A mention in this week's Steam Deck firmware patch notes has some observers speculating that Valve is preparing to release its well-regarded Linux build for third-party hardware....

One of the Steam Deck’s primary advantages over more powerful handheld gaming PCs is its operating system, which is designed to mimic a game console interface within a Linux PC environment. Valve has long planned to bring the OS to other devices, but a recent Steam Deck software update includes the first mention of a rival handheld.

  • HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com
    46·
    5 months ago

    Im excited for something like this as I would like to see more form factors. tv sticks, tablets, workstations, gaming laptops. I know anyone can do the last two but having a hardware vendor cover the software officialy is sorta a big thing

    • Blxter@lemmy.zipEnglish
      191·
      5 months ago

      Actually a steam tv stick would go crazy never thought of that. Extreme low latency PC streaming to tv.

        • teawrecks@sopuli.xyz
          14·
          5 months ago

          The Steam Link tried and succeeded at this. My guess is only technical people understood its use-case at the time. For hardware to do well on a large scale it needs to be standalone. You turn it on and immediately see the benefit of it. Can’t be dependent on the customer’s other hardware.

          • HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com
            3·
            5 months ago

            well it will help if you can get many of the same internet streaming apps you have with firetv stick and such. so people might just buy it to steam netflix and be part of the market outside of the ones using the game streaming.

        • fjordbasa@lemmy.worldEnglish
          4·
          5 months ago

          It is, but Steam has a habit of iterating, maybe we’ll see an updated Steam Link- like device in the future?

            • InputZero@lemmy.ml
              7·
              5 months ago

              They didn’t abandon it, they opened it up to anything running at least Andriod 8.0 or newer. So basically every Andriod device made since 2015 can run Steam Link, maybe not at a quality seen as appropriate but it’ll run.

              • conciselyverbose
                3·
                5 months ago

                I’m talking about the hardware.

                They stopped making the hardware because they didn’t need a dedicated device any more.

            • mnemonicmonkeysEnglish
              4·
              5 months ago

              Unfortunately smart TV’s are just a step up from potatoes. Having separate hardware is gereally better than a smart TV app

              • toastal@lemmy.ml
                5·
                5 months ago

                I wish we could stop with smart TVs. I want a dumb TV with a nice screen & my own hardware without worrying about the data collection

              • conciselyverbose
                2·
                5 months ago

                Steam link hardware was junk too.

                Just get something with android and you’ll have a better experience for all the rest of your TV stuff too.

        • ryathal
          2·
          5 months ago

          Yes, but it really only works at low latency over a wired connection. It’s great for video or games where input lag isn’t a big deal.

        • HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com
          1·
          5 months ago

          yeah and steam had a desktop I think but Im hoping it just sorta being cheaply licensed will work out better for that kind of thing.

        • Blxter@lemmy.zipEnglish
          1·
          5 months ago

          I believe so yes (tbh forgot it was a thing) but for example my smart TV does not have a steam link app available for some reason (LGC3) and I would definitely stream to it given the chance. Not sure why the steam app is not available.