Latest News - Page 1618

NVIDIA launched its next generation Ampere GPU architecture during its online GTC 2020 keynote, with company founder and CEO Jensen Huang delivering the GPU Technology Conference 2020 keynote from his house.

The first GPU on the Ampere architecture announced was the new A100, which you can read all about right here -- as well as the new DGX A100 supercomputer, which you can read about here. The new DGX A100 supercomputer is an absolutely beast, rolling out as a third-generation AI supercomputer from NVIDIA super-charged by the Ampere GPU architecture and ridiculously fast A100 GPU.

NVIDIA's new DGX A100 supercomputer is now helping the fight against COVID-19, with Rick Stevens, associate laboratory director for Computing, Environment and Life Sciences at Argonne, explaining: "We're using America's most powerful supercomputers in the fight against COVID-19, running AI models and simulations on the latest technology available, like the NVIDIA DGX A100".

Alienware has just unveiled its newly-upgraded Area-51m R2 gaming laptop, which packs some seriously fast desktop-class components.

The new Alienware Area-51m R2 packs an Intel Core i9-10900K which means you have a super-fast 10C/20T processor, at up to a huge 5.3GHz. GPU wise you're looked after, with Alienware tapping NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER graphics with 8GB of GDDR6 memory.

Alienware has really stepped up with the new Area-51m R2 gaming laptop, as it has a bunch of user-replaceable parts. This includes the CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, thermal cooling components, and more. It's not perfect though, but it's nice to see that you can make changes to core components like the CPU and GPU post-purchase.

It looks like the United States just made one of the largest changes in recent years, with the Trump administration paving the way for the future of chip production on American soil.

It first started in 2017 days before Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States, where I wrote a story that he was pushing both TSMC and Foxconn at the time to consider manufacturing their chips in the US.

Fast forward to 2020 and just days ago the White House was talking with Intel and TSMC to get plants built in the US -- on top of that, throw in the coronavirus pandemic and the tentacle of issues it throws out into the world. Having the world's bleeding edge chips being made in Taiwan which has possible issues with China to face in the coming years, as well as China and global relations post-COVID-19, and we have some glaring issues in worldwide supply of chips that go into virtually all products.

Today Sucker Punch showcased the first Ghost of Tsushima footage, exploring a deeply cinematic samurai epic that would've made Akira Kurosawa proud.

Akira Kurosawa's samurai films typically spin tales about scarred and psychologically-damaged heroes who take on impossible odds. Some, like Zatoichi, simply aim to roam, but their deadly skills always attract chaos. Others, like the Seven Samurai, must stand against hordes of bandits. There's always a sense of dire seriousness to the films, a kind of bold valor that permeates throughout. Ghost of Tsushima replicates that feeling, but also plays with the duality of man: The shadow who cares only for killing by any means possible, and the noble hero who stands and fights with pride. In Ghost of Tsushima, you can become the shadow that roams the night or a walking fortress of honor.

To me, this is the most interesting thing about Ghost of Tsushima, this duality. The world pays attention to your choices and your deeds and reacts accordingly. The game is centered around building the legend of Jin Sakai. How you build that legend is up to you.

Ubisoft's transition towards a more digital live games market has utterly transformed its business, from game sales to yearly earnings. In the past 7 years, nearly all of Ubisoft's biggest AAA games have sold over 10 million copies apiece.

Today Ubisoft reported its FY2020 earnings and revealed a surprising metric: 11 games released across the PS4 and Xbox One generation have sold 10 million copies each. Having even three or four games hit 10 million is an amazing accomplishment, but an entire fleet of them is absolutely huge. The range of top-selling games is diverse across Ubi's entire portfolio and isn't just dominated by Assassin's Creed--The Division, Watch Dogs, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six also show up.

"During the prior generation, only the Assassin's Creed franchise and Far Cry 3 reached these levels. This shows how far we've come in deepening and strengthening our portfolio franchises over the past 7 years," Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said during today's conference call.

Today Nintendo announced Paper Mario: The Origami King, a new game in the series that has a bunch of fresh innovations.

Paper Mario is back on the Nintendo Switch, complete with a new art style that merges 3D polygonal worlds with Mario's 2D sticker shape and even 3D origami. The game has some nifty little advancements and mechanics like Mario's "thousand-fold" arms, which let gamers use the Switch JoyCon motion controls to accordion out his arms and grab objects to solve puzzles. You can even peel the actual world like a sticker to reveal secrets.

There's also a new turn-based battle system in a series of dartboard-like concentric rings that blends strategy with reaction skills. The idea is that you strike enemies when they're lined up in rows on the rings for maximum damage.

Sony has announced two new intelligent vision sensors, which it says are the first image sensors in the world equipped with AI processing functionality. That AI processing functionality is on the image sensor itself, enabling high-speed edge AI processing and extraction of only the necessary data when using cloud services. That sort of extraction reduces data transmission latency and minimize privacy concerns while reducing power consumption and communication costs. Sony says that the new products will expand opportunities to develop AI-equipped cameras in both retail and industrial equipment industries.

The sensors include the IMX500 1/2.3-type (7.857 mm diagonal), with approximately 12.3 effective megapixels, and the IMX501 1/2.3-type (7.857 mm diagonal) with approximately 12.3 effective megapixels. Sony began shipping samples of the IMX500 in April and will begin shipping the IMX501 in June.

Sony's new sensor products use a stack configuration consisting of a pixel chip and a logic chip. The product are the world's first image sensors to be equipped with an AI image analysis and processing functionality on the logic chip. The signal required by the pixel chip is processed via an AI on the sensor, which eliminates the need for high-performance processors or external memory.

Sony's PlayStation 4 lifetime sales now beat 110.4 million, edging closer to the PlayStation 2's long-reigning 155 million. Current trends show the console is unlikely to dethrone the 2000's era best-seller.

Sony's latest FY19 earnings confirm the PS4 has sold-in (shipped) a gigantic 110.4 million consoles since launch in 2013. The financials show a clear decline in total hardware adoption as gamers hold off for the next-gen PlayStation. There's quite a bit of insight to glean here, but the more obvious point is the PS4 probably won't outsell the PlayStation 2 in its lifespan.

Sony sold 13.6 million PS4s in the FY'19 period, down a substantial 23.5% year-over-year. Sony originally expected to sell 15 million consoles in the period, and missed this target by 1.6 million unit sales.Hardware earnings plummeted by 30% year-over-year due to the loss of a big 2018 launch game (likely RDR2). Weighted by this hardware slump, total gaming sales dropped 14% to $18.19 billion.

Facebook is rolling out a new future for both the main Facebook website and Messenger in the United States. The new feature is digital avatars that are sort of like bitmoji. Similar services are offered on both Snapchat and Apple devices via Memoji stickers.

Facebook's digital avatars are intended to allow users to share feelings and interact with friends in comments on Messenger and Stories. The avatars are usable in text posts with backgrounds too. The user's Facebook gaming profile can also use the avatar. Facebook introduced the avatars in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Ireland last year. They expanded to Europe and Canada this year and are now coming to the United States.

The digital avatars are entirely customizable, including customization for skin tone and complexion to facial features and hairstyles. Users can choose the outfits their digital avatars wear and the accessories to allow complete personalization. Facebook has said that it spent time building the feature to ensure that the avatars were able to represent the diversity of its billions of users.

Ubisoft's earnings slip nearly across the board in FY2020, but microtransaction revenues are up almost 10% year-over-year.

Today Ubisoft announced its FY20 earnings, sending two signals: The company's current strengths and weaknesses, and massive sales are on the horizon for this fiscal year thanks to 5 new AAA games. Net sales revenues dropped double-digit pp's to $1.446 billion, attributed to sales under-performance of key new games like Ghost Recon: Breakpoint. Net bookings were also down nearly 25% YoY to $1.391 billion for similar reasons.

Q4 saw a massive rebound for live games. Assassin's Creed Odyssey sales and microtransaction earnings skyrocketed, and gamers responded incredibly well to the new Breakpoint and Division 2 updates, both of which spiked engagement. Ubisoft's total MAUs tripled in January and hit record highs in February and March. Rainbow Six likewise saw a 15% rise in player recurring investment in the year.

Dell launched a pair of new gaming notebooks called the G3 15 and G5 15 that are aimed at gamers looking for performance on the go. The G3 15 uses 10th generation Intel Core i5-10300H or Core i7-10750H processors. The base GPU in the laptop is an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 with 4 GB of GDDR6. Two versions of the GTX 1650 Ti are offered that only vary in the amount of memory they have, with one offering 4 GB and the other offering 6 GB.

The top-of-the-line GPU is an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB video card. Several display options are available, all boasting HD 1920 x 1080 resolution in the top-of-the-line version boasting a 144 Hz refresh rate. Memory configurations range from 8 to 16 GB, and storage is up to 1 TB of PCIe M.2 SSD, and dual storage options are available that in another SSD or 1 TB 5400 RPM hard drive. Dell is offering the machine in black or white colors with up to a 68 Wh battery.

Dell's G5 15 has the same GPU options but adds in an available GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q Design GPU with 8 GB of RAM. On the display front, the full HD 144 Hz screen is a mid-range option with an available full HD 300 Hz screen. Storage options include SSDs and dual storage options, including a second 512 GB SSD or 1 TB hard drive.

Anyone who's ever read a Superman comic book has wanted some of Superman's powers. The ability to fly and super strength are probably the most common desires, but x-ray vision that can see through anything but lead would be pretty cool. While you will never get Superman powers, if you purchase a OnePlus 8 Pro, there is a special camera feature that few people know about that has an x-ray vision of sorts.

The OnePlus 8 Pro's 5-megapixel rear color filter camera can see through certain kinds of plastic. If users activate the Photochrom mode in the camera app, the camera can be aimed at a keyboard or other electronic device, and it's able to see through the plastic to the electronics inside.

The special feature won't work on any devices that have IR shielding, including things like set-top boxes or remote controls. It also won't work on clothing, so no one has to worry about the creep in the cubicle next door peeping on them. The secret feature came to the surface in a tweet from Ben Geskin, which can be seen below.

What if the PlayStation 5's DualSense controller actually had a built-in LCD screen? What if it transformed like Optimus Prime? One modder answers that question.

Renowned 3D artist Iskander Utebayev, who's known for crazy iPhone concepts, just made a mind-blowing PS5 controller concept befit for the futuristic year 2020. The custom DualSense is basically a miniature Switch-like hybrid that has a full-color LCD touchscreen panel housed in the center that mirrors the PS5's main output screen.

The rumors were 100% true. Gaming's second best-selling title of all time Grand Theft Auto V is the next free game on the Epic Store.

Epic is about to get a ton more account signups. GTA V is now totally free on the Epic Store, allowing anyone with a PC to access this generation's best-selling game. Everyone's trying to download it right now, crashing the Epic Store. Which is something they should've expected. The game will be available for free on the Epic Games Store until May 21.

This is a massively strategic move for Take-Two Interactive, and it's mostly predicated on one thing: Bringing more players into the digital GTA Online economy. GTA Online is a revenue monster that's generated over $1 billion in monetization earnings four years after launch, and last year alone the game raked in over $500 million from microtransactions and game sales.

Ubisoft once again teases a new Far Cry game could be a part of its huge FY2021 release slate, accompanying big games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Watch Dogs Legion. But COVID-19 may force a delay to next year.

Today Ubisoft announced its full FY2020 earnings, and outlined the future of its games. The company still plans a massive slate of titles to release from now until March 31, 2021. Some games, like Assassin's Creed Valhalla, are set in stone to launch alongside next-gen consoles. Other games could be delayed to the next fiscal year due to COVID-19 complications.

In the earnings brief, Ubisoft says it'll reveal another major AAA game from its "biggest franchises," and reports say this is a new Far Cry title. But it's not 100% certain that the new Far Cry will meet its FY2021 target.

Amazon has announced the launch of new versions of the Fire HD 8 tablets that are aimed at the entire family. The new range includes the all-new Fire HD 8, Fire HD 8 Plus, and the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition. The Fire HD 8 features an eight-inch HD display, 30% faster performance with 2 GB of RAM, and twice the storage space expandable up to 1 TB with a microSD card.

Amazon promises up to 12 hours of battery life per charge and easier charging using a USB-C port. The tablet also offers access to millions of movies, TV shows, songs, e-books, magazines, games, educational apps, and entertainment apps. The new Fire HD 8 retails for $89.99. The Fire HD 8 Plus has the same eight-inch display with the addition of 3 GB of RAM and wireless charging support.

The wireless charger does not come with the tablet, but it does include a 9W in-box USB-C charger for faster charging. For a limited time, the tablet also comes with six months of Kindle Unlimited for $109.99. The last of the new tablets is the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition. Huawei launched a new tablet recently for those wanting a bigger screen and more traditional Android experience.

Rumors have been flying concerning the coming Samsung Galaxy Note 20 smartphone. The latest rumor has surfaced via the YouTube channel called Greggles TV from an interview with the CEO of Display Chain Consultants, Ross Young. Young has been the source of numerous rumors focusing on the Note 20 over the last several weeks.

According to Young, the Galaxy Note 20 and its larger sibling the Note 20 Plus will be the first devices to use the second-generation Qualcomm 3D Sonic Max fingerprint reader. The fingerprint reader is an ultrasonic unit first introduced last December with the ability to read two fingerprints at the same time thanks to its large area. The larger read area is expected to bring significant improvements compared to the first generation sensor used in the Galaxy S10 and Note 10 smartphones.

Young also claims that the Note 20 devices will have the same selfie camera position as the Note 10. That means users can expect a hole-punch display. The leaker claims that the Note 20 will have a 6.42-inch display with the Note 20 Plus getting a 6.87-inch screen. Other tidbits tossed out in the latest rumor series includes up to 16 GB of RAM and batteries of 4000 mAh to 5000 mAh.

One of the most anticipated accessories that Apple has launched in recent memory was the iPad Magic Keyboard, aimed at both versions of the iPad Pro. Early on, the iPad Magic Keyboard earned praise for a responsive multi-touch trackpad, backlit keyboard, and its fancy counterbalancing magnetic stand. After using the Magic Keyboard for a while, some iPad Pro users are complaining about significant issues.

The latest round of complaints comes from iPad Pro users who say that battery life has become an issue when using the iPad Magic Keyboard. According to some of the users, the battery life of the iPad drops quickly when the keyboard backlight is enabled. Some are claiming that the battery drain issue arises even if the iPad is idle and not in use.

The Magic Keyboard has no battery of its own and uses the Smart Connector on the iPad to get the power it needs to operate. Unsurprisingly, Apple doesn't offer any indication of battery life impact that could be expected when using the Magic Keyboard. That means users have no idea what normal behavior is for the device.

NVIDIA has just made its new Ampere GPU architecture official, unveiling the first Ampere-based GPU in the A100 GPU. You can read more about that here, but alongside the NVIDIA A100 GPU is the new DGX A100 system.

NVIDIA's new DGX A100 3rd Generation integrated AI system packs a huge amount of computing power, centered around 8 x NVIDIA A100 GPUs, as well as 2 x 64-core/128-thread AMD Rome CPUs with 1TB of RAM. There's a huge 15TB of PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs for kick ass storage, and 9 x Mellanox ConnectX-6 VPI for 200Gb/s over the network.

The new DGX A100 is built for data science and AI, with up to 5 PFLOPs of peak FP16 performance, and up to 2.5 TFLOPs of TF32 performance, right up to 156 TFLOPs with FP64 performance.

GTC 2020 NVIDIA has officially unveiled its first GPU based on the Ampere GPU architecture, the new NVIDIA A100, which the company has in full production and is already shipping to customers worldwide.

NVIDIA's new A100 GPU packs an absolutely insane 54 billion transistors (that's 54,000,000,000), 3rd Gen Tensor Cores, 3rd Gen NVLink and NVSwitch, and much more. The GPU itself measures 826mm2 (!!!) on TSMC's 7nm node, as well as packing a huge 40GB of HBM2 memory from Samsung, and up to 600GB/sec bandwidth through NVLink.

The new A100 is being compared against the V100, which is based on the Volta GPU architecture. NVIDIA's current-gen Tesla V100 comes with 16GB and 32GB HBM2 options, while the V100 was built on the 12nm node at TSMC it packs just 21 billion transistors in comparison.