its ur expert

CD sales are apparently going up , reportedly thanks to fans realizing they're an affordable way to support their favorite artists. According to a new report from research firm Luminate, 16.3 million CDs were sold in the first half of 2026 in the US, a 16 percent increase year-over-year. The growth in CD sales was driven by "collection building, price accessibility, massive albums such as BTS' ARIRANG and a strong K-pop release schedule," Luminate says. Even if you remove K-pop sales from the data, CD sales still went up in the US, increasing 6.7 percent. And it appears that some people aren't even buying the CDs to listen to them, as Lumina … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/0tcg3Ry

Kalshi users betting on what President Donald Trump would say during his speeches were reportedly up against tough competition: the president's teleprompter operator. ABC News reports that federal investigators believe Gabriel Perez - Trump's teleprompter operator since 2016 - used inside information to make bets on Kalshi, a major prediction market platform that allows users to bet on just about everything. One category that Kalshi offers is "mentions" markets, in which users try to predict what an individual will say during high-profile events. Perez is accused of betting on what Trump would say during more than a dozen events, including … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/QIsnEZj

This weekend, cinephiles across the world will march to their local theaters to feast their eyes on Christopher Nolan's new adaptation of The Odyssey . It's on track to rake in anywhere between $80-$100 million in just a few days. People are clearly excited to see how Nolan uses cutting-edge filmmaking tech to make the Homeric classic feel fresh. But another director is trying to capitalize on the buzz around Nolan's project to drum up interest in an Odysseus-focused movie of his own. On Tuesday, film studio Fountain 0 announced that it is working on an AI-generated reimagining of The Odyssey titled Odysseus: The Fall , which will be availabl … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/GFRBcmb

A new teaser for Google's upcoming Pixel 11 lineup reveals that the phones will feature some kind of glowing orb on the camera bar, as reported by 9to5Google . Google's store page for the Pixel 11 has a short video that shows the glowing, color-shifting orb to the one side of the camera bar. The store page doesn't share any more information about it, but perhaps the orb is the "Pixel Glow" light feature that has popped up in Android 17 betas . If I had to guess, the orb will likely have something to do with Google's Gemini AI. We probably won't have to wait too much longer to learn what the orb is all about. Google has announced an August 12 … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/NGbPgci

The CMF by Nothing Watch 3 Pro comes in four different styles. | Image: Nothing While most fitness trackers are losing the screens to keep the price low, the CMF by Nothing Watch 3 Pro is a bit different. The budget-friendly smartwatch with a 1.43-inch OLED display is even cheaper than usual at Amazon , where it costs $69 in every color (the price fluctuates between $79 and $99). Some notable specs include compatibility with iOS and Android, and long battery life of up to 13 days on a single charge. It’s great for workouts (with accurate, dual-band GPS, IP68 protection, and a heart rate sensor), but stylish enough to wear out to dinner. It currently costs $20 less than the screenless Google Fitbit Air . CMF Watch 3 Pro Nothing’s slick-looking budget watch features a 1.43-inch OLED display, 131 sports modes, dual-band GPS, and a four-channel heart rate sensor. It also delivers up to 13 days of battery life under normal use and supports all your typical ...

OpenAI's first device is set to be a smart speaker that lets you talk with ChatGPT, according to a report from Bloomberg . The device apparently won't have a screen, but will use a camera and additional sensors to "understand" your environment. The report comes just days after Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI that accused the AI company of stealing hardware secrets . OpenAI, in a new statement on Tuesday , said that it is "not aware of any evidence that this complaint has merit." Sources tell Bloomberg that OpenAI's device will also feature a rechargeable battery that will allow users to carry it with them. It will offer smart home contro … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/O172muP

SpaceXAI's Grok Build AI coding tool was spotted uploading users' entire codebases to Google Cloud before it was reported, and the company turned it off. The Register reports that Cereblab published findings on Monday showing how the Grok Build CLI was packaging and uploading entire code repositories, "including files it was told not to open and secrets deleted from history," significantly more data retention than similar tools like Claude Code. The researchers say that as of Monday, their tests show SpaceXAI's servers returning a "disable_codebase_upload: true" flag, and the codebase upload "no longer fires." Elon Musk responded to the i … Read the full story at The Verge. from The Verge https://ift.tt/p7DY8z4