China is rolling back rare earth mineral restrictions, White House says
The White House released more details Saturday about a trade deal reached between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Tech
Meta has an AI product problem
Meta’s AI spending is starting to make Wall Street nervous.
Why the Zune never killed the iPod
The Microsoft Zune is mostly just a footnote in tech history. Microsoft spent years – and vast sums of money – trying to create a true competitor to Apple’s iPod, without ever coming close to actually pulling it off. The Zune was simply too little, too late. You know what’s surprising about the Zune, though? […]
The perfect grocery list-making app doesn’t exist
There is no more chaotic activity than willfully entering a grocery store without a list. I know. Some people thrive on vibes-based grocery shopping. They can come up with meals on the fly, buy what’s on sale and work around that, or follow some bizarre “3-3-2-2-1” rule or whatever I’m always seeing on Instagram. I […]
The best things to watch over and over and over
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 104, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, happy belated Halloween, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I’ve been reading about lotteries and Jennifer Lawrence and religious AI, shame-watching Finding Mr. […]
The great tariff shakedown
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the real-world effects of Trump’s tariffs, follow Mia Sato. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started The economists tried to warn us. From the […]
Elon Musk wants you to know that Sam Altman got a refund for his Tesla Roadster
Elon Musk and Sam Altman are still taking swipes at each other on Musk’s social media platform X.
Google’s Pixel Watch 3 and Anker’s two-headed USB-C cable are our favorite deals this week
There are plenty of good smartwatches out there, and Google’s last-gen Pixel Watch 3 is one of them. Right now, the 45mm / Wi-Fi model is available at Amazon, Walmart, and Target for $199.99 ($100 off), which is a new low price and $150 less than the Pixel Watch 4. In her review, our own […]
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong trolls the prediction markets
While Armstrong may have helped some Kalshi and Polymarket users make a little money, he was also illustrating how easily these markets can be manipulated.
Ayaneo Phone confirmed in a teaser featuring retro Remake branding
Ayaneo is best known for its retro gaming handhelds, but the company has now confirmed its first phone will be coming soon. Ayaneo briefly teased that it was working on a phone back in August during the event where it unveiled the dual-screen Pocket DS. Of course, many of the company’s gaming handhelds run a […]