GPD’s G1 is the impressively small dock that could jumpstart eGPUs in the handheld era

The GPD G1, next to a pocketable laptop. | Image: GPD

GPD is crowdfunding a new compact external GPU docking station that can both boost the gaming capabilities of some laptops and handheld gaming PCs, and also help anchor them to a desk for mobile workers (via Liliputing).

The company is calling it the G1, and it includes an AMD Radeon RX 7600M XT chip with HDMI 2.1 plus two DisplayPort 1.4 video outputs, a USB 4 / Thunderbolt 4 connector to dock and charge, and something called Oculink (more on that in a bit).

GPD says it’s the “world’s smallest mobile graphics card expansion dock”, at just over an inch thick (29.8mm), around nine inches long (225mm) and four and a third (111mm) deep — all with an integrated power supply.

Image: GPD

GPD isn’t quite the household…

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Posted by Experimentor in Podcast News

Here are the best Apple Watch deals right now

Heart rate zone screen in the Series 8’s Workout App
The Apple Watch Series 8 isn’t a massive step up from the prior model, but it does offer a few new features. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

In September, Apple launched its latest batch of smartwatches, introducing the first-ever Ultra ($799) alongside the Series 8 ($399) and a new Apple Watch SE ($249). Each wearable has its own pros and cons associated with it, but the introduction of the high-end Ultra also means there are now more Apple Watch models on the market before than ever before — and a lot more deals to be had.

But with all of those options, which one should you pick? Generally speaking, you want to buy the newest watch you can afford so that it continues to receive software updates from Apple. The latest update, watchOS 9, launched on the Apple Watch Series 4 and newer models in September, though no one can say with certainty whether the Series 4 will get the…

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Posted by Experimentor in Podcast News

Maryland school district sues Meta, Google, and TikTok over ‘mental health crisis’

Illustration of two smartphones sitting on a yellow background with red tape across them that reads “DANGER”
Illustration by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

A Maryland school district is suing Meta, Google, Snap, and TikTok owner ByteDance for allegedly contributing to a “mental health crisis” among students. A lawsuit filed by the Howard County Public School System on Thursday claims the social networks operated by these companies are “addictive and dangerous” products that have “rewired” the way kids “think, feel, and behave.”

The lawsuit cites a laundry list of issues on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok that it accuses of harming kids. That includes the (allegedly) addictive “dopamine-triggering rewards” on each app, such as TikTok’s For You page, which leverages data about user activity to provide an endless stream of suggested content. It also mentions Facebook and…

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Posted by Experimentor in Podcast News

Microsoft will end support for Cortana on Windows later this year

The Microsoft logo on an orange background
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft is ending support for Cortana in Windows. In a support page spotted by XDA Developers and Windows Central, the company says it will “no longer support Cortana in Windows as a standalone app” starting later this year.

Cortana’s discontinuation on Windows doesn’t come as much of a surprise. During its Build conference in May, Microsoft announced its new Windows Copilot tool, which will live in your taskbar and use AI to help you do everything — and more — that Cortana does once it’s widely released. That includes summarizing content, rewriting text, asking questions, adjusting your computer’s settings, and more.

Microsoft first brought Cortana to Windows 10 in 2015, allowing you to set reminders, open applications, and ask…

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Posted by Experimentor in Podcast News

Here are the best AirPods deals you can get right now

Apple’s second-gen AirPods Pro buds in front of the charging case against a dark background.
Apple’s second-gen AirPods Pro are currently $50 off, matching their all-time low.

If you know where to look, there are often some great discounts available on Apple’s ever-popular AirPods. Since Apple launched the third-gen AirPods toward the end of 2021, we’ve seen the starting price of the second-gen, entry-level model slowly dip to around $100. And now that you can buy the second-gen AirPods Pro at most retailers, we’re seeing even better discounts on the last-gen Pro and other models.

Below, we’ve curated the best deals currently available on each model, including the entry-level AirPods, the AirPods Pro, the third-gen AirPods, and the AirPods Max.

The best AirPods (second-gen) deals

In 2021, Apple lowered the list price of the second-gen AirPods — now the entry-level model — from $159 to $129. It now only sells…

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Posted by Experimentor in Podcast News

Smart door lock maker Level is bringing a new video doorbell to apartment dwellers

A picture of Level’s video doorbell.
Level offers a single doorbell camera for entire apartment buildings. | Image: Level

Level has announced it’s releasing a doorbell camera exclusively for multifamily buildings as an optional part of an overall smart home platform for multiunit dwellings. The video doorbell wouldn’t be available generally but instead comes to a smart home market for multifamily buildings that could benefit from a retail smart lock maker moving into the space.

Our initial impression was that it could provide camera shared by an apartment building’s residents, but Level says that’s not so, with the system designed to put them on individual units.

Level says residents can use the Level app to peer through the doorbell camera and speak with visitors on the other side. The press release adds that the camera includes “package identification…

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Posted by Experimentor in Podcast News

iHeartMedia tells employees to steer clear of ChatGPT

An illustration of a cartoon brain with a computer chip imposed on top.
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

This story first appeared in Hot Pod Insider, The Verge’s newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up here for more.


iHeartMedia is joining companies like Apple, Spotify, and Verizon in restricting employee use of OpenAI’s ChatGPT — as well as banning the use of the AI model on company devices. According to an internal memo obtained by Hot Pod, iHeartMedia CEO Bob Pittman and CFO Rich Bressler sent an email yesterday to company employees instructing them not to use ChatGPT in order to prevent data leaks of iHeartMedia’s proprietary information. The news was first reported by RBR.

The leaders wrote that “as tempting as it is,” iHeartMedia employees were not to use ChatGPT or similar AI tools on company devices or to do…

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Posted by Experimentor in Podcast News

Quest 3 won’t replace Quest 2 for ‘quite a while,’ confirms Meta

Side-by-side view from the bottom of both the Meta Quest 2 and Quest 3 headsets showing the new version’s slimmer design.
Quest 2 vs. Quest 3. | Image: Meta

Is it really a good idea to buy a Meta Quest 2 for $299 now that the $499 Quest 3 is on the way? Won’t Meta stop supporting the old headset with games?

You shouldn’t be worried about that anytime soon, according to the company’s CTO. “The games we announced in the Gaming Showcase are all playable on both Quest 2 and 3, and we expect that to remain the norm for quite a while,” Meta CTO and VR / AR leader Andrew “Boz” Bosworth tells me.

He’s not ruling out the possibility of Quest…

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Posted by Experimentor in Podcast News

Amazon and Walmart are taking a rare $20 off of a set of four AirTags

A close-up image depicting a set of hands holding a selection of Apple AirTags.
Apple’s tiny location trackers can help you keep better tabs on your belongings, including keys. | Image: Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

The busy summer travel season has already begun, so you might want to prepare for rounds of flight delays, crowds, and the potential for lost luggage. Luckily, you can prepare for the chaos ahead of time with today’s deal on a pack of Apple AirTags. Right now, both Amazon and Walmart are selling four AirTags for just $79.99 ($20 off), which is just $5 shy of the all-time low set during Black Friday. Be aware that when this deal has come around in the past, it’s been quite fleeting, so try not to sit on the fence deciding for too long.

An AirTag is an accessory you’ll want to pack because it just makes traveling less stressful. The ultra wideband Bluetooth trackers help you keep track of your belongings so you can quickly pick up your…

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Posted by Experimentor in Podcast News