Personally, I've never really used photo mode in a video game. Okay, sure, I've booted it up in a few games, moved the camera around, fiddled with the filters and all that, but I never stop in front of a beautiful scene and think "Man, I hope this game has a photo mode to capture this moment." Maybe I'm just a grouchy curmudgeon.

Storage drives don't last forever, even if we wish they would. Hard drives and SSDs can last a long time if used carefully, but they'll eventually wear out and fail. Unlike hard drives, which give audible warning signs, solid-state drives can fail without any visible or audible warning signs, but sometimes you get lucky and notice issues before the drive dies.

Sony might have just recently introduced a new low price on the PlayStation 5 Pro with its latest Days of Play sale, but that’s not the only deal worth your attention. Sony is also offering a range of accessories at a discount, including the high-end DualSense Edge. Regularly $199.99, the customizable controller is available from Amazon, Best Buy, and Sony for an all-time low of $169 through June 11th. If you’re looking for a highly customizable controller, the Edge is a great option that offers excellent software integration with the PS5. The premium gamepad lets you effortlessly switch between up to four personalized profiles, each of which lets you customize things like stick sensitivity and rear button controls. It’s just as easy to swap out stick modules, too, allowing you to quickly replace the stick tops should they ever wear out. What’s more, the rear triggers feature adjustable stops, so you can control how far they can be pressed and fine-tune your response time in shooters and other competitive games.Additionally, the Edge offers the same haptics and adaptive triggers found on Sony’s standard DualSense controller, along with two styles of rear paddles, each suited to a different grip preference. Its charging cable also features a handy locking mechanism to ensure it won’t get yanked out while gaming; however, the Edge is limited to approximately eight hours of battery life when used wirelessly, meaning it doesn’t last quite as long as the OG DualSense. I guess that’s the price you pay for souped-up components and software, at least with Sony.Read our full DualSense Edge review.More ways to save this weekendNow through tomorrow, June 1st, you can grab the last-gen Oura Ring Generation 3 at Wellbots in the Heritage configuration for $195 ($104 off) or the Horizon config for $210 ($90 off) when using coupon code OURAVERGE25. They’re functionally the same smart ring even if the design is slightly different, meaning you’ll be able to track your sleeping habits and other health metrics — including your heart rate, SpO2 levels, and menstrual cycle — no matter which size or model you decide to go with. Read our review.We might be alone in thinking this, but we’d argue that Govee’s new Gaming Pixel Light was one of the coolest gizmos to come out of CES 2025. And right now, it’s available directly from Govee for an all-time low of $95.99 ($24 off) or at Amazon starting at $101.99 ($18 off). The Alexa-compatible grid can display art, animations, and live data, letting you view pixelated details on everything from the weather to the latest NBA scores. It also has an AI component, like everything else, if you’re not much of an artist yourself.Both Amazon and Anker have dropped the price of Anker’s MagGo Wireless Charging Station to $63.99 ($26 off) for the next couple of days, though you’ll need to punch in offer code WS7DV29E602L at the latter retailer. The adjustable 3-in-1 stand is yet another solid option if you want to top off a pair of AirPods and an Apple Watch alongside your phone, especially since the Qi2 dock can supply up to 15W of power to MagSafe-ready iPhone models.

When shopping for new storage drives, you can choose between a hard disk drive (HDD) and a solid-state drive (SSD). Both have advantages and drawbacks for storing data inside PCs, servers, network-attached storage (NAS), and other hardware. I needed to expand (and replace) my storage pool in my primary storage device, and I ended up opting for a few 16TB HDDs rather than moving into 2025 with an all-SSD array.

Home automation is more powerful than ever, and choosing the right platform can make or break your smart home experience. I’ve worked with both Home Assistant and Hubitat and found that while Hubitat has its merits, Home Assistant consistently offers more control, flexibility, and long-term satisfaction. Whether you’re new to smart home tech or you’ve been deep in Zigbee and MQTT for years, here’s why I think Home Assistant is the better choice.

For as customizable as the Steam Deck is, it's surprisingly light on UI customization options. You can pick up different start-up animations and change the color of your keyboard — given you've bought designs through the Steam rewards program — but not much beyond that. Thankfully, the community has pushed things further. I've been using the CSS Loader plugin for the better part of two years on my Steam Deck OLED, and it gives me unfettered access to poke, prod, and break the Steam Deck's user interface in any way I see fit.

Windows 11 is a powerful operating system, but like its predecessors, it requires awareness of privacy and security. There are features you should disable and stop using if you are concerned about privacy. Data on Windows can be shared or harvested in several ways, but you can prevent these actions from happening. Unless you want to create a local account (which becomes more difficult with each update), you can improve your Windows privacy by avoiding these features.

SpaceX lost contact with Starship after its launch on March 6, 2025. | Image: AFP via Getty ImagesWith yet another failed Starship test this week, in which the ambitious heavy rocket exploded once again, you might reasonably suspect that luck has finally run out for SpaceX. But this degree of failure during a development process isn't actually unusual, according to Wendy Whitman Cobb, a space policy expert with the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, especially when you're testing new space technology as complex as a large rocket. However, the Starship tests are meaningfully different from the slow, steady pace of development that we've come to expect from the space sector."The reason a lot of people perceive this to be unusual is that this is not the typical way that we have historically tested rockets," Whitman Cobb says.Historically speaking, space agencies like NASA or legacy aerospace companies like United Launch Alliance (ULA) have taken their time with rocket development and have not tested until they were confident in a successful outcome. That's still the case today with major NASA projects like the development of the Space Launch System (SLS), which has now dragged on for over a decade. "They will take as long as they need to to make sure that the rocket …Read the full story at The Verge.

With the Switch 2 launch days away, analysts and consumers are watching to see how well Nintendo can follow-up the best selling home console in its history. Judging from the pain of trying to secure a Switch 2 pre-order, it seems like Nintendo has nothing to worry about - at least at launch.Down the line, however, concerns about tariffs, a steadily rising cost of living, and a saturated market might cast a shadow on the Switch 2. The Verge talked to analysts, journalists, and normal video game playing people to put the Switch 2 launch in perspective. The key takeaway? While the console will assuredly have another blockbuster debut, its future looks much less certain.The Wii U gets brought up a lot in the conversation surrounding the Switch 2, as it's the most famous example of a Nintendo failure. "The Wii U, with its confusing controller-screen gimmick, sluggish user interface, and lack of a great Custom Robo game, was one of Nintendo's worst flops," GameFile author Stephen Totilo explained in an email to The Verge. It sold less than 14 million units, a dramatic drop from the Wii, which sold over 100 million. And while Nintendo expects to sell one million more Switch 2 units …Read the full story at The Verge.

Whether you find yourself travelling abroad for pleasure or business, you'll likely interact with a server or two. This could be for streaming media, writing up a document or two, loading up your passwords and account credentials, or even backing up your mobile devices and freeing up some space. What if I told you that it's possible to self-host much of what you'd likely use while away from home? Here are some of the best self-hosted apps I use while away — and you can too!

Whether you’re hiking a mountain trail, flying overseas, or camping off-grid, having the right tech can make or break your trip. Good travel gear is lightweight, multipurpose, and durable. The focus here is convenience, entertainment, and peace of mind without overstuffing your bag. These are eight essential pieces of tech that should be in your backpack for any adventure.

Writing about PC hardware every day, some things can slip through the cracks when it comes to implementing them on my own PC. One of these is storage, or more specifically, how to protect your data from an SSD that's going bad (or was a poor choice in the first place). Recently, I had an old SSD fail overnight, taking all the data of my secondary PC with it. Unfortunately, I didn't pay attention to the warning signs, nor did I have any backups. Suffice it to say that you should learn from my mistakes instead of making your own.