Latest News - Page 1634

Today marks launch day for the all-new and highly anticipated iPhone SE. Those needing a new smartphone have been holding out for something that wouldn't break the bank will want to check out a deal that Visible has going right now. At Visible, the normal price for the 64 GB Apple iPhone SE 2020 is $384. Currently, some versions of the device appear to be sold out, which is not uncommon on launch day for an Apple device.

If you purchase the base version, it's currently available in white or red colors, and the $384 purchase price represents a slight $16 discount off the MSRP. The big savings comes in that when you purchase the phone and port number to Visible; you also get a $200 prepaid MasterCard. The prepaid card brings the total purchase price of the phone down to $184, which is a smoking deal.

If you want more storage, the $200 prepaid MasterCard deal is good on the 128 GB and 256 GB smartphones as well. The catch is that the 128 GB model is sold out. However, the 256 GB version is available in white or red for $528. That means you can get the biggest 256 GB version for a bit less than the regular MSRP for the 64 GB smartphone after the card.

A report has surfaced that claims Amazon tech workers are calling in sick in protest of the company's treatment of workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the protesters are taking the social distancing and rules concerning how many people can gather once seriously, they are hosting a series of live-streamed speakers virtually rather than a physical rally, a sort of virtual walkout. The protest is reportedly a response to Amazon allegedly firing six workers in recent weeks who have called for improved safety precautions during the coronavirus pandemic.

Among those allegedly terminated for calling for improved safety precautions were two long-time user experience designers with the company. Both of the terminated workers are said to have been prominent members of the Amazon Employees for Climate Justice and had publicly voiced support for improved warehouse conditions. The two workers are called Maren Costa and Emily Cunningham.

Both of those women were allegedly fired shortly after a colleague sent an email inviting employees to an online event that featured warehouse workers speaking about their experience. Over 1500 Amazon employees had registered to attend the event, which is said to have been deleted from calendars along with the email. Costa says that she was fired for violating the company's non-solicitation policy during a short video call with an HR representative.

So, NVIDIA is making something on a fresh new 5nm node -- ordering TSMC to make it for the GeForce giant.

Digitimes is reporting from its "industry sources" that NVIDIA is tapping TSMC's fresh new 5nm process node -- and it won't be for NVIDIA's next-gen Ampere GPU architecture or the GeForce RTX 3080 and GeForce RTX 3070 graphics cards.

There is absolutely nothing else to this news other than Digitimes reporting that its sourcesh ave told them, that NVIDIA is making something new and mysterious on TSMC's new 5nm process node. It could be something for the Tegra side of things, or here's a wild rumor -- so prepare your salt shakers peeps -- the Nintendo Switch 2 SoC. Just throwing that out there.

Intel has just gone to the oven to check on its new Ponte Vecchio GPU, with 'momomo_us' spotting the Ponte Vecchio Xe graphics card has turned up in add-in card (AIC) form.

The news is coming from a new listing with the Eurasian Economic Commission, with the Intel Ponte Vecchio graphics card turning up in 3 different forms alongside a normal AIC form factor card. As for what to expect from Intel and its Ponte Vecchio graphics cards, is that the company designed them for exascale computing.

Intel will see its new Ponte Vecchio graphics cards making their big debut inside of the Aurora Supercomputer at Argonne National Laboratory next year in 2021. The first wave of Ponte Vecchio will be on the 7nm node, with Intel using 6 of them with HBM, 2 x Sapphire Rapids CPUs in each node, as the exciting new Xe Link fabric that binds them to a central Rambo Cache.

NVIDIA and AMD are both ramping up into the world of 7nm GPUs with the companies buying up the spare capacity of 7nm at TSMC for next-gen GPUs and graphics cards.

Digitimes is reporting that a "ramp-up in short lead-time orders placed by AMD and NVIDIA will allow TSMC to post relatively strong results compared to other foundries in the first half of 2020, according to industry sources". Yes my fellow nerds and gamers, NVIDIA and AMD are ramping up for next-gen graphics cards.

NVIDIA is expected to unleash its new Ampere-based GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card later this year, where a recently-delayed Computex 2020 in September would make sense for Ampere's big reveal for next-gen GeForce.

Tech titan Intel reports strong Q1 results thanks to growth in all segments from data center to PC gaming.

Today Intel announced its Q1'2020 results for the period ending March 31, 2020, and they're quite good. The chip-maker earned $19.8 billion in total net revenues across all segments, up 23% year-over-year, driven by strong adoption of its new Xeon processors in the Data Center Group segment. Operating income, or revenues generated from operations, was up a staggering 69% YoY to $7 billion, and total profits for the quarter jumped by a whopping 42% from last year to $5.7 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) was up a tremendous 51% to $1.31 in the quarter.

Intel's important segments rose quite a bit during Q1. The PC gaming Client Computing Group, which makes the lion's share of Intel's earnings, jumped by a healthy 14% to $9.8 billion thanks to hardware purchases and the release of Intel's latest 10th-gen H-series chips in newer gaming notebooks.

Sony's latest heat sink patent just went public, and it could hint at the PlayStation 5's powerful cooling solution's capabilities.

The latest heat sink patent from Sony outlines a solution that's noticably different than the PS4's current design, and could lay out part of the PlayStation 5's cooling system. The patent describes a heat sink with internal conduction paths that allows heat to pass directly from the SoC to the dissipation system. This will ensure optimum cooling without dramatically transforming the console's shape.

The other half of the heat sink design is similar to the Xbox One X. The heat sink has conductors that pass through holes on the PCB and connect to another thermal solution on the other

Ford has a very cool, one-of-a-kind drag racing car that needs nothing but electricity to make it down the dragstrip. The vehicle is called the Mustang Cobra Jet 1400 and is the first factory fully electric dragster from Ford. The automaker says that the Mustang Cobra Jet 1400 is capable of running the quarter-mile in the low 8-second range at over 170 mph.

The electric motors used in the drag racing car deliver over 1400 horsepower and 1100 pound-feet of torque. "Ford has always used motorsport to demonstrate innovation," said Dave Pericak, Global Director, Ford Icons. "Electric powertrains give us a completely new kind of performance and the all-electric Cobra Jet 1400 is one example of pushing new technology to the absolute limit. We're excited to showcase what's possible in an exciting year when we also have the all-electric Mustang Mach-E joining the Mustang family."

Ford sees the Cobra Jet 1400 project as an opportunity to begin the development of electric powertrains in a racecar package. Ford already has lots of experience with that racing car package, it produces Cobra Jet race cars with supercharged V-8's for drag racing and has for several years.

Red Dead Redemption 2's arrival on Xbox Game Pass next month is a strategic move from Rockstar Games.

Microsoft just announced 2018's blockbuster hit Red Dead Redemption 2 is coming to Xbox Game Pass on console on May 7. The service gives you instant and unlimited access to a pool of more than 100 games for $10 a month, but RDR2's arrival comes with a huge $1 trial promo for Game Pass Ultimate (Game Pass + Xbox LIVE Gold). This is a big tactical move from Rockstar.

The idea here is simple. Rockstar is using the Game Pass Effect to do two things: Sell more copies of RDR2, and hopefully boost Red Dead Online's numbers and microtransaction spending.

Reports have surfaced indicating that Apple has a serious flaw in the Mail app that's on numerous iPhone and iPad devices. The bug was discovered by a security firm called ZecOps while investigating a sophisticated cyberattack against a client that took place in late 2019. During the investigation, ZecOps CEO Zuk Avraham said that he found evidence the vulnerability was exploited in at least six cybersecurity attacks. Apple has now acknowledged the vulnerability exists in software for email on both iPhone and iPad models.

An Apple spokesperson says that the company is working on a fix that will be rolled out in an update for the millions of devices sold globally. The research into the flaw was published this week, and Apple has made no comment so far. Avraham says the software was taking advantage of the flaw in iOS as far back as January 2018. The researcher claims to have been unable to determine who the hackers were.

The hack required victims to be sent what appeared to be a blank email through the Mail app that forced it to crash and reset. The crashed app opened the door for hackers to steal other data on the device like photos and contact details. The security firm claims that the vulnerability would allow the hackers to steal data from the iPhone device even if the iPhone is running recent versions of iOS.

There's evidence that coronavirus may have been in the United States much earlier than thought. A man who attended the annual CES convention in Las Vegas in January has just learned that he was infected with coronavirus at the time. The attendee was Michael Webber, a 49-year-old who divides time between Texas and France. He learned this week that he had been infected with the virus and recovered.

A confirmed infected CES attendee should give pause to the 170,000 people who attended the annual technology conference between January 7th and the 10th in Las Vegas. The four-day event is huge in the technology realm and attracts people from all around the world. Coronavirus could've incubated during CES and spread globally when attendees went home. That is still conjecture at this time, but Webber's disclosure that he had coronavirus while attending the annual conference is the first direct confirmation that the virus was likely circulating at the show.

Officials are beginning to see that the virus may have been spreading around the world before previously believed. Health officials in Northern California recently confirmed a coronavirus death that happened in early February. For that person to have died in February, they're believed to have likely contracted the disease in January. Health officials in the area are still investigating and expect additional confirmed cases in the Santa Clara County area.

One of the things people forced to work from home don't like is having coworkers see their home in the background. Few are keen to be judged on their housekeeping capabilities or decor. One of the features that have made Zoom so popular is that it can add custom backgrounds to block out what's behind you.

Those who prefer Skype will be glad to hear that Skype has rolled out a new version of the app for Mac, Windows, Linux, and the web that add support for custom backgrounds. The support that was previously available to blur the background during a video call remains. Skype says in its description for the new feature that users can look like they're anywhere, including calling from the beach or space.

To customize the background for Skype while in a call, Microsoft says landscape images work best, and the image has to be locally saved on the computer. The first step is hovering over the video button or clicking the more menu during a call. Next up is clicking the choose background effect button. After that button is clicked, users can blur the room they're in, or choose an image previously added for the new custom image to change the background effect.

Lenovo has a new laptop computer that's available in the US and UK called the Lenovo IdeaPad 5. The machine is a budget laptop that features AMD hardware inside and sells in the US for $690. The device has a 15-inch screen with 1080p resolution, but there are a pair of other screen options available. Those who are particularly privacy concerned will like the integrated webcam privacy shutter.

Buyers can opt for an optional fingerprint sensor, and the battery is good for up to 15 hours of use per charge and features quick charge technology. The operating system is Windows 10 Home, and the processor offered is up to an AMD Ryzen 7 4800U. Graphics are integrated, and the notebook can have up to 16 GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage.

Wireless connectivity options include Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1. Ports include a pair of USB-A 3.1, a single USB-C, HDMI output, and a memory card reader. The battery is good for up to 15 hours of runtime for use with Quick Charge able to charge the battery completely in three hours and 15 minutes.

Samsung's folding smartphone called the Galaxy Z Flip has a new killer app in the form of YouTube optimization specifically to take advantage of the smartphone's unique form factor. Samsung says that the development came out of a long and fruitful relationship between the two companies. YouTube has optimized its app to work with the Galaxy Z Flip to provide users of that smartphone with some unique ways to watch video.

The YouTube app update allows Galaxy Z Flip users to flip the top section of the screen up vertically and then place the smartphone on a table leaving the controls on the flat section of the smartphone. Essentially the app splits the device into a pair of four-inch screens. Users can watch videos on the upper half the screen while doing things like searching for videos on the bottom half, reading descriptions, writing comments, and other tasks.

The Flex mode-optimized YouTube app also adjusts itself to the screen no matter the aspect ratio of the video being watched. The app will change how the video is played the top half of the screen with square and vertical videos nearly filling the entire space. 16:9 aspect ratio videos will adjust to the center. Samsung says that it is working closely with the Android developer community to drive innovation for foldable devices. Samsung and Google engineers integrated the Android Support Library to make it easier to bring Flex mode to more third-party services.

Guerrilla Games is ramping up its development teams to prepare for new projects, which could include a next-gen Horizon Zero Dawn sequel on PlayStation 5.

Right now Sony's first-party studio Guerrilla Games is hiring 24 developers across a myriad of disciplines including cinematics, AI, 3D art, animation, and programming. A huge portion of these positions were put up recently. From last month until now, Guerrilla added 16 new job listings to its board. Some of these are higher-level positions like the Senior Graphics Programmer or the Lead Game Designer.

So what's Guerrilla working on?

One of the services has been heavily used during the coronavirus outbreak as more people work from home, and schools teach remotely, is Google Meet. Google has announced an update to the service that allows Google Meet to see 16 participants at once using a tiled layout. Google says that being able to see more people at the same time can help improve the dynamics of larger group meetings and classes.

Being able to see 16 faces on the screen at once allows the user to see reactions to what's being discussed or more easily track multiple speakers, according to Google. The update can also help meetings conducted remotely feel more like in-person meetings and encourage participation. Google has designed the layout to adjust to show the active speaker.

For those participating in a meeting that has more than 16 people, an option to open the list of participants to see who else is in the meeting has been added. Google took the opportunity to remind that all G Suite customers can host meetings with up to 250 participants at no additional cost through September 30, 2020. That feature is currently only available on Meet on the web.

What's in a name? A whole lot, especially when there's a logo attached.

Microsoft just filed what looks to be the final trademark for the Xbox Series X's logo design, and it reminds me of a construction zone sign from a faraway alien world. The filing was submitted April 20, but it hasn't yet been examined or approved.

This design marks the second major logo for the Xbox Series X. The first one was shown during the Xbox Series X reveal in December 2019. Technically the console's name consists of two trademarks: this new submission is just for "Series X" and combines up with the existing "Xbox" trademark (oddly enough, Microsoft filed a new Xbox logo in November 2019, just a month before the Xbox Series X's reveal at The Game Awards 2019).

Facebook has announced that it has rolled out its Facebook Messenger Kids messaging service to 70 additional countries. The social network says that with schools closed and people physically distancing from each other, parents are turning to technology to help keep kids connected with friends and family. Messenger Kids is a video chat messaging app that helps kids connect with friends and family in a fun and parent-controlled space.

As of today, kids in more than 70 additional countries around the world can use Messenger Kids with more countries coming soon. The full list of supported countries is available here. The Messenger Kids app is available for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and all Android devices. The app is available to download from the App Store, Amazon Appstore, and Google Play Store.

Facebook says that it has brought in advisors to ensure that Messenger Kids is a service that balances parental control with features that allow kids to learn how to connect with others responsibly online. One complaint Facebook says it's heard from parents and kids that it's hard to find friends and connect with them in the app. To help make finding friends easier, there are new options to help parents connect kids with their friends.

Fallout 76's NPCs are looting player corpses and stealing powerful weapons, and there's no way to get them back.

Fallout 76 has a great new bug that's once again misplacing players' hard-earned loot. The loot hasn't been stolen by other players, though: This time it's NPCs who are stealing it. The bug has been reported by numerous Fallout 76 Redditors and was actually captured in a YouTube video.

Here's a quick rundown: A player was using a powerful level 50 gatling plasma gun in an event, dies, and then resurrects to find the gun missing from their inventory. Turns out the NPC--Marion Copeland in this case--stole the gatling gun and can clearly be seen using the player's weapon in the video. Somehow the gun was yanked from the player's inventory and handed over to the NPC.

YouTube is getting serious in banning any and all content that goes against the recommendations of, or contradicts the World Health Organization (WHO) when it comes to coronavirus recommendations.

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki herself explained the news to CNN when she was on their segment 'Reliable Sources' with host Brian Stelter, where she said YouTube will be "removing information that is problematic". This includes "anything that is medically unsubstantiated".

Wojcicki continued: "So people saying 'take vitamin C; take turmeric, we'll cure you', those are the examples of things that would be a violation of our policy. Anything that would go against World Health Organisation recommendations would be a violation of our policy".