Image: Eken A company that manufactures video doorbells found by Consumer Reports to contain serious security vulnerabilities has issued a fix, the consumer advocacy group is reporting. Eken Group has issued a firmware update for the affected security products under its own name, as well as those from other brands it has licensing deals with, including Fishbot, Rakeblue, Tuck, and others. All the video doorbells use the Aiwit smartphone app and could be purchased from popular online retailers like Amazon, Shein, Temu, and Walmart. Back in February, CR reported that it found vulnerabilities in Eken-produced video doorbells that “could allow a dangerous person to take control of the video doorbell on their target’s home.” Gaining access to the... Continue reading…

Ever since the first Raspberry Pi came out in 2012, the popular SBC family has followed the tradition of primarily supporting microSD cards for storing everything from the OS to the user files. However, even the best microSD cards cant hold a candle to the superior transfer speeds of SSDs or the high storage capacity of hard drives.

iPhone users can add websites to their iOS 17 home screens as progressive web apps, and essentially turn sites into standalone apps. However, there are a few features typically reserved for iOS apps, and one of those is push notifications. If you do want to receive push notifications from a website, there is a workaround in the Settings app that involves flipping a WebKit flag. This gives web apps the ability to send push notifications through Safari, as long as the website natively supports browser notifications. Although Apple announced this functionality in 2022 and shipped it in 2023, it's still considered an experimental feature, so you'll have to follow the steps below to use them.

Gaming PCs are great, but stylish-looking ones are a lot better. When you have a case that looks the part, it can turn your PC from a machine to a setpiece in a room. If you're looking for an upgrade, Starforge Systems and summit1g have teamed up to give you the PC of your dreams

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Think about everything you do across Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, and everything else Google owns, and you get some idea of how much data you’re giving up to the company each day. For most of us, it’s... a lot.Whether or not you think the data collection and targeted advertising is a worthwhile trade for the free apps you get in return, Google does at least provide a comprehensive online dashboard you can use to see some of what’s being gathered.You can use it to delete everything Google has already collected, stop it from collecting anything in the future, or automatically delete your data after a set period (like three months). You can also use these features to clear the records if you’re planning to delete your Google... Continue reading…

One of the highlights of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is that it sports a big cover display that spans across the entire front. Samsung calls it the 'Flex Window,' and it has converted me to a cover screen believer. Not only is it useful to glance at notifications, but it's also big enough for the handful of apps I spend most of my time on. I also love all the cover screen customization options on the Galaxy Z Flip 5, especially the animated wallpapers.

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a powerful processor with plenty of cores for handling the most intensive games and software. To get the most out of the chip, I'd recommend using DDR5 RAM, which is the fastest available for desktop and laptop PCs. The more memory available, the faster your system will run before having to store temporary data on slower storage drives. I've rounded up the best RAM kits for use with the Core i7-14700K for you to build a great PC. I'd recommend 16GB or 32GB of RAM with a new build.

You can forget a lot about desktops if you use laptops exclusively for 23 years. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge When the M3 MacBook Airs came out last month, I did a good ol’ double facepalm that Captain Picard would be proud of. The wedge shape was no more (kinda). My M2 MacBook Air 15 was slightly too big, too heavy, and no matter what certain people say, 8GB of RAM was not cutting it. Analyzing the various MacBook Air and MacBook Pro configurations and prices made my head hurt. Thinking about lugging around a heavier laptop made my back hurt.So I said, “Screw it. I’m going back to the desktop life.” I traded in my M2 Air and got myself a Mac Mini.It made sense. I have a work-issued M1 MacBook Air — a delightfully lightweight wedge that’s more than enough for occasional trips to the office. At home, I use my phone for everything except... Continue reading…

If you've used Windows' search bar a couple of times, you'll know it struggles to find what you want at times. Sometimes it'll have difficulty finding a specific app, even if you type in its name; other times, it'll swear that a specific file isn't present on the system, even if you eventually find it yourself. Fortunately, it looks like part of Windows 11's upcoming AI Explorer will have an enhanced search bar that will use the power of artificial intelligence to locate what you want.

Illustration: The Verge Google is testing its AI listening skills with a feature that lets people speak into their phones and practice English with a conversational AI bot. Google first rolled out the speaking practice experience in October 2023. Originally, the feature only provided feedback on spoken sentences. Now, users can practice having ongoing conversations in the language they’re learning. TechCrunch reports that the feature is currently available for Search Labs users in Argentina, Colombia, India, Mexico, Venezuela, and Indonesia. Search Labs is Google’s sandbox for potential new Search features; however, the feature may also pop up based on translating to or from English with Google on an Android device. For now, the feedback and conversation... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge FTC lawyers submitted a filing on Thursday that claims Amazon’s top execs used Signal’s disappearing messages feature to destroy evidence relevant to the agency’s massive antitrust lawsuit. (You remember the one? The FTC accused Amazon of creating a secret “Project Nessie” pricing algorithm that may have generated more than $1 billion in extra profits.)Now, The Washington Post (which is owned by Amazon founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos) reports that Amazon is just one of several companies recently accused of turning to encrypted messaging apps like Signal that can permanently erase messages automatically. You may recall the government making similar arguments about Sam Bankman-Fried’s use of Signal during his trial for fraud and how... Continue reading…

Illustration: The Verge Google has spent the past year dealing with two of the biggest threats in its 25-year history: the rise of generative AI and the growing drumbeat of regulation. AI, in particular, has shaken the company to its core: it’s made big search changes, realigned the Search, Android, and hardware teams around AI, and launched its own Gemini AI model to capitalize on the opportunity. Google execs cut projects and laid off employees to refocus, and yesterday, it announced its first-ever dividend and a $70 billion share buyback alongside its Q1 2024 earnings. Investors, at least, are eating it up: Google parent company Alphabet has finally officially hit and maintained a $2 trillion market cap for a whole day of trading after briefly touching $2... Continue reading…