Tractive is offering Whistle users a free replacement pet tracker. | Image: Tractive Tractive, an Austrian company that makes smart location and activity trackers for dogs and cats, is expanding its presence in the US by acquiring a competitor, Whistle, from Mars Petcare. As a result of the acquisition, the Whistle platform is being shut…
The Fujifilm X-E5 has a familiar but gorgeous new look. The X-E5 is Fujifilm’s tiny powerhouse. It’s part of a line of cameras that has often been described as similar to the X100, except with an interchangeable lens. But the X-E line has evolved this year and is taking on a new shape. It used…
Back-to-school season is closer than you might realize, especially for college students, many of whom are set to return to campus in a matter of a few short weeks. And while school can be a challenging time on many fronts, regardless of the grade, there are tools that can help you better prepare for life…
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 91, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, how is summer more than a month over already, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I’m pondering the leaked Pixel 10 lineup, marveling…
We’re in the heart of summer fun, but it’s already time for back-to-school planning, especially if that involves buying a new laptop. The dizzying number of different laptops and configurations can feel overwhelming, especially if you want something that doesn’t cost too much but will still last a long time. My general guidelines are to…
When it comes to defending Donald Trump from the worst accusations, the MAGA influencer-industrial complex, whether out of loyalty or self-preservation, often defaults to whataboutism, arguing that the Democrats are just as guilty as Trump, or (ideally) worse. This principle has held true with the current Jeffrey Epstein saga, and as their audience’s anger against…
Point-and-click adventure games often tell silly, lighthearted stories. For me, the mishaps of the pirate Guybrush Threepwood in the Monkey Island series come to mind. The nature of the genre – wandering around, talking to people, and trying to solve puzzles – lends itself well to humor, as every interaction with a person or object…
The OnePlus Nord 5 does exactly what the company’s Nord phones have always done: deliver strong specs at a relatively low price. It’s one of the more powerful phones at this price point and should easily outstrip Samsung and Google’s more expensive alternatives. This is a function-over-form phone, one where the key selling points are…
When new employees start at Weta Workshop, they’re herded into a meeting room with a long, unassuming conference table. On the walls, behind panes of glass and in between statues, swords, and masks, are five Oscars. Four of them were awarded to the studio for its efforts on Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings…
This week, I take a look at the surprisingly strong state of Google, Meta gets a new chief AI researcher, and more. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out this week’s Decoder episode about deepfakes and where they are headed. Also, do you use an AI coding tool like Cursor or GitHub Copilot?…
