Image: David Pierce / The Verge Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 50, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, I promise it’s not always this many expensive gadgets, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I’ve been reading about crime rings and paleontology beefs and the strange language of TikTok, watching Kevin Can F**k Himself and Trap, re-upping my Yousician subscription to get back into the guitar, doing a lot of weird stretches after spraining my finger, and trying to make the famous Levain cookies.I also have for you a bunch of new wearable gadgets, a new Star Wars game, the return of a fabulous YouTube series, and much more.Also, I still want to know: who’s your... Continue reading…

Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) cleared SpaceX’s reusable Falcon 9 rocket for flight on Friday after temporarily grounding it following a failed landing earlier this week. The company has already pulled off two launches since the FAA’s decision, putting 42 more Starlink satellites into orbit, it announced in a post on X today.The agency said that while the investigation of the landing incident remains open, flights can continue, “provided all other license requirements are met,” according to CNN. SpaceX had requested a return to flight on Thursday, the same day the FAA initially grounded the rocket, reports Reuters. Falcon 9 delivers 42 @Starlink satellites, including 26 with Direct to Cell capabilities, to low-Earth orbit... Continue reading…

This week brought a few noteworthy movie and TV trailers — the big one being Sonic the Hedgehog 3. And while I won’t include them here, you should check out some of the trailers included with our coverage of the most recent Nintendo Direct (shoutout to the Nintendo DS Castlevania games collection). It’s clear that summer is winding down, and so are the big blockbusters. Things will liven up a bit with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice next week, but things are looking quiet for a little bit after that. Sonic the Hedghehog 3Sonic the Hedgehog 3 finally brings Sonic’s big nemesis, Shadow, into the mix, played by Keanu Reeves. The trailer only gave a bit of Reeves’ voice but makes up for it with lots of Jim Carrey’s disheveled and depressed Dr.... Continue reading…

With Apple's next event on the horizon, it'll be interesting to see what the company has up its sleeves for its mobile devices. However, that doesn't mean we can't have some exciting news right now. In fact, if you're a Windows on Arm user, you've likely seen the good news already as apps begin appearing on the platform in droves. If you missed out on the news, don't fret; here's a quick rundown of the coolest things that happened this week.

Intel is the source of some of the best and most trusted CPUs out there, powering both desktops and laptops in 2024. The company's processor lineup has grown significantly over the years, leaving us with several generations of processors that continue to evolve. However, the growing list of processors in Intel's stable makes it extremely hard to keep track of their names, model numbers, and suffixes.

The fediverse has the potential to help create enduring and interoperable social networks. But many creators and businesses rely on bigger, closed platforms because they offer direct ways to make money from their audiences, which is hard to do in the fediverse right now.Sub.club is trying to solve that. The idea is that this will let users on ActivityPub-based platforms like Mastodon easily offer paid subscriptions and premium content while taking a 6 percent cut in addition to payment processing fees. It could solve a big problem with the fediverse right now: it’s not easy to make a living on it unless you direct your followers back to existing platforms like Patreon that are closed off and require users to visit a particular site or... Continue reading…

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge The rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power most of our laptops may be the most practical battery tech we have right now, but they naturally degrade over time as their ions flow back and forth — it’s an inevitable consequence of the way they’re built and the way they work. Eventually, the batteries can’t hold as much of a charge. Most modern laptops now come with some kind of smart charging technology built in, to limit the number of full charges that happen. How this is implemented varies between laptops — I’ll talk about this, as well as other ways to ensure the battery on your MacBook or Windows laptop stays as healthy as possible for as long as possible.General battery healthAs with smartphones, because of the chemical... Continue reading…

Thanks to its cross-platform availability, seamless integration with Windows and other Microsoft products, support for math calculations, and a long list of features, OneNote has been an integral part of my workflow for the last few years. Understandably, I was thrilled when Microsoft revealed the integration of Copilot in OneNote to assist users in generating text, summarizing lengthy notes, creating to-do lists, and inspiring creative ideas.

There have been many discussions recently about improving the Windows experience on gaming handhelds. Microsoft is working to improve things like the Xbox app when used on smaller screens, and Valve has released drivers for both the Steam Deck OLED and Steam Deck LCD so they can run Windows if you choose. It's all well and good that they are making gaming and other tasks better for Windows users on the smaller screens. However, it dawned on me that the changes being made will actually bring far more improvements. Windows desktop users also benefit when Microsoft improves things like navigation or support for different input methods, so we all end up with a better operating system overall.

OSOM’s first phone, eventually renamed the Solana Saga. | Image: Osom A lawsuit filed against Osom Products, Inc. by its former chief privacy officer, Mary Stone Ross, claims that the company’s CEO, Jason Keats, used business funds for extravagant purchases that include two Lamborghinis, reports Android Authority. Keats, who founded Osom after Essential shut down and hired several of Essential’s former workers, is also accused of using company resources to pay for things ranging from his racing habit to his racing partner’s salary to his own mortgage, the outlet writes. Ross has apparently asked the court to make Osom give her access to company records that may prove the lawsuit’s claims. The lawsuit also reportedly claims that Keats tried and failed to sell the company to HP and that, after that deal... Continue reading…

When planning to build a PC, the CPU is easily one of the most crucial components around which the entire system is built. You might know the most important CPU specs to look out for, how to match your CPU and motherboard, and the mistakes to avoid when pairing your CPU and GPU. These things are undoubtedly important, but they're also relatively basic.

Image: Getty Let’s get one thing out of the way: contrary to what you may have heard, electric vehicle sales are up. I know, recent headlines suggest otherwise. Tesla sales are down. Ford is scaling back its EV rollout. General Motors is delaying an electric truck and holding back on investments in EV battery mining. And Hertz is off-loading EVs as its stock price struggles. Automakers across the board are losing millions — some are losing billions — as customer demand appears to have flatlined after an initial burst of excitement. The vibe, as they say, is grim. And yet, sales are still growing. JD Power is projecting that 1.2 million EVs will be sold in the US by the end of 2024, an increase over 1 million sold last year. That’s 9 percent of... Continue reading…