The Verge

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Meta says it won't be launching its upcoming multimodal AI model - capable of handling video, audio, images, and text - in the European Union, citing regulatory concerns. The decision will prevent European companies from using the multimodal model, despite it being released under an open license.We will release a multimodal Llama model over the coming months, but not in the EU due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment," Meta spokesperson Kate McLaughlin said to The Verge.Just last week, the EU finalized compliance deadlines for AI companies under its strict new AI Act. Tech companies operating in the EU will generally have until August 2026 to comply with rules around copyright, transparency, and AI uses... Continue reading...

Image: Kepler Interactive It has some clever ideas but struggles with a lack of polish and repetitive gameplay. Continue reading...

Image: Shira Inbar for The Verge Amazon's annual sales event might be drawing to a close, but there are still plenty of earbuds, TVs, robot vacuums, and other gems available. Continue reading...

Image: Dyson With replaceable ear cushions and outer caps, there are over 2,000 ways to customize these $500 noise-canceling headphones - without the Bane mask this time. Continue reading...

Tribit's StormBox Micro 2 speaker makes for a great bike companion, especially at $42.99. | Image: Tribit Amazon Prime Day marches onward, and while there continues to be an abundance of deals spanning all price points and categories, most of them will cease to exist once the clock strikes midnight tonight. And while many of the steepest discounts in the world of tech are still reserved for premium headphones and TVs, there are still plenty of budget-friendly gadgets and gizmos on sale for those looking to pick up cheap(er) basics, fitness bands, or one of several AAA games for the Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X / S, or PlayStation 5.The bulk of the sub-$50 highlights below are currently exclusive to Amazon Prime subscribers, though, in some instances, retailers such as Best Buy and Walmart are matching Amazon's pricing. That means,... Continue reading...

Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge Everyone loves cheap stuff that's actually good to use or invaluably helpful in your day to day. While Amazon Prime Day offers a deluge of deals on no-name tchotchkes and knockoffs (many of which have inflated, bot-fueled review scores), it does have its fair share of inexpensive hidden gems that are actually worth your money.We know not everyone is shopping for big multihundred- or thousand-dollar tech every time a deal comes around, so we're always on the lookout for sales that fit into more modest budgets like sub-$100 and sub-$50.Here, we're rounding up our top picks for Prime Day that are just 25 bucks or less. Some of them may be ho-hum essentials like a USB-C charging cable, but you may be surprised what kind of tech you can... Continue reading...

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge What do the latest AirPods Pro, Meta Quest 3, and Dreame L20 Ultra all have in common? They're all on sale for Prime Day... for upward of $200. Thankfully, you can still score deals on terrific gadgets and goods without racking up credit debt or dipping into your savings account during Amazon's two-day sale. In fact, there's plenty of tech on sale for less than a Benjamin - even if Prime Day is set to end in just a few hours.Over the years, we gadget nerds at The Verge have tested all kinds of incredible stuff, some of which is currently on sale for less than $100. Current deals range from one of the best e-readers on the market to some of our favorite streaming devices, Fitbits, speakers, video doorbells, and video games. We could go... Continue reading...

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Searching for a good laptop deal on Amazon, even on Prime Day, can feel overwhelming, especially with all the styles, hardware options, brands, and display resolutions - how do you know you're getting a good deal on any of it?Below, we've rounded up the best deals we could find on clamshell laptops, convertibles, MacBooks, Chromebooks, and even some elusive sub-$1,000 gaming laptops. When choosing the best laptop deals, we considered everything from its hardware and port options to the year some options were actually released.There are some good options from major brands like Acer, Apple, and HP, and we found some great deals on monitors, keyboards, and mice, too.The best Amazon Prime Day deals for Windows laptops

You can get a refurbished Xbox Series X for well under $400 today - if you don't mind buying refurbished. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge If you've worked hard this year, you deserve to play even harder, and you can do that on a modest budget with some of the Prime Day gaming deals available right now. Amazon's Prime Day 2024 sale runs through the end of today, July 17th, offering plenty of discounts on video games, controllers, headsets, storage, and other gear and accessories to level up your experience.We're seeing new all-time low prices on some of the top games that have been released over the past couple of years. There's a healthy assortment of titles to consider, whether you're playing on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, or Xbox Series X / S. There's also quite a few deals for actual hardware, too - though no consoles apart from the Meta Quest 3 as of now.We'll... Continue reading...

One of the best deals of Prime Day doesn't require a premium membership. It's funny how that works. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Short of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you probably won't find a better opportunity to save on an iPad than during Amazon Prime Day. Right now, for instance, the 10th-gen iPad with Wi-Fi and 64GB of storage has dropped to an all-time low of $299 ($49 off) at Amazon and Best Buy - no membership required. The 256GB variant is also on sale at Amazon and Best Buy for a record low of $449 ($50 off), though some colors do require a Prime subscription at Amazon.Apple's latest entry-level iPad feels a bit more modern than the outgoing ninth-gen model, and with the current discount, it probably makes more sense to go for the newer kid on the block. Apple stretched the screen a bit to 10.9 inches and updated its design to make it look more akin... Continue reading...

The Kindle Scribe is down to an all-time low price. | Image: Amelia Holowaty Krales Amazon Prime Day 2024 has officially arrived. We've already published a detailed guide to the best Prime Day deals, but if you're just interested in Amazon devices, this is where you'll find the ones that are actually worthwhile. From Alexa-based Echo smart speakers to video doorbells, Amazon is discounting a wide range of gadgets, some of which are currently seeing their lowest prices to date.Of course, the main caveat here is that you'll have to be an active Amazon Prime member to take advantage of any and all Prime Day deals. Luckily, Amazon makes it pretty easy to sign up, especially since new members can take advantage of the exclusive discounts with a free 30-day trial.The best streaming device and TV deals

Now's a good time to cop last year's flagship models at a lower price. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Amazon Prime Day 2024 is here and, with it, a whole bunch of deals on Apple Watches, Android smartwatches, or even just a regular ol' fitness tracker. Fall product launches are right around the corner, but if you're on a budget, now is a great time to snag discounts on higher-quality materials and last year's premium devices.Wading through thousands of deals can be a pain, especially when you factor in the dozens of smartwatch models, sizes, colors, and materials. Never fear - we've already done that for you and compiled the best deals out there. (Just make sure you have a Prime membership to access them!) And when you're done checking out smartwatches and fitness trackers, you can head back to our main Prime Day deals page for more.A... Continue reading...

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The Apple Watch often sees its fair share of limited-time discounts throughout the year, but Amazon's Prime Day offers a chance for someone to shop deals across most available models all at once.For this Prime Day, we're seeing some worthwhile sales across the range of the 2022 Apple Watch SE, Apple Watch Series 9, and even the pricey Apple Watch Ultra 2. Most of these require an Amazon Prime subscription, but Amazon's excellent $100 discount on the Ultra 2 does not.While most Apple Watches are pretty similar at their core (iOS notifications on your wrist, fitness tracking, health metrics, etc.), it's the extra features added or omitted from some models that often determine which is right for you - as well as your budget, of course.... Continue reading...

Image: Shira Inbar for The Verge Amazon Prime Day 2024 is here. The annual two-day super sale started July 16th and runs through July 17th, bringing with it a treasure trove of discounts, promos, and exclusive deals for Amazon Prime subscribers. It may not be the only Prime Day event we see this year - Amazon has recently taken to hosting a second shopping event in the fall - but it will likely remain one of the best opportunities of the year to score discounts on a range of tech outside of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.Like in previous years, we're highlighting the best deals on a variety of Verge-approved gadgets and gizmos, from the latest laptops and OLED TVs to robot vacuums that can leave your hardwood floors as spotless as your living room carpet. We're also... Continue reading...

Robot vacuums with multifunctional docks that make cleaning virtually hands-free - like the Dreame L20 Ultra - are seeing some serious discounts this Prime Day. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge Robot vacuums have come a long way since their bump-and-roll days, when they had to be rescued whenever they encountered a sock or a particularly scary-looking chair leg.Today, high-end robot vacs have advanced sensors that help them nimbly navigate your home, charging docks that suck the dirt out of the bin so you don't have to get your hands messy, and self-filling water tanks so they can mop more of your floor in one clean.The problem with all these fancy features is that they can cost over $1,000 for the privilege of less hands-on time with your floor cleaner. However, this Prime Day, we're seeing the first serious discounts on several of these high-end, multifunctional cleaning robots.iRobot's Roomba Combo j9 Plus, Roborock's... Continue reading...

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images Sam Altman's $27 million San Francisco luxury abode is apparently plagued with issues, ranging from a leaky infinity pool to faulty piping that dumped raw sewage on the property. That's according to a lawsuit that The San Francisco Standard linked to the OpenAI CEO's residence, which claims Altman purchased a lemon" with pervasive shoddy workmanship and corner-cutting."The 9,500-square-foot estate is situated on San Francisco's iconic Lombard Street, where it overlooks the city and the bay. As you can see in this walkthrough of the home, some of its key features include a four-sided infinity pool that hangs off the edge of the house, a Batcave" leading into a garage, as well as a system that uses recycled rainwater to irrigate an... Continue reading...

Image: Home Depot Five years ago, Home Depot stumbled upon a viral hit with a 12-foot-tall skeleton nicknamed Skelly. The towering Halloween decoration can be seen year-round in some neighborhoods, has been featured in countless memes and TikToks, and remains a hot ticket - it went back on sale in April and promptly sold out. Now the company is bringing back a slightly refreshed version of the skeleton as part of a huge lineup of Halloween creatures packed with LEDs and animatronics, as it looks to keep its undead hit alive.Skelly remains the centerpiece. The skeleton is going back on sale with a slight tweak: now those creepy LED eyes are customizable, with eight different presets so you can keep Skelly in style for multiple holidays. One of the options... Continue reading...

Nintendo On a random Wednesday in July, Nintendo asked #WhoIsEmio?" and accompanied the question with a cryptic and creepy 15-second teaser. Now, with an official announcement and a new listing on the Nintendo eShop, we know.Emio, known as Smiling Man in the Japanese version, is not a new horror project but, rather, the latest entry in Nintendo's Famicom Detective Club series. In it, you'll play as - what else? - a detective tasked with solving the gruesome murder of a student who was found with a paper bag with a smiling face over his head. Contrary to the rumors that suggested The Medium studio Bloober Team was the game's developer, Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club was actually developed internally at Nintendo, with Metroid... Continue reading...

Image: Nintendo There are few things I know better than Super Mario Bros. 3. Over the last few decades, I've replayed the game across basically every Nintendo platform, exploring its levels over and over, searching out each and every secret. But there's one thing I never paid attention to: the timer. I've always taken a slow, methodical approach to the game, ignoring the tiny countdown clock. That changed with Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, a collection of NES classics that have been chopped into pieces in the interest of pure speed. It showed me a new side to games I thought I knew intimately.Named after Nintendo's occasional in-person esports competition, the collection takes 13 of the company's most iconic titles and divides them into... Continue reading...

It's not immediately clear what Tinder's Photo Selector feature looks for in a good" selfi. | Image: Tinder Tinder is releasing an AI-powered feature that supposedly makes it easier for users to select better photos for their dating profiles. The dating app says its new Photo Selector tool aims to take out the guesswork" when picking your most flattering photos by curating a diverse selection that's optimized to help users find a match."To use Photo Selector, users will need to take a selfie within Tinder and allow the app to access their device's camera roll. Tinder's new AI feature will then use facial recognition to collate a selection of images for the user to review and add to their profiles. The curation is processed on-device and doesn't upload the user's camera roll to Tinder's systems. We have asked Tinder to clarify the criteria... Continue reading...