The Juul class action lawsuit is paying people huge amounts of money Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergePayouts from Juul’s $300 million class action settlement are finally getting distributed — and some people are getting a lot more money than they expected. If you scroll through the r/juul subreddit, you can see posts showing the thousands — or hundreds — of dollars hitting people’s Venmo accounts. One scr…

WhatsApp is making a massive change to the way it saves your contacts Illustration: The VergeWhatsApp is getting a built-in contact manager that lets you save contacts within the app so you don’t lose them if you switch phones. WhatsApp typically relies on the smartphone address book it runs on to hold and manage contacts. But that can be a problem for users who lose their device and fail to back up their phone’s …

Netflix closes AAA game studio before it ever released a game Illustration by Nick Barclay / The VergeThe first cracks are starting to show in Netflix’s push into gaming. First reported in Game File and confirmed by Netflix, the streaming company has quietly closed of one of its studios, the first in the three years since the company began its foray into gaming. According to Game File, the shuttered studio…

Hoto’s 25-piece electric screwdriver set is down to its lowest price yet At just $40, Hoto’s electric screwdriver is a cool tool we’d recommend for anyone doing handiwork. | Image: Hoto‘Tis the season for assemblies. With the holidays coming up, many will soon have their hands full with a bunch of new decorations and gifts to build. To take some pressure off, you can give Hoto’s electric screwdriver a try. It’s a per…

Arkansas has enough lithium for the world’s EVs — but getting to it is the problem Image: Hugo Herrera / The VergeArkansas is sitting atop lithium reserves that could be vast enough to satisfy the entire world’s demand for EV batteries, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). It estimates that there could be 5 to 19 million tons of lithium under southwestern Arkansas. That would be enough to supply nine times the amount …

Plugable’s new 10-port USB-C hub is exactly the overkill my nightstand needs Plugable’s PS-10CC can deliver 100W to all 10 of its USB-C ports, but not simultaneously. | Image: PlugablePlugable has announced a new multi-port USB-C hub that can power or charge up to 10 connected devices using intelligent power distribution and an easy-to-understand priority-based charging system. The company is bringing its new PS-10CC hub…

Cruise lost $435 million this quarter, even with its robotaxis on hiatus Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty ImagesEven with most of its autonomous vehicle fleet on ice, Cruise is still bleeding cash. The robotaxi company that is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors lost $435 million in the third quarter of 2024, GM reported this morning. That’s an improvement from the $791 million lost in the third quart…

I’ve given up on trying to predict what Nintendo will do — especially when it comes to the Switch 2 The Nintendo Museum in Kyoto. | Image: NintendoIn 2018, Nintendo invited me to a meeting in New York City to see a mysterious new initiative. It was teased as an “interactive experience for Nintendo Switch,” which sent my mind to all sorts of places. This is the company that made a weird dual-screen Game Boy and bongo controllers, after all. It …

AirPods are good for your (hearing) health Image: Alex Parkin / The VergeFor years, we’ve heard that over-the-counter hearing aids were about to be amazing. They’d look like headphones and seem totally socially inconspicuous; they’d be able to help you tune the sound around you to exactly your needs in every situation. It’s a nice idea, but we haven’t seen much product to back it up. Wit…

Canva has a shiny new text-to-image generator Here are some of the AI tools that Canva is increasing prices for. | Image: CanvaCanva has added a bunch of new AI features to its web-based design platform, including updates for generating text and video effects and a more powerful text-to-image app. The latter is called “Dream Lab” — a new image generator tool born from Canva’s acquisition of…

Microsoft’s refreshed Xbox Wireless Headset has a better mic and more battery life Image: MicrosoftMicrosoft is refreshing its Xbox Wireless Headset today, adding an upgraded microphone and improving the battery life. The refreshed headset will also support Dolby Atmos at no extra cost and Bluetooth 5.3. This updated model has similar rotating ear cup dials to the original, letting you adjust volume and game / audio chat balan…

Apple iPad Mini 2024 review: missing pieces Apple’s smallest tablet got an upgrade — but it won’t feel like much of one unless Apple Intelligence is better than it seems. Continue reading…

Ozlo Sleepbuds hands-on: resurrected and I’ve slept so good If they look like the Bose Sleepbuds, well, that’s by design. | Photo by Victoria Song / The VergeThe Bose Sleepbuds are back. Kind of. After Bose decided to discontinue the product in 2023, three ex-Bose engineers decided to acquire the technology and relaunch the device under the name Ozlo. The buds have been around for a while via a crowdfund…

Insta360’s GoPro competitor now has a bigger screen and improved 8K capabilities The Insta360 Ace Pro 2 can now capture 8K footage at 30fps. | Image: Insta360Insta360 has announced its new Ace Pro 2 action camera, an upgraded version of its GoPro Hero-series competitor. The compact camera now has a larger screen on the back that flips up 180 degrees for framing selfie videos, and it debuts at $399.99 — $50 cheaper than Insta…

Spotify’s new playlist art maker gets that design is your passion Spotify’s new cover art maker is fun, and surprisingly not AI. | Image: SpotifySpotify now has a new “Create cover art” option for playlists that lets you make custom collages to represent your playlists. The beta feature, which is available for both free and Spotify Premium members, is launching for English users in 65 markets. The company says…

Tech critics want a Google exec punished for deleted chats Three advocacy groups are trying to amp up the pressure on Google for allegedly destroying company records. The American Economic Liberties Project, Check My Ads, and the Tech Oversight Project are urging the State Bar of California to investigate Kent Walker, Google’s President of Global Affairs and a member of the Bar. They claim Walker “coach…

Democrats want DOJ to prosecute tax prep companies that allegedly shared user data with Meta and Google Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesA group of Democratic lawmakers are urging the Justice Department to prosecute tax prep companies accused of improperly sharing user information with Meta and Google through their advertising pixels. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), are…

Epic’s ambitious digital asset shop is now open Epic Games’ Fab marketplace, which is designed to serve as a unified place to get digital assets like environments and animations, is now live, the company announced today. The launch of the marketplace is an important step in Epic’s plans to make it easier for developers to acquire assets for developing games — and, maybe someday, to let them m…

Meta brings back face scanning to combat scams and account hacking Facebook is getting ready to scan your face again. | Image: MetaFacebook and Instagram are testing new facial recognition tools that could help users quickly restore compromised accounts and combat fake celebrity-endorsed scams. Meta announced its plan to roll out experimental features that can scan a user’s face to verify their identity by comp…

Celebrity jet-tracking accounts have vanished from Threads and Instagram Jack Sweeney says that 38 of his jet tracking accounts have been suspended. | Illustration: The VergeMeta has suspended several Threads and Instagram accounts that track the private jets of celebrities such as Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Kim Kardashian, and former US president Donald Trump. Jack Sweeney, who gained notoriety for his…