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Reading view

The Weather Channel app now predicts bad allergy days

A screenshot of The Weather Channel mobile app showing pollen types.

The Weather Company announced an "enhanced allergy experience" now available through its The Weather Channel app designed to help allergy sufferers better understand when their symptoms might flare up, and what's causing them. While the app already provides static pollen counts, its "Health & Wellness" section is being expanded to take into account other factors such as how changing weather conditions could result in you experiencing more symptoms despite the counts not actually rising.

The new features now available in the free version of The Weather Channel app include "weather aggravator insights" that analyze how conditions like high wi …

Read the full story at The Verge.

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Boox’s new e-reader could replace your Kindle, Kobo, and digital notepad

The Boox Go 6 (Gen II) sitting on a table outside in the sun next to a stylus.
The Go 6 now supports Boox’s stylus. | Image: Boox

Boox has announced a new version of its smallest e-reader that expands the Go 6's functionality to now include note-taking. The new Go 6 (Gen II) sticks with a 6-inch, 300PPI E Ink screen like its predecessor but gets a bump from 2GB to 3GB of RAM and now supports Boox's InkSense Plus stylus, which can be used for sketching, annotating documents, or making handwritten notes.

The Boox Go 6 (Gen II) is now available for preorder for $199.99 and is expected to start shipping on June 17th. The $45.99 InkSense Plus stylus isn't included, but you can bundle it with the e-reader for $232.99. That's more expensive than the entry-level Amazon Kindle …

Read the full story at The Verge.

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Amazon’s Echo speakers can now help kids wind down and fall asleep

A child sleeping in a bed with an Amazon Echo Glow on their bedside table.
With Sleep Studio the Echo Glow can light up to let kids know when they should be sleeping or can get out of bed. | Image: Amazon

Amazon has launched a new feature for its Echo and Echo Kids smart speakers called Sleep Studio that's designed to make the daily transition to bedtime more enticing for kids and less stressful for parents and caregivers. The feature uses a combination of bedtime stories, relaxing sounds, and guided meditations along with scheduling and customization options accessible only to adults.

Sleep Studio is now available to those with a $5.99 per month Amazon Kids Plus subscription at no extra cost. Amazon offers a free one month trial of the service, but purchasing an Echo Kids device will also get you a complementary six or 12-month subscription …

Read the full story at The Verge.

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Boox’s quirky page-turning remote won me over

The Boox Tappy wireless page-turning remote on top of one of the company’s E Ink tablets.
Tappy is a tiny wireless remote that doesn’t look like one.

Following the launch of the surprisingly popular Kobo Remote, Boox has released its own device to ease the burden of reaching for an e-reader’s touchscreen that’s an arm’s length away. The Tappy isn’t Boox’s first page-turning remote, but its design takes a much different approach to the company’s slim but boring B.T. Remoter. The Tappy feels like a mashup of wireless remotes, fidget toys, and macro pads, with a healthy dash of retro charm. 

The Boox Tappy next to the Kobo Remote on a Kobo e-reader.

While the Kobo Remote looks like a streaming dongle accessory with a design that prioritizes ergonomics, the Tappy can be best described as a miniature keyboard distilled to just two buttons that draws its design inspiration from a retro typewriter. It’s not as comfortable to hold as Kobo’s accessory, but it’s small enough to sit discreetly in your hand. There are also four rubber feet on its underside so it won’t slide around if used on a desk, and it’s available in two very glossy color options: olive green and a bright orange that I tested.

The Boox Tappy on an e-reader next to the included alternate button designs.

Tappy’s two round buttons don’t use actual keyboard switches but they have about a quarter-inch of travel and are satisfying to press when you’re in need of something to fidget with. Out of the box, the buttons are labeled with a pixelated heart and steaming mug of coffee, which I just don’t understand. I immediately switched to the included alternatives that are instead labeled with an X and an O, but more customizability, even if it was just a sheet of stickers I had to apply myself, would be preferred. Forward and back arrows, or even just a plus and minus, would be welcome alternatives to what’s included.

Pairing the Tappy to a Boox device is easy, but don’t misplace the fold-out quick start guide that walks you through the process. After powering it on using a sliding metal switch on the side, you put the remote into pairing mode by holding down both buttons for about two seconds until a single LED on the side flashes blue. From there, you just need to connect to it through your Boox device’s Bluetooth settings. When you power it back on in the future, it reconnects automatically.

The buttons’ default functionality is Reading mode that turns pages forward and back or controls volume when outside a reading app, but the Tappy can be switched to two other modes. Multimedia mode changes the buttons’ functionality to skipping tracks in music, video, podcast, or audiobook apps, while Browsing mode lets you scroll up and down through long webpages or social media feeds for as long as you’re pressing either button.

Pressing both buttons for about five seconds switches modes, which causes the LED to momentarily flash green. Repeating that process cycles through Reading, Multimedia, and Browsing modes, and every time you switch, a notification pops up at the top of your Boox device letting you know the current mode. But it’s not persistent and can be easily missed. A trio of labeled LEDs indicating the Tappy’s current mode or even having the single LED display a different color for each one would make it easier to know what mode it was in at a glance, especially when using the remote with other devices.

While Tappy works best with Boox e-readers and tablets running the company’s V4.2 firmware or later (which includes recent hardware like the Boox Palma 2 Pro), it can also be used with other Android mobile devices, and iPhones and iPads, with varying levels of functionality. The functionality is supported in both the Kobo and Kindle Android apps, but not in the iOS or iPadOS versions. However, I was able to use the Tappy on my iPhone and OnePlus phone to scroll webpages, control music playback, and adjust the volume.

A person holding and pressing a button on the Boox Tappy with an e-reader in the background.

The bigger challenge when using the Tappy with non-Boox hardware is you don’t get the useful pop-up notifications letting you know which mode you’ve just switched to. And without any LED indicators, the only way to know what mode Tappy is in is to just press the buttons and see what happens. Did the volume go up and down? Great, you’re in Reading mode and are just two switches away from the Browsing mode you want.

Other e-readers from companies like Pocketboot or BigMe are supported, according to Good e-Reader’s testing, but I had no luck getting the Tappy to work with the Kobo and the Kindle. That’s unfortunate because while I still regularly enjoy using the Kobo Remote for reading at night, I would happily abandon it for the Tappy. The tiny remote has already replaced my Apple Watch for skipping tracks when streaming my iPhone through my HomePod, even if its buttons occasionally get accidentally pressed when it’s bouncing around my pocket. At $29.99 it’s the same price as the Kobo Remote, but its buttons are more satisfying to use and it’s more than just a one-device accessory.

Photography by Andrew Liszewski / The Verge

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The Social Reckoning trailer gives us our first look at Jeremy Strong as Zuck

Actor Jeremy Strong as Muck Zuckerberg in The Social Reckoning.

Over 15 years after David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin's The Social Network premiered in theaters, Sony has released the first trailer for The Social Reckoning ahead of its theatrical release on October 9th. The follow-up takes place 17 years after the events portrayed in the original film and follows a young Facebook engineer who enlists the help of a Wall Street Journal reporter to expose the platform's secrets.

The film stars Jeremy Strong as a much older Mark Zuckerberg (doing a memorable impression of the Meta CEO's voice), Mikey Madison as Facebook engineer and whistleblower Frances Haugen, and Jeremy Allen White as WSJ reporter Jeff Horw …

Read the full story at The Verge.

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Insta360’s Luna Ultra 8K stabilized camera is now available in the US

A person films themselves using the Insta360 Luna Ultra camera with a video light attached.
The Luna Ultra could be an excellent option for creators working without a dedicated camera operator. | Image: Insta360

Following months of teases, leaks, a secretive debut at NAB 2026, and an initial launch in China, Insta360 finally announced global availability for its first handheld stabilized camera. The Luna Ultra features a pair of 8K cameras atop a 3-axis gimbal, offering an upgrade to DJI's Osmo Pocket 4 and Pocket 4P, which both max out at capturing 4K footage. While the latest versions of DJI's baby steadicams still aren't sold in the US, the new Luna Ultra is available starting today for $769.99 through Insta360's online store and other retailers including Amazon, B&H, and Best Buy.

The Luna Ultra's primary camera features a 1-inch 8K sensor pair …

Read the full story at The Verge.

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