About two months ago, John P. Coale, one of many lawyers representing Donald Trump in a personal capacity, met with several Alphabet executives, mediators, and lawyers at Mar-a-Lago - along with his client. They all spent a lovely day at the palatial Florida estate, and Trump treated them to lunch as they chatted about anything but the antitrust cases being prosecuted against Google. Coale was keen not to broach the matter, he told The Verge in an interview, since "it could be dicey." Whenever someone else skirted the topic of the antitrust cases - "not Google and not me," he was quick to clarify - both he and the Google people would "jump …Read the full story at The Verge.

Windows comes with a Fast Startup feature that has been part of the OS since Windows 8 and continues to be enabled by default on Windows 10 and 11. Theoretically, it seems a helpful feature to reduce boot times, especially on low-end devices with HDDs, by combining the best parts of shutdown and hibernation. I mean, who wouldn't want their PC to start up quickly, right?

AI is changing pretty much every part of our lives nowadays, and browsers seem to be the current target. The first time I went hands-on with an AI browser was when Opera announced Neon as a concept browser (which is now finally publicly available).

Amazon’s list of 4K-capable streaming sticks got bigger — and more confusing — after its hardware event this week. The $39.99 4K Select will be released on October 15th, joining the 4K and the 4K Max. You’re not alone if you find it tough to tell which is best just by going off names, and their prices might lead you astray; the 4K Select costs as much as the 4K Max, while the plain ol’ 4K currently costs $24.99.However, the Fire TV Stick 4K is superior, with support for Wi-Fi 6, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, plus it has more memory. And soon, its name will be changed to better reflect that. Amazon spokesperson Zack Brown shared with The Verge that the company will introduce a new name for the Fire TV Stick 4K “in the coming weeks to help customers differentiate between the two.” That’s good. But any guesses for the new name? 4K Plus? 4K Alexa Plus Pro?

A system failure has slowed production of Asahi Super Dry in Japan, with no available ETA for recovery. Japan is facing a potential shortage of Asahi beer after a cyberattack against the beverage maker forced its systems offline. Asahi Group issued a statement on Monday announcing that order, shipment, and call center operations at the company had been suspended due to the systems outage, and that the disruption was limited to Japan.The company has now started to manually process orders, according to an updated notice published today, but system-based orders and wide-scale shipments remain suspended. Asahi said it was targeted by a ransomware attack, but is withholding specifics “to prevent further damage.” The company is unable to provide a clear timeline for system recovery.“We took immediate action to contain and respond to the incident,” Asahi said in the system failure notice. “Subsequent investigations have confirmed traces suggesting a potential unauthorized transfer of data. We are conducting [an] investigation to determine the nature and scope of the information that may have been subject to unauthorized transfer.”The Financial Times reported on Thursday that major Japanese retailers were estimating that nationwide stocks of Asahi Super Dry — the country’s most popular beer — would run dry this weekend if supply chains were not restored.

The Horipad Turbo features a similar design to Nintendo’s Switch 2 Pro Controller. | Image: Hori Hori has announced another addition to the ever-growing list of cheaper alternatives to Nintendo’s $90 Switch 2 Pro Controller. The Wireless Horipad Turbo is around $35 cheaper than Nintendo’s, and while it lacks a lot of premium features such as Amiibo support and the ability to remotely wake the Switch 2, it adds a lock button on the back that disables the buttons in the middle of the controller. That includes the Home and Screenshot shortcuts so they won’t do anything if accidentally pressed in the middle of a game.The Wireless Horipad Turbo is currently available for preorder in Japan through Hori’s online store and Amazon Japan for 7,980 yen, or about $54, in mist black, aquasian, shine yellow, frost white, and ruby magenta color options. It’s expected to launch before the year is out. There are no details on when or if it may see a US release, or if pricing will be comparable if it does, but it will be compatible with all versions of the Switch.Aside from the use of translucent housing, the Horipad Turbo looks very similar to Nintendo’s Switch 2 Pro Controller, including the game chat button located between the D-pad and right analog joystick. Hori has opted for drift-resistant tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) joysticks instead of Hall effect or capacitive options, which alone could make it more appealing than Nintendo’s gamepad. But the company has also skipped other features, including a 3.5mm headphone jack.You will find an extra set of buttons on the back of the Horipad Turbo, and the company has gone the extra mile by allowing you to remap the functionality of the action, shoulder, and trigger buttons, as well as the D-pad and joysticks. You can even reprogram a single button to replicate the functionality of two others simultaneously, and you can activate rapidfire using an additional button on the front of the gamepad featuring the red, white, and blue Hori logo.The lock button on the back of the Horipad Turbo can be toggled between disabling the Hori, Home, and Screenshot buttons. There’s also an option that locks the plus and minus buttons, ensuring you won’t pop into a menu screen at an inopportune time with an accidental press.

I’m not running. I’m frolicking. An anime version of Jesus Christ flipping tables. OpenAI employees performing in Hamilton costumes. News anchors discussing a story on television. A man doing a thirst-trap TikTok dance. Sam Altman - stealing GPUs on CCTV, listening to a business pitch, crying. Such were the contents of my feed on Sora, OpenAI's new social media app for AI-generated video. The company released the iOS app on Tuesday with the ability to create 10-second videos of virtually anything you can dream up, including "cameos," or videos featuring your own AI-generated self and anyone else who approves of you using their likeness. OpenAI employees called Sora a pote …Read the full story at The Verge.

Sony is now selling a revised model of the digital PS5 slim in the US that has less storage than the original version. The updated model with 825GB of internal SSD storage instead of 1TB recently went on sale in Europe, but now it’s available to buy on the US PlayStation Direct website as well. The revised digital edition console, which Sony says is in the “CFI-2100 model group – slim,” still starts at $499.99, even with the reduced storage space. YouTuber Austin Evans recently tore down one of the updated PS5 slim consoles from Europe, and in addition to less storage, Evans spotted that the black part in the center and the top side panels are now matte and also noticed some tweaks to the console’s internals.If you want a 2100-series PS5 slim with 1TB of storage included, you can pay $549.99 for the version of the console that comes with a disc drive. The PS5 Pro, which costs $749.99, still comes with 2TB of internal storage. Earlier this year, Sony raised the price of all PS5 models in the US by $50, citing the “challenging economic environment.”

Intel's Arrow Lake (Core Ultra 200S) processors launched last year to underwhelming reviews. Between divided opinions on the built-in NPU, the integrated graphics tile, and the same Lion Cove P-cores and Skymont E-cores found in the ultra-thin Lunar Lake mobile chipset, Arrow Lake failed to capture the gaming enthusiast market.

Tesla’s long-rumored more affordable electric vehicle won’t be out until next year, but it was recently spotted uncamouflaged on a highway in Texas. And no, your eyes are not fooling you; it’s just a cheaper version of the Model Y.The rumor that the affordable EV would just be a bare-bones Model Y has been circulating ever since Elon Musk canceled a previous model that was to be built on an entirely new platform. The so-called “Model 2” was meant to be Musk’s long-promised “$25,o00 EV” that at one point was presented as having a Cybertruck-inspired design. Musk reportedly canceled the new model in favor of building the steering wheel-less Cybercab, which was introduced last year and is expected to go into production in 2026.At the same time, Tesla says it will go into production on a more affordable version of the Model Y, which currently starts at around $45,000. A variant with Florida manufacturer plates was recently spotted driving near Tesla’s Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, by aerospace engineer Ryan Mable, who posted some photos on X. (It was also posted on Reddit, but I think Mable posted his images first.)@SawyerMerritt spotted an uncovered cheaper Model Y variant driving near Giga Texas pic.twitter.com/Fy6devXree— Ryan Mable (@RyanMable) October 2, 2025So what’s different about this Model Y? For one, the front light bar that was first introduced with the “Juniper” refresh is missing. Instead, Tesla has gone back to using separate headlights, while keeping the newly narrow lights from the refresh. The rear light bar is also missing, replaced by a horizontal black line. And there’s no “TESLA” badging in the rear as we saw with the Juniper refresh.The tailgate also seems to have a bit of an overbite, with the trunk lid sticking out a little bit over the plastic rear fascia above the license plate. The fit is less than snug, which could trigger flashbacks among Tesla owners who remember the bad old days of panel gaps and other fit-and-finish problems. Otherwise, the new budget Model Y looks very similar to the current version. We still don’t know what kind of battery this thing will have, and how that will impact energy capacity, charging, and range. But there have been a few other details that have leaked in recent days, including a bunch of revelations extracted from a recent firmware update that was noticed by Tesla hacker GreenTheOnly.simplified fiberglass headlinersimplified cabin lighting (footwell only)simplified seat controls (single axis)no power mirror foldingno puddle lampsno glass roofno second row displayno tpmssimplified 18" wheels— green (@greentheonly) September 20, 2025According to Green, the new Model Y will come in all-wheel and rear-wheel drive versions. Tesla is getting rid of amenities like the moonroof, power mirror folding, the second row display, and puddle lamps. The cabin lights, mood lighting, suspension, and seat controls are all getting downgraded. And the 19-inch wheels are getting swapped for smaller 18-inchers. Tesla hasn’t revealed a price yet, but rumors are it will start at $39,999 — which is a far cry from the promised $25,000 EV.Of course, the prototype is just a prototype, and all these changes that have been leaked are just preliminary. We really don’t know what will end up in the final version, but it certainly establishes a baseline of what to expect. Of course, the prototype is just a prototype, and all these changes that have been leaked are just preliminaryAs Tesla starts stripping things out to help reduce the price of the Model Y, it will run up against its overarching aim to enable all of its vehicles to be fully autonomous. Could they remove the computer that powers Autopilot and Full Self-Driving? What about external sensors? The Model Y currently sports eight cameras; if Tesla removes some of them, will FSD still work? (Not that it works flawlessly with eight cameras.) The tradeoffs could get pretty steep if Tesla starts down that road.The best place to shave costs is the battery, which typically is the most expensive component in an EV. Tesla’s cheapest EVs already utilize low-cost lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) chemistries, nearly all of which are supplied by Chinese battery manufacturers. The company recently started production on its own LFP cells at its factory in Nevada, so it stands to reason that the new, cheaper Model Y is likely to use these batteries.Tesla just had a record sales quarter, due primarily to the expiration of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit. Musk has warned of a few “rough quarters” as Tesla’s sales are likely to drop after vehicle prices rise. Having a more affordable model will potentially help Tesla bridge the gap to the promised future of self-driving cars and humanoid robots — if we ever get there at all. But will customers go for a barebones version of a car that’s already been on the road for six years and counting?

Laptops are all-in-one computers that combine a monitor, keyboard, touchpad, and webcam into a single chassis, housing the computer itself. While a laptop tends to include all the computing basics, we can do better than just "basics." The key is getting the right accessories. While some of these are the same accessories you'll need for a well-equipped PC or home office setup, others are specifically designed for laptops.

Raspberry Pi’s SD card boot support was exemplary when it first arrived, and made it possible to load an operating system on it. Even after a decade, Raspberry Pi boards continue to support SD cards, despite introducing new connectivity options like USB and NVMe boot. SD cards remain the first preference of any new SBC user, even on other non-Raspberry Pi boards. But I think you're leaving a lot on the table if you are still booting your Raspberry Pi from an SD card.