Trump admin admits DOGE employees had access to off-limits Social Security data
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffers working at the Social Security Administration (SSA) broke protocols, had more access to sensitive data on Americans than previou…
The FTC isn't giving up on its antitrust case against Meta
The Federal Trade Commission lost its antitrust case against Meta last year, but the regulator hasn't given up on its attempts to punish the social media company for its acquis…
Netflix will revamp its mobile UI this year
Netflix is working on a new mobile UI set to roll out later this year that will "better serve the expansion of our business over the decade to come," co-CEO Greg Peters said in an …
OpenAI is launching age prediction for ChatGPT accounts
OpenAI is the latest company to hop on the bandwagon of gating access by users' age. The AI business is beginning a global rollout of an age prediction tool to determine whethe…
FTC says it will appeal Meta antitrust loss
The Federal Trade Commission will appeal its loss in a landmark antitrust case against Meta, the agency announced Tuesday. US District Court Judge James Boasberg ruled in November …
Nova Launcher’s new owner might offer a version with ads
Last year, Nova Launcher founder and sole developer Kevin Barry announced he had left Branch Metrics, Nova's parent company at the time - which followed an announcement from 2024 t…
Google has finally killed the Stadia Bluetooth tool — but this person rescued it
Did you save your Google Stadia controller like I told you last month? It's still not too late. This week, Google has finally removed the tool that converts the now-useless control…
Akai's MPC XL groovebox is the most powerful device the company has ever made
Akai just revealed its most powerful standalone groovebox, the MPC XL. For the uninitiated, the MPC has been around since the 1980s and pretty much defined hip hop from that era. T…
Samsung’s discounted microSD Express card more than doubles your Switch 2 storage
Samsung’s P9 microSD Express card is a relatively affordable way to upgrade Switch 2 storage. If you buy digital games for the Nintendo Switch 2, Samsung’s P9 microSD Express car…
Life is Strange will bring the Max and Chloe story to an end in new game
A little over a decade ago, Life is Strange burst onto the scene with a unique blend of teen drama and interactive storytelling. That first game told the story of Max Caulfield, wh…
Earth is having some issues, so let's enjoy the Webb telescope's new nebula image
Sometimes, you just need to give your mind a little vacation. And these days, outer space sounds like as good a destination as any. Thankfully, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST…
The best iPad deals you can get right now
The 13-inch Pro is getting dangerously close to laptop territory. | Photo: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge While the best iPad deals usually land during major sale events like…
Netflix’s Star Search will let you vote to decide who wins
Though Netflix's upcoming Star Search reboot will feature a panel of celebrity judges, viewers are going to have a hand in choosing which contestants win the competition. Ahead of …
ExpressVPN deal: Two-year plans are up to 78 percent off right now
If you're looking to up your privacy game on the internet in the new year, you can do so for a little less than usual thanks to ExpressVPN's latest deal. Its two-year plans are up …
Roland's Go:Mixer Studio is an affordable but capable mixer for budding recording engineers
Roland just unveiled the Go:Mixer Studio, a powerful entry in the company's line of audio interfaces. This one promises to be a portable and affordable way to create high-quali…
Former Nintendo of America boss Doug Bowser is joining Hasbro
Doug Bowser is joining Hasbro's board of directors just weeks after retiring as Nintendo of America's president, according to an announcement on Tuesday. Though Hasbro's press rele…
Rad Power Bikes warehouse catches fire following flammable battery warnings
In a strange twist of fate, a fire broke out this week at the Rad Power Bikes retail store warehouse in Huntington Beach, California, Electrek reports. The structural blaze came le…
Sleeper Hit ‘UG’ Has Become One of Quest’s Most Popular and Top Earning Games in Less Than 6 Months
While a flurry of VR studio cuts and closures in the last 12 months has painted a picture of a deeply struggling landscape for VR developers, modern Quest success stories have larg…
Meta's Oversight Board is looking into transparency around disabling accounts
Meta has a lot of work to do when it comes to limiting hate speech on its platforms. Now, its Oversight Board is looking into the company's decision to ban an account for, amon…
This Audible deal ends soon: Get three months of access for only $3
One way to read more in the new year is to incorporate audiobooks as part of your reading habit. Audible is having a sale right now that makes that easier and cheaper to do: you ca…
VITURE Calls XREAL Lawsuit “patent-troll-style” in Escalating AR Glasses IP Battle
AR glasses maker XREAL is taking its competitor VITURE to court over a patent dispute, claiming that it’s selling and/or importing units into the US that infringe on its inte…
Adobe unveils new AI-powered video editing tools for Premiere
Adobe has announced updates for Premiere and After Effects, including new AI-powered tools that are meant to speed up your video editing tasks. In Premiere, the company’s video-edi…
One year of access to Monarch Money's budgeting app is down to $50 right now
The start of the new year is a great time to get your finances in order, and a good budgeting app can help with that. Instead of laboring over a spreadsheet, you can try one of our…
The Disney+ and Hulu bundle is on sale for $10 for one month
You have the best chance to save on streaming services during the holiday shopping season, but throughout the year, the occasional deal pops up that's worth considering. Case i…
The UK is mulling an Australia-like social media ban for users under 16
The UK government has announced a consultation, asking people for their feedback on whether to introduce a social media ban for children under 16 years old. It would also explore h…
The Morning After: Elon Musk wants a $134 billion payout from OpenAI and Microsoft
Part of a lawsuit accusing OpenAI of abandoning its non-profit status claims Musk is owed anywhere from $79 billion to $134 billion in damages for the “wrongful gains” of OpenAI an…
Sony is handing control of its Bravia TV business to China's TCL
Sony is ceding control of its Bravia TV brand to China's TCL as part of a new "strategic partnership," the companies announced in a joint press release. The Japanese electronics gi…
Microsoft’s free Xbox Cloud Gaming is coming soon with ads
Microsoft has been testing its ad-supported Xbox Cloud Gaming service over the past few months, as I exclusively revealed in October. Now, the software giant is getting close to te…
Sony’s TV business is being taken over by TCL
If the partnership goes ahead, TCL will have input into the development of future Sony Bravia TV models. Sony has announced plans to spin off its TV hardware business, shifting i…
The best wireless chargers for 2026
If you’ve upgraded your phone recently, there’s a good chance it supports wireless charging. Battery life can be one of the first things to deteriorate as your phone ages, so you’l…
Realme promises days of battery from its 10,001mAh phone
I’m sure that single extra milliamp-hour will make all the difference. After teasing 10,000mAh and 15,000mAh concept devices, Realme is ready to make those big batteries a realit…
Roland’s Go:Mixer Studio turns your phone into a mobile music studio
Roland now offers a more capable audio mixer for phones and tablets with the launch of the Go:Mixer Studio. The Go:Mixer audio interface lineup has always been a bit limited, bette…
Dr. Gladys West, whose mathematical models inspired GPS, dies at 95
Pioneering mathematician Dr. Gladys West has passed away at the age of 95. Her name may not be familiar to you, but her contributions certainly are; West's work laid the founda…
ASUS will not release any new smartphones this year
ASUS appears to be shifting its business operations away from smartphones. According to translations of recent quotes from Chairman Jonney Shih, the company does not plan to releas…
OpenAI’s 2026 ‘focus’ is ‘practical adoption’
OpenAI plans to focus on "practical adoption" of AI in 2026, according to a blog post from CFO Sarah Friar. As the company spends a huge amount of money on infrastructure, OpenAI i…
UK agency questions Meta's policies for illegal gambling site ads
The UK Gambling Commission has raised concerns that Meta is ignoring advertisements by illegal gambling websites on its platforms. At a conference in Barcelona, the commission'…
How much can a city take?
I live in Minneapolis. I grew up not far from here, in a suburb of St. Paul; after stints on both coasts, my wife and I settled here to raise our daughters in a freezing state that…
TurboTax Deluxe is on sale for $45 ahead of tax season
With the spring approaching, it's time to start thinking about how you'll file your taxes. Unfortunately, with the recent demise of Direct File, there isn't a free, gov…
Bungie's Marathon arrives on March 5
Marathon, Bungie's long-awaited extraction shooter, will arrive on March 5, the studio announced today. Alongside a definitive release date, Bungie shared a new gameplay traile…
A second US Sphere could come to Maryland
Sphere Entertainment, the company behind the eye-catching interactive venue in Las Vegas, has announced its "intent to develop" another Sphere in Maryland that will be located 15 m…
Musk claims Tesla will restart work on its Dojo supercomputer
Elon Musk posted on X that Tesla will be restarting work on Dojo3, the third generation of its in-house supercomputer project. The Dojo team had been disbanded last year as the com…
Bungie’s Marathon shooter launches on March 5th
Bungie is putting an official date on Marathon today, its delayed extraction shooter. The slick-looking shooter from the makers of Halo and Destiny was originally set to release in…
Oculus Founder on Meta Cuts: “The ‘Meta abandoning VR narrative’ is obviously false”
In light of Reality Labs’ reorganization, which has seen recent internal studio closures and layoffs, Oculus founder Palmer Luckey calls the doomer narrative “obviously…
NBA League Pass deal: Get access for the rest of the season for up to 55 percent off
Basketball fans can save on NBA League Pass right now, which lets you catch a bunch of out-of-market NBA games via streaming. The League Pass Premium subscription is on sale for $7…
AirTag deal: Get four of the Bluetooth trackers for $65
Apple keeps most of its product pricing on a tight leash, but we do see the company's AirTags go on sale pretty frequently. Another cost cut has come around for this item just …
Gamers love AI in game dev — they just don’t know it yet, says Razer’s CEO
We’re back to start the year off with a very special live interview with Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan, which we taped in front of a terrific audience at Brooklyn Bowl in Las Vegas durin…
Threads has more global daily users than X on mobile for the first time
Meta’s Threads is pulling further ahead of Elon Musk’s X on mobile, based on recent estimates from analytics firm Similarweb, Forbes reports. In the first stretch of January, Threa…
This 5-foot lamp is a supersized tribute to the world’s most iconic pen
The Bic Lamp can be hung, mounted, or used as a vertical standing lamp. | Image: Seletti Seletti, an Italian design brand known for everything from furniture to tableware, has de…
Asus may have made its last phone
The Zenfone 12 Ultra is Asus’s latest — and perhaps final — flagship phone. Asus chairman Jonney Shih told Taiwan's Inside that the company is done making phones for now, marking…
Animal Crossing: New Horizons added just enough to suck me back in
Animal Crossing has always been anti-instant gratification. By design, you have to take your time, wait for days to pass in real time, and complete a seemingly endless list of chor…