Author: News Room
Introduction Looking for a premium crossover SUV that’s a little different from the myriad Audi Q3s filling our roads? Try the distinctive Alfa Romeo Tonale. I’ve been driving the Sport Speciale launch edition in resplendent metallic Brera Red, and there’s no denying this car has a stronger personality than most of its rivals – petrol or electric. Alfa has also given the Tonale a whole new lease of life with a plug-in hybrid powertrain that offers sprightly performance and economy in equal measure. There’s a standard issue (but pokier in the power department) petrol version, but the four-wheel drive PHEV…
Right now, there are robots stocking convenience store shelves in Japan. We haven’t embraced that tech here in America yet, but it’s hard to imagine 7-11 or Walmart won’t at least experiment with it soon. Walmart gave up on its shelf-scanning robots in 2020, but machine vision and AI have improved a lot in the last five years, and it’s only a matter of time before it’s a machine refilling that row of family-sized Fruity Pebbles and not a kid earning some extra cash during senior year of high school.Truth is, there just aren’t many jobs for teens out there…
It’s easy to get into the weeds on a hobby, especially if you’re into PC gaming and dreaming of the highest levels of graphical performance. But how much is too much for hardware? Spending top dollar on graphics power, processing, RAM, storage, etc. — like many things — eventually leads to diminishing returns. When it comes to gaming laptops, MSI’s $5,699.99 Titan 18 is well beyond that inflection point. But it’s also like nothing else.It’s not very logical to spend that much when other excellent gaming laptops are nearly as powerful but cost almost half as much. While the Titan…
Apple’s AirTags have become one of my essentials while traveling, namely because they let me check whether my luggage is in the right place instead of panicking at the baggage claim. And right now, you can get a four-pack of AirTags at Amazon and Walmart for $64.99 ($35 off), which is just a few cents short of the bundle’s all-time low.The sleek Bluetooth trackers let you check their location using Apple’s Find My app. If the item is out of Bluetooth range, you can flag the AirTag as lost, and you’ll receive an update on its location whenever it’s near…
As Immigration and Customs Enforcement carries out raids across the country, the agency is working rapidly to expand an online surveillance system that could potentially track millions of users on the web. Federal records uncovered by The Lever reveal that ICE is paying $5.7 million to use an AI-powered social media monitoring platform called Zignal Labs, something Will Owen, the communications director at the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP), calls an “assault” on democracy and free speech.The “real-time intelligence” platform is capable of ingesting and analyzing vast amounts of publicly available data, like social media posts, according to its website.…
When people sign up for a dating site like Tinder, they don’t expect their profiles and personal information to be searchable — especially by a scorned lover, or worse. But that’s what popular apps like Cheaterbuster or CheatEye seem to be doing under the guise of being able to “catch cheaters.”Last week, 404 Media published a report about apps that apparently use facial recognition technology to trace dating profiles of private citizens as evidence that these partners are unfaithful. Many of these services charge a one-time fee to locate a Tinder profile with just a name or a photo of…
Ikea – of flat-pack furniture fame – has created a new object of joy: a tiny bed. Not for your child. Not even for your much-loved pet. But for your smartphone. Assuming it isn’t a slice of viral satire (leading to panic when Ikea realises it actually has to make the thing), the bed is modelled on one of the company’s own. It even has a little duvet. The reaction online has, predictably, been a perfect blend of confusion, ridicule and “AWW, CUTE!” Honestly, though, I think Ikea’s smartphone bed is genius. Because, let’s face it, most of us are useless at…
It’s dusk, and bugs are chirping all around me. I’m wandering through the middle of a big, virtual swamp toward the sound of thumping bass off in the distance. There isn’t much else nearby — some trees, a couple of other players. It’s mostly just me and the sound emanating from a large wooden structure strung up with lights sitting farther out into the swamp.When I finally arrive, it rises above me: the official clubhouse of the Bored Ape Yacht Club. I make for the door to head inside. Except I find I can’t get access; even though the lights…
Earlier this week, Jon Prosser, who is being sued by Apple for allegedly stealing trade secrets, told The Verge that he has been “in active communications with Apple since the beginning stages of this case.” But Apple, in a new filing on Thursday that was reported on by MacRumors, said that while Prosser has “publicly acknowledged” Apple’s complaint, he “has not indicated whether he will file a response to it or, if so, by when.”Prosser didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment from The Verge. Apple sued Prosser, who posted videos earlier this year showing off features that would…
Nike’s new “neuroscience-based footwear” is designed to activate an athlete’s brain before and after a big game. The two shoes, a mule (the $95 Mind 001) and a lace-up sneaker (the $145 Mind 002), feature a distinctive array of 22 orange foam nodes embedded in each sole. Nike says the nodes each move up and down independently, like “pistons and gimbals,” as the athlete walks, mimicking the feeling of walking on the ground in a way that is “scientifically shown” to stimulate the foot and thus activate the brain’s sensory areas.Nike hasn’t released the scientific evidence that it says shows…
I use a DJI Osmo Pocket 3 every single week to help film Today I’m Toying With, and I love it to pieces. The baby steadicam’s one of the most popular gadgets the company’s ever sold, because it’s so good at automatically capturing stabilized video of whatever I want, far better than a phone. What I don’t love is how DJI jacked up the price of this gadget twice this year — but a new sale brings it almost all the way back to pre-Trump tariff levels, and the clone version is now even cheaper.But I’d probably recommend the Creator…
Halo Studios has created something special for the 25th anniversary of Halo next year. Halo: Campaign Evolved is a full remake of the original Combat Evolved that launched alongside Microsoft’s first Xbox console in 2001. It has a fully rebuilt campaign with 4K visuals, new weapons and vehicles, a four-player online co-op mode, and brand-new story content.And it’s all coming to the Xbox Series X / S, PC, and — for the first time — PlayStation 5 in 2026.I’ve been playing a prerelease demo section of The Silent Cartographer mission this week to get a feel for all the changes.…