Technology news

Illustration by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has finalized amendments to its Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), making it easier to protect consumers who are tricked into paying scam tech support companies. The FTC could already go after these fraudster companies if they initiated calls to people — now, they can do the same thing if people call the scammers too.
Fake tech support fraud has been on the rise for many years. The “company” tric

SAVE $80: For Black Friday, you can get the Bird Buddy Original Solar Bird Feeder with Camera for $199, down from $279, a 28% discount (Amazon's listed MSRP, $239, is incorrect and you're actually getting a better deal than they're letting on).Opens in a new windowCredit: Bird BuddyBird Buddy solar bird feeder with camera$199.00 at Amazon $279.00 Save $80.00Get DealSome details on the feeder's special extras: The Bird Buddy uses AI to identify different birds and their species — the tech c

UPDATE: Nov. 27, 2024, 5:40 p.m. EST Amazon's Black Friday sale officially started on Thursday, Nov. 21. This story has been updated with details on how long the sale will last, plus new deals on Instant Pots, beauty tech from Dyson and Shark, and further discounts on items that were already on sale, like Beats headphones.Amazon's best Black Friday deals at a glance:Best Kindle dealAmazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition$154.99(save $45)Get DealBest Echo dealEcho Pop$17.99(save $22)Get DealB

Image: Laura Normand / The Verge Microsoft is being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission in a wide-ranging antitrust probe, making it the fifth Big Tech company to fall under such scrutiny in several years.
The agency is looking into Microsoft’s cloud and software licensing business, cybersecurity services, and AI offerings. Bloomberg first reported the news and The Verge confirmed the investigation with a person familiar with the matter, granted anonymity to speak to a confidentia

Illustration: The Verge Google Chat is launching huddles, a Google Meet-powered addition that lets you start a quick call with your coworkers. Google said it would add huddles to Google Chat in customer preview over a year ago, but we haven’t heard about it since then. The company says the feature has started rolling out and should reach all Workspace users by January 6th.
As we noted last year, this is the same feature as Slack’s Huddles, using the same exact name. There aren’

SAVE $190: As of Nov. 27, Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart have the Beats Studio Pro on sale for just $159.99 during their Black Friday sales. That's 54% off the headphones' $349.99 MSRP and an all-time low.Where to buy Beats Studio Pro on saleBeats Studio Pro$159.99 at Amazon(save $190)Get DealBeats Studio Pro$159.99 at Best Buy(save $190)Get DealBeats Studio Pro$159.99 at Target(save $190)Get DealBeats Studio Pro$159.99 at Walmart(save $190)Get Deal
Fierce as their competition is during t

GET $75: As of Nov. 27, early bird Black Friday shoppers can score $75 in store credit when they purchase a Meta Quest 3S bundle at Amazon. The bundle also includes a digital copy of Batman: Arkham Shadow and a three-month trial of Meta Quest+.Opens in a new windowCredit: Meta / CamouflajMeta Quest 3S (128GB) bundle + $75 Amazon credit$299.00 at Amazon Use code QUEST75 at checkout.Get DealThere's really no better entry point into VR gaming than the Meta Quest 3. It's affordable, easy to set up,

How to tune into the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade at home without cable:BEST OVERALLPeacock Premium annual subscription$19.99/year Black Friday Deal($60 off the annual cost)Get DealBEST FOR XFINITY CUSTOMERSPeacock PremiumFree with eligible Xfinity accounts(save $79.99/year or $7.99/month)Get DealBEST FOR SPECTRUM CUSTOMERSPeacock PremiumFree with eligible Spectrum accounts(save $79.99/year or $7.99/month)Get DealBEST FOR STUDENTSPeacock Premium for Students$1.99/month for one year(save $6/mon

As online content encouraging disordered eating behaviors rears its ugly head once again, generative AI is adding fuel to the fire. According to a Futurism investigation, popular AI startup Character.AI is hosting numerous pro-anorexia chatbots that encourage dangerous weight loss and eating habits. Many are advertised as "weight loss coaches" or even eating disorder recovery experts. Several include thinly-veiled references to eating disorders, while even more are designed to romanticize danger

The best Black Friday deals under $25 at a glance:BEST TECH DEALEcho Dot with Amazon Basics Smart Color Bulb$22.99(save $39.99)Get DealBEST KITCHEN DEALCrock-Pot Oval Manual Slow Cooker (7-quart)$24.99(save $25)Get DealBEST TOY DEALLego Icons Plum Blossom Flower Set$23.99(save $6)Get Deal
Black Friday properly falls on Nov. 29 this year, but as in years past, sales have been flooding our feeds for weeks. Now that we're closer to the official shopping holiday, we can say with certainty that it's

Image: Larian Studios Larian Studios isn’t done with big updates for Baldur’s Gate 3 just yet. The studio is planning yet another quality-of-life update for the game with Patch 8.
“Arriving next year, this update will introduce some of the most eagerly awaited features to BG3: cross-play, and photo mode, along with 12 new subclasses,” Larian wrote on its Steam Community page.
Cross play will introduce multiplayer capabilities between any of the game’s platforms incl

A quick look at the best early Black Friday TV dealsBest 55-inch dealHisense 55-inch QD5 QLED TV$219.99 at Best Buy(save $180)Get DealBest 65-inch TV dealLG 65-inch B3 Series OLED 4K TV$998 at Walmart(save $301)Get DealBest 75-inch TV dealLG 75-inch 85 Series QNED TV$999.99 at Best Buy(save $500)Get DealUPDATE: Nov. 27, 2024, 4:37 p.m. EST This post has been updated with the latest pricing on the best TV deals live right before Thanksgiving, including new Amazon Omni Mini LED deals and a 55-inch

Big phones, big discounts. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Black Friday, you may have noticed, is no longer a specific date on the calendar. This year especially, with a late Thanksgiving in the US, it’s a vibe. The deals started arriving well before Friday and they’ll last all weekend, just like turkey leftovers. If the new vibes-based Black Friday means shopping for discounted phones and accessories online any day you please rather than standing in line at the mall, well, th

File this under nice problems to have: Bluesky is growing like gangbusters. But hiding beneath that nice problem is a whole viper pit of nasty ones, as any study of Twitter history will tell you. The Twitter-like social media underdog (or, given its logo, under-butterfly) zipped past the 20 million-user mark last week, with more than a quarter of those users arriving after the U.S. election. An election in which the owner of Twitter/X put his giant thumb on the scale for Donald Trump and made bi

The Kobo Libra Colour is $80 cheaper than the Kindle Colorsoft and comes with stylus support. | Image: Rakuten Kobo The Kindle Colorsoft offers an impressive color screen, but it’s not for everybody. Luckily, if you don’t want to lock yourself into Amazon’s ecosystem, the Kobo Libra Colour is an excellent alternative that’s on sale for an all-time low of $199.99 ($20 off) at Amazon and Target for Black Friday. You can also buy it for the same price from Rakuten Kobo, and

Belkin is recalling its BoostCharge Pro due to a manufacturing defect that can cause overheating and the risk of fire. | Image: Belkin Belkin is recalling all of its BoostCharge Pro Fast Wireless Charger for Apple Watch + Power Bank 10K and asking owners to stop using them immediately. The company says a manufacturing defect can cause the charger’s “lithium cell component to overheat” in some circumstances, potentially causing a risk of fire.
The recalled charger can be identif

A group of artists that were early testers for OpenAI's Sora leaked access to the AI video generator on Tuesday. But let's get the facts straight so the story isn't oversimplified.OpenAI has since shut down access to Sora for all early testers. But for about three hours, the public could test out Sora for themselves. According to a statement shared with the demo hosted on Hugging Face, the artists released access to Sora as a protest against "art washing," which they believe they were "lured int

Spotify users look forward to their Wrapped all year long. And for those who can hardly wait, don't fret: Spotify Wrapped 2024 is nearly here. What is Spotify Wrapped?Started in 2016, Spotify Wrapped is exactly what it sounds like: your year in Spotify, neatly wrapped up in a colorful — and uniquely shareable — interactive experience. Spotify combs through your data and tells you your top artists, songs, albums, and more. For instance, you might find out you were in the Top 1 percent

TL;DR: Live stream New Zealand vs. England for free on TVNZ+. Access this free streaming site from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.England suffered a disappointing defeat against Pakistan in their last Test match series, but Bazball is all about taking positive decisions in attack and defence. So one defeat is not going to knock the confidence of this England side.And that's a good thing too, because next they face a New Zealand team coming off a 3-0 win against India away from home. The B

The best Dyson early Black Friday deals at AmazonBest Dyson cordless vacuum dealDyson V11 Origin Cordless Vacuum$349.99(save $220)Get DealBest Dyson hair care dealDyson Supersonic Hair Dryer$329(save $100.99)Get DealBest Dyson air purifier dealDyson Purifier Cool TP07 Smart Air Purifier and Fan$349.99(Save $300.99)Get Deal
Black Friday is just on the horizon, and Amazon has marked down a whole fleet of Dyson products. Whether you’re getting a premium blow dryer as a gift, or a vacuum for y

The upcoming iOS 18.2 update is a big one. Expected to be released in early December, iOS 18.2 comes with Genmoji, Image Playground, Siri with the ChatGPT function, and more AI-powered Writing Tools. The update also has a redesigned Mail app. Even though Apple Intelligence features are exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro models and the entire iPhone 16 lineup, all iPhones that support the iOS 18.2 update will get some of the redesigned Mail features. Here's what to expect. SEE ALSO:How to use Genmoji

The Mini 3 won’t cost a fortune to replace if you break it. I’ve been itching to get my hands on an easy-to-use hobbyist drone that I won’t hate myself for eventually breaking. The DJI Mini 3 has been at the top of my list: it hits the mark as a compact drone that you can pilot without having to attend aviation school, and I’ll probably go ahead and bite the bullet now that it’s back down to its record-low price — especially considering I may eventually lose m

Best Black Friday stocking stuffer deals at a glanceA portable mini speakerJBL Go 3$29.95(save $10 at Amazon)Get DealAn ultra-slim fitness tracker Fitbit Inspire 3$69.95(save $30 at Best Buy)Get DealPocket-sized home security Blink Outdoor 4 security camera $39.99(save $60 at Best Buy)Get Deal
It’s officially crunch time — we’re in the thick of the holiday shopping season, and Black Friday is just around the corner. If you haven’t had a chance to get out and do some shopp

The Federal Communications Commission just approved a first-of-its-kind license in order to bring internet access to dead zones and other remote areas.On Tuesday, the FCC gave its approval for T-Mobile and Elon Musk's SpaceX subsidiary Starlink to team up and provide additional telecommunications coverage. SEE ALSO:Elon Musk hints that X throttles posts with links
As Reuters reports, this marks the first time the FCC has given a license for a "satellite operator collaborating with a wireles

The Verge Elon Musk’s xAI could soon make its next move to compete with OpenAI: launching a standalone app for its Grok chatbot.Musk created xAI as an alternative to OpenAI, the company he helped found but later distanced himself from over ideological differences. Now, The Wall Street Journal reports, xAI is planning to launch an app as soon as December that could go head-to-head with OpenAI’s ChatGPT as it races to scale up.Currently, users can access Grok through X, but only if the

UPDATE: Nov. 27, 2024, 1:20 p.m. EST This story has been updated with current pricing/availability and new deals (including one fresh top pick).Best Buy's top Black Friday deals at a glance:Best Apple dealApple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M2, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD)$749(save $250)Get DealBest 4K TV dealHisense 85-inch QD6 QLED 4K Google TV$649.99(save $450)Get DealBest Windows laptop dealDell XPS 13 9350 (Intel Core Ultra 7 256V, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD)$999.99(save $400)Get DealBest headphone/earbud dealBo

Transparent’s new wireless speaker was inspired by brutalist architecture. | Image: Transparent The design of Transparent’s latest wireless speaker looks like the complete opposite of the glass-enclosed see-through speakers that helped originally launch the brand. The $4,000 Brutalist speaker is made from aluminum, and although it stands around 23-inches tall in person, without context it could be easily mistaken for a minimalist office tower designed by an architect still inspired b

Best Bluetooth speaker deals ahead of Black FridayBest overallUltimate Ears Wonderboom 4 $78.96 at Amazon(Save $21.03)Get Deal Best budget speaker dealJBL Go 4 $39.95 at Amazon(Save $10)Get Deal Best high-end Bluetooth speakerSonos Move 2 $359.00 at Amazon(Save $90)Get DealThe Black Friday shopping season is here, and Bluetooth speakers are at some of their best prices of the year.Though it may not be the best time of year to take a Bluetooth speaker poolside, it's always great to think ahead an

If you're one of the around 1.3 million people who are X Premium subscribers — or about 0.26% of the platform's user base — you have access to Grok, X's AI chatbot similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, that you can use through the X app. But that access might be getting a bit more broad.According to The Wall Street Journal, Elon Musk's AI company xAI will be releasing a standalone consumer app. It will work similar to the ChatGPT app and give users access to Grok from their phones. Ther

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge The US Department of Energy (DOE) thinks AI can speed up the process of connecting new energy projects to the power grid.It announced $30 million in funding now available through its Artificial Intelligence for Interconnection (AI4IX) program. The DOE is interested in fostering partnerships between grid operators and software and energy project developers to get new sources of electricity online faster.The plan is to use AI to streamline the interconnect

Image: The Verge A new startup created by former Android leaders aims to build an operating system for AI agents. Among them is Hugo Barra, Google’s former VP of Android product management, who says the new company — named “/dev/agents” — will revisit the leaders’ “Android roots.”
AI companies are pushing AI agents as the next big leap in AI tools, promising digital assistants that can carry out tasks and make decisions autonomously and with little

The best Lego Black Friday deals you can get early:Top Walmart Lego dealLego Star Wars Ahsoka Tano’s T-6 Jedi Shuttle$45(save $34.99)Get DealBest Amazon Lego dealLego Super Mario Piranha Plant$47.95(save $12.04)Get DealTop Best Buy Lego dealLego Star Wars Mos Espa Podrace Diorama$55.99(save $24)Get Deal
Lego is forever. Modern Lego sets include classic worlds like Lego City, franchise collaborations with beloved characters like Super Mario, and exciting new adventures in Lego Dreamzzz, whe

SAVE UP TO 50%: Amazon has marked down gifts from premium brands like Dyson, Ninja, Le Creuset, and more during this year's Black Friday event.Best premium gifts on sale at Amazon's Black Friday eventBest tech dealAmazon Echo Buds (wired charging case)$34.99 at Amazon(save $85)Get DealBest kitchen dealNinja Indoor Grill$149.99 at Amazon(save $110)Get DealBest self-care dealTheraGun Prime massage gun$199 at Amazon(save $100)Get Deal
This year, the retailers did not make us wait to start holiday s

Handheld gaming is having a moment, and it looks like Samsung doesn’t want to be left out.The South Korean electronics powerhouse, usually known for supplying cutting-edge displays to gaming gadgets like the Nintendo Switch, could soon leverage that expertise for its own gaming handheld.SEE ALSO:Nintendo Switch 2 still unannounced, but this big official reveal about the handheld may excite fans
According to patent filings uncovered by 91mobiles, Samsung is exploring the possibility of a fo

Bluesky is already facing its first major AI scrape, despite the stance of its owners that it will never train generative AI on user data. Reported by 404Media on Nov. 26, one million public Bluesky posts — complete with identifying user information — were crawled and then uploaded to AI company Hugging Face. The dataset was created by machine learning librarian Daniel van Strien, intended to be used in the development of language models and natural language processing, as well as ge

SAVE $96: Through Dec. 2, the Disney+ and Hulu bundle (both with ads) is just $2.99 per month instead of the usual $10.99 per month for an entire year. That's 72% in savings and easily one of the best Black Friday streaming deals this season.Opens in a new windowCredit: Hulu / Disney+Disney+ (with ads) and Hulu (with ads)$2.99/month for one year (save $96)Get DealThis year, everything got more expensive — including streaming services. Once just $7.99 per month, the costs for both Disn

Will New Kids on the Block’s Joey McIntyre find love again, or will he just shop at Walmart? | Image: Roku Walmart is linking up with Roku to release a full-length Christmas movie that will let viewers buy products on their TV during specific parts of the story, Business Insider reports. It’s the retailer’s second go at the idea of shoppable TV after previously trying out a social media romcom series. Walmart learned customers seemed likelier to buy something the longer they wa

SAVE $180: As of Nov. 27, Best Buy has the Hisense 55-inch QD5 QLED 4K TV on sale for $219.99 for Black Friday, which is a savings of 45%.Opens in a new windowCredit: HisenseHisense 55-inch QD5 QLED 4K Google TV $219.99 at Best Buy $399.99 Save $180.00Get DealBest Buy is beating Walmart at one of its own games this Black Friday, and that game is "having the cheapest possible *insert size here* TV of the season." My current favorite example is the Hisense 55-inch QLED TV chilling at $219.99 at Be

TL;DR: Live stream Liverpool vs. Real Madrid in the Champions League for free on RTÉ Player. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.The fifth round of Champions League fixtures has some really interesting matchups, but the biggest game is undoubtedly Liverpool vs. Real Madrid. Liverpool have won every game in this year's competition and sit on top of the standings. Real Madrid have been inconsistent, but they go into every game expecting to win.If y

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images A Chinese commercial ship is suspected of deliberately dragging its anchor to cut underseacables that connect countries over the internet, The Wall Street Journal reports.International investigators reportedly believe the crew aboard Yi Peng 3, a bulk carrier full of Russian fertilizer, dragged its anchor for more than 100 miles across the Baltic seabed, damaging the cables that run across it. Two different internet links — one between Sweden&

Best early Black Friday Nintendo Switch deals 2024Best Nintendo Switch console dealNintendo Switch OLED 'Mario Kart 8 Deluxe' Bundle$299(save $50)Get DealBest Nintendo Switch game deal'The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom'$30(save $39)Get DealBest Nintendo Switch accessory dealCRKD Nitro Deck$49.99(save $20)Get Deal
Good Nintendo Switch deals are pretty hard to come by. For some reason, Nintendo just generally doesn't like to list their consoles, games, or accessories at steep discounts, ev