$55 billion EA buyout hands Madden over to investors including Saudi Arabia and Jared Kushner
Electronic Arts has announced it is being acquired and taken private in a $55 billion deal involving Silver Lake, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and Affinity Partners, which is founded and led by Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027 and is still subject to […]
CMF’s first over-ear headphones have an energy slider for boosting bass and treble
CMF, the budget-focused sub-brand that Nothing plans to spin off into a standalone subsidiary, has launched its first pair of over-ear wireless headphones. The CMF Headphone Pro borrows features like a multi-function roller control from Nothing’s Headphone 1 that debuted in July, but while Nothing’s over-ears feature a polarizing boxy design, CMF’s go hard on […]
Apple’s ‘Veritas’ chatbot is reportedly an employee-only test of Siri’s AI upgrades
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman Apple is testing Siri’s upcoming revamp using an internal chatbot called Veritas. The company’s struggles as it tries to keep pace in the AI race are no secret. The next-gen Siri has been delayed multiple times and the debut of Apple Intelligence was met with a tepid response. Veritas gives […]
Larry Ellison’s quest to run the world
For most of his career Larry Ellison has been content to quietly let Oracle be the company, behind the company, behind the technology that makes headlines. Its biggest products being cloud computing and database products that it sells to enterprise customers like DHL, Northwell Health, and Fanatics. But, now in his 80s, Ellison has begun […]
Trump posts, then pulls bizarre AI video promoting MedBed conspiracy
Donald Trump is no stranger to outlandish conspiracies or strange social media posts. But, by any measure, his post on Saturday night was particularly bizarre. The president posted (and later removed) a clip on Truth Social of a Fox News segment with Lara Trump detailing the White House’s announcement of the world’s first MedBed hospital […]
I spent three months with Telly, the free TV that’s always showing ads
The last few months, I've felt like I'm living in a cyberpunk movie. Each night, when I get ready to wind down, I reach for the remote to turn on a TV I got for free. When I hit the power button, a 55-inch screen lights up, but so does a smaller display beneath it. […]
Good news: TechWoven is fine
As the nation's foremost FineWoven hater, I have some great news about Apple's follow-up: it doesn't suck. I've been using a TechWoven case on an iPhone 17 Pro for the past week and I have no complaints. I took it up a mountain; I stored it in the sweaty back pocket of my yoga pants […]
How the voice of Silksong’s Hornet brought her to life through gibberish
Silksong resembles the original Hollow Knight in many ways, though right from the start, you can hear one key difference: Hornet. Hollow Knight's protagonist was silent, but just as Hornet was voiced in that game, as the protagonist of Silksong, she has a voice, too, and actor Makoto Koji brings a lot of personality to […]
How generative AI boosters are trying to break into Hollywood
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the intersection of entertainment and technology, follow Charles Pulliam-Moore. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started In just a few short years, text-to-image models […]
I need a life cool enough for the new GoPro
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 99, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, happy pumpkin spice season, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I've been reading about Lizzo and Uniqlo and book thieves and Max Verstappen, […]