An Android phone minus the phone plus two giant cameras. | Image: Adi Robertson / The Verge Xreal is one of the few companies trying to sell mass-market augmented reality headsets without an existing big tech empire. But its latest product isn’t a pair of glasses; it’s a phone-sized Android tablet designed to keep you using them. At last week’s Augmented World Expo (AWE) the company announced the Beam Pro, a combination battery, app repository, and 3D video recorder. It’s a pragmatic solution to a very obvious problem — even if, at first glance, I wish it were weirder.Xreal’s glasses — the Air 2 and Air 2 Ultra — have generally required some kind of third-party device like a phone, laptop, or Steam Deck. (There was a bare-bones control box called the Beam, but it wasn’t a big focus for the company.) The Beam Pro is meant to... Continue reading…

Photo by Matt Thomas / San Diego Padres / Getty Images Guy Beahm, better known by his streamer persona Dr Disrespect, said he was banned from Twitch four years ago due to private messages he sent to a minor that “sometimes leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate.”Beahm shared details of the ban in a lengthy post to X, marking the first time he’s directly addressed the reason for his removal.“Everyone has been wanting to know why I was banned from Twitch, but for reasons outside of my control, I was not allowed to say anything for the last several years,” Beahm posted on X. “Now that two former twitch employees have publicly disclosed the accusations, I can now tell you my side of the story regarding the ban.”“I should have never entertained these conversations to begin... Continue reading…

Photo by Michael Tullberg / Getty Images Years after Twitch’s ban, the streamer confirms it was due to messages he sent to a minor on the platform. Continue reading…

PC hardware is a space that is continuously evolving. From CPU and GPU horsepower, to storage speeds, memory, and power supply standards, we've all seen our PC components transform into the high-performance devices they are today. Whether it's the DDR4 vs. DDR5 RAM toss-up, or mulling a PCIe 5.0 SSD upgrade, it's fair to say that PC users are always excited about trying out the next big thing in PC hardware.

Volkswagen is investing $1 billion in Rivian as part of a new joint venture that will give the German auto giant access to the buzzy California EV company’s software and EV platform. Rivian will receive an additional $4 billion over time, for a total sum of $5 billion. The joint venture will be co-owned by Rivian and VW Group, which oversees brands like Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, and its flagship Volkswagen. The two companies will introduce vehicles developed from the joint venture in the “second half of the decade,” they announced.The new venture was announced in a post from Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, who noted the investment will help the company bring its next generation R2 electric vehicle to market starting in 2026. The R2 is... Continue reading…

The new 8BitDo Ultimate 2C Wireless Controller includes Bluetooth, USB-C, and 2.4GHz connectivity. | Image: 8BitDo 8BitDo announced its latest budget-minded wireless controller today, the Ultimate 2C. For $29.99, it includes features like an extra pair of shoulder buttons to satisfy most PC and Android gamers, Hall effect sticks and triggers to keep problems like the Switch’s notorious “Joy-Con drift” at bay, and three different ways to connect it to a gaming machine with USB-C, a 2.4GHz dongle boasting 1,000Hz polling rates, and Bluetooth.Amazon lists a July 15th release date, and while we haven’t had a chance to go hands-on with it yet, it could be a better bargain than the Ultimate C controllers the company released last year with the same $29.99 price. There is a catch. Unfortunately, the Ultimate 2C’s Bluetooth compatibility only lists support... Continue reading…

Image: Xbox Game Studios / Turn 10 The “delisting” ax is swinging once again, and this time, Forza Horizon 4 is the latest major video game to be cleaved from digital storefronts. Developer Playground Games announced on its site that sales of the 2018 open-world racer are ending due to licensing and partner agreements, and the game will be removed from Microsoft stores and Steam on December 15th, 2024.While the days are numbered for people to still be able to buy the game, the final in-game event will run from July 25th to August 22nd — after which, some achievements linked to the seasonal Festival Playlists will no longer be unlockable.To add a little further confusion, Forza Horizon 4’s DLC is being delisted beginning today. And if you played the game via Xbox Game... Continue reading…

In case you were wondering, yes, there will be lots of AI. | Image: Samsung Samsung’s next Unpacked summer launch event will take place on July 10th in Paris, France, the company announced on Tuesday. The animation accompanying the invitation hints at foldables, and the invite itself removes all doubt: “Prepare to discover the power of Galaxy AI, now infused into the latest Galaxy Z series and the entire Galaxy ecosystem.” But we’re also on the lookout for something of a different shape: the Galaxy Ring. Rumors indicate that the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 will be fairly minor upgrades, with the Z Flip 6 getting a slightly bigger battery and the Z Fold 6 looking a little boxier. Not the most exciting stuff, but that’s been the story with the past few generations of Samsung’s folding phones.Instead, the more... Continue reading…

Image: The Verge The advanced voice mode for ChatGPT that sparked a tussle with Scarlett Johansson was an important element of OpenAI’s Spring Update event, where it also revealed a desktop app for ChatGPT.Now, OpenAI says it will “need one more month to reach our bar to launch” an alpha version of the new voice mode to a small group of ChatGPT Plus subscribers, with plans to allow access for all Plus customers in the fall. One specific area that OpenAI says it’s improving is the ability to “detect and refuse certain content.”As for the new video and screen sharing capabilities that we saw during the event, OpenAI writes that it will “keep you posted” on a timeline. OpenAI had said it would deliver the new capabilities in “the coming weeks.” Now, the... Continue reading…

With most next-gen processors including dedicated neural processing units (NPUs), AI is well on its way to becoming mainstream. However, you dont need cutting-edge AI PCs to utilize the newest artificial intelligence facilities; even a tiny SBC can provide enough horsepower to run the latest LLM models and image generation tools.

The Cybertruck is suffering from real-world issues. | The Verge / Photo by Bloomberg, Getty Images Tesla is again issuing a physical recall of its Cybertruck. This time it’s recalling 11,688 of its electric pickups due to a faulty windshield wiper that could reduce visibility for the driver, and 11,383 Cybertrucks due to trim in the truck bed that could come loose and create a road hazard for others.These new recalls follow a recall in April affecting 3,878 Cybertrucks over the risk of a jammed accelerator pedal. Issues with the gigantic wiper had surfaced in owner forums in recent weeks and reportedly delayed Cybertruck deliveries on short notice. The NHTSA recall notice for the wiper says that “excessive electrical current can cause the front windshield wiper motor controller to fail.” Tesla service will replace the wiper motor,... Continue reading…

The Lifx ceiling light features full-color, tunable white light and an array of effects to light up your home. | Image: Lifx Smart light fixtures are quickly becoming a thing, making it a little easier to add colorful, fun, and useful lighting effects to more areas of your home than you traditionally can with smart light bulbs. While these types of fixtures have been quite pricey, smart lighting company Lifx just announced its new Super Color Ceiling Light starting at just $89.97. The full-color smart LED light fixture offers 2,500 lumens of dimmable light. It works with dynamic lighting effects through Lifx’s app, including a daytime sky with clouds floating by, a night sky with meteors, an invigorating sunrise, and a relaxing sunset.It also has tunable white light ranging from 1,500K to 9,000K, allowing it to work as everything from a soft nightlight to a... Continue reading…