When choosing which LLM to use, it was quite simple at the beginning. ChatGPT was the clear and obvious front-runner for general use when I began using one daily, so when it became time to purchase a subscription, ChatGPT Plus was what I went with. It had my conversation history, non-identifying logs from my home lab, and I was familiar with how to prompt it to get what I wanted. I would sometimes put the same prompt into Anthropic's Claude, just to see what it would say, but besides that, my AI usage has been largely limited to local LLMs and ChatGPT. That is, until now.

VLC is one of the most respected and well-known media players in the world, thanks to its wide range of supported formats and great performance. One thing you may not realize is that VLC actually supports skins, though only through a separate executable that can actually load skins, which looks quite different from the typical VLC interface.

This is part of our package about Apple's 50th anniversary. Read more here.The thing about the iPhone is that everyone knew it was going to be a big deal, and then it was an even bigger deal than that. Hell, it's still the biggest thing going.It's hard to remember, but almost 20 years ago Apple's first iPhone really was that good. The trick that Steve Jobs and Jony Ive kept pulling off in that era was turning the limitations of the available technology into focal points of the products they made. The first iMac was built around a big, heavy CRT display - but Ive made the translucent case wrap around it, transforming the internals into a …Read the full story at The Verge.

2027 EV3 | Image: Kia At the New York International Auto Show on Wednesday, Kia announced that its compact electric SUV, the EV3, will be available in the US "in late 2026." The EV3 has been available overseas since 2024, when it launched in South Korea and Europe. The 2027 model coming to the US appears to have the same slightly boxy design as the current 2026 model, and it looks like Kia updated the center console to remove the much-mocked "chopping board" armrest in the original design. The North American version will also have a new glossy black "Nightfall" appearance package option. The EV3 will be available in standard and long-range configurations, offer …Read the full story at The Verge.

"It's not personal, Sonny, it's strictly business."That quote was first delivered by mob boss Michael Corleone in The Godfather, but last Monday, it became the title of a speech by the Justice Department's acting antitrust chief Omeed Assefi. At a George Washington University event co-hosted with the publication MLex, Assefi described an agency firing on all cylinders, standing strong against bad corporate actors when warranted, but being open to reasonable negotiation to reach the strongest possible result.Implicitly, Assefi was responding to months of complaints that his agency was bowing to corporate lobbyists and striking weak settle …Read the full story at The Verge.

It only took a cursory glance at my AIO's display last week to realize that summer was truly on its way. Seeing my idle temperatures jump from a steady 35°C to 50°C within the span of a couple of days was not a pleasant sight. As ambient room temperatures continue to climb, your PC's cooling capacity naturally becomes insufficient, causing fans to run louder and pushing your components towards their thermal ceiling much faster than they would in the winter.

You pay for 2Gbps fiber internet, but your PC somehow still only downloads at around 940 Mbps. That's because your motherboard's 1GbE port is a hard physical limit — 1,000 Mbps is its maximum, and after overhead, you'll never see more than about 115MBps of real-world transfer speed.

Ikea's $10 Kallsup Bluetooth speaker is fun and colorful and sounds better than its price suggests. It's not mind-blowing (it is a $10 speaker, after all), and there are no features to speak of, other than the ability to connect up to 100 of them together, but at that price, I don't really care. They're a quick addition if I need a bit more color and sound on my desk or in my son's room.The Kallsup is about as simple as a Bluetooth speaker can get. It's a 2.75-inch plastic cube enclosure with four short feet on the bottom and a single speaker inside, and it's available in pink, white, and yellow green. There are two buttons and a small LED …Read the full story at The Verge.

It's April Fools' Day, and Snap is using the occasion to "announce" that it's switching the name of Snapchat's Spotlight feed, the app's Instagram Reels-like feed of shortform vertical videos, to "Reals." In a video featuring co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel, Snap also includes a description of "Reals" as a place where "real people share real moments. Really." Spiegel adds that "People feel free to be their full selves and to keep it Real on Snapchat" (In the video's captions, Snap capitalized "Real").Spiegel also used the video to remind users about its ephemeral Stories format - which, like TikTok's vertical video feed, Instagram ripped …Read the full story at The Verge.

A Baidu Apollo robotaxi in Wuhan, China. | Image: Bloomberg via Getty Images Numerous robotaxis operated by Chinese tech giant Baidu froze in a major city on Tuesday, reportedly trapping passengers inside, stranding them on highways, and causing at least one accident in snarled traffic. Police in Wuhan confirmed receiving multiple reports of Baidu's Apollo Go robotaxis stopping in the middle of streets and being unable to move. Police said no injuries have been reported and that preliminary investigations suggest an unspecified "system failure" is responsible for the outage. NEW: Dozens of robotaxis by Baidu stopped on the road in Wuhan, causing crashes on highways and trapping passengers in the cars-some for mo …Read the full story at The Verge.

The Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 deliver good bass for a pair of bone conduction headphones. | Image: The Verge As the days get warmer, it’s tempting to take your workouts outside. Bone conduction headphones let you listen while staying aware of your surroundings, making them ideal for runs, walks, and more. Through April 7th, Shokz is discounting several models during its spring sale, from the Shokz OpenFit Air Earbuds to the OpenDots One clip. The best deal, however, is on the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2, which are on sale for $139.99 ($40 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and directly from Shokz. That’s their best price since December and $15 shy of their all-time low.Shokz OpenRun Pro 2Where to Buy: $179.95 $139.95 at Amazon $179.95 $139.99 at REI $179.95 $139.99 at Best BuyThe OpenRun Pro 2 are Shokz’s best bone conduction headphones yet, addressing a long standing problem with the category: bass. The running-safe open-ear design often comes at the expense of clarity. The OpenRun Pro 2 tackles that problem with dedicated 18mm by 11mm air conduction drivers, which our reviewer Victoria Song found delivered noticeably richer bass and clearer sound than their predecessor.She was also impressed by the fit. The updated design features thinner, more flexible ear hooks connected to a lightweight neckband, resulting in a more secure and comfortable feel than earlier models like the AfterShokz. Those older versions could feel too tight around the temples and uncomfortable with glasses, but here, the reduced clamping force and more flexible build make a difference.In addition to delivering better sound, the OpenRun Pro 2 also offers improved battery life. They can last up to 12 hours on a single charge, and now recharge over USB-C. They also include AI-powered noise cancellation to improve call performance, though in our testing it wasn’t particularly effective. Still, if you’re looking for a comfortable, safety-minded pair of headphones, they’re still a solid option, particularly if you primarily use them for listening to music or podcasts.Read our Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 review.Some more ways to save:Now through April 13th, Woot is selling the white, 14-ounce Ember Mug 2 Heated Coffee Mug for just $79.99 ($70 off), which is its best price to date. The self-heating smart mug is a Verge favorite, letting you set and save your preferred temperature between 125 and 145 degrees Fahrenheit via the app, and sending a notification when your drink reaches it.  It keeps beverages warm for up to 80 minutes on battery or all day on the included charging coaster, and automatically wakes and sleeps to conserve power. Just note that while the mug’s water-resistant, it isn’t dishwasher-safe so you’ll have to wash it by hand.The Goliath Power Saber is on sale for $22.99 ($37 off) at Woot through April 4th. As my colleague Sean Hollister wrote in 2024, the lightsaber toy is the first of its kind to automatically extend to a full 35 inches and retract back down at the press of a button. While it lacks official Star Wars branding and premium build quality, it still captures some of the magic of more advanced (and far pricier) lightsaber props. The toy also features motion-activated sound effects and can be displayed on the included stand or carried with the attached belt clip.Apple has just released the second-generation AirPods Max, but if you want to save $150 the original model is currently available for $399 at Woot, which matches its all-time low. The first-gen AirPods Max still offer a premium build with aluminum, stainless steel, and breathable mesh along with great sound and noise cancellation, even if the newer version improves on both and adds features like live translation courtesy of Apple’s new H2 chip. Read our review.

Welcome to the worst day on the internet! As Chaim Gartenberg pointed out years ago, brands and a holiday dedicated to hoaxes are rarely a winning combo. If you’re a company with any kind of social media, internet, or AI chatbot presence in 2026, you really, truly only have four options on April Fools’ Day:Don’t do an April Fools’ joke. Put the time and energy into doing something productive that will materially benefit the world (or, less idealistically, your business) instead. Or just don’t do anything. Abstaining entirely would still be a net positive over the drain of resources and mental energy.Do an April Fools’ “joke,” but actually follow through on your stunt. This is arguably not a prank since you’ve actually created a video game skin or a real product that people can buy — but it doesn’t really hurt anyone.Do an April Fools’ joke, but be extremely clear from the start that this is a dumb joke and you have no intention of doing the thing that you are “humorously” pretending to do. Does this defeat the purpose of doing an April Fools’ joke because you’re not “fooling” anyone anymore? Absolutely. (Please see my first two points.)Lie to your customers, successfully tricking them into believing you are making some product, rebranding, or service you are not. By doing so, you will almost certainly annoy everyone once your deceit is made plain for the extremely small gain of pointless PR. The aphorism goes that there is no such thing as bad publicity; the seemingly endless line of companies willing to make fools out of themselves has proven this false time and time again.So far, we’ve seen some socks that even you can’t lose, Snapchat “Reals” took a shot at Instagram’s Xerox machine approach to product development, and the monitor accessory cats want the most.If you see anything that particularly sticks out for good, bad, or just unusual reasons, send it to us. April Fools’ 2026: Oura’s smart ring for pets. April Fools’ 2026: Crusader Kings III dunks on Nvidia’s DLSS 5. April Fools’ 2026: MKBHD reviews a toy Bluey phone. April Fools’ 2026: Sanic, Shewdew, and Knackles get official t-shirts from Sega. April Fools’ 2026: Dyson AirWrap for your pets. April Fools’ 2026: A smart home controller that knows what you want before you do. April Fools’ 2026: Bass Magazine written by ChatGPT, sponsored by Suno. April Fools’ 2026: Yahoo’s Scroll Stopper stops doomscrolling. April Fools’ 2026: Fortnite now has big head mode. April Fools’ 2026: Capcom’s next big game might have a fun Mega Man crossover. Snapchat’s ‘Reals’ joke mocks Instagram’s many ripoffs April Fools’ 2026: a flippin’ good joke. April Fools’ 2026: Trackable socks. April Fools’ 2026: a cat holder for your monitor. April Fools’ 2026: Connor Storrie’s big butt dialing problem. April Fools’ 2026: Stream Deck Plus Lever. April Fools’ 2026: Who’s that pokémon? April Fools’ 2026: A backpack for the Macintosh and a stylish holster for the Newton. April Fools’ 2026: Pocketpair’s joke that never ends. April Fools’ 2026: Mini to Micro.