The BB-777 is the ultimate in boombox nostalgia
Scooby Doo. | Image: Bumpboxx Bumpboxx is fully embracing nostalgia with its latest boombox, the BB-777, which is modeled very closely on the legendary Sharp GF-777. A real deal GF-777 will set you back over $2,000 for one in working order. Plus, that vintage unit lacks modern amenities like Bluetoo
PDP’s wireless guitar controller has returned to its best price to date
The early 2020s were kind of a dark time if you were a fan of Rock Band. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X owners didn’t get an improved, more feature-packed guitar controller until early 2024 when PDP launched the Riffmaster. While it launched for $129.99 and later rose to $149.99, you can now grab i
Apple’s WWDC 2026 event starts June 8th
Apple has set a date for this year's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), scheduling the keynote and Platforms State of the Union for June 8th through June 12th at Apple Park. As usual, we will be tuned in to find out what's new in the 2027-branded editions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvO
Donut Lab’s solid-state battery could barely hold a charge after getting damaged
Donut Lab is on a mission to prove to the world its solid-state battery is real, one independent test at a time. We've seen speed charging tests, extreme heat tests, and not-a-supercapacitor tests. Today's test is to see how the battery holds up under damage. The results: While it could barely susta
Apple could put ads in Maps as soon as this summer
Apple will soon bring advertisements to its Maps app on mobile and the web, according to a report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The ads, which Apple could reportedly announce this month before rolling them out in the summer, could allow businesses to pay for the highest spot in search results on App
Two of my favorite color e-book readers are the cheapest they’ve been in months
The Kobo Libra Colour features physical page turning buttons. | Image: Rakuten Kobo Color isn’t essential in an e-reader, but let’s be honest, it’s a nice perk that can bring digital books, magazines, comics, cookbooks, and other publications to life. The catch is that color ebook readers tend to be
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says ‘I think we’ve achieved AGI’
On a Monday episode of the Lex Fridman podcast, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made a hot-button statement: "I think we've achieved AGI." AGI, or artificial general intelligence, is a vaguely defined term that has incited a lot of discussion by tech CEOs, tech workers, and the general public in recent year
Google’s new Pixel 10 ads made me go ‘Wait, WHAT are they trying to sell?’
Ever watch a TV ad and wonder, "How did this get approved?" Today, Google has not one but two new ad spots for its six-month-old Pixel 10 phones, and… let's just say they may not come across as intended. First, there's "With 100x Zoom," an ad that appears to suggest that if a vacation rental company
Kalshi says it will block politicians and athletes from trading in markets they’re tied to
The prediction market platform Kalshi says it's rolling out new guardrails to "preemptively block" political candidates and athletes from trading in their own markets, as reported earlier by Axios. In addition to blocking political candidates from trading on their own campaigns, Kalshi says its syst
The kid-friendly Fitbit Ace is $100, which matches its best price
The Fitbit Ace LTE turns exercise into a game for kids, and it’s on sale at multiple retailers. | Image: Fitbit If you’re trying to figure out how to keep your kids occupied this spring break, the Fitbit Ace LTE is an easy way to get them outdoors and off their phones. The kid-friendly smartwatch en
The US government just banned consumer routers made outside the US
In December, the Federal Communications Commission banned all future drones made in foreign countries from being imported into the United States, unless or until their maker gets an exemption. Now, the FCC has done the exact same for consumer networking gear, citing "an unacceptable risk to the nati
Online age checks came first — a VPN crackdown could be next
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more news about online age verification and your privacy, follow Emma Roth. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started Virtual private ne
AI was everywhere at gaming’s big developer conference — except the games
AI was everywhere at the GDC Festival of Gaming this year. Vendors at the event pitched generative AI tools for things like making AI-driven NPCs and even entire games from a chat box. On the show floor, I spent 10 minutes playing a demo of a pixel-art fantasy world generated by Tencent's AI tools.
The pint-sized Sonos Roam 2 is more than 20 percent off this weekend
Sonos is no stranger to the occasional sale. The iconic audio company routinely runs sales around Black Friday, Amazon Prime Day, and the Super Bowl, though it’s rare to see substantial discounts on its portable speakers outside of tentpole shopping events. Fortunately, if you have no interest in th
The secret story of the vocoder, the military tech that changed music forever
The vocoder was never supposed to be a revolution in music. It wasn't supposed to be anything in music, really. Its development began a century ago, when an engineer at Bell Labs was looking for a simpler way to send phone calls across copper telephone lines. The engineer, Homer Dudley, built some p
Musk says he’s building Terafab chip plant in Austin, Texas
Grok, how do you make chips? | Image: Laura Normand / The Verge Elon Musk announced plans to build a Terafab plant in Austin, Texas, that will be jointly run by Tesla and SpaceX. The goal is to eventually build chips at scale for robotics, artificial intelligence, and space-based data centers for Mu
The best deals you can already grab from Amazon’s Big Spring Sale
Amazon’s Prime Day sale may arrive earlier than usual this year, but there’s a deal event happening much sooner: Amazon’s annual Big Spring Sale, which is happening March 25th through the 31st. While it won’t be as big as Prime Day or Black Friday, it does offer you a chance to save money at a time
Crimson Desert dev apologizes for use of AI art
That’s some sloppy looking slop. | Image: Rex_Spy / Reddit Reviews of Crimson Desert have been mixed, but the bigger issue for the game has been the discovery of what appeared to be AI-generated assets in the final release. Now the developer has acknowledged that AI art was indeed used during the ga
Topical Dancer is propulsive, playful, and political
Siri, can you tell me where I belong? | Image: DEEWEE Last week's recommendation, Sotomayor's Wabi Sabi, has a very particular vibe that you don't find in a lot of records. One of the few things it called to mind was 2022's Topical Dancer from Charlotte Adigery and Bolis Pupul, which I ended up revi
AI influencer awards season is upon us
First came the AI beauty pageant. Then the AI music contests. Now, there is an award for AI Personality of the Year - perhaps the inevitable next step for the AI influencer economy as it transforms from quirky novelty into a serious and lucrative industry. The contest, a joint venture between genera