Author: News Room

Android 17 is getting a dedicated gaming mode for foldables that will put a virtual gamepad with touch controls on half of your screen to theoretically make it easier to play games.With foldable gaming mode, which is set to launch in the coming months, the virtual controller emulates physical button presses at a system level and is designed to work “with any game that supports physical controllers,” says Google’s Mishaal Rahman on Reddit. For the actual inputs, the virtual controller will have a D-pad; left and right virtual sticks; A, B, X, and Y buttons; L1, L2, L3; R1, R2,…

Amazon’s Prime Day sale is always packed with watches that look the part, but fall apart the moment you twist the crown. I’ve been writing about watches for more than a decade, so I’ve seen every shortcut, every flimsy clasp, and every dodgy movement. That’s why I’ve gone through Amazon’s deals with a slightly jaded eye to find the ones that are actually worth your money. So I’ve found 14 watches from proper watchmakers like Timex and Citizen (mostly Timex), with most landing under $100 / £100. All of these are great starters if you’re just getting into watches, others are cheap thrills if you just…

Thanks to the component crisis, it’s a bad time to want a new computer. But if you are waiting on a preorder for the Framework Laptop 13 Pro — which Framework’s CEO has called the “MacBook Pro for Linux users” — the company shared good news on Thursday that might mean yours will cost less than you expected. The company announced that it has secured cheaper new PCIe Gen 5 SSDs from its supplier, Adata, and if you had put in an order for a configuration with a 500GB SSD, you’ll now get a 1TB SSD at a lower price.…

Apple raising prices across a number of product categories made it clear there’s no save haven from the memory shortage-driven price hikes for technology fans. Almost as if to emphasise the point, Xbox has followed suit by increasing what its asking for its six year old Xbox Series S|X games consoles for the second time in less than twelve months. Usually at this point in a console’s life-cycle we’re starting to see deep discounts on machines due to streamlined production, high inventory and slowing demand amid anticipation for the next-generation. Thanks to how hard RAM and storage currently is to…

This week, Instagram launched a series of new features for its smart TV app that are all designed to get people to spend more time on the platform through the biggest screens in their homes. In addition to vertical Reels, Instagram for TV — which is currently available for Amazon Fire TV, Google TV, and Samsung Smart TVs — users can now watch disappearing Stories and horizontal videos with aspect ratios similar to what you typically see on YouTube. And soon, Instagram will make a big push for longform, episodic content and TV-focused “live creator experiences.”This foray into the TV…

Apple just raised prices across its iPad and MacBook lineup. The good news is that many retailers are still selling their inventory at the old prices or far less, which means you can still score some of the best iPad deals we may see in awhile — if ever again. So if you’ve been thinking about picking up a new iPad, now is probably the time to do it.Now the bad news: those discounts are starting to disappear, though. One of the best iPad deals of Prime Day, for instance, saw the M4-powered iPad Air with Wi-Fi and 128GB of…

It’s not exactly surprising that RAMaggeddon is making new tech hardware really expensive. But if you’ve been in the market for things like a new computer or tablet, this week has been filled with sticker shock. Given how many companies announced price hikes related to component shortages, it seems unlikely things will get cheaper any time soon.Valve started the week off by finally revealing the price of the Steam Machine, its long-delayed, console-like PC that, in our tests, has performance on par with the PS5. It starts at $1,049, nearly double the price of the six-year-old PS5, and that’s for…

Following an interview with The Wall Street Journal earlier this month where Tim Cook hinted at upcoming price changes, Apple officially raised the prices on many of its hardware offerings today. They include iPads, Macs, smart speakers, and even the affordable MacBook Neo. While Cook said the company has tried to “shield” customers from price increases as the cost of memory and storage has recently surged thanks to AI companies stockpiling RAM and SSDs for data centers, Apple has finally joined companies like Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft with price hikes.Here’s a breakdown of what Apple hardware has been affected today…

I have long been on the hunt for the perfect distraction-free writing setup. The latest contender is BYOK, which stands for Bring Your Own Keyboard. It’s a simple $199 black plastic rectangle with a low-resolution LCD screen that lets you edit text and does almost nothing else.I’ve tried dedicated apps. I’ve even converted an old laptop into a writerdeck. But neither solution really clicked. Last year, I paired a Boox Palma with a NuPhy Air and there was a lot to like. The unique, quick-refreshing E Ink screen provided my favorite typing experience yet, and it synced seamlessly with my…

Nothing has confirmed it plans to announce the first in its ‘b’ series of phones, with the Nothing Phone (4b) set to debut on July 7. Nothing has explained, that the ‘b’ will sit below the ‘b’, which sits below the unlettered Nothing Phone flagship models. So, think A = affordable and B = budget, perhaps? If you’re not into the whole brevity thing, here’s co-founder Akis Evendelidis with a lot of words to say ‘we’re making cheap phones now lads’. What does (b) stand for? Nothing. It’s simply a continuation of our naming system. Numbers represent generations, while letters…

We’ve seen a lot of great Prime Day deals on wearables this year, from the Fitbit Charge 6 to the latest Apple Watch SE. But if you’re looking for advanced health features, the Apple Watch Series 11 is the one to check out, and it’s now down to its best price ever: $279 ($120 off) at Amazon and Walmart for the 42mm model. If you want a larger watch, the 46mm option is also down to a new low price of $309 ($120 off) at Amazon and Walmart.While we think the Apple Watch SE — now just $199 ($50 off)…

The Oppo Bubble is a smart second screen for your phone, one that can be attached and detached at will, connects wirelessly, and serves as either a selfie screen or a wireless camera remote. It’s the best version of this idea I’ve used yet, but also a frustrating reminder that it could be even better if only Oppo and other Android OEMs would get on board with Qi2.The Bubble is a bit like a smaller — much, much smaller — version of Insta360’s Snap or the Dockcase Selfix phone case. It’s a tiny puck, just 7mm thick and 27.5g, with…