Vratislav Holub Savvy social network users Reddit have discovered that Valve has quietly introduced Steam Link, a Mac game streaming app, to the Mac App Store. In the second report, we learn about a new idea from Apple, which may be inspired by the competition and decide to create a HomePod with a display. How could such a product work?
The Steam Link app has arrived in the Mac App Store
Valve's Steam Link app has quietly arrived on the Mac App Store, allowing users to stream games from the Steam platform directly to their Mac. To do this, you only need to have a computer with the games in question, a game controller with MFi or Steam Controller certification, and a Mac as well as the aforementioned computer connected to the same local network.
The Steam platform has offered this option to Apple users for several years, but until now it was necessary to download directly after the main application, which requires 1 GB of free disk space. Specifically, the mentioned Steam Link program is a significantly lighter version with only less than 30 MB. To run this new feature, you must have a Mac with the operating system macOS 10.13 or later and Windows, Mac, or Linux with Steam running.
Apple is toying with the idea of a touchscreen HomePod
Last year we saw the introduction of a very interesting product. We are, of course, talking about the HomePod mini, which functions as a Bluetooth speaker and voice assistant together. It is a smaller and, above all, cheaper sibling of the 2018 model, which can better compete with other companies on the market. Yesterday we even informed you about a hidden function in last year's little thing, which hides a digital sensor in its bowels for sensing the ambient temperature and air humidity in the given room. However, we currently have to wait for the software activation of this component.
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This information comes from the Bloomberg portal, which shared another interesting fact with the world. In the current situation, the Cupertino company should at least toy with the idea of a smart speaker with a touch screen and a front camera. Google also offers a similar solution, namely the Nest Hub Max, or Amazon and their Echo Show. For example Google Nest Hub Max it features a 10″ touch screen that can be controlled by Google Assistant and allows people to check things like the weather forecast, upcoming calendar events, watch a Netflix video, and more. It even has a built-in Chromecast and of course it has no problem playing music, video calls and controlling a smart home.
A similar product from Apple could therefore offer almost identical functions. This would primarily be the ability to make video calls through FaceTime and closer integration with the HomeKit smart home. In any case, Mark Gurman from Bloomberg adds that such a HomePod is only in the idea phase and we should definitely not count on the arrival of a similar device (for now). It is possible that Apple will make up for the shortcomings of the voice assistant Siri, which lacks significantly against the competition.
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