PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – SEPTEMBER 10, 2024: Laura Loomer arrives at Philadelphia International Airport on The Trump Organization’s Boeing 757. | Photo: Getty Images
For all the power she wields with the White House's affairs, Laura Loomer does not have the traditional tools that her rivals in the MAGA influencer industrial complex have - the highest follower count, the most political power, the most internet platforms, etc. But the fact remains that she's the influencer responsible for getting Donald Trump to fire over a dozen members of his administration (and counting) for the hazily-defined crime of being disloyal to MAGA. This is something that none of her peers, individually, have been able to do. But to understand how she operates, look no further than Loomer's latest attempted power play, which, …
The state of Louisiana has filed a lawsuit against Roblox, alleging that the company has “permitted and perpetuated an online environment in which child predators thrive, directly contributing to the widespread victimization of minor children in Louisiana.”
Roblox sees more than 111.8 million daily active users, and it’s hugely popular with children, with users under 13 comprising nearly 40 percent of players last quarter. However, the platform has come under significant scrutiny over reported failures to protect children on the platform, with Bloomberg publishing a major report last year about predators on Roblox and the investment firm Hindenburg Research alleging that its research revealed “an X-rated pedophile hellscape.” In recent months, Roblox has taken steps to bolster its child safety features, including introducing parent accounts that can manage their child’s account and the ability for parents to block people on their child’s friend list.
But Louisiana alleges that Roblox’s “deliberate failure to implement effective safety measures to protect child users from well-documented predatory threats, along with its ongoing failure to warn parents and children of the foreseeable dangers posed by its platform, has directly facilitated the widespread sexual exploitation of minors and inflicted severe, lasting harm upon the children of Louisiana,” according to the complaint.
“Roblox is overrun with harmful content and child predators because it prioritizes user growth, revenue, and profits over child safety,” Attorney General Liz Murrill says. “Every parent should be aware of the clear and present danger poised to their children by Roblox so they can prevent the unthinkable from ever happening in their own home.”
Roblox spokesperson Kadia Koroma sent the following statement about the lawsuit to The Verge:
The assertion that Roblox would intentionally put our users at risk of exploitation is categorically untrue. Every day, tens of millions of people around the world use Roblox to learn stem skills, play, and imagine and have a safe experience on our platform. We dedicate vast resources to supporting a safe infrastructure including advanced technology and 24/7 human moderation, to detect and prevent inappropriate content and behavior — not only because it’s important to us but because it is such a critical issue and so important to our community. We dispute these allegations and we remain committed to working with Attorney General Murrill to keep kids safe.
While no system is perfect, Roblox has implemented rigorous safeguards—such as restrictions on sharing personal information, links, and user-to-user image sharing—to help protect our community. Unfortunately, bad actors will try to circumvent our systems to try to direct users off the platform, where safety standards and moderation practices may differ. We continuously work to block those efforts and to enhance our moderation approaches to promote a safe and enjoyable environment for all users.
Seven lawsuits regarding child predator issues have been filed against Roblox in a “little over two weeks,” Bloomberg reports.
This week, Roblox published a post on its website about why it removes what it describes as “vigilantes” who try to catch bad actors on Roblox by using tactics “similar to actual predators.” One user, who goes by “Schlep” and says on his X profile that he has contributed to “6 Roblox arrests and counting,” posted screenshots on X last week of what he says was a cease-and-desist notice by Roblox.
Apple’s latest AirPods Pro are receiving the biggest discount at 32 percent off. | Photo: Chris Welch / The Verge
If you know where to look, you can often score discounts on Apple’s ever-expanding AirPods lineup. Both the newer AirPods Max and AirPods 4 (with and without ANC) now consistently receive discounts, as do the latest AirPods Pro with USB-C. Events like Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday often bring the steepest discounts, though you can still find great deals throughout the year.
Below, we’ve rounded up the best deals currently available on each model, including both iterations of the AirPods 4, the latest AirPods Pro, and the AirPods Max.
The best AirPods 4 deals
Apple AirPods 4
Apple’s AirPods 4 improve on previous models with better sound, clearer voice calls, and an even more comfortable design. For $50 extra, you can purchase a model with active noise cancellation and wireless charging.
The fancier version of the new AirPods 4 offer support for active noise cancellation, a wireless charging case that can use either Qi or Apple Watch pads, and a speaker in the case that chirps to help you find it.
At its September 2024 event, Apple introduced the AirPods 4, a pair of wireless earbuds available in two variations: a $129 standard model and a $179 noise-canceling model. Both versions represent significant upgrades over the third-gen AirPods, with a more comfortable design and improved audio performance. They’re also better for taking calls thanks to Apple’s Voice Isolation feature, which focuses the mics on your voice so you can be heard more clearly in noisy environments.
The $179 AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation offer a surprisingly effective noise-canceling mode, a helpful transparency mode, and several other Pro-level features. The latest AirPods Pro do a better job of tuning out noise, but the AirPods 4 with ANC still do a good job of reducing sound. They also feature other perks formerly reserved for Apple’s top-of-the-line earbuds, including wireless charging and a case with a built-in speaker that allows you to easily track it down via Apple’s Find My app.
Given they’ve been out for nearly a year, we consistently see discounts on both versions of the AirPods 4. Right now, for instance, the standard AirPods 4 are on sale at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy for around $99 ($30 off), which is just $10 shy of their all-time low. The AirPods 4 with ANC, meanwhile, are matching their second-best price to date at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy, where you can currently pick them up starting at $148.99 (also $30 off).
Apple AirPods Pro (second-gen) with USB-C charging case
The second-gen AirPods Pro improve upon Apple’s original pair with much better noise cancellation, sound quality, and onboard volume controls. The latest refresh also ships with a USB-C charging case, as opposed to Lightning.
In 2022, Apple released the second-gen AirPods Pro, which feature a similar build to the first-gen model but offer better noise cancellation, swipe-based controls, and an extra-small pair of swappable silicone ear tips for smaller ears. Apple followed up a year later with a minor refresh, one that features a USB-C charging case and an upgraded IP54 rating for water and dust resistance. The newest model also supports lossless audio when used with Apple’s new Vision Pro headset and doubles as a pair of FDA-approved hearing aids.
As far as deals go, Apple’s updated AirPods Pro with USB-C are currently available at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy for around $169 ($80 off), which remains the best price we’ve seen this year outside of Prime Day.
The AirPods Max aren’t the iconic in-ears that have become synonymous with the AirPods name. They’re large and luxurious, comprised of aluminum, steel, and mesh fabric that remains comfortable during extended listening sessions. They also sport excellent noise cancellation, Apple’s spatial audio feature, and expansive, balanced sound, even if they lag behind some of their peers when it comes to bass response and features. They’re not the best noise-canceling headphones for most people — blame the sticker price — but it’s hard to find a better pair of Bluetooth headphones if you’re an iPhone user.
Toward the end of last year, Apple replaced the first-gen Max with a new model that features support for USB-C charging and a few new color options. As of writing, they’re on sale at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy in all six colors for $479.99 ($70 off) — not quite the $399 low we saw during Prime Day.
There's a meme currently going around Bluesky where people are posting their first purchases on Steam. Taking a look presents a neat time capsule, offering a glimpse of who we used to be. It also gives us a chance to compare our gaming habits now with what they were 10 or more years ago - that is, if you're one of the Olds that's been around that long. On a lark, I looked at mine and got the thrill of being able to place a date on when exactly my current life began.
Sometimes, examining your earliest Steam purchases presents as many questions as answers. My very first Steam purchases were made on December 25th, 2010, and were all over the …
In an email sent out to PBS station managers on Wednesday, PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger announced that the organization plans to cut its budget by 21 percent in order to offset some of the financial damage being caused by the Trump administration’s campaign to stop public media from receiving federal funding that was originally distributed by the CPB. Because of the recently passed bill, PBS, NPR, and all of both organizations’ affiliates will no longer receive the $1.1 billion that was previously set aside for them to use over the next two years.
In addition to the budget cuts, PBS’ board of directors also voted in favor of lowering the overall amount of dues it collects from member stations across the country by $35 million dollars — a reduction of about 15 percent from the $227 million it originally budgeted for back in June. Additionally, PBS is giving its member stations more time to plan out how they will raise the funds necessary to pay their dues, which are determined by a formula that accounts for how much nonfederal funding they receive.
The move to lower dues is meant to make it easier for PBS member stations — which air programming like Sesame Street, PBS News Hour, and Finding Your Roots — to deal with some of their own financial burdens. But Kerger was also clear in her memo that PBS as a whole is fighting an uphill battle to stay afloat.
“We recognize that even with the dues reduction, adjusted payment schedule and efforts to raise funds for initial financial stabilization, we all face hard choices about the future,” Kerger said. “We are stronger together, and together, we will continue to stay focused on our mission.”
Though the CPB is set to begin winding its operations down at the end of September, PBS and NPR — which have both historically relied on federal funding to help fund programming and pay employees — are not going away, at least, not yet. Earlier this month, NPR said that it is cutting its own budget by $8 million and using that money to set up a “fee relief” fund to help smaller member stations meet their needs. But the CPB’s dismantling is going to put a significant strain on the US’ largest public media broadcasters, particularly for smaller member stations in more rural areas across the country. In PBS’ case, this new budget cut is also likely to lead to layoffs.
If you’ve ever juggled a phone, a smartwatch, and a pair of wireless earbuds, you know the struggle of keeping them all charged. Rather than go through the process of charging them one by one, a quality charging station can help you manage the chaos and reduce cable clutter. The Anker MagGo Wireless Charging Station is a solid option for keeping your devices charged, and it’s currently matching its all-time low of $62.99 ($27 off) at Amazon and Anker’s online storefront — the same price drop we saw during Amazon Prime Day.
Anker MagGo Wireless Charging Station (3-in-1, Dock Stand)
The 3-in-1 charger features a relatively compact design that’s about the size of a coffee mug. Front and center is a MagSafe / Qi2 charging pad that can quickly charge a compatible phone with an output of up to 15W. You can adjust the pad’s angle vertically up to 45 degrees, which is handy for viewing notifications or taking video calls. Just behind the main pad is a horizontal charging spot that supports fast-charging on newer Apple Watch models, including the Apple Watch Series 10, which can be charged from 0 to 100 percent in just over an hour. Additionally, the base of the charging station has a third pad for wireless earbuds.
If you decide to buy Anker’s 3-in-1 charging station, you won’t need to pick up any additional accessories to get started. That’s because your purchase includes a 40W USB-C adapter and a USB-C to USB-C cable — everything you need to top off your devices.
More deals to check out
If you’ve been thinking of adding something new to your anime collection, now’s the time to do so. Crunchyroll is taking 35 percent off more than 3,000 products through August 26th as part of its summer sales event, dropping the price of everything from manga and select Blu-ray titles to figures you can display on your shelf. Crunchyroll members can save up to 15 percent more on top of the 35 percent off, making it possible to stack for even bigger savings. Not sure what to get? You can save on Blu-ray copies of Perfect Blue, Your Name, Akira, and Cowboy Bebop.
The OnePlus Buds 4 are currently available for an all-time low of $99.99 ($30 off) at Amazon and OnePlus. The wireless earbuds feature an AirPods Pro-esque design, with a familiar stem and silicone tips for a more secure fit. They support features like active noise cancellation, hi-res and spatial audio, and are powered by dual 11mm and 6mm drivers in each bud. Additionally, each earbud stem features concave touch controls, making it easier to feel where you’re meant to swipe and tap. Read our impressions.
The Verge’s Jennifer Pattison Tuohy recently went with her family to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where she was met by a brutal heat dome. Without AC and temperatures hovering around 100 degrees, they relied on the Koonie Camping Fan to stay cool. If you, too, are looking to beat the heat, this exact model is now 50 percent off at Amazon, dropping the price to an all-time low of $22.49 (about $22 off). The fan features a beefy 16,000mAh battery that doubles as a USB power bank, built-in lights, and a remote control. While the fan works well, it can be a bit noisy at night on its highest setting.
The nations of the world have been on the precipice of reaching a global agreement to curb plastic pollution for a few years now. Delegates from 184 governments met in Geneva this month to try to hammer out a final treaty, but in the end, they walked away without a deal.
This is not necessarily a bad thing. Delegates have missed their 2024 deadline, which was extended to this round of talks. But no deal is better than a bad deal, environmental advocates say. The big schism was over whether the treaty should phase out the use of hazardous chemicals in manufacturing and set limits to how much plastic is actually produced. Countries where plastics and fossil fuels are big business — including the US and Russia — would rather just focus on managing and recycling waste, leading to the deadlock.
“We need to address unhinged plastic production.”
“We need to address unhinged plastic production,” Juan Carlos Monterrey Gómez, a delegate from Panama, said during a Thursday press conference before negotiations came to a close. “We’re not here to simply get to a deal. We are here to end plastic pollution.”
Plastic production has exploded since the 1950s, reaching 475 metric megatons a year by 2022. That’s the year that United Nations member states committed to developing a legally-binding agreement on plastic pollution.
The industry has also been facing increasing heat for peddling recycling as a solution. California filed suit against ExxonMobil last year over what it calls a “campaign of deception” about plastic recycling. It’s estimated that less than 10 percent of plastic waste has ever been recycled. The material is difficult and costly to rehash, and even products made with recycled plastic typically still need to be reinforced with freshly-made plastic.
Recycling, as a result, can fuel more production, says Mohamed Kamal, a waste management expert and executive director of the Egypt-based foundation Greenish who attended the talks in Geneva. “Recycling is a reaction to the generation of waste. It is not a preventive method,” Kamal tells The Verge. “You would want to prevent yourself from getting injured. You wouldn’t want to get injured and then react every time.”
A “high ambition coalition” of more than 70 nations, led by Norway and Rwanda, wants to go farther by addressing the entire lifecycle of the material, including restraining plastic production. Details on the next round of negotiations haven’t been decided yet, but they could take place later this year or next year.
“I feel more emotional than I have in the previous negotiations,” says Jo Banner, who co-founded the nonprofit The Descendants Project with her sister and has attended all of the plastics treaty negotiations to advocate for their community in Louisiana. It’s been nicknamed “cancer alley” since it’s considered a “frontline” community to the problem. There are around 200 industrial plants in the area connected to petrochemical and plastics production. Air pollution in Louisiana has been linked to higher cancer rates, particularly in neighborhoods with a higher proportion of Black residents and with higher poverty rates. A treaty that doesn’t pay any attention to the health risks caused by plastic production wouldn’t begin to help her community heal, Banner says.
“We are willing to go without [a treaty] than to have something that will continue to harm us,” she says. “I know it may seem like, in many ways, it is a failure. But ultimately … people from the frontline have been able to be on a global stage intervening for their communities.”
Anthropic has updated the usage policy for its Claude AI chatbot in response to growing concerns about safety. In addition to introducing stricter cybersecurity rules, Anthropic now specifies some of the most dangerous weapons that people should not develop using Claude.
Anthropic doesn’t highlight the tweaks made to its weapons policy in the post summarizing its changes, but a comparison between the company’s old usage policy and its new one reveals a notable difference. Though Anthropic previously prohibited the use of Claude to “produce, modify, design, market, or distribute weapons, explosives, dangerous materials or other systems designed to cause harm to or loss of human life,” the updated version expands on this by specifically prohibiting the development of high-yield explosives, along with biological, nuclear, chemical, and radiological (CBRN) weapons.
In May, Anthropic implemented “AI Safety Level 3” protection alongside the launch of its new Claude Opus 4 model. The safeguards are designed to make the model more difficult to jailbreak, as well as to help prevent it from assisting with the development of CBRN weapons.
In its post, Anthropic also acknowledges the risks posed by agentic AI tools, including Computer Use, which lets Claude take control of a user’s computer, as well as Claude Code, a tool that embeds Claude directly into a developer’s terminal. “These powerful capabilities introduce new risks, including potential for scaled abuse, malware creation, and cyber attacks,” Anthropic writes.
The AI startup is responding to these potential risks by folding a new “Do Not Compromise Computer or Network Systems” section into its usage policy. This section includes rules against using Claude to discover or exploit vulnerabilities, create or distribute malware, develop tools for denial-of-service attacks, and more.
Additionally, Anthropic is loosening its policy around political content. Instead of banning the creation of all kinds of content related to political campaigns and lobbying, Anthropic will now only prohibit people from using Claude for “use cases that are deceptive or disruptive to democratic processes, or involve voter and campaign targeting.” The company also clarified that its requirements for all its “high-risk” use cases, which come into play when people use Claude to make recommendations to individuals or customers, only apply to consumer-facing scenarios, not for business use.
Lamborghini makes fast cars; this is an indisputable fact. So when the iconic Italian automaker says it’s new plug-in hybrid is both “the most powerful V12 every built” and “the fastest Lamborghini ever,” you should pay attention.
At Monterey Car Week, Lamborghini unveiled its new Fenomeno plug-in hypercar that will be part of the automaker’s limited edition “Few Off” collection, which also includes notable entrants like the Sián and Countach. But before you reach for your wallet, you should know that this exclusive machine will cost a whopping $3.5 million. Just in case you’re worried about affordability.
If money is no option, then the Fenomeno is sure to impress when out on the track. The combination of 835cv from the naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 and a further 245cv from the three electric motors, the Fenomeno’s total power output registers as a blistering 1,080cv (a metric unit of horsepower that roughly translates to 1,065hp). That’s a clear step above the Revuelto’s 1,015cv (1,001hp) power output and a sign that Lamborghini’s hybrid models have some room to grow.
The Fenomeno also represents a record-smashing power-to-weight ratio of 1.64kg/cv, which Lamborghini says is the best in its 62-year history. Maximum torque is the same as the Revuelto: 725 Newton-meters at 6,750 rpm. And a zero to 100 kph (zero to 62mph) sprint will only take you 2.4 seconds — a tenth of a second quicker than the Revuelto. That might not mean much to the average person, but for real performance heads, every tenth of a second you can shave off makes a difference. The Fenomeno also has a top speed of more than 350 kph (218 mph).
Lamborghini says the increased power is possible thanks to the new 7kWh battery that is unique to Fenomeno. Up from 3.8kWh in the Revuelto, the new battery pack bestows the Fenomeno with a claimed driving range of just 20 km (12.4 miles) in electric-only mode, compared to just a few clicks in the Revuelto.
The Fenomeno features a monocoque chassis and exterior built entirely from carbon fiber, with carbon-ceramic brake discs for added stopping power. It rides on 21-inch rims at the front and 22-inch wheels on the rear, wearing Bridgestone Potenza Sport tires.
More aggressive in its styling than the Revuelto, the Fenomeno features two large air intakes on the hood derived from the Huracán GT3 race car, while its silhouette is inspired by the “long tail” of the track-only Lamborghini Essenza.
Naturally, the name was chosen as a nod to Lamborghini’s iconic bull logo, the company says:
The name Fenomeno comes, as per Lamborghini tradition, from a very brave and famous bull fought in Morelia, Mexico, in 2002. In a bullfight between two ‘toreros’, the bull was pardoned for the exceptional qualities it demonstrated. In both Italian and Spanish, Fenomeno means “phenomenal,” symbolizing something truly exceptional and unique.
Lamborghini only plans on making 29 Fenomeno hybrids — plus one for its own collection. But the hypercar’s design is meant to serve as a “design manifesto” for future Lamborghinis. When we’ll see a fully electric Lamborghini, though, remains a bit up in the air. In 2021, the Italian automaker outlined its electrification plans, which are supposed to produce gas-electric hybrid versions of its entire lineup. Following that, Lamborghini has said it will debut its first all-electric model sometime before the end of this decade.
We got a sneak peek of an electric Lamborghini with the all-electric Lanzador concept in 2023. Lamborghini initially planned to launch the production version in 2028 but pushed it back until 2029. Now it’s not clear if it will even arrive as a full EV. Lamborghini is also delaying its plans for an all-electric Urus and instead plans to release a performance version of its plug-in hybrid crossover.
In the meantime, these ultra-quick hybrids will have to suffice.
Tesla’s in-car visualizations for features like Autopilot and Full Self-Driving might be getting an upgrade with a switch to Epic Games’ Unreal Engine. As reported by Not a Tesla App, Tesla hacker greentheonly says they foundevidence of the change in Tesla’s 2025.20 firmware for Tesla Model S and Model X cars with AMD chips.
Unreal Engine is perhaps best known as a development tool for video games, but Epic has been making a bigger push as of late for automakers to use Unreal Engine. Currently, Tesla uses the Godot engine for the visualizations, according to greentheonly, so if Tesla switches to Unreal Engine, it would join a growing number of automakers that use Epic’s engine inside its cars, including Rivian, Ford, GMC, Volvo, and Lotus.
Tesla and Epic Games didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. This isn’t the first time the two companies have been connected to each other; Tesla’s Cybertruck was added to Fortnite last year.
But in a statement shared with The Verge, Kodak says it plans to use money from the company’s pension fund to pay off a large portion of its debt before it comes due. “The “going concern” language in Kodak’s 10-Q is essentially required disclosure because Kodak’s debt comes due within 12 months of the filing,” according to Denisse Goldbarg, Kodak’s CMO and Head of EAMER Sales.
If anything, Goldbarg says, Kodak will end the process with “a stronger balance sheet than we have had in years.” Here’s Goldbarg’s full statement:
“Kodak is confident it will be able to pay off a significant portion of its term loan well before it becomes due, and amend, extend or refinance our remaining debt and/or preferred stock obligations. To fund the repayment, we plan to draw on the approximately $300 million in cash we expect to receive from the reversion and settlement of our U.S. pension fund (the Kodak Retirement Income Plan, or “KRIP”) in December. However, the KRIP reversion is not solely within Kodak’s control and therefore is not deemed “probable” under U.S. GAAP accounting rules, which is what triggered the “going concern.” Once the KRIP reversion is completed Kodak will be virtually net debt free and will have a stronger balance sheet than we have had in years.”
Stripe, a financial services company that acts as a payment processor for millions of businesses including itch.io, has issued an apology following reports that members of its support team told callers the business does not support the sale of LGBTQ content.
"We apologize: the information given by our support team was totally wrong," said Stripe spokesperson Casey Becker in an email to The Verge. "Stripe has no prohibitions on the sale of LGBTQ+ content or goods."
A Redditor has shared a few images of what they say is a prototype of a new color screen Amazon Kindle. | Image: u/Successful_Bear4855 / Reddit
A Reddit user, writing in Portuguese, has shared a handful of images of what appears to be a prototype of a small Kindle with a color screen. The device shows the name Kindle Petit Color in the corner of one image, although the post author says that name hasn’t been finalized yet.
The Redditor says the screen’s colors are “much better than the Colorsoft” and the prototype lets you adjust the intensity and saturation of individual colors. The size of the device’s screen bezels are similar to Amazon’s entry-level black-and-white Kindle, but they claim it will actually be a little smaller than the 11th-generation version of the e-reader.
According to the post’s author, the prototype’s user interface takes better advantage of its color E Ink screen, letting you change the colors of the battery, Wi-Fi, and shopping cart icons, as well as the reading progress status bar. The text of an ebook can also be colored and will dynamically transition from one color to another through four different shades as you progress through a book, giving you another visual clue as to when you’re near the end.
These images and details are unconfirmed, and while Amazon has been expanding its lineup of color-screen Kindles, you should take this leak with more than a few grains of salt.
A close-up of artwork by Canadian artist, activist, and photographer Benjamin Von Wong, created for plastic pollution treaty negotiations, is seen in front of the United Nations offices in Geneva on August 12th. | Photo: Getty Images
Thousands of delegates have descended upon Geneva this week for what's supposed to be the culmination of years of negotiations that, if successful, are supposed to end in a groundbreaking global plastics treaty. They might be breathing in the very thing they're trying to clean up as they negotiate.
Greenpeace tested the air around the city just before the talks began this month and found a small amount of microplastics. It wasn't so much a rigorous study as it was a way to prove a point. Microplastics are turning up all over the place, including in the air we breathe.
That's why health and environmental advocates, as well as a coalition o …
Apple is developing a bunch of products and features to deliver its vision of AI, including multiple robots, a smart home display, and a revamped version of Siri with new technology powering it, according to an extensive report from Bloomberg. The company’s generative AI efforts lag those from other big tech companies, and it delayed some upgrades to Siri earlier this year, but these rumored new initiatives point to the smart home as a key place for its AI technology
One of the robots is apparently a tabletop robot that “resembles” an iPad mounted to an arm that can move around and follow users as they move around a room, Bloomberg says. Apple has already shared a preview of what this could look like: earlier this year, the company published research showing a tabletop robot that looks like a real-life version of the Pixar logo with a lamp on the end of the arm. In videos, it’s quite charming — it can even dance.
A key part of the device, which Apple is aiming to launch in 2027, would be a more visual version of Siri that users could have more natural conversations with, like what’s possible with ChatGPT’s voice mode. Bloomberg says Apple has tested using an animated take on the Finder logo for Siri, but the company is also apparently thinking about ideas that are more like Memoji. Apple is also revamping Siri so that it’s powered by LLMs.
Apple is working on other robots, too, including an Amazon Astro-like robot that has wheels, and it has “loosely discussed” humanoid robots, according to Bloomberg.
By the “middle of next year,” Apple plans to launch a smart home display that will let you do things like control your smart home, play music, take notes, and do video calls, Bloomberg says, and this device could have the new look for Siri. The display and the tabletop robot may have a new OS that can be used by multiple people, and could be able to personalize what’s shown to a user by scanning their face with a front-facing camera. Bloomberg says the smart home screen resembles a Google Nest Hub but has a square display.
In addition to the smart home display, Apple is also working on a security camera, and it plans to develop “multiple types of cameras and home-security products as part of an entirely new hardware and software lineup,” Bloomberg says.
We’re just one week away from Google’s Pixel 10 launch event, but the steady stream of leaks shows no sign of stopping. Now, new leaked images shared by Dutch outlet NieuweMobiel show what looks like Google’s rumored “Pixelsnap” cases with a ring in the center, hinting at support for the Qi2 wireless charging standard.
Bringing Qi2 magnetic charging to the Pixel 10 would be a pretty big deal. Among Android phones, only the HMD Skyline comes with the built-in magnets to fully support Qi2 magnetic charging, while “Qi2 Ready” phones like Samsung’s newest foldables rely on magnetic cases to make them Qi2-compatible.
This latest leak aligns with another leak we saw last month, which showed the Pixel 10 what appears to be a wireless charging puck. As shown by NieuweMobiel, the new Pixel 10 cases could come in blue, black, green, and light blue, while the Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL could have gray, green, and white options.
The Starlink Mini in Denmark. | Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge
Starlink now charges $5 a month to pause its high-speed, low-latency internet service, a feature that used to be available for free. It affects Roam, Residential, and Priority subscribers in the US, most of Europe, and Canada with lots of exceptions.
SpaceX hilariously calls it an upgrade, but I call it a bait and switch for anyone that bought a Starlink Mini with that "pay as you go" promise.
The free pause feature has been replaced with a $5/month (or €5/month) Standby Mode that comes with "unlimited low-speed data" that's "perfect for backup connectivity and emergency use," according to the email sent to subscribers. Some early testin …
New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing the banks behind Zelle over claims that their payment platform enabled “massive amounts of fraud” that caused customers to lose more than $1 billion between 2017 and 2023. In the lawsuit, James alleges Zelle was rushed to market, resulting in a design that made the platform “an obvious conduit for fraudulent activity.”
Early Warning Services (EWS), a company owned by major institutions including Bank of America, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and others, launched Zelle in 2017 as a way to let customers send money from their bank account to other users on the platform. However, James claims EWS “knew from the beginning that key features of the Zelle network made it uniquely susceptible to fraud” and still “failed to adopt basic safeguards.”
One of the alleged issues highlighted by James’ lawsuit includes a registration process that ”lacked important verification steps” that enabled scammers to sign up using misleading email addresses, which they could use to pose as a government employee or business to trick Zelle customers into sending them money that they couldn’t get back. Following government pressure, Zelle began paying back victims of imposter scams in 2023.
Additionally, James claims EWS did not ensure that banks reported customer complaints about fraud in a “timely” manner and falsely advertised the service as a “safe” money transfer tool. “Even when EWS did receive reports of fraud, it failed to promptly remove the fraudsters from the Zelle network or require banks to reimburse consumers for certain scams,” James alleges.
Zelle spokesperson Eric Blankenbaker pushed back on these claims in a statement to The Verge, saying Zelle “leads the fight to stop fraud and scams” in the US. “This lawsuit is a political stunt to generate press, not progress,” Blankenbaker says. “The Attorney General wants to hand criminals a blueprint for guaranteed payouts with no consequences, opening the floodgates to more scams, not less. That’s bad policy and puts consumers at greater risk.”
Attorney General James claims EWS violated New York law and is asking for restitution and damages for all New Yorkers harmed by scams on Zelle. “I look forward to getting justice for the New Yorkers who suffered because of Zelle’s security failures,” James said in the press release.
Leaked images reveal the Insta360 Go Ultra will once again be available in black or white color options. | Image: Roland Quandt
It hasn’t been officially announced yet, but leaked pics and specs have revealed the new design and capabilities of Insta360’s next ultra-compact action camera. The most notable update, thanks to product shots shared by reliable leaker Roland Quandt, is a new square design for the camera, which has previously been pill-shaped. It will also supposedly be called the Insta360 Go Ultra, instead of the Insta360 Go 4 had the company stuck with its previous naming convention.
According to the leaks, the Insta 360 Go Ultra measures a little over an inch on each side (30mm) with the lens located in the corner of the camera. It weighs 53 grams, which is quite a bit heavier than the 35.5 gram Go 3 and 26.5 gram Go 2, but the Go Ultra features a new 1/1.28-inch sensor and 4K/60fps video capabilities. That’s twice the framerate of the updated Go 3S that was introduced about a year ago.
The camera will feature stabilization and a horizon lock feature, as well as an Active HDR mode that can capture more vivid videos when recording at 4K/30fps. The Go Ultra will also include a redesigned Action Pod dock that includes a flip-up screen for live previews and doubles as a wireless remote. It will also boost the Go Ultra’s runtime, but specific details about the new camera’s battery life aren’t known yet.
As for a potential release date? Previous iterations of the Insta 360 Go have debuted in June and even earlier, but leaks haven’t yet revealed when the company plans to officially launch the latest version.
Riot Games is going to slowly introduce a WASD-based control scheme to League of Legends, which previously relied on point and click controls. “We believe that offering WASD controls will provide a fresh yet familiar way to play for both new players and veterans of the Rift without changing what makes League, League,” Riot says.
The company notes that WASD is “the most familiar control scheme for PC games today,” and by adding it as a control option, “we believe League will feel more intuitive to some players who come from other games.” However, Riot is also working to “ensure competitive balance” between the two different control styles, so it’s going to start with a test of the control scheme on League’s public beta environment before slowly rolling it out to non-ranked and eventually ranked and pro play.
League of Legends launched nearly 16 years ago, and while it’s a hugely popular game, it has a reputation for being pretty intimidating to get into. Despite having watched many hours of competitive League, whenever I’ve tried to play it myself, I’ve quickly bounced because of its complexity. WASD controls could lower the barrier to entry, and Riot says that they are “the first of a number of long-term projects we’re working on to help shape League’s future.”
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