The Verge

The crypto bill is falling apart in Congress

January 28, 2026
Hello and welcome to Regulator, the Verge newsletter about the technology politics happening in our nation's capital. I hope our snowstorm-affected readers are safe, warm, and haven't reenacted The Shining at home yet. Do you know what prevents that? Subscribing to The Verge. Last week, when I was tracking Coinbase's opposition to the Clarity Act, […]

The best Android phones

January 28, 2026
The Android ecosystem is all about choice. While iPhone owners have a smaller pool of new devices to pick from when it’s time to upgrade, there’s a wider range of choices on Android. Some Android phones even fold in half! Imagine. On the flip side, all that choice can make for some hard decisions. Here’s […]

The best budget robot vacuums

January 28, 2026
Today’s robot vacuums are becoming a bit like cars: with all the features, upgrades, and fancy trimmings available these days, it’s easy to forget that they can just be simple machines that get us from point A to point B. Yes, some bots blow hot air on their bums (mop pads), deftly navigate dog poop, […]

The best fitness trackers and watches we’ve tested

January 28, 2026
Fitness trackers have come a long way from the simple bands that tracked steps and little else. Modern trackers can monitor everything from your heart health to how well you’ve recovered from a hard bout of training. Even flagship smartwatches, which used to be lackluster trackers, have become pretty adept workout companions. Whatever your fitness […]

Amazon shutters all of its physical Go and Fresh stores

January 28, 2026
Amazon Go and Fresh physical store locations will soon be no more, with Amazon announcing on Tuesday that it's closing the majority of the stores and converting others into Whole Foods Market locations. Customers will still be able to order from Amazon Fresh online, but won't be able to shop at physical stores with the […]

It doesn’t matter if Alex Pretti had a gun

January 26, 2026
Shortly after federal agents killed Alex Pretti Saturday morning, the Department of Homeland Security began to run with the story that the dead man had been armed and dangerous. He had a gun, DHS said. (A Bellingcat analysis of the video concludes that Pretti was unarmed when he was shot.) He had approached the agents […]

Why won’t anyone stop ICE from masking?

January 25, 2026
Americans do not like masked secret police. There is really no other way to put it. The reasons why are manifold: accountability, trust in law enforcement, and just plain overall vibes. More concretely, not being able to tell who's a cop and who's not is dangerous. An assassin masquerading as law enforcement killed Minnesota legislator […]

Sony’s first clip earbuds don’t quite hit the mark

January 25, 2026
The Sony LinkBuds Clip are the company's first clip earbuds. They follow the innovative donut-hole LinkBuds and LinkBuds Open and, like their predecessors, allow you to listen to music or podcasts, make phone calls, or be active outdoors while still maintaining awareness of your surroundings. The clip design has become more popular over the past […]

The great e-bike crackdown has begun

January 25, 2026
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the e-bike movement, follow Andrew J. Hawkins. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started Last week, I did something I don't typically do, which […]

The day of the second killing

January 25, 2026
Steven Garcia, as told to Gaby Del Valle: I was in the middle of a frozen lake when I got the notification from The Minnesota Star Tribune that there had been a shooting. I was on assignment at a pond hockey event, and someone who was supposed to play later that evening said he probably […]

Gmail’s spam filter and automatic sorting are broken

January 25, 2026
Some Gmail users may have noticed that promotional emails that normally go to their own siloed tab have started flooding their inbox. Reports hit the Google forums and Reddit that messages are bypassing the Updates and Promotional filters and went straight to Gmail inboxes. Some also reported seeing a banner at the top of some […]