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Valve's new $1,059 Steam Frame VR headset ships with a native ARM64 version of Half-Life: Alyx, letting the 2020 PC VR game run standalone on the device's Snapdragon chip without needing a desktop PC. The port preserves mods and save files and, according to Valve, was made possible by combining the headset's eye-tracking-driven foveated rendering with 16GB of VRAM.
WIRED published a guide identifying nine Windows laptops that compete with Apple's MacBooks on quality and performance, alongside broader advice on choosing a laptop. The guide recommends spending $750 to $1,000 for a 13- or 14-inch machine with at least 16 GB of RAM, 512 GB of storage, and modern chips like Qualcomm's Snapdragon X series or Intel's Core Ultra lineup. It cites models such as the Dell 14 Plus and HP OmniBook 5 14 as strong examples in this price range.
Lenovo is launching the IdeaPad Vibe, a budget productivity laptop starting at $700 aimed at competing with the MacBook Neo and Dell XPS 13. It comes in colorful metal finishes, two screen sizes (14 or 15 inches), a choice of Qualcomm Snapdragon X or AMD Ryzen AI 400 series processors, up to 32GB of RAM, 1TB storage, and optional 120Hz OLED displays.
HTC is bringing its Vive Eagle smart glasses to the US market after debuting them last year, offering a screen-free, glasses-first design. The device includes a 12MP ultrawide camera, 32GB of encrypted storage, and support for either OpenAI or Gemini voice assistants, running on Qualcomm's Snapdragon AR1 chip. Pricing starts at $499 for standard or sunglass lenses, rising to $599 for photochromic versions.
Qualcomm has shared new details on the GPU inside its upcoming flagship Snapdragon chip, revealing three new Adreno Matrix Cores designed to run AI workloads with lower latency and better power efficiency. These cores power a new feature called Adreno Neural Fusion, which handles frame generation and AI-based upscaling, promising fewer visual artifacts, more stable performance, and up to 40% lower power use than Qualcomm's earlier solution.
Anbernic released an unboxing video for its upcoming RG 55G1 handheld, confirming a Snapdragon G1 Gen 2 chip, Adreno A12 GPU, 4GB/8GB RAM and 64GB/128GB storage options, a 5.5-inch 1080p IPS display, and Android 14. The device will ship in Indigo, Retro Gray, and Black, with a 6,000mAh battery, 18W charging, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, and wireless TV casting support.
A Weibo leak from Digital Chat Station claims Qualcomm's upcoming flagship chip, model SM8975, will be branded Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 and built on TSMC's 2nm process with two prime cores at 5.01GHz plus three performance and three efficiency cores, paired with an Adreno 850 GPU. The same leak details MediaTek's rival Dimensity 9600 Pro, also on 2nm, using dual 4.55GHz cores alongside performance and efficiency cores and a Mali G2 Ultra GPU.
GrapheneOS Foundation announced via Mastodon that official support for Motorola devices will begin next year with a high-end slab flagship, followed later by the Razr Fold and Razr Ultra foldables, making the Ultra the first flip phone to officially run the privacy-focused OS. The rollout targets phones using next-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chips, since current Motorola hardware doesn't yet fully support features like hardware memory tagging and secure element integration.
GrapheneOS detailed plans to bring its privacy-focused Android build to Motorola hardware, starting with a standard flagship phone before expanding to Razr foldables. The rollout depends on next-generation Snapdragon chips that add hardware memory tagging and improved secure element support, features current Motorola flagships still lack. Motorola will supply firmware and drivers directly, and devices must meet GrapheneOS's seven-year update requirement.