2023’s iPhone 15 is the most recent that Trump Mobile offers. It's been well established that the Trump Phone doesn't exist. But that isn't the only phone Trump Mobile sells. It also offers a range of refurbished Apple and Samsung handsets that you can buy right now. You really shouldn't though.I was relieved reading Allison's coverage over the last two weeks to discover that not everything about Trump Mobile is a scam. It may have taken her a couple weeks to actually get a SIM card, but once it arrived it did work just fine - it's T-Mobile, after all. It made me realize that you could, if you wanted, get Trump Mobile coverage on a Trump Mobile-sold phone right now, so long as you don't mind that the …Read the full story at The Verge.

For years, the Raspberry Pi sat at the center of countless home labs because there simply wasn’t anything else in its price range that could compete. It became the default choice for hobbyists who wanted to run containers, self-hosted apps, and small network utilities without dedicating an entire PC to the job. That era had a certain charm and a sense of scrappy experimentation that made the Pi feel special. Today, that feeling remains, but the hardware landscape around it has changed in ways that are difficult to ignore. The arrival of cheap Intel N100 mini PCs didn’t just disrupt the home server market; it transformed it.

That Pixel phone in your pocket is now a Switch 2 webcam. | Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge When it launched the Switch 2’s compatibility with various webcams was hit or miss. A webcam isn’t a necessary accessory, but since the Switch 2 lacks one of its own, you need one to take full advantage of the console’s GameChat feature that can livestream players’ faces during multiplayer matches. Switch 2 webcam compatibility has since improved, but if you don’t already own one, you can now use your Pixel smartphone, according to Android Authority.Despite Nintendo’s claims that the Switch 2 works with most USB webcams, our own testing confirmed that Pixel smartphones could not be used as webcams at launch, even with the device’s settings switched to the USB webcam mode that Google introduced with Android 14. Switch 2 users eventually found that Android phones and iPhones could be used as a webcam for the console, but with the help of additional USB-C to HDMI adapters, and HDMI capture cables.But extra hardware is no longer needed to use a Pixel smartphone as a Switch 2 webcam. We tested a Pixel 9 Pro connected directly to the Switch 2’s top USB-C port with a single cable and, after switching the USB preferences to “Webcam” mode, we were able to use the smartphone as the camera for GameChat. If you’re playing multiplayer games like Mario Kart World, GameChat lets you not only speak with other competitors around the world, but also see them superimposed over a livestream of them playing if you’re using a webcam.It’s not known if recent updates on Google’s or Nintendo’s end are responsible for making this work (the Pixel 9 Pro we tested it with is running the Android 16 December release), but it’s a welcome upgrade for those who frequently travel with their Switch 2 and don’t want to lug a separate webcam everywhere they go.

Bookmarks are one of those things that get out of hand very quickly, especially if you’re easily distractible. I never planned on the chaotic folders and layout of my Brave browser bookmarks; this is just what I ended up with by hitting Ctrl + D on every single thing that piques my interest. When I read an article that might be useful later on, or come across new design tools that I’ll never actually get around to trying, I just save it wherever and forget about it. I even use bookmarks as a way to “remember” which grocery items to order, only to never look at them again.

The European Union has served Elon Musk’s X with a €120 million (about $140 million) penalty for violating the bloc’s digital service rulebook, including over the “deceptive design” of its blue checkmark. Today’s announcement marks the first time that a company has been fined under the landmark Digital Services Act (DSA) law for curbing “illegal and harmful activities” on online platforms, and follows the EU launching a multifaceted investigation into X in December 2023.“Deceiving users with blue checkmarks, obscuring information on ads and shutting out researchers have no place online in the EU,” EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said in a statement. “The DSA protects users. The DSA gives researchers the way to uncover potential threats. The DSA restores trust in the online environment. With the DSA’s first non-compliance decision, we are holding X responsible for undermining users’ rights and evading accountability.”In July 2024, the EU preliminarily ruled that X was failing to comply with obligations around advertising transparency, data access for researchers, and “dark patterns” — deceptive interface features designed to trick users. X’s blue checkmark system was specifically called out for deceiving users by allowing anyone to pay to be “verified,” making it harder to determine the authenticity of X accounts.The EU can charge companies up to 6 percent of their global revenue for DSA violations. As X is a private company — purchased by Musk for $44 billion in October 2022 and again by his artificial intelligence company, X AI, in March 2025 for $33 billion — it’s unclear what its potential maximum penalty could have been. X can appeal the fine, or could still reach a settlement with the EU by implementing changes that satisfy DSA compliance concerns.European lawmakers had deliberated how large a fine to issue according to The New York Times, reporting that regulators sought to make an example of X as a warning to other companies while weighing the risks of sparking retaliation from President Donald Trump amid ongoing trade disputes. Musk alongside the leadership of  US tech giants have encouraged the President to stop the EU from taking advantage of their companies.The 2023 investigation was also launched to scrutinize X’s moderation practices and the dissemination of illegal or harmful content on the platform, which is currently still ongoing and could incur further penalties.The EU has criticized X over rising levels of disinformation following its acquisition by Musk. In January, EU lawmakers pledged to “energetically” push the X investigation forward over concerns with Musk’s promotion of Germany’s far-right party leader on the platform. Musk has used X to rally behind other far-right personalities and sparked outrage after pulling a controversial gesture during his speech at Trump’s inauguration.Developing…

Pantone's color of the year for 2026 is white - sorry, Cloud Dancer. Pantone announced the shade on Thursday, and describes it as a "discrete white hue offering a promise of clarity." The accompanying image shows a person with cropped hair in billowy white clothing, arms outstretched over a background of clouds."PANTONE 11-4201 Cloud Dancer encourages true relaxation and focus, allowing the mind to wander and creativity to breathe, making room for innovation," the company writes. But all I can see is a recession indicator.This is the third year in a row where the Pantone color has slid more and more into unobtrusive, dispassionat …Read the full story at The Verge.

After indie narrative horror game Horses was banned from Steam two years ago, it put the studio, Santa Ragione, at risk of closure. Studio cofounder and Horses producer Pietro Righi Riva had to make a difficult phone call to the game’s director, Italian filmmaker Andrea Lucco Borlera. “I was terrified for him,” Riva said in an interview with The Verge. “This was his first game and he put so much work, so much passion, so many years, and it was supposed to be his big breakthrough.” But Horses has broken through even without Steam. Riva’s detailed accounting of the game’s multiple storefront bans caught the attention of journalists, developers, and curious gamers eager to see just what was so objectionable that the game couldn’t be sold on Steam alongside the likes of Sex Standing or Sex with Hitler 2. That attention has made Horses the video game cause célèbre of the moment, catapulting it to bestseller status on GOG.com.But while this all sounds like a happy ending, Riva isn’t ready to breathe easy just yet. “I’m relieved because with all this attention, I’m probably going to be able to give back most of the money [roughly half of $100,000] that I had to borrow,” he said. “But we’re not out of the [woods] yet, no.” Horses is a short, crunchy-looking game, boasting Dreamcast-era graphics with gameplay that’s no more involved than clicking things to put them in and take them out of your inventory. And while Santa Ragione has had success with Saturnalia and Milky Way Prince before the bans, it was largely a little-known developer. Riva is aware of how that looks, acknowledging that the bans have been instrumental in Horses punching through the noise.“There is no way the same kind of interest would have happened,” he said. And despite that first difficult call, Riva says Borlera is quite pleased at what the bans have done for his game. “He’s extremely happy with the reception that the game is getting,” Riva said. “People are reading into the game and […] engaging with it in a way that he hoped.”“There is no way the same kind of interest would have happened.”That engagement, though, isn’t enough to make up for the access Steam could have provided. While Riva is grateful for the support of gamers and storefronts like GOG, it’s not enough, and he’s still very much in fear of Santa Ragione’s future. “Even with all the publicity, all the reporting, all the reviews, everything else,” he said. “This still does not compare to the kind of audience we would have on Steam.”Steam has an outsize influence on the PC video game market. The indie studios that cannot afford the costs of porting their games to consoles are at the mercy of Valve’s vague, capricious, and often inconsistent moderation whims. Though Horses has found a roundabout way to relative success without it, Riva said that journey has been traumatic, affecting not just him and his team but his peers and future projects.“I think there is going to be, in my case, and in other people’s case, a certain degree of self-censorship,” he said. “It’s terrifying, and it’s going to make people make safer and safer games, me included.”

Google has announced several autofill improvements being rolled out to the mobile and desktop versions of Chrome. The updates will give autofill access to more of your data from places like Google Wallet and make it easier to select the right info a form is asking for when there are multiple suggestions.Autofill can now access your name, email address, and saved work and home addresses from your Google Account while you’re signed into the desktop, iOS, and Android versions of Chrome.For Chrome on Android, Google is expanding the autofill suggestions that appear above the onscreen keyboard so they’re not as condensed and easier to differentiate. The suggestions will now display two lines of information that could, for example, include the addresses of two contacts with the same name so you have more context for choosing the correct one.Google is also improving how Chrome’s autofill completes forms with international addresses, including Mexican descriptions that often reference two cross-streets, while support for “phonetic names in Japan” will be introduced later.Last month Chrome added the ability to autofill details like your passport number, driver’s license, loyalty cards, and info about your vehicle including its VIN and license plate for desktop users who turned on “enhanced autofill.” Both the desktop and Android versions of Chrome will now be able to access data from travel bookings saved in Google Wallet, so if you’re booking an airport rental car online, you can autofill details like the time and day your flight arrives.

The new hub centralizes account support options. Meta on Thursday announced it is launching a new, centralized support hub for Facebook and Instagram, acknowledging that getting help hasn’t always been as easy as it should be. The space will bring together all the support features users of both networks need to report account issues or recover one they’ve lost access to.“Getting help with your account should be simple and accessible,” the company explained, adding that it’s aware “support hasn’t always met expectations.” The update is rolling out globally to users of both social media platforms on iOS and Android.Meta said it is also working on an AI assistant “for instant, personalized help” with things like recovering your account or updating settings. Initially, this will only be available to Facebook users, but Meta said it is “exploring bringing it to our other apps in the future.”As the hub is accessed through the Facebook or Instagram apps, it’s not clear how helpful it will actually be if you’re already locked out of them. Meta said it’s improving the account recovery process though, using AI to make it easier to find the right recovery options and help the company better detect devices and locations where you’ve used the apps in the past.

Motherboard Wi-Fi has quietly become one of the most common marketing upsells in PC hardware as of late. Many mid-range and high-end boards from large manufacturers now include it by default, often at a noticeably higher price than their non-Wi-Fi counterparts. On paper, the appeal to convenience seems obvious, but once you look beyond it, the shortcomings can become much harder to ignore.

On Monday, several dozen members of the public are lined up outside 100 Centre Street in Lower Manhattan, hoping to squeeze into the courtroom to hear testimony from witnesses called by the state against Luigi Mangione - the man accused of shooting and killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson a year ago. Despite the endless news coverage, viral memes, and photos seen by millions of people, the group that shows up to hearings has thinned out significantly since the court date in February, when hundreds gathered outside and in the courthouse. There is a small demonstration ramping up, organized by healthcare reform group People Over Profi …Read the full story at The Verge.

If you run a Linux home lab, you know the importance of backing up your data. The appeal of self-hosted FOSS tools is high among home lab users, and BorgBackup often ranks among the best open-source backup options. It's not a new or particularly flashy tool, but it's one of the most trusted and robust backup tools on Linux. For those who prefer a GUI instead of the command line interface (CLI), Borg Web UI takes BorgBackup's utility to another level, thanks to an intuitive and beautiful web interface. You can use all of BorgBackup's deduplication, encryption, and storage-efficient features with this seamless web interface.