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 … Read more
Popular genetics tests can’t tell you much about your dog’s personality, according to a recent study. A team of geneticists recently found no connection between simple genetic variants and behavioral traits in more than 3,200 dogs, even though previous studies suggested that hundreds of genes might predict aspects of a dog’s behavior and personality. That’s … Read more
A year after being pushed out of Intel, Pat Gelsinger is still waking up at 4 a.m., still in the thick of the semiconductor wars — just on a different battlefield. Now a general partner at venture firm Playground Global, the 63-year-old is working with 10 startups. But one portfolio company has captured an outsized … Read more
Meta is developing new mixed reality glasses under the codename Phoenix, according to Business Insider — but their release date has been pushed back from the second half of 2026 to the first half of 2027. The Facebook parent company already sells VR headsets and Ray-Ban smart glasses, but these glasses sound a bit different; … Read more
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 … Read more
Sometimes, founding a startup just once isn’t enough.
It’s only been a day since Netflix announced an $82.7 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros., and the acquisition has already been described as sending Hollywood into “full-blown panic mode,” “possibly a death blow to theatrical filmmaking,” and maybe even “the end of Hollywood” itself. Some of the firmest opposition has come from the Writers … Read more
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, … Read more
In September, popular creator IShowSpeed live-streamed his meeting with the popular humanoid influencer Rizzbot. Rizzbot has more than a million followers (and 800 million views) across social media and is known for its comedic roasting of subjects, as well as giving people the middle finger. Speed, meanwhile, has more than 50 million followers (and 6 … Read more
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. … Read more