While Excel is incredibly powerful for organizing data and performing calculations, repetitive tasks like data entry, formatting, and report generation can quickly turn into a nightmare. While several built-in ways to automate an Excel workbook exist, they feel limited during complex tasks.

The Galaxy S23 phones are the most recent in its flagship line currently eligible for trade-in. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Samsung has announced a change to its Galaxy Trade-In program that allows consumers to trade in select Galaxy smartphone models to the company year-round, without the need to make a new purchase at the same time.The new program is set to start today in South Korea and France, with other markets to follow later in 2025. The company says that its aim is to “boost the value of Galaxy devices” in the long-term by providing “amazing savings” through the trade-in process.There are two key changes to the program, which will be operated by insurance and repair company Likewize. The main change is the purchase requirement: before this policy shift, trade-ins to the company have required a new purchase from samsung.com or the company’s app, with the option to start a trade-in only appearing during the checkout process. The second change is “year-round” availability. Trade-ins are already available at any time in the US and most other Western markets, but in South Korea they’ve previously been locked to specific windows — usually just after major new product launches like next week’s S25 reveal, for example.There’s still one big limit to the scheme however: you can only trade in specific Samsung flagship phones. Right now, that’s limited to the Galaxy S20 series through to the S23, and foldables from the Z Flip 3 and Z Fold 3 through to the Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5. Curiously, last year’s Galaxy S24 and Z Flip/Fold 6 aren’t included, so you can’t sell anything too recent.

Remote access software has become a valuable tool for individuals and businesses alike. Whether you need to troubleshoot a family member’s computer, collaborate with colleagues on a project, or manage a network of devices, having reliable remote access is crucial. However, finding an ideal tool for my needs and budget turned out to be more challenging than I thought.

Ray tracing is much more than just a marketing term in 2025. Most games released these days have RT features in them; reflection and lighting have always been difficult for game developers to get right, and ray tracing helps by doing a lot of the heavy lifting for them. It still has to be implemented correctly, and a lot of titles just don't justify the performance tax it places on your system. Among gamers, it hasn’t always been popular, but here are 3 reasons why ray tracing isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Happy 2025! Microsoft has rolled out the first big updates for Windows 10 and 11 for the year, but don't get too excited. Across the board, we're seeing security fixes for the operating system, which, while very useful for warding off attacks, doesn't really get me excited to give it a spin. However, if you're a fan of Roblox, you may notice some issues playing it in the future.

For a pair of operating systems that are hitting the 30-year mark, Windows 95 and 98 still get a lot of love to this day. Just under a year ago, someone ported thousands of apps from Windows 98 to 95 by reverse-engineering some code. Now, someone is showing Windows 98 some love by creating a Minecraft Launcher that runs on the retro operating system.

The seventh-gen iPad is the cheapest tablet in Apple’s current lineup to support Apple Intelligence. | Photo: David Pierce / The Verge If you’re in the market for a highly portable tablet, Apple’s smallest tablet has fallen to its lowest price to date at multiple retailers. Right now, the latest iPad Mini is on sale at Amazon and Best Buy with Wi-Fi and 128GB of storage starting at $399 ($100 off). If you need more storage, you can also buy the step-up model with 256GB of storage for $499 ($100 off) or the 512GB variant for $699 ($100 off).With its 8.3-inch screen and lightweight design, the latest iPad Mini is closer in size to the iPhone than any other tablet in Apple’s lineup. As a result, it’s easier to carry on the go and hold with one hand, making it an excellent option if you read a lot on your tablet. Its small size doesn’t come at the expense of performance, though. In fact, the onboard A17 Pro chip is snappier than the A14 Bionic chip found in the entry-level iPad, even if it’s not as speedy as the processors in the M4-powered iPad Pro or M2-powered Air.Unlike the base iPad, the seventh-gen Mini supports Apple Intelligence, so you can take advantage of a host of AI-based features — such as AI-assisted summaries, Genmoji, ChatGPT, and the ability to erase unwanted objects in photos. It also supports the newer Apple Pencil Pro, along with Wi-Fi 6E and faster USB-C performance. They’re pretty iterative updates overall; however, they’re also a lot more appealing at $399 than they are at the tablet’s typical retail price of $499.Read our iPad Mini review.

Illustration: The Verge Google is adjusting the “profile sharing” feature in its Google Messages app to allow users to set custom contact names and photos on their own devices for their stored contacts and others they send text messages. As reported by 9to5Google, a change rolled out late last year that overrode your custom names and photos with each individual’s broadcasted profile, but now you can change it back to give friends, colleagues, and family members the names and avatars that you think they should have.The profile-sharing feature was announced in late 2023, as Google continued to push the rollout of RCS, and works similarly to Contact Posters on iPhones. Android Authority found a reference in Android code in October that Google was working to allow for customer profile photos yet again.Google’s updated support page for profile sharing now outlines steps to set a local contact photo that replaces the one shared by your contact. To customize their name or appearance, tap on a contact name or picture of a person in a Google Messages chat, then tap their photo on the details page. From there, you can switch between their shared one or your own custom one for them.

By now, Nvidia's new RTX 50 series GPUs might be all over your feeds. People are in awe of the massive performance leap Nvidia showcased and the price cuts that came out of nowhere. However, there have also been a lot of less-than-exuberant reactions to CEO Jensen Huang's CES keynote due to the fact that it didn't come across as fully transparent.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images TikTokers are coping with the app’s potential ban with an unusual trend: by bidding farewell to their “personal Chinese spy.” The trend, which pokes fun at security concerns surrounding the app, has users thanking their “spy” for surveilling them and filling their For You page with entertaining content, while others proclaim that they’d rather share their data directly with the Chinese government than switch to Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts.One post, which garnered more than 1.5 million likes, depicts an emotional scene from Squid Game with the caption, “Me saying goodbye to my Chinese spy on the 19th (He perfected my algorithm).” Other TikTokers are speaking — and singing — in Chinese, while some pretend to be the “spies” powering individual algorithms. @_unsc_ #tiktokban ♬ original sound - _unsc_ “It is a great honor to spy on you for the last few years,” TikToker yanxiao1003 says in a video. “I wish you all have a great life in the future... Laura from California, you shouldn’t drink that much Coca-Cola, it’s bad for your health.”For years, TikTok has faced scrutiny over the ties of its parent company, ByteDance, to China, with lawmakers calling it a “national security threat” and accusing the app of sending US user data to China. But now the platform’s ban is imminent, with the Supreme Court set to hand down a decision on whether to uphold the law that would either ban TikTok or force ByteDance to divest it by January 19th. @yneeky #tiktokban #fyp #fypシ #foryoupage ♬ original sound - Neeky @yanxiao1003 No gathering lasts forever #tiktokban #chinesespy ♬ See You Again - Saymon Cleiton & jhonatan Rodrigues @lisandravcomedy An open letter to my special Chinese Spy #tiktokban #politicstiktok #comedy ♬ Carmen Habanera, classical opera(1283412) - perfectpanda @cool_cammy i’m gonna miss my chinese spy ♬ original sound - cool_cammy @celestialdemon9909 #tiktokban ♬ original sound - Ancoleman9909 @matcha.mix sometimes it’s the one who’s always been in front of you that you never notice #tiktokban #invisiblestring #lovejourney #matchamix #data #china #datinglife ♬ original sound - alex @kozylifekiki Tiktok ban who they can have all the info they want on me to keep tiktok from getting banned #tiktokban ♬ original sound - JamieJL651

There are a lot of tablets on the market right now. But if you're looking for something compact and powerful, the iPad Mini is going to be one of the best options. This is the latest model that utilizes the brand's A17 Pro chip.

Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5090 is now the fastest graphics card in the world. But when it hits store shelves on January 30, 2025, I won't be upgrading from my RTX 4090. And that's because I don't necessarily feel the need to do so. The RTX 4090 is still more than adequate for all the games that I play, even at 4K resolution. But that's not all; I'm not impressed by the RTX 5090 either. I feel like Nvidia is exaggerating RTX 5090's performance with AI-powered technologies like DLSS 4 and multi-frame generation. So, let me list the reasons why I'm keeping my RTX 4090 this year.