Why Apple is finally making its own smart home devices
For more than a decade, Apple has told other companies to build smart home devices for its platform. This week, Apple launched its own. The Apple Home Collection is a lineup of cameras, thermostats, sensors, a smart door lock, and a video doorbell, all codeveloped with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric. They arrive alongside HomeView, Apple's first smart display.
Even after 12 years of HomeKit, Apple's smart home ecosystem still feels underdeveloped, especially compared to the competition. Amazon's and Google's ecosystems support more products, and both have popular in-house brands: Ring and Nest. Apple had nothing of its own to point c …
The new Apple TV 4K just got its first (very small) discount
Earlier this week, Apple announced its new Apple TV 4K, which costs nearly twice as much as the 2022 model did at launch. Amazon is now offering the first discount on the forthcoming streaming box (coming out on November 13th), just days after discounting Apple’s new smart display for the first time. Right now, you can preorder the latest Apple TV 4K ahead of its November 13th release date for $289.99 ($9 off) at Amazon. Yes, it’s a tiny discount, but every little bit helps given the higher price tag.
Powered by the new A19 chip, Apple’s latest streaming device now features support for Siri AI out of the box, which is coming to older Apple TV 4K models via a software update. Unlike its predecessors, though, the new model features far-field microphones so you can quickly make hands-free requests. You can, for example, ask for recommendations, like nature documentaries available on Apple TV, or ask questions about what you’re watching. Siri AI can also understand personal context, too, so long as you have an iPhone or iPad connected to your account that supports Apple Intelligence.
Apple has made a few other welcome upgrades, though — as my colleague John Higgins points out — not as many as some may have expected. While Apple skipped features we’d hope to see on a $300 streamer, like audio passthrough and support for 120fps output, it’s nice that the Siri Remote now supports Find My precision tracking, so you can make it ring when it goes missing or use the Find My app on your iPhone to pinpoint its location. The new Apple TV 4K also supports a more expansive surround-sound setup, allowing you to pair up to four compatible HomePod speakers instead of just two.
Read our hands-on impressions of the fourth-generation Apple TV 4K.
Three more Verge-approved deals:
- If you’ve been meaning to pick up Pikmin 4, Walmart is selling a digital copy for $39.88 ($20 off), which is a great price considering most other retailers are still charging the full $59.99. It’s the original Switch version, but you can upgrade to the forthcoming Nintendo Switch 2 Edition when it arrives on November 12th by purchasing a separate $9.99 upgrade pack, which adds improved graphics and a new Dandori Academy mode. That brings your total to just $49.87, saving you about $20 compared to buying the $69.99 Switch 2 Edition outright. Read our review.
- All eyes might be on the iPhone Duo — which is now available to preorder, despite shipments being delayed into 2027 — but if you have a non-foldable iPhone, Woot is currently discounting a wide range of Otterbox cases through October 31st. I’ve owned several of the brand’s cases for both my smartphones and tablets over the years, and I’ve been impressed by their durability. I currently use the OtterBox Symmetry Series Clear Case for my iPhone 16, which normally costs $49.99 but is now available in various colors for just $5.99 with a 90-day warranty. The sale also includes cases for other iPhones, as well as some Samsung and Google phones, so it’s worth browsing even if you’re not planning to upgrade your phone anytime soon.
- Fanttik’s S1 Pro electric screwdriver is on sale for $45.99 ($44 off) at Amazon, which is $5 shy of its best price to date. It’s a handy cordless option for small tasks ranging from tightening screws to assembling desks, with 16 S2 hardened steel bits for tackling a variety of jobs. The USB-C rechargeable screwdriver also comes with a 220RPM motor and three torque settings, along with a LED light to help illuminate your workspace.
Apple’s HomeView has an app problem
It's been a couple of days since Apple's big smart home announcement, and we have some more information - and a bunch of new questions - about the Apple HomeView. The device has plenty of computing oomph, is always connected to power, and looks like a perfect place to run a bunch of apps. And yet the HomeView is relying almost entirely on CarPlay. What gives here?
On this episode of The Vergecast, David and Nilay try to make sense of the HomeView's app situation, and why Apple would choose not to make its home hub into its own app platform. After that, they talk about the latest Gemini model and whether building the best model matters if yo …
Analogue is re-releasing its SNES and Genesis consoles with some nice upgrades
Analogue announced new versions of its Super Nt and Mega Sg retro consoles today with a "reworked industrial design" and built-in wireless connectivity for controllers and accessories. Like the original versions, the new Super Nt Plus and Mega Sg Plus are able to play Nintendo and Sega Genesis cartridges using an FPGA processor that perfectly recreates the functionality of Nintendo and Sega's 16-bit consoles without the need for emulation.
Although neither of the new consoles allows SNES or Genesis titles to be played in 4K like the Analogue 3D does with Nintendo 64 titles, the 1080p Super Nt and Mega Sg Plus add a USB-C port so you can po …
A fake WhatsApp clone is showing up before the real version on the Play Store
After a Chrome clone was spotted on the Play Store earlier this week, a user on Reddit says they're seeing a fake version of WhatsApp in a "sponsored" slot above the real version. As reported earlier by Android Authority, the WhatsApp dupe has racked up over 500,000 downloads and, at the time of writing, its Play Store listing is still live.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The WhatsApp clone is from a developer going by "Agment Assets sallu" who doesn't currently have anything else listed on the Play Store. Their listing for the WhatsApp impostor has the same icon, screenshots, and text as the real version, but …
A week with RTX Spark: everything we’ve learned using Nvidia’s new laptops
Nvidia's RTX Spark N1X processor is finally here, and we've been collectively testing a small fortune's worth of powerful laptops sporting this new "superchip." RTX Spark is designed to be a high-performing Arm-based SoC for laptops and small desktop computers, rivaling the best from Apple, Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm. It has loads of cores, Nvidia RTX Blackwell graphics, and enough power and unified memory to run sizable local AI models.
The flagship placement is inside Microsoft's Surface Laptop Ultra with a staggering 128GB of unified memory, which our own Tom Warren fully reviewed. Sean Hollister has been testing a 64GB version of the Asus …
The incredible flying Tesla Roadster is just for show
Last night, Elon Musk gave the people what they want: a car driving vertically up a multi-story ramp, launching off the edge, executing a mid-air "kickflip" over a lineup of Teslas, and landing via cold-gas thrusters.
That's what the people want, right? "We were promised flying cars," sure, but isn't the operative word in that statement "we"? Because as far as I can tell, everything we saw last night - while extremely cool and incredibly impressive - won't result in a real, production-ready car you can park, or, I guess, land in your driveway.
Tesla's late-night demonstration in Waco, Texas, certainly gave some corners of the internet wh …
Meta’s new terms may allow it to train AI on news sites for free
Meta's new terms appear to give it permission to crawl and scrape websites "associated" with the businesses that use its platforms - including online publishers, according to a report from Nieman Lab. The new terms, which go into effect on October 30th, say Meta can use this outside content to "develop, improve, research," and "train" its AI products.
While Meta spokesperson Daniel Roberts says that the company is just "consolidating" its commercial and self-serve ad terms, legal experts tell Nieman Lab that this could allow Meta "to argue its commercial terms supersede other blocking instructions," like a site's robots.txt file. That could …
This stretchy MagSafe storage pouch gives your phone a sizable trunk
There's a new storage upgrade option for smartphones compatible with wireless chargers and other magnetic accessories, but it won't help if you've run out of room for apps, pics, and videos. The MagSafe Flex Pouch looks like a magnetic wallet for pairing a small stack of credit cards to your phone, but its storage capacity goes well beyond a few thin plastic cards thanks to an extremely stretchy silicone pouch.
The MagSafe Flex Pouch's creators, a company called Ninja Labs, has a bunch of suggestions for how to use the $58 accessory on its website. You can use it as yet another MagSafe wallet but one that has enough capacity for all the cre …
iPhone Duo orders are already delayed into 2027
Delivery estimates for the iPhone Duo slipped into next year in less than an hour after Apple opened preorders for it at 8AM ET on Friday.
At the time of writing we are seeing late January delivery dates for every configuration on Apple's website. The foldable is slated to launch in stores on October 23rd, and Apple typically reserves some units for in-store availability. So while online orders are delayed, you might be able to get one sooner in-person at an Apple Store.
The long delay could be due to high demand for Apple's first foldable iPhone, low supply on Apple's side, or a mix of both. Apple announced the iPhone Duo in September, f …