It’s perfectly fine to ignore your smartwatch this January If you saw my training load data for January, it would resemble a stock crashing. Hard. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The VergeEvery January, fitness tech and wearable companies love to remind us about New Year’s Resolutions. For a small number of people, New Year’s features, challenges, and marketing campaigns will be exactly the push the…

Microsoft triples down on AI Image: Cath Virginia / The VergeMicrosoft made a trio of announcements this week that are going to be very important for how the company approaches its big AI bet in 2025. It started off by creating a new AI engineering group to focus its developers on building an AI platform and tools for both Microsoft and its customers. Microsoft then announc…

Here’s how to play the Switch 2 early Image: The Verge, NintendoNintendo’s taking the Switch 2 on tour. With the console now revealed, the next question on everyone’s mind (outside of what games will be available at launch) is when will we be able to get our hands on it. While Nintendo hasn’t shared the release date for the console, it is offering the chance for the public to previe…

Instagram will show your friends what Reels you’ve liked Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeInstagram is bringing back one of its more chaotic features, now reworked for the short-form video era. A new tab in the Reels feed will serve up videos that a user’s friends have liked or added commentary to, Instagram leader Adam Mosseri announced in a video message today. Users will be able to see which …

Some of the Switch’s 2 first accessories are all about Mario Kart Nacon’s folding steering wheel for the Switch 2 will be priced at around $30. | Image: NaconDuring the Switch 2 reveal, Nintendo teased the next entry in its Mario Kart series. We likely won’t know more details about the follow-up to Mario Kart 8 until Nintendo’s Switch 2 Direct event in April, but Nacon has already announced some of the first a…

Lawmakers press Meta, Apple, Google, and others on massive Trump donations Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty ImagesSens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) are putting pressure on big tech firms to explain their motives for donating to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration fund. In letters to Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Uber, the lawmakers express concerns about the co…

Cash App fined $255 million in back-to-back settlements Cash App is closing out the week on the hook for $255 million in multiple settlements around its consumer protections. Block, the company that owns Cash App, agreed Wednesday to pay $80 million to 48 states that fined the company for violating laws intended to keep illicit activity off the platform. “State regulators found Block was not in com…

Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban law Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty ImagesThe Supreme Court ruled that the law that could oust TikTok from the US unless Chinese parent company ByteDance sells it is constitutional as applied to the company. “There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means o…

The Ring Battery Doorbell Pro, one of our favorite video doorbells, is cheaper than ever The Ring Battery Doorbell Pro is a great video doorbell if you’re embedded in Amazon’s ecosystem and is currently $80 off. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge If you’re looking for a way to protect yourself from porch pirates, it’s a good idea to invest in a solid smart video doorbell. The Ring Battery Doorbell Pro is one of the bes…

Nintendo’s Switch 2 is here — sort of Image: The Verge, NintendoThe Switch 2 exists. We know that for sure. It’s bigger — seems like we know that, too. But what else do we know about the sequel to one of Nintendo’s most innovative and bestselling consoles? Maybe not as much as you might think. On this episode of The Vergecast, we run down everything we know, and don’t know, about th…

Maybe giant gaming handhelds are where it’s at A whole Steam Deck fits within the screen of the Asus ROG Flow Z13 tablet. Bigger is better, right?I added controllers to a 13-inch gaming tablet and I don’t regret it. Read the full story at The Verge.

6 TikTok creators on where they’ll go if the app is banned Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo by Brendan Hoffman, Getty ImagesIt’s been more than four years since Donald Trump first moved to expel TikTok from the US — and now, just days before a second Trump presidency begins, it just might happen. President Joe Biden signed legislation last April that officially began the countdown that would force TikT…

Google rejects EU fact checking commitments for Search and YouTube Illustration: The VergeGoogle has notified the European Union that it won’t integrate work from fact-checking organizations into Search or YouTube, ahead of the bloc’s plans to expand disinformation laws. Google had previously signed a set of voluntary commitments that the EU introduced in 2022 to reduce the impact of online disinformation, whic…

Sony cancels an unannounced live service God of War game God of WarJust a couple of years ago, Sony had a dozen new live service games in development, but that number keeps dropping. It was already down to six by the end of 2023, before the well-received launch of Helldivers II and the disaster that was Concord in 2024. Now, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier has confirmed with Sony that two unannounced live …

SpaceX catches Starship booster for a second time but loses the spacecraft Screenshot: SpaceXSpaceX successfully caught its Super Heavy booster for the second time. During Starship’s 7th test flight from Boca Chica, Texas, Super Heavy descended into the launch tower’s “chopstick” arms, allowing it to grab the booster. Despite the successful catch, SpaceX lost communications with the Starship spacecraft mounted atop the…

Biden punts the TikTok ban to Trump Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty ImagesThe Biden administration says it will leave it to incoming President Donald Trump to figure out how to deal with the mess of the TikTok ban, ABC News reports. “Our position on this has been clear: TikTok should continue to operate under American ownership,” a White House official told ABC News. “Give…

GM banned from selling your driving data for five years Illustration: Alex Castro / The VergeGeneral Motors and its subsidiary OnStar are banned from selling customer geolocation and driving behavior data for five years, the Federal Trade Commission announced Thursday. The settlement comes after a New York Times investigation found that GM had been collecting micro-details about its customers’ drivi…

Sony’s black PlayStation 5 accessories are now available for preorder Image: SonySony announced a collection of black PlayStation 5 accessories in the midst of CES last week, and you can now preorder them ahead of their release date on February 20th. The new DualSense Edge controller ($199.99), Pulse Elite headset ($149.99), Pulse Explore wireless earbuds ($199.99), and PlayStation Portal ($199.99) are all availab…

Trading is coming to Pokémon TCG Pocket later this month (with some caveats) The Pokémon CompanyIt’s coming a little later than we initially thought, but The Pokémon Company (TCPi) has finally announced when Pokémon TCG Pocket’s long-awaited trading functionality is rolling out. Today, TCPi revealed that, along with Pokémon TCG Pocket’s next set of cards, the game’s trading feature is set to launch later this month. TCPi…

Apple is pausing notification summaries for news in the latest iOS 18.3 beta Photo: Allison Johnson / The VergeApple has temporarily stopped showing notification summaries for news and entertainment apps as part of the iOS 18.3 developer beta released Thursday, according to reports from MacRumors and 9to5Mac. The Apple Intelligence-powered feature was criticized after it inaccurately summarized content from outlets such …