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Polar is launching a screenless band, confirmed in a recent press releaseIt's a distraction free wearable set to launch on September 3Very few details are available, but it will definitely be subscription-freeI first learned about Polar when searching for alternatives to the best Garmin watches, but Polar as a company has been around for a long time: Polar Electro actually developed the world's first wireless heart rate monitor, filing the patent in 1980.While the company may have slipped behind some of its competitors in the smartwatch popularity stakes since then, Polar does make solid, reliable devices that regularly rank on our best running watches and best heart rate monitor lists.Now, though, Polar is moving into a new category: eating Whoop's lunch by releasing a screenless wrist band.However, what excites me isn't just a new challenger in the screenless wearable space; it's the fact that this is a Whoop alternative that's completely subscription-free.(Image credit: Lee Bell)I haven't yet published my review for the Whoop MG, the latest high-end wearable to be released by Whoop, but to cut a long story short: there's a lot to love, especially the detailed analytics. While it's not ideal for runners, it's probably the most useful wearable for hybrid athletes and gym bunnies I've tested in a very long time, thanks to its Oura-style tagging system, workout builder, and advanced recovery tools.However, it's not perfect: the clasp system frequently comes apart when taking the band off, and the subscription cost is very steep: the Whoop MG comes in at a staggering £349 / $359 / AU$629 per year, with the cheapest tier coming in at £169 / $199 / AU$299 per year. For this cost, you get the device along with an annual subscription to the Whoop app.Polar does have a premium subscription tier in its app, but it's specifically for its Fitness Program feature, an adaptive training plan generation tool. The base analytics collected by Polar devices are free, which makes its devices a pretty good value: once a device has been purchased, it can be used without spending more money.I'm really excited about the prospect of a budget Whoop alternative without the costly annual subscription. Polar's running watches, such as the Polar Grit X2 Pro, and heart rate monitors, like the Polar H10, are usually very well-reviewed, which bodes well for the wearable.(Image credit: Whoop)Although a price point hasn't been released for the screenless band – we don't even know its name – we do have a launch date for it: September 3, as mentioned in a Polar press release.The release states that: "The upcoming Polar wearable will not only be the brand’s first screen-free wrist device, but it will also be a subscription-free alternative to other health bands and fitness trackers on the market."By eliminating the need for a screen, this new category of wearables captures accurate insights and data in the background without intruding on users’ daily lives, blending seamlessly into their routines as they go about their day."Users can then check their stats and progress whenever it suits them, staying connected to their sleep, activity, health, and fitness – without it demanding their attention."It certainly sounds a lot like a cheaper Whoop, but we'll know more for sure closer to the launch date. Expect a detailed comparison when it drops, along with my full Whoop MG review soon.You might also like5 of the best muscle-building tips I've heard over 10 years in fitness writingThe next Galaxy Watch will read antioxidant levels, give you useful bedtime guidance, and become the running coach you always wantedTwo months on, OnePlus has fixed my biggest problem with the OnePlus Watch 3, and now I can recommend it to everybody

Microsoft has no plans to get out of the console business anytime soon. The company has been reiterating for a while that it's going to make at least one more generation of Xbox consoles. It's now been confirmed that AMD will power the upcoming hardware, as it did with the Xbox Series X/S.

Xbox president Sarah Bond made the announcement in a short video. Under the multi-year partnership, Xbox and AMD are "advancing the state of art in gaming silicon to deliver the next generation of graphics innovation; to unlock a deeper level of visual quality; and immersive gameplay and player experiences enhanced with the power of AI, all while maintaining compatibility with your existing library of Xbox games," Bond said.

A leaked presentation from May 2022 (which was part of the massive Xbox leak the following year) indicated that Microsoft had yet to make a decision about the processor and GPU for the next Xbox console(s), suggesting in one slide that it planned to strike an agreement with AMD to supply those and in another that it yet had to make an "Arm64 decision." As we now know, the company is doubling down with AMD.

Microsoft

On the surface, the AMD agreement is the main news coming out of Bond's announcement. But, if you read between the lines, there are lots of other interesting details to tease out from what she said in the short video.

For one thing, the AI aspect of Bond's carefully crafted statement lines up with details in the leak (and other developments) about Microsoft embracing artificial intelligence and machine learning in future Xbox games, including for things like AI agents. So the company is likely to keep going down that path.

Bond said that Microsoft and AMD will "co-engineer silicon across a portfolio of devices including our next-generation Xbox consoles, in your living room and in your hands," implying that the company is planning more handhelds beyond the Xbox-branded ROG devices that are coming later this year. Those are also powered by AMD.

In addition, Bond said the next-gen of Xbox devices will maintain "compatibility with your existing library of Xbox games." Xbox has made a commitment to backward compatibility, but that's still welcome to hear.

Those are fairly interesting nuggets, no doubt, but there were two other things Bond said that I think are starting to shed more light on the future of the Xbox ecosystem. First, she said that her team is "building you a gaming platform that’s always with you, so you can play the games you want across devices anywhere you want, delivering you an Xbox experience not locked to a single store or tied to one device."

That "single store" phrasing is a chin stroker, especially in light of the new user interface Xbox is making for the ROG handhelds. The Windows-powered devices won't only allow users to play games from the Xbox PC app, Xbox consoles via remote play and the cloud. They'll integrate games from other PC storefronts, such as Battle.net (which is run by Microsoft-owned Activision Blizzard), Steam, GOG and more. Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass users have long had access to EA Play games as part of their subscriptions. Ubisoft+ is on Xbox consoles too.

Microsoft

Perhaps this concept of not being "locked to a single store" will start to work in other ways. Valve said a few years ago that it would be happy to integrate Game Pass into Steam, for instance. Likewise, Microsoft has said it would welcome Steam and the Epic Games Store app onto its PC app store (though Valve and Epic probably wouldn't want to give Microsoft a cut of game sales). Maybe we might finally see those come to fruition in the next few years.

But how might those integrations work on an Xbox console? Bond hinted at that too. She said Xbox is "working closely with the Windows team to ensure that Windows is the number one platform for gaming."

Sure, that could be a reference to PC gaming. But Bond didn't explicitly state that, which has me wondering if the next Xbox console might be more of a Windows PC that sits under your TV. That would align with comments made a few months back by Jez Corden of Windows Central, who said the next Xbox is "a PC, in essence, but with a TV-friendly shell."

As with the likes of the Steam Deck and other handheld PCs, this would potentially give game developers a specific set of specifications to work with (though ensuring their games are optimized for as many desktop and laptop configurations as possible will still be a complex task). Perhaps the user interface Xbox is debuting on the Ally X devices is a sign of things to come on larger displays.

Moreover, the Xbox and Windows teams are stripping out unnecessary aspects of the operating system in the Xbox Ally handhelds to make them run more efficiently. What's to stop them from doing the same in the next Xbox console? That could enable Xbox to offer a more unified ecosystem across all platforms, while streamlining things for developers who want to make games for both PC and Xbox. Don't forget that Microsoft has been making a real effort to make Windows run more smoothly on ARM-based processors as part of its Copilot+ PC push.

We might have to wait two or three more years to get a fuller sense of Microsoft's vision for the future of Xbox consoles. But it certainly has the opportunity to knit its platforms more closely together and make playing Xbox (and PC) games across devices a more seamless experience.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/xboxs-amd-partnership-sheds-light-on-the-future-of-the-divisions-ecosystem-200940253.html?src=rss

Aura Ultrabook Dual 14" Touch is perfect for presentations and scrolling through documentsStunning display setup is held back by an underpowered Intel Celeron processor that just can’t keep upA magnetic Bluetooth keyboard and a touch display give you both tactile and futuristic input optionsThe Aura Ultrabook Dual 14" Touch is an ambitious entry in the compact laptop market, targeting users who value portability and a futuristic dual-screen experience.It offers an appealing form factor and sleek design with two 14-inch vertically stacked touchscreens that merge into an 18.5-inch workspace, and each screen boasts a 2.2K resolution with factory-calibrated 100% sRGB color accuracy.The 360° friction hinge on the display allows for various modes of use, from tablet to full workstation, and it also offers a Bluetooth magnetic keyboard for a tactile typing experience when needed, along with a virtual touch keyboard integrated within the display.Impressive visual and structural design but lackluster powerSo on paper, it looks like a serious contender for those in need of flexible screen real estate, especially for professionals juggling multiple tasks - however, a critical shortcoming in its core performance undercuts its broader potential.The biggest limitation is its use of an Intel Celeron N95 processor. While it’s a quad-core CPU with turbo boosting capabilities, the N95 remains an entry-level chip with relatively low power.For users who plan to run simulations, data-heavy apps, or multiple demanding programs at once, this CPU will struggle.Performance is limited not by RAM or storage, both of which are available in generous configurations (16GB RAM and up to 1TB SSD), but by the bottleneck in processing speed.This issue is made worse by the device’s unconventional architecture. The CPU and battery are housed in one half of the dual-screen setup, meaning the keyboard is entirely optional and not part of the main body.While that’s clever in terms of modularity, it raises concerns about long-term ergonomics and heat distribution, particularly when used without the keyboard attachment for extended periods.That said, the laptop’s connectivity is broad, including USB-A and USB-C ports, HDMI, a microSD slot, and a headphone jack. It supports dual-band WiFi and Bluetooth 4.2.As part of the Father’s Day promotional campaign, the Aura Ultrabook Dual 14" Touch is currently available for $699, a 13% discount off the $799 original price, and delivery will start worldwide on June 20.While the price and discount are attractive, the underwhelming CPU is a significant flaw and is a deal breaker for power-hungry users.You might also likeHere are the best mobile workstations around todayWe've also listed the best monitors for every budget and resolutionAMD made key acquisitions to close the gap between its Instinct GPUs and Nvidia's Blackwell

Solidigm’s 122.88TB SSD may not be the fastest, but it wins on density and designAt $12,400, this SSD isn’t cheap, but it could slash rack space and energy wasteSolidigm already has rivals with competing 122.88TB SSD productsWith a staggering capacity of 122.88TB, the Solidigm D5-P5336 currently holds the title for the world’s largest SSD.Launched in late 2024, it became available for purchase at $12,400, a figure which may seem steep, until one considers the operational cost savings from reducing physical rack space and energy usage.As Solidigm aims to lead the market in high-capacity enterprise storage, the company may soon face competition, not just in performance, but in scale.A 246TB SSD may arrive in 2025Reports now suggest that a 246TB SSD could be introduced before the end of 2025, potentially doubling today’s storage ceiling.Solidigm’s drive has been positioned as a density-first product, with read speeds up to 7GB/s and write speeds of 3GB/s via PCIe Gen4.It is optimized for workloads that benefit from high sequential read performance, such as AI pipelines, CDN services, and object storage.Solidigm’s D5-P5336 122.88TB SSD packs a decent capacity into a single U.2 drive and sets a new benchmark in SSD storage density.Yet despite the scale, real-world benchmarks indicate that performance doesn't scale linearly.It often matches or slightly trails its 61.44TB predecessor in high-concurrency workloads, and lags behind Gen5 drives like Micron’s 61TB 6550, particularly in write-heavy operations.The 122.88TB model offers modest endurance at 0.6 DWPD, which equates to 134.3 PB written over its five-year warranty period.That makes it a fit for read-heavy environments, but less ideal for mixed or write-intensive deployments.Still, Solidigm’s strategy is clear: focus on maximizing storage per watt, per rack unit, and per dollar.As such, this drive may not be the best SSD in raw performance terms, but it plays a critical role in modern data centers where density and efficiency drive infrastructure design.The competitive landscape is also shifting, and little-known Chinese brand DapuStor has released its own 122.88TB SSD, joining the race toward high-capacity flash.While details on its long-term reliability and support remain limited, this signals growing interest in ultra-dense enterprise SSDs beyond established players.That said, the possibility of a 246TB SSD raises important questions. Can NAND technology and controller efficiency keep up with this growth?And will such capacity jumps continue to deliver meaningful performance improvements?As data centers brace for AI-driven demand, the answer may define not only the best external SSD for hyperscalers but the trajectory of the largest SSD and hard drive technologies overall.Via StorageReviewYou might also likeMajor government organization slams Microsoft Teams as it drops Windows for goodThese are the best NAS devices aroundWe've also rounded up the best cloud storage platforms on offer