iMessage-on-Android farce Sunbird is making a comeback, whether we want it or not

Making iMessage work on Android has been the holy grail for plenty of companies over the years with limited success. Sunbird was one company that seemed to have managed it, although there was some debate over how safe it actually was. However, Apple subsequently blocked Sunbird's route into iMessage but the company now says that it's back on track.

iMessage-on-Android farce Sunbird is making a comeback, whether we want it or not

Sunbird's stability and security aside - it was found that the company's partnership with Nothing to bring iMessage to its phones was leaking data - it's easy to see why the idea was popular. Being able to use iMessage on an Android phone would be a big deal for those who don't want to use third-party apps like WhatsApp, and with Apple not set to support RCS until later this year, iMessage is still the best option around.

In a press release shared by Sunbird, we learned recently that the company is now starting to roll its iMessage features out in small phases with some able to try it out as of April 5. However, the press release hasn't explained what Sunbird has done to deal with the privacy issues that were highlighted last year before the service was taken down indefinitely. However, it has been confirmed that it now uses an updated AV2 architecture and those interested in the details can get them via that press release.

Continue reading: iMessage-on-Android farce Sunbird is making a comeback, whether we want it or not (full post)

SpaceX puts a next-gen satellite into Earth's orbit that will discover critical minerals

Jak Connor | Science, Space, Health & Robotics | Apr 8, 2024 3:31 AM CDT

SpaceX recently announced the successful deployment of its Bandwagon-1 mission, which was launched from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

SpaceX puts a next-gen satellite into Earth's orbit that will discover critical minerals

The rideshare mission totaled eleven spacecraft from multiple companies around the world, with the Falcon 9 rocket deploying: KOREA's 425Sat, HawkEye 360's Clusters 8 & 9, Fleet Space Technologies' Centauri-6, iQPS's QPS-SAR-7 TSUKUYOMI-II, Capella Space's Capella-14, and Tata Advanced Systems Limited's TSAT-1A. More specifically, Fleet Space Technologies, the team behind the world's smallest voice-enabled satellite, Centauri-4, issued a press release about the achievement the company has made with the successful deployment of Centauri-6.

According to the South Australian company, which was named Australia's fastest growing company by the Australian Financial Review, Centauri-6 will add to Fleet Space's ever-growing presence in low-Earth orbit that's designed to provide solutions to critical mineral discoveries on Earth's surface without damaging the environment.

Continue reading: SpaceX puts a next-gen satellite into Earth's orbit that will discover critical minerals (full post)

SpaceX plans to leave the first humans on Mars stranded with no way home

Jak Connor | Science, Space, Health & Robotics | Apr 8, 2024 2:45 AM CDT

SpaceX has conducted a presentation at its Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, revealing some key details about its upcoming Mars missions that will feature the world's most powerful rocket, Starship.

SpaceX plans to leave the first humans on Mars stranded with no way home

The company's CEO, Elon Musk, has taken to stage to discuss what fans of SpaceX can expect out of the company in 2024 and what will be involved in creating a sustainable presence on the surface of Mars. Musk said that this is the first time in human civilization that Earth is capable of making the species multiplanetary, and all of this hinges of the success of Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket ever created.

Musk outlines that mass to orbit is a key factor in achieving a Mars base, and when Starship is complete, it will be capable of taking 200 tons to orbit while being fully reusable. The SpaceX CEO explains that once Starship is in orbit, it will need to be refueled by a tanker that's also in orbit. This new technology will be called Ship to Ship Propellent Transfer, and for every trip to Mars, Starship will need to be refueled six times, so a ratio of 5 to 1. Musk said that SpaceX plans on demonstrating Ship to Ship Propellent Transfer sometime next year.

Continue reading: SpaceX plans to leave the first humans on Mars stranded with no way home (full post)

Elon Musk reveals when SpaceX will launch Starship again

Jak Connor | Science, Space, Health & Robotics | Apr 8, 2024 1:47 AM CDT

SpaceX has issued a major update for what fans of the space fairing company can expect throughout 2024, and one of those updates is when Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket, will take to the skies once again.

Elon Musk reveals when SpaceX will launch Starship again

The update was hosted by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who took to the stage at Starbase for a 45 minute presentation outlining all of what SpaceX is working on and what we can expect out of 2024. If you haven't been keeping up with Starship news, the world's largest rocket conducted its third orbital test flight last month and it was a major success, with the massive rocket successfully reaching orbit.

Now SpaceX is preparing for the fourth test flight and according to Musk the main objectives will be landing the rocket somewhere in the ocean on a virtual tower. Notably, SpaceX plans on "catching" Starship's booster Super Heavy on a tower SpaceX call Mechazilla.

Continue reading: Elon Musk reveals when SpaceX will launch Starship again (full post)

ViewSonic's 3840 Hz 'Customizable All-in-One LED Displays' come in sizes of up to 760 inches

Kosta Andreadis | Displays & Projectors | Apr 8, 2024 1:33 AM CDT

Before we dig into ViewSonic's built-to-order 'Customizable All-in-One LED Displays, ' which are available in various aspect ratios and sizes of up to an incredible 760 inches (the modern big-screen TV comes in at only 65 inches) and a whopping 3,840 Hz refresh rate, these are designed as "video walls" for "business, commercial, and public spaces."

ViewSonic's 3840 Hz 'Customizable All-in-One LED Displays' come in sizes of up to 760 inches

Still, you could order one for that "home space to play video games on." That is, until you dig into the full specs, realize that a display is created primarily for digital signage, and discover that the native resolution is a super low 512 x 384 pixels. Dreams = crushed.

Still, for businesses and shipping malls, it's a winner with ViewSonic's innovative mega LED Displays featuring an ultra-slim (31mm), bezel-free design (6mm), and an advanced Glue-on-Board (GOB) surface treatment to protect the display and provide resistance against dust and moisture. ViewSonic says this allows them to be installed in lobbies, bathrooms, and transportation hubs.

Continue reading: ViewSonic's 3840 Hz 'Customizable All-in-One LED Displays' come in sizes of up to 760 inches (full post)

NVIDIA to unveil top-end GeForce RTX 5090, and high-end RTX 5080 at first later this year

Anthony Garreffa | Video Cards & GPUs | Apr 8, 2024 1:11 AM CDT

NVIDIA is expected to announce its next-generation GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs later this year, where it seems we'll be introduced to the new top-end GeForce RTX 5090 and high-end GeForce RTX 5080 at first.

NVIDIA to unveil top-end GeForce RTX 5090, and high-end RTX 5080 at first later this year

In a new post about NVIDIA increasing the price of its GPUs by an average of 10% by UDN, the report added that as NVIDIA continues to dominate the AI GPU market, graphics card-related products will also see new products later this year.

AIB partners are expecting NVIDIA to unveil its next-gen GeForce RTX 50 series in Q4 2024, where initially, NVIDIA will focus on the new top-end GeForce RTX 5090 and high-end GeForce RTX 5080 graphics cards. UDN says that its sources are optimistic that the launch of next-gen RTX 50 series GPUs will help AIB partners shipments, and drive up the average unit price of graphics cards.

Continue reading: NVIDIA to unveil top-end GeForce RTX 5090, and high-end RTX 5080 at first later this year (full post)

MSI expands its GPU line-up in China with the MSI GeForce RTX 4090D Ventus 3X

Kosta Andreadis | Video Cards & GPUs | Apr 8, 2024 12:34 AM CDT

MSI is expanding its GeForce RTX 4090D line-up for China with a new VENTUS 3X model that looks identical, design-wise, to the GeForce RTX 4090 24G VENTUS 3X. The release will present Chinese gamers with a more affordable GeForce RTX 4090D model compared to its GeForce RTX 4090D 24G Gaming X Slim or GeForce RTX 4090D 24G Suprim X variants. As affordable as an RTX 4090 can get.

MSI expands its GPU line-up in China with the MSI GeForce RTX 4090D Ventus 3X

The GeForce RTX 4090D 24G VENTUS 3X features the exact dimensions (322 x 136 x 62 mm) as the non-D version. Still, it has the lowered out-of-the-box RTX 4090D Boost Clock speed of 2,520 MHz (which can be pushed to 2,535 MHz with MSI Center software) and fewer CUDA Cores to comply with new U.S. regulations for selling GPU hardware in the region. The RTX 4090D does retain the same 24GB of GDDR6X memory at 21 Gbps on a 384-bit memory bus.

As part of the VENTUS line-up, the card still features a triple-fan cooling design with a metallic shroud, a focus on airflow, and a nickel-plated copper base. Visually, it follows the same black and silver aesthetics and style as other Ventus cards in MSI's GeForce RTX line-up.

Continue reading: MSI expands its GPU line-up in China with the MSI GeForce RTX 4090D Ventus 3X (full post)

Star Wars is finally returning to the big screen in 2026 with The Mandalorian & Grogu

Kosta Andreadis | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Apr 7, 2024 11:59 PM CDT

The last Star Wars film to get a theatrical release and debut was 2019's The Rise of Skywalker, the ninth and potentially final release in the canonical mainline Star Wars Episodes. Although it was a financial success, critical and fan response to the film was lukewarm, with the JJ Abram-led trilogy and misfires like Solo: A Star Wars Story led to Disney shelving or postponing its cinematic plans for the franchise.

Star Wars is finally returning to the big screen in 2026 with The Mandalorian & Grogu

The drought is over or will be soon enough, with Disney planning to release The Mandalorian & Grogu on May 22, 2026. The film, set in the Star Wars universe, will be an offshoot of the popular Disney+ show starring Pedro Pascal as the title character. Series creator Jon Favreau (Iron Man) is also set to direct, with Disney and Lucasfilm viewing the project as a safe bet.

The post-George Lucas era of Star Wars has found most of its success on TV thanks to The Mandalorian, Andor, and The Book of Boba Fett. The Mandalorian & Grogu isn't the only Star Wars film in development at Disney (it's the only one with a release date); two more films are also on the way.

Continue reading: Star Wars is finally returning to the big screen in 2026 with The Mandalorian & Grogu (full post)

Next-gen Xbox console will use Gaming AI tech to deliver 'biggest technological leap ever'

Kosta Andreadis | Gaming | Apr 7, 2024 11:32 PM CDT

In a new report at Windows Central from Xbox and Microsoft reporter Jez Corden, a leaked email from Xbox President Sarah Bond outlines the company's plans for the future of Xbox. First, the company is committed to building a new next-gen Xbox console, with Sarah Bon reiterating that it will deliver "the biggest technical leap ever in a generation."

Next-gen Xbox console will use Gaming AI tech to deliver 'biggest technological leap ever'

During a recent Official Xbox Podcast appearance, Sarah Bond first made these comments that outlined the company's plans to go multi-platform by bringing select first-party titles to Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Switch platforms. Talking about the next generation of Xbox consoles while hyping up performance was a way to reassure fans and Xbox players that Microsoft wasn't planning on leaving the console hardware business.

That said, "the biggest technical leap ever in a generation" is vague and could mean many things. According to the leaked email obtained by Windows Central, the answer could lie in Sarah Bond stating that the next-generation Xbox will feature something called Gaming AI.

Continue reading: Next-gen Xbox console will use Gaming AI tech to deliver 'biggest technological leap ever' (full post)

With Seagate's magnetic HAMR recording technology breakthrough, we could see a single 120TB HDD

Kosta Andreadis | Storage | Apr 7, 2024 11:02 PM CDT

We've covered Seagate's HAMR, or Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording, tech for HDDs, which is set to breathe new life into traditional platter-based storage by dramatically increasing the potential capacities. Last year, the company began shipping its first 32TB HAMR-based Corvault systems to customers, and with HAMR HDDs featuring more than 3TB per platter, that TB number will only increase. Dramatically.

With Seagate's magnetic HAMR recording technology breakthrough, we could see a single 120TB HDD

New research from NIMS, Seagate Technology, and Tohoku University shows that multi-level dual-layer HAMR storage is possible, unlocking even more data density. Per the headline, 120TB of storage on a single drive is on track to become a reality - the only catch is that, based on Seagate's HAMR roadmap, it might take a decade to get there.

However, if this new 'multi-level' tech becomes a reality, current HAMR storage capacities will dramatically increase to 60+ TB. Let's examine how it works.

Continue reading: With Seagate's magnetic HAMR recording technology breakthrough, we could see a single 120TB HDD (full post)