Researchers claim most Google Pixel phones shipped with exploitable bloatware since 2017

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Just days after Apple announced a new hearing aid feature for the second-generation AirPods Pro, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the software that powers this functionality. In a press release, the FDA describes Apple’s solution as “the first over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid software device.”…

Lego’s McLaren P1 isn’t quite as fast as the real deal. | Image: Lego After releasing a 24-inch long scale replica of the McLaren P1 earlier this year, Lego has now debuted a full-size, driveable version of the hypercar built from over 342,817 Technic pieces and powered by hundreds of Lego electric motors. That eclipses…

Check out the best Amazon deals of the day as of Sept. 12: OUR TOP PICK Roborock S8 Pro Ultra $949.99 at Amazon (save $650) Get Deal BEST HEADPHONES DEAL Beats Fit Pro $159 at Amazon (save $40.95) Get Deal BEST SOUNDBAR DEAL JBL Bar 9.1 soundbar $584 at Amazon (save $615.95) Get Deal BEST…

One of the reasons iPhones cost as much as they do is Apple knows most people aren’t paying full price for them. You’re almost always trading in an old device or getting some kind of carrier discount, right? Well, if you’re doing the former, you may want to keep your old iPhone in good shape….

SAVE 58%: Get the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic (47 mm) for just $199.99 at Amazon, marked down from its normal price of $479.99. That’s a discount of $280 and the lowest price we’ve seen. Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic $199.99 at Amazon $479.99 Save $280.00 Get Deal…

On mobile, you get a one-tap unsubscribe under annoying website notifications from Chrome. | Image: Google Google is expanding a Chrome safety feature to help you cancel pesky website notifications with a single tap. It’s already available on Pixels and is coming to more Android devices; adding a simple unsubscribe button in the notification so…

Roland just released the Aira Compact P-6, a battery-powered sampler with a built-in microphone for capturing ideas quickly. There’s also a USB-C port and analog inputs for plugging in a higher-grade mic, a smartphone or an actual computer for even more sampling opportunities. Roland calls it a “roving recorder,” likely because it’s nearly small enough…

Looking for some peace of mind when it comes to keeping tabs on your home? We’ve spotted some steep discounts on home security systems and cameras that are sure to help, regardless of your budget. Here are some top picks: Best home security deals Best overall deal SimpliSafe wireless home security system (8 piece) $143.99…

In 2000, my long-suffering mother took my brother and his friends to the local theater for a showing of Pokémon the Movie 2000. The boys were six or seven and had happily been swept up in the burgeoning cultural phenomenon dubbed “Pokémania.” My mother, perplexed by the whole affair, read a book in the back…

Who is afraid of little old Taylor Swift? After Tuesday night, Republicans should be. After the presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump on Sept. 10, Swift took to Instagram to publicly endorse Harris. But she didn’t stop there. The popstar also added a custom voter registration link to her…

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Meta has acknowledged that all text and photos that adult Facebook and Instagram users have publicly published since 2007 have been fed into its artificial intelligence models. Australia’s ABC News reports that Meta’s global privacy director, Melinda Claybaugh, initially rejected claims about user data from 2007 being leveraged…

Disney’s current promo runs through September 27th and extends to both new and returning subscribers. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Like most streaming services, the price of a Disney Plus is about to go up in the not-so-distant future. Fortunately for those dreading the $2 price hike — which is due to…

Image: The Flappy Bird Foundation A self-described “team of passionate fans committed to sharing the game with the world” says it’s acquired the rights to Flappy Bird, the iconic mobile game whose creator took it offline less than a year after it was released. Now, “The Flappy Bird Foundation Group” will relaunch the game on…

TL;DR: Enjoy 5 years of privacy, security, and ad-free browsing with AdGuard VPN for $34.97 through September 29. Opens in a new window Credit: AdGuard AdGuard VPN $34.97 $359.40 Save $324.43 5-year subscription Get Deal Navigating the internet without protection is like leaving your front door wide open. But with AdGuard VPN, you can lock…

Completing Elden Ring and its Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is no mean feat with hundreds of bosses to take on, never mind actually navigating through the twists and turns of the sprawling open-world environment in order to get to them. While you may be accustomed to FromSoftware’s mechanics by now, especially if you’ve played…

SAVE $150: As of September 12, get a refurbished pair of Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones at Bose. Opens in a new window Credit: Bose Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones (Refurbished) $279.00 at Bose $429.00 Save $150.00 Get Deal Time for a new pair of headphones? You’ve got tons of options. But if you don’t mind spending…

SAVE UP TO $24: For a limited time, subscribe to Disney+ Basic with ads for just $1.99 a month for three months. That’s $8 off the regular price of $9.99 per month, or $24 in total savings. Opens in a new window Credit: Disney Disney+ Basic $1.99 at Disney+ $9.99 Save $8.00 Get Disney+ Basic…

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images We’ve been covering the rise of AI image editing very closely here on Decoder and at The Verge overall for several years now — the ability to create photorealistic images with nothing more than a chatbot prompt has the potential to completely reset our cultural relationship with…

An aerial photo of a warehouse next to homes in Bloomington, California. | Photo by Wes Reel for The Verge The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just handed communities a powerful new way to hold nearby warehouses accountable for the pollution they create. Until recently, air quality regulations largely overlooked tailpipe pollution choking neighborhoods near sprawling…

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge These days, there are so many digital subscriptions out there — music, movies, fitness, cloud storage, software, podcasts, audiobooks, Patreons, security cameras, AI bots, and more — that it’s perfectly understandable if you start losing track of what exactly you’re signed up for. To make things even more…

A decade after its untimely demise and countless clones later, the original Flappy Bird is coming back. Under the banner of the Flappy Bird Foundation, some dedicated fans acquired the rights to the viral mobile hit, per a press release. Flappy Bird will return to iOS and Android as native mobile apps in 2025. But…

GM and Hyundai executives announced a new partnership to codevelop vehicles. | Image: Hyundai Auto tie-ups are nothing new, but they have become more frequent and wide-ranging in the age of clean energy and alternate fuel sources, as companies seek to spread out the cost and risk of adopting expensive new technologies. The latest alignment…

Microsoft has said it is investigating an issue where some users may be unable to access some Microsoft 365 services, after thousands of outage reports related to the workplace productivity software. According to the outage tracking website Downdetector.com, there were nearly 23,000 incidents of people reporting issues with Microsoft 365. An additional 4,300 reported problems…

Microsoft users reported lots of issues and outages on Thursday. The issue appeared to lie with its 365 subscription, which can feature popular and necessary services like Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, Excel, and more. “We’re investigating an issue where users may be unable to access multiple Microsoft 365 services,” the company posted on X. “Please look…

Google’s latest update for its AI-powered research tool NotebookLM can turn the materials you want to pore over into a podcast-like audio discussion. The new feature called Audio Overview takes information from documents you’ve uploaded and then generates a “deep dive” discussion between two AI hosts. In addition to summarizing your sources, Google says the…

Illustration: Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos: Getty Images Apple revealed its iPhone 16 lineup on Monday, and the big selling point was Apple Intelligence. Apple’s on-device AI system offers splashy features like the ability to rewrite emails, generate custom emoji, and a significantly upgraded Siri. But underneath it all, AI is delivering one…

French AI startup Mistral has released its first ever multimodal model called Pixtral 12B, competing with the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic. The 12-billion-parameter model is capable of processing both images and text, and currently uses its existing text-based model Nemo 12B. Pixtral 12B is expected to be integrated into the company’s chatbot, Le Chat,…

Are you looking for a pair of earbuds that will let you enjoy music on your commute without costing so much you have to cut out your daily iced coffee? Well, Anker’s Soundcore Space A40 wireless earbuds are 40 percent off right now, dropping to $48, down from $80. This deal brings the earbuds to…

Apple announced a slate of new products at its keynote event on Monday (September 9), including two new AirPods 4 wireless earbuds, which succeeded the second-generation AirPods from 2019 and the AirPods 3 from 2021. While audiophiles were hoping for a major upgrade of the AirPods Max, the surprising development came from its new AirPods…

Privatey-trained astronaut Jared Isaacman emerges from the capsule. | Screenshot: SpaceX SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn astronauts successfully performed a spacewalk, marking the first done by a private company. After depressurizing SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, the billionaire funding the mission, Jared Isaacman, emerged from the spacecraft early Thursday morning. With his torso and head fully sticking outside the…