Graduation is one of those unique milestones in life that’s both exciting and nerve-wracking. It’s worth celebrating, but it also marks a new chapter that can feel overwhelming. That’s why your grad will surely appreciate a little support as they step into the next phase of their life, whether that be college or their first job. … Read more
Last fall, Logitech CEO Hanneke Faber was roundly ridiculed after suggesting the company would like to produce a “Forever Mouse” – a mouse with a monthly subscription fee for software updates. It seemed to betray a lack of understanding: many people who buy mice don’t want software at all, much less software they have to … Read more
Let’s get one thing out of the way immediately: you shouldn’t buy Huawei’s trifold phone, the Mate XT. And that’s alright, because you probably couldn’t if you wanted to – while it’s no longer exclusive to China, it’s only on sale in a handful of countries, and not in the US or Europe. Besides, I … Read more
If you like games with parrying, there are two great new ways to get your fix: Doom: The Dark Ages and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. These very different games – one is a fast-paced first-person shooter, the other a turn-based fantasy RPG – approach the mechanic in very different ways. Let’s start with Doom. One … Read more
Android is getting its biggest visual update in years, and rather than unveiling it for the first time at its big annual developer conference, Google announced Material Three Expressive at a pre-show event broadcast on YouTube the week before. If a major design language shift for the world’s most popular mobile OS doesn’t qualify as … Read more
Meta’s building a new AI data center so massive in Louisiana that the local utility company has plans to construct three new gas-fired power plants to provide it with enough electricity. Now, advocates and lawmakers are pressing Meta for answers about how it’ll clean up pollution stemming from the data center’s energy consumption. Sen. Sheldon … Read more
GameStop will have additional Switch 2 stock available in-store and online when the console launches next month, according to a post on X. The company also shared timing for its in-store events leading up to the June 5th launch. “Launch event begins in-store at 3PM local time on June 4th,” according to the company. “Switch … Read more
Activision is starting to wind down Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile just over a year after its global launch. The game “has not met our expectations with mobile-first players like it has with PC and console audiences,” according to a post on X. The company will be pulling the game from the App Store and … Read more
Nintendo announced last month that it would be updating a handful of Switch games to run better on the Switch 2, and now some details about the planned improvements are available on its website. The improvements vary per game, but they include things like optimizing visuals for the Switch 2’s larger screen, better framerates, HDR … Read more
Cyberpunk 2077. It’s a great time to catch up on some big games you might’ve missed out on recently. Epic Games is holding a Mega Sale that includes big discounts on a ton of PC games, including Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced, which is on sale for $14.99 instead of $29.99, and The Last of … Read more
Many of Garmin’s wearables are on sale, including the flagship Fenix 8. Just in time to make the most of the warmer weather, REI is slashing prices on a bunch of our favorite outdoor gadgets and goods as a part of its annual anniversary sale. Now through May 26th, the outdoor retailer is taking up … Read more
Microsoft has quietly launched an updated Spotlight-like launcher app for Windows that provides quick access to commands, apps, and development tools. The software maker originally launched its PowerToys Run launcher for Windows 10 nearly five years ago, and the updated version — Command Palette — now includes search for apps, folders, and files, calculations, system … Read more
Microsoft is going to allow Xbox owners to pin apps and games directly to the Home UI. The latest change to homescreen section of the Xbox dashboard will be available to Xbox Insiders this week, alongside options to hide system apps, choose the number of apps and games listed, and modify the size of the … Read more
Verizon’s $20 billion deal to acquire the fiber internet provider Frontier is officially happening. On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission signed off on the merger, which will allow Verizon to “upgrade and expand” Frontier’s existing fiber networks. Verizon expects to bring fiber to 1 million homes each year following the acquisition. The deal went through … Read more
After The Washington Post earlier this month revealed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had instructed the State Department to help Starlink expand in order to fend off Chinese technological influence, an extensive ProPublica article published Thursday dove deeper into what those campaigns looked like at the ground level. According to cables sent between the … Read more
Succession creator Jesse Armstrong has never been subtle with his commentary on the rich and powerful, but the new trailer for his HBO feature Mountainhead spells out exactly what makes its central characters people you shouldn’t be rooting for. Set in a remote cabin at the top of a mountain, Mountainhead revolves around a quartet … Read more
xAI has published the system prompts for its AI chatbot Grok after an “unauthorized” change led to a slew of unprompted responses on X about white genocide. The company says it will publish its Grok system prompts on GitHub from now on, which provide some insight into the way xAI has instructed Grok to respond … Read more
Spotify announced earlier this month that podcast creators and listeners would get a new data point: how many plays an episode has gotten. The idea, according to Spotify, was that listeners could discover new shows they hadn’t heard of, enticed by this new public measure of fandom. Podcasters did not see it that way. Since … Read more
Bungie has issued a statement on social media saying it is investigating how unauthorized artwork appeared in the closed alpha test of its PvPvE shooter Marathon. Earlier this week, Scottish artist Fern Hook posted on social media that her work had appeared in the Marathon alpha without her knowledge or permission. “Its environments are covered … Read more
OpenAI’s next “low-key research preview” has arrived. This time, it’s not ChatGPT, but a coding agent dubbed Codex that is being made available to ChatGPT Pro, Enterprise, and Team subscribers starting Friday. By drumming up comparisons to how ChatGPT was first described, CEO Sam Altman and other company leaders are positioning Codex as the company’s … Read more
8BitDo has slimmed down its arcade stick by replacing its joystick with buttons. | Image: 8BitDo Four years after the company released its first wireless arcade-style controller, 8BitDo is debuting a new version that’s almost one-third as thick as the original. Its new Arcade Controller managed to slim down by ditching the original’s joystick and … Read more
The US Army is done relying on contractors to repair its equipment. Earlier this month, Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll committed to including right-to-repair provisions in all existing and future contracts with manufacturers, a change Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) told The Verge will “put an end to our dependence on giant defense contractors who charge billions … Read more
When Fortnite players meet Darth Vader in the game’s ongoing Star Wars event, they will be able to speak with the Sith Lord directly, and he’s going to respond with a voice that sounds exactly like James Earl Jones. Though Darth Vader has previously appeared as an NPC (and a battle pass skin) in Fortnite, … Read more
Microsoft says it has found no evidence that the Israeli military has used its Azure and AI technology to harm Palestinian civilians or anyone else in Gaza. The software maker says it has “conducted an internal review and engaged an external firm,” to perform a review, after some Microsoft employees have repeatedly called on the … Read more
At this point, there are more than enough ways to play Street Fighter II. But Project Justice and Plasma Sword? Well, those are something entirely different, and much harder to find. And Capcom has made the smart decision to continue to make some of its more obscure fighters the focal point of its growing library … Read more
It’s not TV, it’s HBO. No, sorry, it’s HBO Go. And also HBO Now. But now it’s HBO Max, except wait, now it’s not HBO at all? It’s just Max? Actually, I’m being told it is once again HBO Max. Thank you for joining us on this wild and utterly nonsensical branding journey. Please keep … Read more
Charter and Cox have announced plans to merge in a $34.5 billion deal that will create a cable and internet behemoth. The two telecom companies say the merger will allow them to “aggressively compete” against larger broadband companies and mobile providers that have rolled out internet plans of their own. Charter, which currently has 31.5 … Read more
To potentially make it easier for users of streaming services like Spotify to switch, Apple Music has introduced a new built-in tool for importing libraries and playlists. A support page added to Apple’s website this week includes details on how to use the feature, as spotted by MacRumors, but it also points out that it’s … Read more
This thin-and-light notebook is especially light at 2.2 pounds. Acer is announcing a whole slew of new laptops at the Computex 2025 computer show in Taiwan, including the Swift Edge 14 AI that weighs half a pound less than the MacBook Air, and the Predator Triton 14 AI for a mix of both gaming and … Read more
Not the best publicity for Anthropic’s chatbot. Anthropic has responded to allegations that it used an AI-fabricated source in its legal battle against music publishers, saying its Claude chatbot made an “honest citation mistake.” An erroneous citation was included in a filing submitted by Anthropic data scientist Olivia Chen on April 30th, as part of … Read more