Image: Honda Honda teased the reveal of the first two Honda Zero prototypes, which will be making their official debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. The company also said it would have a new proprietary operating system for the global electric vehicle series to show off.Honda announced Honda Zero at CES 2024, describing it as a new “global EV series” that would be “lighter” and more space-age than the current crop of heavy, boxy electric SUVs and trucks. The three defining principles of Honda Zero were “thin,” “light,” and “wise.” And the company would use its learnings from F1 and its robotics work to introduce a new lineup of vehicles that were distinctly of the future. At the upcoming CES, Honda says it will expand on its “wise” principle by releasing more details about its new OS, automated driving technologies, and an overview of its system-on-a-chip that will support its Honda Zero vehicles. The teaser image features rear profiles of the two concept vehicles first revealed earlier this year: the Saloon and the Space-Hub. The Saloon has a sloping fastback shape with unique rectangular lights in the front and rear that resemble a vintage Black & Decker Dustbuster. The Space-Hub resembles a minivan with minimal overhangs and a rear light that has a similar look to Rivian’s electric delivery vans for Amazon.Honda says it will expand on its “wise” principleEarlier this year, Verge contributor Abigail Bassett flew out to Japan to get up close with Honda’s new global EV series. She drove a prototype CR-V equipped with Honda Zero tech and found it to be lighter and more nimble than a Honda Prologue. The new Honda Zero platform feels similar to other EV platforms on the market in terms of acceleration and handling. Because the weight is low in the floor, the prototype CR-V cornered quickly and flat as you approached the limit. The powertrain is quick and responsive, and on the short, front straight that the engineers set up for our test laps, I hit 110km (just shy of 70mph) in a relatively short distance. It will be interesting to see more production-ready versions of the Saloon and Space-Hub in the flesh, especially with all the chatter about Honda in the background (working on solid-state batteries, collaborating with Sony on the Afeela EV, potentially merging with Nissan).

Image: DJI The US Senate has passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual defense spending bill, and it may have major consequences for the world’s largest drone company — though not necessarily the immediate ban that China’s DJI feared. While it did not contain the full “Countering CCP Drones Act” provisions that would have quickly blocked imports of DJI products into the United States, it instead kicks off a one-year countdown until its products (and those of rival dronemaker Autel Robotics) are automatically banned. If DJI cannot convince “an appropriate national security agency” to publicly declare that its products do not “pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States,” the act instructs the FCC to add DJI’s gear to its “covered list” under the Secure and Trusted Communication Networks Act. Not only does that list keep that gear from running on US networks, it bars the FCC from authorizing their internal radios for use in the US, effectively blocking all imports.While none of that would keep US citizens from continuing to use their existing DJI gadgets, it wouldn’t just ban new DJI drones from import into the United States. Every DJI product with a radio or camera, like the Verge favorite DJI Osmo Pocket 3, would technically be banned. (The NDAA doesn’t specify just drones, but rather communications and video surveillance equipment.)The text of the bill (PDF, see page 1084-1088) should theoretically prevent DJI from exploiting the loophole of whitelabeling its drones under other brand names or licensing its technology, too, as it seemed to be doing with the Anzu Robotics Raptor and Cogito Specta. The bill explicitly tells the FCC to add “any subsidiary, affiliate, or partner” and “any entity to which the named entity has a technology sharing or licensing agreement” to the covered list, too.The bill had already passed the House of Representatives and is headed to President Biden’s desk, where it’s considered a must-sign: it would trigger a partial government shutdown if not signed, and it already passed both houses of Congress with strong bipartisan support.So it’ll really be up to the Trump administration as to whether it wants to rescue the Chinese drone company, in the year after he takes office. Trump may not need to lift a finger if he’d prefer to see fewer DJI products in the country, so the ball’s in DJI’s court. It wouldn’t be surprising if DJI tries to get face time with Trump in the near future — like TikTok, which is more imminently facing a ban.Even without the NDAA, DJI was already facing increased US scrutiny, reporting that its products had begun to see surprise import restrictions (allegedly over the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act), and making a conscious decision to ship fewer of them into the United States as a result. In October, it sued the US Department of Defense for labeling it a “Chinese Military Company”.In a blog post, DJI calls it “good news” that the NDAA doesn’t explicitly ban DJI products, but says the US government is singling out Chinese drones for scrutiny, and worries about the fact that the law doesn’t specify a government agency to actually carry out the task of determining whether it poses a risk. “This means that DJI would be prevented from launching new products in the US market through no fault of its own, but simply because no agency chose to take on the work of studying our products,” the company writes. It’s asking Congress to pick a “technically focused agency to assure the assessment is evidence-based,” and to give the company the opportunity to reply.

If your laptop or PC lacks ports at home or in the office, it may be time to expand with a USB-C hub or docking station. While the former is usually the more affordable option, this deal brings a docking station down to a price that simply can't be ignored.

Image: Intel Intel’s new Arrow Lake CPUs came out in October promising high performance at lower power levels, but reviews, including ours, noted surprisingly lackluster gaming performance. Tom Warren said of the Core Ultra 9 285K, “...in many titles, it provides worse performance than the 14th Gen chips it was designed to replace.”Now, the troubled chipmaker says it has been gradually releasing updates that fixed most of the issues it identified, as reported earlier by Tom’s Hardware.“At the end of the day, there were four root issues that we needed to address, and fixes for those are actually already in the field right now,” Robert Hallock, Intel’s VP and GM of client AI and technical marketing said during an interview with HotHardware. “They’ve been coming out over the last two weeks or so in drips and drabs, as update schedules allow.”One issue stemmed from a “mistimed” update that was supposed to optimize Windows’ processor power management (PPM) system for Intel’s Core Ultra 200S-series processors. (PPM adjusts the performance of a CPU based on the current power plan, such as Balanced, High Performance, Power Saver, etc). Instead of releasing the PPM update before reviewers got their hands on the processors, Intel says it scheduled the update to go out when it became widely available, which may have caused reviewers to see worse-than-expected performance. Due to the missing PPM update, Intel’s performance-boosting Application Performance Optimizer (APO) also couldn’t take effect in games, while “misconfigured” performance settings also had a negative impact on reviewers’ benchmarks. Image: Intel A fix was already applied for these issues in Windows 11 build 26100.2161. Intel also says Epic Games resolved a driver compatibility issue causing the blue screen of death when running games with Easy Anti-Cheat, such as Star Wars Outlaws.Intel is planning to release another set of performance upgrades for Arrow Lake CPUs in January, and it will “provide a comprehensive performance update” at CES. For now, Intel recommends updating Windows and applying the latest BIOS update to your motherboard if you haven’t already. Otherwise, you can wait until the “final” performance update next year.

New logo up top and old one on the bottom. | Image: Sandisk SanDisk is now SANDISK. It’s also now Sandisk. The company is announcing a fresh rebranding this week with a new logo that drops the inter-capped styling it’s generally maintained since 1995 with one that is inspired by “a single point of data” or a “pixel.”In a new video, Sandisk says its “slab serif is back and bolder” and it maintains its open “D” letter, but pairs it with a new “pixel-driven S.” The company says the letters symbolize “the collaboration and partnership required to actualize our purpose and tap into new possibilities.” As noted in a report by Fast Company, the Sandisk rebranding comes ahead of a spinoff from its parent company Western Digital planned for next year (it was originally planned for this year). Western Digital had originally acquired Sandisk back in 2016.Last year, Western Digital was embroiled in controversy surrounding the popular, pricey portable SanDisk Extreme SSD, in which publications reported that the product would wipe owners’ data erroneously. It happened to our supervising producer Vjeran Pavic, and Western Digital refused to answer our questions at the time to explain what was happening.Controversy aside, we’re big fans of “unfinished” logo styles here at The Verge, and it looks like Sandisk did alright with its rebrand. It certainly could do worse -- just look at PayPal, Kia, Paramount. or JaGUar.

Not a Switch 2. Think bigger. | Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge Last Friday, we brought you leaked dimensions of the next Nintendo Switch from the most likely source yet: a “3D scan of the actual hardware” obtained by case manufacturer Dbrand. But case manufacturers aren’t the only source of leaks.A Redditor named “NextHandheld” claims to have seen and touched an actual final retail unit of the Nintendo Switch 2. I spoke with them, and I’ve now heard and seen enough to think they might be legit.In particular, I’ve seen two photos of a possible Nintendo Switch 2 dock, and one photo of the inside of a possible Switch 2 controller rail, covered in certification logos and with copper contacts exposed, which also shows its metal kickstand hinge open at an angle. Notably, the dock was not included in the 3D scan that’s circulating among case manufacturers.If NextHandheld is telling the truth, we now know a good bit more about Nintendo’s next console. For example: as much as we’d love it to be called the “Super Nintendo Switch,” it’ll likely be introduced as the Nintendo Switch 2. Name and dateOfficially, Nintendo has only called it “the successor to Nintendo Switch,” promised to formally announce the new console by March 31st, 2025, and revealed that it will be backward compatible with original Switch games.Unofficially, NextHandheld’s source has heard it might be announced as soon as January — and shared what they claim is first-hand evidence with The Verge that it is the Nintendo Switch 2. I saw a picture of a dock, with the same logo as as the original Nintendo Switch, only with a 2 attached. It wasn’t far off from this Redditor’s guess: Image: u/DjuncleMC And while NextHandheld says they’re “disappointed” that the dock doesn’t seem to have any more ports than the original — two USB-A, one HDMI, one ethernet, and one USB-C likely used for its power brick — it may have a different trick up its sleeve.Magnetic controllers — finally with drift-resistant joysticksIn April, Spanish pub Vandal (which correctly reported minor details of the Switch OLED before launch) reported that, incredibly, Nintendo might replace the Switch’s controller rails with magnets so your Joy-Cons can magically snap into place. Today, it no longer seems incredible, because the photo I saw of a joystick rail region contains no rail: it’s just a long, rounded, hollow area, with a 13-pin connector that sticks out so it can slot into the Joy-Con. NextHandheld says there’s a physical magnetic click when you attach them, and that you’ll press a much larger button on the controller, one that’s physically connected to a magnet, to release. (You can see mockups of such buttons in our Dbrand story.)More importantly, the Nintendo Switch 2 might finally get rid of the infamous “Joy-Con Drift” that plagues its controllers to this day. NextHandheld claims the controllers will have magnetic Hall effect joysticks, which don’t contain the same deteriorating sensor material and can be recalibrated easily. A U-shaped kickstandThe original Nintendo Switch had a tiny, easy-to-topple gumstick of a kickstand, and the Switch OLED had a wide, flat plate. But the Nintendo Switch 2 will feature a U-shaped rail of a kickstand, according to a photo that NextHandheld shared with me. I understand that the 3D CAD file shows the U-shape, too — and case manufacturers have begun sharing images of similar U-shaped kickstands, too. But it looks like it could be beefier than some of the mockups floating around:Nintendo Switch 2 New Photos ⚠️✅️ U Shaped Kickstand✅️ Console - 118.5mm x 273mm✅️ Switch 2 Lighter than Steam Deck✅️ Larger ZL/ZR Buttons than Switch 1✅️ Magnet Joycons make a "Click" Sound✅️ 2 Joycon Back Release Buttons pic.twitter.com/Ay5xUQAMg3— Deck Wizard (@deckwizardyt) December 15, 2024Extra power when docked?Once upon a time, Nintendo was reportedly planning to release a Nintendo Switch Pro, one that would output 4K graphics when docked to your TV, at least partly thanks to Nvidia’s DLSS AI upscaling. That didn’t happen, but the Nintendo Switch 2’s dock might be designed to let the handheld run a bit faster. On Reddit, NextHandheld cryptically teased that asking if the dock had a fan was “the right question,” and in a picture shared with The Verge, I can see the alleged dock has big feet around back, ones positioned so it can lie down horizontally without blocking a set of vents. While I don’t imagine you’d intentionally put it on its back, as the handheld might fall out of the completely open slot up top, I can imagine Nintendo wanting to make sure the console doesn’t overheat if you accidentally knock it over. Intriguingly, NextHandheld says the dock is rated for 60W, while the Switch 2 is rated for 45W, both of which would be substantially higher than the original if true. The original Switch had an unusual 39W charger for both docked and handheld modes, which only provided up to 18W for the handheld.The many things we still don’t knowYou can dig through NextHandheld’s Reddit comments or read this early summary for a lot more possible details about the new console. But the Redditor is upfront that they never got to turn the handheld on, or play any games. They don’t know whether a Switch 2 can play original Switch cartridges, or only digital Switch 1 games. They don’t know if it has a microphone, or a camera, or how much storage space it has, or its performance, or anything about its reportedly 8-inch screen, or its launch titles.They do say it will launch in dark grey, however, like the original Nintendo Switch, and that it will be followed by a white model, and one themed with a Nintendo game that hasn’t received a themed Switch yet. And, they’re the latest to possibly corroborate a new second USB-C port on the top, though that was obviously revealed in the 3D scan.If it’s true that Nintendo will announce the Switch 2 in January, though, you won’t have to wait long for more answers — or to find out if these ones are true.

National climate adviser Ali Zaidi speaks at the daily press briefing at the White House on January 26th, 2024, in Washington, DC. | Photo by Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images The Biden administration set ambitious new goals to slash US greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris climate accord, urging states and local governments to stay on course regardless of President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to purposefully ignore climate change.The nearly 200 countries that have joined the Paris agreement face a deadline in February to update their national climate plans. Biden’s team decided to put out its own plan before Trump steps into office, setting a new target today of cutting net emissions by 61–66 percent in 2035 compared to a 2005 baseline. It also sets a specific target of cutting methane emissions by at least 35 percent by the same date. Methane comes from livestock, landfills, and leaking oil and gas infrastructure and is an even more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.Trump has called climate change a “hoax” and has vowed to pull the US out of the Paris agreement. So Biden’s last-ditch effort to keep the US on track to meet global climate goals is more symbolic — seemingly designed to encourage a grassroots movement in defiance of Trump’s national agenda.“Escape velocity, an inexorable path, a place from which we will not turn back”“Across the country, we see decarbonization efforts to reduce our emissions in many ways achieving escape velocity, an inexorable path, a place from which we will not turn back,” White House national climate adviser Ali Zaidi said in a call with reporters. It helps that new solar and onshore wind farms have become cheaper sources of electricity than coal or gas. Around 95 percent of new sources of electricity queued up to connect to US power grids is carbon-free — mostly solar and wind energy and batteries. The Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law have also authorized hundreds of billions of dollars of funding for clean energy. Current policies put the US on track to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by around 40 percent by the end of the decade compared to 2005. That’s a big drop in pollution, but still shy of the initial goal Biden set upon stepping into office. Shortly after Biden’s inauguration in 2021, the US rejoined the Paris agreement (which Trump had previously pulled the US out of) and set a target of reducing emissions by 50 to 52 percent by 2030. That’s in line with the pollution cuts needed globally to meet the most ambitious target in the Paris agreement, keeping global average temperatures from rising 1.5 degrees Celsius above what they were before the Industrial Revolution.Keeping that global goal alive is increasingly dubious, especially since the US is the second-biggest climate polluter after China. The planet is about 1.2 degrees warmer today than it was before humans started pumping out massive amounts of greenhouse gas emissions by burning fossil fuels. All that pollution has already triggered more intense storms, wildfires, droughts, and other climate disasters. And things could get worse with Trump’s plans to dismantle environmental policies, encourage the development of more energy-hungry crypto mines and AI data centers, and increase oil and gas drilling.Even so, Trump didn’t completely kill US climate action during his first stint as president. State and cities crafted their own climate plans and local leaders created a coalition called We Are Still In after Trump moved to take the US out of the Paris agreement. Thanks in large part to their work, the US still surpassed the Obama administration’s climate goal of cutting emissions 17 percent by 2020. Biden raised the bar with his climate goals, so there’s far more work to do to keep up the pace this time around. A University of Maryland analysis from September found that local action can reduce US greenhouse gas pollution by 48–60 percent by 2035 even without federal support.

You’ll need to remove an AirTag’s battery door to install it inside the TimeCapsule. | Image: Elevation Lab Elevation Lab’s new TimeCapsule is a protective case for an Apple AirTag that turns it into a waterproof, dustproof tracker with a ten-year battery life. It’s available now for $19.99, but you can also get a pair for $29.99, or a heavily-discounted four-pack for $39.99.The TimeCapsule is a candy bar-sized enclosure that replaces an AirTag’s CR2032 coin cell battery with an electrical contact and slots for a pair of AA batteries. It’s made of “fiber reinforced polycarbonate” that won’t block or reduce the range of Bluetooth or UWB signals, according to Elevation Lab’s Casey Hopkins. The case also has an IP69 rating, which offers the highest protection against water, dust, and dirt ingress. No point in a ten-year tracker that can’t handle a puddle. Image: Elevation Lab The TimeCapsule can also help camouflage an AirTag, making it look more like an external storage drive instead of a tracking device. There are tradeoffs, of course. The TimeCapsule weighs 3.5 ounces with the batteries installed, compared to .39 ounces for a regulation AirTag. And the case does muffle the volume of the AirTag’s chirps by about a third, potentially making it harder to locate by ear. But for situations where you really don’t want to be replacing your AirTag’s battery every year, that seems like a small price to pay. The company recommends using Energizer Ultimate Lithium AAs to maximize battery life and avoid the leaks and corrosion that alkaline batteries are known for. You can also use nickel–metal hydride batteries, but they won’t quite last as long before needing to be recharged.

Some Samsung fridges are getting hybrid cooling tech in 2025. | Image: Samsung Samsung just announced new hybrid cooling tech coming to its refrigerators in 2025. They’ll use a traditional compressor alongside a new Peltier module — a semiconductor device that transfers heat from one side to the other when current passes through it. This approach results in a fridge that reduces temperature variations to keep foods fresher longer while better utilizing interior space, according to Samsung.The Peltier effect is something we’ve seen harnessed by wearable personal air conditioners, microclimate chairs, and hobbyist coolers in the past. This is the first time we can recall seeing it used in a full-sized refrigerator sold by a major brand.Samsung says the Peltier module is only called into action when significant cooling is needed. This might be after loading the weekly shopping haul into the fridge or when adding hot leftovers. In these situations the Peltier module works alongside the compressor to avoid a big internal temperature spike. Otherwise, the fridge relies exclusively on the compressor for optimal cooling efficiency. Samsung says its hybrid cooling tech will be introduced into a fridge (model RM80F23VM) that can be “recognized as the most efficient of Energy Star in 2025.”Samsung’s fridges featuring the new hybrid cooling tech will be available with 900-liter capacities. The company says they have a 25-liter increase in usable internal space as a result of using a Peltier module instead of traditional heating elements. And according to Samsung, its hybrid cooling can keep foods fresher for longer, with tests showing pork lasting 1.4 times longer and salmon 1.2 times. Expect to hear more from Samsung about its hybrid cooling fridges in early January when the big CES trade show kicks off in earnest from Las Vegas.

A Raspberry Pi isn’t set up by default to give you the best performance possible. It’s a great computer that’s easy to use and won’t break the bank, but it’s not built for speed. If you want your Raspberry Pi to be super fast, you’ll need to do some things to make it work better.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images So far, possible answers include aliens, an international conspiracy, secret military tests, or just planes. 2024’s drone hysteria has gone on for weeks across the East Coast, and we still have far more questions than answers. The sightings may have started in New Jersey, but reports of possible drone sightings have continued to spread. The usual authorities haven’t helped much, with bland statements like “There continues to be no known threat to public safety,” failing to tamp down anxiety and interest. What we do know so far is that this is a perfect storm for clout-chasing politicians and that our phone cameras aren’t really up to the task of taking pictures of stuff flying around in the sky.Meanwhile, social media-fueled misinformation has rushed to fill the information vacuum about what people are seeing. Even if, in many cases, what they’ve seen are planes, stars, meteors, or drones sent up by drone hunters to try to find the mystery drones.We’ll keep track of the best information we can pull together right here.

Building a PC is just one part, albeit a major one, of the desk setup puzzle. Next comes picking a monitor, peripherals, desk, chair, speakers, accessories, lighting, and more to complete your ideal PC setup. Without the right tools on your desk, you can't expect to enjoy your work or achieve optimal productivity.