The AlgoLaser Pixi Smart Laser Engraver is great starter machine for etching onto practically anything, without taking up too much desk space. The software leaves something to be desired, though.


The maker movement helped propel a new market of small hardware for producing or designing things. It helped the widespread adoption of 3D printing, while speciality hardware like Cricut is seeing massive growth.

The success of high-end tools for consumers to get creative with has also spread into the field of engraving. While you could previously try to freehand an etched design using a Dremel and some careful fingerwork, even engraving has become so much easier to do.


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Meta's latest feature gives Facebook the power to continuously upload your private photos to its cloud — even the ones you never intended to share. Here's how to stop it.


In a time where internet users are goaded into giving away their data to nearly every company, Meta has decided to take it several steps further. It wants you to give Facebook access to your entire camera roll and allow it to upload your photos to its cloud.

The "feature," spotted by TechCrunch has recently begun rolling out to users. When creating a story, a prompt pops up and asks users to opt into "cloud processing."


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The FTC is handing out $126 million in "Fortnite" refunds after years of shady charges, surprise bills, and retaliatory bans. Here's how to get yours.


Nearly one million Fortnite players are getting refunds totaling $126 million. The payouts address years of unauthorized charges and access restrictions tied to billing disputes.

This round of payouts is for those who submitted a valid claim before February 14, 2025. The FTC is currently reviewing claims that were made after February 14 and will provide information to claimants at a later date.


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Early Prime Day Mac mini deals continue to roll in, with a weekend sale knocking $100 off the latest model with Apple's M4 chip and a bump up to 512GB of storage. Plus, save up to $900 on upgraded models.


The $100 price cut can be snapped up at Amazon and B&H Photo, as both retailers engage in a price war less than two weeks before Prime Day.

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AI agents are learning to tap through your iPhone on your behalf, but Apple researchers want them to know when to pause.


A recent paper from Apple and the University of Washington explored this disparity. Their research focused on training AI to understand the consequences of its actions on a smartphone.

Artificial intelligence agents are getting better at handling everyday tasks. These systems can navigate apps, fill in forms, make purchases or change settings. They can often do this without needing our direct input.


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New shipping manifest records from the NBD aggregation site have provided evidence of AMD's next wave of laptop APUs, revealing new FP8, FP10, and FP12-based Ryzen processors. While the entries are light on specific technical details, the unique Ordering Part Numbers (OPNs) associated with these chips strongly indicate they belong to AMD's upcoming “Gorgon Point” laptop series.

As first noted by @Olrak29 (via Videocardz), the shipping manifests specifically show upcoming 10-core and 12-core SKUs. These particular chips are expected to be part of the Ryzen 9 tier (Ryzen AI 9 465 and 470/475, respectively) and are set to launch with a default TDP of 28W.

Although the codename “Gorgon Point” doesn't explicitly appear in these manifest listings, a meeting with Chinese partners (via ITHome) has provided specifications for this new series. While AMD has yet to name these new SKUs, they will likely fall under the Ryzen AI 400 series branding.

Gorgon Point is not expected to introduce an entirely new architectural design. Instead, it appears to refresh the existing “Strix Point” platform, maintaining the same architectural components: Zen 5 CPU cores (including Zen 5c), RDNA 3.5 for integrated graphics, and the XDNA 2 NPU. While AMD isn't planning to introduce a new tier with additional core counts, meaning the overall core configurations will remain consistent, leaks earlier this year hinted at introducing new entry-level SKUs within the Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 3 series. Higher clock frequencies are also expected, as seen in most refreshes. The “Gorgon Point” series is scheduled to launch next year.

KitGuru says: Even if Gorgon Point won't bring any major improvements over Strix Point, the expanded lineup and slightly higher clock speeds are a welcome addition, assuming pricing remains consistent.

The post AMD Ryzen AI “Gorgon Point” APUs are on the move first appeared on KitGuru.

Activision may have announced Call of Duty Black Ops 7 earlier this month, but that teaser was primarily centred around the single-player campaign. Fans of COD multiplayer are still awaiting news about incoming changes. Now thanks to an accidental leak, we know about at least one new mode on the way for Black Ops 7.

As first reported by CharlieIntel, ahead of an internal playtest for Black Ops 7, developers had a ‘Message of the Day' prepared for the playtest build with quick information about a new multiplayer mode. However, the Message of the Day was mistakenly sent out to all Xbox players via the Call of Duty app.

BREAKING: New BLACK OPS 7 images from Xbox pic.twitter.com/GkGKR9aZNd

— CharlieIntel (@charlieINTEL) June 27, 2025

As a result, we now know that the developers are testing a 20v20 Wingsuit game mode for Black Ops 7. This mode will have teams of 20 skirmishing over a large map, all in wingsuits. The mode appears to focus on pure freedom of movement.

While this mode is being tested, there is no guarentee that it will be in the launch-day version of Black Ops 7. The playtest feedback could be horrible but considering how close we are to this year's Call of Duty, chances are, this is a mode being planned for day-one.

KitGuru Says: I always enjoy Call of Duty multiplayer but each year, the focus tends to shift towards Warzone and other free-to-play modes quite quickly. Maybe that will change with Black Ops 7 but I doubt it.

The post Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s first new multiplayer mode has leaked first appeared on KitGuru.

There is a new major update arriving for Monster Hunter Wilds. In this free content update, fans will get new monsters to take down, and a new limited-time event to score some rare rewards. However, fans continue to be disappointed in the state of the game and as a result, Steam reviews have plummeted to ‘Overwhelmingly Negative'. 

The Steam user review score for Monster Hunter Wilds wasn't great even at launch. The game has always had a mixed reception, in large part due to issues with performance. From the jump, Capcom made it clear that it was relying on Frame Generation techniques to reach 60FPS, with the system requirements specifically listing the feature. As a result, the game is often visually blurry and feels sluggish to play due to added latency.

This isn't as bad for those with high-end, current-generation graphics cards like the RTX 5090, but for those playing on an older-gen GPU that doesn't accelerate Frame Generation through hardware, the results can be very poor.

The issue was likely exacerbated via the Steam Summer Sale. Monster Hunter Wilds is featured prominently on the Steam Store with its 20% discount, but those waiting for the game to go on sale likely aren't playing the game on a very current high-end PC, and so the recent reviews have been even worse than those at launch.

So far, Capcom has done very little to improve the optimisation side of Monster Hunter Wilds, and it doesn't look like that will change with Title Update 2, which was just announced.

If you are playing Monster Hunter Wilds and are looking forward to the next update, then here is what you can expect:

• New monsters – Lagiacrus, Seregios and Arch-tempered Uth Duna
• Layered Weapons with customised appearances
• New Support Hunter – Mina (Sword & Shield)
• Photo mode enhancements
• Limited-time Festival of Accord event with summer-themed rewards

Perhaps now that the Steam User Review score has dropped so low, Capcom will publicly acknowledge the fan complaints around performance.

KitGuru Says: Have you tried Monster Hunter Wilds since launch? Have you had issues with performance?

The post New major update for Monster Hunter Wilds announced but fans aren’t happy first appeared on KitGuru.

In an era where AAA game studios are closing down and making cuts left and right, IO Interactive has managed to maintain stability since going independent in 2017. The Hitman series is to thank for that, as the cost to develop each game shrank over time due to foresight and planning. 

In an interview with The Game Business this week, IO Interactive CEO, Hakan Abrak, shed light on how the studio has operated since leaving Square Enix. The decision to go independent was a risky one, but it has largely paid off for IO Interactive. That is thanks to a carefully planned development cycle for the sequels to HITMAN (2016), which included accumulating assets over time.

After Hitman 2016, rather than scrapping everything and starting over from scratch, IO Interactive took the asset pool it created with the first game and added to it, creating a large library they could pull from to create and iterate on levels. By the time Hitman 3 came around, all of that earlier work on growing the asset pool for the previous games paid off, with Abrak estimating that Hitman 3 cost just 20% of what it cost to make the first game.

“Without being too precise: Hitman '16, let's say that if that was $100 million, Hitman 2 was maybe $60 million. Hitman 3 was $20 million”, he said.

Most games nowadays aren't built with sequels in mind, so most projects are scrapping work from earlier games and then going back and rebuilding everything from scratch. With the Hitman trilogy, IOI avoided that entirely by finding new use cases for various assets and consistently building on the game that came before. That doesn't mean you can't improve graphics either, as IO went on to add more graphical features with each sequel too, with Hitman 3 including ray-tracing.

IO Interactive is taking the same approach with the 007 franchise. 007: First Light will be the entry point, and then each subsequent game will build on that foundation.

KitGuru Says: While this approach is good for keeping costs down, it does become noticeable to the player that lots of things generally look the same across each game. Even as a fan of all three Hitman games, each sequel did feel like an expansion to a base game, rather than something truly new. That is why the game is now sold as ‘HITMAN: World of Assassination', rather than as three separate games. 

The post IO Interactive CEO on studio’s sustainable development approach for Hitman and 007 first appeared on KitGuru.

Ark 2, the sequel to Ark: Survival Evolved, has seen its expected release window shift once again. Initially slated for 2023, then delayed to late 2024, its Steam release date was recently adjusted to a vague “to be announced”. Now, Studio Wildcard, the developers behind the Ark franchise, have expressed a target of a 2027 debut.

In a recent interview with PCGamesN, Studio Wildcard co-founders Jesse Rapczak and Jeremy Stieglitz clarified the studio's strategy. They revealed that Ark 2‘s development was partially put on hold to focus efforts on Ark Survival Ascended. According to the co-founders, this decision has been important in allowing the team to gain a deeper understanding of Unreal Engine 5 and experiment with the engine's new capabilities and technologies.

Jeremy Stieglitz indicated that only “a small portion” of their team is currently dedicated to working on the combat mechanics in Ark 2, which will be souls-like. As per the developer, making this type of combat work in a multiplayer PvP context is pretty tricky. Stieglitz added that transforming the existing Ark 2 material into a functional early access game would require about 18 months of concentrated development time from a significant portion of the team.

With Ark Survival Ascended now out in the open, Studio Wildcard executives are reportedly seeking to transition their development focus back to Ark 2 without disrupting the revenue stream generated by Ark Survival Ascended. Previous Ark 2 videos and statements from Wildcard have outlined ambitious changes for the sequel. These include a reworked traversal system, a shift to third-person gameplay, and the already mentioned “soulslike” PvP combat. Furthermore, the new game will introduce NPC antagonists, a departure from the purely wild monsters found in existing Ark titles.

KitGuru says: Are you a fan of the Ark games? Are you interested in the upcoming Ark sequel?

The post Ark 2 may not get Early Access launch until 2027 first appeared on KitGuru.

Rainbow Six Siege finally made the switch over to free-to-play recently. The newly named Rainbow Six Siege X has brought a lot of people back to the game, but early players were quick to find that currency gain for unlocking new operators had become very slow. Now, Ubisoft has issued an update to increase payouts. 

Renown is a currency in Rainbow Six Siege that allows you to unlock new operators without spending any real money. The post-match payouts for Renown had always been pretty fair when the game was buy-to-play, but after the shift to free-to-play, long-time players had noticed that Renown gain had slowed down significantly.

Rainbow Six Siege X director, Alex Karpazis, addressed the concerns by announcing that a ‘buff' had been applied, so players should notice the Renown grind becoming a bit faster. With Siege X, Challenges were also added to the game. These pay out large chunks of Renown for winning games with certain operators, or getting kills with certain weapons, so that can help speed things up a bit.

In an interview, Karpazis told PCGamer that the goal is “not to change the amount of grind to unlock operators, or to unlock anything in the game”. However, if the data shows that gains are too low, the developers are willing to bump things up, as shown with this initial 10% buff to Renown gain two weeks on from the Siege X launch.

KitGuru Says: Have you tried Rainbow Six Siege X since the update? 

 

The post Ubisoft buffs Renown earnings in Rainbow Six Siege X following complaints first appeared on KitGuru.

A new rumor claims that the iPhone 17 will have a larger screen than the current iPhone 16, making it the same size as the iPhone 16 Pro.


In May 2025, display analyst Ross Young claimed that the iPhone 17 would feature a 6.3-inch screen, compared to the 6.1-inches of the iPhone 16. Now regular, even prolific, leaker "Digital Chat Station" agrees.

"The screen size of iPhone 17 has changed to 6.27/6.3 inches," says the leaker (in translation). The first figure listed is the more precise diagonal size of the screen, but it will be referred to as 6.3-inches.


Rumor Score: 🤔 Possible


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Apple has annoyed some users with its F1 Wallet promotion, and pleased others with its Finder icon redesign. Plus, there's news of the M5 iPad Pro, how Apple Intelligence briefly went down, and more, on the AppleInsider Podcast.


It had already seemed as if Apple had found every possible way to promote its "F1: The Movie," and yet no, there was at least one more way — and judging by social media, it deeply aggravated users. But Apple using its Wallet app to promote a Wallet offer is arguably useful, so let's argue it.

Plus this is week three of the OS 26 betas, and it's the first time that Apple Intelligence has gone down. Apple will surely never admit to a problem, but host Wesley Hilliard has figured out how on-device Apple Intelligence can possibly go down.


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Apple has added a $350 million campus to its growing Bay Area portfolio, spending over half a billion dollars on local real estate this week.


Apple has been on a Bay Area shopping spree this week. Earlier we learned that it bought the Tantau office complex for $160 million — but it seems like Apple still had money to burn.

Its newest acquisition is a two-building campus located at 615 and 625 North Mathilda in Sunnyvale, Santa Clara County. The location is just under seven miles from Apple Park.


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Trump has signed a trade deal with China that will see it withdraw the rare minerals ban that affects iPhones, though it still leaves US consumers paying far more for imported goods.


Among the responses to Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs, China halted rare earth mineral exports in April 2025. Now according to multiple sources including Reuters, that ban may be lifted.

There are few details so far, and no confirmation of whether all such rare mineral exports will resume. The news broke as Trump casually mentioned "we signed with China yesterday," and officials subsequently revealed that the deal was made earlier in the week.


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The AVerMedia CamStream 4K is a video capture card designed for cameras and camcorders. In true plug-and-play fashion, it makes them easily usable on computers and mobile devices. While small, the competent device offers high-quality output options, including uncompressed RGB24 color format support at Full HD.

While the new glass-like design may be the most visible change within iOS 26, the operating system also has five features that might be particularly appealing for business users.


iOS 26 made its debut on June 9 at WWDC 2025, in a relatively subdued keynote event. While Apple put a strong emphasis on its cross-platform "Liquid Glass" design language, there's more to iOS 26 than meets the eye.

Some of the upgrades and improvements in iOS 26 allow you to express your creativity more easily, like the new ChatGPT-powered styles for Image Playground. Other features, meanwhile, will help you get work done, and they might be especially useful for those in the business world.


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DeepSeek has been declared by German regulators to contain illegal content because of its security issues, and the local government wants it removed from the App Store and Google Play Store.


DeepSeek is the Chinese generative AI app that jumped to the top of the US App Store, was famously developed for a fraction of what OpenAI spent on ChatGPT, and has even been politely praised by Tim Cook. However, it also comes with severe security issues, and this is what has prompted Germany's decision.

According to Reuters, Germany's data protection commissioner Meike Kamp has asked Apple and Google to remove it after DeepSeek failed to meet requested security standards. She asked DeepSeek in May 2025 to meet requirements, or to voluntarily withdraw its app, and it did neither.


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Peak is proving to be more than just a “jam game” experiment. What began as a simple project to combat burnout has exploded into a certified hit, initially selling a million copies in its first six days and now, surprisingly, reaching two million units sold in just nine days. This incredible momentum shows no signs of slowing down, as the developers themselves, known as Landcrab, noted in a recent blog post.

As the developer said in a blog post, “It's been a wild time since launch… Peak managed to exceed our expectations of player count and hype by like… a lot.” This translates to an additional million copies flying off the virtual shelves in just three days.

While the celebration is warranted, Landcrab is already working hard on the game's first major update. They've been diligently collecting community feedback, assuring players that they're noting as many suggestions as possible. Potential improvements span the gamut from crucial quality-of-life adjustments to entirely new content and all of the additions they wanted to include from the start. Naturally, this will be underpinned by a strong focus on bug fixes, currently their top priority.

Landcrab is specifically investigating key issues impacting players, including problems with disconnection and reconnection, broader performance and optimisation, microphone or audio glitches, and game crashes. The development team openly acknowledges its small size and appreciates players' patience as it tackles these bug reports. Looking ahead, localisation is a confirmed inclusion for Peak, though Landcrab is cautious, stating they won't release anything significant until they are certain it's feasible.

KitGuru says: Do you think Peak will be a success for some time, or will it be just the new flavour of the month until the next one shows up?

The post Peak sales increase to 2 million as developers confirm post-launch DLC plans first appeared on KitGuru.

Each week, all those with an Epic Games account are privy to a title or two as part of the company’s free game program. Available now, EGS account holders can ‘purchase’ and download the excellent, unique and serene open-world indie adventure title Sable.

Available to add to your library from now until the 3rd of July at 4pm UK Time, Sable is an open-world indie adventure title from Shedworks and published by Raw Fury.

Released back in 2021, the game is known for its unique cell-shaded art style as well as its non-linear style of progression – letting you freely explore the open world and its many puzzles / points of discovery.

Beyond this, Sable also includes an excellent soundtrack composed by the indie pop star Japanese Breakfast – with some of the songs even charting on music platforms.

Whether you’re in it for the music, visuals, calming vibes or the whole package, Sable is definitely worth adding to your library and giving a go – especially for free.

Sable is available to add to your Epic Games library from now until the 3rd of July, at which point it will be replaced by the inventory management roguelike ‘Backpack Hero’ and the musical action-adventure title ‘Figment’.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this week’s free Epic offering? Have you heard of the game before? How important is a game’s soundtrack in your opinion? Let us know down below.

The post Open-world indie adventure platformer Sable is free on the Epic Games Store first appeared on KitGuru.

Initially planned to launch in late June, Call of Duty Black Ops 6 Season 4 Reloaded was delayed into early next month. That said, Treyarch and Activision have now fully detailed all of the changes and additions coming with the arrival of S4 Reloaded on the 2nd of July.

Taking to their blog, the ‘Call of Duty staff’ officially detailed all of the new content set to launch alongside Black Ops 6 Season 4 Reloaded on the 2nd of July. The full list of changes can be found HERE, but some of the most significant additions include:

Multiplayer

• Two new maps (Fringe and Eclipse)
• Cel-shaded variants for half a dozen maps
• Party Ops Limited Time Mode (LTM)

Zombies

• Updates to the Grief mode
• Cel-shaded map variants
• Abomination Challenge LTM
• New leaderboard events
• Starting Room LTM

Warzone

• New scorestreaks (Care Package and Hand Cannon)
• Door Barricade Field Upgrade
• New contracts
• New ‘Loot Master’ perk
• Havoc Royale LTM
• Cel-Shaded Rebirth Island
• Resurgence Casual
• Ranked Play Resurgence

General

• Olympia Shotgun special weapon
• Pickaxe melee weapon
• SVD Full Auto Mod attachment
• TR2 CQB Auto Conversion attachment
• Beavis & Butt-Head crossover event

While Black Ops 6 had a pretty solid start, many fans have been less-than-impressed with the game’s post-launch support. At the very least, With Season 4 Reloaded being delayed, hopefully its launch will be somewhat more stable than previous updates.

KitGuru says: What do you think of all the upcoming content? Have you been content with BO6’s post-launch support? Which of the three modes have you been playing the most? Let us know down below.

The post Black Ops 6 Season 4 Reloaded arrives next week, following slight delay first appeared on KitGuru.

The OLED monitor reviews keep on coming, as today we are checking out ASRock's first entry into this premium market space with the Phantom Gaming PGO32UFS. Using LG's 32in WOLED panel, this screen is notable for its dual mode functionality – meaning it can run at either 4K/240Hz or 1080/480Hz, with the latter mode promising incredible motion clarity. Hitting the market at around £800, let's find out if this screen is worth buying.

It's been a while since we last looked at an LG WOLED monitor, and the latest generation of panel promises a number of improvements over previous versions. The sub-pixel structure has been updated to provide better text clarity, brightness has also increased, with ASRock claiming a peak of 1300 nits in HDR, while there's the aforementioned dual mode feature as well.

On top of that you've got all the usual goodness associated with OLED monitors – infinite contrast, near-instant response times, viewing angles and so on, so on paper the ASRock PGO32UFS looks very impressive. Let's find out how it performs in the real world.

A note on price

During this review we found the PGO32UFS listed on AWD-IT for just over £760, though it is currently out of stock. Both OverclockersUK and Scan have the PGO32UFS listed for £840-850, and it's in stock at both vendors at the time of writing, so it could be worth shopping around for the best deal if you do want to pick one up.

Specification:

• Display
  • Panel Size: 31.5 inch
  • Viewing Area: 697 x 391 mm (H x V)
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Panel Type: WOLED
  • Viewing Angle: 178°(H) / 178°(V)
  • Resolution: 4K/UHD (3840 x 2160)
  • Pixel Pitch: 0.1814mm
  • Curvature: Flat
  • Refresh Rate: [Dual Mode] – UHD 240Hz / FHD 480Hz
  • Response Time: 0.03 ms (GTG)
  • Brightness: 275 nits (SDR Typ.) / 1300 nits (HDR Peak)
  • Color Space: 99% DCI-P3 / 132% sRGB
  • Display Colors: 1.07B (10-bit)
  • Contrast Ratio: 1,500,000:1
  • Display Surface: Anti-Glare
  • HDR: VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400
  • Low Blue Light: Yes
  • Adaptive Sync: AMD FreeSync Premium Pro
• Unique Features
  • Dual Display Mode: UHD 240Hz / FHD 480Hz
  • KVM Switch
  • Integrated Wi-Fi Antenna (7dBi)
• I/O Ports
  • 2 x HDMI 2.1
  • 2 x DisplayPort 1.4
  • 3 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A
  • 1 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-B
  • 1 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-C (DP Alt Mode / PD 65W)
  • 1 x Headphone Out
  • Speaker: 5W x2
• Power Consumption
  • Power Consumption: ≦235W (Max)
  • Power Saving Mode: ≦0.5W
  • Power Off Mode: ≦0.3W
  • Voltage: 100~240VAC, 50/60Hz (Adapter 240W)
• Mechanical Design
  • Tilt Adjustment: -7° ~ +20°
  • Swivel Adjustment: -20° ~ +20°
  • Height Adjustment: 0 ~ 100 mm
  • VESA Mount: 100 x 100 mm
• Dimensions (W x H x D)
  • With Stand: 715 x 602 x 280 mm
  • Without Stand: 715 x 413 x 63 mm
• Weight
  • Net Weight with Stand: 6.3 kg
  • Net Weight without Stand: 4.1 kg
  • Gross Weight: 9.9 kg
• Accessories
  • 1 x HDMI v2.1 (1.8m)
  • 1 x DP v1.4 (1.8m)
  • 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C (1m)
  • 1 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A to Type-B (1.8m)
  • 1 x AC Adapter 240W (1.5m)
  • 1 x Power Cord (1.5m)
  • 1 x Quick Start Guide
  • 1 x Wi-Fi Antenna Cables Set
  • 1 x Phantom Gaming Cable Sleeve
• Certifications
  • VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400
  • AMD FreeSync Premium Pro

Firmware tested: 20250528 / V12

The post ASRock PGO32UFS Review (Dual-Mode WOLED) first appeared on KitGuru.

Humble’s Choice subscription service has been an excellent way for players to get their hands on a strong selection of titles each month for a relatively low cost. It seems the service was too good of a deal however, as Humble has now announced a massive price hike of almost 30%.

Humble Choice subscribers recently received an email stating that from the 1st of July, the monthly price for the service is going up from £8.99 a month to £11.49 – almost a third higher than its previous cost. In addition, a yearly subscription will now set you back £119.99 (compared to £98 previously).

Unfortunately (though unsurprisingly), the service itself is not getting any better as a result of this change, with Humble simply promising that “your benefits aren’t changing” – meaning in essence your benefits are now worse in value.

Of course, Humble is far from the first service provider to increase prices, with PlayStation Plus and especially Xbox Game Pass seeing quite a few price hikes in recent years.

Still, an increase of almost 1/3rd is not an insignificant number, and so it will be interesting to see how this impacts future subscription figures – especially as current memberships inevitably lapse.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this price increase? Is it justifiable? Should Humble have added extra benefits to compensate for the increase? Let us know down below.

The post Humble’s Choice subscription service gets major price hike first appeared on KitGuru.

Ars Technica has been closely following Framework's products since they were first announced, and have enjoyed their modular design as well as the ability to upgrade the laptop as new parts become…

FBC: Firebreak is the latest project from Remedy Entertainment – the team behind beloved titles including but not limited to Alan Wake, Max Payne and Control. While player numbers on Steam in particular have been quite concerning, Remedy has revealed that FBC has now surpassed 1 million players.

Taking to Twitter, the official Control/FBC page confirmed that “As of last night, we have surpassed 1 million players in FBC: Firebreak. This is a significant milestone, so thank you for playing from all of us at Remedy.”

Of course, 1 million players does not equate to 1 million copies sold, especially as the game was a day-one addition to both Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus.

As mentioned, Steam numbers for FBC have been rather paltry, with the multiplayer title peaking at under 2000 concurrent players.

Remedy acknowledges the game’s issues however, stating “We know there is still a lot of work ahead of us, and we are super-motivated about it. We have a lot of exciting things cooking for Firebreak players! More about that soon.”

Given that multiplayer experiences is a new avenue for Remedy, it perhaps makes sense that they failed to nail it on the first try. That said, hopefully the team are committed to learning from their mistakes – making FBC: Firebreak a more compelling package with time.

KitGuru says: What do you think of FBC: Firebreak so far? Does it have potential? How can Remedy Entertainment ‘remedy’ the situation? Let us know down below.

The post FBC: Firebreak surpasses 1 million players, despite paltry Steam numbers first appeared on KitGuru.

The latest Apple Store in Australia is in a historic Commonwealth Bank Building, and it has opened to customers with unique features to the region.


Apple's ambitious retail plans continue to be carried out unabated as a new Apple Store opens in Perth, Australia. It is technically a store that was moved from a different location in Perth and now resides in a historic Commonwealth Bank Building.

According to comments provided to The West by Apple SVP of Retail and People Deirdre O'Brien, Apple wanted to elevate the experience for local shoppers. Like other stores in historic locations around the world, Apple worked to restore and lean into attributes that make the location unique to the region.


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The Aura Triple Boost 14 Pro adds three 14-inch folding displays to your MacBook Pro, for when you really need to work on the move — assuming you've got the cargo capacity.


One of the main benefits of having a desktop computer is the ability to use multiple monitors. With more than one screen at your disposal, your digital workspace increases considerably, allowing you to see and work on more things at once time.

At a desk with a Mac mini or Mac Studio, this is an environment that is easy to create. It becomes a much tougher problem when it comes to portable workstations.


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A new Bluetooth ID appeared in a database related to device syncing, and it may be a reference to the AirPods Pro 3 that are expected to launch in the fall.


Apple is fairly careful to avoid inadvertent leaks, but it isn't immune to mistakes. A couple of small flubs occurred in 2025 already, one referencing AirPods Pro 3 directly and another stating AirPods Pro 2 or later.

The latest tidbit was discovered by MacRumors in an undisclosed codebase. The codebase was updated and normally contains a list of Bluetooth IDs for accessories like AirPods and Beats headphones, but the latest update added an extra value.


Rumor Score: 🤯 Likely


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Apple and Qualcomm sought to transfer the patent troll case filed by Red Rock in 2021 to California, but their appeals have been denied by the U.S. District Judge and the Federal Circuit Court.


Apple is no stranger to patent infringement lawsuits from patent trolls, and one that slipped under the radar since its start in 2021 has resurfaced. Red Rock Analytics, a non-practicing entity and known patent troll, filed a lawsuit with Apple and Qualcomm over U.S. Patent No. 7,346,313 in Texas.

According to a report from Law360, Apple and Qualcomm were denied their appeal to move the lawsuit to California by both the U.S. District Judge Alan Albright and the Federal Circuit Court. So, the lawsuit will be carried out in the patent troll-friendly Texas courts instead.


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Apple provides parental controls in iOS and iPadOS to set content and behavior restrictions for children's devices. Here's how to get started.


Most of the settings for content and privacy restrictions fall under Screen Time. Introduced in iOS 12, Screen Time records how much time a user spends on their device.

It can be configured to monitor and limit the time spent on any apps, which is great for checking how much time a child spends gaming or hanging out on social media apps. Additionally, it tracks notifications received.


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Right at the deadline to comply with the European Union Digital Markets Act, Apple is making changes to its developer policies. However, it may not be enough to escape the European Commission's ire.


Since the introduction of the Digital Markets Act, Apple has been under close scrutiny, with the repeated threat of fines for noncompliance. On June 26, Apple said it is implementing a plan that makes changes to its rules concerning steering and transaction fees.

The move by Apple was expected, considering that June 26 was the last of 60 days Apple had to fall into compliance. After receiving an initial $570 million fine in April, Apple faced the prospect of even higher fines as time moved on.


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Leaked images reveal a small shift in the iPhone 17 Air's front camera, which may hint at internal design compromises required by its ultra-thin build.


It's almost rumor season, which means we're getting a steady flow of new leaks that may give us some insight into the next iPhone lineup. And, right on cue, we've got yet another new leak related to the iPhone 17 Air.

This time the leak consists of a photograph of a series of screen protectors designed to work with Apple's iPhone 17 lineup. At first blush, the images aren't terribly noteworthy — that is, until you look at the one for the iPhone 17 Air.


Rumor Score: 🤔 Possible


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J.P. Morgan has lowered its Apple stock price target, warning that iPhone demand may be slowing down after a wave of early purchases and weaker interest in the upcoming models.


In a note to investors seen by AppleInsider, J.P. Morgan has lowered its price target for Apple from $240 to $230. The new price target reflects tempered expectations for revenue and earnings over the next 18 months.

The firm pointed to softer demand projections for the upcoming iPhone 17 lineup. Also noted is broader economic pressures that could weigh on consumer spending.


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Apple is marking two decades of podcasting, and is highlighting 20 standout shows across that time, that helped shape the medium.


Podcasts first landed on iTunes in 2005. To celebrate 20 years of podcasts, Apple has launched a new page titled "Apple Podcasts 20 Years, 20 Podcasts We Love" promoting its favorite podcasts throughout the years.

"This list is a love letter to the podcasts that left a lasting impact on us and the ones we continue to recommend again and again," the page reads.


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Samsung's new line of smart monitors pairs well with Mac computers, and if you preorder the M7, M8, or M9 (a QD-OLED display), you can score up to a $300 Samsung credit or Amazon gift card.


The 2025 smart monitor lineup from Samsung starts at just $399.99, with preorder incentives in effect now at Samsung and Amazon. Whether you prefer a Samsung credit or an Amazon gift card, the preorder deals are worth checking out, with the devices officially launching on Prime Day (July 8).

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The Lexar NQ780 4 TB offers plenty of storage for all your games and videos. It is also priced very reasonably, at just $240, which means one TB of storage will cost you $60. Results from our testing show that performance is pretty good, too, as long as you don't exhaust the SLC cache.

Six months after its introduction at CES 2025, the HDMI Forum officially approved the HDMI 2.2 standard. This upgrade dramatically boosts the maximum bandwidth to 96 Gbps, unlocking support for resolutions as extreme as 16K at 60Hz. However, users should be aware that achieving this will necessitate new “Ultra96”-certified cables, as HDMI 2.2 cannot operate at its peak without them.

The new HDMI version is a considerable leap forward for high-resolution and high-refresh rate content. While its predecessor, HDMI 2.1, already began to strain with uncompressed 8K at 60Hz, the new HDMI 2.2 specification can handle bandwidth-hungry scenarios like 12K at 120Hz and even 16K at 60Hz. It also supports up to 4K resolution at 240Hz and 8K at 60Hz in a full 4:4:4 format, with complete 10-bit and 12-bit colour depth.

One user-friendly change introduced with HDMI 2.2 is the mandatory labelling system. Learning from the confusion surrounding HDMI 2.1, where numerous cables failed to meet advertised specifications, the HDMI Forum will now require the “Ultra96” branding on all authorised cables. To ensure the label is correctly applied, manufacturers must test each cable. This should make it simple to find a truly HDMI 2.2-compliant cable.

The new Latency Indication Protocol (LIP) adds another layer of refinement. This feature enhances audio-visual synchronisation, particularly in complex multi-device setups involving soundbars, AV receivers, or elaborate home theatre chains. LIP enables devices to communicate latency information to each other and automatically adjust sync, effectively eliminating the lag between visuals and audio.

While there's no official debut date for compatible devices, AMD's next-gen Radeon series is rumoured to feature HDMI 2.2. However, early leaks suggest not all models will offer the full 96 Gbps capability, with some possibly capping at 80 Gbps.

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KitGuru says: While HDMI continues strengthening its lead in the living room and home entertainment space, DisplayPort is traditionally preferred in the PC gaming monitor market. HDMI 2.2 certainly has the potential to shift that balance. Still, its widespread adoption will depend heavily on how quickly manufacturers integrate the new standard.

The post HDMI 2.2 specification revealed first appeared on KitGuru.

Studio NightDive found success with its remaster of System Shock 1 a couple of years ago. Now, the fan favourite sequel, System Shock 2, is getting the same treatment.

System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster is available starting today. The game is available on Steam, promising various improvements over the original, including cross-platform co-op multiplayer, expanded mod support and more.

The game has launched to a ‘Positive' overall user review score on Steam, with fans pointing to the game's mod support and QoL updates as key selling points.

Here is the full list of key improvements packed into the System Shock 2 25th Anniversary Remaster:

• Cross-Play Co-Op multiplayer.
• Choose from 3 branches of the Military; O.S.A, Marines or Navy and experiment with different play styles.
• Additional Mod Support
• Up to 144FPS performance with ultra-widescreen support.
• 50 Achievements to unlock.
• Enhanced Characters, Weapon Models and Animations.
• Optimized Controller support.
• Quality of Life Improvements.

System Shock 2 takes place in the year 2114. Players awake from cryo sleep on the FTL ship Von Braun, unable to remember any details about who you are, where you are going, or what it is you are supposed to do. Quickly, you realise something has gone horribly wrong on board the ship, with deadly robots and hybrid mutants roaming the halls. On top of that, you have to deal with SHODAN, a rogue AI that wants to destroy humankind.

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KitGuru Says: Are you planning on picking up the System Shock 2 25th Anniversary Remaster for a new playthrough? 

The post System Shock 2 25th Anniversary Remaster launches to positive Steam reviews first appeared on KitGuru.

Death Stranding 2 is out today and the game is already off to a good start thanks to an influx of glowing reviews. Some have already managed to beat the game, only to spot an odd name in the end credits – Nintendo. So why is Nintendo's name in the credits of this PS5 exclusive? 

Nintendo Pictures Co. LTD appears in the end credits for Death Stranding 2. No, Nintendo did not have a hand in the creation of the game. However, during development, Kojima Productions did work with Dynamo Pictures for cinematic sequences. Dynamo Pictures also worked on the first Death Stranding game, as well as various other projects like Persona 5, Monster Hunter World.

Nintendo acquired Dynamo Pictures in the second half of 2022 to beef up its in-house cinematics. Since then, the company has rebranded to Nintendo Pictures and has primarily worked on Nintendo games like Pikmin 4, Super Mario RPG and Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

As Nintendo owns Dynamo Pictures now, and the company has rebranded, Nintendo's name appears in the credits for Death Stranding 2.

For now, Death Stranding 2 is a PlayStation 5 exclusive game. However, a PC version is expected next year. As Death Stranding 1 ended up branching out to other console platforms, we would expect to see the same happen with Death Stranding 2, but it could take a couple of years.

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KitGuru Says: Are you picking up Death Stranding 2 this week? 

The post Why does Nintendo appear in the credits for Death Stranding 2? first appeared on KitGuru.

Stalker 2 just received a massive update today, fixing hundreds of bugs and overhauling the A-Life system to deliver on the promised vision for the game prior to launch. Alongside this, GSC Game World has also opened the game up for modding, with a whopping 700GB modding tool kit.

If you want to make mods for Stalker 2, you best have plenty of storage space. The full version of the modkit currently calls for close to 700GB of storage space. The kit requires a 471GB download, which when unpacked and installed, takes up 659GB of space. Having a normal copy of the game installed will eat up another 150GB, so mod developers may need to dedicate a whole 1TB SSD just to this one game and project.

While there are some large modkits out there, GSC Game World's kit for Stalker 2 dwarfs them all. The closest is Baldur's Gate 3 for instance has a 150GB modkit.

Speaking with PCGamer, a GSC Game World spokesperson explained that the reason for the file size is that it contains every asset used in the game, fully uncompressed. This initial release is just phase one though, so the file size may come down a bit in future updates.

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KitGuru Says: It sounds like modders will have free reign over what to do with Stalker 2, which opens up some very exciting opportunities for projects.

The post Stalker 2 modding kit requires over 650GB of storage space first appeared on KitGuru.