- Riot is shutting down studio behind its Minecraft-like gameRiot Games is closing the studio behind Hytale, its Minecraft-like game that has been in development for nearly a decade. Hypixel Studios, which Riot acquired in 2020 for an undisclosed ... read more
- Windows 11’s indicators for volume and brightness can soon be moved out of the wayThe hardware indicator pop-ups can now appear in the top-left of a screen. Microsoft is testing a new feature in Windows 11 that will let you move hardware indicators pop-ups ... read more
- Raleigh One e-bike launches with VanMoof DNAThe Raleigh One commuter e-bike in white. The Raleigh One e-bike is now official after The Verge first published details of it last week. It was developed for the Accell Group’s Raleigh ... read more
- Ad Tech Briefing: Cannes Lions’ biggest ad tech announcements show how TV is now programmaticTV ad buying is increasingly driven by ad tech, as shown by activity during the 2025 upfront negotiations, where programmatic, CTV, and data-fueled pitches took center stage. This theme continued last week at the media ... read more
- How TikTok’s ‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ landed on Hulu, with Select Management Group’s Danielle PistotnikSubscribe: Apple Podcasts • Spotify Social platforms like TikTok and YouTube — which hates to be called a social platform, but I digress — are no longer the sole domains for creators. Streaming services ... read more
- Why there’s a CPM slump in a growing CTV marketCTV ad spend is up. CPMs? Not so much. Midway through the year, buyers and sellers say CPMs are sliding. Depending on who you ask, they’re down anywhere between 10% to over 30% year over ... read more
- LGBTQ+ publishers grapple with a Pride Month ad spend slowdownLGBTQ+-focused publishers faced a tougher-than-usual Pride month this June, as ad dollars failed to materialize. Some saw fewer new advertisers and lower ad spend this Pride month compared to last year. Execs at four LGBTQ+-focused ... read more
- OpenAI’s first AI device with Jony Ive won’t be a wearableJony Ive onstage at the Code Conference in 2022. Thanks to a related trademark lawsuit, we know what OpenAI and Jony Ive's first AI device won't be. In court filings ... read more
- Axel Springer Hopes To Build A New AI-Driven BusinessCEO Mathias Dopfner says company needs a "third pillar" beyond its existing businesses. ... read more
- Yale’s new Google Home smart lock is here — but it costs more thanks to tariffsYale’s new Matter-over-Thread smart lock is designed for Google Home. The Yale Smart Lock with Matter is launching tomorrow, June 24th, for $189.99 — $20 more than when it was ... read more
- Samsung confirms Unpacked for early JulyLet’s see what unfolds. Samsung’s summer Unpacked is officially on, starting at 10AM ET on Wednesday, July 9th. The invitation features a jazzy little bop and the words “Ultra Unfolds,” ... read more
- T-Mobile’s satellite service officially launches in JulyT-Satellite is go for takeoff. After spending the first half of the year in beta testing, T-Mobile’s Starlink-powered satellite service will go public on July 23rd. While it will only ... read more
- Nintendo’s GameCube controller for the Switch 2 is available once again
- Phew: Apple fixed the Finder icon in macOS Tahoe 26Apple’s first macOS Tahoe 26 developer beta introduced a big change to the Finder icon that I really didn’t like, but thankfully, the company has reversed it with the second ... read more
- Snapchat Acquires Calendar App Aimed At TeensSnapchat recently acquired a calendar-based app called Saturn, designed to help students plan their school schedules and share them with other users. ... read more
- The Steam Deck OLED is back in stockIf you’ve been itching to get a handheld, but the Switch 2 isn’t quite up your alley, now you can get your hands on a Steam Deck OLED. As spotted ... read more
- Zillow Accused Of Breaking Federal Antitrust LawsThe suit claims that Zillow is engaged in an anticompetitive conspiracy to maintain a monopoly over digital home listings. ... read more
- AI Chatbots Are Growing Fast, But Nowhere Near Replacing Search, Study FindsThe top 10 AI chatbots collectively saw 55.2 billion visits over the past year, marking an 80.9% year-over-year increase. ... read more
- Trump’s FTC will approve an ad merger — with a gift to Elon Musk’s XThe all-Republican Federal Trade Commission agreed to approve a $13.5 billion ad merger if it includes a ban on steering ad dollars away from platforms or publishers based on “political ... read more
- Hue’s new smart button is bigger and more expensiveThe next generation of Hue’s smart button is bigger, but is it better? Smart lighting company Hue has released a new version of its Smart Button, one of the simplest ... read more
- Apple heard your complaints about the Liquid Glass Control CenterMy biggest complaint with Liquid Glass in the first iOS 26 developer beta was that it sometimes made Control Center nearly unreadable, but Apple has seemingly fixed that with the ... read more
- FTC Hobbles Brand Safety"If you don't want your stuff to be shown against Nazis, you're going to have to figure out how, and instruct Omnicom accordingly," according to Harvard Law professor Rebecca Tushnet. ... read more
- New York’s getting a new nuclear power plantGeneral view of the nuclear power plant Indian Point seen from Tomkins Cove, New York before it powered down in April 2021. | Photo: Getty Images New York Governor Kathy ... read more
- Apple’s USB-C EarPods are an even better buy at just $15.99Last year, I lost my old AirPods in my apartment and relied on my old-school Lightning EarPods for months before upgrading to an iPhone 16. Honestly, aside from missing wireless ... read more
- WhatsApp Banned For House Of Representatives StaffersThe House of Representatives will no longer allow staffers to have WhatsApp on their government devices, according to a report from Axios on Monday. ... read more
- Instacart’s Castelli: The Cure for Retail Media’s Growing Pains Is ConsolidationCANNES — With some industry counts topping 250 distinct media networks, brands and their agencies face a significant challenge in managing and optimizing campaigns across the latest fragmented ecosystem. This is the view of Tim ... read more
- Marketers Must Balance First-Party Data with Smart Supplementation: TransUnion’s Matt Spiegel
CANNES – Marketers’ obsession with first-party data is justified, but insufficient. That was the message from Matt Spiegel, executive vice president of TruAudience growth ... read more
- Walmart Connect Eyes CTV and Vizio Partnership to Drive Shoppable TV Revolution
CANNES – Walmart Connect is deepening its push into connected television advertising, fueled by its acquisition of Vizio and a ... read more
- Art Of Personal Incentives In The AI AgeGoogle began giving merchants a way to lure first-time shoppers to make purchases with them. The company launched New Customer Promotions for Shopping ads. It lets brands offer exclusive discounts to new buyers in paid ... read more
- Microsoft’s Xbox UI update lets you pin games and customize your homescreenMicrosoft is rolling out a new update to its Xbox Home UI that allows Xbox owners to pin apps and games on the homescreen. It’s part of a number of ... read more
- House staffers can’t have WhatsApp on their devicesThe House of Representatives has banned staff members from using WhatsApp on government devices, according to a report from Axios. In an email viewed by the outlet, the House’s chief ... read more
- NFL Prevails In Video Privacy BattleThe 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals says it has "effectively shut the door" to video privacy lawsuits based on disclosures to Meta Platforms via its tracking pixel. ... read more
- What Obama Told Us About Truth, Tech, And The Next GenerationThe former president came to the the Connecticut Forum to warn, to inspire, and to reframe what's at stake. ... read more
- FTC Prohibits Omnicom/IPG From Using Political/Ideological POV In Media BuysThe proposed merger deal consent order would explicitly prohibit the holdco from denying ad spending on publishers based on their politics or idealogical viewpoint. ... read more
- Uncapping The 39% TV Station Ownership Cap: Who Gets Tapped?The FCC is examining the long-time rule on limiting TV station ownership - that owning TV stations cannot collectively exceed 39% of U.S. TV households. The FCC has strongly signaled that it wants to remove ... read more
- Trump’s Iran Strike Looks Judicious and PragmaticBy attacking key nuclear sites, the U.S. enters a fight in our national interest in which an ally has done most of the heavy lifting. ... read more
- Nintendo’s Switch 2 is available online at Best BuyThe Nintendo Switch 2 has been difficult to find in stock since its June 5th launch, though restocks are beginning to ramp up. If you’re looking for one, head over ... read more
- $1,400 can get you a powerful (and huge) HP Omen laptop with an RTX 5070Many people gravitate toward compact laptops for their convenience, but there’s a subset of gamers who want a big ass gaming laptop that offers desktop-class performance. If you fall into ... read more
- The new lies spreading about climate changeNew strains of misinformation about climate change are spreading, meant to slow the growth of renewable energy needed to fix the problem. Rather than flat-out denying the mountains of evidence ... read more
- JLab’s new party speaker puts a light show in your pocketJLab’s new Pop Party speaker is small enough to fit in your pocket but still includes RGB accent lighting. | Image: JLab JLab has announced a new Party line of ... read more
- Microsoft adds Steam games to its Xbox PC app on WindowsMicrosoft is starting to test its new aggregated gaming library in its Xbox PC app on Windows. Xbox Insiders will now be able to see their Steam and Battle.net games ... read more
- Cass Sunstein to Advertisers: Free Will Is Your Business ModelSunstein offers a timely and pragmatic message to the ad industry: the capacity of individuals to make informed, autonomous choices is not only a philosophical concern, it's a business risk factor too. ... read more
- Shifting From 'Deception' To 'Manipulation,' A Conversation With Cass SunsteinSunstein offers a timely and pragmatic message to the ad industry: the capacity of individuals to make informed, autonomous choices is not only a philosophical concern, it's a business risk factor too. ... read more
- Instagram Flip-Flops On Privacy Controls For Search Engine ContentA change in specific words in Instagram's privacy policy suggests indexing options in search engines like Google for professional content will change. ... read more
- Apple keeps pulling its own adsComedian Martin Herlihy tells students how to get their parents to buy them a Mac. Apple has taken down a new ad just one day after posting it, making it ... read more
- Dave Morgan Is in Ukraine Building Tech and Drawing InspirationCANNES — Silicon Alley veteran entrepreneur Dave Morgan, has returned to Ukraine for his tenth visit in two years. Beet.TV sat down with him last Thursday in Cannes, the day before his trip to the ... read more
- Hinge CEO Justin McLeod says dating AI chatbots is ‘playing with fire’Today, I’m talking with Hinge founder and CEO Justin McLeod. Hinge is one of the biggest dating apps in the United States — it’s rivaled only by Tinder, and both ... read more
- Hinge is planning its own mobile payment system to avoid App Store feesAs part of his appearance on the Decoder podcast, Hinge co-founder and CEO Justin McLeod says that the company would like to introduce an alternative payment service by the end ... read more
- Consumer-Machine Ad Ethics Singularity, It May Be Closer Than You ThinkWhat if there was a consumer-generated, AI-powered complaint database that could serve as an industry code for ethically-bad advertising? Listen to this conversation to find out more. ... read more
- Chromebook Plus laptops like Lenovo’s sleek, new 14-incher are getting free Gemini AI featuresThe new Chromebook Plus 14 was light enough for me to lift with just three fingers. Google announced a handful of new Gemini AI features for Chromebook Plus laptops, including ... read more
- Fanfiction writers battle AI, one scrape at a timeIn the online world of fanfiction writers, who pen stories inspired by their favorite movies, books, and games, and share them for free, there are unspoken codes of conduct. Among ... read more
- Retail Media Networks Transition Into Commerce CollectivesMost retail media networks are limited to one retailer's ecosystem. They often lack transparent measurement, do not share clear performance data, and often can disguise whether their ad spend actually drives results. ... read more
- Death Stranding 2 is much more approachable, if you’re preparedIt took me a long time to appreciate Death Stranding. I'm not even sure I fully got it after my initial playthrough, which was equal parts mesmerizing and dull. The ... read more
- Nothing Headphone 1 leaks show quirky translucent designIts certainly an aquired taste. | Image: nothing_fan_account While Nothing is gearing up to officially unveil its first over-ear headphones next week, leaked images and videos have given us a ... read more
- What you missed at Cannes Lions 2025Here and gone before you know it, here’s what you might have missed from Cannes Lions 2025 across our coverage areas. A fun thing: compare the themes to how they were discussed last year. Media ... read more
- Spotify’s video podcast program draws praise from creators — and skepticism from networksSpotify’s video podcast partner program is gaining traction with smaller creators drawn to its direct payouts — but major podcast networks remain hesitant, citing the lack of dynamic ad support for subscriber-only content. Spotify launched ... read more
- Media Buying Briefing: What Dentsu’s synthetic audiences deal reveals about future of media planningMuch of the chatter at Cannes Lions last week (heard and overheard by my colleagues) fixated on AI’s ability to generate content faster or reduce production costs. That’s all well and good, but timesheet and ... read more
- In Graphic Detail: eMarketer forecasts how digital marketing will evolve in 2025, and beyond Digital ad spend is plateauing, with growth rates slowing considerably between now and 2028, especially when compared to the boom times such as the immediate post-pandemic era. EMarketer research further predicted the days of double-digit ... read more
- How iHeartMedia kept the tone and personality of its AI-translated podcastsWhen podcast networks started using AI to translate shows into other languages last year, media buyers were skeptical. Voices ranged from awkwardly robotic to wildly inaccurate. The tech has come a long way since then ... read more
- CMOs say AI platforms’ low profile at Cannes won’t happen againAI was the buzzword of the week at Cannes Lions but platforms behind it were largely out of the public eye. CMOs suspect that won’t be the case for long. Perplexity, ChatGPT and others may ... read more
- Tesla’s robotaxi is live: here are some of the first reactions.A vehicle Tesla is using for robotaxi testing purposes on Oltorf Street in Austin, Texas, US, on Sunday, June 22, 2025. Tesla finally did the damn thing. The company launched ... read more
- OpenAI and Jony Ive’s ‘io’ brand has vanished, but their AI hardware deal remainsOpenAI has scrubbed mentions of io, the hardware startup co-founded by famous Apple designer Jony Ive, from its website and social media channels. The sudden change closely follows their recent ... read more
- Premium Video Must Match Social Media’s Ease, Scale and Results: FreeWheel’s Mark McKeeIn a media world saturated by fragmented viewing platforms and real-time performance metrics, premium video still has a critical edge: brand safety, transparency and superior recall. But to stay competitive with social platforms, it needs ... read more
- Roku-Amazon Partnership Creates Largest CTV Identity Solution, Driving Performance GainCANNES — The convergence of addressability and performance in connected TV is taking a step forward as the two largest streaming platforms join forces. A new partnership between Roku and Amazon is creating what executives ... read more
- Commerce Media Needs Incrementality Metrics, Not Just ROI, Says Criteo CEOCANNES — The retail media industry needs to move beyond basic return-on-ad-spend measurements toward proving true sales incrementality if it wants to unlock its next phase of growth. That’s the message from one of the ... read more
- Weird-shaped notebooks make me want to write again Andru Marino is an audio and video producer at The Verge. “I make videos on our YouTube / TikTok / Instagram channels, and have produced our podcasts like Vergecast, Decoder, ... read more
- What happens when AI comes for our fonts?Monotype is keen for you to know what AI might do in typography. As one of the largest type design companies in the world, Monotype owns Helvetica, Futura, and Gill ... read more
- Samsung’s entry-level Galaxy Watch 7 has returned to its best price to dateImage: The Verge I jumped on the smartwatch bandwagon a bit late, but now I can’t go a day without mine. Beyond delivering helpful notifications, it’s perfect for setting timers, ... read more
- Final Fantasy fans, now is the time to get into Magic: The GatheringThe Final Fantasy Magic: The Gathering set is here, and there's never been a more perfect assemblage of Magic cards. The set features cards taken from every mainline Final Fantasy ... read more
- The Verge’s guide to Amazon Prime Day 2025Amazon’s mega sale is nearly upon us. This year, Prime Day will kick off on July 8th and run through July 11th, which, for those counting, is twice as long ... read more
- Meta Expands Smart Glasses Partnership To OakleyMeta will begin selling its first pair of AR smart glasses with sports retailer Oakley, launching an ad campaign starring professional Team Oakley athletes. ... read more
- Meta Expands EssilorLuxottica Partnership With Oakley Smart GlassesMeta will begin selling its first pair of AR smart glasses with sports retailer Oakley, launching an ad campaign starring professional Team Oakley athletes. ... read more
- The Nintendo Switch 2 is an awesome upgrade for parents like meI wouldn't have preordered a Nintendo Switch 2 just for myself. The price is high, there's no new Smash Bros. or Metroid Prime (yet), and I've got a perfectly good ... read more
- The music industry is building the tech to hunt down AI songsThe music industry's nightmare came true in 2023, and it sounded a lot like Drake. "Heart on My Sleeve," a convincingly fake duet between Drake and The Weeknd, racked ... read more
- Inside the courthouse reshaping the future of the internetThe E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse in Washington, DC. The future of the internet will be determined in one building in Washington, DC - and for six weeks, I watched it ... read more
- Meta held talks to buy Thinking Machines, Perplexity, and Safe SuperintelligenceAt this point, it's becoming easier to say which AI startups Mark Zuckerberg hasn't looked at acquiring. In addition to Ilya Sutskever's Safe Superintelligence (SSI), sources tell me the Meta ... read more
- Justice Jackson’s Strange LamentIn a dissent she feeds a ‘perception’ about the Supreme Court she admits is wrong. ... read more
- WPP Wins Cannes Lions Creative Company Of The YearThe Media Network of the Year award goes to Omnicom's OMD Worldwide. Mindshare was second followed by PHD Worldwide in third. ... read more
- The best Apple deals you can shop ahead of Amazon Prime DayApple’s latest iPad Air is an even better value now it’s $100 off. If you want to get a head start on back-to-school shopping — or upgrade your Apple gear ... read more
- X's Payment Arm Readies Debit Card FunctionalityX Money may be planning to expand beyond digital payments. This week, app intelligence firm App Sensa discovered new strings of code in X that hint at debit card functionality. ... read more
- 28 Years Later is a bleak fever dream with rage pumping through its veinsWhile it wasn't the first film to feature fast-moving ghouls, there is no denying how much of an impact 28 Days Later had on modern zombie movies. It was a ... read more
- Democracy's Secret Weapon: Face-To-Face Media"The No Kings turnout was significant, even if it didn't reach a critical threshold," Scott Galloway writes, adding, "When at least 3.5% of a country's population actively engages in a peaceful protest movement, it has ... read more
- Complex Questions Produce More CO2 From Chatbots, Study FindsThe more an AI model thinks, the more carbon it emits, a research study finds, and reasoning models can produce 50 times more emissions than concise ones. Large language models use tokens - words or ... read more
- Complex Answers Produce More CO2 Emissions From Chatbots, Study FindsThe more an AI model thinks, the more carbon it emits, a research study finds, and reasoning models can produce 50 times more emissions than concise ones. Large language models use tokens - words or ... read more
- Bloomingdale's Must Face Online Shopper's Wiretap SuitAn appellate court revived a claim that Bloomingdale's violated a wiretap law by using "session replay" tracking technology. ... read more
- Media Industry Is Chasing The Wrong Kind of Attention, McKinsey WarnsThe attention economy is oversaturated, with consumer focus splintered across formats and devices. ... read more
- Apple’s tiny M4 Mac mini has dropped to its lowest price yetIf you’ve been curious about trying out a Mac for the first time or need a small computer powerful enough to be your home media server, we strongly recommend the ... read more
- Applebee’s and IHOP have plans for AIApplebee’s and IHOP plan to launch an AI-powered “personalization engine” that could help its restaurants provide recommendations and customized deals, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The ... read more
- Non-TikTok Users Ask Court To Restore Privacy Claims Over TrackingThree non-TikTok users are seeking to revive claims that the company violated their privacy by allegedly tracking them via a pixel on websites operated by Hulu, Etsy and other businesses. ... read more
- Lessons From Cannes 2025: From Dystopian To DelightfulThe work celebrated at the festival would have you believe that agency networks and their clients are still killing it. ... read more
- How to find the best deals during Amazon’s four-day Prime Day saleAmazon Prime Day is one of the biggest shopping events of the year outside of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and in 2025 it’s even longer than usual. It’s running ... read more
- Which AI Platform Recommends Ecommerce Brands More Often To Shoppers?Behavioral differences identified in AI queries across Google AI Overviews vs. ChatGPT tell the story of how consumers shop, but the recommendations those platforms return for each shopping question tell even more about the future ... read more
- GroupM Norway Takes Young Lions Media GoldThe GroupM Norway team of Angelika Marcinkeviciute and Maja Skaug Wirum won gold in the media category of the 2025 Young Lions awards in Cannes, France. They won for their "Hidden In Plain Sight" execution ... read more
- Amazon improves Kindle accessibility with new text spacing adjustmentsThe latest software update for recent Kindle models greatly expands spacing options. | Screenshot: YouTube/The eBook Reader Amazon released a new software update for several recent Kindle models last week. ... read more
- Microsoft is blocking Google Chrome through its family safety featureEarlier this month, Microsoft’s Family Safety feature, primarily used by parents and schools as a set of parental controls and filters, started randomly blocking Google’s Chrome browser from opening on ... read more
- Tesla’s first robotaxi rides will have a ‘safety monitor’ in the passenger seatTesla has begun sending out invitations for its highly anticipated robotaxi service, but there’s one significant caveat: it’s installing a “safety monitor” in the front passenger seat, as previously reported ... read more
- Obit: Independent Media Pioneer Dennis Holt, Dead At 88Dennis Holt, who founded several independent media agencies, including one of the ad industry's biggest, died Thursday. He was 88. ... read more
- Truth, lies, and the Trump PhoneThe idea behind Trump Mobile is relatively straightforward. It's easy to launch a mobile carrier these days, and it can be extremely lucrative - just ask Ryan Reynolds! You should ... read more
- Meta announces Oakley smart glassesMeta is announcing its next pair of smart glasses with Oakley. The limited-edition Oakley Meta HSTN (pronounced “how-stuhn”) model costs $499 and is available for preorder starting July 11th. Other ... read more
- Consumers' Sports TV Spend Rising – Anyone Calling A Time Out?A "New York Times" opinion piece from sports journalist Joon Lee says that for consumers, the overall sports price tag - per year - can amount to $4,785 a year. ... read more
