Sony trademarks PlayStation 5 in Switzerland, gearing up for February

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Jan 28, 2020 2:26 AM CST

We know that Sony will be unveiling its next-gen PlayStation 5 in February, but one of those important steps is trademarking the PlayStation 5 -- something that the Japanese giant just applied for in Switzerland.

Sony trademarks PlayStation 5 in Switzerland, gearing up for February

Our friends at LetsGoDigital have picked up the story, noticing that Sony has applied for the 'PS5' trademark on January 27, 2020 with the IGE IPI (Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property). Sony submitted the application under Class 9, which includes game computers (obviously).

Sony has been step-by-step revealing the PlayStation 5 and has been far ahead of the curve with gamers compared to Microsoft, with far more buzz generated (for free) for the PlayStation 5 versus Microsoft's next-gen Xbox Series X console. The new patent application for the PS5 is yet another step towards Sony's full detailing and unveiling of the PlayStation 5 during the PlayStation Meeting in February, which is just weeks away.

Continue reading: Sony trademarks PlayStation 5 in Switzerland, gearing up for February (full post)

In 8 years every Xbox One X console produces 1 ton of carbon emissions

Jak Connor | Gaming | Jan 28, 2020 1:38 AM CST

Microsoft recently announced its carbon emission reduction battle plan that will eventually make the company "carbon negative".

In 8 years every Xbox One X console produces 1 ton of carbon emissions

According to Grist.org, Microsoft's largest carbon footprint device, out of every device the company makes, is the Xbox. Grist says that a spokesperson from Microsoft said that this is the case due to the amount of electricity people use while playing video games.

An example of just how much carbon this is, take the Xbox One X, each Xbox One X will produce more than 1 ton of carbon emissions over eight-years. 86% of the 1 ton is just from the Xbox One X being used, the remaining 14 percent is from manufacturing, shipping, etc.

Continue reading: In 8 years every Xbox One X console produces 1 ton of carbon emissions (full post)

Rick and Morty creators to release new show 'Solar Opposites', May 8th

Jak Connor | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Jan 28, 2020 1:07 AM CST

The creators behind the hit show Rick and Morty have announced that a brand new show will be arriving exclusively on Hulu this May.

Rick and Morty creators to release new show 'Solar Opposites', May 8th

The new show is called 'Solar Opposites' and its about a family of four aliens that are from an advanced planet and are forced into living in America. Craig Erwich, who is the senior vice president of Hulu originals announced the new series at the Television Critics Association 2020 Winter Press Tour in Pasadena just this past Friday.

The show is being created by Rick and Morty star Justin Roiland and Mike McMahn who is a producer for Rick and Morty. Judging by the creative drive put behind Solar Opposites I would say that the new TV show will have the same ridiculous comedic sense that Rick and Morty does. I'd expect the same type of brilliant humour but portrayed in a different way since the characters are now all aliens. On May 8th this year, all eight episodes of the first season of Solar Opposites will be released on Hulu. (There is also season 2 in production).

Continue reading: Rick and Morty creators to release new show 'Solar Opposites', May 8th (full post)

'Uncharted' Movie release date pushed back to March 5th, 2021

Jak Connor | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Jan 28, 2020 12:34 AM CST

It seems like every time I write about the upcoming Uncharted movie, its bad news, and this time is no different. Uncharted fans, I apologize, but I have to inform you that the movie has been delayed.

'Uncharted' Movie release date pushed back to March 5th, 2021

The Uncharted movie has been in development for over a decade now, and just when you would probably think things are looking up, they aren't. The movie has suffered many production delays, which have then caused the hired director to leave the movie. This has happened six times already, the following directors were hired by Sony and then left on their own merit; David O. Russell, Seth Gordon, Neil Burger, Dan Trachtenberg, Shawn Levy, and Travis Knight.

According to Deadline, the movie will now officially be delayed until March 5th, 2021. Originally the film was meant to be released at the end of this year (December 2020), but after the sixth director, Travis Knight, left the film back in late December 2019 that release date was put into question. Tom Holland is set to play a young Nathan Drake, and Mark Wahlberg is cast as Victor "Sully" Sullivan. Holland is shooting the new Spider-Man movie at the moment, and the colliding scheduling has no doubt caused some issues with filming the Uncharted movie.

Continue reading: 'Uncharted' Movie release date pushed back to March 5th, 2021 (full post)

Verizon splashes $80 million to give Miami 5G before the Super Bowl

Veirzon is spending up big in the ramp up to the Super Bowl, with the US telco giant spending $80 million to blanket downtown Miami with 5G connectivity.

Verizon splashes $80 million to give Miami 5G before the Super Bowl

The company has promised that the areas around the Miami airports, downtown Miani, and around Bayfront Park will have expanded 5G coverage. Verizon is also sponsoring a Super Bowl Live event where it will be showing off various technology that displays why you need, and why you'll benefit from 5G technology.

Verizon will have an immersive, on-the-field experience at the Super Bowl itself, and will be running through to February 1. Now, there aren't many smartphones on the market that are powered by 5G just yet, but Samsung has a few in the Galaxy S10 5G and Galaxy Note 10 5G, while LG has its V50 ThinQ 5G smartphone. You will need one of these smartphones, and to have your phone connected to Verizon to enjoy 5G.

Continue reading: Verizon splashes $80 million to give Miami 5G before the Super Bowl (full post)

AMD TressFX 4.1 tech can now be integrated into Unreal Engine 4.22

Anthony Garreffa | Video Cards & GPUs | Jan 27, 2020 11:50 PM CST

AMD has released its new TressFX 4.1 software library, which brings the next level of hair and fur simulation and rendering -- but there's a new surprise: Unreal Engine 4 integration.

AMD TressFX 4.1 tech can now be integrated into Unreal Engine 4.22

TressFX 4.1 can now be inserted into Unreal Engine which means we could see an uptick in TressFX-capable games, providing us with more realistic-looking games when it comes to hair and fur simulation and rendering. We've seen TressFX in big AAA games before, with Rise of the Tomb Raider and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided... but since then it has really fallen off the radar completely.

But now that Unreal Engine 4 integration is up and on offer, we could see more game developers deciding to use it. Especially given that the next-gen PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles are both once again powered by semi-custom AMD designs, TressFX might have a more secure home in the future of games -- and given that Unreal Engine powers countless games on the market, we could be in for an exciting time.

Continue reading: AMD TressFX 4.1 tech can now be integrated into Unreal Engine 4.22 (full post)

Plague Inc is now China's top paid iOS game with coronavirus outbreak

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Jan 27, 2020 11:33 PM CST

Plague Inc has been in the news and making the headlines since the coronavirus outbreak, with the developer of the game having to (and I'm sure reluctantly) address the world about it.

Plague Inc is now China's top paid iOS game with coronavirus outbreak

But before that, Plague Inc has seen an infectious rise to the top of the top-paid iOS game chart -- and given that it's a game from 2012 this is quite the achievement. It has forced Plague Inc developer Ndemic Creations to release a statement, saying: "Please remember that Plague Inc. is a game, not a scientific model and that the current coronavirus outbreak is a very real situation which is impacting a huge number of people".

Plague Inc sees you creating the best virus you can, and wiping out the human population on Earth -- since the coronavirus has been spreading, so too has the popularity of the game -- and especially so in China.

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AMD unknown APU: is this the mid-range Xbox Series S chip?

Anthony Garreffa | CPU, APU & Chipsets | Jan 27, 2020 11:21 PM CST

A mysterious new APU from AMD has been discovered by '_rogame', with the new APU packing 8 CPU cores (no SMT so we have 8C/8T) at 4GHz and 16GB of shared memory between the RAM and VRAM (12GB RAM and 4GB VRAM).

AMD unknown APU: is this the mid-range Xbox Series S chip?

As for the GPU that remains a total mystery for now, but what we do know is that this new APU could be anything -- anything from the Xbox Series S (Lockhart) APU for the mid-range next-gen Xbox, or it could be a successor to the Fireflight APU which powered the Subor Z+ console.

Even in its leaked form we still have benchmark scores to share, where the new APU has a 3DMark Time Spy score of 7.1K which is pretty good -- it keeps up with an AMD Ryzen 9 3900X + overclocked NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER graphics card which scores 7.3K. So while it won't blow the socks off of the Xbox Series X in terms of performance, we're looking at maybe this being the non-SMT version (whereas the Xbox Series X has the full 8C/16T chip) and thus powering the Xbox Series S / Lockhart console.

Continue reading: AMD unknown APU: is this the mid-range Xbox Series S chip? (full post)

Apple's next-gen Mac might just be a single sheet of glass

Anthony Garreffa | Computer Systems | Jan 27, 2020 10:45 PM CST

We now live in a world where foldable displays and smartphones are a reality, with Samsung already on the market with their game-changing Galaxy Fold -- but what is Apple doing about that?

Apple's next-gen Mac might just be a single sheet of glass

According to a new patent filed by Apple, we could expect a revolutionary new Mac in the future that is built from a single sheet of glass. As you can see from the patent, it is curved into a display at the top and keyboard and track pad at the bottom. We should expect the display, camera, and sensors in the top half of the new Mac -- while the wedge at the bottom (in the image below) would most likely house the internals of the system.

Apple would have one of the most interestingly designed PCs on the market with this new patent, but considering how many years the company is behind everyone else that is already experimenting with foldable tech... don't expect the foldable iMac any time soon. I'd give it at least another 2-3 years before we see something this radical from Apple on the desktop.

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The Terminator featured in Ghost Recon: Breakpoint for a limited time

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Jan 27, 2020 10:13 PM CST

The Terminator is making more appearances in games than ever before, with the T-800 featured in both Mortal Kombat 11 and Gears 5 last year -- but now it will be showing up in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Breakpoint.

The Terminator featured in Ghost Recon: Breakpoint for a limited time

Ubisoft took to their official Twitter account for Ghost Recon saying "The future is almost here. The Terminator arrives January 29". There's an update expected for Ghost Recon: Breakpoint at around the same time, which will fix issues with the game and introduce the Terminator at the same time.

We don't know how long the Terminator will be featured in Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, but it should be similar to the introduction of the Predator in Ghost Recon: Wildlands. That was a limited-time event where gamers had to hide from the devastating Predator, and then had to battle it out in the end. The event with the Terminator in Ghost Recon: Breakpoint should be similar, but it's just too bad Breakpoint itself isn't the greatest game.

Continue reading: The Terminator featured in Ghost Recon: Breakpoint for a limited time (full post)