It’s been a busy summer 🤪

👀 the NYTimes seems to have had a much buggier Meta Ray-Ban Display demo than I did. Now I’m eager to see real world testing versus demos on guardrails. Also curious to see how demos will fare at third party retail stores. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/t...

Fair warning I will retaliate with Ben Swolo the pale fridge man for all who test me. TWO CAN PLAY AT CHAT WALLPAPER WARFARE.

The most cursed iOS 26 feature is having friends who will terrorize your group chat backgrounds with the most heinous photos.

On this week’s Optimizer, I talk about how accessibility is the strongest use case for smart glasses — and that we need to keep this aspect in mind as we debate the extremely valid concerns people have about privacy in this category. www.theverge.com/column/78177...

I've filed roughly 10,255 words in the past 6 days. Brain and fingies hurty.

New profile picture drop

This has been a wild week of reviews and hands on. Here’s my write up of the Meta Ray-Ban Display. www.theverge.com/tech/779566/...

Sorry not sorry to everyone seeing my face in various glasses bombarding gadget feeds rn.

Come follow The Verge's Meta Connect coverage! Mark Zuckerberg takes the stage at 8PM ET / 5PM PT, and @vicmsong.bsky.social and I are covering live: www.theverge.com/news/777572/...

The Apple Watch SE 3 stealing the show this year wasn't on my bingo card, but here we are. It's a great little update that shrinks the gap between the entry-level and Series watches. FOMO? What FOMO? My review here: www.theverge.com/smartwatch-r...

In case what you were wondering what my Gas Station Lafufu looked like.

The AirPods Pro 3 take everything you liked about their predecessor and made it better. My review: www.theverge.com/headphone-re...

Had a blast guesting on here last night talking about my gas station lafufu and my experience at the Apple Event last week.

Asked the spouse if I should get the orange phone. They threatened if I did, they’d get a matching orange car next. I will not be getting the orange phone.

Taking a short break from Apple reviews for an Optimizer issue ahead of Meta Connect next week. Smart glasses are having a moment. Adding a display would open so many possibilities for making life easier, but the privacy risks keep this resurgence fragile as hell. www.theverge.com/optimizer-ne...

I think about this constantly as I test AI hardware and smart glasses. As someone who grew up being told my family was constantly surveilled because of my dad’s ties to North Korea, I don’t think people really understand what it means to always live like you’re being watched.

I virulently hate orange. I am actually very tempted by this. It’s a good orange!

The iPhone 17 (And Apple Watch) extravaganza is about to begin. You can follow along with me, @jake--k.bsky.social and @allisonjo1.bsky.social on our annual liveblog: www.theverge.com/apple-event/...

Launch yesterday, a curtain raiser issue no. 1 today.

Thus ends Hot Girl Vergecast Summer ☀️ Here’s a final Friday ep for the road w2 me @jake--k.bsky.social (who is an honorary hot girl), @jp2e.bsky.social and @laurenfeiner.bsky.social Jen, @miasato.bsky.social and @allisonjo1.bsky.social also KILLED it in their solo eps. youtu.be/TK0FBjo6bkk?...

Sorry not sorry for spamming optimizer into your feed. I’ve been working on this for soooo long and I’m just happy I can start yapping about it with everyone 🥰

🚨 another hot new newsletter from @theverge.com! @vicmsong.bsky.social is gonna be in your inbox every week writing spiraling existential thoughts about wearables, ai, and the relentless quest to make ourselves healthier with numbers www.theverge.com/optimizer-ne...

As someone who's gone through four sets of sleep headphones, two smartwatches, three air purifier fans, and infinite apps promising to cure my productivity prior to meeting Victoria...I absolutely require this newsletter. Please join me in signing up for Optimizer!! @vicmsong.bsky.social

If you adore Vee's weirdo energy as much as I do, then sign up for her newsletter! It will be smart and deranged.

Vee @vicmsong.bsky.social brings an intersectional lens to her writing on tech, health, and wearables, I really value her voice on this beat and super excited for this newsletter!

Congratulations to @vicmsong.bsky.social on the launch of her newsletter, which hits inboxes tomorrow!! Learn more about it and sign up here:

Now that's a good logo. @vicmsong.bsky.social's stuff is fantastic as well, her review of the Bee AI wearable was great: www.theverge.com/reviews/6270...

Hi hello, it's me and I'm here to say... I've launched a newsletter for The Verge. Optimizer has been in the works for a while now and I really hope you'll subscribe and join me for this very fun, wild ride into investigating tech promises to make our lives better.

LET ME HAVE MY FANCY PANTS JAPANESE PLANNERS AND TOMOE RIVER PAPER.

Appropro of nothing, I feel like I logged on Tuesday and everyone had woken up and chosen violence for Techtember. Real Troy walking in with boxes of pizza to a room on fire energy this week.

The way Mia and I independently had the same Hobonichi drop plans that were foiled by customs :sob:

I've been sick all weekend and in my infirmity, I allowed TikTok to show me basically the entirety of The Summer I Turned Pretty. How is it the protagonist's name is actually BELLY and that wasn't a DayQuil fever dream??

This is a perfect journal entry. AI could never. www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Bb3XYG/

Chatted with the Pixel wearables team about Google's thoughts on AI hardware and why "having a religion" right now is a fool's errand because... listen, it's probably gonna be a gaggle of devices. www.theverge.com/report/76776...

:cackles in k-pop:

I've been journaling my whole life. Lord knows I'm counting down the days 'til the Hobonichi 2026 drop. But I'm not a big fan of the idea of injecting AI into journaling, specifically the Pixel Journal I get the intent, but grappling with a blank page is the point www.theverge.com/analysis/764...

Never skipping the Peacemaker opening credits. I've got major superhero fatigue but I will make an exception for John Cena in a stupid helmet and his CGI eagle.

Are you sick of me on The Vergecast yet? Don't answer that. But anywho I'm back on this Friday's episode with @jake--k.bsky.social and @allisonjo1.bsky.social to chat all things Pixel, AI, and whatever it was Jimmy Fallon was doing to that Pixel 10 Fold. www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8nf...

We're still shy of our GoFundMe goal for departing Eater staff! These are our brilliant colleagues who've done so much for journalism and for this union. If you can contribute, share, or pass this on, please do! Thank you all! #voxunion #1u #unionstrong www.gofundme.com/f/eater-isnt...

While I'm so grateful we were able to secure protections for our laid-off friends at Eater in our latest contract, it'd be swell if we could get this gofundme to our goal to help them in the months ahead. www.gofundme.com/f/eater-isnt...

I lied. It's a five byline kinda day. www.theverge.com/analysis/762...

It’s a four byline kind of day. First up: a hands on with the new Pixel Watch 4! There’s a ton of new updates here even if it looks like the same watch. Google’s got the wearable juice, y’all. www.theverge.com/hands-on/761...

I got the bill for my contact lenses. $1,000 with insurance lol.

:turns into Bernie Sanders: Once again, I am asking you to donate some funds to my wonderful, laid off Vox Media comrades as they face the vicissitudes of digital media. gofund.me/5e507ecd

The most cursed notification.

Still thinking about all the fantastic people Vox Media has laid off or forced to leave in the last 12 months. And how all the fun places we used to hang out and read online keep dwindling, one by one.

Media layoffs break my heart, part 10423429384

Awwwwww yeah baybee this is how bad my eyes are

A few weeks ago, RFK Jr’s vision for “every American wearing a wearable in four years” made me viscerally upset. But I finally found the words and get a little personal with how 11 years of wearable testing has helped — and hurt — my health. www.theverge.com/analysis/756...