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Best Buy is selling the iBuyPower Slate Gaming Desktop for $899, down from $1,399, featuring an AMD Ryzen 5 8400F processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 GPU, 16GB DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB NVMe SSD. The deal is listed as a limited-time offer, with the system packaged in a mid-tower case with ARGB fans and a 600W power supply, plus a bundled keyboard and mouse.
During a public panel, Valve audio designer Mike Morasky was recorded saying the internal codename 'HLX,' widely believed to refer to a next Half-Life project, prompting a joking reaction from colleague David Feise. The remark follows a year of unfulfilled predictions, including claims that Half-Life 3 would launch alongside Valve's Steam Machine, which did not materialize. Valve watcher Tyler McVicker now says he doesn't expect an announcement this year, though he notes increased internal coding activity at Valve.
Google has introduced Googlebook, a new AI-focused laptop platform built on its Chromebook lineage, with a 16GB RAM requirement and starting prices of $999 (except for a limited-time $899 Acer offer). Models from Lenovo and Asus reach pricing comparable to the MacBook Air, and the platform's phone-pairing feature requires a device running Android 17, an OS released only four months ago on a small number of high-end phones.
Tom's Hardware tested AMD's BC-250, a 2021-era APU originally built from defective or downgraded PS5 silicon and later sold as a cryptomining card. A community-developed BIOS and driver set now lets hobbyists turn the card into a Linux-based gaming system with 16GB of shared GDDR6, at roughly half the cost of a comparable built system once a power supply and other parts are sourced.
Valve is rolling out its $1000 Steam Frame headset slowly through a lottery-based reservation system meant to curb scalping, similar to its earlier Steam Machine launch. In the meantime, gamers with existing VR hardware from Valve, HTC, Meta or other brands can already play VR titles on Steam using the SteamVR app, which connects headsets to the Steam launcher and unlocks features like SteamVR Home and dashboard settings.
Valve says it's actively working to bring functional Nvidia graphics drivers to SteamOS, the Linux OS behind the Steam Deck and Steam Machine, but the effort could take years to complete. Internal testing has already gotten Nvidia drivers running and rendering graphics on certain GPU generations, though performance still trails AMD hardware.
Valve designer Pierre-Loup Griffais told IGN the company is still working out 'how and when' to release a next-generation Steam Deck, even after unveiling its full 2026 hardware lineup including the Steam Controller, Steam Machine, and Steam Frame. He said the current RAM shortage hasn't really changed Valve's thinking on developing the handheld, though no timeline was given.
Valve has begun taking reservations for its Steam Frame VR headset, nearly a year after first unveiling it and three months after launching the Steam Machine. Engineers Pierre-Loup Griffais and Jeff Leinbaugh told Tom's Hardware that the project began right after the Index shipped, aiming to make VR lighter, more comfortable, and easier to use through wireless streaming rather than chasing raw performance at any cost. The device arrives during a period of sharply rising memory and storage costs, which Valve says influenced its pricing.
Valve engineers Jeff Leinbaugh and Pierre-Loup Griffais spoke with Tom's Hardware about the Steam Frame headset, explaining that development began right after the Index shipped. They said the focus shifted from raw VR performance to comfort, ease of use, and wireless streaming across a user's whole Steam library, resulting in a lighter, more accessible device than the Index.
Valve has released the Steam Frame, a VR headset that runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip and offers up to 1TB of storage, letting it play games independently without a connected PC. The device is significantly lighter than the older Valve Index, weighing 440 grams versus 809 grams, and uses six cameras for tracking, passthrough, and eye-tracking. It arrives as the third major hardware release from Valve in 2026, following the Steam Controller and Steam Machine.
Valve has revealed pricing for its Steam Frame VR headset: $1,059 for the 256GB model and $1,299 for the 1TB version, both including controllers and a version of Half-Life: Alyx rebuilt to run natively on the device. Optional accessories such as a charger, replacement gaskets, ergonomic straps, prescription lenses and an add-on RGB camera will also be sold separately.