Florida sues TikTok for allegedly violating its social media ban for kids
The state of Florida is suing TikTok over claims the company isn't complying with the state's child safety law, which bans kids under 14 from creating social media accounts, as reported earlier by Reuters. The lawsuit, filed on Monday, alleges that TikTok still allows 13-year-olds in Florida to use the platform and is "actively deceiving" parents about its risks.
TikTok is also accused of failing to require 14- and 15-year-olds to obtain parental consent before signing up to the platform, in violation of Florida's social media law. The law (HB3) initially came into force on January 1st, 2025, but a federal judge blocked it in the midst of a …
Amazon’s capable sound system is over $100 off ahead of Prime Day
Built-in television speakers are almost always underwhelming, so getting a soundbar is the best way to elevate any and all content. If you want to get the most for your money, Amazon’s Fire TV Soundbar Plus with a subwoofer and satellite speakers provide a bigger sound than a standalone soundbar like a Sonos Beam. Ahead of Prime Day, the system dropped to $380 (previously $490). That’s the lowest price we’ve seen on the 5.1-channel kit.
Amazon Fire TV Plus Soundbar
Amazon’s Fire TV Soundbar Plus is a surprisingly robust audio system for its price. The soundbar comes with a wireless subwoofer and rear speakers, and can decode both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X surround sound audio streams. It also has Bluetooth built in, so you can use it as a wireless speaker regardless of what type of device you have.
Where to Buy:
The soundbar supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X for spatial audio (though, it lacks upward-firing speakers that make spatial audio more noticeable), and features three full-range speakers, three tweeters, two subwoofers, and a center channel designed for clear dialogue. It features optical audio, plus an HDMI eARC port that communicates with compatible televisions for simple, unified controls.
The subwoofer and satellite speakers wirelessly connect to the soundbar, unlike some similarly-priced systems that have wired satellites. The Fire TV Soundbar Plus offers four equalizer profiles to suit different content needs: movie, music, sports, and night mode, the last of which minimizes bass and makes dialogue sharper. Beyond using the soundbar with your TV, you can also play music from your mobile devices with its Bluetooth support.
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If you had asked me a week ago to recommend a thinner alternative to PopSockets’ magnetic phone grips, I would have told you to buy the OhSnap Snap Grip 5. Ask me now and I’ll redirect you right back to the company that accidentally invented the phone grip in 2012 when trying to come up with a better way to wrangle Apple EarPods. PopSockets’ new Low-Pro is its slimmest phone grip yet, and it’s not only thinner than OhSnap’s latest, it’s also more functional and more comfortable to hold.
Available starting today exclusively through Apple in four colors (it will be available from PopSockets’ online store and other retailers starting on July 29th), the $39.99 Low-Pro Grip is launching at the same price as the Snap Grip 5. I’ve been a devoted fan of OhSnap’s grips for the past few years and recently upgraded to the Grip 5, but after testing the PopSockets Low-Pro for just a week, I’m ready to jump ship.
The last PopSockets grip I used was the Kick-Out Grip and Stand that debuted last year and did a better job than the OhSnap Grip 4 as a phone stand that worked well in both portrait and landscape mode. But at 7mm thick when collapsed, I found the Kick-Out Grip would occasionally get snagged when slipping my phone into my pocket. I’ve never had that problem with either the 2.5mm-thick Snap Grip 4 or the 3mm-thick Grip 5.
The new PopSockets Low-Pro falls somewhere between OhSnap’s last two offerings at 2.6mm, which the company compares to the thickness of a pair of dimes or a toothpick. It’s definitely thin, but you have to look incredibly close to see the height difference when comparing the Low-Pro and Snap Grip 5 side by side. If you were going by touch alone the difference in thickness is imperceivable.
Far more noticeable is how the two grips feel between your fingers when you’re holding your phone. The Snap Grip 5 carries forward a design that uses a set of interlocking flexible arms that attach the base of the grip to an extending disc. It’s a unique approach that OhSnap has improved and strengthened since The Verge’s Victoria Song had a Snap 3 Pro break nearly three years ago. But while the durability is better, the Snap Grip 5’s flexible arms still aren’t the most comfortable. They’re not painful by any means, but using the Snap Grip 5 has always felt to me like I’m sacrificing the comfort of a PopSockets grip for something more svelte.
With the Low-Pro, you get the best of both worlds. Instead of plastic arms or the traditional PopSockets design that features a collapsing squishy cone, the Low-Pro uses what the company describes as a “one-piece polymer” expansion layer connecting a pop-out disc to the grip’s base. It looks like a tube that’s been sliced full of diamond-shaped holes to help it collapse compactly, but it’s made out of a squishy material that makes the Low-Pro feel softer and more comfortable to hold at any angle. My fingers occasionally get sore during prolonged one-handed doomscrolling sessions using the Snap Grip 5, but that hasn’t been an issue with the Low-Pro.
Both grips double as a phone stand, but the Low-Pro does it better. With the Snap Grip 5 you can tuck one edge of its extending disc into a notch on the base and use it to prop your phone up. But it’s limited to just one angle, and it works better with your phone laying sideways than standing up vertically. Surrounding the base of the Low-Pro is a hinged metal ring that folds out at any angle, so it works as a stand in either orientation. The base of the Low-Pro is a little wider than the Snap Grip 5 as a result, but the size difference is negligible.
There is a reason to still consider OhSnap’s Snap Grip 5 over PopSockets’ Low-Pro. Both accessories allow your phone to stick to metal surfaces, magnetic mounts, and wireless chargers with the grips attached, but the magnets on the Snap Grip 5 are stronger than those in the Low-Pro. The Snap Grip 5 always remained securely attached to the back of my iPhone 16 Pro when removing it from a magnetic wireless charging stand, but the Low-Pro consistently remained behind stuck to the stand.
If you regularly mount your phone to magnetic accessories like this, such as relying on a car mount to use your phone as a GPS device, there’s a very good chance the Low-Pro could get frequently left behind and forgotten. If you don’t, then PopSockets’ new Low-Pro Grip is a worthy alternative. It’s not the thinnest grip ever created, but PopSockets has improved on OhSnap’s design in a few important areas that make a grip a tempting accessory, even if you’re trying to keep your phone as thin as possible.
Photography by Andrew Liszewski / The Verge
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 8 and Surface Pro 12 now come with Snapdragon X2 chips
Microsoft is launching new Surface Laptops and a Surface Pro with Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 processors. These are direct follow-ups to the Surface Laptops and Surface Pro from 2024 that launched with Snapdragon X1 chips and jumpstarted Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC initiative with Windows on Arm.
The new X2 Surfaces are available today. The Surface Pro 12th Edition convertible tablet comes in a 13-inch size with 10-core X2 Plus and 12-core X2 Elite chips, while the Surface Laptop 8th Edition is available in 13.8-inch and 15-inch sizes, each offering the same X2 Plus / X2 Elite configurations. The Pro starts at $1,499 with 256GB of storage (befo …
Comcast Xfinity adds same-day delivery to get you online immediately
Comcast is launching a same-day Xfinity Wi-Fi offering that spares you from waiting for your new router. Starting today, new Xfinity customers in almost 20 markets - including Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Nashville, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and more - can receive the Xfinity Gateway equipment they need to get online the same day they order it.
Eligible customers can select same-day Gateway router delivery during checkout after signing up for Xfinity internet services and have the equipment sent to their door "within hours," according to Comcast. Customers can then set up the devices themselves to activate the service through the X …
Schlage’s UWB-enabled smart lock launches this month
It's been more than a year since Schlage announced its first smart lock to support ultra wideband technology (UWB), but now it's finally almost available to purchase. Starting June 29th, the Schlage Sense Pro deadbolt lock will be available for $399 in the US, allowing customers to unlock their doors by simply approaching them with a supported device, instead of using keys or biometric scans.
The Sense Pro was first announced at CES 2025. It uses Schlage's proprietary Converge technology for UWB, which requires a home key on a compatible iPhone or Apple Watch to calculate your speed, trajectory, and motion to unlock the door as you arrive. …
These mechanical keyboards are two very different sides of the same beautifully made coin
Most mechanical keyboards are great these days, with colorful looks and satisfying typing sounds - even in budget-friendly ranges. But every so often, one stops me dead in my tracks. In this case, two of them.
I've been testing a pair of jaw-droppingly lovely keyboards that launched late last year. The Evoworks Evo75, a compact 75-percent layout with loud, low-pitched typing sounds. And the Dry Studio ATM98, an 1800-layout / 98-percent layout with silent switches and a design that's anything but quiet - complete with an enormous RGB-ified rotary dial. They are easily two of the nicest keyboards I've ever seen, heard, and used. And they're …
Apple’s smart home camera service is starting to impress me
Apple's HomeKit Secure Video service is getting in on the Apple Intelligence party to bring more descriptive alerts from your connected cameras and let you search footage using natural language. The Apple Home app is also getting better notifications powered by AI and is finally adding support for energy reporting.
These improvements were announced at WWDC last week and will be publicly available this fall. I've been playing with some of the features in the developer betas for iOS 27 and tvOS 27 for a few days, and based on my first impressions, Apple's HomeKit Secure Video is much improved - enough to put it back in contention for me as a …
SpaceX is officially buying Cursor for $60 billion
Days after its massive IPO, SpaceX says it is spending $60 billion to buy Cursor - a bet designed to help Elon Musk's sprawling rocket / AI / social media behemoth win over lucrative enterprise customers and close the gap with AI rivals like Anthropic and OpenAI.
The takeover was not entirely unexpected: SpaceX announced a peculiar arrangement in April in which it agreed to either acquire the programming platform for $60 billion or pay a $10 billion breakup fee. The company had been holding off completing the deal while going public.
In an SEC filing, SpaceX said it expects the deal to close during the third quarter of 2026.
Musk has pr …
Apple’s weird anti-nausea dots cured my car sickness
I'll just work from the car, I thought. But after a few minutes of staring at my screen on quick mountain switchbacks I could feel the first signs of cold, coagulated nausea bubbling up from that sweaty place in my gut. I looked to the horizon for relief, but nothing helped… until I remembered Apple's magic dots.
Introduced in 2024, Apple's Vehicle Motion Cues promise to tap into your device's accelerometer and gyroscope to reduce or, in my case, even eliminate the motion sickness felt when trying to use an iPhone, iPad, or MacBook inside a moving vehicle.
According to big-S Science, this type of vehicle motion sickness is caused by the e …