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Belkin makes some of the best zip-up cases for the Nintendo Switch 2. Full stop. The company’s aptly titled Charging Case , which includes a 10,000mAh battery to keep your console charged while it’s protected, is particularly novel, although tough to justify at its usual asking price of $69.99. How about for around $45 instead? Now we’re talking. Right now, you can grab the battery-equipped case from Belkin with free shipping for about $25 off when you use promo code  VERGE35 at checkout, which drops the price to $45.49 for a limited time. If you want some deal context, Amazon recently knocked the price down to $59.49 as part of its ongoing Big Spring Sale , which was its lowest price to date before Belkin’s discount arrived. Belkin Charging Case for Nintendo Switch 2 Where to Buy: $69.99 $45.49 at Belkin (with code VERGE35) $69.99 $59.49 at Amazon $69.99 $59.49 at Best Buy Belkin’s case holds the console, 12 cartridges, plus whatever accessories you can stow in...

Steve Jobs with room full of computers, 1984. | Image: Michael L Abramson / Getty Images It's difficult to picture a world without Apple. The company's influence at the heart of technology and culture is so profound that even the era before the iPhone can now seem like a distant memory - and Apple existed more than 30 years before the iPhone. So, on Apple's 50th anniversary, here's a trip down memory lane. Back when Steve Jobs was wearing a bow tie. Back in 1984, when, on behalf of the Macintosh revolution, a woman defiantly threw a sledgehammer at the face of IBM. Back when iMacs were beautiful giants with tinted plastic cases. Even back when, not so long ago, people were eagerly lining up outside of stores to be the first to … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/B4d7JEM

The redesigned mixer also includes a new beater that can scrape the bowl for you. | Image: KitchenAid KitchenAid calls its new Artisan Plus Stand Mixer the biggest upgrade to the appliance since 1955. If you've ever been frustrated by the limited speed settings on the brand's iconic mixers, you might agree. Not only does the new Artisan Plus introduce an additional half-speed setting for gently folding and incorporating ingredients like egg whites and berries, it also features a redesigned control lever for selecting an exact speed in-between its 11 presets. The Artisan Plus Stand Mixer is available from KitchenAid and other retailers starting today for $599.99 in 11 of the brand's existing colors plus four new ones including sundried tomat … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/BiZwfxS

"I'm pleased to report to you that Apple's back on track." It was May of 1998, and Steve Jobs was about 10 months into his second stint leading the company he'd cofounded more than two decades earlier. (It was also a bit more than a decade after that company forced him out.) Jobs took the stage at the annual Macworld conference in a white shirt and dark jacket, and told the audience the Apple team had been working harder than ever to finish up a new computer, one designed with the internet in mind. It was called iMac. "We think iMac's going to be a really big deal," he told the audience. He was right. When Jobs came back to Apple in 1997, h … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/mZNQHFa

In the coming years, HBO wants its new Harry Potter series to become " the streaming event of the decade " as it adapts each of the franchise's seven original books . The show could very well become a hit that captures the imaginations of a new generation of fans who weren't there for the first wave of Pottermania that intensified with the releases of each book and Warner Bros.' subsequent film adaptations. And if this Harry Potter is a success, it could give author J.K. Rowling a reason to consider writing more stories set in the magical world that turned her into a billionaire. But all of that hinges on whether people will actually watch HBO … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/Q1f9kHW

Bird feeders have come a long way since their inception in the early 1900s. These days, it’s not all that surprising to see feeders kitted out with cameras and solar roofs, two marquee features you’ll find on feeders from both BirdBuddy and Netvue. And while modern hoppers can command a pretty penny, Amazon’s Big Spring Sale has dropped the Netvue Birdfy Feeder to $135.99 ($124 off) and Birdbuddy Pro to $179.99 ($120 off), which are some of the best prices we’ve seen. At their core, both smart bird feeders are designed to help you keep an eye on your soon-to-be feathery friends, allowing for image stills, video, notifications, and AI-powered identification. Birdfy’s offering cuts corners on hardware to keep costs down, though. It features the widest viewing angle of any model at 155 degrees; however, the video quality maxes out at 1080p, whereas the Birdbuddy Pro allows you to capture crystal-clear 2K video (with slow-mo). The accompanying solar panel isn’t integrated directly int...

This is The Stepback , a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the legal travails of Big Tech, follow Adi Robertson . The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here . How it started The year was 1998, and reigning personal computer giant Microsoft was on trial for violating antitrust laws, including by targeting its smaller competitor Apple. Apple occupied only a fraction of the PC market, while Microsoft held north of 80 percent. But its cross-platform QuickTime multimedia player threatened Microsoft's own offerings, and a court determined that Microsoft … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/6XfPyRV

We have a pretty good understanding of which deals Verge readers will gravitate toward. After all, what products and services resonate with our audience — and the quality of the deal itself — are what help us determine what to cover on any given day. And yet, we never know for sure how people will shop during shopping events like Amazon’s Big Spring Sale , which runs through 2:59AM ET on April 1st. Apparently, many readers felt compelled to make quality-of-life purchases this year, the kind designed to make life run a little more smoothly. Things like a portable tire inflator , a lil’ switch-flipping bot , and an electronic screwdriver were among the most-clicked items (gathered through anonymous shopping data). If you’re the kind of person who enjoys knowing what deals others think are worth jumping on, we’ve rounded them up below. Govee Table Lamp 2 Govee’s Table Lamp 2 is way more fun than your average table lamp. The color-changing device boasts built-in scheduling and more...

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 121, your guide to the best and Verge -iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, good luck in the Elite Eight, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage .) This week, I've been reading about Will Wright and sync music and the smartphone theory of everything , picking up The Soul of a New Machine again after hearing that Tracy Kidder died, adding SNL UK to my weekly YouTube clip rotation, watching all my favorite things collide when Hilary Duff went on Hot Ones , moving all my music into Parachord , playing with the NewsBlur Android beta, listening to the new podcast f … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/WOnhDE4

Closed, the Find N6 is about as thin as any regular phone. | Photo: Dominic Preston / The Verge There are always a few reasons people give for not buying a foldable phone. Some - price, battery life, camera quality - are mostly a matter of manufacturers balancing spec sheets to offset the added cost of the folding hardware. Others - durability, size - were practical design problems that have mostly been solved. But the crease always felt different, fundamental: something that foldables would be stuck with no matter what. Oppo disagrees. It claims that the Find N6 is the first foldable with a "zero-feel" crease, one so subtle that you can hardly tell it's there. And while there's just a hint of marketing exaggeration there, Oppo isn't … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/xPp3L65

Social media companies have long seemed impervious to legal threats. Meta, YouTube, Snap, and the rest have long waved off criticism of their platforms on free speech and Section 230 grounds. But twice this week , juries rendered verdicts against the platforms , not because of some bad videos but because of the design and structure of the platforms themselves. That might change some things. Verge subscribers, don't forget you get exclusive access to ad-free Vergecast wherever you get your podcasts. Head here . Not a subscriber? You can sign up here . On this episode of The Vergecast , David and Nilay dig into this week's rulings, the novel … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/84Z02iD

Sony is raising the price of its PlayStation 5 consoles globally starting April 2nd. In an announcement on Friday , Sony says that the standard PS5 will now cost $649.99, up from $549.99. Meanwhile, the PS5 Digital Edition now costs $599.99 instead of $499.99, and the PlayStation 5 Pro will cost $899.99 instead of $749.99. Along with these changes, Sony is increasing the price of its PlayStation Portal as well, going from $199.99 to $249.99. This is the second time in less than a year that Sony has raised the price of its PS5 consoles, as the company hiked prices by $50 for all three models last August . Sony cites "continued pressures in th … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/eRysr3o

Apple turns 50 next week, and we're going to spend the week covering the company, its products, its legacy, and its future. But mostly, we're going to spend the week debating which Apple products are the best. And we need your help. Our ranking system is live now , filled with what we believe to be the 50 best things Apple has ever created. Your job is to put them in order. When you start ranking, you'll be presented with two products; pick the best one to contribute to our overall live rankings, which you can always check by clicking "See Results." .apple-50-embed { margin-bottom: 1.5rem; } .apple-50-embed iframe { border: 0.125rem solid #000; max-width: 100%; display: block; } @media (max-width: 699px) { .apple-50-embed { width: 100%; float: none; } } @media (min-width: 325px) and (max-width: 699px) { .apple-50-embed > iframe { margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; } } @media (min-width: 700px) { .apple-50-embed { max-width: 350px; margin-right: 1rem; flo...

European lawmakers have voted to delay key parts of the EU AI Act, the bloc's flagship law for regulating artificial intelligence, while also backing proposals to ban nudify apps. The measures, approved by a large majority in the European Parliament, would push back compliance deadlines for developers of high-risk AI systems - those deemed to pose a "serious risk" to health, safety, or fundamental rights - until December 2027. Companies developing AI systems covered by sector-specific safety rules like toys or medical devices would have even longer to comply, with a proposed deadline of August 2028. Rules requiring providers to watermark A … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/bWhCs9t

OpenAI ​has paused plans to release a sexualized "adult mode" for ChatGPT, in its latest move to refocus on the company's core ​products. According to The Financial Times , the erotic chatbot has been shelved "indefinitely" after facing pushback from employees and investors due to the problematic and harmful ​effects sexualized AI ​content can have on society. This decision comes in the wake of OpenAI also discontinuing its text-to-video AI platform Sora , citing "internal discussion about our broader research priorities." It's the latest side quest to be dropped by the company after CEO Sam Altman declared a "code red" in December, suggestin … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/AFQx7XM

Sony and Honda have lost that lovin' Afeela . The joint venture announced today that it would be discontinuing the $90,000 Afeela 1 electric sedan, as well as the unnamed Afeela SUV concept , as it adjusts to slower EV demand and policy pullbacks. In a statement , Sony Honda Mobility (SHM) determined there was not a "viable path forward" after Honda recalibrated its EV strategy following steep losses. Earlier this month, Honda said it would take a writedown of as much as 2.5 trillion yen ($15.7 billion) on its EV investments, representing the company's first annual loss in over 70 years as a public entity. The automaker also put the kibosh o … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/gfkroCU

Anthropic has launched an "auto mode" for Claude Code , a new tool that lets AI make permissions-level decisions on users' behalf. The company says the feature offers vibe coders a safer alternative between constant handholding or giving the model dangerous levels of autonomy. Claude Code is capable of acting independently on users' behalf, a useful but risky feature as it can also do things users don't want, like deleting files, sending out sensitive data, and executing malicious code or hidden instructions . Auto mode is designed to prevent this, flagging and blocking potentially risky actions before they run and offering the agent a chan … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/o9O7D3t

The best Super Mario games are ones I find myself coming back to again and again. I'm not sure I want to count how many copies of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World I own across various Nintendo platforms, but it's worth it because of just how satisfying it is to replay those classic levels, like revisiting a favorite album. They're simple enough that you can jump in easily, but with a level of depth that means I'm always discovering new things. And over the last few years I've added Super Mario Bros. Wonder to that list, a game that is absolutely bursting with new ideas and that exudes playfulness . It's a great way to unwind - and if … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/VZnCFLJ

Nuki adds tap to unlock capability to its retrofit lock via a new keypad. | Image: Nuki This week, my top pick for a retrofit smart lock launched the first Aliro-compatible keypad. The Nuki Keypad 2 NFC ($179) brings tap-to-unlock via Apple's Home Key and Samsung's Digital Home Key to the Nuki smart lock , allowing you to tap your phone or smartwatch to unlock your door, just like you tap to pay. Aliro is a new smart lock standard supported by all major platforms and handset manufacturers. It is designed to allow any smart lock to be securely unlocked by any smartphone, regardless of manufacturer, without requiring proprietary apps. An open standard, Aliro stores a digital key in your phone's wallet that you can tap to a com … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/x8u5Qaq

Nintendo will produce fewer Switch 2 units than it previously projected in response to weakening demand for the console in the US, Bloomberg reports . Four million units of Nintendo's flagship device are expected to be made this quarter instead of the six million it had originally planned, according to unnamed sources cited by the publication, with the reduced output set to continue in April. Last month, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said during an earnings call that "overseas sales were somewhat weaker than expected." This slowdown follows a record-breaking launch in June last year, making the Switch 2 Nintendo's fastest-selling con … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/usOgICr

In-wheel motors have been around since the very beginning of electric motoring. Ferdinand Porsche developed one way back in 1900, and the US sent them to the moon in our Lunar Roving Vehicles in the early '70s. But, outside of e-bikes, they've never really gone mainstream. It looked like Lordstown Motors would be their time to shine, but that never came to pass. Lordstown's truck, the Endurance, is now dead , doomed to haunt the ever-growing graveyard of failed EV startups. But the source of its motors, a Slovenian company called Elaphe, is still very much alive, refining its technology and installing it into all sorts of interesting project … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/OEWkeby