Lead Hacker

What is a keyboard if not the original brain-computer interface? You can tap on a touchscreen or talk to the computer, but if your work involves getting information out of your head and into the computer, you're probably spending a lot of time using a keyboard. We've written about many keyboards over the years, from the legendary Optimus Maximus to the ultra-luxe Seneca to even stranger fare . But I wanted to know what my coworkers actually use. As I'd hoped, there's a wide range. Some of us are strictly utilitarian, optimizing for ergonomics or functionality. Others obsess over every detail of feel, sound, layout, and looks. Still oth … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/gadgets/1017979/keyboards-of-the-verge-staff-picks

After hackers stole a shocking $6.3 billion from Binance customers in a record-breaking crypto heist, the company's CEO says that 90 percent of the funds have been replaced , and the company plans to cover the remaining 10 percent as well. Binance is covering the stolen funds directly, and the remaining 10 percent consists of "less liquid" tokens, which the company says may take longer to acquire. The company also said in a post on X that, while withdrawals remain paused, they're on track to be enabled on Sunday. Our commitment remains the same: Binance will fully cover the financial impact of the funds stolen in this incident. We will co … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1024091/binance-ceo-90-percent-stolen-crypto

This morning, Nintendo announced that tomorrow, November 1st, would be the first annual Pikmin Day. As part of the short Pikmin Day Direct , Shigeru Miyamoto shared new info about Pikmin 4 for the Switch 2 , as well as an update for the mobile app Pikmin Bloom , and announced the Hello! Pikmin series of shorts. Players will be able to use the Switch 2's built-in microphone to issue voice commands to Oatchi, the space dog. Pikmin 4 will also have a Dandori Academy mode that will test players' skills in specific challenges. There will be limited tests on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, complete with leaderboards where players can compare stats. Pi … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/games/1024085/happy-pikmin-day-eve

Mark Zuckerberg's Meta made AI look so stinking cute by giving it a squishy little face - and this holiday season, he wants to sell you a Muse Charm so you can carry your jolly AI helper around like a Tamagotchi. But I won't be buying one, because we have Muse Charm at home . It cost just $50, and I've decided the learning experience was worth it. View Link My version doesn't sport cameras or a 5G cellular radio , but it really talks to Muse and has cute avatars, too! It doubles as a pocket watch and a remote camera viewfinder, and it can (theoretically) control my smart home. Or at least it can if you inject a lot of extra vibe code. Weeks … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/gadgets/1013375/muse-charm-gadgets-preview-waveshare-esp32-claude-vibe-code

As the weather cools, it may be worth investing in a smart thermostat to help lower your energy bills. Right now, Google’s fourth-gen Nest Learning Thermostat is on sale in all three colors for $219.99 ($60 off) at Amazon , Best Buy , and The Home Depot , matching its best price of the year and just $10 shy of its all-time low. Google Nest Learning Thermostat (fourth-gen) Where to Buy: $279.99 $219.99 at Amazon $279.99 $219.99 at Best Buy $279.99 $219.99 at The Home Depot Google’s latest Nest Learning Thermostat is its most capable to date, and comes with new features designed to lower energy consumption without sacrificing comfort. Like prior models, it learns your heating and cooling preferences over time and automatically creates a schedule based on your habits, so you don’t have to constantly adjust the temperature yourself. It can also suggest schedule changes to save energy and automatically adjusts the temperature when ...

Reddit is switching up its homepage feeds. The company announced today that it's going to start offering a "new feed experience" that includes both a Following feed to show you posts from subreddits you follow and a For You feed that includes posts from your subreddits and "recommendations related to your interests." You may already have the new feeds - I actually noticed them on my account yesterday. It's a big shift for the platform, but not an entirely surprising one, as Reddit hasn't been shy about wanting to switch up the homepage. Earlier this year, the company announced it would be deprecating r/all , which surfaced posts that were po … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1020751/reddit-for-you-following-feeds

The Matic Serene looks identical to the current Matic but the company claims its hardware improvements make it much quieter. | Image: Matic Matic, the company behind my favorite robot vacuum , is launching its first new model since its 2023 debut : the Matic Serene . The new robotic floor cleaner has one key upgrade: noise reduction. With a promised output of just 52 decibels at its highest suction level, the Serene claims to be about as quiet as a running refrigerator. It costs $1,695, $200 more than the original Matic's current price, and is available now . The good news is the company is offering an upgrade path for existing Matic owners. The Serene targets people "who are extremely noise sensitive," cofounder and president Mehul Nariyawala tells The Verge. But beyond no … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1019298/matic-serene-robot-vacuum-price-specs-release-date

The bezels aren’t that noticeable with other watchfaces, but some things don’t change. Last week, I sank into my living room couch and watched a bedraggled, nihilistic Matthew McConaughey take a drag of a cigarette in season 1 of True Detective . "You know, someone once told me time is a flat circle. Everything we've done, or will do, we're gonna do over and over and over again." I assume most people aren't thinking about fitness trackers or gadgets while watching that scene. But in that moment, I couldn't help but think about the Fitbit Edge on my wrist. The $179.99 Edge is a modernized version of the 2014-to-2020 era of fitness bands - your Charges, your Altas, your Inspires. If you've ever owned one, you already know the va … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1018621/fitbit-edge-review-fitness-tracker-wearables-health

Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to up to 60,000 employees across the US, UK, Canada, and India. In a message to employees , Microsoft chief people officer Amy Coleman writes that this gives staff members "the opportunity to leave Microsoft with financial support and career planning resources" as the company looks to trim staff without another round of layoffs. Sources familiar with the situation tell The Verge that staffers across Microsoft are eligible for the voluntary exit offers, including those in its AI experiences, Copilot, CoreAI, Windows + Devices, Xbox, finance, and human resources teams. Microsoft's cloud + AI, MicrosoftAI … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1018666/microsoft-expands-buyouts-60000-employees-eligible

Social media and the iPhone Duo subreddit are filled with reports of Apple's foldable failing quickly and in spectacular fashion. Some users report having the phone for only a few hours before the hinge seems to catch on something, then audibly crack and break the screen . Tellingly, the cracks all seem to happen in the same place. YouTuber CuriousHagi was able to reproduce the cracked screen during some durability testing of the iPhone Duo. Then he pulled it apart to try and find the culprit. What he found is that the Duo's hinge is quite complex, consisting of a gear-like central hinge and two different types of linking hinges. The piec … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1018290/dissected-iphone-duo-crackgate-hinge-screen

Launcher-like pinned tabs, pop-over glance view, and more make Zen my go to browser. | Image: Zen Browser I know many of you are mourning the loss of the Arc browser, and I get it. It felt like the first app in a long time to really offer a new approach to browser design . Atlassian bought the company last year and shifted its focus to developing Dia , its even more AI-focused browser. And soon enough, Arc will officially be no more , leaving dedicated users in a lurch. But I abandoned Arc quite some time ago for the Zen Browser and haven't really missed it. If you're willing to deal with some minor inconveniences, I think you'll find Zen is the Arc replacement you're looking for. Zen unabashedly rips off all the best bits of Arc. Visually, they'r … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1018275/zen-browser-arc-replacement

The stick and face buttons are too close for comfort. | Photo: Cameron Faulkner / The Verge The Crkd Nitro Deck was a saving grace for the original Nintendo Switch. The slide-on $59.99 accessory brought Hall effect sticks to drift-plagued consoles - no need to open up your Joy-Con for a complicated repair. The Nitro Deck 2, made for both the original Switch and the larger Switch 2, continues the tradition of having better sticks than what Nintendo puts in even the newest Joy-Con (though these aren't Hall effect or TMR). But it doesn't feel as essential, and there's one thing I really can't stand about it. It's too difficult to use the Nitro Deck 2's ABXY face buttons without the right stick getting in the way. The stick-to-button … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1017508/crkd-nitro-deck-2-nintendo-switch-2-controller-case-hands-on

Instagram is continuing its expansion into living rooms with Instagram for TV, for Apple TV . The company first started testing a version of the platform focused on Reels, live streams, and other video content, blown up for a bigger screen in December of last year. Then, in June, it launched a slew of new features for the app, which is available for Amazon's Fire TV, Samsung Smart TVs, and Google TV. Now Meta is bringing the app to Apple TV, though there's been little fanfare. MacRumors spotted an updated Instagram app in the App Store that added Apple TV to its list of compatible platforms on October 23rd. Archived versions of the app page … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1018253/now-you-can-watch-instagram-reels-on-your-apple-tv

The mods at r/opensource posted new submission rules that, among other things, banned projects that use AI. The post made Saturday evening opens by saying, "If your project uses AI, is made by AI, or is intended for AI, it's not welcome on r/opensource. AI, as it exists today, is incongruent to this Open Source community." The new rules have set off a firestorm in the comments, and even spurred the creation of a rival sub r/trueopensource . Moderator Wolvereness has waded into the comments to explain that there's nuance and room for selective enforcement, such as "software that incidentally has accessibility features that use AI," including … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1018217/reddit-opensource-ai-ban

This is The Stepback , a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more about AI's impact on the web, follow Emma Roth . The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes on Sunday at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here . How it started The digital publishing industry has relied on Google for a very long time. Many outlets spent time and money optimizing their webpages to show up at the top of the search engine, with the goal of getting readers to click on their articles or discover their websites for the first time. For years, the relationship between Google and publishers was largely reciprocal; online pub … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/column/1017983/google-ai-search-online-publishing

BBC's Blue Planet III is looking to prove its authenticity by leaving in the less-than-perfect shots. Previous incarnations of the nature series were defined by their gorgeous, crystal-clear footage that seemed almost too good to be real. But one dead giveaway of AI is when things look too polished and seamless. To counter that, Blue Planet III goes warts and all. Executive Producer Elizabeth White told The Guardian in the past, "the amount of plankton and things" floating in the water would have caused them to cut a shot. Or "we might have framed out a boat or a buoy or gone: 'Oh, actually … the water conditions are not really good enough … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1018205/blue-planet-iii-authentic-organic-ai

On Thursday, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed the Artificial Intelligence Deceptive Advertising Act into law, requiring disclosures on AI-generated ads. The law requires any ad - whether it's a still image, video, audio, or text - that "has been significantly modified or generated by artificial intelligence" to include a label in the same format as the ad itself. That applies to TV commercials from multi-billion-dollar companies , as well as restaurants' ugly, crowded flyers about their wing specials. Pennsylvania is one of the first states to require disclosures on AI content. And it requires those labels regardless of where an ad … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1018187/pennsylvania-ai-deceptive-advertising-act

We gave the iPhone Duo a 7 /10 . But that wasn't always the score we planned, and it might not be the right score forever. Such are the challenges of reviewing - and assessing - a big, new idea about the most popular smartphone in history. On this episode of The Vergecast , David and Nilay debate whether the Duo deserved the score it got, and try to work through how this device might change over time. Is the outer screen, as Daring Fireball's John Gruber suggested, the worst iPhone ever ? Would it be a better product if it started as an iPad rather than an iPhone? Would we feel differently about this thing if it were simply called the iPad Du … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/podcast/1017447/iphone-duo-ipad-review-score-vergecast

The iPhone Duo officially goes on sale today, but a few units already have broken screens. According to posts about the affected units on Reddit, the issue appears to be happening at a similar spot on all of them: Some kind of problem shows up on the inner screen along the hinge and a strange bright line (or lines) across the right side of the display. Here's how one user in Australia described what happened to their phone: Had my iPhone Duo for about six hours and had probably opened it fewer than 20 times. I was showing it to a friend, and as I opened it, I felt something around the internal hinge, underneath the screen. As I cont … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1017623/iphone-duo-broken-cracked-screen

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at a hackathon event in 2016. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is closing down The Garage, a set of popular maker spaces where employees worked on experimental projects and collaborated on surprising new apps and hardware during the company's annual hackathon events. "We're winding down The Garage program as a centralized function," says Microsoft in an internal FAQ to employees, seen by Notepad . "We will continue to explore new ways to help employees build skills, collaborate across boundaries, and bring a hacker mindset to their work." GeekWire first reported on The Garage's closure. The main Garage space was located at Microsoft's Redmond, Washington, campus and served as the central hub … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1016389/microsoft-garage-closure-hackathon-notepad

Your blood, for “immortality.” | Image: Cath Virgina / The Verge, Getty Images This is Optimizer , a weekly newsletter sent from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest gizmos and potions that swear they're going to change your life. Opt in for Optimizer here . It's an overcast Saturday morning when I give my 12th vial of blood for testing in six weeks. It's my 24th this year. At this point, I feel like a pro. I schedule these blood draws first thing in the morning so I don't get hangry, download the requisition papers ahead of time, avoid strenuous exercise for the 24 hours prior, and make sure to drink a glass of water beforehand so my teeny veins are easier for the phlebotomist to f … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/column/1015563/blood-death-clock-longevity-apps-health-tech

Despite Meta saying it would stop creating new content for Supernatural , the beloved fitness VR game is back after spinning off to go its own way and is relaunching with an Early Access preview in the Meta Horizon Store . Thousands of "remastered" workouts and some new ones are available in the new app starting today, but more are on the way. As previously announced, the newly independent app also costs more, going from $9.99 per month to $20 per month or $200 per year. Starting next week, Supernatural will get new workouts every week. The game's developers also write, "More back-catalog favorites will return in the weeks and months ahead, w … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1015550/supernatural-vr-workout-app-relaunch

If you know for sure that a website flagged as suspicious is actually safe, you can mark it as such. | Image: Google Google is launching a new browser safety feature for Chrome that aims to keep you better informed about how malicious a website might be before you open it. The new suspicious site warnings, available when Chrome's Enhanced Protection is on, build on a similar two-stage system introduced for Chrome file downloads in 2024 , which provides visually different notifications for blocked files based on whether they're determined to be "suspicious" or "dangerous." For the Chrome site warnings, the feature will flag a website as suspicious if it detects that it has similar qualities to other sites associated with phishing, malware, and scams. Google … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1014446/google-chrome-suspicious-website-warning

Arturia is adding to its Freak line of proudly weird digital synths with the MiniFreak 49. Under the hood, it's almost identical to the current MiniFreak , but it adds a number of more professional features and some interface improvements. The most noticeable change is that, rather than the MiniFreak's 37 minikeys or the MicroFreak's 25 "key" touchplate, the MiniFreak 49 has (as you may have guessed) 49 full-sized, semi-weighted keys. Though it's somewhat disappointing that they feature only mono aftertouch instead of polyphonic aftertouch. It also trades the touchstrips of the other Freak instruments for proper aluminum pitch and mod wheel … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/gadgets/1014255/arturias-minifreak-49-synthesizer

The Miles is a smart plug for your car. My 15-year-old daughter just got her learner's permit, so when I was pitched a new gadget tailored to teen drivers, I was intrigued. The Miles Plug is a small device that plugs into your car's OBD-II port and monitors location, driving habits, and vehicle health, along with emergency accident response and roadside assistance. The idea is that knowing all these things should help me feel more comfortable when my daughter starts driving alone. I tested the (now discontinued) Ring Car Cam when my son was learning to drive, but he hated it and refused to turn it on; I wondered if the Miles could provide the same peace of mind without feeling a … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1013918/miles-plug-vehicle-tracking-data-privacy-specs-price-launch-date

Sony’s WF-1000XM6 are on sale in black today only. | Image: Sony For a very limited time, Sony’s latest high-end noise-canceling earbuds are actually cheaper than their last-gen counterpart, the WF-1000XM5 . B&H Photo is selling Sony’s latest WF-1000XM6 in black for an all-time low of $238 ($92 off) at checkout. Other retailers aren’t currently offering a discount on the XM6. Sony WF-1000XM6 earbuds Where to Buy: $329.99 $238 at B&H Photo The XM6 are a solid upgrade over their predecessor and easily amongst the best noise-canceling wireless earbuds on the market. In his review , John Higgins noted that they do a better job of tuning out other people’s conversations than any other earbuds he’s tested. Sony has also improved the bone-conduction sensor and added AI-powered microphones that help keep your voice clear during calls, even in noisy environments. The XM6 earbuds also deliver clean, balanced sound with impressive bass, raising the...

Apple has sent invites to a second product launch this month, and it's scheduled for October 28th at 1PM ET in Los Angeles. At the event, Apple is set to announce new Macs and a refreshed iPad Mini, according to Bloomberg . The big announcement is expected to be a new MacBook Pro with an OLED touchscreen that's also lighter and has an iPhone-like Dynamic Island. But Apple is also planning on revealing a 14-inch MacBook Pro and a new iMac with the M6 chip, which was recently introduced with the Mac Mini . Apple's updated iPad Mini will apparently finally get an OLED screen as well and put the selfie cam on the landscape edge. "Can't wait to p … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1013028/apple-second-october-product-launch-announcement

Now, former Savannah police officer Amber Harpe was fired in August following a department investigation that found she had shared her Flock login information with her husband, Tyler Harpe, an ICE agent. SPD does not share its Flock data with ICE and said sharing access to the system violated the department's security protocols. While he had unauthorized access to the system, Tyler Harpe conducted 983 searches related to 97 license plates, which were overwhelmingly registered to Hispanic drivers, according to Savannah's local ABC affiliate, WJCL . The Harpes defended their actions, saying they didn't use access for personal reasons and that … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/policy/1013573/spd-officer-fired-flock-ice-husband

Mister Organ doesn't reach the level of societal horror of The Act of Killing or the creepypasta-meets-true-crime gruesomeness of Beware the Slenderman , but there's something deeply unsettling about Michael Organ and his intimate campaign of terror against everyone who enters his life. Mister Organ is a documentary by David Farrier, an Auckland, New Zealand journalist. The movie starts with Farrier reporting on Bashford Antiques, a shop in Ponsonby that has begun aggressively clamping cars in its lot and demanding exorbitant fees to release them - up to $760. Farrier's article for The Spinoff eventually led the government to introduce legi … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/entertainment/1013545/mister-organ-horror-documentary-review

Carolyn Marvin was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after blocking the path of an Uber delivery robot and refusing to get out of the way. Marvin told Philadelphia's ABC13 "I know they're taking the jobs of human delivery workers and so, I have been protesting them whenever I saw them by standing in front of them and preventing them from going forward." Police responded to the scene and asked Marvin to move out of the robot's way. When she refused, they placed her in cuffs and arrested her. The incident was captured on video and has now garnered considerable media attention. The delivery robots have become a common sight on the … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1013541/a-woman-was-arrested-in-philly-for-blocking-a-delivery-robot

Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York's 15th congressional district in the Bronx introduced the Power To The Players Act this week. If passed, the bill would direct the Federal Trade Commission to establish regulations that guarantee consumers ownership of a game when they pay for it, rather than a licensing agreement. It's increasingly common for games sold to require a connection to a server. Meaning that when a company decides to shut down those servers, the games often become unplayable. Rep. Torres singles out NBA 2K25 as a recent example. 2K will be delisting the game from storefronts at the end of the month and shutting down its servers on … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/policy/1013521/video-game-ownership-bill-congress-power-to-the-players-act

AUSTIN, TEXAS - APRIL 8: Tesla Cybercabs are lined up on a lot at Tesla Giga Texas in Austin, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. | Image: Getty Images This is The Stepback , a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on autonomous vehicles, policy, and road rules, follow Andrew J. Hawkins . The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here . How it started The first state to pass a law legalizing self-driving cars operating on public roads was Nevada in June 2011 - long before such vehicles were operating on public roads. This was three years before the introduction of Tesla's Autopilot , five years before Waymo spun out of the Google self-driving car project, and seven years before the first commercial robotaxi … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/transportation/1013220/robotaxi-self-driving-car-laws

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during the inaugural parade inside Capitol One Arena, in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images Just ahead of the wider release of Alex Gibney's Musk documentary, TikTok has banned the film's social media account from its platform. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to The Hollywood Reporter , the film's distributor, Bleecker Street, was informed Friday afternoon that a "permanent suspension" was imminent. Bleecker Street has not yet responded to a request for comment from The Verge . While TikTok has no official affiliation with Elon Musk, part owner Larry Ellison appears in the film via a text message offering to help Musk fund his Twitter purchase. Last month, YouTube, Meta, X, and TikTok all face … Read the full story at The Verge. ...

Earlier this year, Mercedes' AMG performance brand grabbed our attention with the GT four-door coupe , a souped-up sports sedan with three axial flux motors delivering over 1,150 horsepower. Well, now meet its beefier cousin, the 2028 Mercedes-AMG GT SUV, an equally powerful, ultra-fast-charging electric people-hauler. The AMG GT SUV (say that five times fast) marks the first time in the performance brand's 59-year history that it has developed a full-size SUV entirely in-house from the ground up. Scheduled to hit the US next summer, the new EV is built on Merc's high-performance AMG.EA architecture to combine sports-car handling with full-s … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/transportation/1013088/mercedes-amg-gt-suv-price-specs-performance

In 2024, Elon Musk promised to give away $1 million a day to a randomly selected registered voter in a swing state. That prompted legal challenges, raised questions about its legality, and drew lawsuits from two Arizona residents claiming the lottery was a fraud. Musk has now agreed to settle the two lawsuits filed in Austin, Texas, though the details of the settlement have not been made public. The plaintiffs claim that when Musk announced the sweepstakes, he falsely claimed the prizes would be awarded randomly. Philadelphia's District Attorney sued to stop the giveaway , claiming that Musk was running an illegal lottery. During a hearing, … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1013431/elon-musk-settles-lawsuits-over-1-million-voter-giveaway

After this horrific crash involving a Tesla driver who said he was asleep and using the driver assist mode, the California Highway Patrol warns that "Despite its name, full self-driving is not fully autonomous. Technology does not relieve drivers of their responsibility to safely operate their vehicles." Video released by CHP shows the Tesla speeding past flares, cones, and emergency lights where officers were on the scene of an earlier accident, before ramming into the back of a parked patrol vehicle. CHP says two officers were seriously injured in the accident and taken to a hospital. Two Solano CHP officers were seriously injured when … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/transportation/1013280/tesla-chp-fsd-crash

Apple’s Home Collection is part of the company’s first major push into the smart home category. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge For more than a decade, Apple has told other companies to build smart home devices for its platform. This week, Apple launched its own . The Apple Home Collection is a lineup of cameras, thermostats, sensors, a smart door lock, and a video doorbell, all codeveloped with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric. They arrive alongside HomeView , Apple's first smart display. Even after 12 years of HomeKit, Apple's smart home ecosystem still feels underdeveloped, especially compared to the competition. Amazon's and Google's ecosystems support more products, and both have popular in-house brands: Ring and Nest. Apple had nothing of its own to point c … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1013025/apple-home-collection-products-lg-schneider-smart-home

The new Apple TV 4K will be available in November. | Image: The Verge Earlier this week, Apple announced its new Apple TV 4K , which costs nearly twice as much as the 2022 model did at launch. Amazon is now offering the first discount on the forthcoming streaming box (coming out on November 13th), just days after discounting Apple’s new smart display for the first time. Right now, you can preorder the latest Apple TV 4K ahead of its November 13th release date for $289.99 ($9 off) at Amazon . Yes, it’s a tiny discount, but every little bit helps given the higher price tag. Apple TV 4K (2026) Where to Buy: $299 $289.99 at Amazon Powered by the new A19 chip, Apple’s latest streaming device now features support for Siri AI out of the box, which is coming to older Apple TV 4K models via a software update. Unlike its predecessors, though, the new model features far-field microphones so you can quickly make hands-free requests. You can, for example, ask ...

If you missed out on Prime Day’s headphones deals, you’re in luck. Sony’s latest flagship headphones are selling for even less than they did during Amazon’s big fall sale. As part of B&H Photo’s Deals of the Day , you can currently pick up Sony’s WH-1000XM6 noise-canceling headphones in silver for just $328 at checkout ($130 off) for the rest of the day. That’s one of the best prices we’ve seen, and much cheaper than what you’ll typically pay at major retailers like Amazon and Best Buy, even during seasonal sales. Sony WH-1000XM6 Where to Buy: $458 $328 at B&H Photo The WH-1000XM6 are Sony’s best over-ear headphones yet, thanks in part to a new chip, which Sony says delivers the most powerful active noise cancellation in the series. Unsurprisingly, they also deliver the best sound of any WH-1000XM-series headphones to date, with new drivers that produce clearer vocals and richer bass. They’re great for work and life...

An Nvidia RTX Spark chip aboard an Asus laptop motherboard. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge Fourteen years ago this month, Microsoft released an Nvidia-powered Windows PC that would become one of the greatest tech flops in modern history. The original Microsoft Surface, which ran a stripped-down version of Windows on an Nvidia Tegra chip, bombed so hard that Microsoft had to write off $900 million in inventory . The problem was that Nvidia's Arm chip couldn't run existing Windows apps. Buyers had to leave their legacy programs behind. This Friday, October 16th, Nvidia will once again be at the heart of Arm-powered Windows PCs with the first wave of RTX Spark laptops. But now, the company says, they'll run everything . Adobe. Offic … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1011705/nvidia-rtx-spark-everything-runs-on-arm

Begone, Bot. | Image: Google / Android Android is introducing new scam defense features that aim to make it easier for users to evade mobile fraud, including bolstered protection in Google Messages and additional safeguarding tools. Building on the Scam Detection feature in Google Messages, a new "enhanced protection" setting will be rolling out in the coming weeks that taps into cloud-based Gemini AI models to quickly evaluate a potential scammer's intentions in conversations with an unrecognized sender. "Scammers often disguise their true motives behind slow-burn conversations," Google said in its update announcement . "This secure cloud analysis augments and extends our existi … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1010928/android-scam-protection-enhanced-protection-google-messages

After months sitting on the sidelines of the frontier AI race, Google has finally launched its long-awaited Gemini 4 Argon model, claiming it can compete with the best the industry has to offer. Google says Argon delivers "frontier reasoning and improved performance across complex workflows," while cutting down on hedging, repetition, and the cliches that continue to plague AI chatbots. The company claims Argon outperforms rival models like GPT-6 Astra, Claude Fable 5.1, and Claude Opus 5.5 across a range of benchmarks, including coding, cybersecurity, science, finance, and law. Google says it's already putting Argon to use internally, s … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1009862/google-releases-gemini-4-argon

Character.AI, one of the first breakout startups of the generative AI boom, has filed for bankruptcy and is selling some of its assets to Disney. The company, which builds various online bots for users to chat or roleplay with, has faced mounting scrutiny and lawsuits over the safety of its chatbots , but has continued releasing updates and products in recent months. In a press release and blog post published Monday, Character said it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US to facilitate the sale of the company and its assets. "Over the past year, we've taken meaningful steps to sustain and improve our business amid signific … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1009802/character-ai-files-for-bankruptcy-disney

As important as some of the messages in The Social Reckoning are, the movie has been drastically underperforming at the box office. Per Variety , Aaron's Sorkin's follow up to The Social Network only grossed a measly $5.5 million this past weekend against a budget that's somewhere within the $30-42 million range. That would make it a certifiable flop that's costing Columbia Pictures (and Sony) quite a bit of money - especially when you compare it to The Social Network 's $22 million opening. This isn't entirely surprising given how middling reviews for the film have been. It's currently got a 55% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has widely been … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/entertainment/1009630/social-reckoning-box-office-other-mommy

So much for doing less political spending. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images Elon Musk has handed out at least $276 million to Republican groups since July, The New York Times reports, making him both the party's top known donor and the biggest established midterm donor. $158 million of that money - one of the largest political donations in American history - has been funneled into the Senate Leadership Fund, the main super PAC that aims to secure and maintain a Republican Senate majority. Among others, it's fighting to retain the party's Senate seat in Texas, which serves as a major hub for Musk's business empire. He's also donated over $76 million to America PAC, a super PAC Musk founded in 2024 that canvasses for … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/tech/1009604/elon-musk-2026-midterm-republican-donations

If you're driving through GM's sprawling campus in Warren, Michigan, you'd likely ignore the pair of adjacent, anonymous white buildings tucked away in the upper reaches of the 710-acre space. Inside those buildings, which total half a million square feet together, is a massive construction project that's still in progress. Once completed, it will house GM's new Battery Cell Development Center, where the automaker is working furiously to build new prototype cells with the goal of slashing the cost of its EVs. GM has to build faster and cheaper to meet its goal of selling affordable EVs in much higher volumes. Those EVs will have to compete … Read the full story at The Verge. source https://www.theverge.com/transportation/1008023/gm-bcdc-ev-battery-factory-china-tesla