Image: Yahoo! Auctions (Japan) Over on the Japanese Yahoo Auctions site, someone has listed an apparent pre-production version of the Super Famicom — the Japanese counterpart of the Super Nintendo (SNES). It’s similar to the console Nintendo eventually released in 1990 but with some stand-out differences, like a headphone jack and volume wheel on the side. Video game collector and historian Chris Kohler called it “god-tier Nintendo collector bait.”Some other variations include a big red power switch and the fact that the controller ports are on the left side of the console, rather than centered as they were in the eventual production model. There’s also what looks like the console’s expansion port on the front, rather than the bottom where it lived on the final... Continue reading…

The Steam Deck is essentially a Linux gaming PC in handheld form, and it uses device drivers just like any other computer. That unfortunately means that sometimes driver issues can hamper the performance of the handheld gaming console. For example, the Wi-Fi connection may be slow, laggy, or could just plain refuse to connect. While you can still play most games offline, it's not a perfect situation, especially if you were hoping to stream some games with GeForce Now or another cloud streaming service. You can always pick up a docking station if you need the most stability for your internet connection, but in that case you won't be able to play it as a handheld, which is the biggest draw of the Steam Deck. As with any other Wi-Fi enabled device, there are a few things you can try in order to get your connection back online.

It feels like every big company has its own AI model these days, and Microsoft is no different. However, in a small twist, it turns out that the Redmond giant is reportedly working on another AI model to directly compete with ChatGPT. If this is true, it may mean a big shakeup for the tech giant's plans for Copilot moving forward.

Not a Chromecast remote with a new button. | Image: AFTVnews Google’s rumored “Magic Button” shortcut for Google TV has been spotted in the wild on a real-world remote for an upcoming streaming box... made by Walmart.AFTVnews got hold of Walmart’s still-unreleased Onn 4K Pro — a Google TV-powered streaming box — and the remote features the new star button in the top right corner. The device simply calls it the “customizable button,” and it can be programmed as a shortcut to an app or to allow you to change inputs. It replaces the dedicated TV input button on previous Onn streaming box remotes. Image: AFTVnews Google’s new button is introduced on non-Google hardware. The button has been leaking as part of Google TV-adjacent hardware for years, but it hasn’t actually... Continue reading…

Illustration: The Verge As people try to find more uses for generative AI that are less about making a fake photo and are instead actually useful, Google plans to point AI to cybersecurity and make threat reports easier to read.In a blog post, Google writes its new cybersecurity product, Google Threat Intelligence, will bring together the work of its Mandiant cybersecurity unit and VirusTotal threat intelligence with the Gemini AI model. The new product uses the Gemini 1.5 Pro large language model, which Google says reduces the time needed to reverse engineer malware attacks. The company claims Gemini 1.5 Pro, released in February, took only 34 seconds to analyze the code of the WannaCry virus — the 2017 ransomware attack that hobbled hospitals, companies,... Continue reading…

The Rabbit R1 and similar Humane AI Pin have lit the internet up over the last few weeks. These two (in theory) promising hardware devices are designed to streamline human interactions via AI assistants. However, both have been widely lambasted as unnecessary, unfinished, and unlikely to deserve a space in your pocket.

Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, speaks during a climate initiative event at the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington, on Thursday, January 16th, 2020.  | Photo: Getty Images Microsoft is doubling down on a controversial plan to capture carbon dioxide emissions from wood-burning power plants. It announced a contract with energy company Stockholm Exergi to capture 3.33 million metric tons of carbon emissions from a biomass power plant in the Swedish capital in what is potentially the biggest deal of its kind to date — equivalent to taking more than 790,000 gas-powered cars off the road for a year. It’s supposed to help Microsoft meet its goal of capturing more planet-heating carbon dioxide than it produces as a company by 2030 and then removing as much CO2 from the atmosphere as it has ever emitted since its founding by 2050. But the jury is still out on whether wood-burning power plants actually help fight... Continue reading…

It can be frustrating if youre trying to call someone and the call isnt going through. There doesnt seem to be an issue with their number or device, nor yours, so whats the problem? Its possible, unfortunately, that this person has blocked your number. There are ways to find out if this is the case, after which, you can address the issue or move on.

Windows 11 is one of the best iterations of Microsoft's operating system, and it keeps getting better through feature updates like version 22H2 in 2022 and version 23H2 in 2023. For 2024, Microsoft is keeping up with tradition by launching Windows 11 version 24H2 (or the 2024 Update), but this might be the biggest update to Windows 11 yet. In fact, many expected this to become Windows 12, but it turns out we're getting Windows 11 version 24H2, or the 2024 Update, instead.

If you've noticed that your newer Intel CPU has been a little unstable, help may be on the way. A recent leak has shown that Intel has sent out a message to its motherboard partners, asking them to begin using a standard profile for their boards. This move should hopefully bring stability to 13th and 14th-generation chips, as the company hopes to iron out issues with i9 processors.

If you're looking to take your audio to a new level, then investing in a great pair of earbuds or headphones is going to be the way to go. Of course, if you're looking to go for something on the high-end, things are going to get pretty pricey, so it's always good to keep a look-out for deals so you can save.

Windows 11 has been around for a while now, and it's been getting big updates ever since. With the operating system set to turn three years old this year, you might be wondering if there's a future for the platform. Thankfully, Windows 11 isn't going anywhere anytime soon, and you have nothing to worry about in terms of being supported.