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The Dasung Paperlike 103 connects to computers and mobile devices over USB-C. | Image: Dasung Dasung has announced a new compact E Ink monitor that's the company's first to offer a 60Hz refresh rate. The Paperlike 103 features a 10.3-inch e-paper panel making it similar in size to E Ink-based electronic notepads like the Boox Go 10.3 or the Amazon Kindle Scribe. Those devices typically have limited refresh rates, but by boosting the Paperlike 103's refresh to 60Hz, the portable monitor will offer the advantages of E Ink (less eye strain and low power usage) while making tasks like scrolling documents and websites, and even watching videos, appear smoother and closer to how they do on LCD and OLED screens.The Paperlike 103 is priced at 1,999 yuan, or around $274, according to Good e-Reader, and is available to order through the Chinese retailer, Jing Dong. It's not available globally yet, but Dasung typically releases all of its products outside China, eventually. The company currently sells a similar version of the Paperlike 103 that starts at $699 with a larger 13.3-inch E Ink panel. Its refresh rate is limited to 40Hz, but watching a side-by-side comparison of its performance versus an LCD gives a good idea of how well the Paperlike 103 will perform, with potentially even less ghosting. Image: Dasung With a low power E Ink panel, the Paperlike 103 draws all the power it needs through a USB-C port. With a resolution of 1,872 x 1,404 pixels in a 4:3 aspect ratio, the Paperlike 103's 227ppi is slightly behind the 300ppi E Ink screens on the Kindle Paperwhite, Scribe, and other e-readers released over the past few years. But it offers similar lighting options with LEDs along the edge of the screen that aren't blasting directly into your eyes, and color temperature adjustments from cool to warm to further reduce eye strain if you'll be staring at it for a while.The monitor's body is made from aluminum alloy that's just five millimeters thick so it's both lightweight and strong enough to survive getting accidentally squished in your bag. There's also no battery to add bulk and weight. The Paperlike 103 relies on USB-C for both power and to connect to source devices like computers and mobile devices. There's also a set of six physical buttons on the left bezel used to turn the monitor on and off, adjust the brightness and color temperature of its lighting, and to switch between different display modes optimized for text, video, or imagery.

Image: The Verge CNN is developing a new streaming service - and it sounds a lot like the one it shut down nearly three years ago. In an internal memo shared with The Verge, CNN CEO Mark Thompson says the service will give viewers the ability to stream news programming from us on any device they choose" as part of a broader restructuring plan.CNN jumped on the streaming bandwagon in 2022 with the launch of CNN Plus, a short-lived service that shut down after just one month. Thompson doesn't say whether the new service will mirror the content on its linear channel, or if it will stick to original programming, similar to CNN Plus.It's early days but we've already established that there's immense demand for it not just in America but across much of the world," Thompson wrote. We'll have more to say about this new digital product in the coming months, including content plans and how we will work with our existing and future distribution partners to bring this to market."Along with the new streaming service, Thompson's memo also said Alex MacCallum, CNN's executive vice president for digital products and services, will announce the company's first lifestyle-oriented digital product" and a major pivot to digital video."As part of these changes, CNN will lay off six percent of jobs, making up around 200 employees. Thompson says the company doesn't expect total headcount to fall much this year" because of a $70 million investment from CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, The Hollywood Reporter says.The news of a revived CNN streaming service comes as linear TV networks grapple with a growing shift toward streaming. CNN, which airs a 24/7 news broadcast on Max, recently announced that it's locking some of its articles behind a paywall. Along with CNN, CNBC also launched a $14.99 / month CNBC Plus subscription.

Its comfortably basic style hides nice utility. | Photos by Victoria Song / The Verge If the Galaxy Ring cost $250, I'd say Samsung was a diabolical genius company. But at $400, it's asking a lot for what amounts to a secondary device for your smartwatch," is how Victoria ultimately felt about the Samsung Galaxy Ring in her review. Well, it's not exactly $250, but a deal on the health-tracking wearable that brings it down to $279.99 ($120 off) at Amazon is close enough.You'll find that price across all three of its colors (black, gold, and silver) in several sizes, some of which you'll have to sign in and add to your cart in order to see. Available ring sizes range from 5 to 15, and while a blind purchase might be safe if you already know your ring size, we recommend using the $10 sizing kit to help you dial it in.Sadly, that kit is temporarily out of stock at Amazon as of this writing, otherwise you'd be able to recoup the full cost as a credit usable toward the ring. The kit is in stock at Best Buy, however, which bundles a $10 gift card to offset the cost and also currently offers $120 off the Galaxy Ring with a My Best Buy Plus ($49.99 a year) and My Best Buy Total ($179.99 a year) membership.The Galaxy Ring's normal $400 price is $50 more expensive than the base Oura Ring 4, but unlike the latter, it doesn't require a subscription, which makes this deal a bit sweeter. You'll need a Galaxy smartphone for the best experience, though, as the IP68 water-resistant wearable offers rather basic but standard activity and sleep tracking features without it. It can measure your blood oxygen level, skin temperature, heart rate, and tracks your steps and workouts. But a phone with Galaxy AI can use the metrics to generate insights about your quality of sleep, workout results, and even an Energy Score that attempts to quantify your fatigue levels.We found these features sufficiently accurate and in line with the competition, but the tips aren't always the most helpful, and you can get better accuracy from a Galaxy Watch. Using the ring and watch in tandem would result in 30 percent longer battery life for the Galaxy Ring's six to seven-hour runtime, we've found, as the ecosystem prefers the Watch's readings where possible.Other features require a Galaxy smartphone, too, such as pinch gestures for smartphone actions and the ability to trigger the ring's lights with Samsung Find. That means you should probably go with another ring if you don't use a Samsung phone.

Illustration by The Verge Law professor Kate Klonick explains what Big Tech's Trump appeasement is really about. Read the full story at The Verge.

Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images Comcast is launching a $70 per month Sports & News TV" streaming bundle featuring live games from the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and NCAA. The package, which marks the latest attempt to build out the sports streaming industry, is available to Xfinity Internet subscribers and lets you tune into over 50 news and sports channels, including ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN, and CNN.It also comes with a subscription to Peacock, 300 hours of cloud DVR storage, and more than 100 free streaming channels. Though you don't need Xfinity's X1 TV box to access the bundle, Comcast says using one will give you access to features like multiview, enhanced" 4K, and Odds Zone, which displays odds from DraftKings and FanDuel. You can also find the Sports & News TV package from the Xfinity Stream app on mobile and smart TV platforms like Apple TV and Roku.Additionally, Comcast notes that you can combine the sports streaming subscription with some of the company's other packages, like the $9.95 per month More Sports & Entertainment package, which comes with channels like NFL RedZone, MLB Network, NBA TV, and NHL Network.DirecTV similarly launched a $69.99 per month MySports streaming package last week, which - unlike Comcast's bundle - doesn't have local CBS content yet and is only available in select cities for now.These new sports-focused packages could help fill the gap left by Venu, the scrapped live sports streaming service led by ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery. Fubo is also set to combine with Hulu + Live TV after reaching a settlement with Disney over the launch of Venu. In the absence of a dedicated sports streaming subscription, viewers without cable are left piecing together live games across various services, including Paramount Plus, Peacock, Apple TV Plus, and Max.Disclosure: Comcast is an investor in Vox Media, The Verge's parent company.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge A busy January of gaming news continues. Last week it was the reveal of the Nintendo Switch 2, and now it's a showcase of upcoming Xbox games. Microsoft's latest Developer Direct takes place today, and it's meant to provide a deep dive" look at some of the biggest upcoming games for Xbox. That includes Doom: The Dark Ages (which might release in May, according to leaks) as well South of Midnight and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.Most exciting, though, is the promise of a mystery game. We don't know what it is - hence the mystery - but the tease suggests it's something big. For context, the highlight of last year's Developer Direct was a gameplay deep dive for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. We'll be covering the news as it happens, but if you want to tune in live, here are all the details. (You can also just watch via the embed at the top of this article.)How and when to watch the Xbox Developer Direct 2025The event itself takes place on January 23rd at 10AM PT / 1PM ET. And it's streaming on pretty much all of the Xbox and Bethesda channels:

Image: Cadillac After months of teases, Cadillac officially announced the Lyriq-V as a 615-horsepower, high-performance electric SUV that will go on record as the quickest" vehicle ever produced by the luxury automaker.With that much horsepower, and 650 pound-feet of torque, Cadillac says the Lyriq-V is able to leap from zero to 60mph in just 3.3 seconds - besting the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing's acceleration by a tenth of a second. That may not sound like much, but when you consider that the CT5-V Blackwing is lauded as one of the most expertly engineered American cars ever made, and when you realize that the CT5-V Blackwing is likely the last of its kind, you start to see the significance of the Lyriq-V's performance specs.Of course, there's some fine print to consider. That acceleration time is measured on a closed course, using the Lyriq-V's Velocity Max that's also available on Cadillac's forthcoming EV lineup that includes the Vistiq, Optiq, and Escalade IQ. And it includes a metric called Initial Vehicle Movement," which is when the vehicle starts moving rather than when the green light goes off.And yes, there are plenty of EVs that can accelerate to 60mph in under three seconds. But I don't think Cadillac was out to shatter any records with the Lyriq-V. It wanted to make a car that fits perfectly" into people's lives, as Cadillac boss John Roth says.To that end, the Lyriq-V looks like it takes a lot of what worked with the original Lyriq and made it more powerful. Its 102kWh battery will help propel this V-Series for an estimated 285 miles of range. It gains around 75 miles of range in about 10 minutes when plugged into a DC fast charger or about 19 miles per hour when sipping from a 240-volt Level 2 charger. And it will ship with a CCS port for charging, rather than the Tesla-backed NACS standard.The Lyriq-V perches on 22-inch wheels with Brembo brake calipers. The handling is comfortable, yet spirited," with 5-link independent suspension and continuous damping control for stiffer shock absorbers.And now we come to the part where I inform you that, yes, the Lyriq-V features a unique sound experience" that simulates an engine growl. Cadillac is the latest automaker to resort to faux exhaust noises piped through external speakers to comfort car buyers who may be feeling a bit hesitant about leaving the warm bosom of the internal combustion engine.Another unique feature is a button on the steering wheel for V-Mode, which is a suite of traction management features specifically engineered to increase vehicle agility." And like the original Lyriq - but unlike GM's other electric vehicles - the Lyriq-V will support phone mirroring through Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.The electric V-Series has been in the works for a while now. Cadillac first introduced the concept of an electrified V with the introduction of three V-Series.R hybrid race cars at the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship races in 2023.It then first teased a fully electric Lyriq-V in March 2024 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the inaugural launch of the V-Series at the Sebring International Raceway in March 2004. That year saw the introduction of the 2004 Cadillac CTS-V, signaling the automaker's intention to compete with other performance luxury subbrands like BMW M and Mercedes AMG.Thanks to their quick, seamless acceleration and aerodynamic shapes, electric vehicles are a great fit in the performance segment. Indeed, BMW, Mercedes, and Audi all have performance-geared EVs for sale - or at least have outlined plans to sell them. Cadillac would be the latest to add its own spin on plug-in power.Starting at $79,990 (including destination charges), the 2026 Lyriq-V is expected to start production at GM's Spring Hill, Tennessee, factory in early 2025.

Illustration: The Verge Tumbler has finally launched Tumblr TV as a new tab at the top of its app, the company said today in a brief set of update notes spotted by TechCrunch. Tumblr TV first debuted as a GIF-finding feature in 2015, but now it includes video content as well. Screenshot: Tumblr TV According to Tumblr, New users will have this tab enabled by default in the third position, while existing users will have it available in the Dashboard Tabs configuration, if not already enabled."When you tap the Tumblr TV tab, you'll see a grid of videos and GIFs. Once you tap one, you can like, comment, repost, or share it, and when you're ready to see something else, you can swipe up to move on.In my very brief testing, it's still very GIF-heavy despite the inclusion of video and a swipe interface similar to other short-form video apps.It could be tempting to compare Tumblr TV to TikTok, especially in light of its recent shutdown, but right now, it's more like scrolling a group text full of GIFs.

The RTX 4090 is a lot thicker than the RTX 5090. | Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge Nvidia has posted a new video showcasing a history of Founders Edition graphics card designs that explores the design of its new RTX 5090 and confirms a previously leaked prototype that used an unconventionally large four-slot design.As noted by VideoCardz, the prototype Titan ADA" card first revealed by leaker Kopite7kimi included a triple-fan cooling system, and earlier this month, Gamers Nexus tested and tore down a working version of the prototype.In the video published today, Nvidia's EVP of system products, Andrew Bell, explains that Nvidia cards were trending larger and larger, and they wanted to change that. We didn't like the idea of it taking up four slots; it was big, it was unwieldy, it worked in a limited number of chassis," Bell said.Bell says that the prototype triple-fan cooling system influenced Nvidia's Blackwell architecture. However, the latest RTX 5090 Founders Edition card that we are currently testing achieves its goals through a modular four-part design with a separate I/O board that allows air to flow through for a more efficient and compact cooler. According to Nvidia, these changes are why the new 5090 fits in two slots on the motherboard compared to the previous three-slot 4090.

Image: Canon The megapixel race isn't over if you ask Canon. Today, the company announced a new 35mm full-frame CMOS sensor with a resolution of 410 megapixels. That's 24,592 x 16,704 pixels and a resolution that's equivalent to 24K - or 12 times the resolution of 8K and 198 times the resolution of HD.It's the "largest number of pixels ever achieved in a 35mm full-frame sensor," according to Canon, but don't expect the company to introduce it on its consumer-ready digital cameras. It's designed for surveillance, medicine, and other industrial applications that demand extreme resolution," and don't mind paying a small fortune for it.Thanks to a redesigned circuitry pattern" and a newly developed back-illuminated stacked formation in which the pixel segment and signal processing segment are interlayered," Canon says the sensor has a readout speed of 3,280 megapixels per second," allowing full-resolution images to be captured at eight frames per second.Canon will also offer a monochrome version of the sensor with a four-pixel binning" function that improves low-light sensitivity by treating four nearby pixels as one. Although that reduces its overall resolution, it allows the monochromatic version of the sensor to capture 100-megapixel videos at 24 frames per second.If you want to maximize your megapixels, you typically need to turn to medium-format or larger sensors and bigger cameras. The Phase One XF IQ4 150MP, for example, can capture images at 150-megapixels. But by putting this much resolution into a 35mm sensor that will be compatible with a wide range of lenses already available for full-frame cameras, Canon says it will help contribute to the miniaturization of shooting equipment."

Illustration: The Verge One of the most important changes in Samsung's new phones is a simple one: when you long-press the side button on your phone, instead of activating Samsung's own Bixby assistant by default, you'll get Google Gemini.This is probably a good thing. Bixby was never a very good virtual assistant - Samsung originally built it primarily as a way to more simply navigate device settings, not to get information from the internet. It has gotten better since and can now do standard assistant things like performing visual searches and setting timers, but it never managed to catch up to the likes of Alexa, Google Assistant, and now, even Siri. So, if you're a Samsung user, this is good news! Your assistant is probably better now. (And if, for some unknown reason, you really do truly love Bixby, don't worry: there's still an app.)The switch to Gemini is an even bigger deal for Google. Google was caught off guard a couple of years ago when ChatGPT launched but has caught up in a big way. According to recent reporting from The Wall Street Journal, CEO Sundar Pichai now believes Gemini has surpassed ChatGPT, and he wants Google to have 500 million users by the end of this year. It might just... Read the full story at The Verge.

Samsung's latest phones all look and feel very similar, but there are some key differences. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge During its latest Unpacked event, Samsung dished all the details on the Galaxy S25 lineup. The Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus start at $799.99 and $999.99, respectively, while the S25 Ultra runs a cool $1299.99 in its entry-level configuration. You can preorder the phones ahead of their launch on February 7th, but before you do, you're probably wondering what's new.The phones don't look or feel much different, save for the slightly curvier Galaxy S25 Ultra. The Snapdragon Elite 8 is perhaps the S25 family's most notable hardware upgrade, which is up to 40 percent faster than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset and comes with a new neural processing unit to support Samsung's expanded Galaxy AI experience. The company introduced multimodal and generative AI improvements, after all, and the Galaxy S25 line will be among the first to usher in new Google Gemini features.Our reviews are still forthcoming, and it's much too early for us to determine whether any of these phones are actually worth upgrading for. But that doesn't mean we can't distill their differences to help you determine which device you'd rather buy. Keep reading for a full breakdown of all of the hardware and software... Read the full story at The Verge.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge We picked the best video doorbell cameras for keeping an eye on people, packages, and anything else that comes across your front porch. Read the full story at The Verge.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Samsung just teased the Galaxy S25 Edge - the new ultra-slim entry into the Galaxy S25 lineup. The phone isn't out yet, and Samsung hasn't provided any details, but now we know it's real. And we have pictures.Like pretty much every phone, it's a thin silver slab. It's got two cameras on the back, rather than the three cameras you'd get with other S25 phones. The Edge is rumored to measure just 6.4mm thick, but my colleagues Allison Johnson and Vjeran Pavic, who are on the ground at Galaxy Unpacked and took the below photos, weren't able to actually hold or measure the device to confirm.We're trying to get closer so we can show perspective, but the place is mobbed with people. There's a lot of excitement about this phone. By comparison, though, the regular Galaxy S25 is 7.2mm thick. So, it's... even thinner.Here are some of the pictures we took: Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Update, January 22nd: Added more photos.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Xbox has a new beta software update rolling out today for Insiders in the Alpha Skip-Ahead ring that enables Series X and S systems to support much larger external hard disks. Previously, the Xbox could only support up to 16TB of space on a single USB-connected drive.With the new update, Xbox systems can now partition hard disks larger than 16TB into segments to use the full physical storage space. A single 24TB hard disk can now be formatted into multiple partitions (the largest still being 16TB) so you can archive more games, apps, and media than ever - if that's something you've wanted to do.However, if you have already been using a hard disk greater than 16TB with Xbox, the company says you'll need to erase it first to take full advantage:

One in 10 game developers lost their job in 2024. That's according to the results of the annual Game Developers Conference state of the video game survey. The survey sampled over 3,000 developers and covered a number of topics including industry layoffs and what kind of games developers are working on.Prolific layoffs have ravaged the industry over the last two years making the question of their impact on developers one of the most important in the survey. In addition to 10 percent of developers losing their jobs, 41 percent of respondents said they had been impacted by layoffs in some way, either by being laid off directly or seeing coworkers or colleagues in other departments let go. The survey also noted that the number of people impacted is potentially much higher because of the students and graduates who reported having a difficult time simply getting a job in the industry at all.When asked what reason companies gave for layoffs, 22 percent said restructuring while 18 said declining revenue. 19 percent gave no reason at all. Developers, though, have their own ideas about why layoffs keep happening. In an analysis of responses to what developers think the reason behind layoffs is, the majority were general statements about the industry's over-expansion during the pandemic. Companies acquired workers and studios in hopes of meeting a level of demand for games that dried up as covid restrictions loosened. However, some developers believe the reason for layoffs is much simpler. Companies like Microsoft and Sony still reported growing revenues despite multiple rounds of layoffs and studio closures. It's no surprise then that 13 percent of respondents attributed layoffs to corporate greed.In addition to layoffs, the last few years have also seen the failure of a number of high-profile, big-budget, live-service games. While there has been some success in that area with new games like Marvel Rivals, it's generally tough to launch a live-service game that can compete with the overbearing likes of Fortnite, Roblox, and Call of Duty. 2024 was also the year that Balatro, Animal Well, and Astro Bot dominated headlines and award lists suggesting a greater appetite for those kinds of smaller-scoped, single-player experiences. It's interesting, and perhaps concerning then, that according to the survey, over 30 percent of AAA developers are working on a live-service game.When it asked developers their thoughts on live-service games the survey answered, One of the biggest issues mentioned was market oversaturation, with many developers noting how tough it is to break through and build a sustainable player base."

Image: The Verge Dozens of popular subreddits are banning links to X after Elon Musk made a gesture that historians and human rights groups have described as a Nazi salute. Communities that have instituted a ban on links to X include r/formula1, r/military, r/nursing, r/TwoXChromosomes, and r/nintendo.The shift is spreading across Reddit after neo-Nazis celebrated Musk's speech at a rally on Monday for Donald Trump's inauguration. During the speech, Musk twice raised his arm in a salute that historians, elected officials, and organizations that support Holocaust survivors have observed as a Nazi salute. During his speech, Musk places his hand on his chest and throws his arm forward at an angle, holding it mid-air for a few moments. My heart goes out to you," he says to supporters. Some supporters of Musk have defended him, saying the gesture went along with his words.Musk has not disavowed the neo-Nazis reading his gesture as a Sieg Heil, and in fact has minimized criticism, writing on X that The everyone is Hitler' attack is sooo tired." Musk has previously amplified racist, antisemitic conspiracy theories like the Great Replacement Theory and is constantly posting anti-immigrant claims not based in reality. After pouring millions of dollars into US politics to elect Trump, Musk has expanded to German politics as well, endorsing the far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.The subreddits that announced the new rule cover millions of users across geography and interestsRegardless of Musk's true intentions, extremists are thrilled: as Rolling Stone reported, white supremacists are calling it a Donald Trump White Power moment" and thanking Musk for hearing" them.The subreddits that announced the new rule cover millions of users across geography and interests. Some subreddits have announced they will allow screenshots of content from X but not hyperlinks, and many other large communities like r/nba and r/nfl are discussing following suit. Even setting Musk's right wing politics aside, viewing X links on Reddit isn't a great experience: links often don't unfurl and users need an X account to view the conversation on the platform.Reddit has a longstanding commitment to freedom of speech and freedom of association," said a Reddit spokesperson who asked to remain anonymous citing the sensitivity of the subject. While individual subreddits are able to institute community rules, Reddit Inc. has no ban on X links - there are still plenty of X links on Reddit," the spokesperson wrote in an email.X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Galaxy S25 lineup looks very similar to the S24 family. Go figure. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Samsung finally took the wraps off its new Galaxy S25 lineup during its Unpacked event on Wednesday, providing us with our first formal look at the forthcoming Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra. Available starting on February 7th, you can already preorder the S25 starting at $799.99, the S25 Plus starting at $999.99, and the S25 Ultra starting at $1,299.99.On the hardware front, Samsung's latest phones represent a relatively minor refresh over last year's S24 series. The new Galaxy S25 phones are all Qi2 Ready," meaning they charge at up to 15W on a Qi2 charger using Samsung's magnetic Qi2 Ready cases. Each phone also features 12GB of RAM by default, along with more processing power thanks to Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chip.The new Qualcomm chipset supposedly allows for smarter and occasionally faster AI tools, which, as we noted in our brief hands-on time with the S25 and S25 Plus, are the real changes here. The onboard AI assistant is now based on Google Gemini by default and can control your phone with natural language requests. Other AI features include a video editing tool that can erase distractions like music and wind, as well as daily AI-generated summaries that help you make better sense of your calendar and commute.We're still in the process of testing Samsung's latest phones, but if you want to reserve one ahead of launch, here's what you need to know.Where to preorder the Galaxy S25Starting at $799.99, the Galaxy S25 comes with 12GB of RAM and your choice of either 128GB or 256GB of storage, the latter of which costs $60 more. It's available for preorder from Samsung, Amazon, and Best Buy in navy, light blue, mint, or silver. It's also available in a few exclusive colors directly from Samsung, including black, red, and rose gold.At 6.2 inches, the entry-level Galaxy S25 is the smallest phone in the S25 lineup. It's lighter and thinner than last year's S24, and, as mentioned before, it now comes with 12GB of RAM. Otherwise, it's very similar to its predecessor, with a 120Hz refresh rate and the same 50-megapixel main shooter, a 12-megapixel ultrawide, and a 10-megapixel telephoto lens. It also features a 12-megapixel selfie camera on the front.In terms of deals, Amazon is offering $100 in credit when you preorder the 128GB model for $799.99 or the 256GB model for $859.99. Samsung is also offering a $100 credit when you preorder the 128GB model for $799.99, along with a $50 discount when you buy the 256GB model for $809.99. Best Buy's promo is similar to Samsung's, with the retailer throwing in a $50 gift card when you buy the 128GB model for $799.99 or the 256GB model for $859.99.Where to preorder the Galaxy S25 PlusThe 256GB S25 Plus runs $999.99 and comes with 12GB of RAM, though you can also buy it with 512GB of storage for $1,119.99. Like the S25, it's available for preorder from Samsung, Amazon, and Best Buy in navy, light blue, mint, and silver. If you purchase directly from Samsung, you can also grab it in black, red, or rose gold.The main difference between the S25 and S25 Plus is that the larger model comes with more storage options and sports a 6.7-inch 120Hz display. It also packs a bigger battery than the S25 (4,900mAh versus 4,000mAh), though it remains to be seen if that translates to longer battery life given the larger display on the S25 Plus. Otherwise, it's similar to the Galaxy S25 in that it features an identical camera system, IP68 dust and water resistance, and plenty of AI-powered features.If you're looking for a deal, Amazon is offering a $100 gift card when you preorder the 256GB model for $999.99 or the 512GB model for $1,119.99. Samsung is also offering $150 in credit when you preorder the 256GB model for $999.99 or $50 in credit when you buy the 512GB model for $1,019.99. Lastly, Best Buy is throwing in a $100 gift card when you preorder the 256GB model or the 512GB model at full price.Where to preorder the Galaxy S25 UltraThe S25 Ultra comes with 12GB of RAM and retails for $1,299.99 in the 256GB configuration, $1,419.99 in the 512GB configuration, and $1,659.99 in the 1TB variant. The Ultra is available for preorder from Amazon, Best Buy, and Samsung in blue, silver, gray, or black. (The latter retailer is also selling it in a few exclusive colors, such as rose gold and green.)At 6.9 inches, the redesigned Galaxy S25 Ultra sports a larger display than both the S25 and S25 Plus. It also comes with an S Pen stylus as well as an upgraded camera array that features two telephoto cameras and an improved 50-megapixel ultrawide sensor. You also get more storage options and a more durable titanium build, the latter of which features rounded edges for greater comfort.In terms of promotions, Amazon is offering a $200 gift card when you preorder the 256GB model for $1,299.99 or the 512GB model for $1,419.99. Samsung is also throwing in a $150 credit when you preorder the 256GB model for $1,299.99, a $130 credit when you preorder the 512GB model for $1,299.99 ($120 off), or a $110 credit when you buy the 1TB model for $1,419.99 ($240 off). In addition, Best Buy is throwing in a $200 gift card when you preorder the 256GB model for $1,299.99, the 512GB model for $1,419.99, or the 1TB model for $1,659.99.Carrier offers and promotions

Samsung announced a new AI-powered ambient sensing technology for SmartThings designed to make your smart home be more helpful. | Image: SmartThings Samsung announced today that its connected appliances and smart home devices will soon be able to act as motion and sound sensors for its smart home platform SmartThings. This includes its televisions, Music Frame speaker, Family Hub fridge, and more. The company said the updates are slated for release in 2025 and 2026 but didn't provide specific timelines.The move is part of its vision of AI for All," using AI to simplify technology in the home. By leveraging sensors in its appliances, Samsung's new Home AI - an artificial intelligence layer that the company is applying to its connected devices - can gather insights from everyday life to create personalized experiences to fit your needs, transforming your home into a smarter, more efficient space," according to a Samsung blog post.This ambient sensing will use motion and sound sensors in Samsung appliances to suggest automations and experiences based on wellness, security, energy savings, and entertainment. It will enable SmartThings to recognize you and understand your daily activities like cooking, exercising, sleeping, etc., so your home can create the perfect environment for you," according to Samsung. Image: Samsung Samsung's new ambient sensing technology is designed around wellness, entertainment, energy savings, and security use cases. While that sounds slightly creepy, there are certainly benefits to having sensors built into devices to make your home react the way you want it to - the simplest being automating your lighting. The alternative to achieving any real home automation is to stick little white plastic sensors everywhere. Samsung says the data from its sensors will be fed to Home AI to create more sophisticated automations that can detect and respond to specific activities.For example, Samsung says motion sensors in a Samsung TV can detect what kind of exercise you're doing, guide you on your form, and provide the optimal exercise time for maximum results." If you sit down in a chair, SmartThings can automatically turn on the nearby reading lamp and adjust the room to your preferred temperature. Samsung says it can also identify your miniature pinscher jumping onto the couch, activating the air purifier to remove allergens from the air." And if you're drying your hair, a device with a speaker, like the Samsung Music Frame, can hear the hair dryer and tell the Samsung robot vacuum to come vacuum up the hair you've shed.Presumably, these experiences" will be ones you can choose to set up in the SmartThings app, and the robot vacuum isn't just going to come at you as soon as you start drying your hair. Samsung says that all data from the sensors used by Home AI is stored locally on your SmartThings hub and does not go to the cloud.Samsung didn't state exactly what type of technology it's using in its sensors, but from the specific motion detections mentioned, it's likely to be mmWave radar sensing, which is becoming popular in the smart home in devices from Aqara and Meross. That's the only sensing technology outside of cameras that's precise enough to react to specific movements rather than just motion in general.The Verge has reached out to Samsung to find out which of its TVs and appliances are currently equipped with these ambient sensors. We also asked if third-party sensors connected to SmartThings can work with the new technology or if it's limited to Samsung devices at launch. We'll update this post as we get any new information. Image: Samsung New features are coming to Samsung SmartThings' Map View. Samsung also announced updates to its Map View feature, a layout view of your home that gives you a visual interface to interact with connected devices from your phone, computer, and TV. Map View will get a generative AI upgrade that Samsung says will give it a deeper understanding of your home's unique layout and environment, adding more personalization to your Map View."You'll be able to personalize your map by adding photos of your furniture and other objects, and Samsung says this will help the system respond to your presence more accurately. For example, the system might adjust your lighting or temperature settings based on your proximity to certain areas or objects."All of these updates address a major pain point of the smart home - context. If we want our homes to respond to us without the need for voice commands or pulling out an app, they need data about our activities, movements, and preferences. Beyond having a user input everything manually, sensors are the most effective way to get this data. By turning its appliances into sensors, Samsung is adding a big piece of the smart home puzzle to its ecosystem.

Google has announced a variety of new AI features at Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event. | Image: Google Google's AI assistant Gemini is now able to carry out tasks across multiple apps in a single interaction, in an update announced today alongside the launch of Samsung's new Galaxy S25 series. Those phones are also Samsung's first to feature Gemini as the default on-device assistant, relegating Bixby to the app drawer. Those changes are part of a raft of other updates from Google including improvements to the AI-powered Circle to Search.With today's update, Gemini is able to carry out more complex multimodal tasks. You might ask it to find a dog-friendly Italian restaurant and send it to your friend, or pull up your NFL team's upcoming games and add them to your calendar, all in a single prompt. Source: Google Gemini gives you the chance to confirm multi-app actions before it goes ahead. The multi-app support is built on top of Gemini's existing app extensions, which cover a spread of Google apps and limited third-party options including WhatsApp and Spotify. Today's update adds Samsung's own apps to that list for S25 users - including Samsung Calendar, Notes, Reminder, and Clock - but other multi-extension prompts are available now to all Gemini users across the web, Android, and iOS. Source: Google Gemini Live can give you photography feedback. Gemini Live, the assistant's voice-based conversational mode, is also getting an upgrade, though this one is currently limited to the Galaxy S25 and S24 phones and Google's own Pixel 9 series. Owners of those devices will be able to share images, files, and YouTube videos to the chat interface, asking Gemini for feedback and information. Google also says that Project Astra features like screen sharing and live video streaming will come to Gemini on Android in the coming months.With all those upgrades in tow, Samsung has made Gemini the default virtual assistant on the new S25 phones, finally replacing its own Bixby assistant. You can still access Bixby on the phones - the app is preinstalled - but by default, long-pressing the power button will now open up Gemini instead.Circle to Search is getting improvements, too. It will be able to automatically recognize phone numbers, email addresses, and URLs so you can interact with them more easily. The AI Overviews in search results have also been expanded to work with more kinds of visual search results, increasing the probability that using Circle to Search on an image of a place, artwork, or object will generate an AI Overview in the results.Finally, Google also announced changes that should make it easier to pair braille screen readers and hearing aids to Android devices.Google announced the new features alongside Samsung's launch of the Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra at Galaxy Unpacked today. Two hours earlier, the companies revealed a new Galaxy Watch for Kids mode on Samsung's Galaxy Watch 7 LTE. It adds kid-friendly apps and watchfaces plus improved parental controls.

The Ultra" model in Samsung's Galaxy S lineup is typically the phone crammed full of every feature the company could think of. But this year, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is actually taking a step backward with the S Pen. The motion gestures and useful remote camera shutter function have been removed, and the stylus is back to being just a stylus. You can still wave it around like a magic wand, but the phone won't do anything.During a media briefing on the new S25 series last week, Samsung explained that customers rarely ever used the Air action" gestures. So the company decided to try and cut costs by ditching them entirely. And no, the starting price of the S25 Ultra hasn't come down as a result. Samsung believes other hardware upgrades are more than enough to maintain the same $1,299.99 price. More comfortable phone. Less capable S Pen. I never bothered with the gimmicky gestures more than once or twice. But having a convenient (and subtle) way of taking a photo when the phone was positioned somewhere out of reach was very convenient.Samsung apparently thinks that the palm gesture - where the phone recognizes someone holding up their hand and automatically triggers the shutter - is a decent substitute. You can also control the S25 Ultra's camera with a paired Galaxy Watch. But I'd argue neither of those is as simple as pressing a button on the stylus. They're certainly not as inconspicuous if you're trying to capture a candid shot. (The S Pen's button still exists, but it's mostly there to bring up the Air command shortcuts menu.) Unlike past models, the S Pen can't trigger the S25 Ultra's camera. This less capable S Pen marks a surprising regression for Samsung's do-everything smartphone. However, the company seems hopeful that its Galaxy AI software capabilities will receive greater customer adoption. At least the handy screen-off memo feature isn't going anywhere.Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge

We're expecting the Galaxy S25, S25 Plus and S25 Ultra, and new AI features. Samsung is announcing its new Galaxy S25 phones. We'll have all of the updates as they come in, but, as you can see below, we had a lot of this embargoed and got an early look.But there may be some surprises! You can tune in to watch the event in the video below once everything gets started at 1PM ET / 10AM PT.Expect Samsung to talk about AI. It's the thing tech companies love to talk about as much as possible. Probably because they're all spending a lot of money on it. Google, Apple, Microsoft, and others have used similar events to chat about how they're implementing AI into their software, for example.Whatever comes up, we'll have it all here.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge The NFL told the New England Patriots to shut down the team's Bluesky account. Patriots VP of content Fred Kirsch said the team was told that Bluesky is not an approved social media platform for the NFL yet," addressing a fan question on a January 16th episode of the Patriots Unfiltered podcast, as spotted by Awful Announcing.Kirsch said the team briefly" had a Bluesky account before the league asked it to take the account down. The NFL told Front Office Sports in November it was aware of Bluesky but had no presence there, Awful Announcing notes. The league did not immediately respond to our request for comment.Football teams are allowed to post on other platforms, including X, which the NFL has a content partnership with that includes the NFL Portal" that X CEO Linda Yaccarino revealed in October. The league also has a content deal with Reddit and a heavy presence on Threads and other Meta-owned platforms.Bluesky has been growing steadily, with some occasional recent spikes in signups. The platform is closing in on 29 million users as of this writing, nearly doubling where it was two months ago. Whether that's enough for the NFL is an open question, but Front Office also reported Bluesky was working to get leagues on board with the platform. The Patriots are ready to go" whenever it does, Kirsch said on Patriots Unfiltered.

Illustration: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Photo: Getty Images Elon Musk doesn't miss an opportunity to take a dig at OpenAI - even when the news item in question is supposed to be favorable to President Trump. Just a few hours after yesterday's White House presser on The Stargate Project wrapped up, Musk posted on X that they don't actually have the money."Softbank, OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX have committed to deploy" $100 billion now and $500 billion toward the AI data center company over the next four years.But Musk, who now has wide-ranging clearances and reportedly even his own office inside the Trump White House, seems doubtful. SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority," he added. The Japanese CEO and billionaire investor is the former owner of WeWork and Sprint and the current owner of Arm, and there have been reports for the last year that, along with Altman, he's been chasing funding to invest in an AI chip venture.

The LG C3 can easily last several years as your home theater's centerpiece. | Image: LG If you're spending more time indoors to escape the icy winds or need something impressive to enjoy the Super Bowl, a new TV might be in order. Although it's a couple of years old now, the LG C3 is still one of the best 4K OLED TVs you can buy, and it's a bit cheaper today at Amazon and Walmart. They're selling the 65-inch model for $1,196.99 ($302 off), which is matching its all-time low price.The LG C3 offers a great picture quality with vivid color, no light blooming or bleeding, and deep, inky black levels for a practically infinite contrast ratio. If you somehow haven't seen how good an OLED panel can look yet, then a trip to Best Buy is in order. It appeases most home theater and gaming needs with a 120Hz variable refresh rate and auto low-latency mode across all four of its HDMI ports, Dolby Vision and HDR 10 Plus, Dolby Atmos audio, and an incredible upscaling engine that can make older content look fantastically sharp.You're not missing out on much by skipping the LG C4, either, and the incoming C5 may not have enough to justify waiting and paying significantly more. LG advertises a substantial brightness boost in the newer models, but in reality, the C4's panel doesn't blow the C3 out of the water. The C4 is also capable of a higher 144Hz refresh rate, though that's a largely discernible jump that's only relevant for PC gamers. Both run webOS, which offers a deep selection of apps for gaming, music, and video with voice-activated content discovery.More ways to save

The new Galaxy Watch for Kids mode is enabled in Wear OS via Google Family Link. | Image: Samsung, Google Samsung dropped some wearable news ahead of its Unpacked event later today: parents can now use the cellular Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 as a smartwatch for their kids.With a new Galaxy Watch for Kids mode, children can use the smartwatch to call and text trusted contacts, while parents can also track their kids' locations via GPS. The option starts rolling out today and will work on Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T networks.The good news is parents won't need a separate smartphone for this to work. Instead, it's similar to Apple Family Setup, where parents use their phone to pair and set up the smartwatch before programming guardrails through the Google Family Link app. Parents can control which apps can be downloaded to the device, locate misplaced watches, and specify their children's contacts for texting and calling. In an emergency, kids can also access emergency SOS features by pressing the side button five times. As with other children's smartwatches, there's a School Time mode that limits features during school hours.In a keyword blog, Google also notes that kids can download 20 teacher approved" apps and watchfaces from the kids section of the Google Play store. They include Barbie, Marvel, and Rubik's Cube-themed watchfaces and educational games from PBS Kids and Crayola. Other third-party apps are available for download but require parental approval.Samsung isn't reinventing the wheel here - it's playing catch-up. Apple first introduced Family Setup for its smartwatches in 2020, and last year, Google launched the Fitbit Ace LTE, a revamped kids GPS tracker with Pixel Watch hardware and a focus on educational gaming.Meanwhile, this has been a feature that parents have been asking for in subreddits and Samsung customer forums. Previously, it was possible to set up Galaxy Watches as standalone devices with cellular service for kids, but it required parents to be a bit more tech-savvy in figuring out location tracking, phone setup, and parental controls. This new mode streamlines everything into a more accessible format, though it is only limited to the Watch 7.We've asked Samsung if it plans to introduce the feature to LTE version of the budget Galaxy Watch FE but did not immediately receive a response.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube Premium users are getting a slew of new experiments to try out before anyone else alongside an option to reduce their membership cost when bundling subscriptions. Subscribers can now also sign up to test multiple experimental features all at once, instead of being limited to just one at a time.There are several new experiments that users can try out, including 256kbps bitrate audio quality on videos, and options for iOS users to view YouTube shorts in picture-in-picture mode and automatically download recommended Shorts" for offline viewing. The AI-powered skipping feature that allows users to jump right to the most-watched part of a video is also available on web browsers after initially being introduced for mobile devices last year.These will eventually be joined by expanded playback options for mobile devices that can increase video speed by up to four times. YouTube hasn't mentioned when this experimental feature will be available, however, only that it's coming soon."YouTube is also rolling out a deal that makes YouTube Premium a smidge cheaper when you purchase it as a bundle with Google's cloud storage. The offer is eligible on Google One Premium plans (which start at $9.99 per month for 2TB) or higher, but you'll only save $2 per month on YouTube Premium - bringing the price back to 2023 levels.

The Sharge Retractable 65 includes a 27-inch retractable USB-C charging cable. | Image: Sharge First revealed last December through a Chinese retailer, Sharge's new 65W GaN charger is now available globally. As the name implies, the Retractable 65 features an integrated USB-C cable that fully retracts when not in use so you won't be scrambling to find one when a device is about to die. It's available in white or black for $39.90 and while it comes with US style folding prongs it can be ordered with EU and UK outlet adapters. Image: Sharge An additional USB-C port allows the charger to power two devices, although the maximum power output drops to 60W with both ports in use. The Retractable 65 can deliver up to a maximum of 65W of power with a single device connected, so you can use it to charge larger devices like laptops. In addition to the retractable USC-cable that's just over 27 inches in length, the charger includes an additional USB-C port. Two devices can be charged simultaneously, but while Sharge hasn't detailed how power is split between the two ports, the charger's maximum output drops to 60W while both are in use. Image: Sharge The charger's retracting mechanism is left visible through a transparent housing. The Retractable 65 joins a growing number of chargers and portable power solutions featuring retractable cables, thanks in part to most devices now supporting USB-C so companies like Sharge don't have to accommodate several different charging ports.The big question with this trend is how durable are the internal mechanisms used to retract integrated cables? As someone who likes to fidget with gadgets all day (and who broke the spring-loaded memory card eject mechanism on a Sony camera while fidgeting with it) I will undoubtedly be doing the same with chargers like this.Will it survive someone mindlessly yanking out the cable and watching it go flying back into the charger all day like a tape measure? On its website Sharge claims the mechanism can survive 10,000+ stretch cycles" without breaking, but we've reached out to the company for more details about the charger's durability - including if a broken retraction mechanism is covered under warranty - and will update this story when it responds.

Image: Plex After getting started on mobile back in November, Plex is ready to test its reimagined" app experience on much bigger screens. Today the company announced that the preview has expanded to included tvOS. Please keep in mind this is nowhere close to perfect, but we want to get feedback from the community as early as we can," Plex wrote in the blog post.Live TV and on-demand rentals are prominently shown in the navigation bar, but if it's anything like the mobile version, you can disable those if you only care about enjoying your personal library. Note that you've got to opt into this preview; the regular Plex app isn't going anywhere just yet. Instructions for doing so can be found here. Image: Plex Plex's reimagined experience puts a spotlight on its live TV and on-demand content. Plex is also getting more social: movie and TV show reviews can now be viewed by everyone across the platform - if you change your privacy settings to allow this, that is. You can comment on reviews by others, so Plex seems to be leaning into all the success around Letterboxd with this one.By making your profile publicly accessible on watch.plex.tv you can easily share a link to your profile with others so that they can see what you've been watching, what's on your Watchlist, and more," the company says.Last, Plex is making HEVC hardware encoding available to all Plex Plus customers. HEVC encoding offers a better visual quality at the same bit rate, allowing for a higher-quality video over the same (or lower) bandwidth usage for streaming from your Plex Media Server," the company says. Another benefit is that HDR metadata is fully preserved. HEVC encoding is supported on macOS, Linux, and Windows when using hardware encoding with Apple, Intel, or Nvidia devices," Plex wrote back in September.

Image: Apple The second season of Silo - a postapocalyptic thriller on Apple TV Plus - has wrapped up, and the finale was the show at its very best. It was full of dramatic twists, painful sacrifices, brutal fights, beautiful shots of a decayed future, and in its final moments, a tease that shows how much larger and more expansive the story actually is. It left me excited about what's coming next - but also wary that the show is running out of time to tell the full story.This article contains spoilers for the first two seasons of Silo.Silo takes place far in the future, when the outside world is seemingly uninhabitable and what remains of humanity lives in vast, tightly controlled silos deep underground. The first season followed Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) as she was able to uncover (some of) the truth about the reality of the world and her home's place within it. It ended with a great cliffhanger as she stepped outside and discovered that her silo, which she believed to be the only remaining place full of human life, was just one of many.Season 2 picked up right after that and explored two concurrent threads. On one side, there was Juliette, whose trek outside uncovered a silo filled... Read the full story at The Verge.

Image: Sega Sega launched a new cross-platform game-linking service called Sega Accounts, reports Eurogamer. The company says the online profile system will bring a host of benefits" for players, like bonuses for specific games and other promised features down the line.You can create the account over at sega-account.com, and from there link it to your Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam accounts, with Epic Games coming soon. Doing so will net you a code for some bonus DLC: a new costume to use in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, which is out on February 20th. (You can also get that DLC by signing up for Sega's newsletter, though.)Sega says the account will enable other services and features" soon. One possibility could be a subscription service like Game Pass or PlayStation Plus, as IGN speculated today. Sega's Shuji Utsumi told BBC last month subscriptions like those are interesting" and that the company is evaluating some opportunities," but didn't get more specific than that.

Stray is just one of the titles Annapurna Interactive has worked on. | Image: Annapurna Interactive Former Netflix executive Leanne Loombe is joining Annapurna Interactive as executive vice president and head of games, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Loombe helped build out Netflix's game development and publishing arm, and now she'll likely face new challenges as a leader of the gutted games publisher.Annapurna Interactive, which is behind popular indie titles like Stray, Outer Wilds, and Gorogoa, experienced an upheaval last year when the entirety of its staff resigned after its owner, Megan Ellison, disagreed with the employees' wishes to spin the publisher off into a new company, Bloomberg reported at the time. The former Annapurna Interactive staff members later took control of the games published under Private Division, an indie label previously owned by Take-Two Interactive, according to Bloomberg.Loombe worked at Riot Games before joining Netflix in 2021, where she brought titles like Hades and the Grand Theft Auto trilogy into the streamer's growing gaming portfolio and helped head up its cloud gaming initiative. As part of its earnings report released on Tuesday, Netflix said it would continue to test and expand" its cloud gaming offering on TV, as well as focus on adding immersive, narrative games based on our IP, socially engaging party games, games for kids and mainstream established titles" to its lineup.I've always admired how incredibly thoughtful Annapurna Interactive is about supporting developers who have a strong creative vision and empowering them to create high quality games that players love," Loombe said in a post on LinkedIn. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to continue creating and strengthening a place developers can call home."

In development for several years, Sensify is an ambient sensing technology that can turn existing Zigbee-powered lights, switches, and plugs into motion sensors. | Image: Ivani Lights that turn on when you walk into a room and turn off when you leave are one of the most desirable smart home features. But you need to buy additional hardware like motion sensors to make this magic" happen. A new ambient sensing technology called Sensify could make this easier by turning your light bulbs into motion sensors. And it might be landing on a Philips Hue bridge near you very soon.There are tens of millions of devices with the base firmware already out there; we're just working on the final touches to light up the full experience."Sensify is a wireless network sensing (WNS) technology developed by Ivani that can turn mains-powered Zigbee devices into motion sensors for controlling your lights with just a firmware update - no additional hardware needed. The best part is that it can work on devices already in most homes. There are tens of millions of devices with the base firmware already out there; we're just working on the final touches to light up the full experience," Ivani cofounder Justin McKinney tells The Verge.An obvious use case for this is a Zigbee-based smart lighting system such as Philips Hue. There's been speculation that Hue is working on a Zigbee sensing technology since its sister company Wiz debuted a similar tech called SpaceSense in 2022, which uses WNS over Wi-Fi. The well-informed hueblog.com reports that Zigbee wireless network sensing is the technology Hue will most likely use. The Verge reached out to Signify, which owns Hue, but hasn't yet received a response.This engineering video demonstrates how Sensify's Zigbee ambient sensing can turn lights on and off based on occupancy. Video: IvaniMcKinney wouldn't say which companies are using Ivani's Sensify, which has been in development since 2016, but he did share that the company is working with some large household names poised to deploy the technology very soon." He also said it's the only company offering this capability over Zigbee networks.Ivani is a member of the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), which runs the Zigbee protocol, but Sensify is a proprietary solution that leverages the Zigbee network. Despite reports indicating this sensing tech is coming to all Zigbee devices, the CSA confirmed to The Verge that this is not a new feature within Zigbee itself.WNS works by detecting disturbances in radio frequencies and can also be applied to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Thread technologies. McKinney says Sensify requires three or more devices positioned around a detection area to detect motion and occupancy in the space. The tech also allows for precise detection zones based on where the devices are situated. The devices send messages to each other, look at underlying network diagnostic information, and process it to provide occupancy sensing decisions," says McKinney. Image: Ivani Wireless network sensing requires three or more devices to work. This diagram from Ivani illustrates typical topologies. Performance-wise, McKinney says Sensify is equivalent or superior" to passive infrared sensing (PIR) tech, which is traditionally used for motion sensing. It also doesn't need line of sight, as PIR does. However, it's not as precise as technologies like mmWave sensing, which can determine if someone is in a room through as slight a movement as breathing. The lights will still likely turn off if you're still, even if you're in the space," he says.The good news is that Sensify can run on Zigbee networks with a range of chipsets working together, meaning it can be deployed as a software update to existing systems. McKinney also confirmed Sensify runs locally on your Zigbee network, there's no Sensify cloud, and any sensing data is only accessible to the manufacturer deploying the technology.This video, published by the CSA, illustrates how Ivani's wireless network sensing works over a Zigbee network.Motion sensing in the smart home has several use cases, from lighting control and security to energy management and elder care. Two big advantages of WNS here are cost and scale. There's no need to buy additional hardware to get the capability, and many homes already have devices that can use it.Ivani is currently the only company with a Zigbee solution, but there are WNS solutions out there that use Wi-Fi. Origin Wireless and its partner company, Nami, were the first to develop Wi-Fi sensing, and they are leading Matter's efforts around bringing ambient RF sensing technologies to the smart home standard.It really is the promise of what home automation was supposed to be"Origin's technology powered Linksys Aware, a feature the router company launched in 2019 that turned its routers into motion sensors, and last year, Threshold launched a smart plug using Origin's Wi-Fi sensing to allow caregivers to monitor a loved one's activity remotely.In 2021, I tested Hex Home, a proof-of-concept security system from Origin that used Wi-Fi sensing instead of motion sensors. But false positives made it virtually unusable. I also tried Wiz's Wi-Fi-based SpaceSense when it first launched. It was more reliable but still fairly inconsistent. However, according to McKinney, advances in machine learning and AI have brought significant improvements to WNS technology.He says Ivani's Sensify tech is ready for deployment over Zigbee, and they're just waiting for their partners to fine-tune how best to introduce the feature within their product lines." He expects they will update existing products in the next few months. We have the pleasure of experiencing our partner's products and their beta tests in our homes, and it really is the promise of what home automation was supposed to be."There have been a lot of promises around home automation over the years, with very few being fulfilled. But the idea of, say, every Philips Hue light bulb in your home turning into a motion sensor overnight, making it simple to automate control of your lights without sticking white plastic sensors everywhere, is a fairly exciting one.

I want to use this feature just to side-eye Gemini. | Image: Google Google is announcing a variety of classroom and accessibility-focused ChromeOS features today, and one of the standouts is being able to control your computer with your head and facial expressions. The feature - aimed at those with motor impairments - was first announced in early December, but it's now rolling out to more users with compatible Chromebooks (Google recommends 8GB of RAM or more).This isn't Google's first foray into the face-as-a-cursor space. It previously made an open-source AI accessibility tool for Windows games called Project Gameface, which was also announced for Android. Here's a sample video from Google of the tech in action, demoed by software engineer Amanda Lin Dietz who helped develop it.Additionally, Google is also teasing a boatload of new Chromebooks for 2025, with over 20 new devices in its standard Chromebook and Chromebook Plus lines coming this year. That estimate may be a bit of a stretch, since Google seems to be counting the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus that launched back in October, but it does also count the just-announced 14-inch Lenovo Chromebook Plus 2-in-1 and more to come.Along with laptops aimed at educators and students, Google's got a new batch of classroom-focused ChromeOS features called Class Tools. These allow teachers to have real-time control of their students' screens. Once a pairing code is shared, educators will be able to send students direct content on their Chromebook screens, flip on live captions or translations for them, remotely view their screens, and share a student's work with the whole class. Image: Google An educator's view of Google's Class Tools settings. In addition to these collaborative tools, Google Classroom is also getting an integration with Figma's FigJam, allowing teachers to assign online whiteboards to students for brainstorming and group work. Maybe the combination of FigJam with the teacher's ability to snoop on students' screens will reveal who's really doing all the work for the group.

Using the non-touch screen on an older Bambu P1P 3D printer. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge Bambu Lab, the company behind my favorite 3D printers, has given itself one hell of a week. Now, I've got answers to some of my burning questions, answers which you might also hopefully appreciate. But first, some backstory.Since last Thursday, some creators have pledged not to buy Bambu printers anymore, even removed some of their 3D models from its online repository, after the company revealed it would add a new proprietary authentication mechanism that could keep you from using third-party tools to remote control your printer.While you'd still be able to stick a file on an SD card and physically put it into your printer or use Bambu's proprietary cloud, the old way of printing remotely from a third-party slicer would be no more - unless you downloaded a new proprietary Windows and Mac Bambu Connect" desktop app to be the middleman between your slicer and Bambu's hardware.Unauthorized third-party software will be prohibited from executing critical operations" - BambuWhile Bambu was clear early on that this would be an optional update, one you could simply choose not to install, the company also positioned it as a necessary one to secure printers against remote hacks.... Read the full story at The Verge.