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HBO Max is launching curated channels , a new feature that will allow you to quickly jump into a continuous feed of a popular series or tune into a specific genre. When you select a channel on HBO Max, the streaming service will start you at the beginning of whatever's playing, while giving you the ability to rewind, fast-forward, or skip to the next episode in the queue. You'll find 12 of these themed channels on HBO Max at launch, with some dedicated to certain themes, like adult animation, true crime, and holiday specials, along with feeds related to franchises, including the DC Universe, The Big Bang Theory , Friends , Harry Potter , The Lo … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/news/843631/hbo-max-curated-channels-friends-harry-potter-big-bang-theory

TCL has been a solid competitor in the midrange TV market for years, going head-to-head with Hisense. Not only are TVs from both manufacturers competitive on features, they even use similar nomenclature to categorize their TV lines - the TCL QM8 and Hisense U8, QM7 and U7, and QM6 and U6. But with TCL's new flagship QM9K, its sights are set higher, toward Sony and its flagship Bravia 9. This year, TCL launched its Ultimate Series, which includes the QM8K (dubbed "The Ultimate Choice") and the QM9K ("The Ultimate Performance"), billed as the best TCL TV ever released. The QM9K is available in four different sizes: 65 inches ($2,999.99), 75 i … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/843074/tcl-qm9k-mini-led-tv-review

Smart home products are all about making everyday life a little easier, which is why they're some of the best and most thoughtful gifts you can give. Some people go all out building a multi-gadget IoT kingdom (like our resident smart home expert, Jen Pattison Tuohy), but a smart home is whatever your recipient wants it to be. It can be as simple as wanting a cheap switch-flipping bot to brew you a pot of coffee before you exit the shower in the morning. Having tested many smart home gadgets over the years, we pooled our knowledge to assemble our favorite recommendations for this gift guide. There are practical (and sometimes pricey) picks l … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/gadgets/800449/best-practical-smart-home-gift-ideas-2025

Double pinch lets you dismiss notifications or control your music playback. | Image: Google Google has started to roll out the first update for the Pixel Watch 4 since the wearable launched last August . WearOS 6.1 is available for the Pixel Watch 2, 3, and 4 models, but only the Pixel Watch 4 will be getting a pair of new one-handed gestures , while improvements made to smart replies are limited to the Pixel Watch 3 and 4. Double pinch works similar to existing gestures on Apple and Samsung smartwatches. You can scroll through alerts, snooze an alarm, send the first suggested smart reply to a message, control music playback, and take a photo by tapping your index finger and thumb together twice. Google says it will also "soon be ad … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/news/841514/pixel-watch-4-gestures-pinch-control-wrist-turn-dismiss-enhaced-smart-replies

A Microsoft data center under construction in Aldie, Virginia, US, on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. | Photo: Getty Images More than 230 groups including Food & Water Watch, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Greenpeace are demanding a pause on the construction of any new data centers in the US until stronger regulations are in place to prevent soaring electricity rates, water use, and pollution. "The rapid, largely unregulated rise of data centers to fuel the AI and crypto frenzy is disrupting communities across the country and threatening Americans' economic, environmental, climate and water security," the groups say in a letter sent to Congress on Monday. More communities are finding success in their efforts to block data center construction, with an … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/news/840883/data-center-moratorium-letter-congress

When Ikea announced its collection of 21 new Matter-over-Thread devices last month , it wasn't expecting the new hardware to be available in the US until January 2026. Over the past month the devices have started showing up across Europe, but a handful of them are now available through Ikea's US website and some of its physical stores across the country. Four of the five smart sensors announced in November can now be integrated into your smart home setup. However, if you were planning to overall your home's lighting you'll still have to wait, as Ikea's new simplified Kajplats smart bulb collection hasn't launched here yet. We also now know … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/news/840727/ikea-smart-home-matter-thread-sensors-now-available

Skate Story is two very different things simultaneously. On the one hand, it's a visceral take on skateboarding, providing a tight, fast, ground-level view as you brute-force your way through tricks and combos. But it's also a surrealist trip through the underworld where you control a skateboarding demon who faces off against the devil. Think of it like Dante's Inferno meets Thrasher magazine, and you're most of the way there. The premise is actually quite a bit stranger than just skating through hell. You play as a demon made of glass, who is both hungry and tired, and so decides to… eat the moon. This pisses off the devil, and your respon … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/games/840004/skate-story-review-switch-steam-ps5

We're one year into the experiment of running The Verge with subscriptions, and so far things are going quite well - but we've heard a lot of feedback so far, and we've got some exciting changes in store to try and make this thing even better. We hit our subscriber goals for 2025, and an astonishing 85 percent of you are choosing annual plans, which is the sort of durable, long-term relationship we can count on as we hire more reporters, get in more trouble, and pay for David's podcasting greenscreen. (Just kidding, that's his real house. We think.) We've spent a lot of time this year trying to iterate on our subscription and make it more v … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/bulletin/839889/the-verge-subscription-turns-one

In 1914 Joseph Pilates was sitting in a World War I-era internment camp watching his fellow inmates waste away when he had an idea. As he later recounted to a journalist , the skinny prison courtyard cats kept spry and limber, stretching and moving even as they starved — could the German citizens interned in the camp at the Isle of Man do something similar? Pilates developed what would later become his namesake : a regimen of repetitive, controlled body movements with minimal equipment focused on flexibility and strength. Before it became synonymous with luxury workout leggings and YouTube videos, Pilates the exercise was a lifeline, born literally in a cage. The practice has come a long way since, especially in the last few years. An industry report found Pilates is the fastest-growing mode of exercise , and subscription service ClassPass named it the most popular class type of 2024. Along with the boom, there is a new wave of cultural cachet — and sometimes ridicule — that comes w...

There's an argument to be made that " the real monster is trauma " has become an overused trope in modern horror . Hereditary , The Babadook , and, much less effectively, Smile , are just a few higher-profile examples. But, if you ask me, few films have deployed this trope quite as effectively as the 2020 film His House . The film follows Bol and Rial, refugees from South Sudan, played by Sope Dirisu and Wunmi Mosaku . Both deliver the kind of incredible performances that you rarely see in a genre film like this. It's part of what elevates His House above the standard "haunted by trauma" fare. Mosaku, in particular, shows the sort of nuance and scr … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/entertainment/839753/watch-modern-horror-masterpiece-his-house

In November, Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co-CEO made a trip to the White House for a lengthy meeting with Donald Trump. According to Bloomberg , the two discussed a number of topics, but chief among them was Netflix’s plan to bid on Warner Bros. At the end of their conversation, Sardonos felt that “Netflix wouldn’t face immediate opposition from the White House.” This week, Netflix successfully won the bidding war for Warner, offering $82.7 billion . It’s well known that Paramount and its CEO David Ellison were eager to acquire the storied studio and its streaming assets. Ellison and his father, Larry Ellison , have close ties to the White House, and as part of their pitch to Warner, suggested that only they were in a position to overcome the regulatory hurdles of further media consolidation. Sarandos seems to have rightly believed that the Ellisons overestimated their political clout. And despite some public efforts to turn the White House against the deal, Netflix won out, for now. T...

Friday, the EU slapped X with a €120 million fine (about $140 million) for violating the Digital Services Act (DSA). It was the first time that a company had been hit with a penalty for running afoul of the law. Elon Musk responded with his trademark tact and professionalism by posting “ Bullshit ” on X in response to the announcement from the European Commission. But that wasn’t the end, because just a day later Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, accused the Commission of abusing an exploit to boost the reach of the announcement and responded by shutting down its ad account . According to Bier, the Commission had not used its ad account since 2021, but used a post format explicitly reserved for ads in its announcement of the fine against X . He claims that the Commission posted “a link that deceives users into thinking it’s a video and to artificially increase its reach.” (For the record, the post itself includes a video.) The seemingly retaliatory revocation of the European Commi...

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 108, your guide to the best and Verge -iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, hope your holiday shopping is going well, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage .) This week, I've been reading about Ariana Grande and pelvic floors and Josh Shapiro and Las Vegas , finishing and then immediately rewatching The Chair Company , working by the light of this extremely rad MoMA lamp , installing a bunch of Hue Dimmer Switches around my house, trying desperately to hide the giant box that came with my new Frame TV , wondering if my 12,983 minutes of Spotify time this year … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/839273/red-dead-redemption-fizzy-installer

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is reporting that Johny Srouji, senior vice president of hardware technologies, told Tim Cook he is “seriously considering” leaving Apple for another company in the near future. It was reported in October that Srouji was “ evaluating his future at the tech giant .” While nothing is confirmed, it seems the executive is leaning towards not having a future at Cupertino. If Srouji leaves, he would be just the latest in a string of high-profile shakeups in the company’s C-suite. COO Jeff Williams announced his retirement in July, which led to some shifting of roles. But things have only accelerated in December, with AI chief John Giannandrea stepping down , policy lead Lisa Jackson and general counsel Kate Adams announcing plans to retire , and UI design lead Alan Dye departing for Meta , all in the last few days. Apple has struggled somewhat to find its footing as the industry further embraces AI. Now Tim Cook is tasked with trying to stem the bleeding, whil...

It’s a great time to consider buying Nintendo’s latest console. | Photo: Cameron Faulkner / The Verge Cyber week has just about wrapped up, but there are still some amazing Cyber Monday leftovers that you can save money on. The one deal we can’t stop telling readers about is the unexpected $50 discount on Nintendo’s Switch 2 console bundle that includes Mario Kart World , bringing it down to $449.99 (was $499.99). Currently, you can snag the bundle at Amazon , Walmart , and Best Buy . It’s the best Switch 2 console to buy for the holidays because it comes with Mario Kart World , a fun racing game that’s $79.99 to buy outside of the bundle. You’re getting it for free instead. A price drop for the new handheld was about the last thing we expected to see this week, and we’re happy that the deal has endured over multiple days. We don’t know when it will end, so we’re treating every day like it’ll be the last. If you’re shopping for a Switch 2 console, there are some extras that you m...

It's been a few years since the official introduction of the Bluetooth technology Auracast , which allows devices like earbuds, headphones, speakers, and hearing aids to connect to a single source without the need for pairing. Like a radio picks up your local radio stations, all you have to do is connect to the right broadcast. These could be flight announcements from your gate at the airport, the microphone a teacher is using during a presentation, or the TV you're watching while on the treadmill at the gym. By letting you link directly into one of these broadcasts, Auracast can increase auditory accessibility for those who are hard of hear … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/report/839245/auracast-marketing-jbl-lg-samsung-google

Your mom deserves the best, and we're going to help you get them something special. The right gift can make family or friend time more valuable, after all, or it can greatly enrich time spent alone. If your mom says that she has all that she needs, don't take her word for it and show up empty-handed. Instead, peruse this handy guide, sorted by price, to find a gift that she'll remember for years to come. There are plenty of ideas below that can show the maternal figure in your life that you know them well - such as the practical yet elegant Oura Ring 4 , which can help her track her vitals and stay on track with her fitness goals. Apple's ne … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/gadgets/802964/best-mom-gift-ideas

Elevation Lab has announced a smaller version of its TimeCapsule battery-boosting case for the Apple AirTag. It’s about half the size of the original and uses a pair of smaller AAA batteries instead of AAs so the AirTag’s battery life is extended to five years instead of 10. It’s available now through the company’s website for $19.99, but discounted by half if you buy a four-pack for $39.99. As with the original, the new Time Capsule replaces the AirTag’s CR2032 coin cell battery with an electrical contact that delivers power from the AAA batteries. The company specifically recommends using Energizer Ultimate Lithium AAAs to maximize battery life and to avoid corrosive leaks given the device potentially won’t be touched for up to five years. The smaller version of the Time Capsule also carries forward the original’s robust IP69 rating protecting it against water and dirt ingress, and it’s made from the same fiber reinforced polycarbonate material that won’t reduce the range of B...

Google has added some new features to its end-of-year Photos app throwback experience, including a selfie count, CapCut integration, and photo curation capabilities. The Google Photos Recap includes insights and graphics that summarize what users have been snapping over the year, and follows the updated presentation format Google introduced in 2024, which looks like a closer riff on Spotify Wrapped to me. The Recap is available starting today. It will appear in the Google Photos Memories carousel and then be pinned in the Collections tab throughout December. A new insight for the 2025 Recap is a selfie count that presumably uses facial recognition tech to tell you how many photographs you took of yourself — which could be humbling if you take several attempts to get the best shot. Users in the US with Gemini features enabled in Photos will also be shown their “standout hobbies and top highlights from the year,” according to Google’s announcement. Another new feature allows Photos...

The Wuben G5 is as easy to pocket as a Zippo and a much better light source. | Photo: Andrew Liszewski / The Verge I was never a Boy Scout, but I have always embraced their “be prepared” motto. When I leave the house it’s never without my everyday carry kit that, among other things, includes wireless earbuds, a small battery, extra glasses — and a flashlight. In fact, I’ve long been on the hunt for what I consider to be the perfect flashlight, and as a result I now have more of them than any one person could ever need. But the $25 Wuben G5 could be my last, thanks to a compact design that pairs clever functionality with lots of illumination that’s easy to adjust. I bought the G5 as a replacement for the Nitecore TINI 2 keychain flashlight I used to carry. Nitecore’s is surprisingly bright given how small it is, but the lock option that prevents the flashlight from turning on accidentally is far from foolproof. In reality, the TINI 2 would regularly turn on by itself while bouncin...

For many of us TV reviewers, the current pinnacle of television technology is OLED. It delivers inky blacks, incredible contrast, and pixel-level brightness control. Most of the time when we’re talking about OLED TVs, we’re thinking about the LG G5 , Sony Bravia 8 II , Samsung S95F , or Panasonic Z95B — the cream of the crop. Those cost thousands of dollars. But the more budget-friendly LG B5, which is now less than $900 for a 55-inch model, is joining the conversation as one of the best TV deals I’ve seen during Cyber Monday. You can get it for $896.99 at Amazon and $899.99 at Best Buy (originally $1,499, but regularly $1,100 or more before November). LG B5 OLED TV Where to Buy: $996.99 $896.99 at Amazon (55-inch) $1499.99 $899.99 at Best Buy (55-inch) When I first saw the B5 up close earlier this year, I was impressed and a bit intrigued. Primary RGB Tandem display technology featured in the high-end LG G5 rightfully stole the show, but the WOLED-based B5 was still ...

India’s Department of Telecommunications is giving phone manufacturers 90 days to comply with an order to pre-install a state-owned app on new phones and push it to existing phones through software updates, reports Reuters . The government order was privately sent out to phone manufacturers on November 28th, according to Reuters , including Apple, Samsung, Vivo, Oppo, and Xiaomi.  In August, Russia issued a similar order requiring phone manufacturers to preload a state-backed messenger app, Max.  In this case, the state-owned Sanchar Saathi app is already available on the App Store and Google Play Store, but this order would make it mandatory and prevent it from being disabled or deleted. The app includes features for blocking and tracking lost or stolen phones based on their IMEI, and reporting suspected fraud messages.  While iOS users still make up a small slice of the pie in India, Apple’s sales in the region hit a record high of $9 billion in September. Simil...

An AI-generated clip produced with Runway Gen-4.5 shows a snowman dissolving in a city street. Runway claims its latest text-to-video model generates even more accurate visuals than its last. In a blog post on Monday , Runway says its Gen-4.5 model can produce “cinematic and highly realistic outputs,” potentially making it even more difficult to distinguish between what’s real and what’s AI. “Gen-4.5 achieves unprecedented physical accuracy and visual precision,” Runway’s announcement says. It adds that the new AI model is better at adhering to prompts, allowing it to produce detailed scenes without compromising video quality. Runway says that AI-generated objects “move with realistic weight, momentum and force,” while liquids “flow with proper dynamics.” The Gen-4.5 model is rolling out to all users gradually and will offer the same speed and efficiency as its predecessor, according to Runway. There are still some limitations, though, as the model may experience issues with obje...