In a letter to the Social Security Administration’s Inspector General’s office requesting an investigation into DOGE, Ranking Member Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-VA) alleged that the government entity created by Elon Musk supposedly to reduce the size of the federal government is now constructing a “cross-agency master database” of sensitive personal information.

Wired appeared to back up Connolly’s allegations on Friday, detailing an effort at DOGE to fold this  database into the Department of Homeland Security, the counterterrorism agency founded after 9/11. Specifically, “mass amounts” of personal data harvested from the IRS, SSA, and voting records in Pennsylvania and Florida were recently uploaded into servers at the United States Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS), which processes immigration cases.

Connolly cited testimony from SSA whistleblowers who witnessed DOGE engineers accessing the agency’s IT system with “backpacks full of laptops, each with access to different agency systems”, with the aim of combining them into one database. Connolly warned that not only would such a database pose a threat to government cybersecurity, which siloes its information across several agencies to prevent cyberattacks from accessing all information at once, it was also very likely violating several privacy laws.

The Committee has also received reports about troubling, fumbling efforts by DOGE to combine sensitive information held by SSA, the IRS, HHS, and other agencies into a single cross-agency master database. Improving how federal agencies share data to improve outcomes and customer service is a longstanding and bipartisan goal in Congress. Information obtained by the Committee, however, indicates that DOGE is carrying out its work in a manner that disregards important cybersecurity and privacy considerations, potentially in violation of the law. 

In an apparent attempt to sidestep network security controls, the Committee has learned that DOGE engineers have tried to create specialized computers for themselves that simultaneously give full access to networks and databases across different agencies. Such a system would pose unprecedented operational security risks and undermine the zero-trust cybersecurity architecture that prevents a breach at one agency from spreading across the government. Information obtained by the Committee also indicates that individuals associated with DOGE have assembled backpacks full of laptops, each with access to different agency systems, that DOGE staff is using to combine databases that are currently maintained separately by multiple federal agencies.

Though several other House investigations into DOGE’s activities have revealed their data harvesting efforts at other agencies, Rep. Connolly’s letter is the first to allege that DOGE, the government-shrinking agency founded by Elon Musk and now wreaking havoc across the federal government, is pooling everyone’s data into one giant database. 

“I have long championed efforts to improve data sharing across the government to combat improper payments and to increase government efficiency,” Connolly wrote. “But any efforts to reform our current systems must be undertaken with the utmost sensitivity and concern for privacy, security, and the Social Security payments that millions of people rely on.”

The privacy implications of this cross-agency database would not only violate numerous privacy laws and cause cybersecurity risks, but could also become a potent weapon for whomever can access said database: it could be used by the government to conduct mass surveillance of whomever they wished to target, such as immigrants, or become a target for outside actors seeking a trove of private and personal data. Either way, “it’s terrifying,” John Davisson, senior counsel and director of litigation at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told Nextgov, adding that this was exactly what the Privacy Act was supposed to prevent. “Aggregation of data is building a weapon, essentially, and it’s one that can be used in a lot of different ways.” 

The government should be scrutinizing Meta’s power. Unfortunately, its legal attack isn’t cutting to the heart of what keeps Meta big.

This week, I spent three days in a Washington, DC courtroom watching Mark Zuckerberg testify. He was there defending his company from being broken up by the Federal Trade Commission, which is seeking to unwind his acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp on the grounds that they were anticompetitive. At times, he was made uncomfortable and challenged with evidence that he wanted to “neutralize” rivals. Primarily, what I observed was the FTC’s misunderstanding of how social media works. 

To establish the market it argues Meta has a monopoly in, the FTC has defined a subset of social media that it calls “personal social networking services.” This category includes apps that primarily facilitate sharing between friends and family, but for some reason, doesn’t include private messaging apps. The government argues that Meta’s only competitors in this market are Snapchat and MeWe, an obscure, blockchain-based social network that claims to have 20 million users. Conveniently for the FTC, including only these two companies gives Meta a de fac …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Tesla has plenty of Cybertrucks listed on its website, and they’ve got some hefty discounts, including many for about $10,000 off, Electrek reports. Many are from the 2024 model year and include limited “Foundation Series” Cybertrucks that ended production in October, plus some lightly used “demo” ones we saw that have racked up around 300 miles on the odometer.

Some Cybertruck models in stock won’t be eligible for the $7,500 federal tax credit either due to their age or because the sticker price is too high. But as of this writing, interested buyers could get more than that with the available discounts, including as much as a $11,990 cut off a top Cyberbeast model that usually sells for $119,990. In January, the company offered up to $2,600 off inventory Cybertrucks.

Used Cybertruck prices are also taking a hit. CarGurus currently shows the average used Cybertruck selling for about $85,000, a steep drop from $104,300 on December 30th and $107,800 from November.

Business Insider reports Tesla is also slowing down Cybertruck manufacturing at its Texas factory and shrinking its production teams. Some line workers are being moved over to build better-selling Model Y vehicles, but it, too, has seen a year-over-year decline in sales as reported by the company earlier this month.

A federal judge in Nevada has ruled that it’s unconstitutional to obtain swaths of cellular records through “tower dumps” — but will still let police get away with using it as evidence, as reported earlier by 404 Media and Court Watch.

With tower dumps, authorities can dig through the cell records that pinged off a particular tower during a specific time. Though police may be looking for just one record, these dumps often expose the data of thousands of people, making it a major privacy concern. In a 2010 case involving the High Country Bandits, for example, officers caught the two bank robbers by looking through a tower dump containing more than 150,000 phone numbers.

In the ruling, Judge Miranda Du said that searching through these records violates the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. However, Du denies a motion to suppress using these records as evidence because the court seems to be the first “within the Ninth Circuit to reach this conclusion and the good faith exception applies.”

As noted in the filing, the tower dump exposed the data of 1,686 users, but the records helped authorities build their case against Nevada man Cory Spurlock, who faces charges related to a murder-for-hire conspiracy and conspiracy to distribute marijuana. In February, a federal judge in Mississippi similarly deemed tower dumps unconstitutional, preventing FBI officials from pulling information from cell towers spanning nine locations and four carriers, as reported by Court Watch. The Department of Justice has since appealed the decision.

This week, Kia announced its affordable EV4 electric sedan will launch in the US early next year. While the US won’t get a hatchback edition of the EV4 that was mentioned when it was revealed in February, there will be two battery configurations: a 58.3kWh battery with a Kia-estimated range of 235 miles, and a larger 81.4kWh battery with a Kia-estimated range of 330 miles. No EPA range estimates are currently available. 

The EV4 will get Tesla’s NACS charging port and can charge up from 10 to 80 percent in 31 minutes at a DC fast charging station. It also has vehicle-to-load capability that provides AC power for devices like computers. And on the inside, the EV4 features 30 inches worth of side-by-side screens that run Kia’s latest “connected car Navigation Cockpit (ccNC) software with apps like YouTube.

The automaker’s “first all-electric global sedan” will be built in Korea, and while Kia has not confirmed an official price, MotorTrend reports it could be about $37,000 before any incentives. That price would undercut Tesla’s most affordable and popular Model 3 electric sedan, which costs $42,490 before the Federal $7,500 tax incentive. However, by the time this sedan is ready to ship, President Trump’s tariffs on cars built outside the country may have a significant impact.

Building (or rebuilding) a gaming PC can be difficult. It’s complex stuff, making sure everything’s compatible and whatnot. The next toughest part is finding a deal — and having the patience to wait for price drops without getting so antsy you buy everything at full price (shamefully raises hand). If you’re considering an AMD build, Micro Center has a great deal on a hardware bundle that includes the Ryzen 7 7800X3D (last-gen, but still among the mightiest CPUs around for gaming, according to our review), a motherboard, and RAM. Normally around $579.99, you can snag the bundle in-store only for $499.99 if you have a Micro Center nearby.

In addition to the 7800X3D processor ($389.99 by itself), which was only recently supplanted by the higher-end 9800X3D processor, you’ll get an Asus TUF B650-E motherboard (valued at $194.99), plus 32GB of G.Skill Flare X5 DDR5-6,000MHz RAM (valued at $89.99). You’ll save $175 instead of paying $675 for all three components, giving you more pocket change for a GPU.

The 7800X3D utilizes the AM5 motherboard socket, used on the newer 9000-series processors. It seems likely that AMD will stick with AM5 in the near future, so you’ll have at least a couple of CPU generations to pick from should you ever need to upgrade. As for the motherboard, it has three M.2 slots (one of which is PCIe 5.0, while the others are PCIe 4.0), support for USB-C ports on the front and back of your case, and Wi-Fi 6E built-in, among other niceties. If you’d prefer to have Corsair Vengeance RAM instead of what’s included with this bundle, you can elect to pay a $15 price increase when you pick up the bundle in-store.

Nintendo said today that Switch 2 preorders in the US will begin on April 24th ahead of the console’s June 5th launch day, and now GameStop, Target, and Walmart have shared exactly when you can try to snag a preorder.

• GameStop said on X that in-store Nintendo Switch preorders will start when “doors open” on April 24th. Online preorders will kick off that day at 11AM ET. The company also says that “all stores” will open on June 5th at 12AM ET / June 4th at 9PM PT for console launch.
• Target’s Switch 2 preorders will kick off on April 24th at 12AM ET, according to Target’s website. The preorder time applies to consoles, games, and accessories.
• Walmart’s Switch 2 preorders begin on April 24th at 12AM ET, company spokesperson Leigh Stidham tells The Verge. Walmart’s website also says that you’ll get your console before 9AM on June 5th if you preorder by June 4th at 8AM ET “while supplies last.”
• Best Buy has not listed a specific preorder time, but according to a post on its website, preorders for “the console, games and accessories will be available April 24 via the Best Buy Mobile App and BestBuy.com.” We’ve asked Best Buy what time preorders open. Best Buy also says that “most stores” will open for preorder pickup on June 5th at 12AM ET / June 4th at 9PM PT.

We’ve also asked Amazon if it will offer Switch 2 preorders and when they may start.

Nintendo originally planned to have preorders start on April 9th, but it delayed them “in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions.”

As part of this morning’s announcement, Nintendo said that the Switch 2’s starting price would remain $449.99, and the bundle that includes Mario Kart World would also stay at $499.99. But accessories got price bumps, including $5 increases for the Switch 2 Joy-Con and Pro Controller.

Prices could also change down the line; Nintendo said today that “other adjustments to the price of any Nintendo product are also possible in the future depending on market conditions.”

Updates, April 18th: Added details from GameStop, Walmart, and Best Buy.

A judge has paused the termination of nearly 1,500 employees from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) while she considers whether the Trump administration violated a court order to avoid mass layoffs. As CNN reports, Judge Amy Berman Jackson said the mass reduction in force was “not going to happen” for now and scheduled an evidentiary hearing for April 28th.

The ruling should temporarily prevent the CFPB from being nearly eliminated, a move that CFPB Acting Director Russell Vought announced to employees yesterday. Documents filed in court indicate that cuts were supposed to eliminate 1,483 of the agency’s 1,690 employees, drastically reducing headcount in several departments, including consumer response and data protection teams. They were accompanied by a statement shifting the CFPB’s mission away from investigating digital payment platforms, medical debt, and several other areas.

The administration has sought to eliminate high-level agency officials responsible for maintaining the privacy and security of sensitive information it’s collected over the years. A lawyer for the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which represents CFPB employees, said in a sworn declaration that they learned “virtually everyone” in the agency’s privacy, security, and cybersecurity units were told their jobs would be eliminated.

The NTEU alleged that this violated a March court order preventing the Trump administration from carrying out a previous, Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)-spurred attempt to dismantle the agency. Judge Berman Jackson’s ruling in that lawsuit barred terminations unless they resulted from a “particularized assessment” of employees’ roles, something the NTEU says is highly unlikely to have taken place here. Berman Jackson concurred that she had “concerns about whether agency is in compliance” with that order, and she’s instructed the administration to hand over documents about its actions to the union as the case progresses.

Erie Meyer, former chief technologist of the CFPB, tells The Verge that the layoffs threaten basic protections for Americans and their privacy. “With them firing every person in charge of protecting the data that the bureau has except for one person in cybersecurity, it’s officially open season on consumers and I’m extremely concerned about how vulnerable people are going to be targeted,” Meyer says.

The humble QR (or Quick Response) code has become ubiquitous. Invented back in the 1990s to scan car parts, the barcodes got a popularity boost during the pandemic when touchless tech became prioritized, and they’re now a regular part of daily life.

You’ll find them deployed to help you order food, connect to Wi-Fi, shop online, access tickets, prove your identity, and much more besides. They can either store information (about 3KB’s worth), or redirect you somewhere (like a website or an app page).

If you come across a QR code you want to read, you’ve got everything you need right on your phone.

How QR codes work

QR codes contain a small amount of data, typically under a hundred alphanumeric characters for the codes you’ll most often see day to day — although QR codes can get larger and more complex if more information needs to be stored. They can also have error correction built in, which adds to the size but means they’ll still work if part of the code is obscured or damaged.

A phone camera or other scanning device can read the information in a QR code, with the help of the three finder patterns at the corners: They tell the scanner where the QR code is, how big it is, …

Read the full story at The Verge.

If you didn’t catch Mythic Quest’s series finale when it first debuted last month, there’s a chance you may never be able to see the episode as it originally was.

Shortly after Mythic Quest’s fourth season and its Side Quest spinoff hit Apple TV Plus, the streamer announced that it was cancelling the series. The news came as a surprise given how “Heaven and Hell” — the open-ended finale — implied that Mythic Quest might return for a fifth season. And there were so many unresolved plotlines that the sudden cancellation meant that Mythic Quest would always feel incomplete. 

Apple seemed to understand that last point when it announced its plan to debut an “updated” version of “Heaven and Hell” meant to tie up all of the series loose ends. The episode went live today, and it does deal with some of Mythic Quest’s big cliffhangers. But in addition to dropping the updated episode, Apple confirmed to The Verge today that it has also removed the original cut of “Heaven and Hell” from its platform entirely.

You can kind of understand why Apple would want to direct viewers towards Mythic Quest’s proper ending. But the move smacks of revisionist history and streamers’ recent habit of completely disappearing their own content. Apple easily could have left both versions of the episode up and made clear why there were differences between the two of them. Netflix has been dabbling with something similar for Black Mirror’s latest season to make a brilliant point about the Mandela effect. But going that route with Mythic Quest would have meant acknowledging that Apple axed the show with little heads up, which is something the company probably didn’t want to do.

Wouldn’t it be nice to tidy up your home without breaking a sweat? The Roomba Combo 10 Max robovac / mop hybrid can make that dream a reality, as it delivers an almost fully hands-free cleaning experience. And now through tomorrow, April 19th, it’s on sale at Wellbots for $741.47 (about $658 off) when you use Verge-exclusive promo code VERGE47 at checkout.

The Combo 10 Max can empty its bin, wash its own mop, and even refill its mopping tank thanks to its new multifunction charging dock, which is one of the reasons it’s one of our favorite robot vacuums. It’s especially great for pet owners, thanks to its powerful suction and dual rubber roller brushes, which rotate in opposite directions to prevent tangling. It also comes with AI-powered obstacle detection, which uses a camera to spot and avoid pet waste. In fact, if it fails to avoid pet mess within the first year, iRobot will replace the robovac for free.

In addition to fur, the Combo 10 Max excels at other cleaning duties. It can identify and remember the dirtiest rooms in your home with its Dirt Detect feature, taking multiple passes to ensure a thorough clean. It functions as a decent mop, too, one that can lift its tiny mopping pad above your carpet or rug to keep it dry while it’s vacuuming.

In terms of smart home compatibility, the Roomba’s latest flagship supports the new Matter standard, allowing you to integrate it into your smart home routines and control it using Amazon Alexa, Google Home, or Apple Home. What’s even more convenient is that iRobot makes some of the most self-repairable robot vacuums on the market, all of which come with replaceable parts that are readily available.

Three more deals worth a look

• The SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless is on sale for $139.99 ($140 off) at Best Buy, marking an all-time low. The wireless gaming headset features terrific audio quality with virtual surround sound and includes two hot-swappable batteries. It also comes with a USB-equipped base station for connecting it to your PC, Nintendo Switch, or PlayStation, along with Bluetooth support so you can pair it with your phone.
• Now through April 30th, Woot is selling the last-gen Echo Show 5 in refurbished condition with a 90-day warranty for just $27.99. The second-gen model isn’t as snappy as its successor, but it remains a solid 5.5-inch smart display, one you can use as a bedside alarm clock. It delivers loud, full sound for its size and offers the same set of Alexa-based functionality as other Echo speakers, allowing you to control the lights, check the weather, and manage other smart home devices with just your voice. Just don’t expect much from the abysmal 2-megapixel camera. Read our review.
• Best Buy is selling Lego’s incredible Rivendell set as a part of its Best Buy Drops program today, allowing you to pick it up for $424.95 ($75 off) when you use the company’s mobile app for Android and iOS. The highly detailed, 6,167-piece kit is an excellent little renditon of J.R.R. Tolkien’s elven sanctuary, one the let’s you play out iconic scenes from the Lord of the Rings trilogy in all their brick-ified glory. It also comes with 15 minifigs, including all nine members of the Fellowship, Bilbo, Elrond, and others. 

Covid.gov, the government website where you could previously find information about covid, now redirects to a page that pushes the conspiracy theory that the virus originated from a lab. Navigating to the website reveals a prominent banner with the words “Lab Leak” and a photo of Donald Trump, as spotted earlier by Wired’s Andrew Couts.

Covidtests.gov, where you could order free covid tests, also redirects to the new webpage.

The website purports to reveal the “true origins” of covid, blaming a Chinese lab’s “inadequate biosafety levels” for allegedly “leaking” the virus. It goes on to push other blatant conspiracy theories, such as the claim that the Biden administration misled the public about covid’s origins and “demonized alternative treatments.” The page also claims that the WHO “caved to pressure from the Chinese Communist Party” in its response to the pandemic.

It’s not clear exactly when the covid.gov page changed. As shown on an archived version of the webpage, covid.gov included resources about the virus up until at least April 10th. The page now includes a link to the House Oversight Committee report, which similarly promotes the lab leak conspiracy theory.

Since February, the Trump administration has been working to rip down webpages from federal websites that don’t align with its beliefs – particularly information related to climate change, racial equity, and gender identity. Though a court order brought some of these pages back online, the Trump administration ordered federal agencies to include disclaimers around “gender ideology.”

Subaru’s first and only EV, the Solterra, is getting a facelift for 2026 with many upgrades that include a better AWD system, longer range, and improved performance.

Subaru gave the new model a standard symmetrical all-wheel drive system that allows front and rear motors to work independently and offer better control in various weather conditions. The motors are also more powerful, with up to 233 horsepower combined, while a higher-end XT model bumps the power to 338 horsepower with 0-60 mph acceleration in under five seconds.

It has a cleaner and flatter front bumper, new headlights, and an illuminated logo that make the vehicle look more refined than the first version. Meanwhile, the interior receives an upgraded 14-inch infotainment touchscreen, two 15W wireless smartphone chargers, and USB-C charging ports.

The Solterra now has a 74.7kWh battery pack that gives it an EPA-estimated range of 285 miles on a single charge, compared to the previous 227 miles. It can charge from 10 to 80 percent in “less than 35 minutes” on a 150kW charger. It features the now-standard NACS charging port, which will allow the Solterra to charge at “more than 15,000” Tesla Supercharger locations across North America sometime this year.

The changes come after Toyota upgraded its BZ4X last month, which uses the same e-TNGA platform as the Solterra.

I have been reporting in Washington for nearly six years, and on politics for over a decade, and I’ve attended more corporate-sponsored policy events (and tend to nod off during them) than I can remember. I’ve also reported on the gradual disintegration of reality caused by the rise of MAGA, so I thought my tolerance for confusing political phenomena was pretty high. But never in my life did I think I would see Steve Bannon sitting onstage in his beat-up barn jacket next to former Consumer Finance and Protection Bureau director Rohit Chopra, a notable progressive introduced as “a protege of Senator Elizabeth Warren,” with the two of them earnestly discussing the topic: “Are Techno-optimism and Populism Incompatible?” 

Not that the topic was out of left field per se — the tech right and the populist right are in an all-out war, and it’s roiling the Trump administration. But this was a visual pairing that reduced me to sending a photo of the stage with the caption “what if horseshoe theory, but real” to several sources. 

Bannon’s appearance at Y Combinator’s Little Tech Summit earlier this month was a surprise — his timeslot had been buried in the schedul …

Read the full story at The Verge.

If you want to make the most out of a world increasingly filled with AI tools, here’s a habit to develop: start taking screenshots. Lots of screenshots. Of anything and everything. Because for all the talk of voice modes, omnipresent cameras, and the multimodal future of everything, there might be no more valuable digital behavior than to press the buttons and save what you’re looking at.

Screenshots are the most universal method of capturing digital information. You can capture anything — well, almost anything, thanks a lot, Netflix! — with a few clicks, and save and share it to almost any device, app, or person. “It’s this portable data format,” says Johnny Bree, the founder of the digital storage app Fabric. “There’s nothing else that’s quite so portable that you can move between any piece of software.” 

A screenshot contains a lot of information, like its source, contents, and even the time of the day in the corner of the screen. Most of all, it sends a crucial and complex signal; it says I care about this. We have countless new AI tools that aim to watch the world, our lives, and everything, and try to make sense of it all for us. These tools are mostl …

Read the full story at The Verge.

SpaceX is in the lead to help President Donald Trump create the “Golden Dome” missile defense system, according to Reuters. The Elon Musk-owned company is reportedly working with the data analysis firm Palantir and the defense company Anduril to build “key parts” of the Golden Dome that, like Israel’s Iron Dome, would intercept and destroy incoming missiles.

As reported by Reuters, the companies proposed launching 400 to more than 1,000 satellites to sense and track missiles. It would also have “a separate fleet of 200 attack satellites armed with missiles or lasers” to take down missiles. Trump signed an executive order in January to build the “Iron Dome for America,” but some estimate it could take years to implement.

Reuters notes that SpaceX likely won’t have anything to do with the “weaponization of satellites,” and would instead provide a constellation of satellites for missile tracking. SpaceX expects to spend $6 billion to $10 billion to build its portion of the system. It reportedly pitched its involvement as a subscription service that would require the government to continue paying for its satellites.

“SpaceX has not tried to bid for any contract in this regard,” Musk said in a reply to a post about the rumor on X. “If the President asks us to help in this regard, we will do so, but I hope that other companies (not SpaceX) can do this.”

Nintendo has announced a new date for when Switch 2 preorders will kick off in the US; April 24th.

As a part of the announcement, Nintendo said that the price of the Switch 2 will remain at $449.99 despite fears that the Trump administration’s new tariff policy would lead to increased pricing for the console. However, Nintendo also said that the Switch 2 accessories would be more expensive. The Switch 2 Joy-Con, Pro Controller, and Switch 2 camera have all gone up in price. Originally the Joy-Con was priced at $89.99 and is now $94.99. The Pro controller has also gone up $5 from $79.99 to $84.99. Finally, the Switch 2 camera has gone from $49.99 to $54.99.

Preorders were originally set to begin on April 9th, but Nintendo delayed that following the Trump administration’s announcement of new tariffs.

Specifically, Nintendo delayed preorders “in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions.” At the time, the company said that the Switch 2’s planned June 5th launch date would be “unchanged.”

On April 8th, Nintendo also announced that it would be delaying Switch 2 preorders in Canada “in order to align with the timing of preorders to be determined in the US.” With this news, Canada will be able to preorder the Switch 2 on April 24th as well.

Nintendo’s new preorder date follows President Trump announcing on April 9th that he had authorized a 90-day pause on tariffs outside of China.

The original preorder date was announced as part of Nintendo’s big reveal event for the Switch 2. At that event, Nintendo also said that the system would cost $449.99 with a $499.99 version available that includes Mario Kart World. In the announcement, Nintendo reaffirmed that the price of the Mario Kart World bundle would remain the same along with the prices for both Mario Kart World ($79.99) and Donkey Kong Bananaza ($69.99).

The Switch 2 looks to be a substantial upgrade from the original Switch, with a larger 7.9-inch LCD screen, bigger Joy-Con controllers, and more. In addition to Mario Kart World, Nintendo also showed off Donkey Kong Bananza, a new 3D Donkey Kong game that’s set to launch on July 17th.

The new preorder date also follows Sony raising the price of PS5 models in the EU, UK, Australia, and New Zealand due to “a backdrop of a challenging economic environment.”

Nintendo closed its annoucement with an apology stating, “We apologize for the retail pre-order delay, and hope this reduces some of the uncertainty our customers may be experiencing.”

EcoFlow just announced improved versions of its Glacier refrigerator-freezer combo and Wave air conditioner-heater combo, two battery-powered off-grid appliances that can be recharged with the sun.

The Wave 3 is more powerful than its predecessor, which means it can cool and heat larger spaces than the Wave 2 I reviewed last summer. But that 6100BTU (1800W) of cooling and 6800BTU (2000W) of heating means we’re still talking small RVs, tents, boats, and maybe a tiny bedroom from a device that still punches well above its literal weight. The intake and exhaust hoses are now insulated, which should make this heat pump even more efficient than before, and water drainage has also been improved.

The Wave 3 can be powered in several ways, including a removable 1024Wh LFP battery for up to eight hours of use, an AC wall jack, 12V / 24V car outlet, EcoFlow’s excellent alternator charger, an EcoFlow power station, or 400W of solar panels. EcoFlow says it can lower the temperature by “up to 15 degrees Fahrenheit” in 15 minutes in rooms up to 183 square feet. I’m currently testing how much work that “up to” is doing in EcoFlow’s claim for my upcoming review. 

The best-in-class app from EcoFlow makes it easy to access a number of useful new features on the Wi-Fi (or Bluetooth) connected Wave 3 when far from the device. These include activating a dehumidifier mode to reduce moisture levels and an automatic mode to maintain temperature within a defined range. There’s also a new pet mode that automatically alerts the owner and activates the A/C if temperatures surpass 77F. EcoFlow also ships window stickers inside the box that can assuage any concerned lookie-loos that might worry about your pet overheating inside the locked vehicle.

The Glacier Classic, meanwhile, has ditched the ice maker from the original version I reviewed in 2023 to focus on maximizing internal volume — a move I fully endorse since these 12V fridges are meant to be used in places where water and electricity are scarce. As such, the Glacier Classic is able to fit 45 liters of dual-zone capacity into roughly the same footprint as the 38L original. It’s also available in 35L and 55L capacities, but the former operates as either a freezer or fridge without the dual-zone divider option. 

All three fridge sizes have a built-in 298Wh battery offering up to 43 hours of cooling, according to the company. The battery can be recharged from a standard wall jack, 12V / 24V car outlet, or 110W of solar. The Glacier Classic also features a dual-opening lid for flexible access inside tight spaces like a van or boat. 

EcoFlow says the Glacier Classic uses a more reliable temperature sensor to ensure stable performance. That’s important because some owners of the original Glacier had to replace their units due to sensors going out of control and freezing everything inside. Oops!

The Glacier Classic will list for $799 (35L), $899 (45L), and $1,199 (55L) in the US, with early bird discounts dropping the prices to $699 (35L), $799 (45L), and $899 (55L). It’s available to preorder starting today. 

The Wave 3 with battery is discounted to $1,299 at preorder ($2,198 list), while the Wave 3 sans battery can be had for $749 ($1,299 list). An extra battery costs $599 compared to the $899 list. That’s a lot of money even with early bird pricing, so I’m working hard on getting the review published before the discounts end on May 25th.

Our plan for this episode was to spend some time talking about antitrust regulation, because one of the biggest companies on the planet is currently in the midst of a trial that could fundamentally reshape the internet economy. And that was before Google lost its adtech trial! Two’s definitely a trend, in this case: Meta’s trial is just beginning, and we have a ruling in Google’s, but both companies are staring at a future that looks very different than the last 20 years.

On this episode of The Vergecast, The Verge’s Alex Heath joins Nilay and David to talk through what the Google ruling means (with as little ad-tech talk as possible, we promise), as well as what it was like to be in the Meta courtroom all week. So far, the FTC’s case against Meta seems somewhat dubious, and might hinge a little too much on the power of MeWe. But that one is only just beginning, and there are many more questions about Instagram and WhatsApp still to come.

After that, we talk about some big news in the AI world. OpenAI is working on a social network, with plans to rival X and become the place people do… something. Post their ripoff photos? Make funny jokes with the help of ChatGP …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Few gaming laptops stand out like Razer’s Blades. They’ve long been the gaming alternative to the MacBook Pro: sleek, powerful, and grown-up looking, without the bulk and garish stylings of most gaming laptops. But cramming powerful graphics cards into slim confines means Blade laptops have a tendency to run hot, get loud, and carry ridiculous price tags.

So you’d be excused for feeling anxious that the 2025 Blade 16, which offers Nvidia’s most powerful laptop GPU, is 30 percent thinner and significantly lighter than its predecessor. In my initial testing, it only seemed a little more powerful than the 4090 Blade it replaces.

But now I’ve used it much more extensively. I’ve even tested it against cheaper, thicker RTX 5080 laptops with more cooling capacity, which are the better buy if you’re focused squarely on gaming performance. However, nothing quite matches the Blade 16’s balance of top-end specs, thin chassis with all-black aesthetics, and a lovely OLED screen I’d happily stare at all day.

The 2025 Blade 16 is just 0.69 inches at its thickest (0.59 inches at the front) and weighs 4.6 pounds. That isn’t just thinner and lighter than last year’s 0.87-inch / …

Read the full story at The Verge.