Week in Tech: Samsung shows its metal, TechRadar builds a Steam Machine

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www.techradar.com Week in Tech Samsung shows its metal, TechRadar builds a Steam Machine As the joke goes, when the inventor of USB dies they'll gently lower the coffin, lift it back up, turn it the other way around and lower it down again. But perhaps not, because USB is no longer going to be Schrödinger's cable, only revealing its true state when you try to plug it in. Samsung goes metal Oh, Samsung, where *do* you get your crazy ideas from? With the Samsung Galaxy Alpha the Android giant has embraced sleek metal casings with chamfered edges and fingerprint sensors, a combination that in no way is anything like an iPhone 5S. As John McCann points out, the Alpha also has a "dimpled polycarbonate rear". Specs are impressive - octa-core or quad-core processors, 2GB of RAM and a 4.7-inch Super AMOLED 720p display - but there's no word on price just yet. It'll go on sale next month. Time to get Steam-y Fed up waiting for Steam Machines to launch? So are we - so we built our own for less than the price of a PS4. Andrew Williams has the know-how, and as he says, "it's easier than you might think." Read the full story     In this week ■ Week in Tech: Samsung shows its metal, TechRadar builds a Steam Machine ■ Talking points: Samsung VR headset, Amazon Fire Phone, meet Slice, PS5 ■ Competition: WIN! A PS4 and EA Sports UFC with The Expendables III ■ The week's best buys: Apple iPad Air, Now TV Box, Canon PowerShot SX510 HS ■ Top 10: Tablets   Talking points 1 Samsung's VR headset appears An image of Samsung's VR headset has been acquired by the Verge. The site reported Samsung plans to unveil the headset codenamed "Project Moonlight" during its September 3 pre-IFA event. Read more       2 Amazon Fire Phone review Don't buy the Amazon Fire Phone. It's very rare that we'll say that to kick off a verdict, but that's the bottom line with this device. We don't need wax philosophical about its implications and its competition. We don't need to talk about Amazon's strategy in depth. Read more       3 Meet Slice: the Raspberry Pi-powered media player with a difference Anyone with a large digital media library will be familiar with the problem: how best to unleash your files' full potential? FiveNinjas thinks it has the answer. It's a media player called Slice and it's set to be the first device to hit the shelves with a Raspberry Pi Compute Module at its heart. Read more       4 What should we expect from PS5 and the next generation? The PlayStation 4 is barely out of its box in terms of a console life cycle. But we're already thinking about the future. Is there one for the console as we know it or are we just looking at Sony TVs shipping with a DualShock 4 from here on in rather than a PS5 console? Read more       Competition WIN! A PS4 and EA Sports UFC with The Expendables III   The Expendables III blasts into UK cinemas on Thursday August 14 and to celebrate, we’ve got a PS4 and a copy of UFC to give away to one lucky winner! The latest mission becomes a clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise in the Expendables’ most personal battle yet. For your chance to win, just answer one simple question Enter competition     Your tweets this week       The week's best buys Apple iPad Air Want the best tablet on the market? Then get the iPad Air. It's got a stunning design, powerful innards and a superb suite of apps. It's as near to tablet perfection as you're going to get. View offer Read review       Now TV Box For those who want to add a little smart to their TV this is an incredibly cheap option with some clever functionality. View offer Read review       Canon PowerShot SX510 HS Even though the zoom range is the clear star of the show, what really shines about the Canon SX510 HS is its flexibility. Pictures are of good quality and although images get a little noisy at higher sensitivity settings, details are retained fairly well. View offer Read review       Xbox One boss wants you to judge consoles on frame rate not resolution @Ryu1303 How can we expect to believe the Xbone is capable of 4k if it can't scrape 1080p together? #suspicious #xbone #sortitout     @ianhasajob I do prefer better resolution and frame rates but Remote Vita play and Playstation TV converted me from Xbox to PS4.     @strickers66 That still favours their competition. Pick any technical arguments he likes and it comes up short vs PS4.       Top   tablets Tablets are taking the world by storm. Just a few years ago they were an unknown for many people, but nowadays you've got more choice than you can shake a mildly agitated badger at.   Apple iPad Air       Samsung Galaxy Tab S       Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet View top 10           TechRadar Promotion Save 10% on PhotoLive tickets There's lots of information out there for photographers but nothing beats a live event. PhotoLive (Leeds 23 August, Edinburgh 30 August, London 06 August) is the forum for aspiring photographers to learn something new, get advice from professionals and get deals on gear. Book today and get 10% off! Use code PLTECH. (Entry to the retail area is free.) Book now TechRadar Download: Glary Utilities With Glary Utilities, you can optimise, clean and protect your PC with just a click. Thanks to Glary Utilities you can free your PC of annoying rubbish. Because the freeware cleans like CCleaner with just one click, the registry and the auto-start menu are cleared of obsolete entries and all temporary files are deleted - and you can download it now for free. Download now  New issue out now Train like a pro with wearables, the ebike invasion, and how to build your own smartphone, all in this month's edition of the UK's biggest-selling digital edition. Download now         www.techradar.com

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