New Gadgets

Ever since the Playstation 5’s launch in 2020, people have been wondering when Sony would release a next-gen virtual reality (VR) platform that could take advantage of the horsepower provided by its beefy new gaming console. The company broke its silence at CES 2022, finally confirming that a successor to Playstation VR was in the works, and revealing the hardware’s specifications, but it didn’t provide any images to accompany that info. Today the company has finally pulled the wraps off its upcoming hardware, giving gamers a glimpse of what the system looks like. Sony still isn’t saying when the PSVR2 will be available or what it will cost.

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According to sources involved with Apple’s supply chain, the company plans to launch its rumored mixed reality headset later this year. This flies in the face of earlier reports that the headset had been delayed until next year due to a variety of issues Apple was struggling with. This would not necessarily have been a surprise given that Apple hasn’t previously launched a product like this before. Sources indicate that Apple is far enough along in its production process that the unnamed headset has reached the EVT 2 stage, which stands for Engineering Validation Testing, phase 2.
For those not privy to the ins-and-outs of Apple’s production process, this would mean the new device is about midway through its journey to final production. That’s according to a summary provided by 9to5Mac, which also flagged the supply chain sources at Digitimes. The company begins with hardware prototypes to get the design nailed down while a software team works in parallel. Once the design is finalized it moves into the Engineering Validation Testing phases, which are numbered. This is where the company combines all the software and the hardware and produces physical units for testing.

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Today is a special day for those who were first in line to officially order their Steam Decks. After a seven-month wait, early adopters who put down a $5 deposit back in July can complete their purchase and expect to receive their new handheld console in early March. In anticipation of this occasion, Valve has rolled out a new tool that conveniently lets players know which games from their own library are compatible with Steam Deck. Valve has been touting its new(ish) “Deck Verified” program for a while now as its teams go through the painstaking process of reviewing Steam’s 50,000-plus titles, then tossing them into metaphorical bins depending on how well they play on Steam Deck. As most know by now, games that have undergone this process receive a verified, playable, unsupported, or unknown label. (The difference between verified and playable is that playable games require a bit of adjustment on the player’s part in order to offer a pleasant experience.) As of our last check-in on February 16, the program had reviewed 580 games total, with 309 verified, 211 playable, and 60 unsupported.

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People are thinking more about quitting their jobs as they grapple with burnout, parenting and other challenges during the coronavirus pandemic. Taking a career break, though, can feel risky.

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HBO Max Aside from Blade Runner, The Matrix and Christopher Nolan movies, HBO Max is home to a varied collection of sci-fi TV shows. You have a handful of the requisite prestige dramas with high production values and long episode times, plus the smaller, quirkier entries that offer something new. The box of chocolates is a big one.

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At $429, Apple's 2022 iPhone SE is a tempting purchase for budget-minded shoppers. But so is the $499 iPhone 11, which is similarly priced and offers some advantages like a bigger screen and dual camera.
If you're trying to decide between the two, consider which factors matter to you the most. The new iPhone SE supports 5G networks, which may not be critical right now but could be in the years to come. It also runs on Apple's newest mobile processor. But the iPhone 11 has a significantly larger screen and a secondary ultrawide camera lens for taking broader photos.
We'll have more thoughts on the new iPhone SE once we've had a chance to test it. But here are the biggest considerations to take into account based on what we know about the phone so far.

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Apple's 2022 iPhone SE made its debut at the company's event on Tuesday, alongside a new iPad Air. (Check out everything else Apple announced here.) The iPhone is a new-and-improved model of the 2020 iPhone SE, which features the iPhone 11's A13 processor and an iPhone 8-like body for $399.
The new SE is the same concept, retaining an iPhone 8 shell and a Touch ID home button, except it's outfitted with the iPhone 13's A15 Bionic processor and 5G support. You can preorder the 2022 iPhone SE starting today, and it will become available March 18, starting at $429 -- a slight price hike from its 2020 predecessor.

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Facebook's parent company Meta said Wednesday it's rolling out new tools meant to give parents and guardians more control over how their teens use social media and virtual reality.

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It’s a sad day for overclockers the world over, as AMD has announced it will not allow overclocking on its newest gaming CPU, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. This was rumored to be the case pre-launch, but now it’s official. The news could mark the end of overclocking on AMD CPUs as we know it, at least in the traditional sense where clock speeds and voltages are involved. AMD says it will still allow overclocking of the chip’s infinity fabric and memory, however.

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The first reports of Steam on Chrome OS surfaced about two years ago, but Google has been mostly mum on the topic. Not anymore, though. Get ready to hear a lot about Steam on Chromebooks, starting with the new Alpha version. Unfortunately, you probably don’t have the correct hardware to run it right now, and even if you did, the bugs will make it hard to actually enjoy any games.
Most Steam gamers are using Windows, but Valve has championed Linux gaming in various ways over the years, from Steamboxes to the new Steam Deck. Chrome OS is based on Gentoo Linux, and it can run Linux apps in a container. Google says it was Valve’s long-term investment in Linux gaming that made this possible, and even though Chromebooks are not the most powerful machines, Steam has a huge catalog of (theoretically) compatible games.

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