This digest compiles the latest from The Verge.
Today’s The Verge Roundup
Get all four Matrix movies on 4K Blu-ray for $45
15 Jan 2026, 2:10 pm by Cameron Faulkner
The best deal that I’ve seen on The Matrix: 4 Film Deja Vú Collection containing the four main films on 4K Blu-ray discs is $34.99. After missing out on that price around Cyber Monday, I’ve been waiting patiently for it to return. I can wait no longer to rewatch the 1999 classic, so Walmart’s $44.99 price suffices. It’s not a bad deal at roughly $11 per movie, considering the collection regularly shoots up in the $70 range outside of a sale.
The collection contains The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, and The Matrix Resurrections. Additionally, the bundle contains high-definition Blu-ray versions of the films. Fans of The Animatrix will need to continue waiting for that white whale of a 4K Blu-ray release.
Other great, Verge-approved deals
- Owning a personal frozen smoothie machine may not be something you ever considered for yourself, especially not in the winter months. But, as a one-stop-shop for frozen margaritas? It doesn’t matter what month it is to enjoy those, my friend. Whether you’re adding alcohol or enjoying them in NA fashion, Ninja’s 88-ounce Slushi machine is $269.99 at Amazon, which matches the Black Friday price from late 2025. Before then, it regularly sold for about $349.99.
- Iniu’s 20,000mAh portable power bank with up to 45W charging speed is steeply discounted at Amazon thanks to a coupon that activates at checkout. The battery features a braided, built-in USB-C cable that doubles as a lanyard, and it has an extra USB-C and USB-A port. You can grab one for $18.86 when you proceed through the checkout process. This isn’t the company’s Pocket Rocket P50 that achieves a similar peak charging speed, but rather a larger (but still pretty compact) option that’s just as well suited for quickly charging phones, tablets, gaming handhelds, and more.
- Disney Plus has a deal running that makes your first month of the subscription just a bit cheaper than usual. If you’re a new or eligible returning subscriber, you can get one month of the Disney Plus and Hulu ad-supported bundle for $9.99. Afterwards, you’ll be charged $12.99 every month that you keep the service. There’s plenty to watch on each service, whether you’re into cartoons, animated classic films, or drama series. It’s great to have a bundle where you can switch from watching The Simpsons to Shogun, or Disney movies with the kids during the day, then turn on Alien: Earth for yourself at night.
I spent a year on Linux and forgot to miss Windows
15 Jan 2026, 2:00 pm by Stevie Bonifield
It was an overcast January morning in 2025 the day I decided to delete my operating system.
The Ubuntu installer warned me that it would remove everything on my hard drive, permanently wiping the entire Windows 10 installation I’d been running for years at that point. I hesitated for a second – maybe I should just dual-boot? No, I’m going all in! Finally, I hit the button to install Linux. One year later, I still don’t regret that choice. I even resurrected an old Windows 10 laptop by installing Linux on it.
My decision to try out Linux was driven by a growing dislike for modern Windows more than anything else. However, I’ve come to appr …
RAM price hikes: the latest on the global memory shortage
15 Jan 2026, 1:35 pm by Emma Roth
Random access memory, or RAM, is in just about every piece of technology we use. But it’s also the technology that AI companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Meta are using to power the servers in their massive data centers. Now, the world’s biggest memory makers — Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron — are taking advantage of a surge in demand, shifting their resources away from consumer-focused products and toward more lucrative deals with AI companies.
The result is a severe shortage in RAM for consumer products, which is not only contributing to price hikes on the RAM kits used by PC builders but also for the manufacturers of a range of devices, including laptops, smartphones, gaming consoles, and a whole lot more. Some companies, like Raspberry Pi and Framework, have already raised the prices of their products as a result of the increase, while others, like Dell, Asus, Acer, Xiaomi, and Nothing, have warned about price hikes coming soon.
It doesn’t look like the RAM shortage is going to subside anytime soon, as analysts at the International Data Corporation predict that it could “persist well into 2027.” Here’s all the latest news on the rising price of RAM.
- Nothing will “inevitably” hike smartphone prices because of rising memory costs.
- Micron says its decision to shut down Crucial is meant to “help” consumers.
- Framework hikes desktop PC prices as RAM shortage drags on
- Apple did it first.
- Framework announces another memory price hike — and it likely won’t be its last
- RAM is so expensive they’re selling “prebuilt” PCs without it.
- The RAM shortage is here to stay, raising prices on PCs and phones
- Micron says memory shortage will ‘persist’ beyond 2026
- RAM kit pricing tripled in just three months.
- Samsung memory is nearly as big as Samsung Galaxy.
- Crucial is shutting down — because Micron wants to sell its RAM and SSDs to AI companies instead
- DRAM it! Raspberry Pi raises prices
- These prebuilt PCs are about to cost more due to rising RAM prices
- RAM prices are so out of control that stores are selling it like lobster
Game of Thrones shows its playful side in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
15 Jan 2026, 1:00 pm by Charles Pulliam-Moore
Though House of the Dragon tells a different story than Game of Thrones, there are enough tonal similarities to make the spinoff feel more like a remix of its predecessor than a show with its own distinct voice. That’s part of what made it a little hard to get excited when HBO first announced that it was producing yet another Game of Thrones prequel focused on digging into the annals of Westeros’ bloody history. But unlike House of the Dragon, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms takes a unique and very refreshing approach to fleshing out the details of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books. It even has a sense of humor.
At just six e …
‘Get Grok Gone’: Advocacy groups demand Apple and Google block X from app stores
15 Jan 2026, 12:51 pm by Robert Hart
X is awash with nonconsensual sexual deepfakes that blatantly violate Apple’s and Google’s policies, yet it and xAI’s Grok remain on both companies’ app stores. In open letters published Wednesday, a coalition of 28 advocacy groups, including women’s organizations and tech watchdogs, are demanding CEOs Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai grow spines and evict them.
“Grok is being used to create mass amounts of nonconsensual intimate images (NCII), including child sexual abuse material (CSAM) – content that is both a criminal offense and in direct violation of Apple’s App Review Guidelines. Because Grok is available on the Grok app and directly int …
Spotify is hiking prices again
15 Jan 2026, 12:41 pm by Jess Weatherbed
The price of Spotify Premium is about to jump again in the US, marking its third price hike since 2023. Spotify announced that subscribers in the US, Estonia, and Latvia will be contacted about the updated pricing over the coming month.
Individual Premium plans in the US will increase from $11.99 to $12.99 by the next billing date. Student plans are also increasing from $5.99 to $6.99. Other plans will see a bigger hike, with Duo increasing from $16.99 to $18.99, and Family increasing from $19.99 to $21.99. These are US-specific increases, but users in Estonia and Latvia can see Spotify’s updated pricing by visiting the company’s website.
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All the news that’s fit to WhatsApp
15 Jan 2026, 12:00 pm by Mia Sato
The WeChat channel 纽约移民记事网Documented (or the New York Immigrant Chronicle) is part newsfeed and part public service. The channel, run by the nonprofit newsroom Documented NYC, is filled with local news for Chinese speakers in New York: stories about healthcare and immigration arrests, but also information on local events like toy giveaways, places where families can get free groceries, and affordable housing lottery listings. Followers can also contact reporters directly – to send them tips, of course, but followers also turn to Documented for essential questions: Where can I find free English classes? What should I expect at an upcoming cou …
OpenAI’s ChatGPT translator challenges Google Translate
15 Jan 2026, 11:13 am by Jess Weatherbed
OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Translate, a standalone web translation tool that supports over 50 languages and is positioned as a direct competitor to Google Translate. The two services look visually similar: both feature two text boxes – one for typing or pasting the source text and another that displays the translated results – alongside dropdown menus to manage which languages you’re translating to or from.
There are some notable differences, however. Google Translate allows users to upload images, documents, and even websites for translation alongside the usual text inputs. The ChatGPT Translate homepage notes that it can translate from t …
Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon are paying up for ‘enterprise’ access to Wikipedia
15 Jan 2026, 8:30 am by Emma Roth
Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Perplexity, and Mistral AI have joined Google in paying the Wikimedia Foundation for access to its projects, including Wikipedia’s vast collection of articles. The Wikimedia Foundation announced the news as part of Wikipedia’s 25th anniversary on Thursday.
The partnerships are part of Wikimedia Enterprise, an initiative launched in 2021 that gives large companies access to a premium version of Wikipedia’s API for a fee. Lane Becker, the Wikimedia Foundation’s senior director of earned revenue, tells The Verge that the program offers a version of Wikipedia “tuned” for commercial use and AI companies. “We take feature …
Wikipedia turns 25 and shares a glimpse into the lives of its volunteer editors
15 Jan 2026, 8:30 am by Emma Roth
It’s been 25 years since the launch of Wikipedia on January 15th, 2001, and it’s come a long way from housing just 100 pages to becoming a behemoth of online knowledge with more than 65 million articles that get almost 15 billion views each month.
To celebrate, the Wikimedia Foundation – the nonprofit that backs Wikipedia – is releasing brief clips that highlight eight of its editors from across the globe. Some of the featured editors include “Hurricane Hank,” who joined Wikipedia in 2005 and contributed to the Hurricane Katrina page, along with Netha, an Indian doctor and experienced Wikipedia editor who used her knowledge to combat misinf …
End of today’s The Verge roundup.
