The Verge

Microsoft's PowerToys team is contemplating building a top menu bar for Windows 11, much like Linux, macOS, or older versions of Windows. The menu bar, or Command Palette Dock as Microsoft calls it, would be a new optional UI that provides quick access to tools, monitoring of system resources, and much more. Microsoft has provided [...]

Japan's anti-piracy coalition says that one of the world's largest manga piracy networks has been shut down following a coordinated investigation between Japanese publishers and Chinese authorities. The Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA) announced the arrest of an individual on suspicion of copyright infringement on November 19th, who "has admitted to operating" Bato.to and approximately [...]

The US is now leading a global surge in new gas power plants being built in large part to satisfy growing energy demand for data centers. And more gas means more planet-heating pollution. Gas-fired power generation in development globally rose by 31 percent in 2025. Almost a quarter of that added capacity is slated for [...]

Apple says the iPhone had its "best-ever" quarter, with revenue hitting more than $85.3 billion over the past few months. The company announced the news as part of its Q1 2026 earnings report, which also revealed record-breaking revenue of $143.8 billion, up 16 percent when compared to the same time last year. "The demand for [...]

There's never a shortage of weird tech debuting at CES every year. A new company called Tomorrow Doesn't Matter, or TDM, announced a peculiar pair of headphones at the show earlier this month with a feature no one has tried before. The Neo headphones can be rolled up like a hedgehog, which turns them into [...]

A foldable phone isn't for the faint of heart. They're generally heavier, pricier, and have less capable cameras than a standard slab-style phone. They're also still not as durable as regular smartphones, though they're not nearly as fragile as they once were. In fact, thanks to Google, we finally have a foldable phone we can [...]

Elon Musk-led SpaceX may merge with another company helmed by Elon Musk. Reuters initially reported Thursday that SpaceX and xAI are "in discussions to merge" ahead of SpaceX's IPO that's planned for later this year. The merger would help with SpaceX's plans to launch data centers into space, according to the publication. Later on Thursday, [...]

Apple's biggest acquisition ever is still its $3 billion Beats buy in 2014, but now the second biggest deal is bringing in Q.ai, a four-year-old AI audio startup. Apple did not disclose the terms, but Financial Times reports that Apple is spending $2 billion on the company. It also mentioned Q.ai patents for optical sensor [...]

Webcam company Obsbot recently launched two new gimbal-equipped webcams, the $349 Tiny 3 and the $199 Tiny 3 Lite. It claims that the priciest model is the smallest pan, tilt, zoom (PTZ) 4K webcam ever made, weighing 63 grams. Ironically, the Tiny 3 Lite is heavier and bigger. I've been testing the Tiny 3 for [...]

Prediction markets will let you bet on just about anything, from how many tweets Elon Musk will post this week to the next president of the United States, with predictions sometimes showing shockingly (or suspiciously) spot-on accuracy. Polymarket's CEO Shayne Copland has even claimed that prediction markets are the most accurate thing we have as [...]

Spotify is expanding its in-app messaging feature with group chats. Now you can add up to 10 friends and family members to your discussion about your new favorite song, podcast, or audiobook, as reported earlier by TechCrunch. The music streaming platform launched direct messaging last August, allowing you to share what you're listening to without [...]

While generative AI is being adopted at various levels of game development, a new survey suggests that developers increasingly think the technology is bad for the industry. According to the most recent survey from the Game Developers Conference, 52 percent of respondents said that gen AI is having a "negative" impact on the games industry, [...]

This week, a new generative AI tool from Google let me create bad knockoffs of 3D Nintendo worlds. Check out my version of something like Super Mario 64: I didn't like Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, but it's better than my version of a Metroid Prime experience: Or how about my take on The Legend of [...]

Windows is in a weird spot. In its 40-year history, the operating system has weathered its fair share of missteps, but Windows 11 is testing the patience of its users in new ways. Persistent bugs, performance issues, intrusive prompts, ads, and bloatware have eroded the core Windows experience. Early system requirement decisions have also damaged [...]

Waymo has finally broken through its SFO logjam. The company announced today that it will start offering robotaxi rides to a select group of passengers traveling to and from the San Francisco International Airport, a major step in Waymo's effort to increase its footprint in the Bay Area. The company plans on gradually growing the [...]

Gaming on Linux has already come a long way over recent years, with improvements to Valve's Proton and more gamers switching to Linux, but the newly-formed Open Gaming Collective (OGC) is aiming to take it even further. Universal Blue, developer of the gaming-focused Linux distribution Bazzite, announced on Wednesday that its helping to form the [...]

This is Lowpass by Janko Roettgers, a newsletter on the ever-evolving intersection of tech and entertainment, syndicated just for The Verge subscribers once a week. If you're in the market for a new TV, you'll have plenty of different options these days, ranging from display technologies (OLED vs. QLED vs. micro RGB) to styles (shiny [...]

If you've been considering picking up the latest Pokemon game for the Switch 2, there's good reason to do it today, as Best Buy is knocking $14 off the physical version. Pokemon Legends: Z-A normally costs $69.99, but you can snag it for $55.99 for the rest of the day - a price that other [...]

The music streaming service Deezer is giving other companies access to its AI song-detecting tool. The tool, which identifies, tags, and excludes AI-generated music from algorithmic recommendations, is now available for businesses to purchase and use, according to an announcement on Wednesday. Deezer launched its AI music detection tool last year as part of efforts [...]

The violent federal occupation of Minneapolis - and the subsequent killings of two residents at the hands of immigration agents - began with a vlog. Nick Shirley, a roving 23-year-old with a smartphone and a taste for outrage, made a YouTube video with unfounded allegations of fraud at daycares operated by the local Somali American [...]

Classic 2D animation may not be as prevalent as it once was, but some of the stuff we're getting over the last few years has been incredible. That includes future classics like Mars Express and Scavengers Reign, and now you can add the Moebius-inspired Arco to the list. After making a splash on the festival [...]

On today's episode of Decoder, I'm talking about the bidding war over Warner Bros. Discovery, which is the biggest story in the entertainment industry right now, and for good reason. It has pretty much everything you could want in a buzzy Hollywood saga - big names, big money, and big drama. Right now, the winning [...]

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is pushing OpenAI for assurances it won't seek a government bailout if it doesn't turn a profit. In a letter to CEO Sam Altman, Warren says she is concerned that the company is preparing to fall back "on the classic strategy of privatizing profits and socializing losses" amid soaring spending and [...]

It's not a household name, but Rogbid has been churning out budget-friendly smart wearables for around a decade. Its latest creation capitalizes on the recent trend of functional ring watches, but unlike Timex and Casio's wearables that don't do much more than tell time, the Rogbid Fusion includes smart functionality like fitness tracking, heart rate [...]

Fidelity is launching a stablecoin that investors will be able to buy and sell for $1 when it arrives in the "coming weeks." The stablecoin, called Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD), will live on the Ethereum network and is backed by cash reserves, cash equivalents, and short-term US Treasuries, according to CoinDesk. A stablecoin is a [...]

Android users could get a recovery payout of up to $100 each in a proposed settlement Google filed in San Jose, California on Tuesday night. As Reuters reports, the $135 million settlement is for a class action lawsuit claiming that Google collected users' cellular data without their permission, even while Google apps were closed, location [...]

The Corsair Galleon 100 SD didn't just come out of the ether. The new full-size mechanical keyboard with a Stream Deck fused to its side is the result of a lot of things coming together over the years. Corsair's gaming business is more refined than ever, and Stream Deck's wide ecosystem of plug-ins makes the [...]

Patreon will force creators to move away from legacy billing methods this fall to appease Apple's newly revived subscriptions mandate. The migration will impact 4 percent of Patreon creators who still use first-of-the-month and per creation billing models, with Apple imposing a deadline to switch to subscription billing by November 1st, 2026. On its support [...]

A Waymo robotaxi struck a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica, California, on January 23rd, causing minor injuries and prompting the National Highway Traffic Safety administration to open an investigation. The incident occurred during normal school drop off hours, with other children, a crossing guard, and several double-parked vehicles in the vicinity, NHTSA [...]

I was tear gassed by the government for the first time in July 2020 at one of the many Black Lives Matter protests that broke out all over the country. The feeling is excruciating, like your lungs are trying to kill you from the inside out. The sting in your eyes is painful, too. But [...]

PopSockets has announced a new version of the Kick-Out Grip it launched last May with some added functionality. The Kick-Out PopWallet carries forward the same design as the original with a hinged pop-up grip that can be folded out to function as a stand for propping up a phone vertically or horizontally. The new version [...]

Nothing CEO Carl Pei confirmed the Phone 4 won't launch in 2026 in a new video on the brand's YouTube channel. "There's no new flagship this year," Pei said when asked about phone plans for 2026, instead emphasizing that last year's Phone 3 remains the Nothing flagship. "We're not just going to churn out a [...]

Google is disabling some Phone app features on older Pixel devices after acknowledging a bug that inadvertently leaked audio to callers. The issue has specifically been linked to the Take a Message feature released last year, which automatically answers and transcribes voicemails when you miss a call, with a handful of Pixel 4 and 5 [...]

Sebastiaan de With, known for his work on apps like Halide, Kino, and Orion as the co-founder of Lux, is joining Apple's design team, he announced today. "So excited to work with the very best team in the world on my favorite products," de With says in his post. de With is well-known for his [...]

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse dreams seem to have been replaced by a new vision: an AI-generated social feed. In an earnings call on Wednesday, Zuckerberg reiterated his belief that AI will become the next big media format, making feeds "more immersive and interactive:" We started with text, and then moved to photos when we [...]

Windows 11 now has one billion users. Microsoft hit the milestone during the recent holiday quarter, meaning Windows 11 has managed to reach one billion users faster than Windows 10 did nearly six years ago. "Windows reached a big milestone, 1 billion Windows 11 users," said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on the company's fiscal Q2, [...]

Tesla will discontinue the Model S and Model X in the second quarter of 2026, Elon Musk said in an earnings call with investors today. No advance word was given about the cancellations, making it an abrupt ending for Tesla's two original flagship EVs. Musk said the reasons for cancelling the vehicle programs was to [...]

We live in a golden age of controllers. The gamepads on the market now are of higher quality, more versatile, and more customizable than anything from even one console generation ago. If you play games on an Xbox Series X or Series S (or a Windows PC), you have the unenviable task of choosing between [...]

Google is launching a new "auto browse" feature inside Chrome that can perform multi-step tasks on your behalf. The Gemini AI-powered capability is coming to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in the US, and can do things like research hotel and flight costs, schedule appointments, fill out online forms, manage subscriptions, and more. The [...]

In its earnings report, Tesla says that the third-generation version of its Optimus humanoid robot "meant for mass production" will be unveiled in the first quarter of 2026. This new version of Optimus will include "major upgrades from version 2.5, including our latest hand design." And the company is making preparations for the first production [...]

Microsoft just posted the second quarter of its 2026 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $81.3 billion in revenue and a net income of $30.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 23 percent. The holiday quarter saw PC shipments grow unexpectedly amid an ongoing RAM shortage. [...]

Tesla just reported its second consecutive year of declining revenue and profits, further complicating Elon Musk's $1 trillion effort to transform his company into a leader in AI and robotics. Meanwhile, the global EV market continues to grow, seemingly in spite of the pioneering company's setbacks. Tesla said it earned $840 million in net income [...]

YouTube appears to have taken down two of the most popular AI slop channels on its platform, along with several others. A report from Kapwing found that a channel called CuentosFacianantes no longer exists on the platform after amassing more than 5.9 million subscribers and over 1.2 billion total views. In a November 2025 report, [...]

I am not, by any definition, a coder, but when I started seeing people's vibe-coded smart home projects all over my social feeds this month, I was intrigued. From a "master command center" built on a Lutron system to AI controlling a smart oven, people were unleashing AI in their smart homes, using Claude Code [...]

If past timing is any indication, Samsung is likely to hold its next Unpacked event in late February. However, we're not expecting the company to shake up its earbuds lineup until the summer - the winter keynote is typically reserved for smartphone announcements - which makes today's discount on the Galaxy Buds FE far more [...]

Today, Spotify announced that it had paid out more than $11 billion to the music industry in 2025. It's an impressive-sounding number that's a full $1 billion more than it paid last year. And, according to Spotify, that accounts for roughly 30 percent of the entire recording industry's revenue. This figure, however, is purely a [...]

Popular iPhone camera app Halide is debuting a major update today: Halide Mark III. It's been years in the making, and it'll be available as a "Public Preview," letting users get their hands on new features while design is finalized. This update includes the next iteration of the app's much-discussed Process Zero mode, adding HDR [...]

The AirPods Pro 3 may be on sale for $199 ($50 off), but that's still a lot of money. If you want noise cancellation for less, fortunately you can buy the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation for $119 ($60 off) at Amazon and Walmart. That's the cheapest they've been since the holidays, and only [...]

Beyond Meat just launched a new product that's even further from meat than ever before: a protein soda. Beyond Immerse is the company's first product that makes no attempt to replicate meat whatsoever, marking a sharp shift in Beyond's business model. It might seem like it comes out of left field, but it all clicks [...]