New-home Construction Falls To All-time Low

We know we have a new Nintendo Switch 2 coming. We have a PlayStation 6 in the works too, but Microsoft’s Xbox plans have been all over the place in the last year with the drive to turn “everything into an Xbox”, suggesting that before long you may be playing Halo on your cordless vacuum cleaner.

Samsung gave us our first glimpse of its AI home companion robot, Ballie, just before CES 2024, and now it looks like the little rolling assistant is finally ready to make its debut in the real world. The updated Ballie was equipped with a projector, helping organize daily schedules, providing weather updates, and stepping up to handle household tasks.

Samsung is rolling out a new range of AI-powered features for its latest range of TV sets to enhance the customer experience.  Samsung Vision AI has been tipped to deliver better picture quality, clearer sound, and further experiences that will make a positive impact on the viewer. That will include the functionality to translate foreign language content in real-time, as well as instantly listing the ingredients for a food creation shown on screen. Another is Click to Search.

It feels like an age since Nintendo announced that a Switch successor will become a reality but in that time, there have been leaks aplenty — some more trustworthy than others. We’ve seen potential specs, comparing it to a PS4 Pro, suggesting that AAA games have been in development for the console since 2022, and more. This latest discovery definitely leans more towards fact, showcasing images of the ‘official’ Switch 2 Joy-Cons physically in someone’s hands. Could these be the real Switch 2 Joy-Cons? These leaked photos give us the clearest look yet at what the Switch 2 Joy-Con design is, input placement, and even some interesting new additions that could shake the market up a little. Rumor: More images of Switch 2 Joy-Cons have immerged from China. Source: https://t.co/MplOUwKhRi pic.twitter.com/5ZdFmVlggl — Stealth (@Stealth40k) January 5, 2025 Focusing initially on the overall look, as you’d expect, this new variant shares the aesthetics of its predecessor with SL and SR buttons on the connecting side, coupled with an analog stick and shoulder/trigger buttons. The analog stick appears to be somewhat similar in size but the shoulder and trigger button has gone through a redesign, potentially increasing its footprint and making it easier to use. Yes, the colors have been mixed up with the body being black but the classic blue hue does seemingly make a comeback. The biggest departure though is the lack of a ‘rail’ to slide the controller onto the body of the console. What may be the case now is that the Joy-Con is attached via a magnetic plate, slotting into the small opening in the middle. The most interesting element to the image is the apparent inclusion of an optical sensor, placed just above this aforementioned opening. This, and what could be glide pads at the top and bottom — akin to that of a traditional mouse — may suggest that Nintendo is going after Steam Deck users to bring part of the PC market over. We’ve seen an inclusion like this before on the Lenovo Legion Go but it is clunky and doesn’t have too many use cases, so why might have Nintendo gone to the trouble?

Cards on the table, I love Minecraft. Let me rephrase that slightly, I love single-player Minecraft. I am not interested in your server, I don’t really care for your builds (unless they are spectacular and something like this). Minecraft was a game I discovered way back in its beta version, long before it became what it is now, a Microsoft gaming powerhouse.

OpenAI’s CEO has admitted that the company is facing unforeseen financial difficulties with its $200-per-month ChatGPT Pro subscription. Sam Altman revealed on X that he had been the architect of the subscription price, however, it was “currently losing money” due to its increased usage. He wrote: “insane thing: we are currently losing money on openai pro subscriptions!