Latest News - Page 1004

Teaching teenagers how to drive - and be responsible behind the wheel - is a daunting task, but electric vehicle adoption could greatly assist because of modern safety standards. Young people learning to drive behind the wheel for the first time may not get much experience driving an internal combustion engine in favor of an EV.

A recent Cars.com survey discovered that 74% of drivers feel it is somewhat important for teens to learn to drive an EV - and 56% believe all teen drivers will learn to drive an EV model within the next decade. Apparently, it's something that driver's education classes also teach to students, with 36% of teens receiving hybrid and EV operation instructions.

Also of interest is that 52% of teens are driving used cars, while 38% learn to drive in new vehicles. The study didn't break down how old the used cars were, though a major plus side of EV driving is related to safety.

Microsoft confirms that Activision-Blizzard was prohibited from releasing Call of Duty games onto Xbox Game Pass as part of a big multi-year exclusivity contract.

Sony has been secured exclusive Call of Duty content for two ongoing generations of PlayStation consoles through lucrative, multi-year marketing deals with Activision-Blizzard. By our count, PlayStation enjoyed full and/or timed exclusivity to 14 pieces of Call of Duty content between 2015 and March 2020 alone, not including content from games like Black Ops Cold War (2020), Vanguard (2021), and the upcoming Modern Warfare 2 (2022).

According to Microsoft, these contracts also included a clause on competing services. Microsoft states in its response to the Competition Markets Authority that Sony's contract with Activision restricted the publisher from releasing any Call of Duty games onto Game Pass.

MSI's new custom GeForce RTX 4090 SUPRIM LIQUID X graphics card is one of the best RTX 4090 cards that money (can hopefully soon) buy, with some fake news hitting the internet about the card today.

The news started out on Reddit where a user saw the price of MSI's new GeForce RTX 4090 SUPRIM LIQUID X was $1934.99, a huge $185 premium over its $1750 pricing... but that is completely wrong. The price seems to have spiked up to $1935, but anyone who purchased it at this price is being refunded the price difference.

MSI explained: "MSI is aware of an article from the forum regarding the raised price of RTX 4090 SUPRIM LIQUID X. As a matter of fact, it was our negligence to mismatch the price. The price of RTX 4090 SUPRIM LIQUID X will remain at 1749.99 USD, which is exactly the same price as we launched the product".

IKEA is working with Kodiak Robotics to ship products from a distribution center to a store, offering both companies data from their test runs. This isn't necessarily an attempt to wipe out human truck drivers, but to free up those interested in switching to local short routes.

Since early August, Kodiak and IKEA move freight daily from a Baytown-based IKEA distribution center to a brick-and-mortar store in Frisco. The trip is around 300 miles. The semi-truck runs Kodiak's autonomous driving system, though a human truck driver is responsible for picking up the loaded trailer each morning. Once connected, the truck driver is responsible for supervising the autonomous trip until a successful delivery in the late afternoon.

As stated by Dariusz Mroczek, Category Area Transport Manager for IKEA Supply Chain Operations: "We are proud to be working with Kodiak to achieve our ambitious goals of being at the forefront of innovation and building capabilities for future transportation. Kodiak's technology will contribute towards our objective to put the driver in focus in the transition towards automated transportation and towards our road safety agenda."

We did hear over a week ago now that NVIDIA's beasty TITAN Ada was cancelled after it needed to be mounted TO THE ACTUAL motherboard because it was so big, required dual 16-pin power connectors, and melted PSUs.

But now we have another leaker confirming that NVIDIA has nixed the card, with leaker "kopite7kimi" tweeting out simply that "we won't see TITAN of Ada Lovelace". The previous confirmation that NVIDIA cancelled its TITAN Ada came from leaker Moore's Law is Dead over a week ago now, with his sources saying the card used 600-700W of power, and was tripping breakers, melting power supplies, and "sometimes melting itself lol".

NVIDIA was expected to use the full-fat AD102 GPU with 18176 CUDA cores, and what I would've loved to have seen: 48GB of GDDR6X memory. NVIDIA's current Ada Lovelace flagship GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card ships with 16384 CUDA cores and 24GB of GDDR6X memory.

Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is acquiring the free speech platform Parler.... and this is huge news, given how strongly Ye feels about free speech, civil rights, free speech, and everything in between.

In a recent interview with Chris Cuomo, who was fired from CNN last year where 2021 was a troubling year for the Cuomo family (as well as drama with his brother in New York), we have Ye explain the last couple of years of his life, his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, and Cuomo trying to pin him for being "anti-semitic" as Ye calls out the Jewish media. Check out that video below.

The billionaire, inventor, and soon-to-be Parler owner talk about a bunch of topics during his "interview" with Chris Cuomo, but the biggest news is that he has acquired Parler. Ye wants to stand up and defend free speech, and stop the censorship of Big Tech on huge platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more.

Intel's new Arc A770 and Arc A750 graphics cards are out in the wild, reviewed by some of the cherry-picked outlets and influencers online, but most people are noticing many issues... one of them being high idle power draw.

But don't worry, Intel has a solution for you since you're effectively a beta tester for Arc GPU solutions, with at least 41W of idle power consumption compared to other GPUs that consume less than 10W of idle power, something has to be done. Intel has a solution, but they want you to work for it.

Intel now has a list of recommendations for "optimal power consumption" for its Arc A7 series GPUs, where you'll need to change some settings in the BIOS for your motherboard, as well as some Windows Power settings, which I find truly ridiculous. Didn't need to do any of this for any AMD Radeon or NVIDIA GeForce graphics card I've owned in decades, but hey.

The USB-IF has announced the very latest (and super-fast) USB4 Version 2.0 standard, which is a major update to the USB standard that unleashes a huge 80Gbps of performance over USB-C connectivity.

USB-IF (the USB Implementer's Forum) announced the news today, doubling the maximum aggregate bandwidth of USB4 from 40Gbps to a huge 80Gbps, which will drive future-gen displays, high-performance storage and docks, and everything in between. The USB Type-C and USB Power Delivery (USB PD) specifications have also been updated, now unleashed to up to 80Gbps of performance.

The branding will be changing, with USB 80Gbps solutions featuring a new packaging logo that makes it easier for consumers -- unlike the HDMI standard, which can be confusing AF -- with USB 80Gbps products being fully backwards compatible with all previous versions of USB.

Microsoft has officially confirmed that Call of Duty would have remained on PlayStation through the end of 2027 if Sony had accepted a post-merger offer. Sony has officially rejected said offer.

Today Microsoft published a 38-page response to the UK's Competition Markets Authority and made compelling arguments as to why its $70 billion merger should be allowed. Microsoft provided lots of data, figures, and insight on the games industry while also confirming the terms of the controversial Call of Duty deal.

In the report, Microsoft says that Call of Duty would have remained on PlayStation through "at least the end of 2027" if Sony had agreed to the original offer. This confirms two interesting points. First, the statements made by Sony Interactive Entertainment President Jim Ryan, who had publicly revealed the terms of the offer, were factual. Secondly, it strongly implies that Microsoft did indeed have plans to make the Call of Duty franchise exclusive to Xbox to some degree.

Microsoft has officially revealed the Xbox console platform's full install base as of 2021 as part of new arguments against the UK's Competition Markets Authority regulatory body.

The CMA, which is basically the UK's version of the FTC, is directly challenging the Microsoft-Activision merger. Now Microsoft has fired back with an in-depth 38-page document making a case on why the $70 billion merger with Activision should be approved. While most of the information in the filing is redacted, we do get some very interesting data regarding consoles.

According to Microsoft, the Xbox console platform currently has an installed base of 63.7 million systems as of 2021. This excludes PCs and mobiles, which are now part of the Xbox ecosystem. PlayStation is "ahead of Xbox in all relevant metrics," Microsoft says.

Foxconn is jumping into the electric vehicle market with its Model B crossover hatchback and Model V all-terrain electric pickup.

Exact details about both self-developed concept prototype electric vehicles remain scarce, and we'll likely have to wait until next year for additional details.

The Model B will have a maximum range of around 280 miles and is a compact car model, though Foxconn hasn't said much else about the car. It has an "innovative" air curtain and streamlined roof to reduce air turbulence to contribute to the low drag coefficient of 0.26.

Audi has high hopes that its Connected Vehicle to Everything (C-V2X) technology can greatly help reduce possible collisions between vehicles and cyclists.

Cellular communication is used to support C-V2X, which alerts drivers on the cockpit display to pay attention to possible safety issues. Everything from surrounding vehicles to traffic obstacles, pedestrians, and cyclists are accounted for - and can be customized to include traffic lights, school buses, crosswalks, road signs, and other features in the system.

Future software versions might be deployed so the car is able to identify - and react - to possible hazards with little to no driver interaction.

Square Enix's new live service game bets aren't paying off very well...and the publisher really needs new hits right now.

Square Enix is a well-diversified business. It makes most of its revenues from browser and mobile games, but Final Fantasy XIV consistently delivers quality revenues and mainline AAA games typically prop up yearly earnings with a fusillade of sales. Things get murky when Square Enix (and other publishers) try to capitalize on multiple segments at once with a single product. As we've seen with failed games like Babylon's Fall, which may be Square Enix's biggest flop to date, this combination is a risky bet that can backfire.

While Square Enix is still doing pretty well for itself and is in no real danger earnings-wise, we have to mention that its new live service bets haven't taken off as much as the company would have liked. Babylon's Fall was disastrous and not only failed to meet expectations, but it ultimately failed in every aspect as both a live game and a commercialized, full-priced product. This may not have been a big deal for Square Enix, though, considering it's a smaller-scale type of game developed by PlatinumGames. Bablyon's Fall was, however, the latest example in Square Enix's multi-faceted business model which attempts to capture multiple games industry segments into one package (in this case a monetized live game and a premium product).

Luxury automaker Rolls-Royce publicly debuted the Spectre, its first foray into full-electric vehicles. The upcoming model is the "spiritual" successor to the Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe.

The 6,559-pound coupe goes 0 to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds, with 577 horsepower and 664 ft-lb torque. More than 1,500 pounds of the car's total weight is sound-deafening insulation Rolls-Royce used to maintain its prestige of silent, comfortable vehicles to ride in.

The fully-electric car is being taken through its paces by Rolls-Royce, a 2.5 million kilometer test to simulate 400 years of use. An all-electric range of 320 miles is expected, though final power, acceleration, and confirmed range numbers will be released Q2 2023.

Audi has released the sportiest compact car from Audio Sport, the RS 3 performance edition, which has 407 horsepower and a top speed of 186 mph. This car is faster and more powerful than any other edition in the previous series.

The performance edition also uses a 2.5-liter turbocharged five-cylinder engine like the standard trim but generates extra horsepower with an altered sports exhaust system. Audi stepped it up with a sportier feel with bucket seats, ceramic brakes, and adaptive chassis standard in the performance edition.

Interested owners will find several colors available: Nogaro Blue, Arrow Gray, Daytona Gray, Sebring Black Crystal Effect, and Glacier White Metallic.

Heavy equipment manufacturer Bobcat is embracing autonomous technology in its effort to make next-generation products. Part of that effort included an investment in Greenzie, a company that just received $8M in corporate funding from Atlanta Ventures and Bobcat.

Greenzie specializes in autonomous software for outdoor robotics and understands its solutions could help reduce the burden of an ongoing labor shortage.

The company focuses specifically on software, so should be able to stretch its latest cash injection longer than if it had a physical product to manufacture, test, and ship. Bobcat can greatly benefit from a valued software partner uninterested in making its own hardware.

The San Francisco Bay Area is home to the first "electrified" Taco Bell fast food restaurant, with EV chargers available in the parking lot. The grand opening for the event will take place later this morning to publicly unveil the charging stations and open them for public use.

Something that appears like a simple novelty could be the groundwork for similar partnerships between business chains and EV charger companies. ChargeNet Stations also is going to offset utility costs for host restaurants by leveraging solar panels to collect and store energy that customers use for their vehicles.

Of course, nothing is free in this world - the six chargers sit underneath a solar array that takes up 10 parking spots - and around $20 will provide 100+ mile charge in 20 minutes or less. Any other pricing information wasn't disclosed.

Intel has now launched its new NUC 12 Enthusiast "Serpent Canyon" PC, with the system arriving in a rather unique coffin-shaped retail package, which has been pictured by ETA Prime. Check it out:

The new Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast "Serpent Canyon" PC includes Intel's new Core i7-12700H CPU which packs 14 cores and 20 threads at up to 4.7GHz, with 24MB of L3 cache and a 45W TDP. The Intel Arc A770M GPU has 16GB of GDDR6 memory, while for RAM there's up to 64GB of DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM memory in the NUC 12 Enthusiast PC.

The interesting coffin-shaped box that the Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast "Serpent Canyon" system arrives in looks awesome, which packs the PC itself, a vertical stand, and the 330W power supply. You also get some nifty replaceable side panels, which feature either a skull or serpent and are LED-illuminated... of course.

Intel's next-gen Xeon "Granite Rapids" CPUs have been detailed in some new leaks from Moore's Law is Dead, where we're now expecting up to 128 cores from Granite Rapids... and that's a big deal.

If we see next-gen Intel Xeon "Granite Rapids" processors with 128 cores, this will be the biggest jump in Intel enterprise technology in over 10 years, using the new Redwood Cove+ CPU architecture. The updated Redwood Cove+ architecture isn't a huge jump over Redwood, made on the new Intel 3 process node, and should drop sometime in 2024.

MLID says that the new Xeon "Granite Rapids" and its new Redwood+ architecture should have a "bigger uplift" over Redwood Cove than Raptor Cove was over Golden Cove. Intel's new Redwood+ is a bigger architectural shift than Raptor Lake is bringing over Alder Lake, adds MLID.

Cadillac is banking on a rich history of luxury and prestige with its hand-crafted, large bespoke fully electric vehicle, the Celestiq. The car will start north of $300,000 and may be extremely challenging to get your hands-on one.

The two-motor, all-wheel-drive vehicle is powered by a 111-kWH battery pack with 600 horsepower and 640 lb-ft torque. Using a 200 kW DC fast charging system can provide 78 miles of range in just 10 minutes of charging time.

General Motors estimates a 300-mile driving range on a single charge. The Celestiq can accelerate 0 to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds.