Wi-Fi 7 and an RGB touchpad? I’m in. | Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge The biggest names in laptops showed up to CES this week with new designs, new chips, and usually some way to sneak in the term “AI.” But most of them also quietly arrived with one of the most important upgrades of all for competitive gamers on the go: better Wi-Fi, with support for Wi-Fi 7. It’s about time, because router companies shoved Wi-Fi 7 routers out the door throughout 2023, and we’ve been waiting on machines that can put the standard’s ludicrous speed promises to the test.Wi-Fi 7 came to gaming laptops first and foremost, and the focus on gaming makes sense. One of the biggest benefits of Wi-Fi 7 is that it allows for one device to connect to your router on multiple bands — a feature called Multi-Link Operation — which gives... Continue reading…

Illustration: The Verge Turns out Google’s postpandemic reckoning didn’t just hit the Google Hardware team responsible for Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit products — it’s taken similarly sized bites out of Google’s core engineering and Google Assistant teams too. Google just confirmed to The Verge that it’s eliminated “a few hundred” roles in each of these divisions, meaning Google has confirmed layoffs of around a thousand employees on Wednesday alone, if we use a reasonable definition of “few”. And those are only the cuts we know about. We asked Google spokesperson Courtenay Mencini to say if this was the complete and total number of job cuts in this round of layoffs, but she stopped replying at that point, only confirming existing layoff reports at 9to5Google and S... Continue reading…

One of Clicks’ own marketing images of its yellow keyboard case for iPhone. | Image: Clicks Clicks came out of nowhere last week with a blast from the past — a BlackBerry-like physical keyboard for your iPhone, built into a snazzy protective case with colors that pop. Not only that, the first iPhone 14 Pro version is shipping in just a few weeks for $139. It’s from a team that knows a thing or two about keyboards, including CrackBerry Kevin, MrMobile, and the guys behind the F(x)tec phone.As a known lapsed QWERTY devotee, I had to try it, and at CES 2024 I got my chance. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Verge (@verge)It feels great in the hand, with a nice subtly squishy silicone bumper feel, and seems well thought out in general. The phone fits so securely, and I... Continue reading…

At CES 2024 this week, I've been looking at a lot of what's going to be the future of computers. Every year, we see iterative improvements over previous models, but this year, we're seeing computing head into a new era. One thing that we're seeing the beginnings of is Thunderbolt 5, and Razer was the first to show it off on a device.

All new iPhone models offer a handy feature called Recovery mode. However, most casual users will likely never encounter this tool, as it's buried and hidden away from the main user interface. After all, Recovery mode has very specific use cases and wasn't designed to be easily accessible. So, what's Recovery mode all about, and how do you trigger it on your iPhone? Here's what you need to know.

AI is the buzzword of the year at CES 2024, and pretty much every company has something to say about it. However, hearing about things and getting to see them in person is a very different experience, and Nvidia had some really cool stuff to talk about at the event. Of course, the company announced new RTX Super cards, but what's even more interesting is what you can do with them.

Last year's Lenovo Legion 9i was one of our favorite gaming laptops thanks to its incredibly powerful CPU and sleek design. For this year, Lenovo is back with its ninth-generation Legion 9i. While it doesn't look very different from its predecessors, this new laptop holds plenty of promise if you're looking for a high-end gaming laptop that looks sleeker than your typical options.

Photo by Isaac Brekken/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images During CES 2024, SAG-AFTRA announced an agreement with AI voice technology company Replica Studios. The agreement would permit SAG-AFTRA members, specifically voice performers, to work with Replica to create digital replications of their voices. Those voices can then be licensed out for use in video games and other interactive media projects with SAG-AFTRA authored protections.In the announcement, SAG-AFTRA characterized the deal as a “way for professional voice over artists to safely explore new employment opportunities for their digital voice replicas with industry-leading protections tailored to AI technology.” However, as news of the deal reached the voice performer community at large, the reaction was less positive with performers... Continue reading…

Image: eBay eBay has agreed to pay $3 million in connection with a 2019 harassment campaign directed at a Massachusetts couple that had been critical of the e-commerce site. The US Department of Justice announced the maximum criminal penalty on Thursday and said the company committed six felony offenses.Specifically, the DOJ charged eBay with two counts of stalking through interstate travel, two counts of stalking through electronic communications services, one count of witness tampering, and one count of obstruction of justice. The charges stem from a heinous harassment campaign carried out by a group of seven eBay employees, some of whom were company executives.In 2019, the employees came up with a plan to target Ina and David Steiner, a couple... Continue reading…

With the recently-announced Copilot key coming to next-gen Windows laptops, Microsoft is making the biggest change to Windows keyboards in 30 years. The last big, universal altering of Windows keyboards happened way back in 1994 with the Windows button. However, it wasn't the only other time Microsoft has tried out some weird keys on the best laptops and keyboards over the years.

The best charger for the Lenovo Yoga 9i (2024) can be used as a replacement for the charger that comes with one of the best Lenovo laptops. We've dug through all of our favorite chargers for laptops, and all the options we've highlighted in this list support the minimum 65W of USB Type-C charging power needed to charge the Yoga 9i's 75WHr battery. We've been sure to include our favorite chargers, so whether you need something for international travel, something that is small, or an aesthetically pleasing charger, there's something for everyone on this list.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Google’s hardware division just took a body blow. The company has confirmed it’s laying off hundreds of hardware workers, especially in its augmented reality division — and 9to5Google is reporting that Fitbit co-founders James Park, Eric Friedman, and other Fitbit leaders are leaving the company entirely.Update, 1:42AM ET: It’s not just Fitbit and AR. Around a thousand Google layoffs were just confirmed, and there may be more. Here’s Google’s statement to 9to5Google:A few hundred roles are being eliminated in DSPA with the majority of impacts on the 1P AR Hardware team. While we are making changes to our 1P AR hardware team, Google continues to be deeply committed to other AR initiatives, such as AR experiences in our products, and... Continue reading…