🎮 E3 is dead, 🍎 Apple's next event, and 📱 Samsung's new $450 phone
🎮 E3 is dead, 🍎 Apple's next event, and 📱 Samsung's new $450 phone
All the tech news you missed this week in a banner-ad-free format
Today’s tech 👍 winners & 👎 losers
❌ 🎮 E3 2023 is canceled – how the Apple effect killed E3
✅ 🍎 Apple WWDC keynote is June 5 – will its AR headset be there?
✅ 📱 My Samsung Galaxy A54 review is up – a great $450 Android
❌ 🥽 Sony’s PSVR 2 headset sales slide, as it makes mistakes
✅ 🐦 Breaking: Twitter’s algorithm is now open source, says Musk
✅ ➕ 3 new PS Plus free games unveiled – what’s coming in April
❌ 🧟♂️ The Last of Us on PC is so buggy, Naughty Dog had to address it
✅ 💻 Max’s Slim Pro 9i hands-on highlights Lenovo’s MacBook rival
💩 🤖 Microsoft’s Bing AI chatbot to insert ads while it still refuses to properly credit journalists. The future is great!
3 reasons E3 is canceled – it begins with Apple
E3 2023 is officially canceled, meaning the biggest trade show for video games – the Electronics Entertainment Expo – won’t happen as planned in Los Angeles this June. It’s a sad day for nostalgic video game expo fans, but it’s not unexpected news.
🎮 Further reading: I dive into what it was like 20 years ago – at E3 2003 – to explain what today’s younger generation is missing out on and what trends led to E3’s failure. More…
🤑 Deal with it – The Shortcut’s top deal picks
✏️ Microsoft Office is $39.99 for PC and for Mac today – down from $150
⚔️ Nintendo’s special-edition Zelda Switch OLED in stock: Best Buy, Amazon
🫥 Zelda-themed fancy case & Switch Pro controller in stock too
➕ $13 off with our PlayStation Plus Plus discount code when it’s time to renew
🟩 $20 off Microsoft Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, so $25 instead of $45
📸 Sony’s ZV-E1 camera ($2,199) and Insta360’s Flow smartphone gimbal ($159) launch with AI smarts for content creators
🎧 AirPods Pro 2nd gen down to $199.99 on Admorama
Samsung Galaxy A54 hands-on review: flagship powers and microSD card slot at a cheap price
Pros
✅ 💰The best Galaxy A-series phone at just $450
✅ 🗃️ MicroSD card slot on the back of the SIM tray!
✅ 🔋 5,000 mAh battery bests the S23 and S23 Plus
Cons
❌ 📸 No telephoto camera
❌ ⚡ No wireless charging or reverse wireless charging
❌ ⚙️ Chipset has yet to be tested
Samsung Galaxy A54 pre-orders launched this week, and I got some hands-on time with the new affordable Android phone before its official April 6 release date, and yes, it comes with the microSD card slot everyone wants in their device. The early verdict: if the higher-specced flagship Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is way out of your budget, then this well-priced $450 alternative is worth a look. More…
Apple WWDC 2023: June 5 keynote date confirmed
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: Apple AR/VR/IRL
🍎 Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote will be on June 5, 2023
📱 Expect previews of iOS 17, iPadOS 17, watchOS 10 macOS 14 and tvOS 17
🥽 Apple is rumored to show off a mixed-reality headset, RealityPro
🆓 Free online sessions for Apple developers and students with limited in-person experience at Apple Park
Microsoft’s Bing AI chatbot will soon have more adverts
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: Bing-bong
🤨 More adverts are coming to the Bing AI chatbot
📣 Microsoft announced the changes in a blog post
🤔 It hasn’t been revealed exactly where the ads will appear
📜 Early glimpses suggest they’ll be inserted as citations
Sony PSVR 2 sales are off to a slow start despite PS5’s success
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: PSVR 2 sales
📉 Research firm IDC predicts PSVR 2 sales will hit only 270,000 by April
😬 Sony wanted to ship 2 million devices in its launch window
💰 IDC reckons the headset’s high price is deterring consumers
🥽 The Meta Quest 3 might have more luck later this year
This is Lenovo’s new MacBook rival: the Slim Pro 9i – here’s our first take
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: the ‘Air’ equivalent
💻 7 new Lenovo laptops announced this week, and we tested them all
📆 The Yoga 7i launches in April, while the Slim Pro laptops launch in May
🤩 Lenovo Slim Pro 9i with Mini LED is the star of the series
🤼♂️ Rivals Apple’s MacBook Air and Pro in terms of performance and price
🎮 Lenovo LOQ, its affordable gaming laptops, were announced last week
“The Lenovo Slim Pro 9i screams ‘I’m a creator-centric laptop.’”
April’s PS Plus free games have been announced
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny
🥤 Sackboy: A Big Adventure is the star of the show
🔫 Alongside Meet Your Maker and Tails of Iron
📅 They’ll be up to claim from April 4
🤑 Don’t forget the PS Plus discount code
Apple Pay Later introduced to iPhone and iPad users starting this week
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: Now & Apple Pay Later
🍎 Apple Pay Later is launching in the US on iPhone and iPad devices
💵 Finance online and in-app purchases ranging from $50 to $1,000
⏲️ Split purchases into four payments spread over six weeks
🫰No interest and no fees, but banks may charge insufficient fund fees
✉️ Invites roll out today and to all eligible users in the coming months
I think with PSVR 2, the games haven't been all that great except for the bundled one. And Kayaking.