As far as Windows Mixed Reality headsets go, Samsung’s HMD Odyssey was considered one of the better VR devices of its kind when it launched in November of last year. Now, it appears that the South Korean electronics giant is getting ready for round two, with a second generation Samsung HMD Odyssey headset spotted by Road to VR in a new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filing. According to the FCC documentation, the Samsung HMD Odyssey Plus will sport the same 110-degree field of view and

HTC has announced that its Viveport VR store will be landing on the Facebook-made Oculus Rift from September 4, along with its associated subscription-based service. Many VR games are already compatible with both HTC and Oculus hardware, and HTC’s VR store currently features some 500 titles when accessed via its own headsets, the HTC Vive and Vive Pro. Developers with titles on the Viveport store will specifically have to opt-in to add Rift compatibility, however, meaning at launch the new Oculu

An Australian private schoolboy from Melbourne has pleaded guilty to charges of repeatedly hacking into Apple’s main computer network, The Age has reported. Over the span of a year, the then 16-year-old was able to download 90GB of sensitive files before he was caught. The serial numbers on the laptop matched those of the devices used to access Apple’s systems. Guilty as chargedThe teenager pleaded guilty to a Children’s Court, but the magistrate has put off sentencing till next month. The Crown

After a slower-than-expected start, PlayStation VR is finally picking up steam. On a post today on the PlayStation Blog, Sony says that PlayStation VR has just crossed the 3 million unit sales mark, adding that over 21.9 million experiences – games and apps – have been sold along with the headset. While the landmark sales number gives Sony something to celebrate, its effect on the larger VR ecosystem remains … well, rather ambiguous. VR by the numbersThe biggest problem is that, while Sony has

It’s jaw-dropping how quickly voice assistant technology has been adopted by both gadgets, and by gadget-lovers in the home. Siri was the first to catapult voice technology into the mainstream, when it launched with the iPhone 4S back in 2011. At the time, having a voice assistant felt frankly futuristic – because of this it came riding an uneasy wave of Terminator / GLaDOS references – but the reality was somewhat different. The result is thousands of hours of speech data that could form the ba

Now, Valve has found a shortcut: emulating Windows games. “Steam Play will automatically install compatibility tools that allow you to play games from your library that were built for other operating systems,” the uncovered text reads. While you can certainly play games on a Mac, there’s really only one other OS for playing PC games, and that’s Windows – particularly Windows 10 . This move to essentially emulate Windows games both officially and unofficially would certainly bring better parity b

According to the latest report, Nvidia’s next flagship Turing-based GeForce graphics card will be slightly less expensive than a $699 (£699, AU$1,299) Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 may cost $649 (about £510, AU$890) according to information posted on Baidu from a user who claims to be familiar with an undisclosed board partner’s plans. Such a low price would be shocking, especially compared to the astronomical prices of Nvidia’s other Turing-based Quadro RTX graphics cards. The

HTC is adding Oculus Rift support to its Viveport app store. Viveport currently offers almost 500 games and VR experiences for HTC Vive headsets. The change also gives developers an incentive to adapt more of their titles for Oculus Rift. “By adding support for Oculus Rift, we’re doubling the potential user base for Viveport developers,” said Viveport’s president Rikard Steibe. Viveport also offers a generous free trial, so if you have a Rift and aren’t sure whether to commit, you can grab five

Everyone’s fallen victim to peer pressure at some point in their life, but German researchers have identified a uniquely modern twist on the phenomenon: children feeling subjected to peer pressure from robots. Researchers at Bielefeld University replicated the ‘Asch Paradigm’, a series of tests developed by behavioral psychologist Solomon Asch to determine how people are affected by peer pressure in a group. In the new study, the actors were replaced by three robots – specifically, Softbank’s cu

As you drive, you can press the Mode button to switch between Normal, Comfort, Sport, and Race. I noticed this when I used Race mode for most of a day. A flexible futureFor future driving, the Mode button could have a few interesting implications. Interesting, too, that this is all done with software algorithms, adjusting the VW Golf R with the touch of a button, no matter your speed or the road surface. While I’m more inclined to stick with Race mode in almost every trip, it’s good to know we h

There’s no word on what it will cost, but the Moto G6 Plus launched for £269 / AU$499 (about $380), so the Moto G7 Plus will probably cost a similar amount, if not slightly more. There’s also basic facial recognition on the G6 Plus, but we’d like to see a more advanced option from the Moto G7 Plus, something more like Apple’s Face ID or Samsung’s Intelligent Scan. Adding such an chipset would also serve to future-proof the Moto G7 Plus against new updates and more, especially if tuned properly.

Asus has announced a brand-new successor to the first-ever Nvidia Max-Q gaming laptop, the Asus ROG Zephyrus GX501. With that in mind, the Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX531 isn’t the powerhouse that the original model was. This, by Asus’s measure, makes it the world’s thinnest gaming laptop yet again. The Asus ROG Strix Scar II GL704 barely looks like a 17-inch gaming laptop. The laptop then proceeds to cram it with the latest in gaming laptop hardware.

Veloce Esports has launched the world’s first professional esports racing hub in London. The professional gaming organization, co-founded by ex-Formula One driver Jean-Éric Vergne, will use the esports venue as a live-streaming performance facility, allowing racers to train and compete globally. Veloce EsportsVeloce Esports describes itself as a “professional gaming team and esports consultancy agency”. The Veloce Esports racing hub is open now, and is located in Maida Vale in west London. Howev

In a press release, Sony reveals that it’s overtaken Canon to take the number one position (measured both by units sold and value) in the United States full-frame camera market in the first half of 2018. To simplify that, four out of every 10 full-frame cameras sold during that time period has been a Sony. This is an impressive performance from Sony, and reflects some of the fantastic cameras the company has bought to market recently, although it’s been over a year since Canon introduced a full-

Intel has just introduced a new range of NUC devices that feature upgraded components that allow these compact PCs to better handle advanced tasks and popular games such as League of Legends. The new NUC kits are barebones boxes that come with basic hardware and allow you to add your own components to create a box that’s suited to your needs. These chips come with Intel Iris integrated graphics, which should be enough to power media applications, and maybe the odd casual game. The mini PCs also

Back in June, news emerged that Intel is planning to release its own discrete graphics cards in 2020, and the chip giant has now posted a teaser for these incoming GPUs. Released to coincide with SIGGRAPH 2018, Intel published the short video clip on Twitter, although it’s really a marketing pitch, and sadly doesn’t reveal any further details about exactly what form these graphics cards will take. As you can see for yourself below, the video confirms that Intel’s discrete GPUs are still planned

Amazon is looking into establishing a price comparison website for insurance plans, a new report states. According to Reuters, the company is in talks with several insurance companies in the UK, with it thought that Amazon is looking to expand into the lucrative motor and home insurance policy market. Financial competitionThough there are no immediate plans to launch the site, any such launch would put Amazon in competition with established players such as GoCompare and Compare the Market. Amazo

Microsoft has pulled Your Phone – an app that let Android users connect their phones to Windows 10 PCs – just one day after its global release. After a brief testing period with Windows Insiders, Microsoft made the app available to all Windows 10 users yesterday. Vishnu Nath, head of program management at Microsoft Mobility, announced the decision on Twitter, saying that it wasn’t quite ready yet. #YourPhoneApp is currently intended for Windows Insiders. We got a little ahead of ourselves and it

Wondering whether your Moto handset will be getting a slice of Android Pie? We now have the answer, as Motorola has revealed which phones will be getting the update. The company claims that the Moto Z3, Moto Z3 Play, Moto Z2 Force, Moto Z2 Play, Moto X4, Moto G6 Plus, Moto G6 and Moto G6 Play will all be getting updated to Android Pie. Which is a shame, because Android Pie comes with lots of tasty updates. Owners of phones that will be getting Pie can look forward to a refined interface, potenti

Nikon has released a fourth teaser video for its upcoming Z6 and Z7 full-frame mirrorless cameras, ahead of the August 23 launch event. At just over 30 seconds long, this video focuses on lenses – unlike the previous videos Nikon has released in the build-up to the launch, we don’t actually see the rumored Z6 and Z6 mirrorless cameras. With an all-new lens mount already confirmed by Nikon, the video adds fuel to the rumors that we’re likely to see an ultra-fast 58mm f/0.95 prime lens at some poi