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The Blackmagic Camera app now supports a handful of Android tablets. Blackmagic Design has announced that it’s finally bringing several advanced features already available for the iOS version of its free camera app to Android . The Blackmagic Camera for Android 2.0 update released this week allows several smartphones running the app to be monitored and controlled from a single device, including, for the first time, a small selection of Android tablets. The new multicam remote functionality, which was introduced on the iOS and iPadOS versions of the app last August, allows a single Android smartphone or tablet to be connected to up to nine other phones running the camera app over a Wi-Fi or wired network. The controller device can be used to monitor the live video feeds from all the connected phones in a multi-view layout, start or stop recordings, and adjust settings such as focus, zoom, frame rate, white balance, and shutter angle individually or on all the phones at once. Alt...

Splashy blockbuster games are great, but there are there are a huge number of indie and smaller video games worth playing, too. Whether they’re pushing the boundaries of the medium and or offering a creative spin on classic ideas , indie games can be just as interesting as big-budget epics. Sometimes, though, indie games can fly under the radar. But we here at The Verge love seeking out hidden gems, so we want to use this space to share some of our favorite smaller games that we’re checking out so that you might find something new, or potentially your next obsession. We’ll be highlighting interesting games you may not have heard of and sharing a little bit about why you should play them. This list will be updated pretty frequently, too — so check back often to see some new recommendations. Citizen Sleeper 2 is the good kind of stressful Lok Digital is a surreal puzzle game full of made-up words Antonblast is an out-of-control platformer with its heart in the ’90s The best mob...

Max is putting you in the driver’s seat for NASCAR’s upcoming races. The streamer will now let you watch up to four in-car driver cams at once, starting with the Cook Out Clash on Sunday, February 2nd. You can switch between up to 40 different driver cams, with each 1080p feed offering the sounds of both the scanner team radios and ambient car noise. If you’re having trouble choosing which drivers to watch in multiview, Max will offer preset options “based on the most compelling matchups.” Though Max won’t present a top-down view of the race, it will still show a leaderboard, along with the lap number, race status, and stage while you watch the driver cams. You can also switch between the audio on each feed while you’re watching in multiview. The in-car cams will be available exclusively on Max throughout this year’s NASCAR season. You can access the feeds across all of Max’s platforms, whether you’re watching on a TV or your phone. “This is such a great way for fans to compleme...

The Chinese startup DeepSeek shook up the world of AI last week after showing its supercheap R1 model could compete directly with OpenAI’s o1. While it wiped nearly $600 billion off Nvidia’s market value, Microsoft engineers were quietly working at pace to embrace the partially open- source R1 model and get it ready for Azure customers. It was a decision that came from the very top of Microsoft. Sources familiar with Microsoft’s DeepSeek R1 deployment tell me that the company’s senior leadership team and CEO Satya Nadella moved with haste to get engineers to test and deploy R1 on Azure AI Foundry and GitHub over the past 10 days. For a corporation the size of Microsoft, it was an unusually quick turnaround, but there are plenty of signs that Nadella was ready and waiting for this exact moment. While the open-source model has upended Wall Street’s idea of how much AI costs, Nadella seemed to know that something like DeepSeek was coming eventually. Appearing on the BG2 po...

Final Fantasy VII Remake, on PS4, is currently available on the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog. | Image: Square Enix Sony announced Wednesday that it will change to “occasionally” including PS4 games as a PlayStation Plus benefit starting in January 2026. You’ll still have access to any of the monthly PS4 games you’ve already redeemed to your account after that date, however, and you can still play PS4 games that are available on the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog until they leave the catalog. After January 2026, Sony also says that it “may still provide titles that can be playable on both PS4 and PS5 consoles after this date.” But in general, it seems like the company is shifting its focus more fully to PS5. As part of its blog post announcing the change, Sony also revealed that Payday 3 , High on Life , and Pac-Man World Re-Pac will be February’s redeemable games for PlayStation Plus users. On Wednesday, Sony also announced that it would be dropping its PSN account requirement ...

Waymo is sending autonomous vehicles to 10 new cities in 2025, starting with Las Vegas and San Diego, the company shared exclusively with The Verge .  The vehicles will be manually driven, and the testing operations are not necessarily a precursor to the launch of a commercial robotaxi service. (They’re also not precluded from launching a service, either.) Rather, the Alphabet-owned company views these “ road trips ” as an opportunity to see how well its self-driving system adapts to new locales with varying weather conditions and regional driving habits.  “So what we’re looking for is places that are going to challenge our system and look very, very different,” said Nick Rose, product manager for Waymo’s expansion efforts. “Las Vegas is pretty interesting because, I mean, if you’ve ever been to Vegas, it’s pretty unique among a lot of US cities.” “What we’re looking for is places that are going to challenge our system” Las Vegas is known for its dense traffic and cha...

Sony announced Wednesday that you won’t need to log in to a PlayStation Network account to play four of its single-player games on PC: Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (which comes out tomorrow), The Last of Us Part II Remastered (which launches on April 3rd), God of War Ragnarök , and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered . However, to incentivize you to still sign in with a PSN account while playing those games, Sony says that it will “soon” be adding “in-game content unlocks” like outfits and resources. You can see the full list of bonuses in Sony’s blog post about the news . Sony also says that using a PSN account gives you benefits like “trophies and friend management.” Sony’s PSN account requirement for some of its PC games hasn’t been a popular one. Backlash to the requirement for Helldivers 2 led Sony to reverse the decision after the game was review bombed on Steam. source https://www.theverge.com/news/601909/playstation-is-dropping-its-account-linking-requirement-for-some-pc-games

A final hearing will take place in June. MGM Resorts International has agreed to pay $45 million to settle a lawsuit over data breaches that collectively exposed the personal information of 37 million customers. The case consolidated 22 class-action lawsuits filed over two security incidents: a data breach in 2019, and a ransomware attack in 2023 .  Lawyers for the victims said in district court filings that both data breaches saw hackers access MGM’s systems and obtain identifiable customer data, including names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, and passport numbers. Further information was also stolen in the 2023 ransomware attack that shut down Las Vegas slot machines and ATMs, including driver’s license numbers, military ID numbers, and Social Security numbers.  The $45 million will be dispersed to those impacted by the breaches as $75, $50, or $20 payments through a tiered system based on what information a person had stolen. Victims who ca...

US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on January 24, 2025. The Trump administration sent a memo instructing federal agencies to pause grant, loan, and other financial assistance programs. It’s a catch-all for a wide range of programs President Donald Trump has crusaded against and it’s unclear what specifically is in the crosshairs with this move, but it seems to target Biden-era programs to deploy clean energy. The freeze is supposed to stop funds for policies Trump rolled back through executive orders , “including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.” There is no single policy in place across the federal government named “the green new deal.” But Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law in 2022 , which created $369 billion in federal funding for climate action and clean energy. Trump, me...

Cath Virginia / The Verge Spotify and Universal Music Group have signed a new multi-year agreement that could result in a tiered subscription approach aimed at providing extra perks for “superfans.” The two didn’t announce any specifics, including the number of years the deal lasts, but UMG says it’s consistent with a “Streaming 2.0” vision it presented to investors last year. UMG chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge called the agreement “precisely the kind of partnership development” the company hoped for when describing Streaming 2.0. That presentation envisioned a “Super-Premium” subscription for superfans that could mean things like early access to music, exclusive deluxe editions, hi-res audio, and artist Q&As. The companies have been rumored to be discussing such a deal for months . Screenshot: Universal Music Group UMG’s concept for a new subscription tier for superfans. UMG also referenced Streaming 2.0 when it signed an agreement with Amazon Music last month, as ...

Image: Genesis Hyundai’s luxury nameplate Genesis is taking its brand to new (and very cold) heights with a concept that turns its all electric GV60 SUV into a snowmobile . The new GV60 MIV, which stands for “Mountain Intervention Vehicle” is designed to assist in rescue operations on mountainous snowscapes and can also handle “rugged terrains and challenging weather conditions,” according to the automaker. The GV60 MIV swaps its on-road wheels for four snow tracks, and it’s got well bolstered sport seats, medical supplies, and communication systems so you don’t get lost and need rescuing yourself. There’s also carbon fiber wheel arc extensions added to protect bystanders and minimize debris damage, a roof rack for emergency supplies, and a drone kit included in the trunk. Genesis replaces the rearview mirror with a dedicated Garmin GPS Map 276Cx device, which can help you keep track of your location without the need of a data connection. Genesis also highlights the GV60’s vehi...

The Apple Watch Series 10 is the biggest and brightest you can buy without paying hundreds more for the Ultra. | photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge With a redesigned casing, a bigger display, and faster charging, the Apple Watch Series 10 is a fantastic upgrade opportunity for anyone who, like me, is more than a few iterations behind. If you’re in the same boat, you might consider jumping on a deal from Amazon , Best Buy, and Walmart that takes the 42mm version of the smartwatch down to $329 ($70 off), which matches the record low from Black Friday. The 46mm Series 10 is also on sale for $359 ($70 off) at Amazon , Best Buy , and Walmart , which is also its best price to date. The Apple Watch Series 10’s wide-angle displays are only one millimeter bigger than their Series 9 counterparts , but it’s a noticeable difference. The displays are also 40 percent brighter, while the overall package is a hair thinner. The Series 10 still doesn’t last more than a day as it...

Photo illustration by The Verge / Photo: Ciena One of the biggest tech companies you’ve never heard of is helping you listen to this podcast.  Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/24351247/ciena-fiber-optic-internet-subsea-cables-wdm-ai-hyperscale-data-decoder-podcast-interview

The market value of US AI companies is taking a tumble. | Image: DeepSeek A chatbot made by Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek has rocketed to the top of Apple’s App Store charts in the US this week, dethroning OpenAI’s ChatGPT as the most downloaded free app. The eponymous AI assistant is powered by DeepSeek’s open-source models, which the company says can be trained at a fraction of the cost using far fewer chips than the world’s leading models. The claim has riled financial markets, sending Nvidia’s shares down over 12 percent in pre-market training, Downloads for the app exploded shortly after DeepSeek released its new R1 reasoning model on January 20th, which is designed for solving complex problems and reportedly performs as well as OpenAI’s o1 on certain benchmarks. R1 was built on the V3 LLM DeepSeek released in December, which the company claims is on par with GPT-4o and Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet , and cost less than $6 million to develop. By contras...

The new iPhone SE will likely be limited to a single rear camera. | Image: Majin Bu We might have just gotten our best look yet at Apple’s next affordable iPhone SE, shown in both video and photographs of what’s either a real phone or a convincing dummy unit. Despite some reports that the next SE would adopt recent iPhones’ Dynamic Island design, this model appears to stick with the older notch. Leaker Majin Bu shared a short video over the weekend that shows the new phone in bright daylight, following it up a day later with photos of both white and black versions. Like previous iPhone SE models there’s only a single rear camera, though this appears to be the first in the line to feature a USB-C port — now a requirement for the phone to be sold in the EU. Here's what the iPhone SE 4 looks like pic.twitter.com/pEyIAJ34VR — Majin Bu (@MajinBuOfficial) January 25, 2025 The biggest surprise is that the phone features Apple’s older notched display, rather than the Dynamic Is...

The SuperStation One comes in three colors, including translucent blue. | Image: Retro Remake Retro Remake’s Taki Udon announced last night that preorders had opened for the SuperStation One, a clone of the PS One variant of the original PlayStation. The $149.99 Founders Edition preorders are sold out already, but you can still preorder the standard $225 SuperStation One for $179.99 right now, with shipping expected in “Q4 or Earlier.” While the SuperStation One looks like a PS One — complete with ports compatible with the original PlayStation controller and memory cards — it plays more than just PlayStation 1 games. It’s a custom MiSTER field-programmable gate array (FPGA) machine, as Polygon points out . That means rather than emulating game consoles, its hardware can actually function just like those consoles , with cores ranging from the Atari 5200 and NES to the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. Introducing the SuperStation one. An open-source PS1 FPGA gaming console that s...

The Lenovo Legion Go S with SteamOS. | Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge It might be time for a more unified platform. Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/24351383/handheld-pcs-challenge-switch-2-editorial

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images Oracle and a group of investors that includes Microsoft are in talks to take over TikTok’s global operations, reports NPR . The deal, which the White House is reportedly negotiating, would see ByteDance keeping a minority stake in TikTok while “the app’s algorithm, data collection and software updates will be overseen by Oracle.” Oracle’s server network already provides the bulk of TikTok’s backbone, and under the deal, the company would “effectively monitor and provide oversight with what is going on with TikTok,” according to one of NPR’s anonymous sources, who added that the agreement’s goal is to “minimize Chinese ownership.” Microsoft’s reported involvement isn’t clear beyond that it is “engaged in the talks.” The company was also in the mix with Oracle and Walmart in a 2020 bid to take over TikTok that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates had called “a poison[ed] chalice.” Walmart reportedly isn’t involved this time around “af...

Image: Fubo Fubo has raised its English-language streaming plan prices by $5 each, with a Fubo spokesperson citing “rising costs from our programming partners,” reported The Streamable yesterday. Fubo’s Essential and Pro plans now start at $85 a month, while its Elite plan has gone up to $95 monthly. “We only make adjustments when necessary,” a Fubo spokesperson said to The Streamable, “a nd we’re committed to keeping Fubo competitive while ensuring our subscribers have access to the channels, features and live events they enjoy.” I've updated my live TV streaming price tracker to reflect Fubo's $5/month increase. More from The Streamable: https://t.co/wL6hz3IR6p pic.twitter.com/8w9izuy8F1 — Michael Saves (@MichaelSaves) January 24, 2025 Fubo debuted its Essential plan at $80 per month in December, as The Streamable notes. While priced the same as the Pro plan and offering largely the same features, it doesn’t include regional sports networks — or the extra up-t...

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge The next generation of Nvidia GPUs is almost here. Nvidia’s RTX 50-series GPUs are just around the corner, with the first releases — the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 — dropping on January 30th. The RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5070 will follow that with their own releases in February, but some are already getting a sneak peek at the GPUs’ software benefits through DLSS 4. Tom Warren’s Verge review of the $1,999 RTX 5090 indicates it’s expectedly a powerhouse, but not quite the generational leap that the RTX 4090 was over its own predecessor. That didn’t stop The Verge ’s Sean Hollister from being impressed with the two-slot RTX 5090 Founders Edition GPU when he stuffed it into his aging small-form-factor PC . Along with the 50-series GPUs comes DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation , a software trick that may be just as big a story as the hardware itself. This latest version of DLSS uses AI to predictively generate frames, making it possible to run games at higher ...

Image: Pordenone Cartoon Museum The celebrated cartoonist talks anxiety, process, and the final installment of his Acme Novelty Datebook series. Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/24/24349754/chris-ware-cartoonist-art-drawing-acme-datebook-interview

Its comfortably basic style hides nice utility. | Photos by Victoria Song / The Verge “If the Galaxy Ring cost $250, I’d say Samsung was a diabolical genius company. But at $400, it’s asking a lot for what amounts to a secondary device for your smartwatch,” is how Victoria ultimately felt about the Samsung Galaxy Ring in her review . Well, it’s not exactly $250, but a deal on the health-tracking wearable that brings it down to $279.99 ($120 off) at Amazon is close enough. You’ll find that price across all three of its colors (black, gold, and silver) in several sizes, some of which you’ll have to sign in and add to your cart in order to see. Available ring sizes range from 5 to 15, and while a blind purchase might be safe if you already know your ring size, we recommend using the $10 sizing kit to help you dial it in. Sadly, that kit is temporarily out of stock at Amazon as of this writing, otherwise you’d be able to recoup the full cost as a credit usable toward the rin...

Illustration: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Photo: Getty Images Elon Musk doesn’t miss an opportunity to take a dig at OpenAI — even when the news item in question is supposed to be favorable to President Trump. Just a few hours after yesterday’s White House presser on The Stargate Project wrapped up, Musk posted on X that “they don’t actually have the money.” Softbank, OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX have committed to “deploy” $100 billion now and $500 billion toward the AI data center company over the next four years. But Musk, who now has wide-ranging clearances and reportedly even his own office inside the Trump White House , seems doubtful. “SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority,” he added . The Japanese CEO and billionaire investor is the former owner of WeWork and Sprint and the current owner of Arm, and there have been reports for the last year that, along with Altman, he’s been chasing funding to invest in an AI chip venture . They don’t actuall...

The LG C3 can easily last several years as your home theater’s centerpiece. | Image: LG If you’re spending more time indoors to escape the icy winds or need something impressive to enjoy the Super Bowl, a new TV might be in order. Although it’s a couple of years old now, the LG C3 is still one of the best 4K OLED TVs you can buy, and it’s a bit cheaper today at Amazon and Walmart . They’re selling the 65-inch model for $1,196.99 ($302 off), which is matching its all-time low price. The LG C3 offers a great picture quality with vivid color, no light blooming or bleeding, and deep, inky black levels for a practically infinite contrast ratio. If you somehow haven’t seen how good an OLED panel can look yet, then a trip to Best Buy is in order. It appeases most home theater and gaming needs with a 120Hz variable refresh rate and auto low-latency mode across all four of its HDMI ports, Dolby Vision and HDR 10 Plus, Dolby Atmos audio, and an incredible upscaling engine that can ma...

The new Galaxy Watch for Kids mode is enabled in Wear OS via Google Family Link. | Image: Samsung, Google Samsung dropped some wearable news ahead of its Unpacked event later today: parents can now use the cellular Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 as a smartwatch for their kids. With a new Galaxy Watch for Kids mode, children can use the smartwatch to call and text trusted contacts, while parents can also track their kids’ locations via GPS. The option starts rolling out today and will work on Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T networks. The good news is parents won’t need a separate smartphone for this to work. Instead, it’s similar to Apple Family Setup , where parents use their phone to pair and set up the smartwatch before programming guardrails through the Google Family Link app. Parents can control which apps can be downloaded to the device, locate misplaced watches, and specify their children’s contacts for texting and calling. In an emergency, kids can also access emergency SOS feat...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube Premium users are getting a slew of new experiments to try out before anyone else alongside an option to reduce their membership cost when bundling subscriptions. Subscribers can now also sign up to test multiple experimental features all at once, instead of being limited to just one at a time. There are several new experiments that users can try out, including 256kbps bitrate audio quality on videos, and options for iOS users to view YouTube shorts in picture-in-picture mode and automatically download “recommended Shorts” for offline viewing. The AI-powered skipping feature that allows users to jump right to the most-watched part of a video is also available on web browsers after initially being introduced for mobile devices last year. These will eventually be joined by expanded playback options for mobile devices that can increase video speed by up to four times. YouTube hasn’t mentioned when this experimental feature will be av...

A screenshot of  reproductiverights.gov  from the Internet Archive. A federal website for information on reproductive rights and healthcare access is suddenly down, following Donald Trump’s inauguration yesterday. Reproductiverights.gov seemed to be offline as of last night, CBS reports . The Biden administration launched the website in 2022 in the wake of the the Supreme Court’s Decision to overturn Roe v. Wade . On top of information about abortion rights, the website also included resources on accessing preventative care including breast and cervical cancer screenings, prenatal care, and HIV screening. (The Internet Archive has a snapshot of what the website looked like as recently as January 15th.) Scientists, researchers, and health and environmental advocates have been bracing for potential changes to federal websites under the Trump administration . They’ve been worried about federal agencies curtailing publicly-available information about hot-button topics on t...

Fujifilm has added two new models to its Techno-Stabi binoculars line with stabilization and increased magnification. | Image: Fujifilm Fujifilm has announced two new additions to its flagship Techno-Stabi line of binoculars featuring electronic stabilization, as spotted by PetaPixel . The new TS-L2040 and TS-L1640 deliver even more magnification than Fujfilm’s previous top-of-the-line offering — 20x and 16x, instead of just 14x — while also being smaller and lighter without sacrificing features like waterproofing. Both new models can survive a complete dunking to a depth of one meter for 30 minutes. The Fujifilm TS-L2040, with 20x magnification, will be $1,299.95 when available for purchase starting on January 31st, 2025. The slightly cheaper TS-L1640, which offer 16x magnification, will be $1,199.95. Using binoculars with more than 10x magnification without a tripod or stable support can result in blurred images because humans are simply incapable of holding them steady enou...

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images Donald Trump has been officially sworn in as the 47th president of the US. Although we’ve already experienced a Trump presidency beginning in 2016, this term could look far different than the first one, particularly when it comes to tech regulation. The heads of major tech companies have apparently come to learn how to deal with Trump , following an era of techlash that invited fury against them from both sides. The executives — who mostly stayed at arm’s distance during the beginning of Trump’s first term — have been quick to get into Trump’s good graces, be it with trips to Mar-a-Lago , attendance at the inauguration, changes to their company policies , or notices to millions of users thanking Trump for his (predicted) role in getting their popular social media app back online. There’s good reason for the CEOs to cozy up to Trump. The next four years could see the president’s choices impact their companies and workers in a laundry ...