gHacks Technology News

Windows users who have installed the October 2025 updates for the operating system may have noticed a lower than usual performance in certain games according to reports.

While Microsoft has not confirmed the gaming issue officially, as it does not list a single known issue for Windows 11 at the time of writing, Nvidia has noticed and released a hotfix to address the issue.

Nvidia's description of the issue is vague, as it does not list any games by name or the exact issue, other than lower performance, that users may experience: "Lower performance may be observed in some games after updating to Windows 11 October 2025 KB5066835 [5561605]".

However, the release of a hotfix usually means that the issue is widespread or serious enough to warrant an out-of-bounds release of a new driver for Nvidia video cards.

A new hotfix driver -- GeForce Hotfix Display Driver version 581.94 -- is now available for supported Nvidia video cards that address the issue, according to Nvidia's report. It is based on the recently released Game Ready Driver 581.80, which Nvidia released in early November to improve support for new games such as Anno 117: Pax Romana.

Windows users with Nvidia cards who noticed issues in games, such as lower than usual performance, may install the hotfix driver to address it.

The download is provided on this webpage on Nvidia's website. The hotfix is provided for Windows 11 and Windows 10 devices, which suggests, that both are affected by the issue.

Note that the hotfix driver has a size of about 850 megabytes. Once downloaded, run the executable file and proceed with the installation. A restart of the system is required to complete the installation.

If all went well, performance issues caused by the October 2025 and newer updates, should be a thing of the past.

Now You: how often do you install video card drivers on your systems? Do you install the latest drivers immediately after release? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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Amazon has announced a new feature for Prime Video, called Video Recaps. It is an AI-powered feature that will provide summaries of TV Shows.

Amazon had introduced a feature called X-ray Recaps in November 2024, which is also powered by AI. It generates text summaries of episodes and seasons of TV shows, and keeps it spoiler-free. The company says that the idea behind such features is to help viewers recall what happened previously in an episode, or a prior season, without having to rewatch the entire thing.

The new Video Recaps feature builds upon X-Ray Recaps, but in a more entertaining way, aka a visual form. As for how it works, Amazon says that Video Recaps involves multiple steps, it uses AI to analyze the most important plot points in a show. It also analyzes the character arcs to discover pivotal moments. Then it takes the video clips, and adds snippets of dialogue, audio effects and music. All of this data is combined with a synchronized voice narration, i.e., an AI-generated voiceover, to create a video summary for the show that the user can watch.

Video Recaps is currently available in beta, and is only supported for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S. The list includes Fallout, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Upload, Bosch, and The Rig.

To watch a Video Recap for a show, switch to the next season in one of the shows mentioned above. You should see a recap button on the show's detail page. Select it, and you can access the Video Recaps (or X-Ray Recaps) for that series.

Amazon's announcement says that "customers can access the experience on their living room device". Weird, why not just say it is only available for TVs? Anyway, it plans to expand the feature to other devices in the coming months.

Amazon recently announced Vega OS, a Linux-based OS for Fire TV devices. But it's not moving away from Android just yet, and the company is planning to block piracy apps on Fire TV.

What do you think about AI-generated Video Recaps?

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Earlier this week, I wrote about the improvements in Vivaldi 7.7 for desktop. Now, the update is available for mobile devices.

You may remember that Vivaldi for iOS added an option to add custom search engines in October. This experience is now available on Vivaldi for Android.

To add a custom search engine in the browser, open Vivaldi's settings page, and tap on Search Engine. You will see a new section at the bottom of this page that says "Custom Search Engines".

Tap the "Add custom search engine" button, give it a name, a nickname (to access it quickly), add the search engine's URL. Optionally, you can also set a Suggest URL to display search suggestions in the address bar. You can also choose to set the custom search engine as the default search engine in Vivaldi.

Vivaldi already comes with the following search engines: Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGom, Ecosia, Startpage, Google, Wikipedia. Let's say we want to add Brave Search. Here's how you can set it up.

Name: Brave Search
Nickname: Brave
URL: https://search.brave.com/search?q=%s

Now go back to the previous page, tap on Standard Tab, and you should see your new search engine among the list.

You can also add custom searches on websites that you access frequently.

Vivaldi 7.7 for Android lets you import and export bookmarks from other browsers. To use this feature, tap on Vivaldi's menu and select bookmarks. Tap on the three-dot menu, and you should be able to import and export bookmarks.

Dark mode is back on Vivaldi. How many times was this option removed and restored? I remember it was added back in 2024. Anyway, you can now toggle the dark theme in Vivaldi 7.7 for Android from the menu. Tap the option that says "Dark Website".

Yeah, that's an odd name, but it makes sense because of the way it works. It doesn't just enable dark mode for the web page, it toggles it for the entire website. And it remembers your preference, so if you close a tab and go back to the website, it will load the dark theme. When you tap on "Dark Website", Vivaldi applies the setting and closes the menu automatically.

Note: You can also set the Dark theme from Vivaldi's settings > appearance and theme. This option will force dark mode on all websites.

Download Vivaldi 7.7 from the Google Play Store. The Vivaldi 7.7 update for iOS also improves the dark mode, and comes with a bunch of enhancements, fixes for iOS 26 compatibility. You can read the full release notes here.

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While it is relatively easy to set up content blocking on desktop PCs, the same can't be said for other device types. While there are solutions available for nearly any device, setup is usually not as quick or straightforward as installing an extension like uBlock Origin.

One of the better options for system-wide content blocking on mobile devices is to switch the DNS server to one that promises to do that. There are plenty of free, freemium and paid solutions available that will block a good portion of ads automatically when enabled.

Naturally, this may raise follow-up questions regarding privacy and security, considering that all Internet traffic is using that DNS service for core functionality.

AdGuard is a long-standing contender in the field. Its AdGuard solution is a cross-platform app that runs system-wide on desktop and mobile devices. However, the company has created several other solutions, including a DNS-based option to set DNS servers manually to avoid installing an app and only use that part of the entire solution.

The main purpose of the new AdGuard DNS app is to make it easier for inexperienced users to enable the DNS-based solution. Instead of having to change DNS parameters manually on a device, users install the app, add or scan a code for a device that they create, and that is that.

The system is still not as straightforward as possible, as you do need to get the code into the app and allow AdGuard DNS to create VPN connections on it as well.

Note: AdGuard DNS is available as a free version, but it is limited to 300,000 requests per month, starting with the first day of the month. That may sound like a lot, but it may not be enough for some users, especially if multiple devices are added. The free version allows for up to five devices to be added.

Good to know: The free public DNS servers do not have these rate limits and it seems that they won't have them in the future. If you hit the limit, you could consider combining the two or using just the DNS servers.

The device-level protection blocks a good percentage of ads that you would otherwise see in mobile browsers or in apps. Note that this may impact some functionality, for instance the ability to "get something" in games when you watch an ad.

Another advantage of using the mobile app is that you can open the dashboard on the Adguard DNS website to take a look at stats. There you see the number of requests, blocked requests, companies and more, account-wide and also per-device that you set up.

Users who like the private DNS server option and the mobile apps can sign-up for a paid plan to increase the limit. The cheapest is available for less than $20 per year currently, and it raises the limit to 10 million per month. Also, it allows you to add up to 20 devices, use up to 5 servers instead of the 2 of the free account, and add 1K custom rules. AdGuard VPN users get the personal plan for free.

Setting up a custom ad-blocking DNS solution is still the main way to enable content blocking on mobile devices. It is free, usually unlimited, but requires a bit of knowing your way around the settings of the device to enable the solution.

The new app-based alternative does much of the heavy-lifting for you, but it requires an account and limits the requests of free accounts to 300,000. On the plus side, you do get access to stats and better management options as well.

I can see this solution being attractive to less-experienced users who want a good solution that is easier to set up. However, most DNS providers, including AdGuard itself, offer step-by-step instructions to set up DNS servers manually on Android and iOS.

Now You: Do you use custom DNS servers that block ads, malware and other unwanted traffic? If so, which solution do you use and why? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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Valve surprised everyone when it announced a new Steam Machine last week. While gamers are curious to see how good it is, a Valve engineer says the device can outperform most PCs out there.

That's a pretty big claim. Here's a brief recap of the Steam Machine's internals. The device is powered by a semi-custom AMD Zen 4 processor with 6 cores, an AMD RDNA3 graphics card with 28 compute units, 8GB GDDR6 VRAM, 16GB DDR5 RAM. The Steam Machine runs on SteamOS 3, has a desktop mode, fast suspend and resume, and is capable of delivering 4K 60 fps with FSR. Games on Steam will carry a Steam Machine Verified rating if they are rated for the new gaming device. It is fully compatible with the new Steam Controller that has dual trackpads.

I came across a post on Techpowerup that discussed a video posted by Adam Savage's Tested on YouTube.  The video reveals the parts inside the hybrid PC/console. It appears that the storage and the memory of the Steam Machine are upgradable, though you'd need to dismantle the unit a bit to get to the parts. The device has a massive heat sink, and vents to help the device's temperature levels in check.

Norman Chan from Adam Savage Tested interviewed two Valve engineers at the company's premises. Around the 14:25 mark in the video, Yazan Aldehayyat, an engineer at Valve, says that based on the Steam Hardware Survey, the Steam Machine is equal to or better than 70% of computers that gamers have.

I'm not convinced that it is that much better than most PCs, but I kind of get what he is saying. Gaming PCs are expensive to build, and gaming laptops aren't cheap either. Plus, we are talking about playing on a big screen, i.e, TV or monitor. The main problems with gaming laptops are poor thermal level management, and low wattage, which means GPUs aren't very powerful. Both of these result in an experience that is inferior to the performance of a real PC. The Steam Machine is not a true gaming PC, its specs are clearly on the entry-level side of things. Still, its performance should be equal or better than most gaming laptops, due to the gigantic heat sink, and vents, which should offer a better thermal experience, and on paper should offer better sustained performance, and could be comparable to low or mid-range PCs.

Coming to the raw numbers, according to Steam's Hardware Survey, about 33% of gamers have a GPU that has 6GB or 4GB of VRAM or lower, another 33% have an 8GB graphics card, while the other 33% have 10GB VRAM or more. About 18% of gamers have a quad-core, i.e. 4-core CPU or lesser, while 28.69% have a 6-core processor. The Steam Machine has a 6-core CPU and an 8GB GPU, it's no spec monster, but that's pretty impressive. Consider the fact that it runs on the Arch Linux-based SteamOS 3 which is optimized for the hardware, it's probably going to be a lot faster than a Windows-powered device with the same specs.

But is the Steam Machine going to be as good as a real gaming PC? No, it is meant to compete with the Xbox and PS5, without the user having to worry about can I run this on my PC? You don't need to build a gaming PC from scratch, or upgrade your PC's parts. That's exactly what consoles do, offer games that are optimized for the hardware with a no-nonsense experience. You switch it on, and your games are ready to play. I think that's what Valve's going for. And if it can, it is going to be better than most PCs.

The Steam Machine could be priced affordably, it is an entry-level gaming machine, and can't have a huge price tag like a gaming PC.

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Cloudflare suffered its worst outage since 2019. The incident was caused by a bug in the company's Bot Management system.

Matthew Prince, Cloudflare co-founder and CEO, has published a detailed article on the company's blog to explain what went wrong.

The outage, which occurred on 18 November 2025 at 11:20 UTC, had a global impact as several websites went offline. Price clarified that Cloudflare was not hacked by a DDoS attack, as had been initially suspected. That's important to clarify, because people may have been worried whether it was taken down by malware. Once the issue had been identified, Cloudflare replaced a backup of the feature file to sort out the issue. The company says that its Core traffic was normal by 14:30, about three hours after the issue began. Cloudflare managed to restore all systems by 17:06.

Cloudflare described the issue as follows "A change in our underlying ClickHouse query behavior (explained below) that generates this file caused it to have a large number of duplicate “feature” rows. This changed the size of the previously fixed-size feature configuration file, causing the bots module to trigger an error."

Here's a simpler explanation. Cloudflare had made a change to one of its database systems' permissions, and this had caused the database to output multiple entries into a “feature file” used the company's Bot Management system. The feature file in question is used to keep the Bot Management system up to date to handle threats. This system has many modules, including a machine learning model that is used to generate bot scores. Every network request has a bot score, and Cloudflare's customers, i.e. websites, services, use the bot scores to determine which bots can access their site, or block them accordingly.

The "feature file" I mentioned earlier is used as a configuration file for the model, to check whether requests were automated. It is used by Cloudflare's servers to route traffic across its network. But, due to the bug this file had doubled in size, causing the software to fail, and this propagated to the entire network. Websites that had deployed rules to block bots saw a large number of false positives, and hence, unreachable.

Cloudflare says it will harden its system against failures like this by making these changes:

• Hardening ingestion of Cloudflare-generated configuration files in the same way we would for user-generated input
• Enabling more global kill switches for features
• Eliminating the ability for core dumps or other error reports to overwhelm system resources
• Reviewing failure modes for error conditions across all core proxy modules

You may have noticed that yesterday Ghacks was down for a while too, and we couldn't access the admin website either, it kept throwing up internal server errors. While it wasn't as disruptive as the last year's CrowdStrike outage, Cloudflare took down a large chunk of the internet down. It didn't just affect websites, several online services were unusable including ChatGPT, X, Spotify, Downdetector. Cloudflare’s status page, which lets you check if the service is experiencing any disruptions, was unreachable.

The company says that the status page runs off of its network, and when it went down, it suspected that this was an attack. However, it was able to single out the issue as a bug, and fix it. It's kind of scary to think about how many websites depend on Cloudflare's network. In case you are wondering, about 20% of the internet depends on Cloudflare. I have to admit, I thought that number would be way higher.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) suffered an outage on October 20, and Microsoft Azure experienced an outage on October 29.

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Back in August 2025, Google introduced an AI-powered flight search tool, called Flight Deals. It works very similar to AI Mode's travel planning with Canvas, which was announced today.

All you need to do is just type in your requirements using natural language. E.g. Mention the starting point, the destination, the date of your journey, etc. Flight Deals will search for the best bargains that meet your requirements, by pulling up information from Google Flights data in real-time.

You may also ask for something that is not specific like “a week-long trip this winter to a city with great food, nonstop only”, and the results from the AI may include destinations that you may not have considered.

You can access Flight Deals here: https://www.google.com/flights/deals. The feature requires you to be signed in to your Google account.

The results in Flight Deals will provide various options from different airlines and booking sites, and there are various filters that you can tweak to narrow down the choices until you find one that fits your needs. Flight Deals were initially available for users in the U.S., Canada and India. Google says that it has begun rolling out Flight Deals in Search in over 200 countries including the U.K., France, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan and Korea. It supports more than 60 languages.

Check out Google's announcement, it has a video that outlines how Flight Deals work.

Google is bringing AI Mode's agentic booking feature to more users. You just need to describe what you want, for example, to make reservations at a restaurant for 5 people, or buy tickets for events, set appointments, etc.

The AI will find results that match your query, and displays booking options from Google's partners such as OpenTable, Resy, Tock, Ticketmaster, StubHub, SeatGeek, Vivid Seats, Booksy, Fresha and Vagaro. You can choose one of the options that you like.

Users in the U.S. now have access to AI Mode's agentic booking for restaurants. However, agentic booking for event tickets and local appointments is currently only available for Labs users.

Google says it is working on a way to finish booking flights and hotels directly in AI Mode. Users can describe their preferences, compare hotels, different flights, browse schedules, prices, view room photos, amenities, reviews.

Once you have made your choice, the AI will finish the booking process.

Google is partnering with Booking.com, Choice Hotels International, Expedia, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts for this feature.

Google has also announced WeatherNext 2, its AI-powered weather forecasting model.

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Google wants to make it easier for users to make their travel plans. With AI mode, of course!

The Canvas model is now available in AI Mode, and that's what's going to help organize travel plans. You may have heard of the name before, Canvas powered by Gemini debuted in March this year to assist users with coding, and preview their work with real-time assistance from the AI.

While using AI Mode in Google Search, you can now enter the type of trip that you are planning, and recommendations that you want, all using natural language. Hit search, and it will provide you with a list of results that meet your requirements. It includes real-time Search data for flights and hotels, photos and reviews from Google Maps, and other relevant data from websites.

Click the "Create Canvas" button to proceed, and the AI will generate a plan based on your requirements. It will assist you by providing you options for hotel comparisons based on price and amenities, flight details including pricing information and duration of travel, suggestions for where to stay, restaurants, activities like hiking spots, shopping areas, etc. These are optimized by travel time from your place of stay.

You can ask follow-up questions related to the plans generated by the AI to customize the itinerary. Google says that the plans generated by Canvas are saved for future access. To get back to a previous plan, use the menu in the top-left corner and select AI Mode history.

Travel planning with Canvas is currently available for users in the U.S., who have opted into AI Mode experiments in Labs. The announcement page has a video demo of the feature in action. It is only available on desktops at the moment.

There's more. Google's AI Mode agentic capabilities and Flight Deals are now available in Search.

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Microsoft released a new insider preview build to the developer and beta channels of Windows 11. The new build 26220.7262 introduces several new features and changes, including a new "experimental agentic features" toggle in the Settings.

If you recall, Microsoft announced this month that it is turning Windows into an agentic operating system. The post, by Windows-chief Pavan Davuluri on X, faced heavy criticism. To the point that Davuluri limited the commenting ability.

The new AI component setting in the development edition of Windows 11 is a major step towards that goal. First, the good news. Microsoft is shipping the feature turned off. Windows users who want to enable the experimental AI features need to turn it on first before they can do so.

Here is what happens when you activate the toggle: Only administrators may activate the feature, but it will then be enabled for all users on the system automatically.

Once enabled, three main and far-reaching changes occur on the system that give AI access to a wider range of features.

1. Windows may create AI agents with separate accounts on the device, that act on the user's behalf.
2. Creation of agent workspaces, that allow them to "work in parallel with a human user". This happens using runtime isolation and scoped authorization, according to Microsoft.
3. Agentic apps may request and access six folders: Documents, Downloads, Desktop, Music, Pictures and Videos.

Microsoft is introducing several new key concepts into Windows that may require an explanation.

A key component for Windows' agentic future is the agent workspace. Think of it as a separate isolated desktop for AI agents. This separates the AI from the user's own desktop, but still allows for some interactions to occur.

Notably, agentic AIs have access to all apps by default that all users of the operating system have access to. If an app is installed system-wide, the AI has access to it as well.

Microsoft says that access can be limited by installing an app only for a specific user. Also, the ability to install apps for specific AI agents is also coming.

Besides access to apps, agentic AI is also getting file access. Access is limited to the six folders mentioned above and all folders that all "authenticated users have access to".

Microsoft recommends that administrators enable the experimental feature only if they are aware of certain security implications:

• AI models face functional limits in terms of how they behave.
• Hallucination, which means made-up information, is still a problem.
• Agentic AI may also introduce new security risks, like cross-prompt injection.

The implementation brings along with it "robust security and privacy controls that empower customers to explore their potential confidently with the support of clear guidance and appropriate guardrails driven by these goals", according to Microsoft.

Three goals are mentioned specifically:

• Non-repudiation: Which should make all agent actions "observable and distinguishable".
• Confidentiality: Agents that access user data should "meet or exceed the security and privacy standards of the data".
• Authorization: The user approves "all queries for user data as well as actions taken".

Microsoft has not revealed when the new functionality will become available in stable versions of the Windows operating system. It seems likely that this won't happen for quite a while, considering the experimental nature of the feature and the delicate nature of introducing agentic AI into the operating system. My guess? Could be part of Windows 11, version 26H2, the main feature update for the operating system in 2026.

Now You: what is your take on agentic AI? Something that you use already, plan to use, or have no need for? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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The Game Awards 2025 nominees have been officially announced. It has been an exciting year for video games, but who's going to get the trophies?

You can check out the nominees at the official website. But I'll be listing some of the major categories here.

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Sandfall Interactive / Kepler Interactive
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach - Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Donkey Kong Bananza - Nintendo EPD / Nintendo
• Hades II - Supergiant Games
• Hollow Knight: Silksong - Team Cherry
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II - Warhorse Studios / Deep Silver

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was released in Dec 2024, and has been widely praised. It's kind of surprising it didn't make the cut for GOTY.  The game was released on GOG recently, if you want to pick up a DRM-Free copy of it. Blue Prince not making the list is also rather odd. This is a tough one, but it's probably going to boil down to Clair Obscur and Silksong.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has received 12 nominations in total, three actors for best performance (Ben Starr, Charlie Cox and Jennifer English), best narrative, best score and music, best art direction, best game direction, best audio design, best independent game, best debut indie game, best RPG, and of course, GOTY.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and Ghost of Y?tei have 7 nominations each, while Hades 2 and Silksong, have 6 and 5 nominations respectively.

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
• Ghost of Yotei
• Hades II
• Split Fiction

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
• Ghost of Yotei
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
• Silent Hill f

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
• Ghost of Yotei
• Hades II
• Hollow Knight: Silksong

• Christopher Larkin - Hollow Knight: Silksong
• Lorien Testard - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Darren Korb - Hades II
• Toma Otowa - Ghost of Yotei
• Woodkid and Ludvig Forssell - Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

• Battlefield 6
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
• Ghost of Yotei
• Silent Hill f

• Ben Starr as Verso – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Charlie Cox as Gustave – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Jennifer English as Maelle – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Erika Ishii as Atsu – Ghost of Yotei
• Konatsu Kato as Hinako Shimizu – Silent Hill f
• Troy Baker as Indiana Jones – Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Kato is the only non-English performer to be nominated for the award.

• Absolum
• Ball x Pit
• Blue Prince
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Hades II
• Hollow Knight: Silksong

I'd like to see Blue Prince or Hades II win this one, but that's no easy task.

• Blue Prince
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Despelote
• Dispatch

Note: Megabonk was withdrawn by the developer, who said they had made games previously under different studio names.

• Battlefield 6
• Doom: The Dark Ages
• Hades II
• Ninja Gaiden 4
• Shinobi: Art of Vengeance

• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
• Ghost of Yotei
• Hollow Knight: Silksong
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Split Fiction

• Avowed
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
• Monster Hunter Wilds
• The Outer Worlds 2

MHW has no business being here. Avowed was good, not great. I'm not sure about this, but if it comes to Expedition 33 vs KCD 2, it'll probably be the former.

• 2XKO
• Capcom Fighting Collection 2
• Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
• Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection
• Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage

• The Alters
• Civilization VII
• Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles
• Tempest Rising
• Jurassic World Evolution 3
• Two Point Museum

Civ 7 being nominated for best sim / strategy has to be a joke, right? Not including Europa Universalis 5 is also puzzling. It's hands down the best new one in the genre.

• EA Sports FC 26
• F1 25
• Mario Kart World
• Rematch
• Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds

• ARC Raiders
• Battlefield 6
• Elden Ring Nightreign
• Peak
• Split Fiction

• Destiny: Rising
• Persona 5: The Phantom X
• Sonic Rumble
• Umamusume: Pretty Derby
• Wuthering Waves

• 007 First Light (the James Bond game) - releasing on March 27, 2026, for Windows PC, PS5, Xbox Series X / S, Nintendo Switch 2
• Grand Theft Auto VI -  releasing on November 19, 2026, for PS5, Xbox Series X / S.
• Marvel's Wolverine - TBD
• Resident Evil Requiem - releasing on February 27, 2026, for Windows PC, PS5, Xbox Series X / S, Nintendo Switch 2
• The Witcher IV - TBD

This is a rather silly category, but I would be very surprised if GTA 6 didn't win it.

The Game Awards 2025 will be announced on December 11, 2025, the event will be live-streamed on YouTube, Steam, Twitch, Amazon Prime, X, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok at 4:30 PM Pacific Time, 7:30 PM Eastern Time, 9:30 PM (Brazil), and on December 12 at 6:00 AM (India), 8:30 AM (China), 9:30 AM (Japan), 11:30 AM (Australia), 12:30 AM (U.K.).

Note: A word of warning, the TGA website seems to be quite slow, buggy and very intensive on resources. Do I get an award for putting up with the site?

Personally, I'm not a fan of such events, but it's an interesting way to discover games, especially indie games, that may have slipped under your radar.

How many of these games have you played?

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Mozilla's Firefox web browser has a rich history. From humble beginnings in 2004 to the high of being responsible for the decline of Microsoft's Internet Explorer and a noticeable drop in users in recent years.

Mozilla started to add highly requested features in the past year or two. These include favorites such as tab groups or vertical tabs. Features, that Firefox users requested for years.

Soon, Firefox users may get another feature that some have requested since the very early releases of the browser: customizable keyboard shortcuts. Firefox users had some extensions at their disposal in the past, but most of them stopped working entirely when Mozilla switched the system it uses for extensions or are very limited.

Browsers such as Opera or Vivaldi support custom keyboard shortcuts. While not for everyone, they let users change the defaults to something else. If you are not happy with a particular keyboard shortcut, because it tends to get in the way or is requiring an advanced degree in finger acrobatics, then you could use the feature to change that.

The new feature is already integrated into Firefox Nightly, the cutting-edge development version of the browser.

Note: Firefox Nightly is currently at version 147 while stable Firefox's version is 145. It is not yet decided whether the feature will be introduced in Firefox 147, but it can't be that long.

All you have to do is load about:keyboard in the Firefox address bar to get started. Firefox lists the keyboard shortcuts that you may change in a long list. A search is provided at the top, which you may use to find a specific shortcut quickly.

You find lots of keyboard shortcuts on the page, from popular ones like Ctrl-T for opening a new tab page to Ctrl-P for printing. But, there are also the keyboard shortcuts listed that use three keys, such as opening the entire history (Ctrl-Shift-H) or opening the Extensions page (Ctrl-Shift-A).

Simply activate the change button to change any of the keyboard shortcuts. Note that you are not limited and can theoretically map a single character to a shortcut. This can speed up browsing, but may lead to some issues. However, if you have activated a text field and some other elements, the shortcuts won't fire.

There is also the clear-option, which lets you remove any keyboard shortcut from Firefox. It maps "nothing" to a shortcut, which may be ideal if you found a hotkey to be very annoying.

Last but not least, you may use the reset button to restore the default for any of the modified keyboard shortcuts. If you scroll all the way down, you find another button to reset everything to the defaults.

Custom keyboard shortcuts are a useful feature. While most Firefox users may not have any use for such an advanced tool, the feature will certainly have its fans pretty quickly after it becomes available.

Now You: Do you have keyboard shortcuts in mind that you would like to disable or change? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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Vivaldi browser has a redesigned Privacy Dashboard. The v7.7 update also comes with improved tab sync.

You may be aware that Vivaldi comes with a built-in ad and tracker blocker. The browser displays the statistics of the content it blocked on the new tab page, aka the Start Page.

If you don't see the info on the Start Page after updating to the latest version, don't panic, the option has been removed from the page's side panel. Instead, it is now accessible via a widget.  Clicking on the widget lets you access the redesigned Privacy Dashboard. That's pretty neat.

The Vivaldi 7.7 update also brings some improves to the Start Page layout. You may recall that the browser added support for Widgets in v7.0 that was released in late 2024. These widgets were only accessible via a Dashboard page. The latest update makes it possible to add Widgets and Speed Dials to the same page. You can add widgets, drag them around, resize them, add them to various Speed Dial folders.

Let's get to the browser's Settings page, it has a new section called Performance. This page allows you to toggle hardware acceleration, you can also customize the energy saver from here. For instance, it is set to automatically turn on when your laptop's battery falls below 20%, but you can set it to turn on energy saver when your device is running on battery power. You can configure the memory saver, set up lazy loading on startup, toggle prefetching of resources, and reset the performance tools from the settings page.

Vivaldi 7.7 enhances the tab sync feature, specifically, the part about accessing open tabs from other devices. Of course, you will need to be signed in to your account to sync tabs between devices. Once you have done that, click on the Windows and Tabs panel on the sidebar. You will see all your connected devices, including any mobile devices, select a device and Vivaldi will list all open tabs from that device.

The new layout preserves Workspaces (profiles), Tab Stacks (tab groups), and browser windows. So, you can now get the same experience, including all your organized tabs on a connected desktop. Right-click on a device's name or a window's name, to open all tabs from it, or copy all tab links, save them as bookmarks.

Vivaldi's about page has also been revamped.

The update also brings some tweaks to the design of Vivaldi's mail panel to improve the readability and usability.

Download Vivaldi 7.7 from the official website.

Vivaldi for iOS browser was recently updated to add support for Reader View, Tab Stack Pane, Link Previews, Custom Search Engines.

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Google has backtracked partially on its anti-third party app store policy. It will allow power users to install Android apps from alternative sources.

The Mountain View company had recently announced a system for Developer Verification, that requires Android app developers who distribute their apps outside the Play Store to verify their identity by registering with Google. While it claimed this would protect users from malware apps, the policy was met with widespread criticism from the Android community. F-Droid had warned that this move could kill the openness of Android's ecosystem, bringing it totally under Google's control. And there's also the fact that the Play Store has been prone to malware apps.

After hearing the feedback from users and developers, Google has updated its policy, to announce that it will allow experienced users to install apps from third-party sources. The updated statement mentions that it is "building a new advanced flow that allows experienced users to accept the risks of installing software that isn't verified." This flow is designed to resist coercion, and to prevent users from bypassing safety checks while under pressure from a scammer. It will also involve clear warnings that explain the risks involved.

This sounds similar to the system that Xiaomi has on its phones in HyperOS, and formerly on MIUI. When you try to install an APK downloaded from the internet, it displays a warning screen that tells you about the security risks, and makes you wait for about 10 seconds, before letting you accept the risks and install the app.

Here's a screenshot of it from MIUI 14. It's a bit annoying, but at least it doesn't block the installation.

While this is good news for power users, chances are Google could come back with a different plan in the future. But there is something else that may allow more freedom for Android users.

A couple of weeks ago, Epic and Google revealed that they are working on a settlement in their 5-year-long lawsuit. Google had lost the antitrust case which began in 2020, after a court deemed it guilty of building an illegal monopoly on Android, specifically by not allowing third party payment options and app distribution through the Google Play Store. However, the case has dragged on because of a ruling that opened up the Play Store to allow third party payment methods, and also host alternate app marketplaces for three years. These rules were only applicable in the U.S., not worldwide.

Google had appealed against the changes, but failed to win the appeal, and was forced to make changes to its Play Store policies to comply with the law. Now, Google and Epic have reached an agreement where Google has offered to lower the Play Store service fee from 30% to 9% or 20% based on the transaction, which could mean lower prices for users. Google will also allow alternative marketplaces on the Play Store. These changes are applicable around the world, until June 2032. The Verge reported that the proposed settlement needs to be approved by U.S. District Court Judge, James Donato.

The result of this settlement may have a big impact on app distribution by keeping Android as an open ecosystem, as does Google's updated policy.

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The feud between YouTube TV and Disney has ended. Disney's channels are back on the streaming service after a blackout of over 2 weeks.

YouTube TV subscribers had lost access to Disney, ESPN, ABC, and more, after a contract between YouTube TV and Disney expired on October 30th. Things got pretty dirty between the two companies, as they engaged in a game of blame publicly, where they claimed the other party was being stubborn. This resulted in over 10 million YouTube TV subscribers losing access to sporting events like Monday Night Football, and other programming.

YouTube for its part alleged that Disney had threatened to black out its services in a bid to force its hand in a deal that would make the service more expensive for users. In case you don't know, YouTube TV costs $82 per month. On the other hand, Disney claimed that YouTube was trying to abuse its dominant position, to undercut industry standard terms. As the spat between the two continued, a memo signed by three Disney's executives was leaked.

The NY Times reported that The Athletic had read the memo. The document had said that Disney had offered YouTube fair terms that were in line with over 500 distributors, including some that were bigger than YouTube TV. It also said that YouTube TV was unwilling to accept these terms, and insisted on receiving preferential terms. YouTube hit back at this, saying Disney had leaked documents to the press, and was using its network presenters to negotiate in public, and also that it had misrepresented the facts.

Even as the drama continued last week, YouTube TV issued a one-time credit of $20 that subscribers could avail. But, things have taken a surprising turn. Google and Disney have finally come to an agreement. YouTube has updated its statement to say Disney's channels are now back on YouTube TV, and has apologized to subscribers for the disruption. The Walt Disney Company also published a statement on its website to say it has reached a multi-year distribution agreement with YouTube TV, and that Disney's channels including ESPN, ABC, Freeform, FX, the National Geographic channels are all available for YouTube TV subscribers.

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Opera has partnered with Spotify to introduce a new browser theme that will dance along to your music. This new audiovisual experience, is called Sonic.

Opera's always been a bit funky when it comes to themes. I'm barely surprised that it has done something like this.

To use Sonic in Opera One, open the browser's settings and click on Theme Gallery. You should see a new option called Sonic, click on it to set it as your browser's theme. One limitation you should be aware of is that Sonic is exclusive to Opera's dark mode. But it is customizable.

Sonic appears on Opera's start page, i.e., the new tab page. Opera's announcement says that Sonic "reacts to a user’s music, resembling the effect that sound waves have on a thin layer of sand", and when you access the Player on the sidebar to play music, "the animation turns into fine particles that dance across the screen". Here's a video demo of the visualizer.

That's kind of cool. It reminds me of Winamp's Milkdrop visualization plugin. Good ol' times! If you liked Milkdrop, check out ProjectM.

Opera's Dynamic Themes use shaders that follow the WebGPU standard for creating an animation that runs in the background of the browser, without consuming too many system resources. The Sonic Theme is only active when the Start page is accessed, of the browser, it will be paused when you play a video or start a call.

Opera's announcement states, "the browser captures audio from the sidebar and converts it into a power spectrum texture, where one axis represents frequency and the other represents time...." This means the visualizer feature is not restricted to Spotify. I was able to use it with other services.

The Sonic music visualizer is available in Opera One. However, Opera 124 is not available for Linux at the moment. It is only available for Windows and macOS. And I couldn't get the Sonic theme to show up in my Windows VM (though the Spotify Premium trial banner works). The theme works fine on macOS.

There's more. Opera and Spotify are giving away Spotify Premium for free for a limited time. This trial offer varies by Country, 3 months in some regions, 2 months in others, etc. Please read the offer's terms and conditions for further details.

You can avail this offer from the Music Player of Opera's sidebar. Click on the banner, and it should take you to Spotify's website, where you will be asked to sign in to your account. You will need to enter a payment method to avail the offer. Spotify will remind you 7 days before you're charged. It maybe a good idea to set a reminder yourself, to cancel the automatic renewal of the subscription.

Note: Microsoft Bing Rewards also has Spotify Premium, which you can claim for 0 points, and it's valid for 3 months.

In case you missed it, Spotify Premium now supports lossless audio streaming in some Countries.

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Traditional web browser makers have started to integrate AI into their browsers. The age of generative AI has also fueled the release of new browsers, built from the ground up with AI in mind.

How AI features are introduced in browsers depends entirely on the developer. Some introduce AI features without option to turn them off, or by making it difficult to ignore them. Others, like Mozilla, follow a different development guideline: introduce AI into the browser, but make it an optional feature. Users who do not want to use AI should be able to turn the features off or, at the very least, not see them advertised over and over again.

Mozilla published a new blog post on its blog in which it outlined how it plans to introduce AI features into its open source Firefox browsers.

The main takeaways:

• AI won't be forced into the browsing experience of users.
• Firefox won't lock users into a single AI-ecosystem.
• AI Window is a new "user-controlled space" in Firefox to interact with AI.

AI Window is an opt-in experience that is currently invite only. Interested Firefox users may join a waitlist, so that they may be "among the first to try it" and give Mozilla feedback in the process.

The main idea behind the new feature is to introduce a new space for AI interactions. This works alongside the classic browsing window and the private browsing window. In other words, AI Window is a third window that users may open to chat with AI and use it for various tasks.

The blog post does not reveal any information about the AI. While Mozilla stated that users won't be locked into a single AI-ecosystem, it did not mention any AIs that Firefox will provide access to. Furthermore, there is no information on the features that users can expect, other than chatting with a selected AI.

Also, and that is one thing users need to be aware of, it is unclear if the functionality will be free, limited, or only available as a subscription. My guess is that it will be free, but with limited capacities. Users who want better AI models, faster interactions and the like, will likely need a subscription. This could be a new revenue opportunity for Mozilla.

Clearly, Mozilla plans to make the AI experience in Firefox opt-in, which is the right way to implement these features. Users who do not opt-in should not be exposed to AI features too much. The AI Window plan sounds like Mozilla could be on the right way to achieve that goal.

Mozilla has introduced several AI features in its Firefox web browser in the past. From Firefox 141's AI feature to help with tab management to access to AI chatbots in Firefox's sidebar and the "Shake to Summarize" feature on iOS.

Now You: What is your general stance regarding web browsers and AI? Do you use browsers with AI already, are waiting for the right feature to come along to make it worthwhile, or opposed to the idea entirely? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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Rockstar Games has announced that Red Dead Redemption is coming to Android, iOS, PS5, Xbox and Netflix. The game is coming to these platforms on December 2, 2025.

The third-person shooter, which is set in the wild west, debuted on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in May 2010, while the Undead Nightmare DLC was released in October 2010. Red Dead Redemption instantly became a fan-favorite title, but despite numerous requests from PC players, Rockstar seemed oddly uninterested.

The old Xbox 360 version was already playable on Xbox with backward compatibility, and an "enhanced update" that was released in 2018 added support for up to 4K resolution for the Xbox One X and 1440p for the Xbox One S. 13 years after the original release, in August 2023, Rockstar Games announced that it would release Red Dead Redemption for modern consoles. The game and its DLC was co-developed by Double Eleven and Cast Iron Games, and launched for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in October 2023, it was also playable on PS4 Pro and PS5 via backward compatibility. But aside from improved image quality, this version of the game didn't contain any enhancements whatsoever.

Rockstar released Red Dead Redemption for PC in October 2024 with native support for mouse and keyboard, 4K resolution, high refresh rates, ultrawide screens, HDR10, NVIDIA DLSS, DLSS Frame Gen, AMD FSR, etc.

Now, Rockstar has announced that a proper version for the PS5 and Xbox is coming. This version is also developed in collaboration with Double Eleven and Cast Iron Games. Red Dead Redemption on the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S will support 60 frames per second, enhanced image quality, HDR support, and resolutions up to 4K. The Nintendo Switch 2 version of Red Dead Redemption will support DLSS, HDR, mouse controls, and 60 frames per second at high resolution.

Red Dead Redemption will also be available on iOS and Android devices, and Netflix subscribers will be able to download the game on either mobile platform. Isn't it remarkable that a game that was once a bestseller on home consoles will be playable on your smartphone?

Rockstar has not announced the price of Red Dead Redemption for PS5, Xbox, Switch 2 etc., but given that the PS4 and Switch version was priced at $49.99, we can expect a similar price tag for the new version.

The company has confirmed that players who own the game on PS4, Nintendo Switch, or the digital backward compatible version on Xbox One will be able to upgrade to the new version for free. It will also be available on GTA+ Games Library and the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog. Rockstar says that players on PS4 and Switch will even be able to continue their saves from the old version of the game in the new one. Here's the video trailer of RDR.

Earlier this year, the company released an enhanced version of GTA V for PC, and made the update free for all existing owners.

(Images courtesy: Rockstar Games)

Rockstar Games has delayed the launch of Grand Theft Auto VI, the game which was scheduled to be released on May 26, 2026, will now be released on November 19, 2026, for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

On a completely unrelated note, Ubisoft is giving away Immortals Fenyx Rising on Ubisoft Connect until December 2nd. Claim it for free, and it's yours to keep forever. It's very similar to Breath of the Wild, but a good game in its own right, with hilarious voice acting.

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Most Windows features pass an extensive selection of pre-release groups and even after-release groups before they land on the systems of the majority of Windows users. If you follow release announcements, you may have noticed the splitting up of features into gradual and normal rollout groups. The new Start menu, for example, is being rolled out over time.

What this means is that even though a feature is included in a release, it may not be enabled for the majority of users in the beginning. It may take weeks or months before features land on user PCs.

While that may not be a problem most of the time, it might be a problem at times. For example, if you want to start using a new feature because it looks like it could benefit your workflows.

That is were the trusted ViVeTool comes into play usually. It is an open source tool that you may use to enable or disable certain Windows features, even those that are not yet rolled out to a particular Windows PC.

However, ViVeTool is a command line utility that you may find difficult to use. Good news is that you have another option, one that does not require you to use the command line at all.

Flyoobe is a free open source tool that you may use for that purpose. While its main purpose is to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11, even if the system is not compatible with Windows 11 according to Microsoft, it does support other features, such as debloating Windows or enabling/disabling features using the ViVeTool.

Here is how that works.

I have used the latest version, ViVeTool 2.0, for that purpose. It includes the functionality to enable or disable features on Windows systems. Usage could not be easier.

1. Start Flyoobe on your system with elevated rights. You can do so with a right-click on the executable and selecting "run as administrator" from the context menu.
2. Select the details button underneath ViVeTool on the start page.
3. Write or paste the list of feature IDs in the text input field. Separate each with a comma.
4. Use the pulldown menu to select one of the available options, such as "Enable IDs" to enable features, or "Disable IDs" to turn them off.
5. Select run to execute the command.

Flyoobe handles the rest. This is a convenient option, as you no longer have to run a command from Terminal. However, if you prefer using the command line, you can still use the original ViVeTool for that.

As mentioned earlier, you can also disable features that you do not want that way.

Flyoobe is a handy program that serves multiple purposes. The addition of support for enabling or disabling features using ViVeTool is a handy addition to an already excellent application.

Now You: Have you used ViVeTool in the past to enable or disable features on Windows systems? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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Apple has introduced a new option called Digital ID in Apple Wallet. This will allow users in the U.S. to store and present their digital Passport or Driver's License using their iPhone or Apple Watch.

Apple had launched the option to add a driver’s license or state ID to Apple Wallet in 2022, in certain states. The company says it is a very popular among users.

The new feature, which lets users add their Passport or Driver's License, protects the security and privacy of users during in-person identity verification during domestic travel in America. It is primarily designed for use at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints. Apple says Digital ID acceptance is rolling out in beta at TSA checkpoints at over 250 airports in the U.S. It is important to note that the Digital ID cannot be used for international travel or crossing the border, since it is not a replacement for a physical passport.

Apple says that to add a Digital ID to your Apple Wallet, users will need to open the app, tap the Add button (plus symbol) at the top and select the card that you want to add. Follow the onscreen instructions to setup and verify the process. You will also need to scan your passport's photo page using your iPhone. Use your phone to read the chip at the back of the passport. Then, you will need to take a selfie, and complete a series of facial and head movements during the setup. Once you have completed the process, your Digital ID is securely stored on your iPhone.

TSA checkpoints have a Credential Authentication Technology (CAT) unit, essentially a biometric ID system, that takes a live photo of a person, and scans it to verify their physical passport or Digital ID. To present your Digital ID at a TSA checkpoint, double press the side button on your iPhone, select the card from the stack, and hold the phone near the card reader.

Once the TSA machine detects your ID, you will be prompted to present the required data (like in the image below). Review the request, and double press the side button again to authenticate.

(Image courtesy: Apple)

According to a support page on Apple's website, users from the following states can add their driver’s license or state ID to Apple Wallet

1. Arizona
2. California
3. Colorado
4. Georgia
5. Hawaii
6. Iowa
7. Maryland
8. Montana
9. New Mexico
10. North Dakota
11. Ohio
12. Puerto Rico
13. West Virginia

The Cupertino company says Digital ID may have additional acceptance use cases in the feature. It could be useful for age verification, which is sadly becoming the norm in many Countries and states in the U.S. Such verifications have already led to data leaks such as the massive Discord customer data breach. Can Apple's ID verification do better?

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The Steam Machine wasn't the only new hardware that Valve has announced. It also unveiled a new Steam Controller, and a new VR gaming headset called Steam Frame.

The new Steam Controller may look odd at first glance, due to the presence of the 2 trackpads on the front, which make it seem like the thumb sticks are placed higher. But Valve says it makes for a comfortable form-factor. You have the usual ABXY buttons, the D-pad, L & R analog triggers, L & R bumpers, View & Menu buttons, Steam & QAM buttons. There are 4 grip buttons on the back.

The Steam Controller is compatible with any device that supports Steam or Steam Link, so you can use it with your PC, Mac, Linux, Steam Machine, Steam Deck or other handhelds. It can play games that weren't designed to be played with gamepads, and these 34.5mm trackpads let you play mouse and keyboard games, and offers precision in FPS games. The controller's thumb sticks are magnetic (TMR technology) and have capacitive touch sensors for motion controls.

These sensors are also available on the back of the controller, which are used for the gyro (6-axis IMU) on the gamepad. This is called Grip Sense. You can use it for aiming quickly. It can be disabled/enabled by holding and release your finger. The Steam Controller has 4 HD haptics motors, 2 x LRA haptic motors in trackpads for tactile feedback, and 2x High output LRA haptic motors in grips for high definition rumble.

The Steam Button that acts as the shortcut to your library, store, game controls, settings, and also as the gamepad's power button. The Quick Access Menu button lets you access notifications, friends list, Steam Chat, and more. You can press and hold it for more shortcuts. The game pad supports Steam Input, Steam Chord Shortcuts (combo of buttons), and Custom Bindings. The Steam Controller supports gameplay via Bluetooth (4.2 or above) and a wired connection via a USB-C port.

Valve says that the 8.39 Wh Li-ion battery in the Steam Controller offers up to 35 hours of playtime. It can be recharged with a Steam Puck, which is a wireless adapter/magnetic charger, which snaps on to the back of the gamepad. The Puck supports 2.4GHz Wireless, and connects up to 4 Steam Controllers at the same time. Users can plug in the Steam Controller Puck to PC via USB-C.

The Steam Controller measures 111mm x 159mm x 57mm and weighs 292g. The Puck weighs 16g and is 50mm x 28mm x 9mm in size. You can learn more about the gamepad here, or watch the official announcement.

The Steam Frame is a VR device, a headset/mini-PC that runs on SteamOS. It comes with a wireless adapter that uses Wi-Fi 6 to stream all your games from your Steam Library, whether they are designed for virtual reality or not. The Steam Frame also has a microSD card slot to store your games. The device has pancake lenses with 2160 x 2160 LCD panels, one per eye. The Optics support refresh rates from 72-144Hz. The headset uses camera-based tracking thanks to four high-resolution, monochrome cameras, and  infrared LEDs on the outside for dark environments.

The Steam Frame is powered by a 4 nm Snapdragon® 8 Gen 3 ARM64 processor (yes SteamOS supports ARM). It has 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM, and comes in 2 storage options 256GB/1TB. The headset has a 21.6 Wh Li-ion battery, which supports 4%W fast charging via a USB-C 2.0 port. The Steam Frame supports Wi-Fi 7 2x2, has dual radios for concurrent 5Ghz Wi-Fi and 6Ghz VR streaming, Bluetooth 5.3, has dual speaker drivers per ear and a dual microphone array. The device weighs 440g and measures 175mm x 95mm x 110mm.

The Steam Frame controllers have a D-pad, ABXY, thumbsticks, triggers, and bumpers, and are powered by a single AA battery (1 for each). The headset comes with a Steam Frame controller, you can also use the new Steam Controller with it.

Here's the announcement video on YouTube, and the store listing for Steam Frame.

Valve has not revealed the price of the new Steam Controller, Steam Machine or the Steam Frame. All three devices are expected to be launched in early 2026.

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