Senate passes budget with two more weeks of Homeland Security funding
The Senate voted on Friday evening to pass the federal budget, funding everything except for one entity: the Department of Homeland Security, which was given a two-week funding extension in order to negotiate new guardrails around Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). If no agreement is reached, DHS funding will lapse and the department will face a shutdown.
The agreement - the result of frenzied negotiations between a united Senate Democrat caucus, their Republican counterparts, and the White House - passed 71-29. DHS will remain unfunded over the weekend, however, until the House of Representatives reconvenes on Monday to approve th …
Jeffrey Epstein was permanently banned from Xbox Live
Would it surprise you to learn Microsoft booted Jeffrey Epstein from its online gaming platform? As spotted by XboxEra, the latest batch of Epstein's emails shows that in December 2013, he was "permanently suspended due to harassment, threats, and/or abuse of other players."
But it appears the real reason may be simpler: A second email from Microsoft to Epstein the very same day shows he was banned because he was a registered sex offender, and because Microsoft was among the companies that agreed to purge registered sex offenders from their systems.
While Epstein became a registered sex offender years earlier, another email shows he ma …
Peloton lays off 11 percent of its staff just a few months after launching its AI hardware
Peloton said on Friday that it's cutting around 11 percent of its staff, mostly impacting "engineers working on technology and enterprise-related efforts," reports Bloomberg.
Last August, Peloton laid off six percent of its workforce and told investors it would continue layoffs globally in 2026, in an attempt to cut at least $100 million of annual spending by the end of the fiscal year.
Peloton's latest strategy shift to reverse the effect of its pandemic-era boom stalling out has also brought new hardware with Peloton IQ AI features. The Cross Training Series that debuted last October includes a new Bike, Bike Plus, Tread, Tread Plus, …
Video game company stock prices dip after Google introduces an AI world-generation tool
The stock prices of some major video game companies, including Take-Two Interactive, Roblox, and Unity, had notable declines on Friday, just a day after Google announced its Project Genie tool that lets users prompt AI to generate interactive experiences, Reuters reports. Take-Two's stock price closed at $220.30 (down 7.93 percent from yesterday), Roblox's closed at $65.76 (down 13.17 percent), and Unity's closed at $29.10 (down 24.22 percent).
Other AI tools have received significant pushback from artists and creators over allegations of theft of their work to train the underlying AI models, AI's water and electricity usage, and what this …
Sonos’ Super Bowl sale knocks hundreds off its audio gear
Sonos isn’t exactly synonymous with the Super Bowl, although the brand discounts its gear every year around this time like clockwork. It’s knocking 20 percent off many of its marquee products, including soundbars and standalone speakers — all of which can be paired together to improve sound quality and to put audio in more places at home.
Through February 16th, the company is keeping its prices in place on the Era 100 and the larger Era 300 speakers, the Beam and Arc Ultra soundbars, as well as its selection of wireless subwoofers. To put the prices in context, some of these discounts match — or beat — the current costs of Sonos’ certified refurbished gear.
The Era 100 very well may be the best, most feature-packed smart speaker around in its price range. In our 2023 review, we praised its stereo sound playback and improved bass response over its predecessor, the Sonos One. Notably, it supports Bluetooth playback (in addition to Wi-Fi connectivity) as well as line-in audio via USB-C, in case you’d rather plug in a wired audio source. While this model typically sells for $219, it’s currently available for $179 through Sonos, as well as Amazon and Best Buy.
The Era 300 is Sonos’ modern spin on the Sonos Five, offering bigger sound than the Era 100. Its specialty is spatial audio, which sounds incredible when you find a song that’s been mixed just right (the thing is, not all Dolby Atmos tunes are mixed equally). Like the Era 100, this model offers Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless connections, as well as line-in via USB-C. Our review notes, however, that stereo playback is an area where the Era 300 actually falters compared to its predecessor. But given its improvements overall (and since the Five that launched in 2020 is no longer on sale), the 300 is a great speaker to consider if you really want to feel immersed in your music. It’s $379 during the sale period at Sonos, Amazon, and Best Buy, down from $479.
Jumping to soundbars, the second-gen Beam is on sale for $369 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Sonos, down from its original price of $499. While it’s definitely not the most feature-packed soundbar that you can get at around this price, its ability to tie-in with other Sonos products, plus its improved soundstage over the first-gen model might make it worth considering for you. The inclusion of Dolby Atmos is its marquee feature, although we noted in our review that it’s a virtualized effect since it lacks upward firing speakers that truly enable the vertical sound effects to shine. Note that it’s lacking in physical connectivity compared to most other models, with just a power plug, an HDMI eARC port, and an ethernet jack. In the event that you wish to connect the Beam to your TV or receiver via optical audio, you’ll need to purchase this $25 HDMI-to-optical adapter.
The Arc Ultra is a much better soundbar than the Beam, though it also carries a larger price tag of $899 (down from $1,099) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Sonos. Our reviewer noted that the bass improvements in this model are such that it can stand on its own without the purchase of a wireless subwoofer. It also boasts more immersive sound quality, plus Bluetooth connectivity, which was missing in the original Arc. The Arc Ultra’s sound can be further enhanced by connecting other Sonos speakers to the mix, although its older Play:1 and Play:3 speakers are ineligible to join the speaker family for surround sound.
If you’re considering either the Bean or the Arc Ultra (or if you already own one of its soundbars), their performance will benefit greatly with the addition of a Sonos subwoofer, of which the company makes two models. The Sub 4 is its high-end option, which is $759 during the sale period (down from $899) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Sonos’ online store. Anything this close to $1,000 is extremely expensive for a subwoofer, especially considering that most companies include one with their surround sound systems. The Sub 4 is able to lay horizontally or sit vertically — however suits your room best.
For almost half the cost of the Sub 4, you can get the Sub Mini. It’s available for $399, down from $499, from Amazon, Best Buy, and Sonos. You may be thinking that even this one is still pretty costly, and I agree. Although, it’s a product that Sonos loyalists were begging for, as before it there was no other choice than to spring for its more expensive subwoofer. In our review, we deemed it unworthy for filling large rooms with bass, but totally sufficient in most other ways. Something cool about its design is the force-canceling effect that reduces floor vibrations, which could be great if you’re worried about disturbing neighbors or other people in the house.
Fitbit users now have until May to migrate to a Google account
Fitbit users who are holding out on moving their data over to a Google account now have until May 19th, 2026 to make the switch. The previous deadline was just days away on February 2nd, but that date has been updated on Google's help page for Fitbit account migration.
The post also now specifies that, "You can still download or delete your data any time before we begin processing data deletions on July 15, 2026." Google had already noted that Fitbit account data would be deleted, but now users have a specific timeframe for when that's happening - and it looks like they'll have a couple extra months to download their Fitbit data even after …
There’s a social network for AI agents, and it’s getting weird
Yes, you read that right. "Moltbook" is a social network of sorts for AI agents, particularly ones offered by OpenClaw (a viral AI assistant project that was formerly known as Moltbot, and before that, known as Clawdbot - until a legal dispute with Anthropic). Moltbook, which is set up similarly to Reddit and was built by Octane AI CEO Matt Schlicht, allows bots to post, comment, create sub-categories, and more. More than 30,000 agents are currently using the platform, per the site.
"The way that a bot would most likely learn about it, at least right now, is if their human counterpart sent them a message and said 'Hey, there's this thing c …
We finally heard from Trump Mobile… and they immediately ghosted us
Where's the Trump phone? We're going to keep talking about it every week. We've reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump phone's whereabouts. As usual, we're still waiting for a response. In the meantime, I finally got a reply from a company exec.
After months - months - of emailing various official Trump Mobile accounts and press addresses, last week someone answered back. Don Hendrickson, a member of the company's executive team, finally replied to one of my emails and offered to talk, but he's ignored me ever since.
Last week I reported on the unexpected news that Trump Mobile is working on a second Trump phone, a more powerful T1 …
Dyson’s powerful 360 Vis Nav robot vacuum is nearly 75 percent off today
In case you missed it, we recently overhauled our guides to the best budget robot vacuums and the best mopping vacs, both of which feature a slate of new picks from Roborock, Narwal, Dreame, and others. Dyson’s 360 Vis Nav Robot Vacuum didn’t technically make the cut, though it was once one of our top picks for carpets. And now through the rest of today, January 30th, it’s on sale at Woot with a two-year warranty for an all-time low of $279.99 ($720 off).
Dyson 360 Vis Nav robot vacuum
Where to Buy:
If you have a relatively simple floor plan with lots of high-pile carpet, Dyson’s D-shaped robovac is worth considering. It can traverse obstacles up to 21 millimeters high and offers a whopping 65 air watts of suction — twice that of many robovacs — rendering it one of the most powerful models our resident smart home reviewer, Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, has ever tested. Its massive roller brush is great at getting into corners and reaching the edges of your rooms given its location at the front of the vac, and it’s outfitted with a huge 500ml dustbin that’s easy to remove via an integrated handle.
The 360 Vis Nav isn’t without shortcomings, though. For starters, it doesn’t come with an auto-empty dock and only manages about 65 minutes of runtime, which is about half that of most models, including many of the budget bots we’ve tested. It also lacks AI-powered obstacle avoidance, so it won’t be able to discern what it’s avoiding, increasing the risk of it tripping up while navigating your home. The lack of more advanced features could certainly be a dealbreaker for some, but if pure power is what you’re after, Dyson’s last-gen robot vacuum is easily the best option for the price — especially right now.
Read our hands-on impressions.
More deals and discounts of note
- Google’s TV Streamer (4K) is on sale at Amazon and Best Buy for $79.99 ($20 off), which is about $5 shy of its best price to date. If you don’t already own a smart TV, Google’s speedy Chromecast follow-up is a great way to access all your favorite streaming apps. It supports 4K HDR with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, along with a handy Find My feature for the remote. You also get built-in support for Google Assistant and one of the best interfaces available in a streaming device right now, one that lets you peruse content recs across a myriad of streaming services. Read our review.
- If you’re looking to “brick” your phone in the best way possible, you can grab a pair of Brick’s NFC-enabled squares directly from Brick for $106.20 (about $12 off). Basically, you use the Brick app to select which apps and websites you want to block, and then, once you tap your phone to the small device, you’ll be restricted from using said apps until you tap the device again. It’s not a perfect solution for cutting back on screen time — you still get a handful of “emergency unbrick” codes to manually override blocked apps, after all — but adding a little physical friction between you and your phone certainly isn’t a bad thing. Read our hands-on impressions.
- You shall not pass… up Lego’s Balrog set, which is down to $111.76 (about $18 off) at Amazon and Target right now, nearly matching its all-time low. The posable, 1,2010-piece book nook is a nice little homage to Durin’s Bane, aka the fiery beast that attacks Gandalf in The Fellowship of the Ring. It also comes with a minifig of the aforementioned wizard, along with his sword (ahem, Glamdring) and several movie-themed accessories that let you play out the famed showdown on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm.
Tim Cook is destroying his own legacy
What responsibility do you have to speak up about bad things happening in the world? Does that responsibility change when speaking up might affect your business? What about if you're a sports creator, or the moderator of a deeply NSFW subreddit? What about if you're just a little ol' phone website? Ultimately, everyone has to make those decisions for themselves. But decisions have consequences.
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On this episode of The Vergecast, David and Nilay start by talking about The Verge's …