Gadgets

OpenAI may have pledged to cut back on “side quests,” but making its own phone doesn’t count. Right?

The company’s stock shot up over 15 percent today following record earnings and reports of a potential chipmaking deal with Apple. It’s only the second Asian company to break the milestone, along with rival chipmaker TSMC, both riding high on AI demand.

While not nearly as fast, as waterproof, or as good at taking pictures as Google’s $1,499 Pixel 10 Pro Fold, the company’s first-gen foldable is a good value at $450. That’s how much the 256GB unlocked version costs now from Woot. It includes a one-year warranty, and Google will support it with OS and security updates (including Pixel Drop features) through 2028. Read our review.

The $199.99 DotDisk enclosure, available now for $199.99 through Amazon or Satechi’s online store, supports transfer speeds up to 80Gbps and is compatible with Thunderbolt 5 using an included 12-inch USB cable. Its built-in bus-powered fan helps maintain performance, but you’ll need to provide your own M.2 2280 NVMe SSD up to 8TB.

It was the top-selling phone in Q1 according to Counterpoint, with 6 percent of global sales. The 17 Pro and Pro Max weren’t far behind, with Samsung A series phones and the Xiaomi Redmi A5 also at the top. The Galaxy S26 Ultra just missed the cut, after launching in the middle of the quarter.

Mega Crit’s roguelike deckbuilder, Slay the Spire, is available on Steam through May 11th for just $6.24 (about $19 off), which is a great price for what has become one of our favorite games of the last decade. It’s a great time to check out the PC title, too, given its excellent sequel launched in early access less than a month ago.

We’ve asked Valve if it can share more details about the overall stock situation — as I write this, Valve’s website says the controller is out of stock.

Valve’s $99 Steam Controller is up for purchase exclusively at Steam. We’ve spent a bunch of time with it recently, so check out our review if you’re still on the fence. Also, read our deep dive on how the new model compares to competitors, and catch up on the replies to the AMA we held last week for Verge subscribers.

Lego has released plenty of Nintendo renditions, but Jay’s Brick Blog highlights that on June 1st, a buildable $39.99 Sega Genesis / Mega Drive set will join the party, complete with controllers and a Sonic 2 game cartridge. It can swap between the nameplates depending on which version you prefer.

OhSnap is selling its versatile Snap Grip Stand for just $37.49 (about $13 off) right now. It snaps magnetically onto the back of newer iPhone models for a more secure grip, and doubles as an adjustable stand that works in both portrait and landscape modes. It also includes an adapter for Android phones and an adhesive-backed adapter for use with non-MagSafe cases.

Chase Bliss is one of the most innovative companies in the pedal scene. Its newest, Big Time, is a collab with Electronic Audio Experiments. It’s a hybrid analog / digital delay in its high-end Automatone series. But it’s also a looper, a sequencer, a modulation pedal… You know what, just watch the walk-through.

The latest Fire TV Stick 4K — now known as the Fire TV Stick 4K Plus — is down to an all-time low of $16.09 ($34 off) at Woot when you use promo code FIRE30. We recommend the Max model in most instances, but Amazon’s midrange option still offers Wi-Fi 6 and broad HDR support for Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HDR10 Plus at a fraction of the cost.