TechCrunch Mobility: Rivian’s R2 gambit
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for all things “future of transportation.”
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Listen to this: Mabe Fratti’s experimental cello pop
The opening notes of “Kravitz”, which kicks off Mabe Fratti’s 2024 record Sentir Que No Sabes, are lodged in my brain permanently. It’s not a showy album, by any means. But there’s something about the buzzing of her cello, plucked as you might an upright bass. The way they ring out before coming to an […]
What we’re listening to, watching, and reading right now.
There is so much art out there that it’s absolutely impossible to keep up. Whether it’s a slept-on post-punk album from the ‘80s, a new sci-fi novel, or a cult classic horror movie, we’re always finding new obsessions here at The Verge — and we want to share those obsessions with you. Sometimes that might […]
The best Switch 2 controller just got better (and a little worse)
Crowning the EasySMX S10 the best Switch 2 controller last fall was easy. The $60 wireless gamepad, which is often well below $50, mimics or improves on many of the $90 Switch 2 Pro controller’s best features. The S10 has great-feeling rumble in games, TMR joysticks that will last longer than Nintendo’s, plus amiibo support, […]
The cute and cursed story of Furby
The hottest toy of 1998 was sort of adorable, and sort of annoying. It couldn’t do much – couldn’t do anything, really – but it could look at you, it could say some nonsense phrases, and it seemed uncannily aware of the world around it. That’s all Furby needed to pretty much take over the […]
The uncomfortable truth about hybrid vehicles
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the EV struggle, follow Andrew J. Hawkins. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started Apologies to the Toyota Prius, but the first hybrid vehicle […]
A roadmap for AI, if anyone will listen
The Pro-Human Declaration was finalized before last week’s Pentagon-Anthropic standoff, but the collision of the two events wasn’t lost on anyone involved.
Push for $40 smartphones builds momentum, but still faces cost hurdles
A coalition of telecom operators and device makers is pushing $40 smartphones to bring up to 20 million people online, but rising component costs threaten the plan.
Google just gave Sundar Pichai a $692M pay package
Most of it is tied to performance, including new stock incentives linked to Waymo and Wing, its drone delivery venture.
Grammarly’s ‘expert review’ is just missing the actual experts
A recently-added feature in Grammarly purports to improve users’ writing with help from the world’s great writers and thinkers — and some tech journalists, too.