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Jess Weatherbed

Jess Weatherbed

News Reporter

Jess Weatherbed is a news writer, and part of The Verge UK-based team. While passionate about the future of technology, she originally trained as a prosthetics makeup and wig-making technician, fuelled by a love of animatronics and practical movie effects.

Jess started her career at TechRadar, covering news and hardware reviews across computing, PC gaming and streaming. Additional bylines can be found at GamesRadar, PCGamer, Creative Bloq and Space.com.

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Samsung’s latest foldables and wearables are now (mostly) available.

The Galaxy Z Fold 6, Galaxy Z Flip 6, Galaxy Watch Ultra, Galaxy Watch 7, Galaxy Ring, and Galaxy Buds 3 revealed at Samsung’s Unpacked event went on sale globally today, though some regions / carriers may vary.

The exception is the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, which are delayed (until August 28th in the US) due to quality issues with the removable ear tips.


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The BBC is in a bit of a bind.

Deadline reports the broadcaster will lay off 500 staff by March 2026, with 2,000 jobs already cut over the last five years. The ad-free public service is hemorrhaging funding as Brits cancel their TV licenses.

The BBC is now aiming to become a “leaner, more agile organisation�� after operating deficits increased to £263 million ($339 million) this year, despite the cash drawn in by Doctor Who and Bluey.


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Spotify’s growth continues its upward crawl.

Monthly active users increased by 14 percent year-over-year to 626 million, but 5 million short of Spotify’s expectations for the quarter. Subscribers also increased by 12 percent to 246 million, with Spotify reporting a record-high operating income of €266 million (about $288.8 million).

The growth timeline “exceeded even our own expectations,” said CEO Daniel Ek. “This all bodes very well for the future.”


Two graphs displaying Spotify’s monthly average users, and the breakdown of paying vs free users.
Here’s a snapshot of Spotify’s MAU growth over the last few years.
Image: Spotify
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Elon Musk says ‘genuinely useful’ Tesla bots are coming soon.

What he means by that exactly is anyone’s guess. Will they be helping to build vehicles? Is Optimus being ditched as it wasn’t name-dropped? We might find out next year, though Musk has previously admitted these timelines are mostly guesswork.

It's not like Tesla has stuck to its Robotaxi reveal dates yet.


A screenshot of Elon Musk on X saying Tesla will introduce humanoid robots internally in 2025.
Making note of these ETA’s for future reference.
Image: X