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Amazon’s short story collections are one of the best reasons to own a Kindle

2026-07-29T15:06:24-04:00

Over the last few years, I've gradually shifted away from ebooks. It's been part of a general return to physical media, an attempt to create a deeper sense of ownership over the art I love and collect. A Kindle is obviously more convenient than a paperback: It's tiny, holds a huge library, and you can purchase new books instantly. But, much like with retro game cartridges, I find there's a deeper connection formed with a book dug out of a stack in a used book shop versus simply choosing the next thing in a series from a menu on an e-reader. But I haven't completely given up on my Kindle, and there's one big reason - actually, there are lots …

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What’s the catch with the Apple Upgrade program?

2026-07-29T14:55:04-04:00

Apple's new Upgrade program is here, allowing you to lease select models of iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Watches with a relatively low monthly payment. The company promises you won't pay more than the full price of the device over the course of the one- to three-year lease, and in some cases, you'll pay hundreds of dollars less.

The basics of the program make it sound like an amazing deal… so surely there must be a catch, right?

The answer basically depends on how you use the Upgrade Program. At least with current pricing, a diligent user really should be able to make a monthly payment, swap in their phone a year or more later, and move along …

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The US government just banned Roombas

2026-07-29T15:10:37-04:00

When the Trump administration announced yesterday that it was banning "advanced robotic devices" from entering the United States, the headlines were all about humanoids. But spying doesn't require legs - and neither does the FCC's robot ban.

The robot ban will sweep up robot vacuum cleaners too, FCC media relations director Katie Gorscak confirms to The Verge.

It's not coming for your existing Roomba, and companies can keep importing and selling already approved ones. But the government claims that future foreign robots pose a national security risk, and even robovac companies are suddenly being asked to commit to US manufacturing.

Whi …

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We’re running out of reasons to ignore AI safety

2026-07-29T16:30:07-04:00

Earlier this month, OpenAI gave several of its AI models a task: complete a test designed to measure their cybersecurity capabilities. It put the systems in a sandboxed environment without an internet connection and set them off to work.

What happened next is almost laughably silly - but also, as Adam Gleave, cofounder and CEO of AI safety organization FAR.AI, put it, "a visceral example of how misaligned AI could cause harm." According to OpenAI, the models escaped the sandbox meant to contain them, moved through the company's internal systems, found a route to the internet, and then started looking for a way into Hugging Face. And why was …

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Is it illegal to trick the US government into wiping your phone during a questionably legal search?

2026-07-28T15:32:24-04:00

A Georgia man was charged with a felony for allegedly wiping his phone while being questioned by Customs and Border Protection. Samuel Tunick had something in common with others who have had their devices searched at airports: He was an activist.

Unlike others who have had their phones seized with no explanation, Tunick was told that CBP needed to search his device to determine whether it contained child sexual abuse material, according to court filings. But Tunick's attorneys argue that the search "was a pretext for a fishing expedition" into his connections with the Stop Cop City protests in Atlanta, in which dozens of people were charged …

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Logitech will pull a Nintendo — only European mice will come with replaceable batteries

2026-07-29T02:39:13-04:00

In June, Nintendo announced a new version of the Switch 2 that should let you easily replace its battery pack - but only for Europe. Logitech will do much the same. User-replaceable batteries will be the law in Europe in February 2027, but instead of bringing them to the rest of the world, Logitech plans to ship one version of its wireless mice to Europe and a different version everywhere else.

That's the word from Logitech's new gaming boss, Robin Piispanen. We talked about it over iced vanilla lattes at my local cafe, right after discussing how Logitech isn't sure it wants to make another gaming handheld.

Why? Logitech believes that les …

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Logitech’s handheld plans are on ice — don’t expect a G Cloud 2 soon

2026-07-28T08:31:51-04:00

Logitech's new gaming boss, Robin Piispanen, tells me he likes the idea of gaming handhelds. "It's such a charming value proposition," he says, as we sip iced vanilla lattes at my local cafe. But he's not building one right now. He's not sure when or if Logitech should try again, after its underwhelming experiment with the Logitech G Cloud streaming handheld.

"Right now, in this moment in time, there's bigger things for us to focus on than doing a second G Cloud," he tells me.

Personally, I feel like the G Cloud would have a better chance today. At its 2022 debut, the $350 Logitech handheld was almost completely overshadowed by the far m …

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Why China is giving away its best AI models

2026-07-27T12:51:50-04:00

People visit the booth of Kimi, an LLM developed by the Chinese startup Moonshot, during the World AI Conference in Shanghai, China, July 20th. | Image: LONG WEI/ Feature China/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Silicon Valley has spent much of the past week on red alert, digesting the arrival of Moonshot AI's Kimi K3, a Chinese AI model that can allegedly beat some of the best systems built by US companies at a fraction of the cost.

Its performance alone would have been enough to intensify the rivalry between the US and China. But Moonshot's plan to release the model's weights for free - and its clear targeting of US users - has fueled deeper unease about whether closed American models can continue to dominate as increasingly capable open alternatives enter the market.

Open-weight models give developers far greater control than proprietary syst …

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SDCC 2026’s best trailers are heavy on cyberpunk and sci-fi

2026-07-28T04:45:38-04:00

San Diego Comic-Con took place over the weekend, and as per usual it was full of tidbits of news across film, TV, and gaming. Marvel revealed the next Ghost Rider (Ryan Gosling) and Black Panther (David Jonsson), while we also got release dates for God of War: Laufey (February 16th) and the fourth and final season of Silo (summer 2027).

But the best part of SDCC each year, at least for those following along at home, are the trailers. And 2026 did not disappoint: We got first looks at highly anticipated cyberpunk shows Blade Runner 2099 and Neuromancer, along with a new take on a Stephen King classic and the return of some animated favorites …

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Meta is royally screwing up its smart glasses rollout

2026-07-28T10:46:42-04:00

We’re leaning in with the playing card metaphor.

Across New York City, London, and Washington, DC, ads for Meta's smart glasses have been plastered over with satirical posters from activist groups. One guerrilla ad calls these "the biggest advancement in pervert technology since the trenchcoat." Another transposes the words "mass surveillance predator glasses" over influencer Kylie Jenner's face, calling her out for partnering with the company as a glasses ambassador.

The message of these ads is clear. These glasses may violate your privacy - and would you trust Meta?

Meta seems spooked. For so long, the company's privacy efforts for smart glasses have essentially relied on a single LE …

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