Mechanism, the company behind a “gaming pillow” for the Steam Deck and a growing list of grips for handheld consoles and PCs, already has its first Steam Controller accessory ready. Valve’s new controller will be available to purchase on May 4, and that same day Mechanism will start selling the Basegrip for Steam Controller, an accessory that will let you attach the controller to a smartphone and plenty of other mounts the company already sells.

The Basegrip for Steam Controller is contoured to fit snuggly over the back of the controller while leaving room for its magnetic charging puck to still attach. And because most of Mechanism’s accessories are designed to work together, with the Basegrip attached, you could connect the Steam Controller to a large number of the company’s existing mounts, including a phone mount that lets you magnetically attach a smartphone to the top of the controller. With a phone and controller together, you theoretically have a little handheld console for playing games.

Or, well, you could, some day. Valve has been fairly clear that the Steam Controller is only designed to work with Steam and the Steam Link app, which is why Mechanism notes that “the controller doesn’t work across all of iOS or Android yet.” You could use your smartphone, Steam Controller and the Steam Link app to stream your PC games, but you might struggle to play more than that. Future software updates could improve support, but it does make using the Steam Controller with a smartphone right now a bit less useful. That shouldn’t detract from the other accessories Mechanism offers, though, particularly its planned Steam Controller Dock, which proudly displays the controller when you’re not using it, and incorporates its charging puck to keep it powered, too.

Mechanism says the Basegrip for Steam Controller will be available on May 4 for $9 or at a discounted priced when bundled with other accessories. The Steam Controller Dock doesn’t have a final price yet, but Mechanism says it will ship in June and you can join a waitlist to buy it now.

The AI industry’s demand for memory, storage and powerful chips has finally come for the Mac mini. Apple has stopped selling its cheapest $599 model of the Mac mini, based on changes to the company’s store page spotted by MacRumors. Only configurations that come with at least 512GB of storage and up are available, which means the Mac mini now effectively starts at $799. The tiny desktop’s popular use as a home for local AI agents likely played a part in the change.

Engadget has contacted Apple for confirmation that it’s discontinuing the entry-level Mac mini. We’ll update this article if we hear back.

When Apple started selling the redesigned Mac mini for $599 in 2024, it was one of the best deals the company had offered in years. With options for multiple tiers of Apple’s M4 chip, at least 16GB of RAM, at least 256GB of storage and enough ports to get things done, the Mac mini was remarkably capable. That also made it popular among the AI crowd, first for its ability to run local large language models, and later as a dedicated computer for AI agents like OpenClaw. A combination of demand from AI tinkerers and growing constraints around sourcing things like memory and storage may have motivated Apple to remove its cheapest model, at least for now.

CEO Tim Cook suggested as much during Apple’s most recent earnings call. “We think, looking forward, that the ‌Mac mini‌ and ‌Mac Studio‌ may take several months to reach supply demand balance,” Cook said. “Both of these are amazing platforms for AI and agentic tools and the customer recognition of that is happening faster than what we had predicted, and so we saw higher than expected demand.”

Apple has been better than most at weathering “RAMaggedon,” or at least hiding its effects across its product lines. When the company updated the MacBook Air with its M5 chip, it also bumped the storage to 512GB and the starting price to $1099, possibly in light of the changing cost of RAM and storage. In that case, the blow was softened by the availability of the MacBook Neo, which offered a lot of the power of Apple’s Macs for a much more affordable $600. There’s currently no equivalent for the Mac mini, though, and it’s not clear when, if ever, Apple will start selling something similar for that same cheap starting price.

We see them every day with alarmingly increasing frequency — cameras that pop up on the side of the road or at intersections. Whether they’re used to issue tickets in speed and construction zones or relay license plate information, let’s face it: These aren’t going anywhere. It’s best to keep informed as to what they do, what they look like, and where to find them so you can avoid a potentially hefty fine.

You’ll find no fewer than four types of traffic camera in the United States: Traffic-monitoring cameras, automated number-plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, speed cameras, and red light cameras. The first two cannot issue tickets, so we’ll be brief about them. A traffic-monitoring camera’s job is to detect where cars are to precisely time traffic lights and govern automated signage according to conditions. The ANPR camera identifies a car by its license plate, acting as a monitor to track movements.

Speed cameras and red light cameras, on the other hand, both function in similar ways in that they’re designed to prosecute drivers for disobeying traffic laws. The main difference between the two is simply where they’re placed and what laws they uphold. A red light camera, as the name suggests, sits at an intersection and monitors red light offenses. Speed cameras are typically situated at the sides of roads prone to speeding, like back roads and highways. These cameras issue automated tickets, which the registered vehicle owner receives in the mail. It’s a system not without its faults; for instance, a woman’s license plate matched a common novelty plate, and she was issued 15 traffic tickets. Let’s dive deeper and explore more about how these systems differ and what they can and can’t do.

Traffic-issuing red light cameras operate through a hard link to the traffic signal itself. When you pull up to the red light, the camera takes a picture of your car as it moves into position, then detects if the vehicle moves past the point where it’s then in the intersection. If the light is red in both phases, i.e. the car blew the red light, then the camera photographs the car a second time as it goes through the light. It then issues a citation to the registered owner of the vehicle.

This system was first implemented in New York City in 1994, a metropolitan area we all know for its infamous gridlock. The New York Department of Transportation took a hard look at statistics, recording fatalities occurring at intersections and asking the question, “Would an automated red light camera help stop speeders?” New York champions the system today with plans to expand it to 600 intersections. If you blow a light in the City and your car is captured by this camera, expect a $50 ticket in the mail.

Typically you’ll find red light cameras situated at busy intersections, near school or work zones, or in major cities. They’re identified by the secondary camera unit that captures a picture of the car as it goes through the light, typically mounted on its own pole overlooking the intersection. The legality of red light cameras is often called into question, with specific rules varying on a per-state basis. Some states exclude them outside of metropolitan areas, and others don’t allow them at all.

Speed cameras function the same in principle — if you’re speeding, it’ll take a picture of your car and mail you a ticket. But there are actually several types of speed cameras, each one operating using different methods. Most modern systems use a form of LIDAR and infrared photography to track and capture a car’s image, either by measuring its speed between two fixed points or by measuring its speed at a specific point — much like the ones used in Colorado. These are your fixed units, designed to run autonomously, as opposed to mobile units, which are set up by officials and, as the name suggests, are not static.

These types of cameras are generally what you’ll see in places like construction areas or school zones — any place with a consistent, reduced speed in comparison to the usual flow of traffic. Other areas include high-speed expressways and suburban areas with excessive rates of speeding violations. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, their presence has reduced crash frequency by 54%, and accidents involving injuries and fatalities by 47% and 20%, respectively.

Different cameras operate using different methods, making detection an exceedingly difficult proposition. For instance, some speed cameras use lasers, whereas others use different bands of radar. Apps like Waze and Google Maps typically state fixed speed trap locations as a heads-up, but you’ll often find surprise mobile units in front of construction zones and the like. Just like red light cameras, the person who receives the ticket will be the one to which the vehicle is registered.