22302974 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
Skip to main content
The VergeThe Verge logo.
The VergeThe Verge logo.
People are vibe coding their way to better TVs

Users are getting fed up with the barrage of ads and data tracking on TVs and are looking to AI vibe coding for the answer.

John Higgins

The latest Quick Posts

Review roulette / Catch up on our latest reviews, from games to gadgets.

Birdbuddy’s budget feeder foiled my squirrelsBirdbuddy’s budget feeder foiled my squirrels

The Nook and Home are cheaper, faster, and sleeker smart bird feeders — but the new camera might be a deal-breaker for diehard birders.

Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
Googlebooks just aren’t ready

Our collective reviews of every Googlebook at launch: very good laptops hobbled by beta-level software.

Antonio G. Di Benedetto, David Pierce and 2 more
Wii Sports is back on the Switch 2, and it rules

Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is quietly one of the console’s most important games.

Andrew Webster
The world’s first triple 200-megapixel cameraphone is great

Oppo’s Find X10 Pro Max benefits more from sensor size, dynamic range, and excellent software than sheer resolution.

Dominic Preston

This week in AI / The biggest stories about today’s biggest technology.

Sure, let’s smoosh SpaceX and Tesla together, who caresSure, let’s smoosh SpaceX and Tesla together, who cares

Yes, of course there are pay package incentives in play for Musk. But that’s not all.

Elizabeth Lopatto
AI agents are ready to shop. Some retailers are wary

AI agents are getting blocked left and right — but even when they work, it suggests a more annoying future for humans.

Mia Sato
Claude did not invent scorpion antivenom

Citrini takes a stab at drug development.

Robert Hart
In Meta’s version of the future, I’ll have my Muse call your Muse

“Everyone is just going to have to adapt,” CFO Susan Li said during Meta’s third quarter earnings call.

Ellen Thomas

Apple season / It’s another big month for Apple devices.

The iPhone Duo is a messy, expensive good timeThe iPhone Duo is a messy, expensive good time

7

Verge Score

REVIEW

Apple’s first foldable is an early adopter special.

Nilay Patel and Allison Johnson
I can’t get enough of the iPhone Duo’s matte inner display

Nano-texture was the right move.

Allison Johnson
I reviewed the iPhone Duo, ask me anything
Q&A

Verge subscribers can get their burning questions answered.

Allison Johnson
Delta can turn the iPhone Duo into your favorite folding handheld

Delta 2.0 adds support for the iPhone Duo, Sega Genesis games, and more.

Jess Weatherbed

ICYMI / This week has been jam-packed with big stories.

The Gospel according to Peter (Thiel)The Gospel according to Peter (Thiel)

We have Peter Thiel’s secret lectures about the Antichrist.

David Gibson
PHP: The three letters that shut down sites all over the internet today

OpenAI is taking credit for finding the PHP2Shell vulnerabilities, but now someone has to apply all these patches.

Terrence O'Brien and Jay Peters
They want your blood

Health tech companies want data from your blood in return for a vague promise of a longer life.

Victoria Song
Elon Musk says Tesla will sell 5 million cars by 2030 — math says otherwise

Musk is targeting 5 million annual vehicle deliveries by 2030, but after back-to-back years of falling sales, banking on unproven robotaxis instead of an affordable EV makes that goal look practically impossible.

Andrew J. Hawkins

The KickerOctober 23

The VergeThe Verge logo.
Xbox’s first chief operating officer is out after just a few monthsXbox’s first chief operating officer is out after just a few months

Helen Chiang is leaving Microsoft after 21 years.

Tom Warren
OpenAI now trains its frontier AI models with no internet accessOpenAI now trains its frontier AI models with no internet access

AI agents can still communicate without a network connection, OpenAI found.

Emma Roth
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Steam’s Personal Calendar feature is exiting beta.

About a year after Valve introduced the feature, which recommends new and upcoming games you might be interested in and even shows some on an actual calendar, it’s now considered a “full feature” of the Steam Store, Valve says.

My personal calendar page has me pretty dead to rights; among other games, it recommends Final Fantasy Resonance, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, both of which I reviewed and really liked, and some indie games I already had my eye on.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Netflix reportedly offered Microsoft $500 million to license Xbox games for adaptations.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and team countered by asking for $800 million, and Netflix has pulled its offer, Puck reports in an article discussing the new leadership at Netflix.

Xbox launched an “XP” division this month that will work on adaptations of its games, and Xbox is already working with Netflix on a Diablo animated series.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Sen. Marsha Blackburn isn’t happy about Meta’s revised business terms, either.

Blackburn (R-TN) said the updated terms “indicate Meta is attempting to exploit American creators and businesses by granting itself sweeping authority to scrape content from any website associated with Facebook ​and Instagram business accounts,” according to Reuters.

Following publisher pushback, Meta delayed the enforcement of these new policies until November 20th.

Abandoned Popcorn Time apps had to be disabled to prevent a zombie armyAbandoned Popcorn Time apps had to be disabled to prevent a zombie army

What old and vulnerable software might be running on your PC right now?

Stevie Bonifield
Jack Dorsey’s Block made an AI model that talks to you like an awkward new friendJack Dorsey’s Block made an AI model that talks to you like an awkward new friend

You have got to listen to these conversations with Block’s new Dessa AI model.

Jay Peters
Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Texas becomes the latest state to sue OpenAI.

Similar to the lawsuits filed by Arizona, West Virginia, Iowa, and several others, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accuses OpenAI of misleading users about the safety of ChatGPT, allegedly exposing children and other users to a “litany of harms” that’s “driven by the company’s insatiable quest to win the AI arms race and amass
large fortunes.”

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Windows will soon let you perform an internet speed test without opening your browser.

A Windows 11 Insider Preview build rolling out to the Beta and Experimental channels will allow you to right-click the network icon in your system tray and hit “Perform speed test” to run it right in your Quick Settings menu. The feature previously opened a speed test in your browser.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Gotta scroll fast.

A new accelerated scrolling feature coming to Windows PCs with touchpads will allow you to scroll through long documents and webpages faster, Windows design head Marcus Ash announced on X. Microsoft is also adding the ability to continuously scroll through a page by swiping the edge of your touchpad, along with support for single-finger scrolling.

Soundcore’s latest noise-crushing headphones are on sale for a new low priceSoundcore’s latest noise-crushing headphones are on sale for a new low price

The Space 2 offer better noise cancellation and sound quality, making them an easy rec over Soundcore’s original model.

Sheena Vasani
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Amazon is planning more day-and-date Luna game releases for Prime subscribers.

Star Wars: Galactic Racer was available to stream on Luna at no extra cost to Prime subscribers the same day it launched on other platforms, and in a post celebrating the one-year anniversary of Luna’s relaunch, Amazon says it plans to bring more “major” day-and-date releases to Prime members.

Luna’s user base has also grown “fivefold” since the relaunch, Amazon’s gaming GM, Jeff Gattis, says in the post. I spoke to Gattis earlier this year about Amazon’s plan for games.

One Year of Amazon Luna

[Amazon Game Studios]

Fi’s GPS-equipped dog trackers are on sale for 30 percent offFi’s GPS-equipped dog trackers are on sale for 30 percent off

We also spotted discounts on Kirby Air Riders for the Nintendo Switch 2, a JLab microphone, and Lego’s Grogu set.

Brad Bourque
Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
An insightful breakdown of the CoreWeave situation.

This one is for the real finance sickos — what the increased cost of capital for CoreWeave means. Marc Rubenstein, a former hedgie, is fairly granular about CoreWeave’s loans, which is helpful for trying to understand this situation. I came away wondering if Nvidia, which I think is is functionally the central bank for the neoclouds, will decide to bail CoreWeave out, and if so, what that will look like.

Capital Wars

[Net Interest]

Sean Hollister
Sean Hollister
I’m beginning to think the next Xbox will be sold like a cell phone.

Late yesterday, I laid out five ways Microsoft can try to make lemonade out of RAMageddon, but one feels likelier to me now readers have weighed in: the cell phone subsidy model. In the K-shaped economy, wealthier buyers could buy an “unlocked” Xbox, but most could get it “free” with 36-month (or longer!) subscription.

But I also think many will reject that and stick with what they already have.

Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
Even this quadruped robot can solve a Rubik’s Cube faster than I can.

Researchers from ETH Zürich’s Robotic Systems Lab used reinforcement learning through simulations and “teacher-student distillation” to teach a quadruped robot how to independently solve an oversized Rubik’s Cube. The feat is even more impressive given the bot has to use its stubby legs and feet to reorient the cube and rotate its sides.

The iPhone Duo should have been an iPadThe iPhone Duo should have been an iPad

On The Vergecast: Notes on an iPhone Duo review, a PHP scandal, Brendan Carr, and more.

David Pierce
Now Google says it might use your Gmail and Google Photos data to target adsNow Google says it might use your Gmail and Google Photos data to target ads

According to the new terms, sharing your data for better AI recommendations also means opening it up for more personalized ads.

Jess Weatherbed
Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Proton is hosting a map of more than 300,000 Flock cams.

The map comes from security researcher Joshua Michael, who is facing a trademark complaint from Flock after he published an interactive map of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) using information from a data leak. Proton is now hosting the map, but notes that it’s a snapshot from December 2025, so “devices installed or removed since then won’t be reflected.”

Sean Hollister
Sean Hollister
You can now try FSR 4.1 on your Xbox Ally X or X20.

If you’ve got one of the Microsoft/Asus collab handhelds, let me know if this is game-changing? You can find the update in Command Center > Armory Crate SE > Update Center > Preview Updates. Asus does warn “it may still contain bugs or instability, designed for those who can’t live without the latest and greatest.”

Here’s where you can turn it on after installation.
Here’s where you can turn it on after installation.
Image: Asus
The first broken iPhone Duos are hereThe first broken iPhone Duos are here

Now that the first folding iPhone has launched, we’ll find out quickly what can go wrong.

Jay Peters
Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
Hallmark’s Halo special edition Xbox ornament glows green.

In 2024, Hallmark added a tiny version of the original Xbox to its holiday ornament collection and then followed up last year with a miniature Xbox 360. For 2026 it’s returning to Microsoft’s first console, but the translucent green Halo special edition version. It will be available at the end of the month for $27.99 and includes a glowing greed LED and sound effects.

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

A miniature green Xbox console Hallmark ornament hanging from a tree branch.
Image: Hallmark
Emma Roth
Emma Roth
How Claude Fable 5.1 can encode — and decode —messages in images.

Research done as part of the Singapore AI Safety Fellowship shows how Anthropic’s AI model can embed hidden messages into images using Morse code, object rotations, colors, and heights. The researchers also found that separate sessions of Fable 5.1 could decipher about 78 percent of the hidden messages based on a screenshot.

1/3Image: Nikita Kezin, Bryan Chan, James Chua via LessWrong
Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Take shelter in 2027.

Amazon announced that its Fallout-themed reality show — which throws contestants into a Vault-Tec bunker — will start streaming on January 13th. It’s something of a spiritual sequel to the Squid Game competition on Netflix.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Is this the first cracked iPhone Duo screen?

According to a user on Reddit, “Had my iPhone Duo for about six hours and had probably opened it fewer than 20 times. I was showing it to a friend, and as I opened it, I felt something around the internal hinge, underneath the screen. As I continued opening it, I heard an audible crack, and the screen broke right along the hinge.”

They also said the Apple Store already replaced it.

Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
Amazon adds handwritten ebook notes to the Kindle Android app.

After adding the option to annotate Kindle ebooks with handwritten notes on its new Alexa Tablets, Amazon has brought the same functionality to the Kindle Android app, as some users in the Kindle subreddit have discovered. It currently appears limited to Android tablets and phones that support a stylus, and it hasn’t come to the iPadOS version of the app yet.

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

A screenshot of the Kindle Android app showing handwritten notes on an ebook.
Image: Reddit
Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Quest Diagnostics confirms patient records were stolen in a data breach.

The scope of the attack and exactly what data was compromised isn’t clear, only that some “personal information and patient records were affected.” Quest says its investigation is ongoing and it will alert impacted customers “as required by applicable law.” Oddly, as TechCrunch notes, the FAQ about the breach contains “noindex” code, making it difficult for customers to find.

Feds want robotaxis to signal ‘I’m driving’ with cyan-colored lightsFeds want robotaxis to signal ‘I’m driving’ with cyan-colored lights

Federal regulators want driverless cars to shine a distinct blue-green light to signal that humans aren’t driving.

Andrew J. Hawkins
SpaceX’s mobile carrier push reportedly involves tapping into 80,000 cell sitesSpaceX’s mobile carrier push reportedly involves tapping into 80,000 cell sites

The Elon Musk-owned company is in talks with one of the largest cell tower owners in the US, according to Bloomberg.

Emma Roth
Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Shein reportedly agreed to pay $100 million to settle an FTC investigation.

According to Reuters’ sources, the FTC was investigating Shein over “delivery delays and other customer complaints,” adding that the settlement would be “equivalent to 44% of Shein’s second-quarter profit.” The European Union also opened an investigation into Shein earlier this year over concerns about “addictive design” features and illegal product listings.

Meta delays new business terms after publisher pushback on AI scrapingMeta delays new business terms after publisher pushback on AI scraping

Following backlash from publishers across the globe, Meta is pushing the enforcement of its new terms to November 20th.

Emma Roth
The Sigma FP2 brings significant upgrades to the ‘world’s smallest’ full-frame cameraThe Sigma FP2 brings significant upgrades to the ‘world’s smallest’ full-frame camera

A faster sensor, an articulated preview screen, and longer battery life are just a few of the improvements.

Andrew Liszewski
Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
One man basically saved the internet from the PHPocalypse.

Charlie Warzel at The Atlantic interviewed Ondřej Surý, the man almost single-handedly responsible for packaging up the patch for this week’s vulnerabilities. It’s a fascinating conversation, from Surý‘s odd nonchalance about saving the web to his concern that for-profit companies are exploiting open-source. But he hopes that this AI-assisted discovery will lead to a change:

… Everything’s moving fast now, and it’s taking a toll on the people who are defending the stuff. At the same time, maybe this is the turning point where we actually start caring about this … I might be wrong, but I’m an optimist that people will finally realize that we can’t go like this forever. This has been a disaster waiting to happen for a really, really long time.

Our best tips for using the iPhone DuoOur best tips for using the iPhone Duo

New moves for a new kind of iPhone.

Allison Johnson
Apple revives the original iPod as an Apple Music easter eggApple revives the original iPod as an Apple Music easter egg

If your Apple Music page doesn’t load, a mock-up iPod will instead.

Stevie Bonifield
Emma Roth
Emma Roth
OpenAI safety researchers say they were fired over disappearing Signal messages.

Tomek Korbak, Mikita Balesni, and Jasmine Wang tell The Wall Street Journal that OpenAI terminated them after finding disappearing messages on Signal in a chat with Ryan Greenblatt, the former chief scientist at AI safety evaluator Redwood Research. OpenAI reportedly accused Greenblatt of leaking details about its Astra AI model to The Information, which Greenblatt has denied.

OpenAI tells the WSJ that the researchers were fired for violating “clear policies for handling sensitive information,” and “not for raising safety concerns or speaking out.”

Netflix can’t fire its way out of this downward spiralNetflix can’t fire its way out of this downward spiral

A fresh wave of layoffs and high-profile executive dismissals shows us that the streaming giant is in choppy waters.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
People are vibe coding their way to better TVsPeople are vibe coding their way to better TVs

Users are getting fed up with the barrage of ads and data tracking on TVs and are looking to AI vibe coding for the answer.

John Higgins
Brick’s new app blocker is designed for bedtime doomscrollingBrick’s new app blocker is designed for bedtime doomscrolling

Brick Night uses Bluetooth to create location-based blocking zones.

Jess Weatherbed
Follow topics and authors on stories you like to see related articles here. Or try one of these:
* Free to read
Already a Member? Sign In