Linux

PC gamers might have felt a tad disappointed at the news that Valve is delaying its Steam Deck portable PC gaming machine to sometime in 2022. Of course, that wasn't exactly surprising given how other consumer electronics, especially computers and mobile devices, are facing production and shipment delays, but it still douses some cold water over the enthusiasm that has been building up towards the upcoming shopping and gaming seasons. Almost ironically, that can also serve to get gamers excited even more, especially after Valve continues to reveal some details that inspire confidence that the Steam Deck will not be a repeat of the ill-fated Steam Machine.

Continue Reading

This week the folks at Yubico released the YubiKey Bio to the general public for the first time. This is the USB-docked fingerprint scanning security key system that was first previewed to the world back at Microsoft Ignite 2019. Now this key system is available in two iterations, one with USB-A, the other with USB-C, both with fingerprint readers.

Continue Reading

Logitech revealed a new implementation of their MX Keys keyboard tech with a pair of new keyboards, both of them tiny. There's the MX Keys Mini, and the MX Keys Mini for Mac. These keyboards are made to make an as-minimal-as-possible design with Logitech's already-popular standard-sized MX Keys.

Continue Reading

Users of Chrome that regularly open multiple windows at once, rejoice! The latest version of Chrome shows a new Save Group toggle when creating a group of tabs. This should allow the user to keep track of the multiple tabs they need open at once, even after Chrome is closed down for the day. That's assuming you or I ever close Chrome and/or shut one's computer off entirely which... is the healthy thing to do.

Continue Reading

PINE64 may have started out as a competitor to the Raspberry Pi's single-board computers (SBCs), but it has long grown out of its shell to expand into new territories. It is now better known for daring to create open source Linux devices that span laptops, tablets, smartphones, and even smartwatches. Now it is taking that growth a step further with the PineNote, an e-paper reader that's designed to be just as open as its other Pine-branded devices.

Continue Reading

The Google two-factor authentication (2FA) security system was updated with a new security key. This system is also called 2SV, or 2-Step Verification. Before now, users were given the option to use a physical security key (USB), or via a Google Prompt notification (via the Google or Gmail app)*. Now Google also allows users to use a smartphone with Android running the Chrome web browser app.

Continue Reading

Windows 10 and Windows 11 users, along with Linux users, face two huge security vulnerabilities it's been revealed, which could allow hackers to get their hands on sensitive PC data. The newly-identified local privilege escalation vulnerabilities could allow bad actors to take advantage of a simple loophole in the OS to effectively climb through levels of much more important data.

Continue Reading

There have been Linux tablets in the market for years if you consider that Android is Linux-based. There have also been attempts to put "proper" Linux flavors on phones and tablets, but most of those have been aimed at developers and tinkerers. Linux mobile devices that are designed specifically for the consumer market are far and few in between, making the JingPad Linux tablet a rather interesting venture, one that seems to have resounded with quite a few backers on Indiegogo.

Continue Reading

Valve has long been trying to get game developers and publishers to see Linux as a serious and profitable gaming platform and not simply because it loves the open source operating system. It basically wants games to be free from their reliance on Windows and Microsoft's development frameworks and, eventually, to have them available on its own Linux-based Steam OS. Steam OS and Steam Machines have largely failed but Valve seems to still be pushing for Linux support for Windows games and its latest attempt is to get NVIDIA's fancy DLSS technology to work on some of those titles.

Continue Reading

Although gaming handhelds have been around since the days of the Nintendo Game Boy, the Nintendo Switch definitely kicked up interest by a notch, revealing a potentially profitable market for portable devices that can run AAA titles, even in medium or low settings only. That, in turn, has created a series of devices and concept designs inspired by the Switch, except running PC hardware and PC games instead. Given that trend, it's not surprising to hear that Valve, best known for the Steam PC gaming platform, is planning to jump into that fray and no later than the end of this year even.

Continue Reading

A lot of people rely on the Web these days not just to say informed or connected but also to work. Web browsers have become critical pieces of software on any platform, so when those break, the Internet is filled with complaints and demands for explanations. That is what transpired over the weekend when Google Chrome on Windows 10 started crashing left and right. Google did quickly push out a fix and its solution is just as strange as the bug it fixes.

Continue Reading

Although it has more market share, Chrome OS is closer to being the Google OS to rule them all compared to Android. Its ability to run apps from different platforms, including Android, Linux, and even Windows, makes it an all-in-one operating system for nearly every task possible. Of course, not all of those have the same level of stability and support and, in a few weeks, support for running Linux apps will finally be joining Android app support as it moves from beta to stable status.

Continue Reading