Where to Stay in Atlanta If You Like to Eat
Lifestyle

Where to Stay in Atlanta If You Like to Eat

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Atlanta’s vibrant food scene offers diners so much more than comfort food classics (although top-notch versions of chicken, biscuits, and all the fixings can be found here, certainly), and leaving the city without tucking into an unforgettable meal should be criminal. But the trick is knowing where to go.

To make your stay in The A culinarily memorable, you need not only an up-to-date list of the city’s epicurean hotspots, but you also need to choose a home base that makes it easy to get to where you want to go. Choose your hotel poorly, and you might miss where fine dining finds industrial restoration in West Midtown, the continuous creative renewal in buildings and on menus in Old Fourth Ward, or the spirit and soulful flavors of Atlanta’s southside. That won’t be an issue with what’s below.

Old Fourth Ward

The walkable Old Fourth Ward neighborhood (O4W for short, which is located north of downtown Atlanta and southeast of Midtown) is home to many of the city’s top food spots. Find a morning pick-me-up from Chrome Yellow Trading Co., sweet treat from Little Tart bakery, or a decadent sandwich from Kinship Butcher & Sundry, where you can choose if you want your breakfast sausage sandwich served “double double,” or opt for a lunchier option like griddled pork belly with “drunken” mustard on brioche. Eastbound to downtown Decatur, Michelin-recommended and James-Beard-Foundation-recognized restaurants like Kimball House, home to some of metro Atlanta’s best oysters and craft cocktails, and The Deer & The Dove, where farm-to-table is performed with a fierce focus on flavor, are admired far beyond their suburban city’s limits.

O4W is also near historic Inman Park, where you can find exceptional pasta at BoccaLupo, steaks at Kevin Rathbun Steak, or dinner with premium cocktails at Ticonderoga Club at Krog Street Market.

Forth

Image may contain Indoors Interior Design Bed Furniture Lamp Home Decor Cushion and Pillow

Courtesy of Forth.

Forth bills itself as part hotel, part local hangout and membership club, and its range of amenities and convenient location makes it a smart choice for your home base. It’s just off the Atlanta Beltline’s Eastside Trail and a five-minute walk to Ponce City Market, a food hall with stalls from a who’s-who of Atlanta’s culinary talent. (Don’t miss Botiwalla, where chef Meherwan Irani of the award-winning restaurant Chai Pani is slinging dishes inspired by Indian street food.)

Rooms at Forth mix mid-century style and modern function, you’ll find both heavy black telephones inspired by the old-school rotary dials and Bluetooth-enabled radio speakers in groovy wooden and brushed copper casing. The decor is otherwise understated, featuring metallics and earthtones, which allows the views they afford of the surrounding buildings and Beltline activity below to stay the star.

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The Apple Studio Display could have been so much more
Tech/AI

The Apple Studio Display could have been so much more

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The Studio Display is barely changed from 2022, but now it has competition.

268466_5K_monitor_v_Apple_display_JHiggins_0008
268466_5K_monitor_v_Apple_display_JHiggins_0008
John Higgins
is a senior reviewer covering TVs and audio. He has over 20 years experience in AV, and has previously been on staff at Digital Trends and Reviewed.

For the better part of 12 years, Apple owned the 5K monitor world — primarily because it made basically the only options. LG’s 5K UltraFine was a solid, if bland choice, but many people bought a 27-inch iMac from 2014 for its 5K screen alone. Then in 2022, Apple finally gave the people what they wanted by releasing the $1,599 Studio Display (which was essentially the iMac’s screen as a separate monitor with a webcam and speakers) and removed the LG from its store.

It wasn’t until late 2024 that companies like BenQ and Asus finally began releasing their own 27-inch 5K monitors. And while the Studio Display was the best built and best looking — its aluminum chassis and stand are solid and sleek — the competitors offered things the Studio Display didn’t, like more adjustable stands, better port variety, and the ability to connect to multiple computers at once. They work with Windows, too. And even though they use the same dated 5K panel as the Studio Display (or a very similar one), they are much cheaper, ranging from $1,100 down to just $550.

The Apple Studio Display on a small wooden desk with a MacBook Air next to it.The Apple Studio Display on a small wooden desk with a MacBook Air next to it.

6

Verge Score

The Good

  • Accurate picture modes
  • Great built-in camera
  • Speakers sound good
  • Seamless Mac integration

The Bad

  • Tilt-only stand (unless you pay $400 more)
  • Only Thunderbolt 5/USB-C ports
  • No multi-computer support
  • Wildly expensive for a 60Hz IPS monitor in 2026

That meant Apple was primed to strike back. This year, Apple finally released a Studio Display with a proper panel upgrade. It has a mini-LED backlight instead of edge lighting, with a quantum-dot-based optical stack for up to 2,000 nits of brightness. It supports up to 120Hz refresh rate, has 14 very accurate reference modes, and includes two modes that use Apple’s newly developed CMF (color matching function) for color consistency across display technologies. I’m referring, of course, to the $3,300 Studio Display XDR.

For the regular Studio Display, Apple just slapped a better webcam and faster ports on the same 12-year-old IPS panel and called it a day. And it’s still $1,600.

Unfortunately for Apple, it’s not 2022 anymore, and the Studio Display now has more competition. I spent a few weeks testing the new Studio Display alongside the BenQ PD2730S ($1,100) and MA270S ($1,000), the Asus ProArt PA27JCV ($700), and the KTC H27P3 ($550), swapping them out regularly. Most of them do at least something better than the Studio Display, if not multiple things, and they are hundreds of dollars cheaper.

To be fair, the new non-XDR Studio Display is better than the 2022 model. It has a much better camera, thankfully, and instead of one Thunderbolt 3 and three USB-C ports it now has two Thunderbolt 5 ports (one upstream and one downstream with support for daisy-chaining) and two USB-C. The speakers are better, and it has an A19 chip instead of the A13 Bionic (which really doesn’t matter for a monitor). But it’s still built around the same ancient edge-lit 60Hz panel with 600 nits of brightness.

Color accuracy has always been one of the strengths of Apple’s monitors. Much like the 2022 Studio Display, the 2026 version is very color accurate — particularly in sRGB mode, which is excellent. The BenQ PD2730S is visibly as accurate as the Studio Display (and comes with a calibration report). The BenQ MA270S and Asus monitor aren’t quite as close in measurements, but they’re both great for all but the most critical color grading.

The Studio Display has issues with its black level looking more gray than black, particularly in a dark room. The BenQ monitors have far deeper blacks than the Studio Display; the Asus ProArt isn’t quite as strong there, but still better than the Studio Display. The standard glass of the Studio Display handles reflections well (better than the “nano gloss” of the BenQ MA270S), but the $300-extra nano-texture finish option is superior for brightly lit rooms. BenQ’s PD2730S has a matte panel that cuts reflections almost as well as Apple’s nano-texture glass upgrade, but also unfortunately lifts black level slightly when compared to the other BenQ.

The build quality on the Studio Display is excellent, with an all-aluminum frame, but the $1,600 base model’s placement options are frustrating. It comes with either a tilt-only stand or VESA mount option that includes no stand (but not both; they’re separate models). If you want a stand that’s both tilt- and height-adjustable, it’s another $400. The stand moves smoothly and stays in position, but it doesn’t rotate or pivot. All stand decisions need to be made at checkout, too, as there’s no way to remove the stand or add a VESA mount yourself.

Apple’s competitors allow for far more flexibility in placement, with removable stands that allow for VESA mounting. The BenQ MA270S and PD2730S and Asus ProArt PA27JCV all have stands that pivot, rotate, are tilt- and height-adjustable, and can even be removed entirely, if you prefer to use a VESA arm or stand. Now, none of the stands are quite as robust or good-looking as Apple’s, as they all include some plastic, but the extra flexibility makes up for it. And the BenQ MA270S has a nice rubber pad on the front to place your phone or earbuds case without worrying about it slipping off.

The BenQ MA270S on a wooden desk next to a MacBook Air.The BenQ MA270S on a wooden desk next to a MacBook Air.

8

Verge Score

The Good

  • Great port selection
  • Accurate color
  • Good black level
  • Highly adjustable stand

The Bad

  • Glossy panel is pretty reflective
  • No webcam
The BenQ PD2730S on a wooden desk with its hotkey puck in front of it while sitting next to a MacBook Air.The BenQ PD2730S on a wooden desk with its hotkey puck in front of it while sitting next to a MacBook Air.

8

Verge Score

The Good

  • Very accurate color
  • Lots of ports
  • Highly adjustable stand
  • Matte panel defuses light well

The Bad

  • Black level is a bit raised
  • Not that bright
  • No webcam

Port selection is improved on this year’s Studio Display, but it’s still optimized for people living in the exact world that Apple wants you to live in. The upgraded Thunderbolt connectivity is nice if you intend to daisy-chain displays, but you can still only connect a single computer at a time. There’s still no HDMI, DisplayPort, USB-A, audio out, KVM, or any controls whatsoever. Everything is done in the settings menu on the connected Mac, and there’s no power button to turn it off. The BenQs, Asus, and even the KTC H27P3 have more connectivity options. While none have Thunderbolt 5, the BenQs both include Thunderbolt 4, and they all have at least one HDMI port. The Asus and BenQ monitors also have a KVM for using a single set of peripherals with multiple computers.

During my time with all the monitors, the BenQ MA270S was the one I always went back to. It’s the one I’m typing this on now. The picture looks great. It fits on my desk better; the Studio Display, even with the height-adjustable stand, doesn’t get low enough for me. I can connect the BenQ to both my M4 Macbook Air and Windows PC at the same time and swap between them quickly, or even use one on each side of the monitor. I can hit the power button to turn it off, and I can still adjust its brightness and color modes from my computers. Plus, it’s only $1,000, which is half the price of the Studio Display with the tilt- and height-adjustable stand.

The BenQ MA270S does have a glossy screen, which isn’t everyone’s favorite. The matte screens on the PS2730S or Asus ProArt are better for people who need more reflection handling. (Of the two, I prefer the BenQ matte, but both perform well). Any of the three is great for professional color work.

The Asus ProArt PA27JCV 5K monitor on a wooden desk next to a MacBook with a notepad and pen in front of it.The Asus ProArt PA27JCV 5K monitor on a wooden desk next to a MacBook with a notepad and pen in front of it.

7

Verge Score

The Good

  • Bright image
  • Accurate colors
  • Matte coating handles reflections well
  • Good port selection

The Bad

  • Blacks look washed out at higher brightness
  • No Thunderbolt
  • No webcam

6

Verge Score

The Good

  • Crisp picture quality
  • Regularly selling for under $600
  • Three ways to connect video sources

The Bad

  • No KVM switch, just a USB hub
  • Not the best-looking design
  • Inaccurate colors
  • High response time
  • No webcam

Just having a 5K panel isn’t enough to compete with the Studio Display. While the $550 KTC H27P3 has a sharp image like the Studio Display (and the other three monitors), its stand is tilt-only and wobbly, and the port selection is more limited than the BenQ and Asus monitors. As the cheapest of the 5K monitors here, it’s fine for daily use, but color inaccuracies make it unsuitable for color work.

Apple missed an opportunity with the Studio Display. It could have made improvements to the backlight, offered a more flexible stand option, or changed the panel for one with a higher refresh rate. But instead all we really got were Thunderbolt 5 ports and a better camera with an old, dated panel. There isn’t enough to justify the $1,600 price when all of its competitors are hundreds of dollars less and most have similar color accuracy and much better ergonomics and features.

All of the competitors I’ve tested so far use panels similar to the 60Hz edge-lit IPS one Apple’s been using since 2014. But now that the Studio Display XDR exists, the competitors have more options too. New monitors — like the LG 27GM950B and Asus ROG Strix XG27JCG — use mini-LED backlighting with high refresh rate panels that have similar specs to the one in the XDR. Plus, they cost $1,200 or less, making the regular Studio Display feel even more out of touch with 2026. We’re also getting close to seeing a 120Hz 27-inch 5K OLED monitor, as both LG Display and Samsung Display have shown off the technology.

While the 2022 Studio Display had its limitations, it was the best option if you wanted a 27-inch 5K monitor. But times have changed. The 2026 Studio Display isn’t the only 5K monitor anymore, and it’s not the best 5K option, either. I couldn’t tell you why Apple is still charging the same price for the same ancient panel as it did four years ago. What I can tell you is that, unless you prioritize Apple’s design above all, you’re better off saving your money with something else.

Photography by John Higgins / The Verge

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A plan to make drugs in orbit is going commercial
Tech/AI

A plan to make drugs in orbit is going commercial

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Varda Space Industries, a startup that’s been pitching its ability to perform drug experiments in space, says it has signed up the pharmaceutical company United Therapeutics in what may be remembered as a notable step toward in-orbit manufacturing.

The idea of building things in outer space for use on Earth has so far been explored mostly on board the International Space Station, and only in small-scale experiments backed by governments.

But Varda, based in El Segundo, California, is now telling drug companies it has a practical, and repeatable, way to produce novel molecules in microgravity. 

“This is the first commercial path to products made in space,” says Michael Reilly, Varda’s chief strategy officer.

The scientific idea is that chemical mixtures have different properties under weightless conditions. For instance, water will hang together in a wiggly sphere, since without gravity, surface tension is the strongest force present.

The plan is to launch versions of United Therapeutics’ drugs into orbit, where they can be allowed to form solid crystals. The hope is that in microgravity, they’ll take on atomic arrangements not seen on Earth, possibly leading to new versions with improved stability or other valuable properties.

United is led by CEO Martine Rothblatt, who worked on early  telecommunications satellites. Since then, she’s built a multibillion-dollar health franchise with a succession of drugs to treat a lung disease called pulmonary arterial hypertension, which her daughter suffers from, and a subsidiary developing genetically modified pigs as a source of organs for transplantation.

Rothblatt says space could be the next step if orbital conditions permit United to identify “even more amazing” versions of its drugs.

Space to reformulate

Pharmaceutical companies often try to keep their blockbuster franchises alive by creating improved versions of drugs or reformulating them—for example, making the switch from a pill to an inhaled version, as United has done with some of its products. Doing so can keep imitators at bay and create extra decades of patent protection.

Assisting drugmakers are specialist companies, such as Halozyme and MannKind, that earn profits by helping to reformulate other companies’ drugs, often taking a royalty on future sales.

That’s the business Varda has been trying to break into—by using excursions into space instead of nebulizers, patches, or nanoparticles. The company was formed in 2021 by Delian Asparouhov, a partner at Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, along with Will Bruey, a former avionics engineer with Elon Musk’s SpaceX who is now the company’s CEO.

The pair’s bet is that space manufacturing will become viable once rocket launches become frequent enough—and cheap enough—to support a business model in which raw materials are sent into orbit, processed, and then returned to Earth in a new form.

And that’s starting to happen. To get into space, Varda has been purchasing rides from SpaceX—which now launches a rocket every two or three days, usually a reusable Falcon 9. 

Those rockets have a nose cone, or payload fairing, about the size of a moving truck that gets filled with satellites or instruments, which are then released into orbit.

Starting in 2023, Varda began sending up small satellites that have a boulder-size capsule attached. The capsule contains equipment to carry out experiments, and it can detach and fall back to Earth, entering the atmosphere at a speed of around Mach 25 before slowing via air resistance and eventually drifting to land with a parachute. (Varda lands its craft in the Australian outback.)

That speedy reentry has also drawn interest from the US military, including the Air Force, which has paid Varda to fly instruments and take measurements relevant to hypersonic missile technology. Of the six craft Varda has paid to put into orbit so far, half have been dedicated to military research and half carried drug-related demonstrations. 

At Varda, such “dual use” of technology is accepted as part of being in the space business, which remains reliant on government support. The company’s founders say Varda may be the only company that employs hypersonic engineers and pharmaceutical chemists under the same roof.

At Varda’s headquarters, drug samples are loaded into a spinning arm that creates extra-high G-forces. While the opposite of microgravity, increased weight can provide clues into whether a drug will act differently under new conditions.
COURTESY VARDA

Launching industries

Actual space manufacturing still remains mostly an aspirational project. In 2021, Jeff Bezos, after his first trip aloft in a rocket, suggested that polluting industries should be moved beyond the atmosphere. “We need to take all heavy industry, all polluting industry, and move it into space. And keep Earth as this beautiful gem of a planet that it is,” he told MSNBC.

Weight is the big obstacle to such dreams. It still costs around $7,000 to launch a single kilogram of payload into orbit, which makes it impractical to, say, send cotton into space to be dyed there, or even to launch the acids and solvents needed to make a semiconductor chip.

But drugs may be among the few exceptions to this economic rule, since pound for pound, they can be as valuable as rare radioactive isotopes and fine-cut diamonds.

For instance, just one kilogram of the weight-loss drug Ozempic is worth more than $100 million at retail. (The reason your Ozempic bill is only $1,000 a month is that minute quantities of the active ingredient are present in the shots.)

That’s why Varda thinks it may eventually be able to manufacture drugs in orbit. However, its effort with United is more of a flying experiment to learn whether the company’s lung medicines will crystallize differently in microgravity.  

The terms of the deal between Varda and United aren’t public, and the companies haven’t said which specific drugs the collaboration will study. But Rothblatt did confirm that United is paying Varda to help it identify new crystal forms of its drugs (also called polymorphs), which it hopes could have improved properties.

“One has to do the experiment to find out if that is so. The first part of the experiment is to see what polymorphs of these molecules can be made without the influence of gravity,” she says. “Then, once we have those polymorphs, we will test them.” 

There is good evidence that crystals form differently in space. For instance, in 2017 the pharmaceutical giant Merck sent samples of its cancer immunotherapy drug Keytruda to the International Space Station, where it was found to form crystals of  a single size. On Earth, the drug tended to form two different sizes at once.

That experiment offered clues for how to formulate the drug as a shot instead of administering it intravenously. Still, when Merck introduced a Keytruda injection last year, it ended up using a different approach. That means there’s still no straight-line connection between orbital discoveries and any drug here on Earth.  Actual space factories are another step further from reality. 

“We’ve been learning from space for years, but I can’t name anything manufactured in space, brought down to Earth, and sold,” says Reilly. “So that is a first—or it will be a first.”

Reilly says that Varda anticipates launching United Therapeutics’ drugs into orbit sometime early next year. 

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Economy

Jamie Dimon warns JP Morgan may rethink new London office if ‘very smart’ Starmer is ousted as UK PM

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JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon attends an interview with Reuters in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., Nov. 5, 2025.
Emily Elconin | Reuters

JP Morgan may reconsider a planned multibillion-dollar office tower in London if U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is ousted, the bank’s CEO Jamie Dimon said on Wednesday.

Speaking to Bloomberg in Paris, the head of America’s biggest bank said that while a change in leadership would not change JP Morgan’s fundamental strategy, it could force the lender to rethink its future in the U.K. capital.

JP Morgan announced late last year that it would build a new three-million square foot tower in London’s Canary Wharf financial district to house up to 12,000 employees and serve as its U.K. headquarters. Construction is expected to take six years, during which time JP Morgan will also renovate its existing building on London’s Bank Street.

JPMorgan headquarters in London’s Canary Wharf financial district, 6th Feb., 2024.
Mike Kemp | In Pictures | Getty Images

At the time of the announcement, JP Morgan said its plans for the new building were “subject to a continuing positive business environment in the U.K. and the receipt of the necessary approvals and agreements at a national and local level.”

Asked on Tuesday if the political instability gripping Britain changed his view on the mega project in London, Dimon responded that if a new government was “hostile to the banks, then yes.”

Dimon criticized the tax burden that the bank already faces in the U.K., telling Bloomberg JP Morgan had already paid $10 billion in “additional taxes” related to the construction project.

JP Morgan currently employs more than 20,000 people in the U.K., 13,000 of whom are based in London. The bank said in November that its construction and office upgrade projects would contribute an estimated £9.9 billion ($13.4 billion) to the U.K. economy and create more than 7,800 jobs in the coming six years. Its existing operations in London are estimated to contribute £7.5 billion a year to the local economy.

Starmer’s leadership is hanging in the balance, after his party’s poor performance in the U.K.’s local elections last week led to widespread demands from lawmakers for his resignation. As of Tuesday morning, 90 members of parliament from the governing Labour Party have called on the prime minister to step down, while more than 100 signed a statement backing Starmer to stay put.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer gives a speech on May 11, 2026, in London, England in a bid to secure his premiership.
Carl Court | Getty Images

A backlash against Starmer’s Labour Party saw huge gains for the right-wing Reform UK and the left-wing Green Party in last week’s poll.

But bond vigilantes have largely been supportive of Starmer and his finance minister Rachel Reeves retaining their positions relative to potential alternatives, with U.K. bonds — known as gilts — selling off in previous bouts of uncertainty over their political futures.

On Tuesday, gilts sold off across the curve amid the political turmoil. By Wednesday morning, they were rallying as investors reacted to Starmer’s defiance of calls for his resignation.

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U.K. 10-year gilt

For his part, Dimon threw his support behind Starmer and Reeves in Tuesday’s interview.

“I think Keir Starmer’s a very smart guy,” he told Bloomberg. “Politics is very tough. They’re in a bind because of debts and deficits, they inherited a lot of that, I think the world of Rachel Reeves, and they’ve got to be tough. They’ve got to say ‘we’re going to do these things [that] in the short term may not be great,’ but governments have to get the stuff done right that grows the economy.”

He also praised Starmer’s approach to repairing the U.K.’s strained post-Brexit relations with the European Union.

“I think they need to work closer with Europe. If you remember, Keir Starmer and [French President Emmanuel] Macron, they were going to work closer,” he said. “Not reversing Brexit, but military alliances, intelligence alliances, making sure the economies have economic relationships that are good for both the continent and good for the U.K.”

Starmer is set to meet Streeting on Wednesday morning, ahead of a speech from King Charles in parliament outlining the government’s agenda. During a routine cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the prime minister said he would see his five-year mandate through.

Without Starmer’s resignation, a Labour leadership challenge — which would determine Starmer’s fate as leader of the governing party — can only be triggered if 20% of Labour MPs back a challenger. Currently, that means 81 Labour MPs would need to back a potential replacement.

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The newest AI boom pitch: Host a mini data center at your home
Tech/AI

The newest AI boom pitch: Host a mini data center at your home

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Such a distributed computing network makes sense in that “computation for AI inference can and should be distributed at the ‘edge,’ deployed on smaller platforms closer to population centers and users,” said Benjamin Lee, a computer architect and engineer at the University of Pennsylvania, in correspondence with Ars. “The strategy could impose much smaller impacts on the grid because inference requires a few GPUs, unlike training which requires thousands of them working in concert,” he said.

However, AI inference tasks can be as varied as document question-and-answer, software code generation, and multi-turn conversations—each with different computational requirements and performance expectations, Lee cautioned. So it will be important to ensure that individual compute nodes can deliver the performance necessary for each task, along with maintaining network connectivity among the nodes.

Lee also questioned whether it’s necessary to downsize data centers to the “granularity of a few GPUs” in order to reduce their burden on the power grid. He speculated that deploying conventional 20-megawatt data centers instead of 1-gigawatt hyperscale data centers could prove similarly beneficial.


An illustration of standalone suburban homes set against a backdrop of trees. Each home has rooftop solar panels and a rectangular XFRA node along the outside wall on the ground, along with a wall-mounted smart panel and backup battery.

The startup SPAN envisions a 100-home pilot deployment of XFRA nodes in 2026 followed by rapid scaling in 2027.

The startup SPAN envisions a 100-home pilot deployment of XFRA nodes in 2026 followed by rapid scaling in 2027.


Credit:

SPAN


Then there is the issue of security. XFRA nodes spread across suburbia could become more vulnerable to certain data security threats than centralized data centers. “Many side-channel attacks require physical proximity to the machine, which data centers can guard against,” Lee said. “Distributed GPUs in individual homes are much more difficult to protect.”

Thieves may also see XFRA nodes alongside houses as a tempting target, given that the Nvidia GPUs within can each sell for around $10,000. Several comment threads on Reddit have already speculated on that possibility, with some commenters suggesting they would feel tempted to secure such compute resources for themselves as residents. “Of course, there is the risk of losing the actual hardware itself to theft,” Lee said.

Any potential benefits and complications will become more evident during SPAN’s pilot deployment phase. But at a time when Silicon Valley is currently abuzz about orbital data centers and ocean-going AI data centers, data center nodes embedded in suburbia may stand on more solid footing—at least until homeowner associations catch wind of them.

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How to watch Google’s Android Show: I/O Edition today
Tech/AI

How to watch Google’s Android Show: I/O Edition today

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Android Show: I/O Edition is a short, Android-only presentation kicking off at 1 PM ET on May 12th, ahead of Google I/O.

Android Show: I/O Edition is a short, Android-only presentation kicking off at 1 PM ET on May 12th, ahead of Google I/O.

Stevie Bonifield
is a news writer covering all things consumer tech. Stevie started out at Laptop Mag writing news and reviews on hardware, gaming, and AI.

Google I/O is still a week away, but Google’s big announcements kick off today with the “Android Show: I/O Edition,” where it’s expected to announce the major Android ecosystem highlights coming to its annual developer conference.

When the Android Show will happen and where you can watch it

Android Show: I/O Edition will be streaming live on YouTube and the Android website on Tuesday, May 12th at 10AM PT / 1PM ET. Based on last year’s Android Show, we can expect the highlights to include a look at the next major Android update along with announcements about Gemini features on Android and potentially teases of some more forward-facing projects, like Aluminium OS and Android XR.

The Android Show livestream is definitely less time-consuming than I/O’s main keynote. Last year’s Android Show lasted just over 20 minutes, while the full Google I/O keynote ran for almost two hours.

Android 17

The main event during Tuesday’s Android Show will likely be a look at Android’s next big update, which could include some design changes — at least, that’s what some Android users suspect. In the 15-second teaser video for this year’s Android show, the Android robot momentarily changes from its usual solid green to a translucent, glassy-look with splashes of color inside. This got some users speculating that Google is giving Android a Liquid Glass look like iOS 26, but Android ecosystem president Sameer Samat replied to a post about this saying, “Not happening!”

While the Android robot in the video does look a bit like Apple’s Liquid Glass, it also resembles early glimpses of the Gemini app redesign that has started popping up on macOS, iOS, and Android. Liquid Glass or not, it’s possible Android 17 will have some visual tweaks that Google will go over during Tuesday’s livestream, along with new features and the update’s release window.

Betas and early developer previews of Android 17 include a few key features to look forward to, like “app bubbles” that allow users to pull up in a small windowed “bubble” they can move around, like a windowed app on PC. Android 17 is also expected to include more location controls, including an option for one-time location sharing with apps and an indicator showing when a “non-system app” is accessing your location.

Gemini updates

The Android Show: I/O Edition will likely include some highlights about updates coming to Google Gemini, particularly features baked directly into Android (or Gemini’s Android app).

One of this year’s announcements could be the broader roll-out of the Gemini redesign that users have started seeing on the chatbot’s app. It features a new pill-shaped prompt box with streamlined buttons. The redesign also adds some subtle splashes of color in the background, which look very similar to the “glassy” look of the Android robot in Google’s teaser video for this year’s Android Show.

Aluminium OS

The Android Show could give us our first official look at Aluminium OS, Google’s PC version of Android. An early glimpse of it was leaked in January in a bug report that included screen recordings showing a UI that blends elements of both Android and ChromeOS.

Even if Google does show off Aluminium OS during Tuesday’s livestream, we might still have to wait a while for a proper release. Court documents from Google’s search antitrust case note that while Android ecosystem Sameer Samat stated that Google hopes to launch it in 2026, a full launch might not happen until 2028, particularly for the “enterprise and education sectors.” It could be that Aluminium OS will only be available in beta or for testing this year, with a full launch coming later.

It’s also worth noting that Aluminium OS may not end up being compatible with all existing Chromebooks. The court documents also mention that Aluminium OS “is not expected to be able to support older hardware” due to “heavier software.”

Android XR

Last year’s Android Show ended on a teaser for Android XR, with Android ecosystem president Sameer Samat donning a pair of XREAL smart glasses, ahead of some Android XR announcements at Google I/O 2025. It’s possible glasses will make an appearance at this year’s Android Show, too. Although much like last year, Google could also end up saving this for the main I/O keynote.

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On Holding beats first-quarter expectations, sees double-digit growth in China as Nike lags
Economy

On Holding beats first-quarter expectations, sees double-digit growth in China as Nike lags

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Logo of Swiss shoemaker On is displayed in a shop in Zurich, Switzerland, Aug. 28, 2025.
Denis Balibouse | Reuters

Swiss sneaker company On saw more strong growth during its first quarter, beating Wall Street’s expectations on the top and bottom lines even as direct-to-consumer revenue fell short of forecasts. 

During the quarter ended March 31, On’s direct-to-consumer sales, revenue from its own website and stores, grew 16.4% to 322.3 million Swiss francs (US$414.2 million), falling short of the 326 million francs analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. 

Meanwhile, revenue from its less profitable wholesale channel increased by 13.3% to 509.6 million francs, beating expectations of 499 million francs, according to StreetAccount. 

In a news release, the company said “even against an uncertain macroeconomic backdrop,” it decided to raise its profitability outlook and reiterate its 2026 net sales growth forecast.

“That’s not particularly aimed at the consumer …. There’s just a lot of things going on, like, for example, the war now in Iran that probably nobody saw coming,” said co-CEO Caspar Coppetti in an interview with CNBC. “We’re a bit in a bubble, I would say, as a brand, because we cater to an affluent and aspirational consumer. So our customers are not really dependent on the gas price.”

On is now expecting its gross profit margin to reach at least 64.5% in 2026, up from its previous forecast of 63%. The outlook continues to include a 20% tariff on imports from Vietnam into the U.S., even though the duty is no longer in effect after a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year, and excludes any potential tariff refunds that result from the decision.

Coppetti said the company has applied for a refund and is continuing to plan for a 20% tariff on Vietnamese imports because the situation remains fluid and it has concerns more duties could still come. Still, even if tariffs were to ease, it would be “immaterial” to the company’s performance, he said.

On is expecting its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization margin to be between 19.5% and 20% — up from a previous range of between 18.5% and 19%. 

Here’s how the premium sportswear company performed during the quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

  • Earnings per share: 37 cents in francs adjusted vs. 27 cents expected
  • Revenue: 831.9 million francs vs. 823 million francs expected

The company’s reported net income during the quarter was 103.3 million francs, or 31 cents per share, compared with 56.7 million francs, or 17 cents per share, a year earlier. 

Sales rose to 831.9 million francs, up 14.5% from 727 million francs a year earlier. 

On posted another significant sales increase as the company looks to win back investors who have soured on the stock as its rapid growth story begins to slow down. Year to date, the stock is down almost 27% as some analysts doubt the company can grow into a true footwear heavyweight that’s as popular in Paris as it is in Ohio. 

As On’s profitability has increased, Coppetti said it is reinvesting in the brand and its growth areas, including apparel and new sports like tennis. The strategy has been particularly effective in China, where sales are growing by a high-double-digit percentage and its apparel penetration is as high as 30%, compared with around 6% companywide.

That stands in stark contrast to Nike, which has seen its business struggle in the region as Chinese consumers opt for local brands and move away from legacy incumbents.

“Chinese consumers are becoming more and more savvy, and they’re looking for the special things. So either they go local, or they’re looking for that extra touch,” said Coppetti. “We’re also European. We’re Swiss and so, you know, the high quality, the attention to detail, really resonates.”

Just before the quarter came to an end, On announced co-founders David Allemann and Coppetti would become the company’s co-CEOs, replacing Martin Hoffmann, known as the company’s face on Wall Street. 

Hoffmann had been CEO since 2021, but he shared the job with fellow CEO Marc Maurer for most of that time and was only a solo chief executive for less than a year before On shuffled up its C-suite yet again. 

In a news release at the time, the company framed Hoffmann’s departure as a “planned hiatus” and an opportunity to “pursue philanthropic interests,” but his decision to step down also came as the company has grown increasingly complex. 

Coppetti told CNBC that On has been “founder-led” from the beginning, so there won’t be any major changes now that he and Allemann have taken over.

“Nothing changes on the strategy,” he said. “We remain as committed as ever to executing this premium strategy with a good mix of ambition and Swiss conservatism, so to speak.”

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How the Trump-Xi summit could set superpower relations for many years to come
Global

How the Trump-Xi summit could set superpower relations for many years to come

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“So long as the visit proceeds smoothly and Trump concludes he was treated respectfully, then the uneasy calm in the bilateral relationship will endure. If, on the other hand, Trump leaves feeling disrespected or trifled with, then he could have a change of heart,” says Ryan Hass, Director of the John L Thornton China Centre at the Brookings Institute.

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Linux bitten by second severe vulnerability in as many weeks
Tech/AI

Linux bitten by second severe vulnerability in as many weeks

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Both privilege escalation vulnerabilities stem from bugs in the kernel’s handling of page caches stored in memory, allowing untrusted users to modify them. They target caches in networking and memory-fragment handling components. Specifically, CVE-2026-43284 attacks the esp4 and esp6 () processes, and CVE-2026-43500 zeroes in on rxrpc. Last week’s CopyFail exploited faulty page caching in the authencesn AEAD template process, which is used for IPsec extended sequence numbers. A 2022 vulnerability named Dirty Pipe also stemmed from flaws that allow attackers to overwrite page caches.

Researchers from security firm Automox wrote:

Dirty Frag belongs to the same bug family as Dirty Pipe and Copy Fail, but it targets the frag member of the kernel’s struct sk_buff rather than pipe_buffer. The exploit uses splice() to plant a reference to a read-only page-cache page (for example, /etc/passwd or /usr/bin/su) into the frag slot of a sender-side skb. Receiver-side kernel code then performs in-place cryptographic operations on that frag, modifying the page cache in RAM. Every subsequent read of the file sees the corrupted version, even though the attacker only ever had read access.

CVE-2026-43284 is found in the esp_input() process on the IPsec ESP receive path. When an skb object is non-linear but lacks a frag list, the code skips skb_cow_data() and decrypts AEAD in place on the planted frag. From there, an attacker can control the file offset and the 4-byte value of each store.

CVE-2026-43500, meanwhile, resides in rxkad_verify_packet_1(). The process decrypts RxRPC payloads using a single-block process. Splice-pinned pages become both a source and destination. That, paired with the decryption key being freely extracted using the add_key (rxrpc), allows an attacker to rewrite contents in memory.

Either exploit used separately is unreliable. Some Ubuntu configurations use AppArmor to prevent untrusted users from creating namespace contents. That, in turn, neutralizes the ESP technique. Most other distributions by default don’t run rxrpc.ko, which neutralizes the RxRPC arm. When chained together, however, the two exploits allow attackers to obtain root on every major distribution Kim tested. Once the exploits run, attackers can use SSH access, web-shell execution, container escapes, or compromise low-privilege accounts.

“Dirty Frag is notable because it introduces multiple kernel attack paths involving rxrpc and esp/xfrm networking components to improve exploitation reliability,” Microsoft researchers wrote. “Rather than relying on narrow timing windows or unstable corruption conditions often associated with Linux local privilege escalation exploits, Dirty Frag appears designed to increase consistency across vulnerable environments.”

Researchers at Google-owned Wiz said exploits will be less likely to break out of hardened containerized environments such as Kubernets with default security settings in place. “However, the risk remains significant for virtual machines or less restricted environments.”

The best response for anyone using Linux is to install patches immediately. While fixes likely require a reboot, protection from a threat as severe as Dirty Frag outweighs the cost of disruptions. Anyone who can’t install immediately should follow the mitigation steps laid out in the posts linked above. Additional guidance can be found here.

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