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Fitbit is testing if its wearables can detect atrial fibrillation

Shane McGlaun | Business, Financial & Legal | May 7, 2020 10:01 AM CDT

One of the major selling points of the latest generation of Apple Watch wearable is the ability of the device to detect irregular heartbeats. Fitbit wants it's wearables to be able to detect irregular heartbeats as well and has launched a virtual study to investigate if Fitbit devices can detect an irregular heart rhythm known as atrial fibrillation. The irregular heart rate detection feature has been in development since last October.

Fitbit is testing if its wearables can detect atrial fibrillation

The study is open individuals who are 22 years old and over in the United States and own Fitbit devices including the Ionic and Versa. Fitbit hopes to enroll hundreds of thousands of people for the study. Detecting atrial fibrillation is a big deal and a big selling point, as it is the most common form of heart rhythm irregularity.

Atrial fibrillation increases the risk of stroke and is most common among people 65 years old or older. The study launched Wednesday and is called the Fitbit Heart Study. Fitbit's devices can gather heart rate information using technology that measures blood flow rate in the user's wrist. Fitbit believes those measurements can be used to identify an irregular heart rhythm in combination with a specialized algorithm.

Continue reading: Fitbit is testing if its wearables can detect atrial fibrillation (full post)

Animal Crossing roars onto market with 11 million sales in 11 days

Derek Strickland | Gaming | May 7, 2020 5:31 AM CDT

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a sales monster, accumulating over 11 million copies sold in its first 11 days.

Animal Crossing roars onto market with 11 million sales in 11 days

Today Nintedo laid out its FY2020 earnings report and revealed just how big Animal Crossing has become. Spoiler: It's absolutely mammoth-sized. The new Animal Crossing game on Switch managed to sell 11.77 million copies from launch until Nintendo's fiscal year ended on March 31, 2020. That's 11 million in 11 days, an astronomical figure that eclipses major AAA games (for example, Final Fantasy XV has sold 8.9 million copies to date).

These figures firmly cement Animal Crossing: New Horizons in Nintendo's top 10 best-selling Switch games of all time. Fun fact: Animal Crossing outsold Splatoon 2's massive 140-week sales head start in less than two weeks.

Continue reading: Animal Crossing roars onto market with 11 million sales in 11 days (full post)

This new cyberattack steals data through your power supply

Anthony Garreffa | Hacking, Security & Privacy | May 7, 2020 12:25 AM CDT

It seems like something out of a Mission: Impossible movie, but a new hack is able to steal data from your PC through your power supply -- yeah, I just said your power supply. Check it out:

This new cyberattack steals data through your power supply

The new hack is capable of taking data from a completely air-gapped system, which is completely disconnected from the internet. This means it has no connection to the internet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or any other connection to the internet. Air-gapped systems are considered virtually impossible to siphon data from, but someone is now doing through power supplies.

Dr. Mordechai Guri from the Ben Girion University in Israel is behind the revelations, with a new hack he calls POWER-SUPPLaY. How does it work? Get this: malware is installed onto the target PC, which then reads out the system data and makes some changes to the CPU workload.

Continue reading: This new cyberattack steals data through your power supply (full post)

Disney+ benefits greatly from COVID-19, now boasts 54.5 million users

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | May 6, 2020 11:22 PM CDT

Disney+ might have only launched in November 2019, but it is quickly becoming a streaming service juggernaut -- and a rival to the unstoppable Netflix.

Disney+ benefits greatly from COVID-19, now boasts 54.5 million users

In its recent earnings report Disney announced that Disney+ had 54.5 million subscribers, with over 20 million of those added in the last couple of months -- right as people are forced to stay at home over coronavirus lockdowns and quarantines.

Disney+ is so successful it has passed its own Hulu service, and is now the streaming industry's second largest service. Netflix has a huge 183 million subscribers, but if Disney+ was at 25-30 million just a few months ago and is now passed 50 million. We could be looking at a gigantic fight in the streaming market -- which will be known as the Streaming Wars -- going into 2021 and beyond.

Continue reading: Disney+ benefits greatly from COVID-19, now boasts 54.5 million users (full post)

This ridiculously amazing ASRock Z490 motherboard costs $1100

Anthony Garreffa | Motherboards | May 6, 2020 10:45 PM CDT

ASRock has just unveiled an absolute beast of a motherboard in its flagship Z490 AQUA, with the company making just 999 units of this motherboard which means most people will want to keep it in the box -- right?!

This ridiculously amazing ASRock Z490 motherboard costs $1100

As for the board, ASRock is putting its all into the Z490 AQUA motherboard. First off we have the latest 16-phase 90A Dr.MOS and 2oz Copper PCBs which have up to 95% VRM efficiency. Why the huge beefcake VRM? Intel's new 10th Gen Core processors (check out the review kit here) and especially the flagship Core i9-10900K processor which is a 10C/20T chip at up to 5.3GHz -- and 5.4GHz in early overclocks.

ASRock is using a high-end water cooling system on its Z490 AQUA motherboard, something that will better handle the huge heat from the CPU and VRMs. It also features an OLED display that ASRock uses to display CPU voltages, temperatures, system and POST statuses, and much more.

Continue reading: This ridiculously amazing ASRock Z490 motherboard costs $1100 (full post)

Check out Intel's fancy new 10th Gen CPU review kit right here

Anthony Garreffa | Processors | May 6, 2020 10:21 PM CDT

Intel will officially launch its new 10th Gen Core CPUs on May 20 with reviews around the world (including ours here at TweakTown) -- but between now and then let's enjoy some beautiful review kit photos.

Check out Intel's fancy new 10th Gen CPU review kit right here

Some review outlets have published their unboxing articles, including the Intel 10th Gen Core Comet Lake-S review kit that packs two new processors inside: the Core i9-10900K and Core i5-10600K. The full reviews of these processors, and all Z490-based motherboards lifts on May 20.

The packaging is really nice -- but "gaming happens with Intel". Really, Intel? Gaming happens anywhere I'm gaming, not just with Intel -- could you not have thought of something so out of touch?

Continue reading: Check out Intel's fancy new 10th Gen CPU review kit right here (full post)

Intel's new Core i9-10900K already overclocked to 5.4GHz

Anthony Garreffa | Processors | May 6, 2020 9:46 PM CDT

We all know that the new Intel Core i9-10900K processor is going to kick some serious ass when it launches on May 20, but now we have some early benchmarks to share with you.

Intel's new Core i9-10900K already overclocked to 5.4GHz

The leaked benchmarks see Intel's new flagship Core i9-10900K processor overclocked to a huge 5.4GHz, with the 10-core/20-thread CPU benchmarked in Cinebench R15. The Core i9-10900K being overclocked to 5.4GHz isn't an incredible overclock by any means, as it has a max turbo clock of 5.3GHz through Thermal Velocity Boost.

Intel's new Core i9-10900K has a TDP of 125W, with the overclocked 10900K at 5.4GHz needing 1.35V. At these clocks, the Core i9-10900K scored 3002 in the multi-core run of Cinebench R15. It was installed into an ASRock Phantom Gaming 4/AX motherboard with some G.Skill DDR4-3200 RAM.

Continue reading: Intel's new Core i9-10900K already overclocked to 5.4GHz (full post)

Facebook removes Qanon pages, Where We Go One, FB Doesn't Go All

Anthony Garreffa | Internet & Websites | May 6, 2020 9:11 PM CDT

If you're into conspiracy theories or anything in the realm of Qanon then you will have already noticed that Q and Qanon content across the internet has been slowly clamped down on. The latest is Facebook.

Facebook removes Qanon pages, Where We Go One, FB Doesn't Go All

The largest social networking site in the world has removed accounted associated with Qanon, with Facebook explaining: "Our investigation linked this activity to individuals associated with the QAnon network known to spread fringe conspiracy theories. We found this activity as part of our internal investigations into suspected coordinated inauthentic behavior ahead of the 2020 election in the US".

Facebook has said that it has removed "5 Pages, 20 Facebook accounts, and 6 Groups that originated in the US and focused domestically".

Continue reading: Facebook removes Qanon pages, Where We Go One, FB Doesn't Go All (full post)

Airbus will soon sniff passengers on planes for coronavirus, bombs

Anthony Garreffa | Science, Space, & Robotics | May 6, 2020 8:45 PM CDT

Can you imagine a future where a plane sniffs and smells you to make sure you're not sick, or carrying some kind of biological hazard or a bomb? Well, get ready -- because the future is about to smack you in the face, and then probably give you a sniff down.

Airbus will soon sniff passengers on planes for coronavirus, bombs

Airbus has teamed with Koniku on developing a new air-scanning system that will -- in laymen's terms -- sniff out for viruses, bombs, and other threats. The partnership between the two companies "was originally focused on contactless and automated detection, tracking, and location of chemicals and explosives on-board aircraft and in airports".

But now with coronavirus floating around the world like a wrecking ball, the companies changed things up in order to "include the identification of biological hazards".

Continue reading: Airbus will soon sniff passengers on planes for coronavirus, bombs (full post)

NVIDIA wants to 'leap frog' AMD and 'prevent them' from getting bigger

Anthony Garreffa | Graphics Cards | May 6, 2020 8:04 PM CDT

We are hearing more and more about NVIDIA's next-gen Ampere and Hopper GPUs, with more rumors flying in the last week than the last few months. Now? We have news that NVIDIA is bursting right into 5nm with Hopper.

NVIDIA wants to 'leap frog' AMD and 'prevent them' from getting bigger

According to a new report from DigiTimes, NVIDIA has "already pre-booked TSMC's 5nm production capacity in 2021" while "also in discussion with Samsung for smaller volume orders". The reason? To "prevent AMD from getting any bigger, NVIDIA has decided to catch up, even leapfrog AMD, in adopting TSMC's 7nm and 5nm EUV nodes".

Now remember, there's no one going on the record here so take this all with a grain of salt. There are some big power moves going on, I'm sure we can all see that by now -- but this is all just so very interesting.

Continue reading: NVIDIA wants to 'leap frog' AMD and 'prevent them' from getting bigger (full post)

EA games get free next-gen upgrades on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X

Derek Strickland | Gaming | May 6, 2020 6:09 PM CDT

EA confirms it won't charge for patches that upgrade current-gen games for next-gen PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X consoles.

EA games get free next-gen upgrades on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X

The PS5 and Xbox Series X have two methods to upgrade current-gen games. The hardware will natively boost performance of current-gen games by default (the Xbox Series X can boost games to native 4K, and the PS5 boosts games so much that devs have to manually come in and ensure compatibility). Native upgrades are less potent than manual upgrades. Games can also get special enhancement patches that basically transform them into next-gen versions. We don't know the extent of these manual upgrades, but they may include ray tracing optimizations, higher frame rate perf, and ultra-fast SSD load times.

Luckily, publishers like EA won't charge for these upgrades. And nor should they. If you already own a current-gen game, you shouldn't have to re-buy the game for a newer generation. Remember PS5 and Xbox Series X are a new generation, but they support PS4 and Xbox One games. They're an evolution and an extension of current-gen.

Continue reading: EA games get free next-gen upgrades on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X (full post)

RoboCop clonks into Mortal Kombat 11 with new Aftermath expansion

Derek Strickland | Gaming | May 6, 2020 5:02 PM CDT

Today Netherealm announced Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath, a huge new expansion that expands the story and adds one of the most iconic 90s heroes of all time.

RoboCop clonks into Mortal Kombat 11 with new Aftermath expansion

The new MK11: Aftermath expansion is a pretty big deal for Mortal Kombat fans. Aftermath takes place after the events of the game's dazzling time-travelling narrative and spins a new tale as Fire God Liu Kang teams up with Shang Tsung, Sheeva, and other unlikely allies to battle it out against Kronika.

Read Also: Mortal Kombat 11 Review: Kataclysmic Khaos

Continue reading: RoboCop clonks into Mortal Kombat 11 with new Aftermath expansion (full post)

New And Improved Ring Video Doorbell 2nd Generation ships in June

Shane McGlaun | Business, Financial & Legal | May 6, 2020 4:04 PM CDT

Ring today announced that it has improved its original Ring Video Doorbell with a new version. The name is the Video Doorbell 2nd Generation and sells for $99.99. Ring says that the new doorbell has 1080p HD video along with better image quality in day and night modes.

New And Improved Ring Video Doorbell 2nd Generation ships in June

Another key feature for the second generation of the Ring Video Doorbell is updated motion zones. Ring says the new doorbell adds significantly to home security capabilities and brings the updates for the same price as the first generation device. The second generation also has enhanced audio quality.

The updated video doorbell will continue to take snapshots at intervals throughout the day. That feature is meant to allow users to review a timeline of what happened in front of the doorbell between recorded events. Adjustable motion zones now include an additional near zone that allows users to receive alerts they care about the most.

Continue reading: New And Improved Ring Video Doorbell 2nd Generation ships in June (full post)

Tinder plans to add video chatting to its popular app

Shane McGlaun | Business, Financial & Legal | May 6, 2020 3:02 PM CDT

Tinder has announced that it will make an update to its very popular dating app to help people connect during the coronavirus pandemic around the world. The update will add a video chat feature that opens the door for video dating. The video chat feature was confirmed by the Match Group, which is the parent company to Tinder.

Tinder plans to add video chatting to its popular app

The company said in its Q1 earnings statement, "As daters demonstrated strong willingness to video-date, our product and engineering teams around the world mobilized quickly to deploy one-to-one video chat capabilities on many of our platforms."

Also noted in the earnings report is that Tinder will launch a one-to-one live video service in late Q2 2020. That's not very far away, so those wanting to do some video chatting on the dating app will be able to very soon. Research the company performed for the earnings report also showed that many people using its dating services plan to continue virtual dating in the future.

Continue reading: Tinder plans to add video chatting to its popular app (full post)

Apple and Google won't allow location tracking for coronavirus apps

Shane McGlaun | Business, Financial & Legal | May 6, 2020 2:09 PM CDT

Apple and Google are working on a contact tracing system to help people know if they've been near anyone who has been diagnosed with coronavirus/COVID-19. The duo has announced that they will not allow location tracking in the new app. Combined, Apple and Google's operating system's power 99% of all smartphones. The duo surprised many when they announced that they would work together to create a system to notify people who have been near others that have tested positive for COVID-19.

Apple and Google won't allow location tracking for coronavirus apps

Apple and Google have said of their app that the contact tracing technology would only be made available to public health authorities and that Bluetooth will be used to carry out the contact tracing. Both Apple and Google say that they will not allow GPS location data to be stored to protect citizen privacy and to avoid profiling.

The companies issued a joint statement that said the Bluetooth identifiers they are using rotate every 10 to 20 minutes to help prevent tracking. Companies also say that users would have to enable the technology specifically and that it could be turned off by the user at any time. One potential issue is that for users with devices who don't want to be tracked, yet may be infected, can turn off Bluetooth. Those who have low battery power resulting in Bluetooth being turned off automatically could result in some potentially infectious encounters not being tracked.

Continue reading: Apple and Google won't allow location tracking for coronavirus apps (full post)

Jedi: Fallen Order beats Battlefront II's digital earnings

Derek Strickland | Gaming | May 6, 2020 1:33 PM CDT

New figures from SuperData underline just how big Jedi: Fallen Order is for Star Wars video games.

Jedi: Fallen Order beats Battlefront II's digital earnings

In less than a year Jedi: Fallen Order, a singleplayer-only game, beat Battlefront II's combined digital live service and monetization revenues. This is huge. Battlefront II has been on the market for over 2 years now and was specifically designed to generate microtransaction revenues. Jedi: Fallen Order was designed to simply sell copies as an offline, static singleplayer game without any multiplayer or social-driven engagement hooks.

Analyst firm SuperData notes JFO managed to oust Battlefront II in its own digital playing field. This means Jedi: Fallen Order's digital sales generated more revenue than Battlefront II's sales and monetization combined. How did this happen?

Continue reading: Jedi: Fallen Order beats Battlefront II's digital earnings (full post)

Benchmarks leak for future AMD mobile GPU for Samsung flagships

Shane McGlaun | Mobile Devices | May 6, 2020 1:03 PM CDT

Samsung and AMD cooked up a mobile GPU partnership in the middle of 2019. The fruits of that GPU partnership aren't expected until 2021, according to previous AMD statements. Since the partnership was first announced, few details have surfaced. New information claims that despite the coronavirus pandemic, Samsung and AMD are still on track to hit that 2021 release date.

Benchmarks leak for future AMD mobile GPU for Samsung flagships

AMD is reportedly in the process of optimizing the custom GPU that will be integrated into Samsung devices in the future. More recently, a glimpse of what smartphone fans can expect from the chipset surfaced with leaked synthetic early test scores from GFXBench. Those leaked scores showed that the AMD GPU for the coming Samsung flagship devices scored 181.8 frames and the Manhattan 3.1 test.

That's about 13% better performance than the Adreno 650 used in the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865. The AMD GPU also averaged 138.25 in Aztec Normal and 58 frames in Aztec High. Those results are said to be about three times better than the Adreno 650. Expectations are that the AMD Radeon GPU will first turn up inside Galaxy smartphones with the Samsung Exynos 1000 SoC, which is believed to be the name for the successor to the Exynos 990.

Continue reading: Benchmarks leak for future AMD mobile GPU for Samsung flagships (full post)

Cyberpunk 2077 lets you customize 'size and combination of genitals'

Derek Strickland | Gaming | May 6, 2020 12:34 PM CDT

Cyberpunk 2077 might be the most ambitious game of our time: It's a huge FPS RPG with tons of action, choice, and consequence, and it lets you tailor-make your naughty bits.

Cyberpunk 2077 lets you customize 'size and combination of genitals'

A new ESRB listing confirms something pretty surprising: You can adjust the "size and combination" of your genitals. The combination part is pretty interesting and I'll leave that up to your imagination. I'm glad that's confirmed, because we all know it's super important you can size up your bulge in the game--gotta make it realistic, after all.

"The game contains nudity and sexual material: Players can select a gender and customize their character; customization can include depictions of breasts, buttocks, and genitalia, as well as various sizes and combinations of genitals," reads the listing.

Continue reading: Cyberpunk 2077 lets you customize 'size and combination of genitals' (full post)

Zoom update allows personal meeting IDs to be disabled

Shane McGlaun | Business, Financial & Legal | May 6, 2020 12:05 PM CDT

Zoom has grown significantly during the coronavirus pandemic around the world. Large numbers of users have turned to Zoom and similar services to conduct business and go to school. One of the challenges that Zoom has had is keeping users safe from harassment from so-called Zoom-bombing. Zoom-bombing occurs when someone joins a meeting who isn't supposed to be there and disrupts the meeting for the actual attendees.

Zoom update allows personal meeting IDs to be disabled

Zoom says that it recently gave users more control over the use of personal meeting IDs (PMIs) within their organization. The latest release allows Zoom account owners and administrators to disable the use of a PMI for scheduling or starting an instant meeting. The PMI is always accessible using the same ID or meeting link, allowing anyone to join unless the meeting is properly secured.

Disabling the use of PMIs reduces the risk of unauthorized users gaining access to the meeting and doesn't leave the security of the PMI up to individual users. Zoom says the option to disable PMIs can be locked at the account or group level. Zoom warns that when PMIs are turned off, existing PMIs and personal links will become invalid and can't be used to host a meeting.

Continue reading: Zoom update allows personal meeting IDs to be disabled (full post)

Oculus Quest 2 has been delayed until 2021 tips new report

Shane McGlaun | Extended Reality (XR) | May 6, 2020 11:02 AM CDT

Oculus has been working on the Oculus Quest 2 for a while, and the project is reportedly code-named Del Mar. A new report has surfaced the claims the Oculus Quest 2 is still in the works, but it may not arrive this year as expected. According to the new report, the Facebook-owned company has delayed the Oculus Quest 2 until 2021 or later.

Oculus Quest 2 has been delayed until 2021 tips new report

The report comes from industry experts cited by Bloomberg claiming that the Oculus Quest 2 was originally set to launch at the Oculus Connect conference expected late in September or early in October. The sources claim that shipping delays and logistical issues are likely to prevent that launch until 2021.

For now, all we have to go on are rumors of what the Del Mar VR headset will bring to market. Compared to the original Oculus Quest, the Del Mar device will reportedly bring more RAM, longer battery life, a faster processor, and ergonomic changes. Those ergonomic changes are expected to make the headset more comfortable to wear and include smaller size and reduced weight.

Continue reading: Oculus Quest 2 has been delayed until 2021 tips new report (full post)

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