The Verge

With Halloween and Amazon's fall Prime Day just around the corner, now's a great time to grab a video doorbell. They make it easy to watch over trick-or-treaters and keep tabs on Prime Day deliveries and right now, one of our favorites - the Ring Battery Doorbell Plus - is on sale for $79.99 ($70 [...]

Following months of delays, President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that's supposed to "save" TikTok. Trump claims the deal will make the app "American-operated," fulfilling the divest-or-ban law that threatened the China-owned app's presence in the US. But the Trump administration didn't reveal any information about who will own TikTok's US operations, or [...]

This is Sources by Alex Heath, a newsletter about AI and the tech industry, syndicated just for The Verge subscribers once a week. Building humanoid robots is Meta's next "AR size bet," a top executive told me recently. That suggests the company plans to spend billions of dollars on the effort. During a recent conversation [...]

The Lego Game Boy isn't supposed to go on sale until October 1st - but I already bought one and built it for you. How? Costco and Sam's Club have pallets full of them at warehouses across the country, they're already on sale at a discount, and I'll tell you how to check if they're [...]

YouTube is adding AI hosts to radio and mixes in the YouTube Music app as part of a new test available through its new Labs program. The hosts are designed to deepen your listening experience by sharing relevant stories, fan trivia, and fun commentary about your favorite music," YouTube says in a blog post. If [...]

We knew that Aaron Sorkin was working on a companion piece to The Social Network, and now we know what the movie will be called and when Sony plans to debut it in theaters. Deadline reports that the movie, now titled The Social Reckoning, has been given an October 9th, 2026, premiere date. Along with [...]

Throughout his 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump often claimed that his efforts against immigration were primarily against irregular or illegal immigration, and that he was happy to have people go through "proper channels." Those assurances got weaker as he moved into his first term, but he still made at least rhetorical overtures to legal immigration [...]

On Thursday, Meta AI launched a new feed of short-form, AI-generated videos called Vibes. The feed is designed to encourage users to remix AI-generated videos that come from creators and communities," the company said. Users can post their own AI-generated videos to Vibes or cross-post the videos across Meta's platforms for friends and followers to [...]

After releasing Space Invaders and Atari 2600 versions of its gaming-themed semi-smart wearable, My Play Watch is back with a third version that puts Tetris on your wrist. The Tetris: My Play Watch is now available for preorder through Amazon for $79.99, and is expected to ship sometime in October 2025 with an alternate interchangeable [...]

Amazon's fall Prime Day event is now less than two weeks away, but we're already seeing prices drop on everything from chargers to Apple devices. One notable deal, especially if you need a streaming stick before October 7th, is on Amazon's Fire TV Stick 4K Max. Normally $59.99, right now you can buy it for [...]

TCL has put its Nxtpaper display technology, designed to be easy on the eyes like E Ink's e-paper screens, in a slew of devices ranging from hefty 14-inch tablets to smartphones for kids.The new Tab 8 is the latest addition to TCL's Nxtpaper lineup and with an 8.7-inch screen it sits somewhere in-between the company's [...]

We watched LA burn this year. If you're not from around here, you might have seen it unfold in the news like so many other infernos. Neighborhoods in ashes. People in shock. I was nearby when it happened in January, visiting home from New York to attend a family member's funeral. As a climate journalist, [...]

When it's not trying to fend off lawsuits from major record labels, Suno is still working on refining its AI music creation tool. The latest model, Suno v5, is an obvious technical improvement over its previous version, v4.5+. But it still can't seem to escape the bland emptiness that pervades most AI art. There are [...]

This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent every Friday from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest phones, smartwatches, apps, and other gizmos that swear they're going to change your life. Optimizer arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 10AM ET. Opt in for Optimizer here. I'll be the first person to [...]

After upgrading its original compact computer-in-a-keyboard with its more capable Raspberry Pi 5 microcomputer, the company has announced a new premium version of last year's model. The Raspberry Pi 500 Plus is the first to feature an M.2 2280 SSD socket for storage in addition to an SD card slot that can be used to [...]

After more than five years of machinations, secret meetings, legislative actions, and confusing messaging, it appears a deal is coming to keep TikTok alive in the US. On Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order that didn't quite make a deal, but at least gave everyone space to make deal. It's a concept of a [...]

When Microsoft announced the launch date of its first Asus-powered handhelds without announcing prices, I had hoped it was a sign the leaked prices were too high. I had hoped Microsoft would subsidize them the same way it subsidized the Xbox itself. Maybe it would send a shockwave through the handheld market like the Steam [...]

The majority of OnePlus phones in use today may be vulnerable to a security flaw that leaves SMS and MMS data exposed, and it won't be patched until mid-October. Only OnePlus phones still running 2020's OxygenOS 11 or earlier are believed to be safe from the flaw. Security company Rapid7 was first to discover the [...]

The United Kingdom is introducing a national digital ID scheme in an effort to crack down on illegal migrant workers. A government press release on Friday announced that the digital ID will be stored on mobile devices through the GOV.UK wallet app currently in development, and will be a mandatory requirement for adults to work [...]

Meta is bringing its pay or consent" ad model to the UK after months of wrangling with regulators over the controversial policy. The update will force Instagram and Facebook users to pick between being served up personalized ads or shelling out for monthly subscriptions to ad-free versions. Subscriptions start at 2.99 a month, around $4, [...]

Today, Microsoft and Asus are officially opening preorders for the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X at $599 and $999 respectively in the US. They're $799 CAD and $1299 CAD in Canada, 599 and 899 in Europe, 499 and 799 in the UK, and $799 AUD and $1599 AUD in Australia. They both [...]

Japanese keyboard brand Realforce is teaming up with the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise and releasing four limited edition mechanical keyboards inspired by popular Gundam designs. The four keyboards are based on the Z Gundam and Hyaku Shiki from Zeta Gundam and the Nu Gundam and Sazabi of Char's Counterattack fame. Realforce's Japanese site indicates reservations [...]

One of Nintendo's most recognizable names is stepping down. Today the company announced that the aptly named Doug Bowser, who took over as president of Nintendo of America from Reggie Fils-Aime in 2019, will be retiring. He'll stay on until the end of the year - December 31st, to be precise - and will be [...]

Nvidia is open-sourcing Audio2Face, its AI-powered tool that generates realistic facial animations for 3D avatars - all based on audio input. The change means developers can now use the tool and its underlying framework to create realistic 3D characters for their games and apps. Nvidia's Audio2Face works by analyzing the acoustic features" of a voice, [...]

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order recognizing the framework of a deal between ByteDance and the US that would satisfy the TikTok divest-or-ban law. The deal values TikTok's US operations at $14 billion and puts it under the control of companies based in the US. I spoke with President Xi [Jinping], we had [...]

In a four-part series of religious lectures in San Francisco, Peter Thiel - yes, that Peter Thiel - has argued that the End Times are nigh and that a biblical Antichrist - yes, that Antichrist - will come to Earth in the form of onerous government regulations placed on science, technology, and AI. These are, [...]

Microsoft is making advances with a new way to cool microchips that it says could lead to more energy-efficient data centers in the future. It's a method called microfluidics that involves liquid coolant flowing directly into the silicon. After lab tests, Microsoft found that this strategy can remove heat up to three times better than [...]

Amazon's October Prime Day event (also known as Prime Big Deal Days) doesn't officially start until October 7th, but that doesn't mean you have to wait to find a good deal on charging accessories. Many speedy wall adapters, power banks, and large battery backup solutions are already on sale now from brands like Anker and [...]

Avenir Telecom is making a line of new Energizer-branded laptops aimed at marathon battery life. There are three productivity-focused models: the Energizer EnergyBook Pro 15, EnergyBook Pro XL 18, and flagship Energizer EnergyBook Pro Ultra. The Pro Ultra sports a giant 18-inch display with a meager 1920 x 1200 resolution and an absolutely massive 192Wh [...]

Twitch is launching a feature this week I've wanted for a very long time: the ability to scrub back on a livestream right from a streamer's main channel page. You can already look back at previous parts of livestreams as they're going on by clicking through to the Videos section of a streamer's profile, but [...]

Nine months after Google infused Gemini AI into Google Sheets, the AI system graduated from text and charts to taking on formulas. (Even those plopped into messy wedding planning spreadsheets, I found.) Gemini's chatbot appears on the right-hand side of Sheets. Now, when you ask how to manipulate data, Gemini will respond with suggested formulas [...]

Two weeks ago, record company Hallwood Media signed a deal with Telisha "Nikki" Jones after negotiations that purportedly included an offer of $3 million, Billboard reported. Jones is a Mississippi-based lyricist behind the R&B artist "Xania Monet" whose most popular song on Spotify racked up over 1 million listens, and whose Reels regularly top 100,000 [...]

OpenAI's latest personalization play for ChatGPT: You can now allow the chatbot to learn about you via your transcripts and phone activity (think: connected apps like your calendar, email, and Google Contacts), and based on that data, it'll research things it thinks you'll like and present you with a daily "pulse" on them. The new [...]

Jackery's new Explorer 240D is a 256Wh portable power station that weighs less than seven pounds, and it's currently available at Amazon for an early-bird price of $139 ($70 off). It offers pure DC output of up to 200W, and can power up to four gadgets at once when no outlet is nearby. For instance, [...]

LG is launching a new TV in South Korea designed specifically for elderly users who may struggle to navigate and operate modern smart TVs. The LG Easy TV features a simplified home screen with a larger font and a smaller selection of apps that cater to seniors. The TV offers picture and sound adjustments tailored [...]

Amazon MGM Studios is working on a Spaceballs sequel, and a new cast photo confirms that Rick Moranis will be back after a decades-long break from live-action films to reprise his role as Dark Helmet. Moranis' last live-action movie was Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves, released in 1997, and while Deadline reported earlier this year that [...]

Google DeepMind says its upgraded AI models enable robots to complete more complex tasks -and even tap into the web for help. During a press briefing, Google DeepMind's head of robotics, Carolina Parada, told reporters that the company's new AI models work in tandem to allow robots to think multiple steps ahead" before taking action [...]

Microsoft is blocking the Israeli military's access to cloud and AI services that have been used in the mass surveillance of Palestinian civilians. Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith announced the decision in an internal memo to employees on Thursday, after The Guardian and others reported last month that the Israeli government stored recordings [...]

Amazon has agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission, which claimed it tricked millions of customers into subscribing to Prime and made it hard to cancel. Under the agreement, Amazon will pay a $1 billion civil penalty, along with $1.5 billion that it will pay back to an [...]

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. Amazon is moving ahead with plans to replace Android with its custom-built Vega operating system on Fire TV devices: The new Linux-based system will launch on TV streaming hardware before [...]

Have you ever thought your favorite mobile games would be improved by awkward ergonomics, a dreadful D-pad, and a couple of camera lenses blocking a third of the screen? Then oh boy, does Xiaomi have the phone for you. Today it announced its flagship 17 series phones in China, led by the 17 Pro and [...]

A new report from Senate Democrats claims members of Elon Musk's DOGE team have access to the Social Security Numbers of all Americans in a cloud server lacking verified security measures, despite an internal assessment of potential catastrophic" risk. The report, released by Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), cites numerous disclosures from whistleblowers, including one who [...]

Have you heard? EV sales are expected to dip significantly in the coming weeks as the federal tax credit expires, and automakers are responding by canceling models, delaying factory plans, and boosting hybrids as a short-term solution. The latest model to get the axe is the Acura ZDX, an electric crossover that had both Honda [...]

A critic might accuse Xiaomi of copying Apple a little too closely in its launch event for the Xiaomi 17 phones, while a fan might say the company is trying to beat Apple at its own game. Either way, it's pretty clear that the Chinese giant had Cupertino in mind when announcing its new flagship [...]

Hey there, and welcome to Decoder! I'm Hayden Field, senior AI repoter at The Verge -and your Thursday episode guest host. I have another couple of shows for you while Nilay is out on parental leave, and we're going to be spending more time diving into some of the unforeseen consequences of the generative AI [...]

Following a significant price bump in 2021 from $550 to $695, American Express once again increased the annual fee for its Platinum card to $895 last week, making it one of the most expensive credit cards you can sign up for. To soften the blow when the price increase goes into effect for existing cardholders [...]

Microsoft's Windows ML platform is now generally available for production use, making it easier for developers to add AI to their Windows apps. In its announcement blog, Microsoft says Windows ML is supported on all devices running Windows 11 24H2 or newer, and provides a local AI inference framework that helps to build more responsive, [...]

Things have been weird for PlayStation of late. After years spent cultivating an image akin to the HBO of video games through single-player franchises like The Last of Us, God of War, and Horizon Zero Dawn, the company shifted focus, jumping on the live-service bandwagon to mostly disastrous effect. Aside from a few standouts and [...]