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Analogue just announced new colorways for its recently-launched Analogue 3D console. The appropriately-named Funtastic limited-edition consoles are heavily inspired by Nintendo's translucent N64 models from the late 1990s. Analogue even borrowed the Funtastic branding. In other words, these are going for the nostalgic jugular for gamers of a certain age. There's even a see-through green colorway that calls to mind the Nintendo 64 variant that shipped as a bundle with Donkey Kong 64. Just imagine booting up that bad boy as you roam around the house spouting the lyrics of the DK rap song. Analogue 3D - Funtastic - Limited Editions.Available in highly limited quantities.Perfectly color matched to the originals N64 models. $299.99On Sale: Dec 10, 8am PST.Shipping: Dec 10 with Guaranteed delivery before Christmas. pic.twitter.com/PPYgIw0vxU Analogue (@analogue) December 8, 2025 There are eight translucent colors to choose from and accompanying 8BitDo controllers available as a separate purchase. The consoles cost $300 and the controllers are priced out at $45. The Analogue 3D Funtastic consoles go on sale on December 10 at 11AM ET, with the company promising they'll ship within 48 hours to ensure delivery by Christmas. The company is also restocking the traditional colors, which will be available for purchase at the same time but won't ship until January. Tim Stevens for Engadget We praised the Analogue 3D in our official review. It's a fantastic way to play N64 cartridges, even if the original games don't always hold up. The 4K CRT emulation is top-notch and the overall hardware design is solid.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/analogue-is-weaponizing-your-nostalgia-with-these-translucent-versions-of-its-3d-console-181105740.html?src=rss
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Every December, the Engadget staff compiles a list of the years biggest winners. We scour over articles from the previous 12 months to determine the people, companies, products and trends that made the most impact over the course of the year. Not all of that influence is positive, however, and some selections may also appear on our list of biggest losers. Still, sit back and enjoy our picks for the biggest winners of 2025.Nintendo Switch 2Playing Mario Kart World on the Switch 2 in handheld mode.Sam Rutherford for EngadgetAside from a big bump in battery life that many were hoping for, Nintendo took just about everything that made its last console such a phenomenon and upgraded it on the Switch 2. A sleeker design with magnetic Joy-Cons that are less likely to break, a larger (albeit LCD) 1080p display with HDR, much stronger performance, mouse controls and a boost to the base storage were all very welcome.Of course, the vast majority of Switch games run on the Switch 2 (often with visual improvements or other upgrades), so the new console had a vast library right from the jump. Nintendo is building out its slate of first-party games with treats like Donkey Kong Bananza and Metroid Prime 4, and the third-party support is seriously impressive too. Cyberpunk 2077, Street Fighter 6 and Hitman: World of Assassination are already available, and the likes of Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade and FromSoftware's Switch 2 exclusive The Duskbloods are on the way.The Switch 2 is an iteration, not a revolution, but Nintendo didn't need to reinvent the wheel to make another great system. It's little surprise, then, that we gave the Switch 2 a score of 93 in our review. The console is surpassing Nintendo's sales expectations as well. The company said in November that it believes it will sell 19 million units (up from 15 million) by the time its current fiscal year ends in March. Kris Holt, Contributing reporterNVIDIANVIDIA GeForce 5070 TiDevindra Hardawar for EngadgetCould things be any rosier for NVIDIA? Once just a video card company for gamers, NVIDIA's GPU hardware is now directly tied to the rise of the AI industry. Its stock has jumped a whopping 1,235 percent over the past five years, going from $13.56 per share in 2020 to a peak of $202.49 this past October. NVIDIA's server-grade cards are being used en masse to train AI models, as well as to power AI inferencing. At home, its GeForce GPUs are enabling local AI development and they're still the gaming cards to beat, despite AMD's steadily improving competition.Clearly, the company's bet on parallel processing has paid off enormously. Its GPUs can handle tons of computations simultaneously, making them ideally suited for the demands of the AI industry. They're not exactly efficient that's why neural processing units, or NPUs have sprung up to power consumer AI features but it's hard to deny NVIDIA's raw computational power. NVIDIA's AI success may not last forever, though. Companies like Google and Microsoft are already working on their own AI chips, and it's still unclear if consumers actually want widespread AI features as much as tech companies think. If the AI industry crashes, NVIDIA will be one of the first victims. Devindra Hardawar, Senior reporterTech billionairesUS President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Elon Musk (L) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 30, 2025. ALLISON ROBBERT via Getty ImagesThere's no doubt that tech billionaires, especially those that lean conservatively, have benefitted tremendously from the Trump administration over the past year. Elon Musk's DOGE team of tech loyalists chainsawed their way through the budgets and staff of several federal agencies, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which regulates Tesla. (That hasn't stopped the NHTSA from launching a new investigation into Tesla's full self-driving tech, though.)According to a recent report by Oxfam, the 10 richest US billionaires (who are all tech leaders, save for Warren Buffet) increased their wealth by $698 billion of the past year. Of course, it took plenty of wining and dining to get there. Elon Musk reportedly donated nearly $300 million to Trump and Republican allies, and several tech companies have pitched in to build the president's lavish White House ballroom. But the result for the tech elite is increased access to the president, less scrutiny when it comes to acquisitions and other deals, and the potential for massive corporate and elite tax cuts. D.H.AI videoPOLAND - 2025/11/26: In this photo illustration, a silhouetted individual is seen holding a mobile phone with a Sora of ChatGPT OpenAI logo displayed in the background. (Photo Illustration by Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)SOPA Images via Getty ImagesAI slop didn't start in 2025, but it reached new heights thanks to updates from Meta, Google, OpenAI and others that made it easier than ever to create a real-ish (emphasis on the ish) looking clips from nothing but your most unhinged mad libs. Now, AI-generated videos are just about impossible to avoid. Some platforms, like Pinterest and TikTok, have even begun offering people the ability to ask their algorithms to show less AI content in their feeds. Unfortunately, there's no way to stuff Shrimp Jesus back into the bottle. AI video is everywhere and it's here to stay. It's not only overtaken Facebook and Instagram's recommendations, Meta created an entirely separate feed just for users' AI-generated fever dreams. OpenAI's Sora, which lets you make AI videos of real people, was downloaded a million times in just a few days. Google's Veo, which generated more than 40 million videos in a matter of weeks, is now built-in to YouTube Shorts.It's now trivially easy for creators to churn out fake movie trailers, cute animal videos that never happened or viral clips of made up ICE raids. Hell, the president of the United States regularly shares bizarre, sometimes poop-themed, AI videos on his official social media channels. During the government shutdown, the official X account for Senate Republicans shared a deepfake of Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer. AI video is winning not just because it's everywhere, but because so many are unable, or unwilling, to understand what's real and what isn't. More than half of Americans say they are not confident in their ability to distinguish between human and AI-generated content, according to Pew Research. Similar numbers of people report being "more concerned than excited about the increased use of AI in daily life." But those concerns have done little to stop AI slop from dominating all of our feeds, and there's no sign it will ever slow down. Karissa Bell, Senior reporterGalaxy Z Fold 7Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7Sam Rutherford for EngadgetAfter seven generations, Samsung reached an important milestone this year with its Galaxy Z Fold line: It made a foldable phone thats the same size as a regular handset. In fact, weighing 7.58 ounces and measuring 72.8mm wide, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is actually lighter and narrower than an a target="_blank" class="link" href="https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-s25-ultra-review-too-much-ai-not-enough-ultra-140022798.html" data-i13n="cpos:34;pos:1">S25 Ultra, while being practically just as thin at 8.9mm (folded). Its a real marvel of engineering, especially when you consider the phone also features a 200MP main camera, an IPX8 rating for water resistance and a 5,000 mAh battery with 45-watt wired charging. And of course, there's that huge 8-inch main screen hiding inside, which makes the Z Fold 7 both a phone and a tablet in one device. The only thing it's really missing is the improved dust resistance Google gave to the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. But perhaps more importantly, the Z Fold 7's reduced size and weight have created a device with wider appeal. This has propelled sales of Samsung's latest flagship foldable up 50 percent compared to the previous generation while pushing shipments of foldables as a whole to record highs. Who knew that when Samsung focuses on creating world-class hardware instead of overindexing on AI, good things happen? Okay, maybe thats a bit harsh. Regardless, for a phone category that has struggled with excess weight and bulk since its inception, the Z Fold 7 feels like a revelation and the beginning of a new era for handsets with flexible displays. Now, can we just bring their prices down, please? Sam Rutherford, Senior reporterSmart glassesSenior reporter Karissa Bell wearing a pair of Ray Ban Display glasses. Karissa Bell for EngadgetLike it or not, smart glasses are having a moment. Propelled by new devices like the Meta Ray-Ban Display and upcoming models like Xreals Project Aura, the idea of wearing specs with built-in screens suddenly became an attractive proposition. And that means a lot for a category of gadgets thats often best remembered by the fashion tragedy that was Google Glass in 2013. However, this development isnt purely by chance. The latest generation of smart glasses has only just now become a reality due to the convergence of several branches of tech including improved optics, lightweight batteries and, of course, AI. Now that last one might sound silly considering how many big companies seem to be betting the farm on machine learning being the next big thing, but AI will be a critical feature for enabling the hands-free experience that you need to make smartglasses work when you cant rely on touch input. While this category is still in its early stages of development, the increased momentum we've seen from smart glasses this year seems poised to carry them towards being a future pillar of people's core tech kits. S.R.Fast chargingFast charging on the Pixel Watch 4 is one implementation that impressed us this year.Cherlynn Low for EngadgetDevices like tablets and smartwatches have matured to the point where each generation mostly sees iterative upgrades, making covering them seem boring. But this year, as the hardware review season came to a close, I noticed an interesting trend. One feature, across various product categories, genuinely excited myself and other reviewers at Engadget and around the internet: impressively fast charging. By itself, high-speed charging isnt new. But when I reviewed the Pixel Watch 4 in October, I was shocked that one seemingly little update changed how I went about my day. The new power system on Googles smartwatch was so efficient that after about ten minutes on a cradle, the wearable went from below 20 percent to past 50 percent. With that boost, I stopped having to remind myself to plug the watch in any time I ran low or was about to run out the door, I just plopped it on the charger and would have enough juice for hours.Google wasnt the only company to make fast-charging a meaningful addition to one of its 2025 products. Apples iPad Pro M5 is the first iPad to support the feature, and while in our testing it fell a little short of the 50 percent charge in 30 minutes that the company promised, our reviewer Nate Ingraham still found it a meaningful improvement.Observers of the smartphone industry will likely point out two things. First, battery technology can be volatile, and larger, faster-charging cells might lead to exploding phones. So my optimism about this development is not without caution. Secondly, weve already seen all this come to handsets, especially in phones that launched outside the US first. OnePlus is known for its SUPERVOOC fast charging system, for example, and were seeing even more novel battery tech show up abroad. Calling fast charging a winner of 2025 may feel untimely to some.But when you consider the spread of speedier charging to other types of products, especially in electric vehicles that till now take forever to top up, the benefits are clear. This year, we saw Formula E (finally) debut its fast-charging pit stops, Honda announce its first full-size electric motorcycle with fast charging and Chinese EV maker BYD unveiling new tech that delivers peak EV charging speeds of 1,000 kilowatts. That should about halve the time it urrently takes to top up your electric car. Sure, its not the most eye-catching or novel technological development. But when counted in terms of precious time saved, fast charging coming to more types of devices certainly amounts to a greater good in gadgets in 2025. Cherlynn Low, Managing editorMagnetsThe Pixel 10 Pro Fold and the Pixel Ring StandSam Rutherford for EngadgetTwo years after the announcement of the Qi 2 wireless charging standard and its support of magnetic attachment accessories (a la Apples MagSafe), were finally seeing one of the more mainstream Android devices adopt it. In 2025, Google became the first Android phone maker thats not HMD to do so, bringing such magnetic capabilities to the Pixel 10 series. It also introduced Pixelsnap its own version of a MagSafe accessory ecosystem, including a slim puck with a fold-out kickstand that you can snap onto a phone. I love the Pixel Ring Stand and make sure to bring it with me whenever I can. It works perfectly with my iPhone 17 Pro, and has a compact footprint that makes it easy to take anywhere. Of course, its not the first of its kind Case-Mate and PopSocket, among others, already make similar products but theyre either pricier or rated poorly. But its not just Google that made a magnetic accessory I unexpectedly adored. When reports of Apples Crossbody Strap first trickled out, I was underwhelmed. Who cares about a crossbody strap for an iPhone? But when I was presented with one to try at the iPhone 17 launch event, my cynicism quickly melted into desire. Setting aside the convenience of having your phone on your person when you dont have pockets or a purse, the way magnets play a part here also won me over. To adjust the length of the straps, you just separate the two overlapping pieces that stick together magnetically, move them along each other till youre satisfied with the length and let them snap back in place. Im sure Apple isnt the first to make a crossbody strap accessory for iPhones, nor is it the first to use magnets to adjust such straps. But like many Redditors, Ive slowly come to realize the differences between those products and the Crossbody Strap for iPhone 17. Its far from perfect, but in 2025 it was another implementation of magnets in tech that caught my attention and brought convenience to my life. C.L.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/techs-biggest-winners-of-2025-180000177.html?src=rss
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Today, during the XR edition of The Android Show, Google showed off a bunch of updates and new features headed to its mixed reality OS. And while most of the news was aimed at developers, I got a chance to demo some of the platform's expanded capabilities on a range of hardware including Samsung's Galaxy XR headset, two different reference designs and an early version of Xreal's Project Aura smart glasses and I came away rather impressed. So here's a rundown of what I saw and how it will impact the rapidly growing ecosystem of head-mounted displays.First up was one of Google's reference design smart glasses with a single waveguide RGB display built into its right lens. I've included a picture of it here, but try not to read too deeply into its design or aesthetics, as this device is meant to be a testbed for Android XR features and not an early look at upcoming models.Try not to read too much into the appearance of Google's reference design smart glasses, as they are explicitly labeled as prototypes meant to test upcoming features in Android XR.Sam Rutherford for EngadgetAfter putting them on, I was able to ask Gemini to play some tunes on YouTube Music before answering a call simply by tapping on the touchpad built into the right side of the frames. And because the reference model also had onboard world-facing cameras, I could easily share my view with the person on the other end of the line. Naturally, I was curious about how glasses had the bandwidth to do all this, because in normal use, they rely on a Bluetooth or Bluetooth LE connection. When asked, Max Spear, Group Product Manager for XR, shared that depending on the situation, the device can seamlessly switch between both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, which was rather impressive because I couldn't even detect when that transition happened. Spear also noted that one of Google's focuses for Android XR is making it easier for developers to port over the apps people already know and love. This means for devices like the reference design I wore that feature a built-in display (or displays), the OS actually uses the same code meant for standard Android notifications (like quick replies) to create a minimalist UI instead of forcing app makers to update each piece of software to be compliant with an ever-increasing number of devices. Alternatively, for models that are super lightweight and rely strictly on speakers (like Bose Frames), Google has also designed Android XR so that you only need mics and voice controls to access a wide variety of apps without the need for visual menus. This is the picture Google's reference design smart glasses created (via Gemini ) when I asked it to transform a photo I took of some pantry shelves into a sci-fi kitchen. Sam Rutherford for EngadgetMeanwhile, if you're hoping to take photos with your smart glasses, there's a surprising amount of capability there, too. Not only was I able to ask Gemini to take a photo, the glasses were also able to send a higher-res version to a connected smartwatch, which is super handy in case you want to review the image before moving on to the next shot. And when you want to inject some creativity, you can ask Gemini to transform pictures into practically anything you can imagine via Nano Banana. In my case, I asked the AI to change a shot of a pantry into a sci-fi kitchen and Gemini delivered with aplomb, including converting the room into a metal-clad setting complete with lots of light strips and a few bursts of steam.However, one of the most impressive demos was when I asked Google's reference glasses to look at some of that same pantry environment and then use the ingredients to create a recipe based on my specifications (no tomatoes please, my wife isn't a fan). Gemini went down an Italian route by picking pasta, jarred banana peppers, bell peppers (which I thought was a somewhat unusual combination) and more, before launching into the first steps of the recipe. Sadly, I didn't have time to actually cook it, but as part of the demo, I learned that Gemini has been trained to understand human-centric gestures like pointing and picking things up. This allows it to better understand context without the need to be super specific, which is one of those little but very impactful tricks that allows AI to feel way less robotic. This is how Google Maps will look on Android XR. Note that this is the flat 2D version instead of the more detailed stereoscopic view available on smart glasses with dual displays. Sam Rutherford for EngadgetThen I had a chance to see how Uber and Google Maps ran on the reference glasses, this time using models with both single and dual RGB displays. Surprisingly, even on the monocular version, Maps was able to generate a detailed map with the ability to zoom in and out. But when I switched over to the binocular model, I noticed a significant jump in sharpness and clarity along with a higher-fidelity map with stereoscopic 3D images of buildings. Now, it may be a bit early to call this, and the perception of sharpness varies greatly between people based on their head shape and other factors, but after seeing that, I'm even more convinced that the smart glasses with dual RGB displays are what the industry will settle on in the long term.The second type of device I used was the Samsung Galaxy XR, which I originally tried out when it was announced back in October. However, in the short time since, Google has cooked up a few new features that really help expand the headset's capabilities. By using the goggle's exterior-facing cameras, I was able to play a game of I Spy with Gemini. Admittedly, this might sound like a small addition, but I think it's going to play a big part in how we use devices running Android XR, because it allows the headset (or glasses) to understand better what you're looking at in order to provide more helpful contextual responses. Even though it was announced not long ago in late October, Samsung's Galaxy XR headset is already getting some new features thanks to some updates coming to Android XR. Sam Rutherford for EngadgetHowever, the biggest surprise was when I joined a virtual call with someone using one of Google's new avatars, called Likeness. Instead of the low-polygon cartoony characters we've seen before in places like Meta Horizon, Google's virtual representations of people's faces are almost scary good. So good I had to double-check that they weren't real and from what I've seen they're even a step up from Apple's Personas. Google says that headsets like the Galaxy XR rely on interior sensors to track and respond to facial movements, while users will be able to create and edit their avatars using a standalone app due out sometime next year. The person in the bottom right is using a Likeness, which during my demo looked surprisingly responsive and realistic. GoogleNext, I got a chance to test out the Android XR's PC connectivity by playing Stray on the Galaxy XR while it was tethered wirelessly to a nearby laptop. Not only did it run almost flawlessly with low latency, I was also able to use a paired controller instead of relying on hand-tracking or the laptop's mouse and keyboard. This is something I've been eagerly waiting to try because it feels like Google has put a lot of work into making Android XR devices play nicely with other devices and OSes. Initially, you'll only be able to connect Windows PCs to the Galaxy XR, but Google says it's looking to support macOS systems as well.Finally, I got to try out Xreal's Project Aura glasses to see how Android XR works on a device primarily designed to give you big virtual displays in a portable form factor. Unfortunately, because this was a pre-production unit, I wasn't able to take photos. That said, as far as the glasses go, I was really impressed with their resolution and sharpness and the inclusion of electrochromic glass is a really nice touch, as it allows users to change how heavily the lenses are tinted with a single touch. Alternatively, the glasses can also adjust the tint automatically based on whatever app you are using to give you a more or less isolated atmosphere, depending on the situation. I also appreciate the Aura's increased 70-degree FOV, but if I'm nitpicking, I wish it were a bit higher, as I occasionally found myself wanting a bit more vertical display area. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take photos of Xreal's Project Aura smart glasses, as the model I used was still an early pre-production unit. So here's a shot provided by Google instead. Google / XrealAs a device that's sort of between lightweight smart glasses and a full VR headset, the Aura relies on a wired battery pack that also doubles as a touchpad and a hub for plugging in external devices like your phone, laptop or even game consoles. While using the Aura, I was able to connect to a different PC and multitask in style, as the glasses were able to support multiple virtual displays while running several different apps at the same time. This allowed me to be on a virtual call with someone using a Likeness while I had two other virtual windows open on either side. I also played an AR game (Demio) while I moved around in virtual space and used my hands to reposition the battlefield or pick up objects with my hands. Now I will fully admit this is a lot and it took me a bit to process everything. But upon reflection, I have a few takeaways from my time with the various Android XR devices and prototypes. More than any other headset or smart glasses platform out now, it feels like Google is doing a ton to embrace a growing ecosystem of devices. That's really important because we're still so early in the lifecycle for wearable gadgets with displays that no one has really figured out a truly polished design like we have for smartphones and laptops. And until we get there, this means that a highly adaptable OS will go a long way towards supporting OEMs like Samsung, Xreal and others. But that's not all. It's clear Google is focused on making Android XR devices easy to build for. That's because the company knows that without useful software that can highlight the components and features coming on next-gen spectacles, there's a chance that interest will remain rather niche similar to what we've seen when looking at the adoption of VR headsets. So in a way, Google is waging a battle on two fronts, which makes navigating uncharted waters that much more difficult. A major focus for Android XR while people are still figuring out how to make smart glasses is to support a wide variety of designs including those with single displays, dual displays or models without any displays that rely on cameras and speakers. Sam Rutherford for EngadgetGoogle is putting a major emphasis on Android XR's ability to serve as a framework for future gadgets and suppot and address developer needs. This mirrors the approach the company takes with regular Android and the opposite of Apple's typical MO, because unlike the Vision Pro and visionOS, it appears Google is going to rely heavily on its partners like Xreal, Warby Parker, Gentle Monster and others to create engaging hardware. Furthermore, Google says it plans to support smart glasses that can be tethered to Android and iOS phones, as well as smartwatches from both ecosystems, though there will be some limitations for people using Apple devices due to inherent OS restrictions. That's not to say that there won't be Pixel glasses sometime down the road, but at least for now, I think that's a smart approach and possibly a lesson Google learned after releasing Google Glass over a decade ago. Meanwhile, hi-res and incredibly realistic avatars like Likenesses could be a turning point for virtual collaboration, because, in a first for me, talking to a digital representation of someone else felt kind of natural. After my demos, I had a chance to talk to Senior Director of Product Management for XR Juston Payne, who highlighted the difference between smart glasses and typical gadgets by saying "Smart glasses have to be great glasses first. They need to have a good form factor, good lenses with prescription support, they need to look good and they have to be easy to buy."That's no simple task and there's no guarantee that next-gen smart glasses and headsets will be a grand slam. But from what I've seen, Google is building a very compelling foundation with Android XR.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/heres-how-google-is-laying-the-foundation-for-our-mixed-reality-future-180000716.html?src=rss
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