Technology
Incredibly, your Apple HomePod may now be worth more than its $299 MSRP
I assumed it was actually unusual when Apple saved promoting the unique $299 HomePod months after it acquired discontinued. However now, it’s beginning to make sense — not solely are some individuals nonetheless keen to pay a premium for the considerably sensible speaker, they’re keen to pay greater than Apple charged for it.
We took a have a look at eBay gross sales numbers after recognizing 9to5Mac editor-in-chief Chance Miller’s tweet, and we quickly found it wasn’t only a joke: on common, an Apple HomePod fetched $375 this previous week. That’s 25 p.c greater than Apple charged.
In fact, some HomePods are value greater than others — a used speaker with no field may solely internet you $220 earlier than eBay charges, however we’ve seen a couple of manufacturing unit sealed non-refurbished HomePods promote for over $500. In truth, some sellers are boasting that they acquired Apple to switch their outdated HomePods with brand-new models simply so they might flip them.
After I filtered out costly sealed-box outliers, the typical sale worth was extra like $350 this previous week. That’s nonetheless $50 greater than they price brand-new!
It’s refined, however you’ll be able to see within the eBay chart above that the worth of a HomePod has been appreciating over the previous yr because it acquired discontinued. That’s virtually unprecedented for devices like these, save for scalping conditions like we’ve just lately seen with consoles and GPUs.
Why the HomePod? That’s an excellent query. It’s a chunk of Apple historical past, maybe; you want two of them for stereo or extra for whole-home audio; and in contrast to its extra reasonably priced successor the HomePod Mini, it’s acoustically fairly good. My colleague Jen Tuohy has additionally defined that the sensible dwelling is likely one of the few locations the place Siri really excels. She thinks individuals are realizing it’s the one different choice apart from the worse-sounding HomePod Mini.
In order that’s a working concept for now.
Technology
Is this the Nintendo Switch 2?
Nintendo isn’t officially at CES, but it might have stolen the show anyway: accessories-maker Genki brought a 3D-printed mockup of what it says is Nintendo’s Switch successor, and we got to hold it and take some high-resolution pictures.
Based on the mockup of what we’ll call the Switch 2, Nintendo’s next console appears to be wider than the original, with slightly larger Joy-Con controllers that seem like they’ll be more comfortable to hold. Compared to a Steam Deck OLED, the Switch 2 mockup still feels noticeably smaller, in part because the Joy-Cons are not as pronounced and ergonomic as the Deck’s grips. But the mockup still feels closer in size to Valve’s handheld than the original Switch.
As previous rumors have indicated, the Switch 2’s Joy-Cons will attach to the console via magnets instead of a sliding rail, Genki cofounder and CEO Eddie Tsai tells The Verge. To detach a Joy-Con from the Switch 2, you press a big button at the top of the backside of each controller, Tsai says, and that button apparently pushes out a pin that nudges against the chassis of the console, disconnecting the magnets.
You can remove the Joy-Cons with brute force if you really wanted to, according to Tsai, but he says, overall, they feel secure for regular use and that the big release button detaches the Joy-Cons with ease. Tsai declined to share where he’d learned details of the new console.
Tsai also tells The Verge that housed within the mounting channel of the Joy-Cons is an optical sensor, and by using another attachment the new Joy-Cons may offer mouse-like functionality. It sounds a bit like what Lenovo does with its Legion Go handheld.
Nintendo has promised that it will announce the Switch’s successor before April 2025, and as that deadline creeps closer, there have been waves of leaks and rumors about the new hardware. In December, YouTube channel SwitchUp posted a video showing a 3D-printed, non-functional Switch 2 mockup provided by a Chinese case manufacturer. That mockup basically looked like the current Switch but bigger, and it revealed a few other potential changes like a new USB-C port on the top of the device and a mysterious new square button under the Home button on the right Joy-Con.
Days later, accessories-maker Dbrand announced its “Killswitch 2” case, and CEO Adam Ijaz told The Verge that it was designed based on “actual dimensions” based on a “3D scan of the real hardware.” Ijaz also said that it was his “understanding” that the console’s Joy-Cons are magnetically attached. And Dbrand’s imagery showed that the new square button had a “C” printed on it, though Ijaz didn’t know what it was. Days after that, our colleague Sean Hollister spoke with a Redditor who shared apparent photos of the Switch 2’s dock and the inside of what appears to be a Switch 2 Joy-Con.
With that April 2025 deadline inching closer every day, it seems like it won’t be long until Nintendo officially, finally reveals the Switch 2. But until that happens, at least we have these pictures to look at.
Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge
Technology
Fox News AI Newsletter: FBI's new warning about AI-driven scams that are after your cash
Welcome to Fox News’ Artificial Intelligence newsletter with the latest AI technology advancements.
IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER:
– FBI’s new warning about AI-driven scams that are after your cash
– Nvidia CEO: ‘The ChatGPT moment for general robotics is just around the corner’
– AI detects ovarian cancer better than human experts in new study
BEWARE DEEPFAKE SCAMS: The FBI is issuing a warning that criminals are increasingly using generative AI technologies, particularly deepfakes, to exploit unsuspecting individuals. This alert serves as a reminder of the growing sophistication and accessibility of these technologies and the urgent need for vigilance in protecting ourselves from potential scams.
ROBOTICS ERA: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the artificial intelligence revolution is on the verge of delivering breakthroughs in robotics at the annual Consumer Electronics Show conference in Las Vegas.
HIGH-TECH HEALTH: In a new study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, AI models do a better job of detecting ovarian cancer than human doctors.
TERSE VERSE: OpenAI founder Sam Altman rang in the new year with a short missive posing questions and concerns about the future of artificial intelligence.
CUSTOMIZE YOUR EMOJI: Genmoji, a clever blend of “generative AI” and “emoji,” is Apple’s latest addition to its Apple Intelligence suite. This feature harnesses the power of on-device artificial intelligence to generate custom emoji based on your text descriptions.
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Technology
Samsung is rolling out a smartphone subscription next month
It looks like Samsung is finally ready to roll out a paid subscription for its AI-powered smartphones, but it might not look like what we were expecting.
“We will apply the subscription service to Galaxy smartphones starting next month,” he says. “Ballie will be introduced first in Korea and the US, and we plan to supply it as a subscription in Korea.”
The AI Subscription Club isn’t a requirement to access the Galaxy AI features on Samsung’s phones and other devices, which the company has previously said will remain free to users at least until the end of 2025, with plans beyond that point unconfirmed.
The model currently gives Korean consumers the ability to sign up for a monthly subscription of their AI-powered TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, and more, including optional repair and maintenance services, for the sake of a lower upfront cost.
It’s not clear if the subscription model will expand beyond South Korea, but there’s a chance we’ll find out more soon. Samsung has a Galaxy Unpacked event in San Jose, California, scheduled for January 22nd, when it is expected to unveil the Galaxy S25 series.
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