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Samsung Galaxy Unpacked July 2026: How to watch

A graphic for Galaxy Unpacked

Samsung's next Galaxy Unpacked event is just around the corner, and the company is expected to take the wraps off a bunch of new devices. Based on the rumors and leaks we've seen so far, Samsung's next generation of foldables will likely be the stars of the show. Samsung is expected to show off a big redesign for the Galaxy Z Fold 8, though we can't rule out a few other surprises.

Here's what you need to know about watching Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked and what to expect.

When is Samsung Galaxy Unpacked?

This year's Galaxy Unpacked takes place on July 22nd at 9AM ET / 6AM PT. Samsung is holding the event in London on an invite-only basis.

W …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Neill Blomkamp’s new zombie AI ‘film’ is just slop warmed over

On Monday, District 9 and Gran Turismo director Neill Blomkamp unveiled his latest project: a 13-minute sci-fi short titled Nightborne that's loosely based on Peter Watts' 2014 novel Echopraxia. The short comes from Blomkamp's new AI startup / production company, Barley Studios, and features characters whose voices and faces are modeled after human actors. But every single one of Nightborne's shots was made with ByteDance's Seedance 2.0 text-to-video generator.

In an X post about the short, Blomkamp described it as a "test start" meant to demonstrate what generative AI is capable of, and he said that he wants "to tackle a full feature in th …

Read the full story at The Verge.

OpenAI says it accidentally hacked Hugging Face with a new AI system

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. | Bloomberg via Getty Images

OpenAI says its AI models mistakenly breached open-source AI platform Hugging Face during internal testing. In a blog post on Tuesday, OpenAI writes that GPT-5.6 Sol and "an even more capable pre-release model" discovered vulnerabilities within their sandboxed testing environment, allowing them to gain access to the internet and target Hugging Face.

On July 16th, Hugging Face disclosed a security incident that it says was driven by "an autonomous AI agent system." Hugging Face's AI agents detected and stopped the breach, which OpenAI has now admitted occurred during an evaluation of its models' cybersecurity capabilities. OpenAI says "all e …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Substack adds an AI detector to help spot blogs written by no one

Substack logo on a graphic orange and grey background.

Substack will now help users determine whether what they're reading may have been written by AI. A new tool coming to the platform can scan posts, notes, replies, and comments to provide an estimate of how much text could be AI-generated or written with AI assistance, according to a blog post published on Tuesday.

The tool is powered by an AI detection company called Pangram and is rolling out across the web and the iOS app, with an Android launch coming "soon." Readers can analyze content longer than 100 words by choosing the "Scan for AI text" option from the three-dot menu in the top-right corner of a post.

Substack co-founder and CEO C …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Peak Design’s modular Field Bracket has a finder tag built-in

I am a very clumsy man. So clumsy, that I have AirTags hanging off practically every camera I own. Have I left my camera in an Uber? Yes. Have I left it on an airplane? Also yes. For me, finder tags are essential for my cameras.

The problem is, strapping a finder tag to a camera is always cumbersome. I currently have them hanging off my camera straps like a phone charm circa 2001. They're ugly, and very much get in the way when I'm trying to focus on shooting. But Peak Design thinks it has a solution in its new Field Bracket system, which it launched today on Kickstarter, starting at $150 for early birds.

The Peak Design Field Bracket is p …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Nearly every Kindle is steeply discounted at Best Buy

The 12th Generation Kindle Paperwhite on a teal, green, and purple background.
The Kindle Paperwhite, our favorite Kindle, is down to $124.99. | Image: The Verge

If you’ve been thinking about picking up a Kindle before school starts, or for your next vacation, now’s a good time to do it. As part of its Black Friday in July sale, Best Buy has brought the Kindle Paperwhite back down to its all-time low of $124.99 ($35 off). It’s the Kindle we recommend for most people because it has a bunch of features. It’s waterproof and features a sharp 300ppi, 7-inch display, it offers an adjustable warm light for reading at night, and it has great battery life that can last for more than a month on a single charge.

Best Buy has also discounted nearly every other Kindle model. The Kindle Kids is a good deal even for adults. It’s down to $99.99 ($30 off), and includes the same hardware as the standard Kindle, but with some extras: a kid-friendly cover, no ads, a two-year worry-free guarantee, and six months of Amazon Kids Plus. If you read comics, the Kindle Colorsoft is also on sale starting at $159.99 ($90 off). It shares many of the Paperwhite’s strengths but adds a color E Ink display that displays color at up to 150ppi. The Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition, which has 32GB of storage and wireless charging, is on sale for $219.99 ($60 off).

If you want an e-reader that doubles as a digital notebook, the Kindle Scribe and Kindle Scribe Colorsoft are worth considering. They’re on sale starting at $379.99 ($120 off)  and $479.99 ($150 off), respectively. Each offers an 11-inch display with an included stylus for writing notes, annotating Kindle books, and marking documents. They also include notebook templates and AI-powered tools that can summarize notes or clean up messy handwriting. The biggest difference is that the Scribe Colorsoft adds a color E Ink display, making it a better choice for reviewing color documents or organizing notes with different colors.

Read our reviews of the Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition, and Kindle Scribe Colorsoft

Kindle Kids (2024)

Amazon’s Kindle Kids is identical to the standard Kindle — meaning it packs a 300ppi display and support for USB-C charging — but comes with a case, an extended two-year warranty, and six months of Amazon Kids Plus.
A person holding the kid-friendly Kindle in their lap.

Where to Buy:

Kindle Colorsoft (16GB)

Amazon gave its Kindle lineup a much-needed jolt with the introduction of the Kindle Colorsoft last year, its first color E Ink ebook reader. Now it’s back with a cheaper 16GB model that offers many of the same perks, including up to eight weeks of battery life and a 7-inch display that’s great for comics and graphic novels.

Where to Buy:

Kindle Scribe 32GB

The third-gen Kindle Scribe 32GB is even bigger than its 10.2-inch predecessor; it offers an 11-inch display with 300ppi resolution and the same great battery life that Kindles are known for.

Where to Buy:

Kindle Scribe Colorsoft

The Kindle Scribe Colorsoft is Amazon’s first note-taking e-reader with a color screen. It features an 11-inch display, a slimmer design, an improved interface, an updated stylus, and a new AI-powered search feature that can quickly summarize documents.

Where to Buy:


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Some more ways to save

  • Now through August 28th, the Google Store is throwing in a free Pixel Watch 2 when you buy a refurbished Google Pixel 7 with 128GB of storage for $329. The deal also includes a free Pixel 7 case. Though both devices are a few years old, the Pixel 7 boasts a spacious 90Hz OLED display, an IP68 rating for full water and dust resistance, and wireless charging. As for the Pixel Watch 2, it offers reliable fitness tracking based on Fitbit’s software, along with solid performance, all-day battery life, and good integration with Google’s ecosystem, though the offer is limited to the 41mm size. Read our review of the Google Pixel 7 and Google Pixel Watch 2.
  • Best Buy’s selling both the Ring Battery Doorbell 2K and Indoor Cam Plus bundled together for $69.99 ($70 off). Together, they let you keep tabs on both your front door and an indoor space in 2K resolution, with features like motion alerts and two-way talking. The Indoor Cam Plus also includes a removable privacy cover, while the battery-powered doorbell offers a 140-degree field of view and up to 6x zoom to help you get a closer look at visitors.
  • The rechargeable Gooloo F3 Air Duster is down to $33.99 ($16 off) at Amazon, which is one of its better prices in recent months. The cordless cleaner features a 5,000mAh rechargeable battery and a capable motor, along with three speed settings for blowing dust out of keyboards, PCs, car interiors, and other hard-to-reach spaces. It also weighs less than half a pound, making it compact enough to slip into a pocket.

Apple’s rumored ‘Upgrade’ program brings lease-to-own pricing for iPhones, Macs, and iPads

Blue iPhone 17 Pro in a TechWoven case

As component and RAM shortages drive prices higher, Apple is reportedly launching an "Apple Upgrade" program for leasing new devices. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, it will work similar to a car lease, with options to upgrade to a new device early, or keep or return the device at the end of the lease. Gurman says Klarna will be Apple's financial backer for the new program, which will require a soft credit check to sign up.

Apple Upgrade is reportedly slated to launch on July 28th, replacing the current iPhone Upgrade Program and standard financing for new iPhones with a program available for most new iPhone, Mac, iPad, and Apple Watc …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Twitch will let parents stop their teens going live

Twitch logo against a pink and purple backdrop
Parents will also get a weekly email summarizing their teen’s Twitch activity. | Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Twitch is giving parents more control over how their children are using the streaming platform, including the ability to block them from broadcasting entirely. Parental controls are now available that allow guardians to link Twitch accounts with their 13- to 17-year-old children, providing account management features and a weekly email summarizing their teen's activity, including channels and hours watched.

The controls can be used to prevent teens from livestreaming their own content and disabling Whispers, Twitch's private messaging feature. This includes blocking minors from sending or receiving DMs. Parents can also set flexible daily t …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Anthropic’s $1.5 billion book piracy settlement approved by judge

A federal judge has signed off on Anthropic's $1.5 billion class action settlement with authors who accused the company of training its AI models on copyrighted books, as reported earlier by Reuters. In an order on Monday, Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín writes that the settlement will provide "meaningful relief," offering authors around $3,000 for each book allegedly pirated by Anthropic.

The $1.5 billion settlement is the "largest known copyright recovery in history," according to the law firm representing the plaintiffs. A group of authors - Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson - first filed a copyright lawsuit against A …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Instagram will let users endlessly swap the audio on old posts

An illustration of the Instagram logo.

There's a symbiotic - and sometimes frustrating - relationship between social media sites and the creators that depend on them. Platforms need influencers' and creators' content to keep consumers on their apps; the creators, in turn, need to be able to reach those audiences to justify creating their content in the first place. Creators want a seamless way to make and disseminate their content while being able to make money; audiences want a bottomless feed of entertaining things to look at. And platforms need to keep both parties relatively happy.

Over the last few months, Instagram has added a slew of features that are helpful for creator …

Read the full story at The Verge.