The Verge

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Rumors have been floating around for months that Apple might launch a brand-new iPhone model this year: the so-called iPhone Air, a new, super-thin iPhone that may mark the first big design shift for the line in many years.More than a facelift, the iPhone Air is a different strategy altogether, being neither a more affordable base model nor a feature-packed Pro phone. Instead, rumors describe a phone that's aimed to please people who are willing to sacrifice some function for a sleeker, slimmer design. Basically, it's the iPhone version of the original MacBook Air.Current rumors suggest the phone will debut as part of Apple's iPhone 17 lineup this fall, giving it the name iPhone 17 Air. Of course, it's not a done deal just yet. Apple could still change its plans or the rumors could turn out wrong. But enough reports have come out to suggest that something real is in the works. Here are all the rumors about the upcoming phone so far:The thinnest iPhone yetThe 17 Air will be very thin, but the rumor mill hasn't totally settled on the exact number.Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted a 5.5mm phone in January, which would make it slightly thicker than the 5.1mm M4 iPad Pro that debuted last May. Two days later, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman reiterated a claim he'd made in December: that the new phone would be about 2 millimeters thinner" than the 8.25mm iPhone 16 Pro. Supply chain analyst Jeff Pu has suggested it would be around 6mm.No matter who is closest, the 17 Air would be one of the thinnest Apple products ever, even more so than the iPhone 6, which currently holds the record for thinnest iPhone at 6.9mm - and was notably prone to bending. Encouragingly, Apple managed to make the M4 iPad Pro surprisingly sturdy.Battery woesApple is said to be working on novel ways to fit enough battery to meet its ultra-slim phone goal. A November 2023 rumor from ETNews said Apple was attempting to create a new, denser kind of battery that uses carbon nanotubes and a mix of materials like nickel, cobalt, manganese, and aluminum for future devices.But in November 2024, Korean leaker yeux1122 posted that Apple is using standard battery tech. They said the company had sought to get thinner internals to enable both more battery capacity and a slimmer phone but failed. The Information wrote later that month that Apple was having trouble finding space for the battery, SIM card, and thermal materials inside, limiting how thin it can be.A more recent rumor from leaker Digital Chat Station suggested that both Apple's phone and the also-rumored skinny Samsung Galaxy S25 will feature a 3,000 - 4,000mAh battery and measure somewhere between 5.xmm-6.xmm."The iPhone 17 Air's displayAll signs right now are pointing to every iPhone 17's OLED display using the same LTPO panel tech found in current Pro models. That could mean both higher refresh rates and less power consumption, as it enables the screens to raise their refresh rates to 120Hz and then drop as low as 1Hz. That's part of why Apple's always-on display feature works without a significant battery cost.As for screen size, rumors generally agree it will measure about 6.6 inches. That's a tad smaller than the 6.7-inch screen of the iPhone 16 Plus, which the 17 Air may be replacing this year. It's expected that the phone will get a Dynamic Island with Face ID, like the rest of the flagship line.In-house chips and Apple IntelligenceBloomberg's Mark Gurman recently said that Apple will outfit the iPhone 17 Air with in-house Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips, as well as its own bespoke cellular modem. That'll be a first for the company, which has been trying for years to develop its own modem in an effort to ditch Qualcomm. Apple is apparently confident it's done that now, and well enough to start putting it in phones, possibly starting with the iPhone SE 4 within the next few months.Apple will probably put a regular A19 chip in the 17 Air, reserving the A19 Pro chip for its Pro phones. The phone could also have 8GB of RAM and support Apple Intelligence AI features as a result.Camera dietRumors have been steadfast that the iPhone 17 Air will only have one camera on the back. Citing supply chain analyst Jeff Pu in October, MacRumors wrote that it will be a 48-megapixel shooter and that the phone will feature a 24-megapixel shooter for the front-facing selfie cam.How much will it cost?The iPhone 17 Air could be expensive despite lacking the fancy camera array of the Pro phones or the dual-camera setup of the base model. The Information even wrote that it could cost more than the $1,299 iPhone 16 Pro Max does now.Not every rumor agrees. The Wall Street Journal wrote in December that Apple is aiming for something cheaper than the Pro phones. That'd put it below $999, where the iPhone 16 Pro starts.Why is Apple making the iPhone 17 Air?Gurman reported in August that boosting sales is the big motivator for the Air redesign after years of Mini and Plus phone flops. Later, in his January 12th newsletter, he wrote that the company sees the Air strategy as a tried-and-true winner" for getting sales.The Journal's December story echoed that, saying Apple is trying growth with the iPhone 17 Air following its years of largely incremental upgrades." Although the iPhone still makes up about half of Apple's revenue, the outlet wrote, its last big wave of sales gains was in 2021," thanks to carriers' subsidies amid their 5G push.Apple has tried since 2020 to goose sales using four flagships, and the 17 Air approach is no different, CNBC wrote in November. Apple started with the iPhone 12, 12 Mini, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max, then swapped out the Mini models for Plus" phones starting with the iPhone 14. But the Mini and Plus models haven't clicked with buyers. Most recently, the iPhone 16 Plus only made up 10 percent of Apple's screen orders in 2023 and 16 percent of them last year, Ross Young of display research firm DSCC told the outlet. The Air could theoretically replace the Plus as a slightly higher-end option.Drumming up sales isn't necessarily the whole story though, as Gurman also offered another explanation in January: Apple is using the phone as a testing ground for new technologies, including its in-house wireless and cell modem chips. But more than that, it's a stepping stone toward the smaller tech needed to eventually build a folding iPhone.

TikTok may already be back online but Bluesky and X are quickly jumping on the vertical video train. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge While TikTok is already crawling back online in the US, uncertainty around the video platform's future has created an opportunity for Bluesky, X, and others to seize.Over the last few hours, both social media platforms introduced new features - including dedicated tabs and feeds for video content - that make it easier for users to discover and watch vertical videos in their apps. Yesterday, Instagram announced a new rival to CapCut - the video editor owned by TikTok's parent ByteDance - just after it went offline in the US.We had to get in on the video action too," said Bluesky with the launch of customizable feeds for videos. Users can swipe up or down on these feeds to flip through videos and create targeted feeds that only pull video content from specific hashtags, such as this #BookSky feed that riffs on TikTok's BookTok" reading community.

Image: ByteDance TikTok has returned - at least partially - in the US following a nationwide ban, but other popular ByteDance-owned apps, such as the digital card game Marvel Snap, video editing app CapCut, and the social platform Lemon8, are still blocked. None of these apps, including TikTok, are currently available to download on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, either.Though many users expected CapCut and Lemon8 to be affected by the law banning TikTok, Marvel Snap's ban took some by surprise - including its own developer. On Sunday morning, the game studio Second Dinner said in a post on X, This outage is a surprise to us and wasn't planned. MARVEL SNAP isn't going anywhere." Marvel Snap is published by Nuverse, a game developer owned by ByteDance. Screenshot: The Verge Users trying to open Marvel Snap, CapCut, and Lemon8 will see a message similar to the one TikTok displayed when it went dark on Saturday night. A law banning CapCut has been enacted in the U.S," the pop-up inside CapCut reads. Unfortunately, that means you can't use CapCut for now. Rest assured, we're working to restore our service in the U.S. Please stay tuned!"TikTok, along with several other ByteDance-owned apps, shut down in the US just hours before the federal divest-or-ban law went into effect on January 19th. The ban also affects TikTok Studio, TikTok Shop Seller Center, Hypic, Lark - Team Collaboration, Lark - Rooms Display, Lark Rooms Controller, and Gauth: AI Study Companion.Both Google and Apple display notices to users trying to search for ByteDance-owned apps. While the Play Store says, Downloads for this app are paused due to current US legal requirements," a banner on the App Store notes, TikTok and other ByteDance apps are not available in the country or region you're in."It's still not clear when Marvel Snap, CapCut, or Lemon8 will start working again or when they'll reappear in mobile app stores.

Instagram's logo for Edits. | Image: Meta Instagram head Adam Mosseri just announced a video editing app called Edits. Mosseri said the app is meant to rival CapCut, a video editing app that went offline along with TikTok. Edits is available for preorder on the iOS App Store.There's a lot going on right now, but no matter what happens, it's our job to provide the best possible tools for creators," Mosseri said in a video posted to Instagram. He goes on to describe the app:

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge First, TikTok was banned. Then, on Saturday evening, January 18th, it disappeared. Then, the next day, it reappeared. It may be back for good, but any time things get this uncertain, it's always a good idea to make sure you have backups of all your content - just in case.While the app offers instructions on how to download single videos, TikTok apparently doesn't like the idea of allowing its creators to bulk download their videos. You can also download - in TXT or JSON format - a certain amount of your data, which, according to the support page, may include but is not limited to your username, watch video history, comment history, and privacy settings." When I tried it, it did not include my videos.You can also share individual videos - the same way you can any file - but if you've got a library of a couple of hundred or more TikTok videos, that's going to be quite a job. In that case, it's a lot better to have a bulk download strategy.To find out how to do that, I went into TikTok and waded through a group of videos offering different methods for downloading your content. I tried several of the methods and found three that worked relatively painlessly. (All, incidentally, need to be done on a computer rather than a phone.)A caveat before I begin: not being an actual TikTok creator, I only had two published TikTok videos on my account, which I had made as an experiment some time ago. As a result, it didn't take much time for me to download them using any of the methods. If you're a true TikTok creator, expect downloads and conversions to take some time.The easy way: use Repurpose.ioSeveral people recommended an app called Repurpose.io. This is not a free app - it costs $35 a month or $349 a year. For a short time, Repurpose.io was offering free downloads from TikTok to Google Drive and Dropbox but had to withdraw the offer due to high demand." However, you still get to download 10 videos for free over 14 days, so you can try it out first.Repurpose.io lets you distribute your content on different platforms: you simply tell it where to upload the videos (besides TikTok, it will pull data from Instagram, YouTube, Zoom, and a number of other services) and where you want it to send them (besides Instagram and other services, you can save them to Dropbox, SoundCloud, Google Drive, and other apps). You can schedule regular transfers, repurpose only future content or all existing content, and even create clips (if, for example, you are sending YouTube videos to TikTok). Screenshot: Repurpose.io The Repurpose.io app is not free but does make it easy to transfer your TikTok videos to another platform. When I tried it, Repurpose.io easily picked up my two TikTok videos and transferred them to my Google Drive in a couple of minutes. While it should take a lot longer if you have, say, several hundred videos, the interface keeps you up to date on which videos have been transferred and how many are left.The paid app allows you to transfer an unlimited number of published videos to up to five different accounts. It could make a lot of sense if you are a dedicated TikTok video creator and are thinking of moving your videos to another service.The interesting way: use the DevTools consoleIf you don't mind playing a little with code, there's a free way to do it as well. A consultant named Joanne Moxam has published a handy step-by-step YouTube video on how to use Chrome's browser console to save all your links in one fell swoop, move the data to a spreadsheet, and then use an online tool to bulk download your videos.Below, I've summarized the steps that Moxam suggests (which I successfully tried). She strongly recommends that you do this by using the Chrome browser.

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 67, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, happy Switch week, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)This week, I've been watching Black Doves and The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, reading about Lorne Michaels and rodeos and Ben Shapiro, restarting Twin Peaks in honor of David Lynch, wading nervously into Lemon8 and RedNote, catching up on old episodes of Working It Out, and watching altogether too many Balatro strategy videos.I also have for you my most anticipated gadget of the year, the new season of Severance, an incredibly cool tech design exhibit to explore, a nifty new AI productivity tool, and much more. This week has been wild, with the potential TikTok ban and the upcoming US inauguration and seemingly 40,000 other things happening - but we've got some great ways to decompress. Let's dive in.(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you reading / watching / playing / cooking / building / cutting into small pieces this week? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer,... Read the full story at The Verge.

Marvel Snap is unavailable due to the ban on ByteDance apps. | Screenshot: Marvel Snap The divest-or-ban law aimed at TikTok is also taking down other ByteDance-linked apps, including the popular card game Marvel Snap. The app suddenly cut off access Saturday night, seemingly without warning, surprising gamers who weren't aware of its connection to ByteDance.The card game battler set in the Marvel universe is developed by Second Dinner, which is based in California. But the game is published by Nuverse, a company owned by ByteDance. As a result, it's subject to the same shutdown order.In a statement on X, Second Dinner called the takedown a surprise and said, Marvel Snap isn't going anywhere. We're actively working on getting the game up as soon as possible and will update you once we have more to share."Just before the calendar turned over to January 19th, 2025, the game disappeared from the App Store for iPad and iPhone players and from Google Play for players on Android. For players on PC, the game is still listed in Steam at the moment, but many players are reporting they were signed out and can't sign back in.An in-game message now tells players:

Genshin Impact developer Cognosphere has to change the way it does loot boxes. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge The Federal Trade Commission announced on Friday that Genshin Impact developer Cognosphere has agreed to a $20 million settlement and several restrictions on how it sells its loot boxes and manages children's personal data. According to the FTC, the company actively marketed" its loot boxes to children and misled players about their odds of winning prizes.Cognosphere allegedly also deceived children and other users about the real costs of in-game transactions," by requiring them to buy virtual money that involved multiple currency exchanges. Players often spent hundreds of dollars on prizes they stood little chance of winning," according to Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Samuel Levine. For years, loot boxes have been likened to a form of legal gambling.The complaint, filed by the Department of Justice, also accuses the Genshin Impact developer of marketing to kids using approaches like posts on social media channels and in-game banners. The company then allegedly collected their personal information in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule. Once the settlement is approved, the company is required to delete any data for children under 13 whose parents haven't consented to their data being collected.Other requirements of the settlement include that Cognosphere must offer an option to buy loot boxes directly and not just through virtual money. It's also forbidden from misrepresenting pricing, features, and winning odds for loot boxes, and it must disclose exchange rates for multi-tiered virtual currency.

Image: The Verge Microsoft is testing AI-powered Windows search in a new dev channel build for Windows 11 Insider testers. Announced in October, it uses semantic indexing to let users search for local files using more casual language. Like other Microsoft AI features, you'll need a Copilot Plus PC to use it.The feature applies whether you're using search boxes in Settings, File Explorer, or the taskbar. And you don't need to be connected to the internet for it to work, thanks to the NPU chips on Copilot Plus computers. For now, AI search is limited to Windows settings and files with image and text formats that include JPEG, PNG, PDF, TXT, and XLS. Image: Microsoft Microsoft says that search only works for files in locations you've chosen to index. Users can tweak those locations using options found under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows, or turn on Enhanced" to index their whole machine. The company adds that the feature will eventually expand to include cloud data such as that stored in OneDrive.AI-powered Windows search will gradually roll out to Windows Insiders on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs," Microsoft writes, with support for Intel or AMD Copilot Plus computers later. The feature will work for machines set to Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish languages. Image: Microsoft In addition to the new search, the build also includes AI writing tools offered by Click to Do, a feature that lets you choose from context-sensitive menus of options when you hold the Windows key down and left-click on your screen. Now, when you click a block of text and select Rewrite, there's a Refine" option that can correct grammar for you.

Photo by NASA / Isaac Watson Canoo announced yesterday it is ceasing operations immediately" and that it has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Delaware. The EV startup estimates in its filing that its assets are worth $126 million and that it owes over $164 million to its creditors, TechCrunch noted yesterday.Now, the US will appoint a Bankruptcy Trustee to oversee the liquidation of the Company's assets and the distribution of proceeds to creditors," Canoo writes. The company says it chose to file after failing to get support from either the US Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office or foreign investors.Canoo had signaled its dire situation last month when it idled its Oklahoma operations and put its employees on a mandatory unpaid break." Before that, it had lost a steady stream of executives, including all of its founders.We are truly disappointed that things turned out as they did," Canoo chairman and CEO Tony Aquila said in the announcement before thanking various government and business entities Canoo has dealt with. Those dealings have included producing shuttles for NASA's Artemis crew and an agreement to build 4,500 electric delivery vans for Walmart.

Adam Scott in Severance's season 1 finale. | Image: Apple After a long wait, Severance is back. Season 2 premiered on Apple TV Plus on January 17th, more than two years after the first season wrapped up. The wait was particularly hard because of how the season 1 finale ended - a massive cliffhanger that would completely upend the lives of almost everyone in this sci-fi thriller. Cliffhangers are a tricky business. They can help keep viewers interested in whatever comes next, but they can also be frustrating, seeming to withhold information purely for the purpose of keeping people hooked.Severance has managed this balancing act well so far, and I had the chance to talk to some of the creative team behind the show - creator Dan Erickson, director Ben Stiller, and star Adam Scott - about how they've pulled it off. Honestly it's just sort of guessing in your mind," Stiller tells The Verge. You try to think about what the stakes are that we've established, and hopefully you've earned it by the end."One of the trickiest parts for Severance, at least early on, was that the team wasn't really sure how audiences would react. It's a weird show that follows a group of office workers who have their brains surgically altered to separate their... Read the full story at The Verge.

The All-Fi hub that connects to AT&T's 5G network to provide home internet access in rural areas without broadband access. | Image: AT&T AT&T announced it will no longer offer its 5G Internet Air service in New York this week in response to the state's Affordable Broadband Act going into effect on Wednesday. The company says existing users can continue to use the service for 45 days without any charges, giving them time to find an alternate broadband provider, according to CNET.New York originally passed the Affordable Broadband Act in 2021, but the law was stalled for several years by pushbacks and legal challenges from broadband lobbying groups. Last December, the US Supreme Court declined to intervene, allowing the law to finally come into effect this month.It follows Congress' decision not to continue funding the federal Affordable Connectivity Program last year, which started during the covid-19 pandemic and offered discounts of up to $30 per month on home internet for qualifying households.The law requires internet providers with over 20,000 customers to offer two affordable broadband plans to low-income households that qualify for social assistance benefits like Medicaid or the National School Lunch Program. One plan offers download speeds of at least 25Mbps for no more than $15 per month, while the other boosts that to speeds of up to 200Mbps at a maximum of $20 per month.AT&T's Internet Air service offered New York residents download speeds of 40 to 140Mbps (which was temporarily slowed when the company's 5G network was busy) for $55 per month, or $60 for those not opting for autopay. Instead of complying with the new law and offering Internet Air at a discount, AT&T has instead ended its home internet services in New York. The company also doesn't offer home internet over fiber or DSL in the state.While we are committed to providing reliable and affordable internet service to customers across the country, New York's broadband law imposes harmful rate regulations that make it uneconomical for AT&T to invest in and expand our broadband infrastructure in the state," the company said in statements provided to CNET and Ars Technica.

Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images Bumble founder and executive chair Whitney Wolfe Herd, who stepped down as CEO at the beginning of 2024, is returning to the post in mid-March. Former Slack CEO Lidiane Jones, who succeeded Herd, has resigned for personal reasons" and will remain in the role until Wolfe Herd takes over.As I step into the role of CEO, I'm energized and fully committed to Bumble's success, our mission of creating meaningful, equitable relationships, and our opportunity ahead," Wolfe Herd says in a statement. We have exciting innovation ahead for Bumble in this bold new chapter."Bumble gained popularity in part because it was set up for women to message their matches first. But in April, it introduced a redesign and a feature that let men send the first message in response to prewritten questions.That redesign was announced following layoffs that the company said would better align its operating model with future strategic priorities," however, as Fortune notes, its share price has dropped by more than half since the redesign.Dating apps have struggled as of late, following the Bumble fumble" anti-celibacy ad it apologized for last year, as competitor Match Group (the owner of Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, and other services) reported a drop in users. In Bumble's most recent earnings report, it said that the number of paying users had increased from 3.8 million to 4.3 million over the last year, however, average revenue per paying user dropped from $23.42 to $21.17, and its total revenue dropped slightly.A 2023 Pew Research survey found that 52 percent of respondents thought they had come across a scammer on dating sites and apps, and 51 percent of women said their experiences had been negative. In the UK, an Ofcom report last year noted that usage of each of the top three largest dating services had declined from 2023, and survey data increasingly suggests Gen Z daters aren't using the apps as much.

Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images A new rule requiring all vehicles to have automatic emergency braking is flawed" and should be repealed, a new lawsuit filed by the auto industry's main lobbying group says.The suit was filed in US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by the Alliance of Automotive Innovation, which represents most of the major automakers, including Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, Hyundai, Volkswagen, and Toyota. The group is asking the court to overturn the new rule, which was finalized last year, requiring all vehicles to have automatic emergency braking (AEB) by 2029.Under the rule, all vehicles will be required to be able to stop and avoid contact" with other vehicles at speeds of up to 62mph. In addition, AEB systems must apply the brakes automatically up to 90 mph when a collision with a lead vehicle is imminent, and up to 45 mph when a pedestrian is detected." Vehicles must also be able to detect pedestrians in both daylight and darkness. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says the new rule will help prevent hundreds of deaths and tens of thousands of injuries every year.But after the rule was finalized, the alliance petitioned NHTSA to reconsider" it, arguing that current technology was insufficient to meet the high standards outlined by the regulation. The group also claimed that its suggestions were rejected during the rulemaking process, and urged NHTSA to reconsider several key provisions in order to make it more achievable by the target date.But NHTSA denied the group's petition, stating that the requirements were practicable" and that the overall aim is to force" the industry to adopt new technology in order to meet the goals of saving lives and preventing injuries.NHTSA acknowledged that the final rule is technology-forcing"NHTSA acknowledged that the final rule is technology-forcing," the agency said in its response, but emphasized that the standard is practicable and no single current vehicle must meet every requirement for an FMVSS to be considered practicable under the Safety Act."The auto alliance says that it has spent more than a billion dollars" developing AEB over the years, but doesn't want this lawsuit to be seen as undermining its own technology. And it says it much prefers the voluntary agreement" that preceded the mandate.This litigation by Alliance for Automotive Innovation should not be interpreted as opposition to AEB, a lack of confidence in the technology, or an objection to AEB's widest possible deployment across the U.S. vehicle fleet," the group says in a press release. Rather, this litigation is about ensuring a rule that maximizes driver and pedestrian safety and is technologically feasible."But consumer and safety advocates aren't buying it.The AEB Rule is the most impactful regulation for roadway safety issued in years," said Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, in a statement. Considering that automaking is America's largest manufacturing sector, employs 10 million Americans, generates five percent of the U.S. GDP and drives $1 trillion into the economy annually, it is remarkable that it would be unable to meet the requirements in the AEB Rule by September 2029."And William Wallace, Consumer Report's director of safety advocacy, said, It is profoundly disappointing that automakers are suing to block this lifesaving automatic emergency braking rule. Car companies have brought impressive safety technology to our roads, but AEB performance among new vehicle models is uneven. This rule is needed because everyone on our roads should be able to benefit from automatic emergency braking systems that meet reasonable minimum standards."

The falling debris field from the SpaceX Starship explosion lit up the night sky over the Caribbean, | Screenshot: YouTube Falling debris from the SpaceX Starship explosion yesterday created what looked like a meteor shower, or a colorful fireworks show based on videos shared by people in the area, but it also delayed flights.Eight and a half minutes after launch yesterday, the upper stage of the SpaceX Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly," following the separation from its booster and the start of its ascent to space.The footage of the explosion's aftermath was shared to social media and Reddit. Some of it was recorded inside planes flying nearby, and many flights were diverted around the debris field, or delayed until all the fragments touched down.The Federal Aviation Administration said it had briefly slowed and diverted planes around the area where space debris was falling," according to Reuters.The 7th test flight of Starship was at least a partial success, marking the second time SpaceX successfully caught the Super Heavy booster with its launch tower. It was also the first time one of the booster's Raptor engines was reused from a previous flight.The launch was a testbed for a redesigned propulsion system, an improved flight computer, and the craft's heat shield. It's unclear if any of these were factors in the failure, but SpaceX says that, according to initial data," the explosion was potentially the result of a fire that developed in the ship's rear section.The company says that Starship flew within its designated launch corridor" and any surviving pieces of debris would have fallen into the designated hazard area." The falling debris put on a show in the evening sky over the Caribbean and was captured by several tourists who seemed both amazed and slightly anxious about what they were witnessing.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, and even TikTok's CEO Shou Chew are among the powerful tech leaders lined up to attend Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday, but Nvidia's CEO won't be joining them.Reuters reports that when asked about his attendance, Jensen Huang said he would instead be celebrating the Lunar New Year on the road" with employees and their families.While Huang won't be present at the President-elect's ceremony, he said he will look forward to congratulating the Trump administration when they take office." Huang also told reporters outside Nvidia's New Year party in Taipei that he discussed increasing the production of Nvidia's advanced Blackwell artificial intelligence chips with Chung Ching Wei, the chairman of Nvidia's main supplier, TSMC.Nvidia is estimated to control 90 percent of the market share of AI chips. The company criticized a new AI framework announced by the Biden administration last week that would limit how many AI chips companies can send to different countries. In its blog post, Nvidia praised the more lax regulatory environment put in place by the first Trump administration and said it looks forward to a return to policies that strengthen American leadership."Nvidia is notably not among the list of companies and tech execs to have donated to Trump's inauguration, with Meta, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI's Sam Altman, and Apple's Tim Cook having each pledged $1 million to fund the ceremony. Huang also hasn't appeared at Mar-a-Lago to schmooze Trump directly, unlike top execs from other companies like Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai, Mark Zuckerberg, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

That Care Plus with Theft and Loss plan ain't cheap, though. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Samsung is sweetening the benefits for some subscribers of its extended warranty plans with a new deal: unlimited same-day glass repairs at no extra cost. Previously, a busted screen would cost subscribers $29 - and those on Samsung's less-expensive Care Plus plan will continue to pay that price. But if you're prone to breaking screens and you're on the Care Plus Theft and Loss plan, you won't pay anything extra.The new policy includes cracked glass on your phone's outer screen, back panel, and even the inner screens on folding phones, according to Samsung spokesperson Dale Hogan.That's a big deal, considering that repairing a cracked inner screen can cost hundreds of dollars without an extended warranty. Just one inner screen repair would probably make the Care Plus plan worth it, though the value is a little fuzzier for slab-style phones. Image: Samsung Samsung groups its phones into tiers and sets pricing for repairs based on those groups. You can also pay monthly for a three-year term or once upfront, but your policy will only cover two years. The monthly cost for a Tier 4 device, which includes the likes of the Galaxy S24 Ultra or any of Samsung's folding phones, is $18. The Galaxy S24 Plus costs a little less, at $15 per month, and the regular S24 is $10.That's not exactly cheap, and you'd have to crack your screen a lot to justify the price difference between Care Plus and Care Plus Theft and Loss. A two-year Care Plus plan for the Galaxy S24 Ultra costs $259 if you pay upfront; that's $90 less than the Care Plus Theft and Loss plan. You'd have to get three screen repairs to break even between the two plans.Theft and Loss includes a lot of other benefits, of course, like replacing your device for a flat fee if it goes missing. And if you're worried about your folding phone's inner screen, the pricier Care plan could certainly give you some more peace of mind. In any case, benefits like these getting better are the kind of inflation we like to see.

Image: The Verge, Nintendo Nintendo's taking the Switch 2 on tour. With the console now revealed, the next question on everyone's mind (outside of what games will be available at launch) is when will we be able to get our hands on it. While Nintendo hasn't shared the release date for the console, it is offering the chance for the public to preview it before launch at a series of live events held across the world. Here's what you need to know in order to demo the Switch 2.The Switch 2 will be demoed in several cities across North America: New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Toronto. You can see the exact dates and locations on Nintendo's website here. (There will also be events across Europe and Asia with registration for London and Tokyo already live.) But getting the chance to play for yourself isn't as simple as showing up and waiting in line. There's a registration process to go through first and registering doesn't guarantee you'll get in.First, anyone who wishes to attend must have a Nintendo account, including children aged seven years or older. If you don't have an account, they're free to make and young children can be registered under a Nintendo family account. Children younger than seven don't need to register.For families or folks who want to attend as a group of up to six people, all members must have a Nintendo account that's linked to a Nintendo Family group and everyone in the group must attend the same session.Registration opens on Friday January 17th at 12PM PT / 3PM ET and closes on January 26th. Tickets are free but awarded by lottery, similar to what Nintendo does for admission to its museum. So once you've registered, you have to wait. There are multiple hour-long sessions for each day of the event but you can only register for one time slot. (Really, Nintendo?) Trying to sign-up for additional time slots will require you to cancel your previous registration.The website doesn't indicate exactly when folks will be notified if they've been selected, just that it should happen shortly after the registration window closes.As with anything Nintendo, demand will be high so if you're vying for a chance to see the Switch 2 early, good luck. You'll need it.

Comic book and graphic novel Kindle readers get a little reprieve with today's deal. | Photo: Andrew Liszewski / The Verge Much of Amazon's experimentation in the Kindle line has generally led to bigger devices that are easier to read, but the Kindle Colorsoft is the first that ventures beyond a fully monochromatic viewing experience. Of course, that comes with a higher price tag than comparably sized Kindles, but if you're a Prime member, you can finally save a bit. The Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition has dropped to $229.99 ($50 off) at Amazon in its first sale.We feel the Kindle Colorsoft's 7-inch display offers the best color available in an ebook reader yet, thanks to better-than-average vividity and contrast. It makes browsing and reading books more pleasant, if nothing else. But there are other improvements we like, such as faster page-turning performance and smoother zooming. Those benefits aren't necessarily exclusive to the Colorsoft, however, as all of Amazon's newer Kindles have achieved similar results, thanks to performance bumps and software updates. This includes the 2024 Kindle Paperwhite, which the Colorsoft takes its design cues from.But like most newer Kindles, it's still lacking physical page turn buttons. That's a bit of a damper for something that costs considerably more and has a display that needs to be kept pristine. And while the color is great, the display's maximum 300ppi resolution is halved when using it - something to keep in mind, especially if you already have trouble reading standard text sizes on the Kindle's display at full resolution. Its advertised eight-week battery life also falls short of the 12 weeks you can squeeze out of the Paperwhite. That's still plenty, though, and you have convenient charging options between USB-C and wireless (the latter requires a separately sold $39.99 dock).Finally, before you decide whether to purchase one, it's worth noting that early Kindle Colorsoft units suffered from a display issue that caused yellow discoloration. Amazon says it has since addressed the issue with a combination of hardware and software tweaks. It even halted shipments temporarily while it investigated the issue and has allowed buyers to refund or replace their devices. If you buy one and happen to encounter the defect, Amazon should provide a remedy without much fuss.

MOSS LANDING, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 17: A fire erupted at Moss Landing Power Plant on Thursday. | Photo: Getty Images A fire broke out at the Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility in Central California Thursday. The battery power plant is the largest in the world according to the company, Vistra, that owns it.The Monterey County Sheriff's Office issued evacuation orders for nearby residents and closed parts of Highway 1 in response. County Health officials have asked other residents to shelter indoors with windows and doors closed and to switch off ventilation systems.There's no way to sugarcoat it. This is a disaster, is what it is," Monterey County Supervisor Glen Church told KSBW-TV.The company will investigate the cause of the fire once it's out, Vistra spokesperson Jenny Lyon told The Mercury News. Vistra did not immediately respond to an email from The Verge. It completed an expansion of the facility in 2023, adding more than 110,000 battery modules needed to store renewable energy. Energy storage facilities like this one are essential for power grids to be able to keep enough excess solar and wind energy so it's available when the sun goes down and winds wane.This isn't the first battery fire in the area. A nearby Pacific Gas & Electric battery plant stocked with Tesla batteries caught fire back in 2022. The year prior, Vistra had to temporarily shut down its battery plant at Moss Landing after a malfunctioning smoke detector and heat-suppression system sprayed water on its batteries, Canary Media reported.The current blaze is unrelated to fires burning further south that have devastated Los Angeles County.

Nacon's folding steering wheel for the Switch 2 will be priced at around $30. | Image: Nacon During the Switch 2 reveal, Nintendo teased the next entry in its Mario Kart series. We likely won't know more details about the follow-up to Mario Kart 8 until Nintendo's Switch 2 Direct event in April, but Nacon has already announced some of the first accessories for the new handheld designed to improve the ergonomics of its Joy-Con controllers for racing games, as spotted by Nintendo Life.Several companies were prepping peripherals for the Switch 2 well before Nintendo officially revealed its new design, including Dbrand, Genki, and smaller accessory makers whose cases and screen protectors gave us our first peeks at the console's redesign.Nacon's Switch 2 lineup features several accessories similar to what's been available for the original Switch for the past seven years. These include carrying cases, screen protectors, silicone wraps, USB-C chargers, and even tiny steering wheels for individual Joy-Cons for using motion controls in Mario Kart. Image: Nacon Nacon's Switch 2 steering wheel looks like a step-up to similar accessories released for the original Switch. Most interesting is a more elaborate steering wheel accessory for the Switch 2 that... Read the full story at The Verge.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Instagram is bringing back one of its more chaotic features, now reworked for the short-form video era.A new tab in the Reels feed will serve up videos that a user's friends have liked or added commentary to, Instagram leader Adam Mosseri announced in a video message today. Users will be able to see which friends have liked a video - a callback to the old Instagram activity" feed that was killed in 2019.We want Instagram to not only be a place where you consume entertaining content, but one where you connect over that content with friends," Mosseri says. In the new feed, you'll be able to see which friends have liked a post and which have left a temporary note" on a Reel. Image: Meta Be careful what you like, I guess? That sounds nice in a ideal world, but given the way that the previous activity" feed was scrutinized, I'm willing to bet a lot of users actually don't want their friends to see all the Reels they've liked. (I'm not sure what benefits or insights my friends would get from seeing that I liked every single Shohei Ohtani post that crossed my feed, but OK.) It also might discourage people from engaging publicly with content in this way to avoid it being shown to all of their friends. It's also not a given that you share interests or hobbies just because you're friends with someone - for many people, it's the hyper personalized nature of TikTok that makes the experience interesting in the first place.Other platforms like X have gone the opposite route by hiding users' liked posts, in part because people kept getting caught liking embarrassing things (if someone catches Ted Cruz liking thirst trap Reels, please email me immediately). Meta didn't immediately respond to questions about whether users can opt out of having their activity shown in the new Reels feed.Instagram stands to benefit if its biggest rival, TikTok, is forced to pull out of the US this weekend. Reels is Instagram's answer to TikTok, but many creators and users say the atmosphere on Reels doesn't live up to the environment TikTok has cultivated. While the new feature might stoke drama and pull some users into the Reels feed, it could also have the opposite effect for those who don't want all their interests broadcast out.