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Tech Archive

Archives for October 2026

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
These 30th-anniversary Pokémon guitars are gorgeous and gorgeous-sounding.

Sadly, they’re so limited that they’re only available through a lottery. But these red and green Fenders feature sprites and pixel art from the original games under a transparent, tinted finish, plus a built-in bit crusher for authentic 8-bit tones.

Keyboards of The Verge

From the strictly utilitarian to the ergonomic to the obsessive, these are the keyboards we use every day.

Verge Staff and Nathan Edwards
I built an AI Tamagotchi before Meta could

We have Muse Charm at home.

Sean Hollister
Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Google made a robot planter.

No, you can’t buy it. It’s a “just for fun” project to show off Google AI Studio. But it’s also undeniably cute. Sprout wanders autonomously to find the best sunlight and sends an alert when the plant needs watering.

Touchscreens everywhere!Touchscreens everywhere!
David Pierce
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Curry Barker used a Surface Laptop Ultra to help make his new YouTube short.

He edited the entire “Mama Bear” film while the laptop was unplugged, according to a behind-the-scenes video from Microsoft that also includes the claim that the computer sees a “less than 1% drop in performance when unplugged.”

That said, a footnote in the video says that the editing was “not performed on a single battery charge.”

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Apple Stores reportedly got a memo about iPhone Duo screen cracks.

MacRumors says that the instructions for technicians are straightforward, but “the fact that Apple issued an internal memo suggests the issue is widespread enough to warrant official guidance.”

Apple confirmed this week there is an “issue” affecting a “small number” of iPhone Duo units. iFixit told The Verge that cracks might be happening due to the flexible screen pushing up against a part of the hinge.

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
California now has its own version of Watch Duty’s fire-tracking app.

AwareCA provides emergency maps and alerts like Watch Duty, but directly from public safety agencies. The LA Times reports the app addresses fire officials’ “uneasiness” with Watch Duty, with Cal Fire’s David Acuña saying, with AwareCA “you’re not relying on, ‘Well, what did I hear on that really static-y radio?’”

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Reddit’s stock fell 29 percent today following tough earnings.

The company announced yesterday that search traffic was “down meaningfully,” with CEO Steve Huffman saying that Google’s AI-powered search modes don’t “drive traffic.” Today’s stock market fall was its worst since going public in 2024, CNBC reports.

Yesterday, Reddit also announced that the platform will soon start requiring users to log in.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Are you seeing AI Overviews less often?

We saw a post on Bluesky today about how Google is apparently now turning off AI Overviews “by default,” with one reply speculating that AI Overviews appeared if you phrased a query as a question.

But Google spokesperson Peter Schottenfels tells The Verge that “We haven’t reduced the triggering of AI Overviews, and we’ve always said that AI Overviews are dynamic and won’t show on every query.” Schottenfels also notes that keyword or navigational queries may not trigger AI responses.

Are you noticing anything different?