Simon Walsh

The well-known VR company Oculus released its TV experience for its inexpensive all-in-one Go headset today. The new experience lets you watch your favorite shows from Hulu, Netflix and more, on a virtual TV that the company touts as being the equivalent of 180-inches in real life.
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Valve began shipping the latest version of its Knuckles controller to developers yesterday. Since doing so, the company has shared many details about the controller’s new features and also why these features were implemented.
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Loupedeck has released an update to its original photo editing console today, calling it the Loupedeck+. Improvements include a higher quality build equating to more responsive buttons and an increase in customization options. The company claims that the new product was designed with updates based on feedback from the community.

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Earlier today, a new company called Aquio announced that it has partnered with iHome to release a bottle for carrying both cold and hot liquids that doubles as a Bluetooth speaker. It holds 16 ounces of liquid, packs a 5-watt speaker, and an IP67 dust/water resistance rating in a sandproof design, making it a great choice for frequent beach-goers.

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Garmin refreshed its fēnix lineup today with three new models named with the popular Plus moniker used in many smartphones over the past few years. Similar to these smartphones, the fēnix 5S Plus, fēnix 5 Plus and fēnix 5X Plus all sport larger displays with an increase of about 20% when compared to the previous generation.
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Turtle Beach announced two new headsets at this year’s E3. Both the Recon 200 and Stealth 300 are being marketed as great pairings for battle royale games like Fortnite and PUBG. The company states that both headsets have comfort, durability and high-quality audio, ingredients it says are needed to give players the edge in games.
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Suunto, a company based in Finland, will release its next product on June 26. It’s called Suunto 9 and is a multisport GPS watch designed with long battery life and durability in mind. The Suunto 9’s target audience is high-level athletes who need a watch that can withstand extreme training.
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Garmin has released a new version of its vivoactive 3 that adds features focused on music and mobile payments. The new device is named the vivoactive 3 Music to distinguish it from the model that was released in August 2017, which will continue to be sold as a more effective option.
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There’s a good chance that you’ve heard about MoviePass, the subscription service that lets you watch multiple movies in theaters a month for less than the price of a regular ticket. The longevity of the MoviePass‘ business model has been questionable at best, but nevertheless it continues to innovate with today’s announcement that the option to bring a friend will be coming soon.
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If you ever wished you could be a part of the Fallout world, you will soon be closer to that wish than ever before thanks to GameStop and ThinkGeek. The two companies are working together to release replicas of some of the game’s most iconic equipment. Not only will you be able to wear the equipment, you will actually get to build it yourself.
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Today, Nintendo released a new game for both the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo 3DS systems. It’s called Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido. This action-puzzle game also has RPG elements, making it check a few of boxes that may make it appeal to a wider audience.

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Mattel and GoPro have teamed up to offer a new Zoom In Hot Wheels car. The dull looking car allows you to mount a GoPro Session to the top so you can record all the action and allow you feel like the stunt driver you have always strived to become.
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JVC released its new Everio R camcorder lineup today. It consists of three models that are exceptionally rugged and offer 2-3 times the battery life you would see from a GoPro. One of the new offerings is capable of shooting 4K, while the other two tap out at 1080p.
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LG has released what it’s calling the 4K Laser CineBeam Projector. Initially announced at CES about 6 months ago, it stands out from the competition due to its a unique, portable design that retains a competitive price point.
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Xiaomi has done it again. Today the company announced an upgrade to its Mi Band. Similar to its predecessor, the Mi Band 2, the Mi Band 3 is a fitness tracker packed with lots of features at a very affordable price. It retains many features, and somehow they found a way to pack in new features while keeping the price nearly the same. A move that clashes with the recent trend of consumer electronics becoming more expensive year over year.
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Last year HP showed that it was putting more of an effort into its gaming lineup with its laptops that weighed over 10-pounds. A move that showed HP was not willing to sacrifice raw power for portability, it was something that many gaming enthusiasts would cheer for. While the HP Omen 15 is does not weigh 10-pounds, it is packed with power at a price that seems to be a good value.

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Kobo, a Canada-based ebook company, has announced the release of their latest ebook reader. They are calling it the Clara HD. The product seems to have its sights set directly on the Kindle Paperwhite, a flagship ebook reader that Amazon began selling initially selling in 2012 and refreshed in 2013 and 2015.
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Acer revealed its powerful Predator Helios 500 Notebook yesterday. It is aimed directly at gamers with configuration options that are sure to provide incredible performance in a portable computer. Its large 17.3-inch display rocks 4K resolution, or 1080p if the users prefer an incredible 144Hz refresh rate (a nice touch that gives gamers an edge against their competition).
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D-Link added three new cameras to their extensive lineup today. The easiest way to distinguish the models is via their model numbers: 8010LH, 8300LH, and 8525LH. All three cameras are HD and offer simple cloud recording thanks to integrated Wi-Fi. Another perk is that they work with both Google and Amazon’s voice assistants.
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Hisense today has added yet another TV lineup to it portfolio. Originally shown at CES, the H8E offers a lot of what you would expect in 2018. Features like 4K, HDR, and Motion Rate 120 are pretty common, but what sets this TV apart is Alexa integration. Users will be able to control their TV using the popular voice assistant with a voice controlled remote or via the Hisense Remote Now app.
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Hisense has shipped its massive 80-inch Laser TV that it displayed during CES 2018. The company has given it the model number L5 and it’s available for purchase in China today with worldwide availability coming soon.
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If there is one thing that differentiates Nintendo from the competition, it is its focus on games that support local multiplayer. In a generation of consoles whose games typically offer online-only multiplayer, it is like a breath of fresh air to see Nintendo’s console keep local multiplayer alive. With the announcement of Go Vacation from Bandai Namco, we will have one more option to play with our friends on Nintendo Switch.
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As of today you can order Incase’s new ProConnected 4-Wheel Hubless Roller, a smart carry-on for when you travel. Its stand-out feature is a battery that is powerful enough to charge the latest USB-C-equipped MacBook Pro and two other devices. Users can also track their bags location via Bluetooth using the Incase Smart app for iOS and Android.
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Optoma released its UHD51A projector today. It offers many of the things that you would expect in a modern projector like 4K and HDR, but what sets it apart is the integration with Amazon Alexa. Optoma proudly stated that this is world’s first projector to bake in the popular virtual assistant.
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ViewSonic added a new projector to its lineup today. This projector is aimed at consumers that are on-the-go and need to share content quickly and easily. It joins 3 other ultra-portable projectors currently available from ViewSonic, but notably it comes in at the lowest price point.
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Lenovo added some budget-friendly laptops to its array of offerings today. The company introduced the IdeaPad 330, 330S, and 530S. The lower the model number is, the lower the performance options and pricing will be. Arguably, the most important part of this release is the sheer affordability of the entry-level IdeaPad 330.
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With the announcement of the SKY Battery Base from Ninety7 and now the Battery Shell from Mission, it is clear that companies see an opportunity to improve the experience of Amazon Echo 2 by making it more portable…
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During CES 2018, Chinese-manufacturer Hisense announced six 4K smart TV lineups. The options ranged from Hisense’s flagship 75-inch H10E to the 43-inch R7. The R7 lineup comes in at the low-end of their new offerings, but offers 4 sizes with great specifications for the price.
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In a statement to Kotaku today, Nintendo revealed the unfortunate news that it does not plan to bring the beloved Virtual Console to Nintendo Switch. This comes just a matter of hours after providing additional details about its upcoming Switch Online service. 
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Nintendo officially announced on Friday that Random House Children’s Books and Penguin Random House U.K. have partnered with the game company to publish coloring and activity books for children. The books will feature themes and characters from iconic games such as Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Splatoon, and Animal Crossing.
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Today, Sinemia announced that it will offer its movie ticket subscription service in the United States. Up to this point, MoviePass has been dominant in the U.S., offering subscribers up to 1 movie ticket per day for the unbelievable price of $9.95/month. Sinemia’s subscription options do not match this pricing, but do offer some other perks that some customers may prefer.
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This week, Amazon has launched a new product line called Wag, dedicated entirely to pet products and accessories. According to the American Pet Products Association (APPA), all U.S. pet owners combined will spend over $72 billon in 2018 on pet expenditures, making this a very lucrative market for Amazon to add to its portfolio.
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Today, B&O PLAY released the new generation of its iconic Earset. These earphones offer an adjustable design that is built-in, a standout feature that debuted in the original version of Earset. Crafted using premium materials, B&O PLAY touts that Earset is ‘made to last’.
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Today at Facebook’s F8 developer conference, Oculus announced that the affordable Oculus Go VR headset is now available for order. Not a bad turnaround considering that Oculus Go was first revealed in October. Oculus is trying to make a big splash with this release by keeping the price low and availability high by releasing it across 23 countries.
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Update (5/31): The Atari VCS is now available for pre-order and has already been funded with an entire month left to go.

If you read our coverage back in March of Atari VCS, we had a general idea about pricing and pre-order dates, but detailed information was lacking. At that time Atari said that it would provide this information in April, and today, the company did just that. Atari today announced a concrete pre-order start date, where the VCS can be ordered, initial pricing information, and a general shipping timeframe.

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Razer officially added a new entry-level gaming mouse to their lineup today. They are calling it Abyssus Essential. It is an ambidextrous mouse (meaning that it can be used by left or right-handed gamers) and features a glowing light that Razer brands as “Chroma”.
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Give yourself an edge this golf season with the new Garmin Approach Z80, announced earlier today. The Approach Z80 is Garmin’s latest rangefinder. It can measure your distance to the flag from up to 350 yards and adds graphical overlays to the course you are standing on. These virtual markers allow players to view the shape of each green and also take note of distances to hazards.
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Anker has unveiled a lot of new products this week. Among the release of over-the-ear headphones and sports earphones are the Flare and Flare+ Bluetooth speakers. In addition to these new products, Anker announced that unification of their audio brand. All products announced this week will be branded under the name of Soundcore by Anker.
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One year after revealing new theater display technology at CinemaCon, Samsung has officially launched its new movie theater experience. They are calling it, “Onyx”. Up to this point, theaters have been known for using projectors to display their films, but Samsung hopes to change that with the release of Onyx. 
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There is nothing more sci-fi than robots. One could argue that building robots that interact with people could be one of the most challenging products to create. Some of the closest things we have to robotic assistants are virtual assistants such as Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa. Even though they have been around for many years, it seems that only recently have consumers started to accept the awkwardness associated with talking to them.

Despite the rough start that virtual assistants have had up to this point, rumor has it that Amazon is working on something much more daunting – the development of physical robots for in-home use.
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When Nintendo announced Labo (a platform designed to get children interested in engineering) back in January, many fans were concerned that cardboard may not have been the best material choice. While cardboard is flexible, inexpensive, and easy-to-use, it can also be susceptible to spills, tearing, squishing, things that most children have been known do. When pairing this concern with cost to replace a kit, it seemed like a gamble if you and your family would get your money’s worth. Nintendo put many of these fears to bed today by announcing replacement parts can be purchased directly from manufacturer.
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Canon has added a new photo printer to its line-up today. Called the IVY, it is Canon’s smallest and lightest photo printer to date. It weighs less than 6 ounces and measures just 4.7-inches long, 3.2-inches wide, and 0.7-inches high. With a product this portable, you can easily pocket this device alongside your smartphone. In fact, those two items are all that you will need to print photos on the go.
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It is very likely that your current smartphone takes better photos than the antiquated digital camera collecting dust in your basement. GoPro is hoping to cash in on that by launching a digital camera trade-in program that will net customers $50 credit towards a HERO6 Black or $100 towards a Fusion.
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