Latest News - Page 1664

Google has a new feature coming that anyone with multiple Google Assistant devices in their home will appreciate. The new feature will allow users to adjust the sensitivity of the "Hey Google" word that wakes the device up so it can hear what you want to tell it to do. The ability to adjust the hotword sensitivity was first seen in the Google Assistant software earlier this year.

The reason Google is rolling out the ability to adjust hotword sensitivity has to do with reducing the number of accidental awakenings of the device. Screenshots posted of the software in a tweet by Mishaal Rahman show that there will be a slider that allows users to adjust the front speaker sensitivity from default to least sensitive or most sensitive.

That will allow users to make the hotword sensitivity either less sensitive than the Google Assistant device comes from the factory, or more sensitive depending on their needs. Speculation suggests that for users with multiple devices in the home, each can have its own sensitivity level even if they are networked together. This change will be welcomed by users who frequently have a problem with waking their Google Assistant by mistake.

Doom Eternal has sold an estimated 3 million digital copies at launch, eclipsing Doom 2016's May 2018 figures.

Bethesda says Doom Eternal is a rip-roaring with tons of sales and doubled launch revenue, but exact data is pretty light. Now SuperData jumps in to provide some color around the figures: The firm says Doom Eternal sold 3 million copies digitally on all platforms in March, which is over three times the 957,000 copies Doom 2016 sold digitally at launch.

Doom Eternal claimed two top 10 spots on the marketplace: it's the fourth best-selling game on consoles in March 2020, and the fifth best-selling game on PC.

Microsoft announced a few weeks ago that it would be replacing its Office 365 plans with Microsoft 365 Personal and Family and plans for is Business users. The new Microsoft 365 plans are essentially the same as the plans Microsoft offered as Office 365 in the past. For those who've been wanting to subscribe, the new Microsoft 365 plans are now generally available to all.

The first of the plans is Microsoft 365 Family, which was formerly Office 365 Home. Microsoft 365 Family costs $99.99 per year or $9.99 per month. It includes access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, and Publisher. The last two of those apps are only available on PC while the others are available on Mac as well. Up to six people and devices along with up to 6TB (1TB per person) of cloud storage are covered in the plan.

Microsoft 365 Personal is available for $69.99 per year or $6.99 per month. That includes access to the same apps along with 1TB of cloud storage. The main difference is only one person can have access to that account. For those who aren't interested in subscriptions, Office Home & Student 2019 is available for $149.99 as a one-time purchase. The big catch here is that it only brings Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for one PC or Mac.

Lordstown Motors CEO Steve Burns has written an open letter to fans of the company, and it's all-electric Endurance pickup. The Endurance pickup was supposed to be unveiled officially at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in June. That event has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. With the official reveal canceled, Lordstown Motors is talking about its revised plans for unveiling the pickup.

Burns says that the company still intends to introduce the first production-intent Endurance pickup sometime in early summer. Most likely, the event will be a virtual reveal hosted at their headquarters in Lordstown. Burns notes that the company hopes to solidify the plans of the next "month or so." As for production plans, the letter states that the company intends to hand the keys to the first production versions of the Endurance in January 2021.

Burns wrote in the letter that most of the staff has been working from home and carrying out as much of their work as possible. Essential maintenance at the plant is still being conducted, and design engineers are continuing to test and fine-tune the technology that will power the truck. For those unfamiliar with the Endurance electric pickup, it will have an in-wheel motor at all four corners giving the truck all-wheel drive.

ADATA today announced the XPG Xenia, a new enthusiast gaming laptop that matches high-end GPU and CPU power with its powerful SSD storage.

XPG's splash into the gaming notebook market represents a big move from memory-maker ADATA. The new higher-end Xenia notebook features proprietary hardware including its beefy XPG DDR4 32GB 2666MHz RAM, and ultra-fast SX8200 Pro PCIe Gen3x4 NVMe 1.3 M.2 2280 SSD that can hit up 3.5GB/sec reads and 3GB/sec writes. Chip-wise, ADATA has teamed up with Intel to pack in its Intel Core i7-9750H high-performance graphics notebook CPU. The Xenia has two GPU configs: an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q or an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti.

The Xenia has a lightweight chassis complemented by a 15.6-inch 1080p IPS display at 144Hz refresh, complete with a slim 4.9mm bezel. It also sports a fully RGB-lit mechanical keyboard with 100% anti-ghosting, a 10-hour battery, and a 20.5mm-thick chassis that weighs 1.85KG.

A couple of days ago, we mentioned that rumors were flying that Apple had three new AirPods models in the works with rumors pointing towards a launch in May. Some new details have surfaced on what exactly those AirPods will feature. According to a report, the new AirPods will have the same design as the existing AirPods Pro but will lack active noise cancellation.

The rumor we talked about earlier this week suggested that among the models of AirPods expected to launch in May will be an AirPods Pro Lite, which would seem to be an appropriate name for the headphones mentioned in this most recent report. Also tipped by the earlier rumor was AirPods X Generation and a set of over the ear headphones.

The new report says that while Apple hasn't modified its May launch window, sources in the supply chain are saying that Apple may have to postpone that launch until the second half of 2020 or even 2021 due to the coronavirus. While it's not specifically mentioned, the assumption would be if Apple delays the launch, the delay would be due to production issues caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Smartphone shoppers around the world wanting a new device have two new smartphones from OnePlus to check out. The new devices are the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro, and they are available in Europe now and will land in the US later. Neither device is on the budget end of the smartphone realm, both are aimed at the flagship market.

The OnePlus 8 Pro will sell for $999 in the States for the 12GB RAM and 256GB storage version. The same phone with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage sells for $899. The OnePlus 8 with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage will sell for $699. Stepping up to the OnePlus 8 with 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage will cost $799. The Pro will come in onyx black, glacial green, or ultramarine blue with the latter only for the 12GB version. The standard OnePlus 8 will come in glacial green for the 8GB version or Interstellar Glow for the 12GB version.

Fans in the US will be able to get the OnePlus 8 with 12GB RAM and 256GB of storage on a 24-month payment plan at $33.33 per month or $799 one-time payment. The Pro version won't be offered on Verizon at this time. T-Mobile is also offering the OnePlus 8 starting on April 29 with pricing announced then. In the UK, both the standard and Pro versions are available with the cheapest OnePlus 8 offering the same hardware specifications as it will in the United States at 599 British pounds with the upper-level version selling for 699 British pounds.

AMD has announced the latest addition to its third generation Ryzen 3 desktop processors. AMD says that these new parts "unleash" the Zen 2 core for the mainstream user. The new announcements include the AMD Ryzen 3 3100, AMD Ryzen 3 3300X, AMD B550 Chipset for Socket AM4 motherboards. AMD notes that there are over 60 designs in development for AMD B550 chipset motherboards.

The mainstream processors aim to bring the Zen 2 core architecture to business users, gamers, and content creators. The processors leverage Simultaneous Multi-Threading (SMT) technology to increase productivity. The tech delivers double the threads, twice the bandwidth, and support for a range of motherboards in development using the B550 chipset.

The new 3100 and 3300X processors are the fastest ever Ryzen 3 desktop processors, according to AMD. The CPUs also marked the first time SMT has been used on a Ryzen 3 desktop processor. Both of the processors have an 18MB cache to reduce memory latency and feature four cores and eight threads. AMD's Ryzen 3 3100 processor promises up to 20 percent more gaming performance than the competition and up to 75 percent more creator performance.

One of the places to get some good deals on technology products, particularly Apple gear, in the US is B&H Photo. The company currently has a good deal going with instant savings on the latest version of the Apple MacBook Air with Retina Display. The model is the early 2020 unit, and the entry-level version is currently $100 off the regular $999.99 price.

B&H is an authorized reseller for Apple computers MacBook Air is currently $899.99. The sale price is good through April 25 at 11:59 PM EDT or while supplies last. For the money, the entry-level MacBook Air features 8GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD storage, and an Intel Core i3 10th-generation processor. The 13.3-inch screen has a native resolution of 2560 by 1600, and graphics are handled by Intel Iris Plus.

The Core i3 used in this machine runs at 1.1GHz but can be boosted up to 3.2GHz. The gold version is available but is more expensive, with only a $50 discount. Both the silver and Space Gray versions are on sale for $899, with the silver version being a whopping $0.99 cheaper than the Space Gray at $899.

The coronavirus outbreak is affecting almost every facet of every industry, and is now even affecting the release date for one of the most anticipated PC games this year, Death Stranding.

According to a new Twitter post by the official Kojima Productions Twitter account, the release of Death Stranding on PC has been delayed and will now release on July 14th, 2020. The Twitter post explains that this decision was made to allow for the development team to have more time to work on the port since everyone is now working from home.

Death Stranding will be arriving on PC with ultrawide and high FPS support, read more on that here. The release will also come to both the Epic Games Store and the Steam Store simultaneously, and if you are interested in pre-ordering Hideo Kojima's latest title a link to the Steam and Epic Games Store listings can be found here and here.

Admit it: you either use, or know someone who has been binging TV shows and movies on Netflix while on stay-at-home lockdowns and quarantines over COVID-19 coronavirus.

Netflix has now announced its Q1 2020 results, where the streaming giant revealed it experienced its biggest quarter ever. The company reeled in another 15.77 million subscribers in the last 3 months, blowing away analyst expectations of 8.22 million -- nearly double that amount.

This time last year Netflix added 9.6 million global subscriptions all the way back in Q1 2019 when no one uttered the words "quarantine", "lockdown", "novel", "COVID-19" or "coronavirus". Netflix reported that it earned $709 million in Q1 2020, versus shared earnings of $344 million in Q1 2019.

Patriot Memory has just unveiled its new external SSD, which comes in capacities of 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB -- all through a single USB-C connector that will go into PCs, Macs, and even consoles.

The company will be providing a Type-C to Type-A cable as well as a Type-C to Type-C connector so you can plug it into virtually any device you can imagine. Patriot is using a PCIe 3.0 x4 controller offering up to 10Gb/sec with the latest USB 3.2 Type-C interface.

Roger Shinmoto, the Vice President of Patriot explains: "Storage brands are always looking to improve their products at the specification level and often overlook the compatibility and user experience; the PXD brings the perfect balance between them all. More importantly, the PXD is made for any user, including desktop PC, laptop, MacBook, and console gamers".

Crucial has just announced some new members to its P-series family, with new M.2 NVMe SSDs offering up to 3.4GB/sec read and up to 3GB/sec writes.

The new Crucial P5 series of drives are being offered in the M.2-2280 form factor, using PCIe 3.0 x4 host interface with NVMe 1.3 these drives offer sequential read speeds of up to 3400MB/sec, and sequential writes of up to 3000MB/sec (1400MB/sec for the smaller 250GB model of the Crucial P5).

Crucial is using a DRAM-cache cushioned controller inside of the new P5-series SSDs, and 3D NAND flash alongside a 5-year warranty. Crucial's new P5-series drives will be available in 250GB (the slower model), with larger 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities also available.

Good Guy NVIDIA is stepping in for gamers amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, emailing GeForce Now Founders gamers that they will not be billing them until June.

The company could be doing this as a one-two punch, as it looks good-as-gold (or should that be good-as-green) with gamers by not charging GeForce Now Founders subscribers. But the service has been bleeding out game publishers for a while now (GeForce Now lost Microsoft/Xbox games and Warner Bros. games just yesterday), so this move could be seen as a nice gesture as a distraction.

NVIDIA explains: "As you can imagine, we're experiencing a substantial increase in the number of GeForce NOW players and their amount of playtime. While the service continues to grow, we have decided to take this opportunity to show our early Founders members our appreciation, and will not begin billing until June 2020. Your first charge date has been extended. Please check account.nvidia.com for more information. Stay safe and happy gaming".

We knew that you'd need a beast gaming PC to run Microsoft Flight Simulator, but now we have the official PC system requirements to share.

Flight Simulator requires at least 150GB of storage space, and 8GB of RAM. You'll need an AMD Ryzen 3 1200 or Intel Core i5-4460 processor at a minimum, with 2GB of VRAM from a graphics card -- with Microsoft requiring an AMD Radeon RX 570 or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 graphics card.

As for recommended specs, Microsoft bumps up the CPU to a Ryzen 5 1500X or Core i5-8400 with 16GB of system RAM. You'll need a Radeon RX 590 or GeForce GTX 970 with at least 4GB of VRAM. For what Microsoft calls Flight Simulator's "ideal spec" is a huge CPU boost up to the Ryzen 7 Pro 2700X or Core i7-9800X.

So, if you've got coronavirus -- I have some advice for you: don't fart. Especially if you're not wearing pants.

Australian doctors have discussed whether people with COVID-19 can spread it by farting, with the discussion happening during the Friday episode of ABC podcast 'Coronacast'.

Dr. Norman Swan is the producer and host of the Coronacast podcast, and told his listeners "No bare-bottom farting", with an amused tone. Swan said that "Luckily, we wear a mask, which covers our farts all the time" and by masks for our butts, he means your jeans, pants, shorts, dresses, and probably most important of all -- your underwear.

If the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X get pushed back to 2021, Ubisoft could delay some of its biggest games to ensure timed console launches.

Art: Peter Jackson

Console releases are rare events that bring massive waves of game sales. Every 7-8 years or so the games industry pushes out a new wave of consoles along with a batch of top-tier games. Tons of developers and publishers are working on PS5 and Xbox Series X games, including EA (who said Battlefield 6 on next-gen will "blow people's minds), Take-Two Interactive, Capcom, Square Enix, and Ubisoft.

GameStop CEO George Sherman today announced he'll be taking a pay cut to help off-set financial impacts from COVID-19.

Right now people are only going to stores to buy necessities. They're not going into GameStop to buy games. The ailed retailer, who already had big financial issues before COVID-19, is faced with the huge challenge of interrupted foot traffic and in-store sales. But the company has adapted and switched to curbside pick-up models that've kept sales going, but at the cost and risk of employee health. Curbside sales aren't the same, though, and corporate execs are now reducing their pay to help mitigate the sales drops.

"Today, we announced salary reductions for our senior management team and board of directors, as well as wage rate reductions for some other corporate and field support staff," Sherman said in an update to investors. GameStop's board of directors, which now employs Reggie Fils-Aime, has had their pay reduced by 50%.

Samsung Electronics announced today that the Samsung Health Monitor app was cleared by the South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety as "Software as a Medical Device." That designation makes the Samsung Health Monitor app government-cleared as an over-the-counter, cuffless blood pressure monitoring application. The app has to be paired with the Galaxy Watch Active2 to allow users to measure and track blood pressure on the go.

Samsung says that the app will give users the ability to measure and track blood pressure using the app to provide further insight into health and to allow them to make more informed decisions. Samsung notes that the Galaxy Watch Active2 does have to be calibrated using a traditional blood pressure cuff to begin with. The user can measure their blood pressure anytime, anywhere, using the watch after the calibration.

Samsung says that the Active2 wearable can measure blood pressure using pulse wave analysis, which is tracked with the heart rate monitoring sensors inside the wearable. The app analyzes the relationship between the calibration value and the blood pressure change to determine blood pressure readings.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is roaring success right out of the game with 3.5 million copies sold in its first three days. That's even with retail shortages.

Today Square Enix announced some stellar figures for Final Fantasy 7 Remake: The game has sold 3.5 million copies digitally and physically in its first three-day launch period. This figure includes shipments, which is sell-in to retailers and not necessarily sell-through to consumers, as well as digital purchases on the PlayStation Network. Despite being massively hyped and popularized through years of development, Final Fantasy XV is still the king of sales. Final Fantasy XV sold 5 million copies at launch and is still the fastest-selling Final Fantasy game of all time.

There's some important context, though. Final Fantasy XV sold on Xbox One at launch, where as FF7R is stuck to PlayStation 4 (for now). COVID-19 also massively disrupted physical retail availability of Final Fantasy 7 Remake. The game was hamstrung by the pandemic, and shipping logistics were interrupted so badly that Square Enix actually launched the game early in Australia and Europe.