Virtual reality hasn't really picked up the way everyone thought it would. Whether it's the early debacle of the metaverse or the still-nascent VR gaming industry, it seems VR is still waiting for its big moment. That said, if you've been wanting to scratch that VR gaming itch, I'm happy to report that there are enough gems that can individually make a VR headset purchase worth it.

When Windows 11 debuted back in 2021, people had mixed feelings about it, because while the design was refreshing, useful features like the drag-and-drop items on the taskbar were missing, leading to outrage. The taskbar drag-and-drop and other missing features were reintroduced to Windows 11 in the 22H2 update. Now, after more than two years, the software giant is once again rolling up its sleeves to take the drag-and-drop to the next level to make sharing effortless.

Looking like a true brute of an off-roader. | Image: Audi Audi has revealed a new dual-motor electric off-road vehicle concept based on the Q6 E-tron that looks ready for a snowpocalypse. The automaker built a working prototype that lifts the vehicle by 6.3 inches and widens it by 9.8 inches, giving it a stance that wouldn’t be out of place if it appeared in Truck Country, USA.Audi’s CEO Gernot Döllner calls the “Q6 E-Tron Off-road concept” a “reinterpretation of Quattro,” which is the company’s marketing term for its all-wheel-drive models. The extra ride height is courtesy of four bespoke portal axles integrated into the wheel hub assemblies at the front and rear that Audi says increase torque at the wheel by 50 percent. Each axle is powered by an electric motor with a combined power output of 380kW and up to 9,883 lb ft of torque at its peak. That’s up 3,245 lb ft of torque from the normal Q6 E-tron, which is Audi’s first vehicle built on Volkswagen’s modular Premium Platform Electric (PPE) platform (also used in the new A6 E-tron and Porsche Macan EV).The vehicle is designed to climb hills as steep as 45 degrees but the company did nerf the Q6’s top speed a bit down to 108 mph. Still, no one should drive that fast anyway in a vehicle lifted this high. This also makes the Off-road concept a much more realistic one compared to more sci-fi Audi concepts like the Activesphere coupe / pickup truck combo with a mixed reality cockpit or the truly apocalyptic all-terrain “AI:Trail” that has drones for headlights.Audi’s Q6 E-tron Offroad concept will be featured at the FAT International Ice Race in Austria on February 1st. The company will also show it in action via its social media channels.

I've written about the console vs. PC debate before, the things consoles are better at, and the kind of user uniquely suited to the console experience. Personally, I'm still on Team PC — the little time I'm able to devote to gaming is reserved for my gaming PC. More and more, however, I've been feeling a pull toward consoles, and it looks like it may be time to reconsider my opinion.

You know, when it comes to DIY projects, we like to see ideas that use 3D printers and pre-bought materials that get the job done. However, when we do, we lose sight of the real foundation of DIY fans everywhere: Lego blocks. If you're tired of telling yourself that your electronic projects can't use colorful building blocks to house them, then check out this cool example that uses Lego to get the job done.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Apple is making an executive change to try and improve its AI efforts and Siri. Kim Vorrath, who recently helped get the Vision Pro software out the door and has been at Apple for 36 years, has been brought over to Apple’s artificial intelligence and machine learning division and will serve as a “top deputy” to AI boss John Giannandrea, Bloomberg reports.The company made a big splash about its AI / Apple Intelligence efforts at WWDC last year, but they haven’t had the same impact as things like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini. Apple has also been slowly rolling out what it announced, and a big Siri upgrade that lets it understand what’s happening on your screen and take action may not arrive until iOS 18.4. And the company’s AI-powered news notification summaries will be put on pause with iOS 18.3 after criticism that the summaries were incorrect.By bringing on Vorrath, whose resume at Apple includes work on the original iPhone software group, over to the AI team, it appears Apple wants to bring more rigor to Apple’s AI development. It also indicates that Apple may see AI as a bigger deal for its future than the Vision Pro.Bloomberg also reports that “the artificial intelligence group is focused on revamping the underlying infrastructure of Siri and improving the company’s in-house AI models” this year, per a memo from Giannandrea.

Docking stations can be a great way to expand the capabilities of the devices you already own. While docking stations are usually paired up with laptops, you can also use them for tablets, PC gaming handhelds, and smartphones as well. Of course, if you've been on the hunt for one, chances are, you've seen how pricey they can be.

It’s all about the vibes. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge There are a lot — and I mean a LOT — of fitness trackers out there, many of which can provide a surprising amount of insight into your health and fitness. That being said, the bare-bones Casio WS-B1000, which is currently on sale at Amazon and Walmart for an all-time low of $39.10 (about $17 off), is not exactly one of them.At its core, the WS-B1000 is a lightweight wristwatch with some basic smarts, retro styling, and a few different color options. There’s no optical heart rate monitor or fancy-schmancy OLED display, though it does boast an onboard accelerometer for tracking your steps, up to two years of battery life on a single CR2016 coin cell battery, and Bluetooth for pairing it with your phone. Doing so lets you view a basic activity log in the Casio app while ensuring you always have the correct time on hand (a wild concept, I know).You get some basic wristwatch functionality as well — including a stopwatch, a timer, and an alarm — but the appeal of the WS-B1000 isn’t what it offers but what it lacks. For someone like me who’s burnt out on push notifications and rarely tracks anything beyond steps, a cheap tracker with some Y2K vibes is a welcome reprieve.Read our Casio WS-B1000 review.Other ways to save this weekendSamsung held its latest Unpacked event this week, providing us with a closer look at its forthcoming slate of Galaxy phones. The iterative S25 Ultra is the most capable of the bunch thanks to its improved ultrawide camera, and if you’re looking to reserve it ahead of its February 7th release date, it’s now up for preorder at Amazon and Best Buy with a $200 gift card starting at $1,299.99. Samsung, meanwhile, is offering the 6.9-inch phone for the same price with $150 in store credit. Read our hands-on impressions.Now through the end of tomorrow, January 26th, Anker’s 341 USB Power Strip is available from Amazon and Anker for an all-time low of $18.69 (about $7 off). The 11-in-1 power strip isn’t going to provide a ton of surge protection, sure, but it sports a pair of wall-mounting slots, several USB ports, and a whopping eight AC outlets. Plus, it features a nifty fastener, allowing you to easily coil the 5-foot cable if you plan to take it with you on the road.If my colleague Antonio G. Di Benedetto’s recent experience with the GameSir G8 Plus left you envious of his big screen upgrade, you can now pick up the clamp-on mobile controller at Amazon for $65.99 ($14 off), which nearly matches its all-time low. It’s similar to 8BitDo’s first smartphone controller in that it features drift-free Hall effect sensors in the joysticks and connects over Bluetooth as opposed to USB-C; however, unlike 8BitDo’s offering, the G8 Plus supports Android and iOS, along with the Nintendo Switch.

A few years ago, it became a "life hack" to add the word "Reddit" at the end of a search term for something you want help with (at least, before Google began serving Reddit posts higher than usual). The idea is that whatever problem you have, there are ten Reddit threads from days past that have threads full of troubleshooting tips, advice, solutions, and tools to fix your issue. Well, it seems that the life hack is being used against us, as scammers now use fake Reddit websites to peddle malware.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images “All I know is I’m good for my $80 billion.”Rarely does a one-liner so perfectly capture the state of the moment. Here, you have Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella saying he’s “not in the details” about Stargate, the supposedly multi-hundred-billion AI infrastructure project driven by his marquee investment, OpenAI.Nadella not being read in on the nebulous details of Stargate says a lot about how much Microsoft and OpenAI have drifted apart. Microsoft is mentioned in the Stargate press release since OpenAI’s models are still exclusive to Azure. But the most striking aspect of Stargate is not that the money isn’t there for it yet; it’s that OpenAI’s biggest backer has decided to not participate in what Sam Altman is calling “the most important project of this era.” As Nadella made clear on CNBC this week, he’s running his own, $80 billion AI infrastructure buildout and, going forward, OpenAI can get additional compute — with his blessing — elsewhere. While it received fewer headlines this week, I found Nadella’s response to Elon Musk on X even more illuminating. In his response to Musk saying, “on the other hand, Satya definitely does have the money,” Nadella responded: “ And all... Read the full story at The Verge.

Many of us rely on our laptops for work, school, or entertainment, but even the best laptops trade power and features for the convenience of portability. Gaming laptops come with power-limited GPUs, pretty much all laptops are limited in storage space, and the thinner they get, the harder they are to cool. But with a few wisely chosen pieces of external hardware, that laptop can turn into a powerhouse of productivity and graphical prowess.

Has the fan seized up inside your game console? How about the display or disc drive? Whenever something goes wrong with a specific part of any video game console, it can be a pain to get it rectified. The most common route is to reach out to the manufacturer, which will require you to either send out the device or seek local assistance from a nearby shop. This can prove time-consuming and costly, depending on whether your console is still under warranty. But what about a classic console? Why don't manufacturers stock and sell parts for all console models?