What’s the biggest tech announcement this week? Is it the Steam Machine, Valve’s impressive new gaming machine, or the iPhone Pocket, a sock for your phone?
If you think it’s neither, then maybe it’s one of five other major tech announcements we’ve highlighted here so you can catch up on another massive week in the tech world.
7. Gemini Live received its biggest update ever
Google’s real-time conversational AI assistant, Gemini Live, has gradually become smarter since its launch in August 2024 – and this week it received its biggest update ever to make it even more human.
For example, it’s now a much better learning assistant thanks to its personalized tutoring powers and ability to imitate accents. You can also practice conversations to help prepare for a difficult interview or family discussion, and he’ll even respond in a calmer voice if he senses you’re talking about something stressful.
We’ll always need our real friends for their jokes and drinking buddy potential, but their days may be numbered.
6. The Superman spin-off
This week we found out that James Gunn’s Superman movie is getting a spinoff, according to Variety.
Leading the way would be Skyler Gisondo’s Jimmy Olsen, with the character supposedly being the “host” of an in-universe true crime documentary series. He will apparently appear alongside other members of the Daily Planet reporting team. However, David Corenswet’s Clark Kent and Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane, who also work for the Daily Planet, will apparently not be involved.
Gunn has yet to officially announce the show (he usually weighs in on social media to confirm or deny trade reports), but he has already teased an announced TV show that is his “favorite thing about the whole thing.” [DCU Chapter One].”
5. Apple launched an iPhone Pocket
This week, Apple launched a brand new product… a sleeve for your iPhone. The design is the result of a collaboration with Issey Miyake, the designer behind Steve Jobs’ iconic turtleneck.
At first glance, the fabric harness – available in two sizes – is a fashionable carrying case that comes in a wide variety of striking shades, but reviewers were quick to lament the asking price: $149.95 / £139.95, or $229.95 / £219.95 for the long strap.
Apple is no stranger to exorbitant accessory prices, but there appears to be a method to this madness. These types of phone slings are gaining momentum in territories like Asia, which Apple has heavily targeted based on the availability of the Pocket.
4. The DJI Neo 2 has taken flight
DJI has taken selfie drones to new heights with the Neo 2, which is the lightest and most affordable drone with omnidirectional object detection – a truly fantastic feature for beginners. We played with Neo 2 before launch, and it’s clearly a much-improved model, even if it’s slightly heavier and more expensive than the original Neo.
Yet it weighs only 151g and offers better wind resistance, better flight speed and now better voice. And gesture control – Neo 2 can take off from the palm of your hand and follow voice or gesture prompts for flight movements, then return to your palm. This is incredibly clever stuff. It will record 4K aerial video at 60fps or 2.7K vertical video, with intelligent subject tracking capabilities – the whole experience is a breeze. Prices start at just £209 / AU$409, but again there’s bad news if you’re in the US: the Neo 2 is another DJI product unavailable at launch.
3. OnePlus cured the common phone
According to reviewer Philip Berne, “The OnePlus 15 is better than perfect. It fulfills all my smartphone wishes and exceeds most of my expectations. It offers the best battery life of any smartphone, exceptional performance and top-notch cameras, backed by an understated but durable design. There’s no better phone than this one.”
That’s glowing praise, so it’s no surprise that this is the first phone Phil has given a five-star review. Maybe it’s finally time to ditch that iPhone or Galaxy phone in your pocket for something much better.
2. Valve’s Steam Frame finally broke its lid
After months of leaks, we finally got to see what the Steam Frame is all about, and it might be the best VR headset we’ve seen in years.
It’s a standalone design with impressive specs (including a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, 16GB of RAM, and at least 256GB of storage, expandable with an SD card) and SteamOS.
This essentially makes it both a VR headset and a Steam Deck for your face, which looks like it could finally put the Meta Quest 3 in its place.
The only downside is that we’re missing the price, but rumors indicate it would cost $1,200, and based on Valve’s announced specs, our resident VR expert Hamish Hector says he’d be surprised if the device didn’t land around that price.
1. Valve launched the steam engine
Valve dropped a bomb on the gaming scene for PC and console gamers, with the announcement of the Steam Machine. It’s a mini-PC, but designed as a hybrid console PC, with a small form factor suited to TV couch gaming setups and using AMD Zen 4 hardware that looks like it could give Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox something to worry about.
With the promise of delivering a streamlined console-like experience using the popular Linux operating system, SteamOS, Valve is bringing current-gen consoles including the PlayStation 5, but more so the Xbox Series S, And Microsoft Windows 11 on alert. If the price is reasonable, we could be looking at a serious competitor in the gaming console market, and perhaps a game-changing move for gamers across all platforms.
