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Surrounding the Washington Monument Saturday were thousands of signs with messages spanning innumerable topics. “Support Ukraine,†“Beware of DOGE,†“Protect Trans Lives,†were just a few of them. Others struck a note of exasperation: “Where do I start…†The nationwide Hands Off protests this weekend turned out millions of protesters across 1,300 different events, organizers estimate, motivated by a wide array of causes but two people: President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk. In the signs they brought to the DC rally, some protesters focused on a single issue. Others tried to fit as many as they could. The throughline was a message to the US government: protect democracy, and stop messing with programs and agencies that matter. The crowd in Washington, DC — more than 100,000, per organizers’ estimates — was peaceful and orderly. On a stage behind the Washington Monument, lawmakers like Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Maxwell Frost (D-FL) and organizers inc...

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 78, your guide to the best and Verge -iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, sorry everything’s about to get so expensive, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage .) This week, I’ve been reading about baseball bats and work-life balance and BYD and Scarlett Johansson , watching Paradise , rekindling my love of pear-flavored jelly beans , sharing Robin Sloan’s AI take with anyone who will listen, grooving to the greatest unexpected Doechii remix of all time, and finally finding the monitor mount that makes my webcam upgrade work. I also have for you a couple of great new apps for streaming and gaming, a look back into Microsoft’s history, the latest on the Switch 2, a screed against screen time, and much more. Oh, and a programming note: Installer is off next week. Taking a little break before we ramp up for Developer Conference season. But we have lots to do today! Let’s get int...

Breaking down the confusing world of color spaces. The best method that we have for defining color is by using math. Specifically, mind-boggling mathematical models called color spaces that use geometry to assign colors as a fixed point that we can reference, ensuring the blue that I see is the same blue you see. As a creative-leaning person who can barely split a bill without a calculator app, all that math is extremely daunting. The good news is that computing software will do all these complicated calculations for us, allowing us to rely on our eyeballs to pick whatever colors look best. The bad news is that there’s an equally daunting number of color spaces to choose from, and they’re all optimized for different tasks across web design, photography, video editing, physical printing, and more. And if you select the wrong one at any point between creating, editing, and viewing something, it can really mess with what colors are supposed to look like. It’s a lot to absorb....

There’s a famous two-decade-old Paris Review interview with Haruki Murakami in which he, one of the world’s most celebrated novelists, details his daily routine. He wakes up at 4AM, works for five hours, goes for a run, reads, goes to bed, and then repeats it all over again. The rigor and repetition are the point. I am not Haruki Murakami. In addition to my work at The Verge, I write novels — my second one is out today — and while I admire Murakami’s commitment to an immovable schedule, I’ve found that I produce my best work when I’m constantly rethinking routines, processes, and, mostly, how I’m writing. In the modern age, that means what software I’m using. What I am about to describe will be a nightmare to anyone who likes all of their tools to work harmoniously. All of these apps are disconnected and do not interoperate with each other in any way. Many of the things they do are redundant and overlap. I suppose this process is quite the opposite of frictio...

It’s hard to buy a bad pair of wireless earbuds these days, and with constant discounts and deals wherever you look, now is as good of a time as any to splurge on the pair you’ve been eyeing. The market has come a long way since the early era of true wireless earbuds when we had to deal with mediocre sound quality and unreliable performance, all for the sake of ditching cables. Things are much different now. After several product generations of learned lessons, companies like Sony, Apple, Samsung, and others are releasing their most impressive earbuds to date.  You can get phenomenal noise cancellation and sound quality in the premium tier of earbuds if you’re willing to spend big. But those aren’t always the most important criteria for everyone: maybe you’re looking for the perfect fitness earbuds or for a set that works just as well for Zoom calls as for playing your favorite playlists and podcasts. Tech companies are increasingly making their earbuds work best with their own ...

Views are the most visible metric on the internet. You can see, in more or less real time, how many views something got on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and most other video platforms. X tracks views for every single thing you post, as does Threads. A view is the universal currency of success — more views, more fun. But it’s all nonsense. Views are nothing. Views are lies. You may not need me to remind you of this. We’ve known for years that view counts are meaningless, to the point that Facebook wound up getting sued for aggressively inflating view counts in an effort to convince people to make Facebook videos. Others have written thoughtfully about how stupid view counts are. But we still talk about view counts, view counts are still everywhere, so let’s talk once again about view counts. A “view,†in reality, is not a universal metric. It’s not really anything. It is whatever a platform wants it to be, which usually has no actual correlation to whether som...

First things first, some exciting news: The Vergecast has been nominated for a Webby Award! This one means a lot to us, especially because it’s an award you get to vote on. We’d be so grateful if you’d go vote for us once, or 40 times, or however many times the site will allow. (Also, honestly, you should listen to some of the other nominees; all four are great shows. Just don’t vote for them.) Now, as for this episode . This is a seriously Vergecast -y week, actually, in the sense that two of the year’s biggest news stories — the Nintendo Switch 2 and the Trump administration’s disastrous economic policy — are both unfolding simultaneously, and stand to affect one another in unusually direct ways . So in this episode, that’s what we talk about: the gadget we’re all eagerly awaiting, and the policy chaos that could change the way it works. Subscribe:  Spotify  |  Apple  Podcasts  |  Overcast  |  Pocke...

Honda’s regenerative fuel cell technology continuously produces hydrogen, oxygen, and electricity. | Image: Honda Honda is looking to the stars for its next hydrogen breakthrough. The automaker is teaming up with space tech companies Sierra Space and Tec-Masters to test its high-differential pressure water electrolysis system on the International Space Station. The test is part of Honda’s vision to support life on the Moon and elsewhere in space using regenerative fuel cell technology that continuously produces hydrogen, oxygen, and electricity. It’s another risky move from Honda, which is more bullish on hydrogen than most other automakers . Hydrogen-powered cars have historically faced a lot of hurdles, including fueling challenges and pricing pressures. But Honda is counting on hydrogen to help it decarbonize its vehicle fleet by 2040. And now it wants to tap into the most abundant element in the universe to power its push into space. Honda says it envisions its hydrogen-pow...

When you set up a new camera, or even go to take a picture on some smartphones, you’re presented with a key choice: JPG or RAW? JPGs are ready to post just about anywhere, while RAWs yield an unfinished file filled with extra data that allows for much richer post-processing. That option for a RAW file (and even the generic name, RAW) has been standardized across the camera industry — but despite that, the camera world has never actually settled on one standardized RAW format. Most cameras capture RAW files in proprietary formats, like Canon’s CR3, Nikon’s NEF, and Sony’s ARW. The result is a world of compatibility issues. Photo editing software needs to specifically support not just each manufacturer’s file type but also make changes for each new camera that shoots it. That creates pain for app developers and early camera adopters who want to know that their preferred software will just work. Adobe tried to solve this problem years ago with a universal RAW form...

Your plan price isn’t the whole story. Verizon is announcing a new price lock policy today, and the timing is probably no coincidence. The company is extending a three-year price guarantee on certain plans, both for new and existing customers. The announcement comes a day after President Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs , and Verizon says it’s hoping to give customers more “predictability” in the current economic environment. But the fine print leaves Verizon plenty of wiggle room. The three-year guarantee covers the base charge for your rate plan, but not fees and taxes — and you have to be on one of Verizon’s newer myPlan subscriptions to qualify. That means Verizon can still raise your monthly bill in the form of increased fees, which is what wireless carriers tend to do anyway when they want to charge more. They can also cut your monthly autopay discount in half , or persuade you to move to a pricier plan with the offer of a new phone. There are plenty of levers for companies l...

Google has added a new feature to NotebookLM that lets the AI note-taking tool find its own web sources to summarize and narrate . Instead of manually uploading sources like documents or YouTube links, users can now tap the “Discover” button and simply describe the topic they want to get a better understanding of, with the tool then gathering web sources around the subject. Google says the Discover feature started rolling out on Wednesday, and will take “about a week or so” to be available to all users. NotebookLM will hunt through “hundreds of potential web sources in seconds” according to Google, analyzing the most relevant options and then presenting a list of up to ten recommendations, each with a summary explaining its relevance. Users can select which of these sources they want NotebookLM to reference, and import them to use in other features, including FAQs, Briefing Docs, and podcast-like Audio Overviews that use AI hosts to discuss a topic. Sources will be saved within N...

Adobe is updating Premiere Pro with AI-powered features that aim to provide creatives with faster and better video editing results. Version 25.2 of Premiere Pro is launching today, bringing tools for locating, translating, and extending video footage out of beta and into general availability for every user. The most notable is Generative Extend, which Adobe announced in October as one of the first tools powered by its Firefly generative AI video model . The feature allows users to extend clips by up to two seconds, providing more options for transitions or correcting unexpected movements without having to reshoot footage. Generative Extend can now generate clips in 4K quality and will extend ambient background audio — up to ten seconds for audio alone, or two when paired with video extension — though this won’t extend speech or music. Generative Extend is completely free to use for a “limited time,” according to Adobe, after which the feature will require users to spend Firefly gene...

Both Tab S10 FE tablets come in blue, gray, or silver. Samsung has launched the Tab S10 FE and Tab S10 FE Plus, the latest in its midrange Android tablet line, but they cost $50 more than their predecessors. For the first time neither tablet has a direct equivalent in the standard Tab S10 series . The FE is the smallest of the company’s current tablet offerings, while the FE Plus comes in a new screen size that sits in-between the S10 Plus and the S10 Ultra, meaning all four of Samsung’s Tab S10 tablets now come in different sizes.  The S10 FE packs a 10.9-inch display, which has been Samsung’s “standard” tablet screen size for some time — but since the company never released a regular Tab S10, only Plus and Ultra models, it’s the first in that size for this series. The FE Plus offers a new 13.1-inch screen, larger than the 12.4-inch S10 Plus but smaller than the 14.6-inch Ultra. Both tablets still use LCD panels, rather than OLED, and are limited to 90Hz refresh rates. D...

Last year, my best friend bought me an HP Sprocket portable photo printer . This, she said, would take my journaling game to the next level. After a short demo and dozens of journaling TikToks, I was stoked. And then I unboxed the damn thing.  Another freaking Micro USB port. And right after I’d confidently gotten rid of all but one emergency Micro USB cable. USB-C debuted in 2014. The whole point was to create a universal connector that would transfer data and power quickly, while also eliminating the scourge of proprietary chargers. The first HP Sprocket came out in 2016, a time when USB-C was mainly embraced by higher-end laptops and Android smartphones. But by the time my second -edition Sprocket debuted in 2018 — the last time this little printer was updated — the standard was starting to become mainstream. It’s not just a random HP photo printer. A few weeks ago, I bought a cat nail grinder that unfortunately charges via Micro USB. I reviewed a stress calmi...

So much of our online and technological lives rely on standards, the sets of rules designed to make sure our favorite gadgets and services work together. At their best, they make everything work seamlessly, and we never need to worry about what’s happening behind the scenes. But at their worst, they leave us perplexed about why our new stuff just won’t work — and wondering how we could make it better. In this special issue from The Verge , we explore the way specs and protocols affect our productivity and passions — from the promise of a more efficient streaming video codec, to the power of the watt as a way to understand our gadgets, to our perpetual frustration with Micro USB. These are the ways specs and standards run our digital lives. Nintendo has moved beyond specs When will physical video games go away? How to calculate your home battery needs for the next blackout Why the watt is the most important spec in battery-powered devices from The Verge https://ift....

Buying a giant battery for the next blackout or off-grid adventure can be daunting, especially when hundreds or even thousands of dollars are on the line. Get it wrong and you’ve either spent too much money for something you’ll never use or discover that you didn’t buy enough capacity to keep your most important devices running. To get it right, you need to become intimate with the watt-hour (Wh). The watt-hour is a measure of capacity, or how much electrical energy a battery stores. If you know how much power — measured in watts — your devices consume, then the Wh rating of a battery lets you quickly calculate how long those devices will run. For example, a typical LED light bulb requires about 10W to illuminate. So a 1000Wh (1kWh) battery can run that bulb for 100 hours because Wh divided by watts gives you the time. For context, the average US home consumes about 889kWh per month , or about 29.2kWh per day, according to the US Energy Information Administration. During a...

Zuck bought himself a position of honor at Trump’s inauguration. | Image: Kenny Holston-Pool/Getty Images Mark Zuckerberg — having spent months cozying up to President Donald Trump — will now be looking to reap the benefits as European tech regulators bear down on Meta. The EU is expected to impose fines against the social media giant any day now, having preliminarily ruled in July 2024 that Facebook and Instagram’s “pay or consent” advertising model violates the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). Zuckerberg was swift to congratulate Trump following the election results in November, making several journeys to Mar-a-Lago , tithing $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund , and embedding himself as one of several wealthy US tech leaders to foster an oligarchy around the President . Meta’s policies have also evolved to embrace Trump’s playbook, having appointed UFC CEO and noted Trump supporter, Dana White , to its board, alongside ditching third-party fact-checkers and disbanding the...