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Spinny is set to be valued at about $1.8 billion post-money in its latest funding round.

A woman is facing felony charges in Evansville, Indiana over a DoorDash delivery in which she allegedly sprayed the food with a substance that made the customers vomit.

Improvements to roads, bridges, and other infrastructure could take a hit as data center construction accelerates.

A complete list of all the known layoffs in tech, from Big Tech to startups, broken down by month throughout 2025.

Rivian demonstrated the progress it's made, and in the process showed just how far it still has to go to make its cars autonomous.

Your iPhone clock doesn't have to be so "glassy" anymore, thanks to a new Apple software update.

Apple released patches for all of its flagship devices to fix security flaws under attack. Google also updated Chrome to remediate one vulnerability exploited in the attacks.

Women ran an experiment to see if LinkedIn's new algo was being sexist and thought they proved it. But there's more complexity involved, experts say.

Microsoft's data center ambitions have imperiled its 2030 pledge to remove more carbon than it generates, making carbon removal credits all but necessary.

700Credit, a company that runs credit checks and identity verification services for auto dealerships across the U.S., had a data breach that allowed a hacker to steal names, addresses, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers.

Trump signed an AI executive order targeting state laws and promising one national rulebook. Critics warn it could trigger court battles and prolong uncertainty for startups while Congress debates federal rules.

The real-time headphone translations experience keeps each speaker’s tone, emphasis, and cadence intact, so it’s easier to follow the conversation and tell who’s saying what.

Retro's new feature, Rewind, lets you look back at your photo memories and scroll through them with a dial.

A security researcher tried to alert Home Depot to the security lapse exposing its back-end GitHub source code repos and other internal cloud systems, but was ignored.

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If Alien: Romulus reawakened your appetite for the iconic sci-fi franchise, the good news is that a promising video game could be on the way. According to an Insider Gaming report, a new game for the Alien franchise is back in development. The report's sources mentioned that the single-player game will be set in a "decaying space station" as an arcade survival horror that can be compared to "Shadow of [the] Tomb Raider with Xenomorphs." It's not the first time we heard about this Alien game, which was first reported on in 2022 under the codename "Marathon." According to Insider Gaming,

Half-Life fans are nothing if not patient. For the diehard fans out there, the latest test of patience comes from Insider Gaming Weekly's podcast, which claimed that the third installment in the Half-Life franchise is set to release with the launch of the Steam Machine sometime in spring 2026. "The window I was specifically told was spring 2026 for the Steam Machine, for the Frame, for the Controller, for Half-Life 3," Mike Straw, one of the hosts of the Insider Gaming Weekly podcast and senior editor at Insider Gaming, said. "At the end of the day, the game is real." Straw added

Apple has released iOS 26.2, bringing a number of new convenience features and security updates. The update includes auto-generated chapters for episodes in the Podcasts app, the option to make AirDrop more secure using verification codes, alarms for Reminders and more. It also introduces new controls for how Liquid Glass appears on the Lock Screen, adding a slider to adjust the transparency level. The drop also includes updates for iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS and tvOS. WHAT'S NEW IN IOS 26.2 AND IPADOS 26.2 It's not exactly a major update feature-wise, but iOS and iPadOS 26.2 bring a bunch of quality of life

Even though Nintendo made some serious upgrades with the Joy-Con 2, you still might end up ditching them for CRKD's Nitro Deck 2. After winning over Nintendo Switch owners with its first Nitro Deck, CRKD followed it up with an improved design that works for both the original Switch and the Switch 2. To refine the original design, CRKD added several upgrades to the Nitro Deck 2 based on community feedback. The new-and-improved accessory features the company's CaptiStick Technology, which prevents stick drift and isn't affected by magnetic interference like other Hall effect joysticks. CRKD also offset the right thumbstick and

Amazon has responded to viewers catching errors in its AI-generated season recaps by apparently pulling them from Prime Video. The company announced its new Video Recaps feature in November as a way to make it easier to jump into a new season of a show, but the feature had issues: A recap created for Fallout included factual errors about the plot and the setting of the show. On Prime Video, recaps can be played in the "Extras" section if you're watching on the web, or via a dedicated "recap button" on the show's page, according to Amazon's original Video Recaps announcement.

It looks like Disney wasted no time delivering on CEO Bob Iger’s promise to bring AI-generated content to Disney+. On Thursday, the company announced the start of a three-year licensing agreement with OpenAI to bring more than 200 of its beloved characters, including those from Star Wars and Pixar, to the Sora app and ChatGPT. With the deal in place, OpenAI users will be able to prompt ChatGPT to generate images that tap into Disney’s intellectual property, with costumes, props, vehicles and environments covered. The agreement does not include voices or “talent likenesses,” meaning Sora users won’t be able prompt the

IKEA's revamp of its smart home products doesn't end with Matter support. The furniture and home goods company also has a line of new Qi wireless chargers, the best of which, the VÄSTMÄRKE wireless charger, combines the functionality of a PopSockets-style phone grip with cable storage. The $10 VÄSTMÄRKE wireless charger is reminiscent of a bagel or donut, if you could take the top half of those ring-shaped foods and turn them inside out to create a cozy grip for your fingers. That same red silicone design also makes for a perfect place to store the charger's built-in USB-C cable, according

Sandfall Interactive, the developer of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, knows how to ride the wave. Right after the visually stunning RPG finished dominating The Game Awards, the team dropped a free "Thank You" content update for fans. This is no minor patch. It adds a playable environment and new boss battles for late-game players. The "Thank You" update also adds new music tracks, a Photo Mode and new text and UI localizations. On top of that, you'll find quality-of-life tweaks, including improved performance on handheld PCs. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 won a record-breaking nine categories at The Game Awards 2025. That includes

While it’s probably tempting to go all-out and give a loved one their most desired gadget this year, doing so could put a big dent in your budget. And it would be wrong to assume that you have to spend hundreds to get a good tech gift that anyone will appreciate. There are plenty of gadgets and accessories out there that don’t cost an arm and a leg and that will also make good additions to their kits. Here are some of our favorite tech gift ideas that come in at $50 or less. BEST STOCKING STUFFERS FOR $50 OR LESS Check

Google is rolling out new Gemini-assisted functionality to Search and its Translate app. It says its AI can now provide more natural and accurate text translations for phrases that have more "nuanced meanings."  Translate will now take slang terms and colloquial expressions into consideration rather than provide sometimes unhelpful direct translations. The latest update to its text translation feature is rolling out first in the US and India, translating between English and just under 20 other languages, including German, Spanish, Chinese and Arabic. It works in the Translate app for iOS and Android and on the web. Gemini’s speech-to-speech translation feature has

Id Software, the company behind Doom, has voted in favor of forming a "wall-to-wall" union. The term "wall-to-wall" refers to a union that includes every employee, regardless of duties. The vote wasn't unanimous, though a majority did vote in favor of the union. The union will work in conjunction with the Communications Workers of America (CWA), which is the same organization involved with parent company ZeniMax's recent unionization efforts. Microsoft, who owns ZeniMax, has already recognized this new effort, according to a statement by the CWA. It agreed to a labor neutrality agreement with the CWA and ZeniMax workers last year,

We generally consider Apple’s iPads to be the best tablets for most people, but they usually don’t come cheap. To help those looking to grab one get the most value possible, we’re keeping an eye on sale prices and rounding up the best iPad deals we can find each week. This week’s highlights include both versions of the latest iPad Air for $150 off at Amazon, matching the all-time lows we last saw around Black Friday. The iPad mini and iPad Pro are each $100 off as well. Beyond iPads, both the AirPods Pro 3 and Apple Watch Series 11 are

Engadget staffers spend the entire year poking, prodding and otherwise testing the latest tech gadgets. So we’ve got a pretty good handle on what’s unique and interesting right now. We put together this list for anyone looking for a good gift for that tech-obsessed person on their gift list. Some of these are devices we’ve tested for our reviews and guides, others are items we bought for ourselves (or wish someone would buy for us). We’ve got more than 35 picks here, from nearly every member of the Engadget team. Chances are, you’ll find a good gift or two for

Reddit has filed a lawsuit in Australia's High Court aiming to overturn the country's under-16 social media ban, Reuters reported. The forum platform called the law contrary to Australia's constitution as it intrudes on free political discourse. It also argued that Reddit shouldn't have been included in the ban since it isn't a social media site, based on the law's definition. The action is likely to set in motion a protracted legal battle, given Reddit's resources and its popularity in Australia Australia's minimum age social media ban, the first of its kind in the world, went into effect on December 10.

If you're still on the hunt for gifts, or simply good holiday deals for yourself, you can find them on the internet. Just because Black Friday and Cyber Monday have ended doesn't mean the deals have dried up. One of the best deals available that we're tracking is on the latest Apple Watch Series 11, which you can get for a record low of $299.  We gave the Apple Watch Series 11 a score of 90 when it came out in September. That's thanks, in part, to an upgraded 24 hours of battery life — which lasted closer to a day

F1: The Movie, the cinematic love letter to Formula One and — quite possibly even more so — consumer products made by Apple, is finally available to stream on Apple TV if you’re a subscriber. It follows the sports thriller’s long theatrical run, during which it raked in more than $630 million globally, comfortably making it Apple’s most successful original film. Directed by Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick, Tron: Legacy), F1: The Movie follows the washed-up former F1 prodigy Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt), who is convinced by an old friend (Javier Bardem) to get back in the driver's seat and help

You may be surprised to learn electricity only accounts for 21 percent of the world’s energy consumption. Fossil fuels and the rest all play their part to make the world go around, but their role is likely to diminish no matter what happens. The International Energy Agency believes electricity’s share of global energy consumption is going to double in the next decade alone. You all know the causes: Electrification, EVs, data centers and AI mean the planet needs to dramatically increase its power generation, transmission and storage capacity. It’s a shame, then, that the world is nowhere near ready to

Last week, Netflix surprised us all when it announced plans for an $82.7 billion acquisition of Warner Bros., a move that would fundamentally reshape the world of streaming video and Hollywood. But Paramount isn't giving up on WB — this week it launched a $108 billion hostile takeover effort. In this episode, we discuss why everyone is fighting for WB, and why Netflix may be the best worst option for the storied movie studio. SUBSCRIBE! * iTunes * Spotify * Pocket Casts * Stitcher * Google Podcasts TOPICS * What the Netflix bid for Warner Bros. means for at-home streamers and moviegoers

If you want to learn a new skill in the new year or brush up on some skills you already have, MasterClass could be a good option for you. It's even more accessible now that the company is running a holiday promotion that knocks 40 percent off subscriptions. For the top-tier Premium plan, which includes offline mode and use on up to six devices, you'll pay $144 for the year instead of the usual $240. The entry-level plan, which supports just one device and doesn't offer offline viewing, is marked down to $72 from $120. Over the past few years, MasterClass

Honestly, compiling the biggest losers for Engadget is more fun than talking up the winners. While we reviewed nothing as atrocious as those ill-fated AI assistant gadgets from 2024, AI companies and services straddled both the winner and loser podiums. The losers might be you, the American consumer. (Sorry.) In the US, anyone wanting a drone will have to find something that isn’t made by DJI. The company has been targeted by regulators since 2017 over concerns its products could spy on sensitive US infrastructure on behalf of China. Engadget The problem is DJI has such a high market share (over 75 percent)

E Ink tablets have always been intriguing to me because I’m a longtime lover of pen and paper. I’ve had probably hundreds of notebooks over the years, serving as repositories for my story ideas, to-do lists, meeting notes and everything in between. However, I turned away from physical notebooks at a certain point because it was just easier to store everything digitally so I always had my most important information at my fingertips. E Ink tablets seem to provide the best of both worlds: the tactile satisfaction of regular notebooks with many of the conveniences found in digital tools, plus easy-on-the-eyes

This year at The Game Awards, if your game wasn’t melodramatic, mechanically innovative, beautifully presented and aggressively French, it didn’t stand a chance. The Game Awards 2025 wrapped up on the evening of Thursday, December 11 with a record-breaking showing by Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from Sandfall Interactive. The game received the most nominations and wins in the show’s 12-year history. But, we know that’s not really why you’re here. Between the award presentations and musical numbers, there were heaps of new game trailers, announcements and updates, and we’ve collected them all for you right here. The award winners are also

PlayStation had said on X that it would have news about Saros at The Game Awards, and unfortunately, fans excited for the new Housemarque project will need to wait a little longer to get their hands on it. The game has been delayed from its planned March release. But there's only a short time until the new date of April 30, and pre-orders are open now. Star Rahul Kohli appeared at The Game Awards to introduce the newest trailer for the game.  I'm glad we won't be waiting too much longer, because Saros looks very cool. Housemarque made its name on

The next game from Left 4 Dead designer Mike Booth is putting a sci-fi spin on his last game's co-op action, based on a trailer Booth and producer JJ Abrams shared at The Game Awards 2025. The new game is called 4:LOOP, and it's the first project entirely developed by Bad Robot Games, film production company Bad Robot's game studio. 4:LOOP combines the four-player co-op action of Left 4 Dead, with roguelike elements enabled by what seems like a time loop mechanic. Based on the trailer, players fight a mixture of aliens and robots in each mission, all in the hopes

Why have one Star Wars game announcement at an edition of The Game Awards when you can have two? Star Wars: Galactic Racer is a podracing (and speeder racing) game from Fuse Games, a studio established in 2023 by former Burnout and Need for Speed developers. It's scheduled to hit PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC in 2026. The action here is set after the fall of the Empire. With the galaxy in rebuild mode after dealing with that whole mess, an unsanctioned, underground racing circuit called the Galactic League comes into being in the Outer Rim. Here, according to the

So there's good news and bad news about the highly anticipated Exodus coming out of The Game Awards this year. The good news is that there's a fresh trailer showcasing more of the game. The bad news is that the game won't be out until early 2027. The game was originally announced two years ago (also at The Game Awards) and had been pegged for release in 2026. We may be waiting longer to get our hands on Exodus, but the substantial new trailer shows more of what the final product will entail, offering some backstory on main character Jun Aslan.

The last mainline Tomb Raider game was 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and after spending a few years in video game purgatory, Lara Croft is coming back in two new games. At The Game Awards 2025, Amazon Game Studios announced that Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis will reimagine of one of the hero’s early adventures in 2026, and Tomb Raider: Catalyst will continue the series in 2027. Catalyst is developed by Crystal Dynamics and follows Lara through Northern India “in the wake of a mythical cataclysm,” as she comes into competition with other treasure hunters. Legacy of Atlantis, developed by

It didn't take too long for a game that a whole bunch of people are excited about to swoop into Grand Theft Auto VI's old release week. Or maybe Rockstar had an idea of was what was coming and delayed its blockbuster by six months to get out of the way of Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight.  Either way, TT Games and Warner Bros. Games brought a new trailer to The Game Awards and revealed that the Caped Crusader's next adventure will hit PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Steam and the Epic Games Store on May 29. The base game

South of Midnight is heading to PlayStation 5 and Switch 2 in Spring 2026, developer Compulsion Games announced on X. The third-person action-adventure game launched as an Xbox and PC exclusive, but like plenty of Microsoft's other first-party games, it's heading to competitors' consoles. Mixing platforming with magic-infused combat in a unique setting inspired by the folklore of the South, Compulsion Games' South of Midnight  was generally well-received when it was released in April 2025. The game likely reached sizable audience by launching on Game Pass and PC, but coming to PlayStation and Switch will open it up to an even

On Thursday evening, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for a single, nationwide regulatory framework governing artificial intelligence at the expense of the ability of different states to regulate the nascent technology. “To win, United States AI companies must be free to innovate without cumbersome regulation,” the order states. “But excessive State regulation thwarts this imperative.” As was expected after a draft of the order leaked earlier this week, the centerpiece of the document is an “AI Litigation Task Force whose sole responsibility shall be to challenge state AI laws inconsistent” with the president’s policy vision. US Attorney General

Frictional Games is back with a new game that looks primed to carry on the studio's tradition of excellence in horror. It's called Ontos, and it's slated to launch on PC, PlayStation and Xbox next year. The trailer debuted during The Game Awards 2025. The company's past projects include Amnesia: The Dark Descent and SOMA, and this new title is also looking pretty dang creepy. It looks like things will take a philosophical turn, with a story of trying to piece together your father's past that leads you to questioning the meaning of life and reality. The team is going big

Remedy Entertainment's Control is a bizarre yet totally captivating action game that feels like Die Hard by way of David Lynch. InControl: Resonant, players step into the role of the original game's most enigmatic and unsettling characters for their own jaunt through a 'new-weird' world outside The Oldest House. Just ahead of the reveal at The Game Awards, we got an early look at Control: Resonant, the next game in the Remedy Connected Universe. Along with learning why the developers wanted a new protagonist, they also explain why this Neon Genesis Evangelion-inspired sequel is the most expansive game they have made

Larian Studios didn’t rest on its laurels for long. Two years after taking home the Game of the Year prize for Baldur’s Gate III at The Game Awards, the developer popped up again at the 2025 edition of the ceremony to announce its upcoming project, which is the next entry in the Divinity series. Simply called Divinity, this will be the studio’s biggest game to date with “more breadth and depth than ever before,” according to TGA host Geoff Keighley. After 2017’s Divinity: Original Sin II, Larian took a break from the series with which it established itself to make BG3.

Many of the big announcements at The Game Awards are for completely new projects, some of which are total surprises (if you had an Okami sequel on your bingo card last year, you're either in the know or probably used up all your luck for the next few years). We'll often get updates on games that were previously announced too. The trailer for Order of the Sinking Star is something a little different, as it's a game that Braid designer Jonathan Blow has been working on fairly openly since releasing The Witness in 2016.  The trailer revealed some new details, including

Coven of the Chicken Foot has a lot of things going for it already, in my book. It stars a hero rarely seen in video games, an elderly woman, and it has gorgeous storybook-style art in a lush fantasy setting. It’s a single-player puzzle platformer, it relies on wordless storytelling and the woman, a witch named Gertie, travels with a creepy-cute companion. Plus, Gertie has chicken feet. I love her little chicken feet. Coven of the Chicken Foot is the first game from Wildflower Interactive, the independent studio founded by Naughty Dog veteran Bruce Straley. The game is coming to Steam

The Game Awards kicked off with a bang, showing the world premiere of Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic. It's a brand new action role-playing game that will be directed by Casey Hudson, who previously headed up several notable BioWare games you probably know like Mass Effect and Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic. There’s not much to go on in the trailer, but the game simply existing is a pretty great surprise and this cinematic trailer sure looks shiny. Hudson is working with Arcanaut Studios on this project, which is described as “an epic interactive adventure across a galaxy

Capcom’s long, long-delayed sci-fi shooter Pragmata finally has a release date. It’s headed your way on April 24, 2026 on Steam, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and — as Capcom confirmed in a trailer at The Game Awards — Nintendo Switch 2. You don’t have to wait another four months to try it out, though. A gameplay demo is out now on Steam. It will be available for consoles at a later date. Pragmata first emerged all the way back in 2020 and Capcom initially planned to release it in 2022. After multiple delays, the game will arrive four years later than

A lot of trailers drop during The Game Awards, but the comedy of Bradley the Badger stood out from the pack. The conceit is similar to Wreck-It Ralph. Bradley, the protagonist of a fictional platforming series, is suddenly transported into the worlds of other unfinished video games; the trailer shows a badger-ified Bloodborne, Cyberpunk 2077 and The Last of Us. He also has access to a kit of dev tools that let him modify these incomplete projects, getting a taste of making a game. As the trailer ends, Bradley briefly crosses into the real world and comes face to face

Apple has clawed back a bit of ground in its legal fight with Epic Games that could have wide-reaching consequences for all app developers. Today, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals mostly upheld a previous contempt ruling regarding fees Apple levied on third-party payment systems. However, the judges did decide to reverse the order that Apple cannot charge any commissions on those external payments, which was one of the company's main arguments in this ongoing debate.    To catch you up, US Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers initially ruled in 2021 that Apple must allow third-party payment systems, although her decision fell

Amazon's plan to offer AI-generated recaps of Prime Video shows isn't off to a great start. The company's recap of the first season of Fallout features multiple errors, GamesRadar+ writes, including basic facts about the plot of the show. You can watch the recap yourself in the "Extras" section of Amazon's Fallout season two listing in Prime Video. Besides being somewhat dry, the AI-generated recap incorrectly identifies the time period of the show's Los Angeles-set flashbacks as being the 1950s, when they're actually 2077 (the Fallout franchise is set in an alternate history that diverged from our real one after 1945).

This morning Disney and OpenAI announced a three-year licensing agreement: Starting in 2026, ChatGPT and Sora can generate images and videos incorporating Disney IP, including more than 200 characters from the company's stable of Star Wars, Pixar and Marvel brands. To say these companies make for strange bedfellows is an understatement.   The agreement brings together two parties with very different public stances on copyright. Before OpenAI released Sora, the company reportedly notified studios and talent agencies they would need to opt out of having their work appear in the new app. The company later backtracked on this stance. Before that, OpenAI

A director who was charged with defrauding Netflix out of millions of dollars has been found guilty, Business Insider reports. Carl Rinsch, director of the 2013 Keanu Reeves movie 47 Ronin, now faces up to 90 years in prison. Rinsch began filming the project, White Horse (later renamed Conquest), around 2017. (Its premise: A scientist creates an organic humanoid species that turns on its creators.) The director completed six short-form episodes with his own money and investor funds. He then used those episodes to pitch studios for the money to complete the first season. Netflix ended up buying the rights for

New York is taking steps to regulate the use of AI in the state's entertainment industry. NY State Governor Kathy Hochul passed two pieces of legislation on Thursday that forces certain productions to disclose the use of AI-generated performers, and defines rules around how someone's likeness can be used after their death. Assembly Bill A8887B, now known as S.8420-A, specifically covers the use of AI performers in advertisements. Per Hochul's announcement, the law "requires persons who produce or create an advertisement to identify if it includes AI generated synthetic performers." S.8391, meanwhile, "requires consent from heirs or executors if a person

Epic Games has spent a lot of time in court over the past several years, but it seems the company's litigious era may be winding down. The company announced today that its game Fortnite is back on the Google Play mobile store in the US. Fortnite's return to Android devices means Epic's popular hit is now available on just about every gaming platform following five years of arguing antitrust lawsuits.  Epic took both Google and Apple to court over their policies for mobile payment systems back in 2020. The gaming company has been successful on the whole in its challenges, most

OpenAI's "code red" response to Google's Gemini 3 Pro has arrived. On the same day the company announced a Sora licensing pact with Disney, it took the wraps off GPT-5.2. OpenAI is touting the new model as its best yet for real-world, professional use. “It’s better at creating spreadsheets, building presentations, writing code, perceiving images, understanding long contexts, using tools, and handling complex, multi-step projects,” said OpenAI. In a series of 10 benchmarks highlighted by OpenAI, GPT-5.2 Thinking, the most advanced version of the model, outperformed its GPT-5.1 counterpart, sometimes by a significant margin. For example, in AIME 2025, a test that

An Xbox Ally in front of an Xbox Ally X. I still wouldn't buy an Xbox Ally, and I still don't think the tweaked version of Windows that shipped with it is ready for primetime. The Xbox Full Screen Experience (FSE) needs work. But two months after I panned the cheaper $600 white Xbox Ally and wasn't quite sold on the $1,000 black one, one of my most-hated Windows issues is getting better. I didn't stop testing these handhelds after my October review; I've been playing Hollow Knight: Silksong and Blue Prince on them ever since. I installed FSE on an MSI

Real ones will know that Mount Rainier looks too big in this image, but the re-creation of a Washington State ferry in this AI image is uncanny. This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on smartphones and digital imagery - real or otherwise - follow Allison Johnson. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. HOW IT STARTED Remember the early days of AI image generation? Oh how we laughed when our prompts resulted in people with too many fingers, rubbery limbs, and other

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 109, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, hope you're staying warm, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I've been reading about Google Maps and shopaganda and life as a pop star, finally getting to watch F1 now that it's streaming, rewatching the first two Avatars ahead of the next one's release, pretending the new Taylor Swift tour doc is a reasonable replacement for actually seeing the tour, buying a bunch of Ikea smart buttons now that

It's a small sample size, likely driven by Black Friday discounts and temporary virality, but the Nex Playground has gone from little-known console curiosity to best-seller. It's now on track to quadruple its sales from last year. According to research firm Circana, the Playground was the second best-selling console in the US for the week ending November 22nd, and third for the week ending November 28th. In October, it wasn't even mentioned by Circana's video game analyst, Mat Piscatella. The colorful cube got a steep discount for Black Friday, from $249 to $199, which is likely part of what drove sales,

Music making is always better with hardware. Native Instruments and Ableton have had incredible success with their custom MIDI controllers that integrate with their DAWs (digital audio workstations), Maschine and Live, respectively. Native Instruments' Maschine (yes, it's the name of the hardware and the software) and Ableton's Push are pretty much the gold standard for integration between music-making software and hardware. Serato is hoping it can capture even a sliver of that magic with its pairing of Slab and Serato Studio. Plenty of others have tried their hand at building (or having others build for them) custom controllers for their DAWs -

Cloud gaming remains a pie-in-the-sky idea.

Even the best telescopes can’t see exoplanets. It’s all about watching for jiggly stars, blue shifts, and transits.

Here’s everything you need to know about data privacy in sex toys and the apps that connect to them.

Ahead of its entry into the US, the European brand with an ex-Ferrari boss and decades of motorsport success has a new EV to take on Porsche and Polestar. WIRED tries it on for size.

If language is what makes us human, what does it mean now that large language models have gained “metalinguistic” abilities?

From a backyard hot tub to the warmest slippers, these picks will make your loved ones feel warm and fuzzy—inside and out.

Motorola phones may seem old-school, but their reasonable prices, colorful designs, and simple software make them good, wallet-friendly Android smartphones.

Here’s how Amazon’s ebook readers stack up—and which one might be right for you.

A destructive storm in 2020 prematurely shut down Iowa’s only nuclear plant. With Google’s plans to reopen it to power nearby data centers, will extreme weather threaten the reactor’s safety?

Bat-Fam, The Girlfriend, and The Mighty Nein are just a few of the shows you should be watching on Amazon Prime Video this week.

This laid-back ride comes with an almost bewildering array of power modes and riding styles. Just make sure you obey the law.

Plus: Travelers to the US may have to hand over five years of social media history, South Korean CEOs are resigning due to cyberattacks, and more.

Plus: Apple Fitness+ expands to new markets, it’s even easier to add photos to Aura’s digital frames, and the new Nocs speakers go heavy metal.

I’ve been reviewing smart lighting for years. Here are tips on how to prep, what to choose, and the smart lights that work best in each room.

Instagram is awash with Asian firms showing how they can remake old Broncos, Defenders, and other whole classic cars—better and much cheaper than in the US.

In this episode of Uncanny Valley we take you through our recent conversation with Lisa Su and go behind the scenes of our Big Interview event.

Like so many things in Elon Musk's orbit, a lot of it may come down to AI.

Fulu sets repair bounties on consumer products that employ sneaky features that limit user control. Just this week, it awarded more than $10,000 to the person who hacked the Molekule air purifier.

Fears about AI data centers’ water use have exploded. Experts say the reality is far more complicated than people think.

As more and more age tech hits the market, I’ve been testing the most innovative gadgets for older folks and caregivers.

DIY permanent eave lights that attach to the exterior of your home are becoming more popular. But are they worth the effort (and cost)?

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

Watch out high-end models, these noise-canceling headphones are an amazing value.

Even if the glowing mask scares your family, red-light therapy can rejuvenate skin and aid in muscle repair.

Retatrutide, originally developed by Eli Lilly, has found a loyal fan base—even though clinical trials of the drug still haven’t finished.

The highlight of the year, the Geminids are the most active and colorful meteor shower, offering the chance to see hundreds of shooting stars every hour when they peak in mid-December.

If A-spot stimulation doesn't mean much to you, the Pleasure Puff likely won't excite.

Enjoy top deals on cameras, computers, and tech essentials at B&H Photo.

Make meal prep easier for any dietary need while enjoying great savings with our hand-picked Factor discount codes this December.

The order creates a Justice Department task force to challenge state AI laws and directs the Commerce Department to pull future broadband funding from states that pass “onerous” legislation.

The founder of Terraform Labs was sentenced today for lying about “experimental” coins that blew a $40 billion hole in the crypto economy.

Experts tell US lawmakers that a crucial spy program’s safeguards are failing, allowing intel agencies deeper, unconstrained access to Americans’ data.

At an FDA discussion of testosterone replacement therapy, a top official called for special health centers to address a “men’s health crisis.” Others called to ease men’s access to hormones.

Gremlins, Home Alone, and Sovereign are just a few of the movies you need to watch on Hulu right now.

Coffee subscriptions offer their steepest discounts in December—including on WIRED’s two favorite coffee subscriptions.

A spoofed email address and an easily faked document is all it takes for major tech companies to hand over your most personal information.

Taiwan’s digital payment infrastructure is tactile, decentralized, and completely distinct from China’s QR-code-dominated model.

The ChatGPT-maker is releasing its “best model yet” as it faces new pressures from Google and other AI competitors.

Disney is hedging against the future. OpenAI is clearing a path for Sora. And together they’ve made a blueprint for how AI and Hollywood can move forward.

The 300-person startup hopes bringing designers aboard will give it an edge in an increasingly competitive AI software market.

The carrier’s Connected Life platform, now available nationwide, lets AT&T customers easily set up a smart-home security system.

Control these smart lights with a voice command or a tap on your phone. Now that’s a Christmas miracle.

From flagship and budget to flipping and folding, Samsung’s Galaxy range spans the breadth of the smartphone cosmos. WIRED’s here to help you make your choice.

Costco fans rejoice. We’ve found great deals on televisions exclusively for members.

Elon Musk “bid adieu to the Twitter brand” in 2023 in favor of X. A startup wants to resurrect it.