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Xbox prices are increasing by up to €200 or £170

2 August 2026 at 17:14
The black 1TB Xbox Series S console

When Microsoft announced its latest round of Xbox price bumps in June, it only gave US pricing. Now we know the pricing increases for the EU and UK, and they're dramatic. Depending on the model, Xbox prices are increasing by up to €200 or £170. The 1TB Xbox Series X with a disc drive is going up by over 30 percent from £499.99 / €599.99 to £669.99 / €799.99. The 512GB Xbox Series S is getting a price increase of over 43 percent, jumping from £299.99 / €349.99 to £429.99 / €499.99.

While other consoles have received price bumps as RAM and storage prices skyrocket due to demand from the AI industry, none have been quite as dramatic as Microso …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Pixel 11 specs and price leak with no surprises

1 August 2026 at 22:31
A teaser image of Google’s Pixel 11 Pro.

Android Headlines claims to have the specs and price for the entire Pixel 11 lineup. What the site shared basically lines up with everything else that we've heard in the lead-up to the August 12th event. The Pixel 11 is expected to get a $100 price hike, starting at $899, but will come with 256GB of storage instead of 128GB in the base model. While the entire lineup will sport the new Tensor G6 and Titan M3 chips, the base model Pixel 11 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro XL are both getting that rumored RAM cut to just 12GB, along with price increases to $1,099 and $1,299, respectively.

The Pixel 11 will supposedly ditch the telephoto lens and settle fo …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Angela Nissel faces down grief with a laugh

1 August 2026 at 21:15
Angela Nissel
Angela Nissel smiles through the pain. | Image: Angela Nissel

Angela Nissel's latest book, Good Grief, Pass the Bread, Mom Is Dead, is my kind of memoir. Sure, it's a deeply emotional tale about caring for a terminally ill parent. But it's delivered with the sort of gallows humor that I often turn to to get me through tough times.

Of course, that sort of dark humor should come as no surprise from Nissel. She first made a splash with The Broke Diaries, which grew out of a blog she kept in college detailing her daily struggles and, at times, embarrassment at being a broke student. Eventually she went on to produce and write for hit shows including Scrubs and The Boondocks.

One of her most lasting cont …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Is this Billboard Hot 100 hit AI slop?

1 August 2026 at 19:20
The seemingly AI generated cover art for Fenix Flexin’s Rubberz.
That cover art is almost certainly AI, too. | Image: Fenix Flexin

Fenix Flexin is best known as a member of Shoreline Mafia, a rap duo from Los Angeles. But he's recently found solo success with the track "Rubberz," which has climbed to number 58 on the Billboard Hot 100. Almost immediately, though, questions were raised about the song's origins, with many speculating that it was largely, if not entirely, generated by AI. Fenix has denied those accusations, but done little to dispel them.

Part of the suspicion is certainly due to the fact that the song is a dramatic left turn. Fenix has primarily trafficked in trap-influenced West Coast rap. "Rubberz," on the other hand, is heavily influenced by '80s UK s …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day leak racks up millions of views

1 August 2026 at 18:00
Spider-Man swinging through downtown Manhattan.

A bootleg of Spider-Man: Brand New Day was up on X for over seven hours before eventually being pulled. During that time, it reached over 5.9 million accounts and accumulated over 143,000 likes. Other accounts have reposted the leaked film, but none have lasted particularly long, as Disney now seems to be on top of issuing takedown requests.

The leak is unlikely to slow down the box office juggernaut, which is already shattering records. It raked in $72 million in previews this week. The previous record holder was Avengers: Endgame, which grossed $60 million during its previews way back in 2019. Endgame went on to set staggering records for …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Trump blames Tim Walz for water hacks even though it’s probably Iran

1 August 2026 at 16:23
Donald Trump speaks during the House Republican Party member retreat. | Image: Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images

The FBI, the EPA, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have stopped short of officially blaming Iran for a spate of cyberattacks on Minnesota's water systems, but consensus is that Iran is likely behind them. That, of course, hasn't stopped Donald Trump from sharing his own theory - that Governor Tim Walz is to blame and telling reporters that "I don't think there was an Iranian cyberattack."

Trump's comments come shortly after the FBI issued a warning that the cyberattacks on American infrastructure were spreading to other states. In Minnesota alone, at least 30 community water systems had been targeted in what a …

Read the full story at The Verge.

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