Despite the rise of excellent cloud storage services, you can't beat the reliability of a physical drive. These compact devices, especially those with USB-C interfaces, are preferred by many thanks to seamless, fast data transfer (a feature heightened by the best USB cables) and the safety tangible storage can provide. The top USB-C flash drives on this list cater to diverse needs and budgets, reflecting the desire for portable storage solutions.

Windows 10 doesn't have a whole lot of time to live. Once its end-of-life date arrives on October 14, 2025, Microsoft will stop developing and distributing security patches for the operating system. After that, it's going to be risky to use a Windows 10 device online due to the potential security loopholes that Microsoft won't work to fix.

One of the things that makes Ubuntu a great operating system and Linux distribution is its simplicity, thanks in part to its Gnome windowing system. The setup process is also simple once you boot up your Ubuntu system for the first time. There's not a lot of extra work needed, and the operating system will take you through a guided setup process, just like the Windows 11 out-of-box experience or the macOS setup wizard might. You don't need any technical knowledge and just have to run through a few steps.

If you're looking for a motherboard for your new Ryzen 7000 chip, you don't have to look at just the best motherboards; you'll need an excellent AM5 motherboard. However, if you want to make a compact build, you won't need just one of the best ITX motherboards; you'll specifically need an AM5 ITX motherboard. Luckily, for all those small-form-factor obsessed Ryzen 7000 fans, we've got the ultimate list of AM5 ITX motherboards for you.

Image: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Owners of Meta’s Quest 2 or Pro headsets can turn on a setting that allows their headset to work while lying down, thanks to the v63 software update that’s starting to roll out. Meta tested lying down mode in a public preview early last year but removed the feature before the v53 update shipped for everyone. In January, Meta exec Mark Rabkin told a user, “It shall make a comeback,” and here it is, at least as an experimental option, which Meta could change or remove in the future. Image: Meta Many users were upset when it was removed after the test, especially those with health conditions that make it painful or impossible to wear a headset while upright for long periods of time. For other users, it might have less... Continue reading…

The Mill is a smart kitchen trash can that grinds up food scraps and uses sensors and AI built into its bin to manage your food waste efficiently. | Image: Mill Industries Last year when I reviewed Nest co-founder Matt Rogers’ new project, the Mill smart trash can, I was impressed with its food-grinding prowess. But I disliked its monthly subscription and that it wasn’t actually making chicken feed out of my food waste as promised. A year later, the company is out with the second generation of the Mill, and it’s addressed both those issues. They’ve also made the bin smaller, faster, and quieter. However, it’s still silly expensive.The second-generation Mill looks similar from the outside, but its internals have had a complete redesign. According to a press release, the Mill can now grind your leftovers up into a substance resembling coffee grounds in two and a half hours, much faster than the 10 hours it... Continue reading…

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge A year ago, TikTok introduced a new way for creators on the platform to make money: make longer videos. The invite-only Creativity Program, then in beta, required TikTokers to post clips longer than a minute to qualify for monetization, demonstrating a shift in how the company wanted people to use its platform. It was a move away from the so-called short-form video style that made TikTok a household name in the first place. TikTok announced today that the program will be called Creator Rewards going forward, and content creators will need to make videos longer than a minute to monetize through the program. The previous creator fund, which didn’t have a requirement for video length, shut down in November.Creator Rewards will calculate... Continue reading…

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images The Digital Markets Act’s deadline for compliance is imminent. Its six designated “gatekeepers” have fought the rules, but also bent to them. Continue reading…

Image: Apple Apple Podcasts will auto-generate transcripts for podcasts beginning today, thanks to the 17.4 update for iPhones and iPads. Transcripts will automatically appear for new podcast episodes shortly after their publication, while Apple will transcribe podcast back catalogs over time. The podcast transcripts are searchable, allowing users to type in a specific word or phrase and skip to that part of an episode. Users can find transcripts for individual podcast episodes on the bottom-left corner of the “Now Playing” screen. Image: Apple Transcripts are now on Apple Podcasts. After Spotify rolled out auto-generated transcripts last fall, it’s no surprise that Apple wants its native podcast player to keep up... Continue reading…

Is this what the Pixel 8a will look like? | Image: OnLeaks / Smartprix The Pixel 8a phone is getting a new 256GB tier, at least according to rumblings heard from retailers by the usually reliable German tech news site WinFuture. The site’s sources also say it will come in four colors, like the $499 Pixel 7a, but it will cost a quite a bit more than that phone at €569.90, or about $618 USD. According to WinFuture’s sources, the beefed-up storage version will cost even more — €630 (about $684 USD) — putting it a whiff away from the regular Pixel 8’s $699 price tag. However, as the site notes, that could be subject to change.The Pixel 8a will reportedly come in obsidian (black), porcelain (beige), bay (light blue), and mint (light green). Last year’s Pixel 7a also came in four colors, but only as a 128GB... Continue reading…

Mechanical keyboards have gained a lot of momentum over the past couple of years, offering an improved typing experience over traditional keyboards. While this might not seem like such a big deal, it can be, if you're someone that relies on a keyboard for hours at a time for work or even intense gaming sessions.

Image: The Verge The music labels suing Twitter — now X — for copyright infringement can move forward with parts of their lawsuit. In a filing on Tuesday, US District Judge Aleta A. Trauger partially denied X’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, saying it’s still not clear “to what extent X Corp. may be liable for the infringing acts of users on its platform.”Last year, the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) sued X for $250 million on behalf of Universal Music Group, Concord Music Group, Sony Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, and other major publishers.The lawsuit alleges that X “breeds massive copyright infringement that harms music creators” by failing to take action against posts containing copyrighted music. Copyright issues on X have... Continue reading…