This tiny smart lock promises to unlock your door in under two seconds

Nuki says its new Smart Lock Ultra is a third the size and three times as fast as previous models. | Image: Nuki

Popular European smart lock maker Nuki has announced the fifth generation of its smart lock. The Smart Lock Ultra is a third the size of the original Nuki, features a new brushless motor for faster operation, and promises at least six months of battery life. Plus, for the first time, the new lock has been designed to work with US deadbolts.

The Nuki Smart Lock Ultra (€349) will be available in Europe in December and is the company’s first full-replacement door lock. Previous Nuki models could be retrofitted over an existing lock, so you could keep using your existing keys. This one requires swapping out the entire cylinder and comes with three new keys. However, the US model, coming next year, will work as a retrofit lock and only...

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Google’s AI ‘learning companion’ takes chatbot answers a step further

Google’s Learn About website. | Image: Google

Google has launched an experimental new AI tool called Learn About, which is different from the chatbots we’re used to, like Gemini and ChatGPT. It’s built on the LearnLM AI model that Google introduced this spring, saying it’s “grounded in educational research and tailored to how people learn.” The answers it provides have more visual and interactive elements with educational formatting.

We tested Learn About and Google Gemini with a simple prompt: “How big is the universe?” Both answered that “the observable universe” is “about 93 billion light-years in diameter.”

However, while Gemini opted to show a Wikipedia-provided diagram of the universe and a two-paragraph summary with links to sources, Learn About emphasized an image from the...

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Valve finally made a white Steam Deck that you can actually buy

Image: Valve

Nearly three years to the day after teasing the world with a white version of the Steam Deck, Valve has finally decided to release the normally black handheld gaming PC in that color too. The limited-edition white model is going on sale for $679 on November 18th at 3PM PT / 6PM ET, everywhere the handheld is sold, including Australia and the various regions of Asia served by Komodo.

It’s no different on the inside than a normal model, says Valve:

Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White has all the same specs as the Steam Deck OLED 1TB model, but in white and grey. It also comes with an exclusive white carrying case and white microfiber cleaning cloth.

Since the 1TB OLED normally costs $649, you’re effectively paying $30 for the color....

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The NYT Tech Guild’s election week strike is over

Photo by Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images

The New York Times’ tech employees, who are behind Wordle and Connections among other games and features, will go back to work on Tuesday following a weeklong strike. In a statement published on Monday, the New York Times Tech Guild said union members will “march into the office together in the morning as a symbol of what’s to come for The Times.”

The Tech Guild represents the over 600 workers who manage technology across the digital paper. Union members went on strike the day before the US election, raising concerns about whether the NYT’s vote-tracking tech, like the Needle, would hold up on Election Day. The union and the NYT will continue negotiating on a contract.

“The systems and digital products that worked over the election did...

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Bluesky adds 700,000 new users in a week

Image: Bluesky

Bluesky gained more than 700,000 new users in the last week and now has more than 14.5 million users total, Bluesky COO Rose Wang confirmed to The Verge. The “majority” of the new users on the decentralized social network are from the US, Wang says. The app is currently the number two free social networking app in the US App Store, only trailing Meta’s Threads.

People posting on Threads, on the other hand, have raised complaints about engagement bait, moderation issues, and, as of late, misinformation, reports Taylor Lorenz. And like our very own Tom Warren, I’ve come to dislike the algorithmic “For You” feed that you can’t permanently escape, and it certainly seems like we’re not alone in that opinion.

But the Instagram-bootstrapped...

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Super Nintendo World’s new Donkey Kong area has a rollercoaster and rhythm games

Image: Nintendo

Nintendo is finally ready to show off the next phase of Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka. In a Nintendo Direct today, the company gave the first proper look at the _Donkey Kong Country-_themed expansion for the theme park, which includes a mine cart rollercoaster and a real-life, three-player version of the Donkey Konga rhythm game. The expansion opens on December 11th.

To get to the new area, attendees go through a tunnel seemingly made with rocks, that leads to a jungle-themed locale. There’s a towering tree house, a golden temple spewing steam, and lots of banana-flavored deserts. And just like in the games, you can find — and collect — giant letters hidden around the area using the park’s NFC bracelet....

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Signal calls now work a lot more like Meet and Zoom

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Signal is making a bunch of improvements to calls so they are more competitive with Zoom and Google Meet, including the ability to share a link to a call.

Previously, you could only initiate a call from a Signal group chat, so this new feature should make it much easier to hop on the phone with a friend or co-worker by sending them a link inside or outside of Signal. You can also re-use call links, which could be handy for recurring work meetings or a weekly chat you have with your family.

Image: Signal

Within calls, Signal is getting some upgrades, too, including a “raise hand” button to let people know that you have something to say and emoji reactions so you can spam your emoji feelings. And the app now has a tab...

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Amazon confirms employee data breach, but says it’s limited to contact info

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Amazon says a data breach exposed the email addresses, phone numbers, and building locations linked to its employees, as reported earlier by 404 Media. In a statement to The Verge, Amazon spokesperson Adam Montgomery said the company was “notified about a security event at one of our property management vendors that impacted several of its customers, including Amazon.”

The confirmation follows a report from the cybercrime firm Hudson Rock saying that information posted on the hacking forum includes data from Amazon and 25 other entities, including MetLife, HP, HSBC, and Canada Post.

Hudson Rock says the leaked info dates back to May 2023, and it’s related to the major security vulnerability in the MOVEit file transfer system that came...

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How to deactivate your X account

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge

Once upon a time, Twitter — now X — was the place to get your memes, world news, and pop culture. However, even at the time, being an active Twitter user also required sifting through a daily deluge of toxic characters, bots, and deepfakes. Then the Elon Musk circus came to town and began steadily altering the formerly popular social network, to the point that many of its adherents began bailing by moving to one or more of the new social networks, such as Threads, Bluesky, or Mastodon.

Now that the 2024 US presidential election is over, Musk looks like he’s going to be at least one of the powers behind the throne. Add to that recent changes that have made X less safe to use, and it’s no surprise that there is now a new wave of X users l...

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The final season of What If...? storms its way onto Disney Plus this December

Though it’s going to be a while before X-Men ‘97 returns to Disney Plus, the third and final season of What If…?is about to bring one of Marvel’s mutants to the MCU in the flashiest way possible.

Ahead of What If…?’s season 3 premiere on December 22nd, Disney Plus has dropped a trailer spotlighting some of the new alternate universe stories featuring slightly different versions of previously-introduced MCU characters. The season will see Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) reimagined as a cowboy, Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) in a cosmic flapper guise, and the Avengers become a super sentai team with interconnecting mechs. That all feels like the exact kind of madness that has already made the show a fun, whiz-bang watch, but what’s really surprising...

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The Boox Palma e-reader is down to a new low price for Verge readers

The smartphone-sized Boox Palma is highly portable and lets you read in a variety of apps. | Image: Boox

Amazon announced a slew of new Kindles recently, but if you’re not already locked into Amazon’s ecosystem they may not be the best options. If you’re looking for an e-reader that offers more flexibility, our readers can currently buy the Boox Palma at a new all-time low of $234.99 ($45 off) from Wellbots with a free flip-cover case (valued at $16) when you apply the code VERGEBFBOOX45.

Unlike many other e-readers, the Boox Palma runs on Android 11 and comes with the Google Play Store built-in, so you can read in a wide range of apps. That’s really convenient, as all you need to do is, say, download Amazon’s Kindle app, and you’ll be able to access your entirely digital library without needing to go through the long, complicated...

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Cash App users have a week left to claim part of a $15 million settlement

Illustration by Hugo Herrera / The Verge

Current or former Cash App users who have used the service since 2018 have until next week to claim part of a $15 million settlement that Cash App Investing (and owner Block Inc.) reached as part of a class action lawsuit, The Hill reports. The lawsuit alleged that the companies were negligent in responding to their customers after a former employee had accessed user accounts without permission.

You’re eligible to claim in the settlement if your account was accessed without your permission or if you have had unauthorized or fraudulent withdrawals or transfers of funds in your account. The eligibility window is August 23rd, 2018, through the notice date of August 20th, 2024.

You can file a claim via the settlement notice website for up to...

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Apple will let you share AirTag locations with others

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Apple will now let you share the location of a lost AirTag with other people. The Find My feature, called Share Item Location and available as part of the just-launched iOS 18.2 public beta, will allow you to share the location of lost luggage with an airline, for example.

When using the feature, you can generate a Share Item Location link within the Find My app on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Once you share the link with someone, they can click on it to view an interactive map with the location of your lost item. Apple will update the website automatically when the lost item moves, and it will also display a timestamp when it moved last.

Image: Apple

Apple will turn off the feature once you find your lost item. You can...

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Waymo compiles ‘largest ever’ dataset of pedestrian and cyclist injuries

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo from Getty Images

If autonomous vehicles are to go mainstream, they need to go as far as they can to ensure the safety of everyone on the road. And no one is in more need of protection than so-called vulnerable road users like pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists, thousands of whom are killed every year.

Waymo, the robotaxi company owned by Alphabet, recently published a new study examining hundreds of these types of crashes involving vulnerable road users, which it is calling “the largest dataset of its kind in the US.”

Roughly 40,000 people in the US are killed each year in vehicle crashes. But while automakers have become very good at protecting people inside of vehicles, they have essentially neglected the safety of people outside of them.

M...

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Amazon reportedly working on Echo Frames for delivery drivers

Amazon’s rumored smart glasses for delivery drivers would have an embedded display, unlike the audio-only consumer version. | Image: David Pierce / The Verge

Amazon is developing smart glasses for delivery drivers, Reutersreports. The aim is to give drivers turn-by-turn directions, thereby shaving seconds off of each delivery.

Citing anonymous Amazon sources, Reuters says the project is part of Amazon’s efforts to increase efficiency in the last 100 yards of a delivery. Codenamed “Amelia”, the smart glasses are based off the existing Echo Frames platform. Unlike the current audio-only Frames they would have an embedded display that could give a driver more precise directions — for example, turning left or right after getting off an elevator. Amazon is also exploring camera capabilities using that embedded display, enabling drivers to take photos of packages as proof of delivery....

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Why the Grammys need to change, with CEO Harvey Mason Jr.

Image: The Verge; Photo by Rebecca Sapp / Getty Images for the Recording Academy

Rebooting the member list, taking the show streaming — is it enough in the age of AI?

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Here’s 15 minutes of archaeological action in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Image: Xbox Game Studios

The wait for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is almost over — the game launches on December 9th — so developer MachineGames is providing a deeper look at how the archaeological adventure will actually play. The Wolfenstein studio released a nearly 15-minute-long video, which seems to give a very good idea of what to expect in the full release. That includes plenty of cryptic puzzle solving inside of ancient ruins, and lots of using a whip in both combat and traversal.

While the exploration is obviously at the heart of the game, the new video makes it look like there will be quite a bit of variety to the combat as well. The hand-to-hand brawling looks a bit like a boxing game, but you can combine it with the whip to pull enemies...

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The Verge’s favorite holiday gifts under $100

Photo: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Our budget-friendly gift guide has it all, from buzzy earbuds and drift-free gamepads to the coolest lightsaber knockoff there is.

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The best entertainment of 2024

Image: Team Asobi

Finding something to watch or play can sometimes feel like work — there’s just so much out there vying for your free time. That’s true whether you’re heading to a theater, browsing the many streaming platforms, or looking for a new video game. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with choice.

So, as we’ve done in years past, we’re collecting all of our favorite releases from 2024 in one place. The goal is to make your decision-making a little easier. That could mean highlighting anything from an anticipated movie that actually lives up to the hype to a surprise indie game that takes the world by storm.

And we’ll be updating this page all year long as we continue to check out the latest in film, television, and gaming — so stay tuned.

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FTX is suing Binance to recover nearly $1.8 billion

Image: The Verge

The estate of now-defunct crypto exchange FTX has filed a lawsuit against Binance and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao in a bid to recover $1.76 billion. FTX alleges these funds were fraudulently transferred to Binance, Zhao, and other Binance executives in July 2021 as part of a shares repurchase deal with FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

According to the filing, the transaction saw Binance sell back the 20 percent stake it held in FTX’s international unit and 18.4 percent in its US-based entity, which Bankman-Fried paid for using a mix of FTX and Binance-branded cryptocurrencies. The FTX estate alleges the share repurchase deal was conducted unlawfully because — following massive fraud by Bankman-Fried and other executives — FTX and its...

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The push for Elon Musk to lead American AI policy is already starting

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images

Efforts to influence President-elect Donald Trump’s policies via Elon Musk are already beginning. On Friday, nonprofit AI advocacy group Americans for Responsible Innovation (ARI) launched a public petition asking Trump to make Musk his special adviser on AI, saying he is well positioned to protect the US lead on the technology while ensuring it’s rolled out safely.

“No one is better equipped to help the Trump Administration make America lead on AI than Elon Musk,” reads the petition circulated by ARI, which is led by former Democratic representative Brad Carson and says it doesn’t take corporate funding.

Musk has been a leading critic of OpenAI, a company he cofounded but more recently has distanced himself from and made into an...

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Video game history falls into place in Tetris Forever

Image: Digital Eclipse

For such a simple game, Tetris has a wild history. Developed in the mid-1980s by Alexey Pajitnov in the Soviet Union, Tetris’ global expansion involved a complex web of software copyright, clandestine meetings, handshake deals, and someone stretching a tourist visa to the very limits. It’s a story that inspired a feature film — but it might be best explored in Tetris Forever, the latest retro game collection from Digital Eclipse.

The studio has made a name for itself with its interactive documentary format. The idea is that, instead of just presenting a bunch of games and supplementary material and leaving it to players to sort through it, the collections put everything into a timeline you can explore in chronological order. This...

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Boost Mobile says it’s a real wireless carrier now

Remember the race to 5G? | Image: The Verge

Boost Mobile has announced it is on its way to meeting FCC coverage deadlines by the end of the year and says it has earned the title of MNO — Mobile Network Operator — rather than MVNO, which is a virtual network operator mainly reselling service from other carriers. Mission... accomplished? Sort of. It’s progress, at least.

Boost, you will remember, is supposed to be our nation’s fourth wireless carrier thanks to a wonky deal that allowed T-Mobile to buy Sprint. Dish Network — now owned by EchoStar — bought the brand as part of the deal and is required by the FCC to hit certain milestones in its 5G network buildout to hold up its part of the bargain. Last June, it was required to cover 70 percent of the US population; by the end of the...

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Mattel accidentally linked a porn site on Wicked doll packaging

The first part of Wicked, starring Ariana Grande (left) and Cynthia Erivo (right) will arrive in theaters on November 22nd. | Image: Universal Pictures

Barbie producer Mattel has issued an apology after customers spotted its Wicked edition dolls listed an adult website on the packaging. The toy merchandise mistakenly directed customers to the homepage of the Wicked Pictures pornographic movie studio, instead of the correct WickedMovie.com URL.

“We deeply regret this unfortunate error and are taking immediate action to remedy this,” Mattel said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “Parents are advised that the misprinted, incorrect website is not appropriate for children.”

Mattel said that the dolls, which have been released to coincide with Universal’s film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical, are “primarily sold in the US” and that the error was a “misprint.” It’s unclear...

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The next Nintendo Direct is all about Super Nintendo World’s Donkey Kong Country

Donkey Kong Country gets a Nintendo Direct showcase on Monday. | Image: Nintendo

Nintendo says it’s finally going to show off the long-awaited Donkey Kong Country area of Super Nintendo World in a Nintendo Direct stream on Monday at 5PM ET. It’s an encouraging sign for the theme park expansion devoted to Mario’s first nemesis, the opening of which was delayed earlier this year.

Nintendo first confirmed that it was building the area, which will feature a mine cart rollercoaster ride, back in 2021. Nintendo and Universal Studios showed the region off — or a digital render of it, anyway — earlier this year, and confirmed that when the Orlando, Florida version of Super Nintendo World opens on May 22nd, 2025, it will have all of the same attractions as its Osaka counterpart.

As for Nintendo Switch 2 news, well, don’t get...

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Amazon’s tests mixing and matching its grocery operations

Photo by Howard Schnapp/Newsday RM via Getty Images

Amazon’s next ideas for growing its grocery business could blur the lines between Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh by enmeshing the two businesses’ fulfillment networks in a new set of experiments, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Amazon has reportedly started shipping Whole Foods products from 26 Amazon Fresh fulfillment centers and plans to build a microfulfillment center at a Pennsylvania Whole Foods Market and stocking it with Amazon Fresh household goods and groceries. Another part of the plan includes an experimental “Amazon Grocery” inside a Chicago Whole Foods that offers brands and groceries that the upscale store wouldn’t normally carry, according to WSJ.

The goal of the tests is to give Amazon customers a way to buy...

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Apple now sells iPhone 16 and 16 Pro repair parts

Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge

Apple has begun selling repair parts for iPhone 16 and 16 Pro phones on its self-service repair store. That includes replacements for commonly damaged parts like cameras, displays, and back glass, and follows the release of official Apple iPhone 16 repair manuals in September, as MacRumors notes.

A replacement camera assembly will run you $169 for the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus or $249 for the 16 Pro and Pro Max. And new displays range from $279 to $379, depending on the model. Batteries are either $99 or, for the 16 Pro phones, $119. And if you don’t have the tools, you can always rent out one of Apple’s heavy, specialized repair kits for $49.

Taking on a DIY iPhone repair isn’t quite as dicey as it once was, thanks to Apple’s gradual shift...

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Andor’s second season hits Disney Plus in April

Image: Disney

Star Wars spinoff Andor is finally coming back for its second and final season on Disney Plus April 22nd, 2025, Disney announced during its D23 event in Brazil yesterday. And in a clear nod to Rogue One, the 2016 film it’s setting up, it has a new logo with the subtitle “A Star Wars Story.”

The new season will complete the so far excellent story of Cassian Andor’s (Diego Luna) transformation from street rat to hard-bitten rebel alliance spy in the lead-up to the events of Rogue One. Its 12-episode run will be broken up into blocks of three episodes, each covering three-day events taking place in a four-year period, as TheWrap notes.

On April 22, 2025, #Andor returns to @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/c6P3pdNBi6

— Star Wars (@starwars) N...

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Auto-Tune always and forever

Image: Samar Haddad / The Verge

Popular music changes all the time, but there’s been one consistent element in practically everything released in the last two decades: Auto-Tune is everywhere. What started as a simple audio processing tool in the 1990s has become the dominant force in music. Artists are training to sing with Auto-Tune; songs sound like Auto-Tune. Like it or hate it, Auto-Tune is everywhere. And to be clear, most people like it.

On this episode of The Vergecast, the second installment in our series about the future of music, music journalist and Switched on Popco-host Charlie Harding tells us the story of Auto-Tune. (Disclosure: Switched on Pop is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network, as is The Vergecast.) It starts, of all places, in the oil and gas...

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Chill games for a chill weekend

Image: David Pierce / The Verge

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 60, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, it’s a lot of gaming stuff this week, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)

This week, I’ve been… doomscrolling about the election, if I’m honest. But let’s not talk about that. I’ve also been reading about shipwrecks and in-flight magazines and baseball bat influencers, making a bunch of lists in Listy, dusting off my Bluesky account as Threads becomes increasingly worse,logging a surprising number of hours in VR with Batman: Arkham Shadow, playing with tasks and notes in the Craft beta, seeing if I can replace Gmail with Thunderbird for Android, and trying really, really...

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