Sustainability is becoming a crucial part of our daily lives nowadays, and Daizo stands at the forefront of eco-friendly innovation. With their focus on sustainable design and materials, Daizo brings us the Daizo Desk Organizer, a product that not only helps keep your workspace tidy but also supports the planet.
The Daizo Desk Organizer is a shining example of how single products together can shape a sustainable future at large, made from recycled plastic PLA, a biodegradable and renewable resource. By using eco-conscious materials like recycled plastic bottle caps and cork, Daizo ensures that each organizer contributes to reducing landfill waste and minimizing the demand for virgin resources.
One of the standout features of the organizer is its compact yet highly functional design. Created to optimize small desk spaces, this organizer boasts a unique jigsaw puzzle structure with customizable sections, allowing users to arrange their desk tools in shapes that fit their needs. This flexibility transforms an ordinary desk into a more personalized, clutter-free environment, enhancing both productivity and creativity.
And as every desk warrior knows, coffee is an essential part of a productive workday. Daizo has thoughtfully integrated a built-in coaster, ensuring your coffee or drink has a designated spot while protecting your desk from spills. It’s a small but crucial detail that shows Daizo understands the real-world needs of its users.
Beyond its eco-friendly credentials, the organizer is a powerful tool for boosting productivity. A clean and organized workspace reduces distractions, helping you stay focused on the task at hand. It also promotes creativity, as a clear desk can lead to a clear mind, giving you the freedom to brainstorm and solve problems without feeling overwhelmed by clutter.
Moreover, the Daizo Desk organizer encourages healthy work habits. Maintaining an ergonomic setup and keeping your workspace clean, can prevent common issues like poor posture, eye strain, and general discomfort that often arise from cluttered, disorganized desks.
Many professionals today face challenges in keeping their workspaces organized. Limited desk space, combined with the need to store essential items, often results in clutter that hinders productivity. Daizo addresses this problem head-on with a product that is not only compact but also aesthetically pleasing. Unlike other desk organizers, which often sacrifice functionality or design, Daizo strikes a perfect balance between both.
In addition to keeping your desk in order, the Daizo Desk Organizer makes a positive impact on the environment. By using recycled plastic from bottle caps and crafting it into something both beautiful and practical, Daizo contributes to reducing landfill waste. But sustainability doesn’t end there, at the end of its life, the organizer can be recycled again, supporting the circular economy and further minimizing its carbon footprint. Daizo desk organizer is an investment in a healthier planet and a more organized, productive workspace.
Fujifilm has released its first sub-$1,000 camera in a long while and resurrected the 11-year old "M" branding with the $799 X-M5. With that price, it's primarily aimed at photographers on a budget or vloggers looking to step up from a smartphone. Fujifilm cut a few features like a viewfinder (EVF) to get to that price point, but it does have the company's latest 26-megapixel X-Trans 4 CMOS sensor and decent video specs.
For a camera without a viewfinder, the X-M5 should handle pretty well. It has front and back control dials, along with a top setting dial that includes a new "Vlog" mode. It also comes with the same film simulation dial found on the X-T50, to help social media users and creators create cool photos straight out of the camera.
Fujifilm
When in vlog mode, you get a full GUI interface on the touchscreen for easy access. That includes things like a "portrait enhancer," background defocus and product priority, much as we've seen on Sony's vlogging products.
For vloggers, it has a 3-inch, 1.04-million dot fully articulating rear display that's hopefully bright enough to use in sunlight (because, again, no EVF). There are both headphone and microphone ports for vloggers, but they're not located on the left as usual. Instead, Fujifilm placed the 3.5mm mic input on the rear (where the EVF would usually go) and the headphone port on the right side. That's to avoid having the display hit the mic or headphone cable when it flips out, as can happen on other cameras.
You'll never mistake it for a sports camera, but the X-M5 can shoot 8 fps bursts with the mechanical shutter, or an outstanding 20 fps in electronic mode (both with continuous autofocus). It can capture a decent 82/60 compressed RAW frames in those modes before the buffer fills, again very respectable for such a small camera.
Video is also pretty strong, with 6.2K open gate 3:2 capture, 4K 60p and Full HD at up to 240 fps (these specs match the X-T50 as you may have noticed). There's a bit of crop for 4K 60p (1.18x) and FHD past 120fps (1.29x) but otherwise everything is one-to-one.
Another thing missing is in-body stabilization so the X-M5 is limited to what the lens provides or electronic stabilization. In the latter mode, there's a minimum 1.32x crop for 4K 30fps video and a significant 1.44x when shooting 4K 60p. The small body also has overheating limitations when using LP (long play) recording, but those can be reduced with a $200 fan attachment.
Fujifilm
Other features including three internal microphones that allow for surround sound-like capture, a 9:16 short movie mode for TikTok creators, high-speed movie transfer, up to 440 frames of battery life and a single UHS-I card slot.
I couldn't understand what Fujifilm was thinking when it released the X-T50 for $500 more than the X-T30 II. Now we know — it's hoping budget buyers will gravitate toward the X-M5 instead. It goes on pre-sale today for $799 and Fujifilm also unveiled the 16-55mm f/2.8 (24-70mm full-frame equivalent) lens selling for $1,199 and XF500mm f/5.6 super telephoto (750mm equivalent) now on pre-order for $2,999.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/fujifilms-x-m5-is-its-first-sub-1000-camera-in-years-140715888.html?src=rss
The automotive world is abuzz with excitement as BMW unveils its latest masterpiece, the BMW Skytop. This limited-production model is set to become a highly sought-after gem among car enthusiasts and collectors, with only 50 units available worldwide. The Skytop follows in the footsteps of the iconic BMW 3.0 CSL, seamlessly blending dynamic performance with […]
The EliteMini AI370, recently launched by Minisforum, is a mini PC that promises to redefine the standards of compact computing. With its powerful AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, this device is designed to cater to the needs of gamers, creators, and tech enthusiasts who demand high performance in a small package. The EliteMini […]
Smartphones have pretty much become more than just communication tools, at least in the traditional sense. We still use it to connect with others, especially via the Internet, but we do so more through images and multimedia, whether they’re the ones we capture ourselves or generated by an app. Cameras and AI have become the focal points of these devices today, no pun intended, and vivo is pressing three new smartphones under its X200 series, all equipped with the latest and greatest innovations promising the ultimate user experience.
Designer: vivo
Design: Nature-inspired, Classic Looks
If you simply compared them with the X100 phones at the start of the year, you might walk away disappointed. That said, the vivo X200 opted to ignore flashy novelties that wear off in a few weeks, preferring designs that stand the test of time. And what better way to embrace evergreen designs than taking a page from the most evergreen design of all: nature.
The vivo X200 Pro’s new Sapphire Blue colorway, for example, has patterns that seem to recreate the enchanting ocean waves on the back of your phone. The vivo X200 Pro mini’s Light Pink, on the other hand, is a nod to the romantic colors of cherry blossoms. Whichever color you pick, you will have a stylish and elegant phone in your hand.
The vivo X200 Pro mini adopts the current design trends with its flat 6.31-inch screen and flat edges, giving it a more modern personality. In contrast, the vivo X200 and X200 Pro stick to tradition with a “Quad Curved Screen” and gentle slopes on all sides and corners. All models of the X200 series are enhanced with ZEISS Natural Color, expanding the collaboration between brands beyond cameras.
Power: New Ways to Communicate
The vivo X200 series is powered by the newly-baked MediaTek Dimensity 9400 processor, the chipmaker’s first 3nm process, to deliver unmatched power and power efficiency. While that already translates to a huge performance boost, most users will probably be interested in how it greatly improves AI performance across the board, from the usual photography touch-ups to popular applications like AI note-taking and, of course, Circle to Search.
Completely new to the X200 series is a kilometer-level network-free communication technology, a product of its close collaboration with MediaTek. This would allow long-distance communication via Bluetooth even when cellular networks are unavailable but without relying on satellite technology. Sending text messages, making voice calls, or even broadcasting SOS signals in extreme environments like mountains and forests are critical features that will make outdoor adventures safer and more enjoyable using these phones.
Cameras: Zooming to the Scene
Of course, photography is a major piece of the X200 series formula, and it’s where vivo flexes its muscle the most. On the vivo X200 Pro, the roster is led by a Sony LYT-818, a 1/1.28-inch sensor that, paired with an f/1.57 aperture lens, is advertised to rival even larger 1-inch sensors. Together with the custom V3+ Imaging Chip, the X200 Pro is promised to deliver not only captivating still photos but also cinematic videos.
Portrait mode, 35mm
Portrait mode, 50mm
Portrait mode, 85mm
The real star of the show, however, is probably the 200MP ZEISS APO Telephoto camera, capable of up to 100x zoom, making short work of capturing live events like concerts. In addition to 85mm HD portraits, this camera is also capable of the new 135mm portrait focal length as well. A Telephoto Macro feature with a magnification ratio of 20x for stunning closeups of nature.
Macro, 3.5x (85mm)
Macro, 7.4x (170mm)
All in all, the vivo X200 series delivers quite a potent package that tries to serve the sub-$800 market. With impressive photography capabilities, innovative features, and a classic, nature-inspired design, vivo is aiming to strike a chord with an audience that loves living in the moment, whether it’s in concerts, live events, a nature trek, or an outdoor adventure.
Turtle Beach Corporation, in collaboration with Performance Designed Products LLC (PDP), has launched a new line of limited-edition TEKKEN 8 Victrix Pro FS Arcade Fight Sticks. These exclusive fight sticks are available in six distinct designs, each representing a popular character from the TEKKEN 8 game, including Jin, Kazuya, King, Law, Lili, and Xiaoyu. Priced […]
The Apple MacBook Air has long been a go-to choice for those seeking a reliable, sleek, and high-performing laptop. As consumers navigate the ever-evolving landscape of technology, the question arises: is it worth waiting for the upcoming models, particularly the 16GB RAM version? To make an informed decision, it’s essential to examine both the current […]
The next Tron game is a follow-up to Tron: Identity, but it’s also something completely new. Where Tron: Identity was a visual novel, Tron: Catalyst is an isometric action game with a looping narrative, and it’s coming to PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch in 2025. Tron: Catalyst is in development at Bithell Games, the award-winning studio behind Tron: Identity, John Wick Hex and Thomas Was Alone.
In Tron: Catalyst, players return to the Arq Grid, a virtual world that’s evolved without human input, creating a siloed, Galapagos Islands type of space populated by sentient computer programs. The protagonist is Exo, a program who’s able to relive segments of time by exploiting a system-level glitch that no one else can sense. She’s on a mission to uncover and stop the unsavory goals of the Arq Grid’s overlords, sniffing out secrets and bypassing enemies with each new loop.
Combat includes melee and ranged attacks, and Exo will collect data shards that grant her new abilities as the game progresses. Exo’s identity disc is a crucial tool in her fight to stabilize the Arq Grid, and one thing players will do with it is customize their upgrade paths.
“As you're playing through, all combat flows from your identity disc, but you're going to be able to upgrade that disc in order to satisfy the kind of action you'd like,” Bithell Games founder Mike Bithell said during a media preview of Tron: Catalyst. He showed off a disc kick, a ranged move that (fittingly) let Exo kick her disc back at the enemies encircling her, in between close-combat slices and standard throws. On top of parkour traversal, players will also be able to ride light cycles.
Tron: Catalyst will make complete sense even if you haven't played Identity, but anyone who played the first installment will encounter a few familiar faces and locales. The new game is a narrative-driven experience where players’ choices have a small but noticeable impact on the world around them. The game has voice acting for major characters and in pivotal scenes.
Bithell Games
“We have a text-based dialogue system here,” Bithell said. “This is at times linear in that way. The player also gets to make dialogue choices. The game is very straight ahead with its action, so there's not an enormous amount of branching, but it does let you be expressive. So as a player, you can decide if you want to be snarky with people, polite with people, and kind of make some choices — for example, choosing if you want to lie or not to this character, and you'll see the echoes of that in your character interactions.”
In the demo, Exo was on a mission to edit her identity disc — in the first loop, she fought her way through stages of enemies in order to access a club and talk to the proper character, who then sent her on an escort mission in order to prove her worth. She completed it, got her disc wiped, and restarted the loop. The second time around, she didn’t need to fight anyone because her identity disc scanned clean. From that point on, the city was open to Exo in a new way.
Bithell Games
Tron: Catalyst isn’t an open-world game, but it’s composed of multiple “big levels,” as Bithell called them.
He added, “We probably need to come up with a better term.”
Essentially, Tron: Catalyst is composed of multiple large hubs that take players from the city streets to rooftop penthouses, providing plenty of points of interest, even after multiple loops. As players explore, they’ll be able to add shortcut codes to Exo’s disc, removing some of the tedium from the playthroughs.
“When you travel somewhere, you may get a taxi to the hotel, but then once you start to get comfortable, you might go to a coffee shop nearby,” Bithell said. “Slowly, in ever-increasing concentric circles, a kind of iterative exploration. That's something we've really tried to pull in here. So as you're playing the game, you're building up that knowledge of the space and how to use it.”
Characters in the world of Tron: Catalyst don’t shift cycle to cycle — at the start of each loop, everyone returns to their original place, doing what they were originally doing. Still, Exo’s perception of each situation changes with every refreshed loop, revealing new paths, and the world reacts according to the edits in her identity disc.
Bithell Games
“It's meant to be a game about playing with those relationships and exploring how characters can kind of be influenced and have their minds changed,” Bithell said. “There's lots going on there, but it’s different to Hades, definitely. It's not a 100-loop roguelite. It's not that kind of game. It's much more story-driven.”
Bithell Games has a team of about 20 developers working on Tron: Catalyst, and it’s being published by Devolver Digital’s new hub for licensed indie games, Big Fan. Of course Disney is also involved — technically the new game’s full name is Disney Tron: Catalyst, so don’t be alarmed if it appears higher up in your alphabetized library than expected once it lands in 2025.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-next-tron-game-is-an-isometric-action-adventure-due-out-in-2025-130050360.html?src=rss
You can think of the $300 Meta Quest 3S as a basic Honda Accord of VR headsets. It doesn't have the same high-quality optics as the $500 Quest 3, which is more like a Touring-grade Honda for enthusiasts, but they both get you to the same place: Truly immersive virtual reality. After testing the Quest 3S for the past week, I see it less as a step down and more like an upgrade over the Quest 2. That headset also launched at $300 four years ago, but its price fluctuated up and down depending on supply chain issues, and, over time, it was hampered by aging hardware.
But now Meta has a $300 VR entry that's powered by a much more capable processor, offers better hand and controller tracking, and lets you dip your toes into mixed reality (overlaying digital objects atop a camera feed of real life). While the Quest 3S might just appear to be a less capable Quest 3, it has the potential to be one of the most significant VR products Meta has made yet.
Hardware
As I mentioned in my initial hands-on, the Quest 3S doesn't look very different compared to the Quest 3, aside from its triangular sensor array. It still has a sturdy plastic case, a healthy dose of cushioning around your eyes, and an adjustable Y-shaped strap. You'll have a genuinely hard time telling the headsets apart while they're facing each other, I found myself peeking at their front sensors often while testing them on the same workbench.
Look a bit closer, though, and you'll notice some key differences. For one, you can easily see the telltale concentric circles of Fresnel lenses on the Quest 3S. Meta also used them on the Quest 2, and they've historically been common among cheaper VR headsets. The Quest 3, on the other hand, uses pancake lenses, which have a smooth surface. (More on the technical differences between those two lens types below.)
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
One way Meta was able to drive down the cost of the Quest 3S was by re-using the 1,830 by 1,920 pixel per eye screen from the Quest 2. The Quest 3's screen offers 30 percent more pixels (2,264 by 2,208 pixels per eye), to deliver a sharper and more realistic image.
The Quest 3S doesn't have a headphone jack, either, so you'll have to plug in a USB-C adapter to get better sound, or connect to wireless headphones. While I'll go to my grave as a defender of 3.5mm audio jacks, but I suppose it makes sense to lose it here. Most Quest 3S users will likely be just fine with its built-in speakers, and anyone who demands the fidelity of a wired connection likely wouldn't mind paying more for the Quest 3 (or shelling out for a $10 USB-C to 3.5mm adapter).
Also gone is the nifty dial for adjusting lens spacing from the Quest 3, instead you have to manually push the lenses into three positions to approximate the best pupillary distance. This involves putting the headset on and taking it off several times (exactly the sort of friction that could easily turn off VR newcomers), but at least it's something you only have to sort once. It could be a bigger problem if you're sharing the headset with your household, though.
Meta added an action button for quickly swapping between mixed reality mode, which shows a camera feed of your room, and a completely immersive VR view. This is something the Quest 3 doesn't have at all — instead, you have to tap its right front corner to jump into mixed reality. Having a dedicated button is simply better for usability, especially for new VR users, so I don't mind that it slightly disrupts the curves of the Quest 3S's design.
The Quest 3S also uses the same Touch Controllers as its more expensive sibling, and they're once again excellent. They've lost the clunky motion tracking ring from the earlier models, now they're simply light controllers that fit your hand like a glove. The joysticks feel smooth and accurate, and the buttons deliver some wonderfully responsive feedback. That's nothing new, though: I've been impressed by Facebook's gamepads since the first Oculus Touch controllers were released in 2016.
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
What's most important about the Quest 3S is the hardware Meta brought over from its more expensive headset. There's the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor, which the company claims offers double the graphics performance as the Quest 2, as well as 8GB of RAM. That's only a slight leap from the Quest 2's 6GB of memory, but it's essential for storing more detailed textures.
Now instead of worrying about how a game would perform on the slower Quest 2, developers can simply build for a single hardware specification. Less headaches for devs, ideally, should mean more software on the Meta Quest store. And the hope is that a wealth of new apps will lead to people buying more headsets. Which leads to more apps sold. It's a virtuous cycle that could potentially help Meta out of the death spiral the consumer VR market has been circling for years.
Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
In use: Snappy and functional VR
The first thing I noticed after donning the Quest 3S: Wow, it sure feels fast. Stepping through the headset onboarding process, downloading a few apps and navigating around the Meta home environment was simply snappy and responsive. That's something I remembered from the Quest 3, as well, but it feels like even more of a revelation on a $300 headset. There was none of the lag or occasional slowdowns I grew used to on the Quest 2.
The actual VR experience looked detailed and immersive, as well. I didn't notice the resolution loss from the Quest 3 much, but it was easily apparent that the cheaper Fresnel lenses led to more artifacts. Edges looked a bit fuzzier, I'd occasionally see haloing around objects, and God rays from extra bright objects often appeared in games like Pistol Whip. There's no doubt the Quest 3's pancake lenses, which aren't as susceptible to the same visual issues, look far sharper.
But here's the thing: I don't think the Fresnel lenses will make much of a difference for VR newcomers. I enjoyed VR headsets for years while living with those same artifacts. And if going with cheaper lenses helped Meta drive the cost of the Quest 3S down to $300, it was worth it. The biggest barrier to the world of VR isn't fidelity, it's cost.
Once I started spending significant time inside the Quest 3S, I also noticed the visual issues less. I was far more interested in trying to conduct the perfect symphony in Maestro, which did a fantastic job of simulating the live orchestral experience thanks to the headset's accurate hand tracking and immersive audio. It was also fun to pick up a random pen from my desk and transform it into a virtual baton. The game certainly looks a bit clearer in the Quest 3, but I would wager many people won't be directly comparing the two headsets.
I also spent an hour playing Mobile Suit Gundam: Silver Phantom — which is less a game and more of an interactive anime film, but it was engrossing enough that I started to ignore the Quest 3S's artifacts. If you're immersed in a genuinely great VR experience, they simply don't matter. Naturally, I also checked out classics like Pistol Whip and Superhot, which are still a blast to play after all these years.
Sadly, the Quest 3S doesn't solve the problem of looking like an absolute buffoon while using VR. That was particularly noticeable while playing I Am Cat, a game that had me climbing up walls, digging up a litter box and absolutely terrorizing the old woman in my virtual house. I was having a blast, but my six year old daughter started to wonder if I was going mad.
I ended up streaming the game to the Meta app on my iPhone, and screen mirroring that to my Apple TV, to give her a live view of everything I was seeing. That, of course, led to her coming up with all sorts of ways for me to wreak kitty havoc in VR. (Pro tip: You can totally make the old lady eat a cat poop sandwich.)
Just like the previous Meta standalone headsets, the Quest 3S can also stream more intensive VR experiences from gaming PCs, either wirelessly or via a USB-C cable. I was able to connect to my rig over Wi-Fi and play 15 minutes of Half-Life: Alyx without any noticeable lag. Sure, it didn't look as great as it did on the Valve Index, but that whole setup still costs $1,000. And, of course, the Index doesn't give you the option of playing wirelessly without a PC. I was also able to stream some non-VR Xbox Cloud Gaming titles, including Halo Infinite and Fortnite, after pairing my Xbox controller. W2D gaming isn't the ideal thing to do in a VR headset, but being able to virtualize an enormous screen still makes it worthwhile, especially if you don't have a large TV.
While Meta positioned the Quest 3 as a mixed reality device, thanks to its color cameras and more capable room mapping, I never found it as useful as the Vision Pro. That's a headset I can wear for hours at a time while I move around my home. The Quest 3's cameras were simply too fuzzy to use for long, and the Quest 3S suffers from the same problem. It's fun to play Meta's First Encounters demo and have aliens invade your home, or jam out in Synth Riders, but the Quest 3 and 3S headsets need far better cameras to truly recreate reality.
That's also why I couldn't stomach using Meta's Remote Desktop app to replicate my PC for too long. The virtual display looked decently sharp, but I had a hard time focusing on that alongside a fuzzy view of my office. I'd much rather just take off the Quest 3S and look at my monitor to get some work done.
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
As an entertainment device, the Quest 3S is a comfortable way to sit back and enjoy movies, TV and 360-degree videos. Home theater heads might notice that videos don't leak nearly as sharp as they do on the Quest 3, and the contrast and black levels are lightyears away from the Vision Pro's MicroLED displays, but for most people the Quest 3S is perfectly fine. It's certainly better than watching something on a laptop or tablet (or god forbid, a phone).
Throughout my week of testing, the Quest 3S would typically last around two hours and 20 minutes before needing a recharge. That's slightly better than what I saw on the Quest 3, which could drain its battery in just two hours. This is one area where the Quest 3S's lower resolution displays may be a benefit, since they're less demanding on the GPU. You could always plug in a 10,000 mAh external pack to extend the Quest 3S’s 4,324 mAh built-in battery, or just leave it plugged into a charger for extended play sessions.
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
Pricing and the competition
The Quest 3S starts at $300 with 128GB of storage, but you can double that to 256GB with the $400 model. If you need 512GB of space, then the $500 Quest 3 is your only option. Given the optics advantage of the more expensive headset though, the $400 Quest 3S doesn't exactly seem like a smart buy. If you need more than 128GB of storage, you're better off saving up until you can snag a Quest 3.
Meta still doesn't have much competition in the world of inexpensive standalone VR headsets. HTC's Vive Focus 3 lineup, which now includes the new Focus 3 Vision, starts at $1,000 and is geared more towards enterprises and business customers. HTC Vive's storefront also has far fewer games and apps than Meta's, so their platform doesn't make much sense for average users.
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
Wrap-up
The Meta Quest 3S is the best $300 standalone VR headset we've ever seen. It's comfortable to wear, and it delivers a snappy VR experience. It's so good, you likely won't notice that it's not as sharp as the Quest 3, or that it also has more visual artifacts. When you’re truly immersed in VR, those problems will fade away.
Alongside the company's Ray-Ban smart frames, its Orion augmented reality glasses, and the billions it's already spent on VR, Meta clearly believes the future of computing rests on your face. But even light smart glasses are still glasses, something that many people avoid wearing by shoving contact lenses onto their eyeballs instead. We don't know how, exactly, the public will respond to true AR glasses. But really, that's a problem for the future. For now, we can just enjoy the Quest 3S for what it is: Great VR at a relatively inexpensive price.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/meta-quest-3s-review-impressive-vr-for-300-130013596.html?src=rss
When considering an upgrade from the Apple Watch Series 7 to the Series 10, it’s essential to evaluate the differences in design, features, performance, and overall user experience. The video below will help you determine whether the Series 10 aligns with your specific needs and preferences, allowing you to make an informed decision. Design and Display Enhancements The […]
