news.buyenne.com

Enlarge (credit: Scharon Harding)

A USB-C monitor is a good way to minimize the cables needed for your setup. And if that setup is for work, where webcams have become virtually mandatory, a monitor with an integrated camera lets you skip an additional cable. The HP Z24m G3 I checked out this week seems like it will be a decent option for workers who don't need the highest-resolution panel, either because they're content with fewer pixels or use a multi-monitor setup.

At a 2560×1440 resolution, the 23.8-inch monitor still has a good pixel density of 123 pixels per inch. USB-C with the current max power delivery of 100 W makes it a good fit for Windows-based thin-and-lights and MacBooks that can charge over the port.

I didn't get the chance to analyze the Z24m's image quality, but HP said the IPS panel is aimed at professional creators. It should have sufficient color coverage for working with Windows and the web while also serving Mac users with 99 percent sRGB and 90 percent DCI-P3 color coverage. Any errors should be invisible to the naked eye, as the company says the panel has a Delta E of <2.

• 

  Sony's WH-1000XM5 wireless noise-canceling headphones. They cost $399. [credit: Jeff Dunn ]

Sony's WH-1000XM4 has been widely regarded as one of the best pairs of noise-canceling headphones for most people since launching in August 2020, and we at Ars have recommended them in various buying guides over that time. On Thursday, Sony is announcing the next iteration of those flagship wireless headphones: the WH-1000XM5. They'll arrive on May 20 for $400, which is a $50 increase over the existing XM4.

An updated design

In general, the WH-1000XM5—which remains a mouthful of a name—aren't a massive shift from their predecessor, and interestingly, Sony will continue to sell the prior XM4 alongside this new pair. Still, there are a few changes of note. The most immediately noticeable tweaks are in the design department: Compared to the XM4, the XM5 has a thinner headband and wider earcups that should better fit those with larger ears. The earcups use a softer synthetic leather material, and the slider used to adjust the headband's fit now has a smoother, notchless action.

I've only had the XM5 on hand for about a day as of this writing, which unfortunately isn't enough time for me to give more definitive impressions. At first blush, though, the fit feels roomier and lighter on the head, despite only weighing 4 grams less than the XM4 (at 250 g, compared to 254 g before). The XM4 were already comfortable, but the XM5 appears to distribute its weight a bit more evenly, putting less pressure on the sides of your head without letting in a ton of outside noise. They're closer to Bose's QuietComfort 45 in that regard, albeit not quite as spacious-feeling.

Enlarge / This promotional image for the June 12 Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase now looks a bit like an eclipse of bad news about Starfield's delay into 2023. (credit: Xbox)

Last year, Microsoft and Bethesda made a surprising announcement: Its upcoming open-world space-exploration game Starfield would launch on November 22, 2022. While the resulting "11-22-22" release date looked nifty at the time, it wasn't meant to be.

On Thursday, Bethesda announced via social media that Starfield would be delayed to the "first half of 2023," and it would be joined by Redfall, a vampire-themed co-op shooter that was previously pegged to a "summer 2022" launch window.

30-day countdown begins

There has been no new footage of either upcoming game since the last time Xbox hosted a lengthy first-party game-preview presentation... all the way back in June 2021. Starfield, developed by the core Bethesda Game Studios team, has received a few peeks into its behind-the-scenes process, but they have been limited to concept art and developer interviews. Arkane Austin's Redfall, meanwhile, has been even more mysterious, with only a single alpha test leak from September 2021 showing anything resembling real gameplay.

Enlarge / Xbox Series S, as placed next to an Xbox Series X. (credit: h0x0d)

While Microsoft's Xbox Series S gives a lot of gaming horsepower for its price, one thing it doesn't provide is a disc drive to access any of the physical Xbox games you might own. Microsoft seems interested in working around this problem, though, as the company has applied for a patent that can provide "software ownership validation of optical discs using [a] secondary device."

That mouthful of a title describes a patent application Microsoft first filed back in November of 2000 but which was published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office just last week (as noticed by Game Rant). And while it doesn't appear that the patent has been granted yet, the application provides more evidence that Microsoft is trying to find a way to bring games trapped on legacy discs into gaming's increasingly disc-free future.

A number of technical options

When it comes to the technical details of how this validation process would work, the patent application is so vague as to be practically useless. The only constant across its examples is that there are two separate devices, at least one of which has a disc drive that can read "an optical disc comprising the electronic content" and "validate the user's ownership of the electronic content" (e.g., an Xbox 360, Xbox One, or Xbox Series X).