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Sony has released a new air conditioner that sits on the back of your neck and either cools or warms you, depending on the environmental conditions.

The Reon Pocket 5 is the first such model to be made available outside of Asia, but while it's only on sale in the UK as well as certain Asian territories, the fact that it has made the leap to Europe indicates the invention could well come to the US.

Given the name, you might think the Reon Pocket sits in your, erm, pocket, but as mentioned, it fits neatly around your neck (the Reon Neck-brace 5 probably didn't sound like such a great name).

Microsoft has removed another piece of functionality from the Control Panel in Windows 11, redirecting folks heading to the Fonts section to its equivalent in the Settings app.

The old-style Control Panel still lurks in the background of Windows 11, making for an untidy contrast to the new Settings app - the problem being that there are so many settings in Windows that a bunch of legacy stuff is still yet to be migrated to the latter.

That process is happening, very slowly, but surely, and as Windows Latest spotted, the latest move is that when going to the Fonts page in the Control Panel, you'll be redirected to the revamped version of Fonts in the Settings app (which is already in place). Windows Search will also push you to Settings instead (whereas it currently highlights the old Control Panel when you search for Fonts).

Digital Foundry has done another discussion on what to expect from Sony's PlayStation 5 Pro, which recently had its specifications leak online, revealing what is under the hood of the coming console.

According to the leaks Sony's PS5 Pro will come with a range of performance improvements, with one being a 45% increase in GPU performance compared to the standard PS5. Digital Foundry explains the PS5 Pro will come with PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), Sony's new upscaling technology, and Ultra Boost mode, which is designed to help games using Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) achieve a higher framerate.

The YouTube channel says that games using AMD FSR 2 will likely benefit quite a lot from the PS5 Pro hardware, which would be titles such as Star Wars Jedi Survivor, Avatar Frontiers of Pandora, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Final Fantasy XVI. Digital Foundry says all of the aforementioned titles, and any other title that specifically uses a VRR mode will benefit greatly with the PS5 Pro, likely clearing up issues of dynamic resolution scaling being overused resulting in image quality degrading at random times throughout the game.

Microsoft is charging full steam ahead with a Windows 11 update that will put advertisements for apps within the Start menu's "Recommended" section.

Microsoft began testing this new feature within its Insider program early this month, and now it appears as the latest optional update for Windows 11 version 22H2 and version 23H2. For those that don't know, Microsoft's latest move will introduce new applications to Windows 11 users within the "Recommended" section of the Start menu. According to Microsoft these apps will come from a "small set of curated developers" that will meet Microsoft's quality standards.

Many users aren't complaining about the Recommended apps themselves, but for the decision by Microsoft to put any advertisement within the Start menu at all. Luckily, previous reports that cite Insiders testing Windows 11 preview builds, users will be able to turn off advertisements within the Start menu by following these steps: Settings > Personalization > Start. Then switching "off" for "Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, and more."

Engineers from a university are reportedly closing in on a technology breakthrough that would enable submarines to travel as quick as a jet.

A new report from the South China Morning Post reveals engineers from Harbin Engineering University in Heilongjiang province are nearing the final designs of a new system that uses lasers to propel submarines to extreme speeds.

So, how does it work? Lasers generate plasma underwater that results in a "detonation wave" being produced. This wave has the potential to propel an object underwater, but for the 20 years it has been researched, engineers have struggled to come up with a design that can direct the generated force in a specific direction.

Apple recently announced that it will be holding an online, streamed event on May 7 and it's roundly thought that it will see the company announce new iPads including a pair of iPad Pros. Now, a new report suggests that while that remains true, actually getting your hands on one of the tablets in particular could be more difficult than buyers might like,

The tablet is the 11-inch OLED iPad Pro, the smaller of the two tablets and often the most popular for those who want to be able to get the most powerful tablet with the added portability of a relatively small display. However, display analyst Ross Young believes that stocks of the 11-inch model might be harder to find than those of the larger 12.9-inch version. And it's the display that buyers can blame.

Young was writing via a post on the X social network that now appears to have been removed, but not before it was picked up by various outlets including 9to5Mac.

Here's some good news for those of you with an older Android smartphone wanting to use Google's Gemini assistant, as the AI is now available for earlier versions of the mobile platform - plus a new 'conversation mode' is inbound for the app.

Previously, you needed a handset running Android 12 or better to use the Gemini app, but now, that has been pushed back to include phones with Android 10 or 11 installed on them.

Leaker @AssembleDebug on X (formerly Twitter) made this clear, as reported by Android Authority (via TechRadar).

The head of NASA appeared before the House committee to warn of a secret growing military presence in space and how the US is "in a space race" with China for the goal of arriving on the Moon first.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson testified before the House appropriations committee on NASA's 2025 budget, and said the space agency has reason to believe China is increasing its presence in space, especially within the last 10 years. However, China's space presence remains "very, very, secretive", and that a lot of the nation's civilian space program is actually China's military space program in disguise.

Nelson said he hopes Beijing will "come to its senses and understand that civilian space is for peaceful uses", but added: "We have not seen that demonstrated by China." Furthermore, Nelson said that the US is expecting to land on the Moon again before China, and the US is in a space race against China for landing on the Moon again as there is concern that Beijing could land before the US and say, "OK, this is our territory, you stay out,'" said Nelson.

The latest build of Windows 11 has reduced the total number of CPUs that Microsoft's latest operating system can run.

According to reports, the latest version of Windows 11 will not boot on PCs that have a CPU that doesn't support the SSE4.2 instruction set, which is a way for Microsoft to reduce the number of ancient PCs using old hardware from running the latest Windows operating system. Notably, the SSE4.2 instruction set arrived in the first generation of Core i5 and i7 processors, which was more than 15 years ago.

Microsoft's Windows 11 hardware requirements list does reveal a long list of supported CPUs, but this move has made that list smaller. Why does Microsoft do this? There are several reasons, some hardware may have limited security capabilities that don't meet Microsoft's current security standards for its latest operating system, while another reason could be an architectural limitation of the microchip itself, as Windows 11 may require a more advanced architecture to precisely draw resources from.

Windows 11 is getting a new feature called AI Explorer - or at least, AI PCs running the OS will be - and some fresh clues have been spotted that give us a hint of what it might do.

As you can see in the above and below tweets, a couple of regular leakers on X (formerly Twitter) have pointed out a few strings and hidden bits of code pertaining to AI Explorer that they've dug up in recent Windows 11 preview builds.

PhantomofEarth highlights some strings relating to 'screen understanding' being either on or off, and the following dialog: "Screen understanding is paused. Models are not available and need to be downloaded."

Windows 11 just had its latest update pushed out in preview form, and the bad news is that this is carrying additional adverts.

Yes, Microsoft has been more broadly experimenting with ads here and there in Windows 11 of late - as you may have noticed - and the preview update for April (KB5036980), which will be the Patch Tuesday release for May, comes with fresh adverts in the Start menu.

What kind of ads and where? Microsoft explains: "The Recommended section of the Start menu will show some Microsoft Store apps. These apps come from a small set of curated developers. This will help you to discover some of the great apps that are available."

If you're an Apple Vision Pro owner you can expect to be able to download the visionOS 1.2 software update in the near future, with Apple currently testing the third beta release with developers. Those who are registered developers can now download and install the software on their Apple Vision Pro via the usual Settings and app, although they will of course need to be signed into the relevant Apple ID account in order to be given the option to do so.

This release is expected to be made available to the public within weeks and comes just a week after the arrival of the second beta. It isn't yet clear just how many more betas we can expect to be released, but it normally doesn't reach too high of a number.

The Apple Vision Pro's visionOS 1.2 software update isn't expected to bring with it too many changes, and there are no big new features anticipated either. However, there are some tweaks to the Personas, EyeSight, and other features built into this current beta and it's possible that more tweaks could be made before the update rolls out to the public.

Apple regularly releases new software updates to the public and as part of that, it also releases earlier beta updates to developers as well. The current wave of betas is for iOS 17.5 and the company has now made the third beta version of that update available for registered developers to download.

Those who are registered developers can sign in using their Apple ID and then choose to download the latest beta via the usual Software Update mechanism within the Settings app. However, we would always suggest that only developers who have a spare device should do that - as good as Apple's betas currently are, they can still prove problematic and installing the releases on a mission-critical device can still cause unexpected issues further down the line.

The lack of a need to install this beta on most devices is driven home by the fact that there are no huge new features in this beta, especially if you don't live in the European Union. The most notable change in this release is the option for app developers to offer their apps for download directly from their own websites, not just the App Store or authorized third-party app marketplaces.

Razer has announced a new gaming mouse for esports and competitive gamers, the Razer Viper V3 Pro. Created in collaboration with esports pros, including recent Valorant champions, it's an ultra-lightweight wireless gaming mouse with some serious hardware under the hood.

Powered by the Razer Focus Pro 35K Optical Sensor Gen-2 (rated at 90 million clicks), which can poll up to 8000 Hz wirelessly, Razer touts 99.8% resolution accuracy. Players can make 1 DPI incremental adjustment, which is impressive. Razer claims that the Viper V3 Pro can match the DPI sensitivity of any mice gamers might be used to, so there's no awkward 'getting used to it' period.

Available in Black and White editions, it weighs only 54 grams and ships with the Razer HyperPolling Wireless Dongle.

Xbox has been toying around with the idea of entering the VR gaming space for years. When it was on the cusp of launching the Xbox One X console (codenamed Project Scorpio), the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, touted it as powerful enough to handle VR gaming. At the time, Sony had the PlayStation VR, a niche but successful add-on for the PlayStation 4.

Fast forward to 2024, and Xbox is more than a console platform, with cloud gaming, PC Game Pass, and the new owners of Activision Blizzard and all of its PC and mobile properties. Although Sony released a PlayStation VR2 refresh for the PlayStation 5 console, it has failed to meet sales expectations or reach the heights of the original.

In many ways, outside of PC and the success of the Meta Quest 2 and the SteamVR platform, virtual reality is not on the minds of all gamers. So, with news that Xbox is finally getting in on VR gaming, how it is doing so is not what you'd expect. Instead of a dedicated headset for console and PC, Xbox is partnering with Meta to launch "a limited-edition Meta Quest, inspired by Xbox."

Sega Toys has a line of robot cats as part of its 'KIMIT Ragdoll' line, which attempts (arguably creepily) to recreate the look of a real cat. This means it has synthetic fur, so you can cuddle and pet it like the real thing. It even purs, though the eyes lighting up is a little strange.

Unfortunately, two months after their February 29th, 2024 debut (priced at around $215 USD), these robot cats are being recalled due to a 'burning smell.' At this point, you can probably put two and two together - electrical components mixed with synthetic fur lead to heat issues and an unpleasant plastic-burning smell.

As of writing, there aren't any reports of cat robots catching on fire, but Sega has issued an immediate recall of all models (including white and brown robot cats). Sega also asks users to turn them off immediately and go through the refund and returns process.

The beginning of the end of TikTok in the United States is here as the Senate has passed a bill that bans the ByteDance-owned app from the app store as it's considered to be a piece of software that is controlled by an adversary nation, China.

The bill was recently passed in the House with 350-58 votes and has now passed in the Senate with 79 votes to 18. Notably, the act was bundled into HR 815, a law that included authorized military funding to support Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. TikTok has been suspected as a surveillance application that is harvesting the data of millions of Americans, which doesn't sit well with many lawmakers, security experts, and the US government, especially considering TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company.

The new legislation deems TikTok a national security risk as the app can scrape the personal data of 170 million Americans, which could then be shared with China's government. The app also has the potential to be used to spread misinformation in the US. However, the legislation gives TikTok one way of staying available in the US - ByteDance sells its share of TikTok to an entity the US government is satisfied with.

According to insider @Kepler_L2, known for revealing hardware info for upcoming unannounced GeForce and Radeon hardware, AMD's next-generation RDNA 4 graphics cards will skip GDDR7 and stick with GDDR6 for the memory configuration.

AMD won't be upgrading or changing the memory spec and will stick with 18 Gbps GDDR6 for all cards in the lineup. As previously reported, NVIDIA is moving its Blackwell and GeForce RTX 50 Series to the new GDDR7 standard, starting with 28 Gbps speeds.

Sticking to older tech for its supposed next-gen RDNA 4 lineup might sound strange, but the reasoning makes sense when you factor in that the Radeon RX 8000 series won't target the high-end.

Roccat is a brand that has been making high-quality PC peripherals for years, including keyboards, mice, and headsets. Based in Germany, Roccat was acquired by Turtle Beach in 2019 for $19.2 million, with the acquisition all about extending Turtle Beach's customer base from primarily console-based gamers to the world of PC.

Roccat's gear has always maintained a unique look and feel with impressive performance, something that remained even after Turtle Beach acquired the company. Last year, I reviewed the funky Roccat Vulcan II Max Optical Gaming Keyboard, which paired great switches with a translucent wrist rest that lit up like a neon rainbow.

Well, the day has come - at least for the Roccat name, which is no longer a thing. All upcoming products with mow fall under the Turtle Beach branding, starting next month with the Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL Pro Magnetic Mechanical RGB Gaming Keyboard and Turtle Beach Burst II Air Ultra-Lightweight Wireless PC Gaming Mouse.

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