Technologies

I Stuck My Face Into Nintendo’s New Virtual Boy and Felt Oddly Comforted

This bulky, bizarre accessory for your Switch isn’t exactly VR, but it is a lot more fun than I expected.

I’ve owned a lot of Nintendo systems over the years as a tech reviewer, gamer and VR-obsessed individual, but I’ve never owned a Virtual Boy. It’s always made me feel wistful. So finally here I am, playing the newest version. My face is stuck into a large red plastic visor, standing on a tripod on a table at Nintendo’s preview event. My takeaway? Nintendo’s latest weird retro move feels like an odd success.

I’m old enough to have owned Nintendo Game & Watch handhold games, and I remember the original Virtual Boy when it popped up in Electronics Boutique at my local mall. The red-and-black monochrome 3D game console wasn’t fully wearable, and it wasn’t TV-connected. It’s a tabletop game machine, something closer in spirit to the old Vectrex. Calling the Virtual Boy «VR» isn’t really accurate. It’s more like a 3D viewer for retro games.

Nintendo’s bringing this niche system back as a plastic recreation that turns your Nintendo Switch into the Virtual Boy, along with games you can play on Nintendo’s Virtual Console via a Switch Online subscription. It only works on a small subset of retro titles specifically designed for 3D — Nintendo promises 14 by the end of the year, with roughly half available at launch. You need the full Switch Online and Expansion Pack subscription ($50 a year, or $80 for a family subscription) to use it. That’s a lot of money for a little slice of strange retro gaming history.

Leaning into a weird tabletop goggle-thing

The $100 viewer and holster for the Switch is absurd. It’s like an optical appliance at Tron’s eye doctor. It’s larger than I thought it would be and not really portable. Instead of strapping it to your head like a VR headset, you set it up on a table with the included tripod, lean in and play.

After a few moments inside the Virtual Boy, I found it surprisingly comfortable. The large eyepiece is big enough to easily fit chunky glasses inside, yet has light-blocking sides that keep the viewing experience relatively glare-free. It feels like peeking into those old antique stereoscope machines that would show 3D photos or flip-films.

The Switch (or Switch OLED or Switch 2, but sorry, no Switch Lite compatibility) display acts as the Virtual Boy screen, splitting into a 3D view in the headset. It’s like how Nintendo turned the Switch into a pair of VR goggles with Labo VR way back when, but the Virtual Boy feels better than that. I was looking via a Switch 2 display, which is higher-res than Nintendo’s original Switch systems, but these games are low-res by default, so the 3D effects don’t seem degraded. Imagine a red-and-black 3D Game Boy, because that’s basically what it feels like.

Keeping the whole thing in one stable place also helps. No motion lag sickness, because you’re not moving (and neither are the games, really). Playing while leaning into the goggles for a half hour or so didn’t tire me out.

There are even some comfort settings. You can adjust the IPD (interpupillary distance) in the app to adjust the clarity, and you’ll be able to change the color scheme to other colors. I only got to play in the OG red-and-black mode, though, which feels very nocturnal and cozy to me, like being submerged in a gaming cave.

Games are retro bunches of fun

I played with a Switch Pro controller, although you can also use Joy-Cons. I played a bunch, and they’re all pretty fun. Teleroboxer is a 3D Punch-Out game with robots. WarioLand is a lost gem, a Wario game with 3D effects and depth layers. Galactic Pinball feels like all those NES and Game Boy pinball games with a 3D tilt. Golf is kind of a letdown, since the course views are static, but it’s cute. Red Alert is a wireframe Star Fox-like shooter, and it feels kind of like a perfect fit for this retro indie gaming moment we’re in.

A Japanese port of The Mansion of Innsmouth — a game I’ve never heard of before — is a simple 3D dungeon crawler with Lovecraftian monsters. And there’s 3D Tetris, which actually lets you flip pieces in all directions to drop into a deep 3D well. Nintendo is promising 14 Virtual Boy games released over time this year, including two never-released ones. Will there be more after that? Well, the system only had 22 games that were ever released for it in the first place, so we’ll see.

You also choose a cheaper Virtual Boy accessory to play these games, a $25 cardboard pair of goggles that I wasn’t allowed to demo. I’m sure it’s not as comfortable, but it does let you just hold the Switch up to your face, grab the side controllers to play.

During my time with the Virtual Boy, it really surprised me. It ended up feeling a lot more fun, and even «of the weird moment,» than I expected. I’ve been obsessed with retro indie games that feel like they’ve come from a parallel timeline, from UFO 50 to the odd Panic Playdate console. The Virtual Boy feels like Nintendo dug up a weird magic item from 1995. I’m ready to play some more, because I feel a desperate need to cocoon back in game time.

Technologies

Dyson’s Thinnest and Lightest Cordless Vacuum Ever Is Finally Ready to Buy in the US

The Dyson PencilVac doesn’t cost as much as you might expect.

The Dyson PencilVac was one of the most interesting cordless vacuums I saw last year, mainly because it doesn’t really look like any other cordless vacuum I’ve ever seen. I called it the «lightest and thinnest cordless vacuum I’ve ever used.» In 2026, that’s still true, and it’s finally available to buy in the US for $599.

The design is the real innovation here. The PencilVac weighs just 4 pounds and feels more like wielding a mop or broom than a cordless vacuum. I used it at Dyson’s Soho showroom for a while and was impressed by its maneuverability and ease of use. In terms of dimensions, it’s 45.7 inches tall, 8.1 inches long and just 1.5 inches wide. It can flatten down to 3.7 inches to get into tight spaces and under furniture, and comes with green LED lights on both the front and back to help you spot dust.

The dustbin, despite being tiny at 0.02 gallons, uses a unique linear separation system that compresses down the dust as you vacuum, similar to the idea behind the V16 Piston Animal’s compressing lever. The ejection is a little different, with a syringe-like plunger that shoots the dust into the dustbin, and should minimize the dirt getting everywhere or the need to reach in with your fingers to pull stuck bits of debris out.

In terms of other specs, the PencilVac uses two FluffyCone cleaner heads, distinct conical heads designed to prevent hair wrap. In theory, the PencilVac should clean well, thanks to its dual brush rollers (a total of four cones for the brush bar), designed to avoid tangling and clean equally well on a back-and-forth motion. In terms of performance, Dyson says it has a 140krpm Dyson Hyperdymium motor and 55 air watts of suction power, so we don’t expect it to match the 240-air watts V15 Detect Absolute in terms of pickup performance, but we’ll need to put it to the test to know for sure.

We plan on testing the PencilVac in CNET’s Louisville lab to see how it fares, though to do that, we’ll need to modify some of our lab tests for pickup because with a nozzle width of 1.5 inches in diameter, the PencilVac will be the narrowest we’ve ever tested, and our tests are currently designed for a wider nozzle width.

Price and availability

At $599, the PencilVac might sound like it’s on the higher side for a cordless vacuum; we have plenty on our best list that can run you less than $400, and our best overall, the Eureka ReactiSense 440, costs just $180 at full price.

However, with Dyson, you’re really paying for the design, and relative to top-tier vacuums in its lineup, like the $850 Dyson V15 Detect Absolute, it’s not out of range of what we expect. Outside of handheld vacuums, you likely won’t find a cordless vacuum this versatile until Dyson’s competitors start to make them.

Technologies

Google Pixel 10A Rumors: Everything We Know So Far

Technologies

If You’re Attending a Protest, Here’s How to Be Smart With Your Phone

Digital surveillance of your phone data poses a significant risk in any setting, particularly during demonstrations.

Your mobile phone is one of the most powerful tools you can bring to a protest, but it can also be one of your biggest vulnerabilities. This year has seen mass demonstrations across the US, particularly against aggressive immigration enforcement and the use of force by federal and local authorities — including the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis — where protesters have used their phones to record video, document abuses and communicate with one another.

Phone data and use are increasingly being targeted by police and government agencies. Phones are also tracking devices that can be intercepted to monitor locations, match identities and surveil text messages (the FBI has threatened to investigate encrypted Signal chats, too). While the safest move is to leave your phone at home, that’s not always practical.

If you want to secure your phone’s data, limit your digital footprint and protect your privacy while exercising your constitutional rights, here are some steps you can take.

If you plan to protest or serve as a legal observer, here’s some advice from the American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International.

Make sure strong encryption is enabled

Your phone contains all sorts of information about you: your contacts, work address, photos, social media accounts, emails, stored financial information, etc. If your phone is confiscated, lost or stolen, you don’t want to make it easy for someone to grab that data.

As a first step, make sure your device is securely encrypted. Most iPhones and Android phones encrypt data automatically when you set a passcode. Make sure it’s a strong passcode (8-12 random characters).

On Android, go to Settings > Security & Privacy > Device Unlock > Screen lock (or similar, depending on which device you own).

On iOS, go to Settings > Face ID (or Touch ID) & Passcode and tap Turn Passcode On.

You can double-check that encryption is enabled after you’ve set a passcode. In iOS, go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode, then scroll to the bottom, where you should see the phrase «Data protection is enabled.»

In Android, head to Settings > Security & Privacy > More Security & Privacy (or similar, depending on your device), and look for an «Encryption & Credentials» line or similar that should confirm data is encrypted.

Turn off location settings

Location services allows apps and services to grab the phone’s location through GPS. Switching this off blocks that data from being accessed. You’ll find it in the Privacy & Security settings on the iPhone and in the Location settings on Android.

Turning off location services also prevents location data from being saved to any photos you take. You can also manually prevent photos you shot from including location information in their metadata, typically located in the camera app or within your phone’s settings.

In iOS, head to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Camera to toggle location metadata on or off.

On most Android phones, you can disable location data for photos right in the camera app. Open the camera, tap the settings icon, and look for Save Location (or a variation of that: Store Location Data, Location Tags), and turn it off.

Turn off scan-to-unlock and touch-to-unlock features

Biometrics make it easier to unlock your phone and provide security during everyday use, but if your phone is confiscated by law enforcement, they might try to compel you to unlock it using facial recognition or fingerprint readers.

This is a legal area that’s still being worked out, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which states in its guide for attending protests, «using a memorized passcode generally provides a stronger legal footing to push back against a court order of compelled device unlocking/decryption.»

On an iPhone, go to Settings > Face ID (or Touch ID) & Passcode and turn off iPhone Unlock.

On Android, look for fingerprint or face unlock options in Settings > Security & Privacy or Lock Screen settings.

Quickly disable biometrics in the moment

What if you forgot to disable biometrics and you’re confronted with someone who tries to compel you to use them? There’s a quick workaround that forces you to use the passcode, even without resetting your phone (all phones require you to reenter your passcode upon reboot).

On an Android device, hold the power button and either the volume-up or volume-down button (depending on your device) and select Lockdown. You may need to specify that the Lockdown option appears. On a Samsung Galaxy phone, for instance, in the Lock screen and AOD > Secure lock settings, turn on the Show Lockdown mode option.

On an iPhone, hold the Sleep/Wake and Volume Up buttons for a second until you see the power, medical ID and Emergency SOS options. Then tap Cancel. The next unlock will require your passcode.

Remember that if you use this option, the biometrics are disabled only until the phone is next unlocked with the passcode. In a protest environment, it’s better to disable the biometrics as described above.

Turn off Bluetooth

Bluetooth, the short-range networking feature, is more commonly used to send music and podcasts to wireless headphones or communicate with smart devices like watches and fitness trackers. But it also reaches out to locators like Apple AirTags and checks for other nearby items.

Turn off cellular data when you’re not using it

Your phone sends and receives a lot of data in the background — such as checking for updates, sending and receiving text messages, and receiving app notifications — which requires it to maintain constant chatter with nearby cellular towers. That traffic can identify your approximate location or show that you (or at least your phone) were present at a protest later. (Note that turning off cellular data will interfere with any encrypted communications you may be using.)

While you’re disabling cellular data, you should also disable Wi-Fi. Not only can connecting to Wi-Fi networks reveal your location, but it’s also a battery drain, especially in high-density areas where there are a lot of networks.

Leave your phone at home, or get a burner phone

If you leave your phone at home, you won’t need to worry about all these settings. Another option is to get a prepaid burner phone to use only at the protest and then turn it off before you go home (so it cannot be traced back to you).

Don’t forget about other devices

Your phone might not be the only thing tracking you. Your smartwatch may connect to cellular networks or store location data, and portable trackers such as Apple AirTags are designed to relay their locations via Bluetooth. Consider putting your watch into Airplane mode and leaving the trackers at home.

Take photos and videos while your phone is locked

You’re likely to be using your camera a lot during a protest event, and in addition to disabling Location Services so the GPS data is not saved to the images, it’s a good idea to use the camera without unlocking the phone. That way, someone who snatches the phone from you while you’re recording can’t access your data.

iPhones and Android phones include this feature as a convenience to take pictures quickly. The camera is active, but the other phone features remain unavailable. From the iOS lock screen, press and hold the Camera icon or swipe from the right edge of the screen. Your model may also include a Camera Control button or an option to activate the camera using the Action button.

On an Android phone, look for a Camera icon on the lock screen. There may also be options for quick launching, such as double-pressing the power button.

And one last note about recording: Be mindful of taking photos of protesters’ faces and of sharing your images later, since law enforcement uses facial recognition technology to identify people in publicly uploaded or posted photos.