FBI Executes Search Warrant on Republican Lawmaker, Seize Cell Phone for Campaign Finance Investigation

'Wish I Was Black': The Swalwell-Organized 'Comics for Kamala' Zoom Call Was Something Else

Elgato’s Stream Deck Neo is designed to be accessible to everybody, not just streamers. | Image: Elgato Here at The Verge, we’re big Stream Deck fans. However, Elgato’s programmable macro controllers can be pricey, with the Stream Deck XL and Deck Plus retailing for $249.99 and $199.99, respectively. If you want something more affordable for streamlining your workflow, the Elgato Stream Deck Neo is currently matching its all-time low of $84.99 ($15 off) at Best Buy, Target, and directly from Elgato. Although you can program Elgato’s compact Neo to perform a variety of shortcuts in macOS or Windows, it comes preloaded with some common actions right out the gate. It sports eight customizable LCD buttons — as opposed to the six on the like-minded last-gen Stream Deck Mini — allowing you to control your smart lights, join or mute a video... Continue reading…

Fitbit’s rolling out Tap to Pay in time for the new school year. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge It’s officially back-to-school season, so Fitbit’s updating its kids-focused Ace LTE smartwatch with some helpful features for parents and children. Namely, it’s adding a Tap to Pay feature, launching two new games, and later this year, will allow users to add siblings as contacts in the Fitbit Ace app. Tap to Pay was mentioned as “coming soon” when the Ace LTE launched back in May. The idea was to give kids the freedom to buy things on their own, while also allowing parents oversight. To do that, Google — which owns Fitbit — is partnering with Greenlight and GoHenry, which offer debit cards for children and teens. If you have accounts with those services, you’ll be able to add them to the Ace LTE, and kids will be able to use their... Continue reading…

Anker included thicker prongs and an improved center of gravity on its new 100W wall charger. | Image: Anker The most notable upgrade on Anker’s new Prime Charger isn’t how much power it can deliver; it’s the redesigned folding plug that now has thicker prongs with a “frosted finish” that the company claims will help the six-ounce charger actually stay plugged into a wall outlet. Being able to charge multiple devices from a single wall charger, including laptops, is one of the many improvements delivered by a switch from silicon to gallium nitride-based components. But the new generation of GaN chargers with more power and USB ports sometimes struggle to stay plugged in due to their size and weight. Image: Anker The redesigned Anker Prime Charger will hopefully stay plugged in even with three USB cables plugged in. A... Continue reading…

Balatro, the delightful poker roguelike that’s one of my favorite video games of this year, will be getting a free “major gameplay update” in 2025, according to developer LocalThunk. The update will “bring new ideas and strategies to the game” and will be released for all platforms (it’s available on Steam, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox), LocalThunk says. Balatro launched earlier this year, and it’s since become a smash hit thanks to its compelling gameplay loop that will have you saying “just one more run” until it’s far past your bedtime. While the game involves poker hands, you don’t gamble chips or money — instead, the goal is to strategically build high-scoring hands through things like discarding cards, modifying your... Continue reading…

Illustration by Erik Carter Thousands of families have witnessed fake obituaries of loved ones crowd Google search results. As The Verge reported in February, the obituaries — which often appear to be AI-generated — target everyday people, not just celebrities, and are written to extract clicks and subsequent ad revenue from readers. A new report by watchdog organization Check My Ads traced some of the middlemen profiting from obituary spam: ad exchanges, or the companies that connect brands that want to run ads and websites on which ads will appear. One of the sites the Check My Ads report focused on is HausaNew.com.ng, a content mill that, until recently, was churning out obituaries and news about local deaths in towns across the US. The site published an... Continue reading…

Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 16 series on September 10th, according to some reports and common sense. That's the typical timeframe for iPhone launch events. Preorders start on the Friday after that event, which is September 13th this year. That makes Septmber 20th the likely release date of Apple's new iPhone 16 models. While that's an educated guess, Apple should start confirming things soon. In the coming weeks, it will send out press invites for the launch event. During the keynote, Apple will reveal the preorder and release dates. You don't have to wait that long to learn almost everything about this year's new iPhones. Our iPhone 16 guide covers all the developments since the iPhone 15 launch last year. As is the case every year, we have a pretty good idea of what the new iPhone has to offer. Things might get even better than that, and we might find out official details about the upcoming iPhone 16 models before the launch event. If a report from Korea is accurate, Apple is considering an earlier iPhone 16 launch in Korea, which could lead to a new set of leaks. Continue reading... The post Early iPhone 16 launch in Korea could be good news for all of us appeared first on BGR. Today's Top Deals Today’s deals: $10 off school supplies, $189 Apple Watch SE, $140 FlexiSpot electric standing desk, more Amazon gift card deals, offers & coupons 2024: Get $450+ free Today’s deals: Galaxy Z Flip 6 launch sale, $450 65-inch TV, gaming laptops, $60 cookware set, more Today’s deals: $229 iPad, $300 off Samsung foldables (last chance), $20 label maker, HP laptop sale, more

Disney's plan to enforce a Disney Plus password-sharing crackdown feels like Marvel's Blade reboot. Both were confirmed quite a while ago, but we keep seeing delay after delay. While fans are dying to see the MCU's Blade, however, Disney Plus subscribers probably want Disney to postpone its password-sharing crackdown for as long as possible. We have a new development on the Disney Plus crackdown, with Disney CEO Bob Iger saying it'll start in September "in earnest." Better get your credit card ready, as you might have to pay extra for your Disney Plus subscription if you plan on sharing it with people outside your home. Continue reading... The post Disney Plus password-sharing crackdown starts in September, for real this time appeared first on BGR. Today's Top Deals Today’s deals: $699 Apple Watch Ultra 2, $529 iPad mini, $249 Bose QuietComfort headphones, more Today’s deals: $69 AirPods, $230 off Meta Quest 3, $109 Bose speaker, $20 Anker Soundcore earbuds, more Best Apple deals for August 2024 Best deals: Tech, laptops, TVs, and more sales

Abortion was slightly more common across the U.S. in the first three months of this year than it was before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and cleared the way for states to implement bans, a report released Wednesday found.