Canon’s new app lets you live stream from multiple cameras, just not Canon’s

Canon’s Live Switcher Mobile app is free for iOS and iPadOS devices. | Screenshot: YouTube

Canon has announced a new live streaming app that can wirelessly connect to, and switch between, video feeds from three mobile devices. It’s currently limited to iPhones and iPads running at least iOS and iPad0S 16. Android isn’t supported, but an even stranger omission is that Live Switcher Mobile isn’t compatible with any of Canon’s digital cameras — that functionality will be added “in the future,” according to an FAQ.

The app is available for download now and can be used for free, but with some limitations. Video quality maxes out at 720p, the output is watermarked, and the app’s interface will occasionally be cluttered with ads — but those aren’t presented to viewers. For $17.99 per month (which is over $215 per year) output quality gets a bump to 1080p, while ads and the watermark are removed. There’s no option to increase the video resolution past HD.

Image: Canon

The mobile device serving as a live stream’s primary camera also provides the switching interface.

One device running the app is designated as the host which provides the switching interface and serves as the primary camera. Up to two additional devices can be connected providing video feeds from alternate angles, or a live screen capture of a video game being played.

Switching between feeds can be done manually, but if you’d like to avoid poking a device that’s serving as one of your cameras, the app can also be set to automatically switch between sources at set intervals of eight to 20 seconds. Multiple videos can be streamed simultaneously using a picture-in-picture effect, while text and image overlays can be added to personalize a livestream, add branding, or provide captioning.

Canon says the app supports live streaming to YouTube, Facebook, and other platforms that support RTMP, but its comment display function is limited to those first two platforms.

Although its functionality isn’t as robust as the free OBS Studio app that also allows mobile devices to be used as video sources, Canon’s Live Switcher Mobile is potentially an easier alternative for aspiring influencers just getting started with live streaming.

It may currently be limited to mobile devices, but the company has confirmed the app “will support Canon’s digital camera connection in the future.” With that added functionality, and maybe a bump to 4K streaming capabilities, its steep price tag could be easier to justify for those looking for a highly portable streaming solution.

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A first look at Nvidia’s flagship RTX 5090 compared to the RTX 4090

Nvidia’s RTX 5090 vs. RTX 4090. | Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge

Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition graphics card is arriving later this month, and we’ve managed to unbox one and compare its design to the RTX 4090. Just like our first look at the RTX 5090, this isn’t a review. Performance figures, benchmarks, and impressions beyond the hardware are coming later.

The first thing that’s notable about the RTX 5090 is the packaging design has totally changed since the Founders Edition RTX 40-series. Nvidia has switched to housing the RTX 5090 inside a smaller bone-shaped gray cardboard shell that sits inside a much larger brown cardboard box.

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge

A dog and his RTX 5090 bone.

The outer box — which reads “Inspired by gamers. Enhanced by AI. Built by Nvidia.” — holds a new power adapter cable for the RTX 5090 that includes an updated version of the regular 12VHPWR connector. You’ll need to use four regular PCIe eight-pin power connectors with this adapter, or a new 12V-2x6 cable. The 12V-2x6 is almost identical to the existing 12VHPWR, as the new connector has shorter sensing pins and slightly longer conductor terminals. The slight variation means that existing 12VHPWR cables will work...

Read the full story at The Verge.

Welcome to the era of gangster tech regulation

Image: Mark Harris for The Verge

Our tech overlords all have problems, and they want to buy the solutions.

Read the full story at The Verge.

All the rumors about the iPhone Air

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

Rumors have been floating around for months that Apple might launch a brand-new iPhone model this year: the so-called iPhone Air, a new, super-thin iPhone that may mark the first big design shift for the line in many years.

More than a facelift, the iPhone Air is a different strategy altogether, being neither a more affordable base model nor a feature-packed Pro phone. Instead, rumors describe a phone that’s aimed to please people who are willing to sacrifice some function for a sleeker, slimmer design. Basically, it’s the iPhone version of the original MacBook Air.

Current rumors suggest the phone will debut as part of Apple’s iPhone 17 lineup this fall, giving it the name iPhone 17 Air. Of course, it’s not a done deal just yet. Apple could still change its plans or the rumors could turn out wrong. But enough reports have come out to suggest that something real is in the works. Here are all the rumors about the upcoming phone so far:

The thinnest iPhone yet

The 17 Air will be very thin, but the rumor mill hasn’t totally settled on the exact number.

Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted a 5.5mm phone in January, which would make it slightly thicker than the 5.1mm M4 iPad Pro that debuted last May. Two days later, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman reiterated a claim he’d made in December: that the new phone would be “about 2 millimeters thinner” than the 8.25mm iPhone 16 Pro. Supply chain analyst Jeff Pu has suggested it would be around 6mm.

No matter who is closest, the 17 Air would be one of the thinnest Apple products ever, even more so than the iPhone 6, which currently holds the record for thinnest iPhone at 6.9mm — and was notably prone to bending. Encouragingly, Apple managed to make the M4 iPad Pro surprisingly sturdy.

Battery woes

Apple is said to be working on novel ways to fit enough battery to meet its ultra-slim phone goal. A November 2023 rumor from ETNews said Apple was attempting to create a new, denser kind of battery that uses carbon nanotubes and a mix of materials like nickel, cobalt, manganese, and aluminum for future devices.

But in November 2024, Korean leaker yeux1122 posted that Apple is using standard battery tech. They said the company had sought to get thinner internals to enable both more battery capacity and a slimmer phone but failed. The Information wrote later that month that Apple was having trouble finding space for the battery, SIM card, and thermal materials inside, limiting how thin it can be.

A more recent rumor from leaker Digital Chat Station suggested that both Apple’s phone and the also-rumored skinny Samsung Galaxy S25 will feature a 3,000 – 4,000mAh battery and measure somewhere between “5.xmm-6.xmm.”

The iPhone 17 Air’s display

All signs right now are pointing to every iPhone 17’s OLED display using the same LTPO panel tech found in current Pro models. That could mean both higher refresh rates and less power consumption, as it enables the screens to raise their refresh rates to 120Hz and then drop as low as 1Hz. That’s part of why Apple’s always-on display feature works without a significant battery cost.

As for screen size, rumors generally agree it will measure about 6.6 inches. That’s a tad smaller than the 6.7-inch screen of the iPhone 16 Plus, which the 17 Air may be replacing this year. It’s expected that the phone will get a Dynamic Island with Face ID, like the rest of the flagship line.

In-house chips and Apple Intelligence

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman recently said that Apple will outfit the iPhone 17 Air with in-house Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips, as well as its own bespoke cellular modem. That’ll be a first for the company, which has been trying for years to develop its own modem in an effort to ditch Qualcomm. Apple is apparently confident it’s done that now, and well enough to start putting it in phones, possibly starting with the iPhone SE 4 within the next few months.

Apple will probably put a regular A19 chip in the 17 Air, reserving the A19 Pro chip for its Pro phones. The phone could also have 8GB of RAM and support Apple Intelligence AI features as a result.

Camera diet

Rumors have been steadfast that the iPhone 17 Air will only have one camera on the back. Citing supply chain analyst Jeff Pu in October, MacRumors wrote that it will be a 48-megapixel shooter and that the phone will feature a 24-megapixel shooter for the front-facing selfie cam.

How much will it cost?

The iPhone 17 Air could be expensive despite lacking the fancy camera array of the Pro phones or the dual-camera setup of the base model. The Information even wrote that it could cost more than the $1,299 iPhone 16 Pro Max does now.

Not every rumor agrees. The Wall Street Journal wrote in December that Apple is aiming for something cheaper than the Pro phones. That’d put it below $999, where the iPhone 16 Pro starts.

Why is Apple making the iPhone 17 Air?

Gurman reported in August that boosting sales is the big motivator for the Air redesign after years of Mini and Plus phone flops. Later, in his January 12th newsletter, he wrote that the company sees the Air strategy as “a tried-and-true winner” for getting sales.

The _Journal’_s December story echoed that, saying Apple is trying growth with the iPhone 17 Air following its years of “largely incremental upgrades.” Although the iPhone still makes up about half of Apple’s revenue, the outlet wrote, its “last big wave of sales gains was in 2021,” thanks to carriers’ subsidies amid their 5G push.

Apple has tried since 2020 to goose sales using four flagships, and the 17 Air approach is no different, CNBC wrote in November. Apple started with the iPhone 12, 12 Mini, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max, then swapped out the Mini models for “Plus” phones starting with the iPhone 14. But the Mini and Plus models haven’t clicked with buyers. Most recently, the iPhone 16 Plus only made up 10 percent of Apple’s screen orders in 2023 and 16 percent of them last year, Ross Young of display research firm DSCC told the outlet. The Air could theoretically replace the Plus as a slightly higher-end option.

Drumming up sales isn’t necessarily the whole story though, as Gurman also offered another explanation in January: Apple is using the phone as a testing ground for new technologies, including its in-house wireless and cell modem chips. But more than that, it’s a stepping stone toward the smaller tech needed to eventually build a folding iPhone.

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Bluesky and X launch new video feeds amid TikTok uncertainties

TikTok may already be back online but Bluesky and X are quickly jumping on the vertical video train. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

While TikTok is already crawling back online in the US, uncertainty around the video platform’s future has created an opportunity for Bluesky, X, and others to seize.

Over the last few hours, both social media platforms introduced new features — including dedicated tabs and feeds for video content — that make it easier for users to discover and watch vertical videos in their apps. Yesterday, Instagram announced a new rival to CapCut — the video editor owned by TikTok’s parent ByteDance — just after it went offline in the US.

“We had to get in on the video action too,” said Bluesky with the launch of customizable feeds for videos. Users can swipe up or down on these feeds to flip through videos and create targeted feeds that only pull video content from specific hashtags, such as this #BookSky feed that riffs on TikTok’s “BookTok” reading community.

We had to get in on the video action too — Bluesky now has custom feeds for video! Like any other feed, you can choose to pin these or not. Bluesky is yours to customize.

— Bluesky (@bsky.app) 2025-01-20T03:41:13.225Z

“Like any other feed, you can choose to pin these or not,” the company said in its post. “Bluesky is yours to customize.”

The update has added a new video feed under the search tab that provides a timeline of videos that are trending on the platform. Bluesky says that the ability to swipe through a video-only timeline is specific to custom feeds.

Image: Bluesky / The Verge

Users may need to refresh their Bluesky app a few times before the new trending videos tab appears.

Bluesky also gave a shout-out to AT Protocol developers — the decentralized protocol that Bluesky relies on — who are using it to build video-only TikTok alternatives like Tik.Blue, Skylight.Social, and Bluescreen.Blue, which are currently in early development.

X similarly started rolling out a new “Video Tab” to users in the US on Sunday, which appears as a circular play button in the app’s bottom navigation bar. “From there, you can explore a personalized feed of recommended videos reflecting the real-time nature of X across sports, entertainment, news and more,” X said in its announcement.

you better not be making a dedicated video tab when I get home

me: pic.twitter.com/ZbmLBmSbDp

— X (@X) January 20, 2025

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Oppo’s next foldable is about as thin as USB-C allows

The Find N5 is about half as thick as an iPhone 16 Pro Max when opened up. | Image: Oppo

Oppo’s upcoming Find N5 foldable phone is barely thicker than its own USB-C port when unfurled, according to photos released by the company. The flagship, which we’re expecting to be re-branded as the OnePlus Open 2 for its US release, will also feature best-in-class resistance to water.

Oppo has been steadily teasing the Find N5 on Chinese social network Weibo for the past week. Find series product manager Zhou Yibao has now shared photos that highlight its size, adding that the obstacle to making it any thinner is now “the limit of the charging port.”

The photos follow a video from last week, in which Zhou compares a hidden Find N5 to a series of everyday objects, demonstrating that it’s comparable in thickness to two Chinese yuan coins, a stack of four ID cards, or exactly 39 sticky notes.

The company claims the Find N5 is the thinnest foldable yet. That title is currently held by the Honor Magic V3, which is 4.35mm thick when open, meaning the Find N5 must be close to 4mm. That explains why it looks about half the size of the 8.25mm iPhone 16 Pro Max it’s shown next to in the photos. For reference, a USB-C port is 2.6mm at minimum.

In a separate post, Zhou teased the phone’s waterproofing, boasting that it’s IPX9-rated. That means it currently has no official dust protection (the ‘X’), but has been tested to withstand high-temperature and high-pressure jets of water. It’s also rated IPX8 for submersion in water, and IPX6 for lower temperature water jets. This month’s OnePlus 13 is IP69-rated, with dust protection as well.

Oppo’s previous foldable, the Find N3 (the N4 was skipped because of the number’s association with death in China), eventually launched in the West as the OnePlus Open. If the same happens again, it should pose some serious competition for Samsung and Google’s current generation of foldables. We’ll find out more when the Find N5 launches in China next month.

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Trump touts his plan to save TikTok during his victory rally

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images

At a victory rally the day before being sworn into the presidency, Donald Trump extolled his plan to “save TikTok” from the law that banned it through a joint venture with the US.

On its face, the plan does not appear to comply with the law’s requirements for a qualified divestiture that TikTok’s service providers like Apple, Google, and Oracle could rely on to avoid hundreds of billions in potential fines. Even so, at least some of TikTok’s service providers seem to be relying on Trump’s flimsy promises, allowing TikTok to restore service to the app mid-day Sunday, on the first day of its ban.

Trump is proposing a joint venture where the US government owns 50 percent of TikTok. That raises a host of its own First Amendment issues since any content moderation whatsoever might be considered a government act, and the Constitution prohibits the government (not private companies) from infringing on speech.

It’s not entirely clear how Trump envisions this all playing out, but Trump says, essentially, that TikTok would have a “partner” in the US government, “and they’ll have a lot of bidders and the United States will do what we call a joint venture.” Trump claims there is “no risk” to the US because “we’re not putting up any money. All we’re doing is giving them the approval without which they don’t have anything. So, I don’t know, it sounds like that works.”

Trump also reinforced the idea that the whole reason he likes TikTok is because he thinks it helped his campaign. He credited his 21-year-old staffer, nicknamed “TikTok Jack,” for helping him get on the app that helped him win over young voters.

And though the stated purpose of forcing TikTok to divest from its parent company ByteDance (a move Trump himself first tried to do in his first term) was to remove a possible backdoor for the Chinese government to US data, he now says that “frankly, we have no choice, we have to save it — a lot of jobs. We don’t wanna give our business to China.”

Here’s Trump’s full comments on TikTok during the rally:

And as of today, TikTok is back. So, you know, I did a little TikTok thing we have a guy, TikTok Jack he’s a young kid, like 21 years old. And we hired this guy, and I went on TikTok; can you believe what I’ll do to win an election?And we went on TikTok and Republicans have never won the young vote, the youth vote. They win a lot of votes, but they never won the youth vote. We won the youth vote by 36 points. So I like TikTok. I like it. I had a slightly good experience wouldn’t you say?

Romney lost it by 40 points not so long ago. We won it by 36 points. That’s a very big spread.But I said, we need to save TikTok, because we’re talking about a tremendous — who, who in this audience goes with TikTok? Many? Yeah, very popular. And frankly, we have no choice, we have to save it — a lot of jobs. We don’t wanna give our business to China, we don’t wanna give our business to other people. And I said, you know, TikTok without my approval — meaning the president’s approval because Congress gave the president the right to make a deal to whatever he wants and uh… they did that a long time ago when they have a different president. They didn’t know that I was gonna be at the president, I guess.

So I said very simply, a joint venture. So, if TikTok is worth nothing, zero without an approval, you know you don’t approve, they’re out of business, they’re worth nothing.

If you do approve, they’re worth like a trillion dollars, they’re worth some crazy number. So I said, I’ll approve, but let the United States of America own 50% of TikTok.I’m approving on behalf of the United States.

So they’ll have a partner, the United States, and they’ll have a lot of bidders and the United States will do what we call a joint venture. And there’s no risk, we’re not putting up any money. All we’re doing is giving them the approval without which they don’t have anything. So, I don’t know, it sounds like that works. What do you think, good? So, whether you like TikTok or not, we’re gonna make a lot of money.

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TikTok is back, but where are Marvel Snap, CapCut, and Lemon8?

Image: ByteDance

TikTok has returned — at least partially — in the US following a nationwide ban, but other popular ByteDance-owned apps, such as the digital card game Marvel Snap, video editing app CapCut, and the social platform Lemon8, are still blocked. None of these apps, including TikTok, are currently available to download on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, either.

Though many users expected CapCut and Lemon8 to be affected by the law banning TikTok, Marvel Snap’s ban took some by surprise — including its own developer. On Sunday morning, the game studio Second Dinner said in a post on X, “This outage is a surprise to us and wasn’t planned. MARVEL SNAP isn’t going anywhere.” Marvel Snap is published by Nuverse, a game developer owned by ByteDance.

Screenshot: The Verge

Users trying to open Marvel Snap, CapCut, and Lemon8 will see a message similar to the one TikTok displayed when it went dark on Saturday night. “A law banning CapCut has been enacted in the U.S,” the pop-up inside CapCut reads. “Unfortunately, that means you can’t use CapCut for now. Rest assured, we’re working to restore our service in the U.S. Please stay tuned!”

TikTok, along with several other ByteDance-owned apps, shut down in the US just hours before the federal divest-or-ban law went into effect on January 19th. The ban also affects TikTok Studio, TikTok Shop Seller Center, Hypic, Lark - Team Collaboration, Lark - Rooms Display, Lark Rooms Controller, and Gauth: AI Study Companion.

Both Google and Apple display notices to users trying to search for ByteDance-owned apps. While the Play Store says, “Downloads for this app are paused due to current US legal requirements,” a banner on the App Store notes, “TikTok and other ByteDance apps are not available in the country or region you’re in.”

It’s still not clear when Marvel Snap, CapCut, or Lemon8 will start working again or when they’ll reappear in mobile app stores.

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TikTok’s service providers still risk billions in penalties for bringing it back online

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

No matter what TikTok says in its laudatory pop-up messages, President-elect Donald Trump cannot simply declare an extension of the TikTok ban deadline and protect American companies that support it from billions of dollars in fines.

Trump seems to want TikTok available for his inauguration on Monday, because “Americans deserve” to see the event. But TikTok is officially banned starting today until it sells to a non-Chinese company, and there’s no deal in sight. Flouting that ban could get Apple and Google’s app stores, as well as service providers Akamai and Oracle, dinged for potentially $850 billion in penalties. Despite all this, Trump has reportedly assured companies they won’t face these fines if they let TikTok keep operating. Now, the question is simple: will Trump-friendly companies risk breaking the law to make the president happy?

TikTok’s status has been uncertain since last night. President Joe Biden said he wouldn’t enforce the law on the last day of his presidency, but TikTok declared it would go dark anyway. App stores removed it in accordance with the law. Then, Trump promised he’d extend the deadline, telling companies they wouldn’t face penalties — and TikTok...

Read the full story at The Verge.

Instagram announces a blatant CapCut clone

Instagram’s logo for Edits. | Image: Meta

Instagram head Adam Mosseri just announced a video editing app called Edits. Mosseri said the app is meant to rival Capcut, a video editing app that went offline along with TikTok. The app is available for preorder on the iOS App Store.

“There’s a lot going on right now, but no matter what happens, it’s our job to provide the best possible tools for creators,” Mosseri said in a video posted to Instagram. He goes on to describe the app:

Edits is more than a video editing app; it’s a full suite of creative tools. There will be a dedicated tab for inspiration, another for keeping track of early ideas, a much higher-quality camera (which I used to record this video), all the editing tools you’d expect, the ability to share drafts with friends and other creators, and — if you decide to share your videos on Instagram — powerful insights into how those videos perform.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Adam Mosseri (@mosseri)

The insights he mentions include “a live insights dashboard,” a breakdown of follower and non-follower engagement, and metrics for how often users skip specific ones. It will also include editing tools that let people use green screens and video overlays, both common features of TikTok videos, according to its App Store listing.

Below is a collection of screenshots Meta provided to The Verge via email.

While Mosseri doesn’t say as much in his video, the announcement feels like a clear push to get the app into peoples’ minds as the future of TikTok and other ByteDance-owned apps like CapCut remains in question. Edits will be available starting March 13th, 2025, according to its listing.

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TikTok isn’t back in the App Store yet

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

TikTok announced on Sunday that it’s “in the process of restoring service,” but the app is still unavailable in the App Store and Google Play. If you search for TikTok on the App Store, you’ll see a message saying, “TikTok and other ByteDance apps are not available in the country or region you’re in,” while Google Play says, “Downloads for this app are paused due to current US legal requirements.”

Apple’s message also links to a support page explaining why it has removed TikTok.

Screenshot: The Verge

Google Play’s message (left) vs. the App Store’s (right).

TikTok went dark in the US on Saturday night just before the law that requires its owner, ByteDance, to divest or face a nationwide ban.

But on Sunday, TikTok has returned for some users in the US “in agreement” with its service providers, the company said. A pop-up displayed within the app thanks users for their patience and says its restoration comes “as a result of President Trump’s efforts.”

None of the companies involved have responded to requests for further comment. However, its restoration so far suggests that the app’s hosting provider, Oracle, and its CDN partner, Akamai, are relying on Trump’s promise that there would be “no liability” for companies that support TikTok. Others in the government, like Republican Senator Tom Cotton, commended the app stores for removing ByteDance apps and said any company that facilitates TikTok “could face hundreds of billions of dollars of ruinous liability under the law, not just from DOJ, but also under securities law, shareholder lawsuits, and state AGs.”

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TikTok is coming back online in the US

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

TikTok has announced that after going away for about half of one day, its service is coming back on in the US. The company posted on X that it is “in the process of restoring service” and thanked President Trump for “providing the necessary clarity” to do so.

TikTok:

In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive.

It’s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.

TikTok shut out US users last night ahead of the US federal ban’s deadline, displaying a message to users that said it was making its “services temporarily unavailable” due to the ban.

After the Biden administration declared that enforcement “will be up to the next administration to implement,” Donald Trump posted today that he was planning to delay the TikTok ban. He said it would require that the app be sold, possibly with “a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50 percent ownership.”

STATEMENT FROM TIKTOK:

In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170…

— TikTok Policy (@TikTokPolicy) January 19, 2025

Developing...

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The TikTok shutdown is locking out non-US users, too

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

TikTok’s US shutdown last night appears to be affecting users outside the country as well. People have taken to social media in the hours since, complaining they can’t access the app despite living in non-US countries, and it’s not always clear why.

In some cases, the problem appears to be using a VPN that routes traffic through the US. One user on Reddit says they’re based in the UK, saw the message that’s supposed to be displayed only in the US overnight, and found that a quick location change in their VPN app fixed it:

I got that message myself in the UK I immediately thought to check my Vpn, yep it was going through Miami once I changed that TikTok is fine.

This doesn’t work in all cases, though. The original creator of that thread also claims to live in the UK, but they say they weren’t using a VPN. Instead, they suspect the problem is that they were living in the US when they created their main account. Other people who signed up in the US also report they can’t access the app, despite now living in countries like Canada, Germany, Australia, Greece, and Poland.

@tiktok_uk @TikTokSupport I cannot access the app due to the US ban. I was born and live in England, please may you allow me access. My username is @kittyyy.mx on TikTok. #tiktok #tiktokban #tiktoksupport #tiktokuk pic.twitter.com/p9prz6fZE8

— kitty (@kittyxib) January 19, 2025

But some users, who name their location as the UK, Canada, and Australia, say they didn’t create their account in the US — and in some cases that they’ve never been there at all. Still others complain that the app is blocked for them in countries like Morocco or Ireland. One user, who says they are Mozambican, speculates it’s because they got around their country’s monetization laws by setting their account region to the US.

TikTok did not immediately reply to our request for comment on what could be causing people living outside the US to lose access.

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Trump says he’ll delay TikTok ban, but the platform must be sold

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo from Getty Images

President-elect Donald Trump says he wants service providers like Apple and Google to put TikTok back online in the US, and proposed creating a joint venture where the US owns 50 percent of the app.

“I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark!” Trump wrote on Truth Social Sunday. “I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.”

Screenshot: Truth Social

Part of the motivation appears to be his own inauguration on Monday, which Trump says “Americans deserve to see.” He called the joint venture idea an “initial thought” and says “By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up. Without U.S. approval, there is no Tik Tok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars - maybe trillions.”

Shortly after the ban took effect, Republican lawmakers poured cold water on the idea that Donald Trump will be able to halt the TikTok ban without a sale of the app when he resumes the presidency Monday. Trump had previously floated exercising a 90-day extension written into the law to lengthen the deadline for a sale, and reportedly considered issuing an executive order.

“We will enforce the law,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “When President Trump issued the Truth post and said, ‘save TikTok,’ the way we read that is that he’s going to try to force along a true divestiture.” Johnson added that, “the only way to extend that is if there’s an actual deal in the works.”

“Now that the law has taken effect, there’s no legal basis for any kind of ‘extension’ of its effective date,” Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Pete Ricketts (R-NE) said in a statement. “For TikTok to come back online in the future, ByteDance must agree to a sale that satisfies the law’s qualified-divestiture requirements by severing all ties between TikTok and Communist China.”

With Trump’s Republican allies in Congress casting doubt on the idea that a pause on the ban is viable without a bona fide deal that rids TikTok of its foreign adversary ownership, it’s unlikely that service providers like Apple and Google will risk the billions in fines they could face should a court rule that Trump is wrong about his powers to halt the law.

But creating a joint venture where the US owns 50 percent of a speech platfom comes with its own potential First Amendment concerns. And Johnson’s comments on “Meet the Press” about why lawmakers are concerned about the app to begin with further demonstrate that Congress did think about the content on the platform when deciding to pass the law — even though the Supreme Court didn’t see that as reason to find it unconstitutional. “They have been flooding the minds of American children with terrible messages glorifying violence and antisemitism and even suicide and eating disorders,” Johnson says. “It’s a very dangerous thing. The Chinese Communist Party is not our friend, and we have to make sure this changes hands.”

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Trump’s second inauguration: live updates and how to watch

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Brandon Bell, Getty Images

Tech leaders are set to have a big presence.

On January 20th, Donald Trump is set to be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States to serve his second term. Immediately after his victory, many tech leaders publicly congratulated Trump and started making moves to win his favor, including schmoozing with the incoming president at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and making donations to his inauguration committee.

Tech leaders should have a visible presence at Trump’s inauguration, with Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, Shou Zi Chew, Sundar Pichai, and Sam Altman all reported to be present. Musk is also scheduled to speak at a pre-inauguration rally, and Zuckerberg will reportedly host a black-tie event on Inauguration Day.

We’ll be covering the event and how tech leaders are a part of it.

How to watch Donald Trump’s inauguration

C-SPAN will be hosting a livestream on YouTube. The livestream is scheduled to begin at 7AM ET, and the swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for 12PM ET. The inauguration will take place indoors at the United States Capitol Rotunda because of projected cold weather.

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The tech to build the holodeck

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

Gaussian splatting, a new way of capturing 3D content, is taking the AR / VR industry by storm — and could one day allow anyone to create photorealistic 3D worlds.

Read the full story at The Verge.

New year, new Switch, new Severance

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 67, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, happy Switch week, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)

This week, I’ve been watching Black Dovesand The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, reading about Lorne Michaels and rodeos and Ben Shapiro, restarting Twin Peaks in honor of David Lynch, wading nervously into Lemon8 and RedNote, catching up on old episodes of Working It Out, and watching altogether too many Balatro strategy videos.

I also have for you my most anticipated gadget of the year, the new season of Severance, an incredibly cool tech design exhibit to explore, a nifty new AI productivity tool, and much more. This week has been wild, with the potential TikTok ban and the upcoming US inauguration and seemingly 40,000 other things happening — but we’ve got some great ways to decompress. Let’s dive in.

(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you reading / watching / playing / cooking / building / cutting into small pieces this week? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer,...

Read the full story at The Verge.

Apple says it’s following the law by removing TikTok from the App Store

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

With TikTok, CapCut, and Marvel Snap shut down in the US, Apple has taken the unusual step of articulating why it’s following the law banning ByteDance apps and removing them from the App Stores for the Mac, iPhone, and other devices.

Before the ban went into effect, the Biden administration released a statement saying enforcement of the law “must fall to the next Administration.” Still, it didn’t stop the law from taking effect this weekend after TikTok’s appeal to the Supreme Court failed.

The support page from Apple says:

Apple is obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates. Pursuant to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, apps developed by ByteDance Ltd. and its subsidiaries — including TikTok, CapCut, Lemon8, and others — will no longer be available for download or updates on the App Store for users in the United States starting January 19, 2025.

It goes on to say that people who already have the apps installed won’t have them removed, but at least for the time being, redownloading or restoring them on a new device will not be possible, along with making any in-app purchases or subscriptions, but subscriptions can be canceled.

Meanwhile, people who visit the US from other countries where they’re still available won’t be able to download or update apps while inside US borders.

Apple also provided a list of “some” of the apps linked to ByteDance that are affected:

• TikTok
• TikTok Studio
• TikTok Shop Seller Center
• CapCut
• Lemon8
• Hypic
• Lark - Team Collaboration
• Lark - Rooms Display
• Lark Rooms Controller
• Gauth: AI Study Companion
• Marvel Snap

Now, more than an entire day is left before the Trump administration is sworn in. TikTok pushed for a more definitive statement about the legal risks providers like Apple and Google might face for defying the law in the meantime, but it never came as the White House called TikTok’s response a “stunt.”

Now Apple is making clear that until something changes, it’s following the law as written, and it appears Google is doing the same thing. Google, Apple, and TikTok have not responded to requests for comment from The Verge.

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Marvel Snap is banned, just like TikTok

Marvel Snap is unavailable due to the ban on ByteDance apps. | Screenshot: Marvel Snap

The divest-or-ban law aimed at TikTok is also taking down other ByteDance-linked apps, including the popular card game Marvel Snap. The app suddenly cut off access Saturday night, seemingly without warning, surprising gamers who weren’t aware of its connection to ByteDance.

The card game battler set in the Marvel universe is developed by Second Dinner, which is based in California. But the game is published by Nuverse, a company owned by ByteDance. As a result, it’s subject to the same shutdown order.

In a statement on X, Second Dinner called the takedown a surprise and said, “Marvel Snap isn’t going anywhere. We’re actively working on getting the game up as soon as possible and will update you once we have more to share.”

Just before the calendar turned over to January 19th, 2025, the game disappeared from the App Store for iPad and iPhone players and from Google Play for players on Android. For players on PC, the game is still listed in Steam at the moment, but many players are reporting they were signed out and can’t sign back in.

An in-game message now tells players:

Sorry, Marvel Snap isn’t available right now

A law banning Marvel Snap has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use Marvel Snap for now. Rest assured, we’re working to restore our service in the U.S. Please stay tuned!

Oddly, unlike TikTok, it doesn’t appear that players were given much warning about the law’s effect, and many people may not have realized it was even connected to ByteDance, including people who were still spending money on in-game items expecting to be able to keep playing it.

Unfortunately, MARVEL SNAP is temporarily unavailable in U.S. app stores and is unavailable to play in the U.S.

In a surprise to Second Dinner and our publisher Nuverse, MARVEL SNAP was affected by the takedown of TikTok late on Saturday, January 18th.

MARVEL SNAP isn’t going…

— Second Dinner (@seconddinner) January 19, 2025

Other ByDance apps quickly disappeared from app stores along with TikTok, including Lemon8 and CapCut. The effect on other ByteDance-linked apps is mixed; however, it may take time to remove them. The Lark app that offers a Slack-like collaboration platform was available initially but has now been removed, while other Nuverse-published games, like Earth: Revival - Deep Underground and Ragnarok X: 3rd Anniversary, are still available in the App Store as of this writing, just after midnight ET on the 19th.

Update, January 19th: Noted reports that Marvel Snap PC players can’t log in and added a statement from game developer Second Dinner.

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TikTok is down in the US

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

TikTok is going dark in the US now that the ban-or-divest law passed last year is taking effect.

This is despite the Biden administration saying it’s passing enforcement responsibilities on to the Trump administration and calling TikTok’s threat to go offline a “stunt.” But TikTok insisted that without clearer assurances, it has to close up shop in the US.

Inside TikTok, an email to employees said that “President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office” on January 20th and that “teams are working tirelessly to bring our app back to the U.S. as soon as possible.”

On Saturday evening, starting at 9PM ET, a warning message appeared in two ByteDance apps, TikTok and CapCut, telling users of the pending shutdown. TikTok’s message read:

We regret that a US law banning TikTok will take effect on January 19th and force us to make our services temporarily unavailable.

We’re working to restore our service in the US as soon as possible, and we appreciate your support. Please stay tuned.

Both apps began blocking users around 10:30PM ET. A message now appears in the apps saying they aren’t “available right now” but that the company expects a resolution under President-elect Trump. TikTok’s message says:

Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now

A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.

We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!

Screenshot: The Verge

TikTok now displays a warning when opened and won’t allow users to watch videos.

Developing...

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TikTok ban: all the news on the app’s shutdown in the US

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo by Brendan Hoffman, Getty Images

The Supreme Court has permitted a law banning the app if Chinese parent company ByteDance doesn’t divest ownership. The law takes effect on January 19th.

Read the full story at The Verge.

TikTok will be ‘temporarily unavailable’ in the US starting tonight

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

TikTok is officially going dark in the United States now that a federal ban on the app is set to go into effect on January 19th. Around 6PM PT, the app began notifying people in the US, including Verge staffers, with a message that said the ban would “make our services temporarily unavailable.”

The message goes on to say, “We’re working to restore our service in the US as quickly as possible,” an outcome that will require action from the incoming Trump administration one way or another. A similar message is showing up in the CapCut video editor, which is also owned by TikTok.

Inside the company, an internal email viewed by The Verge says the news is “disappointing” but that “President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office” on the 20th, and “teams are working tirelessly to bring our app back to the U.S. as soon as possible.”

Screenshot: TikTok

The message being shown to US TikTok users. A similar message is being shown in CapCut.

TikTok crashed into this outcome somewhat chaotically — it’s known this was the deadline since Biden signed the bill in April, but the company never appeared to have a backup plan to save its service if the Supreme Court ruled the law was constitutional, which happened on Friday. At the same time, the company was promising advertisers it would sort things out as recently as last night.

TikTok warned on Friday that it would be forced to go dark if the Biden administration didn’t promise to delay enforcement of the law penalties on TikTok’s service providers, like Apple and Google, which can be fined thousands of dollars per US user once the ban goes into effect. In response, the Biden administration said it had already passed enforcement responsibilities on to the Trump administration and called TikTok’s threat to go offline a “stunt.”

Trump — who kicked off the TikTok ban debate himself during his first term — has indicated he plans to extend the deadline for the ban by 90 days via an executive order once he is sworn in on January 20th, though it’s not clear if he means he will use the provision in the law that allows for a delay if a sale is pending or if he even has that option once the ban goes into effect. TikTok’s users are decidedly upset, of course — although none of them seem to be pressuring the company to sell as much as they’re pressuring politicians from both parties to rescind the ban.

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Genshin Impact’s developer to pay $20 million fine to settle FTC charges

Genshin Impact developer Cognosphere has to change the way it does loot boxes. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

The Federal Trade Commission announced on Friday that Genshin Impact developer Cognosphere has agreed to a $20 million settlement and several restrictions on how it sells its loot boxes and manages children’s personal data. According to the FTC, the company “actively marketed” its loot boxes to children and misled players about their odds of winning prizes.

Cognosphere allegedly also “deceived children and other users about the real costs of in-game transactions,” by requiring them to buy virtual money that involved multiple currency exchanges. Players often spent “hundreds of dollars on prizes they stood little chance of winning,” according to Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Samuel Levine. For years, loot boxes have been likened to a form of legal gambling.

The complaint, filed by the Department of Justice, also accuses the Genshin Impact developer of marketing to kids using approaches like posts on social media channels and in-game banners. The company then allegedly collected their personal information in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule. Once the settlement is approved, the company is required to delete any data for children under 13 whose parents haven’t consented to their data being collected.

Other requirements of the settlement include that Cognosphere must offer an option to buy loot boxes directly and not just through virtual money. It’s also forbidden from misrepresenting pricing, features, and winning odds for loot boxes, and it must disclose exchange rates for multi-tiered virtual currency.

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Microsoft opens testing for Windows AI search

Image: The Verge

Microsoft is testing AI-powered Windows search in a new dev channel build for Windows 11 Insider testers. Announced in October, it uses semantic indexing to let users search for local files using more casual language. Like other Microsoft AI features, you’ll need a Copilot Plus PC to use it.

The feature applies whether you’re using search boxes in Settings, File Explorer, or the taskbar. And you don’t need to be connected to the internet for it to work, thanks to the NPU chips on Copilot Plus computers. For now, AI search is limited to Windows settings and files with image and text formats that include JPEG, PNG, PDF, TXT, and XLS.

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft says that search only works for files in locations you’ve chosen to index. Users can tweak those locations using options found under Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows, or turn on “Enhanced” to index their whole machine. The company adds that the feature will eventually expand to include cloud data such as that stored in OneDrive.

AI-powered Windows search “will gradually roll out to Windows Insiders on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs,” Microsoft writes, with support for Intel or AMD Copilot Plus computers later. The feature will work for machines set to Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish languages.

Image: Microsoft

In addition to the new search, the build also includes AI writing tools offered by Click to Do, a feature that lets you choose from context-sensitive menus of options when you hold the Windows key down and left-click on your screen. Now, when you click a block of text and select Rewrite, there’s a “Refine” option that can correct grammar for you.

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The Biden White House says TikTok’s threat to go dark is a ‘stunt’

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called TikTok’s threat to “go dark” tomorrow a “stunt,” and said there is no reason that TikTok or any other companies should take any actions under the ban before the Trump administration is sworn in Monday morning, several news outlets are reporting.

“It is a stunt, and we see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions in the next few days before the Trump Administration takes office on Monday,” MSNBC quotes Jean-Pierre as saying. “We have laid out our position clearly and straightforwardly: actions to implement this law will fall to the next administration. So TikTok and other companies should take up any concerns with them.”

The statement comes one day after TikTok threatened to go offline if the Biden administration doesn’t offer reassurance that companies like Apple and Google won’t be held liable for defying the ban, which the Supreme Court upheld yesterday. Company CEO Shou Chew also appealed to Donald Trump, saying the company is “grateful” for his support of the platform.

Trump said that a “90-day extension is something that will be most likely done” during an interview with Meet The Press moderator Kristen Welker for NBC News. That followed reporting earlier this week that the incoming President plans to issue an executive order doing so.

Given that the ban’s deadline is up before he’s sworn in, it’s not clear whether Trump can actually extend it. He can choose not to enforce the ban, just as Biden says he will, but that still leaves Apple and Google to decide if Trump’s word is worth the legal risk that would come with defying the ban by leaving the app available for download.

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EV startup Canoo has filed for bankruptcy

Photo by NASA / Isaac Watson

Canoo announced yesterday it is ceasing operations “immediately” and that it has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Delaware. The EV startup estimates in its filing that its assets are worth $126 million and that it owes over $164 million to its creditors, TechCrunch noted yesterday.

Now, the US will appoint “a Bankruptcy Trustee to oversee the liquidation of the Company’s assets and the distribution of proceeds to creditors,” Canoo writes. The company says it chose to file after failing to get support from either the US Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office or foreign investors.

Canoo had signaled its dire situation last month when it idled its Oklahoma operations and put its employees on a “mandatory unpaid break.” Before that, it had lost a steady stream of executives, including all of its founders.

“We are truly disappointed that things turned out as they did,” Canoo chairman and CEO Tony Aquila said in the announcement before thanking various government and business entities Canoo has dealt with. Those dealings have included producing shuttles for NASA’s Artemis crew and an agreement to build 4,500 electric delivery vans for Walmart.

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Instagram Reels can be 3 minutes long now

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge

Instagram will now let you upload Reels that are up to 3 minutes long, doubling the 90-second limit the platform had in place before, Instagram boss Adam Mosseri announced today.

He credits today’s change to users’ feedback saying that the 90 seconds “is just too short.” That’s a big turnaround for Mosseri, who said in July last year that the platform wouldn’t pursue longform videos because it could compromise the platform’s “core identity to connect people with friends.”

It also comes as TikTok, which started allowing 3-minute videos in 2021, is gearing up to go dark on Sunday in response to an imminent US ban.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Adam Mosseri (@mosseri)

Instagram has been slow to bump the length of Reels — it’s been more than two years since it started allowing minute-and-a-half videos. The company has tested extending the limit to as much as 10 minutes but has held off on rolling that out, leaving the ability to post long videos to non-Reels posts.

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Donald Trump appears to have launched a meme coin

Image: Laura Normand / The Verge

Donald Trump has launched a new meme coin, according to posts from his X and Truth Social accounts last night. The posts, which have come just days before Trump’s inauguration, were initially met with suspicion by many that his accounts had been hacked.

Skeptics highlighted by Decrypt last night pointed to several red flags, such as that the millions of dollars seeding the project came from Binance and Gate, which only serve overseas customers. The coin’s website credits the project to the same group behind Trump’s NFTs, as noted by Cointelegraph, whichreports that sources close to Trump’s family confirmed the announcements’ legitimacy.

Both posts remain up as of this morning.

Screenshot: X

Trump’s official X account announced a new meme coin on Friday.

The idea that Trump would debut a meme coin is no big surprise, given his multiple NFT collections and his introduction of a crypto platform last year. He has made cryptocurrency a big part of his new agenda and has assembled a crypto and AI-focused tech policy team led by “crypto czar” David Sacks. Trump also plans to issue an executive order naming crypto a “national imperative or priority” after he’s inaugurated next week, Bloomberg reported ahead of the weekend.

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Severance’s creators explain the art of a great cliffhanger

Adam Scott in Severance_’s season 1 finale._ | Image: Apple

After a long wait, Severance is back. Season 2 premiered on Apple TV Plus on January 17th, more than two years after the first season wrapped up. The wait was particularly hard because of how the season 1 finale ended — a massive cliffhanger that would completely upend the lives of almost everyone in this sci-fi thriller. Cliffhangers are a tricky business. They can help keep viewers interested in whatever comes next, but they can also be frustrating, seeming to withhold information purely for the purpose of keeping people hooked.

Severance has managed this balancing act well so far, and I had the chance to talk to some of the creative team behind the show — creator Dan Erickson, director Ben Stiller, and star Adam Scott — about how they’ve pulled it off. “Honestly it’s just sort of guessing in your mind,” Stiller tells The Verge. “You try to think about what the stakes are that we’ve established, and hopefully you’ve earned it by the end.”

One of the trickiest parts for Severance, at least early on, was that the team wasn’t really sure how audiences would react. It’s a weird show that follows a group of office workers who have their brains surgically altered to separate their...

Read the full story at The Verge.

You can still save on Pixel devices as a part of Google’s New Year promo

The Google Pixel Watch 3, one of our favorite smartwatches for Android users, is $50 off for a limited time. | Image: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The clock is ticking if you want to save on the Pixel Watch 3, the Fitbit Charge 6, and other Google gadgets. The company kicked off the year with a solid New Year’s sale, which is set to expire at 11:59PM PT today, January 18th. Other retailers, including Amazon and Best Buy, are currently matching Google’s pricing in some instances, though we anticipate the matching promos will expire at the same time.

On the smartwatch front, both the Pixel Watch 2 and the Pixel Watch 3 — the latter of which remains our favorite “Fitbit” —are down to their second-best price to date. The Wi-Fi-enabled Pixel Watch 2 is available for $199.99 ($50 off) from Google, Best Buy, and Target, while the 41mm Pixel Watch 3 starts at $299.99 ($50 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and the Google Store.

Both wearables sport Google and Fitbit-powered features, including FDA-cleared EKGs, automatic workout tracking, and support for Google Assistant, Gmail, Calendar, and Wallet. However, the last-gen Pixel Watch 2 only comes in a single size — 41mm — while last year’s Pixel 3 is also available in a larger 44mm configuration.

The Pixel Watch 3 features a host of other welcome improvements, too, including offline Google Maps, slightly better battery life, AI-generated workout suggestions, and deeper integration with other Google devices. You can view a Nest Doorbell or Nest Cam feed with the Pixel Watch 3, for instance, or control your Google TV directly from your wrist — neither of which is possible on the Pixel Watch 2.

Read our Pixel Watch 2 and Pixel Watch 3 reviews.

If you prefer a cheap fitness tracker over a smartwatch, the Fitbit Charge 6 is also on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and the Google Store for $129.95 ($30 off), which is about $30 more than its all-time low.

Like its predecessor, the fitness band offers a wide range of sensors for keeping tabs on your health, along with built-in GPS and a vibrant OLED display. Unlike its predecessor, though, the Fitbit Charge 6 boasts an improved heart rate algorithm and can be paired with certain gym equipment over Bluetooth. It doesn’t support as many Google services as a Pixel Watch 3, sure, but you can take advantage of Google Wallet and turn-by-turn navigation via Google Maps.

Read our Fitbit Charge 6 review.

Along with fitness trackers and smartwatches, Google is discounting several pairs of wireless earbuds. Right now, you can buy the Pixel Buds Pro 2 from Amazon, Google, and Best Buy for $199 ($30 off), which remains their second-best price to date. Google is also selling them as part of a bundle with the Pixel Watch 3 for $441.99 ($58 off), or with the Fitbit Charge 6 for $130.95 ($29 off).

Google’s latest set of wireless earbuds are our top choice for Pixel phone owners. They offer powerful noise cancellation and a lighter design than the previous model, which makes them more comfortable to wear. They also offer some great Google-specific perks, allowing you to directly access Google’s Gemini AI assistant and keep track of the charging case via the company’s recently improved Find My Device network. The earbuds continue to support a number of Pixel-exclusive features as well, including head tracking spatial audio.

Read our Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 review.

If the Pixel Buds Pro 2 are outside your budget, the Pixel Buds A-Series are also available from Amazon, Best Buy, and Google for $79.95 ($20 off), which is $20 shy of their all-time low. They don’t offer active noise cancellation or some of the more advanced features found on the Pro model, but they do deliver impressive sound for the price and a secure fit thanks to an assortment of comfortable ear tips. The last-gen earbuds also integrate well with Pixel phones and support Google Assistant for hands-free voice control.

Read our Pixel Buds A-Series review.

Last but not least is the Pixel Tablet, which can pick up in the 128GB configuration at Amazon, Best Buy, and the Google Store for $299 ($100 off), which is just $20 shy of its lowest price to date. You can also get the step-up 256GB model with a speaker dock for $479 ($120 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and the Google Store.

It’s a shame Google reportedly canceled its next-gen Pixel tablet — after all, the original showed a lot of promise. The snappy Android tablet is great for carrying out typical tablet tasks, like video chatting and streaming, thanks in part to a sharp 11-inch display and an excellent speaker array. What makes the tablet really stand out, though, is the optional magnetic charging dock, which bolsters the tablet’s sound and turns it into an ad hoc smart display. That means you can use the tablet as a digital photo frame, check in on your Nest Doorbell feed, or control a range of smart home devices via Google Assistant.

Read our Google Pixel Tablet review.

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