AMD RX 7900 XTX drops to $899 - is this a better shout than NVIDIA's RTX 4080 Super GPU now?

Darren Allan | Video Cards & GPUs | Mar 19, 2024 12:04 PM CDT

AMD's RX 7900 XTX graphics card has dropped back down to $899 for one model, the lowest price seen in a while (although not the cheapest price ever, by any means).

AMD RX 7900 XTX drops to $899 - is this a better shout than NVIDIA's RTX 4080 Super GPU now?

VideoCardz noticed that the MSI Gaming Radeon RX 7900 XTX currently has a discount of $150 at Newegg, with the flagship at $899 as mentioned. Going by the reviews, this is a well-made board that runs cool and quiet, which is always a bonus.

So, is it worth forking out for the RX 7900 XTX at this price compared to what NVIDIA has to offer in this price bracket?

Continue reading: AMD RX 7900 XTX drops to $899 - is this a better shout than NVIDIA's RTX 4080 Super GPU now? (full post)

Suddenly folks are worried that NVIDIA's RTX 5090 GPU will disappoint - but don't panic yet

Darren Allan | Video Cards & GPUs | Mar 19, 2024 11:09 AM CDT

Following the unveiling of NVIDIA's B100 (Blackwell GPU for heavyweight lifting and AI usage) some fresh chatter on the rumor mill is causing concern regarding the incoming RTX 5090.

Suddenly folks are worried that NVIDIA's RTX 5090 GPU will disappoint - but don't panic yet

Kopite7kimi sparked off these worries on X (formerly Twitter), as well as another respected hardware leaker on the platform, Kepler, as you can see in the above and below tweets.

With performance gains of 50% or 60%, or even 70% being floated previously for the RTX 5090 (using GB202), those estimates have been called into question. As Kopite7kimi makes clear, GB202 will use the same process as GB100, based not on 4nm, but on 4NP, a custom performance-oriented spin on 4N (an upgraded 5nm process).

Continue reading: Suddenly folks are worried that NVIDIA's RTX 5090 GPU will disappoint - but don't panic yet (full post)

Sam Altman responds to question asking if he's afraid of AGI taking over

Jak Connor | Artificial Intelligence | Mar 19, 2024 9:10 AM CDT

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind many popular and powerful AI-powered tools such as ChatGPT, Sora and the underlying technology called GPT, was asked during an interview if he was worried about losing control of AGI once its created.

Sam Altman responds to question asking if he's afraid of AGI taking over

Altman sat down for an interview with Lex Fridman on the "Lex Fridman Podcast," where he was asked if he worries about "losing control of the AGI itself", as there are many people out there, including numerous security researchers concerned about the creation of a super-intelligent AI system and the implications that has on the planet through existential risk. Fridman prefaces the question by saying that "losing control" would not be because of "state actors, not because of security concerns, but because of the AI itself".

The OpenAI CEO responded promptly by saying, "That is not my top worry as I currently see things." Adding, "there have been times I worried about that more. There may be times again in the future where that's my top worry. That's not my top worry right now." Fridman followed up by asking "What's your intuition about that not being your top worry," adding "do you think we could be surprised?".

Continue reading: Sam Altman responds to question asking if he's afraid of AGI taking over (full post)

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was asked if he trusts himself with the power of AGI

Jak Connor | Artificial Intelligence | Mar 19, 2024 8:15 AM CDT

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind GPT-4, ChatGPT, Sora, and many other industry-leading AI technologies, has sat down for an interview with Lex Fridman to discuss multiple topics regarding artificial intelligence and the impressive creations being made at OpenAI.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was asked if he trusts himself with the power of AGI

Lex Fridman asked Altman if he trusts himself with the power of leading a company that could potentially create the first Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), an AI system that is capable of human-level and beyond intelligence. Altman responded honourably to the question, saying that he believes that its important that "I nor any other one person have total control over OpenAI, or over AGI, and I think you want a robust governance system."

The OpenAI CEO further explained that he "continues to not want super voting control over OpenAI" and "I continue to think that no company should be making these decisions and that we really need governments to put rules of the road in place."

Continue reading: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was asked if he trusts himself with the power of AGI (full post)

Your Apple ID might be getting a big new name change

Oliver Haslam | Mobile Devices, Tablets & Phones | Mar 19, 2024 6:19 AM CDT

Whether you've been using Apple devices for years or just picked up your first iPhone, you'll be familiar with the Apple ID. It's your login for all things Apple and it's been the key to accessing your devices and services for a long time. But a new report suggests that the humble Apple ID is about to change in an attempt to better reflect the way that it is used.

Your Apple ID might be getting a big new name change

Apple IDs are now used as a method of authentication for third-party apps, Apple itself, the Apple Store, and more and that means that its name perhaps doesn't best fit the way people think about it. Now, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that Apple intends to rebrand the Apple ID to Apple Account, changing the branding across all Apple devices as well as the iCloud.com website. The move could happen this year, Gurman wrote in the latest Power On weekly newsletter.

Gurman's report matches a previous one by MacRumors that suggested such a move was in the works. Gurman says that Apple will start to use the new Apple Account branding later this year with iOS 18 and watchOS 11 among the first software releases to initiate the switch. Those releases are all expected to debut this June at the annual WWDC event, while the updates aren't expected to arrive on devices until this fall.

Continue reading: Your Apple ID might be getting a big new name change (full post)

Buying an 11-inch OLED iPad Pro could be easier said than done, at least initially

Oliver Haslam | Mobile Devices, Tablets & Phones | Mar 19, 2024 3:45 AM CDT

Apple is very much expected to update the iPad Pro lineup of tablets within the next few weeks with upgraded OLED displays as one of the biggest additions. The iPad Pro will of course come in two sizes with an 11-inch model and a 12.9-inch version offering plenty of flexibility, but those who want to buy the smaller of the two might find it harder to pick up than the larger one.

Buying an 11-inch OLED iPad Pro could be easier said than done, at least initially

That's according to a new report by 9to5Mac based on a post on the X social network by Ross Young, a display history with a strong track record in terms of sharing details about Apple's upcoming plans. According to the analyst and his DSCC firm, Apple has found it difficult to choose which OLED suppliers to use with LG Display and Samsung Display involved.

It was thought that Samsung Display would be the only company responsible for producing the OLED panels that would be used in the 11-inch iPad Pro but that now seems to have changed with LG Display also involved in production. However, it also appears that the production of the 11-inch OLED displays now lag behind that of the larger 12.9-inch version as a result and that could mean that there will be fewer iPad Pro models of that size available on launch day.

Continue reading: Buying an 11-inch OLED iPad Pro could be easier said than done, at least initially (full post)

YouTube rolls out safeguards to battle the rise of AI generated video

Jak Connor | Artificial Intelligence | Mar 19, 2024 3:21 AM CDT

YouTube has taken to its blog to announce a new rule for its platform designed to protect users from being deceived by creators who are trying to pass off their content as authentic when it was created using the assistance of artificial intelligence-powered tools.

YouTube rolls out safeguards to battle the rise of AI generated video

With the unveiling of OpenAI's Sora tool, which is designed to create photorealistic video content from user text prompts, and the popularity of ChatGPT, it isn't a reach to say that AI-powered tools such as Sora will be popular when they are fully developed and released.

Some of the video examples provided by Sora creator OpenAI featured tell-tale signs of AI-powered creation, but the vast majority at a glance, or even viewed by the untrained eye, wouldn't raise alarm bells for synthetic creation, further blurring the line between what's real and what's fake on the internet.

Continue reading: YouTube rolls out safeguards to battle the rise of AI generated video (full post)

Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection could be the worst PC and Console release of 2024

Kosta Andreadis | Gaming | Mar 19, 2024 3:06 AM CDT

It sounded like a slam dunk, taking the beloved multiplayer game series from 2004 and 2005 and bringing it back online in remastered form with support for modern PC hardware and consoles.

Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection could be the worst PC and Console release of 2024

Not to be confused with EA and DICE's recent reboot, the original Star Wars Battlefront (2004) and Star Wars Battlefront II (2005) took iconic settings from the original and prequel trilogies and gave them a massively multiplayer Battlefield-style makeover. Although fans have kept these games alive on PC with mods and private servers, they were primed and ready for a comeback.

When news dropped that Aspyr and Lucasfilm Games were releasing a remastered Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection on March 14, 2024 - with support for up to 64 players - many gamers got their nostalgia glasses ready for a fun trip down memory lane. Except it was anything but.

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Fatal Fury City of the Wolves is the first game in the iconic SNK fighting series in 26 years

Kosta Andreadis | Gaming | Mar 19, 2024 2:45 AM CDT

When you think of the fighting game genre, odds are you're thinking about Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, two franchises that date back to the early 1990s and are still going strong. Suppose you grew up during that period and spent many afternoons at the local arcade. In that case, there is no doubt you'd be aware of SNK and its iconic output, including series like Fatal Fury, King of Fighters, and Samurai Shodown.

Fatal Fury City of the Wolves is the first game in the iconic SNK fighting series in 26 years

Interestingly, Fatal Fury, the SNK fighting game franchise that began in 1991 (making it one of the oldest fighting games in video game history), hasn't received a new entry since 1999, when Garou: Mark of the Wolves was released.

Fast-forward to 2024, and SNK has announced that Fatal Fury will return in early 2025 after a 26-year absence.

Continue reading: Fatal Fury City of the Wolves is the first game in the iconic SNK fighting series in 26 years (full post)

Easy Anti-Cheat responds to Apex Legends pro players being hacked mid-game

Jak Connor | Gaming | Mar 19, 2024 2:27 AM CDT

In what seems like a first, Apex Legends professional players were hijacked by a hacker during the Apex Legends Global Series to be given cheats, resulting in the NA finals being postponed.

Easy Anti-Cheat responds to Apex Legends pro players being hacked mid-game

The Apex Legends North American finals were infiltrated by at least two hackers named "Destroyer2009" and "R4andom", who managed to somehow gain access to at least two professional players' PCs during a match. As the match was being streamed to thousands of fans around the world, a message box briefly popped up and then disappeared, which was followed by the player realizing that they had aimbot, wallhacks, and other cheats. Shortly after the discovery, the match was promptly ended.

Following the shutdown of the match Anti-Cheat Police Department, a group of volunteers that specialize in gathering intelligence on cheats to detect and disrupt cheating vendors, took to its X account to provide a public service announcement, stating that an RCE exploit was used to gain access to the players' PCs. For those that don't know, an RCE exploit is a "remote code execution", which means the hackers were able to execute codes on the target machines remotely.

Continue reading: Easy Anti-Cheat responds to Apex Legends pro players being hacked mid-game (full post)