83 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Thomas Ricker

Thomas Ricker

Deputy Editor

Deputy Editor

    More From Thomas Ricker

    Thomas Ricker
    Thomas Ricker
    Twitter Blue’s verification blues.

    Washington Post columnist Geoffrey Fowler has again created a fake account for Sen. Ed Markey that was again verified as real by Twitter’s revamped authentication process:

    I expected Twitter would ask me to prove my identity... But no. After 7 days, a blue check mark appeared on the faux Markey account, no questions asked.

    Thomas Ricker
    Thomas Ricker
    BMW uses new E Ink.

    The i Vision Dee is only a concept, but the car shown at CES uses real E Ink Prism 3 tech just announced. It lets product designers choose from eight colors that can be manufactured in any 2D shape to create rich, dynamic surfaces. And because it’s E Ink, it only consumes power when the displays are updated. It’s said to be “rugged” and “durable,” but there’s no mention of “repairable.”

    E Ink Prism 3 is BMW’s secret sauce.
    E Ink Prism 3 is BMW’s secret sauce.
    Thomas Ricker
    Thomas Ricker
    Twitter users in Australia are having a bad day.

    Elon Musk’s $44 billion hobby has been up and down for over 12 hours in Australia and New Zealand, according to Downdetector. Users are reporting slow load times when the site does actually load, causing some to fire up a VPN to access Twitter through the US.

    A sampling of Twitter users complaining about issues.
    A sampling of Twitter users complaining about issues.
    Thomas Ricker
    Thomas Ricker
    Two Samsung projectors can automatically create one giant image.

    We weren’t impressed by the $900 original, but the 2023 Freestyle has a neat little trick called Smart Edge Blending that automatically stitches the images of two projectors into a single ultra-wide display with a 21:9 aspect ratio.

    Only catch? If buying one Freestyle wasn’t worth it, who’d actually buy two?

    Our roundup has more details about the refreshed Freestyle and the rest of Samsung’s new TV lineup.

    Two 2023 Freestyles projecting a single ultra-wide image at CES in Las Vegas.
    Two 2023 Freestyles projecting a single ultra-wide image at CES in Las Vegas.
    Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
    Thomas Ricker
    Thomas Ricker
    TSMC begins mass production of 3-nanometer chips in Taiwan.

    Six months after Samsung reached 3nm production in June, TSMC says its 3nm process tech offers better performance than its 5nm chips found in the latest Pro iPhone, for example, while requiring about 35 percent less power.

    For perspective, TSMC’s lauded Arizona fab will start with 4nm chips in 2024, before a second fab comes online in 2026 to produce 3nm chips.

    New iPad Mini could be a year awayNew iPad Mini could be a year away
    Thomas Ricker
    Thomas Ricker
    Thomas Ricker
    Ququq turns the VW ID.Buzz into a campervan.

    Until Volkswagen finally turns the ID.Buzz into the electric microbus of our hippie dreams, there’s the Ququq BusBox-4. It adds a cooker, fridge, water supply, and bed for about $3,000.