The Verge

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. Vega OS is finally here: On Tuesday, Amazon officially unveiled its new, custom-built Vega entertainment devices operating system with the launch of the Fire TV Stick 4K Select, a new [...]

The Trump administration declared war on the "terrorist organization" of "antifa" and the supposed "networks" associated with it last week. Antifa is not so much a vast national conspiracy as it is simply an abbreviation for anti-fascism - but don't point out that anti-anti-fascism looks a lot like fascism. That would make you antifa, too. [...]

Amazon has paused drone deliveries in the West Valley Phoenix Metro Area after a pair of its MK30 drones crashed into a crane. The crash happened on Wednesday morning at around 10AM local time in Tolleson, Arizona, approximately two miles from an Amazon distribution center where the drones launch and land. There were no injuries [...]

The Ghost games aim to make you feel like you're playing a classic samurai movie. To make the connection more obvious, Ghost of Tsushima added a black-and-white mode made in collaboration with the estate of Seven Samurai director Akira Kurosawa. The sequel Ghost of Ytei builds on that by bringing back the Kurosawa mode and [...]

Hey there, and welcome to Decoder! I'm Hayden Field, senior AI reporter at The Verge and your Thursday episode guest host. I'll be subbing in for Nilay for a couple more episodes, and I'm excited to keep diving into the good, the bad, and the questionable in the AI industry. Today, I'm talking with David [...]

Tesla's quarterly sales increased for the first time this year, as consumers rushed to cash in on expiring federal tax credits for electric vehicle purchases. The company said that it produced a total of 447,450 vehicles between July-September of this year, including 435,826 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, as well as 11,624 other vehicles," [...]

Nintendo has brought two of the very best Super Mario games to the Switch and Switch 2. It's no surprise that Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel are excellent; these are critically acclaimed games, and two of the best-selling titles for the Wii, Nintendo's top-selling console prior to the Switch era. So it's great to [...]

T-Mobile has expanded its satellite-to-cell service to several popular apps in the US, allowing users to stay connected without cellular coverage. The Starlink-powered T-Satellite" service now supports WhatsApp, Google Maps, X, AccuWeather, and T-Mobile's customer service app T-Life, alongside the AllTrails, CalTopo, and onX outdoor exploration apps. T-Satellite is free on most T-Mobile subscriber plans, [...]

HP is announcing a new jumbo-sized ultrawide monitor designed for productivity and office use. The HP Series 5 Pro 49-inch Conferencing Monitor uses a 32:9 VA IPS panel with 5120 x 1440 resolution, 165Hz refresh, and an 1800R curvature. Like other monitors of this size and resolution, it's equivalent to using two 27-inch displays side [...]

Universal Music and Warner Music, record labels whose catalogs include Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and Charli XCX, are within weeks of striking licensing deals that could redefine how the music industry handles the AI era, according to the Financial Times. Talks are underway with tech heavyweights like Google and Spotify and a slew of AI [...]

The Trump administration has put up banners across federal websites blaming Democrats for the government shutdown, and in some cases, blatantly campaigning for President Donald Trump. One banner on the US Department of Agriculture's site says, The Radical Left Democrats shut down the government," adding that President Trump has made it clear he wants to [...]

Apple is speeding up work on smart glasses that would compete with similar offerings from Meta and halting plans for a lighter Vision Pro headset, Bloomberg reports. The company is apparently working on at least two different versions: a pair without a display that it could reveal next year and launch in 2027, and a [...]

New analysis of basketball players and games is coming to NBA fans live and online this 2025-2026 season thanks to Amazon Web Services' AI and some seriously detailed movement tracking. The new stats come as part of the rollout of a new basketball intelligence platform called NBA Inside the Game." Fans will get more granular [...]

Instagram is testing a potentially major change to the app: making Reels the home tab of the app. As part of an opt-in test in India, Meta is making Reels and DMs the first two tabs on the app, according to Instagram head Adam Mosseri. Mosseri says that Reels and DMs have been a key [...]

President Donald Trump is launching a new government-run website that he says will let Americans buy medications at lower prices. The new website, called TrumpRx, is expected to launch in 2026 and will direct consumers to discounts on drugmakers' online stores, including Pfizer's, as reported earlier by The New York Times and NPR. The Tuesday [...]

Today, the Lego Game Boy officially goes on sale. It's surprisingly good. But in Australia, one woman has already created a more amazing version. Natalie the Nerd, the self-taught circuit board designer and Game Boy modder whose gorgeous transparent Game Boy we featured in August, is doing what Nintendo and Lego didn't: make it playable. [...]

From Apple devices to chargers, we're already seeing a wave of discounts on some of our favorite gadgets ahead of Amazon's October Prime Day event. And while there are plenty of great deals across the board, some of the biggest savings so far are on robot vacuums. Roborock's S8 MaxV Ultra - our favorite robot [...]

Donald Trump's administration is taking a 5 percent equity ownership of mining company Lithium Americas, on top of another 5 percent stake in the company's joint mining project with GM in Nevada, the Department of Energy announced yesterday. The mine at Thacker Pass is expected to become the largest producer of lithium in the Western [...]

Today, the same day that Meta announced that it will soon use your AI chats to personalize the ads it shows you, Instagram head Adam Mosseri made a myth busting" video attempting to set the record straight on a persistent rumor about Meta: I swear, we do not listen to your microphone," he says. Meta's [...]

The UK government is reportedly once again demanding that Apple provide it with backdoor access to encrypted iCloud user data, following claims that the effort had been abandoned in August. The Financial Times reports that a new technical capability notice (TCN) was issued by the UK Home Office in early September, this time specifically targeting [...]

Microsoft has officially debuted its Windows XP-themed Crocs, which feature a design inspired by the classic operating system's Bliss" wallpaper, alongside Clippy and Internet Explorer shoe charms. In a post on Wednesday, Microsoft said it's launching the limited-edition Crocs with a blue sky and clouds drawstring backpack as part of its 50th anniversary. It doesn't [...]

When Microsoft first launched its Copilot Pro plan last year and wanted an extra $20 a month on top of a Microsoft 365 Family or Personal subscription to get AI-powered Office features, it seemed like a tall ask. After bundling Office AI features into Microsoft 365 subscriptions earlier this year, Microsoft is now taking the [...]

Microsoft is officially unveiling its new Office icons today, after they leaked earlier this year. The icons have a modern design that's more colorful and playful, with subtle changes that match Microsoft's recent work with its Fluent illustrations. All of Microsoft's 10 core Office icons are being refreshed, with a design that was inspired by [...]

Ford and GM have apparently worked up an interesting scheme to keep the expiring $7,500 federal EV tax credit from driving down sales. According to Reuters, the automakers are working with dealers on short-term programs that would allow customers to continue to receive the tax credit on leased EVs through the rest of the year. [...]

Thanks to a deal struck by Zillow and Redfin in February, renters have had fewer options for browsing apartment listings, and they might not have even realized it. Now the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing the companies, alleging that their partnership violates antitrust laws and calling it an illegal agreement to dismantle Redfin as [...]

Sony is adding support for audio sharing and Google's Gemini Live conversational AI assistant to its premium noise-canceling wireless headphones. The features are being added as part of new firmware updates for the two year old Sony WF-1000XM5 wireless earbuds and the Sony WH-1000XM6 wireless headphones available now through the company's Sound Connect mobile app. [...]

Few gadgets are as personal as a smartwatch, which you literally wear on your wrist all day (and potentially while you sleep). Samsung's Galaxy Watch 7 is one of the best Android smartwatches we've tested, and you can pick up a 40mm Bluetooth model for $158.99 ($90 off) at Amazon. Verge Senior Reviewer Victoria Song [...]

The Porsche Cayenne Electric won't make its official debut until later this year. But in the meantime, the sports car maker is offering a hint of what's to come with a detailed look at the new EV's interior, including a curved OLED display that I think I can safely say is unique in the automotive [...]

Microsoft is promoting Judson Althoff, currently executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Microsoft, to a new role as CEO of its commercial business. It's the latest shakeup inside the company, as Microsoft navigates what CEO Satya Nadella calls a tectonic AI platform shift." It's also a move that will allow Nadella to focus [...]

Recently, I dug out my old Nintendo 3DS because I was craving simpler times. Really, I just wanted to play some games; to chip away at the mystery of Majora's Mask, or solve a few puzzles in BoxBoy, without the headaches of system updates or subscriptions or any of that stuff. It's been refreshing. And [...]

We've been hearing rumors about Apple's plan to launch a new version of its Vision Pro headset for months, and now a new filing with the Federal Communications Commission seemingly confirms the company's work on the new device. In a filing spotted by MacRumors, Apple includes a diagram of a Head Mounted Device" that looks [...]

8BitDo hasn't rushed to offer big discounts on its 2025 controllers, including the new Ultimate 2 wireless gamepad made for Switch, Switch 2, and PC. But now's a good time to consider getting one, as there's a rare $10 off deal available at Amazon ahead of October Prime Day, which kicks off next Tuesday. The [...]

Microsoft is raising the price of its Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription again and rebranding some of its Xbox Game Pass plans. Starting today, Game Pass Ultimate will be priced at $29.99 per month instead of $19.99 - a 50 percent increase. Microsoft is attempting to justify the price hike with a variety of upgrades [...]

Xbox Cloud Gaming is finally coming out of its preview state, more than five years after the streaming service first launched in 2020. We're officially removing the beta tag from Xbox Cloud Gaming," says Dustin Blackwell, director of gaming and platform communications at Microsoft, in a briefing with The Verge. The beta tag removal coincides [...]

What is a good night's sleep worth to you? Does a grand seem like a small price to pay to avoid a night spent constantly flipping your pillow in search of the cool side? Eight Sleep has announced a new Pod Pillow Cover that ensures where you're resting your head is always at your ideal [...]

Ubisoft previously announced that it was working with Tencent on a new subsidiary focused on its biggest games. Now that offshoot has a name: Vantage Studios. The new operation, which Ubisoft describes as a creative house," will be responsible for the Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six series. It includes studios in Montreal, Quebec, [...]

Sony launched an updated PlayStation 5 digital console in Europe, but instead of offering 1TB of storage for 499, it now comes with just an 825GB Solid-State Drive (SSD) at the same price, as reported earlier by Eurogamer. YouTuber Austin Evans discovered the change in a teardown video posted earlier this week, confirming an earlier [...]

OpenAI is teaming up with South Korea's Samsung and SK Hynix for strategic partnerships" to supply the advanced computer chips needed for its mammoth Stargate project. The Korean firms said they will scale production in order to meet OpenAI's growing demand for memory chips needed to power its compute-hungry AI models. OpenAI said it expects [...]

Guillermo del Toro's upcoming take on Frankenstein has looked great in trailers (and looked great when I saw it in theaters) but one element has been largely shrouded in mystery: the monster itself. Yesterday Netflix teased a bit of the creature's new look in a poster, and now we have a trailer that shows how [...]

Google is rolling out its biggest smart home overhaul in years. Launching October 1st, Gemini For Home is a suite of new AI-powered features for Google's smart home hardware and software. The biggest change: Gemini is replacing Google Assistant on all of Google's smart speakers, all the way back to the original Google Home speaker. [...]

Philips has announced a new lineup of LCD TVs featuring both built-in immersive backlighting and the Roku TV operating system. The company's Ambilight technology, which uses a series of color-changing LEDs on the back of the TV set to project colors onto walls mirroring what's happening on screen, has been around for a few decades. [...]

Meta will soon use your conversations with its AI assistant to personalize the ads you see on its platforms. The change, which goes into effect on December 16th, means you'll also start seeing suggested posts, reels, and Facebook groups related to your AI text and voice chats, too. So if you ask Meta AI about [...]

Google is launching two new Nest Cams and a new Nest Doorbell, bringing 2K resolution to its lineup for the first time. The new wired Nest Cam Indoor 2K ($99.99), Nest Cam Outdoor 2K ($149.99 ), and wired Nest Doorbell 2K ($179.99) are the company's first hardware designed for its AI-powered Gemini for Home platform, [...]

Amazon is planning to refocus its Luna cloud gaming service towards party games, in a bid to attract more Prime subscribers. Amazon Luna head Jeff Gattis announced in a blog post on Wednesday that a completely redesigned and reimagined Amazon Luna" service will be relaunched later this year, introducing a Jackbox-like GameNight" social category that [...]

Apple has hit back at Elon Musk over his claims its partnership with OpenAI to build ChatGPT directly into the iPhone is stunting AI industry competition. In court documents filed on Tuesday and seen by Bloomberg, Apple's lawyers asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Musk's companies xAI and X Corp, decrying [...]

Peloton has been angling for a redemption arc ever since its status as a pandemic darling started faltering when the world reopened for business. It tried to steady the ship with a series of layoffs, a pivot to subscriptions, and a leadership shuffle. Now, Peloton's hoping to kick off a new era with the Cross [...]

The BromptonElectric G folding e-bike I reviewedlast year is now available to buy in the USstarting at $4,950. While it looks like a regular Brompton, it's been scaled up with 20-inch wheels and an extended wheelbase that improves the ride dramatically on all types of terrain, leaving behind the twitchiness of its16-inch brethren. Despite this [...]

The Epic Games Store has seen an uptick in downloads since the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) prompted Apple to streamline its process for installing third-party app marketplaces, according to a new blog published by Epic. Stats shared by the gaming software giant on Wednesday show the drop-off rate for Epic Games Store installations on [...]

The late English writer Douglas Adams is best known as the author of the 1979 book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. But there is much more to Adams than what is written in his Wikipedia entry. Whether or not you need to know that his birth sign is Pisces or that libraries worldwide store [...]