A California bill that would require operating system and app store providers to verify users' ages before they can download apps has cleared the Assembly 58-0, and will now move on to Gov. Gavin Newsom, Politico reports. The Digital Age Assurance Act (AB 1043), introduced by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, does not require photo identification for verification, but puts the onus on the platforms to provide tools for parents to indicate the user's age during a device's setup, and use this informatio

Following her son's suicide, Becca Dallas filed a potentially groundbreaking lawsuit against Roblox and Discord, accusing the platforms of wrongful death. As first reported by The New York Times , the lawsuit recounts the events leading up to Ethan Dallas' death, detailing his interactions with a player named Nate. According to the report, Nate was likely a 37-year-old man named Timothy O'Connor, who was previously arrested on charges of possessing child pornography and transmitting harmful mate

Kodak has shrunk a camera to fit onto a keyring, but it still manages to shoot both photo and video. It's hard not to compare the Kodak Charmera to the ubiquitous Labubu craze, considering the highly collectible nature of Reto Pro selling these officially licensed mini cameras as a single blind box for $29.99 or a full set of six for $179.94. The keyring cameras, which only weigh 30 grams, are already sold out on the Reto Pro website , but are expected to be restocked. The blind box can be unwra

The rear-wheel drive trim of the Tesla Cybertruck lasted about five months before it was unceremoniously removed from online sales. The Long Range model represented the most affordable Cybertruck option with its starting price of $69,990, but visitors to Tesla's online configurator can now only choose between the all-wheel drive model that starts at $79,990 and the Cyberbeast trim, which goes for at least $114,990. Tesla launched the Long Range version of the Cybertruck in April, which arrived a

One of our favorite magnetic power banks is on sale for 42 percent off right now. The Anker 622 Magnetic Battery is down 42 percent to $28, which is almost as low as we've ever seen it. This steep discount is also available at Anker's online store with a coupon code that the company provides. This 5,000mAh MagSafe-compatible charger with a foldable stand is a slim and portable battery that can keep your devices going on long days away from a charger. Anker says the 622 Magnetic Battery can recha

Snapchat has introduced a couple of new features it says are highly requested by its users. The first is Infinite Retention, which as its name implies will allow you to keep a chat history like you could on a messaging app and prevent your messages from disappearing. Weve often heard from our community that Snapchatters want to save their chats forever and wish they could build streaks with their favorite groups, its announcement reads. The app has been testing the feature since 2024 , and now i

Sometimes, rising prices for streaming services feels as inevitable as death and taxes. So when a serious discount is available, we tend to sit up and take notice. For a few weeks, you can get a whopping half off an annual subscription to Paramount+ . A year of the Paramount+ Essential plan, which is ad-supported, will cost $30 compared to the usual $60. Paramount+ Premium, which is ad-free except for live tv programming, will cost $60 for a year instead of $120. This is a substantial deal that

The Anker Soundcore Space A40 wireless earbuds are back on sale for a record-low price of $45 a 44 percent discount. These earbuds remain our top pick for best budget wireless earbuds . The most significant feature on the A40 earbuds is the inclusion of active noise cancellation (ANC), which is almost unheard of at this price point. It's not the most sophisticated ANC, but it does sufficiently reduce constant rumbling background noise like on a plane. The built-in mic that's used for transparenc

xAI has laid off at least 500 workers from its data annotation team, the company's largest, according to Business Insider . The annotation team is in charge of categorizing and contextualizing raw data used to train Grok so that it can understand the world better. Business Insider says the laid off employees were informed via email on the evening of September 12, Friday, that it was going to downsize its team of general AI tutors. They were reportedly told that they would be paid their salaries

Welcome to our latest recap of what's going on in the indie game space. This week, the revived Acclaim held a very fun showcase (and we'll get to some of the games from that). But on Friday, Nintendo soaked up all the attention with an hour-long Direct. Sure, it included some first-party games, such as Mario Tennis Fever , Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and a Donkey Kong Bananza expansion. But Nintendo highlighted several indie games in the newsy showcase , too. Hades 2 is arguably the highest-profile

Meta Connect, the company's annual event dedicated to all things AR, VR, AI and the metaverse is just days away. And once again, it seems like it will be a big year for smart glasses and AI. This year, the event will take a slightly different format than in the past. Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to kick things off with an evening keynote at 5PM PT on Wednesday, September 17. A developer keynote with other executives will take place the next morning on September 18, beginning at 10AM, with more t

Instagram fixed a bug that caused the reach of some users' Stories to shrink when they posted more than one Story a day, Instagram head Adam Mosseri shared on Friday . The fix addresses a common complaint shared by creators in the last year that they were disincentivized to use Stories because of how regularly using the feature impacted the number of people who actually saw their posts. People were complaining about getting less reach with their Stories if they posted lots of Stories in the same

Fans will have to wait a little bit longer for the hotly-anticipated Balatro 1.1 update. Developer LocalThunk just announced it will not be coming out in 2025 , despite previously promising a release this year. Instead, it'll come out when it's done. It's worth remembering that Balatro was created by a single person, and the same goes for this update. The lone developer also made the original balance patch and the well-regarded mobile port . He says he's well and truly burned out. LocalThunk apo

An iPad might be the most versatile Apple device you can buy. They can run apps and games like your phone yet they're as powerful as some laptops. You can use them to read books like on an ereader or watch shows like its a mini TV. But they're not the cheapest tablets out there, so it's wise to look for sales when you can find them. You won't see discounts directly from Apple, but Amazon , Target , Best Buy and B&H Photo often offer discounts on Apple's slates. All week long, we keep an eye out

Whenever there's a Nintendo Direct in September, you can be pretty sure that it'll be a major edition of the showcase. Given that Friday's one was scheduled to be about an hour long and that Nintendo has a whole new console to put games on , it was already likely that there was going to be a lot of news. Even then, it managed to be a jam-packed Direct. Let's take a look at all the biggest announcements from the showcase, including what's obviously the most important one: a Switch 2 version of Ov

It's official. The Switch 2 is getting the next entry in the long-running Fire Emblem series. Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave will be available sometime in 2026 , though we have nothing more specific than that. We do have a trailer and it looks gorgeous. It showed off the game's tactical combat, which is a mainstay for the franchise, and teased the story. It involves some sort of gladiator-like contest called the Heroic Games. There are plenty of new combat units and many of them boast gladiatorial

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether Amazon and Google misled advertisers regarding the pricing and terms for their ads. As first reported by Bloomberg , the investigation is being conducted by the agency's consumer protection unit, and centers around the auction-style sale of advertising space by the companies. Google sells ads using automated auctions that run after a user enters a search query. These auctions take place in less than a second. Amazon uses real-time auctions to

Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade comes out for the Switch 2 on January 22, 2026, which was revealed at today's lengthy Nintendo Direct livestream . This is the first entry in the remake trilogy and primarily takes place in the opening city of Midgar. You'll have to wait until Final Fantasy VII Rebirth to explore the overworld map, and there's no Switch 2 release date for that one yet. This release does include the Episode Intermission DLC , which involves the ninja Yuffie on a mission to stea

A square camera sensor may sound like one of those things only nerds would appreciate, but as part of the new front-facing 18-megapixel Center Stage camera on the iPhone 17 lineup, it could have massive implications for Apple's users. They'll no longer need to turn their phones to take a landscape selfie, especially if they need to fit a large group of people, as that's all handled automatically by Center Stage. It's the sort of Why didn't I think of that? feature that other phone makers will li

In one of the most unexpected announcements of today's Nintendo Direct, Game Freak revealed Pokmon Pokopia , a game that is clearly inspired by the Animal Crossing series. When Pokopia is released sometime next year, you'll assume the role of a Ditto determined to make a comfortable home for their friends. This Ditto has assumed the form of a human, and as they meet new Pokmon, they'll learn abilities they can use to transform their community. In turn, this work will lead to more Pokmon coming t

Nintendo had a truly wild surprise up its sleeve for Switch Online + Expansion Pack during its Direct event on Friday . The company is bringing back the Virtual Boy as a physical device into which you can slot your Switch or Switch 2. A plastic replica of the mid-90s tabletop system will soon be available for Switch Online members to buy. The company will sell a cardboard version of the accessory too. No need to rub your eyes in disbelief (but if history is any indication, you might have to for

Donkey Kong Bananza , probably my favorite game of the year , is getting a paid expansion today called DK Island & Emerald Rush. As the title implies, you'll get to explore the island where Donkey Kong hails from and visit a whole host of his friends while you're at it. Naturally, there is more to explore and find there, but there's also a whole new set of challenges once you've finished the main game story. That's the titular Emerald Rush. The timed missions involve you running around the islan

Supergiant has a thing for dropping its biggest Hades news at Nintendo Directs. Five years after launching the first game during a Nintendo stream , the developer struck again. The 1.0 version of Hades II is coming on September 25, for Switch and Switch 2. Of course, Hades II isn't exactly new to PC players. It's been in early access there for 16 months . Despite being a pre-release version, it has over 63,000 Steam reviews . Its reception averages very positive (and overwhelmingly positive for

The long-awaited Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is coming on December 4 to both the original Switch and the recently-released Switch 2, as announced during today's Nintendo Direct livestream . The Switch 2 is getting a dedicated version with upscaled graphics and some other bells and whistles, just like the upcoming Pokmon Legends: Z-A . We already knew the next Metroid would drop sometime in 2025 , but it's nice to have an actual release date. We got a nifty trailer for the first-person adventure earl

Switch 2 fans have a new Mario Tennis game to look forward to early next year. During Friday's Direct presentation, Nintendo announced Mario Tennis Fever . It's the first new entry in the long-running series since the release of Mario Tennis Aces in 2018. The new game will be a Switch 2 exclusive, with Nintendo promising plenty of tweaks to an established formula. For one, there are new defensive moves your character can take, including slides and dives, to prevent your opponent from scoring a

Nintendo is dropping a slew of Mario-related announcements this morning as part of the franchise's 40th anniversary, including a new game starring his dinosaur companion. Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is coming out for Switch 2 in the Spring of 2026 and the brief bit of gameplay we saw plants it squarely in the cutesy yet intriguing tradition of past Yoshi platformers. The game's worlds and levels appear to be part of a book named Mr. Encyclopedia (or Mr. E for short) that Yoshi can jump into an

Nintendo kicked off its latest Direct on Friday with a slew of Mario-related news to mark the 40th anniversary of its mascot. One of those announcements was for a Nintendo Switch 2 version of the delightful Super Mario Bros. Wonder , which is coming next spring. It will feature fresh multiplayer modes and other new features that Nintendo will reveal later. A region called Bellabel Park will open up. You'll be able to hop into several modes with family and friends, such as one that will see you c

Nintendo just dropped a trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie , the sequel to the immensely popular The Super Mario Bros. Movie . This is good timing, given that tomorrow is officially the mustached plumber's 40th birthday. It hits theaters on April TK, 2026. We've known this movie was coming for a while now , and even had an approximate release date . Now we have a trailer and it's a doozy. Shared during today's Nintendo Direct livestream event, the footage shows several deep-cut characters

Apple Music has a great deal going on right now for those interested in the Family Plan. New subscribers can get three free months of that plan which, at $17 per month normally, comes out to $51 in savings for the whole period. The Family Plan allows six different users to access the platform. It offers cross-device support and each user is tied to an Apple ID, so their favorite music won't mess with anyone else's algorithm. Apple Music actually topped our list of the best music streaming platf

Apple's iPhone Air launch may be delayed in China due to regulations around its eSIM-only nature, the South China Morning Post announced. Apple's mainland China site now states that release information [will] be updated later, where previously it said that pre-orders would start at 8PM on September 19. The Beijing branch of China Telecom has also pulled a post from the RedNote social media platform announcing that it would launch its eSIM service this month. All other iPhone models (the iPhone 1

This week, managing editor Cherlynn Low and senior reporter Karissa Bell are joined by The Verge's Allison Johnson to talk all about the new iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17. We also answered some questions from Threads and talk about our hopes and dreams from the next Apple event. Also, Devindra and Ben chat about some recent news, including a truly awful AI podcasting company. Subscribe! iTunes Spotify Pocket Casts Stitcher Google Podcasts Topics Cherlynn, Karissa, and a special guest b

Microsoft is no longer in trouble with the European Commission, at least when it comes to Teams. The commission has accepted the changes and commitments the company made in response to its concerns related to Microsoft's bundling of its Teams collaboration platform with its other apps. This particular antitrust saga started years ago when Slack filed an antitrust complaint against Microsoft, claiming that it illegally bundled its work chat competitor with the popular Office suite. The commission

Apple's Awe Dropping event started with dramatic health testimonials from Apple Watch users, then revealed a key new feature for the new Watch Series 11: hypertension alerts. The function had yet to receive FDA approval at the time, but that has now been granted, according to Bloomberg . As a result, it will reportedly be available to users in 150 countries when the Watch 11 and Ultra Watch 3 ship starting on September 19. Hypertension alerts can help detect hypertension (high blood pressure), a

As is often the case, the tech news tide is out after Apples iPhone 17 event. (Did we do a dedicated newsletter on all the announcements? Yes, yes we did.) Before the weekend, though, theres still more to read about. But lets start with the not-great tech news. David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, plans to make HBO more expensive and passwords a lot harder to share. These were part of his comments at a Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference, which sounds awful . The main thru

If you travel or sometimes work away from your desk, a laptop power bank may come in handy. These larger portable chargers pack enough power to refill a phone multiple times, a tablet a couple times over and get most laptops from near-dead to work-ready in around an hour. Over the past few years, Ive tested dozens of batteries for our power banks guide and a number of them make great options for laptops. These are the best laptop power banks based on our testing, along with a bit of info on how

The best gaming keyboards bring a greater feeling of comfort and control to your PC play time, whether youre sinking into a 100-hour RPG or sweating through an online shooter. They may not always feel as premium for typing as a good custom mechanical keyboard , but theyre usually a nice upgrade over the ordinary keyboards sitting around the office. To help anyone looking to upgrade, Ive spent more time researching gaming keyboards than any person reasonably should, testing dozens of well-reviewe

Microsoft and OpenAI have issued a joint statement to say that they have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding for the next phase of their partnership. The companies are still finalizing the terms of agreement and haven't shared the details of what their future would look like exactly. But according to The New York Times , the deal includes hows the parties share technology and and the revenue from those technologies. The new agreement also reportedly modifies the clause in the origin

Welcome to Video Games Weekly on Engadget. Expect a new story every Monday or Tuesday (Or, I dunno, Thursday), broken into two parts. The first is a space for short essays and ramblings about video game trends and related topics from me, Jess Conditt, a reporter who's covered the industry for more than 13 years. The second contains the video game stories from the past week that you need to know about, including some headlines from outside of Engadget. Please enjoy and I'll see you next week. Ea

Google Maps is in the process of recovering from an outage that left the mobile version of the service unable to fully load its map or provide directions. Over 4,000 reports were filed on Downdetector since the outage started, and Google's Status Dashboard noted that the company was investigating an issue with the Maps SDK and Navigation SDK at 3:34PM ET. At the peak of the outage, both the Android and iOS versions of Google Maps were unable to fully load a map, display listings or provide direc

Merriam-Webster and its parent company Encyclopedia Britannica are the latest to take on AI in court. The plaintiffs have sued Perplexity, claiming that AI company's answer engine product unlawfully copies their copyrighted materials. They are also alleging copyright infringement for instances where Perplexity's AI creates false or inaccurate hallucinations that it then wrongly attributes to Britannica or Merriam-Webster. The complaint , filed in New York federal court, is seeking unspecified mo

The US Department of Justice sued Uber on Thursday over disability discrimination again. The lawsuit claims the company and its drivers routinely refuse to serve individuals with disabilities. It specifically calls out its handling of passengers with service animals or stowable wheelchairs. The suit was filed in federal court in Northern California. Despite the importance of its services to people with disabilities, Uber denies people with disabilities full and equal enjoyment of its services in

Paramount Skydance, apparently now in a state of permanent merger, plans to make a bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, The Wall Street Journal reports . The company was recently formed following Skydance's acquisition of Paramount for $8 billion. Newly anointed Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison was able to afford the acquisition thanks to the backing of his billionaire father , Larry Ellison. Despite Warner Bros. Discovery's public plans to split back into Warner Bros. and Discovery Global

Apples September event put the spotlight on iPhones , but the Apple Watch Series 11 quietly picked up some big quality-of-life changes. The new watch looks the same as the Series 10, but there are meaningful upgrades: 24-hour battery life (up from 18 hours), 5G connectivity on cellular models and tougher Ion-X glass on aluminum versions. The Series 11 also debuts a new health feature, hypertension notifications, which will alert you if your data shows consistent signs of high blood pressure. Imp

Franoise Cadol is the voice actor for Lara Croft in the French localizations of the Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered games. She has sent a legal notice to the games' publisher, Aspyr, alleging that a recent patch used artificial intelligence to alter her performance without her consent. The news was originally reported by French publication Le Parisien and picked up by Game Developer . According to August 2025 patch notes for the remastered game collection, Tomb Raider VI was updated with some adjus

The Federal Trade Commission is making a formal inquiry into companies that provide AI chatbots that can act as companions. The investigation isn't tied to any kind of regulatory action as of yet, but does aim to reveal how companies measure, test, and monitor potentially negative impacts of this technology on children and teens. Seven companies are being asked to participate in the FTC's investigation: Google's parent company Alphabet, Character Technologies (the creator of Character.AI), Meta,

Grok has once again been caught spreading blatant misinformation on X. In several bizarre exchanges, the chatbot repeatedly claimed that Charlie Kirk was fine and that gruesome videos of his assassination were a meme edit. In one exchange shortly after videos of the shooting began to spread on X, one user tagged Grok and asked if Kirk could have survived the shooting. Grok's response was nonsensical. Charlie Kirk takes the roast in stride with a laugh he's faced tougher crowds, it wrote . Yes, h

Senators Edward J. Markey, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley sent a letter Thursday to Acting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons urging the agency to stop using Mobile Fortify, a smartphone app that uses biometric identification, including facial recognition. The lawmakers said facial recognition remains unreliable and warned that real-time surveillance could have a chilling effect on constitutionally protected activities. As studies have shown, when individuals believe th

Google is rolling out an update for Gmail on mobile and the web that will make it easier to track emails for your deliveries. The most prominent change you'll see is a new Purchases tab, where Gmail will put all your delivery emails so you can view them in one place. In the app, you'll be able to access the new view via the side menu. Just click the hamburger icon in the text box at the top of the interface. Even though deliveries now have their own tab, Gmail will still show packages that are s

The International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) and MotoGP are putting the MotoE electric bike world championship on hiatus following the 2025 season. The organizations cite a lack of viewership and an electric performance motorcycle market that has not developed as expected. Today we announce the suspension of the FIM MotoE World Championship, FIM President Jorge Viegas said in a statement. Despite all the best efforts to promote this innovative category together with (MotoGP rights holder) Dor

The iPhone 17 event last Tuesday revealed the latest Phone 17 lineup including the ultra-thin iPhone Air . (You can catch up on everything Apple announced or rewatch the full iPhone 17 launch .) The company rounded out its announcements with three new Apple Watch models, as well as the all-new AirPods Pro 3. The even better news is that many of us sticking with older iPhones will finally be able to install iOS 26 in just a few days: It arrives Monday, September 15, alongside all of Apple's othe