Monthly Archives: September 2024

Your Wireless Charger Might Be Hurting Your Battery — Aukey’s MagFusion Pro Series Has the Fix

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I bought a wireless charging power bank a few months back for my iPhone 15 Pro. I don’t use it anymore just because of how much it heats up my battery. You see, a battery’s biggest enemy is heat. Heat affects the lithium-ion sub-structure, not only causing your battery to lose efficiency over time but also potentially catch fire. Neither of those things are good, obviously – which is why Aukey’s new chargers with its proprietary Omnia-Frez technology keep your devices cool while they wirelessly charge.

Aukey’s MagFusion series, equipped with the innovative Omnia-Frez cooling technology, offers a practical and stylish solution to one of the most frustrating problems of modern tech—overheating during charging. Whether you’re a mobile gamer fighting through long boss battles, an Apple enthusiast with too many cables cluttering your desk, or a commuter relying on your phone for navigation, the MagFusion lineup promises to keep your devices cool, charged, and ready for anything.

“The new Omnia-Frez technology addresses the challenge of overheating while charging head-on,” said David Yunyou Wu, Vice President of AUKEY. “Overheating slows down charging and degrades a battery’s lifespan, but AUKEY’s revolutionary Omnia-Frez cooling technology is changing the game for iPhone users.”

Designer: Aukey

The MagFusion 3-in-1 Pro is the perfect charging station for those who live deep within the Apple ecosystem. It’s designed to handle your iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch simultaneously, offering a sleek, minimalist design that’s far more appealing than the spaghetti mess of cables we’re all too familiar with. But it’s not just about looks—this charging hub is all about efficiency. Thanks to the Omnia-Frez cooling system, the 3-in-1 Pro keeps your devices running cool by reducing charging temperatures by up to 20°C (68°F), which leads to faster charging times and a longer lifespan for your battery. In fact, Aukey’s testing shows that an iPhone 15 Pro charges a full 26 minutes faster on the 3-in-1 Pro compared to traditional wireless chargers. Plus, the adjustable stand allows you to prop your phone at the perfect angle for FaceTime calls or a quick glance at notifications.

Not only does it work beautifully, but the 3-in-1 Pro is also easy on the eyes, made with tempered glass and aircraft-grade aluminum. It’s a charging station that will look just as good in a modern office as it would on your nightstand. All the while, a strong magnetic connection ensures your iPhone stays firmly in place—so even if you accidentally nudge it, it’s not going anywhere.

If mobile gaming is your thing, Aukey’s MagFusion GameFrost was tailor-made for you. We’ve all had our phones get alarmingly hot mid-game, only to watch performance tank as the heat throttles the processor. The GameFrost combats this by offering three adjustable cooling modes—Common, Medium, and Freezing—that you can tweak depending on how intense your gaming session gets. This performance enhancer disguised as a charger keeps your phone cool enough to handle whatever game you throw at it without losing speed or lagging when you need it most. And, of course, it charges your phone at the same time, pumping out 15W of wireless power for iPhones compatible with Qi2 and MagSafe.

But Aukey didn’t stop at function; they added a dash of flair with customizable lighting effects. Whether you prefer a pulsing glow during late-night gaming sessions or a solid color that matches your RGB keyboard, GameFrost lets you set the mood. The real-time temperature display is a nice touch, too, giving you live feedback on just how cool your device is staying, ensuring both peace of mind and bragging rights.

For those always on the move, the MagFusion Dash Pro transforms your car into a high-tech charging station. We’ve all been there—halfway through a road trip or stuck in traffic, watching your phone heat up as it juggles GPS, podcasts, and texts. The Dash Pro prevents that problem with its active Omnia-Frez cooling system, designed to keep your phone cool even on long, grueling drives. It delivers 15W wireless charging and is compatible with iPhones using Qi2 tech, ensuring your phone stays powered up without becoming a hot brick in your hand.

What sets the Dash Pro apart, though, is its secure, no-nonsense design. It’s compact yet sturdy, with a strong magnetic mount that holds your phone firmly in place, even over potholes and bumpy roads. The adjustable ball joint means you can tweak your phone’s angle to suit your line of sight—perfect for navigation. With its sleek profile and silent operation, this is the kind of tech you’ll barely notice while it quietly does its job.

Aukey’s Omnia-Frez technology, featured in every MagFusion product, works its magic through a combination of cooling techniques. A 7-blade fan spins silently, whisking heat away, while alloy cooling fins and a thermoelectric chip work in tandem to dissipate heat quickly. The result is a cooler, more efficient charging experience, with no throttling or battery damage from excessive heat. And, unlike many cooling systems, this one is impressively quiet. Whether you’re deep into a gaming session, working at your desk, or listening to tunes on the road, the MagFusion series operates with barely a whisper, making it as unobtrusive as it is effective. So, whether you’re catching up on emails, dominating the leaderboards, or navigating rush hour traffic, you can count on your phone being ready for action without going mercurial… literally.

The post Your Wireless Charger Might Be Hurting Your Battery — Aukey’s MagFusion Pro Series Has the Fix first appeared on Yanko Design.

A plastic Apple Watch SE may still be happening, but not until next year

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Apple announced a bunch of new products at the It’s Glowtime event on Sept. 9, but the rumored Apple Watch SE with a plastic shell wasn’t among them. That doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t see it at some point, though. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who first reported that the company was developing an even cheaper version of the budget watch, the plastic SE “is still moving forward.” Sources told Gurman it could arrive next year.

The Apple Watch SE last got a refresh in 2022 with the release of the second generation line. In addition to a plastic shell, plans for the rumored upcoming watch include bolder colors that would appeal to kids, Gurman reported. But, Apple has apparently hit a manufacturing snag with the plastic design. Last Monday’s official Apple Watch news focused on the Series 10, which has a thinner build and larger display, as was expected in the leadup to the event. In a hands-on with the new wearable, Engadget’s Billy Steele called the Series 10’s brighter, wide-angle OLED display “a massive upgrade” compared to other recent models.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/a-plastic-apple-watch-se-may-still-be-happening-but-not-until-next-year-203534583.html?src=rss

Star Wars StarSpeeder 3000 set recreates the thrill of Disney’s iconic theme ride

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The StarSpeeder 3000 attraction of the Star Tours at the Disney theme parks takes riders on an exciting journey of the Star Wars universe. For those who have experienced the thrill of this intergalactic ride, the limited-edition Star Tours StarSpeeder 3000 makes complete sense.

The play set limited to just 3,000 units debuted at the D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event and for Star Wars fans the set will be available for purchase at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World starting 13 September. This set will be available via Tatooine Traders and interested buyers will have to get the park reservations to get one. Those who’ll go with the online purchase option can buy the StarSpeeder 3000 set exclusively from the Disney Store for $300 starting today.

Designer: Disney

The limited edition set comes with an LCD screen to play the original attraction footage with matching audio. The real ride is emulated with the scale seats having seat belts and opening doors that are activated with a chime sound. It comes with blasters, cannons and thrusters that have sound effects. To display it on your shelf, the set comes with a light-up display stand, along with the 3.75-inch minifigures of Captain Rex and R2-D2.

There’s an extendable landing gear that retracts when it’s time for action and locks in place. Those side panels are removable, and so are the rooftop carrier and roof panel. To keep the realism effect going, the set has exterior light effects too. This Star Wars playset requires six AA batteries to run and it would have been better off with an internal battery charged via a charging cable. That said, the batteries should last a long time unless you’re obsessed with playing around with the play set.

The post Star Wars StarSpeeder 3000 set recreates the thrill of Disney’s iconic theme ride first appeared on Yanko Design.

PS1 gem Tomba! is still a wild ride nearly 20 years later

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Every couple of years, a core childhood memory resurfaces and sends me hunting for a bizarre PlayStation game my brother and I obsessed over but never actually played in its entirety. The internet search goes like this: game on red-and-black PS1 demo disk featuring feral child with pink hair tackling pigs and trees that look like butts. The results tell me the game I’m looking for is the 1997 platformer Tomba!, and I giddily bask in the nostalgia. Then I forget all about it, and the cycle eventually repeats.

You can imagine my surprise, then, when a trailer popped up earlier this summer announcing Limited Run Games’ rerelease of Tomba! in all its wacky glory for modern consoles. Tomba! Special Edition is now available digitally for PS5, Nintendo Switch and PC. Physical editions, a line of plushies and a themed NEO S controller (pre-orders for which are sadly sold out) are also on the way. And in finally playing it all the way through almost 20 years after its original release, I’ve discovered that Tomba! is even more unhinged than I remembered.

Tomba, the player-character, is a wild boy who lives outside of society, hunting boars and sleeping under the stars. His peace is disrupted one day when a group of delinquent pigs swoops in and wreaks havoc, ultimately robbing him of a gold bracelet that belonged to his grandfather. To get it back, Tomba ventures into the nearby towns to find the Evil Pig ringleaders and take them down. Along the way, he meets a slew of strange characters who will help guide him on his mission, but only after he completes a bunch of tasks for them.

It’s a 2.5D platformer, meaning much of the game operates like a two-dimensional side-scroller, but you can occasionally move into the background or foreground to explore the map in more depth. Tomba! Special Edition doesn’t change much about the original game. The graphics are still distinctly PS1 polygonal, and the controls can feel clunky. There are some quality of life additions, though — namely a rewind feature that ends up being extremely handy because, as it turns out, this game is pretty tricky in some spots. I found myself needing to try certain maneuvers over and over again to get them right.

Just about every part of the story and its environment carries a touch of absurdity. Tomba is able to scale walls, swing on branches, jump with inhuman ability and apparently store items (including living creatures) in his stomach, which he can regurgitate when they’re needed later on. There are the butt trees, as mentioned earlier, which are allegedly meant to depict peaches but when Tomba jumps onto them and squeezes, a cloud of magical gas comes pouring out. You’ll encounter a village of dwarves, but can only communicate with them after leaping on the heads of several dwarves to learn their language. In another village, everyone’s been turned into mice, and for some reason, they’re all wound up about the disappearance of an actual, never-been-human baby mouse.

The pink-haired character Tomba is showing winding up to throw a pig. He is pictured in a windy environment with a large pitcher-like plant opened behind him. There are brown leaves all over the ground, and a spring-like platform with grass on top in front of him
Limited Run Games

One of the most memorable areas is undoubtedly the Mushroom Forest, a bad trip of a location that’s filled with creepy, clownish anthropomorphic flowers and mushrooms that inflict Tomba with certain ailments if he jumps onto them. One will have him laughing uncontrollably, while the other makes him wail — and that cry is deeply unsettling. It kind of jump-scared me the first time it happened, if I’m being real. With both mushroom illnesses, Tomba becomes unable to wield his weapons, instead flailing his arms and screaming if you try to do an attack.

It is altogether a surprisingly complex game, and visually striking thanks to its loud color palette. But the quest can feel convoluted as you try to navigate the often confusing map layout and fulfill the many, many tasks thrown your way. Boss fights are uniquely frustrating, too. Instead of simply beating up or killing the Evil Pigs, you have to wrangle each one and throw it in a bag… but the bag is floating and, in most cases, spinning.

While frequently maddening, Tomba! was a joy to revisit. It’s consistently silly, and the soundtrack gave me a welcome blast of nostalgia from the moment its steel drums started playing. (Tomba! Special Edition includes both the original soundtrack and a remastered version, and they’re both great.) If anything, the Special Edition release has made it clear why Tomba! has lingered so long in my memory — I can’t say I’ve ever played another game quite like it.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ps1-gem-tomba-is-still-a-wild-ride-nearly-20-years-later-163011449.html?src=rss

The Polaris Dawn crew is back on Earth after a historic mission

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The Polaris Dawn crew safely returned to Earth early Sunday morning, bringing the historic privately funded mission to a close. The Dragon capsule carrying the mission’s four astronauts — Jared Isaacman, Scott “Kidd” Poteet, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon — splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico around 3:30AM ET.

On Thursday, Isaacman and Gillis completed the first commercial spacewalk, each taking a turn to exit the craft and perform a series of spacesuit mobility tests. And with this mission, Gillis and Menon have now traveled farther from Earth than any women before. Polaris reached a peak altitude of about 870 miles, which is also the farthest any humans have ventured since the Apollo program. 

The crew also performed a number of science experiments, and was able to complete a 40-minute video call to Earth and send files in a major test for Starlink’s space communications capabilities. That included a video recorded during the mission of Gillis, an engineer and violinist, playing the violin in space. “A new era of commercial spaceflight dawns, with much more to come,” Polaris posted on X Sunday morning.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/the-polaris-dawn-crew-is-back-on-earth-after-a-historic-mission-142028997.html?src=rss

Building open world games with AI – GameGen O by Tencent

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open world games built using AI GameGen O

GameGen O, developed by Tencent, is an AI model designed to generate open-world video games. This innovative technology uses artificial intelligence to create characters, environments, actions, and events, aiming to transform game development by reducing time and costs. While it currently generates video sequences that simulate gameplay rather than real-time player-controlled games, it holds potential […]

The post Building open world games with AI – GameGen O by Tencent appeared first on Geeky Gadgets.

10 Must-Know Hidden Features in iOS 18

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iOS 18

iOS 18 brings a wealth of hidden features that enhance user experience and functionality across various native apps. These updates aim to streamline daily tasks, improve productivity, and provide a more seamless interaction with your iPhone. Let’s dive into the top 10 must-know hidden features in iOS 18. The video below from iReviews gives us […]

The post 10 Must-Know Hidden Features in iOS 18 appeared first on Geeky Gadgets.

OpenAI ChatGPT o1 AI model use cases explored

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OpenAI ChatGPT o1 use cases

The rapid advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are transforming industries, and OpenAI’s latest AI model, ChatGPT 01, is at the forefront of this revolution. With its advanced multi-step reasoning capabilities, ChatGPT 01 is reshaping software development, decision-making, and more. This overview by AI Advantage provides more insights into the practical applications of the latest OpenAI […]

The post OpenAI ChatGPT o1 AI model use cases explored appeared first on Geeky Gadgets.

OpenAI ChatGPT o1 AI model use cases explored

Posted on by
OpenAI ChatGPT o1 use cases

The rapid advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are transforming industries, and OpenAI’s latest AI model, ChatGPT 01, is at the forefront of this revolution. With its advanced multi-step reasoning capabilities, ChatGPT 01 is reshaping software development, decision-making, and more. This overview by AI Advantage provides more insights into the practical applications of the latest OpenAI […]

The post OpenAI ChatGPT o1 AI model use cases explored appeared first on Geeky Gadgets.

Foldable Game Boy console lets you go from Classic to Nintendo Switch-style Landscape gaming in seconds

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Flip Phones? How about we introduce an era of Flip Consoles!

Meet the Game Boy Flip, an audacious fan-made console concept that features a flip-type gadget with joy-cons. In its shut mode, you’ve got a handheld device that can be used to play Game Boy Advanced or Color games, but open the foldable and you’ve got a larger screen for a more immersive landscape-style game a la Nintendo Switch. I don’t see any cameras on this device but slap a couple and you quite literally have a flip phone that can be used for stuff other than just gaming… not bad, huh??

Designer: Abdelrahman Shaapan

The idea of a foldable gaming console seems like an absolute winner, truth be told. Flip phones are currently in a spot where they’re searching for a problem to solve – but the Game Boy Flip has no such problem. It’s a dedicated gaming device that takes its reputation seriously, offering multiple gaming modes ( we counted as many as three).

The first is just straight-up handheld touchscreen gaming. Use it in the closed mode for more retro old-school games, or open it up for a more expansive contemporary console experience. The dual touchscreens are perfect for immersing yourself in games, although there are arrow buttons on both the left and right side just in case you want some analog action.

If touchscreen gaming isn’t your jam (and a lot of bonafide gamers would feel so), the Game Boy Flip comes with snap-on Joy-Cons that let you play games with advanced controls, just like you would a GBA or Nintendo DS. The closed-display format offers the perfect size and aspect ratio for such games, making it perfect to relive old classics from years ago.

However, open the console up and you’re presented with a modern-day beast. The Joy-Cons snap to the open-screen device, now giving you a larger landscape display that’s perfect for newer games like the ones on the Switch. In fact, I’d go a step further and say the Game Boy Flip looks better than the Switch just given how slick and gorgeous that bezel-less screen is.

The only real difference is that the Joy-Cons don’t exist independently. They’re part of an armature that holds the phone in between (sort of like the Razer Kishi or the Backbone controller) with a USB-C jack plugging into the device to create a ‘wired’ connection, so you can’t detach the Joy-Cons and play with them independently the way you would on a Switch. However, that isn’t really what this concept is all about – it’s more about providing a novel template for the clamshell-style foldable phone, turning it into a Game Boy from the future that’s backward compatible, allowing you to play old classics on a small screen, and modern-day titles on the larger, landscape screen.

Now sure, this is just a fan-made concept of a Nintendo device that will probably never exist… but if anyone there can build a controller prototype for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 or even the Xiaomi Mix Flip, I’m sure there’s definitely a gamer market out there willing to rock a flip phone just for the experience of being able to play games on it effectively!

The post Foldable Game Boy console lets you go from Classic to Nintendo Switch-style Landscape gaming in seconds first appeared on Yanko Design.