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The Blink Sync Module XR extends the range of Blink’s flagship outdoor camera beyond Wi-Fi. | Image: Blink

Amazon’s budget smart security camera company Blink has announced the availability of its new Sync Module XR. The third generation of its system hub, the XR can extend the range of its battery-powered Blink Outdoor 4 cameras up to 400 feet, thanks to a new proprietary long-range radio embedded in its custom-built silicon. But the increase in range does come with a tradeoff in video quality.
The Sync Module XR costs $59.99 and, at launch, is being sold in a bundle with a free Outdoor 4 camera (regularly $99). A Wi-Fi bridge for Blink cameras, the module can extend coverage for new and existing Outdoor 4 cameras up to 250 feet in XR mode and 400 feet in XR Plus mode. That’s four times the range of Blink’s current Sync Module 2, Blink’s head of product, Jonathan Cohn, told The Verge. “XR is a proprietary protocol custom built on the 900MHz frequency to support our video transmission needs at ultra-low power,” he said.

Image: Blink
The Blink Outdoor 4 battery-powered camera and the new Sync Module XR. The XR uses a USB-C cable.

Based on Blink’s tests, the XR protocol can penetrate one exterior wall to cover up to 400 feet, but video quality suffers the further you go. “At 250 feet, XR delivers up to 720p and 360p at 400 feet,” says Cohn. This is down from the standard 1080p you get with a strong Wi-Fi connection.
The reduction in video quality seems likely to make the cameras less useful for security and more helpful for things like wildlife watching. Making out faces or license plates at 360p in the dark seems unlikely, but we plan to test them and find out.

Image: Blink
This graphic illustrates the potential distance a Blink Outdoor 4 camera can reach with the new Sync Module XR.

Blink’s compact, no-frills cameras are known for their long battery life and low prices. There are few bells and whistles, but the Blink Outdoor 4 can last up to two years on two AA batteries (up to four with the extension pack). This, combined with the new long-range capability, makes them handy for placement at the extreme corners of your property to monitor a shed, driveway, chicken coop, or any place Wi-Fi doesn’t reach.

Few camera companies have solved the problem of extending connectivity beyond your home’s walls. Security cameras mounted just outside your home should be able to connect to Wi-Fi, but anything further out may struggle to stream footage unless you buy an outdoor Wi-Fi extender or invest in LTE-powered cameras, which require a monthly subscription for connectivity.
Blink cameras don’t require a subscription for connectivity or recorded footage (although one is available for $3 a month); instead, the Sync Module XR can record footage locally, storing up to 256GB on a microSD card (not included). That’s up from the 128GB of storage available on the previous version of the hub, the Sync Module 2 ($49.99), which uses a USB stick, not a microSD card.
The Sync Module XR can only extend the range of the Blink Outdoor 4 camera over the XR protocol, and currently only two at a time. However, the module supports up to 10 Blink cameras running on Wi-Fi while also providing local storage for recorded video. This includes the wired Blink Mini 2, the Blink Video Doorbell, the wired Blink Floodlight Camera, and previous generations of Blink cameras.
The Blink Sync Module XR is available now at Amazon for $59.99. An introductory offer includes a free Blink Outdoor 4 when you buy a Sync Module XR. Beginning in January, the price for a bundle of a Sync Module XR with the camera will be $139.99. With Black Friday coming up, the current Sync Module 2 ($49.99), which is often sold in a bundle with Blink cameras, will likely see some steep discounts. But you’ll need the new XR module if you want the new capabilities.

The Blink Sync Module XR extends the range of Blink’s flagship outdoor camera beyond Wi-Fi. | Image: Blink

Amazon’s budget smart security camera company Blink has announced the availability of its new Sync Module XR. The third generation of its system hub, the XR can extend the range of its battery-powered Blink Outdoor 4 cameras up to 400 feet, thanks to a new proprietary long-range radio embedded in its custom-built silicon. But the increase in range does come with a tradeoff in video quality.

The Sync Module XR costs $59.99 and, at launch, is being sold in a bundle with a free Outdoor 4 camera (regularly $99). A Wi-Fi bridge for Blink cameras, the module can extend coverage for new and existing Outdoor 4 cameras up to 250 feet in XR mode and 400 feet in XR Plus mode. That’s four times the range of Blink’s current Sync Module 2, Blink’s head of product, Jonathan Cohn, told The Verge. “XR is a proprietary protocol custom built on the 900MHz frequency to support our video transmission needs at ultra-low power,” he said.

Image: Blink
The Blink Outdoor 4 battery-powered camera and the new Sync Module XR. The XR uses a USB-C cable.

Based on Blink’s tests, the XR protocol can penetrate one exterior wall to cover up to 400 feet, but video quality suffers the further you go. “At 250 feet, XR delivers up to 720p and 360p at 400 feet,” says Cohn. This is down from the standard 1080p you get with a strong Wi-Fi connection.

The reduction in video quality seems likely to make the cameras less useful for security and more helpful for things like wildlife watching. Making out faces or license plates at 360p in the dark seems unlikely, but we plan to test them and find out.

Image: Blink
This graphic illustrates the potential distance a Blink Outdoor 4 camera can reach with the new Sync Module XR.

Blink’s compact, no-frills cameras are known for their long battery life and low prices. There are few bells and whistles, but the Blink Outdoor 4 can last up to two years on two AA batteries (up to four with the extension pack). This, combined with the new long-range capability, makes them handy for placement at the extreme corners of your property to monitor a shed, driveway, chicken coop, or any place Wi-Fi doesn’t reach.

Few camera companies have solved the problem of extending connectivity beyond your home’s walls. Security cameras mounted just outside your home should be able to connect to Wi-Fi, but anything further out may struggle to stream footage unless you buy an outdoor Wi-Fi extender or invest in LTE-powered cameras, which require a monthly subscription for connectivity.

Blink cameras don’t require a subscription for connectivity or recorded footage (although one is available for $3 a month); instead, the Sync Module XR can record footage locally, storing up to 256GB on a microSD card (not included). That’s up from the 128GB of storage available on the previous version of the hub, the Sync Module 2 ($49.99), which uses a USB stick, not a microSD card.

The Sync Module XR can only extend the range of the Blink Outdoor 4 camera over the XR protocol, and currently only two at a time. However, the module supports up to 10 Blink cameras running on Wi-Fi while also providing local storage for recorded video. This includes the wired Blink Mini 2, the Blink Video Doorbell, the wired Blink Floodlight Camera, and previous generations of Blink cameras.

The Blink Sync Module XR is available now at Amazon for $59.99. An introductory offer includes a free Blink Outdoor 4 when you buy a Sync Module XR. Beginning in January, the price for a bundle of a Sync Module XR with the camera will be $139.99. With Black Friday coming up, the current Sync Module 2 ($49.99), which is often sold in a bundle with Blink cameras, will likely see some steep discounts. But you’ll need the new XR module if you want the new capabilities.

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Image: Archer

Archer Aviation, a leading electric flight company based in San Jose, California, is bringing its futuristic air taxis to Japan. The company will sell 100 of its Midnight battery-powered aircraft to Soracle, a joint venture between Japan Airlines and Sumitomo Corporation, in a deal valued approximately at $500 million.
Archer says that Soracle plans on deploying its aircraft — which look like a cross between a drone and a helicopter — “in cities where existing ground transportation is constrained by traffic or geographic barriers,” the company said. Still, Archer will need to achieve “certain milestones in advanced aircraft delivery” before Soracle approves pre-delivery payments.
“in cities where existing ground transportation is constrained by traffic or geographic barriers”
The deal is the latest to buoy Archer’s prospects of launching commercial air taxi services in cities across the world, which is says it plans on doing in the years to come. Midnight is a four-seat aircraft plus one pilot, with a range of up to 100 miles (nearly 160km), though it’s designed for back-to-back flights of 20-50 miles with minimal charge time in between. It can travel at speeds of up to 150mph (241 km/h) on pure battery power. And using tilt rotors, Midnight is designed to take off and land vertically like a helicopter and then transition into forward flight like a plane.
Archer says it will work with Soracle and the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau to obtain the necessary permissions and certifications. Archer says it has already begun discussions and “intends to formally apply for concurrent type certificate validation from JCAB in the near future.” The company recently received a Part 135 air carrier certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration, which the company will need to operate an on-demand air taxi service. It is currently seeking a type certification for its Midnight air taxi, which means the aircraft meets all the FAA’s design and safety standards.
Archer came out of stealth in spring 2020 after having poached key talent from Wisk (formerly Kitty Hawk) and Airbus’ Vahana project. (Wisk later sued for alleged trade secret theft, which was finally settled late last year.) The company has a $1 billion order from United Airlines for its aircraft and a deal to mass-produce its eVTOL craft with global automaker Stellantis.
Alongside Archer, other electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) companies hope to eventually win full FAA approval. That got a boost just a few weeks ago, when the agency published highly anticipated final regulations for eVTOL vehicles that it says will chart the path for the “air travel of the future.” Archer praised the FAA for “providing clear direction on what is required for the safe operation of eVTOL aircraft in the U.S.”
Air taxis, sometimes misidentified by the mainstream media as “flying cars,” are essentially helicopters without the noisy, polluting gas motors (though they certainly have their own unique noise profile). In addition to Archer, companies like Joby Aviation, Volocopter, and Beta Technologies have claimed they are on the cusp of launching services that will eventually scale up nationwide. But others have floundered; German company Lilium recently said that two of its subsidiaries were insolvent and could cease operations.

Image: Archer

Archer Aviation, a leading electric flight company based in San Jose, California, is bringing its futuristic air taxis to Japan. The company will sell 100 of its Midnight battery-powered aircraft to Soracle, a joint venture between Japan Airlines and Sumitomo Corporation, in a deal valued approximately at $500 million.

Archer says that Soracle plans on deploying its aircraft — which look like a cross between a drone and a helicopter — “in cities where existing ground transportation is constrained by traffic or geographic barriers,” the company said. Still, Archer will need to achieve “certain milestones in advanced aircraft delivery” before Soracle approves pre-delivery payments.

The deal is the latest to buoy Archer’s prospects of launching commercial air taxi services in cities across the world, which is says it plans on doing in the years to come. Midnight is a four-seat aircraft plus one pilot, with a range of up to 100 miles (nearly 160km), though it’s designed for back-to-back flights of 20-50 miles with minimal charge time in between. It can travel at speeds of up to 150mph (241 km/h) on pure battery power. And using tilt rotors, Midnight is designed to take off and land vertically like a helicopter and then transition into forward flight like a plane.

Archer says it will work with Soracle and the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau to obtain the necessary permissions and certifications. Archer says it has already begun discussions and “intends to formally apply for concurrent type certificate validation from JCAB in the near future.” The company recently received a Part 135 air carrier certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration, which the company will need to operate an on-demand air taxi service. It is currently seeking a type certification for its Midnight air taxi, which means the aircraft meets all the FAA’s design and safety standards.

Archer came out of stealth in spring 2020 after having poached key talent from Wisk (formerly Kitty Hawk) and Airbus’ Vahana project. (Wisk later sued for alleged trade secret theft, which was finally settled late last year.) The company has a $1 billion order from United Airlines for its aircraft and a deal to mass-produce its eVTOL craft with global automaker Stellantis.

Alongside Archer, other electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) companies hope to eventually win full FAA approval. That got a boost just a few weeks ago, when the agency published highly anticipated final regulations for eVTOL vehicles that it says will chart the path for the “air travel of the future.” Archer praised the FAA for “providing clear direction on what is required for the safe operation of eVTOL aircraft in the U.S.”

Air taxis, sometimes misidentified by the mainstream media as “flying cars,” are essentially helicopters without the noisy, polluting gas motors (though they certainly have their own unique noise profile). In addition to Archer, companies like Joby Aviation, Volocopter, and Beta Technologies have claimed they are on the cusp of launching services that will eventually scale up nationwide. But others have floundered; German company Lilium recently said that two of its subsidiaries were insolvent and could cease operations.

Read More 

Illustration: The Verge

It’s been two long years since the launch of Matter — the one smart home standard designed to rule them all — and there’s been a fair amount of disappointment around a sometimes buggy rollout, slow adoption by companies like Apple, Amazon, and Google, and frustrating set-up experiences.
However, the launch of the Matter 1.4 specification this week shows some signs that the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA, the organization behind Matter) is using more sticks and fewer carrots to get the smart home industry coalition to cooperate.
The new spec introduces “enhanced multi-admin,” an improvement on multi-admin — the much-touted interoperability feature that means your Matter smart light can work in multiple ecosystems simultaneously. It brings a solution for making Thread border routers from different companies play nicely together and introduces a potentially easier way to add Matter infrastructure to homes through Wi-Fi routers and access points.
Arguably, these should have all been in place when Matter launched. But now, two years later, the CSA is finally implementing the fixes that could help move the standard forward.
These are all things that should have been in place when Matter launched.
Matter 1.4 also brings some big updates to energy management support, including adding heat pumps, home batteries, and solar panels as Matter device types.
Disappointingly, security cameras didn’t make it in this time. The CSA’s CTO, Chris LaPré, tells The Verge that while support for cameras is still part of the plan, there’s no timeline for a release. However, he points out that with 1.4, Matter now covers almost every other device category in the home. Which should provide a solid foundation to move the standard forward.
However, this week’s release is just the spec. Now that it’s out, device makers and platforms can start integrating the features into their products and ecosystems. Based on the slow rollout of support for devices and features in previous versions of Matter across both manufacturers and the major platforms, it could be a while until we see any impact from Matter 1.4. Additionally, not every device or ecosystem that works with Matter is required to adopt every part of the Matter spec, so all these features may not come to every ecosystem.

The Verge reached out to Apple, Google, Amazon, and Samsung to ask if and when they planned to adopt any of the new features and device types in 1.4. As of publication, we had heard back from Amazon and Google. Both companies say they plan to adopt Matter 1.4 but didn’t provide a specific timeline.
“The Matter 1.4 update will start rolling out to supported Echo and Eero devices early next year,” says Amazon spokesperson Connor Rice. “Over time, we’ll continue to add support for new features and Matter device types as device makers release new products.” Google Home’s Jeannie Zhang said they’re actively working to implement the enhanced multi-admin feature and plan to bring support for new device types “in future.”
Here’s a look at the new features in Matter 1.4 that could be coming to your preferred Matter smart home platform someday, maybe soon.
Matter will make everyone play together nicely this time, promise
One of Matter’s main promises is interoperability between platforms — if your smart plug is Matter-compatible, it will work with Apple Home, Alexa, Google Home, et al. But multi-admin, as this is called, stumbled out of the gate. Not only were there frequent setup frustrations for users when trying to pair a device from one ecosystem to another, but each ecosystem has a different flow and naming convention for the process, making it hard to figure out. It’s almost like they didn’t want you to use it.
“The Matter 1.4 update will start rolling out to supported Echo and Eero devices early next year.” Connor Rice, Amazon spokesperson
Now, “enhanced multi-admin” aims to fix this by automatically adding a Matter device you pair to your main platform to any other smart home platform you’ve authorized. Daniel Moneta, the CSA’s marketing chair, explains that this is enabled by something called Fabric Sync, which allows you to authorize different Fabrics (the name for an ecosystem in Matter) to talk to each other.
For example, you can allow your Amazon Alexa Fabric to talk to your Apple Home Fabric and share data about devices. “In this way, if a new device shows up on Fabric A, it can be automatically added to Fabric B,” says Moneta. However, it’s unclear whether the correct name and location of the new device will automatically disperse to the other platforms or if you’ll still have to enter those manually. That will be up to the platforms to implement, says Moneta.
“It’s effectively just multi-admin, but all of the leg work that the users have to go through today — joining devices one at a time and generating the secondary code — all of that now happens automatically,” he says. “This is how a lot of users expected this to work in the first place — but the challenge was security, authorization, and consent, which makes those things more complicated. [Fabric Sync] addresses those concerns. It feels more seamless but is still as secure.” Importantly, he points out, the user is still authorizing a device onto their network and can turn off the connection anytime.

Enhanced multi-admin should make it possible, for example, to set up that new smart light just once using your iPhone and control it with Apple Home while also having it show up on your roommate’s Android phone, where they can control it in Google Home.
For more advanced smart homes, enhanced multi-admin should make it easier to use devices offered by ecosystems that aren’t your main platform to control your smart home. For example, Apple Home doesn’t have a smart display option. So, in theory, enhanced multi-admin will make it easier to use an Echo Hub or Google Home smart display as a physical interface in your household for controlling things like lights and locks, while using the Apple Home app and Siri on your iPhone and Apple Watch to control the same devices. Of course, this somewhat depends on the platforms supporting all the same device types in Matter, which they don’t currently.
As with all Matter features, enhanced multi-admin is optional, so ecosystems don’t have to adopt it. However, Moneta says all the big players have been actively involved in developing this solution, and he expects to see them implement it over the next year.
Wi-Fi routers get a Matter upgrade
With 1.4, we’re finally seeing home routers, modems, access points, and set-top boxes — known collectively as HRAP — arrive in Matter. Despite being on the list of compatible devices since day one, it’s only now that routers can be Matter-certified. According to the CSA, “Matter-certified HRAP devices provide the foundational infrastructure of smart homes by combining both a Wi-Fi access point and a Thread Border Router.”
The hope here is that if these common devices come with Matter baked in — or easily added via an OTA upgrade or dongle — it will speed up the adoption of Matter devices. A Matter-certified HRAP device will be both a Wi-Fi access point and a Thread border router, along with “specific Thread and Wi-Fi capabilities … to improve the functionality and user experience of Matter devices on home networks,” says Moneta.
These “capabilities” include Matter’s new solution for Thread network credential sharing, which lets the router securely store and share the credentials. This is one way to solve the problem of users unintentionally creating multiple Thread networks in their home if they get another device that is also a border router, such as an Apple HomePod or Google Nest Hub.
The Thread Group, which manages the protocol, is trying to solve this problem with its own fix, which it rolled out earlier this year. Plus, you can share Thread network credentials via your smartphone using APIs on Android and iOS. All these solutions achieve the same end result, says Moneta.
“Your next ISP router should have everything you need for Matter,” Daniel Moneta, CSA
A Matter-certified router should be able to act as a central hub for Matter, ensuring that any Matter device you have, whether it works over Thread or Wi-Fi, can join your home network securely, easily, and without you needing to buy additional hardware. “This solves the problem of having to think about infrastructure,” says Moneta. “Instead, your next ISP router should have everything you need for Matter.”
What a Matter-certified router doesn’t need to be is a Matter Controller — a device that links your Matter smart home devices to your chosen Matter platform, such as Apple Home or Amazon Alexa. Instead, the router can be platform agnostic. Meaning that your router from your internet service provider or your next cable set-top box could provide the Wi-Fi and Thread infrastructure for your smart home, and you would just need to add a Matter Controller from whichever ecosystem you want to use.
This also opens up the opportunity for ISPs and telecom providers, such as Comcast/Xfinity, Verizon, AT&T, etc., to create their own Matter-enabled smart home platforms. They’ve tried and largely failed to do this in the past, but Matter could make it easier to implement.
Currently, Amazon and Google’s mesh Wi-Fi solutions — Eero and Nest Wifi — are Matter Controllers for their respective ecosystems, but they aren’t Matter-certified routers. Google’s Zhang said they plan to support Matter 1.4 on the Nest Wi-Fi Pro.
Energy management moves front and center
Matter 1.4 expands the standard’s energy management capabilities to include more control and device types, including heat pumps, electric water heaters, battery energy storage systems, and solar power devices such as inverters, panels, and hybrid solar/battery systems. New functionality for these device types (see full details on the CSA’s website) also provides tools for companies and ecosystems to build energy management solutions on top of Matter.

“Matter 1.4 is a completion move,” says Chris LaPré. “It’s really the enabling piece for smart control of energy in your home.” Matter 1.3 added energy reporting, allowing devices such as home appliances, EV chargers, and HVAC systems to communicate data on their power usage and consumption. With 1.4, such devices can adjust start times based on how much energy they plan to use, shift usage during peak demand, and toggle between device-specific, local, or grid-wide energy. With 1.5, LaPré says they will add the final piece, enabling energy pricing information to be shared with devices.
Energy management is one of the more compelling use cases for the smart home and one that could encourage wider adoption. While today, some solutions help you balance your home’s electricity loads to use more energy when it’s cheaper or cleaner and work with demand response programs, many of these require proprietary apps, specific equipment, or a lot of legwork by a company to set up partnerships and integrate and manage many APIs.
In theory, Matter should make the process of building an energy management app much easier. “[A company] can do it once and it will apply everywhere,” says Steve Cunningham, CEO of Green Energy Options and head of the CSA’s energy management working group. Instead of making all these individual partnerships, a company should just need to add Matter to their product to provide the benefits of energy management to a user. “If it has Wi-Fi in it today, by and large, it will have enough capacity to be upgraded to communicate to Matter over Wi-Fi,” says Cunningham.
Whether all this will actually happen, though, remains to be seen. Initially, we were promised backward compatibility for many Matter products, few of which materialized. Additionally, the Home Connectivity Alliance, an industry coalition of large appliance manufacturers, is simultaneously developing a similar cross-platform solution.
However, LaPré believes that, in this case, we’ll see fairly rapid adoption from manufacturers in this space. “This is expensive infrastructure. While you might buy a new smart plug to support Matter, homeowners aren’t going to change out their $9,000 solar panels on their roof,” says LaPré. “Demand for an open standard like Matter that can connect existing infrastructure is coming from both sides, consumers and manufacturers.”

Illustration: The Verge

It’s been two long years since the launch of Matter — the one smart home standard designed to rule them all — and there’s been a fair amount of disappointment around a sometimes buggy rollout, slow adoption by companies like Apple, Amazon, and Google, and frustrating set-up experiences.

However, the launch of the Matter 1.4 specification this week shows some signs that the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA, the organization behind Matter) is using more sticks and fewer carrots to get the smart home industry coalition to cooperate.

The new spec introduces “enhanced multi-admin,” an improvement on multi-admin — the much-touted interoperability feature that means your Matter smart light can work in multiple ecosystems simultaneously. It brings a solution for making Thread border routers from different companies play nicely together and introduces a potentially easier way to add Matter infrastructure to homes through Wi-Fi routers and access points.

Arguably, these should have all been in place when Matter launched. But now, two years later, the CSA is finally implementing the fixes that could help move the standard forward.

Matter 1.4 also brings some big updates to energy management support, including adding heat pumps, home batteries, and solar panels as Matter device types.

Disappointingly, security cameras didn’t make it in this time. The CSA’s CTO, Chris LaPré, tells The Verge that while support for cameras is still part of the plan, there’s no timeline for a release. However, he points out that with 1.4, Matter now covers almost every other device category in the home. Which should provide a solid foundation to move the standard forward.

However, this week’s release is just the spec. Now that it’s out, device makers and platforms can start integrating the features into their products and ecosystems. Based on the slow rollout of support for devices and features in previous versions of Matter across both manufacturers and the major platforms, it could be a while until we see any impact from Matter 1.4. Additionally, not every device or ecosystem that works with Matter is required to adopt every part of the Matter spec, so all these features may not come to every ecosystem.

The Verge reached out to Apple, Google, Amazon, and Samsung to ask if and when they planned to adopt any of the new features and device types in 1.4. As of publication, we had heard back from Amazon and Google. Both companies say they plan to adopt Matter 1.4 but didn’t provide a specific timeline.

“The Matter 1.4 update will start rolling out to supported Echo and Eero devices early next year,” says Amazon spokesperson Connor Rice. “Over time, we’ll continue to add support for new features and Matter device types as device makers release new products.” Google Home’s Jeannie Zhang said they’re actively working to implement the enhanced multi-admin feature and plan to bring support for new device types “in future.”

Here’s a look at the new features in Matter 1.4 that could be coming to your preferred Matter smart home platform someday, maybe soon.

Matter will make everyone play together nicely this time, promise

One of Matter’s main promises is interoperability between platforms — if your smart plug is Matter-compatible, it will work with Apple Home, Alexa, Google Home, et al. But multi-admin, as this is called, stumbled out of the gate. Not only were there frequent setup frustrations for users when trying to pair a device from one ecosystem to another, but each ecosystem has a different flow and naming convention for the process, making it hard to figure out. It’s almost like they didn’t want you to use it.

Now, “enhanced multi-admin” aims to fix this by automatically adding a Matter device you pair to your main platform to any other smart home platform you’ve authorized. Daniel Moneta, the CSA’s marketing chair, explains that this is enabled by something called Fabric Sync, which allows you to authorize different Fabrics (the name for an ecosystem in Matter) to talk to each other.

For example, you can allow your Amazon Alexa Fabric to talk to your Apple Home Fabric and share data about devices. “In this way, if a new device shows up on Fabric A, it can be automatically added to Fabric B,” says Moneta. However, it’s unclear whether the correct name and location of the new device will automatically disperse to the other platforms or if you’ll still have to enter those manually. That will be up to the platforms to implement, says Moneta.

“It’s effectively just multi-admin, but all of the leg work that the users have to go through today — joining devices one at a time and generating the secondary code — all of that now happens automatically,” he says. “This is how a lot of users expected this to work in the first place — but the challenge was security, authorization, and consent, which makes those things more complicated. [Fabric Sync] addresses those concerns. It feels more seamless but is still as secure.” Importantly, he points out, the user is still authorizing a device onto their network and can turn off the connection anytime.

Enhanced multi-admin should make it possible, for example, to set up that new smart light just once using your iPhone and control it with Apple Home while also having it show up on your roommate’s Android phone, where they can control it in Google Home.

For more advanced smart homes, enhanced multi-admin should make it easier to use devices offered by ecosystems that aren’t your main platform to control your smart home. For example, Apple Home doesn’t have a smart display option. So, in theory, enhanced multi-admin will make it easier to use an Echo Hub or Google Home smart display as a physical interface in your household for controlling things like lights and locks, while using the Apple Home app and Siri on your iPhone and Apple Watch to control the same devices. Of course, this somewhat depends on the platforms supporting all the same device types in Matter, which they don’t currently.

As with all Matter features, enhanced multi-admin is optional, so ecosystems don’t have to adopt it. However, Moneta says all the big players have been actively involved in developing this solution, and he expects to see them implement it over the next year.

Wi-Fi routers get a Matter upgrade

With 1.4, we’re finally seeing home routers, modems, access points, and set-top boxes — known collectively as HRAP — arrive in Matter. Despite being on the list of compatible devices since day one, it’s only now that routers can be Matter-certified. According to the CSA, “Matter-certified HRAP devices provide the foundational infrastructure of smart homes by combining both a Wi-Fi access point and a Thread Border Router.”

The hope here is that if these common devices come with Matter baked in — or easily added via an OTA upgrade or dongle — it will speed up the adoption of Matter devices. A Matter-certified HRAP device will be both a Wi-Fi access point and a Thread border router, along with “specific Thread and Wi-Fi capabilities … to improve the functionality and user experience of Matter devices on home networks,” says Moneta.

These “capabilities” include Matter’s new solution for Thread network credential sharing, which lets the router securely store and share the credentials. This is one way to solve the problem of users unintentionally creating multiple Thread networks in their home if they get another device that is also a border router, such as an Apple HomePod or Google Nest Hub.

The Thread Group, which manages the protocol, is trying to solve this problem with its own fix, which it rolled out earlier this year. Plus, you can share Thread network credentials via your smartphone using APIs on Android and iOS. All these solutions achieve the same end result, says Moneta.

A Matter-certified router should be able to act as a central hub for Matter, ensuring that any Matter device you have, whether it works over Thread or Wi-Fi, can join your home network securely, easily, and without you needing to buy additional hardware. “This solves the problem of having to think about infrastructure,” says Moneta. “Instead, your next ISP router should have everything you need for Matter.”

What a Matter-certified router doesn’t need to be is a Matter Controller — a device that links your Matter smart home devices to your chosen Matter platform, such as Apple Home or Amazon Alexa. Instead, the router can be platform agnostic. Meaning that your router from your internet service provider or your next cable set-top box could provide the Wi-Fi and Thread infrastructure for your smart home, and you would just need to add a Matter Controller from whichever ecosystem you want to use.

This also opens up the opportunity for ISPs and telecom providers, such as Comcast/Xfinity, Verizon, AT&T, etc., to create their own Matter-enabled smart home platforms. They’ve tried and largely failed to do this in the past, but Matter could make it easier to implement.

Currently, Amazon and Google’s mesh Wi-Fi solutions — Eero and Nest Wifi — are Matter Controllers for their respective ecosystems, but they aren’t Matter-certified routers. Google’s Zhang said they plan to support Matter 1.4 on the Nest Wi-Fi Pro.

Energy management moves front and center

Matter 1.4 expands the standard’s energy management capabilities to include more control and device types, including heat pumps, electric water heaters, battery energy storage systems, and solar power devices such as inverters, panels, and hybrid solar/battery systems. New functionality for these device types (see full details on the CSA’s website) also provides tools for companies and ecosystems to build energy management solutions on top of Matter.

“Matter 1.4 is a completion move,” says Chris LaPré. “It’s really the enabling piece for smart control of energy in your home.” Matter 1.3 added energy reporting, allowing devices such as home appliances, EV chargers, and HVAC systems to communicate data on their power usage and consumption. With 1.4, such devices can adjust start times based on how much energy they plan to use, shift usage during peak demand, and toggle between device-specific, local, or grid-wide energy. With 1.5, LaPré says they will add the final piece, enabling energy pricing information to be shared with devices.

Energy management is one of the more compelling use cases for the smart home and one that could encourage wider adoption. While today, some solutions help you balance your home’s electricity loads to use more energy when it’s cheaper or cleaner and work with demand response programs, many of these require proprietary apps, specific equipment, or a lot of legwork by a company to set up partnerships and integrate and manage many APIs.

In theory, Matter should make the process of building an energy management app much easier. “[A company] can do it once and it will apply everywhere,” says Steve Cunningham, CEO of Green Energy Options and head of the CSA’s energy management working group. Instead of making all these individual partnerships, a company should just need to add Matter to their product to provide the benefits of energy management to a user. “If it has Wi-Fi in it today, by and large, it will have enough capacity to be upgraded to communicate to Matter over Wi-Fi,” says Cunningham.

Whether all this will actually happen, though, remains to be seen. Initially, we were promised backward compatibility for many Matter products, few of which materialized. Additionally, the Home Connectivity Alliance, an industry coalition of large appliance manufacturers, is simultaneously developing a similar cross-platform solution.

However, LaPré believes that, in this case, we’ll see fairly rapid adoption from manufacturers in this space. “This is expensive infrastructure. While you might buy a new smart plug to support Matter, homeowners aren’t going to change out their $9,000 solar panels on their roof,” says LaPré. “Demand for an open standard like Matter that can connect existing infrastructure is coming from both sides, consumers and manufacturers.”

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Image: Microsoft

Microsoft appears to be stepping back from charging Microsoft 365 Personal and Home subscribers another $20 per month to get access to AI-powered Office features. The software giant quietly announced it’s making Copilot Pro features part of its Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions last week, but only in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand for now.
“It’s been nine months since we introduced consumers to Copilot in our Microsoft 365 apps via Copilot Pro. We’ve spent that time adding new features, improving performance, and listening carefully to customer feedback,” says Microsoft in a press release spotted by ZDNet. “Based on that feedback, we’re making Copilot part of our Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions.”
Microsoft is also adding its Microsoft Designer app to Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions in these select markets. “Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers will receive a monthly allotment of AI credits to use Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and Designer,” explains Microsoft. “The credits will also apply to apps like Paint, Photos, and Notepad on Windows.”
If you have a Microsoft 365 Family subscription in one of these select markets, only the subscription owner will get access to Copilot and it cannot be shared with other family members.
While some Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers are getting more for their monthly subscription, prices are going up in exchange for Microsoft rolling in Copilot Pro.
“To reflect the value we’ve added over the past decade and enable us to deliver new innovations for years to come, we’re increasing the prices of Microsoft 365 Personal and Family,” says Microsoft. “The price increase will apply to existing subscribers upon their next renewal.”
The price increases vary across Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. In Australia, for example, Microsoft has increased Microsoft 365 Family subscriptions by $4 AUD per month, and Personal subscriptions by $5 AUD. That’s a lot less than the $33 AUD Microsoft wanted for Copilot Pro in Australia previously.
Microsoft has carefully selected markets here for what looks like a trial for price increases to Microsoft 365 Personal and Family that will eventually hit US and European markets. Either way, it’s clear that Microsoft’s Copilot Pro experiment hasn’t worked out. A $20 monthly subscription on top of the Microsoft 365 Personal or Home subscription was always a big ask, and when I tried the service earlier this year I didn’t think it was worth paying $20 a month for.
I’ve asked Microsoft to comment on whether these Copilot changes will appear for Microsoft 365 Home and Family subscribers in the US, and why the company has only selected these markets. Microsoft didn’t respond in time for publication.

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft appears to be stepping back from charging Microsoft 365 Personal and Home subscribers another $20 per month to get access to AI-powered Office features. The software giant quietly announced it’s making Copilot Pro features part of its Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions last week, but only in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand for now.

“It’s been nine months since we introduced consumers to Copilot in our Microsoft 365 apps via Copilot Pro. We’ve spent that time adding new features, improving performance, and listening carefully to customer feedback,” says Microsoft in a press release spotted by ZDNet. “Based on that feedback, we’re making Copilot part of our Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions.”

Microsoft is also adding its Microsoft Designer app to Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions in these select markets. “Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers will receive a monthly allotment of AI credits to use Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and Designer,” explains Microsoft. “The credits will also apply to apps like Paint, Photos, and Notepad on Windows.”

If you have a Microsoft 365 Family subscription in one of these select markets, only the subscription owner will get access to Copilot and it cannot be shared with other family members.

While some Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers are getting more for their monthly subscription, prices are going up in exchange for Microsoft rolling in Copilot Pro.

“To reflect the value we’ve added over the past decade and enable us to deliver new innovations for years to come, we’re increasing the prices of Microsoft 365 Personal and Family,” says Microsoft. “The price increase will apply to existing subscribers upon their next renewal.”

The price increases vary across Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. In Australia, for example, Microsoft has increased Microsoft 365 Family subscriptions by $4 AUD per month, and Personal subscriptions by $5 AUD. That’s a lot less than the $33 AUD Microsoft wanted for Copilot Pro in Australia previously.

Microsoft has carefully selected markets here for what looks like a trial for price increases to Microsoft 365 Personal and Family that will eventually hit US and European markets. Either way, it’s clear that Microsoft’s Copilot Pro experiment hasn’t worked out. A $20 monthly subscription on top of the Microsoft 365 Personal or Home subscription was always a big ask, and when I tried the service earlier this year I didn’t think it was worth paying $20 a month for.

I’ve asked Microsoft to comment on whether these Copilot changes will appear for Microsoft 365 Home and Family subscribers in the US, and why the company has only selected these markets. Microsoft didn’t respond in time for publication.

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Pokemon developer Game Freak’s unreleased Project Bloom game is included in the sale. | Image: Private Division

Take-Two Interactive is selling off its indie games label Private Division, which published titles such as The Outer Worlds and OlliOlli World, following rumors over the summer that Take-Two laid off most of Private Division’s staff.
Take-Two did not disclose the buyer of Private Division or how much they paid. In an emailed statement to The Verge, Take-Two spokesperson Alan Lewis wrote:

We recently made the strategic decision to sell our Private Division label to focus our resources on growing our core and mobile businesses for the long-term. As part of this transaction, the buyer purchased our rights to substantially all of Private Division’s live and unreleased titles.
Take-Two will continue to support No Rest for the Wicked, which launched in Early Access on PC in April. We are grateful for the contributions that the Private Division team has made to our company and are confident that they will continue to achieve success in their new home.

According to Bloomberg, the label has been plagued by “a string of flops, including Kerbal Space Program 2, which was full of bugs and panned by fans.” Private Division games, including the upcoming The Lord of the Rings farm simulator Tales of the Shire, as well as Pokémon developer Game Freak’s untitled game known as Project Bloom, will move over to the new buyer. However, Private Divison’s buyer won’t get the rights to No Rest for the Wicked.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told GamesIndustry.biz that the buyer would be named soon and said, “The team of Private Division did a great job supporting independent developers and, almost to a one, every project they supported did well. However, the scale of those projects was, candidly, on the smaller side, and we’re in the business of making great big hits,” like the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI.

Pokemon developer Game Freak’s unreleased Project Bloom game is included in the sale. | Image: Private Division

Take-Two Interactive is selling off its indie games label Private Division, which published titles such as The Outer Worlds and OlliOlli World, following rumors over the summer that Take-Two laid off most of Private Division’s staff.

Take-Two did not disclose the buyer of Private Division or how much they paid. In an emailed statement to The Verge, Take-Two spokesperson Alan Lewis wrote:

We recently made the strategic decision to sell our Private Division label to focus our resources on growing our core and mobile businesses for the long-term. As part of this transaction, the buyer purchased our rights to substantially all of Private Division’s live and unreleased titles.

Take-Two will continue to support No Rest for the Wicked, which launched in Early Access on PC in April. We are grateful for the contributions that the Private Division team has made to our company and are confident that they will continue to achieve success in their new home.

According to Bloomberg, the label has been plagued by “a string of flops, including Kerbal Space Program 2, which was full of bugs and panned by fans.” Private Division games, including the upcoming The Lord of the Rings farm simulator Tales of the Shire, as well as Pokémon developer Game Freak’s untitled game known as Project Bloom, will move over to the new buyer. However, Private Divison’s buyer won’t get the rights to No Rest for the Wicked.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told GamesIndustry.biz that the buyer would be named soon and said, “The team of Private Division did a great job supporting independent developers and, almost to a one, every project they supported did well. However, the scale of those projects was, candidly, on the smaller side, and we’re in the business of making great big hits,” like the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI.

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Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

The Federal Trade Commission has charged Sitejabber, an online review platform, with violating its new fake reviews rules by using point-of-sale reviews to misrepresent what customers think about products. In one of its first enforcement actions under new rules banning companies from making or selling fake reviews, the FTC is ordering the company to stop.
The FTC says Sitejabber “deceptively” punched up businesses’ review counts by incorporating responses to point-of-sale questionnaires asking customers to rate and review their shopping experience, before they’d actually gotten any products or services. It also alleges that by giving its clients tools to publish that feedback on their own sites, Sitejabber enabled them to mislead people to think the ratings and reviews were based on actual experience with what the companies were selling.

The FTC now forbids Sitejabber from “misrepresenting, or assisting anyone else in misrepresenting” that such reviews are based on customer experience with a product or service. The company is also barred from helping other companies misrepresent the reviews that “it collects, moderates, or displays.”
The regulator’s new anti-fake review rules, which went into effect last month, aim to address AI-generated reviews online, including on Amazon and other e-commerce sites. The FTC prohibits a swath of deceptive practices, such as offering incentives to leave feedback or creating a fake review website that seems independent but is actually owned by the very company that makes the products being reviewed. Or at least, it will for the next couple of months, after which the next US President will be sworn in and (probably) replace its leadership — and we’ll see what happens next.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

The Federal Trade Commission has charged Sitejabber, an online review platform, with violating its new fake reviews rules by using point-of-sale reviews to misrepresent what customers think about products. In one of its first enforcement actions under new rules banning companies from making or selling fake reviews, the FTC is ordering the company to stop.

The FTC says Sitejabber “deceptively” punched up businesses’ review counts by incorporating responses to point-of-sale questionnaires asking customers to rate and review their shopping experience, before they’d actually gotten any products or services. It also alleges that by giving its clients tools to publish that feedback on their own sites, Sitejabber enabled them to mislead people to think the ratings and reviews were based on actual experience with what the companies were selling.

The FTC now forbids Sitejabber from “misrepresenting, or assisting anyone else in misrepresenting” that such reviews are based on customer experience with a product or service. The company is also barred from helping other companies misrepresent the reviews that “it collects, moderates, or displays.”

The regulator’s new anti-fake review rules, which went into effect last month, aim to address AI-generated reviews online, including on Amazon and other e-commerce sites. The FTC prohibits a swath of deceptive practices, such as offering incentives to leave feedback or creating a fake review website that seems independent but is actually owned by the very company that makes the products being reviewed. Or at least, it will for the next couple of months, after which the next US President will be sworn in and (probably) replace its leadership — and we’ll see what happens next.

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Striking New York Times tech workers have created a “Guild Builds” page dedicated to strike-themed games you can play, including a spin on Wordle, a word search, and the custom Connections I reported on earlier today.
As part of its strike announcement on Monday, the New York Times Tech Guild requested that people don’t cross the digital picket line to play the NYT’s daily puzzle games. This collection of five other games offers an alternative if you want to support the striking workers but also do some brain teasers.
There are currently five games on the page:

Strikle, the twist on Wordle

Connections: Strike Edition, which is a puzzle made in a Connections creator

Word Search

Match Strike, a memory game
Frogger 8th Avenue

They aren’t super fancy, but I’ve had fun messing around with them. The games will be updated “when they can be,” Jen Sheehan, spokesperson for the NewsGuild of New York, tells The Verge, so you might want to check back every once in awhile to see if there’s a new version of a puzzle to play. Sheehan also says that guild members created all of the games but Strikle, which was made by an external supporter.
The New York Times didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
The striking workers have also asked people not to use NYT Cooking, so the Guild Builds page also includes some strike-themed recipes you can make instead. I’m personally intrigued by “‘We’ve got beef with management’ Stuffed Mushrooms,” though Solidarity Soup sounds pretty good, too.

Striking New York Times tech workers have created a “Guild Builds” page dedicated to strike-themed games you can play, including a spin on Wordle, a word search, and the custom Connections I reported on earlier today.

As part of its strike announcement on Monday, the New York Times Tech Guild requested that people don’t cross the digital picket line to play the NYT’s daily puzzle games. This collection of five other games offers an alternative if you want to support the striking workers but also do some brain teasers.

There are currently five games on the page:

Strikle, the twist on Wordle

Connections: Strike Edition, which is a puzzle made in a Connections creator

Word Search

Match Strike, a memory game
Frogger 8th Avenue

They aren’t super fancy, but I’ve had fun messing around with them. The games will be updated “when they can be,” Jen Sheehan, spokesperson for the NewsGuild of New York, tells The Verge, so you might want to check back every once in awhile to see if there’s a new version of a puzzle to play. Sheehan also says that guild members created all of the games but Strikle, which was made by an external supporter.

The New York Times didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

The striking workers have also asked people not to use NYT Cooking, so the Guild Builds page also includes some strike-themed recipes you can make instead. I’m personally intrigued by “‘We’ve got beef with management’ Stuffed Mushrooms,” though Solidarity Soup sounds pretty good, too.

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Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Microsoft is testing a big Windows on Arm update to let more x64 software and games run under Prism emulation on Copilot Plus PC with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite or X Plus processors. The capability comes as part of the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27744, rolling out to testers in the Canary Channel.
This way, Qualcomm’s new chips can run more kinds of apps that don’t have native ARM64 versions and, until now, weren’t usable with emulation. It could even enable games that use AVX2, like Starfield and Helldivers 2, to work on Windows on Arm.

With this update, Microsoft’s emulator will open up support for 64-bit x86 software to use processor extensions like AVX, AVX2, BMI, FMA, and F16C. However, it says 32-bit software still won’t be able to detect the new emulator support, so some programs still might have trouble.
While many apps, including Photoshop, Hulu, and Chrome, already have native ARM64 versions for Windows, others, like Blender, require emulation, and some still won’t work at all. According to Microsoft, the new emulator is already enabled “in limited use” on retail PCs, allowing Premiere Pro 25 to run on Arm — after it was initially blocked — while Adobe works on a native version.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Microsoft is testing a big Windows on Arm update to let more x64 software and games run under Prism emulation on Copilot Plus PC with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite or X Plus processors. The capability comes as part of the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27744, rolling out to testers in the Canary Channel.

This way, Qualcomm’s new chips can run more kinds of apps that don’t have native ARM64 versions and, until now, weren’t usable with emulation. It could even enable games that use AVX2, like Starfield and Helldivers 2, to work on Windows on Arm.

With this update, Microsoft’s emulator will open up support for 64-bit x86 software to use processor extensions like AVX, AVX2, BMI, FMA, and F16C. However, it says 32-bit software still won’t be able to detect the new emulator support, so some programs still might have trouble.

While many apps, including Photoshop, Hulu, and Chrome, already have native ARM64 versions for Windows, others, like Blender, require emulation, and some still won’t work at all. According to Microsoft, the new emulator is already enabled “in limited use” on retail PCs, allowing Premiere Pro 25 to run on Arm — after it was initially blocked — while Adobe works on a native version.

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Illustration: The Verge

Roblox is going to block kids from accessing certain types of experiences following reports alleging that the platform has enabled child abuse.
One new measure will stop kids under 13 from accessing experiences with “certain types of interactive features,” Roblox says in a post on its developer forum. Those include “social hangouts,” where the primary purpose is to communicate with others over text or voice chat, and “free-form 2D user creation” experiences, where players can do things like draw on a chalkboard or whiteboard. This change goes into effect beginning November 18th.

Another change stops kids under 13 from playing, searching for, or being able to discover unrated experiences. This change goes into effect after December 3rd. If a creator wants to let a player under 13 access their game, they will have to complete a questionnaire and make sure that all of the information regarding their experience meets Roblox’s requirements for its current All Ages or 9 plus ratings. Roblox says it will start enforcing those requirements “next year.”
There have been multiple recent stories about Roblox’ allegedly poor protections for children, including a Bloomberg article titled “Roblox’s Pedophile Problem.” In October, the company announced changes for pre-teen users and a new type of account to let parents manage their kids on Roblox.

Illustration: The Verge

Roblox is going to block kids from accessing certain types of experiences following reports alleging that the platform has enabled child abuse.

One new measure will stop kids under 13 from accessing experiences with “certain types of interactive features,” Roblox says in a post on its developer forum. Those include “social hangouts,” where the primary purpose is to communicate with others over text or voice chat, and “free-form 2D user creation” experiences, where players can do things like draw on a chalkboard or whiteboard. This change goes into effect beginning November 18th.

Another change stops kids under 13 from playing, searching for, or being able to discover unrated experiences. This change goes into effect after December 3rd. If a creator wants to let a player under 13 access their game, they will have to complete a questionnaire and make sure that all of the information regarding their experience meets Roblox’s requirements for its current All Ages or 9 plus ratings. Roblox says it will start enforcing those requirements “next year.”

There have been multiple recent stories about Roblox’ allegedly poor protections for children, including a Bloomberg article titled “Roblox’s Pedophile Problem.” In October, the company announced changes for pre-teen users and a new type of account to let parents manage their kids on Roblox.

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Samsung might be working on a “Galaxy S25 Slim” model, with similar rumors to the ones about a “Slim” iPhone 17 in 2025 that may replace the iPhone Plus. South Korea’s ET news first reported on it, saying Samsung might release a slim smartphone during the second quarter of 2025 (April – June) as a follow-up a few months after the rest of the Galaxy S25 family makes their debut.
And now Smartprix has shown the listing for a smartphone with the market name “Galaxy” and model number SM-S937U in the GSMA IMEI database. Smartprix says Samsung typically adds smartphones it’s working on testing internally to the database before launching it six to seven months later, and this model number lines up with others that line up with the usual Galaxy standard, Plus, and Ultra phones.

Other details are unknown, besides that the U indicates it should see a release in the US. The iPhone’s slim variant, however, could debut in the third quarter and cost more than even Apple’s current most expensive model, the iPhone Pro Max, with a 6.6-inch display and just one rear-facing camera, according to reports from The Information and others.
Samsung might have to change a few parts to accommodate a different design, so it’s possible a slim Galaxy could cut back on the processor, display, battery, and camera capabilities. So, if the AI features in the Galaxy S24 and iPhone 16 weren’t enough to make you upgrade, maybe next year we’ll find out if making it really thin can do the trick.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Samsung might be working on a “Galaxy S25 Slim” model, with similar rumors to the ones about a “Slim” iPhone 17 in 2025 that may replace the iPhone Plus. South Korea’s ET news first reported on it, saying Samsung might release a slim smartphone during the second quarter of 2025 (April – June) as a follow-up a few months after the rest of the Galaxy S25 family makes their debut.

And now Smartprix has shown the listing for a smartphone with the market name “Galaxy” and model number SM-S937U in the GSMA IMEI database. Smartprix says Samsung typically adds smartphones it’s working on testing internally to the database before launching it six to seven months later, and this model number lines up with others that line up with the usual Galaxy standard, Plus, and Ultra phones.

Other details are unknown, besides that the U indicates it should see a release in the US. The iPhone’s slim variant, however, could debut in the third quarter and cost more than even Apple’s current most expensive model, the iPhone Pro Max, with a 6.6-inch display and just one rear-facing camera, according to reports from The Information and others.

Samsung might have to change a few parts to accommodate a different design, so it’s possible a slim Galaxy could cut back on the processor, display, battery, and camera capabilities. So, if the AI features in the Galaxy S24 and iPhone 16 weren’t enough to make you upgrade, maybe next year we’ll find out if making it really thin can do the trick.

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