Motorola's new Razr: new foldable smartphone costs $1500

Motorola has officially rebooted its infamous Razr smartphone after the initial teases, with the new 2019 handset dipped in the future and coated in magic -- the new Moto Razr has probably the best foldable display yet.

Motorola's new Razr: new foldable smartphone costs $1500

Samsung's revised Galaxy Fold and Huawei's new Mate X have their own unique take on the hinge design, making their respective foldable use questionable over time -- but Motorola has something special in store for the new 2019 Razr. Motorola has the 6.2-inch OLED display on the new Razr opening more like a book, a throwback to the foldable design of the original Razr, but without the physical keyboard.

The new Razr opens and closes just like the classic Razr did, except this time when it's closed its the size of a large smartphone -- but the foldable display is really something else. Inside, Motorola won't break any speed records with its use of Qualcomm's not-so-flagship Snapdragon 710 processor, no 5G connectivity, a modest 2510mAh battery, and Android 9.

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Elon Musk blames Brexit on Tesla Gigafactory 4 in Germany over the UK

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Nov 13, 2019 11:42 PM CST

Tesla will build its new Gigafactory in Germany rather than the UK, with Tesla and SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk saying that the on-going battle of Brexit in the UK was the deciding force for Germany being the location of Gigafactory 4.

Elon Musk blames Brexit on Tesla Gigafactory 4 in Germany over the UK

Musk spoke with an English car enthusiast publication about the matter, telling Auto Express that Brexit is the reason he and his executive team decided to not build Gigafactory 4 in the UK. Musk explained: "Brexit's [uncertain future] made it too risky to put a Gigafactory in the UK".

He added that Tesla will be building a new research and development center in Europe, meaning that both Gigafactory 4 and the new R&D center will not be built in the UK because of Brexit. This means the UK misses out on billions of dollars, and the creation of thousands of high-skilled jobs with the Gigafactory 4 and R&D center being built in Germany instead.

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Apple's new 16-inch MacBook Pro: 64GB RAM, 8TB SSD for $6099

Anthony Garreffa | Laptops | Nov 13, 2019 11:16 PM CST

Apple's new 16-inch MacBook Pro is here, and if you max out its internal specs then you'll be coughing up an eye-watering amount of money with the fully-loaded 16-inch MacBook Pro costing $6099.

Apple's new 16-inch MacBook Pro: 64GB RAM, 8TB SSD for $6099

What will you get for $6099 exactly? Well it's not exactly slow, with a huge 64GB of RAM and 8TB of all-flash storage on offer -- this is on top of an Intel Core i9 processor at up to 5GHz, and an AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB of GDDR6 memory. The 64GB of RAM comes in at DDR4-2666MHz.

The upgrade from 1TB of SSD to 8TB of SSD is a big one, coming in at a huge $2200 upgrade while the Radeon Pro 5500M comes in 4GB and 8GB varieties, with the additional 4GB of GDDR6 costing $100. Apple's new 16-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2399 with a 6-core Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB RAM, Radeon Pro 5300M, and 512GB SSD.

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Avengers: Endgame directors making Marvel vs. DC docu-series for Quibi

Anthony Garreffa | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Nov 13, 2019 10:37 PM CST

Joe and Anthony Russo are fresh from their directors chair for Avengers: Endgame, with the MCU directors now producing a new streaming docu-series over the fierce rivalry between Marvel and DC.

Avengers: Endgame directors making Marvel vs. DC docu-series for Quibi

Entertainment Weekly reports that streaming service Quibi has the series rights to Slugest, which will be inspired by the book "Slugfest: Inside The Epic, 50-Year Battle Between Marvel and DC", written by Reed Tucker and released back in 2017. Slugfest "tracks the rise of two groundbreaking creative companies who went on to become the comics-publishing powerhouses, Marvel and DC".

Slugfest will be produced by the Russo Brothers and directed by Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce who directed Believer and Framing John DeLorean. Slugfest will feature behind the scenes stories, including some iconic moments like the first official Marvel and DC crossover comic in the 1970s between Superman and Spider-Man.

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GeForce 441.20 drivers are ready for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Anthony Garreffa | Video Cards & GPUs | Nov 13, 2019 10:10 PM CST

NVIDIA has just released its new GeForce 441.20 WHQL drivers, which provide Game Ready support for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order -- as well as an SLI profile for the game which is interesting to see in the tail end of 2019.

GeForce 441.20 drivers are ready for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order isn't the only one to get Game Ready goodness, with "optimal support" also included by NVIDIA for the new VR game Stormland. In addition to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Stormland optimizations, NVIDIA also includes more G-SYNC compatible monitor support with the new GeForce 441.20 drivers.

The new drivers add support for a few more monitors that boosts NVIDIA's collection of G-SYNC compatible displays to 60, with the Acer XB273U, Acer XV273U, and ASUS VG259Q monitors now supported with GeForce 441.20 drivers. You can get NVIDIA's new GeForce 441.20 drivers here.

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Crytek releases ray tracing benchmark demo Neon Noir

Anthony Garreffa | Video Cards & GPUs | Nov 13, 2019 9:26 PM CST

Crytek teased one of the best-looking tech demos ever with Neon Noir unleashed at the Game Developers Conference 2019 earlier this year, but now you and I can download and run it -- is this the new Crysis?

Crytek releases ray tracing benchmark demo Neon Noir

CRYENGINE 5.7 is the latest build of the engine that the team has injected DirectX 12 and Vulkan API support into, something that is explained and detailed in Crytek's "Making of" the Neon Noir demo in a new CRYENGINE developer diary video.

As for Neon Noir, it is a project for Crytek's hardware and API agnostic ray tracing technologies in CRYENGINE, now in benchmark form. Crytek explains that their mesh-based ray tracing in CRYENGINE 5.7 and Neon Noir uses their SVOGI technology, which will ship in CRYENGINE in 2020. You can download the Neon Noir Ray Tracing Benchmark right here.

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PlayStation 5 concept video shows totally new design

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Nov 13, 2019 8:51 PM CST

We've already had a good look at what Sony's next-gen PlayStation 5 will look like in 3D renders from LetsGoDigital, but now German retailer MediaMarkt Saturn is getting into the render fun with their own take on the PS5. Check it out:

PlayStation 5 concept video shows totally new design

The new design would see Sony using a square console with rounded edges, and something I really dig -- a status light that runs around the entire of the PlayStation 5. It looks pretty slick, but the "TURN ON" button seems so out of place -- a simple "ON" button would suffice.

The bigger change here with the new take on the PS5 from MediaMarkt Saturn is the radically re-designed DualShock 5 controller. In these renders, it would see the new PS5-bound controller featuring a smaller version (that is virtually identical) to the UI of the console. I actually like the idea of this as well, but Sony would have to do it right.

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Intel Xe GPU: 7nm graphics card with HBM is codenamed Ponte Vecchio

Anthony Garreffa | Video Cards & GPUs | Nov 13, 2019 8:14 PM CST

Intel is providing more details for its upcoming Xe GPU and discrete graphics card, with their first 7nm Xe GPU codenamed Ponte Vecchio -- which is an old stone bridge in Florence, Italy.

Intel Xe GPU: 7nm graphics card with HBM is codenamed Ponte Vecchio

But if you were expecting this to be Intel's first foray into gaming graphics cards, you're going to be disappointed -- Ponte Vecchio is the first Xe GPU for exascale computing. Intel will be unveiling more details on Project Aurora on November 17, which will feature Sapphire Rapids Xeon CPUs, Ponte Vecchio GPUs and Intel's new initiative called oneAPI.

Intel's new Ponte Vecchio GPU will use Foveros packaging technology and CLX interconnection, as well as ultra-high cache and high bandwidth memory. Intel's new codename Ponte Vecchio will also feature high double-precision FP throughput. This isn't a gaming card once again, and an exscale computing product.

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SAPPHIRE NITRO+ RX 5700 XT Special Edition teased

Anthony Garreffa | Video Cards & GPUs | Nov 13, 2019 7:36 PM CST

SAPPHIRE is preparing another custom Navi graphics card with a new member to soon join the Radeon RX 5700 XT family of graphics cards from the company in the form of the NITRO+ RX 5700 XT Special Edition.

SAPPHIRE NITRO+ RX 5700 XT Special Edition teased

Just how special is the new NITRO+ RX 5700 XT Special Edition from SAPPHIRE to differentiate itself from the regular NITRO+ RX 5700 XT that I reviewed here? Well, SAPPHIRE will be offering the ARGB fans pre-installed, versus them being an optional purchase -- with SAPPHIRE including 2 x 95x15mm fans and 1 x 87x13.5mm fan.

These fans are translucent and look pretty slick, with addressable RGB lighting to boot -- but it's not just looks that SAPPHIRE is providing with its new NITRO+ RX 5700 XT Special Edition. SAPPHIRE will be clocking the new NITRO+ SE a little higher, with the Navi GPU clocked at up top 2035MHz versus 2010MHz on the regular NITRO+.

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Google Stadia will rely heavily on a mobile app

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Nov 13, 2019 7:02 PM CST

Google's new Stadia service will require a mobile app for basic features like buying games, changing stream resolution caps, and adjusting settings.

Google Stadia will rely heavily on a mobile app

Today in a recent Reddit AMA, Google execs revealed some new info around Stadia, namely with the essential mobile app. The streaming service apparently won't have an actual dashboard or control center. Basic settings are instead moved to an external mobile app. Not only is the app required for first-time setup, it's required for game purchases (likely for authentication/verification), changing stream quality settings, and even family options. And of course the Stadia app is required for mobile game streaming...but we really don't advise that.

"First, the Stadia mobile app is your central hub to manage Settings across all screens. Use the app to set stream quality for your TV and other supported devices," Stadia Director of Product Andrey Doronichev said in a recent Reddit AMA.

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