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RØDE Shrinks Its All-In-One Studio Console With RØDECaster Video S
The new RØDECaster Video S is a compact version of the company’s flagship unit that brings full video and audio control to solo creators, priced at $499.
RØDE has unveiled the RØDECaster Video S, a smaller, cheaper version of its flagship production console, built for creators who want broadcast-quality video and audio from one box. The new model, priced at $499, carries the same processing power as the flagship RØDECaster Video but in a more compact frame aimed at solo streamers and podcasters.
The Video S also runs on the same octa-core processor as the full-size model, handling multi-camera switching, audio mixing, and recording from a single control surface. It’s designed for creators who want to cut the tangle of traditional rigs without losing studio performance.
“The RØDECaster Video marked a complete paradigm shift in how creators produce video content,” said RØDE CEO Damien Wilson. “With the RØDECaster Video S, we’re delivering that same power and flexibility in a more compact and flexible format”.
Three HDMI inputs, one HDMI output, and a USB-C port let users link multiple cameras or add RØDE USB microphones. Two Neutrik combo inputs with the company’s Revolution Preamps, plus built-in Series IV wireless receivers, cover both wired and wireless audio. Each channel includes APHEX processing for EQ, compression, and cleanup on the fly.
Controls are built around a scene-based layout: buttons trigger camera angles, overlays, or chroma key backgrounds instantly. An auto-switching mode changes views based on who’s speaking, while the Inspect tool previews or adjusts inputs mid-show.
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Creators can stream directly to YouTube, Twitch, or any RTMP platform over Wi-Fi or Ethernet, or output to desktop software through USB. Recordings can go straight to an external drive, with each source saved separately for editing. The free RØDE Capture app turns an iPhone into a wireless dual-camera feed, linking mobile and desktop setups without extra gear.
Built at RØDE’s Sydney plant, the Video S is a clear play for the growing independent production market — including a thriving MENA creator scene increasingly moving into professional live streaming and podcasting. Compact, direct, and self-contained, it keeps RØDE’s edge in the all-in-one studio race.
News
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.
Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.
The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc
— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026
“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.
Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.
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The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.
Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.
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