Sean is a senior editor at The Verge, a very good website he helped found in 2011. He thrives at the intersection of gaming, technology, and toys, with a side of consumer advocacy because companies just can’t help themselves, can they? Sean previously led breaking news teams at The Verge and CNET and the reviews program at Gizmodo. He also has that voice. (Contact me securely at Signal by tapping here.) Ethics statement, June 2023: Sean’s wife is employed by Apple as a video producer. He therefore does not currently report or edit stories about Apple products or Apple as a company.
Ever seen a lever-action card wallet with modular and magnetic parts you can easily swap without tools? It’s the OhSnap Wallet 2, it’s on Kickstarter now, and I love its compliant mechanism. I enjoyed using it as my wallet for a few weeks, but my phone does feel a lot lighter with it off! (I did buy the stand, though.)
Staffers don’t know whether the site will shut down — but managing editor Derrek Lee confirms to The Verge that all remaining staff were laid off today. EIC Shruti Shekar confirms she’s been laid off, senior editor Harish Jonnalagadda and senior content producer Nicolas Sutrich wrote they’d been laid off, and senior editor Namarah Saud Fatmi also appears to be gone.
Android Central’s masthead was already down to six staffers after layoffs earlier this year. Earlier today, owner Future PLC announced it would pause its share buyback and focus on reducing debt.
Update, October 1st: Future claims that Android Central “will continue” somehow.
I just finished editing a new Today I’m Toying With video — and later today, I’ll pack up our biggest giveaway prize yet for one lucky winner. We don’t keep the gadgets we review, and I’m experimentally giving away the ones from my videos every Wednesday! Here’s how to enter TITW Giveaway #14.
Google has now confirmed what we reported this spring: ChromeOS is done in 2034. The company says it’s committed to its 10-year-support promise, but for those Chromebooks that can’t be turned into Googlebooks, it might have to get creative.
“Many newer commercial Chromebook models will be capable of upgrading to Googlebook OS,” Google writes. But not all. Nearly 100 different models of Chromebook are supposed to get support till 2035 or later.
Is Valve suing gamers!? Not exactly:
The classic game decompilation movement has produced yet another amazing feat: 1999’s Lego Racers isn’t just back, the excellent Mario-Kart-meets-Lego game is anywhere you want it to be. NavigatorSharp’s fan recreation Step On It works in a web browser on desktop or phone, and you can find builds for Android, Mac, Windows PC and Linux (including the Steam Deck) right here too.
How does the former Sony PlayStation veteran think games will be made and played, especially now that gaming has become an increasingly expensive hobby? (And how’s he liking his Steam Machine?) Today on The Vergecast, he joins The Verge’s Sean Hollister to talk about the shifts in the gaming industry.
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