4 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Jess Weatherbed

Jess Weatherbed

News Reporter

News Reporter

    More From Jess Weatherbed

    Jess Weatherbed
    Jess Weatherbed
    iFixit has a solution for repairability labeling laws.

    It’s teaming up with the National Sanitation Foundation to develop a voluntary repairability scoring standard for the US, aligning with growing requirements for gadgets to show how repairable they are at the time of purchase. iFixit says the standard will be distinct from its own scores, aligning with European efforts.

    Jess Weatherbed
    Jess Weatherbed
    No karaoke version? No problem!

    LG’s Xboom Stage 501 party speaker is now available to buy for $499.99 (technically $449.99 after a $50 rebate). Like Soundcore’s Rave 3S, the new Xboom speaker has an AI feature that can remove vocals, turning “virtually any song” into a karaoke track.

    If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

    The LG Xboom Stage 501, featuring Will.i.am
    Will.i.am for scale (the speaker was built in collaboration with him).
    Image: LG
    Jess Weatherbed
    Jess Weatherbed
    Google’s $4.7 billion Android fine has been upheld.

    The search giant has lost its final appeal to overturn a record-breaking €4.1 billion (about $4.68 billion) penalty imposed by the European Commission over practices that abused Android’s mobile dominance. The charges date back to 2018, so it’s taken almost a decade to close the antitrust case.

    Jess Weatherbed
    Jess Weatherbed
    Grace Rocky save streaming.

    Good news for those of you who didn’t catch Project Hail Mary in theaters — it’ll finally be available to stream on Prime Video on July 3rd. Unless you have something better to be doing this weekend…

    Jess Weatherbed
    Jess Weatherbed
    Former Sony gaming chief is baffled by the PlayStation PC pullback.

    In an interview with French media outlet PSI, former SIE Worldwide Studios chairman Shawn Layden said bringing Sony exclusives to PC was always about expanding title visability beyond PlayStation consoles, and wasn’t a money-making strategy:

    I think if someone’s waiting 18 months for something to come on PC, we didn’t lose a sale to them. They weren’t going to buy the hardware anyway. If it’s a way to cover costs or the burden of making a port, there is some money attached to that, or the distraction or whatever. I don’t know what they’re thinking.”

    Jess Weatherbed
    Jess Weatherbed
    Weird Al doesn’t care for your weird AI jokes.

    The Grammy-winning satirical musician told Syracuse.com that he’s “not a fan” of the generative technology, and that he turned down “a nice pile of money” after walking away from a commerical for business productivity software.

    ”A week before we’re supposed to shoot it, I find out, oh, this is, it’s AI. And I thought, ‘Oh no, I can’t be the poster boy for AI, forget it.’ So I felt bad about kind of pulling out at the last minute. But yeah, I’m not down with that.”