The first reviews of Valve’s Steam Machine, a compact desktop PC that offers a console-like gaming experience for your Steam games, are out. While the design and performance appear to live up to the hype, reviewers are blanching at the price. Due to the ongoing memory shortage, the Steam Machine starts from US$1,049 (around S$1,350, unavailable in Singapore) for the base 512GB model. Adding the Steam controller pushes the price to US$1,128. Yikes!

Now, I’m old enough to remember when Valve introduced the OG Steam Machine. About a decade ago, Valve partnered with several PC manufacturers like Alienware to create Steam Machines that ran SteamOS, its Linux-based operating system. However, SteamOS was still in its infancy, and there weren’t as many games that could run on it. It also didn’t help that the Steam Machines all had different hardware configurations, which made for an inconsistent experience. Unsurprisingly, sales didn’t meet expectations, and Valve abandoned the concept after a few years.

But Valve learnt from the failure. The company worked on improving Linux compatibility for Steam games. Eventually, it came up with the Steam Deck handheld gaming PC, which has been a huge success. So the latest Steam Machine is Valve’s second bite at the cherry.

Seeing how Valve seems to have perfected the formula for the Steam Deck, I was confident that the Steam Machine would be equally successful when it was first announced last year. But the memory crisis and the resulting inflation have thrown this into doubt. Of course, one could argue that it’s expensive to build any PC in the current climate, and a similarly-specced Windows PC would cost just as much.

At least Valve is now letting users install SteamOS on their own PCs. That’s great news for gamers that have an existing PC, and looking to move away from Windows, but aren’t convinced by current Linux distros. I don’t blame them since SteamOS is designed for gaming, after all. There’s still a significant stumbling block in the form of Nvidia graphics driver support, but hopefully that will be resolved soon. If you’re keen to try (and have an AMD graphics card), you can find it here.

This week, we tested JBL’s new headphones, a Logitech keyboard and mouse combo that’s built for the office, and Sony’s flagship in-ear headphones.

The JBL Live 780NC is one to consider if you’re shopping in the S$300 range for a pair of over-ears. You get decent sound, good noise cancellation, and up to 50 hours of battery life with noise cancellation. The ear cups are plush and comfortable, though the headband could do with a bit more padding.

JBL Live 780NC

With its quiet operation and plenty of cushioning, including a palm cushion for the mouse, the Logitech Signature Comfort Plus Combo is the perfect wireless keyboard and mouse set for the office. The handy shortcuts and Logitech Actions Ring feature make it even more convenient for common computing tasks, while the long battery life (up to three years for the keyboard) means one less thing to worry.

Logitech Signature Comfort Plus Combo

Sony’s latest flagship in-ear earbuds maintain the high standards set by previous models. They still sound great, though the noise cancellation, while good, has been surpassed by other competitors. Battery life is good (up to 8 hours with ANC), and these earbuds remain very comfortable to use.

Sony WF-1000XM6

You probably know of Dolby Atmos, which adds height channels to create a 3D sound that appears to be all around you. It’s the spatial sound experience touted by everything from in-ear headphones to tablet speakers.

But most of us have probably not experienced Dolby Atmos FlexConnect (DAFC for short), which is supposed to be the next evolution of Dolby Atmos. What DAFC does is to let users place the speakers anywhere in the room, and Dolby will handle the rest i.e create an immersive 3D sound around the listener, regardless of the number or position of the speakers.

This versatility is the key selling point, since not every home has been designed from scratch for home theatre. You can even start small — with just a couple of wireless speakers — and add more speakers when you have the budget (or the space). This is because the brains using DAFC to make sure everything sounds correct acoustically is actually the TV, which also provides the centre channel.

This limitation of having a compatible TV is likely why, despite being announced back in 2023, it has taken a few years for Dolby Atmos FlexConnect to make its way into actual products. Chinese TV maker TCL was the first to introduce DAFC in its TVs (select 2025 models), and uses TCL Z100 speakers (up to four wireless speakers and a sub) to create the Dolby Atmos experience.

I didn’t get the chance to try this implementation of DAFC, but I finally tried the technology out with the newly-launched LG Sound Suite. Unlike TCL’s version, LG offers a soundbar, which orchestrates everything instead of an LG TV. So you can enjoy DAFC with any TV, unlike with TCL’s version. Another plus for flexibility! Of course, you could still use an LG TV for the processing, and create a similar experience with just four of the LG Sound Suite speakers.

But most importantly, DAFC works as advertised. It can’t do miracles, of course. You can’t place every speaker at the front and still expect a dome of 3D sound around you. But I could place the speakers haphazardly around my listening position, and still get the spatial sound effect. I could also even switch my listening position in the LG ThinQ app, and the speakers will re-optimise the sound for the change. It’s great.

As a Sonos user, I feel I’m somewhat experienced with the process of calibrating speakers to fit the acoustics of the room (and account for the position of the speakers). Dolby is basically doing what my Sonos speakers do with TruePlay, but faster and without the manual calibration step that requires waving an iPhone around my space. Not to mention that DAFC is much more flexible about the placement. For instance, Sonos still doesn’t support front left and right speakers for its home theatre setup. That’s despite the fact that plenty of users have been asking for it, and there’s even a third-party app that unlocks this functionality.

Now I did encounter some issues with the speakers when it came to setting them up. But I can’t be sure if that’s down to Dolby or LG. Perhaps I’ll have a better idea when I try other speakers with DAFC. A potential roadblock: I wonder if brands, like Samsung and Sony, which already have their own wireless surround sound systems will be less keen to support a competing technology.

In any case, Dolby Atmos FlexConnect is definitely something you may want to keep an eye out for, even if LG’s implementation doesn’t quite get everything right. Read our review of the LG Sound Suite here.

This week, we tested Anker’s very capable in-ears, which can even do AI note-taking, tried Dyson’s portable hair dryer, and watched a lot of TV on LG’s latest C6 OLED TV.

For a pair of in-ear headphones, the Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max is surprisingly capable. Not only does it offer good audio and strong noise cancellation, it also has a display, and can even double as an AI-powered note taking device via its charging case. More importantly, it’s competitively priced at S$299.

Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max

With its built-in universal voltage, the Dyson Supersonic Portable can work anywhere in the world. You do lose the extra features (only two speeds and just three heating settings) and accessories (only a smoothing nozzle) from Dyson’s other hair dryers, but this portable and compact hair dryer is only 330g. And it’s also much cheaper than other Dyson dryers at S$399.

Dyson Supersonic Portable

The LG C6 is an excellent mid-range OLED that impresses with its picture quality. But the webOS interface feels even more bloated than before — and now requires an LG account — while the directional keys on the reworked remote control isn’t the most precise at registering your input. The C6 did launch at a slightly lower price than its predecessor, though it may be worth taking a look at last year’s model instead.

LG C6

We’ve all heard it before. In 2024, Apple promised an upgraded Siri for iOS 18, but ended up pushing back the timeline multiple times. But this time around, with help from Google Gemini, Apple’s finally ready to roll out the new Siri AI come September.

Announced earlier at WWDC 2026, Siri Ai, powered by Apple Intelligence (Apple’s clever take on the AI acronym), will make its way to devices (with caveats), such as the Apple iPhone, the Apple Watch, iPad, Macs, and the Apple Vision Pro.

You get features such as being able to understand what’s on your screen, understanding personal context, or even helping you split bills (but limited to Apple Cash). Visual Intelligence appears to have merged right into the Camera app on the iPhone, which makes a lot more sense to me than a separate instance. It’s also available for iPad and Mac, though with different implementations (screenshot and shortcut key).

You also get the usual writing stuff, but apparently tailored to your own writing style, and offer suggestions. It all feels very personalised, which is a very Apple thing to do. There’s also an customisable on-device version of Siri that you can change the voice, but limited to the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max, iPhone 17 Air, iPad models with M4 and later, Mac models with M3 or later, with at least 12GB of unified memory.

This does mean that the built-for-Apple Intelligence iPhone 16 isn’t actually really built-for it, and while it will have Siri AI, you won’t get the full experience. The excellent iPhone 17 base model will also not be getting the customisable Siri AI voice model, giving customers a reason to finally go for the Pro versions. Then again, it’s likely the future base iPhone 18 will have Siri AI, so I guess it’s just down to how much Apple thinks its AI features matter.

I did like one feature though — Spatial Reframing. It uses the on-device model and lets you change the composition of a photo. Took something too low? You can tweak it slightly, by dragging it around. Apple will then use Generative AI to fill in the blanks, and tries to keep it consistent with the original image. This will be interesting to see and test in action, especially with multiple different (and difficult) shots. After all, the Clean Up feature isn’t the best compared with Android equivalents (that probably use cloud processing), but perhaps that may improve when this launches.

And while Apple Intelligence looks and sounds great at the announcement, I’d argue that Apple really didn’t need to bother chasing the AI trend. Their phones have sold well even when they didn’t have a generative AI assistant, and I honestly stopped trying to use ChatGPT on Visual Intelligence because it didn’t work almost all of the times I tried to get it to identify something.

I really just want a Siri that works well at actually understanding my smart home commands, and that’s it. Generative AI assistants simply take the thinking away from you, making you completely brain dead — just look at the amount of AI written “stories” on social platforms. But maybe taking a more user-focused generative AI approach is exactly what will make me want to use it.

I guess we’ll find out soon.

This week, we tried the new features on the Xiaomi 17T Pro and 17T, tested Honor’s latest foldable, and typed up a storm using Asus’ latest premium keyboard.

Bought a new Xiaomi 17T or 17T Pro smartphone? You’re in for a treat as these phones pack plenty of new features that may even surprise long-time Xiaomi users. Check out the five cool features that you should try first in our helpful guide below.

5 cool features on the Xiaomi 17T

The Honor Magic V6 is not just one of the most pocketable foldables you can buy now, it also has a super-strong hinge that’s rated for 500,000 folds. The foldable is also rated IP68 and IP69 for water and dust resistance, and the crease is about as invisible as it gets. And that’s before we get to the flagship hardware powering it. Downside: It’s more expensive than before, with prices starting at S$2,599 for the 512GB model.

Honor Magic V6

The only reason I think the Asus ROG Azoth 96 HE Lite exists is because people like to flex their gear. This pricey premium keyboard (around S$500) certainly offers gamers the chance to impress others, not just in the game (which this keyboard helps with its customisable magnetic switches), but also as a centrepiece for their gaming PC setup.

ROG Azoth 96 HE Lite

Sony PlayStation kicked things off with their State of Play June 2026, featuring a new game in the God of War series: God of War Laufey that starred Kratos’ wife in action in the afterlife. But it was the new extremely graphic gameplay trailer of Marvel’s Wolverine that caught my eye.

Besides the extreme gore — I mean it’s based on a hero with blades coming out of his hands that can basically slice, rip, eviscerate, behead, puncture, and a few more choice and relevant verbs — the game looks amazingly fun. But that’s to be expected from the studio Insomniac, which also made Marvel’s Spider-Man and the sequels.

Both Wolverine and Spider-Man games are set in the same universe, which means (and I’m hoping for) crossovers could happen. But I guess we’ll find out on September 15 when the game releases exclusively on the PlayStation 5. As for Laufey, there’s no release date yet, but it’s likely sometime next year.

Microsoft’s Xbox console, now led by a new CEO, also showed off its upcoming slate of games earlier this morning, with a trailers for two exclusive games: Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution. The first is a prequel to the original Gears of War (which I just realised also shares the same initials as God of War), while Clockwork Revolution looks to feature an amazing steampunk setting with time-travelling shenanigans.

Strangely enough, I’ve actually never played a Gears of War game, so I’m probably skipping that, but Clockwork Revolution appears to be right up my alley. Thankfully, I can play the game on my PC, without worrying that I’ll need an Xbox console (which I don’t have, and also don’t have the space for).

There’s also a new Call of Duty game, confusingly called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 — not to be confused with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare — like seriously, who names these things??? Anyway, the Xbox showcase featured the extraction shooter mode based on the North and South Korea DMZ zone, which I guess I’ll skip since extraction shooters are totally not my thing.

Lastly, there were also a bunch of day-one Xbox Game Pass games revealed during the Xbox Games Showcase, such as Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember, Persona 6, Persona 4 Revival, Fable, and Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, which should be good news for those who still subscribe.

Microsoft recently revised the pricing for the top-tier Game Pass Ultimate package, but it’s still rather hefty at S$21.90 a month (down from S$29.99). Are these upcoming games enticing enough to keep gamers on the Xbox platform? Let us know what you think.

Apple silicon, Qualcomm ARM processors in Windows laptops, and now Nvidia’s RTX Spark. Is this the beginning of the end for the x86 architecture, which has dominated CPUs for the last 40-odd years?

The reality is much more nuanced. But it’s evident that the x86 architecture is facing its greatest challenge yet — at least on the consumer front. Because Nvidia’s new RTX Spark superchip, which Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced yesterday at his Computex keynote, takes the competing ARM architecture, which has mostly been used in mobile devices, to potentially new heights.

What the RTX Spark offers is a Windows alternative to Apple silicon. It brings together a MediaTek ARM-based CPU, Nvidia’s Blackwell RTX graphics and up to 128GB of high-speed unified memory. The result: A chip that’s said to be designed for Personal AI, basically AI agents running from local PCs instead of the cloud. The same graphics and processing power offered by the RTX Spark also makes it suitable for creating content and gaming.

The first RTX Spark laptops include Asus’ ProArt series of laptops, which are typically designed for content creators, meaning features like colour-accurate OLED displays. Other PC makers, including Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI and Microsoft also plan to release similarly powerful premium laptops. At least that’s my guess based on their product names (e.g. Dell XPS and HP OmniBook).

Because the actual specs for most of these RTX Spark notebooks have yet to be announced. However, the chip has been compared with the mid-tier RTX 5070 graphics, so it’s probably not going to be in high-end gaming notebooks, at least not at this moment. We also don’t have any information about the pricing, while availability is said to be “in fall”.

Nvidia itself hasn’t showed off any benchmarks of the RTX Spark, though there are figures floating out there that has it beating the Apple M5. If these numbers are remotely accurate, it would mean that RTX Spark laptops will definitely be competitive with ARM-based notebooks from Apple and Qualcomm, as well as the x86-based models from AMD and Intel.

But while the Nvidia RTX Spark may not blow away any of its rivals away yet, its introduction will mean more resources put into ARM PCs. Microsoft presumably will continue to improve Windows support for ARM chips. Adobe is also apparently “rearchitecting Photoshop and Premiere from the ground up for RTX Spark”. Game developers will have another reason to optimise their games for the ARM platform, which is good news for Apple users, too.

That being said, the latest x86 laptops aren’t shabby, either. In fact, Intel’s new Panther Lake chips have been very impressive in terms of battery life and performance. In my tests, the ones with Intel’s Arc B390 graphics outperformed ARM-based models using Qualcomm’s processors in gaming. Given Nvidia’s expertise in graphics, it could be a very different story against the RTX Spark, though.

And that’s just for gaming, content creation, and general computing. When it comes to AI, there’s no doubt that Nvidia’s RTX Spark has the edge here over everyone since these laptops will have the whole Nvidia stack (hardware and software) out of the box.

In short, the future looks exciting for PCs — albeit an expensive one for consumers. While I don’t see x86 laptops going away anytime soon — and x86 chips from AMD and Intel are still dominant when it comes to server hardware — if Nvidia can match the progression of Apple silicon these past years, I can see a significant shift from x86 to ARM. Especially from those who have embraced AI fully. But who knows? Nvidia does have a partnership with Intel, so it could be developing a similar x86 version of the RTX Spark but with Intel inside.

This week, we tried Xiaomi’s latest smartphones, typed up a storm using Logitech’s hybrid keyboard, and took LG’s new portable laptop out for a spin.

The Xiaomi 17T Pro and 17T are excellent upper mid-range phones that offer solid performance and good photography chops, including a new camera sensor (17T Pro) and improved telephoto (17T) in a premium iPhone-inspired package. However, prices have gone up by a fair bit, as with most phones and laptops this year.

Xiaomi 17T Pro and 17T

Can’t decide between analog and mechanical keyboards? You don’t need to choose with the Logitech G512 X 98 gaming keyboard. It lets you swap up to nine switches from the default mechanical ones to analog ones. And you can do that on the go since all the components and the tools are cleverly integrated into the keyboard design.

Logitech G512 X 98

The new LG gram Pro doesn’t deviate too much from previous iterations. It’s still skinny and lightweight, but now with a new Intel Core Ultra X7 that’s pretty good at games. However, I did miss having a presence detection feature, while the price has, like many new laptops, gone up this year.

LG gram Pro (2026)

Here’s the elevator pitch from every PC maker in the AI era: Buy our AI PCs to run your own local AI models that are secure, and tailored to your needs. Oh, and they will likely be cheaper in the long run than cloud-based AI,…

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Note: This post may seem like a personal rant instead of the latest tech happenings in Singapore. Feel free to skip.

Imagine your TV console resting upside down in your newly-renovated living room like a beached whale. And all because the screws that came with the TV console were not the right ones, which meant that t…

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If you love playing Path of Exile 2 (PoE 2) like me, then the news of the upcoming May 29 0.5.0 patch (Return of the Ancients) is going to be pure bliss. But if you haven’t, well, this is a good time as any to try out the ARPG, because this major patch comes with a ton of new content, including a more intuitive endgame, a reimagined skill tree, and more…

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It’s one of those baffling things you never really pay attention to. Until you notice it, then you can’t unsee it.

I’m speaking, of course, about how Apple’s Macs and MacBooks in general require very specific monitor resolutions in order to show you crispy text. Basically, you’ll have no issues if you’re just using a MacBook’s display, but if you want to…

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Memory prices have skyrocketed with the boom in AI infrastructure. Despite some positive signs recently, the price dip may be temporary. Instead, the demand “could remain high through the end of the decade”, according to a recent report by Melius Research.

That’s good…

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You…

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Jabra may have abandoned the consumer audio space back in 2024, but its latest Evolve3 85 and Evolve3 75 headsets don’t stick out like a sore thumb (or should I say boom arm) when placed next to Sony or Bose headphones.

Yes, the boom arm found in the previous Evolve2 headsets is gone in the new versions. Instead, thes…

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I had to throw away several pairs of headphones recently. The ear cushions and headband — made from synthetic leather — had rotted away while the headphones were left unused in the cabinet. I also unearthed a couple of wireless earbuds that had gone bad in the same manner. They all got binned.

So I made a promise to myself then that I wouldn’t buy any m…

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For those looking for an old school iPhone, the Apple iPhone 17e has all the features you want in a nice and compact package. Sure, there are some downsides. It’s a single camera system, no Dynamic Island, and no Camera Control button. But everything else works great, from its brilliant 6.1-inch display to the powerful A19 chip. And you get MagSafe charging up to 15W, which was missing from the iPhone 16e.

It certainly screams no-frills, and yet, that’s exactly what makes the Apple iPhone 17e perfect for those who want an entry-level iPhone. Yes, it’s not as good as the Apple iPhone 17, which feels like it got all the right upgrades this time, but it’s a perfect introduction for those looking to get into the Apple ecosystem without breaking the bank.

Apple iPhone 17e quick specs

• A19 with 6-core CPU, 4-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

• 6.1-inch OLED

• 48MP Fusion main camera

• 256GB/512GB

• IP68 water and dust resistance

After all, the Apple iPhone 17e is the cheapest iPhone of the range at just S$949, and is actually pretty good. I used this phone for a week as part of the review, and had zero issues. The smaller 6.1-inch screen is just a tad smaller than say the 6.3-inch of the iPhone 17, but everything looked crisp and sharp. Is it enough, though?

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Apple’s Mac mini desktop computer, which was launched back in 2024, has surprisingly emerged as one of the year’s hottest tech products. Apparently, it’s been selling out in many places, including Singapore.

And it’s all because of AI. Specifically, users are trying out OpenClaw, an open-source AI agent that has…

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This happened a few years ago. I put on a new pair of wireless earbuds (I can’t remember the actual model), turned on the transparency mode, and swore out loud at the clarity. Thanks to the earbuds’ highly sensitive microphones, I was hyper-aware of my surroundings. It felt almost like a superpower.

So I wasn’t surpri…

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Gamers are up in arms over Nvidia’s latest DLSS 5 frame-gen technology, which moves into generative AI territory.

While previous DLSS iterations have enhanced games by upscaling lower-resolution content or added frames to improve performance, DLSS 5, which Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang hailed …

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Vacuum cleaners have always been a fascination of mine. From robot vacuums to stick cleaners, I’ve always liked testing and trying out new models. And I’ve gone through plenty of brands, from the usual suspects of Dyson and Ecovacs to the ones from Korean tech giants Samsung and LG.

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I have been binge-playing Slay the Spire 2 (StS2) over the weekend. Well, me and over half a million players apparently, according to Steam. At one point, there were almost 200K players. It’s an incredible start for a game that’s still in Early Access. But that shouldn’t come as a surprise to fans of the genre. Slay the Spire (2019) lau…

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