Interesting that they say they are discontinuing the Steam Deck LCD 256GB model, and not Steam Deck LCD. I wonder if we will see a new version with an updated chip, motherboard, and cut back to 128GB to lower costs.
Wasn't one of the highlights of the new Steam Controller that the new analog sticks were both better and cheaper?

View this comment - View article - View full comments

What's the resolution on most living room TVs?

Probably still 1080p.

My question is are we looking at a barely disguised Dev Kit for a next-generation handheld that is still a few years away.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Have you had to add any other settings or use a specific version of Proton? It is maxing out CPU threads for me and running at less than 1 fps after the initial splash screens when it gets to the 'Welcome to Early Access' message.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: Purple Library GuyI suppose you could spin off a subsidiary to do it. The subsidiary could contract out the manufacturing part to . . . you, what a co-incidence.

Considering how obvious a legal gimmick like that would be, I strongly suspect there is language in the contract to cover that kind of business scheme. Even if there wasn't I doubt it would pass the smell test in front of a court covering contract law, even in China. That would seem like obvious bad faith when agreeing to a contract.

Now if they were legitimately simply selling hardware production to a third-party, where those systems would use the third-parties branding, and not be sold directly by Aya, that would likely be different.

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, I only play serious rules oriented games with people who are.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Aya are a Windows OEM. So they have almost certainly signed an agreement with Microsoft that includes language that in return for lower prices for Windows, they agree to (among other things) obtain a license for Microsoft's patents on every Windows-compatible system they sell. Shipping a licensed Windows install on the device grants the license, anything else pre-installed requires an additional fee paid to Microsoft to license their patents.

They probably thought that if SteamOS (or their own Linux distribution) didn't violate Microsoft's patents they wouldn't have to pay, and Microsoft reminded them that doesn't get them out of the terms of the agreement because those devices can still run Windows so it wouldn't matter.

The only way out of it is to not be a Windows OEM at all, use some kind of Windows-incompatible boot process, or fight Microsoft in court over the terms of a contract they entered into, all of which Aya aren't willing to do.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: Purple Library GuyA bit, yes, although not entirely. And your point is?

ChromeOS isn't really that different from other modern immutable Linux distributions whose main purpose is to run containerized software.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: Purple Library GuyHard to say. I don't think there are any programs built for ChromeOS. :grin:

That is a bit like saying there are no applications built for Silverblue.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: pleasereadthemanualMy understanding was that the Linux container thing was only for developers, and not for normal Chromebook users.

The general purpose GNU/Linux container is yes. Although once set up applications installed within it function exactly like other containerized application solutions on other Linux distributions from a users perspective, being able to launch from the ChromeOS panel, and appearing within ChromeOS's window manager. Not really that different from using Flatpaks on other immutable distributions where essentially an application loads in a standardized container environment.

The only real difference is that Google wants containers normal users interact with to be fully self contained. So none of the overlay sharing advantage you get when using a bunch of flatpaks, but I don't think Google expects normal ChromeOS users will be running a bunch of different containers. Most systems will just have a few, namely the pre-installed Android and Chrome containers, plus a small number of systems will add Steam or another major application.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: CatKillerWho's habitually browsing websites on their Steam Deck?

The Big Picture interface, and the Steam Store interface are both effectively websites. It is also possible to click on external links within the store or the forum.

So if Steam is set up to contribute stats to statcounter at least for the public facing pages Deck users would be automatically showing up in large numbers from normal operation, and if not Deck would still not be entirely invisible.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

My hypothesis is that statcounter is seeing Steam Deck, and/or that the new ChromeOS Flex may have a slightly different user agent string that is making it miss their special case exception that would otherwise prevent it from getting grouped in with the other Linux distributions.

In either case we should probably expect that they will further break Linux apart in their stats by shifting Deck to the tablet section (or making a new handheld category), or adding more special case exceptions for ChromeOS or other distributions.

View this comment - View article - View full comments