Nintendo is finally making a new Mario Kart. While the official announcement of the Switch 2 didn’t feature much in the way of game announcements, the company did tease the next entry in the Mario Kart series. We don’t know anything about it really, though. There’s currently no title or details about the game. That should change later this year, as Nintendo is planning a Switch 2 Direct event for April.

It’s been a long time coming. Mario Kart 8 originally launched in 2014 for the Wii U, before an upgraded edition hit the Switch three years later, where it became the platform’s bestselling title, moving more than 64 million copies. Of course, it’s not like fans have been without new content; the Switch version of Mario Kart 8 got a huge number of DLC add-ons, which doubled the number of available tracks. Nintendo also released a mobile spinoff called Mario Kart Tour in 2019, though it stopped receiving updates as of 2023.

Now that Nintendo’s reveal of the Switch 2 has put to rest years of anticipation and rumormongering, it’s time to hear more information about the console and, importantly, all the games. The company has announced it will hold a Switch 2 Direct scheduled for April 2nd.

The Switch 2 reveal trailer showed footage that looks to be a new Mario Kart game, which is a good indication it’ll be a launch title. There’s speculation that the forthcoming Metroid Prime 4 might straddle both consoles the way Breath of the Wild launched on both the Wii U and the Switch back in 2017. The Switch 2 Direct might also reveal the follow-up to Super Mario Odyssey. Who knows?

But we do know that it is a truth universally acknowledged that a person in possession of a Switch 2 must be in want of games to play on it, and we’ll get a good idea of what those games will be in early April.

The day is finally here.

It’s finally time: after months of teases and rumors, Nintendo has finally revealed the successor to the Switch. A new console generation is always a big deal, but this is an especially pivotal one for Nintendo.

Since its debut in 2017, the Switch has become Nintendo’s second-bestselling piece of hardware ever, trailing only the Nintendo DS. And it has been home to some of the company’s most successful games, including Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and the juggernaut that is Mario Kart 8.

Those are some big shoes to fill, which means there are some important questions for Nintendo to answer about what comes next. The lead-up to today was filled with questions: What will the hardware look like? Will the big franchises be there at launch? Will games like Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Pokémon Legends: Z-A be cross-generation?

Now we have official answers to at least some of them — you can keep up with everything we learned from the reveal right here.

Nintendo has a new console on the way, but you can still hang onto those old games. The company has confirmed that the just-announced Switch 2 device will support cartridges from the original Switch.

The news shouldn’t be too surprising. Late last year, Nintendo confirmed that the then-unnamed console would be backward-compatible with the Switch. However, that original statement — “Nintendo Switch software will also be playable on the successor to Nintendo Switch” — wasn’t clear on whether that included physical games as well as digital. Now we know for sure. Additionally, Nintendo Switch Online, which includes a growing library of retro games and other features like a music app, will also carry over between the two devices for subscribers.

However, there appear to be some restrictions, as Nintendo notes that “certain Nintendo Switch games may not be supported on or fully compatible with Nintendo Switch 2.” It’s not clear yet which games that might include.

Image: Nintendo

The big reveal of the Switch’s successor comes after a long period of leaks and rumors, culminating in today’s official announcement. Here’s the full video of the reveal, which includes the tidbit about backward compatibility.

Nintendo shared the first details about the Nintendo Switch 2 in a video published Thursday. Nintendo doesn’t give a specific release date for the console besides “2025.”

The console looks a lot like the original, but it’s bigger. In the video, the Joy-Con controllers are black with colored accents, and they attach to the side of the console instead of sliding on and off. There’s a new button under the home button on the right Joy-Con, which had shown up in leaks. The video also appears to show the Joy-Cons being used similarly to a mouse. And the SL and SR buttons on the Joy-Cons are bigger than on the original Switch.

On top of the Switch 2, there’s a new USB-C port. The kickstand has a new design, too — it’s shaped more like a U. The dock for the Switch 2 has a more rounded design. And, like with the original Switch, there will also be a separate controller grip that you can snap the Joy-Cons into.

The only game shown is what appears to be a new Mario Kart title. But the console will be backward-compatible with both physical and digital Nintendo Switch games — though the video cautions that “certain Nintendo Switch games may not be supported on or fully compatible with Nintendo Switch 2.”

Nintendo is promising to share more details in a Nintendo Switch 2-focused Direct on April 2nd, 2025.

Image: Nintendo

The Nintendo Switch will be a tough act to follow. The device was a clever hybrid of a home console and a handheld, and the formula resulted in one of the bestselling consoles of all time. A huge part of the console’s success was that it was home to some of Nintendo’s best-ever games, including hits like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Odyssey, Metroid Prime Remastered, and the very popular Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Fortunately, you’ll be able to play all of those games on the new console — Nintendo said in November that the Switch’s successor will be compatible with Switch games and will have Nintendo Switch Online.

The first Switch was also a massive sales hit. The company says that, so far, it’s sold 146.04 million units, making the console its second-highest-selling video game system behind the original Nintendo DS, which sold 154.02 million units. The Switch’s sales figures also mean that it has surpassed the Nintendo Wii (101.63 million units), the Game Boy (118.69 million units), and the Nintendo 3DS (75.94 million units).

While we’ve been waiting years for a true Switch successor, the console had mid-cycle hardware refreshes along the way. The Nintendo Switch Lite was a great way to play Switch games on a smaller device, and the Nintendo Switch OLED added a beautiful display and a handful of other nice upgrades.

Starting in December, supposed information about Nintendo’s next console began to trickle out from accessory manufacturers. Dbrand, for example, gave us what it believed to be actual dimensions of the hardware and said that its “understanding” was that the Joy-Con controllers would be magnetically attached. And at CES 2025, Genki showed off a 3D-printed mockup of what it believed the Switch’s successor would look like.

Developing...

Insta360 has announced a new version of its Flow Pro stabilized smartphone gimbal after releasing the original last July. The new Insta360 Flow 2 Pro introduces the company’s upgraded Deep Track 4.0 AI tracking technology that can now track multiple people while also providing more flexibility in how tracked subjects are framed. The company says it has also strengthened the gimbal’s retractable tripod legs, improving its use as a hands-free autonomous camera operator.

The Insta360 Flow 2 Pro is available starting today for $159.99 in stone gray and summit white color options. That’s about $10 more expensive than the Flow Pro but the same price as Insta360’s first Flow gimbal that debuted in early 2023.

Image: Insta360

As with the original Flow Pro, the Flow 2 Pro supports Apple’s DockKit framework, allowing the gimbal to track people while using the iPhone’s native Camera app as well as other third-party camera apps, including Blackmagic Camera. A glowing ring light on the gimbal lets users know when tracking is active and working.

Image: Insta360

But the Flow 2 Pro becomes far more capable when used with Insta360’s own camera app, available for iOS and Android. Using its Deep Track 4.0 technology, the app can now track multiple subjects and ensure that an entire group remains centered in frame, even while they’re moving. It also supports tracking nonhuman subjects like animals and random objects and tracking while zoomed in on a subject up to 15x.

Image: Insta360

Insta360 is also introducing another new tracking feature called Pro Framing Grid. Users can select one of nine different grid squares to change where a tracked subject appears in frame, allowing for more creativity with framing than just having the target centered at all times.

The new Insta360 Flow 2 Pro is slightly lighter than its predecessor — 357 grams compared to 366 grams, respectively — with the same estimated 10 hours of battery life while perched on a flat surface using its tripod legs. When using it handheld, which requires continuous stabilization, battery life will be reduced, but Insta360 doesn’t say by how much.

Image: Insta360

A new mirror on the back of the gimbal’s mount allows users to frame themselves while shooting selfies using their smartphone’s higher-quality rear cameras when the screen isn’t visible. For other times when the screen isn’t visible, like when a subject is filming themselves at a distance, Insta360 now allows the gimbal and recording to be controlled remotely using either an additional smartphone or an Apple Watch. Framing can be adjusted by swiping the Apple Watch’s screen to pan the gimbal around, while its zoom can be changed by turning the Digital Crown.

ChargePoint has had enough of vandalizing thieves who saw through EV charger cables to steal valuable copper — so now it’s making new “cut-resistant” cables and adding alarm systems in an attempt to mitigate the damage.

ChargePoint’s VP of product management Steve Farrell tells The Verge the cable uses a patent-pending technology that includes strategically placed steel to provide protection. Although the design may make the cables a bit larger and less flexible, Farrell wrote that usability won’t be impacted, and that most users “will not notice the difference” with the changes. The new cable can be retrofitted on commercial and fleet charging stations (both AC and DC models) made by the company.

Farrell also says the cables were tested against “commonly used devices,” including wirecutters, bolt cutters, and battery powered tools. ChargePoint was “satisfied with its ability to significantly increase the time, effort, and resources (i.e. tools) required to sever cables.”

ChargePoint is planning to license out the new cable design to other “select” EV charger OEMs that may want to try it out to combat copper crooks. Vandalized EV stations are a rising problem that adds to the already unreliable electric vehicle infrastructure in the US. The new cables are expected to be available for licensing by the middle of 2025.

Tougher cables aren’t the only theft deterrent ChargePoint is launching soon. The company has also developed new “ChargePoint Protect” security software that turns its EV stations into “highly effective” alarm systems. The software can detect tampering with the cables in real-time and engage alarms to scare thieves away while also sending out text messages and email alerts to EV stall owners.

ChargePoint Protect works on most of the company’s existing commercial EV charger models except for some older models, according to Farrell. The update is free to station owners, will arrive over the air, and will be available later this month.

Realme just launched its 14 Pro phones in India, and they come with a party trick: the phones can change color in the cold. That’s in addition to a triple camera flash and a triple IP rating that should protect the phone from extreme water conditions.

Both the Realme 14 Pro and 14 Pro Plus share the color-sensitive tech, though it’s limited to the pearl white versions, with purple and gray models stuck on one lousy color. Co-designed with Danish studio Valeur Designers, the pearlescent phones include thermochromic pigments that start out as white, but pick up blue hues when the temperature drops below 16 degrees Celsius (about 61 degrees Fahrenheit), reversing as it warms up again.

Image: Realme

Realme says that the colder the temperature, the faster the phone will change. It’s even possible to create short-lived patterns by only cooling specific spots, which Indian YouTubers are already enjoying putting to the test.

It does come with one meaty caveat in the small print though: “The cold-sensitive color-changing function will gradually lose effect due to daily use and is not a quality issue.” How long it will last remains to be seen, but even Realme’s own website only promises the effect “during initial use.”

The color-changing design isn’t the only oddity to the 14 Pro series. The rear cameras include three separate flash modules, a design which Realme says “automatically restores natural skin tones in low-light conditions.” On the 14 Pro Plus those flashes sit in between three camera lenses, though the 14 Pro pulls a bit of a fast one, including two rear cameras and a third circle that only looks like a lens, but is in fact empty.

Image: Realme

This is also the latest phone to feature an IP69 rating for protection against dust and jets of water at high temperatures and pressure, joining the OnePlus 13, Moto G Power, and Honor Magic 7 Pro in adopting the stringent standard, which until recently was limited to the bulkiest rugged phones. The 14 Pro is also rated IP68 for submersion in water and IP66, which also applies to jets of water but for higher water volume at lower pressures and longer distances.

Otherwise, the two Realme phones are typical midrangers. They both feature 50 megapixel main cameras and middle-of-the-line chipsets, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 in the Pro Plus model and a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 in the Pro. The large 6,000mAh batteries and 80W charging speeds are still impressive, though. Both phones are out in India now, and start at ₹22,999 (about $265).

President Biden used his final public address from the Oval Office to warn the nation about the dangers presented by the spread of misinformation and power-hungry tech leaders.

“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”

In his farewell message on Wednesday, Biden called back to warnings that President Dwight Eisenhower gave about the military-industrial complex causing a “disastrous rise of misplaced power.”

“Six decades later, I’m equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech industrial complex that could pose real dangers for our country as well,” Biden said. Despite praising US technology leadership for its innovation and ability to transform lives, Biden said he was concerned about “a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people,” warning that there could be alarming consequences “if their abuse of power is left unchecked.”

While he didn’t specify names, Biden’s oligarch remark likely refers to Elon Musk, who has landed himself a leadership role in a not-really-government-department of the incoming administration after spending an estimated $250 million of his own money to help get Donald Trump elected.

Alongside Musk, Mark Zuckerberg also appears to be a specific target of Biden’s concerns regarding the rise in misinformation and conspiracy theories across social media platforms. Last week, Zuckerberg announced that Meta would scrap its third-party fact-checking program for Facebook, Instagram, and Threads in the US and remove several restrictions around heated topics.

“Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power,” Biden warned. “The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.”

On Monday, tech CEOs including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai, and Mark Zuckerberg are expected to attend Trump’s inauguration, seated in a position of honor on the dais alongside former presidents and family members. These same CEOs — either through their companies or via personal contributions — have reportedly donated $1 million apiece to Trump’s inauguration fund.

The billionaire space race entered a new phase today when Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin successfully launched its 320-foot-tall New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

At 2:03AM ET this morning, New Glenn’s seven reusable BE-4 engines ignited to propel the NG-1 rocket into space, with the second stage and payload reaching orbit to achieve Blue Origin’s primary mission goal. It also successfully activated its Blue Ring Pathfinder payload vehicle which is “receiving data and performing well.”

In parallel, the first stage booster — dubbed, “So You’re Telling Me There’s A Chance” — autonomously descended to its landing platform located several hundred miles downrange in the Atlantic. As it approached the Jacklyn barge, the booster lost contact with control and stopped sending data. Blue Origin confirmed that the booster was lost during landing. The company will try again in the spring.

Nevertheless, Blue Origin’s goal for today’s uncrewed launch was for New Glenn to reach orbit. Anything beyond that would be a bonus. “No matter what, we will learn a lot,” said Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp ahead of today’s launch.

Image: Blue Origin

The launch comes after almost a decade of development and puts Elon Musk’s SpaceX on notice. New Glenn has about the same carrying capacity as SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, and is meant to shuttle cargo into space on the reusable launch platform. This includes satellites for Amazon’s rival to Starlink’s high-speed low-latency internet service. The first of these 3,236 Project Kuiper satellites are expected to launch into low Earth orbit soon, aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket before New Glenn can take over the heavy lifting.

“I’m incredibly proud New Glenn achieved orbit on its first attempt,” said Limp. “We knew landing our booster on the first try was an ambitious goal. We’ll learn a lot from today and try again at our next launch this spring.”

Update, January 16th: Added additional mission success details and quote from Limp.

LG Display didn’t have its usual exhibit of flashy, breakthrough new screens at this year’s CES. This resulted in an odd situation where it was actually Panasonic that shared the most details about LG Display’s latest and greatest OLED panel. Even before any official announcement, it was already the centerpiece of 2025 flagships like Panasonic’s Z95B and the LG G5 from LG Electronics (not to be confused with the display division).

But now the company is ready to spill the full details on its new four-layer tandem OLED design. “33 percent brighter than the previous generation and optimized for the AI TV era, it is the industry’s first-ever OLED display to achieve a maximum brightness as high as 4,000 nits,” LG Display wrote in a press release that went out tonight. The AI mention made me roll my eyes a bit, but there’s no doubting that this is a very impressive panel.

Here’s the rundown on what’s so innovative, according to LG Display:

The new panel’s innovation centers on a Primary RGB Tandem structure, which is LG Display’s proprietary technology that uses independent stacks of RGB elements to produce light. It had previously used a three-stack light source, with two layers of blue elements emitting relatively short energy wavelengths alongside red, green, and yellow elements in a single layer.

The Primary RGB Tandem structure applied to the fourth-generation OLED TV panel organizes the light source into four stacks by adding two layers of blue elements and independent layers of red and green elements. It improves maximum brightness by increasing the amount of light produced by each layer compared to the previous structure.

Graphic: LG Display

Of course, seeing as we’re squarely in the OLED brightness wars, Samsung Display has its own brighter-than-ever QD-OLED screen that’s going into Samsung’s S95F, which was also announced in Las Vegas. But whereas Samsung is going all in on its glare-free display finish, LG is sticking with a more traditional glossy finish — though it uses “ultra-low reflective technology” to lessen any potential distractions.

Energy efficiency has improved again with the fourth-gen LG Display OLED, and the company says that color brightness can reach 2,100 nits, which is a 40 percent improvement compared to the prior version. These peak brightness numbers are what the panel is technically capable of, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that TV makers like Panasonic will necessarily push it that hard in consumer sets.

Either way, OLED keeps getting brighter and more vibrant while still retaining all of its trademark strengths like perfect blacks, fantastic viewing angles, and fast response times for gaming. The best ones don’t come cheap, but they’re worth saving up for. If you’re after more info on the new panel, I recommend these great videos from Caleb Denison at Digital Trends and Vincent Teoh at HDTVTest.

LG Display’s rival, Samsung Display, did have a CES showcase that my colleague Sean Hollister caught during the show, so be sure to give that a watch as well.

If you’re looking for a cheaper alternative to the new Kindle Scribe, we’ve got good news: the first-gen model is on sale for a couple hundred dollars less than the second-gen model. Normally $349.99 in new condition, Amazon is currently selling it with in refurbished configuration with 16GB of storage, a Basic Pen, and a one-year warranty for just $233.99 as a part of a limited-time lightning deal. You can also buy it at Amazon with 32GB of storage for $259.99.

Both of Amazon’s note-taking ebook readers sport a spacious 10.2-inch 300 ppi display and an adjustable warm light, though the latest Scribe builds upon the original with thinner bezels, a textured display, and a soft-tipped Premium Pen. The most significant changes come in the form of software features, which are available on the first-gen model via a free download. That means no matter which e-reader you buy, you can finally write notes directly on pages. You’ll also be able to take advantage of various AI features, including AI-generated summaries and a tool that lets you refine your handwriting. The only difference is that the new Scribe comes with these features baked in.

Read our original Kindle Scribe review.

Three more midweek discounts

• The Beats Powerbeats Pro are down to $99.99 (half off) at Best Buy, which is their lowest price to date. The wireless earbuds are still exceptionally comfortable despite their age, with over-ear hooks that keep them securely in place during intense workouts. They also continue to deliver good sound, pair well with Apple devices, and last up to nine hours on a single charge, though you’ll still need a Lightning cable to charge them. Read our review.
• Amazon and Best Buy are selling the Apple Pencil Pro for $99 ($20 off), which is one of its best prices to date. The stylus is compatible with the latest iPad Pro, iPad Air, and iPad Mini; however, unlike the Apple Pencil (USB-C), the Pro model features Find My support so you can quickly locate it. It also comes with extra creative capabilities, including pressure sensitivity, double-tap tool switching, and a “barrel roll” feature that lets you twist your digital brush’s orientation by turning the stylus as you paint.
• You can pick up the Chipolo One Point at Amazon for $22 ($5 off), an all-time low. The puck-shaped Bluetooth tracker is perfect for keeping tabs on various items, whether it be a set of keys or a pet collar. The keyring tracker also features a user-replaceable battery, IPX5 water resistance, and support for Android’s Fast Pair feature, though keep in mind it only supports Google’s Find My platform, not Apple’s.

In Supreme Court oral arguments over a potentially seismic change to the internet, the most memorable question came from Justice Samuel Alito. “One of the parties here is the owner of Pornhub, right?” Alito asked Derek Shaffer, lawyer for the adult industry group Free Speech Coalition. “Is it like the old Playboy magazine? You have essays there by the modern-day equivalent of Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley, Jr.?”

The massive adult web portal Pornhub, in case you’re wondering, does not publish essays by distinguished intellectuals. (Shaffer notes that it does host sexual wellness videos.) The question inspired a slew of commentary on social media, alongside a few quips directed at Justice Clarence Thomas, who declared during oral argument that “Playboy was about squiggly lines on cable TV.” But as funny as the quotes were, what the justices were getting at was hardly a joke: how much protection does sexual content and other legal speech deserve, if hosted online?

FSC v. Paxton concerns Texas’ HB 1181, which requires sites with a large proportion of sexually explicit content to verify users’ ages and post scientifically unproven health warnings about how porn “is proven to harm...

Read the full story at The Verge.

The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) is suing Southwest Airlines for “illegally operating multiple chronically delayed flights and disrupting passengers’ travel,” according to a press release.

The USDOT’s investigation found that “Southwest operated two chronically delayed flights — one between Chicago Midway International Airport and Oakland, Calif, and another between Baltimore, Md. and Cleveland, Ohio — that resulted in 180 flight disruptions for passengers between April and August 2022,” per the release. “Each flight was chronically delayed for five straight months.”

A flight is considered chronically delayed if “it is flown at least 10 times a month and arrives more than 30 minutes late more than 50 percent of the time,” the USDOT says.

“Southwest is disappointed that DOT chose to file a lawsuit over two flights that occurred more than two years ago,” Southwest spokesperson Laura Swift says in a statement to The Verge. “Since DOT issued its Chronically Delayed Flight (CDF) policy in 2009, Southwest has operated more than 20 million flights with no other CDF violations. Any claim that these two flights represent an unrealistic schedule is simply not credible when compared with our performance over the past 15 years. In 2024, Southwest led the industry by completing more than 99% of its flights without cancellation.”

In addition, the USDOT is taking “enforcement action” against Frontier Airlines for operating chronically delayed flights. USDOT has fined Frontier $650,000 in civil penalties; the US Treasury will be paid $325,000, while the other $325,000 will be suspended if Frontier “does not operate any chronically delayed flights in the next three years,” the USDOT says.

Frontier Airlines spokesperson Jennifer F. de la Cruz declined to comment.

Earlier this month, USDOT announced a $2 million penalty against JetBlue for operating chronically delayed flights. The USDOT also fined Southwest Airlines in 2023 over a holiday meltdown that stranded millions in 2022.

Obsbot has announced a $99 webcam with a two-axis motorized mount that’s capable of tracking and dynamically reframing subjects. The Tiny SE is available now for $99, making it one of the cheapest ways to add a tracking camera to your streaming setup.

To hit that price tag for a two-axis gimbal-mounted webcam with tracking capabilities, the Tiny SE comes with one notable limitation: it tops out at 1080p. For comparison, the $199 Insta360 Link 2 can do 4K at up to 30fps, while Obsbot still offers its 4K-capable Tiny 2 Lite for $179.

Image quality will be lower than more expensive options, but the Tiny SE should still outperform the webcams built into many laptops. It can stream at 1080p at up to 100fps (or up to 120fps with the resolution dropped to 720p) and supports staggered HDR recording at up to 60fps.

Image: Obsbot

The webcam can reframe and tighten up a shot so it better focuses on a person and what they’re interacting with, and it can be limited to track specific body parts like the lower body or the hand, or to keep their face hidden. But with no optical zoom capabilities — only 4x digital zoom — image quality will be further reduced. Using the Obsbot Center app, available for Windows and macOS, you can even adjust the composition of a shot, so tracked targets don’t always appear in the middle of the frame.

Other features include the ability to use hand gestures to manually adjust the framing of a shot while on camera, a built-in microphone with three noise reduction levels, background blur for increased privacy, and a standard tripod mount on the bottom for more flexibility on where it can be used.

Fox announced on Wednesday that Super Bowl LIX will stream live on Tubi, its free, ad-supported streaming service, when it kicks off on February 9th, 2025. You’ll be able to stream the game in 4K for free from the service’s app on your phone or smart TV, but you’ll need an account to watch.

This is the first time the Super Bowl will be available on Tubi. It’s also its biggest live sporting event yet. The free streaming platform, which Fox acquired in 2020, reported reaching 97 million monthly active users earlier this month.

Though Fox had the broadcast rights to the Super Bowl LVII in 2023, it only aired the game on its linear TV channel, website, and app, while giving cord-cutters the option to access the game on pricey live TV streaming services like Fubo and Sling TV. Perhaps the Tubi “interface interruption” commercial shown during Super Bowl LVII was a hint of what’s to come.

Tubi’s Super Bowl coverage will begin at 3:30PM ET on February 9th with a red-carpet event hosted by Olivia Culpo. Along with Tubi, Super Bowl LIX will air across Fox, Fox Deportes, Telemundo, Fox’s website, and the NFL Plus app.

Correction, January 15th: A previous version of the article stated that you will not need an account to stream Super Bowl LIX on Tubi. You do not need an account to watch Tubi, but Tubi spokesperson Seana Sullivan told The Verge after publication that an account will be required to stream the Super Bowl. This article also previously implied that Super Bowl LVII was only available to stream on paid streaming services; Fox also made it available for free on the Fox Sports app.

Samsung, like Apple, is rumored to be working on a super-thin smartphone, and on Wednesday, OnLeaks and Smartprix published renders of a phone they call the Galaxy S25 Slim.

The renders show a phone with a flat front, flat back, flat sides, and three cameras on the back — it seems to resemble last year’s Galaxy S24 and the Galaxy S25 renders that leaked last week. However, it will apparently have a depth of 6.4mm, making it 1.2mm thinner than the Galaxy S24. OnLeaks and Smartprix also claim that the Galaxy S25 Ultra will have a depth of 8.2mm, meaning the S25 Slim could be nearly 2mm thinner than that flagship.

Image: OnLeaks and Smartprix

OnLeaks and Smartprix say that the S25 Slim’s camera system will include a 200MP main camera, a 50MP ultrawide camera, and a 50MP telephoto lens with 3.5X optical zoom. The telephoto lens will apparently have a special design:

Samsung is also expected to use its new ALoP (All Lenses on Prism) design for the 3.5X telephoto lens, which arranges the lenses in front of the prism rather than behind it. This design should help the S25 Slim remain “slim” while offering long-range optical zoom.

The S25 Slim will also have a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and 12GB of RAM, according to OnLeaks and Smartprix. The phone will apparently launch in May 2025, though OnLeaks and Smartprix say that the phone “may be showcased” at the January 22nd Galaxy Unpacked event.

Apple’s rumored slim phone, which may be called the “iPhone 17 Air,” could launch later this year.

DJI will no longer stop drones from flying over airports, wildfires, and the White House, passing the buck to US law enforcement to prevent some of the worst forms of drone misuse. Some are suggesting the curious timing of that decision is political, coming just days before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, weeks after the New Jersey drone hysteria, and days after a plane fighting the LA wildfires got taken down by a DJI drone. Some even suggest this is China firing back at the United States for orchestrating the TikTok ban, which feels like a stretch to me.

Either way, DJI is now reacting to the whole vibe with an official blog post that claims the timing is coincidental.

“We had planned to roll this update in the US months ago but delayed the implementation to ensure the update would work properly,” the company’s unsigned blog post reads.

It also claims, in bold letters, that “Politics does not drive safety decisions at DJI.”

“To suggest that this update is linked to the current political environment in the US is not only false but also dangerous,” DJI’s unnamed author writes.

While the post does contain a variety of additional details about what is and isn’t happening to the company’s geofencing system, it does not dispute that DJI has eliminated the feature that prevents the vast majority of US drone pilots, by default, from flying over airports, power plants, active wildfires, military bases, and government buildings like the White House, apparently without exception.

If politics didn’t drive that decision, what did? The blog post doesn’t quite say. While it promises to offer “the true reasons behind this update,” it continues to generically suggest that DJI has aligned itself with aviation regulators around “the principle of operator responsibility” and, on a lesser note, points out that its No Fly Zones created “missed opportunities, delayed operations, or unnecessary waiting times” for pilots.

“This was especially challenging for commercial operators, drone businesses — and most critically — public safety agencies performing lifesaving work, where delays are simply unacceptable,” DJI writes.

It’s true that DJI’s geofencing system was created voluntarily by DJI and isn’t mandated by US regulators. “The FAA does not require geofencing from drone manufacturers,” FAA spokesperson Ian Gregor told The Verge.

But does removing hard geofencing make us safer, and did it cost DJI anything to keep it in place? We’ve asked DJI the following questions:

• If politics did not drive this decision, what did?
• Were US regulators or representatives asking DJI to remove No Fly Zones?
• Was there a financial benefit to DJI for removing them, or an opportunity cost DJI would pay by maintaining them?
• Was DJI technologically unable to update its GEO system with official FAA data while maintaining No Fly Zones?
• The blog post suggests that public safety agencies were experiencing unlocking delays — are there specific instances where DJI unlocking delays resulted in specific impacts to lifesaving work?
• How does removing No Fly Zones make drones safer?

We’ll let you know how DJI responds.

Even if this decision has nothing to do with China, the company has very strong reasons to get on the radar of US regulators right now — it’s currently facing a total import ban of its drones and cameras in the United States, until or unless “an appropriate national security agency” publicly declares that its products are not an unacceptable national security risk.

Perhaps this move helps highlight how DJI voluntarily made its drones less of a national security risk by keeping them away from important facilities. Perhaps DJI leaders believe the US will only understand that once it takes the feature away.

Google is set to launch its Android Automotive app conversion program this February that helps developers convert their Android apps to in-vehicle screens.

As reported by Android Authority, the “Car ready mobile apps program” guides Android developers to make slight changes to apps so they can be available in vehicles with Google Play Store in the dash.

To start, Google is specifically looking for streaming entertainment, gaming, and browser apps, and they need compatibility with x86 processors since many cars aren’t using Arm chips.

However, a compatibility mode option can also get many apps working in Android Automotive even without following all the guidelines. Google had said it would create an easier path for in-car app approval last May during its I/O 2024 developer conference.

There’s already a growing number of Google Play Store apps in some Android Automotive vehicles such as the Lincoln Nautilus that we reviewed in September. It has games such as Angry Birds, streaming apps like Max and Crunchy Roll, and meeting apps like WebEx that ran similarly to their Android tablet version counterparts.

However, the selection is still slim overall, with primarily car-relevant apps like Waze and A Better Route Planner making the list. Come February, expect a lot more apps to trickle into the dash.

Following a scrubbed launch attempt and weather-related delays, Blue Origin will once again try to send its New Glenn rocket into space for the first time. During the attempt, the Jeff Bezos-owned space company aims to reach orbit, helping to further its goals of shuttling Project Kuiper satellites, equipment, and eventually humans into space.

Here’s what you need to know about when and how to watch New Glenn’s long-awaited inaugural launch.

What is New Glenn?

New Glenn is the 320-foot-tall rocket that Blue Origin initially announced in 2016. Though Blue Origin planned to launch New Glenn by 2020, the project was beset by delays due to issues with engine development and other technical setbacks.

The rocket has a reusable first stage powered by the company’s BE-4 engines, which run on liquified natural gas and liquid oxygen. Shortly after launch, the first stage is supposed to detach and autonomously land upright on a sea-based platform, where Blue Origin can then retrieve it and reuse it for future missions.

Following separation, New Glenn’s upper stage should fire up its BE-3U engines — a less powerful engine that uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen — as it attempts to propel itself into space with its payload. The upper stage is capable of delivering 45 metric tons of cargo into low Earth orbit.

For this uncrewed launch, New Glenn will house the Blue Ring Pathfinder, a payload consisting of a communications array, a power system, and a flight computer. This will let Blue Origin test its Blue Ring spacecraft, which will eventually support missions with refueling, hosting, data relay, and cloud computing capabilities.

Image: Blue Origin

Earlier this week, Blue Origin scrubbed New Glenn’s launch due to a “vehicle subsystem issue.” A successful first launch could make Blue Origin a serious rival to Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Along with competing for government contracts, both commercial space companies are also working to build out internet satellite constellations, with SpaceX regularly sending Starlink satellites into space and Blue Origin on tap to support Amazon’s Project Kuiper initiative.

When will Blue Origin launch New Glenn?

Blue Origin’s next launch attempt will take place at Launch Complex 36 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Thursday, January 16th. The three-hour launch window opens at 1AM ET (10PM PT).

Blue Origin says the “vehicle looks good” for Thursday’s launch window, but says it’s “watching weather closely as clouds build over the Space Coast.” If the company can’t attempt to launch New Glenn on the 16th, it will make another attempt Friday, January 17th with a three-hour window opening at 1AM.

How to watch New Glenn’s launch

You can watch a livestream of New Glenn’s launch from Blue Origin’s website, its X account, and its YouTube channel. We’ll embed a livestream here when it becomes available.

Update, January 15th: Added an update from Blue Origin about launch timing.