Author: News Room

So you’ve decided to invite Amazon’s smart assistant into your home? How hospitable. Smart speakers are all very well, but if you’d like Alexa’s smarts inside a smart display, this is the list you need: we’ve tested every Echo Show in Amazon’s line-up, to help you pick your perfect smart home device. If you’d prefer an Echo that’s audio-only, be sure to check out our list of the best Amazon Echo speakers. But if you’re after touch controls, video calls and visual entertainment, it’s an Echo Show you need. And with three styles and four sizes to choose from, you…

Are tech-triggered flashbacks a thing? They are for me. I’ll be doing something suitably geeky when chills run down my spine. Maybe an emulator will evoke the trauma of 8-bit games crashing milliseconds before the final screen. Or a video filter app will spark memories of VHS tapes being devoured without warning. The latest flashback comes courtesy of Apple, now reminding us Intel-based Mac apps will soon be sent to live on a farm. Which makes a highlight reel of previous appageddons play on a loop in my head. Admittedly, a new appocalypse isn’t breaking news. Apple, ever eager to torch its own past, announced at WWDC…

The Soundcore Nebula X1 Pro is too weird to exist. It takes the excellent 4K projector and karaoke microphones from Anker’s Nebula X1 and stuffs them inside a powerful five-speaker Google TV party on wheels. It’s so absurd that it feels like a gadget fever dream – and I’m here for it.At the heart of this system is the same liquid-cooled, triple-laser, auto-image-correction-everything projector I reviewed last summer. It’s unbelievably quiet for a 3500 ANSI lumen projector that lays claim to the title of being the brightest and most vivid all-in-one portable projector on the market. Now it’s also the…

Introduction Four years can be a long time in the action camera world. When GoPro quietly retired its original Max 360 camera back in 2021, it left a gap that its upstart rivals wasted no time filling – the Insta360 X series went from strength to strength, while DJI eventually waded in with its own debut 360 camera, the Osmo 360. So, the GoPro Max 2 arrives with something to prove. At first glance, it’s unmistakably a GoPro. The square body is a beefed-up echo of its predecessor, sitting slightly squatter than both the Insta360 X5 and DJI Osmo 360…

Xbox chief Phil Spencer is leaving Microsoft after nearly 40 years at the software giant. Xbox president Sarah Bond is also leaving Microsoft, in what is a major shake-up to the management of Xbox and Microsoft’s gaming efforts. Asha Sharma, currently president of CoreAI product, is taking over as CEO of Microsoft Gaming.Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced Phil Spencer’s retirement in a memo to all Microsoft employees today. “Last year, Phil Spencer made the decision to retire from the company, and since then we’ve been talking about succession planning,” says Nadella. “I want to thank Phil for his extraordinary leadership…

When I walked through Microsoft’s doors as an intern in June of 1988, I could never have imagined the products I’d help build, the players and customers we’d serve, or the extraordinary teams I’d be lucky enough to join. It’s been an epic ride and truly the privilege of a lifetime.Last fall, I shared with Satya that I was thinking about stepping back and starting the next chapter of my life. From that moment, we aligned on approaching this transition with intention, ensuring stability, and strengthening the foundation we’ve built. Xbox has always been more than a business. It’s a…

Dear team,Today I begin my role as CEO of Microsoft Gaming.I feel two things at once: humility and urgency.Humility because this team has built something extraordinary over decades. Urgency because gaming is in a period of rapid change, and we need to move with clarity and conviction.I am stepping into work shaped by generations of artists, engineers, designers, writers, musicians, operators and more who create worlds that have brought joy and deep personal meaning to hundreds of millions of players. The level of craft here is exceptional, and it is amplified by Xbox, which was founded in the belief that…

The US Supreme Court struck down some of Donald Trump’s tariffs on foreign imports, which have become a hallmark of the chaos of the second Trump administration.The court’s ruling deals specifically with duties levied using a law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), something no other president has done — the 1977 law was initially created to limit presidential ability to declare a national emergency only to times when the threat came from outside the US. The legality of using the IEEPA to tariff imports has been in question since the taxes were announced last year; the IEEPA…

Any ebook reader will let you cram a Beauty and the Beast-sized library’s worth of books in your pocket, but so will your phone. An ebook reader offers a more book-like reading experience, with fewer distractions and less eye strain, and many include extra features, like adjustable frontlighting. Some really are pocketable. Others are waterproof or offer physical page-turning buttons, while a few even let you take notes.I’ve been using ebook readers for more than a decade, and I’ve gone hands-on with dozens, from the Kindle Paperwhite to lesser-known rivals like the PocketBook Era. Whether you want something your kid…

OpenAI is planning to launch a smart speaker designed by Apple legend Jony Ive that sounds a little like a HomePod, according to a new report. The Information is claiming the scoop here, and says it’ll be the first product yielding from the Ive and OpenAI hook-up (remember that creepy-awkward photo with Sam Altman a few months back?). Today’s report brings word from “two people with knowledge” will include a camera to identify the owner and the owner’s surroundings and will listen into the conversations in the background. As if that’s not entirely unsettling. Presumably you’ll be able to interact…

After nearly 40 years at Microsoft, Xbox chief and Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer is leaving the company, along with Xbox president Sarah Bond. Spencer’s retirement was announced in a memo from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on February 20th, stating, “Last year, Phil Spencer made the decision to retire from the company, and since then we’ve been talking about succession planning.”Follow along below for the latest updates on Microsoft’s Xbox leadership changes Read the full article here

Microsoft has announced a major shake-up of the Xbox gaming business, with the division’s two most recognisable and senior names departing the firm. The CEO of Microsoft gaming Phil Spencer and the president and COO of Xbox Sarah Bond are both departing. Spencer has been at Microsoft for 38 years, 12 of which have been leading the gaming division. He’s retiring. In a tweet he says: “It’s rare in life to know when a chapter is closing, but after 38 years at Microsoft, that moment has arrived for me. I’ve made the decision to retire and begin the next chapter of…