The first reports that China-based phone maker OnePlus planned to exit some markets, including the US, were somewhat dubious. However, if a recent rumor about the company's plans in some markets is accurate, it seems there is at least some level of truth to those initial rumors.

Apple will soon bring advertisements to its Maps app on mobile and the web, according to a report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The ads, which Apple could reportedly announce this month before rolling them out in the summer, could allow businesses to pay for the highest spot in search results on Apple Maps.That means if one restaurant secures the winning bid for the word "sushi" or "pizza," its location could receive priority in search results over other relevant businesses, as reported by Bloomberg. The setup is similar to how advertising works on Google Maps, which also allows businesses to pay for a higher rank in search results.The m …Read the full story at The Verge.

The Fitbit Ace LTE turns exercise into a game for kids, and it’s on sale at multiple retailers. | Image: Fitbit If you’re trying to figure out how to keep your kids occupied this spring break, the Fitbit Ace LTE is an easy way to get them outdoors and off their phones. The kid-friendly smartwatch encourages movement with trackable games, and it’s back to an all-time low price of $99.95 ($80 off) at Amazon ahead of the retailer’s Big Spring Sale. Best Buy and Target are also matching that price. Fitbit Ace LTEThe Ace LTE sports some of the same hardware found on the Google Pixel Watch 2 and a variety of step-activated games, which can help motivate your child to keep moving. It also offers calling, messaging, and location sharing when you sign up for a monthly or annual data plan. Read our hands-on impressions.Where to Buy: $179.99 $99.95 at Amazon $179.99 $99.99 at Best Buy $179.99 $99.99 at GoogleBuilt with kids ages 7 to 11 in mind, the wearable features step-activated games and a digital companion called Eejie. As they play more, kids can earn points that can be used to buy items like outfits, rooms, and other accessories for Eejie. The built-in activities are simple and fun, and include a fishing challenge where kids cast their arm and pull it back to catch fish and a Mario Kart-styled game where kids race by tilting their arm. Fitbit also includes useful safety and communication features.  There are no ads or third-party app stores to worry about, and parental controls let you manage contacts and tweak other settings. You can also monitor your child’s progress on activity goals and disable games during school hours. What’s really helpful is that it can double as a smartphone replacement; the Ace supports Tap to Pay via Google Pay, so kids can make purchases on their own. With a $9.99 monthly subscription, kids can also call or text preapproved contacts and share their location through Google Maps, all without requiring a separate smartphone.Read our Fitbit Ace LTE hands-on impressions.

Apple has set a date for this year's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), scheduling the keynote and Platforms State of the Union for June 8th through June 12th at Apple Park. As usual, we will be tuned in to find out what's new in the 2027-branded editions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS. After last year's round of glassy visual tweaks, many are waiting for Apple Intelligence to deliver on delayed features, such as an AI upgrade for Siri.In its press release, Apple says, "WWDC26 will spotlight incredible updates for Apple platforms, including AI advancements and exciting new software and developer tools."According to the lat …Read the full story at The Verge.

Donut Lab is on a mission to prove to the world its solid-state battery is real, one independent test at a time. We've seen speed charging tests, extreme heat tests, and not-a-supercapacitor tests. Today's test is to see how the battery holds up under damage. The results: While it could barely sustain a charge, it didn't burst into flames, which Donut Lab sees as a victory.If you'll recall, during the extreme heat tests, the pouch surrounding Donut's battery lost its vacuum seal. This led to researchers at Finland's state-owned VTT Technical Research Centre, which conducted all of the lab's previous tests, to explore whether the cell could …Read the full story at The Verge.

The prediction market platform Kalshi says it's rolling out new guardrails to "preemptively block" political candidates and athletes from trading in their own markets, as reported earlier by Axios. In addition to blocking political candidates from trading on their own campaigns, Kalshi says its system will also prevent professional and college sports athletes, referees, and personnel from trading in sports they're involved in:The guardrails we built use state-of-the-art technology and screening lists, but no screening system is perfect, and motivated bad actors consistently try to find a way. To that end, we are also adding a whistleblowe …Read the full story at The Verge.

Ever watch a TV ad and wonder, "How did this get approved?" Today, Google has not one but two new ad spots for its six-month-old Pixel 10 phones, and… let's just say they may not come across as intended.First, there's "With 100x Zoom," an ad that appears to suggest that if a vacation rental company lies to you about the view from your hotel room, you should lie to all your friends and family, too! Take a watch below:The YouTube description makes Google's intent fairly clear: "So even if that breathtaking view you were promised turns out to be miles away, now you can zoom your way to a photo that makes it look like you were right there. …Read the full story at The Verge.

You've just bought a $1,500 laptop with four USB-C ports. You assume they are all identical, but one might actually be wired for ancient USB 2.0 while another does full USB4, making their real‑world speeds differ by orders of magnitude.

The Kobo Libra Colour features physical page turning buttons. | Image: Rakuten Kobo Color isn’t essential in an e-reader, but let’s be honest, it’s a nice perk that can bring digital books, magazines, comics, cookbooks, and other publications to life. The catch is that color ebook readers tend to be substantially pricier, which makes today’s deals stand out. Right now, the Kindle Colorsoft (16GB) and Kobo Libra Colour are matching their lowest prices to date, with the Amazon e-reader going for $169.99 ($80 off) at Amazon and Best Buy, and the Libra Colour going for $199.99 ($30 off) via Rakuten’s online storefront.Kindle Colorsoft (16GB)Where to Buy: $249.99 $169.99 at Amazon $249.99 $169.99 at Best Buy $249.99 $169.99 at TargetKobo Libra ColourWhere to Buy: $229.99 $199.99 at Rakuten Kobo $229.99 $209.99 at Target $229.99 $209.99 at AmazonAt their core, both are excellent e-readers with 7-inch, 300ppi E Ink displays, which drop to 150ppi when viewing color. The Colorsoft’s display is slightly more vibrant in most instances, but the difference isn’t dramatic. Each also offers IPX8 water resistance, so you don’t need to worry about spills and can comfortably read in the bath or by the pool. Which one makes more sense for you largely depends on where you buy your books, how much storage you need, and whether you like to take notes. The Colorsoft is great if you’re heavily embedded in Amazon’s ecosystem, as buying and accessing Kindle books is intuitive and doesn’t require any sideloading. As the more affordable option in Amazon’s lineup, the standard Colorsoft delivers a nearly identical reading experience to the Signature Edition, and it supports Amazon’s “Send to Alexa Plus” feature, which lets you send notes or documents to Amazon’s AI-powered assistant for summaries, to-do lists, reminders, and more. The downside is that it lacks wireless charging and an auto-adjusting front light — which are standard on the step-up model — and comes with 16GB of storage instead of 32GB. That said, if I didn’t already own so many Kindle books, the Libra Colour would be my pick. It offers double the storage at 32GB and includes intuitive physical page-turn buttons. You can also write notes while reading, given that it offers stylus support, and it includes built-in notebook templates, as well as the ability to convert handwriting to typed text. It also supports EPUB and a wider range of file formats, and lets you save articles for offline reading with Instapaper. And it also offers adjustable warm lighting, which makes reading at night a little easier on the eyes.Read our full Kobo Libra Colour review.

If you’ve ever stared at a wall of server logs trying to find one useful line, you already know how painful it gets. You end up endlessly scrolling, dealing with timestamps that don’t line up, while important errors stay buried in noise, which makes the whole process harder than it should be. The problem isn’t just the logs themselves; it’s how you’re forced to read them.

As PC builders, we consume tons of information before picking components for a new build. Still, mistakes can happen. When I put together a budget gaming PC back in 2017, my focus was on minimizing every expense possible. Of course, I wanted a build that was ready for future upgrades, but a handful of mistakes forced me to compromise on certain upgrade choices. Then, in 2022, some component choices were out of my hands, and I picked parts that I shouldn't have. These choices either made it impossible to upgrade to the components I wanted a few years later, or forced me to stick with ones for longer than I would have liked. It's been over three years since I built a PC, but next time I do it, I'll do my best to avoid similar blunders. I hope I get the opportunity sooner rather than later, considering the DRAM crisis and skyrocketing hardware prices.

On a Monday episode of the Lex Fridman podcast, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made a hot-button statement: "I think we've achieved AGI."AGI, or artificial general intelligence, is a vaguely defined term that has incited a lot of discussion by tech CEOs, tech workers, and the general public in recent years, as it typically denotes AI that's equal to or surpasses human intelligence. In recent months, tech leaders have tried to distance themselves from the term and create their own terminology that they view as less over-hyped, more useful, and more clearly defined (although the new phrases they've come up with essentially mean the same thing as AG …Read the full story at The Verge.