The Steam Deck and Steam Deck OLED are powered by an AMD APU, and use other off-the-shelf PC components inside their shells. Valve ships them with a customized lightweight Linux distribution called Steam OS, but the same PC gaming handheld hardware can also run Windows if you decide to change the operating system. There are theoretically some benefits to this, including a more familiar OS and the ability to run games that utilize anti-cheat software. But on the whole, in reality, you lose more than you gain. I would only suggest it as a dual-boot setup so that you can stay in Steam OS most of the time. Let's talk about why.

Cloud storage services offer the convenience of accessing your files from anywhere at any time. They are available on most phone, laptop, and web platforms, and have quickly become an integral part of our daily lives. Among the dozens of options available, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, and Nextcloud remain popular among consumers and businesses.

While Chrome has been the undisputed champion of browsers for a while now, that's not to say that other browsers don't manage to find their own fanbases. Brave, for instance, has seen a healthy number of users due to its privacy-centric mindset. Now, the company has reported the biggest boost in users during May 2024, helped in part by the EU DMA forcing Apple to make it easier for iOS users to change their default browser.

Image: The Verge We’ve seen two approaches to AI in mobile tech in this year: “AI That’s Not Your Phone” and “AI That Does Random Stuff on Your Phone.”The “Not Your Phone” group includes devices like the Rabbit R1 and the Humane AI Pin, two small gadgets that sought to make AI more useful by building it into a smaller, simpler gadget. It hasn’t gone very well. Both devices came with big promises to help us get things done without looking at our phone screens. Neither delivered.Now it’s time for Apple, like Google and Microsoft before it, to announce a whole bunch of AI features at its annual developer conference today. But the current state of AI on our phones is, well, unimpressive. “AI Doing Random Stuff on Your Phone” includes Google’s generative AI... Continue reading…

While gaming PCs and PC handhelds are on the rise, Microsoft has been struggling to compete in the console space since 2013. Things started looking up when they introduced Xbox Game Pass, a subscription service often dubbed The Netflix of games. The brand then acquired ZeniMax Media (parent company of Bethesda) and Activision Blizzard to add more value to the service.

Illustration: The Verge Xbox chief Phil Spencer has confirmed that more of Microsoft’s own games will be coming to other platforms, like the PS5 and Nintendo Switch. Microsoft revealed earlier this year that four Xbox-exclusive games were launching on PS5 and some on Nintendo Switch, with fans left wondering if it would only be four titles or if there are more to come. Spencer took the opportunity to clear up that mystery in an interview with IGN yesterday.“Our commitment to our Xbox customers is you’re going to get the opportunity to buy or subscribe to the game, and we’re going to support the game on other screens,” said Spencer. “You are going to see more of our games on more platforms, and we just see that as a benefit to the franchises that we’re... Continue reading…

The RansomHub extortion group have claimed responsibility for the cyberattack against Frontier on April 14th. | Illustration: Beatrice Sala Frontier Communications has revealed that information for over 750,000 customers — including full names and Social Security numbers — was exposed in a data breach following a cyberattack on April 14th. Hackers claim to have even more and will release it unless Frontier pays a ransom.The attack enabled hackers to access 751,895 customers’ personal data on Frontier’s systems according to a sample of the notice Frontier submitted to the Office of the Maine Attorney General. Frontier has notified impacted customers and provided them with one year of free credit monitoring and identity theft services, but says it “does not believe” customer financial information was exposed in the breach.Bleeping Computer reports that the RansomHub... Continue reading…

Graphics cards are a source of unbridled joy for PC builders and gamers. The feeling of getting your hands on a shiny new graphics card and taking it for a spin can't be replicated. This is probably why some of us find it hard to part ways with a graphics card we've been using for ages. The absurd pricing of today's best GPUs is probably another reason.

If you've wanted to transfer files over from your phone to Windows 11, you may have been a little saddened that it's not quite as fleshed out versus previous iterations of Windows. For instance, getting a phone to appear in File Explorer can be a bit troublesome. Fortunately, it seems that Microsoft is fixing this with a new feature making its way onto Windows 11 by adding an option to add your mobile device to File Explorer for easier transfers.

The Asus ROG Ally might be a handheld console, but it can be a traditional gaming laptop-like device when you connect it to a monitor. Like the many Steam Deck alternatives, you'll see, this gives you a bigger screen to play your favorite games with a controller. The problem is, though, that the Asus ROG Ally isn't like a gaming laptop since it doesn't have a lot of ports.

Image: Apple Apple has a plan for AI, and we’re finally going to hear more than whispers about it on June 10th during this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference. If you’re not among the lucky few going to Cupertino, California, to see WWDC 2024 live, you can stream the keynote at 1PM ET on YouTube, in the Apple TV app, or on Apple’s events page.The company is expected to reveal a swath of new AI features for its next big iOS update, including voice memo transcriptions, custom emoji generated on the fly, and Siri improvements that include the ability to control individual app features. Plenty of these features will work on-device, but some will go to the cloud, for which Apple will reportedly use M2 Ultra-powered servers — which will almost... Continue reading…

The Xbox app running on a ROG Ally. | Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge Microsoft’s Xbox chief, Phil Spencer, has been dropping hints about a potential Xbox handheld for months now. Earlier this year he said he was “a big fan of handhelds,” after liking posts on X that mention the possibility of this new hardware. Now, in an interview with IGN Spencer says “I think we should have a handheld, too.”It’s the biggest hint yet that Microsoft is working on an Xbox handheld, something that’s been long-rumored. “The future for us in hardware is pretty awesome. The work that the team is doing around different form factors and different ways to play, I’m incredibly excited about,” said Spencer. “Today was about the games... but we will have a time to come out and talk more about platform.”Pressed on whether an Xbox... Continue reading…