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.
Magic Leap IP signed over to JPMorgan Chase as collateral
Magic Leap is in the headlines in all the wrong ways right now, with the beyond secretive company signing over all of its patents 2 months ago now, to JPMorgan Chase as collateral.
Documents filed with the US Patent & Trademark Office on August 22 saw a huge 1903 patents from Magic Leap, and its various holdings companies including Mentor Acquisitions, LLC and Molecular Imprints Inc. were assigned to JPMorgan Chase. The patent security agreement was signed by Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz and JPMorgan Chase collateral agent Eleftherios Karsos.
The bigger issue here is that Magic Leap has burned through its gigantic $2.6 billion in funding so far, as well as its latest funding round of $280 million from Japan's NTT Docomo earlier this year.
Continue reading: Magic Leap IP signed over to JPMorgan Chase as collateral (full post)
Acer Predator 43-inch 4K 144Hz display now shipping for $1499
Acer has just joined the Large Format Gaming Display (LFGD) game with its new Predator CG437K P available in the US for $1499.
The new Acer Predator CG437K P is a larger-than-life 43-inch monitor with a native 4K resolution, so we're looking at 3840 x 2160, with a super-fast 144Hz refresh rate. Acer is also providing DisplayHDR 1000 certification on its VA panel, with the native 120Hz refresh overclockable to 144Hz.
Acer supports both NVIDIA G-SYNC and AMD FreeSync/Adaptive Sync with the Predator CG437K P, with G-SYNC supported over the DisplayPort cable while Adaptive Sync/FreeSync is offered over the HDMI connection if you want to plug in an Xbox One console.
Continue reading: Acer Predator 43-inch 4K 144Hz display now shipping for $1499 (full post)
Samsung Galaxy S11 leaked specs: 5G + 108MP camera
Samsung launched its flagship Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ earlier this year, following it up with the larger and feature-packed Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10+ but what about 2020 flagship phones?
Well, the new Galaxy S11 specs that are leaking out sound delicious -- with 5G connectivity, bigger batteries, a huge 108-megapixel camera, and more teased. Notorious leaker "evleaks" AKA Evan Blass has said that Samsung will launch 3 different Galaxy S11 smartphones in February 2020.
We should expect a 6.4-inch, 6.7-inch, and 6.9-inch Galaxy S11 spread of phones which are a decent bump over the 5.8-inch, 6.1-inch, and 6.4-inch offered by the Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S10, and Galaxy S10+ respectively. But what's inside, is what'll impress.
Continue reading: Samsung Galaxy S11 leaked specs: 5G + 108MP camera (full post)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti: June 2020, or earlier?!
The hype train for NVIDIA's next-gen Ampere GPU is really starting to gain traction, with new rumors fueling the release window of Ampere in 2020.
We heard about the purported GeForce RTX 3000 series cards not too long ago now, with NVIDIA reportedly preparing the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, GeForce RTX 3080, and GeForce RTX 3070 graphics cards for 2020. But the big question is when exactly, in 2020?
Raymond James analyst Chris Caso has said that NVIDIA reportedly pushed Ampere back by a few months, with Team Green aiming for a GTC 2020 reveal and Computex 2020 release. Caso adds that Ampere will be introduced at GTC 2020 in a big way as an AI/datacenter/HPC product, and then an Ampere-based GeForce RTX 3000 series family of cards will launch in the months after.
Continue reading: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti: June 2020, or earlier?! (full post)
This NES controller mouse is actually brilliant
Peripheral-maker 8Bitdo (the same company who made a Switch controller with two d-pads) brings another wacky creation to the table: a NES controller mouse.
8Bitdo's new N30 mouse has a very familiar design. It's literally molded after an old-school NES controller from the 80s, complete with two telltale red buttons for right and mouse click, and a D-pad fastened to the side for PageUp/PageDown web page navigation.
The N30 is wireless and runs on a single AA battery, and sports 1,000 DPI with a 2.4GHz dongle that works from up to 10 meters away. There's also a nifty touch-based scroll slider in the middle in lieu of a scroll wheel.
Continue reading: This NES controller mouse is actually brilliant (full post)
Jedi: Fallen Order won't have a play first trial
In a rare move, EA Access subscribers won't get first dibs on Jedi: Fallen Order.
One of the selling points of EA's Access subscription is early 10-hour trials to all of its biggest games. But EA is apparently breaking this process, starting first with Jedi: Fallen Order. Today EA confirmed Respawn's new Jedi power fantasy game won't have a play first trial. Origin Access subscribers won't get a trial either.
The reason? EA wants to avoid any spoilers. "We've opted not to have early/timed access (Play First Trial), in part to reduce the risk of spoilers. Instead, EA Access members get these exclusive cosmetics!"
Continue reading: Jedi: Fallen Order won't have a play first trial (full post)
Stadia only has 12 games at launch
Google's new Stadia game streaming service will only have 12 games at launch, including blockbusters like Assassin's Creed: Odyssey and Red Dead Redemption II.
Stadia will be available November 19 and comes with a dozen titles upon release, Google today confirmed. 14 more games are slated to launch throughout the end of 2019. Remember that only the paid $10 a month Stadia Pro subscription is available at launch, so Destiny 2 will be free for everyone who pays for the service. The free Stadia version is coming sometime in 2020.
If you want to play Stadia on your TV, you'll need a Chromecast Ultra. Stadia Pro subscribers can also play games on desktop or laptops via a Chrome browser, and use native keyboard and mouse controls or a USB game controller like a PS4 or Xbox One controller to play. Game streaming to mobile phones will be extremely awkward and isn't advised.
Continue reading: Stadia only has 12 games at launch (full post)
Final Fantasy VII: Remake's summons can't be used in every battle
Final Fantasy VII Remake's summon system is quite limited, and can only be used against bigger bosses and enemies.
The new summoning system for FF7 Remake is pretty intense. Instead of performing one single attack like in the original 1997 RPG, summons in the Remake will stay on the battlefield for a set period of time and dish out serious carnage. This compliments the new real-time action-based combat system quite well. But this power can only be used during challenge fights and summons won't show up willy-nilly.
In a recent quick interview with Square Enix, game producer Yoshinori Kitase confirms FF7R's summons are quite limited. "Players equip summoning materia, and that materia resonates when fighting bosses, or certain powerful enemies, when certain conditions are met," Kitase said.
Continue reading: Final Fantasy VII: Remake's summons can't be used in every battle (full post)
Hideo Kojima can't take criticism very well
Hideo Kojima makes wide sweeping generalizations why Death Stranding's criticism is more stringent in the West, compromising his fanbase in the process.
After years of development, Hideo Kojima's new game Death Stranding is finally out. Reviews are quite divisive. With tons of metaphors and themes (and lots tedium) it's either a love it or hate it type of experience. If you hated it, there's a good chance Death Stranding's deeper meanings just flew over your head--at least that's what Kojima seems to imply.
In a recent interview with TGCom24, Hideo Kojima pretty much aggravated his entire Western fanbase by essentially comparing them to brutes who don't (or can't) appreciate good art.
Continue reading: Hideo Kojima can't take criticism very well (full post)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 'Is for good boys and girls' only
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai said on his last livestream that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is only for "good boys and girls".
If you happened to miss it, Nintendo added Fatal Fury's 'Terry Bogard' to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate last week, and to kick off the launch of the classic character, the game's director sat down for 45 minutes to demonstrate him. Masahiro Sakurai showcased Terry Bogard for quite some time, and when he got to the part about including some of the other Fatal Fury characters, he dropped a joke that was taken out of context.
The local translation for what he said is as follows, "By the way, you may have noticed that a very important character from the Fatal Fury series was not included. Yes, Mai Shiranui. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is for good boys and girls of many different ages, so we decided not to feature her. Please forgive us." An image of Mai Shiranui is found in the entirety of this article, and after viewing that, you can probably understand why Nintendo decided to leave her out.
Continue reading: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 'Is for good boys and girls' only (full post)
Fans honor dead gaming YouTuber 'Etika' with touching 40-foot mural
If you remember back in late June, news sparked off about a popular gaming YouTuber Desmond "Etika" Amofah being found dead in Manhattan's river. Fans have now honored 'Etika' with a beautiful mural.
Fellow YouTuber, Double-A, and web designer Abe Hunter decided to team up to not let Amofah's words that shook fans across the world come true, "I know this world's gonna forget me." It was their mission not to let this happen, and with so many dedicated fans to Amofah, both Double-A and Hunter managed to raise $11,000 for the National Alliance for Mental Illness.
They didn't stop there, though. Double-A and Hunter went on to organise a mural to be painted by local mural artist "BKFoxx", and local graffiti artist "kestaadm". The mural is no small celebration either; it's 40-foot long and is located at 1280 Myrtle Ave. in Bushwick, Brooklyn. From the image, we can see that it includes two pictures of Amofah and his famous catch-phrase, "Take care of yourself. Have yourself a damn good one!"
Continue reading: Fans honor dead gaming YouTuber 'Etika' with touching 40-foot mural (full post)
Hideo Kojima awarded 2 Guinness World Records, not for Death Stranding
Just this past week, Hideo Kojima was proud to release the highly anticipated title, Death Stranding. While most people would think that Kojima would be taking some time off to relax, instead, he is accepting some Guinness World Record awards.
Above, we have a Tweet from the official Guinness World Records Twitter account, and it shows Hideo Kojima accepting two individual awards. Strangely enough, these awards are not Death Stranding-related at all and, instead, are for Kojima's social media statistics.
The awards have been given to Kojima for his follower counts on both Twitter and Instagram. According to the description of the Tweet, Kojima now has the most followers on Twitter for a video game director and the most followers on Instagram for a video game. Death Stranding is now currently available on the PlayStation 4 and will be arriving on PC via the Epic Games Store and Steam in the Summer of 2020.
Continue reading: Hideo Kojima awarded 2 Guinness World Records, not for Death Stranding (full post)
Kevin Feige responds to Martin Scorsese's criticism on Marvel movies
Back in the middle of October, legendary director Martin Scorsese gave his opinion on the plethora of Marvel movies. Now, Marvel boss Kevin Feige has responded to those comments.
According to an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel's chief creative officer Kevin Feige said that Scorsese is entitled to share his opinions on films in any which way he so chooses, but this will not stop Marvel from making more films. According to Feige, "Everybody has a different definition of cinema. Everybody has a different definition of art. Everybody has a different definition of risk, I guess. All I know is, I'm surrounded by people 24 hours a day who live and breathe and love cinema."
He continued and said, "Some people don't think it's cinema. Everybody is entitled to their opinion. Everyone is entitled to repeat that opinion. Everyone is entitled to write op-eds about that opinion, and I look forward to what will happen next. But in the meantime, we're going to keep making movies." For those that don't know, Scorsese said that Marvel films "are not cinema" and that Marvel's films don't contain "revelation, mystery, or genuine emotional danger." Scorsese concluded that Marvel films have "nothing at risk."
Continue reading: Kevin Feige responds to Martin Scorsese's criticism on Marvel movies (full post)
16,000 core supercomputer completes best galaxy simulation video ever
The most detailed large-scale simulation has been released showing just after the Big Bang, all the way until the present day.
Scientists have been struggling with the creation of accurate simulations of cosmic-level events due to the limitations of computing power. The computational limitations forced scientists to choose between large-scale designs or fine detail. But now, scientists from Germany and the United States have completed and released the most detailed large-scale simulation of a galaxy forming.
The simulation is called TNG50 and is a state-of-the-art simulation of the formation of a galaxy similar in mass to our neighboring galaxy Andromeda. The video shows a formation of a single massive galaxy, with cosmic gas becoming denser and denser over the course of billions of years. The Hazel Hen supercomputer, located in Stuttgart, created the simulation over the course of a year using 16,000 computational cores. The results are an extremely detailed cosmic visualization that consists of 230 million light-years in diameter and more than 20 billion particles that represent dark matter, stars, cosmic gas, magnetic fields, and supermassive black holes.
Continue reading: 16,000 core supercomputer completes best galaxy simulation video ever (full post)
Atoms in superposition state can successfully measure Earth's gravity
Researchers have devised a new way to measure gravity, and they have done this by measuring the differences in atoms while they are in a superposition state.
To give a bit of background on this new way of gravity measuring, we must understand the traditional way of measuring gravity. Currently, the standard way of conducting an experiment to measure gravity is to drop objects down tubes that fly past measuring instruments. Unfortunately, with this method, some of the test results get obscured by stray magnet fields.
The team of researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, has managed to create a new way of measuring that doesn't require any objects to be dropped. Instead, researchers released a cloud of cesium atoms into the air of a small chamber; they then used flashing lights to split the atoms into a superposition state.
Continue reading: Atoms in superposition state can successfully measure Earth's gravity (full post)
New quantum data protocol takes big steps towards a 'Quantum Internet'
Everyday efforts are being made towards the creation of 'quantum internet,' and now a new network protocol has been developed that bring us even closer to its fruition.
UAB researchers have managed to face one of the many problems that are present when designing a quantum internet connection - optimizing automated information treatment protocols to work with quantum data sets. The researchers have created an optimal procedure that has the ability to be able to identify quantum data sets. This is done through a quantum network protocol that can identify common underlying probability distributions and organize them into recognizable patterns.
An example of a classical computer doing this is a simple street microphone test that has multiple sounds occurring at the same time. The computer recognizes patterns and can differentiate the sounds of a conversation, traffic, and cars. What the researchers at UAB were able to do is compare the performance of classic computers and their protocols, versus quantum protocols. The findings were that quantum protocols clearly outperform classical protocols; this was mainly present in large data sets.
Continue reading: New quantum data protocol takes big steps towards a 'Quantum Internet' (full post)
Here's a herd of MIT's Mini Cheetah robots synchronise back-flipping
MIT can have fun too, and it's not in the same way that normal everyday people would. Instead, it's much cooler as they take they their Mini Cheetah robots out to do flips and kick a soccer ball around.
In a new video that has been posted onto the MIT Biomimetics YouTube Channel, we observe nine new Mini Cheetah robots being taken outside for some testing. The video begins with the robots merely making their way to the testing area, and some are kicking around a soccer ball and others and just enjoying bouncing around in one spot.
The testing also shows some coordinated dancing, body-slams, and a not-so-friendly game of uncoordinated soccer ball kicking. This video proves that MIT has made some leaps and bounds when it comes to robot improvement and range of motion. Eventually, as MIT perfect the designs of the Mini Cheetah's, some could be sent out to hazardous work sites, be used in search-and-rescue missions, and perhaps save some human lives.
Continue reading: Here's a herd of MIT's Mini Cheetah robots synchronise back-flipping (full post)
YouTube can delete your account if you're not 'commercially viable'
Google has updated the terms of service (ToS) to YouTube, and it has content creators and YouTubers very, very concerned -- and rightfully so.
YouTube's new ToS states in a section titled "Account Suspension & Termination" under the subheading of "Terminations by YouTube for Service Changes" that "YouTube may terminate your access, or your Google account's access to all or part of the Service if YouTube believes, in its sole discretion, that provision of the Service to you is no longer commercially viable".
Yeah, you read that right -- if YouTube isn't making money from your content, it can remove you from its platform at a whim. The new terms of service kick in on December 10, with the current ToS not stating this right now.
Continue reading: YouTube can delete your account if you're not 'commercially viable' (full post)
Red Dead Redemption 2 FOV mod is here
Now that Red Dead Redemption 2 is here, modders can get to fixing up some of the things developer Rockstar Games didn't spend time on.
One of those things is a field of view (FOV) slider that has been added into the game with a new mod, which also removes the black bars that Red Dead Redemption 2 features in its in-game cutscenes, cinematic cameras, shops, and other areas.
Keep in mind that Rockstar Games doesn't officially support mods, so only use it in the single-player version of Red Dead Redemption 2. The mods creator explains: "I'm not aware of reports of people getting banned over the use of Flawless Widescreen in GTA V, but use the tool provided here at own risk and ideally avoid playing RDR Online without restarting the game after applying the hack".
Continue reading: Red Dead Redemption 2 FOV mod is here (full post)
AMD Radeon RX 5500 will compete against NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
AMD will soon be launching its Navi 14-based Radeon RX 5500 series graphics cards, with more details arriving before its big launch.
The official marketing material for AMD's upcoming Radeon RX 5500 series has surfaced, showing that the company has labeled it as a "Performance" card. AMD's new Radeon RX 5500 competes directly and easily beats NVIDIA's mid-range GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card.
Navi 14 will offer up 22 RDNA compute units for a total of 1408 stream processors, 4GB/8GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit memory bus which will provide 224GB/sec memory bandwidth. AMD will clock the Navi 14 GPU at 1670MHz game clock, and up to 1845MHz boost clock.
Continue reading: AMD Radeon RX 5500 will compete against NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (full post)






















