Framework, the modular computer company, just released its first delightful tiny desktop PC, on top of its smallest laptop yet. But it’s already teasing its next big live announcement on YouTube for August 26th at 8am PT / 11am ET, saying it’ll reveal how “something big just got better.”While that may seem like a vague phrase, it might narrow things down quite a bit! Framework only has one existing “big” product other than the Framework Desktop, the one that mysteriously didn’t get an update at its last event in February. I’m talking, of course, about the Framework Laptop 16, the most ambitious and most modular laptop ever made. When I tracked down Framework CEO Nirav Patel in February, he told me that the company was “nowhere near done” with the laptop just yet. Or, maybe Framework will help fisherman change how they catch fish in New England? That’s what Google Search tells me, anyhow:I think the Framework Laptop 16 is a safer bet, though.I’ve been quietly frustrated that I haven’t been able to give the Laptop 16 my full recommendation yet — because I want products like this to exist! — partly because of early cooling and build quality deficiencies, and partly because Framework has never truly promised that you’ll be able to actually upgrade its GPU to a more powerful one down the road. But with Framework’s Laptop 13, the company has proved again and again that truly modular and upgradable laptops can be a reality, and it’s ironed out many issues along the way. Here’s hoping August 26th is the day it fulfills the promise of modular gaming / creator laptops as well.BTW, in case you missed it: We had Nirav on The Vergecast in March to chat all things Framework.

Stop me if you've heard this already, but we ran out of public IPv4 addresses years ago. Yet, the internet didn't grind to a halt, and the explosive growth of internet-connected devices didn't slow down. What did happen was a combination of things, including IPv6 for essentially endless IP address space, and Network Address Translation (NAT). which translates public IP addresses on the internet to private IP addresses on your home network, and vice versa.

There as not a single product that didn’t wow Fallon. | Screenshot: Google For the past twenty years or so, I've had a clear image of what a product launch keynote is supposed to be like. A charismatic executive walks across the stage, points to some animations and pre-taped clips, a live demo or two happens, and the crowd goes wild. Clips proliferate on social media and cue the online discourse. You can trace it back to Steve Jobs dressed in a black turtleneck, with a glint in his eye, walking across a stage, asking if a hyped-up audience is ready for one more thing. So iconic was that format, it's been the blueprint for nearly every tech keynote since.Today's Made by Google event was decidedly not that.It was …Read the full story at The Verge.

A Raspberry Pi doesn’t need a screen, keyboard, or even a desktop environment to be useful. In my home lab, one of the most critical machines is a Pi that runs completely headless. It serves multiple roles at once, quietly handling services I can access through a web browser.

Despite Notion being one of the most well-known personal knowledge management (PKM) tools out there, it's far from perfect. It still lacks functionality that many users have been begging for over the years, and that competing apps already offer. This is one of the biggest reasons why many people keep looking for Notion alternatives.

The stealthy and no-frills camera is back. Ricoh is launching its GR IV compact camera in mid-September for $1,499.95, accompanied by a tiny new GF-2 add-on flash for $119.95. As initially announced in May, the GR IV will feature a 26-megapixel APS-C sensor, slightly redesigned 28mm-equivalent f/2.8 lens, new autofocus and stabilization systems, and 53GB of built-in storage to supplement its microSD card slot.It’s been over six years since the first incarnation of the GR III launched, back in 2019, with just the GR IIIx and HDF variants following since then. The much anticipated sequel camera follows in the footprints of its predecessor with an ultra-compact body and lens combo that’s ideal for street photography and everyday picture-taking. If you’re more familiar with Fujifilm’s wildly popular X100VI than a Ricoh GR, the Ricoh is an even more compact take on a similar formula — one you can fit into a pocket. The GR IV has the same size sensor but with a more modest resolution, a slightly wider lens than an X100, a slower f/2.8 aperture, and no viewfinder (GR cameras rely on the rear screen for composition, or an old-fashioned optical finder you mount on top).That’s all par for the course with previous GR cameras too. Though, one way the GR III set itself apart from Fujifilm was a sub-$1,000 price when it launched in 2019. The new GR IV will sell for $600 more than that — and $350 more than the most recent GR III variant. Many cameras from the likes of Fujifilm, Nikon, Canon, and more have gone up in price this year due to US tariffs. Among the hardcore photo crowd, the Ricoh GR line was known for being the affordable option of fixed focal-length street cameras. They obviously weren’t impulse-buy territory, but they were cheaper than an X100 and much cheaper than any Leica Q. Now, with the GR IV at $1,500 and X100VI running $1,800 (and possibly climbing higher) this style of camera feels like a much pricier affair.

It's safe to say that browsers haven't fundamentally changed in a very long time. They serve as a viewport to the internet, and while they keep evolving to keep up with modern standards, the basic features haven't changed all that much. Take Chrome, Edge, Safari, or many of the other browsers around; much of the evolution has been around tab management, not so much in how you actually use the internet. Perplexity's new browser, however, takes a different approach. Instead of acting like a window to the internet, it takes advantage of AI to work alongside you. I've been using it for a week, and I can totally see how this might fundamentally change browsing.

The team working on the next BioShock game is losing a third of its staff. According to Bloomberg, Take-Two is laying off more than 80 people at Cloud Chamber, which has been working on a new BioShock title, and the game has been delayed from a planned launch in late 2026 or early 2027.The game has already had a rocky development, and the changes likely mean that the new title may still be years away. The last game in the series, BioShock Infinite, was released in 2013.To help get this new entry back on track, 2K Games, the division of Take-Two that oversees Cloud Chamber, has hired Rod Fergusson, formerly the head of the Diablo team at Blizzard and helped get BioShock Infinite over the finish line, to lead the Cloud Chamber team. “I’m deeply grateful for the work the studio has done so far, and I’m committed to building a BioShock game we’ll be proud of and that our players will love,” Fergusson wrote yesterday.In an internal memo announcing the Cloud Chamber layoffs, 2K Games president David Ismailer said that “while we’re excited about the foundational gameplay elements of the project, we’ve made the decision with studio leadership to rework certain aspects that are core to a BioShock game, and in doing so are reducing the size of the development team to focus on this work and give the game more time in development,” per a memo published by Variety.Take-Two didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment from The Verge.

Sony announced a $50 price increase on all PlayStation 5 “slim” models in the US starting tomorrow, August 21st. The upcoming prices for a PS5 Digital Edition, the standard PS5, and the PS5 Pro are $499.99, $549.99, and $749.99, respectively; however, you can avoid paying the higher prices by picking up a PS5 at Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart today.The disc-based PS5 is already sold out at Amazon, and your options may get even more limited the longer you wait. As of right now, you can get the PS5 Digital Edition for around $449 at Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target, while the standard PS5 can be had for around $499 at Best Buy, Walmart, and Target. You can also pick up the newer PS5 Pro for around $699 at Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target.All three PS5 consoles can play the same library of games, but have slight differences. The PS5 Digital Edition features rearranged port selection and lacks a built-in disc drive, which means it can only play digital games downloaded from the PlayStation Store. (Sony sells an optional external drive you can add after the fact for $79.99 if you’d like to play physical games or Blu-rays.) The standard, disc-based PS5 features the same tech specs, but with an internal disc drive. PlayStation 5 Digital Edition (slim)Where to Buy: $449 at Amazon $449 at Walmart $449.99 at Best BuyPlayStation 5 (slim)Where to Buy: $499 at Walmart $499.99 at Best Buy $499.99 at TargetThe PS5 Pro, meanwhile, has a better GPU, faster memory, improved ray tracing, support for Wi-Fi 7, and AI-powered upscaling. It lacks an internal disc drive, but it’s compatible with the external disc drive developed for the original PS5. It also comes with 2TB of internal storage instead of the 1TB SSD found in the non-Pro models, so you have additional space for stowing digital games. The beefed-up system doesn’t have exclusive titles, but select PS5 titles have received updates to look better. PlayStation 5 ProWhere to Buy: $699 at Amazon $699 at Walmart $699.99 at Best BuySony’s price hike comes less than a month after Nintendo introduced a similar $30 increase on the original Nintendo Switch models. Nintendo also recently raised the prices of certain Nintendo Switch 2 accessories, but Sony says “the recommended retail prices for PS5 accessories remain unchanged.” The price adjustments from both companies are attributable to tariffs on international goods, which were first announced in April and have continued to change in response to President Donald Trump’s on-again-of-again policy.

Windows 11 bugs come in a huge spectrum. Sometimes they can be mildly annoying, and sometimes they can do serious damage to your data or hardware. Reports are coming in about a potential bug that fits into the latter category, as it can cause an SSD to "vanish" from Windows 11. And if someone is very unlucky, the SSD will still gone even after a restart.

SSDs and the flash within them have fundamentally changed the way we store our data on consumer devices. HDDs are still used for many workloads, but for any data that we, as users, must interact with, solid state storage is a no-brainer.

Google is bringing a bundle of new features to Gemini Live, its AI assistant that you can have real-time conversations with. Next week, Gemini Live will be able to highlight things directly on your screen while sharing your camera, making it easier for the AI assistant to point out a specific item.If you’re trying to find the right tool for a project, for example, you can point your smartphone’s camera at a collection of tools, and Gemini Live will highlight the correct one on your screen. This feature will be available on the newly announced Pixel 10 devices when they launch on August 28th. Google will begin rolling out visual guidance to other Android devices at the same time before expanding to iOS “in the coming weeks.”Google is also launching new integrations that will soon allow Gemini Live to interact with more apps, including Messages, Phone, and Clock. Say you’re in the middle of a conversation with Gemini about directions to your destination, but you realize you’re running late. Google says you’ll be able to interrupt the chatbot with something like: “This route looks good. Now, send a message to Alex that I’m running about 10 minutes late.” From there, Google can draft a text to your friend for you.Lastly, Google is launching an updated audio model for Gemini Live that the company says will “dramatically improve” how the chatbot “uses the key elements of human speech, like intonation, rhythm and pitch.” Soon, Gemini will change its tone based on what you’re speaking about, such as using a calmer voice if you’re asking about a stressful topic. You’ll also be able to change how fast — or slow — Gemini talks, which sounds a bit similar to how users can now tweak the style of ChatGPT’s voice mode. And, if you ask Gemini for a dramatic retelling of a story from the perspective of a particular character or historical figure, the chatbot may adopt an accent for a “rich, engaging narrative.”