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Valve's Steam-y fingerprints are all over the system software, but its logo is nowhere to be found on the headset itself.

An entire generation of nerds has now grown up with the sci-fi ideal of the holodeck as the ultimate future of interactive entertainment. The Star Trek universe’s 24th century gave us a view of rooms literally filled with 3D holographic projections that users could touch, feel, smell, and talk to at will. As a way of interacting with a computer simulation, it seems believably hundreds of years beyond the current methods of using a mouse or a finger to dither around on a 2D screen.

We’re still a long way from technology that can suspend visible light (much less physical matter) in empty space as the fictional holodeck can. For now, though, the HTC Vive is a better simulation of key parts of that holodeck ideal than we had any right to expect from the early 21st century. By combining a 3D virtual reality display, position- and motion-sensitive handheld controllers, and a tracking solution that works over the scale of an entire room, the Vive transports you to a convincing simulated world that you can see and touch (even if you can’t convincingly feel it).

The characters in Star Trek didn’t have to deal with uncomfortable, slightly pixellated ski-goggle helmets or mounting tracking boxes around their living space. Still, the Vive’s ability to let you walk around and poke at a computer simulation as if it was a physical space feels like the first step toward a computing future that science fiction has spent decades training us for.

(credit: Roku)

Roku continues to regularly update its family of streaming devices, and today the company announced a revamped streaming stick. The latest Roku streaming stick will replace the purple dongle the company released back in 2014, and it works largely the same way (albeit with updated internals and a few extra features).

The new Roku streaming stick has dual-band MIMO antenna and an updated quad-core processor, giving it eight times more power than the 2014 version. Even with that improvement, Roku managed to shave off some bulk from the stick so it's now closer to thumb-drive size. Just like the old streaming stick, the new one plugs into your TV via HDMI port to deliver thousands of "channels," or apps that you can watch video through including Netflix, YouTube, and Time Warner Cable. Unlike the Roku 4 set top box the company released late last year, the new streaming stick doesn't support 4K video and only streams content in 1080p.

The stick comes with a remote just like the company's other devices, but that remote doesn't have a headphone jack for private listening. However, a new feature of the stick solves that issue: it streams audio via Wi-Fi to your smartphone, so you can plug your headphones into your phone and listen to the show you're watching. This will come in handy for those who live in hectic households, live with roommates, or just really want to focus on the latest House of Cards season.

The about-face is almost complete. Following earlier statements that Microsoft would "come out with new [Xbox One] hardware capability during a generation," Xbox chief Phil Spencer has said that he's not keen on releasing an upgraded version of the console.

His comments come despite strong rumours pointing to Sony unveiling an upgraded version of the PlayStation 4—currently dubbed PlayStation 4K—this October.

"I'm not a big fan of Xbox One and a half," Spencer told Game Informer. "If we're going to move forward, I want to move forward in big numbers. I don't know anything about any of the [PS4K] rumours that are out there, but I can understand other teams' motivations to do that. For us, our box is doing well. It performs, it's reliable, the servers are doing well. If we're going to go forward with anything, like I said, I want it to be a really substantial change for people—an upgrade."