Here are the best deals on headphones and wireless earbuds we could find

Sony’s WH-1000XM5 are our favorite pair of noise-canceling headphones and are currently about $50 off.

When it comes to headphones and true wireless earbuds, there are a ton of brands and products to choose from. However, the sheer range of available models can also make them difficult to shop for, especially since many of them cater to different lifestyles, budgets, and priorities. Some are better suited for long-haul flights and vigorous workouts, for instance, while others let you tune out noise so you can focus better.

That’s why we’ve curated a list of the best headphone and earbud deals available. Here, you’ll find sales on all kinds of earbuds and over-ear headphones, all of which come with their own strengths and weaknesses. And if you want to do even more research before making a buying decision, we’ve put together guides to...

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Apple’s The Changeling is a haunted fairy tale about the joys and nightmares of new parenting

Apple’s adaptation of Victor LaValle’s The Changeling transforms the novel into an even more chilling tale about the things that keep parents up at night.

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Xgimi’s ultra-portable MoGo 2 Pro projector is $120 off right now

The all-in-one Xgimi MoGo 2 Pro delivers good picture quality despite its small size. | Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge

Don’t you wish you could bring your TV with you while traveling? Sure, you can keep up with your favorite shows using your phone or tablet, but watching content on a small screen just isn’t as enjoyable. Luckily, the Xgimi MoGo 2 Pro is a portable projector that’ll allow you to watch content more comfortably. Regularly $599, it’s down to its all-time low of $479 ($120 off) when you buy it directly from Xgimi using promo code XGSUB-G3H0T.

Despite the fact it’s small enough to fit in a backpack, the MoGo 2 Pro offers good picture quality — more so in the dark — with support for HDR10 and built-in Chromecast. It can project images up to 200 inches, though you’ll enjoy the best picture quality at 30 inches. As an extra perk, the Android TV...

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Google’s next Chromecast remote might have more buttons

The Chromecast with Google TV HD remote from 2022. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Google might have a new Chromecast with Google TV in the pipeline, and its remote seems to house some extra buttons compared to the previous version. Android deep diver Mishaal Rahman dug into the latest Android TV 14 beta release and found a system video showcasing the outline of what looks like a brand-new remote designed to control Google TV software.

The new remote bears a resemblance to the current flat pill-shaped remote, first introduced in 2020, with an iPod-like dial (minus the touch sensitivity) toward the top on the front. But now, the six main control buttons seem to have scattered to make room for what could be a new volume or channel rocker matching the diameter of the face buttons.

Image: Mishaal Rahman ...

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How Google plans to win its antitrust trial

Illustration: The Verge

This is Platformer_, a newsletter on the intersection of Silicon Valley and democracy from Casey Newton and Zoë Schiffer._ Sign up here.

Today, let’s talk about the US government’s first major antitrust trial against a tech giant in a generation. If the Justice Department succeeds in its case against Google, it could lead to radical change around the web. But almost three years after the case was filed, it’s not clear that the government lawyers will be able to bend antitrust law far enough to secure a victory.

I.

On October 20th, 2020, the US government formally accused Google of illegally maintaining a monopoly on its search and search advertising businesses. By striking deals with Apple, telecoms, and device manufacturers to make its...

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This year’s expected Apple Watch updates are all about the sensors

The new Apple Watches will purportedly get a new optical heart rate sensor and U2 UWB chip. | Image: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

This year’s Apple Watch leaks haven’t been terribly exciting. So far, we’ve heard there’ll be a new, faster processor and potentially a darker color for the Ultra 2. However, a new Bloomberg report suggests that’s because the major updates this time around will revolve around the sensors — namely, a new optical heart rate sensor and a new U2 ultra wideband chip. The same report also suggests the iPhone 15 Pro models will be about 10 percent lighter than prior models and perhaps more repairable thanks to an internal redesign.

It’s been a while since Apple did a major overhaul of the Apple Watch’s internal components. The last time the processor got a significant boost was the Series 6 in 2020 — and that’s about when Apple introduced a new...

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Gmail might let you send emoji reactions to emails soon

Some limitations for the in-development feature will cap how many emoji you can apply to a single email. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google is developing emoji reactions for Gmail that would make the email platform feel a little more like a messaging app if released. The feature was first reported a few weeks ago by The Tape Drive after some code was discovered in the iOS Gmail app that would allow users to react to emails with an emoji, just like similar emoji reaction implementations found on rival platforms like Outlook.

Additional evidence has since been found in the latest Gmail APK for Android that supports the claim. As reported by Google leaker AssembleDebug, the APK contains several lines of code that directly refer to emoji reactions. Details are a tad sparse, but one line from the APK code says the feature is “coming soon” and that “you’re among the first...

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The best budget robot vacuums

Illustration: The Verge

You don’t have to spend a fortune to have a robot clean your floors. Here’s our pick of the most cost-effective bots you can buy right now.

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Godzilla returns in Apple’s first trailer for the Monarch: Legacy of Monsters TV series

You’re never too old to enjoy watching giant monsters having a punch up. | Image: Apple

Apple TV Plus has released its first trailer for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, a 10-episode series based on Legendary’s Monsterverse franchise that features iconic kaiju-like Godzilla, King Kong, and King Ghidorah. The first two episodes will be released globally to the streaming platform on November 17th, followed by a single episode each week until January 12th.

The trailer itself doesn’t give much away regarding what else we can expect. There are a few snippets of Bill Randa (played by John Goodman) who featured in Kong: Skull Island (2017), flashes of various giant beasties, and of course, an ominous soundscape underpinning shots of all the glorious destruction they’ve likely caused. If, like me, you’re a Monsterverse fan because you...

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Apple’s AirPods and AirPods Max could get USB-C ports next year

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Apple is expected to switch its AirPods Pro earbuds to a USB-C charging case during next week’s iPhone 15 event. And now, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has revealed when the rest of the AirPods lineup will follow suit. The regular AirPods and AirPods Max will both make the change away from Apple’s Lightning connector “as early as next year,” Gurman’s report says.

In the case of the AirPods Pro, you should only be expecting a swap of the port at the bottom of the case; the actual earbuds will be the same second-generation model released last year. Apple has detailed a number of software improvements coming to the AirPods Pro (and only the AirPods Pro) this fall, including Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, and more dependable automatic...

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Tesla’s $25,000 ‘next-generation car’ will have a Cybertruck design

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Tesla is reportedly preparing to build a $25,000 electric car built on the company’s next-generation engineering platform. Axios reports that Elon Musk biographer Walter Isaacson has detailed the plan to build a $25,000 electric car alongside an autonomous robotaxi that could ferry passengers around.

The $25,000 car reportedly has a futuristic design like the long-delayed Cybertruck — the angular pickup truck that Tesla first revealed in 2019. The Cybertruck will supposedly begin production this year, with production-at-scale beginning in 2024.

This isn’t the first time we’re hearing about Tesla’s plans for a $25,000 electric car. Musk promised one in 2018, saying it would be possible within three years. The goal for a more affordable EV...

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iOS 16.6.1 fixes a big iPhone security vulnerability used to install Pegasus spyware

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Apple has issued a critical security update for iPhones to address a zero-day bug in iOS 16 that could allow attackers to remotely install spyware on a device without any interaction from the iPhone owner. Citizen Lab, a spyware research group, discovered the exploit last week and immediately notified Apple.

The zero-click zero-day exploit had been used to install NGO Group’s Pegasus spyware onto an iPhone owned by an employee of a Washington DC-based civil society organization. Pegasus is spyware developed by a private contractor for use by government agencies. The spyware infects a phone and sends back data, including photos, messages, and audio / video recordings.

The exploit involves PassKit attachments sent via iMessage

Apple has...

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Valve’s next mystery gadget may be imminent

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

We know for a fact that Valve’s hardware ambitions didn’t end with the Steam Deck. Over the past two years, Valve has suggested it would like to see a standalone VR headset, a new Steam Controller, and a Steam Deck revision with better battery life and screen.

Now, Valve may be actually getting ready to ship at least one of its hardware ideas. South Korea’s National Radio Research Agency has certified a “low power wireless device” from Valve with the designation “RC-V1V-1030,” as spotted by @dxpl at Arca.live (via Brad Lynch).

A new Valve hardware device just received radio certification in South Korea

Valve Index was 1007
Steam Deck was 1010
??? is 1030https://t.co/AfgKorlyFZ pic.twitter.com/ECJPhqxTsu

— Brad Lynch (@SadlyItsBradley) S...

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X’s new terms of service insist that tweets are now posts

The Verge

X really wants you to forget about Twitter — and that includes in its terms of service. Users are starting to see pop-ups about new terms that go into effect on September 29th, and one adjustment is two instances of “retweet” (the only use of “tweet” in the current terms) to “repost,” essentially putting the final stamp in the death of the word tweet.

There are a bunch of other branding changes in the new terms, including a nearly wholesale removal of the word “Twitter” in favor of X. I say nearly wholesale because, hilariously, many of the URLs included in the terms still seemingly have to include the word “twitter,” like in this link to a developer-focused website: https://developer.x.com/en/docs/twitter-for-websites. There have been...

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The Lotus Emeya is the latest electric hypercar to join the ‘under 3 second’ club

Image: Lotus

Lotus revealed the 2024 Emeya electric hypercar, a four-door sedan with nearly 1,000 horsepower and a burning desire to reach 60mph in under three seconds.

Lotus claims that the Grand Tourer “is one of the fastest GTs in the world” — but we’ll need to see some unbiased testing first before we agree to that hyperbole. Still, the Emeya seems fast, with a top speed of 155mph and a zero to 60mph time in 2.8 seconds. When it goes into production in early 2024, the Emeya is expected to compete with other luxury sports cars, like the Audi E-tron GT and Porsche Taycan.

Lotus didn’t reveal a lot of the most relevant specs, like battery capacity or range. The company did say that the Emeya is expected to be “broadly similar” to Lotus’ first EV,...

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Here are the best Apple Watch deals right now

The Apple Watch Series 8 isn’t a massive step up from the prior model, but it does offer a few new features. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Nearly a year ago, Apple launched its latest batch of smartwatches, introducing the first-ever Ultra ($799) alongside the Series 8 ($399) and a new Apple Watch SE ($249). Each wearable has its own pros and cons, but the introduction of the high-end Ultra also means there are now more Apple Watch models on the market before than ever before — and a lot more deals to be had.

But with all of those options, which one should you pick? Generally speaking, you want to buy the newest watch you can afford so that it continues to receive software updates from Apple. The latest update, watchOS 9, launched on the Apple Watch Series 4 and newer models last year, and watchOS 10 will offer the same compatibility when it arrives in the fall, likely on...

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Here are the best iPad deals right now

Select iPad models go on sale quite regularly. | Image: Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

While the best iPad deals usually come around during major sale events like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and even last month’s Amazon Prime Day, you can still find plenty of great discounts at all times of the year if you know where to look. Whether you’re after the high-end iPad Pro or the most affordable entry-level iPad, there’s likely a sale going on somewhere that you may be interested in.

Of course, it’s difficult to know exactly where you can find the most notable deals unless you’re scouring the major retailers on a daily basis. But that’s often what our deal hunters at The Verge are doing each and every day, so let us help you out. Below, we’ve listed the best deals you can get on each iPad model that is currently available,...

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New Castlevania: Nocturne trailer is all about Bloodlines

Netflix

Netflix has just released a new trailer for Castlevania: Nocturne, and it’s all about the Bloodlines.

The new trailer features more of Richter Belmont (Edward Bluemel), the new scion of the Belmont house, as he does what his family does best: kill vampires. Nocturne is set during the French Revolution as a new vampire cult rises around a so-called vampire Messiah, Erzsebet Báthory (Franka Potente), who has pledged to do her bloody, bitey bidding. To stop her, Richter will need the help of his new friends, some of whom will be familiar to longtime Castlevania fans.

Richter's bandana. A new rendition of Divine Bloodlines. Maria, Annette, Olrox, Drolta, and Edouard in all of their glory. Please enjoy our Official Main Trailer for...

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Microsoft is the first customer for the Biden administration’s carbon removal hubs

Heirloom’s technology filters CO2 out of the air. | Image: Heirloom

Microsoft is helping to fund one of the US’s first hubs for pulling planet-heating carbon dioxide out of the air. It struck a deal with California-based startup Heirloom, which says it will capture up to 315,000 metric tons of CO2 for Microsoft over the next decade or so.

The partnership fits into Microsoft’s climate goal of becoming carbon negative by 2030, meaning it plans to remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it emits as pollution. The company has made other deals with startups breaking ground on new industrial facilities that filter CO2 out of the air, called direct air capture (DAC) plants. Now, it’s also involved in the Biden administration’s push to build big hubs for DAC plants across the US.

The partnership...

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FTX exec Ryan Salame pleads guilty to criminal charges

One more exec has pleaded guilty. | Illustration: The Verge

Ryan Salame, who ran FTX’s Bahamas subsidiary, pleaded guilty to two criminal charges on Thursday. They are conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions and defraud the Federal Election Commission and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transferring business.

“I made political contributions in my name that were funded by transfers from an Alameda subsidiary,” Salame said in court, according to CoinDesk.

The former FTX executive also agreed to turn over more than $1.5 billion in assets. Salame — like Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh, and Gary Wang, the other three executives who’ve already pleaded guilty to fraud charges — was a member of Sam Bankman-Fried’s inner circle. He also spent millions on Republican election campaigns.

...

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Tesla will install up to 20,000 versatile EV chargers at Hilton locations

Tesla’s Universal Wall Connector can charge this Mustang Mach-E and the Tesla to the left. | Image: Hilton

Tesla and Hilton are teaming up to install up to 20,000 electric vehicle charging stations at Hilton hotels and properties. The project will kick off in early 2024, and the chargers are slated for installation at 2,000 locations in the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Hilton states this is the largest planned EV network by any hospitality company. On paper, there are enough chargers to have 10 installed per location, but distribution may vary, as Hilton says that “at least six” will be installed at any location. According to the company, EV charging availability is playing a major role in 2023 in converting searches to stays on Hilton.com.

Tesla’s recently launched Universal Wall Connector charger (which Hilton is ordering) specifically can power...

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Microsoft says it will take the heat if Copilot AI commercial users get sued

Photo Illustration by Sheldon Cooper / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images

Microsoft is telling customers it will assume legal responsibility if they get sued for copyright infringement while using the company’s AI Copilot services.

In a blog post about an initiative called the Copilot Copyright Commitment, Microsoft chief legal officer Brad Smith said the company will take the heat for any potential legal risks as more copyright holders question how AI companies handle protected works. Microsoft said the policy is an extension of its overall AI customer commitments, announced earlier this year.

Microsoft said it chose this path for three reasons: it wants to stand behind customers when using its services; it understands the concern of copyright holders; and it has built guardrails against the possibility of...

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eBay shoppers are about to see more AI-generated product listings

Image: eBay

eBay will give sellers the option to create entire product listings from just a photo using a generative AI tool, the company announced on Thursday. eBay believes the AI-driven product listings will accelerate the selling process, especially for new merchants who might feel overwhelmed by all the details they need to provide.

The new tool uses pictures uploaded by sellers to fill in details like a product title, description, item category, and other key information a buyer might want to know. Right now, it’s available only in the iOS app, and according to TechCrunch, it will be available on Android in the coming weeks.

As someone who spends a lot of time on eBay, I’ll be the first to say that the platform is sort of like the Wild West...

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Microsoft is testing a background removal tool in Paint

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft is testing a new background removal tool in Paint. The feature is rolling out now to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels (version 11.2306.30.0) and lets you remove an image’s background with a single click.

To use the tool, testers can open an image with Paint and then hit the background removal button on the left side of Paint’s toolbar. From there, Paint will automatically detect the subject of an image and cut away the background. Microsoft notes that you can also manually select the portion of the background that you want to remove.

Image: Microsoft

Bringing background removal to Paint would make the app even more useful. While I often use Paint for quick image edits, such as cropping,...

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Japanese YouTuber convicted of copyright violation after uploading Let’s Play videos

Image: Spike Chunsoft

A Japanese court has convicted a man of violating copyright law after he uploaded gameplay and anime videos without publisher permission. Reported by Japanese paper Asahi Shimbun, the 53-year-old man, Shinobu Yoshida, was sentenced to two years in prison and assessed a 1 million yen fine (or about $6,700 USD.)

Yoshida was arrested in May of this year after uploading gameplay videos of the visual novel Steins;Gate: My Darling’s Embrace back in 2019_._ According to a press release from the Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA), a Japanese anti-piracy trade group, the complaint apparently stemmed from the fact that Yoshida monetized the videos, which violated a Japanese law that prohibits making money off copyrighted material....

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Senate confirms Anna Gomez to break Joe Biden’s FCC deadlock

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The Senate has voted to confirm Anna Gomez as the fifth commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, breaking a deadlock that has lasted for most of President Joe Biden’s first term in office. Gomez was confirmed by a vote of 55 to 43, filling out the FCC’s Democratic majority. Her confirmation comes roughly two months after she was advanced out of a Senate committee following her nomination in May.

Gomez has kept a low profile for much of her career. She served as a senior advisor at the State Department’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy prior to her nomination; before that, she worked at the FCC, the law firm Wiley Rein, and Sprint Nextel. As a Democratic commissioner, she’s poised to help Chair Jessica Rosenworcel...

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Cruise ‘just days away’ from approval to mass-produce Origin robotaxi without steering wheels

Image: The Verge

GM-backed Cruise is “just days away” from regulatory approval to begin mass production of its fully autonomous vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals, the company’s CEO, Kyle Vogt, said at an investor conference Thursday.

Cruise first unveiled the Origin robotaxi in early 2020 as a vehicle built for the sole purpose of shuttling people around in a city autonomously. But since then, the company has been mired in a lengthy regulatory process before it can begin mass production.

The vehicle’s lack of traditional human controls means that Cruise needs an exemption from the federal government’s motor vehicle safety standards, which require vehicles to have a steering wheel and pedals. The Origin has neither.

The National Highway...

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BMW drops plan to charge a monthly fee for heated seats

Photo by Abigail Bassett for The Verge

BMW owners can now warm their buns with peace of mind, knowing they won’t have to pay a ridiculous monthly fee for the pleasure of a toasty backside during those cold winter months. BMW has dropped its plans for an $18 a month heated seats subscription after customers balked at the idea of paying extra to unlock existing functions in their cars_._

This comes courtesy of Autocar’s interview with Pieter Nota, BMW board member for sales and marketing, during the IAA Mobility conference in Munich. Nota said the heated seats subscription fell under the automaker’s broader experiments with microtransactions — just not a very successful one.

“We thought that we would provide an extra service to the customer by offering the chance to activate...

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Companies aren’t showing whether their environmental promises have any impact

Oak saplings grow in tree guards in Montmorency Forest in France on Thursday, September 17th, 2020. | Image: Cyril Marcilhacy / Bloomberg via Getty Images

A lot of companies that have pledged to restore ecosystems aren’t showing results, according to a new analysis of 100 of the world’s biggest businesses. They might have promised to plant trees and help dwindling forests gain more ground, but many of those companies have made vague commitments and aren’t sharing enough information to track their progress.

There’s so little transparency that it’s virtually impossible to know whether companies’ environmental commitments are having any positive impact. “Put simply, the evidence base supporting large corporations’ claims about ecosystem restoration is wholly insufficient,” says the analysis published today in the journal Science.

There’s so little transparency that it’s virtually impossible...

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Elon Musk’s involvement in the war in Ukraine is confounding, even to him

The man who’s ruled by Twitter. | Illustration by Laura Normand / The Verge

Apparently, the US Department of Defense had a $145 million check “ready to hand to me, literally,” SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell told Walter Isaacson, according to CNN. “Then Elon succumbed to the bullshit on Twitter.”

Elon Musk had been supplying internet connectivity in Ukraine through SpaceX’s Starlink for free. In October, the company told the US government that it wouldn’t continue the free service. After the story went public, Musk changed his mind: “The hell with it … we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free.”

“Starlink was not meant to be involved in wars.”

Musk plays an outsize role in geopolitics thanks to SpaceX, Ronan Farrow reported for The New Yorker a few weeks ago. Through Starlink, Musk has taken on an outsize...

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