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Etsy co-founder's new startup is making what really looks like a mixed reality magnifying glass
Gaming Gear

Etsy co-founder’s new startup is making what really looks like a mixed reality magnifying glass

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Virtual and augmented reality are still pretty new frontiers with a lot of potentially cool ideas yet to be developed. The latest product in the mixed reality space could be coming from a startup called Dopple Works. Lowpass reported that the secrecy-shrouded business from Etsy co-founder and former CEO Robert Kalin is working on a new device called Loop.

Dopple Works has submitted an application to the Federal Communications Commission. Many of the details are not publicly available, but that filing indicates that Loop is battery-powered and will use both WiFi and Bluetooth networks. Lowpass also unearthed a patent application that dubs Loop a “dedicated hand-held spatial computing device.” The application comes with images that show a camera, speaker and tracking sensor that could capture details on an environment, along with a screen for viewing the mixed reality content.

At this stage, there’s not enough information available to speculate on what Loop’s purpose will be. But the photos from the government filings do spark some entertaining mental images of a future where people wandering about doing their best Sherlock Holmes imitations with mixed reality magnifying glasses.



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Shaurya Malwa
NFT Gaming

XRP Little Changed as Technicals Showed Mixed Signals for Day Traders

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XRP was little changed over the past 24 hours, rising from $2.194 to $2.264 and defying the broader digital asset market’s uncertainty. The token’s rally comes amid intensifying global trade tensions, with major economies implementing new tariffs that have rattled markets.

Despite these headwinds — and a second consecutive week of institutional outflows totaling $28.2 million as reported by CoinShares — XRP has shown resilience, underscoring its potential utility in cross-border payments.

The U.S. government’s Digital Asset Stockpile, announced in March 2025 and which includes XRP, continues to provide a solid fundamental backdrop even as price consolidation tests investor confidence.

News Background

  • Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse denied plans to acquire Circle but has expanded its stablecoin strategy with RLUSD, positioning it as on-ledger collateral on the XRP Ledger.
  • Ripple’s acquisition of Hidden Road hints at ambitions beyond traditional crypto applications, focusing on infrastructure and bridging the gap between decentralized finance and traditional finance.
  • In the UAE, Ripple is working on tokenized real estate, turning theory into practice with tangible asset experiments.

Technical Analysis Recap

  • XRP climbed from $2.194 to $2.264 over the past 24 hours.
  • Price action formed a clear uptrend with strong support at $2.190-$2.195, despite institutional outflows.
  • Resistance emerged at $2.284 during the 19:00 hour, with volume spiking to 39.6 million.
  • A notable breakout occurred during the 15:00 hour, where XRP surged 2.5% on volume of 84.7 million units.
  • XRP faced a modest pullback to $2.255 before rebounding in the final hour, climbing 0.9% from $2.260 to $2.265.
  • The final 15 minutes of trading saw particularly strong momentum, with higher lows and increasing volume indicating bullish sentiment.

Disclaimer: Portions of this article were generated with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by CoinDesk’s editorial team for accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.



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Elden Ring Nightreign gets strong start on Steam, despite Mixed reaction
Game Updates

Elden Ring Nightreign gets strong start on Steam, despite Mixed reaction

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UPDATE 4.30pm UK: Elden Ring Nightreign has had two million players in its first day.

FromSoftware shared the news on social media, celebrating the co-operative spin-off’s launch day.

A second patch is due next week to improve the game for solo players, following a backlash against the multiplayer game.

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ORIGINAL STORY 11am UK: Elden Ring Nightreign, released today, is off to an immediately strong start on Steam.

The online co-op spin-off has already reached a peak concurrent player count of 313,593 players within its first few hours of availability.

It’s also sitting comfortably in the top five most played games of the last 24 hours.

Elden Ring Nightreign For Dummies: Basics For EVERYTHING You Need to Know (But Were Afraid to Ask)Watch on YouTube

Of course, Steam’s most played games list tends to be dominated by multiplayer games – by their nature, they attract more players.

By contrast, the original Elden Ring has a peak concurrent player count of 953,426, sitting at ninth in the all-time most played games.

Still, there’s clearly interest in FromSoftware’s multiplayer experiment, although user reviews so far are “Mixed”. Many are complaining about the inability to play with two players, as well as the poor communication options without voice chat.

“No duo option, had random people join to just run off and do their own thing. Let me duo with my mate…” reads one particular review.

Indeed, the game is at its best when played with three friends. It’s possible to play solo, but isn’t recommended.

FromSoftware has stated it’s considering a two-player option in future, admitting it was “overlooked” during development.

The game is also available across PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

A day one patch is available to download, which brings balance adjustments and bug fixes. However, FromSoftware has warned some PC configurations using the latest graphics cards may experience frame rate drops.

“FromSoftware’s multiplayer spin-off is an exhilarating rush and a celebration of the studio’s prior achievements Souls veterans will devour,” reads our Elden Ring Nightreign review.

Looking for help? We’ve got you covered with our Elden Ring Nightreign tips and tricks.



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Elden Ring Nightreign has a killer first day on Steam, but reviews are surprisingly mixed
Game Reviews

Elden Ring Nightreign has a killer first day on Steam, but reviews are surprisingly mixed

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The moment many FromSoftware fans have been waiting for has arrived. Elden Ring Nightreign, the studio’s experimental, multiplayer-only off-shoot is here, having launched worldwide overnight.

Nightreign is a special release for the storied Japanese studio in a number of ways, and it’s clear players showed up for it, regardless of how unusual of a game it is from that team.

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On Steam, where Elden Ring Nightreign currently tops Steam’s top sellers chart, the game has launched to a large and dedicated audience, causing it to land a spot in the platform’s highly-competitive top five most played games.

That’s the result of its concurrent player count, which is the metric the most played games list is based on. Nightreign peaked at 313,593 concurrent players very quickly after it went live (via SteamDB), and it has over 150,000 players in-game at the time of this writing.

This is a pretty respectable turnout for any game, and it certainly makes Nightreign one of 2025’s best-performing games on Steam. Considering the game’s launch time on Thursday/Friday, there’s every chance more players will jump in at the weekend, pushing these figures even higher.

Obviously, we have little insight into how well it may be doing on consoles, but it’s very likely as successful there, too. As big as this day-one turnout is, it’s nowhere close to Elden Ring’s all-time peak of 953,426 players. Nobody expected Nightreign to beat – or even match – that colossal peak concurrent, but it is worth keeping in mind nonetheless.

Even setting aside the game that spawned it, Nightreign’s Steam peak concurrent is already among FromSoftware’s highest, well above titles like Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and any of the Dark Souls games.

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Much like professional critics, however, player sentiment is also divided on the game. As things stand, 67% of 7,481 Steam user reviews are positive, which is why it’s currently sitting at a Mixed overall rating.

Believe it or not, Elden Ring itself started out pretty wobbly on the Steam review scale at its respective launch, too. Ironically, many of the same complaints about performance issues and stuttering that were common then have reemerged now. That said, Nightreign’s unique situation as a co-op-only game has created its own set of grievances, some of which have to do with the studio’s decisions surrounding the game and not necessarily its technical state.

Reviews will likely settle as the days go by and move that rating to Positive. Until then, if you’re one of the millions jumping into the not-Lands Between, our Elden Ring Nightreign guide is live and ever-growing. We recently updated it with new builds for Ironeye and Raider.



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Staking in crypto: The gateway or the trap?
NFT Gaming

Corporate crypto treasuries are surging despite mixed macro signals: report

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Corporate interest in digital assets is gaining momentum, with public companies increasingly allocating Bitcoin and Ethereum to their balance sheets, according to Binance Research’s latest weekly report.

Binance reported that more than 117 listed companies now hold over 800,000 BTC collectively, including recent adopters like Trump Media & Technology Group, which launched a $2.5 billion BTC strategy backed by 50 institutional investors. 

The report also noted Ethereum’s (ETH) growing presence in corporate treasuries, with SharpLink unveiling a $425 million ETH initiative advised by Consensys co-founder Joseph Lubin.

Mixed market sentiment 

Despite this institutional momentum, market sentiment remained mixed. Bitcoin (BTC) gave back recent gains, falling 5% over the week as profit-taking and broader asset rotation pressured prices. 

Ethereum declined 1%, while altcoins also retraced earlier gains. Binance attributed this to capital rotation and cautious sentiment amid persistent macro uncertainty.

Short-term sentiment received a lift from stronger U.S. consumer confidence and a series of trade truce announcements. However, longer-term outlooks are clouded by rising U.S. bond yields, a weaker-than-expected Q1 GDP contraction of 0.2%, and a newly passed U.S. tax bill projected to add $4 trillion to national debt over the next decade.

Binance highlighted that spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded ten straight days of inflows before reversing on May 29, suggesting underlying demand but a fragile investor outlook. 

Additionally, the correlation between Bitcoin and U.S. equities, particularly tech stocks, remains elevated. Meanwhile, gold ETFs saw continued outflows, marking a shift in risk preferences.

A cautious fed

Federal Reserve minutes released this week reinforced a cautious stance, with officials warning of “difficult trade-offs” if inflation were to reaccelerate. 

Expectations for interest rate cuts have been revised downward, with fewer than two cuts now priced in for 2025, down from four cuts priced in earlier this month.

Looking ahead, investors will be watching key U.S. data releases, including April’s PCE inflation and Powell’s remarks on June 2, as well as the European Central Bank’s decision on June 5. 

For the crypto sector, Bitcoin Seoul 2025 kicks off June 4, potentially offering further signals on institutional engagement and long-term adoption.

Binance concluded that while corporate adoption of digital assets is accelerating, structural risks remain, particularly for newer firms with limited risk controls and overexposure to crypto-linked valuations.



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Phison Pascari X200Z SSD
Gaming Gear

Phison’s X200Z SSD breaks records for speed, endurance, and mixed workload power

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  • Phison X200Z writes entire drive every 24 minutes nonstop
  • Delivers record-breaking endurance and performance with 60 DWPD capability
  • TweakTown calls it the most powerful flash-based SSD ever tested

TweakTown has delivered its first hands-on look at the Phison Pascari X200Z 3.2TB Enterprise SSD, and – spoiler alert – it was blown away.

Built with SLC flash and running over a PCIe Gen5 x4 interface, the X200Z boasts a write endurance rating of 60 drive writes per day (DWPD), translating to an astounding full-drive write every 24 minutes.

As Jon Coulter of TweakTown puts it, “Phison’s Pascari X200Z 3.2TB SLC caching SSD is simultaneously the highest capacity, lowest latency, and most endurant flash-based SSD of its kind we’ve ever encountered.”


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The best ever seen

The X200Z is built for extreme durability in demanding caching roles, especially in front of QLC arrays.

It buffers random write workloads, reshapes them into sequential data, and directs them to slower, more fragile QLC layers, enhancing speed, reliability, and overall lifespan of the storage system.

Coulter notes, “The 3.2TB model we have in hand is rated at 60 DWPD or a mind-bending 350 Petabytes of endurance. Incredible.”

The drive also shines on performance. In testing, it surpassed its factory specs across the board. Sequential read throughput hit 15,026MB/s – breaking TweakTown lab records – while write performance came in over 10,200MB/s.

In random workloads, the X200Z hit up to 2800K IOPS and showed strong consistency across all queue depths.

Coulter was impressed by the performance curve: “Its low queue depth performance here is stunning.”

He adds, “We knew it would be good, but we didn’t anticipate the drive’s mixed workload performance would be this fantastic. By far the best we’ve ever seen.”

Phison positions its Pascari line as enterprise-grade, offering flexibility in U.2 and E3.S form factors and support for dual-port configurations. The Pascari X200 Series already has design wins across data centers, video platforms, and HPC workloads.

Coulter concludes: “Phison’s Pascari X200Z 3.2TB SSD is easily the most powerful flash-based SSD we’ve ever tested.”

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Nexar Beam2 Mini Dash Cam
Product Reviews

Nexar Beam2 mini Dash Cam review: a mixed bag

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We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Nexar Beam2 mini Dash Cam: two-minute review

I tried the original Nexar Beam dash cam around three years ago, but I seem to recall that it did everything I wanted it to do at the time. Things have moved on since then, though, and for the Beam2 mini Nexar has tweaked the design and features in a bid to stay up there with the best dash cams.

In fact, none of the latest crop of Beam models bear much resemblance to the original incarnation. The Nexar Beam2 Mini is my pick of these products – there are also Beam2 (road only) and Beam2 road and cabin model variants, plus an optional rear view camera.

The others are chunkier, and might suit folks with space on their windshields and the willingness to spend more for a beefier array of features. The Nexar Beam2 mini is right up my street though, especially when I need to fix it to the small screen of my sports car. I’m looking for compact, which was a key part of the appeal with the first edition.

However, the Nexar Beam2 mini isn’t quite as dinky as I’d anticipated, at 6.86 x 6.49 x 3.83 inches / 17.4 x 16.5 x 9.7cm. It feels quite hefty too, weighing in at 1.74lbs / 0.8kg, but that’s no bad thing, as it helps make the package feel like a quality purchase. Perhaps some of the additional weight comes from the internal storage, as there’s no microSD media card slot available on this model.


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This model features a landscape-oriented body design, with a 160-degree field of view lens that can be swiveled to get the view of the road suited to any type of vehicle. It attaches to the windshield in standard fashion, using a self-adhesive pad that sticks the base of the camera unit to the glass.

(Image credit: Future)

The Nexar Beam2 mini is available with 4G LTE connectivity, which means that it can deliver ‘always on’ performance including remote video live streaming. There’s 1080p resolution and internal storage of up to 256GB, though as mentioned there’s no external microSD storage. It features GPS tracking, a parking mode with real-time alerts plus 2.4/5GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and comes with an ODBII pass through connector cable, rather than a 12V plug for power.

Nexar offers the Beam2 mini with three different storage options: 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB, which offer recording storage times of 30 hours, 62 hours and 130 hours respectively. The internal storage can work harmoniously with Nexar’s unlimited cloud storage option, plus there’s the option to invest in an ongoing LTE Protection Plan that boosts this model’s appeal for just $9.99 (about £8) per month.

Due to its core ‘always on’ functionality, the Nexar Beam2 mini is ideally suited to folks who want to be sure they can keep tabs on their vehicle from anywhere, and at any time. The Nexar app helps here, enabling you to check in on your vehicle, as long as connectivity is retained. There are quirks, though, such as the need for a permanent connection, which can present power implications and add extra hassle during setup.

Performance is solid enough, and the features and functions do what they’re supposed to do. Nexar has tried to make purchasing the Beam2 mini as easy as possible too, with an array of plans to suit all budgets. There are cheap and cheerful models out there though, that offer greater plug-and-play simplicity, which might make the Nexar Beam2 mini seem a little too quirky for some needs.

Nexar Beam2 Mini Dash Cam: price and availability

  • Price starts at $149.95 / £113
  • There are three storage capacity variants: 64GB, 128GB and 256GB

The Nexar Beam2 mini is available in three storage variants. The base-level edition currently costs $149.95 / £113 (down from $199.95) and features 64GB of capacity. The 128GB model is $169.95 / £128, while the range tops out in terms of storage at 256GB, which costs $199.95 / £151.

An optional LTE Protection Plan is also available, and costs $9.99 per month or $71.90 annually, which at the time of writing represents a 40% discount. The latter delivers live streaming capability, unlimited cloud storage, a 24/7 Live Parking mode, real-time GPS tracking, and real-time emergency alerts too.

Nexar Beam2 Mini Dash Cam: specs

Swipe to scroll horizontallyNexar Beam2 Mini Dash Cam specs

Video

Front 1080p FHD

Field of view (FOV)

135 degrees front

Storage

Internal 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, Cloud

GPS

Yes

Parking mode

Yes, with constant ODBII power cable

App support

Nexar app

Dimensions

6.86 x 6.49 x 3.83 inches / 17.4 x 16.5 x 9.7cm

Weight

1.74lbs / 0.8kg

Battery

Yes

Nexar Beam2 Mini Dash Cam: Design

  • Slimline letterbox design and no screen
  • ODBII connector supplied for always-on power
  • Internal storage, with 64, 128 and 256GB versions

Anyone who needs something fairly compact will find the design of the Nexar Beam2 mini one of its most appealing aspects. This is a landscape-oriented box of tricks, with very little on its exterior to either fiddle with or go wrong. The design might not work for everyone, though, firstly because there’s no rear screen, so everything has to be done via the Nexar app. Second, until you have the app installed it’s quite tricky to get the angle of the lens correct.

The lens itself is housed in the front of the unit, and can be swiveled up or down, depending on the angle of the windshield in your vehicle. The power cable port is up on top of the unit though, which means it’s easy to get this out of the way during installation. The dash cam can be fitted to the windshield in the usual way, either using an anti-static film sheet first and sticking the adhesive mount to that, or directly to the glass itself. There’s no suction-cup arrangement though, and no removable option in the mount design either. Again, not for everyone.

(Image credit: Future)

There’s a small blue/green indicator light that flashes during setup and stays on when the camera is doing its thing. Power to the unit comes from a supplied ODBII connector setup, which is why this model is good if an ‘always on’ setup is required. However, the Nexar Beam2 Mini Dash Cam will also work if it’s plugged in via a sufficiently high-powered USB port, which widens its appeal somewhat, especially if a user doesn’t require constant surveillance. Don’t bother looking for a card slot though, because there isn’t one. My review unit came with a 64GB internal storage drive instead.

(Image credit: Future)

Nexar Beam2 Mini Dash Cam: Performance

  • Fiddly setup
  • Decent image and audio quality

I have to admit that initial setup and installation wasn’t as seamless as I’d hoped for. Sure, the power cable procedure is simple enough, just as long as you know where your ODBII connector is under the dash – these can be quite tricky to find in some vehicles. The Beam2 mini can be powered by a cable running into the 12V socket if preferred, although this isn’t supplied with the package, which only contains a ODBII adapter. Hard-wiring it is also an option, but you’ll need to pay for this additional accessory.

The main problem I had was connecting and verifying the app. Downloading it was easy enough, but the country code listings for inputting my number weren’t listed alphabetically. I then twigged Nexars lists by country codes on the right-hand side of the menu. Even then, with my country code and phone number entered, I couldn’t get a verification text to come through. Curiously, right after I’d tried this, I also got a couple of spam calls, so I’m hoping this was coincidental rather than anything to do with the Nexar setup process.

As it turned out, and after I got in touch with Nexar directly, I was told that there is currently an issue with UK cell phone companies blocking the verification codes. This appears to be a country-specific issue, so for US users this should hopefully not be an issue. A note on the Nexar website to explain this would have stopped me wasting a lot of time though.

(Image credit: Future)

One other thing that appears to be a potential issue, especially for anyone wanting to use the Nexar Beam2 mini in the UK, is that a strong mobile signal is needed for it to function correctly. As I drove off on my first journey, while the camera was doing its initial setup procedure, I kept on getting an audible alert suggesting I find a stronger cell phone signal. However, after a reboot, things seemed to settle down somewhat and the message stopped.

(Image credit: Future)

Maybe I was just unlucky, but the various teething troubles tainted my experience of the Nexar Beam2 Dash Cam somewhat. Nevertheless, this is a very decent dash camera, with results that left a positive impression. It’s great at capturing video in a wide variety of scenarios, and the audio quality seems really good too. Things look slightly less impressive on finer details, such as license plates, but this model is affordable, so some element of compromise is inevitable.

Should you buy the Nexar Beam2 mini Dash Cam?

(Image credit: Future)

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

How I tested the Nexar Beam2 Mini Dash Cam

  • I installed the dash cam in one test car for an initial period of two weeks
  • I used it for a wide range of journeys during the day and at night
  • I connected it to my phone and downloaded recordings to assess their quality

I was sent a loan package of the Beam2 mini Dash Cam by Nexar, which also provided me with the LTE Protection Plan for good measure. The camera was installed in a car I was testing at the time, and powered using the setup described in the review above. I also installed the Nexar app on an iPhone, which required me to follow a verification process that required the phone to receive a text in order to proceed.

I then tested the Beam2 mini over several days and in a variety of driving conditions, including local roads as well as larger highways. I was able to explore its capabilities in various weather conditions, including rainy days and in low-light as well as after dark.



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