Some banter from the tiny show I’m at in rural upstate New York tonight (lightly condensed): “Stick around for the other bands, tip your bartender, destroy Flock cameras.”

The Trump administration wants to scrap another federal air pollution rule. Advocates say it’ll help data center developers avoid public scrutiny.
The latest Quick Posts
A shiny new era / Looking back before Apple launches brand new phones with a brand new CEO.


Who is John Ternus, Apple’s new CEO?


Cook is thanking Apple fans for their support during his 15-year tenure.

iMacs. iBooks. iPods. For 10 years after Steve Jobs came back, Apple couldn’t miss.
Meta narrative / Mark Zuckerberg’s company is spinning a lot of plates.


Under its splashy agreement with state AGs, Meta gets to flaunt the high road, while dragging its competitors.

Meta is fixing a workaround that allowed smart glasses wearers to covertly record others.

Age verification, two-hour usage limits, and a $17.1 billion payout will resolve claims from dozens of states.

Public-facing workers are being filmed, harassed, and creeped out by AI-powered smart glasses.
Review roulette / A selection of our latest reviews, from games to gadgets.


7
Verge Score
There’s nothing really wrong with the QuietComfort Headphones 2nd Gen, but there’s nothing exciting about them, either.

It’s easy on the eyes, comes with a stylus, and got me to write out an 1,100 word review by hand. But it isn’t E-Ink.

The latest version of the open-world epic has me hooked all over again.

It’s more than a mower — which it had better be, given the price.
All about making that GTA / The run-up to the release of Grand Theft Auto VI has been characteristically chaotic.


Rockstar finally showed off more of Grand Theft Auto VI in a 26-minute preview.

The Grand Theft Auto developer releases a statement following a week of repeated leaks.

Rockstar’s latest epic is almost here, and it seems nothing can stop it.

Grand Theft Auto VI is a system seller. But now the systems are a tough sell.
The KickerAugust 28
Even if it’s Trump, stepping away from your company’s all-hands to take a call from the president makes sense. But it’s very funny, as Wired reports, that NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang was still mic’d up when he stepped away, letting some staffers hear Trump’s voice on the call.
EA’s Iron Man game, first announced back in 2022, just had some internal video leaked on ResetEra. The video shows Tony Stark effortlessly zipping through New York City in a way that instantly recalls the well-received Spider-Man series. It’s nice that the studio in charge basically confirmed the leak in a social media post:
In an executive order signed today, President Trump established a commission to create a new academy to “educate and develop the next generation of leaders across the space domain.” Scant details so far, but it appears the academy would feed recruits and talent into both the Space Force and NASA.
[The White House]


Google now automatically expands its AI search summaries for some queries.
How can Xbox possibly get to a billion users per day while cutting studios? Oh, just by obtaining three more hits as big as Minecraft, Call of Duty and Candy Crush. “We’ve got three billion-dollar annual franchises every year. I think we should have six to eight in the coming years,” she tells BBC News.
She says she will invest: “Last year was a record spend on content and services and we’re going to match that.”


Microsoft’s next Xbox console may not be just one piece of hardware.
Ever seen an Xbox handheld play real Super Nintendo cartridges? Today I’m toying with the $60 SN Operator and $50 GB Operator, which turn your PC, Mac, and Linux devices into classic cart-playing consoles and backup your old games and saves. I’ll have a bigger writeup in the next few days!
Data center developers typically have to apply for permits to install generators that create local air pollution. The DataOne facility in New Jersey is the latest project accused of violating federal law by running on gas-fired generators without approval.
TMZ first reported that the UK-born longtime right-wing internet personality was apprehended in Louisiana, and Mother Jones’ Anna Merlan (and The Verge) confirmed he’s listed in ICE custody records. In recent years, Yiannopoulos has fallen out of favor with MAGA world, and Trump ally Laura Loomer, for one, is gloating.
The version 5.07 update will allow you to “add and adjust more metrics” to workouts you manually log, as well as view these changes more quickly in workout summaries. Google also says the Health app’s built-in map now has faster load times and smoother rendering.
[Google Health Community]


Or spend your weekend watching Captain Picard’s entire Star Trek run.
As Phoronix reports, the project’s contributors said in a blog post that they recently enabled full webcam and microphone support in Linux running on M3 Macs, and are planning to share more about releasing M3 support “in the coming weeks.” They’re also working on getting Linux running on M4 and M5 Macs.
[Asahi Linux]
A notice published on the Department of Homeland Security’s website says the agency plans to spend up to $2 million on Boston Dynamics’ robot dog, as reported earlier by 404 Media. This comes just weeks after the Associated Press reported that ICE aims to spend up to $20 million on gloves that deliver electric shocks.


The Trump administration wants to scrap another federal air pollution rule. Advocates say it’ll help data center developers avoid public scrutiny.


Modders are applying an unofficial version of DLSS 5’s AI rendering to games like Control, Skyrim, GTA, and more.


On The Vergecast: new Macs, the Meta settlement, GTA VI, and more.
Foldables tend to struggle with the bend test, but the smaller Galaxy Z Fold 8 survived it, and this year’s Pixel foldable didn’t go up in smoke. Will Apple’s rumored ‘iPhone Ultra’ foldable fare any better?


The Apple TV subscription now costs $2 more each month.
The themes menu for RCS chats now has options for different bubble colors and wallpapers, including an option to upload your own background image. Google says chat customizations are only visible to you, though, not anyone else in the chat.
With the option enabled, only your followers will see your posts in Bluesky’s Discover feed. Other apps running the decentralized AT Protocol may still include your content in their feeds, however.
You can find the feature by navigating to your settings menu, selecting “Privacy and Security,” and turning on “Ask apps to hide my posts from algorithmic recommendations.”


Things aren’t getting easier for Jason and his family — or viewers, for that matter.
You’re never too old to enjoy Gundam, and sometimes it’s fun to inject your favorite hobbies into your professional life. Like this 3,300 yen (about $20) “Mobile Stationery Automatic Transformation Business Card Case,” which presents your business card with drama. Your colleagues will all be impressed and jealous (probably).
The new $149 Meridian Band is a jewelry-inspired housing for the fifth-generation Whoop wearable that’s designed to make it look less like a boring gadget. The band is made from Milanese mesh and comes in a choice of black, silver, gold, and rose gold. You have to remove it to charge the device, however.
The 27-minute Grand Theft Auto VI preview is already available to stream online, but Rockstar will also let you download the video directly from its website to avoid any compression issues. Just bear in mind that the file isn’t exactly small at 14.2 GB.
That’s what the fairly reliable leaker Digital Chat Station thinks Oppo has planned for its Find X10 Pro Max, tipped to launch in either September or October. It’s a different approach to the Find X9 Ultra, which leaned into a 10x periscope lens to stand out.
[Weibo]
The $619 HomePower 1000 Plus V2 solar generator is now available in white or gray. It’s built around a 1kWh LFP battery that can be expanded to an impressive 11kWh of capacity. Its diminutive size, 1800W of sustained AC output, and up to 400W of solar (or car’s alternator) input makes it suitable for vanlifers, creator job sites, and even home backup to keep devices like the fridge and CPAP machine running during the next outage.
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The move was ‘unlawful retaliation in violation of the First Amendment.’


After initially debuting on Netflix, the official version of Rockstar’s big GTA VI preview is more widely available.
I certainly didn’t expect one of Cook’s final tweets as Apple’s CEO to star Pikachu. Wonder what his favorite Pokémon game is.


Rockstar’s GTA VI preview further blurs the lines between Hollywood and gaming.


Meta is fixing a workaround that allowed smart glasses wearers to covertly record others.
A few publications and other outlets got to watch a Rockstar North co-lead play the game, and their coverage has a bunch of information about gameplay that wasn’t included in Netflix’s cinematic extended look.
If, after months of increasingly dire RAMageddon warnings, you suddenly find yourself in the market for a new laptop… we’re here to help. In the latest installment of our Vergecast “RAMageddon Survival Guide,” laptop reviewer Antonio G. Di Benedetto joins David Imel to offer his recommendations.


The hype has never been higher for one of the most anticipated games of the decade.


Rockstar finally showed off more of Grand Theft Auto VI in a 26-minute preview.
You can also now personalize a temporary chat with existing memories, custom instructions, and plugins. OpenAI notes that temporary chats “don’t create new memories, and stay out of your sidebar unless you choose to save them.”


Gemini Notebook’s new ‘Expert Intelligence’ feature pulls information from the books you’ve purchased.
An open letter signed by over 100 companies and organizations calls for a “global surge in cyber defense,” saying “AI-enabled cyber attacks will become far more widespread and sophisticated:”
Put cyber-capable AI in the hands of defenders, starting with the teams protecting essential services. Fix the most dangerous weaknesses, verify the fixes, and share what works so others can build on it. Together, we can turn today’s AI advances into lasting improvements in security that benefit everyone.
The executive order, which comes days after Canada announced retaliatory tariffs against the US, says Trump is changing the name to honor Lake Ontario’s “flourishing economic resource and its critical importance to our Nation’s economy.”
We have reached out to Google and Apple to see if they’re going to swap Lake Ontario to Lake America in their Maps apps — as they did with the Gulf of America last year.







