Lead Hacker

Most of Belkin's Switch 2 accessories are designed to either protect or power up Nintendo's latest handheld, like its Charging Case Pro that actually does both at the same time. Its new multitasking Charging Grip can also add three or four more hours of playtime through an included 10,000mAh battery pack, while improving the Switch 2's ergonomics with beefier nonslip grips for the Joy-Con controllers. Belkin's Charging Grip is now available through the company's online store in black, lilac, and olive green color options for $99.99. The magnetic 10,000mAh battery sticks to the back of the Switch 2, but since the handheld doesn't support mag … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/942617/belkin-gaming-charging-grip-nintendo-switch-2-joy-con-controller

I can't remember the last time Microsoft kicked off a Build keynote with Windows front and center, but that's exactly what CEO Satya Nadella did this week. Nadella didn't address the issues Microsoft is trying to fix in Windows 11 but chose to woo the audience with Microsoft's slick Surface RTX Spark Dev Kit instead, calling it a "dream machine." Nadella unveiled the new Surface hardware just days after Nvidia officially returned to Windows on Arm with its new RTX Spark chips . Both companies are talking up these chips as some kind of new beginning for PCs, and it's clear that RTX Spark will drive local AI workloads in a way that Microsoft's … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/943108/microsoft-build-2026-windows-love-notepad

Some people rarely lose things. Wallets are always exactly where they’re supposed to be, keys never go missing, and remotes never slip between the couch cushions. And then there’s the rest of us — the folks who can’t ever seem to find the thing that was right there a few seconds ago. For us, Bluetooth trackers can help. Bluetooth trackers have been around for a long time, and they all generally work the same way. You attach the tracker to an object (a key ring, tote, in your wallet, etc), pair it with your phone, and then, if you lose said object, you can go into an app and ring the tracker. These days, Bluetooth trackers can do a lot more. Some have ultra-wideband chips that enable precision tracking, so you can find exactly where in a room your item is without having to sound an alarm. Most trackers tap into large networks — like Apple’s Find My and Google’s Find Hub — making it easier to locate lost items outside the home. Many will notify you if ...

Compact power banks have gotten a lot faster in the past year — and it’s not just their USB-C charging speeds that have received a boost. The newest Qi2.2-certified models can wirelessly charge an iPhone 16 or later at up to 25W. Combine that with their ability to magnetically snap on via MagSafe, and you’ve got yourself an essential add-on that’s easy to take on the go. Qi2 is a magnetic wireless charging standard that’s based on Apple’s MagSafe tech, so almost all modern iPhones support it. While the latest iPhones offer the fastest charging rates, older models (dating back to the iPhone 12) support 15W Qi2 charging speeds, which is still suitably quick. (The iPhone 17E also maxes out at 15W, and the 16E doesn’t have wireless charging at all.) On the other hand, Android phones are a mixed bag, with very few models supporting Qi2, let alone Qi2.2. Google’s Pixel 10, 10 Pro , and 10 Pro Fold support Qi2 charging at up to 15W; the 10 Pro XL support...

This week we've got tandem hands-ons with Google's new Gemini AI agent - Spark - from my colleagues David Pierce and Jay Peters . Their takeaways are similar: It's so effective that it's scary. Spark knew that David's dog is named Frida and knew the first name of Jay's wife, even though neither of them explicitly provided this information to Google. But what's scary to me is how all of this stuff seems geared toward a future of "productivity" that completely misses what needs to be fixed in our world. "Productivity" is often pitched as a panacea for what befalls us in our personal lives, even going so far as to implicate our moral worthiness … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/942629/as-ai-gets-better-it-reveals-an-empty-promise

Amazon's updated search bar will now show you AI-generated images of products as you describe them. For now, the in-app feature only surfaces AI images of clothing and home goods, allowing you to tap on the image that best matches what you're looking for and search for similar-looking items. In a blog post, Amazon positions the feature as a way to help you search for items if you can't remember the name of a specific texture or style, like describing a "shirt with a draped collar" if you can't think of "cowl neck." The feature seems like it might come in handy in these kinds of scenarios, but it doesn't really add much if you're just searc … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/942547/amazon-search-bar-ai-images