The Verge

The ROG Phone 8 Pro and Pro Edition have small displays on their backs. | Image: Asus Asus' ROG phones have always been targeted squarely at gamers, but with the ROG Phone 8, the company could broaden the lineup's appeal. The ROG Phone 8, ROG Phone 8 Pro, and ROG Phone 8 Pro Edition are thinner (8.9mm versus 10.49mm for the ROG Phone 7), lighter (225g compared to 239g), have better dust and water resistance (IP68 versus IP54), and also now include wireless charging at up to 15W - desirable features regardless of whether you're a smartphone gamer.The ROG Phone 8 lineup consists of the standard ROG Phone 8, the ROG Phone 8 Pro, and the ROG Phone 8 Pro Edition, which each differ slightly in design and specs. The $1,099.99 (1,099.99 / 949.99) ROG Phone 8 has an RGB logo on its back and comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of... Continue reading...

Once you plug this Android 13 tablet in, it goes full Windows 11 laptop. We've come close to figuring out the ideal 2-in-1 laptop, but no company has nailed it yet. Lenovo's latest attempt, the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid, recognizes that Android has a better touch interface than Windows and that Windows has a better laptop interface than Android - and it combines the two to try to get the best of both worlds.When you're in laptop mode, the ThinkBook Plus Hybrid functions like a normal Windows laptop. But when you pull the display off the laptop, it turns into an Android tablet. The bottom half of the device - the Windows half - has an Intel Core Ultra 7 Processor, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a 75WHr battery. The top half has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor, 12GB of RAM, 256GB of flash storage,... Continue reading...

The button layout of the Claw doesn't deviate too much from other gaming handhelds. | Image: MSI MSI is the latest PC manufacturer to attempt to take on Valve's Steam Deck with the Claw, a new Windows-based gaming handheld it's announcing at CES. The Claw is powered by Intel's new Meteor Lake Core Ultra processor announced last month and can be specced with up to" an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, according to MSI's press release. At CES 2024, MSI tells us it plans to ship three models ranging from $699 to $799 when it arrives in the first half of the year - with the base tier shipping with an Core Ultra 5 and 512GB of storage.We'll have a full hands-on from CES soon: we literally just got hands-on the handheld and are writing up impressions now.Although Valve didn't invent the handheld gaming PC form factor, its release of the Steam... Continue reading...

Razer's press materials included this image, ostensibly of a LAN party, where everyone has brought enormous plug-in RGB desk mats along with their laptops. I love it and want to go to there. | Image: Razer You truly have to hand it to Razer for stretching a series of modest spec bumps across two separate announcements and two separate weeks. Razer was so excited about the new display options on the Blade 16 and Blade 18 that it announced them on the 4th, and today, we have a few more details about what's coming to both laptops this year, mostly of the spec sheet number go up" variety. There's also a USB-C dock. Here we go.The Blade 16 goes OLED and gets a minor CPU bumpThe biggest news for the Blade 16 is the previously revealed 2560 x 1600 240Hz OLED panel. Razer spokesperson Will Powers told The Verge via email that the Blade 16 will also be available with the dual-mode mini-LED display we tested in 2023, which can run at either... Continue reading...

Photo by Ashish Vaishnav / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images Hyundai is going all in on the most abundant element in the universe in the quest to reduce planet-heating emissions. The South Korean automaker announced that hydrogen will play a prominent role" in the company's efforts to go carbon neutral by 2050.Clean hydrogen should be for everyone, powering everything, and available everywhere," Jay Chang, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company, said in a statement.As the auto industry shifts to electric vehicles, a small but growing cohort of companies is also embracing hydrogen fuel cell technology as part of their plans to eliminate tailpipe emissions. Honda, Toyota, GM, and Hyundai have all detailed plans to manufacture fuel cell vehicles, both for individual and commercial uses.H... Continue reading...

Image: OpenAI OpenAI has publicly responded to a copyright lawsuit by The New York Times, calling the case without merit" and saying it still hoped for a partnership with the media outlet.In a blog post, OpenAI said the Times is not telling the full story." It took particular issue with claims that its ChatGPT AI tool reproduced Times stories verbatim, arguing that the Times had manipulated prompts to include regurgitated excerpts of articles. Even when using such prompts, our models don't typically behave the way The New York Times insinuates, which suggests they either instructed the model to regurgitate or cherry-picked their examples from many attempts," OpenAI said.OpenAI claims it's attempted to reduce regurgitation from its large language... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube is updating its cyberbullying and harassment policies and will no longer allow content that realistically simulates" minors and other victims of crimes narrating their deaths or the violence they experienced.The update appears to take aim at a genre of content in true crime circles that creates disturbing AI-powered depictions of victims - including children - that then describe the violence against them. Some of the videos use AI-generated, childlike voices to describe gruesome violence that occurred in high-profile cases. Families of victims depicted in the videos have called the content disgusting."YouTube's policy update will result in a strike that removes the content from a channel and also temporarily limits what a... Continue reading...

Apple's Vision Pro will officially launch in the US on February 2nd, and starting that same day, you'll be able sign up to try the headset out for yourself at the company's retail stores, Apple said in an email today.Starting at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, February 2, we invite you to sign up for a demo of Apple Vision Pro at your local Apple Store," Apple said in the email. Demo times will be available Friday through the weekend on a first-come, first-served basis. We can't wait to see you there."That language kind of makes it sound like Apple will only be offering demos through that first weekend of launch. Personally, I doubt that will be the case - I'm guessing Apple will want to give lots of people opportunities to try the Vision Pro... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple is appealing a European Union decision that would see its App Store hit with tough new obligations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Reuters reports that its plea argues against the European Commission's designations of its App Store and the iMessage service.According to Reuters, Apple argues that the Commission's treatment of the App Stores on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Watch as a single store is based on material factual errors," as they all distribute apps for a specific platform and type of device.As well as the App Store, the European Commission is also investigating whether iMessage should also be designated as a core platform service under the DMA, which could result in Apple being forced to make its... Continue reading...

An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 in Seattle on January 6, 2024. | Photo by Stephen Brashear / Getty Images The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Saturday ordered the temporary grounding" of 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 airplanes after a section of fuselage separated from the side of an Alaska Airlines flight on Friday, leaving a gaping hole in the plane. The agency issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive to airlines requiring that they inspect the planes, which it said in the grounding announcement will take around four to eight hours per aircraft."The New York Times reported Friday that flight 1282 from Portland International Airport had made an emergency landing back at the same airport just 20 minutes later because of a pressurization issue" that resulted in a wall of the plane blowing out. According to the Times, no one was in the... Continue reading...

Aqara's new Hub M3 will let you add third-party devices to the Aqara app for the first time thanks to its role as a Matter controller and Thread border router. | Image: Aqara Smart home company Aqara is finally launching its long-promised Hub M3, and it looks like it will be worth the wait. First teased in 2022, the Hub M3 is a Zigbee 3.0 hub for Aqara's wide range of Zibgee devices, but it will also act as a Thread border router and a Matter controller for Aqara's ecosystem. This means you should be able to connect any Matter-compatible device to the M3, from Philips Hue lights and Eve smart shades to Google's Nest Thermostat, and control and automate them all from Aqara's powerful app.Aqara is poised to become a complete smart home platform like Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, or Google HomeThis move turns Aqara's app into a serious option for managing your entire smart home; previously, it was limited to just... Continue reading...

Image: Philips Philips created a new smart lock that doesn't require a key or a code - all you need is your hand. The company showed off its new $359.99 Wi-Fi Palm Recognition Smart Deadbolt during CES 2024, which comes with a built-in palm scanner that unlocks your door when it detects your unique palm print.Philips says its lock can register up to 50 palm vein patterns and identify hands belonging to people of all ages - even if they're dirty. The palm-scanning tech seems a bit more convenient than having to type in a PIN or fumble for a house key, although these two methods are still available to use with this smart lock if you need them. You can also unlock the device using the Philips Home Access mobile app.While we've already seen tech giants... Continue reading...

Image: Bosch Automated parking isn't anything new. Every year, we get a new concept that purports to put valets out of jobs by using driverless technology to transport and store your car without human intervention.But Cariad, the software company owned by Volkswagen, and supplier Bosch are hoping to reinvigorate the idea by adding automated electric vehicle charging to the mix.The two German companies envision a system that guides electric vehicles driverlessly to an unoccupied parking space furnished with a charge spot, where a charging robot recharges them automatically." Once charging is complete, the car would autonomously move itself to another unoccupied space, freeing up the charging robot to accept another EV.Bosch and Cariad are now... Continue reading...

The Lockly Visage can unlock your door with a look. | Image: Lockly CES is where we get to see all those cool tech gadgets you see in movies become a reality, and with Lockly's latest smart lock, facial recognition is finally coming to our front doors. Yes, now you can unlock your front door like Tom Cruise.The smart lock company is showing off its newest product at CES 2024 this week. The $349 Lockly Visage smart lock with facial recognition can replace your standard deadbolt and turn your doorway into a high-tech haven. Just approach, and the door will unlock. The smart lock also works with Apple's Home Key and a fingerprint reader for other high-tech home entry options. Image: Lockly The Lockly Visage has a fingerprint reader, digital keypad, keyed lock, and facial... Continue reading...

Image: Ecovacs Ecovacs is launching a new all-in-one Deebot X2 Combo cleaning station that combines its signature square-shaped robovac with a handheld vacuum to touch up spots it can't reach. Both vacuums attach to a single auto-empty station, so you won't have to empty out either device yourself.First announced last year, the included Deebot X2 Omni robovac offers a powerful 8,000Pa of suction and 15mm mop lifting. It also comes with dual-laser lidar technology and AI obstacle avoidance that allows it to create a new path when it encounters an object in its way. Meanwhile, the X2's station automatically empties the dust and dirt collected by the bot. It's also capable of draining and drying the robovac's built-in mop and refilling its water tank.B... Continue reading...

This year's Golden Globes didn't feature all that many surprising upsets, and host Jo Koy lost the audience on more than one occasion, but the awards ceremony was marked by a number of heartfelt acceptance speeches and memorable moments that made it feel like Hollywood's ready to get back to work.Setting aside the messiness of Koy throwing the Golden Globes writers under the bus as his terrible jokes bombed, the evening was sprinkled with a handful of genuinely funny moments as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association handed out its latest batch of golden statues. Though director Greta Gerwig's Barbie appeared to be the odds-on favorite in multiple categories with its 10 nominations, the film ultimately only came away with two wins: Best... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge The Supreme Court has declined a long-running legal challenge from X Corp., formerly Twitter, over whether it can publicly reveal US government demands for user data. X Corp. v. Garland was on a list of denied petitions released this morning. That leaves X with a March 2023 ruling that the First Amendment doesn't protect Twitter from limits on reporting national security demands - a ruling civil liberties organizations say sets a disappointingly low bar for censorship.Twitter filed its original suit in 2014, the year after whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed details of extensive secret US telecoms surveillance. In the wake of those disclosures, social networks won the option to report how many demands agencies like the Federal Bureau... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Volkswagen is jumping on the generative AI bandwagon by announcing plans to install OpenAI's ChatGPT into its vehicles starting in the second quarter of 2024.The chatbot will be available across VW's lineup, including in Tiguan, Passat, and Golf as well as the automaker's ID family of electric vehicles. The feature will come to Europe first, and is being considered for customers in the US, though plans have yet to be finalized.VW is using ChatGPT to augment its IDA in-car voice assistant to enable more naturalistic communication between car and driver. Vehicle owners can use the new super-powered voice assistant to control basic functions, like heating and air conditioning, or to answer general knowledge questions." (Though, given... Continue reading...

After back-to-back years of bringing unique, compelling concepts to the floor of the Consumer Electronics Show, BMW is turning inward in 2024 and focusing on the interior of the vehicle - namely, the types of technology and media content the automaker thinks its customers will want to interact with as they drive their high-priced, high-powered vehicles into the future.In a statement, Frank Weber, chief technology officer and member of the board of management responsible for BMW Group development, said that the company was showing more content, more customization, and more gaming." And coming soon, the company's operating system will feature perfectly aligned" augmented reality and strong, reliable" AI to enable better communication... Continue reading...

Robots are growing appendages... The Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra is the first robovac with an arm. It's also one of the first to support Matter. | Image: Roborock While we wait impatiently for robot vacuums to grow legs to tackle our stairs, Roborock has added an arm to its newest flagship model. Launching at CES 2024 in Las Vegas this week, the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra has an (admittedly very small) arm that pushes the robot's side brush out further to get into corners. Okay, so it's not going to be picking up your slippers and bringing them to you, but hey, it's an arm! On a robot! In your house!The $1,800 (gulp) S8 MaxV also includes a new voice assistant for controlling the vacuum without another smart device, 10,000 Pa of suction power, support for Matter, and a new camera - enabling AI-powered obstacle avoidance and video calling.The robot's mopping system is getting an upgrade, too,... Continue reading...

Apple's Vision Pro headset. | Image: Apple When the Apple Vision Pro headset goes on sale on February 2nd, anyone who needs some vision-correcting lenses will need to account for an extra charge to add optical inserts from Zeiss. Apple says that readers will cost $99, while prescription lenses are $149. Footnotes from Apple indicate that both are available only online, not in stores, a valid prescription is required," and not all prescriptions are supported.

Clear 2 has a huge set of styles, icons, and even in-app sounds you can choose from. | Image: Clear Clear was one of the most interesting, innovative, and beautiful to-do list apps around. It used clever swipes and gestures instead of buttons and settings, and it had a colorful panache that you just don't find in a typical productivity tool. Clear was popular, it was cool, it worked well, and it seemed to have a bright future.That was a decade ago. Back then, co-creator Phill Ryu says, the team stopped working on Clear because it felt... finished, or at least close enough. It's so minimalist and simple and charming," Ryu says now, it's not an app where you want to keep adding onto it over the years." Now, in hindsight, he allows that there was another factor as well. I think we were all a little burned out." After years of building... Continue reading...

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge It's finally time: Apple has announced it will start shipping its Vision Pro headset on February 2nd in the United States. Pre-orders begin January 19th at 8AM ET.In addition to announcing the availability of its $3,499 headset, Apple also revealed the pricing for the Zeiss prescription lenses that users can get with it. Readers will be available for an extra $99, while prescription lenses will cost $149. The base model of the Vision Pro offers 256GB of storage and is packaged with the following accessories:

The Home Depot's Hubspace smart home platform is growing. | Image: The Home Depot An old-school hardware store has been quietly building out one of the most complete lines of smart home products on the market. At CES this week, it's adding a smart thermostat, smart hose timer, smart bathroom fan, smart freezer, and smart security system to its more than 150 connected products. You probably know the brand (and maybe even shopped there before): The Home Depot.In late 2021, the US retail giant launched the Hubspace app, designed to control smart devices from its store brands in one app and with compatibility across Amazon Alexa and Google Home. Learning from competitors' missteps in the space (cough, Lowe's, Staples), The Home Depot opted not to go the hub route nor focus on just one brand (a la Best Buy and its smart... Continue reading...

The TP-Link Archer BE800 is a not-yet-certified Wi-Fi 7 router. | Image: TP-Link The Wi-Fi Alliance is now officially certifying devices that support Wi-Fi 7, the next generation of wireless home internet. With certification, Wi-Fi 7 devices are guaranteed to interoperate, and in 2024, we will see new tech products like phones, laptops, and routers endowed with the standard, which could represent huge speed and efficiency gains compared to even Wi-Fi 6E.The alliance says in its announcement that Wi-Fi 7 will be better than existing standards for things like high-bandwidth streaming and low-latency wireless gaming, and that's crucial as virtual reality gains popularity and people continue commuting to their kitchen tables or home offices to commune with co-workers over Zoom. Kevin Robinson, CEO of the Wi-Fi Alliance,... Continue reading...

Richard Parry for The Verge Description of this list

The successful launch marks the maiden flight for the ULA's new Vulcan Centaur rocket. | Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images The United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully launched its new Vulcan Centaur rocket from Cape Canaveral on Monday at 2:18AM ET, carrying a US-made moon lander with NASA science and research payloads onboard. The Peregrine lander is built by Pittsburgh-based private space tech startup Astrobotic and marks a US return to the moon for the first time in over 50 years.The uncrewed Peregrine Mission One launch is the first of a series of missions to fly under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) scheme, an initiative that enables the agency to pay private companies to carry its scientific equipment into space. Astrobotic was paid $108 million - just a fraction of the $25.8 billion that NASA spent on the trailblazing Apollo program... Continue reading...

The HRM-Fit clips onto the bottom of your sports bra. | Image: Garmin While Garmin is known for its big, bulky fitness watches, it's taking a different tack for CES 2024. The theme of this year's announcements is prioritizing comfort and wearability with a chest strap that finally works with sports bras, and the Lily 2, a revamp of its smallest smartwatch.The $149.99 HRM-Fit addresses a real problem with chest straps. If you need to wear a sports bra, regular chest straps can be uncomfortably tight since you have to slot the entire thing under your sports bra band, especially if you need more support. And while everyone's body is different, underboob sweat is a menace that can make removing standard chest straps unpleasant.Instead, the HRM-Fit has a clip-on design that snaps onto the bottom band and is... Continue reading...

The Signature OLED T is a 77-inch TV with a very unique gimmick. But it's hard to imagine the pricey novelty wouldn't wear off over time. Continue reading...