Image: Lucasfilm Ltd. Kevin Jenkins is a Star Wars veteran at this point, having worked in a variety of design roles across multiple films, ranging from Rogue One to The Rise of Skywalker. But as production designer on the Disney Plus series The Acolyte, he faced an entirely new challenge: finding a look that doesn’t rely on Star Wars staples like Stormtroopers or Star Destroyers. “Unlike other Star Wars, this wasn’t to be found in a book,” Jenkins tells The Verge. “When I did the sequels, and even when the prequels were done, we had that template of Star Wars to go from. And [on The Acolyte], we took away 75 percent of the template.”That’s because the show jumps back in time to a century before The Phantom Menace. It’s the first live-action project to take... Continue reading…

When it comes to PC fans, there are two main varieties. Each one has its own purpose, making it important to know which fan is used where, so that you can ensure you are using them correctly. Airflow fans are designed to push as much air as possible through open spaces, helping to gently dissipate the heat inside your case. Static pressure fans, on the other hand, are designed to be able to force air through when obstacles are in their way.

A docking station is a fantastic option if you're looking to increase the port selection of your laptop or other computing devices. And while incredibly useful, the only problem is that they can be quite expensive, with some of the best models costing over $200.

The MSI Claw. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge When I called the MSI Claw an embarrassment in my May 18th review, one commenter pointed out they’d gotten higher benchmark scores than me. Sure enough: MSI had pushed out new graphics drivers and BIOS updates between the time I benchmarked and the time we published. I’ve now tested those updates. In some of my tests, they’re better. In others, I actually found them worse! Overall, they don’t change my conclusion one bit: the MSI Claw is the worst pick from today’s crop of consumer handheld gaming PCs, and you should steer clear. Below, you’ll find my new benchmark results in the same games, across all of the Claw’s standard power modes. In almost every test, you’ll see the Claw dramatically behind the competition in speed while using... Continue reading…

The PC gaming handheld space has grown quite a bit since Valve first introduced the world to its Steam Deck console just a couple of years ago. With that growth, we've not only seen better developer support, but we've also seen a dramatic influx of new devices from big names like Lenovo, Asus, MSI, and more.

Phil Schiller may have slightly overstated Siri’s initial abilities. | Photo by Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images When Apple first launched Siri in 2011 alongside the iPhone 4S, the company made a series of very compelling ads showing how you might use this newfangled voice assistant thing. In one, Zooey Deschanel asks her phone about delivering tomato soup; in another, John Malkovich asks for some existential life advice. There’s also one with Martin Scorsese shuffling his schedule from the back of a New York City taxi. They showed reminders, weather, alarms, and more. The point of the ads was that Siri was a useful, constant companion, one that could tackle whatever you needed. No apps or taps necessary. Just ask.Siri was a big deal for Apple. At the launch event for the 4S, Apple’s Phil Schiller said Siri was the best feature of the new device.... Continue reading…

Image: iam8bit The most exciting showcase of Summer Game Fest 2024 is here. Continue reading…

We are Venom! | Screenshot: YouTube Two of my favorite trailers for this week share a common theme: parasitic aliens. The trope has given us some of the finest moments in cinema history; consider the whole Alien franchise, the horrifying dog transformation in The Thing, or that scene from Spaceballs. You could make a convincing argument that Star Trek’s Borg race are parasites of a kind, too. It’s a versatile premise that lets a movie be as heady or grotesque or action-packed as its creators want. And two of sci-fi’s most beloved fictional freeloaders are showing up this week.Venom: The Last DanceVenom doesn’t like being called a parasite, but that’s still basically what it is. In the case of the Klyntar symbiote and Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock, though, the two are more... Continue reading…

In 2017, Nintendo took the gaming industry by storm with a humble little hybrid console named the "Switch." Since then, the Nintendo Switch has become the third highest-selling gaming system of all time (and its run hasn't even finished yet) and has created a new formula for enjoying video games at home or on the go. Mobile hardware has made big strikes since the 2017 Switch launch, enabling PC gaming handhelds that let you play AAA games like Cyberpunk 2077 on a device smaller than a laptop. One of these devices is the new Asus ROG Ally X, which was just announced as a refresh of the Windows-powered ROG Ally. But how does the Nintendo Switch stack up against newer handhelds like the Asus ROG Ally X, and which one is the better buy in 2024? Let's find out.

The taskbar has been a part of Windows for nearly 30 years, having first appeared in Windows 95. It's an incredibly important part of the operating system, serving as a way to manage running tasks, see notifications, and even as a launchpad for your apps. It's evolved and changed a lot over time, but even all these years later, there are some problems with it, with the most obvious one being a lack of customization. Sure, you can change the color and align the icons to the left or the center, but that's about it.

Visual Studio isn't on the list of most useful programs for mainstream PC users, but it surely is one of the most popular integrated development environments (IDEs) worldwide. While the tool is available on multiple platforms, Microsoft has a big plan to overhaul the Visual Studio update experience on Windows by integrating it with the Windows Update system.

All new Apple Watches and iPhones allow you to install a beta version of their upcoming OS. This means that you get to test pre-release builds on your devices several weeks before their public availability. Of course, the word "beta" carries a lot of weight here. While these versions pack plenty of exciting features and changes, they are often buggy and can even be unreliable. If you don't want to deal with those issues on your Apple Watch, you can easily switch to the stable version by following the steps below.