The Verge

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images California Governor Gavin Newsom vowed to bring back the state's rebate for new electric vehicle purchases if President-elect Donald Trump follow through on his threat to kill the federal tax credit.During the campaign, Trump vowed to eliminate President Joe Biden's EV mandate" on day one" of his presidency. And now with this transition underway, his advisors have already discussed including a measure to kill the $7,500 tax credit for new EV purchases as part of a broader tax reform package.If Trump succeeds, Newsom says he'll step up and revive the state's recently phased out Clean Vehicle Program, which offered rebates from $1,000 to $7,500 for the purchase or lease of new, eligible zero-emission vehicles, including electric,... Continue reading...

Silverstone's new FLP01 PC case looks like a relic from the late 90s. | Screenshot: X SilverStone's new FLP01 PC case looks it was created in a time when desktop computers had turbo buttons and bragging rights were earned by having a Pentium chip inside. In reality, the retro beige box is launching next year for all your modern PC-building needs, doubling as a stand for a monitor that's probably not a 30-pound CRT.The Japanese company SilverStone has been making PC components and cases since it launched in 2003, and last year, during its 20th anniversary, it shared the first details and images of the FLP01 on X timed to coincide with April Fools' Day.

The Verge Roku is making it easier to find and watch its programming on Google TV without jumping between apps. Users can soon search for content from The Roku Channel - Roku's free streaming app - directly on Google TV, providing quick access to Roku's library of over 80,000 movies and TV shows.New category tabs are coming to the Google TV home screen that will suggest recommended Roku content, alongside the ability to jump back into unfinished TV shows and movies from The Roku Channel. The integration will also bring more than 500 of Roku's FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) channels to the live" tab on Google TV. According to Roku, these channels will include free programming across news, sports, cooking, DIY, music, and more." ... Continue reading...

Kristen Radtke / The Verge Parenthood is abrupt and total.When I went to the hospital, I understood that I'd be sent home with a vulnerable being who would require constant care, but it was impossible to prepare for what that actually felt like.I'd loved being in the maternity ward, a leisurely four nights thanks to a C-section and a few complications, where I was surrounded by perky and competent nurses who took care of me and my baby, checking my bandages and bringing me ice and answering my questions.(I had a lot of questions.)If she doesn't want to eat, is that okay?"What does that raspy noise mean?"Her lower lip keeps quivering, is that okay?"Does she need to keep the hat on all the time?"How often should I change her diaper?"When we were... Continue reading...

The Colorsoft is essentially a Paperwhite with a color screen. It might be worth waiting for a color Kindle Scribe instead. Continue reading...

Gorilla Glass is used in many of the most popular smartphone offerings, such as the Samsung Galaxy S23 (pictured). | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Gorilla Glass producer Corning has proposed several commitments in an attempt to settle an antitrust investigation initiated by the European Union. The bloc launched a probe into Corning on November 6th over concerns the New York-based company used exclusivity contracts to push out rival glass makers from the phone industry, allowing it to dominate the worldwide market for break-resistant Alkali-AS Glass.According to the EU Commission's press release, the remedies proposed by Corning include waiving all exclusivity clauses in its current agreements with phone companies and glass finishers, promising not to use such clauses again in future, and not forcing its customers to buy specific quantities of stock from Corning. Corning also... Continue reading...

Tim Cook and then-President Donald Trump, speaking to the Press in Austin, Texas in 2019. | Photo: Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images Apple CEO Tim Cook managed to forge a personal relationship with Donald Trump during his first Presidential term that other tech firms struggled to replicate. Now, others are trying to follow his template, says a Wall Street Journal report today.Cook used direct appeals to influence Trump's 2017 tax policy and to get him to dial back his 2019 tariffs in ways that benefitted Apple. In exchange, Trump got to look good; as the Journal points out, Cook didn't correct Trump when claimed responsibility for Apple opening an Austin manufacturing plant that had already been around for years and wasn't even owned by Apple.Part of Cook's strategy was keeping things simple, according to the Journal:

Image: Apple Wolfs director Jon Watts told Collider on Friday that he didn't think a sequel to the George Clooney and Brad Pitt movie, which Apple had already greenlit, would be happening. Yesterday, he revealed to Deadline that he had backed out of the project because he no longer trusted [Apple] as a creative partner" after the company made a u-turn on its wide theatrical release.The New York Times reported in August that Apple pulled the theatrical run for Wolfs because it was concerned it was spending too much on films after suffering multiple high-profile box office disappointments. At the same time, its limited-run approach worked out for Doug Liman's The Instigators, which analysts cited by the Times said was the most-watched streaming movie... Continue reading...

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge Nintendo recently announced a batch of Black Friday deals, all of which run through November 30th. This includes a steep discount on the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, which drops it to an all-time low of $49.99 ($20 off) at Best Buy, GameStop, and Target. This is one of the more notable Black Friday discounts from Nintendo this year - that is, aside from the current promo on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Nintendo's latest Switch OLED bundle - namely because the Pro Controller rarely goes on sale, even today.Although there are many great third-party gamepads available, the Switch Pro Controller remains the best all-around controller for Nintendo's aging console. It's much more comfortable to use a full-size controller... Continue reading...

There are so many things about the Palma 2 that could be better. But it's still great at what it does. Continue reading...

Image: David Pierce / The Verge Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 61, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, happy Hallmark season, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)I missed you all last week - thanks to everyone who told me you missed Installer, too! Warms my heart, and also makes me feel terrible for not being there, but mostly warms my heart. Let's get back at it. This week, I've been reading about venom and deadly car races and hockey phenoms, setting up the new Mac Mini I finally caved and bought, watching The Day of the Jackal (which is spectacular) and Wolfs (which is fine), devouring the Dark Matter and Say Nothing books before I watch the shows, seeing if Google's... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft has stopped offering updates to Windows 11 version 24H2 on PCs that have certain Ubisoft games installed, Bleeping Computer reports. The company made the move after complaints that Star Wars Outlaws and games in the Assassin's Creed series were crashing after installing the new Windows update.Microsoft confirmed the compatibility hold" in a status update yesterday evening, and says it's working with Ubisoft to find a fix. In the meantime, the company recommends against installing the Windows 11 24H2 update manually.Here is Microsoft's description of the issue and games affected:

Illustration by Lille Allen / The Verge Elon Musk is, in addition to many other things, now the co-lead of the currently nonexistent Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) advisory group. Now, before it even gets rolling, he has begun singling out individual government employees he says are emblematic of the government's bloat and posting about them to his hundreds of millions of followers on X.Earlier this week, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal, the X user datahazard" shared a screenshot on X highlighting the role of Ashley Thomas, the Director of Climate Diversification at the US International Development Finance Corporation, saying, I don't think the US Taxpayer should pay for the employment" of that role. Musk reposted it, adding the comment so many... Continue reading...

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos via Getty Images The Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments on a case involving funding for a major broadband subsidy program, the Universal Service Fund (USF).SCOTUS granted cert in a pair of cases called Federal Communications Commission v. Consumers' Research, and Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition v. Consumers' Research, which were consolidated for oral arguments. They center around whether Congress inappropriately delegated lawmaking function to the FCC by letting it set contribution rates for telecommunications companies to pay into the nonprofit Universal Service Administration Company, which manages the USF. It also asks whether the FCC delegated too much authority to a private entity by letting USAC manage the subsidy program.The... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge DirecTV has dropped its plans to acquire Dish, the company announced Thursday. The deal would've created a TV service megamerger, but it fell through after Dish bondholders rejected the takeover.In September, DirecTV reached an agreement to acquire Dish, Sling TV, and EchoStar's TV business for just one dollar, while also taking on Dish's $9.75 billion in debt. However, Dish bondholders - or the investors who lend money to a company (and expect to be paid back) - weren't happy about the decision, as the transaction would've cut the value of their holdings by $1.5 billion.While we believed a combination of DIRECTV and DISH would have benefitted all stakeholders, we have terminated the transaction because the proposed Exchange Terms... Continue reading...

The Spectra smartwatch is now available for preorder through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. | Image: Pocuter The Spectra is a new smartwatch designed from the ground up to be hackable and easy to repair. It was created by Pocuter, a company that has spent the last few years honing an expertise in building small electronics like its tiny Pocuter One computer. What makes the Spectra unique is that it's repairable, yet with a design that mirrors the Apple Watch which is much harder to get into.The wearable is now available for preorder through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign with delivery expected as early as July 2025. Early backers can preorder one discounted to around $209, while full pricing is closer to around $272. The Spectra is the company's seventh Kickstarter campaign, but also appears to be one of its most ambitious. Three years... Continue reading...

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Sling TV is increasing its monthly subscription prices by $5.99 for all of its plans starting in December. The streaming TV provider said rising costs" are to blame for the price hikes without specifying why - presumably, not all six of those bucks are intended to pay for its arcade" library of interactive games that just added Pac-Man and Trivia Crack.There are two packages: Sling Orange, which includes Disney and ESPN networks, and Sling Blue, which includes Fox and NBC programming that previously cost $40 per month, individually. Now, they will cost $45.99 per month. There's also the combo Sling Orange plus Blue, which offers a mix of both packages for $55 per month - but will go up to $61. Current subscribers will see the price... Continue reading...

Strava is the de facto fitness data middleman. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge A few days ago, Strava upset its users over some restrictive API changes. It might seem odd for one app's users to fume over an API, but at the heart of the matter is the inherent messiness of fitness data.Here's a typical scenario. Say you're all in on Garmin's platform. You use their watches for running and strength training. Then, you pick up a Peloton bike for indoor cycling. Well, Garmin devices aren't compatible with Peloton bikes because the two companies haven't struck a direct deal with one another for data sharing. So, to get your heart rate on the Peloton bike, you buy a chest strap. And then you decide to train for a race, so you sign up for one of those digital coaching platforms - the kind where a personal trainer reviews... Continue reading...

Gemini could spring into action soon. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google released the first Android 16 developer preview earlier this week and keen-eyed observers are already uncovering interesting tidbits, including one that hints about a much more useful future for Google's AI assistant. In Android Authority, Mishaal Rahman writes about a mysterious new API in Android 16 called app functions," which appears to give Gemini Assistant agentic-like abilities to take action in apps. It sounds awfully similar to the upgraded app intents" Apple supports in iOS 18, and it's exactly the kind of thing that could make AI assistants much more useful than they are in their current state.A page on Google's developer site describes an app function as a specific piece of functionality that an app offers to the... Continue reading...

Image: Getty Baidu's robotaxi division, Apollo Go, just rolled out its latest robotaxi across multiple cities in China, and if stakeholders in the US aren't nervous yet, they should be.The RT6 is the sixth generation of Apollo Go's driverless vehicle, which made its official debut in May 2024. It's a purpose-built, Level 4 autonomous vehicle, meaning it's built without the need for a human driver. And here's the thing that should make US competitors nervous: adopting a battery-swapping solution, the price for one individual RT6 is under $30,000," Baidu CEO Robin Li said in an earnings call.All the strengths just mentioned above are driving us forward, paving the way to validate our business model," Li added.Adopting a battery-swapping solution,... Continue reading...

Image: Microsoft Microsoft is releasing the first preview of its Recall AI feature for Copilot Plus PCs today. After a series of delays, Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel can now install a new build of Windows 11 that includes Recall and Click to Do - a feature that's very similar to Google's Circle to Search.Recall takes screenshots of almost everything you do on a Copilot Plus PC to make it searchable and easy to recall a memory or retrace your steps. If you enable snapshots to be recorded by Recall, then you can use the Recall app to search for what you were working on previously with natural language queries. There is also a scrollable timeline so you can skip back to a specific date and find the apps or websites you were using. Recall's search... Continue reading...

Image: Plex Plex is beginning to test its newly reimagined Plex experience," which will be available first on mobile and is coming to TV platforms very soon." Plex says the new experience has been in development for almost two years and is designed to bring everything you love into one seamless interface." But don't worry - while the new version of the app is currently missing some features, Plex says it will be closing those gaps" and will keep the current app available during the preview, which will hopefully prevent a Sonos-like debacle.A big change for the new app is redesigned navigation that more clearly delineates between media you might have on your Plex server and the company's streaming and on-demand offerings. The bottom bar has... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The young streamer behind a viral meme coin called Quant was doxxed by the crypto community after he ripped off investors, as reported by Decrypt and The Crypto Times. During a livestream earlier this week, the kid giddily watched the price of his meme coin go up before selling his stake for $30,000 and flipping off viewers, causing its price to plummet.The young investor, who reports claim is 13 years old, started gaining attention after his post on X went viral. Just made 2k before school. Lock in," the post said, alongside a photo of the kid holding up his phone to show off his gains. When the boy later launched his token Quant during a livestream, investments quickly started coming in - until he pulled all of the money out of the... Continue reading...

The SonarPen 2 includes upgraded features like USB-C and finer pen tips. | Image: Greenbulb In 2018, the SonarPen debuted as a cheaper alternative to the Apple Pencil by using audio signals transmitted to the iPad over a cable instead of Bluetooth. Its creators are back with an upgraded USB-C version that introduces additional functionality, including tilt detection and an improved tip that now closely resembles the Apple Pencil's.The SonarPen 2 is currently available for preorder through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, with shipping estimated to start as early as April 2025. If you preorder early, the SonarPen 2 is discounted to around $32, with full retail pricing expected to be closer to $45. Image: Greenbulb The SonarPen 2 includes integrated cable management. The SonarPen 2 still supports... Continue reading...

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have laid out their plans for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a currently nonexistent entity they say will cut the federal government down to size." Though DOGE isn't a real department - and may in fact just be President-elect Donald Trump's way of placating Musk by giving him the appearance of a real job - it represents a long-running right-wing attempt to gut the civil service, a plan the incoming administration fully supports.DOGE could be a mechanism for a Musk shadow presidency, a nonsense job designed to keep Musk busy without giving him real power, or a curious mix of the two. In any case, Musk and Ramaswamy have proposed cutting thousands" of federal regulations and determining the... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge Meta is promising long-overdue improvements" to its X competitor, Threads, including more precise search features and expanded trending topics.First, users will be able to search for posts within a specific date range or from a single account - similar to what X's search allows. Threads is also testing a new trending page in the US that includes additional topics to follow as well as AI-generated summaries of what other users are talking about.Instagram head Adam Mosseri, who led the launch of Threads, wrote in a post that the tests begin today.This week has been full of updates on Threads, which is facing increased competition from Bluesky, the decentralized text-based platform that people have been flocking to in recent weeks.... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon announced today that it's pumping another $4 billion into Claude AI maker Anthropic, bringing its total funding amount to $8 billion. This latest round follows $1.25 billion last September and another $2.75 billion in March.Along with the money, Amazon wrote in its blog post that Amazon Web Services (AWS) would be named Anthropic's primary training partner" and that the OpenAI rival would use Trainium and Inferentia chips for future models.The investment and deeper partnership align with previous reporting by Reuters that Claude will power Amazon's new Alexa voice assistant. The improved Alexa - the release of which has been delayed - reportedly performed better with Claude than it did when using Amazon's in-house model. The... Continue reading...

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge For two decades, Google Search has been unstoppable. Invincible. So thoroughly dominant that would-be competitors often couldn't even get funding, because investors didn't see the point in trying. But earlier this year, a judge declared that Google's power, and the way the company wields it, was an illegal monopoly. And so now the US Department of Justice has to figure out how to undo it.On this episode of The Vergecast, we dig into the DOJ's first attempt at a plan. The Verge's Lauren Feiner joins the show to talk through the recently filed proposal, which includes selling Chrome, possibly selling Android, and requiring Google to give vast quantities of its search tech and data to anyone wanting to compete.We try to figure out... Continue reading...

Some Apple Home users have shoehorned iPads into wall-mounted home controllers. However, reports indicate Apple is developing a dedicated home control device. | Photo By Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images The smart home has an interface problem. Searching for an app on your phone, fighting with a confused voice assistant, and fiddling with a smart" display to turn off a light is enough to send anyone running back to the wall switch. But now, Apple is taking a crack at solving the frustrations of smart home control - and it has the opportunity to actually make the smart home work.Next year, the company will reportedly launch an AI wall tablet for home control," and it's said to be developing more devices for the home (including cameras, a tabletop robot, and maybe even a TV). Among other features, such as video calling, this new smart display will reportedly be a hub for Apple's home automation platform, Apple Home, providing a communal... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Snap says the basis of a scathing lawsuit suggesting it systematically recommends teens' accounts to child predators is backwards - the company is now accusing the New Mexico attorney general of intentionally seeking out such accounts before recommendations were made. The company says the AG's case is based on gross misrepresentations" and cherry picks from Snap's internal documents.In a motion to dismiss filed Thursday, Snap says AG Raul Torrez's complaint makes patently false" allegations, and particularly misrepresents its own undercover investigation, in which the AG's office created a decoy 14-year-old account. Torrez alleges Snap violated the state's unfair practices and public nuisance laws by misleading users' about the... Continue reading...

Image: Department of Transportation The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has voted to finalize new spectrum rules that will push cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) communications technology forward.C-V2X will use existing cellular networks to send messages from vehicle to vehicle, vehicle to infrastructure, vehicle to cyclists, or vehicle to pedestrians to warn of each other's presence for safety purposes. It could cross-alert for hazardous road conditions, including speeding cars, weather, or traffic congestion.FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the agency's efforts will drive innovation in wireless and transportation economies and keep us safe on our roadways when we walk, ride, and drive." The decision on the proposed rule promotes efficient use of... Continue reading...

Photo: David Pierce / The Verge Rabbit is rolling out teach mode" to its R1 devices, allowing you to create an AI agent that can perform tasks for you. The feature works by learning" a task you demonstrate, such as retrieving updates from a content creator you follow, or helping you draft a post on social media.You can access the feature by logging into the Rabbithole, the web interface for managing an R1 device. From there, you'll create a lesson" by describing a task and then recording yourself performing it. Once you show the AI agent what you want it to do, you can then ask it to recall what it's learned and have it complete the task. It seems straightforward, but Rabbit acknowledges that teach mode is experimental and results may not always be what you expect.... Continue reading...

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Apple is planning a major AI overhaul of Siri that will make the digital assistant more like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini Live, according to a report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The assistant, reportedly called LLM Siri," will be powered by Apple's AI models and will let users have more conversational, natural-sounding interactions with Siri.As part of Apple's plan to infuse its iPhones with AI, Bloomberg says the company will make Siri better at handling more advanced tasks. The assistant will have an expanded" ability to use App Intents to interact with third-party apps, while also using Apple Intelligence to summarize and write text, too.Though Apple could announce these plans as soon as next year, the company intends... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge In a stunning misstep, OpenAI engineers accidentally erased critical evidence gathered by The New York Times and other major newspapers in their lawsuit over AI training data, according to a court filing Wednesday.The newspapers' legal teams had spent over 150 hours searching through OpenAI's AI training data to find instances where their news articles were included, the filing claims. But it doesn't explain how this mistake occurred or what precisely the data included. While the filing says OpenAI admitted to the error and tried to recover the data, what it managed to salvage was incomplete and unreliable - so what was recovered cannot help properly trace how the news organizations' articles were used in building OpenAI's AI models.... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Transferring your data from your old Android device to a new one will soon be less daunting, thanks to Restore Credentials," a new developer feature for Android which can keep you logged into your apps when you make the switch. While some apps already did this, Google is making it easier for developers to include this experience by implementing a restore key" that automatically transfers to the new phone and logs you back into the app.The change should help make going from one Android phone to another more like upgrading an iPhone. Apple users who move from one iPhone to another are used to having everything from email accounts to app credentials transfer to the new phone, but it hasn't always been so seamless for Android users.Verge... Continue reading...