Photo by Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge The fragmented and frustrating nature of our current EV charging landscape has been widely — and correctly — cited as one of the most significant barriers to EV adoption. Why buy a plug-in car when every time you plug it in, you have to sign up for … Read more
Surf’s “contexts” are like folders, only AI-powered and more automated. | Image: Deta Let me just explain the demo that got me excited about Surf, a new browser coming from a startup called Deta. Max Eusterbrock, one of Deta’s cofounders, shared his screen with me over Zoom and asked me to pick a YouTube video. … Read more
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple’s rumored smart display, sometimes reported as a “HomePod with a screen,” could come as late as next year’s third quarter, according to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. It’s previously been pegged for a March 2025 release. The display, which Kuo notes is expected to have … Read more
Curb Your Enthusiasm is just one of the HBO shows that will play on the 24/7 channels. | Image: John Johnson / HBO Max is joining the growing list of streaming services that offer 24/7 cable-like channels. On Wednesday, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that it’s testing a set of always-on channels that mirror the shows … Read more
Image: Spotify This year, Spotify teamed up with Google to let you generate a podcast with two AI ‘hosts’ based on what you’ve listened to. This year’s Spotify Wrapped has arrived. As you look at your stats for 2024, you’ll find a few new features you can use to interact with your data, including one … Read more
The Growl trainer has a screen you can punch without regretting it later. | Image: Growl Growl is a startup launching a wall-mounted fitness device that uses a combination of projectors and sensors to give you a life-size boxing coach to train with. Unlike similar interactive trainers such as the Lululemon Mirror or Tonal, the … Read more
Image: Google Veo, Google’s latest generative AI video model, is now available for businesses to start incorporating into their content creation pipelines. After first being unveiled in May — three months after OpenAI demoed its competing Sora product — Veo has beaten it to market by launching in a private preview via Google’s Vertex AI … Read more
Image: Square Enix Fantasian was an easy game to recommend when it launched in 2021. Developed by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi’s Mistwalker studio, Fantasian was an approachable old-school roleplaying game that had a lot of clever ideas, along with an adorable aesthetic thanks to its world made out of hand-crafted dioramas. There was just … Read more
Image: Microsoft Microsoft has poured cold water on any hopes of lower hardware requirements for Windows 11. With Windows 10 end of support approaching in October 2025, the software giant now says that its Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 requirement for Windows 11 is “non-negotiable.” In a blog post entitled “TPM 2.0 – a necessity … Read more
A shocking coup attempt sent South Korea into political upheaval. But on the ground, at the protests that would prevent the President from seizing power, people were organized, angry, and a little drunk. Read the full story at The Verge.
Image: Ubisoft Despite only officially launching the game in spring of this year, Ubisoft has already announced that it’s ending development and sunsetting its free-to-play team-based shooter XDefiant. Like Hyper Scape before it, XDefiant had high expectations, with Ubisoft touting more than 1 million players in its closed beta last year. Now, it will disappear … Read more
Image: Vizio After announcing plans to acquire Vizio in February, Walmart officially owns the company after the $2.3 billion transaction closed on Tuesday. The retail giant says the acquisition will help bolster its advertising business, as Platform Plus — the TV-maker’s advertising and data division — “accounts for all the company’s [Vizio’s] gross profit.” All … Read more
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is banning data brokers Gravy Analytics and Mobilewalla from collecting, using, and selling “sensitive” location data of Americans, the agency announced on Tuesday. The FTC targeted Gravy Analytics, its subsidiary Venntel, and Mobilewalla for allegedly violating the FTC Act by collecting and … Read more
Illustration: The Verge Microsoft is asking the inspector general at the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether agency management improperly leaked news of its antitrust investigation into the company, and make their findings public. Bloomberg first reported that the probe was underway last week, which The Verge later confirmed. The investigation covers Microsoft’s cloud and … Read more
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger holds up an early Intel 18A wafer in late 2023. | Image: Intel On Monday, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger abruptly decided to retire after less than four years on the job. That was the official story, anyhow. Within hours, Reuters, Bloomberg, and The New York Times had a different one: the … Read more
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon has announced a series of new AI foundation models under a new “Nova” branding that will be available as part of the Amazon Bedrock model library in AWS. There are three “understanding” models available now, Amazon says in a blog post: Amazon Nova Micro, a text model … Read more
Eve’s Android app has finally arrived, but it only supports the Eve Thermo at launch. | Image: Eve Systems Eve Systems has finally launched its first Android app — over two years after announcing it was working on one. This week, the once Apple-only smart home device maker launched the Eve for Matter app on … Read more
Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images The Department of Energy preliminarily approved another loan to help fund the construction of electric vehicle battery factories in the US. This time, a joint venture between Stellantis and Samsung SDI will receive $7.54 billion to build two EV battery plants in Kokomo, Indiana. The project … Read more
Illustration: The Verge Based on testing done by Columbia’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism researchers, OpenAI’s ChatGPT search tool has some issues when it comes to responding with the truth. OpenAI launched the tool for subscribers in October, saying it could give “fast, timely answers with links to relevant web sources.” Instead, Futurism points out … Read more
Image: Nintendo Though it started out pretty chill, over the years, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp steadily became bloated with monetization. There were all kinds of things to spend real money on, including loot boxes for unlocking rare items. When I logged in to the game last week after months away, my screen was dominated by … Read more
Image: Ford Ford continues to exhibit a dedication to diversifying its EV lineup in Europe — a dedication that, frankly, I wish could also be applied here at home — with the reveal of the new, all-electric Puma Gen-E. The Puma is a familiar nameplate in Europe, as the automaker’s best-selling vehicle there since it … Read more
Illustration: The Verge Google officials had concerns about potential human rights violations that might be linked to its $1.2 billion contract with the Israeli government before ever even signing the deal, according to documents first reported on by The New York Times today. “Google Cloud services could be used for, or linked to, the facilitation … Read more
Last year, we published a series about what Google had done to the web, capped off by a feature about search engine optimization titled “The People Who Ruined the Internet.” It made more than a few SEO experts upset (which was tremendously fun for me because I love watching people yell at Nilay on various … Read more
Okay, we’re doing this. Today we’re launching a Verge subscription that lets you get rid of a bunch of ads, gets you unlimited access to our top-notch reporting and analysis across the site and our killer premium newsletters, and generally lets you support independent tech journalism in a world of sponsored influencer content. It’ll cost … Read more
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple Music’s yearly recap is back — and this time, it’s available to see and share from directly within the app. If your iPhone runs iOS 18.1 or later, you can now access Apple Music Replay 2024 from the Home, New, and Search tabs. Otherwise, you’ll have to … Read more
The creators of the Flexbar think Apple’s Touchbar deserves a second chance as a standalone solution. | Screenshot: YouTube Apple may have said goodbye to the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar last year, but a team of four engineers believes the concept deserves a second chance. They’ve created the Flexbar, which is essentially a standalone version … Read more
MSI has officially announced its next crack at handheld gaming is here with the Lunar Lake-powered MSI Claw 7 AI Plus and MSI Claw 8 AI Plus. The two Windows-based handhelds come with 32GB of RAM and larger batteries than their predecessors. They release on December 25th, but you can preorder them now, starting at … Read more
Photo: Stormy Pyeatte for The Verge Lila was created from the limited options available: female, blue hair, face “number two.” She was there on the next screen, pastel and polygonal, bobbing slightly as she stood in a bare apartment. To her right was a chat window through which they could communicate. Naro, his first name, … Read more
Image: Elen Winata for The Verge It’s actually Tuesday, but that doesn’t mean all the deals have suddenly vanished. We’re rounding up the best of the rest that you can still shop. We hope you had a chance between holiday festivities to get some shopping done, but if not, you may not be out of … Read more
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge China has imposed new limits on the sale of chip-making materials to the US, a move that comes just one day after the Biden Administration announced sanctions that will make it harder for Chinese companies to produce advanced semiconductors, as reported earlier by CNN. On Tuesday, the Chinese … Read more