The SwitchBot Hub 3 smart home controller is now available for purchase. The Matter-capable device is quite different than other smart home hubs we’ve tested, starting with its rotary knob that can adjust the target temperature on a smart thermostat, the brightness of smart lighting devices, or the volume level of a connected speaker. Another feature that makes the $120 controller so interesting is the USB-C cable that connects it to its power supply: The cable senses the ambient temperature and relative humidity in the room where the Hub 3 is installed. These readings are shown on the hub’s display. We have a hands-on review of the all-new SwitchBot Ultra, which is also shipping today.SwitchBot Outfitted with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi radios, users will be able to control most any of SwitchBot’s own smart home products—ranging from its smart locks to its motorized curtain and tilt-blind controllers—while also rendering those devices Matter compatible. The hub is also equipped with both an infrared transmitter and an IR receiver for controlling TVs and other home entertainment gear as well as appliances such as fans and air conditioners that use that control interface. The device is also compatible with Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings. IFTTT support rounds out its near-universal compatibility. Users will be able to send up to 30 programmable commands to trigger automation scenes involving Matter-compatible products from other brands that are already integrated into Apple Home. The SwitchBot Hub 3 comes with a tabletop stand or it can be mounted to the wall with either screws or double-sided 3M VHB tape (both come in the box). The SwitchBot Hub 3 is available now for $119.99. We had a very favorable take on the earlier SwitchBot Hub 2, so look for our in-depth review of this new model soon. Read...

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Space Marine II now has official mod support baked into the base game, fresh from the devs’ hands to your eyeballs. This is big news, albeit for a very particular kind of fan. Allow me to give you some necessary context. Space Marine II is based in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Which, in terms of pop culture settings, is about as deep as it gets. Starting with a tabletop strategy game that was itself a spinoff, the setting has been going strong since the late 80s, with ten editions of the main game, all with deep accompanying lore; several alternate games (ditto); hundreds of novels; and dozens of video games. All of that is, to a greater or lesser degree, canon to the game’s story. A story that takes place across literally millions of planets and tens of millions of years, dozens of human and alien species, psychic magic, demons, and sci-fi tech, all rolled together in one miserable, glorious heap of grimdark fiction. Focus Entertainment It’s a lot. I think it’s very possible that Warhammer 40K might have the most information and lore of any media property, ever. It is so deep and so wide that it makes Star Trek look like Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys. (What? Exactly.) And here’s the crazy thing: That’s just the official material. As a tabletop war game that also includes building, painting, and customizing your own incredibly delicate, tiny, and expensive army, 40K attracts the kind of fan who loves to literally get their hands dirty. You can spend thousands of hours and a small fortune painstakingly choosing your perfect fighting force, assembling them, and showing off your skills. And a lot of players aren’t content to simply go along with the game’s official story; they’d rather invent their own “chapters” or “factions” of the game’s various sci-fi legions. They do the same with the fiction itself. There are decades of fan content, an entire culture, surrounding this game, its stories and lore, and even its basic mechanics. I’m not exaggerating when I say you could spend the rest of your life obsessed with Warhammer 40,000 and still never see everything there is to see. Here’s one of my favorites, playing off the Ork’s latent psychic powers. 40K’s space Orks aren’t smart enough to make things like cars or spaceships, but because they believe a car-shaped thing should work like a car, it does. They also believe that painting a car red makes it go faster. For them, it actually does. Space Marine II knows this, knows that its most dedicated fans want to dive into all of that headfirst. While a single video game can only encapsulate a fraction of the full breadth of 40K’s official material and can’t even begin to accommodate all the unofficial stuff, it includes an impressive customization tool that lets you equip and “paint” your giant, grimdark supersoldier in an incredible variety of ways. It’s exactly the sort of thing that makes a 40K fan’s heart go pitter-patter. But for the most dedicated 40K fan, that’s still not enough. Which is why the game now has official, native support for player-created mods. It’s a formula that’s worked well for tons of PC games, from Skyrim to Cities Skylines to Baldur’s Gate III. But because of Warhammer 40K’s unique relationship with both its own medium and its fans, it’s inevitable that an explosion of user-generated content is coming. Within the first release of the official Integration Studio, modders will get access to tools for making new levels, new modes, new NPCs and enemy behavior, and even the base game’s logic. But that’s just the bones of what players can make. They can recreate essential moments from 40K fiction, like, say, the Fall of Cadia or the throne room battle of the Horus Heresy. (That would be roughly equivalent to the bombing of Pearl Harbor or the Charge of the Light Brigade, for those not in the know.) They can add in iconic allies and enemies, from an Avatar of Khaine to Ciaphas Cain. They could bring in some Exodite Eldar and play as an alien elf riding a dinosaur, which Games Workshop has yet to give players in the real game. And again, that’s just emulating the stuff from the official fiction. Warhammer 40K fan content goes hard and crazy, often leaning into the setting’s most ridiculous elements or its largely forgotten satirical bent. (The humans and Space Marines are unequivocally and almost universally bad guys, if not necessarily the Bad Guys, something that’s often overlooked in the video games.) I can’t wait to see Buzz Lightyear marines, or the Angry Marines, or the best unofficial chapter: the Space Maids, who go around in pink maid dresses giving aid and comfort to the armies of the Imperium. This is a joke. But also it isn’t. The Space Maids have semi-official lore, as official as fan content can get. They have divisions of their army with documented insignias, and they have a “Primarch” or founder like all the other Space Marine chapters/legions. They’re based on cutesy anime tropes, including lots of catgirls and baked goods. They’re wonderful. Space Maid Marines are coming to Space Marine II. It is inevitable, and it’s going to be glorious. Read...

I hoard tech devices, but funny enough, I don’t keep piles of tech accessories. I tend to buy cables, dongles, and organizational bits infrequently. I wait until I need them, since I figure I can always buy them. But that soon may not be the case, as a lot of such stuff comes from China. Even as tariff policies are changing, shipments dropped pretty dramatically over the last month and a half. Plus, when availability goes down, prices go up. So I’m biting the bullet and finally stocking up on a few small but key items—the same things that many friends often grumble about not having on hand. Chances are, you’ll want to grab some of these, too. 1) Cables Anker Somehow, I always need more USB-C cables. (I recently rescued an e-reader and an unwanted phone, so that may have something to do with it.) Right now a pack of two is under $10. I also recently decided to rework my layout for networking gear within my home. Longer cords would make the project easier, and I may as well get faster ethernet cabling anyway. A 50-foot CAT 6 cable is $28, but if I’m willing to forgo future-proofing, I can grab a CAT 5e variant for just $10. Plus, I always need HDMI cables. So at least one cheapie $9 six-foot one goes in the cart, too. 2) Zipties HAVE ME TD / Amazon A lot of zipties are made in the U.S.—but since I don’t know if their factories rely on materials and parts made overseas, I figure this is an easy buy now, too. A pack or two of zipties doesn’t take much space or much money ($4/each). I own Velcro ties as well, but I hoard my gigantic roll for PC building projects and other places where I may want to adjust or redo the cabling. I won’t stay rich in Velcro ties if I use them everywhere. (Even if they’re only $10 for 100, they’re preeeecciouuusss to me.) Zipties are more versatile around the house, too. For tech, I use them to tidy up cabling at my desk, behind my PC, and along the back of my entertainment center. But they also come in handy with my plants, organizing craft supplies, securing loose pieces of (cheap) furniture, and the like. Pretty much every time I’m grumbling about a twist-tie breaking but being too stubborn to use one of my precious Velcro ties, I should be using a zip tie. So now I’ll have plenty. 3) USB dongles StarTech / Amazon So, in theory, USB ports can hold up to removing and inserting cables many times over. In practice, death can come faster than expected. (RIP to the charging port on my old laptop after someone tripped over the charging cable.) Whenever I can, I buy USB extender dongles for USB ports I know I’ll be swapping devices in and out of frequently. I’ve been making use of a few older USB 2.0 models I already had, but recently I started using gear needing USB 3.0. So that gets an upgrade, and I’m getting two just in case. (May as well, at $8 a pop.) 4) Cable adapters Cable Matters / Amazon I have a lot of HDMI cables. (At least, in theory I do—they’re stashed all over my place so I can’t always find them right away. Hence buying more because I may as well.)  I don’t have many specialty display cables, like HDMI to mini-DisplayPort and HDMI to micro-HDMI. I use them infrequently, but they’re valuable when doing tech support or stretching life out of older hardware. I could buy more of the specialty cables, but I’m snagging adapters instead. (Right now, I’m starting with a $10 HDMI to mini-DP option.) Converting a standard HDMI cable gives me much more flexibility, like if I need a longer cable than the specialty one I own. Read...

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Roku is best known for its streaming boxes and sticks, but it also offers free TV entertainment on its Roku Channel, including live linear TV and some original movies, and you don’t need to have Roku’s hardware—or a Roku TV—to watch it. We’ll show you all the ways you can enjoy the bounty. You can access the Roku Channel via a web browser or via Roku’s mobile apps for Android and iOS. To watch on a smart TV or another brand of streaming device (an Amazon Fire TV, Google TV, Samsung smart TV), you’ll need to install the Roku Channel app from that device’s app store. Unfortunately, Roku doesn’t have a version of the Roku Channel app for LG smart TVs or the Apple TV streamer. But we’ll show you some workarounds for those platforms later. If you do want a Roku streamer, we’ll help you find the right one. You don’t need a Roku-powered streaming device or TV to watch the free entertainment on the Roku Channel; in fact, you don’t need a media streamer at all. Just point your web browser to theRokuChannel.com and pick what you want to watch.Michael Brown/Foundry What’s available on the Roku Channel? The Roku Channel offers a wide array of FAST (free ad-supported TV) channels, movies and TV series you can watch on demand, as well as live linear TV (movies and shows are streamed on a fixed schedule—as in the good ol’ days of broadcast television—but you can drop in whenever you want). You’ll find some of this same content on other FAST services, such as Pluto and Tubi, but Roku always has a selection of popular films and shows that are exclusive to the Roku Channel. Roku’s most high-profile original project so far is the Emmy-winning Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, starring Daniel Radcliffe as the satirical singer. Roku offers a small amount of its own original programming, including Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, starring Daniel Radcliffe.Jared Newman / Foundry Other original shows include The Great American Baking Show, Honest Renovations, and Visionaries: The Arch Project with Keanu Reeves. It’s a tiny catalog when compared to what’s streaming on Max or Netflix, but you can watch all these shows for free (with ads). Roku has also gone bargain hunting, picking up worthy projects other streaming services have dropped. That includes the entire library of Quibi, the failed “quick bites” short form video service that Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg (former chief executive of Disney and co-founder of Dreamworks), designed for phones. Roku rescued an entire library of Quibi shows like Die Hart with Kevin Hart, Most Dangerous Game, a Punk’d revival with Chance the Rapper, the Reno 911! revival, and Bill Burr Presents Immoral Compass. Roku also picked up The Spiderwick Chronicles TV series from Disney+. Roku acquired the entire Quibi library of short films and offers it for free on the Roku Channel.Quibi Since The Roku Channel was designed as a hub for Roku streaming devices, there’s a lot of emphasis on luring users to subscribe to other streaming services, such as Prime Video, Peacock, MGM+, and Paramount+. If you’re not familiar with the catalogs of those streaming services, you might find yourself routed to their apps or websites when you click on a title. If you are interested in subscribing to those services, it’s best to sign up for them directly, so that your customer relationship is with the service provider and not a go-between. How to use a browser to watch the Roku Channel First, point your browser to therokuchannel.com. You’ll see a large grid with thumbnail images of the movies and TV shows on offer. At the risk of contradicting everything I’ve said about this entertainment being free and ad supported; well, some of it—a little of it—isn’t. But the Roku Channel user interface makes it easy to tell the difference.Roku’s browser view makes it easy to identify which content is free with ads and which requires a subscription to one service or another. Each section features tiles that slide to the left or right with arrows on each side of the screen, much like the navigation on Netflix. You’ll need to scroll down three times to see the entire user interface when viewing the Roku Channel in a web browser on an iPhone. Michael Brown/Foundry What you can’t do is adjust the view of the page to hide the Premium Subscription content. That makes sense—for Roku, at least—because part of the company’s business model revolves around you subscribing to outside services from within its site, for which Roku collects a commission. But it would be nice if users could hide the subscription options they don’t plan to use. A Browse tab allows a viewer to focus on such categories as Roku Originals, Movies, Series, Comedy, Drama, Western, and dozens of others. You can click a + button next to a program’s description to add it to a Saved tab. The Live TV tab shows what’s streaming now with the same sliding tile interface the rest of The Roku Channel site uses. It’s a bit counterintuitive for anyone who grew up with the traditional cable guide grid interface that Pluto and Tubi use for their live TV offerings. How to use the Roku Channel mobile app The Roku Channel lives inside the Roku app for iOS and Android. That app is primarily designed to act as a remote for a Roku device or Roku-powered television, so you’ll need to get used to working around that capability if you’re primarily using the app to just watch the Roku Channel. There is no Roku Channel app for the Apple TV streaming box, but you can play the service on your phone and cast it to the box connected your big-screen TV via Apple AirPlay.Michael Brown/Foundry For example, I use an Apple TV streamer with a TCL television that happens to have the Roku software built in. I don’t use the Roku software on the television, but I do have a Roku account. Press the wrong icon on the screen, and the Roku interface launches on the TV screen. There’s no way to turn that off or eliminate the icons for apps you may have installed on a Roku device or television. The mobile app uses the same sliding tile interface as the web version, but it’s far more difficult to use on a smaller screen. There’s no way to get an overview of what’s streaming live, and it’s impossible to surface a list of Roku Originals if you’re looking to focus on movies and shows exclusive to the channel. If you own an Apple TV, you can watch The Roku Channel on your television screen via mirroring. There’s no support for AirPlay. That means you won’t have access to anything but the streaming video when watching. What’s the best way to watch the Roku Channel? If have a Google-, Amazon Fire- or Roku-powered streaming device or television, download the Roku Channel app for your respective device, as that’s the easiest way to watch the service, as you’ll be able to use a remote control. If you don’t have one of those devices, the easiest way to watch the Roku Channel is on a web browser on a computer or tablet. If you’re looking to use your mobile device and want to have access to the full catalog of movies and shows, your best bet is to log in via a web browser and add what you want to your Save List. That content will then be easily accessed on the mobile app. Free streaming has become a major player in home entertainment. If you’re willing to put up with a few commercials (and sometimes the same commercials playing during every single ad break), there’s a wide variety of classic and relatively new movies and shows available on the Roku Channel—and other FAST services—to pass the time. Read...

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