Welcome to Tech Bytes! In this series, we bring you the biggest news hitting the Tech and Gaming fields, putting it into an excellent, simple brief for you to quickly catch up on so you’re up to speed over dinner and drinks.
March 2025 brings us several stories from across the tech sphere. From Sigma’s distinct new camera to the latest edition of Google’s budget smartphone series. It’s all here in our Tech Bytes round-up, so be sure to catch up as we head into April!
Sigma BF
Normally, you would associate Sigma with their lenses, but you might want to pay attention to their latest innovation: a camera. But this isn’t like all the other cameras we are familiar with; this is something completely unique.
The Sigma BF is a compact 24.6-megapixel full-frame camera, but what sets it apart from the rest is how it looks. It is made from a single block of aluminum and it employs a very minimalist design—with just four button controls and a dial available. The buttons themselves aren’t actually real buttons, but rather, touch controls that have haptic feedback to feel as though you are touching the real thing.
The camera is able to capture images at up to eight frames per second and has a hybrid autofocus system. For video, the BF can capture 6K footage at up to 29.97 frames per second. Interestingly, there is no memory card slot on the camera; you’ll have to rely on the internal 230GB SSD, which the company says can store 14,000 JPEGs or 4,300 uncompressed RAW files.
Available in either a black or silver finish, the Sigma BF is slated to be available sometime in April 2025 at a price of US$1,999.
Xiaomi 15 Ultra
The newest Xiaomi flagship was announced this month, and it is certainly one of the most eye-catching smartphones you can get. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra is all about photography, and it shows with the massive camera module on the back.
Partnering with Leica for the hardware, the module houses a quad-camera system. The main camera has a 1-inch 200-megapixel periscope lens, which is said to provide better zoom and night photography. The rest of the sensors are all 50 megapixels, re-enforcing the sharpness of the images you’ll get when taking photos. And there is also an additional photography kit that you can attach to the phone to enhance the experience. It comes with a case and a camera grip, which can act as a power bank with its internal 2,000 mAh battery.
As for the phone itself, it is equipped with the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset as well as a massive 6,000 mAh battery. The 6.73-inch display has a variable 120Hz refresh rate, plus it comes with a peak HDR brightness of 3,200 nits.
The Xiaomi 15 Ultra is available to purchase now, starting at S$1,699. It is available either in Black, White, or a Silver Chrome variant that resembles a Leica camera.
PS5 Pro FSR4
Beginning next year, the PlayStation 5 Pro is becoming even more ‘pro,’ so to speak. The console will be backporting AMD’s latest FSR 4 upscaler – the very same one that is in the new RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT graphics cards.
The PS5 Pro already has its own PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), but the addition of FSR 4 is set to make games look even more crisp. With FSR 4, AMD presents a big improvement over FSR 3 in aspects like particle effects and even rivals NVIDIA’s DLSS upscaler.
For now, it will take some time for FSR 4 to be implemented into PS5 Pro and its games, which is why Mark Cerny, PlayStation lead architect, is still encouraging developers to use PSSR. But knowing that the PS5 Pro will get even better is an exciting prospect.
ZA/UM announces espionage RPG – PROJECT [C4]
Following the critical success of Disco Elysium, fans have been eagerly waiting for what is next. And they got that answer this month, though it comes with a very big asterisk.
ZA/UM, the studio behind Disco Elysium, formally announced PROJECT [C4] – said to be its “next genre-defining RPG”. The game takes place in an all-new original world and setting, telling a story of espionage while dealing with questions of the psychological self—a defining aspect of Disco Elysium.
While this new game looks to be picking up from Disco Elysium, it is important to note that many of the Disco Elysium’s key staff are gone from ZA/UM. Behind the scenes, there has been much turmoil ongoing within the studio, ultimately resulting in the ousting of Robert Kurvitz, Aleksander Rostov, and Helen Hindpere (the lead designer, artist, and writer, respectively), amongst other members. It remains to be seen how much of the same team truly remains.
Meanwhile, remnants of the team behind Disco Elysium have spawned their own studios, each working on spiritual successors to the game. Kurvitz and Rostov created Red Info in 2023, while October 2024 saw the announcement of three separate studios made up of former members of ZA/UM – Longdue, Dark Math Games, and Summer Eternal. Fans might want to keep tabs on these studios as well.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 skates into July
After Vicarious Visions was merged into Blizzard Entertainment, fans might have resigned themselves to not seeing the Pro Skater 3 and 4 games get a remake. It may have taken some time, but we will finally be getting modern versions of those games.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 was announced this month, though this time, the game is being developed by Iron Galaxy—who previously worked on the Killer Instinct reboot. Like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, this new remake will remake all the skate parks in modern 4K visuals. But there is new content as well, with a new level called Waterpark available for players to try out. And while new songs are expected for the soundtrack, rest assured that tracks from the old game like Amoeba by Adolescents and Blitzkrieg Bop by The Ramones are returning.
Multiplayer will also feature on the game and it will be cross-platform for up to eight players. The Create-A-Skater and Create-A-Park modes also appear, which comes with the ability to share custom goals with friends. For fans of the DOOM series, the Doom Slayer and Revenant are available as skater skins if you purchase the deluxe edition of the game.
The game is launching soon as well. Players will be able to get their hands on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 on 11 July 2025 for PlayStation 5 and 4, Xbox Series consoles, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
Pixel 9a
Following the release of the Pixel 9 series back in August last year, it is now about time that the budget version of it comes out. And so it has, with Google unveiling the Pixel 9a this month.
The Pixel 9a, as expected, receives the same Tensor G4 processor that comes with the Pixel 9 series. But what you might not know is that the phone is also slightly bigger than the previous Pixel 8a—6.3 inches now as compared to 6.1 inches. The display is also brighter at up to 2,700 nits (a 700 nit improvement), though it remains a 1080p and 120Hz panel. Its durability has also been upgraded to an IP68 rating from IP67, and users will be able to use the phone for longer with the bigger 5,100mAh battery
Unlike the Pixel 9 series, the rear camera system now sits flush with the back of the phone instead of having a camera bump. Inside, it is equipped with a 48-megapixel main sensor alongside a 13-megapixel ultrawide. There’s a new Macro Focus feature on Pixel 9a—the first A-series device to get it—allowing users to take detailed photos from up close.
Starting at S$799, the Pixel 9a will be available on 16 April 2025 in Singapore at the Google Store and retail partners Amazon SG, COURTS Online, Singtel Online, Shopee, Lazada, Metapod, iShopChangi, and Atrix. The phone comes in several different colour options: Obsidian, Iris, Peony, Porcelain.
This marks 2025 March’s edition of Tech Bytes, and we hope this roundup gives you a little insight into tech to be excited about. Check with us again in April 2025, as we bring you more byte-sized news every month!
Visuals courtesy of Xiaomi Singapore, Google Singapore, and Activision.
