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Silverstone's Retro FLP02 Case With Turbo Button Brings 1990 Vibes To Modern Builds

Silverstone's Retro FLP02 Case With Turbo Button Brings 1990 Vibes To Modern Builds Silverstone just launched the FLP02, a new retro-inspired PC case design that harkens back to the 80s and 90s. The FLP02 has a standard tower configuration in contrast to the older lay-flat Silverstone FLP01. The FLP02 has more era-appropriate features too, like a functional lock for the power/reset buttons and a Turbo button. While classic
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ASUS ROG Ally & Xbox Ally Handheld Updates To Deliver Hybrid CPU Tweaks & Much More

ASUS ROG Ally & Xbox Ally Handheld Updates To Deliver Hybrid CPU Tweaks & Much More When the original ASUS ROG Ally handhelds came out, they were followed up by a long series of patches that radically improved both the software and hardware, adding new features, fixing bugs, and even directly improving the performance and efficiency of the handhelds thanks to power management tweaks and driver updates. The ROG Xbox Ally family
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Microsoft Responds To Security Concerns Over Windows 11's Agentic AI Shift

Microsoft Responds To Security Concerns Over Windows 11's Agentic AI Shift Microsoft continues to work towards an AI driven experience in its software and operating systems, even though some users have been vocal about letting the company know that they’re not fully bought in with that direction. To attempt to ease the concerns of some of these users, Microsoft is laying out how it plans on keeping its Windows OS
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Forget Nintendo's 3DS, A Glasses-Free 3D PC Gaming Handheld Is Coming

Forget Nintendo's 3DS, A Glasses-Free 3D PC Gaming Handheld Is Coming The Abxylute 3D One is a new Intel Lunar Lake-powered PC gaming handheld with a glasses-free 3D display akin to the legendary Nintendo 3DS. The device also features a detachable keyboard (included) like the Microsoft Surface, and detachable controllers similar to the Lenovo Legion Go and Nintendo Switch handhelds. The Abxylute 3D One is
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Biostar launches fanless EdgeComp MS-Nano for industrial AI deployment

Biostar has introduced the EdgeComp MS-Nano 4G/8G, a powerful fanless edge AI system designed for system integrators and developers. The compact unit is powered by the Nvidia Jetson Orin Nano module, which supports the performance-boosting Super Mode, allowing the system to deliver up to 40 TOPS of AI performance.

Available in 4GB and 8GB LPDDR5 configurations, the EdgeComp MS-Nano features a Jetson Orin Nano module, packing a 6-core Arm Cortex-A78AE CPU and an Nvidia Ampere GPU with 1024 CUDA cores and 32 Tensor Cores, ensuring processing capacity for real-time AI inference. The system is compatible with modern AI frameworks, including LLMs and VLMs, and runs on Linux JetPack 6.2.

Marketed toward critical applications such as intelligent inspection and robotic automation in manufacturing, shopper analytics in smart retail, traffic flow management in smart cities, and autonomous systems in modern agriculture, the system is built for 24/7 operation in harsh environments. It features a fanless design and operates over a wide temperature range of -20°C to 50°C. Moreover, it has a small footprint of 160 x 102 x 80mm and a wide 12V to 20V DC power input range.

The unit includes both GbE and 2.5 GbE LAN, with optional Power over Ethernet (PoE) support. I/O includes four USB 3.2 Type-A ports and dedicated serial interfaces, including RS232, RS232/422/485, and CAN bus, which are useful for integration with industrial machinery. Expansion slots are available for an NVMe SSD (M.2 Key-M) and 4G/5G or Wi-Fi/Bluetooth modules.

KitGuru says: The EdgeComp MS-Nano isn't your typical home PC, but if you had one at hand, how would you use it?

The post Biostar launches fanless EdgeComp MS-Nano for industrial AI deployment first appeared on KitGuru.
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Antec launches Flux M mATX case with six pre-installed fans

Antec has announced the debut of the Flux M case, an mATX chassis designed for high-performance cooling right out of the box thanks to its six pre-installed fans.

The Flux M case is built around Antec's dedicated F-Lux airflow platform. Equipped with six PWM fans out of the box, including three 120mm PWM ARGB fans and three 120mm reverse fans, the case features a multi-directional vent design with large intake ports at the front, bottom, and right side, ensuring continuous airflow. On the left side, there's a tempered glass panel that lets you look at the internals of the system housed in the case.

The vertical cooling approach is based on the large bottom mesh panel. With 20mm of clearance between the GPU and the bottom fans, the reverse fans can deliver targeted and effective cooling directly to the graphics card. Despite its mATX size, the Flux M offers substantial component clearance. It can house motherboards up to Micro-ATX and ITX, supports CPU coolers up to 175mm tall, and fits graphics cards up to 405mm long. For liquid-cooling enthusiasts, the case supports a top-mounted 360mm radiator and a rear-mounted 120mm radiator.

Antec has also included several builder-friendly features. The PSU chamber is front-mounted, which frees up internal space for better airflow, and a 13A extension cable is included to connect the PSU to the rear socket. Cable management space is generous for a small chassis, offering up to 59mm in front and 49mm at the back for routing. The I/O panel includes USB 3.0, USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, and an audio combo port. The Flux M is expected to cost €69.90 or £59.99.

KitGuru says: The aggressive price of the new Flux M makes it interesting for those planning an mATX build. 

The post Antec launches Flux M mATX case with six pre-installed fans first appeared on KitGuru.
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AMD confirms FSR Redstone suite launches next month

AMD's GM and SVP, Jack Huynh, has posted a video teaser confirming the imminent launch of the company's newest iteration of FSR, dubbed Redstone. The Redstone update represents the most significant architectural shift in FSR history, fully leaning into machine learning and AI acceleration.

The teaser doesn't show much besides a few game snippets within the “FSR” logo and a date for the announcement, scheduled for December 10th. In this announcement, we expect AMD to reveal much more information on how FSR Redstone works, whether it will completely replace FSR 4, which GPUs will be compatible with it, and which other titles Redstone will be available for, aside from Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.

For those who don't know what FSR Redstone is, it builds on the machine learning super-resolution introduced with FSR 4 and adds three key innovations. First, AMD FSR Ray Regeneration uses a neural network to reconstruct and filter high-frequency noise from ray-traced data. This functions similarly to Nvidia DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction, helping to improve reflection quality and clean up artifacts from sparsely sampled ray tracing. This feature has already been seen in a limited, early state in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.

Second, we have Neural Radiance Caching, which continuously learns how light propagates within a scene, allowing the system to predict and cache indirect illumination. This is designed to significantly reduce the computational cost of implementing ray-traced global illumination. Finally, ML Frame Generation marks a significant evolution from the interpolation technology used in FSR 3. This new model employs machine learning with integrated temporal and spatial awareness to produce highly accurate intermediate frames.

KitGuru says: Which games would you like to see getting FSR Redstone support?

The post AMD confirms FSR Redstone suite launches next month first appeared on KitGuru.
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AOC CU34G4Z Review (Budget 240Hz Ultrawide)

There’s no doubt that being a PC enthusiast has had its challenges in recent years, with shortages, skyrocketing prices and a general slowdown in innovation, but it’s been great to see the gaming monitor segment bucking that trend and going from strength to strength. Today’s monitor is a great example of that, with the AOC CU34G4Z offering a curved 34in 3440×1440 ultrawide panel clocked at 240Hz, for less than £300. It certainly sounds good on paper, so let’s dive in and see what it’s like to use in the real world…

Timestamps

00:00 Intro
01:00 Pricing and key info
01:47 Design, first impressions
02:35 Connectivity + OSD
04:06 Factory calibration analysis
06:25 sRGB mode + calibration
07:09 Backlight bleed, viewing angles
07:25 Response time performance
09:34 Motion clarity examples
10:58 Real-world gaming experience
12:58 Closing thoughts

Just for some context around the pricing, right now AOC’s CU34G4Z is listed at £280 on Amazon and Currys, and while that does appear to be a Black Friday special at the time of writing, PCPartPicker price tracking reveals it’s been selling for under £300 since September anyway, so we’re only talking a £10-20 difference.

That’s still a great price for a curved ultrawide with these specs, too. It was only back in mid-2020 I myself spent £500 on the AOC CU34G2X, also a curved ultrawide but with a slower 144Hz refresh rate – and let me tell you now, the response times on that screen were nowhere near as good as they are with the CU34G4Z!

Specification:

  • Screen size (inch): 34
  • Screen size (cm): 86.4
  • Flat / Curved: Curved
  • Curvature radius: 1500R
  • Panel treatment: Antiglare (AG)
  • Pixels per inch: 109
  • Panel resolution: 3440×1440
  • Resolution name: WQHD
  • Aspect ratio: 21:9
  • Panel type: Fast VA
  • Backlight type: WLED
  • Max refresh rate: 240 Hz
  • Response time (GtG): 1 ms
  • Response time (MPRT): 0.3 ms
  • Static contrast ratio: 2500:1
  • Viewing angle (CR10): 178/178
  • Display colours: 1.07 Billion
  • Brightness in nits: 450 cd/m²
  • Sync technology (VRR): Adaptive Sync
  • Sync range: 48–240
  • Colour space (sRGB) CIE 1976 %: 130.3
  • Colour space (DCI-P3) CIE 1976 %: 94
  • Colour space (Adobe RGB) CIE 1976 %: 88.7
  • Flicker-free: Flicker Free
  • Bezel type (front): 3-sided frameless
  • Bezel colour (front): Black
  • Bezel finishing (front): Matt
  • Cabinet colour (backside): Black, Red
  • Cabinet finishing (backside): Matt
  • Removable stand:
  • Kensington lock:
  • VESA wallmount: 100×100
  • Tilt: ­3.5° ±1.5° ~ 21.5° ±1.5°
  • Height adjust (mm): 130 mm
  • Swivel: ­20° ±2° ~ 20° ±2°
  • HDMI: HDMI 2.1 x 2
  • DisplayPort: DisplayPort 1.4 x 1
  • USB hub:
  • USB generation: USB 3.2 (Gen 1)
  • USB type downstream: 2
  • Audio output: Headphone out (3.5mm)
  • Warranty period: 3 years

Firmware tested: V1.03

The post AOC CU34G4Z Review (Budget 240Hz Ultrawide) first appeared on KitGuru.
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Guild Wars Reforged announced, and it is releasing very soon

ArenaNet, a subsidiary of NCSoft, has announced Guild Wars Reforged, an update and modernisation of the classic 2005 MMORPG. The update will be free for all existing owners and will launch on December 3rd for Steam and Windows PC.

The project is a co-development venture between ArenaNet and the small studio 2weeks, which was founded by former ArenaNet developers who worked on the original. This collaboration ensures the game, which has amassed over nine million players since its 2005 debut. The Reforged package will include the Prophecies, Factions, and Nightfall content, and it will be free if you have at least one of them.

The update's primary focus is on accessibility and visual fidelity. Guild Wars Reforged will officially introduce XInput controller support and be Steam Deck verified. Visual improvements include support for high-DPI displays, new antialiasing options, ambient occlusion, enhanced bloom effects, refined textures, and new HD skill icons. The audio system has also been upgraded with enhanced 3D environmental sound.

For QoL improvements, the update will overhaul the user experience by adding a new quest-tracking system to simplify navigation and implementing high-DPI support with increased font size options for modern high-resolution monitors. New players can purchase the Guild Wars Reforged package for £17.99/$19.99, which is quite affordable given that it includes all three original campaigns.

KitGuru says: Have you ever played the original Guild Wars? Will you do so now with the upcoming Reforged update?

The post Guild Wars Reforged announced, and it is releasing very soon first appeared on KitGuru.
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ALLIWAVA U58 Review

The ALLIWAVA U58 is a compact Mini-PC that keeps costs low while offering solid performance for web browsing, office tasks, streaming, and light gaming. Powered by a Ryzen 7 5825U and 32 GB of memory, it's a viable pick for anyone who wants an efficient, quiet system without paying for extra performance they don’t need.

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NASA Monitoring Asteroids The Size Of A Bus Hurtling Towards Earth

NASA Monitoring Asteroids The Size Of A Bus Hurtling Towards Earth NASA’s has been busy tracking a trio of sizable asteroids hurtling past Earth’s orbit, one traveling as close as 361,000 miles from us. While scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) assured the public that there's no immediate danger with any of these objects, these flybys are fantastic opportunities to improve our own planetary
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Inside Snapdragon X2 Elite: Qualcomm’s Next-Gen PC Chip Promises Big Gains

Inside Snapdragon X2 Elite: Qualcomm’s Next-Gen PC Chip Promises Big Gains Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite: MSRP TBD Qualcomm's second generation PC processor, the Snapdragon X2 Elite, improves upon its predecessor in virtually every way, with more cores, increased performance, and enhanced efficiency. Higher Core Count (Up To 18) Increased Performance Per Core More Powerful GPU More Powerful NPUs Higher Memory Bandwidth...
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Best Black Friday Mega Deals On 100-Inch TVs Priced From $999

Best Black Friday Mega Deals On 100-Inch TVs Priced From $999 The year is 2025 (for a few more weeks, anyway) and guess what? We've reached a point where buying a monster-sized TV doesn't have to require a beastly budget. We took a look around at some early Black Friday deals and found several 100-inch and 98-inch models priced below two grand. We even found a couple that are a penny shy of one grand! Insignia's
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NVIDIA's Shift To Smartphone-Style Server Memory Could Double DRAM Costs

NVIDIA's Shift To Smartphone-Style Server Memory Could Double DRAM Costs Driven by the explosive demand for artificial intelligence, server memory could double in price by late 2026. The disruption originates from two prime sources: a recent shortage of DDR4/DDR5 legacy memory chips plus NVIDIA, the primary engine of the AI boom, pivoting its next-generation AI servers away from DDR5 memory toward LPDDR chips traditionally
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ASUS ROG Matrix RTX 5090 Quad Fan GPU Gets A Big Price & Hyper-Limited Stock

ASUS ROG Matrix RTX 5090 Quad Fan GPU Gets A Big Price & Hyper-Limited Stock ASUS has begun accepting preorders for its funktastic ROG Matrix Platinum GeForce RTX 5090, though you'll need a big wad of cash to bring one home. The custom GPU sports a unique design with four fans, including three on the front side of the cooling shroud and one around back, and is a limited edition run in celebration of 30 years of cranking
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Cloudflare Apologizes For Massive Outage & Details What Went Horribly Wrong

Cloudflare Apologizes For Massive Outage & Details What Went Horribly Wrong An event at Cloudflare that crippled large portions of the internet yesterday was not caused by a cyber attack or malicious activity, either directly or indirectly, the company confirmed in a blog. If that's the case, then what caused all the ruckus? Turns out it was a change in permissions to one of Cloudflare's databases that triggered an
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Resident Evil Requiem on Switch 2 WON’T support mouse mode

One of the biggest new innovations seen with the Nintendo Switch 2 is the console’s mouse mode feature – allowing you to turn your Joy-Con onto its side and slide it around like a PC peripheral. While some games have made use of the feature, one title which will not is Resident Evil Requiem; with the game’s producer claiming to have “tried really hard to implement mouse controls for Nintendo Switch 2.”

A major supporter of Nintendo in recent years has been Capcom, with the game developer / publisher releasing a bunch of titles for the OG Switch throughout its lifecycle.

Easily the biggest Capcom game coming to Switch 2 so far is Resident Evil Requiem – coming day-and-date with all other systems in February of 2026.

In an interview with the publication PressStart, Resident Evil Requiem producer Masato Kumazawa was asked about the upcoming game’s Switch 2 release and whether they suffered from any issues during development. According to Kumazawa:

“Looking back on Switch, there were Resident Evil games before on the Switch, so what we did, is we used the past experience of developing these games on the Switch to help develop Nintendo Switch 2. But also, we made a lot of versions of the games for PC as well. In fitting with PCs that have a wide variety of specs, we could also just make sure the game was optimised for the Nintendo Switch 2 too. So it wasn’t too hard, so to speak.”

Resident Evil Mouse Mode

While it appears so far as though the Switch 2 version should be able to keep up with the rest of the systems, Requiem will not be making use of one of the Switch 2’s most unique features, with Kumazawa adding:

“We tried really hard to implement mouse controls for Nintendo Switch 2. When we put it in, it confused the gameplay and became too complicated. So actually, we are using gyro instead.”

Of course, the inclusion of gyro controls is welcome to see, however it would be interesting to know exactly how mouse mode ‘confused the gameplay’. Perhaps Requiem requires heavy use of the face buttons? We will have to wait and see, but hopefully developers are able to find useful implementations of the Switch 2’s mouse mode as the generation progresses.

KitGuru says: What are your impressions of mouse mode so far? Has it been underutilised? What do you think Capcom means by “confused the gameplay”? Let us know down below.

The post Resident Evil Requiem on Switch 2 WON’T support mouse mode first appeared on KitGuru.
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Thermaltake rolls out early UK Black Friday deals

Black Friday is almost upon us but there are many deals to be found for those looking to shop early. Thermaltake has just rolled out a wide range of deals, bringing discounts to cases, coolers, power supplies and more. 

If you are looking for a PC case to kickstart your next build, you can currently find discounts across a range of popular options from Thermaltake. The Thermaltake Versa H18 and S100 TG cases are currently down to just £29.99. If you are looking to build a small form factor rig, the TR100 Mini is available in variety of colours, with prices reduced to £99.98.

The Thermaltake View 270 TG ARGB cases are now starting at £59.99, also available in multiple colour options so you can find one that best suits you. If you want the ‘Plus' model, you can find those for a reduced price of £74.99.

Workstation cases like the Thermaltake AX700 and AX100 are also discounted right now, bringing prices down to £299.99 and £119.99 respectively. The middle-ground AX500 can also be found on sale for under £145. If you need a workstation-grade cooler to go with your case, then the AW420 offers a ton of cooling capacity for Intel LGA4677 and AMD sRT5 CPUs at just under £355.

For gaming systems, Thermaltake's LA-series AIO liquid coolers should be your point of call. Prices currently start at £44.99 for the 240mm AIO, going up to £59.99 for a 360mm version with ARGB fans and a 2.4″ LCD screen on the CPU block.

For power supplies, the range of fully modular Toughpower GT units are available at low prices. A 750W model will cost you £79.99, while 850W models can be found for just £10 more. If you are building a high-end, power-hungry system, then you can find 1000W and 1200W units priced at £114.98 and £129.98 respectively.

If flight sims are how you wind down after a long day, then you can find the GF500 Flight Simulator Cockpit now at a reduced price of £524.99.

You can find all of Thermaltake's UK Black Friday deals at SCAN.

KitGuru Says: Are you planning on buying anything during the Black Friday sales this month? 

The post Thermaltake rolls out early UK Black Friday deals first appeared on KitGuru.
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Twisted Metal Season 3 has been greenlit by Peacock

One of the biggest surprise hits from the recent rise in adaptations of video games into film/TV was Peacock’s Twisted Metal. Released back in 2023, a second Season was quickly greenlit – arriving just a few months ago. It appears as though Peacock is not done however, with a Season 3 of Twisted Metal now being officially announced,

As reported by the publication Variety, a 3rd Season of Peacock’s Twisted Metal series has been greenlit. This perhaps is not too surprising given the success of the show itself, with July’s Season 2 amassing almost a Billion minutes of watch time – not bad for a show based on a decades old IP with no new entries.

That said, while the series is set to return, its creator will not, with the publication confirming that Twisted Metal’s co-creator and showrunner ‘Michael Jonathan Smith’ has exited the project.

Twisted Metal Peacock

This hopefully should not impact development however, with David Reed (known best for working on The Boys) already announced to be taking over the role of showrunner and executive producer.

As mentioned, the original Season 1 for Twisted Metal was a surprise hit, especially given the less-than-stellar reception towards the show prior to its release.

With two successful Seasons under its belt now (and a third on the way), here’s to hoping that Sony realises the potential within the Twisted Metal franchise.

KitGuru says: Are you excited for a 3rd Season? What’s been your favourite adaptation of a game in recent years? Let us know down below.

The post Twisted Metal Season 3 has been greenlit by Peacock first appeared on KitGuru.
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Sonic Frontiers, Forspoken and more leaving PlayStation Plus Extra in December

With Sony’s PlayStation Plus Extra / Premium titles for the month of November now out and available for subscribers to claim, the console maker has confirmed the list of titles which will be removed from the service next month. In a rather major exodus, PS Plus is set to lose a number of notable games, including Sonic Frontiers; Forspoken; GTA 3 Definitive Edition and more.

In going to the last chance to play section on the PlayStation 5’s PS Plus tab, subscribers can find a list of 9 titles which are set to be removed from the service next month (likely mid-December:

  • Battlefield 2042
  • GTA 3 Definitive Edition
  • Arcade Paradise VR
  • Sonic Frontiers
  • Forspoken
  • Star Wars Tales from the Galaxy's Edge
  • Firefighting Simulator The Squad
  • Surviving Mars
  • Star Trek Bridge Crew

PlayStation Sonic

While some of these are not too unexpected (such as the removal of Battlefield 2042), Sonic Frontiers leaving the service is certainly a blow to PS Plus.

In addition, while the game’s story and dialogue left a lot to be desired, Forspoken features a fun and unique combat scheme which could be enough of a reason to give the game a go ahead of its removal.

Beyond this, it is disappointing to once again see a number of PSVR2 titles being removed, with Arcade Paradise VR in particular being an unfortunate departee (as well as Star Trek Bridge Crew).

As mentioned however, you still have around a month’s time to play/complete these games before they are removed.

KitGuru says: What do you think of December’s departees? Has Sony given up entirely on PSVR2? Let us know down below.

The post Sonic Frontiers, Forspoken and more leaving PlayStation Plus Extra in December first appeared on KitGuru.
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Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition gets surprise Switch and Switch 2 launch

While fans continue to wait for the next mainline entry in Crystal Dynamic’s Tomb Raider series, the franchise itself has been far from quiet – with Lara Croft having received remasters of previous games, an animated Netflix series and the announcement of a live-action show. In another return to past titles, 2013’s Tomb Raider reboot has now been announced and released for the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2.

Developed in partnership with Aspyr, 2013’s Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition has been officially announced for the Nintendo Switch and its successor.

Available right now for the price of $19.99 (or $17.99 as part of a launch promotion), the Definitive Edition includes all of the original game’s content, even its oft-forgotten multiplayer mode.

While we did not get any technical specifications, seeing as how Tomb Raider (2013) originally released for the 7th generation of consoles, both the Switch (and especially the Switch 2) should run the game with no issues.

This does beg the question as to whether the Definitive Edition will also be ported over to other modern systems. As mentioned, Tomb Raider was originally a PS3 / Xbox 360 title.

Though it did see some enhancements with the release of the Definitive Edition for the PS4 / Xbox One, the game could certainly benefit from at least a 4K60fps update on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

We will have to wait and see, but given that they have now released the first entry in a trilogy on the Switch, expect Rise and Shadow of the Tomb Raider to be next in line for a port.

KitGuru says: Are you surprised by this announcement? Will the full trilogy be ported over to Switch? Would you welcome a native current-gen version of the trilogy? Let us know down below.

The post Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition gets surprise Switch and Switch 2 launch first appeared on KitGuru.
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YouGov survey finds that UK and EU consumers trust local routers over competitors from China and Russia

A new YouGov study commissioned by FRITZ! highlights that British and European consumers place significantly more trust in routers manufactured within Europe compared to those from other regions. More than half of respondents expressed little or no confidence in routers made in Russia or China.

The survey was conducted throughout August with over 5000 participants across the UK, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Italy. The survey found that only 10% distrust European router makers. By contrast, 48% said they distrust Chinese brands and 55% expressed the same about Russian manufacturers.

In addition to features such as Wi-Fi coverage and speed, consumers in the UK and Europe place great importance on aspects like security, reliability, or price, performance, and service. FRITZ!Box routers achieved the highest Net Promoter Score (NPS) across all countries surveyed, indicating strong likelihood of recommendation among users. The results suggest that European-made routers are not only preferred for performance but are increasingly seen as critical to protecting sensitive data. If you want to see what we thought of one of the latest Fritz!Box routers, you can find our review of the 5690 Pro HERE.

How Europe can control its digital infrastructure will be one of the main topics at the European Summit on Digital Sovereignty 2025. Speaking on this topic, Fritz! CEO, Jan Oetjen said: “An increasing amount of sensitive data – from online banking to tax returns – is transmitted via our home network. Compromised routers therefore pose an immense threat, as they can be misused as weapons for cyberattacks and malicious traffic is hardly distinguishable from legitimate traffic. Similar to the decisions made in the 5G sector, we must ensure that our routers are secure and remain in European hands to protect our digital freedom.”

KitGuru Says: Do you use a third-party router, or have you been sticking with the one provided by your ISP? Are you thinking about upgrading? 

The post YouGov survey finds that UK and EU consumers trust local routers over competitors from China and Russia first appeared on KitGuru.
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TCL's High-Density OLED Could Spawn The Midrange Headsets VR Needs

TCL is showing off a compact 2.5K RGB OLED panel for XR headsets that could be the perfect midpoint between cheap LCD and expensive micro-OLED.

Today, almost every affordable headset uses LCD panels, while premium options use micro-OLED, technically known as OLED-on-silicon (OLEDoS).

LCD is cheap, but has poor contrast, forming a relatively washed-out image that compresses the darkest details into a gray haze in place of deep blacks. Meanwhile micro-OLED offers vibrant colors with rich contrast, and can achieve extremely high resolution without increasing the bulk of headsets, but is incredibly difficult to manufacture and thus very expensive.

Some headsets like Meta Quest Pro, the Pimax Crystal series, and Somnium VR1 use advanced LCD panels with an array of mini backlights to improve contrast compared to regular LCD, and a quantum dot layer to enhance colors, but the result is still a far cry from the self-emissive nature of OLED, where every pixel provides its own light. Further, the extra layers increase thickness, weight, heat, and power draw.

Of course, there is another display technology for headsets between LCD and micro-OLED, one that also offers many of the latter's benefits: regular OLED, also known as OLED on glass.

PSVR 2 Specs & Technical Analysis: Displays, Lenses, Reprojection, And More
PlayStation VR2 ships today. Here’s our technical analysis of it as VR hardware. PSVR 2 offers major upgrades over the original 2016 product. PSVR 1 required an array of cables connected to a breakout box and a PlayStation Camera, while PSVR 2 connects via a single USB-C cable and
UploadVRDavid Heaney

OLED on glass is what's used in your smartphone, your smartwatch, and perhaps your TV too, if you paid a lot for it. For VR, it was seen as the only game in town between 2014 and 2016, used in the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR.

HTC continued to use OLED in Vive Pro, as did Oculus for the original Quest. But LCD soon offered higher density at lower cost, a killer combination for a market looking to scale up while increasing resolution, and so investment in new custom OLED panels to keep up with the density demands of VR mostly dried up within just a few years.

The only regular OLED VR headset still on the market today is PlayStation VR2. And one key reason that it's the only headset from a major company with new fresnel lenses is that, when it released, there was simply no OLED with high enough density to be compact enough to be suitable for pancake lenses (among other issues, which we'll get to later in the article).

TCL's
New OLED
PlayStation VR2's
OLED
Size 2.56-inch ~3.4-inch
Resolution 2560×2740 2000×2040
Subpixels RGB
(3/3)
PenTile
(2/3)
Refresh Rate 120Hz 120Hz
Density 1512 PPI >800PPI

That brings us to TCL's new OLED panel, which its China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) division is showing at the Display Tech-Ecosystem Conference (DTC 2025) this week in China.

The company says it's the highest density RGB OLED-on-glass display in the world, and has the 120Hz refresh rate ideal for VR.

It's almost twice as dense as the OLED in PlayStation VR2, while using a full RGB subpixel arrangement, letting it offer 73% more pixels and 160% more subpixels despite being just over half the size.

Its size makes it ideal for use with pancake lenses, its RGB subpixels mean it shouldn't need a softening diffusion layer, and its resolution is notably higher than the LCDs in Meta Quest 3 and Valve's Steam Frame.

Putting it all together, this means TCL's new OLED panel could power clear and sharp headsets with rich colors, deep contrast, and true blacks, but without the sky-high prices you get with micro-OLED. And this could be key to delivering compelling products that sit somewhere between Meta Quest 3 and Samsung Galaxy XR in the market.

Cheaper Apple Vision Headsets Could Use Regular OLED
A major display supplier reportedly sent Apple samples of regular OLED panels meant for use in future much cheaper Vision headsets.
UploadVRDavid Heaney

This isn't the first time we've heard about the idea of high-density regular OLED as a way to deliver some of the advantages of micro-OLED but in far more affordable headsets.

Over a year ago, South Korean news outlet The Elec reported that Japan's JDI was pitching Apple a 1500 PPI regular OLED for the rumored "Vision Air" headset, and that Samsung was working on a similar display too.

That's notable because it's almost exactly the same density as TCL's new OLED, and may suggest that TCL too is (or was) pitching the panel to Apple.

For now, TCL isn't saying whether it has any customers for the new OLED panel, but does confirm that it's designed for "XR devices".

Type Resolution
Quest 3 LCD 2064×2208
Steam Frame LCD 2160×2160
TCL's New Panel OLED 2560×2740
Apple Vision Pro Micro-OLED 3660×3200
Samsung Galaxy XR Micro-OLED 3552×3840

There are, however, a few major unanswered questions.

The first is whether the panel is bright enough to overcome the inefficiency of pancake lenses, and the fact that they work best with polarized light, which OLED doesn't provide. There are workarounds for this, if the panel layers and lenses are specifically designed to work together. And the brightness of OLED panels has significantly improved in recent years, with the latest iPhones and Apple Watches for example reaching 3000 nits.

The other question is whether the new panel exhibits the same non-uniform fixed-pattern noise we've seen in many regular OLED headsets like PlayStation VR2, the mura, an issue not present in any micro-OLED we've viewed to date. Overcoming this may be the key to reviving regular OLED as a great option for midrange headsets, so we're incredibly curious to find out whether TCL has done so.

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