NOV.15.2025 - #49

Hi all 👋, this week while writing clicks 'n clacks I was testing out the new one-time-purchase camera app from Moment, reading about iA Writer's opinions and features for tackling AI-generated text, trying out the new Digg beta, and hyping myself up for a new Horizon game.

This weekend—when this Issue goes live—I'll be attending the Canadian Mechanical Keyboard Meetup in Toronto. Hoping to have lots to discuss in the next issue (along with pictures if I can provide them). Hit me up if you're attending, I'd love to see y'all there!

Let's dive in!

clicks 🔗

Steam Machine(s)

→ Valve dropped a cheeky little announcement on Wednesday, unveiling new additions to their lineup of physical gaming devices—the mini-PC Steam Machine, new Steam Controller, and wireless VR headset Steam Frame. Given the popularity of the Steam Deck, rising hardware prices, and the continuing decline of ease-of-gaming on Windows, Steam jumping into the hardware wars feels timely. The Steam Machine isn't a new concept however, Valve debuted similar products about a decade ago by partnering with larger PC manufacturers, but most iterations failed to pick up any steam (hehe). Now they own the manufacturing process—meaning lower costs, better optimization, and (here's hoping) for the ability to upgrade internal components for longevity. I'm excited about everything in this announcement, and rooting for this generation of Steam devices to succeed and give consoles (and PCs) a run for their money.

Build-a-Mouse

→ Throwing it way, way, way back to Issue #01 for this feature with the Shamsel mouse by KBDcraft. You may remember them for their unique building-brick keyboards, but now, they've opened up pre-orders for a customizable wireless mouse made out of the same Lego-style pieces. I figured even though KBDcraft is mostly a keyboard company, the Shamshel is literally a click-ing device, so it belongs up here. Not too many details have been released about new device yet, but I'm assumption it's not competing with high-performing gaming/productivity devices. More suited for everyday use and aesthetic customization.

“Puzzles for the curious”

→ Shout-out to Joe's (creator of Plinky) post for leading me to Spark—a daily puzzle game. Joe highlighted the work his wife, Colleen, and the dev team at The Mind Company undertook to finally release this week. Each day, Spark presents you with four puzzles made by real humans, not AI, and each day follows a unique over-arching theme. So far, I appreciate the variety of topics and the “learning recap” after puzzle completion. It's a great way to dive more into the fascinating topics—fantastic for sparking diverse topic discussions. It's also totally free to play the dailies but previous days are premium. I won't spoil it anymore, I'd recommend giving it a download and poking around for yourself.

clacks ⌨️

There’s a screen in my keyboard!

→ The DS Pixel Pro is the next iteration of DS Pixel Key's first touchscreen keyboard. In that first board, the touchscreen idea seemed radical—great for aesthetics, but the Electrostatic Capacitive keycap attachment was a nightmare to type on. Now in this new release, they are adding transparent hall-effect/magnetic switches on top of sensors under the IPS display to combine the customizability of the touchscreen with the performance, reliability, and typing feel of traditional magnetic switches. I've seen few hands-on reviews with it, and it seems to be a big improvement over the first iteration. Still radical, very niche, but now more usable.

Welcome to Tama town

→ CannonKeys partnered with Bandai before to bring the Tamagotchi brand to keeb-accessories, and are doing it again with a chef/food themed collection! My favourite Tama-mascot Kuchipatchi makes several appearances alongside other characters in this minimal, cute, and pastel set. Not only are there these new keycaps, but also deskmats and a special edition Photon keyboard as well!

🎵 On the first day of Keeb-mas 🎵

→ Keycap manufacturer GMK is bringing the holiday spirit early with an advent filled with goodies! Holiday-themed keys, artisans, and other keyboard-related accessories are included in this limited-time bundle. I would love to see more manufacturers and vendors sell something like this, good way to offer some niche items and themed products. I think it's great for gift-giving as well!

That’s all for this week! I hope you enjoyed it, and now it’s time to hear from YOU 🫵. I want to know your opinion—what you liked, what you loved, what you didn’t like, what you skipped. Email [email protected] (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!