The gaming scene has really changed since a decade ago, hasn't it? It wasn't long ago that console-exclusive titles were worth their weight in gold, and console manufacturers were highly protective of their IPs. Now, with news like the Final Fantasy 7 remake coming to other platforms due to sales on PS5 not doing so well, some consoles are letting their exclusives go, while others are holding onto them tighter than ever.

My biggest complaint with Liquid Glass in the first iOS 26 developer beta was that it sometimes made Control Center nearly unreadable, but Apple has seemingly fixed that with the second beta, which is out now.In the first beta, the glassiness of everything meant that you could still see a fair amount of what was under Control Center, making it all look really cluttered. With the second beta, what’s under Control Center is much more opaque, making it much easier to read at a glance.Take a look in this comparison slider: Developer beta 1 on the left, developer beta 2 on the right. This isn’t a perfect comparison because I’ve switched a few app icons on my homescreen, but hopefully you can get the idea. In the second developer beta, some colors still bleed into the Control Center buttons in a way that could potentially be confusing. But overall, I think Apple is moving in the right direction here. I’m curious if the company will make more changes ahead of the general release this fall.As reported by 9to5Mac, the beta includes a few other changes, too, including an excellent new ringtone that’s an alternate of the Reflections song. It sounds like something you’d hear in an Ace Attorney game. I switched to it right away.If you want to try the developer beta yourself, here’s our guide on how to install it. If you don’t want to be on the bleeding edge but still want to try what Apple is working on, the company is set to launch a public beta next month.

Its certainly an aquired taste. | Image: nothing_fan_account While Nothing is gearing up to officially unveil its first over-ear headphones next week, leaked images and videos have given us a good idea of what they look like. The Nothing Headphone 1 sports an unusual design that appears consistently across leaks from multiple sources, featuring a squircle earcup with the company’s signature transparent elements and support for what looks like a 3.5mm audio cable.Nothing announced in a video last month that it would be launching over-ear headphones in “summer 2025,” but remained largely tight-lipped about what to expect. What little was teased — including Nothing’s Tom Ridley saying the company was making “a more interesting looking pair of headphones that say something about you,” and Adam Bates suggesting its buttons would feature distinct designs for each control function — appears to have been realized in these design leaks.View LinkImages shared by Nothing_fan_blog on Instagram show that the earcups for the Nothing Headphone 1 resemble a couple of quirky cassette tapes, and true to Bates’ word, there appear to be multiple buttons to control the music. The images show the headphones in black or silver colorways, and branding for “Nothing Headphone 1” and “Sound by KEF” on either earcup.Videos shared on X by Arsène Lupin also show two people at a private brand event trying out the headphones with what looks like a 3.5mm wired connection. That cable could introduce improved audio performance (compared with Bluetooth) that doesn’t require a battery when connected to compatible sources.View LinkIt won’t be long before we get official confirmation about the Headphone 1 design, specs, and price. According to comments made by Nothing CEO Carl Pei at the London SXSW conference, it’s set to be announced on July 1st alongside the brand’s incoming flagship phone, the Phone 3.

General view of the nuclear power plant Indian Point seen from Tomkins Cove, New York before it powered down in April 2021. | Photo: Getty Images New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced plans today to develop a new nuclear power plant, the first to be built in the state in decades. It’s the latest signal that nuclear energy could see a comeback in the US thanks to wide-ranging support from some strange bedfellows: the Trump administration purporting to seek “energy dominance”; tech companies in need of more electricity for AI data centers; and climate hawks on board with nuclear energy as a carbon pollution-free alternative to fossil fuels. Nuclear energy could see a comeback in the US thanks to wide-ranging support from some strange bedfellows“The use of advanced nuclear technology can provide the State with a greater diversity of its energy resources that will support New York’s goal of a growing economy with a reliable, zero-emission electricity system,” New York State Energy Research and Development Authority president and CEO Doreen Harris said in a press release.Hochul is directing the New York Power Authority to construct at least one new site for nuclear energy upstate with the capacity to generate at least 1 gigawatt of electricity (about half the capacity of Hoover Dam power plant). The state is interested in advanced reactors that are still under development, in the hopes of overcoming some of the obstacles the nuclear energy industry has faced over the years. After a boom in nuclear reactors built in the 1970s and ‘80s, the technology struggled to compete as gas-fired power plants and solar and wind farms became cheaper sources of electricity. Fears about nuclear accidents like the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island and conflicts over where to store radioactive waste have also bogged down the industry. Next-generation designs for small modular reactors are supposed to cut down costs and make it easier to develop new sites for nuclear energy. President Donald Trump signed several executive orders last month to overhaul the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, speed up licensing for new reactors, and truncate environmental reviews. Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Energy, Chris Wright, previously sat on the board of a nuclear energy startup with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.The Vogtle power plant in Georgia has become an example of the kinds of problems that have plagued nuclear power projects; it’s the site of the first all-new reactors built in the US in more than three decades. After construction started in 2009, Vogtle units 3 and 4 finally came online in 2023 and 2024, roughly $17 billion over budget. Now, the average age of a nuclear reactor in the US is 42 years old, with many retiring recently or scheduled to soon shutter. That trend is starting to reverse, with help from Big Tech and government incentives. Google and Amazon have both inked agreements to support the development of next-generation nuclear reactors. Meta signed a deal this month to help keep a reactor built in the 1980s alive for another 20 years. And Microsoft announced a power purchase agreement last year that’s supposed to lead to the restart of one reactor at Three Mile Island. New York has a climate goal of slashing its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent this decade compared to 1990. The state is about halfway to that goal, despite missing some key deadlines for finalizing pollution regulations.

NotebookLM has been around since July 2023, but it's still fairly new to most users. But NotebookLM being relatively new or having a smaller audience doesn't translate into a lack of competition.

It took me a long time to appreciate Death Stranding. I'm not even sure I fully got it after my initial playthrough, which was equal parts mesmerizing and dull. The game, in which you play as a postapocalyptic delivery man in a world ravaged by a breach with the afterlife, demands a lot from players. The gameplay is fiddly and frustrating, and the storyline is often inscrutable, at times seeming to make no sense. While it borrows elements from walking sims and stealth games, there's nothing like Death Stranding, and so it's hard to calibrate your expectations accordingly.It really wasn't until the end of the game that I felt I finally understood what director Hideo Kojima and his team were going for. And with all of that out of the way, playing the sequel was a more rewarding experience.Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is a direct follow-up. You once again control Sam (played by Norman Reedus), who now is living in hiding with his adopted child, Lou, after previously connecting all of America to an internet-like network by walking across the entire country. But it's not long before his life of domestic bliss is interrupted. At the request of Fragile (Léa Seydoux), Sam agrees to …Read the full story at The Verge.

If you're a Windows Insider, every month can be exciting, as you can try out new features and changes almost every week through beta builds. While improvements are welcome, some are more impactful than others and can change the way Windows works.

Last year, I lost my old AirPods in my apartment and relied on my old-school Lightning EarPods for months before upgrading to an iPhone 16. Honestly, aside from missing wireless connectivity, I hadn’t noticed much difference. That’s why I still think they’re a good investment in 2025, and why I’m considering picking up the newer USB-C EarPods now that they’re on sale for $15.99 ($3 off) at Amazon and Walmart. That’s the best price we’ve seen and a smart buy if you’ve lost your entry-level pair or simply miss the simplicity of wired earbuds.Released in 2023, the USB-C EarPods are designed to work with Apple’s latest iPhones, which have ditched the Lightning port in favor of USB-C. Aside from that, though, they’re virtually identical to the Lightning EarPods that once came bundled with the iPhone (they even include inline controls for volume and playback). They may lack pretty much all of the bells and whistles found on Apple’s latest AirPods, but many of us at The Verge still swear by their mic quality, which, surprisingly, outperforms a couple of pricier wireless options — including older AirPods models. They deliver impressively clear sound, too, which is why some of my colleagues still reach for them during calls.For me, though, what I love most is how low-maintenance they are. I never had to worry about unwanted lag or battery life on long commutes — I just plugged them in and I was good to go. Best of all, they’re dirt-cheap to replace when you lose them, which, given my track record, I most certainly will.

Sports games are an incredibly popular genre that people have loved to play throughout the years. However, one sub-genre of sports video games that had a broader audience and generated a lot of excitement was arcade sports titles. These games took the concept of playing a particular sport and greatly exaggerated the best parts of it, not focusing on being a simulation of the sport itself. The big plays are bigger, the crazy moments are crazier, and the hype is greater than any traditional sports game. Some of the greatest sports titles of all time have been arcade sports games that have a reverence for the integrity of the sport, but manage to be great fun in every aspect of their design.

Although Network-Attached Storage devices are used for simple tasks like backup, file-sharing, and data archival, the NAS rabbit hole goes pretty deep. While the CPU and RAM aren’t as important as, say, your gaming PC, you’ll want to go for models that can future-proof your storage server for a couple of years. If you’re building your own NAS chassis (or planning to get rid of the first-party OS in your pre-built enclosure), you’ll have to choose from a variety of operating systems.

When you're done assembling a new build, the urge to get into your favorite game is strong. You've probably spent a couple of hours putting everything together, dealt with cable management, and installed the operating system on your SSD. All you want is to experience your brand-new hardware in all its glory. However, you must tick a few essential checkboxes right after building your new gaming PC. Glossing over them due to laziness or inexperience can be detrimental to your new rig's performance.

Windows updates are often known for adding features. Good or bad, most Windows updates bring something new to the table, and that's what makes the OS more exciting. But many times, Updates also remove features instead. Whether it's things like WordPad or... a good Start menu, we've had to say goodbye to a lot of things during the Windows 11 era.