The Verge

Image: CMF CMF, the affordability-focused brand owned by Nothing, has launched its first line of products: the Buds Pro, Watch Pro, and a 65W GaN fast charger.The Buds Pro are a pair of wireless earbuds that offer a solid set of features at a 49 / $49 price tag. The buds come with hybrid active noise cancellation (ANC) that uses microphones on the inside and outside of the bud to detect and cancel out noise with a depth of up to 45dB. Image: CMF The earbuds also feature transparency mode, which lets you hear the sounds around you in case you want to stay aware of your environment. With noise cancellation switched off, the Buds Pro should offer up to 11 hours of playback on a single charge (or up to 39 hours with the case).... Continue reading...

Newegg's caption for this photo was Joseph Olmedo of Newegg examines a graphics card to determine its condition." Joseph, you're doing great, man. | Image: Newegg Newegg will now take your old GPU off your hands in exchange for a trade-in credit on a new one. The Newegg Trade-In Program, which soft-launched earlier this month but was officially announced today, gives you a modest bit of cash back on your new GPU and Newegg a steady stream of cards to refurbish and resell.Estimated trade-in values range from $30 for a 4GB AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT all the way up to $561 for an Nvidia RTX 3090 Ti 24GB. You check your trade-in value by clicking the big ol' Check Your Trade-In Value" button on the product page for a GPU and selecting your card from a drop-down menu. Despite the GeForce GTX" card in the photo above, Newegg won't take cards older than the AMD RX 5000 series (launched in July 2019) or... Continue reading...

Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images Eddy Cue, in a dark suit, peered down at the monitor in front of him. The screens in the Washington, DC, courtroom had briefly malfunctioned and left witnesses with only binders, but now the tech was up and running - showing an image of three iPhones, each demonstrating a part of the phone's setup process. Cue squinted down at the screen.The resolution on this is terrible," he said. You should get a Mac." That got some laughs in an otherwise staid and quiet courtroom. Judge Amit Mehta, presiding over the case, leaned into his microphone and responded, If Apple would like to make a donation..." That got even bigger laughs. Then everybody got back down to business.Cue was on the stand as a witness in US v. Google, the landmark antitrust... Continue reading...

Photo by Steven Ferdman / Getty Images The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced plans to reinstate landmark net neutrality rules meant to guarantee fair access to the internet and its information, five years after they were repealed by then-president Donald Trump in 2018.Previous net neutrality rules adopted in 2015 classified broadband service under public utility rules and prevented internet service providers from blocking websites, throttling traffic, or charging more for faster access to certain services. According to FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel, the commission is expected to conduct an initial vote on reinstating these rules next month during an October 19th meeting.Net neutrality is one of the most widely discussed issues in telecommunications... Continue reading...

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Apple just released macOS Sonoma, and along with the new 14.0 version of its operating system, there's an update for its standalone Studio Display monitor that addresses some of our issues with its much-derided webcam (via MacRumors). Now, the Studio Display's camera offers manual control over framing and zoom, which you can adjust by moving the image back and forth or in and out within the video preview window.From Apple's update notes:

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Getting around Windows 11 is a lot easier if you know a keyboard shortcut or five. You can then speed through tasks and across apps without having to fumble around for the mouse and trackpad (or even take your eyes off the screen).These are some of my favorites that I turn to again and again on a daily basis. From helping you go between apps more quickly to navigating your system, there should be at least something here for everyone.Get a closer lookNeed to see something on-screen at a larger scale? Hold down the Win key and then tap + (the plus key) to launch the Magnifier utility. You can then tap the same shortcut again to carry on zooming in or use Win and - (the minus key) to zoom out.See apps across desktopsWindows 11 lets you... Continue reading...

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Microsoft is releasing one of its biggest updates to Windows 11 today. It includes access to the new Windows Copilot, AI-powered updates to Paint, Snipping Tool, and Photos, RGB lighting support, a modernized File Explorer, and much more.Windows Copilot is the big new feature for this Windows 11 update, bringing the same Bing Chat feature straight to the Windows 11 desktop. It appears as a sidebar in Windows 11, allowing you to control settings on a PC, launch apps, or simply answer queries. Microsoft is integrating Copilot into many parts of Windows, too. Image: Microsoft The Copilot feature in Windows 11. Copilot will essentially exist as an AI-powered digital assistant, much like Microsoft's vision for... Continue reading...

Image: Apple Just yesterday, I included Fingernails in a list of movies from the Toronto International Film Festival that would be streaming very soon. And now, we have our very first trailer for the sci-fi romcom, which is coming to Apple TV Plus.Directed by Christos Nikou, Fingernails is set in a sort of retrofuturistic world where scientists have developed a test that can prove that two people are (or aren't) in love. It then uses this oddball premise to set up a love triangle between its trio of stars - Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, and Jeremy Allen White - as they attempt to navigate a world where a machine can determine whether a relationship lives or dies. It's a quiet, dark comedy with a touch of body horror - the test itself involves yanking... Continue reading...

Most of these streaming services are in the Streaming Innovation Alliance. | Image: Wes Davis / The Verge Streaming companies have formed the Streaming Innovation Alliance (SIA), reported Axios. The new trade group should give companies like Netflix and Disney a solid foundation from which to deal with current and future regulation by the federal government related specifically to streaming. The SIA formed as regulators look for ways to deal with a changing entertainment landscape that increasingly includes content creators on social platforms, which these companies don't necessarily want to be lumped in with.In addition to Netflix and Disney, Axios lists SIA members Paramount Plus, Warner Bros. Discovery's Max, Peacock, TelevisaUnivision, and some small streamers like For Us By Us Network, Vault, and AfroLandTV. Other streaming services... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple just made its biggest push in decades to boost original content on its podcast app, which has been refreshed with the recent update to iOS 17. It's also casting a wider net for its audience by allowing users to connect through third-party apps.Following up on Apple's WWDC announcements in June, more than 60 original podcasts are now available to Apple Music, Apple News Plus, Calm, and Lingokids subscribers. There are more than 100 new podcasts on Apple Podcasts, and new shows will launch every week this fall, the company says.Apple launched Apple News+ Narrated yesterday, for example, which features articles narrated by professional voice actors. There are four shows on Apple News now and another 42 on Apple Music, including... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Federal Trade Commission and more than a dozen state attorneys general have filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, alleging that the e-commerce giant has unlawfully leveraged its market dominance to stamp out would-be competitors.Our complaint lays out how Amazon has used a set of punitive and coercive tactics to unlawfully maintain its monopolies," FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement Tuesday. The complaint sets forth detailed allegations noting how Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them."Amazon did not... Continue reading...

John David Washington as Joshua in The Creator. | Image: Oren Soffer Gareth Edwards' new dystopian sci-fi epic is a gorgeous morass of AI doomerism that's lacking in the way of novel ideas. Continue reading...

Image: The Verge Threads, Instagram's X (formerly Twitter) competitor, is struggling to keep users around following its blockbuster launch, according to data from Insider Intelligence. The data, which was first reported on by CNBC, suggests that Threads will have far fewer monthly active users than Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok by the end of this year, but it may still have a chance to close the gap with X.Insider Intelligence indicates that Threads will have 23.7 million active monthly users in the US by the end of 2023. That's far fewer than what's expected for Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, which Insider Intelligence says could have 177.9 million, 135.2 million, and 102.3 million respective US active monthly users by the end of 2023.S... Continue reading...

Bowers & Wilkins' PX7 S2 offer phenomenal sound and are among our favorite noise-canceling headphones. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Sony's WH-1000XM5 and Apple's AirPods Max have attracted so much attention that it's easy to forget other noise-canceling headphones exist. But they do, and a few are actually better in some respects than their mainstream rivals. Bowers & Wilkins' PX7 S2 are a good case in point. Right now, you can buy them at a new all-time low price of $249 ($150 off) from Amazon and Crutchfield.If you prioritize sound quality above all else, we think Bowers & Wilkins' PX7 S2 are the best noise-canceling headphones money can buy. The headphones deliver a powerful yet warm sound that rivals the AirPods Max. They offer other impressive features, too, including an elegant design and 30-hour battery life. The over-ears don't drown out noise as well as... Continue reading...

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, speaks during an interview in Redmond, Washington, on Wednesday, March 15th, 2023. | Image: Chona Kasinger / Bloomberg via Getty Images Microsoft thinks next-generation nuclear reactors can power its data centers and AI ambitions, according to a job listing for a principal program manager who'll lead the company's nuclear energy strategy.Data centers already use a hell of a lot of electricity, which could thwart the company's climate goals unless it can find clean sources of energy. Energy-hungry AI makes that an even bigger challenge for the company to overcome. AI dominated Microsoft's Surface event last week.Nuclear energy doesn't create greenhouse gas emissions. Even so, it could also open up a whole new can of worms when it comes to handling radioactive waste and building up a uranium supply chain. The role nuclear energy ought to play in combatting climate change... Continue reading...

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Google Podcasts is going away. Starting next year, Google will focus on offering podcast access within YouTube Music instead.This change doesn't come as a complete surprise. In April, Google launched the ability for users in the US to listen to podcasts in YouTube Music without a paid membership. It also lets users listen to podcasts offline and in the background while also switching between the audio and video versions on YouTube Music. As part of its podcasts push, YouTube also announced it will make podcasts available within YouTube Music globally before the end of 2023.First launched on Android in 2018, Google Podcasts offered a way for users to listen to a library of podcasts for free while also receiving personalized... Continue reading...

The Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro makes the leap from a proprietary OS to Wear OS. | Image: Xiaomi Xiaomi announced it's making the jump to Wear OS for its new Watch 2 Pro. And in true Xiaomi fashion, it's offering a surprisingly stacked set of features, including body composition analysis and dual-frequency GPS, for an attractive price: 229.99 (roughly $280) or 279.99 ($340) for the LTE version.The big benefit of Wear OS is access to third-party apps via the Google Play Store as well as Google's own suite of services like Wallet, Maps, and notably, Google Assistant. Previously, non-Samsung or Google smartwatches had to plod along without Assistant for months, so it's nice to see a Wear OS watch finally launch with it. Xiaomi didn't specify which version of Wear OS it was launching with. However, the fact that it's powered by the... Continue reading...

Whoop Coach runs on ChatGPT-4. | Image: Whoop Whoop announced it's adding generative AI to its platform with a new feature called Whoop Coach. Powered by ChatGPT, it's meant to deliver more personalized recommendations and data insights.Using AI in fitness tech for the sake of personalization isn't new - though Whoop Coach is an admittedly novel take. Like ChatGPT, Whoop Coach functions as a health and fitness-focused chatbot that pulls from your Whoop data. One potential use case is asking it to design custom plans, routines, and recipes depending on your goals. For example, if you wanted to run a half-marathon in two hours, you could ask it to make you a training plan with context from your actual metrics.Whoop says the feature can comb through your data to draw conclusions... Continue reading...

The Xiaomi 13T Pro in blue. | Image: Xiaomi Xiaomi is launching the 13T and 13T Pro today, two smartphones that will benefit from more Android upgrades than what it's offered previously. Both are due to receive four major Android updates as well as five years of security patches, Xiaomi's communications director, Daniel Desjarlais, announced earlier this month.The Xiaomi 13T Pro will start at 649 (799, or around $790), while the 13T will start at 549 (649, or around $669), and both will be available starting today in the UK. The phones will primarily be sold in European markets, but based on Xiaomi's previous smartphone releases, they're unlikely to be officially available in the US. Image: Xiaomi Xiaomi 13T Pro in green. A support commitment of... Continue reading...

Image: Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Former foes have turned friends. Uber is listing more and more taxi drivers in its app, most recently in Los Angeles. How did the two sides come together? In short, money. Continue reading...

Image: EVgo Imagine buying a new car, and suddenly, most gas stations are broken. That's a reality new electric vehicle owners are finding when it comes to EV charging stations supplied by significant players like ChargePoint, Electrify America, and EVgo.Many stations often result in customers leaving without a recharge thanks to unreliable or damaged hardware, and the situation is growing worse over time. For some EV owners, it might feel like the companies behind the charging networks are asleep at the wheel. But occasionally they stick their heads up to let us know they realize there's a problem, and they're laboring to fix it.Today, for example, EVgo says it's made significant progress" with a renewal campaign designed to boost reliability... Continue reading...

Image: Sony Sony is releasing a custom pair of its LinkBuds S earbuds designed in collaboration with pop star Olivia Rodrigo. And the partnership goes beyond just style: this pair of the LinkBuds S will include two custom EQ modes that are optimized for each of Rodrigo's albums, Sour and Guts.These profiles were tuned by both Rodrigo and her producer Daniel Nigro and will be available within Sony's Headphones Connect app when you pair the signature LinkBuds S over Bluetooth. There's nothing stopping you from using the custom EQ profiles with other content, but it'd probably be wiser to stick with Sony's other presets when doing so.As for the outward design, both buds have a purple, marbled exterior - again, Sony claims styled by Rodrigo herself -... Continue reading...

The LG Gram Fold in its array of orientations. | Image: LG Following the likes of Lenovo, Asus, and most recently HP, LG has announced a new laptop built around a single large foldable display. The device is called the LG Gram Fold, and it'll be available to buy online in South Korea for 4.99 million won (around $3,697) from October 4th. An international release is yet to be announced.Like previous foldable laptops, the LG Gram Fold can be used in a variety of different orientations. If you're after a traditional laptop experience you can fold it upright and place a Bluetooth keyboard on its lower half to use the remaining part of its screen like a 12-inch laptop with a 3:2 aspect ratio. Or, if you ditch the physical keyboard, you can type on a virtual keyboard on the screen itself. Flattening... Continue reading...

Illustration by Hugo Herrera / The Verge An updated road map for combating climate change pours cold water on the idea that unproven technologies can play a major role in averting disaster.Today, the International Energy Agency (IEA) updated its road map for the energy sector to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. It doubles down on the need to swiftly switch to renewable energy while minimizing the use of technologies that are still largely in demonstration and prototype phase today, including carbon capture and hydrogen fuels.The IEA, initially created to safeguard the world's oil supply, debuted its landmark road map in 2021 with a stark forecast for fossil fuels: calling for no more investment in new oil, gas, and coal projects. It laid out steps every... Continue reading...

Video by DJI / GIF by The Verge Now that Skydio has exited the consumer drone business and will never sell me the miniature self-flying drone of my dreams, I'm looking to DJI instead. The fancy marketing for its just-announced $759 DJI Mini 4 Pro suggests we're at least on the way - because it's the first Mini with omnidirectional obstacle sensing. Video by DJI / GIF by The Verge Advanced Pilot Assistance Systems (APAS) ensures additional safety by enabling automatic braking and bypassing during flight," the company's website reads. 2022's Mini 3 Pro could already see forwards, backwards, and down, but... we crashed it into a tree pretty fast. The binocular vision in every direction is a potentially huge upgrade if it works well, and the... Continue reading...

Raise your hand if you never heard of YouTube Premium Lite but now wish it was available in your area. | Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge After YouTube spent two years piloting Premium Lite, a lower-cost subscription plan for ad-free video viewing in select countries, the platform is pulling the plug on the tier. In an email to customers, YouTube announced it will no longer offer Premium Lite after October 25th, 2023.At 6.99 per month, YouTube's Premium Lite plan first launched in select European countries in 2021, including Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. It offers ad-free viewing across YouTube's spectrum of apps and formats but doesn't come with Premium's other features like offline downloads, background playback, or any YouTube Music benefits.But soon, existing Premium Lite subscribers will be left with two options: go... Continue reading...

Amazon's former hardware boss Dave Limp will take on the role of CEO at Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin after announcing his departure from Amazon, according to a report from CNBC. Internal documents obtained by the outlet reveal that Limp will replace outgoing Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith starting on December 4th.In August, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced that Limp is retiring from Amazon after an over 13-year career at the company. While at Amazon, he managed products like the company's Echo smart speakers and its Alexa smart assistant. He also managed Project Kuiper, Amazon's satellite internet project. Limp will reportedly be replaced at Amazon by Panos Panay, former head of Windows and Surface products who announced his own departure from... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google will send Gmail's basic HTML view sailing into the great beyond starting in January 2024, after which time everyone who uses it will be switched to the service's far more modern Standard" view. The change appears to have been announced around September 19th in a Google support article.Though the vast majority of people use the Standard view on their PCs without question, the HTML version of Gmail has its perks. The stripped-down Gmail experience loads quickly, and users can access it even on very outdated machines or with much slower connections. Its leaner nature makes it useful in situations where the best you can muster is a 3G connection (3G died last year in the US, but still). Screenshot: Wes Davis / The... Continue reading...

Nissan's Concept 20-23. | Image: Nissan Nissan is previewing a new sporty, Micro Machines-looking all-electric concept vehicle for Europe that signals its plans to go all-electric in the continent by 2030.Designed by Nissan's London design team, the non-production EV hatchback (called Concept 20-23) with circle daytime-running lights is compact - precisely like what you'd expect carmakers to make for the European market.Under its Ambition 2030" plan, Nissan says it'll globally introduce 19 new electric vehicles alongside eight electrified" vehicles. The automaker plans to fast-track the European market specifically, where it says a third of its global EV sales take place.Nissan says it now only sells hybrid and electric models in Europe - including the e-Power"... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Tinder announced a $499 per month invite-only subscription, Tinder Select, on Friday, Bloomberg reports. As part of the premium plan, subscribers can message people they've not matched with, while the most sought-after" users will see their profiles. Tinder says it only offers the plan to less than 1 percent of its users it considers extremely active" and that the applications will open up on a rolling basis.We know that there is a subset of highly engaged and active users who prioritize more effective and efficient ways to find connections," said Tinder's chief product officer, Mark Van Ryswyk. So we engaged in extensive tests and feedback with this audience over the past several months to develop a completely new offering."If... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Reddit is going to let users spin Reddit gold into real money as part of its new Contributor Program," the company announced on Monday. It also shared details on the replacement for its old Reddit Gold system that let users show extra appreciation for posts or posts that they liked.Let's start with the Reddit Gold update since it's a critical part of that Contributor Program. Under the new gold system, you can long-press an upvote button on mobile or hover over it on desktop to be able to buy gold. Reddit will offer six different purchase options for awarding gold, starting at a $1.99 option to buy one gold and going up to $49 for 25 gold. After you give your gold, you'll see what Reddit calls a golden upvote" next to the comment or... Continue reading...

The port on the MagSafe Duo itself is Lightning, which may not matter too much if you're not traveling with the charger. | Photo by Dieter Bohn / The Verge It's officially autumn. The weather is starting to turn for many of us, and there are USB-C iPhones now out there in the world. The winds of change also mean there's a nice deal to be had on one of Apple's outgoing wireless chargers. You can get the Apple MagSafe Duo charger for an all-time low of $94.99 ($35 off) at Woot or for $1.75 more at Verizon.Apple quickly and unceremoniously discontinued the MagSafe Duo along with the MagSafe Battery Pack immediately after announcing the iPhone 15, likely because both use Lightning ports. I'll happily dance on the grave of the MagSafe Battery Pack, but the Duo - while flawed - actually has some redeeming qualities. The superthin, foldable charger can wirelessly charge a MagSafe iPhone at the... Continue reading...

Image: Code September and October are some of the most exciting months of the year if you've been waiting all year to see the latest and greatest tech, even if that just means meeting the annual new iPhone.Of course, events are also planned for entertainment, cars, and more, and you'll be able to catch all the latest news on major events and conferences here on The Verge.September 26th marks Vox Media's Code event, which includes Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel co-hosting alongside Platformer founder Casey Newton and CNBC senior media and tech correspondent Julia Boorstin. This year, Code features guests including X / Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino, Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl, Allen Media Group CEO and founder Byron Allen, and more.Also... Continue reading...