Distraction-free writing gadget BYOK is adding custom extensions
BYOK is a no-frills, single-purpose gadget that 90 percent of people will find absolutely frivolous. But for those who spend a significant chunk of their lives putting words to virtual paper, there is an obvious allure. Personally, I think it's at its best when you just stick to the bare minimum, focusing on pure text drafting. Certain users, though, need more. They want BYOK to take notes, they want to use it for writing screenplays, or maybe they want to organize a sprawling novel.
Balancing the wants and needs of these more demanding users has been a challenge that BYOK founder Nick Sjolinder has been trying to figure out how to tackle. …
Welcome to Night Vale cocreator Joseph Fink learned storytelling from Grim Fandango
Joseph Fink is the cocreator and cowriter of Welcome to Night Vale, arguably the most important fiction podcast ever. He's also the creator of the noir podcast Unlicensed and Alice Isn't Dead, which takes some of the conspiratorial cosmic horror of Night Vale and turns it into fodder for a more serious series about relationships, trauma, and the open road. There's also a sequel series out now called Don't Tell Alice that takes the story down an even darker path in which protagonist Keisha is the one with a secret.
Joseph is also an accomplished author. In addition to co-writing the three Welcome to Night Vale novels, he's also penned the Al …
The Galaxy Z Flip 8 is at its best when there’s friction
What do you want from a flip phone when it's closed? A simple interface, perhaps notifications and a widget or two, for handling the basics? Or a fully fledged Android experience shrunk down for the Flip form factor? For years, Samsung has insisted on the former, even as some fans - and Razr rival Motorola - have pushed for the latter. With the Galaxy Z Flip 8, Samsung has given in.
Although the Z Flip 8's hardware is almost unchanged year-on-year, Samsung has fundamentally rethought how this phone is meant to be used when shut. The cover screen feels more like a regular Android phone, with easier access to the full versions of every single …
Musicians-turned-detectives are hunting for AI grifters
As audio-focused generative tools and platforms have gotten more sophisticated, the internet has become increasingly filled with AI-generated music whose melodies and vocals are algorithmically derived from the work of human artists. While some of the people pumping out this kind of content immediately own up to using AI, others have denied using the technology until increasing public scrutiny forced them to tell the truth.
For musicians - especially those creating art in technologically-focused spaces like electronic dance music - the increasingly complicated question of what is "real" and what isn't feels particularly urgent and personal …
Google further buries search results under AI mode
Google is now automatically expanding its AI search summaries at the top of the results page for some searches, as reported by Search Engine Roundtable. The change, when it kicks in, pushes the typical list of links from a search much farther down Google's results page; instead of seeing part of an AI Overview with a "Show more" button you can click, you'll Google will show a full AI Overview at the top of your search, an "Ask anything" box under that, and then the list of links. It can lead to a lot of scrolling.
It's unclear exactly what Google's criteria is for the auto-expanding AI Overviews. Before writing this story, I was seeing them …
Xbox CEO calls Project Helix a ‘family of devices’
According to Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, Project Helix, which she announced in March as a codename for Microsoft's "next generation console" - phrasing that seemingly implied a singular device - will actually be a "family" of devices."
"We've been hard at work on a great next generation and a great family of devices for Helix, and we'll share more soon," Sharma told BBC News. She shared the answer after being asked if Helix will be a discless console. She didn't answer that, but this week Microsoft announced a program for digitizing your physical games.
In 2025, Microsoft and AMD announced a "strategic multi-year partnership" to work together on …
Save hundreds on a TCL mini-LED TV with quantum dots and high refresh rate
Amazon and Best Buy have the TCL QM7L mini-LED TV on sale for as low as $797.99 for the 55-inch model, a $200 discount from the usual price. We spotted scaling discounts on larger sizes as well, although Amazon already listed low stock on the 65-inch version. While OLED televisions are great for deep black levels and great contrast, their high price point may be off-putting to some buyers. Mini-LED TVs like this TCL are a more wallet-friendly option, and have high brightness while also supporting features like Quantum Dots for vivid colors.
The QM7L also includes the features you’d expect from a premium television. The 144Hz refresh rate is supported by Variable Refresh Rate to reduce tearing and input lag while gaming, with HDR and Dolby Vision support for great image quality and contrast. The screens have Google TV onboard, with support for AirPlay 2 in case you want to stream from an Apple device.
Other deals to consider
- Star Trek fans can pick up the Picard Legacy Collection on Blu-Ray for $137.49 from Amazon, a thirty percent discount from the normal price. This 54-disc set covers the entirety of Patrick Stewart’s legendary role as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, including all seven seasons of The Next Generation, the four movies that accompanied the series, and all three seasons of Picard.
- The 5,000mAh Anker MagGo power bank is on sale for $29.99 (usually $49.95) at Amazon. This MagSafe-compatible battery pack charges devices for up to 15W wireless charging, or 20W through the USB-C port.
- Woot has the Belkin Thunderbolt 3 Dock Pro on sale for $64.99, a 64 percent discount from its usual price of $179.99, and you can save an extra 25 percent by using code WOOTDOCK at checkout. This dock has a healthy selection of ports, including five USB-A, two Thunderbolt 3, and DisplayPort 1.4, giving laptops with limited connectivity access to plenty of peripherals and an extra screen.
Trump’s EPA wants to let data centers hide their air pollution
Just as new data centers face growing backlash from neighboring communities, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is about to make it harder for people to weigh in on any pollution those centers create.
The EPA plans to toss out a federal rule requiring public notice and an opportunity to comment when certain industrial sites apply for an air permit. Advocates warn that the move would allow data center developers and other industries to break ground without giving nearby residents a say, or even a warning that construction is planned.
"You can see why that would be so interesting to an administration that wants to rush through the …
DLSS 5 leaked and modders are putting Nvidia’s AI effects on everything
Modders are trying out an unofficial version of Nvidia's DLSS 5 on Skyrim, Cyberpunk 2077, GTA V, and a bunch of other games after code for the AI upscaling tech appeared in an early-access build of NBA 2K27. Members of the RenoDX modding channel on Discord reportedly found a way to extract the DLSS "Neural Rendering" file and apply it to Control before it expanded to other games, as reported earlier by Notebook Check and VideoCardz.
In one video, a person shows how Control protagonist Jesse Faden's facial features become more and less defined as they tweak various DLSS 5 settings enabled by the RenoDX modders. With the "Neural Uplift" sett …
The iPhone Fold could make concerts even worse
You know the person blocking your view of the concert because their phone is swaying in the air, recording the entire thing? Get ready for the unfolded version of it.
This week on The Vergecast, we dive right into the big week of Apple news. First, it's the refreshed Mac Mini and Mac Studio, as well as the new M6 and M5 Ultra chips. Apple is advertising them all as achievements in AI inference, but we're skeptical this is more than a marketing ploy for now. Then we get into the newly announced Apple event, why we're not expecting to see an iPhone 18, and whether the folding phone form factor is really good enough yet for Apple.
After that, …