Tech

The OnePlus 13R is a particular kind of midrange phone for a particular kind of person. It's a pared-down version of the OnePlus 13 - which is a full-on flagship and a good one at that. And even though it shares a lot of the flagship DNA, the 13R lacks peace-of-mind features present on the […]

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has flashy, thrilling battles, but the best thing about them is how you can twist the game's many systems to your advantage. The turn-based RPG combat might feel familiar, but it offers a lot of ways to customize your approach to battles so that you can do absolutely devastating amounts of […]

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 80, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, hope you had better luck than I did preordering a Switch 2, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I've been reading about The […]

It's been a busy week for Alien: Earth's marketing team, having released three new teasers over the last few days. The longest of them - titled "Gestation Complete" - spends two whole minutes on the gestation and birth of an alien creature. Another, "Crate," gives hints that Earth could be facing more than just a […]

Following a brief delay stemming from the Trump administration’s on-again, off-again tariff policy, Nintendo officially opened up preorders for the Nintendo Switch 2. As expected, the initial rollout process at Walmart, Best Buy, and other retailers on April 24th was an absolute mess — and GameStop didn’t fare much better later in the week. As […]

One of the most frustrating realities about modern technology products is that while so many of them can get exciting new features via the internet, they can lose them just as easily. That happened to owners of Nixplay smart digital photo frames this week when they were hit with a previously announced update the company […]

One of the Apple Intelligence features that hasn't been delayed is Visual Intelligence, which uses your iPhone's camera to identify and answer questions on whatever's around you in the world. It lets you snap a pizza restaurant storefront and find out its opening hours, for example, or point your camera at a plant and find […]

When Google launched its long-awaited Find My Device network in April 2024, it arrived to… well, what's the opposite of "fanfare"? A slow network rollout and damning reviews dampened enthusiasm for what was supposed to be a wave of Android-powered rivals to Apple's AirTag. But a year's a long time in tech, and Google has […]

Testimony this week from Google’s antitrust trial shows that Google gives Samsung an “enormous sum of money” each month to preinstall the Gemini AI app on Samsung devices, reports Bloomberg. Now that Judge Amit Mehta has ruled Google’s search engine is an illegal monopoly, its lawyers are sparring with the DOJ over how severe a […]

Every so often, Central Computers - one of the last remaining dedicated Silicon Valley computer stores - lets subscribers know it's managed to obtain a small shipment of AMD graphics cards. Today, it informed me that I could now purchase a $600 Radeon RX 9070 XT for $850 - a $250 markup. It's not alone. […]

Donald Trump wants to mine the depths of the ocean for critical minerals ubiquitous in rechargeable batteries, signing an executive order on Thursday to try to expedite mining within US and international waters.  It’s a brash move that critics say could create unknown havoc on sea life and coastal economies, and that bucks international agreements. […]

Google is rolling out Gmail updates for mobile users across Android and iOS, with some design updates and new access to AI features. Android tablet and foldable owners will have a more flexible Gmail app interface that lets them drag the divider to adjust the list and conversation panes to whatever size they want in […]