Amazon Prime Video’s ad-free plan is getting a price hike
Amazon Prime Video is raising the price of its ad-free plan in the US and adding several new features. Starting April 10th, Prime Video's ad-free tier will cost $4.99 per month instead of $2.99, and include "exclusive" access to 4K/UHD streaming.
The price increase comes two years after Amazon switched all users on Prime Video - which comes as a perk with a standard Amazon Prime subscription - to an ad-supported plan and began charging extra for commercial-free streams. Now, the streamer is calling its ad-free tier Prime Video "Ultra," and is adding support for up to five simultaneous streams (up from three), up to 100 downloads (up from 25 …
The Big 12 basketball tournament is ditching slippery LED courts for hardwood
They may be great for fan engagement and selling ads, but the Big 12 has decided to replace the innovative glass-covered LED floors at Kansas City's T-Mobile Center with a traditional hardwood finish. It will be used for the remainder of the tournament during semifinal matches and the championship game.
The LED floors, which were previously used during the 2024 NBA All-Star game at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, display animations and graphics that can also interact with players' movements. They're designed to be softer than hardwood floors while providing the same amount of grip. However, during the women's Big 12 basketball tourna …
The R2 is nearly here — can Rivian stick the landing?
On Thursday, Rivian revealed its most important vehicle to date: the R2, a midsize SUV that eventually will start at under $50,000. As a distinctive EV with an attractive sticker price, the R2 is designed to take Rivian to the next level. In fact, the company is banking on it. If they succeed, then Rivian would be well positioned to usurp Tesla's status as the most important EV company in America. If it doesn't, the company may simply cease to exist.
I'm not trying to be overly dramatic. The R2 is increasingly looking like the lone survivor in an apocalyptic wasteland, traveling down a path lined with the corpses of EV programs that had the …
The Pixel Buds Pro 2 are some of the best wireless earbuds $170 can buy
I upgraded from the Pixel A-series buds released in 2021 to the Pixel Buds Pro 2, and two things were immediately apparent: the A-series buds have no business sounding so good for their sub-$100 price, and the Pixel Buds Pro 2 were everything I wanted in a successor. They’re even smaller and have a silicone ear fin to ensure a snug fit, but their upgraded features — better sound quality, active noise cancellation, and transparency mode — hang with the best of them. If you’re planning to upgrade soon, this model just returned to its lowest-ever price of $169.99 (was $229.99) at Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart (in limited colors), and the Google Store.
Google Pixel Buds Pro 2
Significantly smaller and lighter than their predecessors, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 also offer stronger noise cancellation, a crystal clear transparency mode, and lengthy battery life. Read our review.
Where to Buy:
These wireless earbuds can work with any device over Bluetooth, but they work best when paired to a Pixel phone running more recent versions of Android. You can view current battery levels of each bud as well as the case through a homescreen widget, or use the Pixel Buds app. You can customize touch gestures on each bud, assigning functions like activating the Gemini-powered voice assistant or adjusting noise control. Turning off all touch controls is an option, as is turning on head gestures, such as nodding to answer a phone call. Alternatively, you can customize most of those features through Google’s browser-based companion app for PCs.
Really my only issue with the Pixel Buds Pro 2 is that none of the silicone ear tips included stay put in my ears (they fit, but my inner ear grease prevails in pushing them out as I walk, talk, chew, etc). However, these $16.99 memory foam tips from the questionably-named company Tang Town on Amazon did the trick.
Read our review of the Pixel Buds Pro 2.
Epic says its Fortnite V-bucks price hike is a ‘direct correlation’ to operating costs
Epic Games announced this week that Fortnite's in-game V-bucks currency would be getting more expensive with a somewhat glib statement: "The cost of running Fortnite has gone up a lot and we're raising prices to help pay the bills," the company wrote. The price hike will go into effect on March 19th, the same day the next major Fortnite season debuts, and enough users have complained about the increase that an Epic staffer acknowledged the protests on a post on Reddit.
But when The Verge asked Epic executives at the GDC Festival of Gaming this week if they could be specific about why the company raised the price, they didn't say much more.
…Peacock is adding an AI Andy Cohen to narrate an endless stream of Bravo clips
When you open your Peacock mobile app this summer, you might see a portal leading to the AI likeness of TV host Andy Cohen on your homepage. In an announcement on Friday, NBCUniversal said Cohen's avatar will serve as a guide through Peacock's "infinitely swipeable" feed of clips from Bravo shows, like Love Island, The Real Housewives series, and Below Deck.
The feed, called "Your Bravoverse," will surface clips from the shows that you choose when you first open up the new experience. NBCUniversal will use AI to scan and pick out scenes from your favorite shows, while an AI-generated Cohen offers input about what's happening on screen.
Vid …
Peacock’s NBA streams are going vertical
Peacock is rolling out a native vertical video format for live sports, allowing you to watch games without turning your phone sideways. The feature will roll out to NBA games first this spring and will use an algorithm to track players and zoom in on the action.
The launch of this feature comes just months after a report from Nikkei Asia revealed that NBC Sports plans on using a player tracking system called viztrick AiDi. The technology was developed by a Japanese broadcaster and uses facial recognition to allow viewers on mobile to tap their screen to focus on specific players. It's unclear whether Peacock's vertical NBA streams will use …
The MacBook Neo is a winner
It was a little surprising to see Apple decide to leap fully into the affordable laptop market, to try and compete with devices the company typically prefers to just look down its nose at. It was also a little surprising to see Apple basically nail it on the first try.
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On this episode of The Vergecast, Nilay and David get into the weeds on the MacBook Neo, the $599 laptop that appears to tick just about all the boxes of the average $599 laptop buyer. Both David and Nilay bought …
PSA: Don’t buy a $4,400 gray market Samsung TriFold on eBay
I had to buy Samsung's Galaxy Z TriFold from eBay for $4,399 and I'm pretty sure that's because Samsung doesn't want anyone to actually have this phone. I'm also afraid to turn it on.
Not that turning it on does much good. Whenever I tap "start" to set it up, a prompt to supply a "USIM" pops up and refuses to let me progress without one. I do not trust this phone enough to put a SIM card in it. The phone continues to want a SIM. We are at an impasse.
In theory, Samsung's ambitious TriFold has been on sale in the US since January 30th (retail price: $2,899), but it has been damn near impossible to get one. For any other phone launch we wou …
PC makers are not ready for the MacBook Neo
The MacBook Neo is here, and it took no time at all for an executive from a major PC manufacturer to put their foot in their mouth trying to discuss this new competition from Apple's $600 laptop. On Asus' latest earnings call, CFO Nick Wu said that the Neo and its aggressive entry-level pricing were "certainly a shock to the entire market." Wu also disclosed that Asus had some knowledge of Apple developing the Neo back in 2025, much as many of us had heard rumors of a MacBook with an iPhone chip for months - and yet, Asus and other PC makers seem to have been caught flat-footed.
What's worse is these company executives don't even seem to r …