It brings me no pleasure to say this, but friends: The next G cometh. The standard formally known as 6G is still being established, but it’s going to be a major topic of discussion at Mobile World Congress 2026, which gets started today in Barcelona. 5G arrived back in 2019, but also, did it, entirely? … Read more
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 117, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, please send Android tips, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I’ve been reading about Eileen Gu and Ozempic and fancy grocery stores, trying … Read more
The tranche of Jeffrey Epstein emails and files released on January 30th tie the infamous pedophile, sex trafficker, and influence peddler to elite figures across the tech industry. The world of cryptocurrency is no exception. Epstein’s connections are intriguing, disturbing — and worth mapping closely. With his interest first piqued as early as 2011, Epstein … Read more
Aliro has officially arrived. The smart lock standard, first announced in 2023, finally has a 1.0 spec, meaning companies can now get hardware certified and roll out support. Aliro is an open standard designed to let any smart lock be unlocked by any smartphone, regardless of manufacturer. It stores a digital key in your phone’s … Read more
As 2025 drew to a close, Instagram head Adam Mosseri ended the year by doom-posting about AI. “Authenticity is becoming infinitely reproducible,” Mosseri lamented. “Everything that made creators matter — the ability to be real, to connect, to have a voice that couldn’t be faked — is now accessible to anyone with the right tools.” … Read more
Substack has updated its partnership with betting platform Polymarket, “introducing native tools that make it easier to share, discuss, and debate prediction market data directly on Substack.” Additionally, Polymarket will effectively pay “a cohort of creators,” including Matt Yglesias, to use its data though the newsletter platform’s pilot sponsorships program. This is just the latest … Read more
Two hours before one of the most important live events in Netflix’s history, LA’s sprawling CBS Radford Studio Center is abuzz with the strangest combination of things. As I walk through one cavernous soundstage on a Tuesday afternoon, I hear multiple people warming up their voices to sing. I pass a man carefully waving a … Read more
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 116, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, happy National Ferris Wheel Day to all those who celebrate, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I’ve been reading about Letterboxd and Mike … Read more
