This is not a physical button — and that was the problem. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge We wouldn’t have been totally surprised if Google axed Fitbit entirely after recent woes, but it sounds like the company might be listening instead! 9to5Google is reporting that a Fitbit Charge 6, coming this year, will bring back the physical button.We panned the Fitbit Charge 5 because of its confusing touchscreen user interface, which was itself a replacement for the confusing capacitive button that haunted the Fitbit Charge 4 and 3. (Here’s an entire Button of the Month column about the lesson Fitbit might have learned from that capacitive key.) 9to5Google doesn’t have a lot of details about the new wearable, but “sources familiar with the matter” tell the publication that it “looks exactly like the Charge 5 except for the... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Valve’s next major SteamOS update brings some significant new display settings as well as some new performance improvements to Steam Deck. You can read all about the SteamOS 3.5 update in a blog post on the Steam website.Two major new features are support for variable refresh rates (VRR) and HDR if you’re using your Steam Deck with an external display that supports them. Valve says that HDR can be enabled if you have a compatible display while VRR can be enabled if you have a compatible USB-C adapter. The company has also changed the Steam Deck’s default color rendering to “emulate the sRGB color gamut,” which Valve says will result in “a slightly warmer and more vibrant color appearance.” If you don’t like the change, or want to try... Continue reading…

Getting a new laptop in 2023 might be a challenging task to handle for most, as the market offers tons of excellent options with an aggressive price tag that makes it more difficult for people to choose. For instance, Lenovo launched an excellent new collection of laptops in 2023, where Lenovo's Slim Pro 9i and ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 stand out as some of the most powerful options you can get. So, we have decided to compare them to determine which is the best option for you.

This is the magnetic mount you need if you're looking to secure your compatible smartphone to your car on the cheap. This car mount is extremely versatile and can be adhered to the dashboard, windshield, and air vent. Best of all, since it offers a magnetic connection, it's the perfect car mount any iPhone with MagSafe compatibility.

Image: Unity The game developers affected by Unity’s new pricing model are striking back. A collective of developers across 19 companies, mostly based in Europe and mostly developing mobile games, has put out an open letter urging Unity to reverse course on its recently announced pricing model changes. The letter contains some of the same sentiments expressed by other developers this week but with one big twist.“As a course of immediate action, our collective of game development companies is forced to turn off all IronSource and Unity Ads monetization across our projects until these changes are reconsidered,” the letter read.Essentially, these companies, which represent thousands of games with billions of downloads, have blocked Unity from making... Continue reading…

Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge Apple has increased the price of most Apple Watch battery replacements, as reported by 9to5Mac. The swaps used to cost $79, but now, for Apple Watch Series 4 devices and newer, you’ll have to cough up $99. You can see the prices for yourself on the company’s Apple Watch Service and Repair website by sifting through different versions and models.It’s unfortunate that some of the battery replacement fees are going up, but I’m also not surprised to see it. Apple bumped up the prices of battery replacements in some iPhones, iPads, and Macs by $20 to $50 earlier this year.Still, paying for a battery replacement can be a good way to get some extra life out of an older device that otherwise works just fine. It’s what I’m personally thinking... Continue reading…

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Philips Hue Secure is a new smart home security system from the smart lighting company. The system was announced along with some new smart security cameras in August and is now live in the Hue app. However, if you’re a Philips Hue user, you don’t need to buy the new cameras to use the new security features; you just need to update your app to version 5.0.1. The system works with Hue’s existing smart lights, motion sensors, and new contact sensors ($39.99) that monitor doors and windows. When armed, if the system detects motion or other activity, you get an alert and can choose to trigger all your lights to flash and even set off a Star Trek-style red alert. Add in Hue’s new security cameras, and you get the option of triggering their... Continue reading…

Free VPNs are the way to go if you want to secure your data and remain private on the internet without paying a dime. Many of these free options help keep your online presence anonymous, secure your data and privacy, and allow you to download apps or stream shows from other countries. However, unlike the best premium VPNs, free VPNs come with restrictions, such as putting a cap on the amount of data you can utilize and limiting your speed. Free VPNs that claim to offer unrestricted access and no-limit caps often provide invasive ads, share your data with third parties so that they can make a profit, or install spyware and malware on your device.

The first Amazon Prime Day of 2023 is in our rearview mirrors and already Amazon is planning a second to close out 2023. Dubbed the Amazon Prime Big Deals Day, we're expecting some big deals on electronics, including many PC gaming hardware such as mice, keyboards, headsets, graphics cards, and more. If you want to upgrade your rig with some new parts or pick up a monitor with an uprated resolution, we'll have you covered when the deals start.

Image: Bungie Destiny 2 has one of the worst — and most hilarious — bugs in its history right now, allowing players to create guns with perks that are game-breaking in activities or PvP. Players can put shotgun frames on auto rifles, resulting in a weapon that obliterates someone in PvP in milliseconds due to the hugely reduced time to kill. Bungie, the developer of Destiny 2, says it’s working on a fix.Destiny 2 players have also been crafting grenade launchers with frames from other weapons, sending hugely explosive projectiles toward enemies and PvP players. Bungie currently has extra rewards running for its Grandmaster Nightfall activity, one of the more challenging sides of the PvE environment. This glitch makes that Grandmaster content light... Continue reading…

Photo by Nilay Patel / The Verge The iPhone 15 Pro could come with better 5G connectivity. That’s according to data from SpeedSmart (via 9to5Mac), which indicates that the iPhone 15 Pro will offer up to 24 percent faster download 5G speeds when compared to its iPhone 14 Pro predecessor.As shown by the data from SpeedSmart, the biggest jump occurred on Verizon’s network, which showed an average download speed of 195.83Mbps on the iPhone 14 Pro, as opposed to 243.06Mbps on the iPhone 15 Pro. Meanwhile, the iPhone 15 Pro on T-Mobile had the fastest average 5G download speeds at 300.92Mbps, as opposed to 204.34Mbps on AT&T. Image: SpeedSmart T-Mobile showed the fastest 5G speeds with an iPhone 15 Pro. Despite this sizeable change, upload speeds... Continue reading…

A virtual private network (VPN) is an important weapon to have in your online privacy arsenal. Not only does it encrypt your internet traffic, but it also lets you get around geo-restrictions that block web content based on region.