There are a lot of critical components when it comes to building a PC, and while the process can be fun, sometimes it can be a little daunting if it's your first time. Luckily, there are now wide range of quality options, making it more affordable than ever to build your own computer.

Legs may soon come to the unwashed virtual masses. | Image: Meta Meta is adding legs to Quest Avatars in Quest Home — but not Horizon Worlds — in a new beta announced last week in the Meta Community forums (via UploadVR). Community manager Ryanality posted in the forums that the “Public Test Channel (PTC) for Quest v57 is starting to roll out for Meta Quest Pro and Meta Quest 2 soon,” though without specifying any new features. Then, yesterday, a forum user named TomCgcmfc reported their avatar had legs. A post on X (formerly Twitter) from Brad Lynch shows what the legs will look like. For now, beta users can’t see their legs without looking at an in-game mirror, and from the video, it looks like the avatar won’t crouch when the user does so. Although the legs reportedly don’t make an appearance in H... Continue reading…

Summer's finally coming to an end and for some it's already time to start school again. With a new school year, it means new beginnings, and with that said, it might be a good time to refresh your favorite tech, while also getting a sweet discount. Best Buy is currently holding its back-to-school sales event, offering impressive discounts on some of its best laptops, personal audio devices, TVs, PC accessories, and more. So if you or a student you know have been looking to upgrade or add some tech items to their daily rotations, now's going to be the perfect time to shop.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Apple is planning to launch a pair of “updated” AirPods with USB-C during its iPhone 15 event in September, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Rumors have been circulating for months about the possibility of Apple introducing AirPods with a USB-C-compatible charging case, but we haven’t heard anything this definite until now. However, we still don’t know whether the AirPods Pro will get the USB-C charging case, too, and Gurman doesn’t specify.In 2022, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that Apple would introduce AirPods with a USB-C charging case sometime this year. It’s also not clear whether Apple will make any significant changes to the AirPods themselves aside from the new case. Kuo said earlier this year that... Continue reading…

Dell is known for making great laptops, especially ones that you can use for work. You'll find great business laptops by Dell up and down their Latitude lineup, giving you plenty to choose from. But one area Dell had been lacking in was coming up with one of the better Chromebook laptops out there. That is, until it released the Dell Latitude 5430 Chromebook earlier this year. The 5430 Chromebook is not only one of the best Dell Chromebooks but one of the top ones on the market. Whether you're a ChromeOS fan or you prefer Windows, there are options in the Latitude lineup that you're sure to love. The Dell Latitude 5440 is a similar computer to the 5430 Chromebook. So, which one is better for you? We'll lay that out here and give you the breakdowns of both to help you choose.

Buying a new laptop is always hard, but it's not for lack of choice. There are lots of fantastic laptops out there, and even a lot of great deals you'll see on Surface devices, so choosing one can be tricky. There are different form factors, sizes, processors, and many other factors to consider. But one factor that tends to be pretty important when choosing a laptop is its weight. Laptops are meant to be portable, and carrying a heavy device in your backpack gets uncomfortable very quickly.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The US Copyright Office is opening a public comment period around AI and copyright issues beginning August 30th as the agency figures out how to approach the subject. As announced in the Federal Register, the agency wants to answer three main questions: how AI models should use copyrighted data in training; whether AI-generated material can be copyrighted even without a human involved; and how copyright liability would work with AI. It also wants comments around AI possibly violating publicity rights but noted these are not technically copyright issues. The Copyright Office said if AI does mimic voices, likenesses, or art styles, it may impact state-mandated rules around publicity and unfair competition laws. Written comments are due... Continue reading…

Panic / The Verge Today, Panic put on its very first game publisher showcase. The showcase was short but very sweet, featuring some of the most interesting and innovative indie games coming to PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and Switch. Here are all the highlights, including a surprise announcement from the makers of Untitled Goose Game.ArcoArco comes from an international team of developers, artists, and storytellers. It’s a tactical action game that pits regular people against an all-powerful corporate gang. In the reveal trailer, the diverse landscapes exude so much ecological detail rendered in pixel graphics, and the combat seems like a real-time action game. Arco is due on Steam in 2024.Thank Goodness You’re HereThank Goodness You’re Here, or TGYH for... Continue reading…

Image: Edie Leong for The Washington Post via Getty Images Tesla is in trouble with the federal government. Again. A newly discovered version of Autopilot that allows drivers to operate the advanced driver-assist feature without applying any torque to the steering wheel — a long sought-after feature by Tesla drivers and one used by several other automakers as well — has caught the attention of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In a July 26th letter (first reported by Bloomberg), NHTSA ordered Tesla to respond to a list of questions about the feature or face an escalating series of fines. The company was ordered to respond by August 25th; it’s unclear whether Tesla complied. NHTSA ordered Tesla to respond to a list of questions about the feature or face an escalating series... Continue reading…

Microsoft has been making a lot of waves in the artificial intelligence (AI) space recently thanks to innovations in services and tools like Bing Chat, Microsoft 365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot, and ChatGPT. With interest growing in this area, it's natural to see big tech firms investing money and effort in this area to attract more customers by enticing them with the latest advancements in technology. Now, Google has announced integrations between its Duet AI and Google Workspace products pretty much across the board.

Smart speakers have become ubiquitous in daily life, enabling voice assistant control of our smart devices and dispensing facts without picking up our phones. While all the smart speakers on the market have differing levels of sound quality, I’ll let you in on a big secret. They all perform great voice assistant duties.

In recent years, Thunderbolt has become an essential part of many laptops and PCs. Developed by Intel, the Thunderbolt protocol uses USB Type-C ports to deliver very high speeds — up to 40Gbps, as of Thunderbolt 4 — that can be used to connect all kinds of peripherals. Many of the best laptops you can buy today come with Thunderbolt ports, and the accessories you can use with them range from docking stations to external GPUs, all of which can greatly expand the capabilities of your laptop.