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Apple 'aggressively testing' vapor chamber cooling for iPhones in 2022
Apple is working on multiple next-gen iPhones including some interesting foldable iPhone prototypes, but the next-gen iPhone is going to feature some of the very best cooling technology Apple has ever used inside of an iPhone.
According to a new report from TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, which says Apple is "aggressively testing" vapor chamber cooling technology for its new iPhone. The new iPhone will want to be thinner than ever, as well as the best screen technology and a bigger battery -- as well as a next-gen A-series CPU with 5G connectivity, and so much more.
TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said: "The iPhone's critical reason not to adopt VC is because of its reliability test results that cannot meet Apple's high requirements. Still, we are optimistic about the VC reliability improvement schedule and expect that at least high-end iPhone models would be equipped with VC in the near future".
Continue reading: Apple 'aggressively testing' vapor chamber cooling for iPhones in 2022 (full post)
MSI reveals GeForce RTX 3060 AERO ITX: teeny, tiny Mini-ITX card
MSI has just unveiled its new GeForce RTX 3060 12GB AERO ITX OC graphics card, packing the mid-range GA106-400 GPU in Mini-ITX form. It's so cute:
We don't know what GPU clocks to expect, but we know it'll be reference GPU clocks at the very least with some factory overclocking considering it's an 'OC' model. The new MSI GeForce RTX 3060 12GB AERO ITX OC has a single-fan and comes in super-small Mini-ITX form.
MSI should reveal the GPU clocks for its new GeForce RTX 3060 12GB AERO ITX OC soon, with the same 12GB of GDDR6 memory ready to handle 4K gaming loads.
Continue reading: MSI reveals GeForce RTX 3060 AERO ITX: teeny, tiny Mini-ITX card (full post)
ASUS ROG MAXIMUS XIII EXTREME GLACIAL motherboard will cost $1800+
ASUS teased a few of its Z590-based motherboards earlier this week, with the flagship ROG MAXIMUS XIII EXTREME GLACIAL motherboard now having an approximate cost: it's going to be over $1800.
ASUS revealed the pricing of its Z590 motherboards on its own website, in EUR -- where the flagship ROG MAXIMUS XIII EXTREME GLACIAL motherboard costs 1516 EUR which converts over to $1830. The new ROG MAXIMUS XIII EXTREME GLACIAL motherboard will be available in Q1 2021 according to ASUS.
In comparison, MSI's flagship MEG Z590 GODLIKE motherboard will cost $1200+ while the motherboard under that in the MSI Z590 ACE motherboard will be half that cost. If you want the very best from ASUS in the flagship ROG MAXIMUS XIII EXTREME GLACIAL motherboard then you better have $1800 ready to go.
Continue reading: ASUS ROG MAXIMUS XIII EXTREME GLACIAL motherboard will cost $1800+ (full post)
STALKER 2 has new protagonist, a stalker named Skif
We've only had a very, very brief tease of STALKER 2 so far with the Unreal Engine 4-powered "official in-engine gameplay teaser".
But now we know that STALKER 2 has a new protagonist, a lone stalker called Skif. GSC Game World explains the new protagonist in STALKER 2: "You're seeing this world through the eyes of a stalker named Skif -- remember the codename, you will hear it a lot. Following the steps of its predecessors, STALKER 2 introduces a completely new main protagonist. His actions will shape the new grand chapter in the history of the Zone".
Read more: This is our very first look at STALKER 2 -- with in-game footage shown
Continue reading: STALKER 2 has new protagonist, a stalker named Skif (full post)
GAINWARD unveils 4 new GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards
GAINWARD has just unveiled 4 new custom GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards, with the introduction of the GeForce RTX 3060 Ghost series, GeForce RTX 3060 Pegasus series, GeForce RTX 3060 Gold Star series, GeForce RTX 3060 Wind Chaser EX series.
GAINWARD's new GeForce RTX 3060 Gold Star graphics card, with a larger -- and more fancy triple-fan gold-themed cooler. All of the new GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards that GAINWARD unveiled have the same 12GB of GDDR6 memory @ 15Gbps while the GPU clocks on the Gold Star and Wind Chaser EX models are unknown.
The RTX 3060 Pegasus and RTX 3060 Ghost cards will be factory overclocked, with the GPU running at a base clock of 1320MHz and boost clock of 1777MHz.
Continue reading: GAINWARD unveils 4 new GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards (full post)
AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su on CPU, GPU supply: tightness in first half 2021
AMD had some big things to talk about at the all-virtual CES 2021 this year, but during a roundtable with the media there were some new details unearthed by our friends at AnandTech.
During the roundtable, AnandTech's Dr. Ian Curtress noted that a "large part of the Q&A discussion was centered around supply and demand" in the new Zen 3 processors, RDNA 2 graphics cards, and two next-gen consoles in the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Dr. Lisa Su said: "This is the result of a demand focused environment, rather than manufacturing issues. There is tightness in the supply chain due to demand, and that invariably puts pressure on our consumer, PC, and gaming product lines. As it relates to our semiconductor production, we're putting in additional capacity to meet this unexpected demand. It will take time to catch up, but that's what we're seeing".
Continue reading: AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su on CPU, GPU supply: tightness in first half 2021 (full post)
AORUS PCIe 4.0 7000s SSD pushes 7GB/sec with new Phison E18 controller
GIGABYTE has just announced its new PCIe 4.0-based SSDs with some ultra-fast speeds, with the new AORUS Gen4 7000s SSDs breaching 7GB/sec (7000MB/sec) reads.
The new AORUS Gen4 7000s SSDs are powered by the second-gen Phison PS5018-E18 controller, which is built on the 12nm node, has 1GB of DDR4 SLC caching, and 3D TLC NAND flash @ 1200MT/s so we're looking at up to 7GB/sec reads (7000MB/sec) and 6.85GB/sec (6850MB/sec) reads with up to 700K IOPS on random reads, and up to 650K IOPS for random writes (on the 2TB drive) while the 1TB drive drops to 5.5GB/sec (5500MB/sec) writes and up to 350K IOPs for random reads.
GIGABYTE starts off with the standard drive and its double-sided aluminum heat sink and Nanocarbon coating, something the company says uses the clearance area between the motherboard slots in order to maximize surface area. But the higher-end model has a "more extreme thermal solution" with integrated heat sinks, a higher double-sided heat spreader with Nanocarbon coating, and high conductivity pads.
Continue reading: AORUS PCIe 4.0 7000s SSD pushes 7GB/sec with new Phison E18 controller (full post)
CD Projekt knew Cyberpunk 2077 had issues but released it anyway
CD Projekt management knew how bad Cyberpunk 2077 performed on last-gen hardware and knew about many of the core issues, glitches, and bugs, anonymous sources tell Bloomberg's Jason Schreier.
Just days ago In a recent apology video, CD Projekt Group CEO Marcin Iwinski told gamers that the studio didn't really know about many of Cyberpunk 2077's bugs, including just how bad the game performed on PS4 and Xbox One. Now anonymous developers say otherwise; CD Projekt management not only knew about the issues, but they chose to release the game anyway instead of delaying the game further.
"Every change and improvement needed to be tested, and as it turned out, our testing did not show a big part of the issues you experienced while playing the game,"Iwinski said.
Continue reading: CD Projekt knew Cyberpunk 2077 had issues but released it anyway (full post)
What was CD Projekt's original vision for Cyberpunk 2077?
Cyberpunk 2077 was announced in late 2012, but the game didn't start principle development until four years later in 2016, sources tell Bloomberg's Jason Schreier. Top CDPR devs originally wanted Cyberpunk to follow The Witcher 3, but this was shot down by the game's director.
A big part of Cyberpunk 2077's controversy is that gamers 'waited 9 years to play it.' That's something I've heard a lot, but it's not entirely accurate. Cyberpunk 2077 has only been in full development for the last five years. Sources familiar with CD Projekt RED and Cyberpunk 2077's development say the studio didn't start really working on the project until 2016, the same year CD Projekt received a hefty $7 million dollar grant from the Polish government to fund the game. In the grant application from 2016, CD Projekt said Cyberpunk 2077 would feature "real-time AI" that roam "living, breathing cities," and there was multiple mentions of flying cars and even "seamless multiplayer."
These ambitious features didn't manifest into the final game the way CD Projekt had hoped. The seamless multiplayer was so big it was separated and will now release as a standalone game. Sources also said that Cyberpunk 2077 was essentially rebooted in 2016, and that several high-profile developers wanted the game to follow The Witcher 3's footsteps in a number of ways.
Continue reading: What was CD Projekt's original vision for Cyberpunk 2077? (full post)
This amazing new feature makes Stadia much more competitive
Google first revealed Stadia's save-state sharing feature in March 2019. Now it's finally rolling out, and it has big potential.
Stadia's save-state sharing feature essentially lets gamers create and share their own custom gameplay demos. You can record a clip of a game that's actually playable, similar to a custom save state in an emulator. Think of it as a captured video that you can actually play. This is a great way to let gamers try specific portions of a level or mission without having to spend the time to get to that point.
Here's how it works: Let's say you beat a tough boss, and want to challenge a friend to beat your progress or your time. You can create a link to your singleplayer game save and share with a friend, who can click it and enter your game session remotely.
Continue reading: This amazing new feature makes Stadia much more competitive (full post)
Bungie says goodbye to Halo forever by closing this piece of history
As of February 2021, Bungie will be officially done with the Halo franchise once and for all.
Bungie hasn't made a new Halo game since 2010's Halo: Reach. Even after all that time, Bungie has kept the Bungie.net stat tracker up and active as a kind of lighthouse for nostalgia, allowing gamers to check out their legacy games, files, and in-game performance. That's coming to an end soon.
Bungie recently confirmed the old-school Halo tracking site will go offline on February 9, 2021. All the stats and content will be permanently lost to the ether.
Continue reading: Bungie says goodbye to Halo forever by closing this piece of history (full post)
Samsung Galaxy Book Flex2: packs 11th Gen Intel CPU and 5G into laptop
Samsung has unveiled its new Galaxy Book Flex2 5G which packs Intel's new 11th Gen Core CPUs -- either in Core i5 or Core i7 processor form -- 5G connectivity, and so much more. Check out the video on it from Samsung:
Inside of Samsung's new Galaxy Book Flex2 5G and its 11th Gen Core CPU we have 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of SSD storage, joined by Intel Xe graphics and a 13.3-inch convertible 1080p WLED touch display. Samsung has also got 5G connectivity, as well as Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 technologies.
This is Samsung's first laptop with a "world-facing" camera with a 13-megapixel camera on the keyboard desk, but it can be flipped and folded over to use it. Samsung ships the new Galaxy Book Flex2 5G on February 12 for $2260 for the Core i5 model or $2530 for the Core i7 model.
Continue reading: Samsung Galaxy Book Flex2: packs 11th Gen Intel CPU and 5G into laptop (full post)
Activision likely to beat $7.6 billion outlook on Call of Duty success
Activision-Blizzard expects to make a historic $7.765 billion in 2020, driven by spending surges in its biggest games. Analyst numbers indicate could actually beat this estimate.
As of September 30, 2020, Activision-Blizzard forecasts $7.675 billion in net revenues for the 2020 calendar year, up a whopping $175 million from 2018's all-time highs. The company's Q4 performance might skyrocket it past these internal estimates.
While Activision-Blizzard's Q3'20 was no slouch (it hit a 10-year operating profit high, Activision segment earnings were up 270% to $773 million thanks to Warzone), Q4'20 could be a real home run. According to the NPD Group, two Call of Duty games dominated 2020's sales revenues charts: Black Ops Cold War and Modern Warfare were the best-earning games in the U.S. in 2020.
Continue reading: Activision likely to beat $7.6 billion outlook on Call of Duty success (full post)
Russian crypto company sets up Bitcoin mining farm in the Arctic
If Kim Dotcom is to believed, Bitcoin will replace the USD as the world's reserve currency by 2030 -- so mining Bitcoin right now in a super-cold location with cheap power is a really, really good idea... and that's exactly what Russian crypto firm BitCluster is doing right now:
The company has built a new Bitcoin mining farm in the extreme cold environment of the Arctic Circle in the Siberian city of Norilsk. The city is a place that is called home to 180,000 people and has an insane 9-month-long winter which is why BitCluster built the Bitcoin mining farm there.
Norilsk will see temperatures plunge to -40C which is a big reason why BitCluster opened up the Bitcoin mining farm in the Arctic Circle, alongside power costs being considerably cheaper. The economy of Norilsk has been driven by nickel mining for many years but that might change as the city is powered by an independent power grid that is 25% cheaper than the rest of Russia -- so we should expect more mining firms to follow in the steps of BitCluster.
Continue reading: Russian crypto company sets up Bitcoin mining farm in the Arctic (full post)
Canon makes you feel like a spy satellite with its new website
Canon launched its own CE-SAT-1 satellite into space, packing onto it a modified Canon 5D Mark III DSLR camera on it, and is now letting people take photos with it.
The company has opened up an interactive website where you can take control of its CE-SAT-1 satellite and snap simulated photos of locations like New York City for example. The website will let you snap photos of multiple places, showing you the location and altitude of the image.
It will use pre-captured imagery, which means you aren't actually taking live photos from space -- so I don't really get what Canon is trying to show us here. Canon is, I guess, trying to illustrate to us what the satellite can do and what time of image quality it is capable of capturing.
Continue reading: Canon makes you feel like a spy satellite with its new website (full post)
NVIDIA is thinking about making Ampere GPUs for crypto mining?!
Uh, so it looks like NVIDIA is considering making crypto mining specific Ampere graphics cards, that wouldn't have any display outputs, where NVIDIA -- in this climate, where GAMERS can't find their Ampere graphics cards to buy -- to make cards for crypto miners, specifically.
The news is coming from Colette Kress, chief financial officer at NVIDIA said at the 19th Annual J.P. Morgan Tech/Auto Forum Conference: "If crypto demand begins or if we see a meaningful amount, we can also use that opportunity to restart the CMP [mining-specific GPUs] product line to address ongoing mining demand".
Kress added: "We don't have visibility on how much of the GeForce RTX 30-series end demand comes from mining. So, we don't believe it's a big part of our business today. Gaming demand is very strong, and we think that's larger than our current supply".
Continue reading: NVIDIA is thinking about making Ampere GPUs for crypto mining?! (full post)
U.S. gamers spent a record $56.9 billion on gaming in 2020
NPD Group publishes its December and full-year 2020 sales, showing record growth in U.S. games industry earnings.
U.S. gamers spent a record $56.9 billion on games, hardware, and accessories in 2020, up 27% over 2019, NPD Group analyst Mat Piscatella reports.
Hardware was up 35% over 2019 and generated $5.3 billion, the "most since $5.6 billion was reached in 2011," Piscatella notes. The Switch absolutely dominated the competition in 2020 as the best-selling hardware in 2020. In fact, the Switch's 2020 annual dollar revenues were the second-highest in the history of U.S. hardware sales.
Continue reading: U.S. gamers spent a record $56.9 billion on gaming in 2020 (full post)
Apple's foldable iPhone: Ceramic Shield glass bends, but doesn't break
We all know Apple will have a foldable iPhone in the future, but when it does it can't be just yet another foldable smartphone -- it has to make an impact, something that every single person stands up and takes a look at.
Well, one of those things could be the use of "chemically strengthened Ceramic Shield folding glass" for their foldable iPhone according to Jon Presser on YouTube -- at about 10 minutes into the video. According to Presser, Apple is working on two foldable iPhone prototypes right now, and they're reportedly using this new folding glass technology.
Apple's first of two foldable iPhone prototypes is reportedly similar to Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 2, while the other foldable iPhone prototype is a Galaxy Z Flip-style clamshell design. Where Apple will do it differently, is with a Reality Distortion Field that will power the new "chemically strengthened Ceramic Shield folding glass" for a technologically impressive foldable iPhone.
Continue reading: Apple's foldable iPhone: Ceramic Shield glass bends, but doesn't break (full post)
CDPR's risky gambit paid off: Cyberpunk 2077 was #2 in U.S. sales
Despite massive controversy, Cyberpunk 2077 took the #2 spot in U.S. game sales earnings charts.
CD Projekt RED made a very risky move with Cyberpunk 2077, and it seems to have paid off in the short-term. Cyberpunk 2077 is a mess on PS4 and Xbox One, but no one knew that until after they bought and played the game. CDP even bragged about the game's sales at launch, boasting it was already profitable before it even released. Instead of delaying CP2077 or telling consumers, CD Projekt let everyone find out for themselves (although CDP says the glitches didn't show up in their playtests).
While this move backfired in the long-term and has led to multiple class-action lawsuits and even investigations from the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, CD Projekt has reaped big dollar sales in the United States. According to analyst firm the NPD Group, Cyberpunk 2077 was the number 2 best-selling game of December 2020 in terms of dollar sales revenues. Those figures only include physical copies, most of which were likely PS4 and Xbox One versions. Digital sales weren't tracked.
Continue reading: CDPR's risky gambit paid off: Cyberpunk 2077 was #2 in U.S. sales (full post)
CD Projekt now getting sued by THIRTEEN law firms for Cyberpunk 2077
A multitude of U.S.-based law firms have filed class action lawsuits against CD Projekt Group S.A. that allege possible securities fraud.
CD Projekt's apology video and Cyberpunk 2077 update roadmap may not be enough to dissuade angry investors. A multitude of law firms are coming out of the woodwork and giving spurned CD Projekt investors and opportunity to sue the company for incurring material losses from the Cyberpunk 2077 controversy. Following the big bruhaha surrounding the game's performance on last-gen consoles, CDP shares dropped by over 30% and have yet to recover. The lawsuits allege that CD Projekt willfully hid and/or neglected to inform investors and consumers about the state of the game (which, by CD Projekt's own admission, is partially true).
According to our searches, CD Projekt is now being sued by thirteen U.S.-based law firms, per Yahoo Finance:
Continue reading: CD Projekt now getting sued by THIRTEEN law firms for Cyberpunk 2077 (full post)






















