How to watch today’s Xbox Developer Direct

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

A busy January of gaming news continues. Last week it was the reveal of the Nintendo Switch 2, and now it’s a showcase of upcoming Xbox games. Microsoft’s latest Developer Direct takes place today, and it’s meant to provide a “deep dive” look at some of the biggest upcoming games for Xbox. That includes Doom: The Dark Ages (which might release in May, according to leaks) as well South of Midnight and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Most exciting, though, is the promise of a mystery game. We don’t know what it is — hence the mystery — but the tease suggests it’s something big. For context, the highlight of last year’s Developer Direct was a gameplay deep dive for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. We’ll be covering the news as it happens, but if you want to tune in live, here are all the details. (You can also just watch via the embed at the top of this article.)

How and when to watch the Xbox Developer Direct 2025

The event itself takes place on January 23rd at 10AM PT / 1PM ET. And it’s streaming on pretty much all of the Xbox and Bethesda channels:

• YouTube (Xbox)
• YouTube (Bethesda)
• Twitch (Xbox)
• Twitch (Xbox ASL)
• Twitch (Bethesda)
• Facebook (Xbox)

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Pokemon TCG Pocket’s next expansion launches on January 30th

The Pokémon Company

The latest batch of new Pokémon TCG Pocketcards finally has a concrete release date, but it seems like you won’t be able to trade them right off the bat.

The Pokémon Company announced today that Space-Time Smackdown, Pokémon TCG Pocket’s latest expansion, is set to debut at the end of the month right after the game’s trading feature launches on January 29th. While cards from the last set could all be obtained from a single type of pack, Space-Time Smackdown — which includes a number of monsters from Pokémon Diamond / Pearl / Platinum — will come from packs featuring the legendary Pokémon Dialga and Palkia.

Along with Space-Time Smackdown’s announcement, TCPi also revealed a bit more about how the trading mechanic will involve two new types of in-game currencies — trade houseglasses and trade tokens. It seems as if there will be cooldown periods as well as a cost if you want to swap cards from Pocket’s Genetic Apex and Mythical Island sets with other players. But there will definitely be some waiting involved for people hoping to trade Space-Time Smackdown, which will not be tradeable until a later date after it drops on January 30th.

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I fit the world’s most powerful graphics card in my aging miniature SFF PC

The Nvidia RTX 5090 Founder’s Edition in an Ncase M1.

The Nvidia RTX 5090 FE barely fit my 12.7-liter small form factor case, but using it was a dream.

In 2022, I wrote that GPUs were headed in the wrong direction — their price, size, and power consumption were off the charts. And while I still believe that’s true, I can now confirm Nvidia has at least made one phenomenal exception in the size category: the two-slot “Founder’s Edition” of its RTX 5090 graphics card, on sale January 30th.

The last time Nvidia made a two-slot flagship graphics card, it was the 2021 RTX 3080 Ti FE — the 3090, 4080 and 4090 were gigantic by comparison.

So, while my colleague Tom Warren was busy writing his full review of the new 5090 using the best gaming CPU, I wedged one of the $2,000 cards into my own aging mini desktop. I wanted to see whether the surprisingly small flagship GPU was truly ready for small form factor (SFF) cases — or, whether my beloved 12.7-liter Ncase M1 chassis is well and truly obsolete.

To my surprise, it worked: all I needed was a new power supply to turn my backpack-sized daily driver into one of the most powerful gaming PCs in the world. At 4K resolution, I’m typically seeing more than double the framerate I get with an RTX 3080 Founder’s Edition, one of the last cards that could comfortably fit in the Ncase M1, to give you some idea.

But I’m not going to suggest you do the same! For starters, we’re talking about a two thousand dollar graphics card and a one thousand watt power supply — which I actually saw consuming up to one whole kilowatt (as measured by my trusty Kill A Watt at the wall) in my Cyberpunk 2077 tests. With an RTX 3080, my system consumed over 200 fewer watts. Not that I minded having a space heater on these cold January days!

But I literally had to wedge the 5090 into my Ncase M1 to make it fit, and even remove and reattach the video card’s bracket inside my case. And even then I couldn’t fully seal my desktop because the GPU’s new 12V-2x6 power connector occupies a chunk of space where my case’s side panel is supposed to go. You’ll want an SFF-ready case with more clearance than I have.

It took a bit of elbow grease to get it in there.

If not for that power cable...

Still, leaving my desktop’s guts exposed was a small price to pay to toy with this much power! It’s enough to play games at 4K at their maximum settings, save for full ray tracing (aka path tracing). It’s even got enough horsepower to turn on path tracing, too, if you combine it with dynamic upscaling and/or fake frame generating tech.

I normally play Helldivers 2 on an old 3060 Ti graphics card I bought for just $400, where I’m forced to rely on those tricks just to get smooth 4K-ish gameplay. It was quite nice, if expected, to finally max out that game on the 5090 instead.

What I didn’t expect: my aging, space-constrained AMD 5800X desktop delivered the same performance as Tom’s open-air testing rig in quite a few of our 4K gaming benchmarks. I knew it was possible, but it goes to show that Nvidia’s fancy two-slot “double flow through” cooler really is suitable for SFF PCs.

It depends on whether your games are CPU limited, of course, as my older PC does have a slower CPU — and most of today’s games tend to be at least somewhat CPU limited at 1440p resolution, where Tom’s system often pulled far ahead by 20 to 60 percent.

Facing down the alien swarms and flying particles in Returnal, for example, Tom pulled 201 frames per second at 1440p while my diminutive desktop managed just 169fps; in Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, the most CPU-limited game we’re testing, my bottlenecked system averaged just 123fps to Tom’s 200fps.

But that’s still over 120fps on max settings, more than enough for butter-smooth sessions of these single-player games! And if I were to pair my tiny tower with a 4K TV in my living room instead of a 1440p monitor, as many SFF PC builders might like to do, I’d have a blast — my 4K results always averaged over 60fps, and were often within just a few FPS of Tom’s open bench.

And again, I’m typically seeing the RTX 5090 delivering more than twice the horsepower of an RTX 3080, making it quite the upgrade for SFF fans with deep pockets. That’s not necessarily something to celebrate, though: the $2,000 RTX 5090 admittedly costs more than twice as much as a $700 RTX 3080 did at its 2020 launch, and will be out of reach for most gamers even if shortages and scalpers don’t rear their ugly heads.

When it comes down to it, I think the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 is a damn cool piece of kit. It makes me want to quote Ferris Bueller’s Day Off because it is so choice. It’s a noteworthy exception to the very annoying trend of GPUs expanding in every direction. But at $2,000, 575 watts of power by its lonesome, and with no other Nvidia board partner offering anything nearly as compact, it’s the exception that proves the rule.

Photography by Sean Hollister / The Verge

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Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 review: a new king of 4K is here

The next-gen GPU battle begins with Nvidia alone at the top.

Read the full story at The Verge.

Star Trek: Section 31 is firing on all cylinders

Image: Paramount Plus

Paramount Plus’ new Star Trek film is the sound of scene chewing in space, which is to say, it’s pretty damn fun.

Read the full story at The Verge.

The Cadillac Lyriq-V is quicker than the CT5-V Blackwing

Image: Cadillac

After months of teases, Cadillac officially announced the Lyriq-V as a 615-horsepower, high-performance electric SUV that will go on record as the “quickest” vehicle ever produced by the luxury automaker.

With that much horsepower, and 650 pound-feet of torque, Cadillac says the Lyriq-V is able to leap from zero to 60mph in just 3.3 seconds — besting the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing’s acceleration by a tenth of a second. That may not sound like much, but when you consider that the CT5-V Blackwing is lauded as one of the most expertly engineered American cars ever made, and when you realize that the CT5-V Blackwing is likely the last of its kind, you start to see the significance of the Lyriq-V’s performance specs.

Of course, there’s some fine print to consider. That acceleration time is measured on a closed course, using the Lyriq-V’s Velocity Max that’s also available on Cadillac’s forthcoming EV lineup that includes the Vistiq, Optiq, and Escalade IQ. And it includes a metric called “Initial Vehicle Movement,” which is when the vehicle starts moving rather than when the green light goes off.

And yes, there are plenty of EVs that can accelerate to 60mph in under three seconds. But I don’t think Cadillac was out to shatter any records with the Lyriq-V. It wanted to make a car that “fits perfectly” into people’s lives, as Cadillac boss John Roth says.

To that end, the Lyriq-V looks like it takes a lot of what worked with the original Lyriq and made it more powerful. Its 102kWh battery will help propel this V-Series for an estimated 285 miles of range. It gains around 75 miles of range in about 10 minutes when plugged into a DC fast charger or about 19 miles per hour when sipping from a 240-volt Level 2 charger. And it will ship with a CCS port for charging, rather than the Tesla-backed NACS standard.

The Lyriq-V perches on 22-inch wheels with Brembo brake calipers. The handling is “comfortable, yet spirited,” with 5-link independent suspension and continuous damping control for stiffer shock absorbers.

And now we come to the part where I inform you that, yes, the Lyriq-V features a “unique sound experience” that simulates an engine growl. Cadillac is the latest automaker to resort to faux exhaust noises piped through external speakers to comfort car buyers who may be feeling a bit hesitant about leaving the warm bosom of the internal combustion engine.

Another unique feature is a button on the steering wheel for V-Mode, which is “a suite of traction management features specifically engineered to increase vehicle agility.” And like the original Lyriq — but unlike GM’s other electric vehicles — the Lyriq-V will support phone mirroring through Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The electric V-Series has been in the works for a while now. Cadillac first introduced the concept of an electrified V with the introduction of three V-Series.R hybrid race cars at the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship races in 2023.

It then first teased a fully electric Lyriq-V in March 2024 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the inaugural launch of the V-Series at the Sebring International Raceway in March 2004. That year saw the introduction of the 2004 Cadillac CTS-V, signaling the automaker’s intention to compete with other performance luxury subbrands like BMW M and Mercedes AMG.

Thanks to their quick, seamless acceleration and aerodynamic shapes, electric vehicles are a great fit in the performance segment. Indeed, BMW, Mercedes, and Audi all have performance-geared EVs for sale — or at least have outlined plans to sell them. Cadillac would be the latest to add its own spin on plug-in power.

Starting at $79,990 (including destination charges), the 2026 Lyriq-V is expected to start production at GM’s Spring Hill, Tennessee, factory in early 2025.

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The Royal Shakespeare Company is turning Macbeth into a neo-noir game

Image: Royal Shakespeare Company

Macbeth, William Shakespeare’s iconic play, is being reimagined as an interactive video game with a neo-noir vibe — and it’s being developed in part by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The game, titled Lili, is a “screen life thriller video game” where you’ll have access to a modern-day Lady Macbeth’s personal devices, according to a press release.

“Players will be immersed in a stylized, neo-noir vision of modern Iran, where surveillance and authoritarianism are part of daily life,” the release says. “The gameplay will feature a blend of live-action cinema within an interactive game format, giving players the chance to immerse themselves in the world of Lady Macbeth and make choices that influence her destiny.” It sounds kind of like a version of Macbeth inspired by Sam Barlow’s interactive thrillers.

The Royal Shakespeare Company is making the game in collaboration with iNK Stories, a New York-based indie studio and publisher that also made 1979 Revolution: Black Friday. It stars Zar Amir as “Lady Macbeth (Lili),” per the press release.

Lili is set to release “later in 2025.”

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Tumblr’s experimental GIF feed finally launches after 10 years

Illustration: The Verge

Tumbler has finally launched Tumblr TV as a new tab at the top of its app, the company said today in a brief set of update notes spotted by TechCrunch. Tumblr TV first debuted as a GIF-finding feature in 2015, but now it includes video content as well.

Screenshot: Tumblr TV

According to Tumblr, “New users will have this tab enabled by default in the third position, while existing users will have it available in the Dashboard Tabs configuration, if not already enabled.”

When you tap the Tumblr TV tab, you’ll see a grid of videos and GIFs. Once you tap one, you can like, comment, repost, or share it, and when you’re ready to see something else, you can swipe up to move on.

In my very brief testing, it’s still very GIF-heavy despite the inclusion of video and a swipe interface similar to other short-form video apps.

It could be tempting to compare Tumblr TV to TikTok, especially in light of its recent shutdown, but right now, it’s more like scrolling a group text full of GIFs.

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Celeste developers cancel follow-up game Earthblade

Image: Extremely OK Games

Earthblade, the next game from the developers of Celeste, has been canceled. The fantasy-inspired game got its first trailer in late 2022, and the game would have let you explore a “free-roaming, dynamically-loading map,” Extremely OK Games’ Maddy Thorson said at the time. But the team decided to cancel the game in December after a team conflict and because of the pressure of trying to follow up on Celeste, Thorson says in a post detailing what happened.

The “disagreement” was between Thorson and Noel Berry (Thorson refers to the two of them as “us”) and Pedro Medeiros over “the IP rights of Celeste,” Thorson says. “We eventually reached a resolution, but both parties also agreed in the end that we should go our separate ways,” and Medeiros is currently working on a game called Neverway. “Losing Pedro wasn’t the only factor in cancelling the game, but it did prompt us to take a serious look at whether fighting through to finish Earthblade was the right path forward,” Thorson says.

The huge success of Celeste also “applied pressure on us to deliver something bigger and better with Earthblade, and that pressure is a large part of why working on it has become so exhausting,” Thorson says. “Pedro isn’t to blame for this — in fact the split with him has given us the clarity to see that we have lost our way, and the opportunity to admit defeat.”

Thorson and Berry want to refocus on “smaller-scale projects” and are “prototyping again” to try and “rediscover game development in a manner closer to how we approached it at Celeste’s or TowerFall’s inception.”

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Nvidia’s triple-fan GPU cooler was one step along the way to a slimmer RTX 5090

The RTX 4090 is a lot thicker than the RTX 5090. | Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge

Nvidia has posted a new video showcasing a history of Founders Edition graphics card designs that explores the design of its new RTX 5090 and confirms a previously leaked prototype that used an unconventionally large four-slot design.

As noted by VideoCardz, the prototype “Titan ADA” card first revealed by leaker Kopite7kimi included a triple-fan cooling system, and earlier this month, Gamers Nexus tested and tore down a working version of the prototype.

In the video published today, Nvidia’s EVP of system products, Andrew Bell, explains that Nvidia cards were trending larger and larger, and they wanted to change that. “We didn’t like the idea of it taking up four slots; it was big, it was unwieldy, it worked in a limited number of chassis,” Bell said.

Bell says that the prototype triple-fan cooling system influenced Nvidia’s Blackwell architecture. However, the latest RTX 5090 Founders Edition card that we are currently testing achieves its goals through a modular four-part design with a separate I/O board that allows air to flow through for a more efficient and compact cooler. According to Nvidia, these changes are why the new 5090 fits in two slots on the motherboard compared to the previous three-slot 4090.

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Canon set a new record with its 410-megapixel 35mm camera sensor

Image: Canon

The megapixel race isn’t over if you ask Canon. Today, the company announced a new 35mm full-frame CMOS sensor with a resolution of 410 megapixels. That’s 24,592 x 16,704 pixels and a resolution that’s equivalent to 24K — or 12 times the resolution of 8K and 198 times the resolution of HD.

It’s the ”largest number of pixels ever achieved in a 35mm full-frame sensor,” according to Canon, but don’t expect the company to introduce it on its consumer-ready digital cameras. It’s designed for surveillance, medicine, and other industrial “applications that demand extreme resolution,” and don’t mind paying a small fortune for it.

Thanks to a “redesigned circuitry pattern” and a newly developed “back-illuminated stacked formation in which the pixel segment and signal processing segment are interlayered,” Canon says the sensor has a readout speed of “3,280 megapixels per second,” allowing full-resolution images to be captured at eight frames per second.

Canon will also offer a monochrome version of the sensor with a “four-pixel binning” function that improves low-light sensitivity by treating four nearby pixels as one. Although that reduces its overall resolution, it allows the monochromatic version of the sensor to capture 100-megapixel videos at 24 frames per second.

If you want to maximize your megapixels, you typically need to turn to medium-format or larger sensors and bigger cameras. The Phase One XF IQ4 150MP, for example, can capture images at 150-megapixels. But by putting this much resolution into a 35mm sensor that will be compatible with a wide range of lenses already available for full-frame cameras, Canon says it will help “contribute to the miniaturization of shooting equipment.”

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Google’s Gemini is already winning the next-gen assistant wars

Illustration: The Verge

One of the most important changes in Samsung’s new phones is a simple one: when you long-press the side button on your phone, instead of activating Samsung’s own Bixby assistant by default, you’ll get Google Gemini.

This is probably a good thing. Bixby was never a very good virtual assistant — Samsung originally built it primarily as a way to more simply navigate device settings, not to get information from the internet. It has gotten better since and can now do standard assistant things like performing visual searches and setting timers, but it never managed to catch up to the likes of Alexa, Google Assistant, and now, even Siri. So, if you’re a Samsung user, this is good news! Your assistant is probably better now. (And if, for some unknown reason, you really do truly love Bixby, don’t worry: there’s still an app.)

The switch to Gemini is an even bigger deal for Google. Google was caught off guard a couple of years ago when ChatGPT launched but has caught up in a big way. According to recent reporting from The Wall Street Journal, CEO Sundar Pichai now believes Gemini has surpassed ChatGPT, and he wants Google to have 500 million users by the end of this year. It might just...

Read the full story at The Verge.

Here’s how the new Galaxy S25 stacks up to the S25 Plus and S25 Ultra

Samsung’s latest phones all look and feel very similar, but there are some key differences. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

During its latest Unpacked event, Samsung dished all the details on the Galaxy S25 lineup. The Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus start at $799.99 and $999.99, respectively, while the S25 Ultra runs a cool $1299.99 in its entry-level configuration. You can preorder the phones ahead of their launch on February 7th, but before you do, you’re probably wondering what’s new.

The phones don’t look or feel much different, save for the slightly curvier Galaxy S25 Ultra. The Snapdragon Elite 8 is perhaps the S25 family’s most notable hardware upgrade, which is up to 40 percent faster than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset and comes with a new neural processing unit to support Samsung’s expanded Galaxy AI experience. The company introduced multimodal and generative AI improvements, after all, and the Galaxy S25 line will be among the first to usher in new Google Gemini features.

Our reviews are still forthcoming, and it’s much too early for us to determine whether any of these phones are actually worth upgrading for. But that doesn’t mean we can’t distill their differences to help you determine which device you’d rather buy. Keep reading for a full breakdown of all of the hardware and software...

Read the full story at The Verge.

The best doorbell cameras

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

We picked the best video doorbell cameras for keeping an eye on people, packages, and anything else that comes across your front porch.

Read the full story at The Verge.

This is the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Samsung just teased the Galaxy S25 Edge — the new ultra-slim entry into the Galaxy S25 lineup. The phone isn’t out yet, and Samsung hasn’t provided any details, but now we know it’s real. And we have pictures.

Like... pretty much every phone, it’s a thin silver slab with two cameras on the back. (Instead of the three cameras you’d get with other S25 phones.) The phone is rumored to measure just 6.4mm thick, but my colleague Allison Johnson, who is on the ground at Galaxy Unpacked and took the below photos, wasn’t able to actually hold or measure the device.

We’re trying to get closer so we can show perspective, but the place is mobbed with people. There’s a lot of excitement about this phone. By comparison, though, the regular Galaxy S25 is 7.2mm thick. So, it’s... even thinner.

Here are some of the pictures she took:

Photography by Allison Johnson / The Verge

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Xbox beta tests support for massive amounts of external storage

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

Xbox has a new beta software update rolling out today for Insiders in the Alpha Skip-Ahead ring that enables Series X and S systems to support much larger external hard disks. Previously, the Xbox could only support up to 16TB of space on a single USB-connected drive.

With the new update, Xbox systems can now partition hard disks larger than 16TB into segments to use the full physical storage space. A single 24TB hard disk can now be formatted into multiple partitions (the largest still being 16TB) so you can archive more games, apps, and media than ever — if that’s something you’ve wanted to do.

However, if you have already been using a hard disk greater than 16TB with Xbox, the company says you’ll need to erase it first to take full advantage:

Drives greater than 16TB that have already been formatted will be unaffected by this change and would need to be reformatted to take advantage of the updated support for larger drives.

Although you still can’t play current generation games directly off an external drive, it can be useful to back up all of your installs anyway, or games made for older systems. You won’t need to redownload entire titles such as the 300GB-plus Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 using an internet connection when you feel like playing it again after a hiatus, unless they need an equally-sizable update.

Xbox is also releasing an update that enables new network quality indicators for cloud gaming sessions to tell you if your connection is slow and affecting your gameplay. They will appear in red bubbles on the upper right side of the screen, telling you what is happening, such as packet loss or increased ping, which can help you troubleshoot your connection.

Today, we have started to roll out network quality indicators for cloud gaming sessions on browser and TV, helping players to better diagnose potential network issues.

Learn more about this feature and get troubleshooting tips here: https://t.co/pcFXEeo1qi pic.twitter.com/hlSHLh1vyn

— Xbox Support (@XboxSupport) January 22, 2025

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New survey reports one in 10 game developers have lost their jobs in 2024

One in 10 game developers lost their job in 2024. That’s according to the results of the annual Game Developers Conference state of the video game survey. The survey sampled over 3,000 developers and covered a number of topics including industry layoffs and what kind of games developers are working on.

Prolific layoffs have ravaged the industry over the last two years making the question of their impact on developers one of the most important in the survey. In addition to 10 percent of developers losing their jobs, 41 percent of respondents said they had been impacted by layoffs in some way, either by being laid off directly or seeing coworkers or colleagues in other departments let go. The survey also noted that the number of people impacted is potentially much higher because of the students and graduates who reported having a difficult time simply getting a job in the industry at all.

When asked what reason companies gave for layoffs, 22 percent said restructuring while 18 said declining revenue. 19 percent gave no reason at all. Developers, though, have their own ideas about why layoffs keep happening. In an analysis of responses to what developers think the reason behind layoffs is, the majority were general statements about the industry’s over-expansion during the pandemic. Companies acquired workers and studios in hopes of meeting a level of demand for games that dried up as covid restrictions loosened. However, some developers believe the reason for layoffs is much simpler. Companies like Microsoft and Sony still reported growing revenues despite multiple rounds of layoffs and studio closures. It’s no surprise then that 13 percent of respondents attributed layoffs to corporate greed.

In addition to layoffs, the last few years have also seen the failure of a number of high-profile, big-budget, live-service games. While there has been some success in that area with new games like Marvel Rivals, it’s generally tough to launch a live-service game that can compete with the overbearing likes of Fortnite, Roblox, and Call of Duty. 2024 was also the year that Balatro, Animal Well, and Astro Bot dominated headlines and award lists suggesting a greater appetite for those kinds of smaller-scoped, single-player experiences. It’s interesting, and perhaps concerning then, that according to the survey, over 30 percent of AAA developers are working on a live-service game.

When it asked developers their thoughts on live-service games the survey answered, “One of the biggest issues mentioned was market oversaturation, with many developers noting how tough it is to break through and build a sustainable player base.”

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Dozens of subreddits are banning links to X

Image: The Verge

Dozens of popular subreddits are banning links to X after Elon Musk made a gesture that historians and human rights groups have described as a Nazi salute. Communities that have instituted a ban on links to X include r/formula1, r/military, r/nursing, r/TwoXChromosomes, and r/nintendo.

The shift is spreading across Reddit after neo-Nazis celebrated Musk’s speech at a rally on Monday for Donald Trump’s inauguration. During the speech, Musk twice raised his arm in a salute that historians, elected officials, and organizations that support Holocaust survivors have observed as a Nazi salute. During his speech, Musk places his hand on his chest and throws his arm forward at an angle, holding it mid-air for a few moments. “My heart goes out to you,” he says to supporters. Some supporters of Musk have defended him, saying the gesture went along with his words.

Musk has not disavowed the neo-Nazis reading his gesture as a Sieg Heil, and in fact has minimized criticism, writing on X that “The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.” Musk has previously amplified racist, antisemitic conspiracy theories like the Great Replacement Theory and is constantly posting anti-immigrant claims not based in reality. After pouring millions of dollars into US politics to elect Trump, Musk has expanded to German politics as well, endorsing the far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

The subreddits that announced the new rule cover millions of users across geography and interests

Regardless of Musk’s true intentions, extremists are thrilled: as Rolling Stone reported, white supremacists are calling it a “Donald Trump White Power moment” and thanking Musk for “hearing” them.

The subreddits that announced the new rule cover millions of users across geography and interests. Some subreddits have announced they will allow screenshots of content from X but not hyperlinks, and many other large communities like r/nba and r/nfl are discussing following suit. Even setting Musk’s right wing politics aside, viewing X links on Reddit isn’t a great experience: links often don’t unfurl and users need an X account to view the conversation on the platform.

“Reddit has a longstanding commitment to freedom of speech and freedom of association,” said a Reddit spokesperson who asked to remain anonymous citing the sensitivity of the subject. While individual subreddits are able to institute community rules, “Reddit Inc. has no ban on X links — there are still plenty of X links on Reddit,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.

X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Here’s what Samsung’s first Android XR headset looks like in person

Samsung has its Project Moohan headset on display at Galaxy Unpacked, and we’ve just taken a bunch of pictures of it.

This technically isn’t the first time we’ve seen Project Moohan, but it is the first time we’ve been allowed to photograph it. To me, it looks somewhat similar to Apple’s high-end Vision Pro headset with a hint of Meta’s discontinued Quest Pro.

The headset, which Samsung is developing in partnership with Google, runs Android XR, an OS designed specifically for headsets and smart glasses. My colleague Victoria Song got to try Project Moohan late last year, so if you want to know what it’s like to actually wear and use, go check out her impressions.

Samsung plans to launch Project Moohan for developers first, but it won’t be available right away for consumers.

Here are our photos from the event floor at Unpacked:

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

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Where to preorder the Samsung Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra

The Galaxy S25 lineup looks very similar to the S24 family. Go figure. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Samsung finally took the wraps off its new Galaxy S25 lineup during its Unpacked event on Wednesday, providing us with our first formal look at the forthcoming Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra. Available starting on February 7th, you can already preorder the S25 starting at $799.99, the S25 Plus starting at $999.99, and the S25 Ultra starting at $1,299.99.

On the hardware front, Samsung’s latest phones represent a relatively minor refresh over last year’s S24 series. The new Galaxy S25 phones are all “Qi2 Ready,” meaning they charge at up to 15W on a Qi2 charger using Samsung’s magnetic Qi2 Ready cases. Each phone also features 12GB of RAM by default, along with more processing power thanks to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chip.

The new Qualcomm chipset supposedly allows for smarter and occasionally faster AI tools, which, as we noted in our brief hands-on time with the S25 and S25 Plus, are the real changes here. The onboard AI assistant is now based on Google Gemini by default and can control your phone with natural language requests. Other AI features include a video editing tool that can erase unwanted distractions like crowds and wind, as well as daily AI-generated summaries that help you make better sense of your calendar and commute.

We’re still in the process of testing Samsung’s latest phones, but if you want to reserve one ahead of launch, here’s what you need to know.

Where to preorder the Galaxy S25

Starting at $799.99, the Galaxy S25 comes with 12GB of RAM and your choice of either 128GB or 256GB of storage, the latter of which costs $60 more. It’s currently available for preorder from Samsung, Amazon, and Best Buy in navy, light blue, mint, or silver. It’s also available in a few exclusive colors directly from Samsung, including black, red, and rose gold.

At 6.2 inches, the entry-level Galaxy S25 is the smallest phone in the S25 lineup. It’s lighter and thinner than last year’s S24, and, as mentioned before, it now comes with 12GB of RAM. Otherwise, it’s very similar to its predecessor, with a 120Hz refresh rate and the same 50-megapixel main shooter, a 12-megapixel ultrawide, and a 10-megapixel telephoto lens. It also features a 12-megapixel selfie camera on the front.

In terms of deals, Amazon is offering $100 in credit when you preorder the 128GB model for $799.99 or the 256GB model for $859.99. Samsung is also offering a $100 credit when you preorder the 128GB model for $799.99, along with a $50 discount when you buy the 256GB model for $809.99. Best Buy’s promo is similar to Samsung’s, with the retailer throwing in a $50 gift card when you buy the 128GB model for $799.99 or the 256GB model for $859.99.

Where to preorder the Galaxy S25 Plus

The 256GB Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus runs $999.99 and comes with 12GB of RAM, though you can also buy it with 512GB of storage for $1,119.99. Like the Galaxy S25, it’s available for preorder from Samsung, Amazon, and Best Buy in navy, light blue, mint, and silver. If you purchase directly from Samsung, you can also grab it in black, red, or rose gold.

The main difference between the S25 and S25 Plus is that the larger model comes with more storage options and sports a 6.7-inch 120Hz display. It also packs a bigger battery than the S25 (4,900mAh versus 4,000mAh), though it remains to be seen if that translates to longer battery life given the larger display on the S25 Plus. Otherwise, it’s similar to the Galaxy S25 in that it features an identical camera system, IP68 dust and water resistance, and plenty of AI-powered features.

If you’re looking for a deal, Amazon is offering $100 in credit when you preorder the 256GB model for $999.99 or the 512GB model for $1,119.99. Samsung is also offering $150 in credit when you preorder the 256GB model for $999.99, or $50 in credit when you buy the 512GB model for $1,019.99. Lastly, Best Buy is throwing in a $100 gift card when you preorder either the 256GB model or the 512GB model at full price.

Where to preorder the Galaxy S25 Ultra

The S25 Ultra comes with 12GB of RAM and retails for $1,299.99 in the 256GB configuration, $1,419.99 in the 512GB configuration, and $1,659.99 in the 1TB variant. The Ultra is available for preorder from Amazon, Best Buy, and Samsung in blue, silver, gray, or black. (The latter retailer is also selling it in a few exclusive colors, such as rose gold and green.)

At 6.9 inches, the redesigned Galaxy S25 Ultra sports a larger display than both the S25 and S25 Plus. It also comes with an S Pen stylus, as well as an upgraded camera array that features two telephoto cameras and an improved 50-megapixel ultrawide sensor. You also get more storage options and a more durable titanium build, the latter of which features rounded edges for greater comfort.

In terms of promotions, Amazon is offering a $200 gift card when you preorder the 256GB model for $1,299.99 or the 512GB model for $1,419.99. Samsung is also throwing in a $150 credit when you preorder the 256GB model for $1,299.99, a $130 credit when you preorder the 512GB model for $1,299.99 ($120 off), or a $110 credit when you buy the 1TB model for $1,419.99 ($240 off). In addition, Best Buy is throwing in a $200 gift card when you preorder the 256GB model for $1,299.99, the 512GB model for $1,419.99, or the 1TB model for $1,659.99.

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Samsung claims its new Galaxy S25 Ultra glass can survive head-high drops on concrete

Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge

Will cracked screens actually become a thing of the past this decade? We’re definitely on an impressive trajectory! Just two years after Samsung’s Galaxy S23 adopted a new Corning Gorilla Glass that can survive waist-high drops of one meter directly onto concrete, the new Samsung S25 Ultra has a ceramic version that can apparently survive head-high drops of 2.2 meters (7.2 feet).

It’s called Corning Gorilla Armor 2, and you should know that neither Samsung nor Corning is promising that your actual phone will survive such a drop — if it’s anything like the 2023 claim, the 2.2-meter drop is simply what a phone-sized, weighted “puck” was able to survive when dropped face down in the lab. All Samsung said onstage today is that the material is better able to resist damage.

But that’s still over twice the height Corning and Samsung touted two generations ago, and the company impressively claims it was able to achieve that without compromising the scratch resistance of the glass — something that Corning has occasionally had to compromise in the past, as developing new forms of glass can come with tradeoffs between different kinds of protection. The new Armor 2 apparently has the same scratch protection as before, with “over four times more scratch resistance than competitive lithium-aluminosilicate cover glasses with an anti-reflective coating,” according to the companies.

And Corning and Samsung say the glass will still “dramatically” cut down on reflections like last year’s Gorilla Armor, a claim we found held up in our Samsung phone testing.

But, like last year, Samsung’s only promising to offer the best glass on its high-end Ultra model, which starts at $1,299, and it’s important to remember that any number of factors can cause a glass screen to crack sooner than you might like. If it lands on a slightly pointier protrusion than tested in the lab, or if the glass has already been slightly scratched, it could break when dropped from a lower height.

Corning has also provided a form of ceramic glass to Apple for its iPhones since 2020 — it calls that product “Ceramic Shield.”

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The Galaxy S25 Edge is Samsung’s rumored ‘slim’ phone

The Galaxy S25 Edge, deconstructed. | Screenshot: Samsung

Samsung just teased the Galaxy S25 Edge at the end of its Unpacked event, where it announced its Galaxy S25 lineup. It didn’t offer any details beyond the quick naming of the phone.

Below are some screenshots from Samsung’s presentation. It was brief, but it’s a phone, alright.

The Galaxy S25 Edge will come to the US, according to Android Authority, which cited a Samsung South Africa representative.

The outlet quotes the representative:

So, we will have the Ultra, the Plus, the base model. That’ll be South Africa. There is a Slim model, not initially available here. It’ll be available in select markets.

They added:

What will be announced has not finally been decided yet. But certainly US, Korea will be announced (sic). And then that model might be available as a second (wave) launch.

Like Apple’s rumored iPhone Air, the Galaxy S25 Edge is expected to be a super-skinny version of Samsung’s flagship line, measuring 6.4mm thick, according to recent rumors. That makes it thinner than the company’s other Galaxy phones. Rumors had pointed to three rear cameras, but that rumor doesn’t appear to have been accurate, now that we’ve seen it — the phone Samsung showed today only appears to have two on the back.

Rumors suggest that the phone will be released as soon as May.

A Samsung representative told The Verge the company had nothing further to share other than the tease at Unpacked.

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A lot of people signed up for Netflix to watch Jake Paul fight Mike Tyson

Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for Netflix © 2024

Netflix’s big bet on live events is paying off. New data published by the analytics firm Antenna indicates that Netflix added 1.43 million subscribers in the days surrounding the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul boxing match, while 656,000 members signed up around its NFL Christmas Day games.

Those numbers may seem small in a sea of Netflix’s more than 300 million global subscribers, but the streamer has consistently maintained around 50,000 to 70,000 signups per day since it began its password-sharing crackdown in 2023, according to Antenna.

Image: Antenna

Netflix highlighted its record viewership for live events in a letter to investors on Tuesday, noting that it will focus on airing “can’t-miss, special event programming” rather than regular season sports programming.

“Although our live programming will likely be a small percentage of our total view hours and content expense, we think the eventized nature will result in outsized value to both our members and our business,” Netflix said. The company also raised prices across all of its subscriptions as it continues to “invest in programming and deliver more value.”

Aside from Netflix, Paramount Plus drew in the most subscribers around last year’s Super Bowl LVII, with Antenna’s data showing a 3.2 million spike in signups surrounding the big game. Peacock also saw notable growth when it aired its NFL AFC Wild Card Game and in the first days of the Paris Summer Olympics.

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Google reportedly worked directly with Israel’s military on AI tools

Illustration: The Verge

Google worked with the Israeli military in the immediate aftermath of its ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, racing to beat out Amazon to provide AI services, according to company documents obtained by the Washington Post.

In the weeks after Hamas’s October 7th attack on Israel, employees at Google’s cloud division worked directly with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) — even as the company told both the public and its own employees that Google only worked with civilian government ministries, the documents reportedly show.

Weeks after the war began, an employee with Google’s cloud division escalated the IDF’s military’s requests for access to Google’s AI technology, according to the Post. In another document, an employee warned that Google needed to quickly respond to the military’s requests, or else Israel would turn to Amazon for its cloud computing needs. In a November 2023 document, an employee thanks a coworker for handling the IDF’s request. Months later, employees requested additional access to AI tools for the IDF.

Amid this, Google was punishing employees for protesting Project Nimbus, Israel’s $1.2 billion contract for Google and Amazon’s cloud computing services....

Read the full story at The Verge.

Trump’s war on electric cars has only just begun

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

The EV tax credit is still alive and kicking — but for how long?

Read the full story at The Verge.

Samsung and Google are developing AR glasses together

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Samsung and Google are partnering up to build AR glasses, Samsung’s TM Roh told Bloomberg. But there aren’t many other specifics beyond the fact that they’re in development — there’s not even a specific release timeline, with Roh telling the publication that Samsung and Google “will try to reach the quality and readiness we want as soon as possible.”

The announcement follows Meta’s splashy reveal of Orion, its first augmented reality glasses, last year. Those glasses won’t be sold to consumers, but my colleague Alex Heath called them an “impressive demo.”

The news of the Samsung- and Google-made AR glasses also follows the announcement of the Project Moohan mixed reality headset. The headset runs Android XR, which Google recently announced for headsets and smart glasses (and Bloomberg reports that the AR glasses will “eventually launch as part of the company’s efforts to co-develop the Android XR operating system”).

My colleague Victoria Song got to try the headset and the platform last year, and she described it as a “mix between a Meta Quest 3 and the Vision Pro”:

I’m walked through pinching to select items and how to tap the side to bring up the app launcher. There’s an eye calibration process that feels awfully similar to the Vision Pro’s. If I want, I can retreat into an immersive mode to watch YouTube and Google TV on a distant mountain. I can open apps, resize them, and place them at various points around the room. I’ve done this all before. This just happens to be Google-flavored.

At Unpacked, Samsung also revealed details about the Samsung Galaxy S25 lineup of phones, which includes the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra.

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Mickey 17’s new trailer is a reminder to read the small print

Warner Bros. Pictures

Ahead of Mickey 17’s debut in a few weeks, Warner Bros. has dropped a new trailer that really makes the film’s vision of terraforming alien planets look like absolute hell — at least for the working class.

Everyone has an important role to play in Mickey 17’s take on a future where humanity is trying to colonize other worlds. But in the new trailer, it’s clear that Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) has no idea what he’s agreeing to when he signs up to be an “expendable” on a ship headed to the desolate ice planet Niflheim.

Mickey doesn’t think there’s anything strange about how, once they make it to Niflheim, his crewmates all stay on their ship while encouraging him to wander outside with his helmet off and take deep breaths of whatever viruses might be hanging out in the atmosphere. And he doesn’t even seem all that concerned once his little excursion seemingly leads to a lethal infection that involves coughing up a lot of blood. It’s awful, but it’s also what Mickey’s colleagues expect for him because it’s his job to be a guinea pig who dies over and over again before being cloned by way of a 3D printer.

Though the new trailer gets increasingly more gruesome, it also leans into the movie’s humor as it spells out how messed-up of a situation Mickey has wandered into. And when Mickey 17 hits theaters on March 7th, it’ll probably leave us all reminded of why it’s important to always read your labor contracts.

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Samsung’s S25 and S25 Plus offer more of the same

The Galaxy S25 (left) and the S25 Plus (right).

If the Galaxy S24 series heralded the triumphant arrival of Galaxy AI, then the S25 and S25 Plus may be a bit of a comedown: they promise more AI that’s smarter and sometimes slightly faster. You’d better like it because that’s pretty much all you’re gonna get.

Samsung changed as little as it could on the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus, announced today alongside the larger and redesigned Galaxy S25 Ultra. There’s the obligatory jump to a new chipset — in this case, Qualcomm’s custom-tuned Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, included in phones worldwide this time around — and a welcome decision to offer 12GB of RAM as standard on every S25 phone, pulling the base model in line with the others.

Samsung hasn’t changed the look of the Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus.

The displays are the same as last year: 6.2 inches on the S25 and 6.7 inches on the S25 Plus, peaking at 2,600 nits of brightness and 120Hz refresh rate. The cameras are identical, too. There’s a 50-megapixel main camera, an ultrawide, and a 3x telephoto, with a familiar 12-megapixel selfie shooter on the front.

If you were to upgrade from last year’s Galaxy S24 Plus to this year’s model, the only spec that would change is the chipset. Well, that and the fact that the new phones are “Qi2 Ready” — they don’t have the magnets that Qi2 certification requires, but they’ll charge at up to 15W on a Qi2 charger when paired with Samsung’s official Qi2 Ready magnet cases.

Samsung hasn’t changed the camera hardware at all from the S24 and S24 Plus, though the thick black bezel is new.

Both S25 phones are thinner than their predecessors.

Perhaps I’m being a little unfair. Samsung hasn’t increased its prices at least — the S25 starts at $799.99 and the Plus model at $999.99, with preorders open now ahead of a full launch on February 7th. It’s also maintaining its promise of seven generations of Android updates and seven years of security support.

Both phones are lighter than their predecessors and almost half a millimeter thinner. That should ease the disappointment of anyone who’s been hoping for the launch of the rumored S25 Slim, which is now tipped not to launch in the US at all. But it’s still hard to avoid the inevitable conclusion: this year is a software update, not a hardware one.

The new Galaxy phones are awash with AI-branded features — which Samsung says remain free to use this year, though its plans are unclear beyond that. Plenty of them have been here since last year, like Google’s Circle to Search or generative photo editing tools that let you draw elements into photographs or remove distracting people and objects. Those now generate better results in less time, helped by improvements in AI models and the move to the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which handles more AI processing on-device, including previously cloud-based tasks like Generative Edit.

Audio Eraser is a built-in tool for video editing that lets you remove or reduce video noise across specific categories — think voices, music, wind, crowds — to focus on whichever sounds you care about. It works well, but it’s only new to Samsung: Google Pixel phones have been able to do the same thing through Audio Magic Eraser since the Pixel 8.

AI Select replaces Smart Select in the Edge Panel menu.

Other AI abilities are just as familiar, but we didn’t always call them AI. Take AI Select, accessed from Samsung’s Edge Panel, which gives “suggested actions” like cropping and sharing screenshots, creating GIFs from videos, or adding events to your calendar. It replaces Smart Select, which did most of that, too, but with a different design.

The S25 phones also offer a daily summary called Now Brief that lets you know what’s on your calendar for the day or how your commute looks, bringing us back full circle to 2012’s Google Now. Meanwhile, the Now Bar is Samsung’s answer to Apple’s Dynamic Island: a lockscreen element that can show sports scores and Google Maps navigation instructions or tell you what song is playing. It sounds useful, but is it AI? Apple didn’t think so.

Gemini is now the default AI assistant on the phones. RIP Bixby.

Some of the new features represent more meaningful progress. The phone’s AI assistant — which is now based on Google Gemini by default, with Samsung’s own Bixby relegated to access through its app — can control your phone with natural language requests. Ask it to make text bigger or find photos from your last holiday, and it should oblige. Gemini can now also work across multiple apps in a single interaction, though this upgrade isn’t exclusive to Samsung. It might look up a good restaurant and share it with your friend or pull up sports fixtures and add them to your calendar.

The problem for me is that most of these features are hard to test in-depth when you’re at a launch event using a phone that isn’t yours, has few apps installed and no accounts signed in, and might have only been set up for the first time that morning. We’ll have a better sense of how effective Samsung’s new AI features are when we can actually use the S25 and S25 Plus for an extended run in our review.

The problem for Samsung is that, until then, it’s not clear what here should tempt anyone into upgrading. Many of these AI and software features are baked into One UI 7 itself and should roll out soon to owners of the S24 and older models. If the hardware’s hardly changing, and the software’s coming to your phone anyway, what’s the incentive to upgrade?

Yesterday, my colleague Allison Johnson wrote that Samsung needs to give us a reason to care about new phones every year. On the strength of the S25 and S25 Plus, I think it’s fair to say that it hasn’t.

Photography by Dominic Preston / The Verge

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Samsung goes back to basics with the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s stylus

The “Ultra” model in Samsung’s Galaxy S lineup is typically the phone crammed full of every feature the company could think of. But this year, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is actually taking a step backward with the S Pen. The motion gestures and useful remote camera shutter function have been removed, and the stylus is back to being just a stylus. You can still wave it around like a magic wand, but the phone won’t do anything.

During a media briefing on the new S25 series last week, Samsung explained that customers rarely ever used the “Air action” gestures. So the company decided to try and cut costs by ditching them entirely. And no, the starting price of the S25 Ultra hasn’t come down as a result. Samsung believes other hardware upgrades are more than enough to maintain the same $1,299.99 price.

More comfortable phone. Less capable S Pen.

I never bothered with the gimmicky gestures more than once or twice. But having a convenient (and subtle) way of taking a photo when the phone was positioned somewhere out of reach was very convenient.

Samsung apparently thinks that the palm gesture — where the phone recognizes someone holding up their hand and automatically triggers the shutter — is a decent substitute. You can also control the S25 Ultra’s camera with a paired Galaxy Watch. But I’d argue neither of those is as simple as pressing a button on the stylus. They’re certainly not as inconspicuous if you’re trying to capture a candid shot. (The S Pen’s button still exists, but it’s mostly there to bring up the Air command shortcuts menu.)

Unlike past models, the S Pen can’t trigger the S25 Ultra’s camera.

This less capable S Pen marks a surprising regression for Samsung’s do-everything smartphone. However, the company seems hopeful that its Galaxy AI software capabilities will receive greater customer adoption. At least the handy screen-off memo feature isn’t going anywhere.

Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge

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The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra smooths out some sharp edges

Stylus still included.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra, announced today, sheds more of its Note roots this year with rounded corners and flat edges that align it more with the rest of the S series. It comes with Qualcomm’s latest chipset, an upgraded ultrawide camera, and not much else, hardware-wise. With no price increase over last year’s model — starting at $1,299 — it’s a light refresh of Samsung’s biggest phone, with a major emphasis on One UI 7.0’s AI upgrades.

Something about the shift from curved edges to flat sides makes the S25 Ultra look hefty in photos, like if the Cybertruck were a phone. But it’s actually slightly smaller and lighter than last year’s device, even with a bigger 6.9-inch screen thanks to slimmer bezels. It’s equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor tuned for Galaxy devices — that’s true for all S25-series phones sold in all regions, which hasn’t been the case recently. And it still comes with one more strong spec: seven years of OS updates and security patches.

Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge

Samsung rounded out the pointy, uncomfortable corners on the S24 Ultra and flattened the edges.

There are some interesting things not on the Ultra this year, though. Bixby is no longer the default virtual assistant. It’s still present and you can summon it through its own app. But Google Gemini will answer when you long-press the wake button on the side of the phone.

The included S Pen, another holdover from the Note era, gets a bit of a downgrade. It no longer supports Bluetooth, so the air gesture controls that previous versions offered are gone. The S25 Ultra’s included S Pen is just a basic stylus, no magic wand tricks up its sleeve. Bummer.

Camera hardware is largely unchanged from the previous model, except for a new 50-megapixel ultrawide, replacing a 12-megapixel module. Samsung claims that an upgrade to the S25’s algorithmic image processing has improved detail in zoomed images. On the video side, Samsung now offers a Galaxy Log profile along with a custom LUT.

Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge

Gemini is the new default assistant.

The most interesting changes are software-side in One UI 7.0. My colleague Dominic Preston has a good rundown of the new stuff as it also appears on the S25 and S25 Plus models. Unsurprisingly, it all has to do with AI, and much of it we were already familiar with thanks to the One UI 7.0 beta. But a couple of things made me sit up and pay attention.

The first is the ability to use AI across apps to take action, like taking a picture of a flyer and having Gemini add the dates to your calendar and send your spouse an email about it. Maybe this doesn’t sound like much, but some of us have to remember which day is “crazy hair day” at preschool, when conferences are, and the deadline for signing up for this season’s soccer class. A little help would be nice. This will first work across Google Workspace and Samsung native apps, with the addition of WhatsApp and Spotify.

The other thing I’m interested to see in action is suggested routines. In theory, the S25 phones will be able to notice if there are certain settings you tend to use at the same time every day or under certain conditions — like turning Bluetooth on every time you get in the car and turning it off when you get out. When it sees a pattern, it should be able to suggest a routine to take care of those actions for you automatically. You’ll be able to customize the routine parameters to your liking, but you won’t have to go through the tedious work of setting it up from scratch. That could be cool!

The thing is, this stuff isn’t exclusive to the S25 Ultra or even the S25 series. Samsung smartphone product manager Blake Gaiser told me Samsung will bring its new AI features to older devices where possible. The company certainly seems committed to delivering those updates to older phones — but don’t forget that they probably won’t always be free.

We’ll find out soon enough whether this is the AI update that will finally deliver on the promise of AI on our smartphones; the Galaxy S25 Ultra and its S25 siblings ship on February 7th.

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