Starlink made ‘work from home’ possible from anywhere — now, I’m ready for a change
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How it started
I've worked from home for 20 years. In that time, I've seen technologies supporting remote work advance considerably. But nothing has been as transformative as the arrival of Starlink, SpaceX's internet service that lets me "work from home" anywhere I choose, be it from the open road, forest, or desolate beach.
SpaceX began launching Starlink satellites in 2019 to provide data in the l …
An all-time great game makes a comeback
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 108, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, hope your holiday shopping is going well, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)
This week, I've been reading about Ariana Grande and pelvic floors and Josh Shapiro and Las Vegas, finishing and then immediately rewatching The Chair Company, working by the light of this extremely rad MoMA lamp, installing a bunch of Hue Dimmer Switches around my house, trying desperately to hide the giant box that came with my new Frame TV, wondering if my 12,983 minutes of Spotify time this year …
Apple’s chip chief might be the next exec to leave
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is reporting that Johny Srouji, senior vice president of hardware technologies, told Tim Cook he is “seriously considering” leaving Apple for another company in the near future. It was reported in October that Srouji was “evaluating his future at the tech giant.” While nothing is confirmed, it seems the executive is leaning towards not having a future at Cupertino.
If Srouji leaves, he would be just the latest in a string of high-profile shakeups in the company’s C-suite. COO Jeff Williams announced his retirement in July, which led to some shifting of roles. But things have only accelerated in December, with AI chief John Giannandrea stepping down, policy lead Lisa Jackson and general counsel Kate Adams announcing plans to retire, and UI design lead Alan Dye departing for Meta, all in the last few days.
Apple has struggled somewhat to find its footing as the industry further embraces AI. Now Tim Cook is tasked with trying to stem the bleeding, while being subject to rumors of his own departure. Gurman, who is usually reliable, has said those rumors are premature, but it still adds to the uncertainty surrounding what is typically one of the more stable companies in Silicon Valley.
The Nintendo Switch 2 and Ninja’s Creami are the best deals of the week
Cyber week has just about wrapped up, but there are still some amazing Cyber Monday leftovers that you can save money on. The one deal we can’t stop telling readers about is the unexpected $50 discount on Nintendo’s Switch 2 console bundle that includes Mario Kart World, bringing it down to $449.99 (was $499.99). Currently, you can snag the bundle at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy. It’s the best Switch 2 console to buy for the holidays because it comes with Mario Kart World, a fun racing game that’s $79.99 to buy outside of the bundle. You’re getting it for free instead.
A price drop for the new handheld was about the last thing we expected to see this week, and we’re happy that the deal has endured over multiple days. We don’t know when it will end, so we’re treating every day like it’ll be the last.
If you’re shopping for a Switch 2 console, there are some extras that you may want to consider buying along with it. Games aside, we have buying guides with recommendations if you’re looking for cheap, but great wireless controllers, protective cases that are better than the rest, as well as the best Switch 2 screen protectors we tried.
Nintendo Switch 2
The Nintendo Switch 2 has a 7.9-inch LCD display, magnetically attached Joy-Con 2 controllers, backwards compatibility with most original Switch games, and exclusive titles including Donkey Kong Bananza and Kirby Air Riders. Read our review.
Where to Buy:
We learned something interesting, but not entirely surprising, about people who were reading our Black Friday coverage: they love ice cream. They flocked to the $70 off deal that’s still happening at Amazon and Best Buy on Ninja’s Creami ice cream maker that can seemingly do it all. You’ll have a tough time finding a more capable machine at its $279.99 sale price (if you frequently treat yourself and the family to ice cream cones, the Creami’s cost will be offset faster than you might think). This machine has a ton of modes, letting you craft soft serve or thicker, scoopable ice cream. You can use it to craft sorbet, gelato, frozen custard, or froyo – or whip up a milkshake. One full batch of ice cream can fill four small cones, or four scooped bowls.
Ninja Creami Scoop & Swirl
Ninja’s clever 2-in-1 machine can spin up soft serve and traditional hard scoops in a few easy steps, not to mention creamy milkshakes, gelato, and frozen yogurt.
Where to Buy:
Not everyone is ready for smart glasses that have cameras built into them. We get it (some Verge staffers feel the same way). However, if you want glasses with some smarts — the ability to take audio calls and listen to music and podcasts, or get Alexa assistance with questions or commands — look no further than the Black Friday bundle that includes Amazon’s latest Echo Frames glasses. The glasses typically sold for over $300 before Black Friday, but you can get the glasses in multiple styles for just $114.99 at Amazon.
Amazon Echo Frames (latest verion)
The smart glasses resemble a pair of regular eyeglasses but can be used to listen to music, take calls, and perform a range of Alexa-enabled tasks. They feature up to six hours of audio playback with their open-ear design.
Where to Buy:
Other Verge-approved deals we dug this week
- For a limited time, B&H Photo has the best price on the M4 Mac Mini that has 24GB of RAM and 256GB of storage — definitely an odd configuration, but a fast one, nevertheless! Normally $779, you can snag it for $679. Of course, most people who want this much memory probably want a bigger SSD than what’s offered here. Unfortunately, getting 24GB RAM with a 512GB SSD costs $904 at Amazon. If you prefer having a 512GB SSD and are alright settling with just 16GB of RAM, Amazon has that model for $729. As for my opinion on the matter, get the model with more RAM. Read our review.
- JBL’s Tour One M3 over-ear headphones plummeted to their lowest price yet at Amazon and B&H Photo, where the black or blue color schemes are $249.99 (originally $449, but commonly discounted to about $380). These hang with other flagship headphones in terms of sound quality, comfort, and have a robust active noise cancellation effect (they hit my radar thanks to a May 2025 review from Wirecutter). They’re especially interesting because they include an Auracast transmitter, with which you can plug into any device to beam a Bluetooth signal that any other Auracast-enabled device can connect to (the Tour One M3 is supported, obviously). In normal use, the transmitter is handy for setting up no-fuss connections to really any device with a headphone jack, be it in-flight entertainment, a treadmill, a laptop, or a portable gaming console, to provide some examples.
- I have another treat for your ears — this one being particularly good for PC gamers. The Fractal Scape is a wireless gaming headset better than most at its sale price of $169.99 ($30 off) at Amazon and Walmart. Not only does it sound very good while playing games and listening to music, its web browser-based tool makes it very easy to customize equalizers, in addition to tweaking the built-in LEDs built into the ear cups. Two other things make this one worth considering: recharging them is really easy, as you simply put them on the included docking station, and its Digital Crown-esque knob makes adjusting the volume or skipping tracks a breeze. Read our review.
The tech world is sleeping on the most exciting Bluetooth feature in years
It's been a few years since the official introduction of the Bluetooth technology Auracast, which allows devices like earbuds, headphones, speakers, and hearing aids to connect to a single source without the need for pairing. Like a radio picks up your local radio stations, all you have to do is connect to the right broadcast. These could be flight announcements from your gate at the airport, the microphone a teacher is using during a presentation, or the TV you're watching while on the treadmill at the gym.
By letting you link directly into one of these broadcasts, Auracast can increase auditory accessibility for those who are hard of hear …
Mad Men’s special effects foreman hasn’t seen the infamous 4K remaster
Everyone had a good laugh at HBO Max this week when the new 4K Mad Men remaster debuted with a number of glaring errors that should have been caught before the show was uploaded to the streamer's servers. Episodes went live with incorrect titles, and in one instance you could still see members of the show's production crew who shouldn't have been visible on-camera. The mistakes were reportedly the result of Lionsgate Television - Mad Men's original production company - sending over the incorrect set of exported files.
It is wild to think that no one at HBO noticed that the remastered "Red in the Face" episode still included a clear shot of …
AI ‘creators’ might just crash the influencer economy
It was only in June that Jeremy Carrasco uploaded his first videos to TikTok and Instagram. In that short time, he's amassed over 300,000 followers on each platform. No, it's not exactly Charli D'Amelio numbers, but that does make him one of the biggest names in AI literacy on social media.
Jeremy told The Verge that he always wanted to try his hand at being a YouTuber. Instead, he found himself behind the camera, working as a producer and director on multicamera livestreams. But he finally decided to take the plunge after realizing that most of the dialogue around generative AI was being driven by the tech companies. "We need other people …
Horses deserves to be played, even if it’s not very good
Horses has become the current face of the fight against video game censorship and what gets to be art. After getting banned from Steam and the Epic Game Store, the narrative horror game has become a bestseller on GOG.com, and has brought gamers of all stripes together in support of it. But as a game, Horses doesn't deserve all this - neither its bans nor, after playing it myself, all the glowing praise.
Horses is a collaboration between indie studio Santa Ragione and Italian filmmaker Andrea Lucco Bolera. Bolera wrote the game and acted in and directed the FMV cutscenes that are interspersed throughout, while the developers at Santa Ragione …
The Verge’s 2025 holiday gift guide
The holidays have a way of sneaking up on us. One minute you're trick-or-treating with your kids, and the next you're panic shopping in a Buc-ee's gift aisle. But it doesn't have to be that way. With the right cheat sheet, you can keep the holiday spirit high and stress levels low.
Fortunately, we did some planning on your behalf. As much as we love playing with the latest gadgets and gizmos here at The Verge, we also love recommending them. That's why, after consulting with our expert team of writers and editors, we've compiled a medley of gift ideas that won't be regifted come this time next year - from noise-canceling earbuds and e-reade …
Welcome to the big leagues, Netflix
Warner Bros. has an infamous history of being bought by other companies and then quickly ending up back on the market after its new owners realize how difficult it is to capitalize on a legacy production studio's assets. Those challenges are part of what doomed WB's mergers with AOL and AT&T, who bought the studio in attempts to reinvent themselves. But WB's latest acquisition deal - this time with Netflix for $83 billion - feels like it has the potential to turn out differently because of how much of a major player within the entertainment industry the streamer has become. It also signals just how far Netflix has come: in less than two deca …