Technologies

PlayStation Portal Can Stream Your PS5 Games Without a PS5 Now

A new cloud streaming update opens up games from your own library with a subscription, even without a PS5 being turned on. Is this a small step to a future PlayStation handheld?

Handheld game consoles are seeing a wild evolution lately, from the Nintendo Switch 2 to PC handhelds running Windows and Steam. Meanwhile, Sony’s almost-standalone two-year-old handheld, the PlayStation Portal, is getting an update that frees it up from the PlayStation 5 for cloud streaming PS5 games, provided you have the right subscription. It’s getting 3D audio support for streaming games, too.

It still won’t play downloaded games offline, though. The Portal is a streaming-only handheld, but this new update looks to make it feel a lot more like a second device than a PlayStation 5 accessory. And it raises a question: Will Sony eventually make a true handheld of its own?

«The Portal is part of the PS5 family, and it continues to be a complementary device for a console not really a standalone yet,» Takuro Fushimi, Sony’s PlayStation senior manager of product management, told me over video chat. But the streaming update could let someone with one account play PS5 games while someone else played on an another account on the PS5, so it’s definitely becoming more untethered. The Portal is also currently Sony’s top-used device for streaming PS5 games, even over phones and tablets, Fushimi said, although specific sales numbers weren’t shared.

Streaming with a subscription: Works like it does on the PS5

The new cloud streaming update is the first time Sony’s considering it out of beta since the feature emerged in 2024. Previously, the Portal could cloud-stream a selection of older games via a PlayStation Plus subscription in addition to streaming games from a synced PlayStation 5.

Now, a subset of owned PlayStation 5 games will also get full cloud-streaming support without needing the PS5 to be turned on at all. The game library support matches what’s already possible on PS5 already, and the new streamable games will be laid out in a new interface.

You need a PlayStation Plus Premium subscription to get access to these streamable games, though, which costs $18 a month or $160 a year.

How it’s different from other ways to play PlayStation games on the go

The Portal and the PS5 are the only two consoles that have PS5 cloud streaming support, but phones and tablets can remote-play locally streamed games on a PlayStation 5 using an app which works with game controllers. There are some PlayStation games that are on Steam and can be played on Steam Decks and Windows game handhelds, too.

The Portal has its own advantages, though. The adaptive force-feedback triggers and vibrating haptics mirror the DualSense controller’s feel, something you can’t get otherwise. The new software update also supports 3D audio with plugged-in headphones or wireless Pulse headsets paired with Portal. But it’s still a streaming-only device.

Could Sony have a true handheld next?

The Portal’s evolution keeps making me wonder whether we’ll see a true handheld standalone successor to the PSP and PS Vita. I asked Fushimi about Sony’s stance in handhelds now compared to the rest of the evolving landscape. «We have our own sort of way of thinking about handheld,» Fushimi said. «The streaming and remote play is the way we went to offer that immersion and quality of the PS5 family as a whole for this device.»

So yes, it’s still a PS5 accessory. But it’s closer than ever to being a handheld of its own.

Technologies

Spotify Brings Wrapped Energy Year-Round With Friend-Sharing Stats

The music service introduced new ways for music nerds to share their listening habits with friends.

It can be a long wait for Spotify Wrapped, the end-of-year promotion that allows Spotify users to view and share their listening habits. Now, users can keep an eye on those stats daily, plus share their listening habits with friends.

You can view your Spotify usage statistics every 24 hours and share your updates via social media services, such as Instagram Notes or Spotify Messages. The new share icon gives you access to eight different services where you can post your stats.

Every week, you’ll get updates on your top artists and songs from the past month, and Spotify will recommend new playlists. The app also gives you a «special highlight» based on a specific artist or song.

To access your personal musical data, click on your profile in the top left corner of the app and scroll down to «listening stats.»

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The new features are somewhat similar to Spotify Wrapped, the service’s annual end-of-year review of users’ listening habits, which is designed to be shared. Every year, Spotify adds extra details to Wrapped, such as assigning users a listening personality or a city that supposedly reflects their music tastes. It’s been the most popular way for Spotify users to view and share their music listening in the past. A number of third-party services do the same thing, including Volt.fm.

Read more: Best Music Streaming Services

Spotify is the world’s largest music streaming service, offering 100 million tracks and serving more than 713 million users. In addition to its $12-per-month subscription service, Spotify also offers a free, ad-supported option.

Technologies

Wordle Gets Personal: You Can Now Make and Share Your Own Puzzles

If you’re a Wordle obsessive, you can now make your own inside joke puzzles to send to friends.

Wordle’s an immensely popular New York Times word game (we post the answers daily), but it’s not the most personal game in the world. Answers such as GUISE and PERIL are tricky, but generic. Now, Wordle fans who have ever dreamed of making their own puzzles can test their friends and family by creating their own Wordle creations up to seven letters in length.

No surprise, you have to be a New York Times Games or All Access Subscriber to use this feature. If you are, you’ll find the Create a Puzzle option available from the top menu above today’s Wordle. While you must be a subscriber to create your own personalized puzzle, you can share it with anyone — they only need the link, not a subscription, to complete your Wordle.

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Enter a word, and the site will tell you if it is available. Real Wordle limits you to five-letter words, but the puzzle-making feature lets you choose words between 4 and 7 letters.

The usual dictionary rules apply, and so curse words, some pet names, and obscure inside jokes are essentially out. If your cat is named TANGO, that’s there, but RINGO is not an option. You can drop a proposal with a single word like MARRY, but MARRYME will get rejected since that’s two separate words.

Word chosen, you can then fill out your name and add an optional hint, and the feature will generate your puzzle with a link you can send around. Unlike standard puzzles, your puzzle doesn’t appear to reset after a day, so whoever you send it to doesn’t need to rush to solve it.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Nov. 8, #411

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle No. 411 for Saturday, Nov. 8.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tricky one. The theme of the purple category is also a word hidden among the answers, but of course, it doesn’t end up in the purple group. If you’re struggling but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Brawl.

Green group hint: The Steel City.

Blue group hint: They once played in Oakland.

Purple group hint: Not always made of cardboard.