Besides the Steam Controller, Valve also announced a new Steam Machine, a PC built for games.
And finally, Steam Frame, Valve's first virtual reality headset since Valve Index.
Still alive: #Valve releases new hardware.
The company best known for Steam and games like Half-Life and Portal has released 3 - yes, three - new devices.
The first is a new Steam Controller, taking the best parts of the Steam Deck's controls.
Besides the Steam Controller, Valve also announced the GabeCube- err, a new Steam Machine, a customizable PC built for games. It is powered by a semi-custom AMD CPU that is 6 times faster than the Steam Deck. It also runs SteamOS.
And finally, Steam Frame, Valve's first virtual reality headset since Valve Index. It's a standalone headset powered by a Snapdragon chip and SteamOS and is capable of running VR and non-VR games. It can also stream games from a PC.
All of the new devices are launching in 2026.
Correction: an earlier version of this post incorrectly said that the Steam Machine is 4 times as powerful as the Steam Deck.
@thetechdroid
The company best known for Steam and games like Half-Life and Portal has released 3 - yes, three - new devices.
The first is a new Steam Controller, taking the best parts of the Steam Deck's controls.
Besides the Steam Controller, Valve also announced the GabeCube- err, a new Steam Machine, a customizable PC built for games. It is powered by a semi-custom AMD CPU that is 6 times faster than the Steam Deck. It also runs SteamOS.
And finally, Steam Frame, Valve's first virtual reality headset since Valve Index. It's a standalone headset powered by a Snapdragon chip and SteamOS and is capable of running VR and non-VR games. It can also stream games from a PC.
All of the new devices are launching in 2026.
Correction: an earlier version of this post incorrectly said that the Steam Machine is 4 times as powerful as the Steam Deck.
@thetechdroid
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#Google brings AirDrop to Android.
In a weird turn of events, Quick Share is now compatible with AirDrop, Apple's effortless sharing feature. Notably, it had already been possible to AirDrop files from an Android device using third-party apps before, but this is the first time that receiving files is possible.
This is the latest part of Google's push for compatibility between the two rival operating systems, following RCS support on iOS and AirTag alerts on Android. However, Google built this feature without help from Apple (via Android Authority), so it's unclear if Apple will block it in future iOS updates.
This feature is available for Pixel 10 series phones in the latest Google Play security update, and will eventually come to more Android phones. To receive files from Quick Share, AirDrop needs to be set to Everyone.
@thetechdroid
In a weird turn of events, Quick Share is now compatible with AirDrop, Apple's effortless sharing feature. Notably, it had already been possible to AirDrop files from an Android device using third-party apps before, but this is the first time that receiving files is possible.
This is the latest part of Google's push for compatibility between the two rival operating systems, following RCS support on iOS and AirTag alerts on Android. However, Google built this feature without help from Apple (via Android Authority), so it's unclear if Apple will block it in future iOS updates.
This feature is available for Pixel 10 series phones in the latest Google Play security update, and will eventually come to more Android phones. To receive files from Quick Share, AirDrop needs to be set to Everyone.
@thetechdroid
Technodroid Weekly: highlights of the previous week.
This is a new format that we are testing, with brief highlights of the stories you might have missed.
Headline: #Google announces Gemini 3 and Nano Banana Pro.
Let us know what you think about this format in the comments.
@thetechdroid
This is a new format that we are testing, with brief highlights of the stories you might have missed.
Headline: #Google announces Gemini 3 and Nano Banana Pro.
Gemini 3.0 is the latest language model fron Google. It achieves a score of 1501 Elo on LMArena and sets new standards on benchmarks across science, programming and even running a vending machine. Alongside Gemini 3.0 Pro, Google released Gemini 3.0 Pro Image, an image generation model with reasoning capabilities. It generates lifelike images.#Unity games are coming to Fortnite.
Yes, you heard it right - Epic Games, creators of Fortnite, announced that soon it will be possible to create mini-games, called islands, inside the massively popular game using the Unity game engine. This is notable because Epic Games develops the rival Unreal Engine. In fact, the company also released an Unreal Engine-based tool for creating Fortnite islands in 2023. According to CEO Tim Sweeney, this move was made to work towards an open metaverse.Leaked: the new design of the #Galaxy Buds4 Pro.
Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Buds4 Pro scrap the Blade Lights feature of their predecessor in favor of a brushed metal finish, as revealed by Android Authority. The buds will also come with a new case (that's less similar to Apple's AirPods case) that has a button for finding the connected phone. The leak also shows what looks like a speaker on the case, indicating support for Samsung Find and playing a sound to help the user find it.
Let us know what you think about this format in the comments.
@thetechdroid
"Aluminium OS": more details about #Google's Android-based replacement for ChromeOS emerge.
In a job posting for the company's Taipei office (via Android Authority), the company revealed that it is working on "Aluminium", an Android-based OS with "AI at the core".
Notably, Google used the British spelling instead of the American "aluminum". This hints that the name might be a reference to Chromium OS, which is the open-source base of ChromeOS. Considering that the job description mentions curating a portfolio for ChromeOS and Aluminium OS devices, the latter is likely a replacement for the former, in line with a report from last year. This is further backed up by internal comments referencing "non-Aluminium ChromeOS".
And speaking of devices, the job description also mentions three tiers: AL Entry, AL Mass Premium and AL Premium, a change from the two tiers of ChromeOS devices. The OS is currently being developed on boards with MediaTek Kompanio 520 and 12th Gen Intel Alder Lake processors, meaning that existing Chromebooks might get an update.
Edit: an earlier version of this post incorrectly attributed the report to Android Authority.
@thetechdroid
In a job posting for the company's Taipei office (via Android Authority), the company revealed that it is working on "Aluminium", an Android-based OS with "AI at the core".
Notably, Google used the British spelling instead of the American "aluminum". This hints that the name might be a reference to Chromium OS, which is the open-source base of ChromeOS. Considering that the job description mentions curating a portfolio for ChromeOS and Aluminium OS devices, the latter is likely a replacement for the former, in line with a report from last year. This is further backed up by internal comments referencing "non-Aluminium ChromeOS".
And speaking of devices, the job description also mentions three tiers: AL Entry, AL Mass Premium and AL Premium, a change from the two tiers of ChromeOS devices. The OS is currently being developed on boards with MediaTek Kompanio 520 and 12th Gen Intel Alder Lake processors, meaning that existing Chromebooks might get an update.
Edit: an earlier version of this post incorrectly attributed the report to Android Authority.
@thetechdroid
#Telegram's Pavel Durov revolutionizes AI with Cocoon.
Cocoon, standing for Confidential Compute Open Network, is a distributed system intended for AI. Interested users who have computers with powerful GPUs can install the Cocoon Worker, which uses the GPUs to run AI models, and receive TON in exchange.
Privacy is ensured by using a virtual machine protected using the TEE, a part of most modern processors that handles secure computing. Additionally, Cocoon is fully open source. According to Durov, the decentralized nature makes Cocoon more private and cheaper than competitors like the OpenAI API.
Information for developers is coming soon. Durov said that the network is already being used and hinted at AI features in Telegram. For the time being, users can already download the Worker at cocoon.org.
@thetechdroid
Cocoon, standing for Confidential Compute Open Network, is a distributed system intended for AI. Interested users who have computers with powerful GPUs can install the Cocoon Worker, which uses the GPUs to run AI models, and receive TON in exchange.
Privacy is ensured by using a virtual machine protected using the TEE, a part of most modern processors that handles secure computing. Additionally, Cocoon is fully open source. According to Durov, the decentralized nature makes Cocoon more private and cheaper than competitors like the OpenAI API.
Information for developers is coming soon. Durov said that the network is already being used and hinted at AI features in Telegram. For the time being, users can already download the Worker at cocoon.org.
@thetechdroid