The endearing movie that affirms creativity as a human act
Peter Hujar's Day began, as many great works of art do, with a DM. Director Ira Sachs (Passages, The Delta) had just finished reading a recently unearthed interview between the late portrait photographer Peter Hujar and writer Linda Rosenkrantz that took place in 1974. That dialogue - a conversation about creative anxieties, complete with the mundanities of daily life - had been published as a book in 2022.
So Sachs decided to message Rosenkrantz on Instagram about what would eventually become a film adaptation starring Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall as Peter and Linda. Deceptively simple and surprisingly moving, Peter Hujar's Day recreates t …
Soaring electricity rates fueled Democratic victories — now comes the hard part
While there's plenty for voters to be worried about right now, rising utility bills have become a hot-button issue. The success of Democrats in New Jersey, Virginia, and Georgia in this week's elections can be seen as something of a referendum on the state of energy policy and infrastructure in the US as power grids struggle to keep up with growing electricity demand from AI data centers, electric vehicles, and domestic manufacturing.
These issues aren't going to disappear, and Democrats now face a tough road ahead to meet those challenges and make good on their campaign promises to lower electricity prices.
"Consumers have sent a clear m …
Halo Infinite is about to get its last major update
On November 18th, Operation: Infinite will be released for Halo Infinite players with a battle pass and lots of new customizations, but according to the team, that’s it for this game’s content updates:
With multiple Halo titles in development, we’ll need our whole team’s combined focus to deliver new experiences with the same passion and care that our community has given us. While we remain committed to supporting Halo Infinite on the road ahead, Operation: Infinite is the last major content update currently planned.
Putting this game into maintenance mode is an awkward counterpart after last month’s news of a 2026 multiplatform release for the Halo: Campaign Evolved remake, but that’s the way things have gone for Infinite ever since it came out of the blocks stumbling with an ugly, unpolished eight-minute gameplay trailer in 2020.
The game was eventually delayed another year to late 2021, missing the launch of the Xbox Series X / S consoles, and shipping without features like campaign co-op and the Forge customization mode. The infamous Craig did get a glow-up, and subsequent updates checked off some of the community’s wishlist items. Still, it’s clearer than ever that the future of Halo is cross-platform and doesn’t include the free-to-play multiplayer of Infinite, as Xbox hardware sales continue to slow, and Microsoft’s profitability push shuts down studios and raises prices.
Now, the team writes, “we’ve been floored by the response” to Campaign Evolved, which will be released on both PS5 and Xbox next year.
Maybe Peloton is its own worst enemy
For years - through its pandemic-fueled highs and its post-quarantine malaise - Peloton has held its earnings calls at a bright and bushy 8:30AM ET. Not yesterday. Instead, the company broke different news first thing in the morning: it issued yet another recall for 833,000 of its original Bike Plus units, before posting its Q1 2026 results after the markets closed at 4 o'clock.
Peloton CEO Peter Stern addressed the recall right away during the company's earnings call, stating the facts - that there were only three reports of breakages and two injuries, plus the company was offering a free replacement seat. Later, when asked in an Q&A with …
The best Fitbits for your fitness and health
In 2025, you might wonder if Fitbit is still relevant. Despite being acquired by Google, Fitbit remains one of the most recognizable names in the industry. Fitbit trackers aren’t meant for the most hardcore of athletes, but they’re still excellent devices for tracking overall activity as well as monitoring certain health and wellness metrics, like EKGs and blood oxygen levels.
That said, we’re still in the transitional period from the Fitbit of old to whatever Fitbit will be in the future. We’re further away from 2023, which was a particularly messy year. There were multiple Fitbit server outages, and I wasn’t impressed with the decision to sunset legacy community features — including challenges — or the fact that all Fitbit accounts will require you to log in via Google beginning in February 2026.
Speaking of which, the Fitbit-to-Google account migration started in 2023 and is required if you buy the Fitbit Charge 6 or the Google Pixel Watch 4. The Fitbit app also got a more Google-like makeover, which didn’t go over well with many users. (Google has since made adjustments based on feedback.) And last year, much of Fitbit’s leadership, including co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman, left the company as roughly a thousand Google employees were laid off. Now, in 2025, most of Google’s focus seems to be on its own smartwatches.
The Googlefication of Fitbit will continue, but there are reasons to stick with its trackers in the meantime. Fitbit trackers are relatively affordable, especially since they often go on sale. All the devices also come with a free trial to Fitbit Premium, the company’s subscription service that provides guided workouts, meditations, and access to more in-depth metrics. The service costs $9.99 per month, or $79.88 per year. And with the launch of the Pixel Watch 4 in October, it’s clear that Google is taking its wearables seriously as well. The new smartwatch features longer-lasting battery life, a more repairable design, and compatibility with Fitbit’s AI-powered fitness coach. You just have to go in with eyes wide open.
Best Fitbit smartwatch
Google Pixel Watch 4
Score: 8
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
|
|
Where to Buy:
The Pixel Watch 4 doesn’t have “Fitbit” in its title, but it falls under the same umbrella because of Google’s acquisition of Fitbit. The fourth-gen watch is a significant update over its predecessors, with a handsome domed display and thinner bezels that increase screen real estate. The watch’s updated design allows you to swap out the display or battery, if necessary, and we were able to eke out between 36 and 42 hours of battery life in our testing, up from 32 hours on the Pixel Watch 3. We also saw a notable uptick in charging speed, allowing us to take the watch from 14 to 97 percent in just 44 minutes using Google’s new proprietary charger.
The hardware upgrades work in tandem with Wear OS 6, which introduces a complete redesign with Material 3 Expressive and brings Gemini to Google’s latest wearable. A new raise-to-talk feature lets you access the smart assistant without saying “Hey Google” or pushing a button, while new AI features such as Notification Cooldown and Smart Replies — which let you compose personalized replies to incoming messages if you have a newer Pixel phone — put even more functionality on your wrist. Gemini in Wear OS 6 is somewhat hit or miss, to be sure, but the redesign complements the Pixel Watch 4’s size and shape really well.
The Pixel Watch 4 can automatically track a limited number of exercises, allowing you to accurately record your walks, runs, and cycling sessions. Its dual-band GPS was better at tracking runs than the Pixel Watch 3 in our initial tests, but it couldn’t quite keep up with Apple’s pricier Watch Ultra 3. That said, both LTE models share the ability to send an emergency SOS via satellite when you’re in a remote area with no signal. The Pixel Watch 4’s mix of hardware, features, and price make it the best Fitbit, and one of the top Android watches overall.
If all you want is a fitness tracker that looks like a smartwatch, you can consider the $199.95 Versa 4 since it’s the more budget-friendly option. But there’s no real point in the Sense 2 since the Pixel Watch 4 can do all the same things — and more.
Read my full Pixel Watch 4 review.
Best budget Fitbit
Fitbit Inspire 3
The Fitbit Inspire 3 is a minimalist fitness band that delivers notifications and tracks your activity on a bright OLED screen.
Score: 7
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
|
|
Where to Buy:
The Inspire line hasn’t always felt, well, inspired. But the $99.95 Inspire 3 is different. With a color OLED display, it’s reminiscent of the Fitbit Luxe of 2021, only with a matte black plastic case instead of a metal one. It’s a great throwback to classic Fitbits for people who only want the basics.
The Inspire 3 doesn’t overcomplicate things. It’s a fitness band. You won’t get built-in GPS, contactless payments, or digital assistants. Still, what it lacks in smarts it makes up for with Fitbit’s advanced sleep tracking, stress management features, and irregular heart rate notifications. The OLED display is also a step up from the Inspire 2’s monochrome screen, and you still get 10 days of battery life. (Though it’s more like two to three if you enable the always-on display.)
The Inspire 3 has a variety of accessories, including a clip attachment if you want to track steps discreetly. There’s even a gold or silver mesh strap if you want to dress it up a bit.
Read our coverage of the Fitbit Inspire 3 here.
Best Fitbit fitness tracker
Fitbit Charge 6
The Fitbit Charge 6 features a haptic side button, an improved heart rate algorithm, turn-by-turn navigation with Google Maps, and the ability to broadcast your heart rate on certain Bluetooth gym equipment.
Score: 7
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
|
|
Where to Buy:
The Charge series has always been popular, and the $159.95 Charge 6 is no exception. It’s Fitbit’s higher-end fitness band but easily competes with the more expensive Versa 4 on features. It features a color OLED screen plus an EKG and EDA sensor. You also get built-in GPS, NFC payments, and SpO2 sensors — the only thing you’re really missing is a digital assistant.
The only qualm we have with the Charge 6 is the always-on display. While it’s beautiful, it’s a major battery drain. The Charge 6 has an estimated seven days of battery life, but that dwindles down to about two if you have the always-on display enabled. This is the same issue that we had with the Charge 5, but it’s fairly typical for Fitbit trackers these days.
Altogether, though, you’re getting a hell of a lot for the price. It’s the only FDA-cleared EKG wearable you can find for under $200, and the only other Fitbits capable of EKG and EDA readings are the Sense, Sense 2, Pixel Watch 3, and Pixel Watch 4. So, unless you’re dead set on the smartwatch form factor, the Charge 6 is the better overall deal.
Compared to its predecessor, the Charge 6 also adds an improved heart rate algorithm, Bluetooth compatibility with some gym equipment, and a few apps — namely Google Maps, Google Wallet, and YouTube Music. While YouTube Music works well, I’m not stoked that it requires an additional $10.99 monthly subscription. That said, it’s better than nothing, as Fitbit discontinued onboard music a while back.
In terms of hardware, the Charge 6 also features a haptic button instead of an inductive groove. It’s not a physical button, which is a little disappointing, but it’s more reliable thus far than the inductive groove, so I would count this as a net positive.
Read our Fitbit Charge 6 review.
Best Fitbit for kids
Fitbit Ace LTE
The Ace LTE sports some of the same hardware found on the Pixel Watch 2 and a variety of step-activated games, which can help motivate your child to keep moving. It also offers calling, messaging, and location sharing when you sign up for a monthly or annual data plan.
Score: 8
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
|
|
Where to Buy:
The $179.99 Fitbit Ace LTE isn’t really a traditional fitness tracker, though it does track active minutes. Instead, it’s a smartwatch with a mix of kid-friendly games and activities and thoughtful, family-oriented communication features. It’s a walled garden, but an adorable one.
Instead of rigorously tracking health stats, the Ace LTE tracks “active minutes,” which fill a cute progress meter called a Noodle that runs around the face of the watch. Active minutes earn time with the Ace LTE’s built-in games that, combined with activities, unlock customizations for your kid’s avatar (called an Eejie) that lives in the watch, as well as its little house. You can also unlock different games and virtual items by connecting different watch straps.
With a $10/month subscription, you get real-time location tracking and both voice and text messaging to preselected contacts through the Fitbit Ace app (rather than the standard messaging and phone apps). As of November 2024, that includes other family members with Ace LTE watches, as well as a family group chat between parents and kids.
I like that the Ace LTE is built more like a cross-platform smartwatch for adults than other kid watches we’ve used, like the plasticky Garmin Bounce. It uses the same charger as the Pixel Watch 3, and gets about a day’s worth of battery on a charge. My kids enjoy it but aren’t obsessed with it — though they have been known to run laps up and down the hallway to earn more game time.
Google says the Ace LTE is best suited for kids aged 7 to 11, and that sounds right. My oldest is 10 now, and she’s been using an Ace LTE for about a year. Once she hits middle school, I think she’ll be frustrated that she can’t use it to talk to her friends. But for now, it’s great. We recently got one for our 8-year-old, and it’s wild that they can text each other from their watches. It also means my 8-year-old can spam the group chat with emoji, but that’s fine too.
— Nathan Edwards, senior reviews editor
Read our hands-on with the Fitbit Ace LTE.
Should you even buy a Fitbit right now?
Fitbit officially became part of Google in 2021. Nothing changed overnight, but technically, it’s Fitbit by Google now. The Fitbit-to-Google migration started in the summer of 2023, and account migration will be mandatory — not merely optional — for all users in early 2026. Google angered longtime Fitbit users by shuttering social features like challenges and removing streaks, though the latter returned a few months later. In early 2024 Google laid off roughly a thousand employees from its hardware departments, including people on the Pixel, Fitbit, and Nest teams.
In early 2025, Google released a mandatory software update for Fitbit Versa 3 and Sense users to “reduce the risk of battery overheating,” which had the unfortunate side effect of reducing battery life from as many as six days to as few as one for some users. However, the fact that we’re getting a significantly redesigned Fitbit app and an AI-powered health coach does show that Google is still investing resources in projects under the Fitbit name. The hardware improvements introduced with the Pixel Watch 4 are also a positive sign that Google remains committed to developing compelling wearable hardware.
Update, November 7th: Updated to reflect current pricing and availability. Brandt Ranj also contributed to this post.
World of Warcraft is getting a new kind of fake money
The long-awaited addition of Housing in World of Warcraft is going to cost you. On top of your monthly subscription and the cost of the Midnight expansion itself, some Housing items will require a new in-game currency called “Hearthsteel” that players will have to pay for with real money. World of Warcraft already has hundreds of currencies, and at one point, the game’s main currency, gold, was worth more than the Venezuelan bolivar.
Blizzard said in its announcement blog post for Hearthsteel that it will only be for Housing, not the Trading Post, mounts, or other in-game items. Blizzard also clarified that not all of the Housing items will require Hearthsteel:
“The vast majority of Housing items are (and will continue to be) earnable in-game. Only a small fraction is available for purchase from the shop. Comparing this number against collectibles such as mounts is a good metric here, with more than a thousand mounts earnable in-game and only a few dozen from the shop.”
Blackmagic’s free camera app can now stream directly to YouTube and Twitch
Blackmagic released an update to its free camera app with some new features that streamers and professional broadcasters will appreciate. Both the Android and iOS versions of the Blackmagic Camera app can now stream directly to YouTube, Twitch, and Vimeo, removing the need for third-party apps or additional encoding hardware. You just need to select your platform and enter a secure stream key. While broadcasting, you’ll still have access to the app’s controls so you can adjust settings like exposure and focus on the fly.
The update also adds support for SRT: a more modern streaming protocol frequently used by professional broadcasters that’s optimized for networks whose speeds and reliability are less consistent, like the internet. Blackmagic Camera also gains support for custom RTMP and SRT servers for streamers wanting alternatives to the three native platforms now supported.
Other improvements to the app include detailed and immediate alerts when an external drive is disconnected to help prevent data loss when working with high-res and high framerate Apple ProRes files the iPhone can’t record internally. And there’s now an option to select the number of multi-view angles while monitoring remote cameras, allowing for more flexibility when customizing the layout of multiple video feeds on a device with a larger screen like an iPad or a Mac.
Anker’s 521 PowerHouse can power up to six devices, and it’s on sale
From weekend camping trips to unexpected power outages, having a reliable power source like the Anker 521 PowerHouse can be a lifesaver. Normally $249.99, right now you can buy the power station for the new low price of $128.99 at checkout at Amazon.
The power station is essentially a portable backup battery with a 256Wh capacity and six ports — two AC outlets, two USB-A ports, one USB-C port, and a car outlet. That gives you everything you need to recharge your phone, laptop, tablet, camera, drone, and other devices multiple times. It can also run gadgets that draw up to 300 watts of power, so you can use small appliances like a mini fridge, lamp, or a fan. And if you’re outdoors, you can even recharge the power station using compatible solar panels.
Anker also says the battery is designed to last up to 10 years, and you get a five-year warranty for extra peace of mind. Plus, it comes with charging cables, and even includes a handy display so you can check how much power you have left at a glance. In short, it’s a handy little tool that’ll keep you powered up no matter where you are, and today’s price makes it an especially solid investment.
Steam store pages are wider now
Valve is making Steam store pages wider as part of a new update rolling out today. With the changes, “many pages” will be widened from “940 pixels to now 1200 pixels,” Valve says. The company picked that 1200 pixels number because it found that it “felt like a good balance where we can show more content on screen without overwhelming the page and making it hard to navigate.”
If your browser or client window is narrower than 1200 pixels, Valve says that “Steam store pages are designed to shrink appropriately to fit well” and that the pages adapt “to fit on tablets, Steam Decks, and mobile devices.” Valve says it’s even tested the changes “on a tiny old iPod that someone had laying around,” where “it mostly works, but things get pretty small.”
The changes follow Valve’s improvements to the Steam Trailer Player for store pages that it introduced in July, which include a more adaptable UI and reprocessing videos to work better with the new player.
Texas sues Roblox for allegedly failing to protect children on its platform
Texas AG Ken Paxton is accusing Roblox of “putting pixel pedophiles and profits over the safety of Texas children,” alleging in a lawsuit filed this week that it is “flagrantly ignoring state and federal online safety laws while deceiving parents about the dangers of its platform.”
The lawsuit accuses Roblox of deceptive trade practices for misleading parents and users about its safety features, and for creating a common nuisance by harboring a space “that has become a habitual destination for child predators engaging in grooming and child sexual exploitation.”
The lawsuit’s examples focus on instances of children who have been abused by predators they met via Roblox, and the activities of groups like 764 which have used online platforms to identify and blackmail victims into sexually explicit acts or self harm. According to the suit, Roblox’s parental controls push only began after a number of lawsuits, and a report released last fall by the short seller Hindenburg that said its “in-game research revealed an X-rated pedophile hellscape, exposing children to grooming, pornography, violent content and extremely abusive speech.”
In August, Louisiana filed a similar lawsuit, alleging that Roblox “permitted and perpetuated an online environment in which child predators thrive.” A couple of months later, the state of Kentucky also sued Roblox, calling it “a hunting ground for child predators.” Last month, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier subpoenaed Roblox over similar allegations. It’s not just states suing Roblox, either. Numerous families and Roblox players have also sued the platform for alleged abuse, such as the cases detailed in Texas’s lawsuit.
Eric Porterfield, Senior Director of Policy Communications at Roblox, responded to the lawsuit in a statement to The Verge, saying, “We are disappointed that, rather than working collaboratively with Roblox on this industry-wide challenge and seeking real solutions, the AG has chosen to file a lawsuit based on misrepresentations and sensationalized claims.” He added, “We have introduced over 145 safety measures on the platform this year alone.”
Roblox reported in September that it has over 111 million daily active users, many of whom are children. Earlier this year, Roblox announced plans to roll out age verification using IDs and facial scans, along with an AI system intended to “detect early signals of potential child endangerment.”
It echoes similar changes on social media platforms like Discord, which also began rolling out age verification this year and has even been cited in some of the same lawsuits filed against Roblox, including one case involving a 13-year-old from Texas. Social media platforms have often successfully used Section 230 to shield themselves from liability for individual users’ actions on their platforms, however — a barrier this Roblox suit, like others against the company, will face.