‘Lord of the Rings: Gollum’ hits consoles and PC on September 1st

Following a delay from 2021, Daedalic’s “cinematic stealth adventure” game The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will officially arrive on September 1st, the company announced today. The game will explore the untold story of Gollum during the first few chapters of The Fellowship of the Ring. We don’t have any new footage of the game in action yet, but the latest cinematic trailer gives us an idea of the sort of stealth gameplay expect. (It’s also nice to see that Daedaelic’s take on Gollum hews closely to Peter Jackon’s Lord of the Ring films.) 

As with any story-driven game worth its salt, you’ll be able to make distinct choices—in this case, you’ll be going between Gollum’s more vicious desires and his kinder Hobbit self, Smeagol. You’ll definitely be hiding in tall grass quite a bit, but hopefully you’ll have some creative ways to torture your enemies, as the trailer implies. Daedalic also promises you’ll run into some familiar faces from Lord of the Rings, as you’d expect.  

Samsung’s new Smart Monitor M8 is $100 off for the first time

Samsung added to its Smart Monitor lineup a few months ago with the introduction of the M8, and now you can pick up that display for less for the first time. Both Amazon and Samsung have the Smart Monitor M8 in white for $100 less than usual, bringing it down to $600. You won’t find any other color options at Amazon, but Samsung has the green, pink and blue versions as well. While those models are also $100 off, they start off more expensive at $730, so you can pick up any of them for $630.

Buy Smart Monitor M8 at Amazon – $600Buy Smart Monitor M8 at Samsung – $600

These Smart Monitors are designed for those that want an all-in-one display that can do a lot of things, even without a connected PC. The M8 is essentially a 32-inch, WiFi-capable smart TV and a monitor in one, allowing you to connect your PC or laptop to use it as an external display or use it on its own with the included remote control. You have access to streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and others, and you won’t have to connect external speakers since the M8 delivers audio via built-in, dual 5W speakers.

The M8 can also control SmartThings-compatible IoT devices thanks to its built-in home hub. That means you can use the remote control, or Alexa or Bixby voice commands, to turn off smart lights, adjust smart thermostats and more as long as those devices work with the SmartThings platform.

As for specs, the Smart Monitor M8 has a UHD resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 and supports HDR 10+ and refresh rates up to 60Hz. It also comes with a magnetic SlimFit Cam that you can attach to the top of the monitor whenever you need to hop on a Zoom call for work or video chat with friends. We appreciate the M8’s slim, 11.4mm thick design and its height-adjustable stand, plus its support for AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth 4.2. While you don’t need to drop $600 on a 32-inch monitor, the Smart Monitor M8 is a good option for those with limited space who want a TV and an external display in one, or those who just want a monitor with a bit more versatility than your standard screen.

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Panasonic’s latest modular Toughbook is larger and lighter

Panasonic’s Toughbooks may be extra-rugged and modular, but they haven’t exactly defined portability. That’s about to change, however slightly. The brand has introduced a new Toughbook 40 that weighs over a pound less than its predecessor despite a larger 14-inch display. It’s still not svelte at 7.4lbs and 2.1in thick. Still, that’s no mean feat given the military-grade outdoor resistance as well as modularity that includes four expansion slots (for extra ports, drives and readers) as well a replaceable battery, keyboard, RAM and storage.

You won’t find cutting-edge performance, but you’ll still get an 11th-gen Core i5 or i7 processor, up to 64GB of RAM, up to 2TB of SSD storage, ports that include Thunderbolt 4 and your choice of 5G and LTE modems. The field-friendly design is reflected in the specs, too. The 1080p screen can ramp up to 1,200 nits for use in bright sunlight, and a second battery can stretch the runtime to 36 hours.

The Toughbook 40 will be available in late spring with a $4,899 starting price. That’s more expensive than even some other Toughbooks, but Panasonic isn’t aiming this machine at everyday users who would buy an XPS 13 or MacBook Pro — it’s meant for on-site staff, first responders and military personnel who may need to work in very unforgiving conditions.

Logitech accessories are up to 52 percent off on Amazon today only

If you’re keeping an eye out for discounted gaming and streaming accessories, you may want to check out Amazon’s deal of the day for Logitech devices. The brand’s headsets, mice and streaming gadgets, such as cameras and microphones, are currently on sale for up 52 percent off — and there’s less than 20 hours left as of this writing. You can get the Logitech G535 Lightspeed wireless headset for $80, which is $50 less its usual price of $130. The device comes with a USB connector and is compatible with PC, the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation 5. It will stay connected up to 12 meters away from the source and can last for up to 33 hours on a single charge. 

Buy Logitech accessories at Amazon – up to 52 percent off

If you’re looking for an even cheaper headset, Logitech’s G435 Wireless over-ear headset is also currently on sale for $50, or $30 less its retail price. The Bluetooth device is compatible with PCs and smartphones, as well as PlayStation and Nintendo Switch gaming devices. It supports Dolby Atmos and Windows Sonic to deliver surround sound, and it can last for up 18 hours on a single charge.

In case ordinary wireless mice are too slow and aren’t able to keep up with your games, you can pick up the Logitech G Pro wireless gaming mouse from the sale, as well. It typically costs $130, but it’s currently on sale for $90. The device boasts pro-grade performance that Logitech says “overcomes the traditional limitations of wireless latency” and has a report rate connection of one millisecond.

Logitech’s G920 Driving Force racing wheel and floor pedals are also currently on sale, in case you take your racing games seriously. At $70 off, you can grab a set for $230 instead of $300. It has dual-motor force feedback designed to simulate the real feel of your car and tires, and it’s compatible with the Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC and Mac.

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HP is putting an OLED display in a Pavilion laptop for the first time

After announcing a refresh of pretty much all its Envy and Spectre notebooks, HP has revealed that it’s also updating its mid-range Pavilion line with new components and features. The HP Pavilion Plus 14-inch laptop can be configured with up to 12th gen Intel Core H-series processors and with up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 4G discrete graphics. 

You can also choose to get it with an OLED display with up to 2.8K resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio instead of a standard LCD, which is a first for the Pavilion line. If you do choose to use it for gaming or for other resource-intensive tasks, the laptop’s two fans and two heat pipes will help keep things cool. 

HP has also refreshed the Pavilion x360 14-inch laptop so that you can get it with up to 12th gen Intel Core U-series processors. The convertible, which can rotate 360 degrees so you can use it as a tablet, can also be equipped with an optional Intel 5G solution 5000 component for built-in mobile data connection. It’s HP’s first consumer laptop with a physical shutter door for its camera, so you no longer have to tape it up if you’re concerned about privacy and security. 

Speaking of cameras, both laptops come with a 5-megapixel camera that has HP Presence technology, including AI Noise Removal. They both also come with dual Bang & Olufsen speakers. The Pavilion Plus 14-inch laptop will be available starting on May 25th at HP’s website and retailers with a starting price of $799 in space blue, warm gold, mineral silver, tranquil pink and natural silver. Meanwhile, the new Pavilion x360 will be available this summer with prices starting at $599 in space blue, pale rose gold and natural silver. 

ASUS’s ROG Swift is the ‘world’s first’ 500Hz G-Sync gaming monitor

ASUS has unveiled what it calls the “world’s first” 500Hz G-Sync gaming display, the 1080p ROG Swift 500Hz. Designed for competitive gaming, it uses an “E-TN” (eSports TN) panel and incorporates NVIDIA’s G-Sync eSports to maximize motion it clarity. It also uses NVIDIA’s Reflex Analyzer technology that delivers real-time stats to help you reduce end-to-end latency if you’re using a Reflex-optimized mouse and NVIDIA GPU.

The key highlight is the 500Hz refresh rate that draws eight times faster than typical 60Hz displays, ASUS notes. The company is also promising 60 percent better response times than standard TN panels, thanks to the new eSports TN tech. It also uses something ASUS calls an enhanced Vibrance mode that’s built right into the monitor’s firmware. It’s supposed to let more light through the LCD crystals, boosting color vibrancy and “allowing you to pick out details and highlights that might give away an enemy’s position,” it said.

500Hz G-Sync eSports displays are specifically tuned for competitive games like CS:GO, Valorant, Overwatch and Rainbow Six Siege. NVIDIA also announced four new Reflex-supported games: Icarus, My Time at Sandrock, Soda Crisis and Warstride Challenges.

NVIDIA also released a video (below) showing the benefits of higher refresh rates including animation smoothness for easier target tracking, minimal ghosting and improved system latency. It “benefits every game and gamer, not just competitive games and eSports games,” NVIDIA wrote in its own press release. 

Canon’s EOS R7 and EOS R10 are its first EOS R crop-sensor cameras

Canon has launched its first EOS R APS-C crop sensor cameras, the 32-megapixel EOS R7 and 24-megapixel EOS R10. The new models bring Canon’s APS-C and full-frame RF series in alignment, so you can finally use lenses interchangeably, much as you can wit…