Campaigners say unopened lunches are a small fraction of the programme`s waste problem. Read...

I’ve always loved the idea of VR gaming. It’s a fascinating technology, and there are some experiences that just can’t be had without a VR headset. But VR gaming as an industry is struggling in 2025. Gamers and game developers are largely reliant on Meta’s Quest platform, and Meta is neglecting VR gaming while in pursuit of the metaverse. The only plausible challenger? Valve, who breathed life into the handheld PC gaming space with the Steam Deck. Valve is the only company with enough influence and resources to do the same thing—and if Valve’s long-rumored Deckard headset lives up to its potential, us VR gamers might finally get what we’ve been hoping for so long. The rise (and slide) of VR gaming The Oculus Rift launched over a decade ago in 2012 as the first big consumer VR headset. Oculus was then acquired by Facebook in 2014. Facebook was willing to pour money into VR headsets at the time, which led to the Oculus Quest line of headsets becoming the most popular line of gaming VR headsets—and that still holds today. Meta You can play games right on the headset, or you can plug it into your PC and use it in conjunction with your PC’s graphics card, or even stream VR games wirelessly from your PC to the headset. Meta’s Quest headsets beat the competition, no contest. Microsoft’s line of Windows Mixed Reality headsets are a historical footnote and the HoloLens is dead. Meanwhile, I still roll my eyes at the Apple Vision Pro, which costs $3,499 and can’t even play Beat Saber? No thanks! I’ll stick with the Meta Quest 3S that starts at $299. Keep your overpriced hunk of junk, Apple. Yet while Meta’s headsets are the undisputed leader in market share, Meta is faltering as the de facto steward of VR gaming. The future of VR headsets looks shaky—and it doesn’t help that the hype has shifted from the metaverse to AI. Yep, now it’s not about having a 3D Mark Zuckerberg avatar floating in a void; instead, the future will involve an AI-generated Mark Zuckerberg floating in that same void. Meta is squandering the VR gaming space From what I can tell, Zuckerberg truly was personally excited about virtual reality and “the metaverse” as it was later dubbed. That’s one reason why Facebook (and now Meta) willingly sunk so much money into it. He honestly thought it would be “the next big thing.” But the metaverse hasn’t quite taken off like he hoped, with his thunder stolen by the likes of AI. Is it any wonder why Meta making cuts to its Reality Labs division? Part of the issue is that Meta has mainly pursued “metaverse-style” experiences like Horizon Worlds rather than delivering a robust platform that game developers trust enough to invest in. Many VR game developers are facing declining sales on Meta’s store and struggling to sell enough games to survive. In fact, game developers as a whole are losing faith in VR as a gaming market. 2K Games As Owlchemy Labs CEO Andrew Eiche told UploadVR: “I think [Meta] made a video game console and they want a general computing device.” Other developers, who wished to remain anonymous, made statements like “Meta is not interested in being a gaming platform anymore. They just want to be a metaverse, and they just happen to have a legacy store.” and “It feels a bit like Meta has seen the [Meta Store] data and is keeping it as a legacy option rather than the future of the platform.” All of this points to how Meta is mishandling the Meta Store, where it increasingly prioritizes its “Horizon Worlds” experiences—many of which feel like clones of actual existing games—on its search results pages, pushing down other games and software created by other developers. The future of Meta looks free-to-play and not necessarily about games. With increased competition in VR headsets, from the Apple Vision Pro to Google’s Android XR project and Samsung’s Project Moohan, Meta will probably lean even further away from games. Nobody seems to think there’s any money in VR gaming… and it’s playing out like a self-fulfilling prophecy. VR gaming is dying because it’s being neglected. The VR version of a Steam Deck? The Valve Index VR headset came out in 2019 with a price tag of $999, and it had to be tethered to a PC. It was really good for the time, and with it Valve proved that they had what it takes to deliver high-quality VR gaming hardware. Later, with Half-Life: Alyx, Valve proved that they could deliver high-quality VR games, too. (The Lab is another fun Valve VR experience that was impressive back in 2016 when it launched.) Valve But Valve hasn’t made any moves in VR since then. Instead, we got the Steam Deck, which transformed the handheld gaming space. The Steam Deck isn’t just awesome hardware—it runs the Linux-based SteamOS operating system with excellent compatibility with Windows games. That’s a massive accomplishment that isn’t talked about enough. The Steam Deck was also impressive because Valve delivered something people actually wanted. Microsoft never really cared about the handheld gaming experience on Windows PCs until Valve started eating into its market share with the Steam Deck. Valve lit a fire under Microsoft’s seat, and the latter now appears to be getting a little more serious (even if Windows-based handhelds are still pretty lackluster). That’s the same kind of innovative fire that we need in the VR gaming space. With Meta dropping the ball, could Valve take it and run? How Valve could save VR gaming with the rumored Deckard headset Valve’s Project Deckard has been the stuff of online rumors for a long time, but those rumors have ramped up recently. Earlier this year, a leaker claimed that Project Deckard may be on the way by end of 2025. I don’t want to get lost in too much speculation, but here’s the picture that’s emerging: a high-end VR headset made for gaming, one that can be completely standalone just like a Meta Quest headset so you can play without plugging into a PC. It’s extremely compelling. And the reason it’s compelling? Not only did Valve prove themselves with the Index, and not only did Valve make enormous waves with the Steam Deck, but Valve cares about gaming in a way that Facebook—the company that once flooded social feeds with FarmVille—doesn’t. These are the patent drawings for Valve’s Project Deckard, filed in December 2021 and published with patent number US-20220187609-A1.Joel Lee / Foundry Valve also has Steam, which is a huge asset. In a world where VR game developers say they’re facing sliding game sales on the Meta Store, and in a world where so many interesting VR games just aren’t getting made because the future looks grim, Valve could revitalize it all if they made a concerted push for VR games on Steam—complete with a Steam Deck-style “you don’t need any other hardware, just buy this one device” experience. You know, the thing that made Quest headsets so good. Hardware aside, this could unleash a new wave of interesting VR games and revive the industry, or at least keep it going as a sustainable platform for geeks like myself who find it pretty cool. Just like handheld gaming PCs before the Steam Deck, gaming VR headsets are being largely ignored by companies. Valve has a massive opportunity here. We don’t really know, though. Valve is almost certainly experimenting with a variety of products in house, and the company hasn’t actually announced anything official about Project Deckard. But I hope they do! The VR gaming industry needs something like this, and Valve is the most credible company that could deliver results. I like VR gaming, not the metaverse Many people still aren’t interested in virtual reality. I get it. I don’t want to wear a VR headset for extended periods of time, and I don’t want to live in the metaverse. I’ll happily play AAA games like Doom: The Dark Ages on my gaming PC, and I certainly don’t want to work while wearing a VR headset, even though Windows 11 now supports that. But I do think VR gaming is cool. There’s nothing quite like Beat Saber. It takes me back to the Dance Dance Revolution craze from my teenage years! There’s something special about VR as a gaming technology even if the technology isn’t quite there yet. So I hope Valve picks up the ball and runs with it—someone definitely needs to. Read...

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham warns the strike will continue for `as long as it takes`. Read...

Buying a Microsoft Surface Pro tablet without a pen or keyboard is like buying a Mercedes without wheels. The engine runs just fine, and the seats are as luxurious as you could imagine. But wouldn’t you feel cheated if you couldn’t go anywhere? Most of the 16 iterations of the Surface Pro adopt the same double standard: the Surface Pro is a laptop, except when Microsoft starts talking price. Then, poof! It’s a tablet. Only as you move step by step through the buying process does Microsoft reveal that, yes, the pen and keyboard — and now the charger! — all cost extra. Ridiculous. Unfortunately, we’ve come to accept this behavior. Microsoft seems to think that after deciding upon a $2,000 Surface laptop, you might shrug your shoulders and accept a few hundred dollars more. Why not? You’re already hooked. But Microsoft’s new 12-inch, $799 Surface Pro changes things. We’re not talking about a premium device. Instead, Microsoft’s Surface Pro page walks you through the experience: typing, inking, doing everything a clamshell laptop can do — all with the pen and keyboard shown prominently throughout. And if you want a charger? All those extras total over $300, which on a $799 device feels insane, sleazy, and borderline illegal. Surface Pro, with keyboard and pen: $799.99? Right? Right?Foundry Visually, the Surface Pro keyboard and pen are everywhere On Microsoft’s Surface Pro page, the top illustration shows two Surface Pros, each with a keyboard and pen. Scroll down: Yep, there’s another. Keep going and you’ll see more photos of Microsoft’s Surface Pro with a keyboard and/or a pen than as a stand-alone tablet. At no time do I see any indication that the keyboard or pen are optional. The language implies that they’re all part of the same holistic solution. Looks pretty clear to me: A Surface Pro equals a tablet plus a pen plus a keyboard.Foundry “Reimagined with a smooth-matte palm rest, sturdy wedge design, and dynamic hinge, Surface Pro is great for typing anywhere, even on your lap,” Microsoft says. Underneath a description of the “incredible typing experience,” Microsoft says: “Work anywhere with better typing and 360° rotation. The new 12-inch Surface Pro is durable, easy to clean, and ideal for travel or the coffee shop.” Sounds great. How much is it? “Starting from $799.99,” Microsoft says. Want to buy a Surface Pro? This is what you’ll see when you begin.Foundry Buying a Surface Pro means selecting a size, configuration, and color. It’s here that you first learn that no, no charger is included. That’s $70 extra. (Microsoft’s lawyers may hold up their hands and say that the first photo you see on the 12-inch Surface Pro page is of just the tablet itself. But at the bottom of the column of images is, yes, a Surface Pro with a keyboard and pen attached.) On the second page? Time to buy a Microsoft 365 subscription. Only on the third page do you learn that a keyboard is $150, and a keyboard and pen bundled together is $250. Then it’s time to check out, feeling at least a little irritated that Microsoft didn’t tell you about all of this at the beginning. Buying an “accessory” like the pen and keyboard is left until the end.Foundry Does this feel fair to you? It just feels like Microsoft is trying to have it both ways. Every laptop ships with an integrated keyboard. Microsoft’s Surface Pro is advertised on Microsoft’s page as having “tablet-to-laptop flexibility,” whatever that means. Visually, Microsoft is telling you: Yes, you’ll want a keyboard and pen. Then there’s the name. Should Microsoft refer to these as “Pro” tablets, without the accessories that professionals use? I don’t think so. Calling just the tablet a “Surface,” with an upgrade to a “Surface Pro” that adds a pen and keyboard, feels closer to what the reality should be. Even the Trump Administration — which most Americans would consider “business friendly” — has actually implemented a new FTC rule prohibiting bait-and-switch pricing. That’s predicated upon an executive order, signed by Trump himself. The review version of the Surface Pro Microsoft sent includes a keyboard and pen. And it should!Mattias Inghe As the FTC puts it: “[the order] requires that businesses that advertise prices tell consumers the whole truth up-front about total prices and fees.” A supplementary page describes how the order protects general “business-to-business transactions” beyond just tickets and short-term lodging. To me, tacking on additional charges for a pen and keyboard feels like a hotel’s $100 daily “resort fee,” or the discovery that you’ll have to pay extra for an airline meal or to pick your seat. Nothing about any of this feels “up front.” The point isn’t that Microsoft is actually violating FTC regulations. But the company is certainly pushing up against the bounds of good behavior. Just not acceptable in a low- to mid-range device To be fair, other Windows tablets don’t consistently include their accessories, either. Lenovo’s ThinkPad X12 Gen 2 bundles the keyboard and pen. Dell’s Latitude 7350 Detachable does not. The Asus ProArt PZ13 includes a a keyboard, but no pen. Heck, many all-in-one desktops toss in a mouse and keyboard. Note that the photos of the Dell Latitude 7350 don’t include the keyboard, which feels more authentic. But give Dell credit: its Latitude 7350 Detachable product page doesn’t even show a keyboard, which it calls “optional.” That feels more like an honest sale. Microsoft’s stance feels especially pernicious because there are already extra back-end tariff fees tacked on to the purchase price — or not, depending upon the whims of the President. You still really don’t know under what tariff regulation anything you buy will fall under, which already makes consumers cautious. That’s what makes a $799 Surface Pro appealing. Finally, a reasonable price tag! Only it’s not. When you add up all of the additional “options” — a $69.99 charger, plus $250 for a bundled keyboard and pen — that’s an additional $319.99 surcharge, or 40 percent of the purchase price right there. And that’s even without the $129.99 per year that Microsoft charges for a Microsoft 365 Family subscription. That’s outrageous, unfair, and maybe illegal. This isn’t nickel-and-diming you. That’s a big fat pile of money that could be put toward other things. You would think that Microsoft would at least explain its actions. So far, my questions have been ignored. I don’t think they should be ignored. I think Microsoft’s Surface Pro pricing strategy should be explained, reconsidered, and ultimately changed. Read...

A review by the shadow attorney general will examine whether the UK should exit certain domestic and international agreements. Read...

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At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Sharp 2K video Spotlights enable good color night vision Easy to set up Local storage via up to 512GB microSD Cons No support for Apple Home Onboard mic doesn’t mask wind noise very well Our Verdict The Tapo C410 Kit is a very good home security camera, especially for folks looking to avoid the necessity of paying for a subscription to get its most important features. It’s also a great pick for those looking to avoid wires and needing to dismount the camera to charge its battery. But the absence of Apple Home support will be a bummer for some. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today I’ve had a full set of security cameras set up around my house for many years, but none of them was oriented in such a way that I could see over the fence to check on the car or who was on the other side of the fence. Since my existing system can’t support any additional cameras, I figured I might as well get a smart solar-powered security camera. That’s when TP-Link’s affordable Tapo C410 Kit caught by eye. This bullet-style, battery-powered camera is completely wireless; it comes with a solar panel to keep its lithium-ion battery topped off; and the presence of a microSD card slot means it can accommodate up to a user-provided 512GB memory card–and that means you don’t really need to pay for a subscription to store video recordings in the cloud (TP-Link does offer optional subscriptions, of course, which I’ll discuss later). The solar panel is the star of the show here because it’s what gives us so much freedom. Design and features The cylindrical Tapo C410 itself has a clean and modern look that we’ve come to expect from security cameras. When triggered by motion after dark, a pair of LED spotlights enable color night vision, and there’s an onboard microphone for two-way audio. There’s a power button on the back of the camera, as well as a USB-C port for charging its battery (the included solar panel plugs in here as well) and the slot for the previously mentioned microSD card slot. In other words, it offers all the features we think you should look for in a budget-priced security camera. Gabriela Vatu The included mount accommodates both the camera and the solar panel, simplifying physical installation. You’ll also find several rubber elements in the box you can use to make camera’s ports watertight even after plugging the solar panel into the camera. The camera carries a weatherization rating of IP65, which–according to our IP code guide–indicates it is impervious to dust ingress and that it’s protected from water jets sprayed from any direction, although it probably wouldn’t stand up to a pressure washer at close distance. The camera delivers 2K resolution (defined as 2304 x 1296 pixels) at 15 frames per second, which means the image is sharp enough to capture great details, from license plates to faces. The solar panel is the star of the show here because it’s what gives us so much freedom, making it possible to set it up anywhere we need it as long as it’s exposed to sunlight. Gabriela Vatu The camera also delivers a slew of features that many smart cams come with, including two-way audio, general motion detection, and person detection. The camera uses motion detection to send you alerts when activity is noticed, and it can smartly distinguish between people, pets, and vehicles. You decide which notifications to get and which to ignore. The camera connects to your local router easily (2.4GHz networks only). Whether or not you avail yourself of the camera’s microSD card slot, an optional Tapo Care subscription enables you to store video recordings in the cloud (with a 30-day history), and it adds a rich notification feature that includes a snapshot of the motion that triggered the camera to send you an alert. Tapo Care plans start at $3.49 per month or $34.99 per year and are one of the least expensive security subscriptions out there. But remember: don’t buy just any microSD card for a security camera–make sure its specs are suitable for the job. Setup and performance The Tapo C410 Kit is extremely easy to set up. Everything you need is in the box, including screws to mount it on your wall. All you’ll need to do is to figure out where to set it up so it gets enough sunlight to keep its battery charged. Tapo says the camera needs at least 45 minutes of direct sunlight for all-day monitoring, so make sure you pick a good spot. A longer USB-C cable is also in the box in the event you need to mount the solar panel further away from the camera to get enough exposure to the sun. Gabriela Vatu The whole process was relatively painless and took 15 minutes at most, including all the time spent going up and down the ladder. Connecting the camera to the app is also extremely easy. To take things one step further, I integrated the Tapo app with Google Home. In less than two minutes I could say “Hey Google, show me the front yard” and have the footage displayed on my Nest Hub. If Alexa rules your smart home, you can do the same with an Echo Show. This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best home security cameras. The quality of the two-way audio is great, although I found the microphone to be a bit susceptible to wind noise I feel there’s quite a bit of extra noise when it’s windy, despite Tapo claiming there’s some noise cancellation. One thing I love about the camera is that you can define activity zones or black out your neighbor’s windows for privacy, for instance. Should you buy the Tapo C410 Kit? Frankly, there’s no reason not to get the Tapo C410 Kit. It’s super easy to set up—both physically and via the app—and it delivers great video quality, as well as plenty of smart features. It’s a great pick for anyone who doesn’t want to spend a fortune on security cameras, wants one they can set up and forget about, and wants the ease of mind of always getting notifications about what’s happening outside their home. Since this is a solar-powered camera, this may not be the best pick for folks who live in areas with limited sunlight or who have an Apple Home setup. Read...

Even though the crypto mining boom has largely passed, cryptocurrency scams still remain out there. Since crypto wallets often come in the form of a web browser extension, so do crypto scams—and Mozilla has spotted hundreds of them trying to get onto the official repository of Firefox extensions. Now, a new tool that automatically scans for them exists. So sayeth a new Mozilla blog post, spotted by BleepingComputer. Exactly how the automated system determines that a newly-posted extension is suspicious isn’t elucidated… but I suppose spelling it out would just give scammers an easy way to circumvent it. If the system spots enough red flags, it holds the extension for human review, after which the extension can be approved or tossed out. At the moment, the system is only applied to “wallet” Firefox extensions, though I have to assume there are other systems in place for more general threats. Firefox is one of the last major browsers that still isn’t based on the open-source Chromium, the root project for Google Chrome and Microsoft’s Edge, so extension developers already have to target it narrowly. Of course, this system only protects users who are going through Mozilla’s official repository of Firefox extensions at addons.mozilla.org. Hackers and scammers can—and often do—entice unwary users to download extensions from third-party sites. Downloading from official sources (like the Chrome Web Store for Chromium-based browsers) doesn’t automatically protect you, but it’s generally a safer bet than downloading and installing extensions from elsewhere. Read...

Meridian Energy has appointed Rory Blundell to the newly created role of General Manager, Strategy and Portfolio. Rory is currently Meridian’s Group Strategy Manager and starts his new position with immediate effect Read...