Riot pushes Valorant esports deeper into data driven territory

As the VCT EMEA Stage 2 playoffs begin, Riot Games is quietly turning Valorant into one of the most data intensive esports ecosystems yet. Behind the spectacle of Guild, Fnatic, and FunPlus Phoenix fighting for a ticket to Copenhagen lies a technology story: Riot has expanded its real time analytics platform to feed live statistics not only to broadcast talent but also to teams and eventually fans.

This infrastructure tracks everything from agent pick rates to positional heatmaps across matches, updating within seconds. Analysts describe it as a leap toward the kind of advanced telemetry long associated with Formula 1, only reimagined for competitive shooters. The system lets casters frame narratives with sharper context and gives teams a laboratory of insights during prep.

For Riot, the push is about more than production value. The company wants Valorant to be an esport where raw strategy is visible and measurable, turning hidden plays into shared knowledge. If it works, Stage 2 could mark the moment Valorant shifted from highlight reels to a sport defined by data. The playoffs may crown champions, but the deeper story is how technology is rewriting the rulebook of competitive gaming.

Amazfit launches Helio Strap and Balance 2 in India

Amazfit has introduced two new wearables in India, the Helio Strap and the Balance 2, aiming to create a connected training ecosystem for athletes and fitness enthusiasts.

The Helio Strap is the company’s first screen-free fitness tracker, designed for users who prefer focus without distraction. It provides continuous heart rate monitoring, recovery insights, and a new BioCharge score that combines sleep, exertion, and stress data to measure real-time energy levels. With 10 days of battery life and support for 27 workout modes, it syncs seamlessly with Amazfit’s Zepp App.

The Balance 2, positioned as a premium multisport smartwatch, features military-grade durability, dual-band GPS, and over 170 sports modes, including HYROX training and racing. It comes with a sapphire glass display, 2000-nit brightness, 21-day battery life, and 32GB storage for maps and music.

While both devices function independently, Amazfit says pairing them enables advanced accuracy in heart rate tracking, fatigue assessment, and recovery analysis. Priced at Rs 24,999 for the Balance 2 and Rs 8,999 for the Helio Strap, both are available starting August 28, 2025, through Amazfit.in and retail outlets across India.

Qualcomm debuts first processor with built in RFID

Qualcomm has introduced the Dragonwing Q-6690, the first enterprise mobile processor with fully integrated RFID. The chip merges RFID with 5G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, and ultra-wideband, enabling slimmer handhelds, kiosks, and retail systems that can handle contactless tracking and real-time inventory management without external modules.

Early adopters include Zebra, Honeywell, and Decathlon, which called the platform a “game changer” for efficiency and traceability. The RAIN Alliance says the launch could democratize the Internet of Things by making RFID standard in everyday enterprise devices. With the Q-6690, Qualcomm is pushing retail and industrial tech toward a faster, more automated future.

ADI teams with NVIDIA to push humanoid robots toward real world deployment

Analog Devices (ADI) has announced it will adopt NVIDIA’s Jetson Thor platform to accelerate the development of humanoid robots and autonomous mobile machines. The partnership aims to bring physical intelligence, meaning robots that can perceive, reason, and act with precision, out of simulation and into factories, hospitals, and logistics centers.

Jetson Thor, built on NVIDIA’s Blackwell GPU architecture, delivers server-class AI compute in a mobile form factor with support for robotics foundation models capable of real-time reasoning. ADI provides high-fidelity sensors, precision motion control, and deterministic connectivity to close the “Sim2Real” gap so robots trained in simulation behave accurately in the physical world.

“For the first time, robots can understand complex tasks,” said Paul Golding, ADI’s VP of Edge AI. “With Jetson Thor’s reasoning and our sensing and signal-chain fidelity, humanoids can respond to real-world physics in real time.”

The companies see demand rising in logistics, manufacturing, and healthcare, where dexterous robots could handle tasks from data center cabling to surgical assistance. With NVIDIA supplying the brain and ADI the nervous system, humanoid deployment is moving closer to reality.