Best Bond game and smarter gear headline tech week

A fresh wave of tech and entertainment is landing at once, from what’s being called the best new James Bond game in years to a lighter, smaller Oura Ring 5, plus updates for camera users, new headphones, and a Spider-Verse streaming entry.

A certain kind of week has arrived—the one where your attention gets pulled in ten directions at once. There’s a new James Bond game that’s already being treated like a long-awaited fix. There’s also an Oura Ring update that finally tackles a complaint many users had quietly nursed for years: size. And while you’re deciding what to play. watch. and tweak. there’s fresh gear for photographers. new sound-cancelling headphones. and a Spider-Verse show that promises the same stylish energy as the movies.

The standout pitch starts with 007 First Light. The writer says they’ve played a lot of James Bond games over the years and have been disappointed by most of them. at least since Goldeneye. which they call one of the best games of all time. This time. the confidence is different: they describe 007 First Light as “the Bond game we’ve all been waiting for. ” and add that they have no idea how they’re going to wait for the Switch 2 version to come out.

Oura Ring 5 is getting its own spotlight for a simpler reason—wearability. The writer’s main gripe with the previous Oura Ring was that it was “just big enough” to bonk into things and that they never quite got used to it. They say the new ring has clever new features. but that it’s also “substantially lighter and smaller. ” calling that “a big win all by itself.”.

If you’re still riding the Spider-Verse wave, the new entry is Spider-Noir. The writer points out that the Spider-Verse movies have stayed among the coolest and most inventive superhero films they’ve seen in years. This new show. they say. sounds like it will be similarly stylish. though they speculate it might “skimps a little on the substance.” They’ll still be watching.

For creators who live in their camera apps, there’s Halide Mark III. Halide is described as the gold standard for third-party camera apps. and the update adds a practical capability: you can now take RAW photos with other cameras and use Halide to process them with Halide’s new set of filters and presets.

Audio listeners have a new target too: the Sennheiser Momentum 5. The writer says Sennheiser “probably deserves more shine” in the headphone world, referencing Momentum 4s fans they know well. Momentum 5, they say, offers more battery life, better noise cancellation, and a user-upgradeable battery. The release is expected next month. and they’re especially curious whether the ANC can “really hang with Sony and Bose.”.

Gaming also pulls in another headline name: Mina the Hollower. The writer says “according to, uh, everyone,” it might be the best game of the year so far. Coming from the developer behind Shovel Knight. they say people are comparing it to some of the great games of all time. They describe it as fairly simple-looking but hiding “something huge and ambitious,” and they can’t wait to dig in.

Then there’s Backrooms, which the writer treats as a crossover between online creativity and cinema. They say they don’t know whether you should watch Kane Parsons’ YouTube series before seeing the movie he turned those videos into. or whether you should go into the movie without knowing what’s coming. Either way, they call it a horror movie “not to be missed.”.

Streaming and services aren’t left out. Spotify Articles is framed as curated. narrated. long-form journalism. with Spotify Premium users able to listen to a handful of them free every month. The writer acknowledges some “odd article choices,” but still highlights “true classics,” including “the great cocaine treasure hunt.”.

For TV watchers. Star City arrives as a spin-off of For All Mankind. which the writer calls a long-standing favorite in the Installer universe. Star City focuses on the Soviet Union, and they say it might already be on a lot of watchlists. Their view is mixed: they’ve heard it’s not quite up to For All Mankind’s standard. though the “cool space stuff keeps coming.”.

And then there’s the gadget that refuses to be subtle: the Ferrari Luce. The writer jokes that it has to be the most expensive thing in the history of Installer. They say they don’t care for the look of Ferrari’s first EV and that it seems “neither does anyone else.” Even so. they emphasize there are “genuinely brilliant things going on inside of it. ” adding that if someone offers them a ride. they “won’t complain.”.

The week’s tech talk also turns inward. with a look at how one product manager—Danielle Steussy—keeps her phone mostly quiet. Danielle is described as a product manager for The Verge. working on ways to improve the experience of journalism and storytelling on the web. The writer credits her with work on their new homepage. and says she has “a bunch of extremely cool new features” coming. including one that they say will make a lot of people happy.

Danielle’s homescreen is shared as a glimpse into what she actually uses. The phone is an iPhone 14 Pro in Deep Purple. The writer says Danielle is due for an upgrade but is riding the device a little longer. They also add a personal detail: the iPhone 14 Pro was bought while living in Australia when it first came out. resulting in a UK version with one eSIM and one physical SIM; moving back to the US with both numbers was described as a nightmare.

The wallpaper is a photo shuffle of Danielle’s son. Her app list includes Settings. Google Maps. Photos. Camera. ChatGPT. Google. Chrome. Brave. Calendar. Apple Notes. Find My. CareConnect. Phone. Messages. Spotify. and Mail. The writer says Danielle is trying to spend less time on her phone by making it almost entirely utilitarian and boring.

Spotify shows up again, this time with a specific use case. Danielle uses it for podcasts and music and describes being a diehard Spotify fan, including having taught fitness for a decade with Spotify as a co-teacher. She’s not a fan of the 20th anniversary icon.

She also highlights the Hatch sound machine for her toddler, saying she likes curating ambiance for bedtime.

Danielle’s current picks include Death by Lightning (just finished. loved). ChatPRD (an AI tool for product managers created by Claire Vo. used for “rubber ducking and processing” product thoughts). and The Techno Sapiens newsletter. described as evidence-based guidance for parenting in the digital age. That newsletter is connected to Jacqueline Nesi. identified as a clinical psychologist and professor at Brown University. and the writer adds it makes her feel “better about raising a kid around this much technology.”.

She’s also into tomato gardening. The writer says Danielle lives on the Central Coast of California where tomatoes “practically grow themselves. ” and Danielle’s running total is 13 plants this year: last season’s survivors. volunteers. and a few additions purchased from a local university Ag department. The varieties named are Tasmanian Chocolates, Bodacious, and Beauty King, all tracked in a serious Google Sheets planting matrix.

The Installer community’s own recommendations reinforce how wide this week’s pull is. Colin recommends finally getting around to Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on PS5. calling it a fun adventure game and praising puzzles with “just the right amount of challenge.” Allen says with the prices of storage still “insanely high. ” he’s rediscovering burning files/photos onto CDs and DCDs using ImgBurn. Kev recommends Obsession in a cinema again after being floored on first watch. Kent says he’s obsessed with playing Huntdown: Overtime in early access on Steam and describes it as a retro themed. dystopian. Blade Runner-esque side scroller/shooter/platformer that’s “SO addictive.”.

Jimmy shares that after the death of Allbirds. he’s been rocking Oofos tennis shoes for the beach. the office. and after long runs at the end of the week. Andy says he just finished Kurt Vonnegut’s debut novel from 1952. Player Piano. and frames it as a near-future dystopia where automation has displaced all labor.

James recommends the Red Rising book series by Pierce Brown, saying he’s on the third book, Morning Star, and describing it as mixing sci-fi, romance, and societal commentary. He adds he’s reading it on a Kobo Clara BW purchased in January and says it’s been a delight.

Justin says he watched Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu movie. saying it could have been two episodes but it was good. Jay says he downloaded Poppy but found it too verbose and sometimes incorrect. and then points to Extra. an AI-first app for emails and calendar. noting it’s finally out of Beta and that he’s really liking it.

One of the more technology-specific replies comes from a Spotify-focused recommendation. The writer says Spotify’s Page Match feature is their favorite new tech thing in forever: it works by taking a picture of a book page on paper or an e-reader. then Spotify figures out where you are and immediately picks up the audiobook in the right spot. The feature can also do the reverse—guiding you back to the right page. They repeat that Spotify Premium lets them get a bunch of hours of audiobooks for free every month. and they argue that switching between reading and listening helps them get through books faster. They add a clear preference: “Listening to audiobooks is reading” and they won’t take questions.

For this week’s Installer. the core message is almost physical—like carrying too many things in one hand and still trying to decide what to open first. Between the promise of 007 First Light. the smaller—and lighter—Oura Ring 5. and updates for camera RAW processing. headphones. and apps. it’s a reminder that tech weeks don’t just ship products. They pull you out of your routine and into the next thing you can’t stop thinking about.

James Bond Oura Ring 5 Spider-Noir Halide Mark III Sennheiser Momentum 5 Spotify Articles tech news gadgets AI tools headphones camera apps