Nvidia’s biggest RAM supplier just had a trillion-dollar debut on Wall Street
As the AI boom boosts demand for RAM, SK Hynix - one of the world's biggest suppliers of memory chips - launched on Wall Street Friday. The South Korean chipmaker opened at $170 per share and raised $26.5 billion, surpassing Alibaba's record as the largest debut of a foreign company, according to reports from Associated Press and CNN.
After reaching a $1 trillion valuation in May, SK Hynix briefly overtook Samsung as South Korea's most valuable company. SK Hynix is one of three major companies benefitting from a surge in demand for DRAM and high-bandwidth memory (HBM). These components have become essential for the widespread buildout of AI …
Spotify will let you fine-tune your weekly Release Radar playlist
Spotify is giving listeners control to fine-tune what gets surfaced for them in Release Radar - one of its most popular weekly playlists. The new options allow you to narrow the playlist to a specific genre, focus on artists that are new to you, and more. Listeners can choose from up to five options like "Discover new artists," "Editors' picks," and "Pop." They're rolling out now across mobile and desktop apps and will appear at the top of your Release Radar playlist once they're available.
Spotify also says it's making tweaks to the algorithm to serve up "more personalized recommendations," along with a new look featuring updated cover and …
Netflix is turning into YouTube
Netflix has shows and movies. And video games. And live sports. And podcasts. And also, apparently, YouTube videos? For a company that used to seem like the next big thing in TV, it all feels a little frenetic, and maybe a tad desperate. For a company that sees sleep as its primary competitor, it might all make perfect sense.
On this episode of The Vergecast, David and Nilay try to figure out why Netflix continues to expand its content machine and whether the company's ongoing YouTube-ification makes any sense at all. Many have tried to compete with YouTube; none have succeeded. Does that mean Netflix might inch its way up the Go90 Scale of …
Disney Plus is reportedly looking into a free streaming tier
Disney Plus is considering making some of its content free to watch, according to a report from Business Insider. A source tells the outlet that Adam Smith, Disney's chief product and technology officer, mentioned a free streaming tier during the company's town hall on Thursday.
It's not clear which shows or movies the purported free streaming tier involves, or when Disney would consider rolling it out, but Business Insider reports that it's "part of an ongoing discussion about concepts to better serve fans." Disney didn't immediately respond to The Verge's request for comment.
With YouTube taking up a large portion of viewers' time in fro …
Anker’s 3-in-1 Qi2.2 charging station is $95 off
If you’re looking to declutter your nightstand and quickly charge up to three of your most-used gadgets, Anker’s Prime Wireless Charging Station is an easy way to do both. The station has spots for your MagSafe-ready iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods, and right now it’s down to a new all-time low of $134.99 ($95 off) in white at Amazon and directly from Anker with code WS7DV2LJ3JGU. You can also buy it in black from either retailer for $5 more.
Anker Prime Wireless Charging Station (3-in-1, MagGo, AirCool, Dock Stand)
Where to Buy:
The Qi2.2-compatible charger supports up to 25W wireless charging for compatible iPhones (the iPhone 16 and up, excluding the 16E and 17E). Anker claims this charging station can bring an iPhone 17 Pro from 0 to 50 percent in about 22 minutes. It also includes dedicated 5W charging pads for an Apple Watch and AirPods (or another pair that includes a wireless charging case), allowing you to power all three devices simultaneously. You can switch between three charging modes depending on your priorities, whether that’s fast top-ups, cooler charging, or quiet, slower charging overnight.
What makes this 3-in-1 charger stand out from the competition is its 1.65-inch touchscreen that displays each device’s charging status, power draw, or temperature. If you’d rather customize things, you can pair it with Anker’s app to adjust settings, switch charging modes, and tweak the display. The adjustable phone stand tilts up to 80 degrees, and Anker even includes a 65W USB-C power adapter and cable in the box, so you won’t need to buy those separately.
A few more worthwhile deals
- You can buy the Fanttik A10 Pro digital tape measure for $49.99 ($40 off) with code AKJL8MH3 at Amazon, which marks a new low price. The tool functions as both a 165-foot laser distance meter and a 9.8-foot digital tape measure, making it useful for measuring rooms and hanging stuff on your wall. It also features a bright 1.47-inch color display, and supports measurements in six different units. The digital tape measure can calculate distance, area, and volume, too. It supports USB-C charging and stores up to 30 previous measurements. Sounds like a good upgrade to me if you’re always tinkering.
- You can save up to $700 on LG’s C6 series of OLED TVs when you buy directly from LG, with free installation and up to $200 in Uber Eats or DoorDash credits that you won’t get from other retailers. The biggest savings are currently on the larger models, like the $1,999.99 ($700 off) 65-inch model. If you want a smaller size, the $1,699.99 ($300 off) 55-inch model is discounted but includes just $100 in Uber Eats or DoorDash credit compared to $200 with larger sizes. All of the TVs in this series sport excellent OLED panels with rich contrast and deep blacks, along with support for 165Hz refresh rate, Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium variable refresh rate, Dolby Atmos support, and more.
- Best Buy is throwing in a $30 gift card when you buy the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 for $249.99. The workout-focused earbuds feature secure ear hooks, excellent active noise cancellation, and built-in heart rate monitoring that integrates with apps like Nike Run Club, Peloton, and more. If you’re an Apple Fitness Plus user, you can also view metrics like your heart rate and calories burned. Read our review.
I spent a week using the Trump phone — it sucks
The Trump phone was never a serious phone. Not when it was announced last June, in dodgy renders and with an incoherent spec sheet. Nor when Trump Mobile admitted - just two weeks later - that it wouldn't be made in the US. Not even when the company revealed the final phone, first to me over a video call in February and then to the world in April through a short commercial with the slick sheen of AI.
It's now on sale for $499, past the days of its tenuous, ever-shifting release dates. A few buyers even have the phone, The Verge among them, though more still seem not to.
It's clear now that the T1 is a real phone, but that doesn't mean it's …
I’m filling in at The Verge for 6 weeks. Ask me anything!
Hello my friends! My protocol pals! My computational compadres!
I'm David, a technology reporter and cohost of the Waveform Podcast. I'll be hosting a subscriber-only "AMA" today at 11AM PT / 2PM ET. For the next six weeks, I'm filling in for senior reviewer Allison Johnson, who you are all likely very familiar with. That means I'll be covering new releases from Apple, Google, Samsung, and the works. I've already done some freelancing for The Verge, including camera reviews, attending the Switch 2 launch event, and cohosting episodes of the Vergecast and Version History, so you may have seen me before!
I've been covering technology since a …
Empathy for the optimizers
This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest gizmos and potions that swear they're going to change your life. Opt in for Optimizer here.
Bryan Johnson, best known as the man who wants to live forever, has an incurable autoimmune disease. The internet's most famous biohacker made the announcement on June 30th, sparking a barrage of takes.
If you've never heard of Johnson, the CliffsNotes are that he's made it his personal mission to never die. That's not hyperbole - there's an entire Netflix documentary about how the man spends a veritable fortune turning himsel …
Instagram’s Adam Mosseri: If you don’t like AI, ‘then you shouldn’t have it in your feed’
Though Instagram head Adam Mosseri doesn't want to filter out AI content on the platform, he argues that you "shouldn't have it in your feed" if you don't like it. "I don't think we should filter out AI content," Mosseri said during an interview on Lenny Rachitsky's podcast. "I think we should let you know if content is AI content or not."
At the same time, Mosseri seems to be drawing a distinction between content-based sorting and banning AI from the platform entirely. In fact, he believes people who love AI content "should be able to have a feed that's just AI town." Instagram, like many other platforms, including TikTok, YouTube, and Fac …
Would you host part of an AI data center in your home?
A solar and home energy storage company is expanding into AI data centers, but not by building one - instead, it's offering to pay its customers to put its compute units in their homes. Sunrun is launching a pilot program for a new "distributed AI compute" program that will "place numerous compute nodes in homes equipped with Sunrun solar and battery storage systems." Customers will be "compensated" for participating in the pilot program.
Sunrun plans to sell the distributed compute power from the nodes to "enterprise compute buyers," like AI companies. It's a new approach to finding resources and space for AI compute infrastructure, as da …