Smartphone apps that track our driving behavior may be the key to safer road conditions. 

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety just published a study that found that using smartphone apps to monitor driver behavior, and then providing summaries of that behavior via text message or a data dashboard, leads to safer driving. 

Researchers borrowed techniques from usage-based insurance (UBI) programs, in which insurance companies use smartphone apps to measure dangerous driving behaviors, like hard braking, sudden acceleration, and speeding. Rather than rely on actuarial data, like driving records and vehicle type, UBI programs use real-time data from app trackers to determine premiums. These are typically opt-in programs, marketed as a way to lower premiums. But if your driving isn’t as safe as you think, it can lead to higher monthly payments. 

Most people have an aversion to being tracked in real-time by their insurance company. But the AAA group was able to show that these methods can lead to safer driving — even after the tracking apps are turned off. Participants were told their data was being reviewed as part of a research study, and not being used by insurance companies to lower or raise their rates. 

Most people have an aversion to being tracked in real-time by their insurance company.

The research team corralled 1,400 participants and split them into four groups: a control group; a standard feedback group, which were given weekly feedback via text on all behaviors monitored; an assigned goal group, which were given weekly text feedback on one behavior; and a chosen goal group, which selected their own behavior on which to receive feedback. 

Among the three feedback groups, 13 percent of participants showed a reduction in speeding, 21 percent showed a reduction in hard braking, and 25 percent experienced less rapid acceleration. 

Participants also gave their own feedback on tactics for changing their driving behavior: 67.4 percent said they would be persuaded by the potential to earn extra money; 53.9 percent liked weekly feedback via text message; and 45.8 percent preferred a weekly dashboard that provided detailed driving information for the week. 

The research team also monitored the groups’ use of smartphones while driving, and were surprised to find that terrible behavior remained mostly unchanged. They theorized that providing baseline safety scores at the start of the study led drivers to believe they were being safer than they actually were — and therefore, less in need for improvement. 

13 percent of participants showed a reduction in speeding

After the 12-week study, participants were monitored for an additional six weeks without any feedback to determine whether their improved driving would persist. The study found that generally they continued to drive more safely. 

“It’s encouraging to see that many individuals stuck with safer habits even after the study,” said Jake Nelson, AAA’s director of traffic safety advocacy, in a statement. “This shows that positive reinforcement, not just punitive measures, can lead to safer driving habits that can save lives.”

In 2023, over 40,000 people died in vehicle crashes in the US. AAA says the research results point to the need for innovative approaches to educating people about safer driving behavior. 

Most people have an aversion to being tracked while they drive — especially when you consider that most drivers have an overinflated sense of their own behavior. But UBI programs are growing. In 2020, 16 percent of auto insurance shoppers were offered UBI and 12 percent of them enrolled, according to USA Today. In 2024, 15 percent of buyers were offered UBI, but a almost a fifth of them signed up.

We already use our phones to monitor a lot of our behavior, including our steps, our sleep, and our eating habits. Why not driving?

Before this morning, I knew I was going to buy the Nintendo Switch 2 but I didn’t know when. After watching Nintendo’s Switch 2 Direct today, in which a purple block traced the GameCube’s stylized “G” logo, followed by high-res footage from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and F-Zero GX and an announcement that they’ll be playable at launch, I realized I’ll be doing my damndest to get it on day one. It was the cherry on top of a stellar presentation that made the console’s $449.99 price tag way easier to swallow.

GameCube games are coming to the Nintendo Switch Online (NSO) subscription’s Classic Game Library feature, which the company is now shortening to “Nintendo Classics.” It lets you play games from the NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis. Like the Game Boy and Nintendo 64 game collections, you’ll need the NSO Expansion Pack for GameCube games. The existing catalog of playable Classic Game Library games is far from complete, but together (and combined with DLC for contemporary Switch games), they make the Expansion Pack well worth it.

The subscription gets even more enticing on the Switch 2, starting before the console even comes out — Nintendo is prioritizing long-time subscribers (with certain caveats) when it sends out Switch 2 preorder invites. The Expansion Pack will also let you play the Switch 2 editions of Zelda games Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom (provided you own their respective Switch 1 versions). 

But the GameCube games are what I’m most excited about. I’d love for the Wii U’s Wind Waker HD to get a Switch re-release, but the GameCube version is still one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played and looks great in Nintendo’s trailer for it. So does F-Zero GX, a game with such well-executed style and tight control that I would pit it against any futuristic racer today. The Switch 2 is also launching with Soul Calibur II, a game that featured adult Link as a playable character in his post-Ocarina of Time fighting-people-for-sport era.

The company flashed a few other re-releases coming down the line, like Super Mario Strikers and Chibi-Robo!, in the latter of which you play a tiny, toothbrush-armed robot tasked with cleaning up a very messy house. It’s way more fun than it sounds, and gives me hope for what Nintendo could announce. There are some excellent, but more obscure gems that never really leapt beyond the GameCube, like the creepy, Lovecraft-inspired Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem and Cubivore, in which you play a small, wild cube trying to bring color back to the world by eating other boxy creatures, winning the chance to mate, die, and be reborn over and over again until you’ve become the fittest survivor of them all. 

And all of these will be playable with a forthcoming wireless recreation of the GameCube controller, as they should be. The GameCube wasn’t an abject failure, but it sold nowhere near as well as the Wii or the Switch. There’s no guarantee that the Switch 2 will keep up the sales pace set by its predecessor, but even if it manages half that console’s sales, it could give some games a well-deserved second look. 

The Switch 2 is here — well, almost. Nintendo took the wraps off its new console during its latest Direct event, providing us with a closer look at the $449.99 console ahead of its release on June 5th.

In many ways, the sequel is a generational leap from the original console / handheld hybrid that rocked the gaming world over eight years ago. Nintendo is building upon the successful foundation it laid with the original Switch by offering a larger screen, more internal storage, and magnetic Joy-Con controllers that can operate like mice. It’s also introducing some new features, like GameChat, which lets players make voice calls, screen share, and video chat.

Below, we’re taking a closer look at the on-paper differences between the Switch 2 and its various predecessors — specifically, the original Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch OLED. We’ve even thrown in the handheld-only Nintendo Switch Lite, just for good measure.

Pricing and availability

The Switch 2 will retail for $449.99 at launch, or you can b …

Read the full story at The Verge.

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)is shutting down after more than 20 years of hosting its annual challenge for writers. In a video and an email sent to community members, the nonprofit organization explains that it can no longer continue “after years of financial struggles.” 

Before officially becoming a nonprofit in 2006, NaNoWriMo started out with just 21 writers in 1999. More than 400,000 writers participated in NaNoWriMo’s programs that challenged people to finish writing a novel within the month of November in 2022.

In 2023, many writers abandoned NaNoWriMo after it refused to take a stand against the use of AI tools in writing. Around the same time, one of its moderators faced child grooming accusations, leading to more criticism from the community.

As shown in the video, NaNoWriMo interim executive director Kilby Blades details how participation and fundraising in the program have decreased in recent years. The NaNoWriMo site will remain online for “as long as possible,” though it will no longer formally host its writing challenges.

“We recognize that the closure of NaNoWriMo represents a huge loss to the writing community, and that grief over this outcome will be exacerbated by the challenges of the past sixteen months,” NaNoWriMo’s email to the community says. “This is not the ending that anybody wanted or planned. And—believe us—if we could hit the delete button and rewrite this last chapter, we would. But we do have hope for the epilogue.”

Even with the closure of NaNoWriMo, writers can still challenge themselves to write a novel during November. Or, they can try out an alternative.

It’s perhaps no surprise that Nintendo opened its Switch 2 Direct with Mario Kart World, a Switch 2-exclusive launch title that’s a sequel to the original Switch’s most popular game. But it was more of a surprise that the Direct’s second segment, instead of focusing on the console’s specs, was all about Nintendo’s Discord-like GameChat system – a system that seems to show that Nintendo is finally catching up with its online services.

For playing with your pals, GameChat looks like it could be a lot of fun. You can join a shared call with your buddies and play games together or hang out and share screens of the games you’re playing separately. The Switch 2’s onboard microphone picks up your voice for voice chat, and you can use the Switch 2 Camera accessory, which is designed to sit next to your TV while you play on the couch, to host video chats. Nintendo says other “compatible” USB-C cameras will work, too.

Even in Nintendo’s demo video, you can see that the shared screens have lower framerates than your main screen, and the sound quality from the mics seems iffy. But it appears to be a pretty low-fuss way to hang out and play games with your friends that could be a major selling point for the Switch 2 and a Nintendo Switch Online membership. (Though GameChat will be available in an “Open-Access Period” that doesn’t require Nintendo Switch Online through March 31st, 2026.)

GameChat is just one of a few smart new things Nintendo is doing with its online services. GameShare, which lets you share a Switch game you have with friends who don’t have it so you can play multiplayer together, works online. (This was another feature Nintendo showed before digging into the Switch 2’s specs.) 

The Nintendo Switch Online app is getting some upgrades, too. There’s a new name: just Nintendo Switch App. Nintendo Switch 2 players will also be able to access their most recent 100 screenshots or video captures. And the app will contain a new section called “Zelda Notes” that you can use for help while playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears for the Kingdom.

Nintendo Switch Online is becoming a better deal, too – at least the premium Expansion Pack tier. That more expensive option will let you play Nintendo’s available collection of GameCube games, which will include The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and will let you access upgraded Nintendo Switch 2 Editions of certain games at no extra cost.

Nintendo has so far only said that this benefit applies to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. But an image on a Nintendo website discussing the perk includes an image of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, Super Mario Party Jamboree, and Kirby and the Forgotten Land, so it seems like those Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrades, when they’re available, will be eventually included in the Expansion Pack, too.

All of these new changes are in addition to the recent launch of the dedicated Nintendo Music app, to which Nintendo is drip-feeding some of its best soundtracks, and the Nintendo Today news app, which it’s already used to break news. It seems like Nintendo is taking its online services more seriously than ever to make its games better and broaden its overall footprint in your life, and all in a very Nintendo way.

Let’s just hope that GameChat is actually good.

At an event in the Rose Garden on Wednesday, Donald Trump unveiled a new set of planned tariffs that are being described as “short-sighted,” and having “no basis in logic,” and being compared to Great Depression-era policies. Holding a giant poster board blowing in the wind, Trump announced staggering new taxes on products coming into the US from abroad. Among the 60 countries listed, tariff rates ranged anywhere from 10 percent to nearly 50 percent: 34 percent for China, 46 percent for Vietnam, 20 percent for the EU, and 49 percent for Cambodia, among others.

The US is the world’s biggest importer, bringing in trillions of dollars of goods every year. Relatively little is produced in the US, and the eye-watering taxes will impact supply chains across industries: tech products and gadgets, clothing, food, automobiles, and more. Seeing souring relations between the US and China, some companies have worked to diversify supply chains by moving manufacturing to other countries — Apple, for example, was producing billions of dollars worth of iPhones in India last fall to move away from China. Under Trump’s new plan, Indian imports would get slapped with 26 percent tariffs.

The President did not explain how the rates were calculated, but if implemented the steep taxes will like make costs for retailers — and by extension, consumers — skyrocket. The Trump administration has regularly lied about who pays for tariffs, claiming that the exporting nation foots the bill. That’s not how tariffs work, no matter how many times Trump claims otherwise.

The New York Times reports that the figures on the chart include a 10 percent “baseline” tariff, meaning the additional hike on Chinese products is 24 percent, plus 10 percent.

After the event, Trump also signed an executive order closing the de minimis exemption, a little-known carve out that allows packages valued under $800 to enter the US duty free. Ultra cheap retailers like Shein, Temu, and Amazon Haul use the rule as a loophole to keep prices low, and buyers don’t have to pay any taxes that would otherwise apply to their purchases. By ending the exemption, Trump could destabilize the business model that has hooked Americans looking for a deal on China-reliant online retailers.

The massive taxes on imports are reportedly in addition to existing tariffs the Trump administration has levied on imports. He’s also separately added taxes to vehicles and imports from top US trading partners like Canada and Mexico.

Thunderbird’s developers are planning to compete with Gmail and other email providers by offering paid “pro” tier services, including @thundermail.com email addresses and new services such as an appointment scheduler, file sharing tools, and some “Thunderbird Assist” AI features. You can join a beta waitlist by going to thundermail.com, which is the domain for the email addresses, along with an option for @tb.pro.

Thunderbird managing director Ryan Sipes announced that the services are in the works in a post on the Thunderbird Planning discussion group last Friday. However, it seems pretty early in development, and there are no announced tiers and pricing, though Sipes said there would be both free and paid tiers. “It is our goal to eventually have a similar offering so that a 100 percent open source, freedom-respecting alternative ecosystem is available for those who want it,” said Sipes.

Thunderbird is a long-running open source email client that originally launched in 2003 and was developed alongside Mozilla’s Firefox browser. It lost ground with the rise of Gmail and other web-based email services, but maintained a dedicated user base.

Mozilla ended development of the original Thunderbird client in 2012 and handed it off to a community group. In 2020, after renewed interest and donations, development moved to Mozilla Foundation subsidiary MZLA Technology Corporation, which has been modernizing the codebase and developing mobile clients.

Thunderbird Pro services, including Thundermail, are coming in late to the game with very few details. Unlike Gmail and Outlook, Thunderbird has never offered an email service to go with its email client. In the post, Sipes said, “It is my conviction that all of this should have been a part of the Thunderbird universe a decade ago. But it is better late than never.” It will also face popular Gmail alternatives like ProtonMail and FastMail, but with the general rise of distrust in Big Tech and concerns about privacy, maybe it doesn’t hurt to have more options.

Last week, Apple announced that lossless audio and ultra low latency would be coming to the AirPods Max with USB-C. It was a pleasant surprise for owners of Apple’s over-ear headphones, which have fallen behind the AirPods Pro in recent years when it comes to offering new features. The company briefly hit a snag in releasing the firmware update necessary for the AirPods Max to unlock these newfound capabilities, but resolved the issue on Wednesday afternoon.

Firmware version 7E99 was supposed to arrive early this week alongside iOS 18.4 and macOS Sequoia 15.4. But late in the day Tuesday, Apple added an unusual “coming soon” asterisk next to the AirPods Max on a support site that lists each device’s latest firmware. Both MacRumors and 9to5Mac reported on the delay, though Apple never gave an explanation. A newer AirPods Max software update, 7E101, was rolled out on Wednesday.

The company also introduced a new USB-C to 3.5mm cable for the AirPods Max last week, and it’s worth noting you can use that regardless of what firmware you’re on; it works right out of the box for connecting the headphones to devices with a traditional headphone jack — and it’s a pretty good cable as these things go. (You’d hope so for $39.)

Apple really needs to make the process of updating AirPods more straightforward. For years, it has just sort of happened in the background at a random moment when your iPhone and AirPods are near each other with the headphones charging. There’s no way of manually triggering an update, which runs counter to the way every other earbud maker does it. Can we get a simple “update now” button right in AirPods settings in iOS 19, please?

Update, April 2nd 6:30PM ET: The article has been updated to reflect that the latest AirPods Max firmware is now available.

Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com, is laying off about 16 percent of its workers. In a memo posted to the company’s website, CEO Matt Mullenweg says he’s making the change to “protect Automattic’s long-term future.”

Before the layoffs, Automattic’s website listed the company as having 1,777 employees. The company has since decreased its employee count to 1,495, meaning around 280 staff members were affected by the job cuts.

Last year, the third-party hosting company WP Engine filed a lawsuit against Automattic and Mullenweg after the company blocked WP Engine from WordPress.org’s server and took over its Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin. Mullenweg has stated that the legal battle could go on for years and “could potentially bankrupt me or force the closure of WordPress.org.”

In October, Mullenweg offered his employees $30,000 or six months of salary to leave if they didn’t agree with his decision to ignite a public dispute with WP Engine. Automattic shed around 8.4 percent of its workforce after the first round of buyouts. 

“We have reached an important crossroads,” Mullenweg writes in his memo. “While our revenue continues to grow, Automattic operates in a highly competitive market, and technology is evolving at unprecedented levels. To support our customers and products, we must improve our productivity, profitability, and capacity to invest.”

While sharing screenshots and videos from the original Nintendo Switch has always been an excessively complicated process, it’s going to be much easier for the Switch 2.

During today’s Direct presentation, Nintendo spent a lot of time talking about the Switch 2’s new built-in GameChat functionality that will give players a way to share their screens during group video calls. But the company also announced that it’s rolling out an update for the Switch family of systems’ companion smartphone app. 

Now simply called the “Nintendo Switch app,” the application will continue to support Nintendo’s old voice chat feature for specific titles like Splatoon 3 and Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the original Switch. But for Switch 2 owners, the Nintendo Switch app will serve as the easiest way for you to move screenshots and videos from the console onto your phone, computer, or internet.

To move screenshots previously, you had to pop a Switch’s SD card out from behind its kickstand and slot it into another device. You could also share images and videos directly to Facebook and, until last year, X / Twitter by linking your Switch to accounts on either of those platforms …

Read the full story at The Verge.

After President Donald Trump pushed back a deadline for banning TikTok in January, the 75-day delay will run out on April 5th, but there’s still no word on a deal that could satisfy the law by shifting control of TikTok away from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.

The Information reports that later today, Trump plans to announce a plan for “TikTok America,” a new company with 50 percent ownership by unnamed new US investors, a one-third stake for existing ByteDance investors, and a 19.9 percent share for ByteDance. It would apparently license TikTok’s algorithm from ByteDance. 

That follows reports by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and CNBC, which added Amazon and AppLovin to a list of potential or interested buyers along with Oracle, Blackstone, former LA Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, and Perplexity. 

AppLovin is a mobile tech company worth about $100 billion that uses data and AI to collect user information and target ads, and the WSJ says that its pitch to the Trump administration is that “it could solve national security concerns and unleash economic growth as a job creator.” Amazon could be interested in TikTok’s power to drive shopping interest, after shutting down its own Inspire feed of short, vertical videos in January.

All of that is, of course, assuming TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, wants to sell. 

A reportedly favored plan for Oracle, Blackstone, Silver Lake, and other investors to make a deal is still rumored as a potential solution, but the New York Times notes that it’s still unclear whether that will satisfy the TikTok ban-or-divest law’s requirements.
With Trump also planning to announce new tariff plans on Wednesday, the WSJ reports Chinese officials are waiting to hear the details before considering anything else. Trump will reportedly meet with aides today to discuss the proposals, or the idea of trying to extend the deadline again.

At least two of Nintendo’s Switch 2 games are going to be more expensive than most games on the first Switch. Many Switch games cost $59.99, but Nintendo revealed today the Switch 2’s Mario Kart World, a June 5th launch title, will cost $79.99, while Donkey Kong Bananza, releasing a little over a month later, will cost $69.99.

These aren’t Nintendo’s first titles to exceed a $59.99 price. That honor goes to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which launched at $69.99. When that price was announced, Nintendo told Game Informer that “we determine the suggested retail price for any Nintendo product on a case-by-case basis.”

Nintendo is taking some of the sting off Mario Kart World’s higher price if you get it as part of a special $499.99 Switch 2 bundle. (On its own, the Switch 2 costs $449.99.) But it appears that Nintendo’s next-generation console could have games that are generally more expensive than before.

Sonos is lowering the price of two products in an effort to boost hardware sales amid a continued slump. The company’s Era 100 smart speaker and entry-level Ray soundbar now both cost $199. That’s a $50 drop for the Era 100, which launched at $249. And it’s an even more substantial $80 cut for the Ray; the soundbar was released nearly three years ago at an MSRP of $279. Both products have regularly been available for less during sales and retailer discounts, but now the price drop is permanent. (Credit to my friends in the Sonos subreddit who spotted this; I’ve now confirmed it with Sonos directly.)

The Era 100 is Sonos’ mainstream home speaker and improves upon the prior Sonos One (and Play:1 before that) with stereo sound, line-in and Bluetooth audio support, plus more intuitive physical controls. Its original price felt reasonable, but at $199, it’s an even better deal and a good gateway into the Sonos ecosystem.

I’m usually less quick to recommend the Ray. Unlike the more expensive Arc Ultra and Beam (Gen 2), it lacks HDMI connectivity altogether — and thus offers no Dolby Atmos surround sound. Still, the compact soundbar easily outperforms built-in TV speakers, so it’s a solid no-frills option for smaller rooms or secondary TVs. (Some owners have also come to enjoy it as a desk speaker, but that’s not the primary purpose.) Former Sonos CEO Patrick Spence said in past earnings calls that the Ray underperformed Sonos’ early expectations. $199 is certainly a fairer price for what you’re getting.

Sonos remains locked in an effort to improve the performance and reliability of its mobile app after last year’s embarrassing stumble. The company is releasing updates to the software at a steady cadence and continues to maintain a public Trello board of upcoming fixes. Sonos recently cancelled what was to be its next major hardware release, a streaming video player, in another sign that it’s reprioritizing the product roadmap and getting back to basics.

Nintendo has finally aired its big Switch 2 Direct, and now we know a whole lot about its next console. The Verge staff has a lot of feelings about the device, which will launch on June 5th, and we’ve collected our first impressions below.

---

A soulless design

Look, I love black. My entire wardrobe is almost exclusively black. But the Switch 2’s mostly-black design looks off to me. The original Switch may have launched with a gray Joy-Con option, but the neon red and blue controllers that also launched on day one became iconic. Now, the Switch 2 has just splashes of colors, and they’re mostly hidden.

I imagine Nintendo will inevitably release full-color Joy-Con 2 controllers in the future, but I think the Switch 2 out of the gate could have looked much more fun.

-Antonio Di Benedetto, laptop reviewer

A meaningful screen upgrade

No, it’s not an OLED. And yes, Nintendo will almost certainly repeat its strategy of launching a Switch 2 with that display technology down the line. But even right now, there’s a lot to like about the Switch 2’s new 1080p screen.

Its much larger 7.9-inch size is a blessing for the eyesight of a generation that grew up with Nintendo consoles — myself included. And I was pleasantly surprised that the company went with a 120Hz panel that supports variable refresh rate (VRR) and wider HDR color.

It won’t deliver the inky blacks of OLED, but as long as Nintendo’s quality assurance is up to snuff, the LCD won’t dissuade me from buying a Switch 2 on day one.

-Chris Welch, senior reviewer

The Joy-Con seem like a big improvement

The new Joy-Con are bigger, look more comfortable, do indeed attach via magnets, and can even be used like a mouse. Now, the real question is: will the sticks drift?

-Jay Peters, news editor

Social features? No thanks

Just imagine: the joy of Zoom meetings, now integrated into your gameplay. Voice chat and video streaming are the worst parts about gaming to me. I will not be using these features to scare my friends away by yelling at them.

–Marina Galperina, senior tech editor

The new GameCube controller is one flaw from perfection

I play a lot of my Switch games with a licensed PowerA replica GameCube controller. While it unfortunately uses AA batteries, it includes an additional ZL button that lets me play most of my Switch games. While Nintendo’s official wireless GameCube controller for the Switch 2 brings rechargeable batteries, Nintendo opted to give it a little nub of a ZL button instead of a full button. Hardly the Pro Controller replacement or WaveBird successor I was hoping for.

-Umar Shakir, news writer

A higher-than-expected price

$449.99 is higher than I was expecting for the Switch 2. I was hoping for $399. But still I’ll be doing everything I can to snag the $499.99 bundle with Mario Kart World, a game that costs an eye-watering $79.99 on its own. 

Let’s just hope pre-orders, which start on April 9th, go ok. (I’m expecting disaster.)

-Jay Peters

Donkey Kong Bananza looks great

I’m sure I’ll play plenty of Mario Kart World, but I’m an antisocial sort at heart, so I spent most of this Direct waiting for Nintendo’s first-party, single-player killer app. I never would have bet on Donkey Kong Bananza leading the charge. 

He may be as old as Mario, but this is only Donkey Kong’s second-ever 3D platformer, his first since 1999’s Donkey Kong 64, and his first solo game since Tropical Freeze in 2014. He’s an unlikely candidate for a system seller. Then again, that’s probably what Mario Kart is for.

-Dominic Preston, news editor

Charging for a tutorial?

The age of new consoles being bundled with a free game is behind us, but it’s confusing why Nintendo is charging for the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour app. Although it does appear to include a small selection of mini-games, the app seems to be more of a highly-polished interactive tutorial than a game.

Wii Sports not only helped make that console a huge hit for Nintendo, it also cleverly introduced gamers to the Wiimote and Nunchuck’s unique capabilities and motion-controlled gaming. The Welcome Tour app feels like a similar idea, but with much less replay value.

-Andrew Liszewski, senior reporter

No Super Smash Bros. 

Throughout the Switch 2 Direct, I was waiting for the iconic Super Smash Bros. logo to flash across my screen. And I nearly jumped out of my seat during the Kirby Air Riders trailer, which looked almost like an intro for a new SSB game.

It wasn’t, unfortunately, though SSB creator Masahiro Sakurai, who also directed the original Air Ride, is directing Riders. Here’s hoping he’ll be up for another SSB.

-Emma Roth, news writer

GameCube games on Nintendo Switch Online

It’s been more than two decades since Nintendo released F-Zero GX, my favorite anti-gravity racer of all time, and Switch 2 Direct revealed that it and several other GameCube games are coming to the new console as a Nintendo Switch Online feature. In addition to GX, I can’t wait to finally play bangers from Nintendo’s most adorable console in higher resolution without the need to screw around with the pain of emulators.

-Wes Davis, weekend editor

Virtual cartridges look useful

After my decision to stick with digital game downloads for the original Nintendo Switch led to frustrations with playing those games on the Switch OLED, I was planning a return to physical cartridges for the Switch 2.

But Nintendo’s reveal of its new virtual game cards last week has changed my mind. Being able to more easily move games between several versions of the Switch without the consoles needing a constant internet connection is exactly the upgrade Nintendo needed to introduce to streamline digital game management with the Switch 2 enroute.

-Andrew Liszewski

Promising updates for old games

Nintendo squeezed in some promising info about Switch 2 updates for older titles during today’s Direct. The selection of games getting updates — which includes Arms, Super Mario Odyssey, and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker — is relatively small, and it sounds like Nintendo is taking steps to make them compatible with the Switch 2’s new GameChat feature. But Nintendo also said that the updates “may improve performance,” which feels very significant for certain titles on the list like Pokémon Scarlet / Violet and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.

–Charles Pulliam-Moore, film and TV reporter 

Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson has refused to commit to resisting President Donald Trump if he ordered the agency to drop its antitrust suit against Meta, saying he would “obey lawful orders” and calling the scenario “a hypothetical.” His comments, made at a tech policy event in Washington, DC, followed a session where Ferguson reaffirmed his belief that independent regulatory agencies are “not good for a democracy.”

Ferguson appeared at an antitrust-focused event hosted by Y Combinator on Wednesday, branded as the “Little Tech Competition Summit.” The FTC is set to begin its blockbuster anti-monopoly trial against Meta in just a couple of weeks, making a case that — in an extreme scenario — could break up the company. Yet Trump has proven willing to pardon allies or test legal bounds to support them. Ferguson has pledged strong fealty to him, declaring last month that Trump “is the chief executive and is vested with all the executive power in our government,” including the power to remove commissioners.

Asked by The Verge how he’d react if the president asked him to drop a case like Meta’s, Ferguson said, “the President’s head of the executive branch, and I think it’s important for me to obey lawful orders.” But, he added, “I think that the President recognizes that we’ve got to enforce the laws, so I’d be very surprised if anything like that ever happened.”

Ferguson said he would not entertain a hypothetical about whether an order like that would be lawful. “I can’t imagine it happening,” he said.

Trump has already taken unprecedented steps to assert power over independent agencies including the FTC, and Ferguson has so far welcomed them. Trump signed an executive order in February claiming that independent agency officials should be subject to “supervision and control” by the president. The following month, Trump broke decades of Supreme Court precedent by attempting to fire the agency’s two Democratic commissioners without cause, an act Ferguson said the president is empowered to take. Recently, The Verge first reported, FTC staff was instructed to stop labeling the agency as “independent” when describing it as a plaintiff in legal complaints.

Onstage at Wednesday’s event, Ferguson told Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan that Trump’s commissioner firings wouldn’t impact how tech founders interact with the agency, and the FTC chair took the opportunity to expand on his perspective about the agency’s independence. “My view about the FTC’s mission is entirely unchanged,” he said, adding that he’s “firmly of the view” that Trump had authority to fire his colleagues and that independent agencies are “not good for a democracy.” That’s because, he said, “all powerful executive branch officials” should be accountable to the people, ”and the only person in the executive branch that gets elected is the president.” 

Not long after Ferguson’s appearance at the Little Tech Competition Summit, a CNN reporter shared on X that Mark Zuckerberg was spotted walking into the West Wing of the White House. 

Alvaro Bedoya, one of the Democratic commissioners Trump has attempted to fire, has previously told The Washington Post that Ferguson is “no friend to Big Tech.” But, he wondered, what would happen if the White House called him up to ask him to settle a case or halt an investigation? “Will he obey?” Bedoya asked. That question, for now, remains unanswered.

In its April 2nd Direct event, Nintendo revealed a lot of the Switch 2 details we’ve been waiting for, including the console’s price ($449.99 in the US), its June 5th release date, and a slew of new games coming to it, like Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza. The video and details the company published after the event also helped create a more complete picture of what we should expect from the second-generation Joy-Cons that come with the system.

The new Joy-Cons look a lot like the old Joy-Cons but are about a half-inch longer and black, with color accents on the connection rails and under the analog sticks — blue on the left and a pinkish-red on the right. Nintendo says they’ll be more comfortable, too. They have the same general button layout as the originals, but with a new “C” button on the right Joy-Con that’s used for a Discord-like GameChat feature that lets you talk to friends using a microphone embedded in the top of the Switch 2 and that includes screen sharing functionality and the ability to start streaming with the Switch 2 camera accessory Nintendo is selling separately.

As Switch 2 producer Kouichi Kawamoto describes in a new “Ask the Developer” interview published today, the Switch 2’s Joy-Cons have “larger and more durable” analog sticks “with smoother movement.” On its site, the company says that the Joy-Con 2s are quieter, too. Smoother and quieter makes sense if Nintendo is using Hall effect sensors this time around, as previously rumored. Kawamoto also points out that the L and R buttons curve further down the side for easy reach. 

The Joy-Con 2s connect to the Switch 2 magnetically, something Kawamoto says the company originally wanted to do with the first Switch. The Joy-Cons have larger SL and SR buttons that are made of metal, while the magnets themselves are embedded in the console. Disconnecting them involves pressing a release button on the back. In its Direct today, Nintendo claims they “won’t easily detach” on their own, but we’ll see about that when the system launches this summer. 

Another big new feature of the Switch 2 Joy-Cons is that they can work like a mouse with select games. When they’re detached, you hold them, connection rail down, on a surface like a coffee table. Kawamoto said the feature will be used in games like Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, for aiming (gyro control is still an option, too, according to a footnote on the page), and the thoroughly named Super Mario Party Jamboree Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV.

Comparing it to the Wii Remote’s cursor, Switch 2 director Takuhiro Dohta, who is also featured in the interview, says the company sees the mouse functionality of the new Joy-Cons as a way to let the Switch 2’s touchscreen capabilities transition to playing in docked mode. The Joy-Cons come with wrist straps, which Nintendo says gives them a wider base for “smoother gliding and better stability.”

Kawamoto said the new Joy-Con rumble feature, now called HD Rumble 2, is updated “to allow for a wider variety of vibrations.” They’ll also be stronger, he said, and have “quicker response times.” According to Nintendo’s official specs, the controllers will last about 20 hours between charges and recharge in about 3.5 hours, same as the original Joy-Cons. 

As for accessories, apart from the included wrist straps, Nintendo has also announced a $19.99 set of two wheels you can attach the Joy-Con 2s to for games like Mario Kart World. The company will sell a $34.99 charging grip, and the console comes with a standard non-charging grip as well. 

Nintendo did away with the IR sensor found on the right-hand first-generation Joy-Con, which I will miss for no reason other than that I love when gadgets have IR sensors. In every other way, the updated Joy-Cons sound like an improvement over their predecessors, with intriguing new features and Nintendo’s promise of better comfort and improved rumble. Now, we just have to wait to see if Nintendo managed to solve the stick drift problem of the first Joy-Cons.

Nintendo didn’t spend much time on the Switch 2’s UI during today’s big Direct presentation, but the company has just given us a pretty good look at the new console’s homescreen.

At the bottom of Nintendo’s webpage detailing how certain games are getting updated Switch 2 Editions, there is a small image of the Switch 2’s homescreen highlighting where the eShop icon will be located. Aside from a few minute aesthetic changes, the homescreen looks more or less like the original Switch’s. Presumably, you’ll also be able to select a darker UI option the way you can on Nintendo’s last console. There’s no word on whether the Switch 2’s UI will gain customization features like what we’ve seen on the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X / Series S. But Nintendo went into great detail about the console’s specs, its new features, and how you will be able to preorder the system ahead of its June release.

Homescreen customization isn’t exactly what sells people on consoles, but something as simple as being able to set your own wallpaper can go a long way in terms of making you want to spend time looking at a screen. That feels like the sort of thing Nintendo might …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Sissie Hsaio, the Google exec who oversaw the launch of the company’s AI chatbot, is stepping down as head of the Gemini app, according to a report from Semafor. A memo seen by the outlet reveals that Google Labs vice president Josh Woodward will take her place.

In the memo, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said the move will “sharpen our focus on the next evolution of the Gemini app,” reports Semafor. Google spokesperson Alex Joseph confirmed Semafor’s reporting but declined to comment.

Hsaio has worked at Google for nearly 20 years, first joining the company in 2006 as a product manager for Search and Docs. Google appointed Hsaio as the head of Gemini apps in 2021, where she most notably helped launch the company’s answer to ChatGPT, originally called Bard. Hsaio’s memo said she will take a “short break” coming back to Google in a new position, Semafor reports.

As noted by Semafor, Woodward will remain the head of Google Labs “while shaping the next chapter of Gemini.” Woodward helped develop NotebookLM, Google’s AI-powered note-taking app, which features an Audio Overview tool that transforms research into a podcast with two AI “hosts.” Google has since brought NotebookLM to its One AI Premium subscription and now lets users make AI podcasts from Gemini’s Deep Research, too.

During today’s big Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, Nintendo showed off a whole bunch of games coming to the system.

Many will launch on June 5th alongside the Switch 2, including Mario Kart World, enhanced editions of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, and new chapters in Toby Fox’s Deltarune. I think it’s a solid lineup!

But there are also a steady trickle of games set for later this year, including a new Donkey Kong, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, and, at long last, Hollow Knight: Silksong. And thanks to the Switch 2’s backward compatibility with many Switch 1 games, you’ll be able to play a lot of your original Switch library, including games that will be getting updates for the Switch 2. 

Here are all the games shown in today’s Nintendo Direct. I’ve sorted this list by date; for dates with multiple games, it’s in alphabetical order. I’ve also bolded the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusives.

2025:

• June 5th (Nintendo Switch 2 launch day)
  • Arcade Archives 2 Ridge Racer
  • Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster
  • Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition
  • Deltarune (includes chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4)
  • Fast Fusion
  • Fortnite
  • Hitman World of Assassination – Signature Edition
  • Hogwarts Legacy
  • Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
  • Mario Kart World
  • Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour
  • Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening Complete Edition
  • Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S
  • Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
  • Sid Meier’s Civilization VII – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
  • Split Fiction
  • Street Fighter 6
  • Survival Kids
  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
  • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
  • Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut
• June 27th: Tamagotchi Plaza – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
• June 19th: Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army
• July 17th: Donkey Kong Bananza
• July 18th: Shadow Labyrinth – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
• July 24th: Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV 
• July 25th:
  • No Sleep For Nakame Date – From AI: The Somnium Files
  • Wild Hearts S
• August 27th: Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
• August 28th: Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World
• September 5th: Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion
• Summer 2025:
  • Drag x Drive
  • Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4
• Winter 2025: Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
• Holiday 2025:
  • Marvel Cosmic Invasion
  • Witchbrook
• Late 2025: Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
• TBA 2025:
  • Borderlands 4
  • Elden Ring Tarnished Edition
  • Goodnight Universe
  • Hollow Knight: Silksong
  • Kirby Air Riders
  • Metroid Prime 4: Beyond – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
  • Professor Layton and The New World of Steam
  • Reanimal
  • Star Wars Outlaws
  • Two Point Museum

2026:

• TBA 2026:
  • Enter the Gungeon 2
  • Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions
  • The Duskbloods

TBA:

• EA Sports FC
• ​EA Sports Madden NFL
• Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade
• Hades II
• Human Fall Flat 2
• NBA 2K25
• Project 007
• WWE 2K

I have been recommending people buy whatever Brother laser printer is on sale for three years now, and no one has ever gotten mad at me about it. My own Brother laser printer, whose model number I no longer remember and do not care about, has been operating flawlessly for nearly 10 years now. We use it to print return labels for things we’ve purchased online in a losing effort to dull the pain of modernity, and my wife is a lawyer, a job that requires printing documents and scowling at them several times a day. We have replaced the toner once in that time, and it has never asked me to sign up for a subscription or fallen off the WiFi.

Our newsroom doesn’t have anything to do with Vox Media’s affiliate deals because of our precious ethics policy, but here’s some space I left for the company’s commerce team to put a buy button that kicks them back money if you push it and purchase a printer:

This is the third year in a row that I’ve published a story recommending you just stop thinking about printers and buy whatever random Brother laser printer is on sale, and nothing has happened in the miserably user-hostile printer industry to change my recommendation in that time. …

Read the full story at The Verge.