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Photo: David Pierce / The Verge Meta has announced the v72 Quest update, and it's packed with features like faster hand tracking, an easier way to pair your headset with a Windows 11 PC, and better support for showing your keyboard while you're in full virtual reality. The update is rolling out gradually, which also goes for certain features so you may not be able to use them immediately.Meta says you can now connect to a paired PC with the Quest's Remote Desktop feature simply by looking at it and tapping the Connect" button that appears above your keyboard. That's similar to how it works on the Vision Pro, but here, you'll need the Mixed Reality Link app installed on your computer before you can pair the devices together from within your Quest headset's Settings app. The feature requires Windows 11 22H2 and newer. Image: Meta Now you can connect to your PC just by looking at it. Also, in Quest v72, the company says it's rolling out a more general keyboard tracking system" that should detect and let any keyboard around you appear through a passthrough window" while you're in a virtual environment, similar to the Vision Pro. Quest headsets have had a feature that shows a virtual version of your keyboard where your real one is since 2021, but that has only ever worked with specific keyboards.Meta also says it has made the hand cursor more stable when navigating, pinching to select things, and pinching and dragging windows. The company also says it's now easier to use your hands while in confined spaces and that it added a hand ray visualization" to help find and target things with the cursor.There is a little bit more in the update, too, including new live captions for calls from the People app and the addition of direct messaging in the Instagram app. Meta also added a Media Gallery app for viewing your images, videos (spatial included), and screenshots.

A thin layer of ice thaws on a puddle in the sunshine in Bavaria, Marktoberdorf. | Photo: Getty Images Scientific advisers to the European Commission are calling for a moratorium across the EU on efforts to artificially cool Earth through solar geoengineering. That includes controversial technologies used to reflect sunlight back into space, primarily by sending reflective particles into the atmosphere or by brightening clouds.Proponents argue that this can help in the fight against climate change, especially as planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions continue to climb. But small-scale experiments have triggered backlash over concerns that these technologies could do more harm than good.The European Commission asked its Group of Chief Scientific Advisors (GCSA) and European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE) to write up their opinions on solar geoengineering, which were published today alongside a report synthesizing what little we know about how these technologies might work.Experiments have triggered backlash over concerns that these technologies could do more harm than goodThere's insufficient scientific evidence" to show that solar geoengineering can actually prevent climate change, says the opinion written by the GCSA.Given the currently very high... Read the full story at The Verge.

Will Manchester City's next uniform feature AI-generated cats? | Screenshot: Puma AI Creator Manchester City is holding a competition that asks fans to generate its future kit design with AI. Players will wear the winning design during the 2026-2027 season as City's official third kit, and it will even be sold to fans.The club partnered with Puma to launch a text-to-image uniform generator powered by the AI company DeepObjects. To use the tool, you'll have to create an account and enter a prompt that describes the look you're going for. You then have to choose a style the AI will use when generating your design, such as abstract," emotive brushstrokes," or dream visions." Screenshot: Puma AI Creator This wasn't quite what I was envisioning when I entered a prompt for soccerballs shooting through space like stars on a galaxy background." The Puma AI Creator will then generate four different design options that appear on a virtual uniform, allowing you to customize the collars, trim colors, and badges.You get 15 credits to create designs (generating one design costs one credit), but you can only enter two of your creations in the contest, which ends December 20th. Fan ratings, along with experts from Manchester City and Puma will help determine the winner. Image: Manchester City City players designed this goalkeeper kit with AI. Manchester City says its players, Ederson, Stefan Ortega, and Rico Lewis first used the Puma AI Creator to design a goalkeeper kit creatively inspired by the net of a football goal." It will be the first AI-generated soccer uniform to be worn on the pitch, according to the club.The announcement comes at an awkward time for City, which is mired in a poor run of form and awaiting the verdict of an investigation into breaching Premier League financial rules.

Donald Trump speaks with Kristen Welker on Meet the Press. | Photo: Peter Kramer / NBC via Getty Images President-elect Donald Trump gave a murky answer when NBC's Kristen Welker asked whether he would protect TikTok from its impending ban during a Meet the Press interview on Sunday. He didn't say he would save the app from its ban but did seem to imply that ByteDance should sell it.After its argument that the ban is unconstitutional came up short in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals last week, ByteDance is requesting an injunction to stop the ban from taking effect until the Supreme Court can hear its appeal, and it now faces an uphill legal battle. If ByteDance's motion isn't granted, it has to sell TikTok by January 19th or face its expulsion from the US.Welker asked Trump what he would do after ByteDance's failed appeal of the ban:

This meat-handed mess was generated using DaVinci AI with the prompt a photorealistic person looking at their phone with a disgusted expression." | Image: DaVinci AI / The Verge Many high-ranking AI apps feel like an attempted cash grab, and it's not easy to spot the trash from the treasure. Read the full story at The Verge.

The NYPD released this photo of the person of interest in the case. | Image: NYPD Police have arrested Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old software developer, in connection with the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione, of Maryland, was detained at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania on Monday morning.Mangione was taken into custody on local firearm charges, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters. He has not been charged in connection with the shooting but is believed to be our person of interest," Tisch said.Police have been searching for Thompson's killer for nearly a week, despite the shooting taking place in public outside a Manhattan hotel. The manhunt has thus far relied on just a few grainy images of a man whose face is largely obscured by a mask and hoodie. Investigators have reportedly been looking for more surveillance images of the suspect to load into facial recognition software.Police were led to Mangione via a combination of old-school detective work and new age technology," Tisch said. We deployed drones, K9 units, and scuba divers. We leveraged the domain awareness system, argos cameras, and conducted aviation canvases."Despite scant visual evidence, a McDonald's employee recognized Mangione on Monday morning and called police, the New York Times reports. He was just sitting there eating," Joseph Kenny, the New York Police Department's chief of detectives, said at a press briefing Monday.Mangione reportedly had a gun, a silencer, and four fake IDs in his possession. The gun appeared to be a 3D-printed ghost gun," Kenny told reporters. After being apprehended, Mangione showed police a fake New Jersey ID, Kenny said. The ID was the same one used to check into a hostel in Manhattan on November 24th, eight days before the shooting. Sources also tell the New York Post that he was carrying a manifesto" criticizing the US healthcare industry.Three bullets recovered from the scene of the shooting had deny," defend," and depose" written on them in permanent marker, two police officials told the Associated Press last week. Police later clarified that one of the bullets had delay" written on it, not defend." The words are reminiscent of Delay, Deny, Defend: What Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It, the title of a 2010 book by Rutgers Law professor Jay M. Feinman.The shooting's apparent anti-insurance motivation has led to expressions of support across the political spectrum for the assailant. Online sleuths have identified several online profiles that appear to be linked to Mangione, including a Goodreads account on which he left a favorable review of Industrial Society and Its Future, the manifesto written by Ted Kaczynski.

Image: Rivian When I first started testing electric vehicles, finding a charging station was the means to an end. I didn't care what it looked like or what neighborhood it was in - it was a minor miracle that I found a charger, any charger, to juice up. But now consumers want more. Heck, I want more, and I don't even own an EV. After all, this is a place where you'll spend at least 20 minutes to shove some electrons into your vehicle. Is a bathroom too much to ask for?Rivian has heard the call and has answered with its own chain of outpost charging stations. The first one opened up in Yosemite, California, this past summer, and now one is right in my own backyard in Joshua Tree, just six miles away from the town's national park entrance. Charge upFirst, let's talk about charging. There are 12 900-volt 300kW CCS chargers, and the outpost is open to any EV, although Teslas will need an adapter. There is one pullthrough spot for folks with a trailer, but if others are charging across the lot from that space, it might be a tight turn for longer rigs. Rivian owners can pay through the app or tap their credit cards at the charger at 46 cents per kWh, while non-Rivian cars can tap... Read the full story at The Verge.

Image: Netflix Ustwo returns with a sequel that looks to evolve the puzzle franchise, all while continuing to offer a sanctuary in your pocket. Read the full story at The Verge.

Free users can still browse a feed of AI-generated videos created by the community. | Screenshot: OpenAI OpenAI launched Sora, its text-to-video AI model, on Monday as part of its 12-day ship-mas" product release series, as The Verge previously reported it would. It's available today on Sora.com for ChatGPT subscribers in the US and most other countries," and a new model, Sora Turbo. This updated model adds features like generating video from text, animating images, and remixing videos.With a ChatGPT Plus subscription, OpenAI says you can generate up to 50 priority videos (1,000 credits) at resolutions up to 720p with 5-second durations. The $200 per month ChatGPT Pro subscription that launched last week comes with unlimited generations" and up to 500 priority videos while bumping the resolution to 1080p and the duration to 20 seconds. The more expensive plan also allows subscribers to download videos without a watermark and perform up to five generations simultaneously.OpenAI first teased its text-to-video AI model, Sora, in February, and earlier today, Marques Brownlee, aka MKBHD, confirmed the launch with a preview based on his experiences testing Sora so far.During the livestream, OpenAI showed off Sora's new explore page with a feed of AI-generated videos created by other community members. The company highlighted a feature called storyboards" that let you generate videos based on a sequence of prompts, as well as the ability to turn photos into videos. OpenAI also demonstrated a remix" tool that lets you tweak Sora's output with a text prompt, along with a way to blend" two scenes together with AI.OpenAI says videos generated with Sora will have visible watermarks and C2PA metadata to indicate they're made with AI. Before uploading an image or video to Sora, OpenAI prompts you to check off an agreement that says what you're uploading doesn't contain people under 18, explicit or violent content, and copyrighted material. It says the misuse of media uploads" could result in an account ban or suspension.We obviously have a big target on our back as OpenAI," OpenAI vice president of research Aditya Ramesh said during the livestream. We want to prevent illegal activity of Sora, but we also want to balance that with creative expression. We know that... will be an ongoing challenge, we might not get it perfect on day one. We're starting a little conservative, and so if our moderation doesn't quite get it right, just give us that feedback."If you don't have a ChatGPT subscription, you'll still be able to browse through the feed of AI-generated videos created by other people using Sora. While the model will become available in the US and many other countries today, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that it may be a while" for a launch in most of Europe and the UK."The release of Sora comes just a week after a group of artists, who claimed to be part of the company's alpha testing program, leaked the product in protest of being used by OpenAI for what they claim was unpaid R&D and PR."

Image: The Verge OpenAI's highly-anticipated AI text-to-video generator, Sora, will become available to everyone today. In a video posted on Monday, Marques Brownlee confirmed its imminent release and detailed his experience using Sora over the past few weeks, calling the results horrifying and inspiring at the same time."OpenAI first revealed Sora in February but only made the tool available to a select number of visual artists, designers, and filmmakers to start.Brownlee shows how Sora can convert your text prompt into a video, which you can then customize with additional text prompts as part of its remix" tool. You can also use Sora to transform a photo into a video, as well as use its storyboard feature to string together" several text prompts that Sora will attempt to blend into cohesive scenes.During his video, Brownlee points out that Sora currently struggles with generating realistic physics and often shows objects that disappear or pass through each other. He also found that Sora often rejects prompts that include public figures and copyrighted characters.Sora will launch today, and will most likely be announced during the 12 days of ship-mas" video OpenAI plans on releasing at 1PM ET. Last Thursday, OpenAI announced a $200 / month ChatGPT Pro subscription and the full release of its o1 reasoning model.

Cath Virginia / The Verge China is investigating Nvidia over antitrust violations, reportedly over claims the chipmaker failed to follow conditions set during China's approval for its $6.9 billion acquisition of Israeli network hardware company Mellanox in 2020.While announcing the DGX A100 GPU after acquiring Mellanox, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said this while explaining its importance to his company:

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Friend just raised another $5.4 million to bring AI friends into the real world. Read the full story at The Verge.

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images A court rejected arguments against forcing a sale of the massive Chinese-owned social network. Read the full story at The Verge.

Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman at the UK AI Safety Summit in November 2023. | Photo by Leon Neal / Getty Images Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman disagrees with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's recent claim in a Reddit AMA that artificial general intelligence, or AGI, is possible on today's hardware. While AGI is plausible," he tells The Verge's Nilay Patel in the latest Decoder episode that it could take as long as 10 years to achieve.With current hardware defined by Nilay as within one or two generations of what we have now, I would say," Suleyman replied, explaining why he thinks that's unlikely:

The Raspberry Pi 500 computer keyboard starts at $90, but you'll need to add your own mouse, power supply, and screen for that price. | Image: Raspberry Pi Raspberry Pi has announced an upgraded version of its compact computer-in-a-keyboard, adding the new features and performance improvements of the Raspberry Pi 5 microcomputer it introduced last September.The Raspberry Pi 500, which is available now starting for $90, is $20 more expensive than the Raspberry Pi 400 that debuted in late 2020. That extra cost gets you a 2.4GHz 64-bit quad-core Arm Cortex-A76 processor and 8GB of RAM. If you want more than just the computer keyboard, a $120 Desktop Kit includes it plus a matching mouse, a 27W USB-C power supply, a single micro HDMI cable, and a printed copy of the Raspberry Pi Beginner's Guide book. Image: Raspbery Pi The Raspberry Pi Monitor features a 15.6-inch full HD IPS panel and built-in speakers. The company is also introducing a display for those looking to buy a $220 all-in-one desktop solution. The $100 Raspberry Pi Monitor features a 15.6-inch full HD IPS panel with a built-in pair of 1.2W speakers and a folding stand. The display can be powered directly from a Raspberry Pi microcomputer with a USB port that outputs 1.5A at 5V, which includes the new Raspberry Pi 500 computer and its predecessor. But brightness will be limited to 60 percent while volume maxes out at 50 percent. With its own power supply -which you'll need to buy separately - you'll get full volume and brightness. Image: Raspberry Pi The Raspberry Pi 500's keyboard features a compact tenkeyless design with its various ports accessible on the back. Other features of the Raspberry Pi 500 computer keyboard include an 800MHz VideoCore VII GPU, a 40-pin Raspberry Pi GPIO connector for attaching peripherals, support for 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0, two USB 3.0 ports, one USB 2.0 port, a gigabit ethernet port, and a single USB-C port that's only used for power. There are also a pair of micro HDMI ports that can drive two 4K displays at 60Hz each, and a microSD card slot that comes with a 32GB card preloaded with the Debian-based Raspberry Pi operating system.The new Raspberry Pi 500 won't entirely replace the older Raspberry Pi 400, which is being kept around with a price drop from $70 to $60. The Raspberry Pi 400 Personal Computer Kit, which includes additional accessories like a mouse and power supply, is also getting a price cut from $100 to $80.

Illustration: The Verge Reddit is launching a new AI-powered search tool called Reddit Answers to help you more easily find information on the platform. The tool, similar to other AI search products, responds to queries by generating well-formatted responses and showing links to its sources.But the distinction with Reddit Answers is that it sources things directly from Reddit, which means it could be a way to skip Google and get information directly from the source. Reddit has already been cracking down on where you can search for things from Reddit, and Google is the only major search engine that shows recent Reddit results. But Reddit probably would prefer if you did searches right on its platform, and Reddit Answers might prove to be a good way to do so.Reddit Answers will initially roll out to a limited number of users" in the US and in English, and it will be available on the web (not on Old Reddit) and iOS. (We're working on Android as we speak," Serkan Piantino, Reddit's VP of product, said in an interview.) Reddit plans to bring the tool to more languages and locations in the future," according to a blog post.Reddit gave me access to a test version of Reddit Answers, and while I haven't been able to mess around with it very much, I've liked what I've seen. There's a big box to ask a query, but the initial Reddit Answers page also floats a bunch of suggested searches you can click on, like favorite Nintendo character of all time," best mystery novels of 2025," and tips for flying with a baby for the first time."I clicked that last one, and the tool quickly pulled together a list and some bulleted suggestions with hyperlinks on the text and an arrow to click to see the source of the information. When you click either, a sidebar pops up showing the exact post where the information comes from. Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge This is from a test version of Reddit Answers, so things might look a tad different when you try it. But you can get the gist. A Reddit site search for the same query on Google, on the other hand, just gave me a standard long list of links to evaluate and click through. On its face, Google's version, which doesn't have the summaries or bullet points, isn't as immediately informative as Reddit Answers. But personally, I'm pretty skeptical of AI summaries anyway - they can make some pretty bad errors! - so for me, the Google results are still perfectly fine as a way to explore some potentially useful posts on Reddit. Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge My Reddit site search on Google. Reddit Answers can also pick up on things happening on Reddit within minutes, according to spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt, so there's also a chance responses to your queries will have timely results. I haven't had much luck with that; on Friday, for example, I asked who won yesterday's NFL game," and instead of pulling up answers about Thursday's Packers-Lions game, it included details on the Eagles-Ravens game that happened on December 1st.That might have just been a quirk of the product not being fully ready yet. In my testing, though, Reddit Answers has been much more useful as a jumping off point to dig into a more general topic on Reddit rather than an up-to-the-minute search tool. And while Reddit Answers is useful, I'm not sure yet if it's good enough for me to change my habits around using Google to search for things on Reddit.

Image: Epic Games Indie game storefront Itch.io went offline early Monday morning after what it described as a bogus phishing report. While the game store's servers were still online during the outage, the domain for the website pointed towards IP addresses that itch.io doesn't own - making it inaccessible for most people.After going offline at around 2AM ET, the site seemed to come back at around 7AM ET. Itch.io blames pop culture collectibles company Funko for the issues in a post on X, because they use some trash AI-powered' Brand Protection Software called Brand Shield that created some bogus Phishing report to our registrar."

Michelle Yeoh in Star Trek: Section 31. | Image: Paramount Plus It's the first week of December, and the end of the year is coming in fast and with a lot to look forward to at theaters this month. That very cool-looking Lord of the Rings anime hits US theaters on the 13th; Sonic the Hedgehog 3 follows on the 20th; and I'm deeply excited to see Nosferatu on December 25th. (If you're not with me on that last one, give Matt Zoller Seitz's RogerEbert.com review of it a read and get back to me.)While I'm waiting to go be unnerved by Robert Eggers' new spooky vampire movie, let's take a look at some good trailers from the last week.Star Trek: Section 31I'll admit that the biggest appeal for me about this straight-to-streaming spy movie spinoff of Star Trek: Discovery is Michelle Yeoh as Emperor Philippa Georgiou. She's just having so much fun in this trailer. The trailers haven't revealed yet what threat she'll be facing, other than being forced to do teamwork, but it seems like it'll be pretty heavy on the rag-tag team of antiheroes action thing.The Olatunde Osunsanmi-directed movie also stars Omari Hardwick, Kacey Rohl, Sven Ruygrok, Humberly Gonzalez, Rob Kazinsky, and Sam Richardson. It premieres on Paramount Plus starting January 24th.SeveranceI was late to the Severance party, having finally finished it a few months ago, so I can only imagine how eager people who saw its cliffhanger ending have been to see the story continue. Well, the second season of creator Dan Erickson's bizarro sci-fi drama is almost here, and it looks like it's probably going to bring answers, with even more mystery heaped on top of it.All of the first season's main characters, including Mark (Adam Scott), Dylan (Zach Cherry), Helly (Britt Lower), and Irving (John Turturro) are returning, and they'll be joined by characters played by the likes of Alia Shawkat, Gwendoline Christie, and Bob Balaban. Season two of Severance premieres January 17th on Apple TV Plus.InvincibleThe third season of Invincible will see a stronger, older Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) tell off GDA director Cecil Stedman (Walton Goggins) and episodes that show creator Robert Kirkman hopes will each feel like a finale. And there's no season break this time around.The show debuts with three episodes February 6th on Amazon Prime, with new episodes releasing every Thursday after until March 13th.The Wheel of TimeThe Wheel of Time continues its retelling of the Robert Jordan fantasy epic on March 13th next year. In its third season, the show follows Joshua Stradowski's Rand al'Thor - the Dragon Reborn" - and Moiraine Damodred (Rosamund Pike) as they go into the Aiel Waste. It's been more than two decades since I read the book series, so I couldn't spoil what happens there for you if I wanted to, but I seem to recall this was a fairly dark time in the series.The GorgeWho knows what evil is in The Gorge's, uh, gorge, but it's apparently contained well enough that humanity only needs two snipers - who aren't allowed to interact with each other - stationed on either side of it to make sure it stays there. The snipers, Levi (Miles Teller) and Drasa (Anya Taylor-Joy), do interact and fall for eachother, then end up in the gorge. Oops!Scott Derrickson directs the movie, which also stars Sigourney Weaver, Sope Dirisu, and William Houston. It premieres February 14th on Apple TV Plus.Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuXGiant robot anime fans rejoice: there's a new Mobile Suit Gundam coming next year. It's called Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX, and it's produced by Khara, the studio behind the Rebuild of Evangelion films.The weird name references a Gundam called the gMS- GQuuuuuuX. The show will follow a highschooler - named Yuzuriha Machu" Amate (Tomoyo Kurosawa) - who learns to co-pilot the building-sized, sword-wielding robot with pilot Shuji Ito (Shimba Tsuchiya). Some of its episodes will head to Japanese theaters on January 17th.

Sony's cosmic red" DualSense Wireless Controller is down to $54.99 ($20 off) for a limited time. | Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge Black Friday and Cyber Monday may be over, but Sony's ongoing holiday sale lives on, giving you a chance to save on various PlayStation 5 consoles, games, and accessories through January 2nd. Now until December 25th, for example, you can save up to $75 on the newer PS5 slim" (now $424 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target) and the PS5 Digital Edition (now $374 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart).If you already have a PS5 and are looking for new ways to play, the PlayStation VR 2 is currently on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target with Horizon Call of the Mountain for $349 ($250 off), which may be tempting. The virtual reality headset is easy to set up and offers excellent PC-grade immersion, though its lineup still remains somewhat limited nearly two years after its release.Not into VR? It's also a great time to pick up extra controllers, gaming headsets, and other PS5 accessories. Now until December 13th, Sony's standard DualSense Wireless Controller is on sale for as low as $54 ($21 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target, while the reflective Chroma" variants can be had for $59. There aren't many PS5 controllers we'd recommend over the DualSense, namely because most third-party options lack the adaptive triggers and haptic engine, which add real tension to mirror your in-game actions.You can also pick up Pulse-branded headsets throughout the same period, including the Pulse Elite, which is down to an all-time low of $129.99 ($20 off) at Best Buy, Walmart, and GameStop. The Pulse Explore earbuds are also on sale starting at $169 ($30 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. Both use planar magnetic drivers, which noticeably impact the 3D audio listening experience, along with a proprietary low-latency codec that works natively on PS5 consoles and Windows PCs with the included dongle.If you're looking to change up the look of your PS5, you can also pick up one of several Console Covers starting at $44.99 ($10 off). A number of games are on sale, too, including the collector's editions of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 for $149.99 ($80 off) and MLB The Show 24 for $49.99 ($10 off), along with Astro Bot for $49.99 ($10 off).More deals to shop this weekend

There's a lot we don't know about what's coming for tech in 2025. AI could save the world, or ruin it, or do pretty much nothing interesting at all. A new US president could change priorities and policies on antitrust fights and privacy rules. Will TikTok get banned? Will the fediverse take off? Will it be the year of Matter? Will Grand Theft Auto VI change society forever? Will the next Mission: Impossible movie be awesome? Look, I didn't say the stakes were always super high. But there are lots of questions.On this episode of The Vergecast, we try and offer some answers - with absolutely no evidence. Nilay, David, and Wall Street Journal columnist (and forever friend of The Verge) Joanna Stern take turns offering their predictions for the year to come.We start with our mildest, most milquetoast takes on tech in 2025, before ramping up to our biggest, hottest, spiciest thoughts. And because we need to be held accountable for our actions, we make a game out of it.Here's how the game works: Each host offers a prediction, and the other two get a chance to either agree with or reject the prediction. At the end of the year, whoever is right about that prediction gets a point.... Read the full story at The Verge.

Sony's PSVR2 controller support may be coming to the Vision Pro through a special partnership. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The Vision Pro could gain support for Sony PSVR 2 controllers soon, according to Mark Gurman in today's Power On newsletter for Bloomberg. Apple and Sony apparently planned to announce support for the controllers weeks ago" but have pushed back the rollout. Under this rumored partnership, Apple would begin selling Sony's controllers, which aren't currently available on their own.Sony has apparently been working on adding the support for months, while Apple has asked third-party developers if they would take advantage of Sony's VR controllers. That's potentially great news for Vision Pro owners who wish the headset had more gaming chops. (There are precious few good, native visionOS games - Thrasher, a mesmerizing game where you fling a giant worm / dragon thing around a psychadelic space using just hand movements, comes to mind.)Gurman writes that Apple also wants to use the controllers for more than gaming - the controllers will be able to navigate visionOS, and would offer more precise controls in apps like Final Cut Pro and Adobe Photoshop. Right now, you can pair a standard Bluetooth controller and navigate visionOS - tapping buttons to select things, scrolling with the analog sticks, and so on. They also work for gaming, but you're mostly limited to iPad and iPhone games with controller support or made-for-iOS emulators or that native Virtual Boy one.Will this partnership bear fruit and help games actually flourish on the platform? I'm not immediately hopeful, given the Vision Pro's sales and Apple's track record of support from game publishers.Still, the Vision Pro is fundamentally different from Apple's other devices, and VR is its own landscape. And there are signs the community wants this, with at least one fully-funded Kickstarter project to develop Meta Quest 3-style controllers, called the Surreal Touch, for the Vision Pro. Maybe the Vision Pro will get some great VR games - whether anyone will be around to buy them is another question entirely.

Image: David Pierce / The Verge Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 63, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, it's a lot of stuff to watch this week, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)This week, I've been reading about clog crime and bright headlights and Robert Pattinson, starting my 564th rewatch of Community, testing Sill as part of my news reading flow, taking copious notes on Mrwhosetheboss' new office setup, watching a lot of videos about sports stadiums for some reason, trying out all of Esquire's best podcasts of 2024, and continuing to eat too much Swedish candy. For journalism, I swear.I also have for you a great new feature for a great to-do list app, a new Peloton app, a comic book series worth your time, a couple of good tech-culture documentaries I think you'll like, and lots more. We're definitely in new stuff to watch on cold evenings" season rather than new apps and gadgets" season, but I'm not mad at it. It is cold out there.(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you into right now? What should everyone else be playing / reading / watching / eating / building / doing... Read the full story at The Verge.

Image: NZXT Gamers Nexus has released a video deconstructing NZXT's defense of its Flex gaming PC purchase and rental program. In it, host Steve Burke says the company is still misleading customers, despite adjustments made in response to his previous video in which he called the program a scam."NZXT said in its response this week that it would clarify details about its Flex program, which Gamers Nexus had criticized for having specs that would change sometimes day-to-day." The company has appeared to update specs and performance numbers for its purchase builds. But Gamers Nexus reports it still spotted issues like inconsistent FPS numbers and a FAQ that implied NZXT's for-sale Player: Three Prime build uses an RTX 4090 graphics card, despite its specs saying otherwise.The FAQ entry Burke mentions seems to be gone now, but as of this writing, there's still an entry titled What GPU is right for me?" that lists the RTX 4090 and its benefits. Such inconsistencies are a problem for potential customers, Burke says.

Image: The Verge X has given Grok a new AI image generator model called Aurora" that seems to create far more photorealistic imagery than Grok's other image generator, with similarly few apparent restrictions on what it will produce, TechCrunch reports. Like Grok, anyone can use Aurora. It lives in a new Grok 2 + Aurora beta" option in the Grok model selector, though you'll only get a few queries before you hit the X Premium subscription paywall and have to wait.TechCrunch found that the model, which X employee Chris Park posted is available this morning, was willing to create copyrighted characters and public figures, including Mickey Mouse and a bloodied Donald Trump," but that it stopped short of nudes." Its lack of restrictions isn't surprising, given our experience with Grok's other model.In another example highlighted by TechCrunch, an X user showed off AI-generated images of Ray Romano and Adam Sandler in the X post below - both realistic, but with some very obvious weirdness when it comes to human anatomy and continuity.

Image: Apple We already knew that the tensions and scares were going to ramp up in season 2 of Severance, and the latest trailer provides a deeper glimpse into what to expect - along with teasing answers to some important (and weird) questions.The show follows a megacorporation called Lumon Industries, which utilizes a new procedure called severance that allows workers to spatially split their brains, creating two selves: one who works for Lumon, and another who lives life on the outside. The new clip shows the return of four Lumon employees - Mark (Adam Scott), Dylan (Zach Cherry), Helly (Britt Lower), and Irving (John Turturro) - who are back in the office after managing to bridge those two different worlds. However, it's unclear if they're actually in trouble for their actions; instead, they've turned into celebrities of sorts.That doesn't mean that the vibes are any less unsettling, though, with the always-intense supervisor Milchick (Tramell Tillman) saying things like, I'm tightening the leash." More than anything, the new trailer promises answers to some of Severance's strangest questions. There's the mystery of what actually goes down in Lumon's basement, which we're told will be remembered as one of the greatest moments on this planet" as well as just what the hell is going on with all of the goats. The trailer also introduces an unexpected new question: how could a child be an office manager?Clearly, there's a lot going on in season 2, and it's not too far off now. The new season of Severance starts streaming on January 17th. In the meantime, here are some excellent new posters. Image: Apple

Image: Hugo Herrera / The Verge The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced on Friday it had placed Google Payment Corp. under federal supervision, reports Reuters. Google reportedly filed a lawsuit to block the CFPB's order, which could result in routine inspections and monitoring like those imposed on banks.The agency found that Google's error resolution and fraud prevention processes pose risks to consumers, citing consumer complaints about Google Pay Balance and Google's peer-to-peer payments. Those complaints, which Google's lawsuit claims are unsubstantiated," according to The Washington Post, include that the company didn't seem to fully investigate fraudulent charges and didn't adequately explain" the results of those investigations.The CFPB says its finding that Google should be supervised doesn't mean the company is guilty of wrongdoing." It also notes in its order that Google Pay and the P2P platform were discontinued earlier this year.Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda provided a statement to The Verge:

Image: Epic Games Epic Games is about to let Fortnite creators publish experiences with first-person modes, and to help show what's possible, Epic itself is introducing a tactical FPS shooter that seems like it will play a lot like Counter-Strike or Valorant.The new mode, called Ballistic," is an adrenaline-filled, round-based 5v5 competitive game mode where strategy, tactical teamwork, and individual prowess are essential for victory," according to an Epic blog post. Players will be split into two teams, with one that has to plant the bomb - sorry, I mean the Rift Point Device" - and another that has to defend against that. Between rounds, you'll be able to buy gear for the next one. Teams will switch sides after six rounds, and the first to win seven rounds will be crowned the victor.This isn't the first time Epic has cribbed a game idea for Fortnite: its racing and festival modes both borrow a lot from Psyonix's Rocket League and Harmonix's Rock Band (Epic owns both studios), the Lego survival mode has a lot of similarities to Minecraft, and Epic even admitted that the (now-gone) Impostors mode was inspired by Among Us. Heck, the game's main battle royale mode was actually a spinoff that followed the success of PUBG.But now that Epic is trying to make Fortnite into something more akin to Roblox (another inspiration!), where players are encouraged to sample lots of experiences instead of just one, modes like Ballistic and Reload let Epic experiment with different ideas without changing the core battle royale experience. And since your purchased Fortnite outfits and gear generally work across all of the modes, there's a financial incentive for Epic to add more experiences, too.Ballistic launches in early access on December 11th. Fortnite creators will be able to publish their own experiences with first-person modes that same day.Ballistic is arriving during an already busy time for Fortnite. The game's Japanese-themed season kicked off at the beginning of the week, and on Friday, Epic launched the permanent version of its throwback OG mode.

Image: The Verge There's plenty to consider when it comes to deciding whether you want to engage with the many generative AI bots now available inside our apps. These include the ethics of copyright use, soaring energy demands, and the diminishing of human creativity, to begin with.Something else to bear in mind when engaging with these tools is they're often going to use your flesh-and-blood human inputs to further train their underlying models. While some AI companies make efforts to anonymize this data, it's something you may not feel comfortable with. The good news is, in most cases, you can find a setting to turn the training off.Disabling AI training isn't quite the same as wiping your AI chatbot history, though they are linked. Your chats can still be used for training purposes before they're wiped, and you may well want to keep your chat history in place - but at the same time stop AI companies from using your data for model refinement.Here are instructions on how to turn off AI training on several AI or AI-supporting apps.ChatGPT Screenshot: ChatGPT On ChatGPT, you can refuse to improve the model for everyone." On the webClick your profile picture (top... Read the full story at The Verge.

People shelter under umbrellas from the wind and rain as they cross a road near Shinjuku train station on October 12, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan ahead of Typhoon Hagibis' expected landfal later in the evening. | Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images GenCast, a new AI model from Google DeepMind, is accurate enough to compete with traditional weather forecasting. It managed to outperform a leading forecast model when tested on data from 2019, according to recently published research.AI isn't going to replace traditional forecasting anytime soon, but it could add to the arsenal of tools used to predict the weather and warn the public about severe storms. GenCast is one of several AI weather forecasting models being developed that might lead to more accurate forecasts.GenCast is one of several AI weather forecasting models that might lead to more accurate forecastsWeather basically touches every aspect of our lives ... it's also one of the big scientific challenges, predicting the weather," says Ilan Price, a senior research scientist at DeepMind. Google DeepMind has a mission to advance AI for the benefit of humanity. And I think this is one important way, one important contribution on that front."Price and his colleagues tested GenCast against the ENS system, one of the world's top-tier models for forecasting that's run by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). GenCast outperformed ENS 97.2... Read the full story at The Verge.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge If I told you that Valve could make a play to dethrone the Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox in your living room this next year while simultaneously challenging the Meta Quest as the gamer's VR headset of choice, would you believe me? Because Valve may have a lot of SteamOS hardware on the way.If there's fire where we currently see smoke, Valve is currently preparing a wireless VR headset codename Deckard, a pair of trackable wands codename Roy, a Steam Controller 2 gamepad codename Ibex, and a codename Fremont living room console too. (That last one now looks likelier than it did yesterday.) And Valve has also now seemingly revealed plans for partners to create third-party SteamOS hardware too.It won't be easy to take on Sony, Microsoft, or Meta. Those companies have a lot to lose, and they're deeply entrenched. But the Steam Deck has revealed a massive weakness in each of their businesses that may take them years to correct - the desire to play a huge library of games anytime, anywhere.And while they figure that out, Valve may be building an entire new ecosystem of SteamOS hardware, one that could finally let PC and peripheral makers tap into the huge and growing... Read the full story at The Verge.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Microsoft's first Copilot AI-ready Surface laptop arrived earlier this year, and now Windows Central reports that the rest of the lineup is due for a refresh in 2025.According to the report, we can expect new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop computers - and we've already seen a possible prototype pop up in October - with Intel Lunar Lake chips, that will be Copilot Plus PCs with AI features, just like the current Snapdragon versions.That would make them the first Intel-powered Surfaces with the label after Microsoft didn't extend the label and those features to the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6. Those machines had Intel Metor Lake chips with NPUs that didn't meet the necessary mark. The new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop are also expected to get anti-reflective screen coating, and the Laptop version might get a card reader and 5G options.It also says the Surface Laptop Studio is due for an upgrade from the current model's 13th-gen Intel chips that could use Intel or AMD. Whatever the case, I hope it will have better battery life than we saw in our review of the current model. Meanwhile, Microsoft confirmed to Windows Central that the Surface Studio 2 Plus all-in-one is g... Read the full story at The Verge.

T-Mobile would just love to sign you up on one of its new plans. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge T-Mobile is once again shuffling its 5G internet options, adding a streaming bundle to its priciest plan and introducing a new mid-tier option. The new plans start at $50 per month (including an autopay discount) and become available starting December 11th.Importantly, it seems that prices are staying consistent with T-Mobile's previous 5G Home Internet options - if you're new to T-Mobile. Discounts for existing customers with a T-Mobile voice line aren't quite as generous with the new plans.The new T-Mobile Rely Internet plan costs $50 per month for new customers, which is what T-Mobile charges now for its Home Internet Unlimited plan. Current T-Mobile customers will pay $35 per month, which is $5 more than the $30 a month promo the company is offering now. Unlike the pricier plans, Rely includes a previous-gen 5G router.The next step up is a new T-Mobile Amplified Internet plan that costs new customers $60 a month with autopay or $45 with a T-Mobile voice line. It comes with T-Mobile's newest 5G gateway; the small business version of the plan includes a mesh access point, too. Image: T-Mobile I love a comparison chart. The new top tier plan, All-In, includes the latest router and a streaming bundle with ad-supported Hulu and Paramount Plus Essential. It's still $70 per month to new T-Mobile customers, but current customers will pay $55 per month - again, not quite as good as the $50 per month promotional price on the outgoing Internet Plus plan.T-Mobile spokesperson Katie Brinton tells The Verge There are no changes for existing customers" on the outgoing plans. The Home Internet Backup plan is also sticking around for anyone who just wants an option when their primary Wi-Fi goes down.Wireless carriers in the US are leaning into fixed wireless internet as a way to make the most of the 5G spectrum these companies have acquired at great cost. T-Mobile has been at the front of the pack with 6 million wireless internet customers, according to its October 2024 earnings release. But its net internet customer additions were down year-over-year, something T-Mobile's earnings factbook attributes partially to Increased deactivations from a growing customer base." A fresh batch of internet offers with extra streaming services included look like they're a key part of T-Mobile's strategy to keep pushing forward in the category.

Illustration: The Verge Google is now rolling out the ability to make a digital ID from your passport that you can store in Google Wallet and use at select TSA checkpoints - but only as a generic form of ID. It does not serve as a passport itself, Google spokesperson Liz Schulten tells The Verge: The digital ID can't be used at immigration and border control."Here's how to make the ID, per Google's September blog post where it initially announced the feature:

Illustration: The Verge There've already been renders of Google's yet-to-be-announced Pixel 9A and one real-world sneak peek. Now we're getting yet another look at an early prototype of Google's next mid-range phone. X user fenibook has posted two shots of the phone, and it's got the company's usual markings that designate this as a still-under-development device.These latest images offer yet more proof that Google plans to ditch the camera bar - a visual hallmark of recent Pixels - on the 9A in favor of making the camera flush with the back of the phone. That's a bit surprising to see, but Google's Claude Zellweger told us back in August that designers were likely to reevaluate the ratio of camera hardware to phone hardware thanks to advancements in computational photography.

The Anbernic RG34XX looks inspired by Nintendo's GBA but with a larger screen and more buttons. | Screenshot: YouTube Anbernic announced its next retro handheld today and it's easy to see where the design of the RG34XX draws its inspiration. It appears to be a faithful clone of Nintendo's original Game Boy Advance, although updated with additional action and shoulder buttons allowing games from more recent systems to be played. Pricing and availability hasn't been revealed yet, but the RG34XX will come in transparent red and green colors, as well as the GBA's purple and black.One feature Anbernic didn't carry forward is the Game Boy Advance's LCD screen which lacked a backlight and was notoriously difficult to see unless you were playing outside on a sunny day or cozied up next to a bright lamp. The RG34XX will instead feature a larger 3.4-inch display with a 720x480 resolution. The display will also use the same 3:2 aspect ratio as the Game Boy Advance, so GBA titles should look great, and older games developed for 4:3 TV screens will fit without extensive stretching or pillarboxing. Image: Keep Retro The RG34XX will be available in purple or black colors, and transparent red or green. As with previous Anbernic handhelds, the RG34XX doesn't have a cartridge slot like the Analogue Pocket or the ModRetro Chromatic. It's instead designed to play games through software emulation. Details on the RG34XX's processor aren't known yet, but Retro Handhelds speculates it will be based on the Allwinner H700 chipset the company has used in its other XX series handhelds. If that's the case, you can expect it to play games from older consoles up to the original Sony PlayStation, and even some N64 and Sega Dreamcast titles. Image: Keep Retro The RG34XX will include two sets of shoulder buttons, a mini HDMI port, USB-C for charging, and dual microSD slots. The RG34XX will include Wi-Fi connectivity facilitating online play as well as streaming PC titles through Moonlight, and Bluetooth for connecting multiple wireless controllers for shared screen multiplayer. If that 3.4-inch screen still seems too small, the RG34XX also includes a mini HDMI port for connecting it to a TV, alongside a USB-C port for charging, and a pair of microSD card slots for storing ROMs and its operating system.This isn't the first time that Anbernic has copied Nintendo's homework. Earlier this year the company released its RG35XXSP with a design inspired by the clamshell Game Boy Advance SP but with an improved screen, a more capable processor, and a concerning number of pre-installed pirated ROMs.

The new modem is rumored to appear in next year's iPhone SE. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Apple's betting that its upcoming in-house 5G modem could help it beat Qualcomm's performance eventually, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple has worked on developing its own modem for years, but the initiative reportedly experienced technical issues and other setbacks despite purchasing Intel's modem unit in 2019.The first Apple modem is rumored to come to the iPhone SE before appearing in the rumored iPhone Slim" and entry-level iPads. Down the line, Apple is reportedly planning to roll out a second-generation modem with mmWave in 2026, putting it in the iPhone 18 line and higher-end iPads. In 2027, Bloomberg reports that Apple hopes to top Qualcomm" with its Prometheus" modem, which could support AI features and next-generation satellite networks."However, its first chip may fall short of Qualcomm's in terms of the absolute highest possible speed for a couple of reasons: lacking support for the mmWave technology available in some cities from carriers like Verizon and supporting four-carrier aggregation instead of six.Those features boost the maximum bandwidth available to multiple gigabits per second, but speeds are typically much slower in the real world, and the current iPhone SE also lacks mmWave support. The new modem will, however, support dual SIM standby, allowing people to have two active SIM cards at the same time.