Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from April, 2021

Check out the latest trailer for the final season of Castlevania on Netflix

Netflix has shared a trailer for the fourth and final season of its Castlevania animated series. https://www.techspot.com/news/89507-check-out-latest-trailer-final-season-castlevania-netflix.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Photo of MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Ti SUPRIM X suggests launch is close

Rumors that an RTX 3080 Ti card was in the works have been circulating since November. Alleged details of the card have changed since then; once believed to feature 20GB of GDDR6X, it seems Nvidia has instead opted for 12GB of GDDR6X at 19 Gbps. Virtually every month of 2021... https://www.techspot.com/news/89504-alleged-photo-msi-geforce-rtx-3080-ti-suprim.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

NYPD rips up $94,000 'Digidog' contract with Boston Dynamics after backlash from activists and city officials

It was only last December that the New York Police Department began deploying a heavily modified Spot quadruped on missions in New York City. The department intended to use it in situations involving hazardous materials, bomb threats, and other situations where citizens' or officers' lives were at risk. The few... https://www.techspot.com/news/89496-nypd-rips-up-94000-digidog-contract-boston-dynamics.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Ryzen rumors: Zen 5 to use Alder Lake-style hybrid design, Zen 3+ canceled due to chip shortage

Intel's Alder Lake chips, set to debut in the second half of this year, will bring the combination of larger high-performance cores and smaller high-efficiency cores to desktop x86 PCs. 2022's Raptor Lake, which also uses the LGA 1700 socket, will feature the same architecture. https://www.techspot.com/news/89490-ryzen-rumors-zen-5-use-alder-lake-style.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Google is building custom silicon for YouTube video transcoding

Last month, Google said it was "doubling down" on custom silicon in an effort to "boost performance and efficiency now that Moore’s Law no longer provides rapid improvements for everyone." To that end, the company hired former Intel head of Core & Client Development Group Uri Frank to lead a... https://www.techspot.com/news/89468-google-building-custom-silicon-youtube-video-transcoding.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Samsung's Galaxy Book Odyssey is the world's first gaming laptop with Nvidia's RTX 3050

The Galaxy Book Odyssey ships with a 15.6-inch TFT LCD display operating at resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 that’s driven by an 11th Gen Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, up to 32GB of DDR4X memory and up to 2TB of NVMe SSD storage. https://www.techspot.com/news/89483-samsung-galaxy-book-odyssey-first-feature-nvidia-rtx.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

This company is offering a $400 Esports certification to help people break into the industry

The ECI says its goal is to promote "meritocracy, fostering professionalism, and increasing diversity and inclusion in esports." Its board does consist of some big names in the industry, including Cloud 9 VP Donald Boyce, Evil Geniuses CEO Nicole LaPointe Jameson, Gen.G CEO Chris Park, and gaming personality Sean 'Day'... https://www.techspot.com/news/89474-company-offering-400-esports-certification-help-people-break.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Which iPad Model Should You Get?

If you want to upgrade your iPad, you may find there are more options than ever before. The latest Pro models differ in more than size, and these add to the existing 8th-gen iPad, 5th-gen iPad Mini, and 4th-gen iPad Air. https://www.techspot.com/article/2243-which-ipad/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Apple's next-gen 'M2' processor reportedly enters mass production

Rumors have surfaced that the second generation of Apple silicon is already in production at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). Nikkei Asia claims insiders familiar with the situation say the first allotments could ship as early as July. This timeline makes sense considering Apple has indicated that it wants to... https://www.techspot.com/news/89460-reports-indicate-apple-next-gen-m2-processor-has.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Leaked documents show EA's focus on loot boxes

CBC News obtained the 54-page document, provided by a "gaming insider," which is said to be part of a "Run Up to FIFA 21" internal presentation from last year. https://www.techspot.com/news/89455-leaked-documents-show-how-much-ea-values-loot.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

How 3D Game Rendering Works: Anti-Aliasing

The 3D games we play and love are all made up of thousands, if not millions, of colored straight lines, which inevitably will look jagged in our screens if not for smoothing anti-aliasing techniques. Let us explain in this new deep dive. https://www.techspot.com/article/2219-how-to-3d-rendering-anti-aliasing/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Spotify hikes prices in the UK and Europe as CEO haggles to buy football team

Some users on Twitter were upset at the price increase, but it should not have come as a surprise. Last month Digital Music News reported that Spotify tested the price hike waters in the UK with a survey indicating rates 15- to 33-percent higher than current subscriptions. However, many are... https://www.techspot.com/news/89447-spotify-hiked-prices-uk-europe-us-likely-follow.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Sony patent describes an AI that plays games for you

As reported by Segment Next, Sony’s patent covers a technology that trains a bot in the user’s playstyle. The AI starts with a basic set of behaviors that evolve as it monitors the player’s actions and decisions. The result is a bot that plays in a way indistinguishable from the... https://www.techspot.com/news/89440-sony-patent-describes-ai-plays-games-you.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Saturday Night Live's choice of Elon Musk as host proves controversial

Not everyone is happy about the choice of host. “I am really beyond disappointed in SNL,” wrote Variety writer and editor Jenelle Riley. “They’ve learned nothing. A host should have some discernible talent other than … being rich? Or at least not be someone who lies about a takeover, spreads... https://www.techspot.com/news/89439-saturday-night-live-choice-elon-musk-host-proves.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

AMD dominates Amazon's best-selling CPU chart, despite Intel's discounts

AMD has been eroding Intel’s share of the CPU market for years. The former’s chips are now found in 30% of Steam users’ PCs, while other reports have also shown team blue losing ground to its rival. https://www.techspot.com/news/89441-amd-dominates-amazon-best-selling-cpu-chart-despite.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Which company invented the hard disk drive?

The first commercial hard disk drive was shipped in 1956 https://www.techspot.com/trivia/61-which-company-invented-hard-disk-drive/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Russia has begun producing its own AMD B450 motherboards

Last week, Russia’s GS Group and Philax announced their partnership to produce "at least" 40,000 motherboards and 50,000 monitors. While the latter are still under development, the motherboards are almost ready to go; they’ve passed all the tests, even gotten certified for government use, and are now available to pre-order... https://www.techspot.com/news/89437-russia-has-begun-producing-own-amd-b450-motherboards.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Apple won't merge iPad and Mac, despite hardware convergence

If there's one thing that Microsoft has proven with its Surface 2-in-1s over the years is that there's definitely a market out there for devices that encompass the best of both worlds -- that of the laptop with its keyboard and clamshell-like construction, and that of the tablet with its... https://www.techspot.com/news/89433-apple-wont-merge-ipad-mac-despite-hardware-convergence.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Linux Foundation drops the ban-hammer on University of Minnesota over controversial 'research' experiment

The Linux Foundation has banned the entire University of Minnesota from contributing to the Linux kernel. The expulsion comes after researchers from the school published a paper titled "Open Source Insecurity: Stealthily Introducing Vulnerabilities via Hypocrite Commits." The paper details how Qiushi Wu and Kangjie Lu, both students at U... https://www.techspot.com/news/89429-university-minnesota-banned-contributing-linux-kernel.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Epic Games Store introduces new PC apps for its users

Out of the five new apps available in the Epic Game Store, the most interesting one has to be Itch-io. With the indie video game store available to download on EGS, you can essentially download a game store from another game store to play games that aren't available in the... https://www.techspot.com/news/89427-epic-games-store-introduces-new-pc-apps-users.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Cyberpunk 2077's refunds cost CD Projekt $51 million

In CD Projekt's full earnings report, the company reveals that Cyberpunk 2077 sold 13.7 million copies last year—a pretty amazing figure for a game released on December 10. Most of these (56%) were the PC and Stadia versions, while 28% were for the PlayStation 4 and 17% for the Xbox One. https://www.techspot.com/news/89424-cyberpunk-2077-refunds-cost-cd-projekt-51-million.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Apple reveals that AirTag will inform you if you are being 'stalked'

Apple finally revealed that it is launching its AirTag tracking fobs on April 30. The device utilizes the company's expanded and improved Find My network to locate attached items with nearly pinpoint precision. However, the trackers have more versatility than Apple initially announced. https://www.techspot.com/news/89416-apple-reveals-airtag-inform-you-if-you-talked.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

EA is developing a Battlefield mobile game for 2022, "Battlefield 6" is coming later this year

Mobile gaming has proved an immense source of income for developers and publishers. Taking Call of Duty: Mobile as a prime example, the mobile title has made about $10 billion in revenue during 2020, much more than most console and PC games do in their lifetime. https://www.techspot.com/news/89415-ea-developing-new-battlefield-mobile-game-scheduled-release.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Seagate adds an external gaming HDD and Hub to its FireCuda range

Seagate has announced the new FireCuda Gaming HDD and Hub, both of which feature USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps speeds) and generous storage capacity inside sleek, lightweight enclosures. They're unlikely to shave minutes off your loading screen times but should provide a decent light show as you wait, while... https://www.techspot.com/news/89410-seagate-adds-external-gaming-hdd-hub-firecuda-range.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Xbox Series X|S consoles now support some of AMD FidelityFX features

AMD Fidelity FX is an open-source package of technologies with cross-platform support used to improve graphics quality without sacrificing the game's performance. FidelityFX already features eight technologies, including Contrast Adaptive Sharpening (CAS), Combined Adaptive Compute Ambient Occlusion (CACAO), variable rate shading (VRS), Stochastic Screen Space Reflections (SSSR), Denoiser, Luminance Preserving... https://www.techspot.com/news/89397-xbox-series-xs-consoles-now-support-amd-fidelityfx.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

iPhone + Apple Watch mask unlock finally arrives next week with watchOS 7.4 and iOS 14.5

In February, beta testers revealed that watchOS 7.4 would have a feature that would help Face ID unlock the iPhone. When combined with iOS 14.5, Face ID uses Apple Watch to authenticate the user when a face mask hinders facial recognition. The company said both operating systems would be available... https://www.techspot.com/news/89402-apple-iphone-mask-unlock-feature-finally-arrives-next.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

The highest-spec new iPad Pro costs $2,400

With the new iPad Pro, Apple’s tablets are said to offer performance on par with some of its M1-powered MacBooks. They also have a price tag to match. For those who opt for the 12.9-inch version of the tablet with 5G and 2TB storage, which comes with 16GB of RAM,... https://www.techspot.com/news/89393-highest-spec-new-ipad-pro-costs-2400.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

You can now buy PC components at Newegg using Dogecoin

The meme cryptocurrency is on a winning spree. After a surge in interest earlier this year, mostly because of Elon Musk's tweets, Dogecoin jumped from ~$0.0075 on January 27th to ~$0.36 as of today. This translates into a massive 4,800% increase in less than three months, leading many to stop... https://www.techspot.com/news/89377-you-can-now-buy-pc-components-newegg-using.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Polaroid announces its smallest-ever analog instant camera

Polaroid has put its modern instant camera on a diet. https://www.techspot.com/news/89380-polaroid-go-shrinks-down-everything-people-love-about.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

VESA says there's no such thing as DisplayHDR 2000 monitors

Chinese retail website Taobao recently listed two monitors—a new version of the Samsung Odyssey G9 and a new Acer EI491CRG9—both of which appeared to carry a DisplayHDR 2000 logo, indicating they will reach 2,000 nits brightness. https://www.techspot.com/news/89371-vesa-there-no-thing-rumored-displayhdr-2000-certification.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Facebook mirrors Twitter, will let some employees work from home indefinitely

Twitter early in the pandemic said it would allow employees to work from home indefinitely. Now, Facebook is doing something similar. https://www.techspot.com/news/89361-facebook-follows-twitter-allow-employees-work-home-permanently.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Chrome's new Memories feature brings a new way to check your browsing history

On most browsers, the history is a list of all the previous web pages that the user has visited, showing the URLs and the date the user has accessed them. In the case of Chrome, you can access your history through the three dots on the top right corner of... https://www.techspot.com/news/89357-chrome-new-memories-feature-brings-new-way-check.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter completes historic first flight

The test flight was fully autonomous. Due to the vast distance between Earth and Mars, it’s simply not possible with today’s technology to fly Ingenuity in “real time.” https://www.techspot.com/news/89356-nasa-ingenuity-mars-helicopter-completes-historic-first-flight.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Amazon's Lord of the Rings TV show to cost $465 million for one season

Amazon had already bet big on a Lord of the Rings series when it paid $250 million to secure the rights to the franchise in 2017. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that the company would spend roughly NZ$650 million (~$465 million) on the first season—initial reports claimed Amazon would spend $500... https://www.techspot.com/news/89352-amazon-lord-rings-tv-show-cost-465-million.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Intel's Rocket Lake prices fall, pre-binned chips available; Comet Lake gets even cheaper

Earlier this month, Intel’s Core i7-11700K, along with several 10th-gen CPUs, all saw price drops. That chip is currently only sold by third parties on Amazon at a price higher ($454) than the usual $420, though some Micro Center stores have a few left at $399.99. Note that the latter... https://www.techspot.com/news/89351-intel-rocket-lake-prices-fall-pre-binned-chips.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Nvidia Resizable BAR Tested, Benchmarked

Today we're testing the newly supported Resizable BAR feature on Nvidia GeForce GPUs by benchmarking an Asus ROG Strix RTX 3080 OC graphics card. How does it compare to AMD's SAM implementation? https://www.techspot.com/review/2234-nvidia-resizable-bar/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Boxes of RTX 3080 Ti 12GB GPUs have been photographed on their way to LA

Caught in the camera’s lens are a handful of pallets, each containing a dozen boxes of maybe a hundred GPUs. The well-protected crate is labeled with the 3090 and aforementioned 3080 Ti. The cardboard boxes contain GeForce GT 710’s and Radeon RX 580’s. https://www.techspot.com/news/89347-boxes-rtx-3080-ti-12gb-gpus-have-photographed.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Memory maker aims to develop DDR5 modules clocked at over 10,000 MHz

The DDR5 memory standard released by JEDEC set clock speeds between 4,800 MHz and 6,400 MHz, but SK Hynix and Samsung have already promised more than that. Samsung stated that its DDR5 memory would go up to 7,200 MHz, and SK Hynix went a step further claiming it would reach... https://www.techspot.com/news/89341-memory-maker-aims-develop-ddr5-modules-clocked-over.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Tech companies including Amazon, Google, and Uber say they agree to a corporate tax hike to fund the American Jobs Plan

Earlier this month, President Joe Biden publicly criticized Amazon and 90 other companies that pay little or no federal income tax despite earning a significant profit. He also promised to put an end to the practice and close a loophole in the tax code that allows big tech companies to... https://www.techspot.com/news/89339-tech-companies-including-amazon-google-uber-they-agree.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Huawei looks beyond 5G, announces plans to launch 6G tech in 2030

Though it's odd that Huawei is focusing on the tech this far in advance, nine years is hardly an impossible timeline to get 6G up and running. The first 4G LTE smartphone, Samsung's Galaxy Indulge, released on February 10, 2011, and the first 5G smartphone, the Galaxy S20, released 9... https://www.techspot.com/news/89332-huawei-looks-beyond-5g-announces-plans-launch-6g.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Over 100 million IoT devices and servers are vulnerable because of 20-year-old TCP/IP stacks

The flaws all pertain to how these TCP/IP stacks handle DNS servers. While they found no evidence that these holes have been used in the wild, hackers could potentially utilize them to crash a network or infiltrate a victim's infrastructure allowing them remote control. These implications could be catastrophic for... https://www.techspot.com/news/89325-over-100-million-iot-devices-servers-vulnerable-because.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Chrome 90 is here with HTTPS as the new default protocol, better video calls

Google has been pushing to move the entire web to HTTPS for years by, among other things, labeling all HTTP sites as “Not Secure” and only allowing encrypted pages to download secure files. It appears the plan is working: 97 of the top 100 websites now default to HTTPS, while... https://www.techspot.com/news/89318-chrome-90-here-https-new-default-protocol-better.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Half-Life: Alyx's 'No VR' mod gets an impressive new progress update

In case you aren't in the loop, Half-Life: Alyx modders have been looking for ways to remove or reduce the game's VR dependencies since its March 23 release. These mods seek to "flatten" the experience in some way and make the game fully playable on traditional input devices, such as... https://www.techspot.com/news/89315-half-life-alyx-no-vr-mod-gets-impressive.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Amazon new Echo Buds are smaller, lighter, improved noise cancellation

Available in black and white, the new Amazon Echo Buds offer significant upgrades over their predecessors. They are 20% smaller, lighter, and supposedly more comfortable. Amazon reduced the size of the outer casing and introduced a vented design to relieve ear pressure. https://www.techspot.com/news/89307-amazon-new-echo-buds-smaller-lighter-improved-noise.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Intellivision: Gone But Not Forgotten

Mattel developed a gaming system called Intellivision in the late 1970s, around the same time that the Atari 2600 launched. However, it made such an impression that the iconic console was never forgotten and is, in fact, making a comeback. https://www.techspot.com/article/2210-intellivision/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Steam user gets refund for "amazing" game because it's short, rebuys it after dev highlights practice

As reported by PC Gamer, Before Your Eyes is a unique game in which players control the narrative using blinks picked up by a webcam. It has an Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Stream and received plenty of glowing reviews from critics. As you might imagine, this story of a soul's... https://www.techspot.com/news/89300-steam-user-gets-refund-amazing-game-because-short.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Epic Games has raised $1B in new round, bumping its valuation to $28.7 billion

Epic Games bumped up its equity valuation to $28.7 billion following a $1 billion round of funding. The company announced it gained an additional $200 million investment from Sony. This increased valuation comes despite recent reports that Epic has lost as much as $330 million throwing money at the Epic Games Store. https://www.techspot.com/news/89294-epic-games-completes-successful-1-billion-investment-round.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Nvidia 'Ampere Next' GPUs are set to arrive in 2022, 'Ampere Next Next' will follow in 2024

Between now and 2025, Nvidia aims to release six generations of hardware. Two of them will center around GPUs: Ampere Next and Ampere "Next Next." We assume these architecture names aren't final, but the cards are set for release in 2022 and 2024, respectively. https://www.techspot.com/news/89279-nvidia-ampere-next-gpus-set-arrive-2022-ampere.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Goofy robot modder has taught Boston Dynamics' robodog Spot to pee beer in a cup

Ever since unveiling it in 2017, Boston Dynamics has taught its quadruped robotic dog Spot to do many things. It can open doors. It can clean the house, weed the garden, and skip rope. After releasing an SDK and Spot to the public, others have gotten in on the training.... https://www.techspot.com/news/89278-goofy-robot-modder-has-taught-boston-dynamics-robodog.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

MLB 'forces' Sony's San Diego Studio to release MLB: The Show 2021 on Xbox

Baseball game MLB: The Show has been a first-party exclusive franchise for Sony's PlayStation consoles since 2006 when it first launched on the PS2. Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that The Show 21 is coming to Xbox on April 20, just one day after it hits PlayStation consoles, and the... https://www.techspot.com/news/89272-mlb-forces-sony-san-diego-studio-release-mlb.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Intel Core i5-11400F Review: The New Value Champ

The Core i5-11400F coupled with a B560 motherboard make for an interesting build configuration, as it's significantly cheaper than the Core i5-11600K/Z590 and less than the cost of the Ryzen 5 5600X. https://www.techspot.com/review/2232-intel-core-i5-11400f/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Man arrested over alleged plot to blow up Amazon data center

Seth Aaron Pendley, 28, of Wichita Falls, was arrested on Thursday after attempting to buy what he believed were C4 explosives but in reality were inert devices from an undercover FBI officer, reports The New York Times. https://www.techspot.com/news/89265-man-arrested-over-alleged-plot-blow-up-amazon.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger