Some 3D prints are fun for a weekend, then quietly migrate into a drawer like they’re starting a new life as clutter. The ones that earn daily status are different. They solve tiny annoyances that stack up all day long without asking for attention. These are the prints I keep touching, moving, and relying on, which is probably the highest compliment a practical print can get.

A judge is questioning whether Epic Games and Google are settling their long-running antitrust fight partly because of a previously unannounced partnership involving the Unreal Engine, Fortnite, and Android. In a hearing in San Francisco today, the court revealed that Epic and Google have struck a new deal that apparently includes "joint product development, joint marketing commitment, joint partnerships." California District Judge James Donato expressed concerns that the agreement - which he indicated would involve Epic "helping Google market Android" and Google newly "using Epic's core technology" - could have led Epic to soften its demand …Read the full story at The Verge.

Ring video doorbells and cameras are not sending footage to ICE, according to the company. Ring's partnership with Flock is sparking renewed online backlash this week, with influencers calling for people to smash their Ring cameras and claiming the company is part of the surveillance state amid heightened concerns over ICE actions.Flock is an AI-powered surveillance camera company that has reportedly allowed government agencies - including ICE - to access data from its nationwide camera network. Amazon-owned home security company Ring announced a partnership with Flock last year as part of its new Community Requests tool. This allows local law enforcement agencies to request footage from nearby Ring users when investigating an a …Read the full story at The Verge.

Microsoft Outlook has been the default choice for anyone needing a heavy-duty desktop email client, but in 2026, the bloat has finally become too much to ignore. The Windows app is essentially a RAM-hungry web wrapper, while the Mac version feels slow and resource-intensive.

In February, Amazon plans to roll out a much-needed revamp of Fire TV OS, one that seemingly takes a cue from Google’s TV platform. The forthcoming UI redesign will introduce better organization, support for Alexa Plus, and quicker performance to the aging OS, the latter of which has been a crux of the platform’s issues for years. Collectively, the changes make it a lot easier to recommend the Fire TV Stick 4K Plus, which is on sale at Woot through January 23rd for an all-time low of $18.39 ($32 off) when you use code DEVICES20 at checkout.Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K PlusWhere to Buy: $49.99 $18.39 at Woot (with code DEVICES20) $49.99 $34.99 at Amazon $49.99 $34.99 at Best BuyThe Fire TV Stick 4K Plus — formerly known as the “Fire TV Stick 4K,” which is how Woot refers to it here — sits in the middle of Amazon’s lineup of 4K-ready streaming devices. It packs twice as much RAM as the newer “Select” model and supports an array of HDR and surround sound formats, including HDR10 Plus, Dolby Vision, DTS, and Dolby Atmos. Xbox Game Pass subscribers can also use it to stream select titles from the cloud, and, as expected, you can use it to watch the newest movies and TV shows from Prime Video, HBO Max, Netflix, and dozens of FAST (Free Ad-Supported TV) channels in HD or 4K. As for the hardware itself, the latest Fire TV Stick 4K comes with an Alexa Voice Remote, which allows you to quickly access your favorite streaming apps and Amazon’s ubiquitous voice assistant with the press of a button. Alexa lets you adjust various Fire TV settings, including the volume and input, but with Alexa Plus, you’ll soon be able to get stats on your favorite sports team, jump between iconic scenes, and carry out a host of more advanced actions using your voice. It’s a step in the right direction, even if our experience has been mixed thus far.More deals and discounts of noteThe Instant Pot Duo, a Verge-approved gizmo that often finds its way into our gift guides, is on sale at Amazon right now for $69.99 ($40 off), which is about $10 shy of its best price to date. We’re not going to wax poetic about the six-quart countertop appliance since you probably know what an Instant Pot is, but know that it lets you pressure cook, sauté, steam, and perform a host of other functions, eliminating the need for additional tools and cookware.If you own the newfangled iPhone Air, Apple’s aptly titled iPhone Air MagSafe Battery​​​ is down to $79 ($20 off) — its lowest price to date — at Amazon and Walmart. Admittedly, that’s still pretty pricey for a 3,149mAh battery pack that only delivers up to 12W of power; however, it’s also one of the thinnest options available, and can provide an additional 65 percent charge. It also allows for 25W charging when connected to a 25W or higher power adapter.Samsung’s Galaxy Ring is available from Amazon, Best Buy, and Samsung in select sizes starting at $299.99 ($100 off), its second-best price to date. Although the Android-only wearable isn’t as capable as our No. 1 smart ring pick (read: the Oura Ring 4), Samsung’s first-gen alternative offers fantastic hardware, long battery life, and a host of ecosystem tricks aimed at Samsung users. Plus, unlike other the Aura, the Galaxy Ring doesn’t require you to pony up for a monthly subscription. Read our review.

Developing apps for Windows is hard. There are a lot of elements to consider, rules to obey, and standards to adopt before you even get started with making the app itself. Fortunately, it seems like Microsoft understands this, as it is constantly releasing new tools and features that remove the roadblocks preventing people from launching their own Windows apps.

The sun was already beginning to set as Portlanders in weatherproof jackets and fleeces lined up around Revolution Hall. It wasn't yet 5PM on a Wednesday but the crowd was gathering well before the town hall was scheduled to begin. Just a day earlier, news outlets reported that Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison had been targeted by a federal Justice Department subpoena. Now Ellison was in Portland, at the invitation of Oregon's attorney general, along with three other Democratic attorneys general, for a town hall. When he was introduced on stage, an auditorium full of Oregonians gave him a standing ovation.The town hall, said Oregon …Read the full story at The Verge.

On paper, high-availability sounds like a neat little trick for Proxmox users. Being able to access your LXCs and VMs even if the underlying host goes down is pretty handy, especially when you’re running a DNS server, firewall, and other mission-critical services on your nodes. Plus, Proxmox’s HA provisions can migrate your virtual guests to other nodes automatically without requiring any manual input whatsoever.

Tesla is finally doing unsupervised robotaxi trips in Austin, Texas, according to a video posted on X. Elon Musk reposted the video, congratulating Tesla's AI team for the milestone. For months, Tesla's robotaxis in Austin and San Francisco have included safety monitors with access to a kill switch in case of emergency - a fallback that Waymo currently doesn't need for its commercial robotaxi service. The safety monitor sits in the passenger seat in Austin and in the driver seat in San Francisco. Neither service is fully open to the public yet, relying instead on customer waitlists.Musk has said that the human monitors are only there bec …Read the full story at The Verge.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) is pressing OpenAI about its move to bring ads to ChatGPT, and is asking several other companies whether they have similar plans. In letters to the CEOs of OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Snap, and xAI, Markey writes that embedding ads into AI chatbots "raises significant concerns for consumer protection, privacy, and the safety of young users."OpenAI will start testing ads for free ChatGPT users in the coming weeks, and they'll appear in the form of "sponsored" products and services at the bottom of conversations with the chatbot. The company says it will surface ads relevant to your chat, though it won't …Read the full story at The Verge.

If you have ever felt like your 3D printer is capable of great things, but your slicer keeps getting in the way, OrcaSlicer is the reset button. It gives you the kind of control that serious tuning demands, but it does not punish you with a maze of settings just to get a decent first layer. The best part is how quickly it helps you move from “this should work” to “this definitely works.” For everyday printing, that confidence is worth more than another roll of filament.

Substack announced Thursday it's launching Apple TV and Google TV apps that audiences can use for videos and livestreams - and early reactions suggest not all users are thrilled.Subscribers can watch videos and livestreams from creators they follow, but the app will also have a recommendations-based "For You" feed that mixes in other creators' content. The TV app is available to both free and paid subscribers, and Substack says it will eventually add audio content and more discovery features.For many, it appears this was not welcome news. In the short time since the blog post went live, it's been flooded with comments from writers and us …Read the full story at The Verge.