Latest News - Page 1679

President Trump has just invoked emergency powers, something that will marshal medical supplies as the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreck havok on the US and the world.

The 70-year-old Defense Production Act gives President Trump the power to push production by privately-owned companies, in order to manufacture and supply the United States with masks, ventilators, and other medical supplies. President Trump tweeted: "I only signed the Defense Production Act to combat the Chinese Virus should we need to invoke it in a worst case scenario in the future. Hopefully there will be no need, but we are all in this TOGETHER!"

President Trump also recently closed the US-Canada border, with just essential travel allowed. The Trump administration will also be sending relief cheques to millions of struggling Americans, too.

I can only imagine the type of load that digital infrastructure is under right now, with hundreds of millions of people forced to stay at home over the current coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak -- but especially Facebook.

During a conference call on Wednesday to address Facebook's response to coronavirus COVID-19, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg that the number of voice calls on both Messenger and WhatsApp in Italy have skyrocketed, as well as many other countries around the world as people keep in contact with their loved ones.

Now that more and more people are at home using social media, it has seen a gigantic surge in activity on Facebook's servers. The social media giant has increased its infrastructure and server capacity, with Facebook noting it has doubled the server capacity for WhatsApp.

The New York Stock Exchange has announced that it will be temporarily closing its trading floor, shifting to a world of fully electronic trading after 2 people have tested positive for coronavirus.

NYSE will start its all-electronic trading on March 23, with the NYSE equities trading floor, NYSE American Operations trading floor in New York, and the NYSE Arca Options trading floor in San Francisco to have all humans removed. The NYSE had screenings at its Big Board, with 2 people testing positive for coronavirus, ushering in the all-electronic trading push from the NYSE.

This is the first time in the history of the New York Stock Exchange that the physical trading floor of the Big Board has been shut down independently, while electronic trading flows. The NYSE has shut down a couple of times in history, the last of which was 9/11 and before that during World War II.

The PlayStation 5's new solid state drive isn't your run of the mill PCIe 4.0 SSD. It's heavily customized on a number of levels, including its revamped 12-channel memory controller. While on the surface it has similar specs to a PC-level SSD like PCIe 4.0 interface with 4x lanes on an M.2 card using the NVMe protocol, it's been built from the ground up specifically for the system's custom 7nm AMD SoC and 16GB of GDDR6 system memory. And in many ways, the SSD is the most important part of the PlayStation 5.

The SSD can deliver uncompressed data to other system components at up to 5.5GB/sec via its new proprietary hardware, which is over twice that of an Xbox Series X. And like the Xbox Series X, the PS5 also has dedicated hardware-based decompression to reduce CPU overhead. The new custom-designed I/O unit is the heart of making all this happen.

In this article we'll be combing through Mark Cerny's latest technical dissection of the PlayStation 5 hardware and putting everything into perspective along the way. This will be a long ride, but if you have even a passing interest in next-gen console storage, it'll be worth checking out.

Unlike the Xbox Series X, which uses proprietary CFExpress memory cards to expand SSD storage, the PlayStation 5 will let gamers slot in third-party PCIe 4.0 drives into the console.

Sony has learned a lot from the PS Vita memory fiasco. The PS5 won't have high-priced restrictive memory cards. Instead, Sony allows gamers to expand memory by slotting in third-party PC-grade M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSDs into the PS5. This is pretty important considering the system only has a 825GB SSD.

"We will be supporting certain M.2 SSDs. These are internal drives you can get on the open market and install in a bay on the PlayStation 5. They connect to the custom I/O unit just like our SSD does so they can take full advantage of the decompression, I/O co-processors, and all the other features," PlayStation 5 architect Mark Cerny today confirmed.

UPDATE: Major Nelson confirms the Thanksgiving 2020 release date was a mistake. The console is still coming 'Holiday 2020.'

The Xbox Series X will release on November 26, 2020 on Thanksgiving, the console's website says.

On the eve of the PlayStation 5's big spec reveal, Microsoft trades blows with Sony by announcing the Xbox Series X's launch date. The console was previously set for Holiday 2020, but according to the console's official website, the Xbox Series X is now coming on Thanksgiving day. Thanks makes it a hot item for the Black Friday shopping season.

Sony's next-gen PlayStation 5 can deliver up to 9GB/sec speeds on its powerful new PCIe 4.0 SSD, making it roughly 100x faster than the PS4's current hard drives.

If the Xbox Series X is a lion, then the PS5 is a cheetah--this console's SSD tech is lightning-fast. Sony's next-gen console has a custom PCIe 4.0 SSD that can push compressed data at up to 9GB/sec, or almost twice as fast as the Xbox Series X's max compressed data throughput of 4.8GB/sec. This means the system will be able to access compressed data that's downloaded or from a disc much, much faster. Blu-ray disc game installs will be blindingly fast.

Once the data is decompressed, the system can process it at 5.5GB/sec, which also roughly twice as fast as the Xbox Series X's 2.4GB/sec decompressed data I/O throughput. PS5 architect Mark Cerny confirms the PS5 can load 2GBs of data in just 0.27 seconds. The system will utilize decompressed data for real-time processing and loading, like assets that're fed into 10.3TFLOP 2.23GHz Navi GPU for rendering. This puts the PS5 on par with today's most demanding enthusiast-grade consumer PC storage.

Sony today announced the PS5's specs, and confirmed the console is less powerful than the Xbox Series X in some regards, but it's GPU is faster.

Despite being quite close to its competitor, the PlayStation 5 is technically less powerful than the Xbox Series X. The PS5 uses a RDNA 2 Navi 2x GPU clocked in at 2.23GHz with 36CUs with 10.3TFLOPs of power, complete with ray tracing support, and its 8-core 16 thread Zen 2 CPU is clocked at 3.5GHz. The next-gen PS5 sports 16GB of GDDR6 unified system RAM on a 256 bit bus (less than Microsoft's custom 320 bit bus) with 448GB/sec memory bandwidth.

The SSD is blazing fast, but it's only 825GB to keep costs down. The PlayStation 5's internal PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD can hit up to 9GB/sec transfer rates with compressed files, and 5GB/sec rates with uncompressed files. Sony developed a new compression methodology based on RAD Game Labs' potent Kraken compression system that massively reduces data sizes. There's also a new architecture that reduces CPU usage overhead to free up system resources. It's also designed to give developers much more granular control over how their data is processed by the console.

A Warner Music account accidentally uploaded the OST for L.A. Noire Part Two, hinting a sequel is in development at Rockstar Games.

Internet detectives might've solved the case of Rockstar's next game. The studio could be working on a sequel to 2011's ultra-stylish crime story for next-gen consoles, complete with immaculate animations and a storyline that'd impress hardcases like Humphrey Bogart.

According to screenshots, Warner Chappell Music, the global publishing company of the Warner Media Group, uploaded a song from L.A. Noire Part Two. The song in question is Break My Stride from Matthew Wilder, and is probably for the big reveal trailer that's set to accompany either Sony's or Microsoft's big livestream E3-timed events. The account and the music was deleted shortly after.

Sony is finally revealing key PS5 specs and details today at 12pm EST in a livestream with Mark Cerny, complete with architectural info and much more.

The PS5's enigmatic mystery will be lifted today. The livestream with Cerny should uncover tons of tidbits about the system's software and hardware stack and we'll probably get perf numbers: 8K, 4K 60FPS, 1080p 120FPS, ray tracing, etc. And Cerny should explain how this kind of performance is possible on the system. And storage...hopefully we get info on storage too.

The stream should be roughly 52 minutes long so we could see some game reveals, a big reveal of the system's final consumer design, memory cards (yes, those are back now), and more. Kotaku's Jason Schreier, who has knowledge with the goings-on in the games industry, says spec-hunters will be disappointed. The PS5 may not hit the same TFLOP power as the Xbox Series X.

President Donald Trump has just announced that the United States will closing its border with Canada, where all "non-essential traffic" will be blocked over coronavirus.

The moves by President Trump closing the US-Canada border come barely 24 hours after the European Union agreed to close its external borders to non-citizens. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently made similar moves in Canada, where he considered closing Canada's border to non-citizens, while US citizens were exempt from that ban.

President Trump tweeted: "We will be, by mutual consent, temporarily closing our Northern Border with Canada to non-essential traffic. Trade will not be affected. Details to follow!" The story is breaking, and I will update it when more information is made available.

Former Facebook Creative Director, and veteran game creator, Mike Booth, will be moving over to Resolution Games as a member of its board of directors.

Booth has been in game development for quite some time now, starting his career back in college with a game called Nox and then moving onto to work on two legendary titles - Counter-Strike and Left 4 Dead under Turtle Rock Studios before being acquired by Valve. Booth also worked on a range of big titles such as Counter-Strike: Source, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Team Fortress 2, Command & Conquer: Generals, and Command & Conquer: Red Alert. Booth also spent some over at Facebook as the leader of the company's virtual reality ventures.

Resolution Games is known for creating titles such as Bait!, Acron: Attack of the Squirrels! and Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs. Booth touched on the transition to Resolution Games and said that "What drew me to Resolution Games is the team's passion and dedication to creating innovative and immersive game play in what's proving to be an incredibly powerful, yet still somewhat challenging technology".

The search for a coronavirus COVID-19 vaccine is probably the most-wanted thing on this planet right now, outside of toilet paper that is -- and don't worry, scientists are on top of it.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have said that their clinical trial of investigational vaccine for COVID-19 begins, with a new study kicking off in Seattle with local, healthy adult volunteers putting their arms up for a jab. A new Phase 1 "clinical trial evaluating an investigational vaccine designed to protect against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has begun at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) in Seattle", according to a new post on the NIH website.

The new COVID-19 vaccine trial will see 45 "healthy adult volunteers" that are aged between 18-55 years old, across the next 6 weeks, where the first "participant received the investigational vaccine today". The 6-week study will be evaluating "different doses of the experimental vaccine for safety and its ability to induce an immune response in participants".

Nokia has been chosen to deploy a 5G radio network for Chunghwa Telecom in Taiwan, where it will deploy 5G technology in the Central and Southern Region of Taiwan.

Chunghwa Telecom has its eyes on becoming the 5G leader in Taiwan, and will be using Nokia's range of 5G radio technology to make it happen. Chunghwa Telecom will be the first in Taiwan with 5G connectivity, with the continued relationship between the companies extending back to 1973 -- right up to the next generation of 5G technology.

The rollout of 5G technology is already happening in Taiwan, and will be live for users to use in July -- aiming at high-end 4K video streaming and VR technology. Nokia will tap the huge array of Chunghwa Telecom's existing LTE install base with huge spectrum resources at its disposal, to launch a 5G non-standalone (NSA) using multiple bands -- where in the future it will expand on that with 5G standalone (SA).

We all know that coronavirus COVID-19 is wrecking havok on the world in multiple ways, but now we have an analyst who thinks it is the perfect time for Apple to acquire Disney. Yeah... Disney, and yeah... Apple.

Rosenblatt Securities Director Bernie McTernan has thought about what would happen if Apple were to acquire Disney, during a recent chat with Yahoo Finance. He had some interesting facts that he bought up, and with coronavirus COVID-19 bringing markets down and changing the way consumers consume content right now, Apple could make a big move on the board and acquire everything giant Apple.

Yahoo Finance talked about Apple having the ability to "possibly take advantage of those struggles" that Disney is going through right now, with Disney stock plummeting 40% in the last month alone.

Coronavirus COVID-19 is canceling and delaying things left right and center, and now the latest thing to be delayed is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's next DLC fighter.

The news has come from PushDustIn, who is known for translating Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Director Masahiro Sakurai's Famitsu column regarding the development of the game. According to PushDustIn, excerpts of Sakurai's next column have been leaked online, and from the translations, the upcoming announcement for the next DLC fighter has been "put on hold" due to COVID-19.

There's no doubt that the now global virus is drastically affecting multiple industries across the planet, and that means game development as well. So, this isn't that surprising considering studios such as CD Projekt Red have already told their workers to begin working from home, hindering game development process. The same will likely happen for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which will most likely push the expected completion date of Fighters Pass 2 back further.

Call of Duty: Warzone is off to a big start, with over 15 million players already joining in on the action.

Warzone is amassing extreme popularity in the battle royale genre, and to keep players enticed Infinity Ward and Activision have rolled out a new update. Inside of this update are numerous bug fixes that the community was no doubt complaining about, and an addition to being able to jump into Warzone completely solo.

Infinity Ward will no doubt contain rolling out updates that contain fixes for Warzone, as the game is still young and has a lot of distance still yet to go. One of the more notable bug fixes inside this update is that players who downed an enemy player will be rewarded with kills, instead of who killed the enemy player while they were down. If you are interested in checking out the full update notes, dot points have been provided in the entirety of this post, or a link to the official site can be found here.

It looks like things could go from (really) bad to unbelievably bad when it comes to the flow-on effects of coronavirus COVID-19.

Coronavirus could crash the entire US housing market causing trillions of dollars in damage, and affecting hundreds of millions of Americans. The latest data from Google Trends is a big indicator towards this, with Google searches of "unemployment benefits" shoot up.

As you can see from the Google Trends data on US-based users searches for "Unemployment Benefits" it has skyrocketed in the last week or so. But the issue is, it's not just searches for "unemployment benefits" that is concerning, because "can't pay rent" searches are surging, too.

Half-Life: Alyx is right around the corner, with Valve providing some details on when the game will begin pre-loading onto PCs, as well as when the game will unlock exactly.

Valve explained in a tweet that Half-Life: Alyx will begin pre-loading on March 20, while the game won't unlock for VR gamers until March 23 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET. This means we're only days away from its launch, with Half-Life: Alyx opening up the pre-loading flood gates the day DOOM Eternal drops on March 20.

More reading: I've written an extensive article titled 'Half-Life: Alyx Buyers Guide: PC Hardware & VR Headset Recommendations'. Check it out with recommendations on the PC hardware and VR headset required, and recommended by me, for Half-Life: Alyx.

NASA has been directly affected by COVID-19 coronavirus, with the US space agency having a staffer in Alabama testing positive for COVID-19.

This has forced NASA into a lockdown and pushing a mandatory work-from-home order, elevating the center to "Stage 3". This is NASA's internal label for a mandatory work-from-home order. The Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama is the NASA site affected, with all employees at the Alabama-based facility forced to work from home.

In a NASA press release, the US space agency explains that all staff will have "restricted access to the center until further notice". Stage 3 designation has NASA forcing its other facilities into a Stage 2 mandate, which means the US space agency "strongly encourages" employees to work from home, but it's not mandatory at this stage -- which is where Stage 3 comes in.