Top 5 weekly: the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 launches, a Steam Deck mini PC, and more

With Made By Google popping up in the coming week, we’re going to have plenty of stuff to cover and talk about, even if we kinda already know what’s being announced. While we waited, we were graced with some interesting news stories that cropped up over the last week. So, if you missed out on all the top headlines over the last week, here’s a recap of all the best news that happened.

Some things change, some stay the same

So, AI image generators have had a year or two to get comfortable, have the weird bits in their code ironed out, and present to the public. Now that it has made all that progress, do you still feel confident that you can tell the difference between an AI-generated photo and a real one?

Microsoft’s president published an online quiz that picks 15 randomly selected images and asks you if it’s real or not. And while the AI images put up a far better fight than it did a year ago, it still falls a little short when rendering hands. It’s okay, AI – human artists hate drawing hands, too.

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No pay-monthly mouse in this house

So there was this weird part of the week where it seemed that Logitech was planning to release a “forever mouse.” The idea was that Logitech released a software-driven mouse which it could then update with brand new features, and people could pay a monthly fee to get the latest upgrades. People were pretty concerned about Logitech releasing a subscription service mouse, especially given how other pieces of media are becoming less about buying them and more about renting them.

Well, turns out, the concept was just that – a concept. Logitech has no current plans to release a subscription-based mouse. And while I wonder what a subscription mouse would have even looked like, it seems we may never find out – for better or for worse.

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So…now what happens?

Hey, remember that lawsuit against Google back in 2020 that accused it of being a monopoly? Well, they figured some stuff out and deduced that, yes, Google has breached antitrust laws. There’s still a bit more to go before we see any action taken, and there’s a sure chance that Google will fight back, but right now, it seems that the US government isn’t backing down on its accusation.

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The Raspberry Pi keeps up the tradition

The Raspberry Pi Pico has found its way into a ton of projects worldwide, and its creator believes that now is the time for a revamp. The Raspberry Pi Pico 2 takes everything that made the Pico so great and makes it even better, including an RP2350 processor. Best of all, the company hasn’t lost sight of its goal of keeping its hardware cheap, as you can pick up the Pico 2 for $5.

pico

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Maybe you could call it a Steam Desk?

Finally, we have this cool example of putting busted hardware to good use. Someone busted the screen of their Steam Deck, so they sold off the hardware within as parts. After all, it’s still good – why throw it away? Well, those parts ended up in the hands of Eta Prime, who promptly made a mini PC out of the parts. The best bit? It totally works, too.

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