Who did the glass-like design first? Was it Apple with its Aqua transparency effects in 2000, or Microsoft with its Aero Glass theme in Windows Vista in 2007? Either way, Microsoft seems to think Apple’s Liquid Glass design bears some resemblance to its glass look in Windows Media Center, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Whatever you think, just don’t call it that.
Although the original dual-screen Ayaneo Flip was a flop, the company confirmed it was committed to the line and today announced its new Flip 1S DS. The most obvious upgrade is a 7-inch 1080P OLED main screen with a larger 4.5-inch secondary LCD touchscreen with a 1620×1080 pixel resolution.
It will be powered by an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, run Windows 11, and feature TMR joysticks, but pricing and availability isn’t known yet.
Xbox chief Phil Spencer just casually revealed Gears of War: E-Day is coming in 2026, 25 years after the launch of the original Xbox. It’s arriving alongside a “the next Forza,” according to Spencer, and “the return of a classic that’s been with us since the beginning.” That classic sure sounds like the Halo CE remaster I wrote about last year.
If you already bought a Windows gaming handheld, you might not need to upgrade your hardware to get the overhauled Xbox app, Game Bar, and Windows OS that Microsoft and Asus just announced.
Xbox exec Roanne Sones:
The Xbox full-screen experience will first come to the ROG Xbox Ally and the ROG Xbox Ally X, and our next focus will be updating the in-market ROG Ally and the ROG Ally X. Similar full-screen Xbox experiences will be rolling out to other Windows handhelds, starting next year.”
“You can now easily pause, play, skip forward or backward, and seek via the progress bar right from the picture-in-picture window,” according to a blog post. I don’t use Edge, but these seem like good upgrades.
8
Verge Score
Microsoft’s tablet and laptop hybrid now has the right mix of design, power, and battery life.
