The Verge·Friday, January 16, 2026

The Verge - Friday, January 16, 2026

10 stories~15 min

Listen to this episode

Hear all 10 stories summarized and read aloud.

▶Play on Tera.fm

Stories Covered

Casting is dead. Long live casting!

This is Lowpass by Janko Roettgers, a newsletter on the ever-evolving intersection of tech and entertainment, syndicated just for The Verge subscribers once a week. Last month, Netflix made the surprising decision to kill off a key feature: With no prior warning, the company removed the ability to cast videos from its mobile apps to a wide range of smart TVs and streaming devices. Casting is now only supported on older Chromecast streaming adapters that didn't ship with a remote, Nest Hub smart

Read original →

Meta has discontinued its metaverse for work, too

Two months before it changed its name to "Meta," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally introduced us to his metaverse for work: Horizon Workrooms, envisioned as a virtual space for workers to collaborate. Today, the company announced it's shutting that space down: "Meta has made the decision to discontinue Workrooms as a standalone app, effective February 16, 2026," reads the note tucked away on a help page. Meta will also no longer sell its headsets and software as a service for businesses, a

Read original →

The best Sonos speakers to buy in 2026

After the self-induced tumult Sonos went through last 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 a couple of years ago, though some customers still encounter bugs and the frustration of speakers randomly vanishing from their system.

Read original →

Here are the best Apple Watch deals available right now

The last-gen Apple Watch Ultra 2 is on sale starting at $549, matching its lowest price to date. | Photo: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge In September, Apple launched its latest fleet of smartwatches, including the Apple Watch Series 11, the SE 3, and the Ultra 3. Each wearable offers something a little different (their prices indicate their breadth of features), and we’re already starting to see big price drops. Additionally, we’re still recommending some recent predecessors in Apple’s por

Read original →

Grok undressed the mother of one of Elon Musk’s kids — and now she’s suing

Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of X owner Elon Musk's children, is suing his company for enabling its AI to virtually strip her down into a bikini without her consent. St. Clair is one of the many people over the past couple weeks who have found themselves undressed without permission by X's AI chatbot, Grok. The chatbot has been gingerly complying with users' requests to remove clothing from many women and some apparent minors, or put them in sexualized poses or scenarios. The feature has

Read original →

Dave Filoni takes charge of Star Wars as new president of Lucasfilm

There's a new name in charge of stewarding Star Wars at Lucasfilm. The studio just announced that Dave Filoni - best-known for his work on The Mandalorian and The Clone Wars - will be taking over as president. Former president Kathleen Kennedy, whose departure had been rumored for some time, will be stepping down and returning to producing films full-time. Under the new structure, Filoni will continue to serve as chief creative officer at Lucasfilm, alongside becoming the studio's president. Lyn

Read original →

Natural Cycles launches wristband to replace thermometers for its FDA-cleared birth control app

Natural Cycles, the company behind a controversial FDA-cleared birth control app, is replacing its thermometer with a wristband that measures skin temperature, heart rate, and movement during sleep. The newly-launched wristband costs $129.99 and syncs with the Natural Cycles app, which uses an algorithm to determine a person's "daily fertility status." Users can already track their fertility by pairing an Apple Watch or Oura Ring with Natural Cycles, but the wristband could be an option for user

Read original →

You can save over $1,500 on LG’s 65-inch C5 OLED TV

The 65-inch LG C5 OLED TV is rarely this affordable. LG might have just revealed its new C6 OLED TVs at CES 2026, but we still don’t know when they’ll actually hit stores. If you don’t want to wait — or spend a couple thousand dollars on a brand new model — the current-gen LG C5 OLED is a fantastic option now the 65-inch model is $1,197.59 ($1,502 off) when you use code FAVEFINDS20 at eBay. That’s just $2 shy of the TV’s all-time low price, though you’ll have to use that code by the end of Jan

Read original →

The best alternatives to Spotify for listening to music

Spotify is probably one of the most well-known music services available (if not the most popular) around - and it seems that the company it taking advantage of that. As of this month, Spotify announced that it was raising its prices, the third time since 2023. If that concerns you (especially if you're a current Spotify subscriber), you'll be glad to know that there are quite a few alternatives available for good music listening, some with free versions (and some not), and some that can help yo

Read original →

Asus says it’s dropping the RTX 5070 Ti as the memory shortage squeezes supply

On Thursday, Hardware Unboxed reported that Asus is winding down production of its RTX 5070 Ti, saying, Asus "explicitly told us this model is currently facing a supply shortage and, as such, they have placed the model into end-of-life status." They added that the same applies to Asus's 16GB RTX 5060 Ti, and mentioned how retailers in Australia have had trouble sourcing the product. Nvidia's director of global public relations for GeForce, Ben Berraondo, confirmed in a statement to The Verge tha

Read original →