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iPhone sales are booming — with or without Apple Intelligence

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

To cap off a busy week that saw the rollout of the first Apple Intelligence features and several new Macs, Apple reported its fiscal Q4 earnings this afternoon. The period included very early sales of the iPhone 16 lineup, offering a chance to gauge the momentum of the company’s latest phones. The Apple Watch Series 10 and AirPods 4 were also released during the quarter. CEO Tim Cook told CNBC that sales of the iPhone 15 were “stronger than 14 in the year-ago quarter, and 16 was stronger than 15.”
The company reported revenue of $94.9 billion, which is a new record for the September quarter and up 6 percent year over year. The strong performance was dampened somewhat by a one-time income tax charge of $10.2 billion that Apple paid to Ireland after a long-running tax dispute. Nearly every segment of Apple’s business was also up with the exception of the “wearables, home, and accessories” category. iPad revenues were up 8 percent after Apple finally introduced new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in the spring.
Apple’s first set of AI-powered Apple Intelligence capabilities are mostly focused on summarization, writing tools, and image cleanup. ChatGPT integration and the ability to generate images will come with iOS 18.2 in December. “We’re getting great feedback from customers and developers already and a really early stat, which is only three days worth of data: users are adopting iOS 18.1 at twice the rate that they adopted 17.1 in the year ago quarter,” Cook told CNBC.

The iMac, Mac Mini, and MacBook Pro were all refreshed this week with Apple’s latest M4 silicon. The Mini underwent a substantial redesign and is now smaller than ever. It’s rumored that M4 editions of the MacBook Air, Mac Pro, and Mac Studio will follow sometime next year. Apple refreshed the iPad Mini earlier this month. This batch of new hardware, along with the iPhone 16 lineup and wearables, could boost Apple’s performance in the all-important holiday quarter.
Lurking in the background of all this is an antitrust suit against Apple from the US Department of Justice, plus European Union guidelines that have forced Apple to make the iPhone more open to new default apps and services.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

To cap off a busy week that saw the rollout of the first Apple Intelligence features and several new Macs, Apple reported its fiscal Q4 earnings this afternoon. The period included very early sales of the iPhone 16 lineup, offering a chance to gauge the momentum of the company’s latest phones. The Apple Watch Series 10 and AirPods 4 were also released during the quarter. CEO Tim Cook told CNBC that sales of the iPhone 15 were “stronger than 14 in the year-ago quarter, and 16 was stronger than 15.”

The company reported revenue of $94.9 billion, which is a new record for the September quarter and up 6 percent year over year. The strong performance was dampened somewhat by a one-time income tax charge of $10.2 billion that Apple paid to Ireland after a long-running tax dispute. Nearly every segment of Apple’s business was also up with the exception of the “wearables, home, and accessories” category. iPad revenues were up 8 percent after Apple finally introduced new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in the spring.

Apple’s first set of AI-powered Apple Intelligence capabilities are mostly focused on summarization, writing tools, and image cleanup. ChatGPT integration and the ability to generate images will come with iOS 18.2 in December. “We’re getting great feedback from customers and developers already and a really early stat, which is only three days worth of data: users are adopting iOS 18.1 at twice the rate that they adopted 17.1 in the year ago quarter,” Cook told CNBC.

The iMac, Mac Mini, and MacBook Pro were all refreshed this week with Apple’s latest M4 silicon. The Mini underwent a substantial redesign and is now smaller than ever. It’s rumored that M4 editions of the MacBook Air, Mac Pro, and Mac Studio will follow sometime next year. Apple refreshed the iPad Mini earlier this month. This batch of new hardware, along with the iPhone 16 lineup and wearables, could boost Apple’s performance in the all-important holiday quarter.

Lurking in the background of all this is an antitrust suit against Apple from the US Department of Justice, plus European Union guidelines that have forced Apple to make the iPhone more open to new default apps and services.

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Tidal is laying off more staff

Image: The Verge

The music streaming app Tidal is laying off more workers. In a statement to Fortune, an unnamed Tidal spokesperson confirmed “the elimination of some roles across our business and design teams.”
On Wednesday, Fortune published a leaked memo from Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Tidal parent company Block Block Head, who said that the company is going to “part ways with a number of folks” on the team. “We’re reducing the size of our design team and foundational roles supporting TIDAL, and we will consider reducing engineering over the next few weeks as we have more clarity around leadership going forward,” Dorsey wrote, according to Fortune.

Though Dorsey’s message didn’t specify how many employees would be laid off, sources told Fortune that it could be around 100 employees — or about a quarter of Tidal’s remaining staff. Tidal cut 10 percent of its workers last December, and Dorsey reportedly considered a major reorganization at Block in July.
Earlier this year, Tidal merged its two high-fidelity music plans into one $10.99 / month subscription, lowering the price of its most expensive plan as a result. It also made FLAC the default audio format for stereo, while adding Dolby Atmos for immersive sound.

Image: The Verge

The music streaming app Tidal is laying off more workers. In a statement to Fortune, an unnamed Tidal spokesperson confirmed “the elimination of some roles across our business and design teams.”

On Wednesday, Fortune published a leaked memo from Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Tidal parent company Block Block Head, who said that the company is going to “part ways with a number of folks” on the team. “We’re reducing the size of our design team and foundational roles supporting TIDAL, and we will consider reducing engineering over the next few weeks as we have more clarity around leadership going forward,” Dorsey wrote, according to Fortune.

Though Dorsey’s message didn’t specify how many employees would be laid off, sources told Fortune that it could be around 100 employees — or about a quarter of Tidal’s remaining staff. Tidal cut 10 percent of its workers last December, and Dorsey reportedly considered a major reorganization at Block in July.

Earlier this year, Tidal merged its two high-fidelity music plans into one $10.99 / month subscription, lowering the price of its most expensive plan as a result. It also made FLAC the default audio format for stereo, while adding Dolby Atmos for immersive sound.

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Squid Game runs it back in season 2 trailer

Image: Netflix

Netflix released a new teaser for Squid Game’s second season on Thursday. Gi-hun, again played by Lee Jung-jae, is participating in the games again, but based on the trailer, it appears that he will try to convince he other contestants to rebel against the competition — and that, at times, he may not be successful.
“Three years after winning Squid Game, Player 456 gave up going to the states and comes back with a new resolution in his mind,” according to description of the show from the trailer. “Gi-hun once again dives into the mysterious survival game, starting another life-or-death game with new participants gathered to win the prize of 45.6 billion won.”
(I’m curious if the setup means the season will end similarly to the second entry of another series that pits people in a horrifying competition to the death.)
Ever since confirming back in 2022 that the show would get a second season, Netflix has been slowly drip-feeding updates about what to expect, including some of its new cast members, some images, and other teasers. But this new trailer offers perhaps our best look yet at what’s to come when the season debuts on December 26th.
A third and final season is set to come out next year.

Image: Netflix

Netflix released a new teaser for Squid Game’s second season on Thursday. Gi-hun, again played by Lee Jung-jae, is participating in the games again, but based on the trailer, it appears that he will try to convince he other contestants to rebel against the competition — and that, at times, he may not be successful.

“Three years after winning Squid Game, Player 456 gave up going to the states and comes back with a new resolution in his mind,” according to description of the show from the trailer. “Gi-hun once again dives into the mysterious survival game, starting another life-or-death game with new participants gathered to win the prize of 45.6 billion won.”

(I’m curious if the setup means the season will end similarly to the second entry of another series that pits people in a horrifying competition to the death.)

Ever since confirming back in 2022 that the show would get a second season, Netflix has been slowly drip-feeding updates about what to expect, including some of its new cast members, some images, and other teasers. But this new trailer offers perhaps our best look yet at what’s to come when the season debuts on December 26th.

A third and final season is set to come out next year.

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Microsoft just delayed Recall again

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft is once again delaying the roll out of its controversial Recall feature for Copilot Plus PCs. The software giant had planned to start testing Recall, which creates screenshots of mostly everything you see or do on a Copilot Plus PC, with Windows Insiders in October. Now, Microsoft says it needs more time to get the feature ready.
“We are committed to delivering a secure and trusted experience with Recall. To ensure we deliver on these important updates, we’re taking additional time to refine the experience before previewing it with Windows Insiders,” says Brandon LeBlanc, senior product manager of Windows, in a statement to The Verge.” Originally planned for October, Recall will now be available for preview with Windows Insiders on Copilot Plus PCs by December.”
Microsoft was forced to originally hold back Recall after security concerns were raised ahead of its planned debut with Copilot Plus PCs in June. After a delay to the launch, Recall was then supposed to appear for Windows Insiders just a matter of weeks later. Then Microsoft delayed Recall again to October, and now it’s coming by December.
Microsoft has now delayed Recall multiple times
Microsoft’s multiple delays are related to it overhauling Recall’s security, making it an opt-in experience, and allowing Copilot Plus PC owners to fully uninstall it. Microsoft has spent the past few months focused on ensuring its Recall database is fully encrypted and that the only way to get access is to authenticate through Windows Hello.
Recall uses local AI models built into Windows 11 on Copilot Plus PCs to screenshot mostly everything you see or do on your computer and then give you the ability to search and retrieve things you’ve seen. An explorable timeline lets you scroll through these snapshots to look back on what you did on a particular day on your PC.
Earlier this week, Microsoft again clarified that Recall will not be mandatory on Copilot Plus PCs, and will be an opt-in experience that can be fully removed. The clarification came after various YouTube videos claimed Recall was being installed on any PC with Windows 11, version 24H2.
The good old fashioned fear, uncertainty, and doubt has spread far and wide, simply because of some references to Recall appearing in 24H2. Microsoft’s blunt removal of Recall over the summer appears to have led to some bugs in how the feature appears and is controlled in Windows 11.

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft is once again delaying the roll out of its controversial Recall feature for Copilot Plus PCs. The software giant had planned to start testing Recall, which creates screenshots of mostly everything you see or do on a Copilot Plus PC, with Windows Insiders in October. Now, Microsoft says it needs more time to get the feature ready.

“We are committed to delivering a secure and trusted experience with Recall. To ensure we deliver on these important updates, we’re taking additional time to refine the experience before previewing it with Windows Insiders,” says Brandon LeBlanc, senior product manager of Windows, in a statement to The Verge.” Originally planned for October, Recall will now be available for preview with Windows Insiders on Copilot Plus PCs by December.”

Microsoft was forced to originally hold back Recall after security concerns were raised ahead of its planned debut with Copilot Plus PCs in June. After a delay to the launch, Recall was then supposed to appear for Windows Insiders just a matter of weeks later. Then Microsoft delayed Recall again to October, and now it’s coming by December.

Microsoft has now delayed Recall multiple times

Microsoft’s multiple delays are related to it overhauling Recall’s security, making it an opt-in experience, and allowing Copilot Plus PC owners to fully uninstall it. Microsoft has spent the past few months focused on ensuring its Recall database is fully encrypted and that the only way to get access is to authenticate through Windows Hello.

Recall uses local AI models built into Windows 11 on Copilot Plus PCs to screenshot mostly everything you see or do on your computer and then give you the ability to search and retrieve things you’ve seen. An explorable timeline lets you scroll through these snapshots to look back on what you did on a particular day on your PC.

Earlier this week, Microsoft again clarified that Recall will not be mandatory on Copilot Plus PCs, and will be an opt-in experience that can be fully removed. The clarification came after various YouTube videos claimed Recall was being installed on any PC with Windows 11, version 24H2.

The good old fashioned fear, uncertainty, and doubt has spread far and wide, simply because of some references to Recall appearing in 24H2. Microsoft’s blunt removal of Recall over the summer appears to have led to some bugs in how the feature appears and is controlled in Windows 11.

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Chevy’s BrightDrop electric vans will be in Walmart’s fleet by the end of the year

A Walmart-branded BrightDrop 400 electric van. | Image: GM

GM moved its electric van company BrightDrop into Chevy in August to save some money, and today, the newly branded version of the vehicle is reaching one of BrightDrop’s earliest customers: Walmart.
After piloting BrightDrop 400 vehicles for customer deliveries, Walmart is officially adding them into its fleets. The company says its in-home delivery program is expanding to reach 62 million households nationwide and will roll out Chevy BrightDrops in Austin, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, northwest Arkansas, Orlando, and the San Francisco Bay area by the end of the year.
Walmart had struck a deal with BrightDrop in 2022 to reserve 5,000 vans that included the larger 600 models (the number indicating the approximate square footage of cargo space). However, the retail giant seems to be sticking with the smaller 400 versions for now. The company has not specified how many it will deploy this year.
BrightDrop started as a wholly-owned subsidiary of GM and, in 2022, it was projected to bring in $1 billion in revenue with a 20 percent margin the following year. In 2023, BrightDrop’s CEO at the time Travis Katz came on Decoder and explained how BrightDrop ran like a startup company inside GM’s incubator and has an “ecosystem” of products surrounding the EV. It built dedicated teams that developed solutions like the Trace e-cart that containerizes and helps move packages from the van for easy door deliveries and the “Core” software suite to tie everything together.
However, sales have been slow for BrightDrop, and Katz left after the restructuring. Now under Chevy, BrightDrop has access to its dealer network to help sell both the van and software. CNBC reported in August that BrightDrop sold only 500 vans in 2023 and 746 of them through the first six months of 2024.
BrightDrop’s vans run on GM’s battery platform, formerly known as Ultium, and the larger version can drive an impressive 258.85 miles on a single charge (Verge transportation editor Andrew Hawkins literally napped inside one and can confirm).

A Walmart-branded BrightDrop 400 electric van. | Image: GM

GM moved its electric van company BrightDrop into Chevy in August to save some money, and today, the newly branded version of the vehicle is reaching one of BrightDrop’s earliest customers: Walmart.

After piloting BrightDrop 400 vehicles for customer deliveries, Walmart is officially adding them into its fleets. The company says its in-home delivery program is expanding to reach 62 million households nationwide and will roll out Chevy BrightDrops in Austin, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, northwest Arkansas, Orlando, and the San Francisco Bay area by the end of the year.

Walmart had struck a deal with BrightDrop in 2022 to reserve 5,000 vans that included the larger 600 models (the number indicating the approximate square footage of cargo space). However, the retail giant seems to be sticking with the smaller 400 versions for now. The company has not specified how many it will deploy this year.

BrightDrop started as a wholly-owned subsidiary of GM and, in 2022, it was projected to bring in $1 billion in revenue with a 20 percent margin the following year. In 2023, BrightDrop’s CEO at the time Travis Katz came on Decoder and explained how BrightDrop ran like a startup company inside GM’s incubator and has an “ecosystem” of products surrounding the EV. It built dedicated teams that developed solutions like the Trace e-cart that containerizes and helps move packages from the van for easy door deliveries and the “Core” software suite to tie everything together.

However, sales have been slow for BrightDrop, and Katz left after the restructuring. Now under Chevy, BrightDrop has access to its dealer network to help sell both the van and software. CNBC reported in August that BrightDrop sold only 500 vans in 2023 and 746 of them through the first six months of 2024.

BrightDrop’s vans run on GM’s battery platform, formerly known as Ultium, and the larger version can drive an impressive 258.85 miles on a single charge (Verge transportation editor Andrew Hawkins literally napped inside one and can confirm).

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This pocket-friendly e-reader also wants to be your minimalist phone

The Mudita Kompakt E Ink phone is expected to sell for under $500. | Image: Mudita

Mudita is not the first company to build a phone with an E Ink screen, but its Kompakt isn’t only about bringing the benefits of e-paper to smartphones. The company describes the Kompakt as a “minimalist E Ink phone” that’s designed to reduce distractions with a limited collection of bundled apps.
The Kompakt is being made available to consumers through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. The earliest backers can pre-order one for around $325 with shipping expected as early as April 2025. Full retail pricing is expected to be closer to $476, making the Kompakt cheaper than other E Ink phones from companies like Hisense.
Unlike the Boox Palma, which is a pocket-friendly 6.13-inch e-reader offering additional functionality through a full implementation of Android, the Kompakt features a much smaller 4.3-inch E Ink screen with a resolution of just 800×480 pixels and a stripped down operating system.
The Kompakt runs MuditaOS K, a custom operating system based on the Android Open Source Project. It skips all of Google’s services to ensure your “data is never shared or monetized by third parties” and only has a small assortment of preinstalled apps the company has deemed essential. These include a phone app with SMS messaging, offline maps, a voice recorder, a calculator, a photo-only camera (limited to 8MP), and an e-reader supporting ePubs and PDFs. The OS doesn’t include access to the Google Play Store, and while other Android apps can be sideloaded, according to New Atlas, full compatibility and performance isn’t guaranteed.

Image: Mudita
A sliding switch on the Kompakt offers a “hardware-level cutoff of GSM and all three microphones,” the company says.

To occasionally make the phone even less of a distraction, or to enhance its privacy, the Kompakt has a software option to disable its camera, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. On the side of the phone is also a sliding switch that activates a “hardware-level cutoff of GSM and all three microphones,” although Mudita doesn’t explain exactly how it works, or to what extent those functions are disabled.
Other features of the Kompakt include a 3,300mAh battery the company says will provide up to six days of standby time, an IP54-rating, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a fingerprint reader, NFC, wireless charging, and a dual SIM tray that can also accept a microSD card to expand its 32GB of storage.
Two versions of the Kompakt will be available that are optimized for either North American or global cellular networks, but the tiny phone skips 5G connectivity entirely. Although that will further discourage using it to access distractions like social media, access to 2G, 3G, and 4G LTE networks could also hinder its connectivity in some places.

The Mudita Kompakt E Ink phone is expected to sell for under $500. | Image: Mudita

Mudita is not the first company to build a phone with an E Ink screen, but its Kompakt isn’t only about bringing the benefits of e-paper to smartphones. The company describes the Kompakt as a “minimalist E Ink phone” that’s designed to reduce distractions with a limited collection of bundled apps.

The Kompakt is being made available to consumers through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. The earliest backers can pre-order one for around $325 with shipping expected as early as April 2025. Full retail pricing is expected to be closer to $476, making the Kompakt cheaper than other E Ink phones from companies like Hisense.

Unlike the Boox Palma, which is a pocket-friendly 6.13-inch e-reader offering additional functionality through a full implementation of Android, the Kompakt features a much smaller 4.3-inch E Ink screen with a resolution of just 800×480 pixels and a stripped down operating system.

The Kompakt runs MuditaOS K, a custom operating system based on the Android Open Source Project. It skips all of Google’s services to ensure your “data is never shared or monetized by third parties” and only has a small assortment of preinstalled apps the company has deemed essential. These include a phone app with SMS messaging, offline maps, a voice recorder, a calculator, a photo-only camera (limited to 8MP), and an e-reader supporting ePubs and PDFs. The OS doesn’t include access to the Google Play Store, and while other Android apps can be sideloaded, according to New Atlas, full compatibility and performance isn’t guaranteed.

Image: Mudita
A sliding switch on the Kompakt offers a “hardware-level cutoff of GSM and all three microphones,” the company says.

To occasionally make the phone even less of a distraction, or to enhance its privacy, the Kompakt has a software option to disable its camera, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. On the side of the phone is also a sliding switch that activates a “hardware-level cutoff of GSM and all three microphones,” although Mudita doesn’t explain exactly how it works, or to what extent those functions are disabled.

Other features of the Kompakt include a 3,300mAh battery the company says will provide up to six days of standby time, an IP54-rating, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a fingerprint reader, NFC, wireless charging, and a dual SIM tray that can also accept a microSD card to expand its 32GB of storage.

Two versions of the Kompakt will be available that are optimized for either North American or global cellular networks, but the tiny phone skips 5G connectivity entirely. Although that will further discourage using it to access distractions like social media, access to 2G, 3G, and 4G LTE networks could also hinder its connectivity in some places.

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Ford won’t be making any new F-150 Lightnings until next year

Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge

Ford is idling the factory where it makes its F-150 Lightning electric pickup trucks until next year, the company said today. It’s another unwelcome hiccup in Ford’s path to becoming a global EV producer.
The plan is to shut things down after the last shift on Friday, November 15th, at which point the plant will be closed for seven weeks, including holidays in which no work would have occurred anyway. The reasons are a bit vague, with Ford spokesperson Emma Berg citing a need to “adjust production for an optimal mix of sales growth and profitability.”
That last word — profitability — is surely driving most of this decision. While Tesla just had a better-than-expected earnings quarter, Ford is still struggling to squeeze profit out of its Model e division, which covers EVs, software, and more.
The plan is to shut things down after the last shift on Friday, November 15th
The company reported losing $1.2 billion during the third quarter of this year on Model e, and projects that it will lose $5 billion on its EV business for the whole year. The company cited “industrywide pricing pressure” as among the reasons for the losses.
When it first came out, the F-150 Lightning was held up as enormously important for Ford’s long-term growth and vision. An electrified version of the world’s most popular pickup truck, and America’s most popular vehicle? Obviously Ford was going to print money on this model.
But the Lightning has had a rocky start. Prices have been slashed, production paused and restarted, and dealership inventory has remained a sticking point. The Tesla Cybertruck, that low poly lightning rod of praise and ridicule, recently outpaced the F-150 Lightning (and truly every electric truck on the market) in sales.
The last time Ford idled the plant was to increase its size to expand production. The company anticipated making 70,000 trucks a year in the newly enlarged factory. As of this most recent quarter, Ford has delivered 22,807 Lightnings.
The company is likely to keep running into these challenges as it scrambles to develop a next-generation EV platform to that is more low-cost than its current one. Ford has a “skunkworks” team in Silicon Valley developing this new platform right now. But in the meantime, it needs to sell more F-150 Lightnings.

Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge

Ford is idling the factory where it makes its F-150 Lightning electric pickup trucks until next year, the company said today. It’s another unwelcome hiccup in Ford’s path to becoming a global EV producer.

The plan is to shut things down after the last shift on Friday, November 15th, at which point the plant will be closed for seven weeks, including holidays in which no work would have occurred anyway. The reasons are a bit vague, with Ford spokesperson Emma Berg citing a need to “adjust production for an optimal mix of sales growth and profitability.”

That last word — profitability — is surely driving most of this decision. While Tesla just had a better-than-expected earnings quarter, Ford is still struggling to squeeze profit out of its Model e division, which covers EVs, software, and more.

The plan is to shut things down after the last shift on Friday, November 15th

The company reported losing $1.2 billion during the third quarter of this year on Model e, and projects that it will lose $5 billion on its EV business for the whole year. The company cited “industrywide pricing pressure” as among the reasons for the losses.

When it first came out, the F-150 Lightning was held up as enormously important for Ford’s long-term growth and vision. An electrified version of the world’s most popular pickup truck, and America’s most popular vehicle? Obviously Ford was going to print money on this model.

But the Lightning has had a rocky start. Prices have been slashed, production paused and restarted, and dealership inventory has remained a sticking point. The Tesla Cybertruck, that low poly lightning rod of praise and ridicule, recently outpaced the F-150 Lightning (and truly every electric truck on the market) in sales.

The last time Ford idled the plant was to increase its size to expand production. The company anticipated making 70,000 trucks a year in the newly enlarged factory. As of this most recent quarter, Ford has delivered 22,807 Lightnings.

The company is likely to keep running into these challenges as it scrambles to develop a next-generation EV platform to that is more low-cost than its current one. Ford has a “skunkworks” team in Silicon Valley developing this new platform right now. But in the meantime, it needs to sell more F-150 Lightnings.

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Trump is planning a crackdown on legal immigration, too

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump has made immigration a centerpiece of his campaign: he’s promised mass deportations, a crackdown on asylum at the border, and a ban on mortgages for undocumented immigrants. But while Trump rails against illegal immigration, his allies and advisors are also preparing to sharply reduce legal immigration, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Groups including the America First Policy Institute, a think tank that has been advising Trump’s campaign, have drafted executive orders, regulations, and memos that would narrow the paths for legal migration to the US, according to a dozen former Trump administration officials that spoke with the Journal. Some of the proposals — like a ban on travelers from certain Muslim-majority countries — are recycled from Trump’s first term. Other plans include a total ban on refugee resettlement and a pause on accepting applications for categories of immigration with large backlogs, including asylum and employment-based green cards for Indian tech workers.
Trump also restricted legal migration during his first term. Trump lowered the ceiling on the number of refugees that could be resettled in the US each year he was in office. He expanded longstanding “public charge” regulations, allowing immigration officials to deny green cards to immigrants they suspected would receive public assistance. Still, sharp reductions in legal immigration would be a radical shift even for the Trump administration — one that is underscored by the ultra-nationalist rhetoric of Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH).
Vance has repeatedly blamed rising housing costs on immigrants, and has decried President Joe Biden’s parole policy — which lets migrants from countries including Cuba, Haiti, and Venezuela live and work in the US for up to two years — as illegal.
Stephen Miller, a senior adviser during Trump’s first term and one of the architects of the administration’s family separation policy, has also expressed a desire to reduce legal migration. “Refugee resettlement is ‘legal.’ Chain migration is ‘legal.’ Diversity lottery is ‘legal.’ Islamist green card migration is ‘legal.’ And it’s why we need the Trump Travel Ban back now,” Miller posted on X in January.
Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership, the playbook written up by the right-wing Heritage Foundation, also proposes ending so-called “chain migration,” i.e., family-based migration. The Mandate’s chapter on the Department of Homeland Security, written by former Trump DHS official Ken Cuccinelli, recommends replacing our family-based immigration system with a “merit-based system that rewards high-skilled aliens.”
Cuccinelli’s other proposals include ending the diversity visa lottery, which gives people from countries with low immigration rates to the US a chance to apply for permanent residency. These policies would require congressional action and are therefore unlikely to happen, but they’re still an instructive look at what Trump and his allies hope to achieve during a second term.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump has made immigration a centerpiece of his campaign: he’s promised mass deportations, a crackdown on asylum at the border, and a ban on mortgages for undocumented immigrants. But while Trump rails against illegal immigration, his allies and advisors are also preparing to sharply reduce legal immigration, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Groups including the America First Policy Institute, a think tank that has been advising Trump’s campaign, have drafted executive orders, regulations, and memos that would narrow the paths for legal migration to the US, according to a dozen former Trump administration officials that spoke with the Journal. Some of the proposals — like a ban on travelers from certain Muslim-majority countries — are recycled from Trump’s first term. Other plans include a total ban on refugee resettlement and a pause on accepting applications for categories of immigration with large backlogs, including asylum and employment-based green cards for Indian tech workers.

Trump also restricted legal migration during his first term. Trump lowered the ceiling on the number of refugees that could be resettled in the US each year he was in office. He expanded longstanding “public charge” regulations, allowing immigration officials to deny green cards to immigrants they suspected would receive public assistance. Still, sharp reductions in legal immigration would be a radical shift even for the Trump administration — one that is underscored by the ultra-nationalist rhetoric of Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH).

Vance has repeatedly blamed rising housing costs on immigrants, and has decried President Joe Biden’s parole policy — which lets migrants from countries including Cuba, Haiti, and Venezuela live and work in the US for up to two years — as illegal.

Stephen Miller, a senior adviser during Trump’s first term and one of the architects of the administration’s family separation policy, has also expressed a desire to reduce legal migration. “Refugee resettlement is ‘legal.’ Chain migration is ‘legal.’ Diversity lottery is ‘legal.’ Islamist green card migration is ‘legal.’ And it’s why we need the Trump Travel Ban back now,” Miller posted on X in January.

Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership, the playbook written up by the right-wing Heritage Foundation, also proposes ending so-called “chain migration,” i.e., family-based migration. The Mandate’s chapter on the Department of Homeland Security, written by former Trump DHS official Ken Cuccinelli, recommends replacing our family-based immigration system with a “merit-based system that rewards high-skilled aliens.”

Cuccinelli’s other proposals include ending the diversity visa lottery, which gives people from countries with low immigration rates to the US a chance to apply for permanent residency. These policies would require congressional action and are therefore unlikely to happen, but they’re still an instructive look at what Trump and his allies hope to achieve during a second term.

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Humane recalls the AI Pin’s charging case due to overheating concerns

Photo by Amelia Holoway Krales / The Verge

After warning customers to stop using it, Humane is now formally recalling around 10,500 units of its charging case for the beleaguered AI Pin. The affected cases were sold from last November through May of this year. According to the CPSC recall page, the lithium polymer battery in the Charge Case Accessory can potentially overheat and present a fire hazard. Humane admitted similar findings in a June email to customers.
That worst-case scenario, thankfully, hasn’t happened yet; the recall notes “one report of a charge case overheating and melting during charging,” but there haven’t been any injuries or damage to property. The AI Pin, its magnetic Battery Booster, and Humane’s charging pad are “not affected,” the company said in its earlier email.

Out of an abundance of caution, Humane is voluntarily recalling its Charge Case Accessory. Upon receiving a single report of a charging issue while using a third-party USB-C cable and third-party power source, we identified a quality issue with the battery cell supplied by a… pic.twitter.com/xXQ4WquuD3— Humane Ground Control (@Humane_help) October 31, 2024

Still, the situation is yet another blemish for Humane’s first product, which got off to a terrible start after a wave of damning reviews, slow sales, and plentiful returns. That 10,500 number is another indication of the AI Pin’s slow-going sales. The company recently lowered the device’s price in an attempt to reverse its fortunes. (The cheaper model no longer includes the charge case.) Humane has also continued releasing software improvements for the wearable gadget. “CosmOS 1.2 is our biggest software update since launch,” the company posted on X this month.
Customers have the option of requesting either a full refund or getting a replacement charge case. If opting for the refund, those who bought it standalone will receive $149, and anyone who got a charge case as part of the AI Pin “complete package” will get $129. Humane’s revised, safer charge case will be available in three to six months, according to the CPSC.
The bigger question is what might happen to the company itself within that timeframe. Will Humane manage to find a buyer? Can it find success putting CosmOS on other products?

Photo by Amelia Holoway Krales / The Verge

After warning customers to stop using it, Humane is now formally recalling around 10,500 units of its charging case for the beleaguered AI Pin. The affected cases were sold from last November through May of this year. According to the CPSC recall page, the lithium polymer battery in the Charge Case Accessory can potentially overheat and present a fire hazard. Humane admitted similar findings in a June email to customers.

That worst-case scenario, thankfully, hasn’t happened yet; the recall notes “one report of a charge case overheating and melting during charging,” but there haven’t been any injuries or damage to property. The AI Pin, its magnetic Battery Booster, and Humane’s charging pad are “not affected,” the company said in its earlier email.

Out of an abundance of caution, Humane is voluntarily recalling its Charge Case Accessory. Upon receiving a single report of a charging issue while using a third-party USB-C cable and third-party power source, we identified a quality issue with the battery cell supplied by a… pic.twitter.com/xXQ4WquuD3

— Humane Ground Control (@Humane_help) October 31, 2024

Still, the situation is yet another blemish for Humane’s first product, which got off to a terrible start after a wave of damning reviews, slow sales, and plentiful returns. That 10,500 number is another indication of the AI Pin’s slow-going sales. The company recently lowered the device’s price in an attempt to reverse its fortunes. (The cheaper model no longer includes the charge case.) Humane has also continued releasing software improvements for the wearable gadget. “CosmOS 1.2 is our biggest software update since launch,” the company posted on X this month.

Customers have the option of requesting either a full refund or getting a replacement charge case. If opting for the refund, those who bought it standalone will receive $149, and anyone who got a charge case as part of the AI Pin “complete package” will get $129. Humane’s revised, safer charge case will be available in three to six months, according to the CPSC.

The bigger question is what might happen to the company itself within that timeframe. Will Humane manage to find a buyer? Can it find success putting CosmOS on other products?

Read More 

Playdate is getting a second season of games in 2025

Image: Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

When the Playdate first launched, one of the hooks was that the little yellow handheld came with a “season” of 24 games from notable developers like Keita Takahashi and Zach Gage. And now Panic has confirmed that a second season is coming at some point in 2025.
As for what will be included, we don’t have a lot to go on right now. Panic says that “details on price, the exact number of games, and the developers behind the games of season 2 will come in 2025.” But during a livestream today, the company said it would probably feature “about a dozen games” and will also include a “really cool surprise.”
Last year Panic launched a Playdate store called Catalog where developers could release games outside of the season structure, and during today’s presentation the company said that the shop had surpassed 200 available games. We also got a glimpse at some titles in development, including the adorable word game Bwirds (launching November 26th), a grappling hook-powered platformer called Owlet’s Embrace (later 2025), the cozy puzzle adventure Comet (listed as coming soon), and the self-explanatory Office Chair Curling (also coming soon).
You can check out the full presentation for more on these games:

There’s also some good news on the hardware front: Panic said that the hard-to-find handheld is available to order now with an expected shipping date of December.
Earlier this week Panic confirmed that the device’s stereo dock accessory had been shelved indefinitely.

Image: Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

When the Playdate first launched, one of the hooks was that the little yellow handheld came with a “season” of 24 games from notable developers like Keita Takahashi and Zach Gage. And now Panic has confirmed that a second season is coming at some point in 2025.

As for what will be included, we don’t have a lot to go on right now. Panic says that “details on price, the exact number of games, and the developers behind the games of season 2 will come in 2025.” But during a livestream today, the company said it would probably feature “about a dozen games” and will also include a “really cool surprise.”

Last year Panic launched a Playdate store called Catalog where developers could release games outside of the season structure, and during today’s presentation the company said that the shop had surpassed 200 available games. We also got a glimpse at some titles in development, including the adorable word game Bwirds (launching November 26th), a grappling hook-powered platformer called Owlet’s Embrace (later 2025), the cozy puzzle adventure Comet (listed as coming soon), and the self-explanatory Office Chair Curling (also coming soon).

You can check out the full presentation for more on these games:

There’s also some good news on the hardware front: Panic said that the hard-to-find handheld is available to order now with an expected shipping date of December.

Earlier this week Panic confirmed that the device’s stereo dock accessory had been shelved indefinitely.

Read More 

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