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• Build 2025 was all about AI, but Microsoft also made WSL open-source
• The company knows just how valuable its community of contributors has been
• Microsoft wants users to "engage in issue resolution and learn together as a community"

Microsoft has officially open-sourced Windows Subsystem for Linux at its annual software engineer and web developer conference, Microsoft Build 2025.

Most components are now open-source, with the exception of a few elements tied directly to Windows, with the source code available on GitHub.

By open-sourcing WSL, Microsoft has opened it up to direct contributions, feature development and bug fixes from the broader community, after acknowledging that the community has already contributed significantly prior to its open sourcing.

Windows Subsystem for Linux becomes an open-source project for the community

"As the community behind WSL grew, WSL gained more features such as GPU support, graphical applications support (via wslg) and support for systemd," Microsoft's Pierre Boulay explained. "It eventually became clear that to keep up with the growing community and feature requests, WSL had to move faster, and ship separately from Windows."

Boulay shared some of WSL's history, including its separation from Windows in 2021 when it became its own package, distributed via the Microsoft Store.

"WSL could never have been what it is today without its community. Even without access to WSL’s source code, people have been able to make major contributions that lead to what WSL is now," Boulay added.

Despite the significance of WSL becoming open-source, Chief Communications Officer Frank X Shaw only wrote a short note about it in the conference's Book of News. An extract reads: "It facilitates collaboration among WSL users, enabling them to engage in issue resolution and learn together as a community."

Unsurprisingly, the core announcements at Build centered around artificial intelligence, with numerous updates issued to the company's Copilot agents to boost productivity across Microsoft 365 apps.

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President Trump spoke to House Republicans on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to persuade holdouts in his party to back a massive tax bill that includes cuts to Medicaid.

(Image credit: Joe Raedle)

• Two Samsung fan sites have reported that an upgrade for the Samsung Galaxy Ring is rolling out in South Korea
• The upgrade contains new features: Activity Consistency (or 'Regulatory') and sleep guidance to make your night-time environment better
• The sleep guidance feature interfaces with Samsung's smart home devices network, SmartThings

Samsung is looking to make your Galaxy Ring more accurate than ever, reportedly introducing an upgrade to South Korean users that adds two new features to the smart ring.

The first is a new consistency-based metric that's said to make your energy score more accurate, while the second is a new sleep feature that integrates with Samsung's smart home devices.

Samsung is said to be rolling out firmware version Q50XWWU2AYD1 for the Galaxy Ring – which tops our list of the best smart rings available right now – but we haven't seen official confirmation from Samsung yet.

Instead, our information is coming from two insider fan sites – SamMobile and Sammyfans – with ties to the South Korea-based company. The upgrade is said to be currently rolling out to Samsung users in South Korea, so we imagine it won't be long before we see it in other regions.

Without any official word, we can't give you the full rundown of exactly how the new features work, but an update to the way Samsung measures activity – Sammyfans calls it 'Activity Consistency' – is said to be on the way.

In addition, Samsung's sleep guidance is also apparently getting updated. Both sites agree that the Ring will interact with Samsung's network of smart home devices called SmartThings, using Samsung's ecosystem of devices to adjust your sleep environment and ensure you get better bedrest. Exactly how this interaction will work is unknown.

A big reveal

(Image credit: Zachariah Kelly / TechRadar)

While this update seems relatively minor, it feels like Samsung is on its way to making you something akin to a smart-home cyborg, by integrating your health with AI-powered devices such as thermostats and smart lights.

Samsung told us that upgrades of this sort were in the pipeline at CES 2025, with Jaeyeon Jung, Head of SmartThings Team, saying: “We wanted our devices to make consumers’ lives easier and better, that’s been our vision all along. Following our acquisition of SmartThings in 2014, step by step we’re making this a reality.

“Samsung has a wide range of portfolio products, and we want to provide great lifestyle experiences [across these devices].”

We expect this SmartThings integration to be quite minor at first, but the possibilities are endless. Imagine a room which automatically gets cooler or warmer based on your sleeping body temperature, or a smart speaker playing an audiobook or soft music that automatically switches off once you enter deep sleep.

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• Rode NTH-50 have 40mm drivers and "excellent" noise isolation
• Designed to stay comfortable in long sessions
• $99.99 / £99.99 / AU$199.95, available now

Rode has announced a new set of affordable, high quality headphones for musicians, DJs and other creative people.

Musicians and DJs aren't like other people, at least when it comes to headphones: creativity often means pulling very long shifts at the music factory, and that means headphones need to be very comfortable.

My own go-to headphones are feather-light for long listening, and that's one of their most valuable features. The new Rode NTH-50 have been created with very light weight and also have a specially designed pressure-relieving headband; they've also been made with glasses wearers in mind so they won't pinch.

The other thing creative types need from their headphones is accuracy, and the Rode NTH-50 promise to deliver that too.

(Image credit: RØDE) Rode NTH-50 headphones: key features and pricing

The drivers here are 40mm and housed in a resonant chamber that promises "impeccable" clarity with ultra-low distortion and "incredible" accuracy. That's important, because these headphones won't be used for casual listening: headphones for that kind of listener often flatter the sound and paper over flaws, and that's the last thing you want when you're trying to ensure that a mix is going to sound perfect.

The NTH-50s' closed-back design promises good passive noise insulation both in and outwards, reducing audio bleed for the people around you while also minimizing incoming ambient noise.

The headphones are 32 ohms with a wide frequency range of 5Hz to 35 kHz.

The new NTH-50 headphones are essentially more affordable versions of the highly acclaimed NTH-100, which we awarded the full five stars to in our Rode NTH-100 review. And those headphones may be their biggest rival, because they've dropped in price since their 2023 launch: the NTH-100 were initially $149 / £149 / AU$249 but are now available for about $130 / £105 / AU$189.

Sonically they're simila,r with the same frequency range, but they're slightly more premium and promise to be just as comfortable – if the sound is as good on the new model and they're cheaper, they could be an entry for our list of the best wired headphones for those who need neutral sound for creative work.

The Rode NTH-50 headphones are available now for $99.99 / £99.99 / AU$199.95.

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Many Kentucky residents are bracing for storms as they recover from deadly weather over the weekend. And, the latest on negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

(Image credit: ALEXANDER KAZAKOV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

• The Nintendo Switch 2 will offer text-to-speech audio and voice speech-to-text in GameChat
• Text-to-speech allows players to type with the on-screen keyboard, and the system will then read messages out loud
• Voice speech-to-text will display live subtitles from party members while gaming

Nintendo has confirmed that the Switch 2's GameChat function will support text-to-speech and live subtitles.

In case you missed it, GameChat was revealed alongside the Switch 2 and is essentially a video and gameplay sharing feature similar to Discord that can be accessed by pressing the console's 'C' button.

It's a cool feature that wasn't available on the original Switch, and now Nintendo has revealed new accessibility options made specifically for GameChat.

As spotted by OatmealDome (via VGC), the feature will support text-to-speech while gaming, allowing players to type messages with the on-screen keyboard, which the system will then read out loud.

[Switch 2] GameChat supports text-to-speech. If enabled, you can type in text and the system will read it for you. While not explicitly confirmed, USB keyboards should be supported too (the Switch 1 already supports them for text input).[image or embed]@oatmealdome.bsky.social

In a separate post, it was also confirmed that GameChat will support live subtitles. While playing a game in a party, the system will transcribe what players are saying in real-time and display the text in a "chat box" on the left side of the screen.

As shown in the screenshot, the game will be minimized further alongside party member icon boxes while the accessibility option is active.

Nintendo has since updated its accessibility page on its website to now include both "GameChat Voice Speech-to-Text" and "GameChat Text-to-Speech Audio", alongside other features like Mono Audio, Screen Zoom, Display Colors, Button Mapping, and more.

The Nintendo Switch 2 launches globally on June 5, 2025, for $449.99 / £395.99. UK pre-orders and US pre-orders are now live.

If you missed out on securing a pre-order and are struggling to find stock, GameStop and Best Buy have announced they will be restocking Switch 2 units in-store and online during the console's launch.

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• Windows 11’s new preview in the Beta channel introduces ‘AI actions’
• These are handy shortcuts to fire up AI abilities within desktop folders
• Initially only a small number of features are available, all of them pertaining to image files – but more AI actions are in the pipeline for testing

Windows 11 is receiving another infusion of AI and this time it’s coming directly to File Explorer, the app that allows you to view and work with the files and folders on your PC.

Microsoft introduced this move with Windows 11’s new preview build (26120.4151) in the Beta channel.

File Explorer is getting a new option for ‘AI actions’ in its context-sensitive right-click menu. That means when you right-click a file, you’ll get extra context-based choices for working with AI abilities. To begin with – and remember, this is still in testing – there are four actions that relate to image files.

Two of them are handy shortcuts to change the background of a picture. One allows you to blur the background in the Photos app, and the other removes the background entirely – cutting out the foreground subject – in the Paint app.

The idea is that if you have an image file that needs this attention, you can simply right-click and order the job done right in the folder (with Windows 11 firing up the app and task from there).

The other two AI actions for images facilitate erasing an object (removing something that’s not wanted intruding on the pic) in Photos, and you can also order a Bing Visual Search (an image search on the web via Microsoft’s Bing engine).

To start off, these actions only work with JPG and PNG files, but that selection will be expanded in time (though most folks use JPGs in the main, anyway).

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft also promises that AI actions for the likes of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files will be rolled out (in testing) soon enough. That’ll include an option to get Copilot to summarize any Microsoft 365 file, boiling down the contents of a document to a precis, which is something that you may well be familiar with, but there’s a trick that might be new to you here: making a FAQ.

This enlists Copilot to turn a OneDrive file into a “neatly formatted, AI-generated Q&A list” which could come in useful for some folks. This functionality has been around for a while, though, but it’ll be new to the quickfire AI actions, of course.

The catch with these abilities in Microsoft 365 is that you not only need to have a subscription for that online suite, but also a Copilot subscription (via your Microsoft account). That’s because you need the latter to unlock Copilot in the Microsoft 365 apps in which the AI is available.

In the case of creating a FAQ, that functionality will be for business users only initially, although Microsoft notes: “Consumer support with a Microsoft account is coming later.”

Analysis: More AI shocker

It isn’t a surprise to see Microsoft pushing more AI functionality into Windows 11. This is a key driver not just for the OS, but for Copilot+ PCs which Microsoft is betting big on – those devices have exclusive AI powers, and the more ways the company can give users to reach them, the better.

Or at least that’s the way Microsoft will see it. The argument against this continued slow infiltration of AI into Windows 11 is that if you don’t use any of this stuff, then it’s just cluttering up the interface a bit more. In this case, the new AI actions option (which was previously unearthed in preview builds quite some time ago) is an extra line in the right-click context-sensitive menu with files, and some people may not want it and feel that it’s a waste of that (admittedly small chunk of) space.

Expect more of this in the future, and indeed there’s another minor piece of AI creep elsewhere in this preview build. That’s in the widgets panel, which has seen its feed reorganized, and Copilot AI is now piping some stories into that feed. This is a more behind-the-scenes change than the interface tweak with File Explorer, though, and on top of that, if you don’t like the new system (called ‘Copilot Discover’) you can turn it off in the ‘Personalize MSN’ settings for the widgets board.

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• Apple has just released the iPadOS 17.7.8 update
• The update comes with important security patches for older iPads
• Upgrade your device now to keep it safe from harm

If you’ve got an older iPad, Apple has put out a simple message: you need to update its software now. That’s because the company has just released a patch that helps protect against security threats that could affect your device.

The iPadOS 17.7.8 update fixes a critical security flaw that affects iPads that are too old to upgrade to iPadOS 18. Specifically, it is intended for the 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro from 2017, as well as the sixth-generation iPad that was released in 2018.

Apple hasn’t published release notes for iPadOS 17.7.8, but the fact that it has been included on Apple’s security releases page suggests that it contains important fixes that could improve the safety of your tablet.

The new version arrives shortly after iPadOS 17.7.7 was released to the public. That version of iPadOS seemed to come with a bug that frequently logged users out of App Store apps, leading Apple to swiftly release iPadOS 17.7.8 a week later.

That said, iPadOS 17.7.7 also came with a raft of security updates in its own right, although Apple has stopped signing it in light of the reported App Store bug.

How to keep your device safe

(Image credit: Apple)

Over time, older iPads gradually lose compatibility with the latest versions of iPadOS, meaning they can’t get the most up-to-date features and functionality that Apple has developed. But the company often brings security updates to these devices to prevent them from being exploited by hackers and bad actors, and that’s the case with iPadOS 17.7.8.

To update your iPad, open the Settings app, then tap General > Software Update in the left-hand sidebar. Wait for your iPad to find the update, then install it by following the on-screen instructions.

It’s always important to keep your devices up to date, as the last thing you want is to fall victim to an exploit or security threat. By downloading iPadOS 17.7.8, you should be able to keep your device safe, even if you’re using an older iPad.

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• Kaleidescape Strato E launches today, for $2,995 (about £2,200 / AU$4,650)
• 4K Blu-ray image quality, with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X
• 480GB of on-board storage, and you can buy more

If you're looking for a serious movie player that delivers far better quality than streaming but doesn't require the disc collection of the best 4K Blu-ray players, Kaleidescape offer some excellent models such as the five star Strato V Movie Player. At just under $4K, though, the Strato V is beyond many viewers' budgets – so the arrival of a new sub-$3K player with serious specs is very welcome indeed.

The new player is called the Strato E and it bears a strong resemblance to the rest of the Strato family. It's designed to work as a standalone device with on-board storage to download movies to, but you can also team it up with Terra Prime servers for large movie collections, and you can use multiple Strato devices across multiple rooms.

Kaleidescape Strato E: key features and pricing

The Strato E is designed for home theater enthusiasts, marine installations and commercial setups. It's a 4K player with SDR, HDR10 and Dolby Vision, it has BT.2020 color space and 4:4:4 chroma, and it displays at up to 2160p at 60fps.

The key thing about Kaleidescape's products is that you get the same high bitrate version of the movies as you get on 4K Blu-rays, which is many times the data you get when streaming, even in 4K.

This means you get more detail, more natural color reproduction, and clearer motion in movies.

The Strato E also supports lossless multi-channel and spatial audio including DTS:X and Dolby Atmos, with additional support for Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio, and Linear PCM up to 7.1ch, 96kHz/24-bit. Everything is output via HDMI 2.1 with HDCP 2.3.

The Strato E is designed to work seamlessly with Kaleidescape's high-quality movie store, and its 480GB internal storage is large enough for six full-quality 4K movies. Watched movies are automatically removed after 48 hours to free up space, but of course you can re-download them at any time. A full movie download is said to take around 10 minutes over gigabit ethernet, which Kaleidescape strong recommends in our experience.

It's worth noting that in our Strato V review we praised the movie store for offering 4K movies often long before their physical disc release, but we did feel that while "in the US the choice is huge… elsewhere the choice isn't as impressive, and films take longer to be added."

The Strato E sits in the Kaleidescape range above the entry-level reference 2K player, the Strato M, and below the Strato V. And it's priced accordingly, with a US price of $2,995 making it Kaleidescape's most affordable 4K player.

International pricing hasn't been announced just yet but it's likely to cost more outside the US: the $3,995 Strato V is currently retailing at £5,380 (about $7,200) in the UK.

The Strato E is available in US now.

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• The NotebookLM apps for Android and iOS are now official
• Many of the features of the web app are carried across
• If you pay for Google One AI Premium, you get more features

Google had already told us that mobile versions of the AI-powered NotebookLM research tool were on the way, and now they've appeared in the app stores for Android and iOS – just in time for the big Google I/O 2025 show later today.

As per Google's latest blog post, the apps enable you to "understand anything, anywhere", with "many of the core features of NotebookLM" carried over from the web version of the tool that's been around since 2023.

If you're completely new to NotebookLM, the idea is you feed it a bunch of sources – YouTube videos, web links, essays, PDF documents – and it can then collate all this information, summarize it, and answer questions about it.

NotebookLM's most viral moments to date have been thanks to its Audio Overviews feature, which let you turn your sources into an AI-hosted podcast that sounds almost like the real thing. You can even interrupt the podcast with follow-up questions.

Yes please, Google

The mobile apps bring across many features from the web version (Image credit: Google)

Having used NotebookLM for several months on the web, there's no doubt I'll be getting it installed on my mobile devices right away: it's one of the most genuinely useful AI tools I've come across so far, and because you supply the sources, those pesky AI hallucinations are kept down to a minimum.

That's not to say it can't make mistakes, but I've not seen any obvious ones so far – and anecdotally, it seems more reliable than standard generative AI chatbots. Every question is answered with a detailed citation list, so you can see where information has come from.

For getting a brief overview of a huge topic, or explaining complex subjects in simple terms, it works really well. Recently I've been using it to dig into a couple of dense scientific studies, and make them more understandable.

The NotebookLM apps for Android and iOS are available now, free of charge. If you pay $19.99 / £18.99 / AU$32 a month for Google One AI Premium, you get NotebookLM Plus – that means you can generate more Audio Overviews, customize the style and tone of notebooks, and share your notebooks with other people.

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• In the next 2-5 years, most firms will have humans and AI collaborating
• To better secure the new virtual workforce, Microsoft introduced Entra Agent ID
• It is based on the Zero Trust model

Microsoft just introduced Entra Agent ID, a new identity management tool for AI agents. With this capability, users can assign unique, secure digital identities to AI agents, similar to vehicle registration, or having a digital passport for the AI agent.

A blog post published earlier this week by Vasu Jakkal, Corporate Vice President at Microsoft Security, said that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to profoundly reshape organizations within the next two to five years.

In this new paradigm, which Microsoft dubbed “Frontier Firm”, humans will collaborate with AI agents, which is why the transformation “must be grounded in security,” Jakkal explained.

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This starts by adopting the Zero Trust security model and prioritizing identity protection and risk mitigation. Enter Entra Agent ID. It will secure the digital identities for AI agents created in Microsoft Copilot Studio and Azure AI Foundry, ensuring centralized identity management for both humans and AIs.

For starters, Microsoft partnered with ServiceNow and Workday, to integrate Entra Agent ID into their platforms.

Redmond also announced extending Microsoft Purview’s data security and compliance control to any custom-built AI app with the new Purview SDK, enabled natively for AI agents built within Azure AI Foundry and Copilot Studio.

“This means that AI agents can now inherently benefit from Microsoft Purview’s robust data security and compliance capabilities,” Jakkal explained. “Developers can leverage these controls to help reduce the risk of their AI applications oversharing or leaking data, and to support compliance efforts, while security teams gain visibility into AI risks and mitigations. This integration improves AI data security and streamlines compliance management for development and security teams.”

Finally, Microsoft Defender - the company’s native antivirus for Windows, now integrates directly with Azure AI Foundry, offering security posture recommendations, runtime threat alerts, and a bridge between development and security teams.

With these changes, Microsoft wants to help organizations “innovate more securely with AI,” Jakkal concluded.

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• A leaked photo seemingly shows the back of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
• It's possibly wider than the Z Fold 6, but otherwise looks similar
• We also get a look at the cover screen glass for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7

Until now, all we’d really seen of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 was renders, but now an actual photo has reportedly leaked, seemingly showing the full back of the phone.

Shared by leaker Setsuna Digital on Weibo (via NotebookCheck), the image shows the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 in a silver shade and with a design that’s similar to that of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 – complete with a triple-lens camera in an oblong housing.

It does look as though it might be wider than the Galaxy Z Fold 6, bringing it more in line with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition, but it’s hard to say for sure from this image. It being wider would however line up with a previous leak, suggesting the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 will be 158.4 x 143.1 x 3.9mm when unfolded.

There’s not much else to take from this image, beyond it being a sign that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is well on the way to launching – which makes sense, since we’re expecting to get an official look at it in July.

Image 1 of 2

A leaked photo of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 (Image credit: Setsuna Digital)Image 2 of 2

A leaked photo of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 cover screen glass (Image credit: Setsuna Digital) A look at the Galaxy Z Flip 7 too

However, in the same post, this source has also shared a photo that appears to show the cover screen display panel for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7.

This supports previous leaks that pointed to an all-screen design, just with cut-outs for two camera lenses and a flash. That would mark a major departure from the design of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, which houses the camera in a panel above the display.

But switching to this design should allow for a larger screen, and while we’d take this image with a pinch of salt, this is a design we’ve heard mentioned numerous times now.

We should find out for sure what design the Galaxy Z Flip 7 will have in July, as that too is expected to land then.

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• Nintendo has confirmed its attendance at Gamescom 2025
• The annual gaming event will take place in late August in Germany
• A whole bunch of Nintendo Switch 2 games are likely to be featured

Nintendo has confirmed that it will be returning to Gamescom this year. The annual event based in Cologne, Germany, is one of the largest on the gaming calendar.

And now that the Nintendo Switch 2 will be out by the time Gamescom occurs between August 20 - 24, it's something of a no-brainer for the company to be in attendance this year.

The news was confirmed by Nintendo's official German X / Twitter account. Using the website's built-in translation feature, the post reads: "Mark your calendar in red: Nintendo will be back at Gamescom in 2025. We look forward to welcoming you to Cologne from August 20th to 24th!"

Now, if you were hoping for a rundown on what Nintendo Switch 2 games will be featured at Nintendo's booth, that unfortunately hasn't been confirmed yet. It'll likely be a round-up of the usual suspects, particularly Metroid Prime 4: Beyond if that game hasn't been released by the time Gamescom occurs. Upcoming third-party releases like Hades 2 and Borderlands 4 could also make a potential appearance.

While I'm sure the likes of Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza will also be playable (even though these will have launched before August), Gamescom is also a great chance to preview games ahead of their release. That has me wondering if we can expect another Nintendo Direct presentation sometime between the Switch 2's June 5 launch and Gamescom's late-August dates.

Is the news of Nintendo's attendance at Gamescom this year surprising? No, not really. The company skipped out on last year's event, presumably because it didn't have much to showcase at the time for the aging Nintendo Switch hardware. Now that it has a fresh new console on the block, a return to Europe's largest gaming event should be a given.

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• GameStop and Best Buy have announced they will be restocking the Nintendo Switch 2
• Switch 2 units will be available in-store and online at both retailers during the console's launch on June 5, 2025
• In-person launch events will also be hosted in stores during the release

More Nintendo Switch 2 stock will be available at GameStop and Best Buy during the handheld's launch.

The Nintendo Switch 2 finally releases worldwide on June 5, 2025. Although UK and US pre-orders opened weeks in advance, some retailers have already run out of stock, and some fans have been unable to secure a console.

Fortunately, some retailers like GameStop and Best Buy will be offering new Switch 2 stock to those who missed out, but they'll only be available during the console's release.

"Didn't pre-order? Additional Switch 2 units will be available in-store and online at launch while supplies last," GameStop said in a social media post.

It will also be hosting a launch event, which begins in-store at 3 PM local time on June 4, with Switch 2 pickups starting at 12 AM EST / 9 PM PST.

Didn't pre-order Switch 2? We got you. pic.twitter.com/6Xa4QUzM3gMay 16, 2025

Best Buy also shared on its homepage that it will be hosting late-night store openings after midnight on June 5.

"In addition to fulfilling pre-orders, most stores will have limited inventory of systems, games and accessories for in-store purchase. Customers will also have the chance to receive a Nintendo collectible," the retailer said.

Although more stock will be available, Best Buy has warned buyers of crowds and long queues.

"Expect to see long lines at popular Best Buy stores in US cities hours in advance of the midnight release date, and some in the crowd may not be able to get the new console," Best Buy said in a statement to The Shortcut.

In case you missed it, the Nintendo Switch 2 will cost $449.99 / £395.99 or $499.99 / £429.99 for the Mario Kart World bundle which includes a digital copy of that game.

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• Intel has showcased its Panther Lake processors at Computex 2025
• It's hinted at a focus on power efficiency and 'next-gen iGPU performance' for the mobile processors
• It could spell great news for upcoming handheld gaming PCs and other portable gaming systems

Computex 2025 is underway, and we’re looking forward to seeing new hardware from the likes of Nvidia, AMD, and Intel – and the latter is already making an impression with its upcoming mobile processor lineup.

As reported by our friends at Tom's Hardware, Intel's demos at the big computing expo in Taipei included Panther Lake-powered systems, with Team Blue focusing on the power efficiency and gaming performance of its new mobile processor lineup – ultimately, aiming to match the power efficiency of the previous Lunar Lake lineup.

Intel's teasers and claims at the show add credibility to the rumors, based on leaked specifications, regarding upcoming Panther Lake processors using Cougar Cove P-cores (performance cores) and Darkmont E-cores (efficiency cores). It's also worth noting that the new processors are being built on Intel's new 18A node manufacturing process, which further helps improve performance.

We've previously seen the power efficiency of the Lunar Lake lineup, in particular in the Core Ultra 7 258V used in the MSI Claw 8 AI+. Power efficiency is one of the biggest highlights of the handheld gaming PC – to put it simply, gaming at 17W power consumption still yields great performance results while saving a lot of battery. Efficiency and performance were made even better with Intel's recent drivers, allowing better frame pacing.

Team Blue has also previously hinted at a “next-gen built-in iGPU”, which could prove to be a significant performance enhancer for portable gaming.

While Panther Lake is set primarily for the laptop platform, there's every chance we could see one of these iGPUs in an upcoming gaming handheld.

If Panther Lake is any better than this, I'll be more than happy (Image credit: Intel) The battle with AMD in the handheld gaming PC market is truly on

We're still awaiting the launch of a new handheld gaming PC powered by one of AMD's Ryzen Z2 Extreme processors – I'm expecting this to happen at Computex, considering the prototype reveal of the Lenovo Legion Go 2 at CES earlier this year and rumors regarding an Xbox-styled Asus ROG Ally. Until then, Intel is in the lead, in terms of a balance between power efficiency and gaming performance, with its Core Ultra 7 258V.

While the AMD Ryzen 9 AI HX 370 is an absolute powerhouse for gaming, and is used in the OneXPlayer X1 Pro handheld, I doubt that the X1 Pro’s battery life lives up to that of the Core Ultra 7 258V-powered MSI Claw 8 AI+. It's also far more expensive, heading into $1,000-plus territory (depending on the configuration).

Intel's Lunar Lake processor has been the most impressive to me for handheld gaming systems, as it appears to strike the perfect balance between great performance and enabling long gaming sessions thanks to its power efficiency.

If its Panther Lake processors take power efficiency and performance a step further, and AMD's Medusa Point struggles to match them in that department, I can only see Team Blue dominating the mobile processor market in the coming years, as handheld manufacturers won’t be forced to compromise on battery life.

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