Alex Cranz

MagSafe isn’t a particularly controversial standard, but I’ve heard people grumble about it. They get upset because it doesn’t charge quite as efficiently as an old-fashioned cable and they get annoyed that any phone case needs to be MagSafe-compatible. But could charging by cable provide you with something as stupidly fun as this new phone stand from Elago? The Elago MagSafe MS W5 Charging Stand is a mouthful of a name for what’s just a Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP shaped MagSafe stand. Do the…

There are two types of parents I’m friends with: those who let their kids watch YouTube and those who work very hard to keep their kids as far from YouTube as possible. Given I know at least one small child who developed an obsession with dictators after getting around the YouTube parental controls, I understand the divide. Streaming services seem to understand that divide, too, and are eager to provide an alternative to YouTube that gives parents all the set-and-forget appeal of YouTube without…

In a press release festooned with enough emoji to confuse it with a X post from a cryptobro, American’s major passenger train company announced it wants to figure out how to get high speed Wi-Fi blanketing its Northeast Corridor. Companies that want to pitch it on ideas to improve the Wi-Fi can fill out a questionaire that requires Google Chrome but looks like it was designed for Netscape Navigator. [Attachment: https://media.amtrak.com/2024/05/amtrak-continues-advancing-wi-fi-connectivity/]

Credit where it’s due: the commercial for the new iPad Pro is impeccable. In the commercial, a hydraulic press, like the kind that crushes Skittles all day on TikTok, slowly descends onto a whole amalgamation of artistic endeavors. As the large metal plate drops like Tesla’s stock in 2024, it crushes musical instruments and destroys classical sculptures. Tubes of paint pop like balloons sending a cascade of color across Apple’s carefully constructed canvas of stuff. Finally, it accomplishes its…

Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max are teaming up for a new bundle this summer, Netflix is focused on the WWE and celebrity boxing, Disney Plus is getting ESPN, and Bloomberg reported earlier this week that Max could get a price hike. A familiar refrain emerged around all this news: streaming is becoming cable TV all over again and getting crummier in the process. And it’s true! When streaming first emerged, it was a beautiful alternative to piracy, which was very convenient and very illegal, and cable…

Google I/O introduced an AI assistant that can see and hear the world, while OpenAI put its version of a Her-like chatbot into an iPhone. Next week, Microsoft will be hosting Build, where it’s sure to have some version of Copilot or Cortana that understands pivot tables. Then, a few weeks after that, Apple will host its own developer conference, and if the buzz is anything to go by, it’ll be talking about artificial intelligence, too. (Unclear if Siri will be mentioned.) AI is here! It’s no lon…

Buying a laptop from a major maker like HP can be infuriating — mainly because there are too many options. HP and other laptop makers do this to give us all “choice,” but if you are the kind of person who uses “RAM” and “storage” interchangeably, those choices can be confounding — which might be one reason HP’s using today’s big AI and Windows on Arm moment to also clean up its whole lineup. Gone are the Envys and Pavilions and Dragonflies, and in their places are the consumer-focused OmniBook…

Well, here’s Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, signing a woman’s chest in a crowded booth at Computex. In the video below, you can see he asks whether this is a good idea before he eventually signs the woman’s top. He then returns to signing more traditional fare. [Media: https://www.threads.net/@__199504__/post/C7yvRsqpA90] This isn’t an unusual sight when it comes to actors or musicians. But can you imagine Tim Cook doing that after an iPhone event? Or Sundar Pichai after Google I/O? [Media: ht…

If you want to be technical about it, 8K was never especially viable on the PS5 to begin with, but when the system launched in 2020 TV makers were heavily pushing 8K as the next big thing and Sony wanted to futureproof its pricey platform. With a PS5 Pro coming soon, and likely supporting more robust 8K, removing 8K claims off the PS5 box isn’t a surprise.

Meta is apparently deprioritizing VR and its Oculus business to focus on reproducing the surprising success of its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. And it makes sense — VR is out, AI is in, and Meta’s smart glasses are the absolute standout gadget thus far for AI. But in the same week that Alex Heath reported this shake-up in Command Line, The Information reported that Apple is focusing on a cheaper Vision headset in favor of a successor to the Vision Pro. Something’s happening here, and it feels lik…

The problem with most e-readers is they’re not really intended for reading books. They’re meant to sell you books. Amazon, which has the biggest market share in the US, is especially notable for doing this, but Barnes & Noble is guilty of the same thing. Kobo is perhaps the least offensive about this — it’s got Pocket and Overdrive integration! But oftentimes, when I found myself totally enamored with Kobo’s gorgeous new color e-readers, I’d suddenly get slapped with the reminder: this thing is…

On The Vergecast: The DOJ vs Google, Elon Musk’s very latest silly lawsuit, and a TV shootout.

We had a small argument.

It’s got the prettiest color in the world of E Ink.

I recently started using the Remarkable Paper Pro as a daily planner, but the included planner themes are pretty bland. Which is what led me down a rabbit hole and over to Etsy where people sell whole layouts (in PDF format) that put much more robust planners on your device. The fact that I can just wipe it clean when it’s time to start over and very cathartic — and convenient.

New iPhones, Apple Watches, and AirPods.

From platform moderation on Facebook and YouTube to big government struggles like the FCC and privacy regulation, policy is where we take on the rules of the internet. Watch here to follow Ajit Pai’s ongoing fight against net neutrality, and Europe’s push to protect its citizens’ data with the GDPR.…

X could be unblocked soon.

He’s not the only former Apple person working on it, either.

Let’s be clear about something: the wardrobe malfunction was Justin’s fault.