ESPHome continues to deliver significant overhauls with its monthly updates. The May update transforms the Device Builder from a cosmetic refresh to a fundamental overhaul. Also, Device Builder isn't just a UI refresh; it's a workflow overhaul for anyone scaling beyond a couple of smart devices.

When I first traded in my PlayStation 5 and brought home a PS5 Pro, nobody in a ten-mile radius could've been more excited than me. Immediately, I got to playing Death Stranding 2, and a couple of months later, Ghost of Yotei looked absolutely gorgeous on the more powerful console. Fast-forward to mid-2026, however, and I'd be lying if I said it doesn't collect a layer of dust every day.

I've always preferred Android phones to iOS since college, when I'd spend hours designing Zooper Widgets on a Galaxy S4 to create a good-looking setup limited only by my imagination, the app's features, and device battery life. Until very recently, the OS wasn't a pain point. It was only when I tried unlocking the bootloader on a Xiaomi phone around 2020 that I realized how cumbersome it was to email the company and wait. For power users, the ability to compile an open-source tool, host it on a personal server, and install it on a daily driver without asking a massive corporation for permission seems fundamental to their digital rights.

Microsoft’s new Majorana 2 quantum chip. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft claimed last year that it had made a key breakthrough in quantum computing with Majorana 1, the company's first quantum processor. While physicists were immediately skeptical of Microsoft's claims, the software giant is announcing Majorana 2 today, the next generation of its topological quantum chip.Majorana 2 contains qubits, a unit of information in quantum computing much like the binary bits that computers use today, that are 1,000 times more reliable, according to Microsoft. It's a milestone that helps make quantum computing more reliable, thanks to the use of a new material stack and some help from Microsoft Discovery's agen …Read the full story at The Verge.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday creating a "voluntary framework" for AI companies to share their frontier models with the federal government before they're released "to promote secure innovation and strengthen the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure."The order says the US AI industry has succeeded in part "because we refuse to stifle this innovation with overly burdensome regulation," but that it also recognizes new AI capabilities come with security risks. Accordingly, it directs several federal agencies to come up with a framework to "assess the advanced cyber capabilities of AI models" before they're releas …Read the full story at The Verge.

When I wrote the news that Dell was announcing a new XPS 13 at Computex, I called it a MacBook Neo competitor. Now, I've actually gotten the chance to check one out, and I'm calling it a MacBook Neo killer. Honestly, it just seems to be equal or better in every way.

Ask 3 home lab enthusiasts where to start your home lab, and you'll likely get three different answers. It could be a Raspberry Pi, a cheap N100 mini PC, or a used enterprise box off of eBay. All of those things are small, quiet, sip power, and are relatively low cost as an entry into self-hosting, but in my opinion, they're not the best place to start. For your first home lab, the better machine is probably already sitting in your closet. An old ATX tower is one of the best beginner home labs money can buy, and it's often overlooked as a starting point.

Microsoft announced a bunch of new in-house AI models at Build 2026, including a new "flagship" model: MAI-Thinking-1. It's an ambitious step into model development for Microsoft, which introduced its initial in-house models last year - before then, it had relied on OpenAI's models. The two companies recently renegotiated their deal to loosen ties.According to Microsoft, MAI-Thinking-1 is a "medium-sized model" that "matches leading models" on "key" software engineering benchmarks. Microsoft says the company "trained it from the ground up on clean data, without distillation from third-party models." As for other models announced today, t …Read the full story at The Verge.

I like the UE Wonderboom 4 Bluetooth speaker so much that I bought two of them, though I wish I could have paid less for them. Fortunately, you can stock up on the cheap, so long as you like the color blue. The Wonderboom 4 is available in blue at Amazon for $51.49, and at Walmart and Best Buy for $51.99 ($28 off its regular price). That’s the lowest price we’ve seen yet for the waterproof speaker, with most of the other color options selling at a slightly higher (but still discounted) $69.99.Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4The Wonderboom 4 might feature a compact design, but it still delivers big sound for its diminutive size. It also carries an IP67 rating, meaning it’s both water- and dust-resistant (it can even float if you need it to).Where to Buy: $79.99 $51.49 at Amazon $79.99 $51.99 at Walmart $79.99 $51.99 at Best BuyDespite the Wonderboom 4’s compact size, the speaker sounds great, and is IP67-rated, meaning it can survive being submerged in water for a while. Although, its floatable design means that it’ll quickly return to the surface so you can put it back on dry land (it’s not meant to be listened to while in the water). If you have two of them, like me, they can be wirelessly paired together for stereo sound. With up to 14 hours of battery life per charge, the speaker will likely outlast your long summer outings. Other deals to considerHollow Knight: Silksong, the long-awaited sequel to Team Cherry’s 2017 metroidvania,  is discounted for the first time on the Nintendo eShop, bringing the price for the Switch and Switch 2 digital versions down to just $15.99 ($4 off). The difficult sequel pits players against relentless bosses and demanding platforming sections, and is great for anyone who loves a challenging side-scroller. Read our review.This MAG 272QP 27-inch 1440p QD-OLED gaming monitor from MSI is marked down to $339.99 ($60 off) for Costco members, its lowest price yet. It’s selling for around $400 at other retailers, so this is a good deal even if you have to get a Costco membership to snag. The monitor features a fast 240Hz refresh rate, plus FreeSync Premium and G-Sync support to keep the image looking smooth even if the frame rate fluctuates. In terms of ports, it offers two HDMI 2.1 inputs and one DisplayPort 1.4 port, plus a USB-C connection for DP Alt Mode, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The monitor includes a three-year warranty that also covers OLED burn-in.Fractal Design may be best known for PC components, but the case maker’s Scape wireless gaming headset surprised us with excellent sound and a sleek, refined aesthetic. They’re marked down to $169.99 ($30 off) at Amazon for Prime members, available in both silver or black finishes, with an included inductive charging dock. In addition to working with PC, we also got it working on a PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2 with its included USB audio transmitter. Read our review.

Microsoft just kicked off Build 2026 with a keynote from CEO Satya Nadella and other company leaders. As expected, it was filled with announcements, ranging from new Surface hardware to an always-on personal assistant and updates across Microsoft's in-house AI models.If you didn't watch the event live, you can catch up on all the latest news in the roundup below.A mini Surface PC designed for AI developmentThe Surface RTX Spark Dev Box is geared toward developers who want to run local AI models on their device, serving as a substitute for Qualcomm's canceled dev kit. It comes equipped with Nvidia's new Arm-based Spark RTX chip and 128G …Read the full story at The Verge.

My home lab has a habit of turning simple chores into small investigations. Checking backups, cleaning old project folders, auditing Docker Compose files, and making sure services still behave correctly all sound easy until they pile up. None of those jobs is exciting, but ignoring them is how small problems get promoted into weekend projects. I wanted scripts that could handle the boring checks without making me nervous every time I ran them.

The new MSI Claw with Intel Arc G3 Extreme. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge Intel couldn't catch a break. Layoffs. Shakedowns. Crashing CPUs torpedoing its reputation, sending desktop gamers fleeing to AMD. Apple and Qualcomm pushing Intel out of multiple flagship laptops. A gaming graphics card going MIA. But its Panther Lake laptop chip, the first on its all-important 18A process, turned out excellent - and a handheld version might make Intel the leader in portable gaming chips.On Monday, I spent two hours with an MSI Claw 8 EX AI Plus handheld atop Intel's new Arc G3 Extreme. I walked away thinking that next-gen handhelds have finally arrived. The true leap in performance and battery life we've been waiting for …Read the full story at The Verge.