Building out my own home automation network was an incredibly rewarding project. It provides high levels of customization and control over how I and everyone else within the home interact with all our smart home tech, be it a bulb or space heater. An issue we can quickly run into with smart home gear, however, is a reliance on proprietary hardware — namely, smart home hubs. It’s understandable why hubs exist. Companies want a way to make their hardware approachable to everyone, even people who don’t consider themselves tech-savvy.

A limited number of people will get to try out Opera’s AI browser, Neon, starting today for $19.90 per month. The Norwegian software company first announced the “agentic browser” in May, but details were sparse. Now, we know that Opera Neon includes different AI agents that are tailored to specific tasks. One simply called Tasks acts as a workspace dedicated to a specific activity. Another called Do does the actual web browsing within a Task. Users can save prompt instructions for the AI agents into something called Cards. The rollout is limited to an unspecified number of users for now; the rest will need to join the waitlist. While the company calls Neon the “next generation AI browser,” other AI browsers have come online in the past few months. In July, Perplexity launched its Comet browser, quickly followed by OpenAI’s ChatGPT Agent. This month, Atlassian bought The Browser Company, which makes the Dia browser, and Google released new Gemini-enabled features for Chrome.

Sometimes, in a weird little twist, a Windows update will remove things as well as add new ones. We recently observed this when we reviewed the details for Windows 11's 25H2 update, which ultimately appeared to remove more features than it added.

Updating your motherboard BIOS isn’t something most people think about–and given the risks of a failed update, it’s easy to see why many people avoid it. If it fails, the motherboard gets “bricked,” where your BIOS is corrupted and the PC won’t boot into Windows. Firstly, recovering from a failed BIOS update is relatively easy for most modern motherboards.

If you saw the leaks, you probably already know that haptics are the big, new thing in Logitech’s $119.99 MX Master 4 wireless mouse, coming in October. No, it’s not adding rumble effects to YouTube videos or to your favorite websites (on second thought, I’d like to try that). And, it’s different from Logitech’s haptics-based click system in its Pro X2 Superstrike gaming mouse coming in 2026.The Haptic Sense Panel embedded in its grippy thumb rest vibrates when pressed, opening Logitech’s Action Ring overlay. That overlay can be filled with whatever app- and system-level shortcuts you want. You can even nest multiple Action Rings within one, if you want, letting you drill down to extremely specific commands. The haptics is a hardware feature that, unsurprisingly, requires you to engage pretty heavily with the company’s software, Logi Options Plus.The haptics punctuate every engagement you make with Logitech’s features, from gestures and Action Rings to its Smart Actions (pre-made or custom macros to automate certain tasks). My favorite use case for the haptics was one that’s switched off by default; you can enable a setting that provides a small jolt of haptic feedback when you move between screens, reducing the amount of “where on earth is my cursor?” moments each day.Before digging into the app integration, it’s worth sharing what’s new about the MX Master 4 itself. It has frosted, semi-transparent main buttons that add in a dash of elegance. Some people might be happy to hear that this model includes a USB-C Bolt transmitter, which the other compatible Logitech products (including the new Signature Slim Solar Plus keyboard) can connect to as well. In terms of battery life, Logitech claims it can last up to 70 days on a full charge (although, setting haptics to “high” intensity in the app will yield a shorter lifespan per charge).Lastly, its gesture button has moved from the thumb grip, where it was in the MX Master 3S from 2022, to a dedicated button next to the other two thumb buttons, just below the horizontal scroll wheel. When held, you then move the mouse in a cardinal direction to execute a desired action.Back to the app, Logitech bills the Action Ring as a time-saving feature, an alternative to keyboard shortcuts and moving your cursor across the screen to click something. You don’t have to be a power user to get a lot out of this functionality. For instance, I programmed an Action Ring with a button that auto-launches The Verge, and one that opens WordPress, where we produce articles. There are plugins within Logitech’s app for many third-party apps. Affinity Photo has a version of the Action Ring that appears when I press the Haptic Sense Panel while using the app. It shows some commands that I’m likely to take advantage of, like showing line guides to properly align objects, or simpler stuff like copying and pasting assets. To be clear, Action Rings aren’t new. The haptic sensations derived from navigating them, on the other hand, are. Clicking the haptics button makes it jolt, as does moving the cursor between the Action Ring’s bubbles. It’s a small, but delightful touch that I appreciate — that is, when I use Action Rings, which I still haven’t trained my brain to rely on when I’m in a flow state at work. I’m sorry to my employer, Vox Media, for all of the time I wasted at work when I could have used Action Rings to enhance my productivity!With haptics being the main new hardware feature in the MX Master 4, I don’t necessarily think it’s worth upgrading to if you have the MX Master 3S, as it’s similar in many ways. But it’s certainly worth getting instead of the 3S if you’re shopping for a mouse, since the 4 is launching at the same $119.99 price that its predecessor sells for. And, as for those who haven’t used an MX Master-series mouse before, it’s hard to overstate the value of an ergonomically-friendly mouse with a stellar scroll wheel, quiet clicks, and solid battery life. Haptics are just a nice add-on.

The Raspberry Pi 5 represents a significant leap forward compared to previous models, featuring faster CPUs, more capable GPUs, and support for PCIe devices that unlock a new world of possibilities. While you can certainly use it for the same lightweight projects you might have run on a Pi 4, that would be underselling its potential. The Pi 5 shines brightest when you throw heavier workloads at it, the kind that would have brought older Pis to their knees. These projects show off just how much muscle the Pi 5 has and why it’s no longer just a hobbyist’s toy.

Besides containers, virtual machines lie at the center of every home lab. But unlike their containerized counterparts, VMs offer superior isolation and virtualization provisions, making them better for demanding projects. In fact, I tend to use virtual machines for many apps that can technically be deployed on containers or bare-metal setups, including Nextcloud, Home Assistant, and Docker setups.

If you want a monitor that delivers on price, performance, and quality — Samsung's G95C model is going to be it. Not only do you get a massive 49-inch panel that delivers an immersive experience, but you also get impressive performance as well. But for a limited time, you can grab this monitor for its best price yet, at just $680. That's a steep discount that knocks $320 off its usual retail price.

We know that Amazon is having a huge sale next month, but this price is just too good to pass up if you've been thinking about buying a new monitor. The Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 features a massive 57-inch screen and an $800 discount from Amazon. It's one of the lowest prices we've seen for this ultrawide monitor, making it a great time to pick one up.

Sometimes, a game developer becomes so adept at a specific genre that you have to take note when they make something new. For instance, I don't think I'll ever let a roguelike developed by the Hades team, Supergiant Games, fly under my radar ever again.

Are you tired of massive, resource-hogging integrated development environments that slow down your machine? You don’t have to sacrifice power for performance. A relatively unknown IDE called Geany proves that you can have the best of both worlds.

During the September 2025 Nintendo Direct presentation, Nintendo revealed they were bringing the full library of Virtual Boy games to Switch Online classics. But they weren't just putting the games onto the service for Nintendo Switch 2 owners, but also bringing a Virtual Boy accessory to stores for everyone to buy and use with the Switch 2. This was a big shock to everyone, as it was completely unexpected. To many Nintendo fans, the Virtua Boy was a console that was a failure in the company's legacy, but was ambitious enough to try something very different at the time. And while it's not the best piece of hardware that Nintendo has released, it makes many gamers feel nostalgic.