The Verge The Verge is about technology and how it makes us feel. Founded in 2011, we offer our audience everything from breaking news to reviews to award-winning features and investigations, on our site, in video, and in podcasts. 2026-08-15T21:56:13+00:00 https://www.theverge.com/rss/index.xml https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/verge-rss-large_80b47e.png?w=150&h=150&crop=1 Terrence O’Brien <![CDATA[Matt Groening lets slip that Simpsons: Hit & Run might be making a comeback]]> https://www.theverge.com/?p=980720 2026-08-15T17:56:13-04:00 2026-08-15T17:56:13-04:00 Simpsons Hit & Run box art on a blocky color background.
Doh! | Image: Activision / 20th Century Fox

At D23, when asked about the potential for a sequel to the cult classic The Simpsons: Hit & Run game, Matt Groening replied, "I think the original game is coming back in some form," before current showrunner Matt Selman added, "or not." The tone in both of their voices and the body language suggests that Groening may have just revealed something he wasn't supposed to.

The original title came out way back in 2003 for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, and Windows. While it's possible to get the game up and running on modern computers, it's not available on modern consoles. It's currently not in the PlayStation Plus Classics Catalog or on the Xbo …

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]]> Terrence O’Brien <![CDATA[Have a laugh at AI’s expense by roleplaying as a chatbot]]> https://www.theverge.com/?p=980502 2026-08-15T16:43:38-04:00 2026-08-15T16:45:00-04:00 Screenshot of a real human posing as a fake AI and producing a scribble that’s supposed to be a Pit Bull in a party hat.
If you squint you can just about make out the hat. | Screenshot: Terrence O’Brien / The Verge

Your AI Slop Bores Me is brilliant in its simplicity. There are two tabs: human and LARP as an AI. On one side you enter a request. On the other, you submit an answer. But the important thing is that there's a human on both sides of the equation. Prompts can request a response as text or image, and then whoever is roleplaying as the AI gets 150 seconds to respond.

Just like a real LLM, Your AI Slop Bores Me works on a sort of token system. Requests cost credits, and to earn credits you have to jump onto the AI side and answer some of your own. You can also just wait as you get one free request every two minutes. But, as fun as it is to drop …

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]]> Terrence O’Brien <![CDATA[Don’t overlook Elektron’s budget electronic music instruments]]> https://www.theverge.com/?p=980275 2026-08-15T13:12:04-04:00 2026-08-15T13:00:00-04:00 The Elektron Model:Cycles and Model:Samples grooveboxes on a shelf in front of books, a cassette player, and other random nonseense.
They’re far more powerful and fun than their bargain price suggests. | Photo: Terrence O’Brien / The Verge

When I'm asked what to buy if you want to get into making electronic music, I often recommend Elektron's budget-minded Model:Samples and Model:Cycles grooveboxes. They don't grab headlines the way Teenage Engineering's gear or the Telepathic Instruments Orchid do, and even compared to the company's higher-end and more niche musical offerings like the Digitakt, Octatrack, or Tonverk, they're often overlooked. But as my collection has grown to include fancier and far more expensive instruments, I still find myself coming back to the Model series.

Those looking to get their first groovebox are often drawn to more familiar brand names like Korg …

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]]> Terrence O’Brien <![CDATA[Switched on Pop’s Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding love fresh vegetables and guitar pedals]]> https://www.theverge.com/?p=980288 2026-08-14T13:01:42-04:00 2026-08-15T11:00:00-04:00 Switched on Pop’s Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding standing against a red background.
They’re the Lennon–McCartney of overanalyzing pop music. | Image: Daniel Randall

As if you needed more reason to love Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" beyond its pop perfection, it is also, according to lore, the genesis for Switched on Pop, one of the best music podcasts out there. Cohosts Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding obsessively dissect pop songs, from the theory behind their musical choices to their production techniques. If you're a student of pop music, then this is a must-listen podcast.

Sloan is a composer and professor of musicology at USC Thornton School of Music, where he researches pop, but also jazz and even Tin Pan Alley. Harding is a songwriter, music journalist, and a professor as well. Their combined …

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]]> Terrence O’Brien <![CDATA[Star Wars: Ahsoka season 2 and Starfighter get teased at D23]]> https://www.theverge.com/?p=980666 2026-08-15T12:25:21-04:00 2026-08-15T10:58:27-04:00 Star Wars: Ahsoka season 2 poster

Season two of Star Wars: Ahsoka is still months away, but Lucasfilm still took the opportunity to tease it a bit at D23. The company dropped the first trailer for the new season ahead of its January 20th, 2027 debut. The clip shows a darker, witchcraft-filled take on the Star Wars universe, with Grand Admiral Thrawn (blue skin, red eyes, and an unsettlingly calm demeanor) threatening to thrust the galaxy back into large-scale war after the fall of the Empire.

Ryan Gosling also took the stage at D23 to tease the upcoming Star Wars: Starfighter movie. Unfortunately, while some footage was shown, it was exclusive to those in the room, and Luca …

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]]> Richard Lawler <![CDATA[Disney D23 2026: Everything announced for Star Wars, Marvel, and more]]> https://www.theverge.com/?post_type=vm_stream&p=980633 2026-08-15T17:26:54-04:00 2026-08-15T10:20:33-04:00 Ryan Gosling and Shawn Levy in front of a Star Wars Starfighter logo.
Shawn Levy, Ryan Gosling | Image: The Walt Disney Company/Image Group LA

The annual Disney fan event showed off the cast of Marvel’s X-Men movie, plus a new trailer for Avengers: Doomsday, and our first look at the VisionQuest TV show for Disney Plus. For Star Wars fans, there was a teaser trailer for season two of Ahsoka, plus a special look at Star Wars: Starfighter with an appearance from Ryan Gosling.

Other new announcements included a few updates about Pixar, The Simpsons, Bluey, and others you can find below.

]]> Sean Hollister <![CDATA[I finally found a magnetic phone grip I never want to remove]]> https://www.theverge.com/?p=979850 2026-08-15T10:16:30-04:00 2026-08-15T10:10:16-04:00
The OhSnap Snap Grip Stand, in black and silver. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge

I told myself I wouldn't buy an OhSnap accessory for my phone. Every one I'd tested was nice, but felt overpriced and slightly flawed. After I weighed in on the $40 Snap Grip 5 last year, I wound up sticking with my $25 Syncwire instead. But OhSnap's $50 Snap Grip Stand finally got me. To have a truly useful vertical stand and grip always attached to my phone, ready at a moment's notice? Heck yes.

@verge

My favorite phone grip is the one I never want to take off - because it's a great stand. The $50 OhSnap Snap Grip Stand is the company's best yet, effortlessly propping up phones vertically. It's still got double-sided magnet action and …

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]]> Terrence O’Brien <![CDATA[Marvel reveals the new X-Men cast, including Inde Navarrette and Adam Driver]]> https://www.theverge.com/?p=980635 2026-08-15T10:03:14-04:00 2026-08-15T10:03:14-04:00 The new X-Men cast, including Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Kit Connor as Scott Summers, Christopher Abbott as Professor Charles Xavier, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Inde Navarrette as Rogue, and Maya Boyd as Storm on stage at D23.
The new X-Men MCU cast on stage at D-23. | Image: Marvel Entertainment

With Spider-Man: Brand New Day behind us, and its reveal of Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Marvel is finally ready to officially welcome the X-Men into the MCU. At the D23 event in Anaheim yesterday, the company revealed the cast for its upcoming, untitled X-Men film, which is scheduled to hit theaters on May 5th of 2028. Though, seeing as that's quite far into the future, we wouldn't be surprised if that date shifted slightly before then.

In addition to Sink, the film will star Kit Connor as Scott Summers (Cyclops), Christopher Abbott as Charles Xavier (Professor X), Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Maya Boyd as Storm, and Inde Navarrette as Rogue. …

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]]> Andrew Liszewski <![CDATA[Xteink’s tiny e-readers are getting access to free books through Libby]]> https://www.theverge.com/?p=976390 2026-08-13T11:19:27-04:00 2026-08-15T09:00:00-04:00 A person holding an Xteink X4 Pro e-reader over an Android phone accessing Libby sitting on a paper book.
New plugin support for CrossPoint Reader lets Xteink’s devices access DRM-protected ebooks.

One of the big tradeoffs with Xteink's pocket-friendly e-readers is a lack of easy access to ebooks. On a Kindle or Kobo you can download tens of thousands of titles through each device's respective online bookstores, but with Xteink's devices you have to source DRM-free ebooks on your own. That's about to change, as the developers of CrossPoint Reader, a free alternative firmware for the X3, X4, and X4 Pro, are introducing support for third-party plug-ins that will expand the e-readers' capabilities. One of the first from the community will give the devices access to DRM-protected ebooks borrowed through OverDrive's Libby library app, or pu …

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]]> Antonio G. Di Benedetto <![CDATA[We’re reaching peak camera with the Sony A7R VI]]> https://www.theverge.com/?p=980064 2026-08-14T17:38:48-04:00 2026-08-15T08:00:00-04:00 A close-up photo of the front of a Sony A7R VI camera with water droplets on it.
Maximum camera. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

It wasn't long ago that shooting with a super high-resolution camera meant making serious sacrifices for the sake of all those megapixels. Enter the A7R VI.

Sony's latest flagship high-res camera is a 66.8-megapixel spec monster. In addition to its modest bump in resolution from the last-gen A7R V, it uses a new sensor and processor that unlock nearly any kind of shooting - from sports and action to usable 8K video. It's a huge departure from years ago, when high-resolution cameras were slower, noisier, and more specialized as a result of all those megapixels.

The A7R VI's fully stacked sensor and new Bionz XR2 processor allow it to shoot …

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