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Look, I get it: there’s not much else more special in the gaming or tech world than the smell of a new console freshly unboxed.Add in that the new console of the moment is the Nintendo Switch 2, and with it all the promise of new exclusive games and hours, days, nights spent in Mario Kart World, and it’s not surprising that tracking down new stock of the Nintendo Switch 2 isn’t easy.But I’m not fussed.Well, okay, I’m a little fussed; I have a decent dose of FOMO tickling my gaming synapse as I see others on social media with their box-fresh Switch 2 consoles, while I remain flopped on my sofa with my aged original Nintendo Switch.However, I’ve resisted the urge to splurge my hard-earned cash on the Switch 2. In part because I’m probably one of the few people who doesn’t get all giddy at Mario Kart (at least not since Mario Kart 64). On the other hand, there’s not yet a glut of big new first-party exclusive games for the console.Yet my big reason to wait is all about bundles.The wating game(Image credit: Future)Alongside looking after the phones and tablets vertical at TechRadar, I also manage the site’s deals team, so I spend a good bit of time tracking sales events and chewing over deals from the likes of Amazon, Best Buy, Currys, Argos, Walmart and more.While I don’t expect the Switch 2 to drop in price in the next couple of years, let alone anytime soon, I think we could see some compelling Switch 2 bundles as the inevitable march towards the winter (at least in the Northern Hemisphere) holiday season.With said season comes an Amazon October sales spree and Black Friday, which is far less of a day of sales and more like weeks of bargains for the discerning shopper to pursue. And a good suite of those deals falls on games and gaming hardware.So I’m forecasting that come November time we’ll see more varied Nintendo Switch 2 bundles, specifically from major retailers; I doubt these will add up to a discounted Switch 2, but instead could bundle the console with a new game or two, or a Switch 2 Pro controller, all at a price that's notably cheaper than buying each part separately.I’m calling it now: there’ll be a Donkey Kong Bananza Switch 2 bundle.As such, I think I’ll kick my FOMO to the curb for now and hold out for a handful of months before I seek out the new Switch.I have previous form on this, as I remember holding out for an original Switch bundle, which I snapped up during the Black Friday period of 2017. I think this snagged me the console and Super Mario Odyssey for a decent price, leaving me with some change to snap up Breath of the Wild; don’t ask me for specifics as we’re talking the best part of a decade ago, though.Now the gaming landscape has changed a little in that time, with the likes of the PS5 and Xbox Series X even increasing in price as they age. So compelling console bundles might be a thing of the past.Yet I’m willing to cling to hope and wait for a Switch 2 bundle that catches my eye. If nothing else, there should be more exclusive games for the new console as 2025 marches on.In the meantime, I’ll take the money I could have splurged on the Switch 2 and see if I can get any gaming bargains in the early Prime Day deals; wish me luck, or come and join me.You might also likeI’ve spent 150 hours with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and the Switch 2 Edition is an incredible upgradeNintendo has made Switch 2 scalping much harder in Japan by making a simple change to what’s in the boxNew Switch 2 games: every upcoming confirmed title for 2025 and beyond

Asus RTX 5080 now doubles as AI hardware and a surprisingly cool SSD bayPCIe lanes aren’t just for GPUs anymore, thanks to Asus’ hybrid hardware approachAsus is developing Multi-LM so AI devs can offload models straight to onboard SSDsThe unusual GeForce RTX 5080 GPU, first spotted a few weeks ago with an SSD slot, is no longer just a hardware oddity.Asus North America has now confirmed the ProArt RTX 5080 SSD Edition is a real product.As unusual as it may sound, the decision to pair high-performance graphics processing with solid-state storage is part of a broader plan involving artificial intelligence and local model development.A hybrid GPU-storage design targeting AI developmentDespite Asus remaining tight-lipped on a release date and shipping configuration, some technical details have begun to emerge, alongside a few unanswered questions.One of the biggest surprises is the 90-degree rotated GPU layout - Asus modified the printed circuit board (PCB) design so that the GPU is mounted perpendicular to the usual orientation.This is not a configuration found in any other RTX 5080 models, suggesting a custom approach that accommodates the SSD and improves airflow.Asus claims this layout helps the SSD benefit from, “airflow provided by the card’s fans,” although the SSD is not in direct contact with the main heatsink.It is instead cooled via a secondary heatsink and passive airflow, reportedly keeping the SSD about 10 degrees Celsius cooler than a typical M.2 drive mounted on a motherboard.The SSD integration also exploits PCIe bifurcation, meaning unused PCI Express lanes are reassigned to support the drive.The company has previously applied this approach to RTX 4060 series cards, which did not fully saturate the PCIe interface, leaving enough bandwidth for an M.2 slot.Now, with the RTX 5080 ProArt edition, the idea is refined to suit high-end AI workflows, although it introduces trade-offs, the GPU may not always have access to all PCIe lanes, potentially limiting peak performance under certain workloads.Perhaps the most significant revelation lies in Asus’ software ambitions - the company is developing a tool called Multi-LM, intended for developers working with large language models.Asus says, this tool will “allow AI developers to offload models directly to the storage, potentially enabling local model development without needing constant memory swaps to slower system drives.”This will be of interest to those looking for the best LLM for coding, and positions the RTX 5080 SSD Edition as more than just a gaming card; it could become one of the best AI tools for local inference and prototyping.Asus has only released a single render of the card and has not confirmed performance metrics or availability.The question of whether this concept delivers meaningful real-world gains or just adds complexity remains unanswered.Via VideocardzYou might also likeWe've listed the best portable SSDs right nowThese are the best NAS devices aroundWe've also rounded up the best cloud storage platforms on offer

The Trump Organization says a new T1 Phone will launch in AugustIt will apparently be "designed and built in the United States"But experts say the phone is more likely to have Chinese originsThe Trump Mobile T1 Phone is undoubtedly one of the strangest phones ever made, mixing odd specs (a 3.5mm headphone jack) with ones that make no sense ("5000mAh long life camera"). However, it also comes with a big claim that it'll be "designed and built in the United States."Given that analysts recently told us that "the idea of making iPhones in the US is a stretch", is this really possible? Or will the manufacturing reality of the "sleek, gold smartphone" be a bit more complicated?We asked smartphone supply chain experts for their verdict on the Trump Mobile T1 and whether it really can meet those lofty "made in the USA" goals.With the T1 arriving in August for $499, it could theoretically steal some thunder from the rumored iPhone 17 – but there are good reasons to suspect that Apple won't be losing any sleep over its unexpected, gold-colored rival from Trump Mobile...The claimThe Trump Organization has made some typically bold claims about the T1 – it's been billed as the phone that will spark a new era in US phone manufacturing.In a press release, the Trump family business stated that the T1 is "proudly designed and built in the United States for customers who expect the best from their mobile carrier". Elsewhere, the site claims it has been "built for patriots by patriots".(Image credit: The Trump Organization)Expanding on the claims, Eric Trump stated on "The Benny Show" podcast that "eventually, all the phones can be built in the United States of America".Yet the Trump Mobile site is short on specific details about how and where the Trump T1 phone will be made. According to experts, there are good reasons to suspect that this will be ambitious at best...The reality(Image credit: The Trump Organization)Experts agree the Trump phone won't meet its "made in the USA" claimsIt will likely be a modified Android phone from a Chinese manufacturerBut the Trump Mobile T1 could theoretically still be assembled in the USAThe Trump Mobile T1 won't meet the strict definition of "made in the USA" for a few reasons, experts say – and these also explain why moving iPhone manufacturing to the USA is unlikely in the near future.Firstly, "made in the USA" has a high bar. Professor Tinglong Dai, who teaches at the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School, told us: "The FTC [Federal Trade Commission] has a strict standard for “Made in USA”: all or almost all parts and processing must be domestic. Judging by that standard, the claim is unrealistic."But there could be ways around that. "The Trump Organization’s “built in America” language isn’t an official designation, so there’s plenty of wiggle room for them to make that claim," Dai added.Ben Hatton, market analyst at CCS Insight, agrees. "Our expectation is that the T1 Phone will work around this by virtue of assembly in the US using parts from elsewhere," he told us.On that subject, TechRadar's Editor at Large, Lance Ulanoff, also noted: "There's just one company that builds phones in the US, Purism. Its specs don't match up. Even if it is assembled somewhere in Trump Castle, they're still almost certainly sourcing components outside the US."So, what phone will the T1 be based on? That's still something of a mystery. "The phone will probably be a custom-modified Android smartphone from a Chinese manufacturer," Ben Hatton from CCS Insight told us. That seems highly likely – we tried putting the T1's specs into GSMArena's phone finder for existing phones, and it came up blank.Why can't phones be made in the USA?(Image credit: ArcGIS StoryMaps)So what does all this mean for the grand ambition of manufacturing phones in the US? And why isn't it possible?"The main challenge is that we don’t have an end-to-end tech supply chain, and the U.S. lacks the manufacturing capacity for several key components. Even if we do, the lack of skilled workers would be a main bottleneck," Dai explained.Ben Hatton from CCS Insight agrees that a true "made in the USA" phone is unlikely to happen for a long time, if ever. "The US is unlikely to have enough labor with the right skills for this to be achievable in anything other than the long-term. The costs of labor would then go through the roof due to this skills shortage," he added."Upending 50 years of supply-chain evolution by making companies move facilities would also mean totally reshaping these chains by making the US the ‘focal point’ rather than China," he concluded. In other words, it's completely unrealistic and not compatible with the complexities of smartphones or our globalized tech world.To sum that up, Professor Tinglong Dai concluded: "A bigger issue is that there’s really no such thing as a fully domestic supply chain.” You may have read the classical essay, “I, Pencil” – even for something as simple as a pencil, you’re talking about dozens of countries behind it, and that’s before the current global supply chain era," he noted.To see the equivalent for an iPhone, check out the excellent 'Mapping the iPhone' infographic from ArcGIS StoryMaps, which shows just how complex smartphone supply chains are.So while The Trump Mobile T1 may carry the "made in the USA" boast, experts agree it'll be at best "assembled in the USA" – and even that hasn't yet been officially confirmed ahead of its August launch.You might also likeThe Trump Mobile T1 Phone is official – here are 10 reasons why it might be the strangest phone ever madeThis new iOS 26 feature for Apple Music is going viral – and as a Spotify fan, I'm feeling very jealousShould Meta be worried? 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