The Verge

Valve's Steam Deck has dominated the handheld gaming PC space since its 2022 debut. But even as more powerful Windows handhelds arrived to keep up with more demanding games, none have beaten the Steam Deck's combination of ease-of-use, ergonomics, power, and battery life at an affordable price. That still hasn't changed. The Lenovo Legion Go [...]

Earlier this week, Elon Musk posted an image of Tesla's robotaxi service area in Austin, Texas, that was in the shape of a penis. Hilarious, I know, but more importantly: it appeared that Tesla's map was slightly larger than Waymo's service area, which covers just 37 square miles in Austin. Today, Waymo announced its own [...]

Wacom has announced the MovinkPad 11, an all-in-one Android-powered tablet for digital illustrators who want to draw on the go. Unlike other display drawing tablets in Wacom's lineup, the $449 MovinkPad doesn't need to be connected to a laptop or PC, placing it in direct competition with the Apple Pencil and iPad combo that's proved [...]

Ever since the New York Times acquired Wordle and went all-in on games, there's been something of a slow-brewing arms race in the space. The Times continues to release new games, and it's now up against intriguing competitors like Puzzmo, Netflix, The Atlantic, and even LinkedIn, while established games like Words With Friends have adjusted [...]

Hello, and welcome to Decoder! I'm Alex Heath, deputy editor at The Verge and author of the Command Line newsletter. I'm hosting our Thursday episodes while Nilay is out on parental leave. Today, we're talking about how AI is changing the way we use the web. If you're like me, you're probably already using apps [...]

Shadow Labyrinth didn't make the best first impression, though I'm not talking about the game itself. The concept of a gritty reboot of Pac-Man first reared its strange head in Secret Level, an anthology that turned notable video games into animated shorts that mostly felt like extended commercials. And that's exactly what the episode "Circle," [...]

Sony's new RX1R III camera looks awesome. Hardcore photo enthusiasts have wanted an updated version of its full-frame compact camera, the RX1, for nearly a decade. I'm not surprised it costs a whopping $5,100 (cameras and lenses have been trending more expensive), but what I do find surprising, and quite egregious, is that the RX1R [...]

A24 is known for its prestige arthouse films, but in its early days as a distributor, it made most of its money from elevated horror films like Ari Aster's Hereditary and Midsommar. Over a decade in, the ambitions of A24 and Aster have expanded beyond genre film. But for both, the more recent results have [...]

Adobe is launching new generative AI filmmaking tools that provide fun ways to create sound effects and control generated video outputs. Alongside the familiar text prompts that typically allow you to describe what Adobe's Firefly AI models should make or edit, users can now use onomatopoeia-like voice recordings to generate custom sounds, and use reference [...]

Dyson is expanding the range of ear caps and cushions it offers for its customizable OnTrac headphones, with two new colors launching today for each. That doesn't change the four default designs you're able to pick from when buying the $499.99 OnTracs, but it does give existing owners new options to mix up the design. [...]

Uber plans to make multi-hundred-million dollar investments" in both Nuro and Lucid as part of a massive new robotaxi deal that was just announced. The three companies are linking up to deploy 20,000 or more" robotaxis in the US over the next six years. The vehicles will be Lucid's new Gravity SUV, equipped with autonomous [...]

Slack is using AI to help business users quickly understand confusing company language and concentrate on their most important tasks. The communication platform announced that it will soon" be adding a feature that explains workplace jargon, and an AI writing assistant for Slack canvases that automates repetitive writing tasks like summarizing conversations and note-taking. The [...]

Roblox is introducing a way to let trusted friends chat more freely among themselves, but it will require that they use a new age estimation tool to verify that they're over 13. The platform is renaming Friends to Connections, and people can only use unfiltered text chat and the Party social feature with a more [...]

TikTok will now let songwriters highlight tracks they've written or co-written directly on their profiles. The list of songs will live within the Music" tab on their profile, similar to the one TikTok already offers for artists on the platform. Users who register as songwriters will also get a Songwriter" label beneath their account name. [...]

The battle between Subnautica 2 publisher Krafton and the three former executives at its developer Unknown Worlds continues. Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire - the three executives who Krafton terminated earlier this year - have filed a lawsuit detailing the alleged attempts by Krafton to torpedo the early access release of Subnautica 2 [...]

Google is raising the price of its Nest Aware and Nest Aware Plus subscriptions starting in August 2025. According to emails sent out to subscribers today, the cost of the entry-level Nest Aware service is increasing from $8 per month or $80 per year to $10 per month or $100 when paying for a full [...]

Days after introducing an AI waifu' companion for Grok, Elon Musk is now officially teasing a male version for the ladies. So far we can tell it is broody and dark-haired, and according to Musk, his personality is inspired by Edward Cullen from Twilight and Christian Grey from 50 Shades." This is a decidedly different [...]

I like to drive without the distractions of my work life interrupting me, but if you're eager to stay connected then Mercedes-Benz is ready. You'll soon be able to join a Microsoft Teams call in some MercedesBenz vehicles and use the in-car camera to chat with colleagues while you're driving. MercedesBenz is the first car [...]

Nintendo just announced the two leads of its live-action Legend of Zelda film, and unlike the celebrity-packed Mario movie cast, Zelda will star two young, lesser-known actors: Bo Bragason as Zelda and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Link. You may not have heard of them, but there's a good chance they're going to be a part [...]

Earlier this week, xAI added what can only be described as an AI anime girlfriend named Ani to its Grok chatbot. Which is how I ended up on a virtual starry beach as an AI waifu avatar tried to give me a "spicy" kiss. You've probably seen screenshots, videos, and various writeups about Ani spread [...]

General Motors and Redwood Materials are joining forces yet again, this time with the intent to build energy storage units made out of new batteries and recycled EV packs. The two companies signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to build energy storage out of US-manufactured batteries, as well as second-life" EV packs from GM's vehicles. [...]

Scale AI, the AI industry's chief data dealer, will lay off 14 percent of its workforce, or about 200 employees, just one month after Meta took a multibillion-dollar stake in the company and hired its CEO and other staff. The layoffs include 500 of its global contractors, Scale spokesperson Joe Osborne told The Verge, adding [...]

It's almost back to school season, and we're starting to see some great laptop deals trickle in as a result. Walmart continues to sell the M1-powered MacBook Air for $599, but if you want more power and a sleeker design, the 13-inch M2-powered MacBook Air starts at just $699 ($100 off) from Best Buy. That's [...]

Cyberpunk 2077's Update 2.3, set to launch on Thursday for Mac, PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X / S, will add a bunch of new features focused around vehicles and proper VRR support on consoles. The new AutoDrive feature, available in all cars and motorcycles, lets you drive from place to place automatically. You [...]

Google officially has a date for its Pixel launch event: August 20th, 2025. In an invite sent on Wednesday, Google says the event will take place in New York City at 1PM ET, where the company will show off the latest on our Pixel phones, watches, buds, and more." During the event, Google is expected [...]

It's been less than three months since Insta360 released its X5 360-degree action camera, but the company is already introducing new accessories and a major firmware update. Improvements include a new AdaptiveTone feature delivering better color and detail in both bright and dark areas" when filming with both lenses, and a larger battery you can [...]

Google will now let everyone in the US call local businesses using AI. The feature, which is now available in Search, allows you to use AI for pricing or availability information without having to talk on the phone. Google first started testing this feature in January, and it's still only available for certain kinds of [...]

Tesla is continuing to tweak its best-selling EVs in China in the hopes that it can boost its sales amid rising competition from BYD and other domestic manufacturers. Tesla applied for a new sales license with China's Ministry of Information Technology for a longer range Model 3 Plus sedan. Likewise, it applied for a license [...]

It's been a long time coming, but we finally have a real look at the end of Stranger Things. Netflix just released the first teaser trailer for the show's fifth season, which will also be its last when it starts streaming later this year. As was alluded to in the finale of season 4, the [...]

OnePlus announced a new USB-C charging cable that does more than just pass power and data from one device to another. The OnePlus 2-in-1 Supervooc Cable features an inline pogo pin connector that can be used to charge the company's OnePlus Watch 3, Watch 2, and Watch 2R smartwatches while also charging a connected smartphone. [...]

In past Donkey Kong games, like Tropical Freeze or DKC Returns, I would often find myself stuck against a particularly challenging platforming sequence. And there wasn't much I could do. If I wanted to progress, I had to nail those jumps or avoid those spikes to move on. Donkey Kong Bananza, on the other hand, [...]

Razer is launching a new $350 external graphics enclosure that can boost the visual performance of gaming laptops or handhelds, provided you make a few other investments. The Razer Core X V2 is the first of Razer's Core X eGPU chassis lineup to support the faster Thunderbolt 5 connectivity standard, providing a single cable that [...]

Knox Morris stands onstage, stares out into the depths of the famed 9:30 Club in Washington, DC, and raises his arms to the heavens. The backing track to his song, a synth-heavy pop-punk number called "Going, Going, Gone," begins to play at an absolutely deafening volume. Morris grins through the first few staccato bars of [...]

Jay Peters is a news editor for The Verge, which means, he explains, I write and edit news about tech, gaming, and all of the many things The Verge covers. I also write a lot about indie video games. And I'm taking over David Pierce's Installer newsletter while he's on parental leave - please subscribe!" [...]

My first thought upon starting up Donkey Kong Bananza was, "Why yes, I actually would like to go ape shit." The game starts by having Donkey Kong smash through a wall to reveal a glittering gem waiting to be liberated from the rock. But instead of punching the bright yellow gem into bite-size pieces, I [...]

Though Nintendo's live-action Legend of Zelda movie won't be out until May 7th, 2027, we finally know who is going to be playing the titular princess and her faithful knight. This morning via its news app, Nintendo announced that Bo Bragason (Renegade Nell, The Radleys) and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth (The Haunting of Bly Manor, Pinocchio) [...]

Google is rolling out AI-generated summaries directly within Discover, its personalized news feed nestled within the Google Search app. TechCrunch reports that some users in the US are seeing Discover cards on iOS and Android that provide the new summaries in place of a headline and logo from a single publisher, similar to how AI [...]

Cyberpunk 2077 is launching on macOS tomorrow, and CD Projekt Red is now sharing details on exactly what Mac you'll need to get the most out of the game. While Cyberpunk 2077 has been optimized for a variety of Macs, from early M1 models up, if you want the top very high fidelity" config then [...]

Yesterday Ugreen was the first company to announce it had a Qi2.2 wireless charging power bank on the way, but it wasn't alone for long. The Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) has already certified eight Qi2.2 products, all from different manufacturers, including power banks, car mounts, and 3-in-1 stands. Qi2.2 is the latest version of the [...]

Microsoft is rolling out an update to Copilot Vision for Windows Insiders that lets the AI tool see everything that's on your screen. Previously, the tool was able to look at two apps at a time and connect the dots between the two, but with this change, it can look at your whole desktop or [...]

In Disney Plus' Ironheart series, a young genius with an uncanny knack for building armored suits finds herself plunged into a shady, criminal underworld that gives her a chance to really show off her talents. Riri Williams is not Tony Stark, and while the Iron Man films clearly informed many of Ironheart's fantastical visuals, there's [...]

President Donald Trump announced more than $90 billion in investments from private companies that they said are tied to AI, tech, and energy during the inaugural" Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit on Tuesday. Pennsylvania is a leading gas-producing state and an epicenter of the US fracking boom; some of the largest investments linked to the [...]

Xbox is bringing its stream your own game" feature to PC. On Tuesday, the company announced that Xbox Insiders with a Game Pass Ultimate subscription can try streaming the Xbox games they own, including some that are available on console only, directly from the Xbox PC app. Xbox started letting Game Pass Ultimate subscribers stream [...]

Adidas has released a new variant of its 3D-printed Climacool shoes with laces so you can adjust their fit and potentially tone down how tightly they hug your feet. Featuring a breathable lattice structure created through an additive printing process, the shoes have previously only been available as slip-ons in a single off-white colorway, but [...]

The Analogue 3D has been hit with another delay, but should still be launching this summer. In an update on its preorder website, Analogue explained that it's modern take on the Nintendo 64 is now shipping in late August 2025," after previously aiming for July. The company said in a separate statement that the decision [...]

After nearly a decade, Sony has announced a new version of its fixed-lens compact RX1R camera that was last updated in 2015. The new third generation RX1R III arrives with the same 35mm full-frame Exmor R sensor as its predecessor, but with a bump from 42.4 to 61 megapixels. It also benefits from Sony's latest [...]

Sameer Samat, Google's head of Android ecosystems, recently confirmed that Android and ChromeOS will be merged into a single platform, reigniting a slew of questions about the future of the operating systems. Combining them makes sense. It made sense way back in 2013, and it was first supposed to happen back in 2015, but until [...]

xAI has offered a couple more fixes for issues" with its Grok AI chatbot, promising it will no longer name itself Hitler" or base its responses on searches for what xAI head Elon Musk has said. According to an X post earlier today, the chatbot's latest update sets new instructions that its responses must stem [...]

Uber just announced a deal today with the company that runs one of the largest robotaxi fleets in China, as the ridehail giant nears its goal of becoming the world's ultimate autonomous vehicle clearinghouse. Uber and Baidu said they are teaming up to deploy robotaxis in countries outside the US and China, with an initial [...]

The developer of ICEBlock, an iOS app for anonymously reporting sightings of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, promises that it "ensures user privacy by storing no personal data." But that claim has come under scrutiny. ICEBlock creator Joshua Aaron has been accused of making false promises regarding user anonymity and privacy, being "misguided" [...]