Minimalist News

It's hard to break the cycle of doomscrolling, but there are plenty of apps that can help you spend more time on content that’s engaging and productive.

John Ternus, Apple's incoming CEO, is a hardware guy, signaling Apple may be putting devices back at the center of its strategy.

Snabbit has scaled rapidly, crossing one million jobs in March, amid growing investor interest.

This round, should it occur, would double the house-help startup's valuation in a matter of weeks.

Steve Ballmer wrote a fiery letter in the sentencing of disgraced founder Joseph Sanberg documenting all the harm that's befalling him as an investor.

The IRS has used Palantir's software since at least 2018, The Intercept reports.

Cohere, the Canada-based AI company that makes AI tools for businesses in regulated industries, announced Friday it would merge with Aleph Alpha, a German company that also builds AI systems for businesses and governments.

Series, a social networking app that's grown popular on college campuses, announced a $5.1 million pre-seed round from some big names in tech.

Meta has been poaching talent from Thinking Machines Lab. But it's a two-way street.

Investors flocked to nuclear power startup X-energy in its first day of public trading on the Nasdaq.

ComfyUI, whose tools give creators more control over AI image, video, and audio generation, just raised $30 million.

X's new app promises private chats, disappearing messages, audio and video calls, and more.

Google plans up to $40B investment in Anthropic as AI rivals race to secure massive compute capacity, following the limited release of its powerful, cybersecurity-focused Mythos model.

Apple’s sold-out Mac mini is spawning marked-up eBay listings as demand surges for the compact desktop, now favored for running local AI models and tools.

Amazon-backed X-energy was able to raise around 20% more money in its IPO as demand for nuclear power surges.

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XChat, the standalone app for accessing X's messaging feature, is available to download now for iOS. X first suggested it would be stripping direct messaging from X in 2025, but at least for now, XChat is available in the original X app, the web and this new app. Based on its launch video, the new XChat app offers many of the elements of modern messaging X had already introduced to its chats feature, like the ability to delete and edit messages, block screenshots and send disappearing messages. The new XChat app also supports video and audio calls, and X claims that

The governor of Maine, Janet Mills, has vetoed a bill that halts the construction of large data centers in the state until the fall of 2027. While the bill passed both houses of the Maine's legislature on April 14, and Mills has suggested she'd support a temporary moratorium, the governor wanted a bill that would exempt an existing data center project in Jay, Maine. The bill specifically blocked the construction of data centers that consume 20 megawatts of power or more and directs state agencies and other entities to not issue permits unless proposed projects fall under those energy needs. Passing

Have you ever noticed how Walgreens and CVS locations often end up across the street from each other? Well, Call of Duty and Battlefield have a similar thing going on. A mere eight days after the upcoming Call of Duty movie got an official premiere date, lo and behold: There's news from The Hollywood Reporter that a Battlefield movie is on the way. The project has some heavy-artillery star power attached. Oscar winner Michael B. Jordan (Sinners) is slated to produce and possibly star in the film. Meanwhile, Christopher McQuarrie of Mission Impossible fame is set to write, direct and produce.

The Department of Justice has announced that it's intervening on the behalf of xAI in the company's recent lawsuit against the state of Colorado. xAI first filed the suit in early April in response to a recent Colorado law that requires developers of "high-risk" AI systems (for example, ones used in healthcare, employment or housing) to both disclose and mitigate the risk of algorithmic discrimination in their systems. The law is set to go into effect in June, and the DOJ is now asking a Colorado District Court to declare it unconstitutional. In xAI's original argument, Colorado Bill SB24-205 violated the

In a few short days, jury selection will begin in the long-awaited Musk v. Altman case. At the end of that process, an Oakland federal court will task nine regular people with deciding if OpenAI defrauded Elon Musk when it announced, and recently completed, its reorganization to become a more traditional for-profit business. More than just being the venue where two billionaires will air their grievances against one another in public, the trial has the potential to reshape the AI industry. HOW DID WE GET HERE? Musk first sued OpenAI in 2024, but the seed of the dispute was planted when Sam

Google plans to invest up to $40 billion into Anthropic in what could be viewed as a circular deal with the AI startup (and frequent competitor), Bloomberg reports. The search giant has invested in Anthropic at multiple points in the past, but this new investment comes after an announcement that the AI startup had signed a joint agreement with Google and Broadcom for "multiple gigawatts of next-generation TPU capacity." According to Anthropic, Google is committing $10 billion now at the company's current valuation, with an additional $30 billion on offer if Anthropic meets specific performance milestones. Through Anthropic's existing commitment to

People aren't thrilled with Paramount these days. After all, corporate consolidation and the transformation of CBS News into state media tend to do that. But here's someone who may not have chosen the… wisest form of protest. The Straits Times reports (via Gizmodo) that Singapore police have arrested a 26-year-old man for leaking Paramount's The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender. The film, part of the Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise, was initially scheduled for a theatrical release. But after two delays, it was later moved to Paramount+, where it’s set to debut later this year. Naturally, hardcore fans of the

John Ternus was unavoidable when Apple debuted the Macbook Neo. He kicked off an intimate media event for the Neo, introducing it as a transformative machine for Apple thanks to its low $599 cost ($499 for education customers) and premium build quality. He was interviewed on Good Morning America, the sort of prominent media feature CEO Tim Cook typically handles. And when I asked Apple workers about the Neo at its launch event, they almost always brought up Ternus’ vision of the laptop.  For all intents and purposes, Ternus was Apple’s frontman for the MacBook Neo. Ternus is slated for his coronation

The Apple rumors were true, once again. This week, the company announced that Tim Cook will be stepping down from his CEO role on September 1. Replacing him will be John Ternus, who currently serves as Apple's SVP of hardware engineering. In this episode, Devindra and Engadget's Nathan Ingraham discuss Cook's legacy as Apple's CEO, and pontificate about how Ternus may change things. We're going from Apple being led by a logistics guru, to Apple being driven by a product and engineering wizard. Surely, that will have some impact on future products. SUBSCRIBE! * iTunes * Spotify * Pocket Casts *

DeepSeek has released its latest AI models, the V4 Pro and Flash versions, a bit over a year after it went viral and became the top rated free app on Apple's App Store in the US. “Welcome to the era of cost-effective 1 million context length,” DeepSeek said in its announcement. Context length is what you call the maximum number of tokens that an AI model can remember, so the bigger it is, the more coherent and consistent an AI is when it comes to extended conversations. OpenAI’s recently announced GPT‑5.5 has a context window ranging from 400,000 to 1

Although it’s one of the more inoffensive topics on Polymarket, this news typifies the Wild West of prediction markets and betting sites. A hairdryer was allegedly used to rig Polymarket bets on temperatures at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, according to a report by The Telegraph. French authorities noted that the official temperature readings at the airport spiked twice in the past month. On both occasions, gamblers betting on those temperature fluctuations on Polymarket appear to have walked away with thousands upon thousands of dollars. There is no indication that Polymarket forced anyone to return winnings, but the temperature sensor

Porsche has announced an electric version of its popular Cayenne Coupé and it could be the company's most powerful vehicle ever — either ICE or electric. Mechanically, the Cayenne Coupé Electric is nearly identical to the Cayenne Electric but the body is substantially sleeker for improved range and performance.  While the front end of the Coupé looks much the same as the Cayenne Electric, the back is giving off BMW X-series vibes in a big way. Porsche says that bulbous rear makes the new model more aerodynamic and thus efficient, with a drag coefficient of just 0.23. It also sits nearly

United States soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke has been arrested and charged for placing bets on prediction marketplace Polymarket using classified information he had access to related to the capture of former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. The US Army Special Forces master sergeant, who was directly involved with the planning and execution of the operation, allegedly made $409,881 in profits. According to the Department of Justice, Van Dyke created a Polymarket account around December 26, 2025 and made 13 bets related to Maduro from December 27 to January 2. He took the “Yes” position on several Polymarket wagers, including “US Forces

Anthropic is expanding its directory of connected services for its Claude AI chatbot. The platform can now link up with your accounts on AllTrails, Audible, Booking.com, Instacart, Intuit Credit Karma, Intuit TurboTax, Resy, Spotify, StubHub, Taskrabbit, Thumbtack, TripAdvisor, Uber, Uber Eats and Viator. Additional services will be added in the future. More and more AI companies are trying to up their third-party integrations in a pitch to make their services as useful as possible. The benefit of having multiple apps connected means that a chatbot can theoretically execute more complicated tasks on your behalf. This expansion takes that capability from the professional

Microsoft is planning to get rid of more US employees via its first voluntary buyout program, CNBC reports. The buyout program will reportedly be offered to US employees at "the senior director level and below whose years of employment and age add up to 70 or higher," and could cover up to 7 percent of the company's US workforce.  With around 125,000 employees in the US as of June 2025, that could mean up to 8,750 will be offered a paid exit when Microsoft begins its program in May. That's a smaller figure than the 15,000 or so employees the company

Meta is making another steep cut to its staff, this time to the tune of a 10 percent reduction in its workforce. About 8,000 people will be laid off and about 6,000 open jobs will also be eliminated, according to Bloomberg. In an internal memo from Janelle Gale, Meta's head of human resources, the latest cuts are "part of our continued effort to run the company more efficiently and to allow us to offset the other investments we’re making." Those "other investments" are likely in artificial intelligence. Meta is building its own models and apparently training them on its own staff.

I would love to tell you everything about my favorite game of the year so far. But that would be doing a great disservice to Titanium Court. I'm not even sure I could explain it all, anyway. Titanium Court is a run-based game with elements of permanent progression, so it's technically a roguelite. However, you cannot really break Titanium Court like you can with Balatro. There are multiple ways to win a run, but you have to play by the rules. Gradually learning what those are — and how the game suddenly changes them — is a big part of what

X is closing its Communities feature in May, X Head of Product Nikita Bier has announced. Communities were introduced before Twitter was acquired and rebranded by Elon Musk, and act as a way for users to create, join and moderate public groups focused on a particular interest. Communities make it possible to follow a feed made up of only the people or subject matter you care about, but they haven't been used at the scale the social platform wanted. "Communities had a great vision, but they were used by less than 0.4% of users — yet contributed to 80% of spam

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol, a widely used international environmental standard for measuring and reporting emissions, is considering changes to how certain types of the emissions are reported. Advocates for the new guidance argue that the current rules make it too easy for businesses to overstate their commitments to environmentally friendly operations, such as being powered by renewable energy or making progress toward net-zero emissions.  Today, some major tech companies joined a call pushing back against the new guidance, asking for the new reporting rules to be optional rather than required. The joint statement argued that the proposed policies would reduce investments

Apple TV just dropped a real-deal trailer for Star City, after releasing a short teaser earlier this year. It's a spinoff of For All Mankind, but this new show examines the alt-history space race from the Soviet perspective. In other words, this is a trailer steeped in Cold War-era paranoia. Secret photos are snapped, phones are tapped and characters are disappeared, all set against the backdrop of space exploration. The vibe looks decidedly different from For All Mankind, despite the parent show occasionally dabbling in Russia-based espionage. The vibe isn't the only shift here. Star City isn't doing time jumps, which is

Rivian has begun production of its R2 SUV. However, you can't get one just yet: The first customer deliveries (of the most expensive version) aren't expected until later this spring. On Wednesday, CEO RJ Scaringe drove the first electric SUV off the production line at the company's Normal, IL, factory. A storage and logistics building at that factory was damaged by a tornado last weekend, with Wednesday's rollout event seemingly designed to reassure nervous customers and investors. "We are really excited to be producing R2 for our customers," Scaringe is quoted as saying in a news release. However, Rivian CFO Claire McDonough

If you’re a Switch 2 owner itching for something new to play and you happen to be partial to an Annapurna Interactive game, then boy is it your lucky day. The prolific indie publisher has announced that five of its titles are coming to Switch 2, three in the form of next-gen upgrades and two for the first time on Nintendo platforms. The magnificent Sayonara Wild Hearts and Lorelei and the Laser Eyes are available starting today, complete with 120Hz and 4K upgrades for Nintendo’s latest console. First-time buyers can grab Sayonara Wild Hearts for $13, while 2024’s Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

Ubisoft has finally given us some real details about Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced, after confirming the remake earlier this year. It's set to release on July 9 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. There's a trailer and it looks absolutely gorgeous, with graphics resembling recent entries like Assassin's Creed Shadows. This is a real-deal remake, and not a port. This version seems to feature a fair amount of new content, but still stars protagonist Edward Kenway.  There's a new weather system and an upgraded underwater exploration system. Combat has been refined to closer match new entries and, thankfully, the stealth

A hairdryer was allegedly used to rig Polymarket bets on the weather at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, according to a report by The Telegraph. French authorities note that the official temperature readings at the airport spiked twice in the past month, reaching levels much higher than expected. On both occasions, gamblers on Polymarket appear to have walked away with thousands upon thousands of dollars by betting on those temperature fluctuations. The gambling site relies on readings from temperature sensors, and the one at Charles de Gaulle airport is on a public road. This makes it easy to access. The

The Turkish parliament has voted through a bill that would ban all children under the age of 15 from using social media. As part of the legislation, social media platforms would be required to enforce age-verification measures on their apps, provide parental control tools, and react more quickly to harmful content being posted. As reported by The Associated Press, lawmakers have passed the bill in the wake of two deadly school shootings in Turkey, after which police arrested 162 people accused of sharing footage of the tragedies online. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan now has 15 days to accept the bill in

With countries banning social media for kids left and right, Meta is trying different things to convince parents that its platforms are safe for teens. In its latest effort, the company will start showing parents the topics their teens have discussed with Meta AI over the previous seven days.  "Parents will be able to see the topics their teen has been asking Meta AI about in [Facebook, Messenger or Instagram] over the past week," Meta explained in a blog post. "Topics can range from School, Entertainment, and Lifestyle to Travel, Writing, and Health and Wellbeing, among others." For parents overseeing Meta's teen

Big, fancy executive sedans are a dying breed, especially when it comes to EVs. With the Tesla Model S and Mercedes' EQ line on their way out, pickings are slim. Aside from the upcoming S-Class, there's the Lucid Air, Cadillac Celestiq and maybe the Porsche Taycan, depending on how far you're willing to stretch the definition. But as the market leader in luxury sedans, BMW isn't giving up yet. With the arrival of the new 7-series, the company has made a car — with a complete range of gas, hybrid and fully electric options — that truly embraces modern gadgetry. OVERVIEW Because

After seeing the runaway success of its Neo lineup, DJI is taking another stab at the budget drone market with the new Lito series. The Lito 1 and Lito X1 are both under $400 and weigh less than 249 grams — they’re ideal for beginners. Both are designed to replace DJI’s Mini series, but they offer things that those models lacked like LiDAR and 360-degree obstacle avoidance. In terms of video quality, they’re similar to DJI’s Neo 2 and Flip drones. Unlike those models, which are safe to use indoors and around people, the open-prop Lito drones are designed to fly

Tesla still doesn’t have a solid pathway for how to give Hardware 3 cars Full Self-Driving (FSD) capabilities, based on what Elon Musk said during the company’s latest earnings call. The automaker has known for quite a while that its vehicles equipped with Hardware 3 aren’t capable of unsupervised FSD, even though the company built the system specifically to give its cars the ability. Tesla used Hardware 3 on cars manufactured from 2019 until early 2023 before Hardware 4 shipped. During an earlier earnings call back in January 2025, Musk admitted that the company was “going to have to upgrade people’s

Prediction market Kalshi has taken action against three political candidates, alleging that each was engaged with insider trading of information about their campaigns. The company implemented new rules last month aimed at preventing politicians and athletes from placing bets on events they can control, and it said those guardrails helped to flag this trio of cases.   The three candidates are Mark Moran of Virginia, Matt Klein of Minnesota and Ezekiel Enriquez of Texas. Kalshi reached settlements with Klein and Enriquez, both of whom cooperated in the platform's investigations. Each will face a fine of less than $1,000 and suspensions of up

Last year, Ecco the Dolphin creator Ed Annunizata teased plans to remaster the first two games in the series and create an entirely new sequel. Ecco the Dolphin: Complete, announced by Annunziata's studio A&R Atelier, appears to be the result of that work. The game doesn't have a release date yet, but A&R Atelier says it combines the planned remasters and third title into "the complete, definitive Ecco the Dolphin experience, created by the people who made the originals." Complete includes "all versions of Ecco the Dolphin and Ecco: The Tides of Time," according to the developer, alongside "a brand-new contemporary

NASA's next eye into the cosmos is due to leave our planet later this year. The agency says it's targeting an early September launch for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Roman (for short) has a field of view 100 times larger than Hubble's. The September date is the earliest possible launch for Roman. NASA says it will go up (aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket) no later than May 2027. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, named after NASA's first chief astronomer and "mother" of Hubble, was introduced in 2016. (Back then, it was known as the Wide Field Infrared Survey

The French government confirmed that France Titres, also known as Agence nationale des titres sécurisés (ANTS), experienced a security breach last week. France Titres disclosed that it detected a data breach on April 15. The next day, a hacker claimed responsibility for the breach and claimed to have up to 19 million records that they are attempting to sell. According to Bleeping Computer, the data does not appear to have been widely leaked yet.  France Titres is responsible for the country's identification and registration materials, including driver’s licenses, national ID cards, passports and immigration documents. The compromised data includes full names,

Apple's latest iOS update fixes a flaw in its notification database that made it possible for law enforcement to view deleted push notifications on a person's iPhone or iPad. The security flaw was one way law enforcement agencies like the FBI could circumvent Apple's strict stance towards user privacy, the Electronic Frontier Foundation writes, particularly since the company has required a court order to share notification data since 2023. According to Apple's update notes, iOS 26.4.2 introduces "improved data redaction" to address an issue where "notifications marked for deletion could be unexpectedly retained on the device." The update is available now

LG has announced the pricing and availability of its Micro RGB evo, the company's first take on a TV display trend that kicked off in earnest at CES 2026. The LG Micro RGB evo is available to pre-order today starting at $5,000, and follows the recent release of the ultra-thin LG Wallpaper. The Micro RGB evo represents the top of the line of a new class of display at LG that directly builds on the company's work with Mini LED technology. The new TV features LG's Micro RGB panel and its Alpha A11 AI processor, which runs the TV's webOS software,

Vampire Survivors developer Poncle has big plans for the future, according to an interview The Game Business conducted with the company's chief strategy officer Matteo Sapio. It's opening two new studios in Japan and Italy and has over 15 projects in active development. That's a lot of action for a company primarily known for one franchise. Sapio says the company is developing three basic types of games. There are spinoffs to Vampire Survivors, like this week's deckbuilder Vampire Crawlers. Poncle is also making original IPs and says there are two games set in new universes coming down the pike. Finally, it's working

Meta has introduced a new "live chats" feature to Threads, enabling people on the platform to participate in real-time conversations about live events they’re interested in. Live chats can be hosted within Threads communities, the topic-specific social spaces that Meta introduced last year. The new feature sounds a bit like Threads’ take on Instagram’s broadcast channels, but the latter only allows for one-way messaging. Live chats can be hosted by select creators, including Community Champions — users highly engaged within specific communities — and media personalities. Once a chat is launched or scheduled, the host chooses who is invited to contribute

Control is one of my favorite adventure games of the last decade or so, a mind-bending trip through an ever-changing building where you get to use telekinesis to battle some pretty freaky enemies. It was a graphically-demanding game when it was released in 2019, but a lot can change in less than six years: Control: Ultimate Edition is now available on the iPhone and iPad for a mere $5, following its announcement last October. It’s a universal purchase, which means if you buy it it’ll work on the iPad, iPhone and Mac as well. Developer Remedy promises that it’s the full

Tim Cook’s tenure as Apple CEO ends September 1 when he takes the role of executive chair. He will be replaced by John Ternus, a 25-year Apple veteran and head of its hardware engineering division. I get the sense Cook’s professional obituaries will focus on his steady hand, execution success and lack of intra-company drama. All of those are virtues but I suspect the media, ever in love with a narrative of its own concoction, will use them as cudgels. Consider this an attempt to balance the record ahead of Cook’s damning with the faintest of praise. Cook is quiet and

Cell phone plans can get exceedingly complicated, so Comcast’s pitch for Xfinity Mobile’s simplicity is rather appealing — particularly at a time when everything is more expensive than ever. Today, the company is announcing two simple plans priced at $30 and $45 a month that have some serious perks for their prices. The $30 Mobile Select plan covers the main basics, including 50GB of “premium” full-speed data; Global Travel Pass to cover yourself when traveling in 215 different countries; and Xfinity’s Wi-Fi PowerBoost. That latter feature takes advantage of Xfinity’s wide network of Wi-Fi hotspots around the country. Your phone will

No longer content to subsume recognizable intellectual properties, the majority of the indexed internet and books (basically all of them), AI will apparently now begin devouring its own workforce. A report in Reuters alleged that the keystrokes, mouse movements and clicks of Meta's workforce are to be captured for the purposes of training AI — something the company's communications department was happy to confirm as accurate! In a cheery missive, a company spokesperson told Engadget that "If we're building agents to help people complete everyday tasks using computers, our models need real examples of how people actually use them [...] we’re

BMW just announced its 7-series lineup for 2027 promising "the most extensive model update ever undertaken" by the Bavarian automaker. The series includes a pair of i7 EVs, a plug-in hybrid, two ICE models and a V8-powered M model — all running on BMW's "Neue Klasse" technology and flaunting all-new design language.  BMW describes its updated luxury segment design language as "monolithic," touting the minimalist crystal headlights and (divisive) light-up kidney Iconic Glow grille. The body form includes a new "character line" that lends an almost "boat-tail-like" aesthetic to the three-quarter view, according to the company. BMW also hyped its new

Yoshi's solo titles have always been a product of contrasts: lovingly crafted art styles belying somewhat thin gameplay meant to appeal to a younger audience. But after getting the chance to preview Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, it feels like Nintendo has created a cozy side-scroller that retains the accessibility of earlier titles while adding extra depth and replayability for gamers of all ages.  As you'd expect from Nintendo's lovable green dino, Yoshi's moveset consists of familiar techniques like his signature ground pound, egg toss, extendable tongue and jumping flutter kicks, the latter of which now last longer than ever before.

Anker has announced its own chip that can give its small, wearable products AI capabilities that run locally on device. The company is planning to debut the chip called “Thus” on a new model of headphones, slated to be unveiled at its Anker Day event on May 21. Anker calls Thus the “first Compute-in-Memory (CIM) AI audio chip with neural networks.” The company explains that Thus is “inspired by the workings of the human brain” in that the storage and processing of information takes place in one location instead of keeping them separate, similar to how it works on modern chips

Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, has announced the launch of custom timelines, which lets you curate what you see on your feed based on your topics of interest. He called the update “one of the biggest changes to X” and a ”huge undertaking” that took the team “many months” to develop. The feature lets you pin specific topics to your home tab, so you can switch from one to the other to see the latest discussions about your interests and hobbies. Bier said that X’s custom timelines is “powered by Grok's understanding of every post with the algorithm's personalization.” You

For a while there, it seemed like Double Fine might be struggling under the Microsoft corporate umbrella. The game studio led by Tim Schafer is beloved for offbeat titles like Brütal Legend and Broken Age, but after being acquired by Microsoft in 2019, its only new release for years was a long-awaited sequel to Psychonauts. Of late, though, Double Fine is on something of a roll. Last year the studio released the wonderfully strange Keeper, a game about a sentient lighthouse. This week, it launched Kiln, a multiplayer brawler with adorable spirits and a whole lot of pottery. It's yet

Acclaimed Japanese director Sho Miyake has arrived in the States. He's brought with him two feature films: Small, Slow But Steady and Two Seasons, Two Strangers, a pair of naturalistic portraits that deal with the uneasy human desire to relate to other people. Seclusion and unease are bedrocks to Miyake's growing filmography. "I like these characters that have a sense of discomfort that slowly starts to distance them from society," he tells The Verge. I first saw Small, Slow But Steady at New Directors/New Films (lowkey one of the better film festivals New York has to offer). It's an affectionate story

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 125, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, send me cereal recommendations, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I've been reading about NASA seamstresses and friction and Muskism and scooters, highlighting the heck out of Jeff VanderMeer's terrific new short story, listening to the Dissect podcast's new season about Daft Punk, giving Firefox another run as my go-to browser, having my mind blown by amazing music video directors, and nodding along to John Oliver on prediction markets.

Apple and Samsung dominate the US phone market, and they've done so for years. Together with Google, they've shaped our sense of what a smartphone is and what it can do, pushing the boundaries of mobile photography, software, and processing power. But over the last few years, they've sat back, content to iterate rather than innovate - and in the interim, China's tech giants have plowed ahead. Now a gulf is growing between the phones on sale in the US and those available in the rest of the world. US phone buyers are missing out. Some of the blame for that

Windows users will no longer be forced to run automatic updates in the middle of a game or a busy day. Microsoft is rolling out some long-awaited changes to Windows Update to users on its Dev and Experimental Windows Insider channels, including the ability to indefinitely delay updates up to 35 days at a time. Last month, Microsoft announced a slew of upcoming changes to improve Windows 11 and address some of users' most common complaints about the platform. Chief among the company's planned fixes was making updates less disruptive. In its blog post on Friday, Microsoft says you'll be able

Score big savings on Altra Running shoes with up to 50% off sale styles, 20% off select models, 10% off your first order when you sign up, plus free standard delivery on every purchase.

If an Ember mug is at the top of Mom’s wish list, this sale is worth checking out.

Get ready for summer with discounts on the best robot pool cleaners we’ve tested.

Isomorphic Labs president Max Jaderberg said at WIRED Health in London that the startup has built a “broad and exciting pipeline of new medicines.”

Bootstrap Bio and Manhattan Genomics, which were pursuing human embryo editing to prevent serious disease, have shut down.

A US surveillance program that lets the FBI view Americans’ communications without a warrant is up for renewal. A new bill aims to address mounting lawmaker concerns—with smoke and mirrors.

Tim Cook was a great CEO, but he didn’t crack AI.  It’s job number 1 for John Ternus.

Dyson’s newest stick vacuum has a fresh, streamlined look and some limitations. But I still keep reaching for it.

Clean your house without the constraint of a power cord with these cordless stick vacuums.

VMax's new electric scooter has a secret menu that lets you unlock the top speed and engage cruise control.

Getting into Raya, the exclusive members-only dating app, has become nearly impossible for some. We met people who have waited as long as two, five, and even seven years to join.

These merino wool tees are the last shirts you’ll ever wear. I’m wearing one right now.

A series of new hires and investigations at the agency appear to focus on penalizing gender-affirming care for minors—and those who speak in favor of it.

A viral red carpet moment shone light on a group of hunky Instagram influencers—and the followers who are too horny to care that they’re not real.

As people increasingly rely on AI chatbots for guidance, even on financial matters, a healthy dose of skepticism is critical.

We pooled advice from our team—and a few financial experts—so you can worry less and save more in these turbulent times.

It’s an expensive time to fly. These tips can help lighten the load on your wallet.

Save on bulk groceries, household essentials, and electronics with a verified Sam's Club promo code or membership discount.

Get $50 off your next order or up to 50% off site wide with Target coupon codes and Circle deals.

Save on every purchase with top KitchenAid coupons from WIRED, including up to 20% off countertop appliances.

Get 30% off, 20% off, and free shipping with our Design Within Reach coupon codes, plus up to 50% off furniture with these special discounts.

The master sergeant allegedly used classified intel to profit on the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, marking the first US arrest for insider trading on a prediction market.

Researchers have finally cracked Fast16, mysterious code capable of silently tampering with calculation and simulation software. It was created in 2005—and likely deployed by the US or an ally.

As the platform expands abroad, it’s taking steps to separate Chinese users from the international audiences it once brought together.

In this week’s episode of Uncanny Valley, we talk about Tim Cook’s legacy as CEO at Apple and what his long-rumored departure means for the future of one of the world's biggest companies.

CS 153 has gone viral on the Palo Alto campus—and on X. Not everyone is happy about it.

Interviews with current and former Palantir employees, along with internal Slack messages obtained by WIRED, suggest a workforce in turmoil.

Portable lamps are rarely, if ever, as powerful, precise, and multipurpose as the Lume Cube Edge Light Go.

The Kickstarter-funded glasses from L'Atitude 52°N have AI features bundled for one year, but the company doesn't know yet how much it will charge for access after that.

Send the pool guy packing. One of these robotic buddies can maintain your water quality instead.

The fitness trackers I'd recommend to beginners, athletes, and kids.

Tired of vacuuming? Hand the reins to a robot vacuum.

A legion of young fans propelled the singer D4vd to viral fame. Now that he’s been charged with the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, they say the clues were in their Discord all along.

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Sony’s new Inzone H6 Air is a departure from the typical gaming headset design, and I’m on board.

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“To be clear, we were never approached … nor were we in any discussions regarding a partnership or tour access,” a spokesperson for the artist tells WIRED.

Mark Moran, an underdog Senate candidate from Virginia, claims he wanted to get caught violating the prediction market platform’s rules.

After scientists exposed wild fish to cocaine and a cocaine metabolite, they observed that, as in the lab, fish on cocaine do not act like normal fish.