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MSI's $1,799 Claw 8 EX AI+ Handheld Launch Signals A 'Tough Year For Gamers'

Zak Killian — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 14:32:00 -0400

MSI has officially opened retail listings for its hotly anticipated Claw 8 EX AI+ handheld, and the price tag is an eye-watering $1,799. While the device packs cutting-edge hardware, including Intel's brand-new Arc G3 Extreme processor, 32GB of blistering 9.6Gbps LPDDR5X RAM, and a massive 80Wh battery, its price point pushes it completely

Rockstar Games Rolls Out Free GTA 5 Upgrades While You Wait For GTA 6

Chris Harper — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 14:30:00 -0400

It's not just Sony pushing gamers to upgrade their consoles ahead of GTA VI's release—Rockstar is also doubling down by providing PS4 and Xbox One (X) owners of Grand Theft Auto V with a free Enhanced Edition upgrade ahead of the next GTA Online heist. This move from Rockstar is interesting for GTA V players, because it's both long overdue

Call Of Duty Black Ops 1 And 2 Are Coming To PlayStation Gamers In July

Alan Velasco — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 14:20:00 -0400

Microsoft’s Xbox gaming division is in a transitional phase. It will eventually return to a strategy of console exclusives meant to strengthen the brand, but in the meantime it is still bringing some games to other platforms. The company’s latest announcement is that two of the most beloved entries in the Call of Duty franchise are headed

Trump Claims Apple And Intel Struck A Major US Chip Manufacturing Deal

Aaron Leong — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 11:31:00 -0400

President Donald Trump announced today that Apple has finalized a historic deal to design and manufacture its next-generation chips using Intel's facilities on American soil. Neither company has commented on the claim, but if true, this would be huge for Apple, which has spent years relying heavily on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company

NVIDIA AI Robots Learn To Install Graphics Cards Without Human Help

Tim Sweezy — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 11:00:00 -0400

Teaching robots new tricks has always been a deeply human chore. Someone resets the scene after every failed attempt, babysits the hardware, and judges whether the robot got it right. NVIDIA wants that someone gone. The company has spent the past year pushing physical AI hard, and its latest project takes the idea further. Alongside Carnegie

NASA’s New Mars Partnership Sets Up A Private Race With SpaceX

Aaron Leong — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 10:53:00 -0400

NASA is turning to a commercial newcomer to reach the Red Planet. Through a newly announced public-private partnership, the agency has selected Relativity Space to build, launch, and operate a Mars orbiter mission scheduled for 2028, thereby leveraging commercial investments to speed up scientific discovery and lower the costs of deep space

Tim Cook Warns Apple Price Hikes Are Unavoidable As Memory Costs Soar

Paul Lilly — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 10:36:00 -0400

Life comes at you fast, doesn't it? Just a few days ago, we wrote about Apple's upcoming iPhone Fold, anticipated to debut in the neighborhood of $1,999, could potentially shield iPhone 18 Pro buyers from price hikes. And now? One of Apple CEO Tim Cook's final acts is to go on record saying "price increases are unavoidable" as memory costs

Brain Chip Implant Enables Paralyzed ALS Patient To Speak And Work Again

Aaron Leong — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 10:17:00 -0400

Recent breakthroughs in neural engineering have bridged the gap between brain-computer interfaces and practical tools for daily life. A long-term study published in Nature reveals that a 47-year-old man paralyzed by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has successfully used an implanted neural device to communicate independently at home and

GTA 6 Cover Art Revealed As Rockstar Locks In June 25 Preorder Date

Paul Lilly — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 09:58:00 -0400

The wait for Grand Theft Auto VI, arguably the most anticipated video game of all time, is nearly over. As the release dates draws near, Rockstar Games today announced that preorders will commence next Thursday, June 25, 2026, on digital storefronts and at other select retailers. The developer also released official cover art for the game,

Radeon RX 9070 XT Pops On Valve's Steam Survey, What Caused The Spike?

Paul Lilly — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 09:17:00 -0400

AMD's Radeon RX 9070 XT is a fine graphics card, even if not quite as fast as NVIDIA's flagship GeForce RTX 5090. It's certainly more affordable, and so the card's absence on Valve's Steam hardware survey up to this point has been a curious anomaly. So too is the Radeon RX 9070 XT's sudden surge in ownership, as the latest Steam survey seemingly

Intel's New 18A-P Process Enters Production To Fight TSMC For AI

Zak Killian — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:50:00 -0400

Intel is taking the fight directly to TSMC with its latest foundry milestone, signaling that its aggressive turnaround strategy is bearing real fruit. At the 2026 IEEE/JSAP Symposium on VLSI Technology & Circuits, the company announced that its next-generation Intel 18A-P process node has officially entered the risk production phase. This

Noctua NL-LC1 Liquid Coolers Launch With Custom Pump Noise Absorber

Chris Harper — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:44:00 -0400

Noctua, a brand best known for its distinct brown colorways and quiet cooling fans, is entering the liquid cooling market with a trio of high-end AIOs. These new Noctua AIOs, the Noctua NL-LC1 series, range from 240mm to 420mm in size and can also be fitted with an additional NL-ACF1 pump fan to cool surrounding components. The Noctua NL-LC1

Sony Patent Details PlayStation Controller Buttons That Change Hardness While Gaming

Chris Harper — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 12:48:00 -0400

Sony has filed for a patent on an interesting controller concept, that could add a new level of immersion to console gaming. To be specific, the patent references buttons with adjustable hardness or resistance. In a way, this is an evolution of the existing haptic feedback on the DualShock 5, which can adjust tension dynamically depending

Hackers Are Using Steam Desktop Wallpapers To Steal Windows Logins

Alan Velasco — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 11:13:00 -0400

Researchers at security firm Kaspersky are warning Steam gamers to be on guard, as threat actors have started to distribute malware on Valve's platform via infected live wallpapers. This campaign displays just how creative hackers are getting these days to target victims as platforms become more locked down, even as users are wiser to online

Apple Firmware Fixes Severe Beats Mic Exploit As AirPods Get Mystery Patch

Aaron Leong — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 11:08:00 -0400

Apple has quietly released a wave of wireless audio updates, deploying critical software patches to its flagship AirPods and Beats devices to safeguard user data and optimize performance. The most urgent update targets the Beats Studio Buds. Running on new firmware (version 1B211), this patch addresses an alarming security flaw tracked

How To Score Apple TV For $5.99 Per Month And What To Watch First

Paul Lilly — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 11:03:00 -0400

Summer is about to be sizzling with deals once Amazon's Prime Day sales event kicks off next week. In the meantime, we're seeing plenty of bargains show up early, both on Amazon and at competing retailers. One of those deals is a discounted Apple TV membership. Let me show you how to get the most from Apple's streaming service for the least

How To Watch Venus Vanish Behind The Moon In Broad Daylight

Aaron Leong — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 10:26:00 -0400

Do yourself a favor and look up this afternoon to witness the moon passing directly in front of Venus. Known as a lunar occultation, this rare daytime event offers skywatchers across the contiguous United States, Canada, and parts of Central and South America a chance to see the planet vanish in broad daylight. Credit: In-The-Sky.org The

MSI Unveils Maestro 500 Wireless ANC Gaming Headset With 90-Hour Battery

Paul Lilly — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 09:53:00 -0400

MSI is expanding its small but growing lineup of audio gear with the Maestro 500 Wireless, a wireless (duh!) gaming headset that the company claims is also suitable for work and other non-gaming activities, such as watching movies and listening to music. Regardless of use, MSI is also promising "exceptional" battery life, with a 1,000mAh battery

Qualcomm Accelerates AI Wearables With Snapdragon Reality Elite And START

Aaron Leong — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 09:15:00 -0400

Qualcomm is betting that the next wave of computing will be worn on the face and powered by AI. In two separate announcements, the chipmaker introduces Snapdragon START for personal AI smartglasses and Snapdragon Reality Elite for spatial computing. Snapdragon START (Scalable Turnkey AI-Ready Toolkit) is for brands that want to build personal

Google's First Home Speaker Built For Gemini Debuts At $99.99

Paul Lilly — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 09:11:00 -0400

Google is retooling its smart Home Speaker with an infusion of Gemini and you can perorder it in a variety of colorways for $99.99 ahead of its June 25th release. The refreshed Google Home Speaker is the company's first audio device built for Gemini, and with that integration comes a more natural, conversational voice assistant to streamline

Leaked Intel SoC Plan Pairs x86 CPUs With NVIDIA RTX Integrated GPUs In Early 2028

Zak Killian — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 16:20:00 -0400

We know Intel and NVIDIA are cooking up something together because the two companies announced that they would last year when NVIDIA invested $5 billion USD into Intel. The announcement included the statement that Intel would "build and offer to the market x86 system-on-chips (SoCs) that integrate NVIDIA RTX GPU chiplets." What the two companies

AMD Attacks Apple's MacBook Neo Over Native Gaming Support

Chris Harper — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 15:52:00 -0400

AMD is firing shots at Apple's MacBook Neo, lambasting its limited game compatibility compared to AMD-powered laptops. The fact is, PC games are more compatible with x86-based Windows systems than the Arm-based MacBook Neo. If gaming is a primary consideration, similarly priced Windows laptops like the HP OmniBook X Flip make much more sense. Where

Xbox Leak Points To 24-Month Klarna And Paypal Financing For Project Helix

Alan Velasco — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 14:10:00 -0400

Microsoft’s Xbox gaming division is being transformed under the leadership of new CEO Asha Sharma. The company is rethinking all aspects of its business as it attempts to reinvigorate the Xbox brand in preparation for the launch of its next generation console, currently dubbed Project Helix. A snippet of code indicates that part of this effort

Steam Machine Hits Geekbench With SteamOS Hinting At Imminent Launch

Chris Harper — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 13:40:00 -0400

The Steam Machine's much-anticipated launch date has yet to be confirmed, but details keep piling up that point toward an imminent release. As of today, that includes a pair of new "Valve Fremont" benchmark results appearing in the Geekbench database, running under SteamOS rather than the pre-announcement benchmarket that ran on Windows 11. The

AMD's Zen 6 Desktop Chips May Trade Integrated Graphics For AI NPUs

Aaron Leong — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 11:01:00 -0400

AMD is reportedly planning a major change for its next-generation Zen 6 desktop processors, trading basic video diagnostics for localized AI processing. Based on the leak, the upcoming 2027 CPU lineup, codenamed "Olympic Ridge," will introduce an integrated NPU directly onto the processor's I/O die, making it the first mainstream desktop lineup