space for their hobby. The new Cricut Explore 5 is 30 percent “more compact” than the Explore 4 that launched … Read more

This is Lowpass by Janko Roettgers, a newsletter on the ever-evolving intersection of tech and entertainment, syndicated just for The Verge subscribers once a week. These days, if you sign up for a new streaming service, you generally have two options: Either pay a massive premium for an ad-free experience, or endure frequent commercial breaks … Read more

Woot is offering steep discounts on many video games and accessories, some of which are fairly recent releases. No matter what you choose from its sale catalog, you can get up to $30 off your order with the code LEVEL20 used at checkout through the end of the day on February 27th (the sale lasts … Read more

HBO Max’s password-sharing crackdown is going to get a lot bigger. During an earnings call on Thursday, Warner Bros. Discovery streaming head JB Perrette said a global expansion “will start in 2026,” as reported earlier by The Wrap. Warner Bros. Discovery has ramped up its paid sharing initiative in the US over the past year, … Read more

160 Democratic lawmakers from across the country are backing a soon-to-be-introduced bill that would reverse the Trump administration’s decision to eliminate IRS Direct File. The Direct File Act, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), would bring back the option to file taxes directly with the government for free. The Biden … Read more

The image generational capabilities of Nano Banana 2 seem comparable to the Pro model. | Image: Google / The Verge Google is bringing a more powerful version of its Nano Banana AI image model to free users. Nano Banana 2 (also known as Gemini 3.1 Flash Image) is rolling out today across the Gemini app … Read more

Google is planning to test changes to how it displays search results for certain topics, nearly a year after it was charged with violating antitrust rules in the European Union, Reuters reports. The shift will show top-ranked rival services for hotels, flights, restaurants, and transportation higher up in results, rather than prioritizing Google’s own services … Read more

Today, we’re talking about the future of Xbox. Phil Spencer, a two–time Decoder guest who’s led Xbox for more than a decade, retired last week. But in a shocking twist, his deputy and long-assumed successor, Sarah Bond, is also out too, and the Xbox division is now in the hands of Asha Sharma, one of … Read more

With AI-backed hiring on the rise, tips for “hacking” your resume are all over social media. As job search companies increasingly rely on artificial intelligence to sort through applications, job seekers wonder how to best position themselves with those filters in mind. We decided to speak directly with job search leaders about how a resume … Read more

In January, Anthropic “retired” Claude 3 Opus, which at one time was the company’s most powerful AI model. Today, it’s back – and writing on Substack. The newsletter, called Claude’s Corner, will give Opus 3 space to publish its “musings, insights, or creative works,” Anthropic said in a blog post. The model will post weekly … Read more

Burger King is launching an AI chatbot that will live in the headsets used by employees. The voice-enabled chatbot, called “Patty,” is part of an overarching BK Assistant platform that will not only assist employees with meal preparation but also evaluate their interactions with customers for “friendliness.” Thibault Roux, Burger King’s chief digital officer, tells … Read more

A Galaxy smartphone using tap-to-unlock on a keypad for a Nuki smart lock. A new smart lock standard, Aliro, is bringing this functionality to all smartphones. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge Aliro has officially arrived. The smart lock standard, first announced in 2023, finally has a 1.0 spec, meaning companies can … Read more

The alerts will start rolling out to Teen accounts with parental supervision protections next week. | Image: Meta / The Verge Starting next week, Instagram will notify parents to check on their teen searching for terms related to self-harm or suicide. Meta says a similar alert system for its AI chatbots is coming later this … Read more

Samsung’s Galaxy S26 phones introduce a slate of new AI-powered features, including some new photography tools. | Image: Samsung Samsung has just announced its new Galaxy S26 lineup, which includes the S26, S26 Plus, and S26 Ultra. While they aren’t radical departures from last year’s models, they bring a handful of notable upgrades. All three … Read more

The Drop Mythic Journey keyboard from 2022. | Photo by Jon Porter / The Verge The Drop store, which was acquired by gaming gear giant Corsair in 2023, was a haven for mechanical keyboard enthusiasts and audiophiles to discover and buy hard-to-find gear – sometimes at surprisingly good prices. The company will cease sales after … Read more

For more than six decades, the Peace Corps has represented itself as an agency focused on helping underserved communities around the globe. But a new initiative, called the “Tech Corps,” threatens to unravel the agency’s original mission by recruiting de facto Silicon Valley salespeople to promote the biggest names in AI – many of which … Read more

President Donald Trump tried to quell Americans’ concerns about rising electricity costs during his State of the Union speech by claiming that he’s negotiated a “rate payer protection pledge” with major tech companies, which would see them build out or pay for new electricity generation for their data centers. Leaders from Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, … Read more

Samsung unveiled its Galaxy S26 lineup at its recent Unpacked event in San Francisco. As expected, the new series consists of the baseline S26, which starts at $899.99, and the bigger S26 Plus, which starts at $1,099.99. At the high end, there’s also the $1,299.99 S26 Ultra, which is the largest in the lineup and … Read more

Google just announced that Gemini will soon be able to take care of some multi-step tasks on your phone, like ordering food or hailing a car, starting first with the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, and the just-announced Samsung Galaxy S26 phones. It all sounds a bit like features Apple announced for Siri way back … Read more

As expected, Samsung has taken the wraps off its flagship lineup for 2026. Introduced during the company’s recent Unpacked event, the new Galaxy devices – which include the standard S26, the larger S26 Plus, and the high-end S26 Ultra – will be available on March 11th. Preorders are now open ahead of launch, with pricing … Read more