The Verge·Friday, December 19, 2025

The Verge - Friday, December 19, 2025

10 stories~15 min

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Stories Covered

Netflix is acquiring an avatar company as it moves into party games

As Netflix continues to build out its gaming strategy, which has recently included a new era of TV party games, it's going to let people build avatars - with the help of a new acquisition. The company is acquiring avatar company Ready Player Me and its "cross-game avatar tech" to let players "carry their identities and fandom across games," according to Ready Player Me CEO Timmu Tõke. Netflix "doesn't have an estimate of how long it will be until avatars launch" or which games will get them firs

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Don’t expect Trump Media’s nuclear fusion power plant to generate electricity soon

TAE Technologies’ fusion research reactor ‘Norm.’ | Photo: TAE Technologies Trump Media - yup, the parent company of Truth Social - is the latest entrant in the near century-long race to develop a nuclear fusion power plant. It announced a merger agreement with fusion company TAE Technologies on Thursday and a bold plan to break ground on the first utility-scale fusion plant some time in 2026. TAE doesn't plan to start generating power from its first plant until 2031, which is still an incredi

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The best Christmas gifts for gamers and movie lovers

Most of us in the Northern Hemisphere spend the holidays indoors, but you can only watch so many TikToks about cute cats and cooking hacks before the need for something a little more substantive kicks in. Choosing the right game or movie to gift is tough, though, especially if you don't have an exact read on what your friends and family like. And if you choose poorly, remember that you might also be on the hook to play or watch it with them. That's why, this year, we made it our mission to find

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The best Sonos speakers to buy in 2025

After the self-induced tumult Sonos has gone through this year, I can understand why some people are reluctant to spend money on the company’s products. But newly appointed CEO Tom Conrad has shown that he’s determined to get back on track and revitalize Sonos as the leading whole-home audio brand. The contentious mobile app is in a much better place now than it was last year, though some customers still encounter bugs and the frustration of speakers randomly vanishing from their system. It’s no

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The RAM shortage is here to stay, raising prices on PCs and phones

Your next smartphone or PC might cost more amid a global memory shortage that the International Data Corporation expects to "persist well into 2027." A new report from the research firm lays out the potential impact of the RAM crunch, saying it "signals the end of an era of cheap, abundant memory and storage" - for now, at least. The price of RAM has skyrocketed over the past few months as the world's biggest memory makers - Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix - allocate more resources for AI companie

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Bose’s first-gen QC Ultra headphones just hit their lowest price to date

The QC Ultra remain a great noise-canceling option if you plan on traveling during the holidays. | Image: The Verge If you value peace and quiet, particularly when traveling, Bose’s first-gen QuietComfort Ultra Headphones are worth checking out. They’re our favorite noise-canceling headphones for travel, and right now, you can snag a pair for an all-time low of $279 ($150 off) in select colors from Amazon, Best Buy, and Bose. All three retailers estimate that shipments should arrive before Chr

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Who owns Trump Mobile?

Where's the Trump Phone? We're going to keep talking about it every week, except next week, when we take a break until the new year. We've reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump Phone's whereabouts. As usual, we're still waiting for a response. In the meantime, we're wondering who's actually behind the mobile company. Yesterday's announcement that one of the Trump companies is merging with TAE Technologies raised an unexpected prospect: Is the company that gave up on building phones in th

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The Fujifilm Instax Mini 12 instant camera is a great gift at $74

Although our phones are all equipped with cameras, there is still something special about being able to immediately produce a printed photo to pass around or give as a gift. If that’s something that appeals to you, the Fujifilm Instax Mini 12 instant camera is a great gift idea, and it’s now on sale at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy for about $73.99 (down from $93.99), nearly matching its all-time low of $73. Fujifilm Instax Mini 12 Where to Buy: $93.95 $73.95 at Amazon $93.95 $73.95 at Wal

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The best Nintendo Switch controllers to buy right now

The Switch 2 is here, and Nintendo seems ready to move on from the original Switch. But we’re not going to up and forget about it. That’s why we’ve kept testing controllers that might be a good fit for you. Even as many accessory makers are making controllers with the Switch 2 in mind, most of the resulting gamepads to come out also work just fine on the original Switch. In terms of any differences between Switch and Switch 2 controllers, there are fewer than you might think; there may be a Gam

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Europol imagines robot crime waves in 2035

Rapid advances in AI and robotics are set to become both powerful tools for police and potent weapons for criminals, a 48-page report from pan-European police agency Europol argues. Earlier this month, Europol's Innovation Lab published "The Unmanned Future(s): The impact of robotics and unmanned systems on law enforcement." The document is framed as more of a "foresight" exercise than a hard prediction. It sketches the near future of 2035, where intelligent machines are everywhere, from homes,

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