VLC is a well-established media player for Windows that has been around for a very long time, and it's almost always recommended over the default Windows Media Player. Sure, what's included in Windows may be good enough for most people, but that doesn't meant it's great or that it can't be better.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube is working on new plans for its YouTube Premium subscriptions, the company said in a community post on Thursday. “We’re committed to bringing members more plan options by expanding our existing offers to more regions, while also introducing new plans and exploring ways for you to share your benefits with friends in the future,” according to a post from a YouTube team member identified as Hazel.Currently, there are only a handful of YouTube Premium plans: Individual for $13.99 per month (or 12 months for $139.99); Family for $22.99 per month; and Student for $7.99 per month. By subscribing, you get perks like ad-free videos, the ability to download videos to watch offline, and ad-free access to the YouTube Music library.... Continue reading…

If you want to get a NAS and aren't sure where to begin, you can buy an off-the-shelf all-in-one device that's simply just the NAS and all of the software that you need. However, if you want to build a NAS, then that's a different story, and you can build a very powerful NAS for less than $500. If you buy used parts, you can get it for even less.

Yesterday, we reported that Windows is incorrectly spamming some users to change their timezone. Although Microsoft is reportedly aware of this issue and is working on releasing a fix in the coming days, it is not tracking this problem in its Windows release health dashboard. In fact, it has now started tracking another issue on this dashboard, one that is arguably more severe.

When companies develop some of the best monitors available, they're usually sleek, modern, sometimes even rainbow-colored - but rarely cute. Fortunately, there are companies out there that make products that appeal to those who want a cute desktop layout, and LG's new ping MyView smart monitor is no exception. If you want to add some pink to your workstation, now's your chance - but be quick, as it is a limited edition product.

If you're a bit of a disorganized person, you might try to use a ton of different apps to help you out. But what if I told you that you can actually use Discord to really help you with time management and projects? It surprisingly works very well, especially given how much you can customize Discord to be your own.

Power banks and chargers are among the most popular products that sell like hot cakes during Prime Day sales. They tend to get the most number of deals each year, and we're expecting this year to be no different. That's a good thing because good charging doesn't usually come cheap, and it makes deal days like these perfect for shopping.

SSDs have replaced the archaic mechanical hard drives for the most part, and they're readily available on the market now. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and connectors, which makes choosing the right SSD for your motherboard a bit tricky. An incompatible SSD can be too fast, too slow, or simply not work. To avoid this frustration and save money, let's dive into M.2 SSD compatibility and ensure you get the perfect drive for your build.

Keyboard macros can make you more productive, especially if your keyboard has dedicated macro keys. A lot of people think macro keys are just for gaming keyboards, but they are completely wrong. Macros can help with your productivity, no matter your needs. From gaming to office work, they can help you conquer any repetitive task you may have.

YouTube is expecting to launch new AI tools later this year that are trained off the back of these deals. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge After debuting a generative AI feature last year that produces music in the style of famous artists like Charli XCX, John Legend, and T-Pain, YouTube is now asking major record labels to allow it to clone more musicians. According to the Financial Times, the Google-owned video platform is offering to pay Universal Music Group (UMG), Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Records “lump sums of cash” in exchange for licensing their songs to legally train its AI music tools.YouTube told the Financial Times that it’s not looking to expand Dream Track — which was supported by just ten artists during its test phase — but confirmed it was “in conversations with labels about other experiments.” The platform is aiming to license music from... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Traffic got you down? If the idea of locking your car keys in a drawer and using alternate means of transportation sounds intriguing, Uber has the challenge for you. Today, the ridehailing company announced the One Less Car trial, in which 175 people in the US and Canada will be selected to ditch their cars for five weeks in exchange for cash and credits to be put toward other travel modes. Call it a gimmick or a PR stunt, Uber says the aim is to highlight the high costs of personal car ownership, as well as all the external effects on our health and the cities where we live. Uber has long advocated for fewer cars on the road — even as studies have shown that the app-based ridehailing industry has intensified traffic congestion in... Continue reading…

Some of these products are already better than they were during Black Friday, and we’re just getting started. | Image: Shira Inbar After several months of teasing, we now know that Prime Day 2024 will take place on Tuesday, July 16th, and Wednesday, July 17th. Fortunately, if you’re looking to get a leg up on deals ahead of the upcoming sales event, Amazon has already begun rolling out steep discounts on several of its own devices, including Echo speakers, video doorbells, TVs, ebook readers, kid-friendly tablets, and even Alexa-powered shades. The list of Prime-only deals is still relatively short for now, but it’ll explode to include thousands of products in just a few short weeks.However, keep in mind that you must be an Amazon Prime subscriber to take advantage of any and all Prime Day deals. You can sign up for a free 30-day trial as a new... Continue reading…