DIY

Modder Brendan “Game of Tobi” Tobias has demonstrated an early native Nintendo 3DS port of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, with basic exploration already functional but significant optimization and bug fixes still required.

Insta360 and Bambu Lab have launched the Luna Ultra Design Challenge, offering 40 awards for creative 3D‑printed add‑ons, mods, and design concepts. Model files for the camera are available on MakerWorld. Top winners will receive the Luna Ultra, a Bambu printer, and potential commercialization of their designs.

Waveshare’s compact new development board features an integrated touch display and comprehensive wireless connectivity. Powered by the ESP32-C5 SoC, the model is designed for intuitive operation in smart home and IoT projects.

A developer is giving his home AI, Hana, a physical body one sensor at a time, starting from a self-correcting spatial camera map to health attachments (like a pulse oximeter), with hardware-level safety limits blocking anything serious, like autonomous control of water valves and gates.

Versatile and open by design, this new handheld is based on the Raspberry Pi and features an integrated keyboard. It supports multiple Raspberry Pi versions, although not the more powerful variants of the single-board computer.

The O1 Omni Printer is a 4-in-1 printer recently launched by xTool. As the name suggests, it can work with a wide range of materials, including fabrics, letting you turn your ideas into reality for both DIY and commercial projects.

For a wide range of applications, including smart homes: A relatively affordable smart display supports wireless data transmission, features an IPS panel, and supports touch input. The model is based on an ESP32-S3.

ETA Prime’s teardown of Valve’s $1,428 Steam Machine shows a compact SteamOS gaming PC that is moderately serviceable, with accessible storage but more involved disassembly required to reach the RAM.

A new development board with an integrated display is designed for versatile use and supports voice-based interaction. Depending on the selected version, it may also include a touchscreen and an integrated battery.

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Elegoo entered the coreXY 3D printing space with Centauri Carbon, and then brought multi-color printing on a budget with the Centauri Carbon 2. Now, with the Centauri 2, it has stripped some of the features but made multi-color 3D printing even more budget-friendly.

A compact system with numerous possibilities: The ESP32-S3-Touch-LCD-1.85B features a round display that can showcase various types of data and, in principle, can also serve as a smart display. The device is not particularly expensive.

A hobbyist's suitcase robot named Sparky gets visibly incoherent when exposed to smoke — not via scripted behavior, but by feeding MQ-2 gas sensor data directly into LLM sampling parameters like temperature and top_k in real time.

Linux Mesa developer Gert Wollny used GitHub Copilot to help refactor the AMD R600 Gallium3D driver, improving shader compiler code for Radeon HD 2000 through HD 6000 GPUs that are long past official support. The work highlights how AI-assisted coding, under human review and open-source accountability rules, is becoming a practical tool for maintaining legacy hardware and software projects.

The Makera Z1 (Pro), a CNC machine designed to deliver powerful performance at an affordable price, is now available for pre-order. We’re currently reviewing the machine, which is also intended for beginners.

A developer has demonstrated that Garmin Fenix smartwatches can be made to accept running efficiency metrics from external ESP32 or nRF52832-based devices, bypassing parts of Garmin’s tightly controlled sensor ecosystem. This may open up the way for makers to build unofficial Garmin-compatible accessories.

xTool’s new M2 aims to be an affordable desktop maker tool, combining 10W or 20W diode laser cutting and engraving, a 3W infrared laser for metal, and an optional CMYK inkjet module for color printing on materials such as paper, wood, cardboard and canvas.

The Sovol M1D is a new 3D printer that, according to its specifications, should be suitable for printing with multiple colors or filament types. The model comes with several tool heads and can deploy two of them simultaneously.

Harbour Masters, known for polished Nintendo 64 PC ports, is expanding its Libultraship tools to GameCube titles, with The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess leading the effort through the native PC port Twilight Princess: Courage Reborn.

A new, affordable and relatively compact display could be particularly well suited for smart home use, as it comes with speakers and a microphone and can also process touch inputs. The new ESP32-S3 display also supports wireless connectivity.

The Aulumu G05 Pro is a magnetic smartphone kickstand that can flip out up to 80 degrees, with integrated everyday carry tools, a protractor, and an ASMR‑style fidget ring. It is available in Midnight Black or Mechanical Silver, and compatible with all phones thanks to an included stick-on metal ring.

A new handheld comes with a keyboard and should be particularly versatile thanks to support for desktop operating systems. The piBrick is based on the Raspberry Pi in an especially compact and slim form factor.

Take-Two's move appears to position its acquired FiveM service as the only authorized option for modders interested in GTA V role-playing communities.

YouTuber James Channel transformed a broken PS2 Slim into the “JamesStation 2,” a duct-taped portable handheld with salvaged controller parts, a GPS screen, rewired ports, and an exposed spinning disc drive. Despite its crude and hazardous construction, the DIY console reportedly runs demanding PS2 games for up to five hours on a 10,000 mAh battery, outlasting the Steam Deck.

OmniDrive, an open-source custom firmware for select Blu-ray drives, gives PC users a legal way to dump and preserve their own GameCube, Wii, Xbox, PlayStation, and other disc-based games.

Customizable and modular: According to the manufacturer, this new smartphone can be adapted to individual needs and is expected to launch at a relatively low price. Thanks to its modular approach, even users who are not deeply involved in the DIY scene should be able to achieve decent results in a reasonable amount of time.

Wireless communication with no fees or contract: LoRa allows data exchange over longer distances depending on the configuration. The range of compatible devices is relatively large. We took a closer look at both the technology and the ThinkNode M1.

Benjamin Biggs of Drone Pro Hub has once again broken the drone speed record with the latest iteration of the Black Bird. This new version of the drone managed to hit an astonishing top speed of 730 km/h (453.6 mph).

This new mobile device is essentially a smartphone, or at least a mobile phone that also supports GNSS and LTE. However, a cellular connection is not necessarily required.

A modder has transformed an original Game Boy Advance into a functional Nintendo Switch controller using a GBA link cable, a microcontroller adapter, and his open-source Joypad OS firmware.

After a small break, You Should Be Modding returns with a showcase of the best Devil May Cry 3 mod of them all: DMC3 Crimson, a complete transformation that gives the game depth akin to 4 and modded 5 by adding Inertia, new moves, a modernized HUD, and more.

The new Creality Falcon T1 is a do-it-all laser workstation designed to deliver flexibility, performance, and rapid production in demanding, fast-paced environments without compromising on usability, quality, or accuracy. For a short period, the Falcon T1 is available at a discount in an early deal.

RPG Maker U2U is announced with "Perspective 2D" maps, maintaining the simplicity of top-down 2D RPG design with modern flair inspired by "HD 2D" titles like Octopath Traveler. 2D assets from previous RPG Makers can still be used for these maps, and the game ships with 100 "ready-to-use" P2D maps as well.

After Google declined to repair a Pixel 8 with a persistent pink display line, its owner repurposed the otherwise functional phone into a compact retro gaming console connected to a TV. Using a USB-C hub, wired controllers, active PC-fan cooling, HDMI output, and EmulationStation Desktop Edition, the project turns damaged hardware into a practical emulation setup rather than e-waste.

Modder Throaty Mumbo has successfully ported Windows CE 2.11 to the Nintendo 64, using custom-built drivers, Microsoft’s old Platform Builder tools, and an EverDrive 64 cartridge to boot the system on original hardware. The project turns the retro console into a functional Windows CE desktop with controller-based mouse input, audio and graphics support, SD card app loading, and demos including Cube3D and Tetris.

A new compact display should be suitable for a wide range of uses, including smart home applications. The new CrowPanel is not just a display, but also an input device and a single-board computer. It supports touch input, but also functions as a rotary knob.

Months without charging: A new smartwatch can be charged via solar power and offers extremely long battery life. Despite that, it still has several interesting features, some of which are not available in this form even on modern watches.

A solo modder has built a portable PlayStation 2 handheld inspired by the Asus ROG Xbox Ally, using a custom reverse-engineered motherboard rather than repurposed Sony hardware. The project is technically impressive, with open-source files, FPGA-based video processing, USB-C charging, and 4.5-hour battery life, but its demanding soldering and troubleshooting requirements make it unsuitable for most builders.

This new device is based on an e-ink display, supports wireless network connectivity and could be suitable for building a custom smart home display, among other things. The M5 Paper Color also sports a microphone.

The Orion PDA is a new portable computer system that may look somewhat familiar to some users. Among other things, it features a solar panel, which should allow for long battery life without constant recharging.

A new 3D printer aims to make the production of 3D prints with multiple colors or filament types particularly easy and efficient, ​​even when using more than four filaments. The InfiMech MX 3D also utilizes inductive heating.

Framework reports that DDR5 memory costs have remained broadly stable, though it has raised prices on 8GB modules after exhausting lower-cost inventory. SSD pricing is a bigger concern, with depleted older stock forcing Framework to bring in NVMe drives at sharply higher costs that are expected to reach customers across upcoming laptop configurations.

A fan-made modular handheld concept for Anbernic is attracting a lot of attention on Reddit, featuring swappable control modules and battery expansion. The community design addresses long-standing trade-offs in retro gaming hardware.

Noctua has launched the all-black NF-A12X25 G2 Chromax.Black fan, bringing the performance of its acclaimed G2 design to a matte-black finish priced at $34.90, with a twin-pack available for $64.90. The fan retains the upgraded aerodynamics, low-noise operation, 150,000-hour SSO2 bearings, accessory bundle, and six-year warranty that made the original G2 a standout for PC builders.

KendyLabs and Raretro Consoles have introduced KLRR, a self-funded project offering the first publicly available functional clear-shell kits for the Nintendo 3DS XL and New 3DS. Designed to work with the handheld’s complex hinge and internal layout, the kits target collectors and modders, though expected high pricing and difficult installation may limit their appeal to experienced enthusiasts.

Bambu Lab is offering a new filament that is also intended to meet higher health protection requirements. The corresponding tests are said to have been carried out on finished prints as well, though there are still several things to keep in mind.