Microsoft’s holiday lineup of new Xbox consoles. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is making the white version of the Xbox Series X official today. The new console option won’t include a disc drive, and will be entirely all-digital. Inside it’s identical to the Xbox Series X, with the same performance for existing Xbox games. This new white model will be available with 1TB of storage later this year, priced at $449.99.Xbox president Sarah Bond revealed the new white Xbox Series X during the Xbox Games Showcase today, alongside a 2TB “Galaxy Black” version of the original Xbox Series X. There’s also a $349.99 1TB Xbox Series S coming in white, too. Image: Microsoft The Xbox Series X will soon come in a white option. The white coating on the exterior of this new Xbox Series X matches... 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

There are times when it can be a godsend to have an external hard drive around to back up important files from your Windows 11 computer. It can also be useful to have an external drive around to expand your storage capacity in general, whether that's a larger external HDD or a more pocketable USB-C flash drive. When storage drives work, they're an essential part of keeping our computers running smoothly. But, like any electronics, external hard drives have their fair share of issues. Their portable nature means that they get thrown around more than normal hard drives, which can be bad news for the electronics inside. This may be less of a concern now that external SSDs are more affordable, but any external drive can run into issues that can cause it to stop showing up in Windows. Here's how to get that drive working again.

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.

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.

Image: Microsoft Game Studios It’s a mad world once again. At its Xbox Games Showcase at Summer Game Fest, Microsoft revealed the latest entry in the sci-fi shooter series: Gears of War E-Day. It’s being developed by The Coalition, Xbox’s internal studio dedicated to all things Gears. The game doesn’t currently have a release date, but it being built on Unreal Engine 5.The announcement trailer harkens back to the classic “Mad World” commercial for the original Gears. Fittingly, E-Day is set 14 years before the first Gears, and “tells the story of the first Locust emergence on Sera.” It once again stars Marcus Fenix and is being billed as an origin story.This will be the first title in the series since Gears 5 in 2019, which was part of a plan from Microsoft to turn... Continue reading…

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Humanoid robots are one of those dreams that sometimes feel like we’re on the precipice of realizing. Boston Dynamics has its Atlas robot, and Tesla is pursuing robotics, while companies like Mercedes, Amazon, and BMW are or will be testing robots for industrial use. But those are all very expensive robots performing tasks in controlled environments. In the home, they might still be far off. Enter Apple. Mark Gurman at Bloomberg has said its robotics projects are under the purview of former Google employee John Giannandrea, who has been in charge of Siri and, for a time, the Apple Car. With the car project canceled, Vision Pro launched, and “Apple Intelligence” around the corner, is that the next big thing?According to his information,... Continue reading…

Image: Microsoft Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is arriving on Xbox and PC on November 12th. The next installment in the legendary franchise will include hot air balloon trips, aerial firefighting, and much more.During the Xbox Games Showcase, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 developer Asobo showed off commercial flight, air ambulances, and even aerial advertising. Asobo has been working on adding a variety of new planes to the game, and you’ll even be able to fly as part of a search and rescue team, or help with agricultural aviation and aerial firefighting. Asobo has also been working on additions like air racing, skydive aviation, and even VIP chartered services.Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 debuts on Xbox Series S / X and PC on November 19th. Continue reading…