Newsletter IconFacebook IconX IconThreads IconInstagram IconYouTube IconPinterest Icon
Giveaway: MSI GeForce RTX 5070 World of Warcraft: Midnight GPU and MAESTRO 500

Latest News - Page 1671

Learn about how TweakTown tests and reviews hardware. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. TweakTown may also earn commissions from other affiliate partners at no extra cost to you.

Stay Updated

Follow TweakTown for breaking tech news, reviews, and daily updates.

Add TweakTown as a preferred source on GoogleFind TweakTown on Apple News

Here is the COVID-19 coronavirus Achilles heel, says experts

Anthony Garreffa | Science, Space, & Robotics | Apr 8, 2020 8:44 PM CDT

The world is scrambling to find the magic bullet for COVID-19 coronavirus, and it seems that researchers may have just found what they're describing as the Achilles heel of COVID-19 coronavirus.

Here is the COVID-19 coronavirus Achilles heel, says experts

In a statement from Scripps Research, researchers said that they have found a specific portion of COVID-19 that could be targeted with vaccines after the team mapped a human antibody's interaction with SARS-CoV-2 at "near-atomic-scale resolution". The antibody itself was secured from a SARS patient from many years ago, but it also reacts to SARS-CoV-2.

Dr. Ian Wilson, the study's lead author, said in a statement: "The knowledge of conserved sites like this can aid in structure-based design of vaccines and therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2, and these would also protect against other coronaviruses-including those that may emerge in the future".

Continue reading: Here is the COVID-19 coronavirus Achilles heel, says experts (full post)

US gov classifying all coronavirus deaths as COVID-19 deaths

Anthony Garreffa | Science, Space, & Robotics | Apr 8, 2020 8:18 PM CDT

The US government is classifying the deaths of any and all patients with coronavirus, as COVID-19 deaths -- no matter the underlying health conditions that killed them.

US gov classifying all coronavirus deaths as COVID-19 deaths

The news is coming directly from Dr. Deborah Birx, the response coordinator for the White House coronavirus task force. She said that the federal government is still counting suspected COVID-19 deaths, even though nations around the world are doing the opposite of this.

Dr. Birx said during a Tuesday news briefing at the White House: "There are other countries that if you had a pre-existing condition, and let's say the virus caused you to go to the ICU [intensive care unit] and then have a heart or kidney problem. Some countries are recording that as a heart issue or a kidney issue and not a COVID-19 death".

Continue reading: US gov classifying all coronavirus deaths as COVID-19 deaths (full post)

This is our first look at Wuhan, China after coronavirus lockdown lift

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Apr 8, 2020 8:01 PM CDT

Can you believe Wuhan, China has been under extreme lockdown for 76 days -- the largest lockdown in human history. But now, the people of Wuhan are enjoying a post-lockdown lifestyle... for now.

This is our first look at Wuhan, China after coronavirus lockdown lift

Wuhan has re-opened its highway tolls, flights and train services are leaving the city -- and to make it more personal, I'm based in Australia and we just had a flight from Wuhan land at the Sydney Airport. As for Wuhan residents, they are free to travel throughout China as long as they are not infected with COVID-19.

Jia Shengzhi, a delivery driver in Wuhan, told the BBC: "During the past two months, almost no-one was on the streets. It made me feel sad. We sometimes received phone calls from customers asking for help such as sending medicines to their ageing parents".

Continue reading: This is our first look at Wuhan, China after coronavirus lockdown lift (full post)

South Korea: electronic wristbands to enforce COVID-19 quarantine

Anthony Garreffa | Science, Space, & Robotics | Apr 8, 2020 7:26 PM CDT

The South Korean government looks to be taking the spread of COVID-19 a little more seriously, and a little more painful to citizens, as it considers the use of an electronic wristband to enforce quarantine measures across the country.

South Korea: electronic wristbands to enforce COVID-19 quarantine

Yoon Tae-ho, the Director General for Public Health Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, explained the electronic wristbands being used to stop the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus. He said: "Most of those who are in quarantine are following protocols well but there have been some violations. We will come up with the most efficient measure after further discussions".

But South Korean residents shouldn't fear electronic wristbands just yet, as he added that the South Korean government is well aware of the negative connotations that come using electronic wristbands -- and to add, a government forcing that on its citizens is very Orwellian.

Continue reading: South Korea: electronic wristbands to enforce COVID-19 quarantine (full post)

Sony confirms PlayStation 5 DualSense controller has a headphone jack

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 8, 2020 6:58 PM CDT

Yesterday Sony announced the PlayStation 5's official next-gen controller, the DualSense. But the released images didn't show a critical feature gamers were curious about: The included AUX headphone jack. Luckily Sony has swooped in to make clarifications.

Sony confirms PlayStation 5 DualSense controller has a headphone jack

Yes, the PS5's new DualSense controller will have a headphone jack. All of your old headsets should still be compatible with the PS5's audio output function. "[The DualSense] still has an audio jack so you can plug in your own headsets like DualShock 4,"PlayStation product manager Toshimasa Aoki said on Twitter.

This inclusion makes sense. The PS5 is built around carrying its legacy forward and won't leave PS4 gamers behind: Not only will the PS5 support PS4 games, but it'll also support current-gen peripherals like headsets, DualShock 4 controllers, and the PlayStation VR headset.

Continue reading: Sony confirms PlayStation 5 DualSense controller has a headphone jack (full post)

How to sign up to Stadia's free two month trial

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 8, 2020 6:08 PM CDT

To help keep people at home (and to hopefully get money from forgotten subs), Google is giving away a free two month trial to Stadia Pro. But it's not all that easy to sign up.

How to sign up to Stadia's free two month trial

Google just announced a free Stadia subscription offer in a recent blog post. There's just one problem: The post leaves out how you actually sign up for the trial. Going to the Stadia.com website only gives you an option to either buy the $129 Founder's Edition, or to sign up using an invite code.

To actually sign up and get your free trial you have to download the Stadia app to your phone. You'll have to do this anyway because Stadia is locked behind the app (yes, it's annoying). Click on the free trial button, tie your Google account to Stadia, and enter some credit card info. Be mindful of the date because Google will charge you $10 a month in June if you forget.

Continue reading: How to sign up to Stadia's free two month trial (full post)

Coronavirus may not delay Cyberpunk 2077's September 2020 release

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 8, 2020 3:55 PM CDT

Cyberpunk 2077 is still planned for a September 2020 release and CD Projekt RED is confident the game won't be delayed.

Coronavirus may not delay Cyberpunk 2077's September 2020 release

CDPR delivered some good news in its latest 2019 earnings report: Net earnings are up 44%, profits are up 60%, and development on Cyberpunk 2077 is going well even as devs work from home. The big worry is that COVID-19 could delay Cyberpunk 2077 and other major games because of massive interruptions to daily work schedules. But CDPR strongly indicates their ambitious sci-fi FPS-RPG mash-up will hit its intended 2020 launch.

"We're giving it our all, and thanks to the tools at our disposal we have been able to maintain full continuity of our efforts," CD Projekt RED Chief Financial Officer Piotr Nielubowicz said in a recent investor's presentation.

Continue reading: Coronavirus may not delay Cyberpunk 2077's September 2020 release (full post)

PC conquers Witcher 3 sales, but Switch is heating up fast

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 8, 2020 3:31 PM CDT

The Witcher 3 has sold roughly 28 million copies worldwide since 2015, and its Switch port is coming out swinging.

PC conquers Witcher 3 sales, but Switch is heating up fast

CD Projekt RED just announced its 2019 earnings report and showed a surprising sales spike for its RPG magnum opus. Thanks to some clever pixel-counting from Twitter sleuth DarkDetectiveNL, we have an idea how much Witcher 3 has sold on each platform. The White Wolf only just slashed onto Nintendo Switch last October, but the Switcher has sold roughly 700,000 copies to date.

PC still leads with a healthy 12 million cumulative sales, and PS4 is in second place with 10 million, which is to be expected given its massive 108 million-strong install base. Xbox One lags at 4.3 million, and the Switch is heating up with roughly 700K copies.

Continue reading: PC conquers Witcher 3 sales, but Switch is heating up fast (full post)

Nintendo Account credit card fraud spikes in Japan

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 8, 2020 2:15 PM CDT

Have your credit card linked to your Nintendo Account? Remove it, or add two-factor authentication to protect yourself.

Nintendo Account credit card fraud spikes in Japan

Hackers are breaking into Nintendo Accounts and stealing credit card info, leading to fraudulent charges and hijacking of sensitive data, Nintendo Japan reports. We're not sure if this is just isolated overseas in Japan or of it's more widespread, but the millions of people staying at home worldwide due to COVID-19 are prime targets for theft. Gamers are more eager to buy digital games from the eShop, and that means using credit and debit cards.

Nintendo obviously doesn't want you to remove your credit card from your Nintendo Account--then you'd be less likely to make impulse buys--but it does encourage two-factor authentication. It's a pretty simple process and involves installing Google Authenticator to generate a random code every time you want to access your account info or make a purchase.

Continue reading: Nintendo Account credit card fraud spikes in Japan (full post)

Gamers fined $3000 for playing video games during coronavirus lockdown

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Apr 8, 2020 5:41 AM CDT

It appears that gamers Down Under are getting hurt by the coronavirus restrictions, with 3 gamers in Victoria, Australia being fined $1652 AUD ($1018) for playing games in a lounge room.

Gamers fined $3000 for playing video games during coronavirus lockdown

Victoria Police have been doing spot checks throughout the state to make sure that Australians are following their (very strict) coironavirus lockdown rules, where 3 gamers who don't live together, were in a lounge room at one house and were fined for breaching the coronavirus lockdown rules.

Victoria, Australia is currently under stage 3 restrictions, meaning no more than two people (except for members of your immediate household) can gather together. These rules were introduced by the Victorian government on March 31.

Continue reading: Gamers fined $3000 for playing video games during coronavirus lockdown (full post)

Martin Shkreli 'Pharma Bro': release me from jail, I'll cure COVID-19

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Apr 8, 2020 2:37 AM CDT

You might remember Martin Shkreli from headlines a few years ago, someone who was quickly nicknamed "Pharma Bro" after his company Turing Pharmaceuticals acquired the manufacturing license for antiparastic drug Daraprim, and raised its price 56x from $13.50 to $750 per pill.

Martin Shkreli 'Pharma Bro': release me from jail, I'll cure COVID-19

Well, Pharma Bro is back in the headlines after he has said he wants to get out of prison so he can research a treatment and cure for coronavirus. The news is coming directly from his defense attorney Ben Brafman, who has said he will be filing court papers requesting authorities to release Shkreli for 3 months so he can do the required laboratory work, but "under strict supervision".

Brafman said: "I have always said that if focused and left in a lab, Martin could help cure cancer. Maybe he can help the scientific community better understand this terrible virus".

Continue reading: Martin Shkreli 'Pharma Bro': release me from jail, I'll cure COVID-19 (full post)

Call of Duty: Warzone Season 3 adds 4-player squad, new weapons & more

Jak Connor | Gaming | Apr 8, 2020 12:31 AM CDT

Call of Duty players will be glad to know that Season 3 has just been dropped by Activision, and as expected, it comes with a bunch of new features to enjoy.

Call of Duty: Warzone Season 3 adds 4-player squad, new weapons & more

According to a new trailer dropped onto the official Call of Duty YouTube Channel, Season 3 will add the highly anticipated four-player squads mode to Warzone. We already knew that Activision was planning on increasing the squad size, as Infinity Ward co-head, Patrick Kelly teased back in early March that the developers were planning on adding larger squads and ultimately 200 player matches.

As for Season 3, Infinity Ward and Activision are pumping out some fresh content for both Warzone players and Modern Warfare players. Warzone players will be able to use some new weapons and skins, which include silenced and non-silenced versions of every weapon type. There will also be brand new guns and blueprints inside in supply boxes. As for Modern Warfare players, Infinity Ward is introducing three new 6v6 maps, some are remastered of old classic maps, and some are down-scaled maps from Ground War. Season 3 will begin on April 8th for every platform the games playable on.

Continue reading: Call of Duty: Warzone Season 3 adds 4-player squad, new weapons & more (full post)

Zoom admits data was 'mistakenly' routed through China

Anthony Garreffa | Hacking, Security & Privacy | Apr 7, 2020 10:37 PM CDT

Zoom is in serious doo-doo right now, with the videop conferencing provider now admitting that users' calls from around the world were routed through China.

Zoom admits data was 'mistakenly' routed through China

Zoom CEO Eric Yuan admitted that his company "mistakenly" routed calls through China, he explained: "In our urgency to come to the aid of people around the world during this unprecedented pandemic, we added server capacity and deployed it quickly - starting in China, where the outbreak began".

Yuan continued: "In that process, we failed to fully implement our usual geo-fencing best practices. As a result, it is possible certain meetings were allowed to connect to systems in China, where they should not have been able to connect".

Continue reading: Zoom admits data was 'mistakenly' routed through China (full post)

Google uses your location data to ensure you obey stay-at-home orders

Anthony Garreffa | Connectivity & Cloud | Apr 7, 2020 10:22 PM CDT

We know governments of the world are wanting to use as much power at their disposal to track, and hopefully stem the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus -- but how far is too far? We last heard the talks were happening to use mobile data to track users' location, but it seems this is now in full effect.

Google uses your location data to ensure you obey stay-at-home orders

Google is now using Google Maps location data from people who have previously agreed to share their history, to see who is staying and working at home. In Google's new COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports, the search giant is using anonymized data from people in 131 countries, in order to see their movement trends.

Google adds that "No personally identifiable information will be made available at any point". Because we haven't heard that before.

Continue reading: Google uses your location data to ensure you obey stay-at-home orders (full post)

WHO official: 'we may have to enter homes and remove family members'

Anthony Garreffa | Science, Space, & Robotics | Apr 7, 2020 10:00 PM CDT

It feels like we're in an altered reality right now, but this is real -- a World Health Organization (WHO) official has said that they may have to "enter homes and remove family members" because of the novel coronavirus. Watch it with your own eyes:

WHO official: 'we may have to enter homes and remove family members'

Carlson says: "In response to the spread of coronavirus, authorities may have to enter peoples' homes and remove family members -- presumably, by force". On March 30, Dr. Michael Ryan who is an Executive Director at the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, said something that I'm not seeing much coverage of.

The WHO official said: "in most parts of the world, due to lockdown, most of the transmission that's actually happening in many countries now is happening in the household, at family level. In some senses, transmission has been taken off the streets and pushed back into family units, now we need to go and look in families and find those people who may be sick and remove them, and isolate them, in a safe and dignified manner".

Continue reading: WHO official: 'we may have to enter homes and remove family members' (full post)

PlayStation 5 DualSense controller vs PS4 DualShock 4 comparison

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 7, 2020 5:49 PM CDT

Sony just revealed the PlayStation 5's new DualSense controller, and it's so transformative that it's kicking off a new generation of controller design. But how does it compare to the PS4's DualShock 4?

PlayStation 5 DualSense controller vs PS4 DualShock 4 comparison

Side-by-side comparisons show just how much the PlayStation 5's new DualSense controller has changed over the DualShock 4. The Dualsense is an upgrade on almost every level. It's shaped more like an Xbox controller with are more ergonomic fang-style grip, its buttons are thicker and more tactile--not to mention enhanced with new adaptive triggers--and it packs a boosted battery. There's also USB-C for improved and convenient charging.

Continue reading: PlayStation 5 DualSense controller vs PS4 DualShock 4 comparison (full post)

Xbox Series X pricing will be agile, Phil Spencer says

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 7, 2020 4:59 PM CDT

Microsoft says it's being careful about the Xbox Series X's price this time around. It's not eager to re-live the infamous E3 2013 catastrophe.

Xbox Series X pricing will be agile, Phil Spencer says

In a consumer industry, cost is king. Microsoft and Sony understand that console sales rely on costs. So how much will the Xbox Series X be priced at? No one knows for sure, but Microsoft says it's willing to adjust and be flexible.

"We're going to make sure we stay agile on our pricing and that we have a good plan going into launch," Phil Spencer said in a recent IGN Unlocked interview.

Continue reading: Xbox Series X pricing will be agile, Phil Spencer says (full post)

PlayStation 5 DualSense controller officially announced

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 7, 2020 3:13 PM CDT

Sony today officially announced the PlayStation 5's next-gen controller. It's called the DualSense.

PlayStation 5 DualSense controller officially announced

The PS5's new DualSense controller is quite futuristic, and looks kind of like those weird old-school PS3 controllers merged with a PS4 system, and pretty much has all the features we've been reporting on for a while now. The DualSense has special rumble feedback and adaptive mechanisms in the triggers to simulate fine-tuned haptics; things like pulling a bow string will feel different than revving up a car, for instance. The DualSense has a built-in mic, USB-C charging, a bigger battery, a new Create button that could fold into the awesome create-your-own-game-demo feature we reported on, and a lot more:

"DualSense marks a radical departure from our previous controller offerings and captures just how strongly we feel about making a generational leap with PS5. The new controller, along with the many innovative features in PS5, will be transformative for games - continuing our mission at PlayStation to push the boundaries of play, now and in the future. To the PlayStation community, I truly want to thank you for sharing this exciting journey with us as we head toward PS5's launch in Holiday 2020. We look forward to sharing more information about PS5, including the console design, in the coming months," said Sony's Jim Ryan.

Continue reading: PlayStation 5 DualSense controller officially announced (full post)

Project xCloud is the yin to Game Pass' yang

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 7, 2020 2:13 PM CDT

Project xCloud will let anyone anywhere instantly sample Xbox games before they buy, making it a tremendously potent tool for Microsoft's ecosystem.

Project xCloud is the yin to Game Pass' yang

Xbox Game Pass is one of the most powerful services in the industry right now. It's an all-you-can play subscription that gives you access to a pool of full games to download and play at any time. Because access isn't permanent and dependent upon a continual monthly fee, Game Pass has sparked full game sales as players buy the games they want to keep forever. But Game Pass is missing something big: Instant access.

That's where Project xCloud, Microsoft's new cloud game streaming service, comes in.

Continue reading: Project xCloud is the yin to Game Pass' yang (full post)

Valorant swings out of the gate with 1.7 million Twitch viewers

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 7, 2020 12:57 PM CDT

League of Legends dev Riot Games just made a new shooter called Valorant, and gamers are really curious if it's good or not.

Valorant swings out of the gate with 1.7 million Twitch viewers

Valorant aims to usurp the current FPS market. With 120Hz tick rate servers, ultra-accurate aiming, and Overwatch-like hero abilities in a 5v5 setting, Valorant is attracting major FPS enthusiasts and pros everywhere. The game isn't out yet, but Riot is holding a huge closed beta with some of the most popular streamers, and gamers are tuning in en masse.

At the time of writing, Valorant has over 1.7 million viewers across the globe. This is huge for any game, but it's well-timed on Riot's part now that everyone's home over COVID-19 quarantines.

Continue reading: Valorant swings out of the gate with 1.7 million Twitch viewers (full post)

Join Our Newsletter

Join the TweakTown Newsletter for daily tech updates delivered to your inbox.

See previous giveaways.

Newsletter Subscription