The new Backbone Pro could be the one controller for all your gaming

Backbone’s new gaming controller looks like it should have a phone inside. The Backbone Pro has the same basic shape as the company’s previous device, the excellent Backbone One — its two oblong halves are connected by a strip of plastic and metal that expands enough to dock your smartphone into the exposed USB-C port. The Pro is heavier than the previous model, and feels a bit more solid both to use and to pull apart, but the idea is the same. The key difference with the Pro, though, is that you don’t need to dock a phone to use the controller. The Backbone Pro can also connect over Bluetooth to lots of other consoles and devices — Backbone calls this Wireless Mode, and the phone dock is Handheld Mode. In Wireless Mode, Backbone CEO Maneet Khaira says, the Pro can connect to everything from a Steam Deck to an iPad to a smart TV. And there’s more in the works. When Khaira first showed me the new controller, he practically gushed over how much work the Pro was, despite its physical si ... Read full article.