Verizon’s wireless network is down for many people nationwide

Verizon’s wireless network is down for many people nationwide

The first big outage of 2026 is here, as Verizon customers across the US, including several of our phones, complain that service has been spotty or nonexistent starting at around noon ET, with phones switching to SOS Mode and being unable to connect. This cell service outage follows a “software issue” that cut off service…

Meta’s metaverse layoffs apparently include some of its VR studios

Meta’s metaverse layoffs apparently include some of its VR studios

Marvel’s Deadpool VR. Meta is laying off about 10 percent of its Reality Labs metaverse division, and the cuts include closing down some of its VR gaming studios. Twisted Pixel Games, the developer of Marvel’s Deadpool VR, Sanzaru Games, the developer of the Asgard’s Wrath franchise, and Armature Studio, which worked on the Resident Evil…

Lego Smart Brick: watch an immersive 15-minute demo like you’re right there with us at CES

Lego Smart Brick: watch an immersive 15-minute demo like you’re right there with us at CES

Sean Hollister demos the Lego Smart Brick at CES. The Lego Smart Brick won our Best in Show award at CES 2026, and it was no wonder after watching Lego designer Maarten Simons’ expert demo there. So I thought: why not let you virtually attend the same tech demo I did? Before I left Las…

Verizon gets FCC permission to end 60-day phone unlocking rule

Verizon gets FCC permission to end 60-day phone unlocking rule

Verizon can keep phones locked to its network for longer after the Federal Communications Commission agreed to waive the carrier’s 60-day unlocking requirement, as reported by Ars Technica. Following this decision, Verizon must follow a looser set of guidelines set by the CTIA wireless trade group, which says carriers should only unlock a customer’s postpaid…

Nissan is one of the first carmakers to offer magnetic phone chargers in the US

Nissan is one of the first carmakers to offer magnetic phone chargers in the US

Wireless phone chargers are now common in vehicles, but they’re typically missing one very useful feature. Nissan announced last month that it will be the first automaker in the US to offer wireless chargers with a magnetic mount, ensuring charging coils remain aligned for faster charging of mobile devices, even while a vehicle is in…

Mercedes temporarily scraps its Level 3 ‘eyes-off’ driving feature

Mercedes temporarily scraps its Level 3 ‘eyes-off’ driving feature

Mercedes-Benz is pausing the roll-out of Drive Pilot, an “eyes off” conditionally automated driving feature that was available in Europe and the US. As first reported by German publication Handelsblatt, the revised S-Class will not have the Level 3 system when it arrives at the end of this month. Mercedes was one of the first…

Anthropic wants you to use Claude to ‘Cowork’ in latest AI agent push

Anthropic wants you to use Claude to ‘Cowork’ in latest AI agent push

Anthropic wants to expand Claude’s AI agent capabilities and take advantage of the growing hype around Claude Code – and it’s doing it with a brand-new feature released Monday, dubbed “Claude Cowork.” “Cowork can take on many of the same tasks that Claude Code can handle, but in a more approachable form for non-coding tasks,”…

Democrats should reject tech influence to win elections, Warren says

Democrats should reject tech influence to win elections, Warren says

The path forward for the Democratic party after its 2024 defeat includes less tech influence and more populist policies, according to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Warren delivered this message in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on Monday, where she charted a vision for the future of a party that’s still…