Latest News - Page 1680

The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) says that COVID-19 coronavirus, and the closures of countless schools worldwide, will have an affect on 776 million children.

UNESCO explains: "an unprecedented number of children, youth and adults are not attending schools or universities because of COVID-19". Governments in 100 countries have announced, or already implemented closures of schools -- where in 85 countries, schools nationwide have been completely closed, which has affected 776.7 million children.

There's no an updated list of digital education tools from UNESCO, something that includes digital learning management systems like ClassDojo and Google Classroom. There are also apps that have been designed for smart featurephones including KaiOS, and software with offline compatibility with Can't Wait to Learn, Kolibri, Rumie, and Ustad Mobile.

Warner Bros. has not only stopped production of The Batman, but the company has also just announced it has halted production of The Matrix 4.

The Matrix 4 has been shooting in San Francisco recently, where it just ended its required shooting in San Francisco and was going to begin in Berlin. But, because of the current panic over COVID-19 coronavirus, Warner Bros. has pulled the plug on production of The Matrix 4 for now.

The new travel restrictions put in place by the Trump administration between the US and Europe have ended these plans, for safety of all people above all. There's no details on when The Matrix 4 production will begin again, or whether the movie will be able to meet its May 21, 2021 release -- the same day as John Wick 4, which both star Keanu Reeves.

CD Projekt RED has just posted on their official Twitter account to update the world on the status of its much anticipated Cyberpunk 2077, amid all the COVID-19 coronavirus panic.

The developer explained: "Many of you are probably wondering how things are at CD PROJEKT RED and how COVID-19 influences out day-to-day operations. Here's a short update. Over the past week, we have been adapting to the situation and gradually rolling out preventative measures across our entire organization".

CDPR continues: "We've also been upgrading equipment & infrastructure and working towards enabling our employees to work remotely, from the safety of their homes. Today, as a result of that preparation, CD PROJEKT RED switches to full remote work for as long as it is needed. We think this will grant every team member the highest level of personal health safety. And while this all is a bit new to everyone, we are rising to the challenge and showing no signs of stopping in our effort to bring you some kick-ass role-playing action in September".

I'm surprised it took this long, but there is now an official "coronavirus mod" for Fallout: New Vegas, released by modder 'JotunYmir' and available right here.

The mod is called Immersive Coronavirus, and will see Fallout: New Vegas players needing to eat some Bat Soup to contract COVID-19 coronavirus. There's not much more to go along with the mod, as once you have it you simply need to survive it -- which isn't that hard by the looks of things.

I would rather see the infection of coronavirus changing the way you interact with the world at least, as it seems like a waste to be (what seems) the first "coronavirus mod" for a game. I'm sure Resident Evil is next, though.

Haven't picked up Doom Eternal yet? Don't own a Switch? Don't fret: The Steam Game Festival is coming back to save us from quarantine woes.

The Steam Game Festival is one of the best things Valve has ever done. Originally debuting last year as part of the The Game Awards 2019 showcase, the festival is basically a digital games convention where you can demo and play an assortment of games. Now it's coming back to help cure our COVID-19 quarantine woes.

Since so many indie devs missed the chance to demo their games at GDC, PAX East, and E3 2020, Valve and Geoff Keighley partnered up to host a kind of virtual games meetup. This time around Valve will offer over 40 games for Steam gamers to try out. They won't all be indies and expect some surprises thrown in there. Last time around we got to try the amazing System Shock remake from Nightdive Studios which looked and played incredibly well (here's hoping it's back for round 2).

Global entry! We have teamed up with SAPPHIRE to give away one of its PULSE RX 5600 XT 6GB GDDR6 video cards to one lucky winner.

The SAPPHIRE PULSE RX 5600 XT offers incredible performance at the optimal budget for every gamer. With lightning fast GDDR6 memory and redefined display and media engines, the PULSE RX 5600 XT is the ideal graphics card for 1080p gamers. It is powered by AMD's extreme RDNA architecture, alongside our innovative Dual-X Cooling Technology which keeps the GPU, Memory and VRM components icy cool at low noise levels.

The all-aluminum backplate preserves the rigidity of the GPU and guarantees nothing bends, dust stays out and adds another level of passive cooling to dissipate heat. Pivotal SAPPHIRE features like the Quick Connect Fan, Dual Bios Support and Dual Ball Bearing Fans keep your GPU running smooth and stable. Take your gaming to the next level with the SAPPHIRE PULSE RX 5600 XT as the beating heart of your PC!

Yesterday Microsoft pretty much revealed everything there is to know about the Xbox Series X, including specs, software architecture features, new SSD tech and memory cards, and amazing upscaling capabilities. Tomorrow Sony will do the same for the PS5.

Sony will reveal key information about the next-gen PS5 in a special live stream tomorrow hosted by system creator Mark Cerny, the company today announced. Cerny will "provide a deep dive into PS5's system architecture, and how it will shape the future of games."

We expect to see detailed info on PlayStation 5 specifications--Cerny should confirm RDNA 2 in the PS5's GPU, for instance--ray tracing capabilities, the ultra-fast SSD, and hopefully some game demos.

Uber is doing what it can to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, and it has recently announced its battle plan that is aimed at helping many restaurants.

Uber has announced that it will be launching daily marketing campaigns to push Uber Eats customers into purchasing food from local restaurants. On top of that, Uber has also said that it will waiver delivery fees from over 100,000 local restaurants in the United States and Canada. The goodness doesn't stop there, though. Uber will also be allowing restaurants to choose daily payments to Uber Eats instead of normal weekly payments.

There will also be 300,000 free meals that can be claimed by first responders and healthcare workers on Uber Eats. For workers that are currently participating in keeping local restaurants afloat, Uber is offering two weeks of pay to drivers and delivery people who have unfortunately tested positive for COVID-19. Uber also recommends that it's customers select the 'non-contact' delivery to minimize the chance of the virus spreading.

Ava Louise is a 22-year-old "clout-chaser" on social media, where she posted a video of her doing the "coronavirus challenge" which saw her licking a plane toilet seat. Yeah, I wish I was joking, but I'm not.

Louise completed the "coronavirus challenge" stunt and then has been slammed on social media across the world, with the video in question shared to TikTok and saw her licking a plane toilet seat. She captioned the 6-second video clip with: "Please [retweet] this so people can know how to properly be sanitary on the airplane".

She has 19,000 followers on TikTok and over 150,000 followers on Instagram. The video was posted on her personal Twitter on March 14. The reason for her doing the "coronavirus challenge" -- that would be clout. Yeah, she actually admitted that in a follow-up tweet:

The outright panic over COVID-19 coronavirus is shutting cities down and seeing retailers with empty shelves, schools and mass gatherings banned -- but what about your smartphone?

There are some tips on keeping your smartphone safe, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers your smartphone a "high-touch surface" and thus, makes it a hot spot for coronavirus. You need to clean your smartphone properly, so here is a quick guide on keeping what is most likely your most-used device clean.

Also, once you're done cleaning your smartphone -- wash your hands.

Apple is being slapped with fines left, right, and center recently, and now another billion-dollar fine has been slid across the company's desk. This time it's for engaging in anti-competitive agreements with wholesalers.

According to a report for The Guardian, Apple has been fined a staggering 1.1bn EURO ($1.2 billion USD) by French antitrust regulators for engaging in anti-competitive agreements with two wholesalers. Isabelle de Silva, the head of Autorite de la Concurrence, the watchdog for competition, said: "Apple and its two wholesalers agreed to not compete against each other and prevent resellers from promoting competition between each other, thus sterilising the wholesale market for Apple products."

The two companies that Apple worked closely with are Tech Data, and Ingram Micro. Both of these companies were also slapped with fines, Tech Data received a 76 million EURO fine ($84 million USD), and Ingram Micro received a 63 million EURO ($70 million USD) fine. The French regulator said that Apple aligned its prices with wholesalers, and selectively distributed stock to favored wholesalers. Apple also reportedly gave more stock to select wholesalers when products launched.

The current COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak is stopping the world, forcing the largest technology companies in the world to issue a joint statement.

Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube have all joint forces against coronavirus -- with the joint statement reading:

"We are working closely together on COVID-19 response efforts. We're helping millions of people stay connected while jointly combating fraud and misinformation about the virus, elevating authoritative content on our platforms, and sharing critical updates in coordination with government healthcare agencies around the world. We invite other companies to join us as we work to keep our communities healthy and safe".

NVIDIA was ramping up to reveal its next-gen Ampere GPU architecture at its GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in a few days time, but in the end the company moved to an all-digital event over the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, then outright cancelled it.

But now, NVIDIA has taken to its official blog with a new post titled 'GTC News Can Wait' to explain it is delaying the announcement oif its exciting new products. The company explains: "We have exciting products and news to share with you. But this isn't the right time. We're going to hold off on sharing our GTC news for now".

NVIDIA continued: "That way, our employees, partners, the media and analysts who follow us, and our customers around the world can focus on staying safe and reducing the spread of the virus. We will still stream tons of great content from researchers and developers who have prepared great talks. This is a time to focus on our family, our friends, our community. Our employees are working from home. Many hourly workers will not need to work but they'll all be fully paid. Stay safe everyone. We will get through this together".

We are all well aware of COVID-19 coronavirus right now, with entire cities in lock down, schools being shut, borders being closed -- and while it feels like it's the end of the world, I feel fine -- just like R.E.M. did in its 1987 hit song 'It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)'.

R.E.M's massive 1987 hit is once again on the charts now in 2020, where it has turned up in the top songs list on iTunes, where on Monday it was at #41. It has been 33 years since the release of R.E.M.'s It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) but with the recent outbreak of COVID-19 coronavirus, it is back on the charts as people are listening to it en masse.

Not only that, but funnily enough the US box office has been sinking as cinema attendance has been so low, so much so that it hasn't been this bad since 1995 -- coincidentally, since the year Outbreak was released. Outbreak, was a movie about a disease outbreak -- right at a time of the COVID-19 coronavirus frenzy. And now? R.E.M.'s hit It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).

Doom Eternal comes out in just 4 days, and id Software is already planning its next demon-slaughtering adventure.

Doom Eternal is set to unleash unholy chaos this week and we're ready to rip and tear like never before. But like any studio, id Software is already planning out what's next for the Doom Slayer. Game devs constantly iterate and plot out their ideas and often start working on the next project even while the current game is still in development.

According to Doom Eternal's creative director Hugo Martin, id is laying the foundations for a sequel. "We're already moving on...we already have ideas for the next thing. And DLC. DLC is guaranteed. It'll be like an episode; we released the movie, and now we're going to release an HBO series of it. It's basically the adventures of Doom Guy. But it's hard to say when we're going to move on to the next game," Martin said in a recent Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

Memory cards are back and they're better (and more expensive) than ever. The Xbox Series X will use special memory cards to expand the console's built-in 1TB solid state drive. External hard drives are still supported, but they offer limited functionality and are locked to older games.

Microsoft has teamed up with Seagate to make special expandable memory cards for the Xbox Series X that plug into that vertical slot in the console's rear side. These cards pack fully-fledged PCIe 4.0 SSDs that're identical copies of the powerful drive used in the console. The Xbox Series X also supports current external HDDs as expandable memory. But things get a bit tricky with legacy HDDs.

Games that're optimized to use the new hardware aren't compatible with HDDs because of the huge performance disparity. Although Xbox Series X won't get exclusive games, it will offer enhancement upgrades of games that use the new high-speed SSD's DirectStorage and Xbox Velocity Architecture. Once a game is upgraded, it can hit high performance like 120FPS with ray tracing, 4K 60FPS, and more, but only if it runs from the internal SSD or the new expandable storage drives.

The Xbox Series X has baked-in boost mode functionality that will upgrade select current-gen games to run at native 4K.

Microsoft's next-gen Xbox is fully backward compatible with every Xbox One game, but it'll actually play all of these games better. Xbox Series X has two ways to boost in-game performance of older games: Native upgrades that're performed on a system level, and enhancement patches issued out by developers. What's incredible is that some first-party games will actually mix the benefits of both.

Microsoft today confirmed that select current-gen Xbox One games will be automatically boosted to native 4K resolution on UHD displays. The system's 3.8GHz Zen 2 CPU and Navi GPU-outfitted hardware handles all the work, and there's no optimizations from the developer. Devs don't have to touch their games at all and there's no downloads. The games are simply automatically upgraded by the system itself, and is part of the console's new robust software stack and expanded backward compatibility support.

Microsoft's new Xbox Series X uses a 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD to hit blazing fast speeds and open the doors to incredible new opportunities for game developers.

Today Microsoft revealed the Xbox Series X's full specs, confirming beastly hardware like a 3.8GHz Zen 2 CPU, 12.15TFLOP Navi GPU, and 16GB of GDDR6 RAM. The console's full might comes from the sum of its parts, the magical conjunction of hardware and software that allows serious performance boosts. One part, the console's new solid state drive, will help revolutionize console gaming as we know it.

The Xbox Series X uses a custom-made proprietary PCIe 4.0 SSD that's specifically designed to synergize with the rest of the system on a hardware and software level. The SSD itself is being made in partnership with Seagate and can deliver up to 4.8GB/sec compressed data transfer rates. That's 40x faster than the mechanical HDDs found in the Xbox One X. This translates to speedy load times like booting State of Decay 2 in 8 seconds versus the 30 seconds on the Xbox One X.

Microsoft today revealed the full specs of its new next-gen Xbox Series X console, and they're absolutely monstrous.

The Xbox Series X is going to revolutionize console gaming. Outfitted with a beefy 8-core 16-thread 3.8GHz Zen 2 CPU with hyperthreading, a 12.15 TFLOP Navi GPU clocked at 1.825GHz, and 16GB of GDDR6 memory, the system's raw hardware specs rival today's modern PC builds. Digital Foundry's latest deep-dive on the Xbox Series X delivers an illuminating reveal at the transformative system.

The Xbox Series X's 7nm SoC has 15.3 billion transistors, up 118% from the Xbox One X's 14nm Scorpio Engine SoC.

Gears 5 can hit Ultra PC settings with Ultra textures on the Xbox Series X, maintaining 60FPS throughout--the game is even running at over 100FPS on the console. Now we have our first look at just how impressive backward compatibility enhancement patches can get.

Current-gen first-party games like Gears 5 are already tapping the Xbox Series X's 3.8GHz Zen 2 CPU and titanic 12.15TFLOP Navi 2x GPU to deliver insane upgraded performance. Digital Foundry reports Gears 5's performance on the Xbox Series X is equivalent to that of an RTX 2080 GPU-powered PC.

In just two weeks, the Coalition got Gears 5 running at Ultra-level PC settings with high-level textures and a ton of improvements. The Coalition is working closely to get UE4 running on Xbox Series X, and have produced in-game enhancements like UE4's new ray-traced global illumination lighting effects, improved contact shadows, and even 100FPS+ gaming. The studio wants to get 120FPS in multiplayer soon.