Latest News - Page 1748

OnePlus will be teasing a new 'OnePlus Concept One' smartphone at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in 2020, but we have no idea what that will be exactly. We should expect a foldable display or maybe even a dual-display smartphone, given the hype surrounding Samsung's own Galaxy Fold and the Huawei Mate X smartphones.

It was barely 24 hours ago that I wrote about the upcoming OnePlus 8 Pro smartphone, with rumors pegging it to pack a 120Hz display and Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 865 processor. As for the OnePlus Concept One smartphone, an in-display selfie camera should make an appearance, something mobile competitor OPPO has already nailed.

OnePlus pushing its Concept One will see the company branching out from the predictable nature of smartphones, w here we might also see a totally button-less smartphone. OnePlus isn't a stranger to moves like this, as they removed the headphone jack from their smartphones early in on the remove-the-headphone-jack-craze years ago.

We all know there will be millions of families across the world spilling into arguments over the holiday and Christmas period, when it comes to money, politics, TV and movies, gaming, technology, and virtually everything in between.

But don't worry, Amazon is here to the rescue with its virtual assistant receiving a new upgrade that will settle family disputes. Amazon Alexa's new feature is called a "distraction technique" and will be voice activated by saying "Alexa, change the subject!" The perfect distraction, right?

Amazon researched into the subject, finding that at 6:30PM on Christmas Day is the peak time for when family arguments begin. Once it has been activated with "Alexa, change the subject", the Amazon Alexa will distraction feature by asking other triggering questions like "Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?" An easier question posed by the newly-powered Alexa is "What would your superpower be and why?"

Microsoft might have just discounted what could be a great last-minute Christmas gift, with the Xbox One X discounted by over $150 from its original $499 price.

The Xbox One X is being offered for $350 by both B&H and Walmart, while I found it for just $339 on Amazon. Walmart has discounted the Xbox One X by $150 down to $349, while also sweetening the deal with game bundles including Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, the Gears 5 bundle, and then an NBA 2K20 bundle. B&H is offering the same Xbox One X bundles for $349.

But it's Amazon with the cheapest price overall, at just $339. If you didn't purchase a gamer in your life a new Xbox One X console yet, now might be your time. If you've got a PC enthusiast in your life, then I would suggest reading my article on that here.

LG unveiled a slew of new monitors ahead of CES 2020 around the corner, with a new 27-inch 4K 160Hz monitor leading the super-fast, high-res pack. But there was also an UltraWide monitor unveiled, with LG's new UltraWide 38WN950.

The new LG UltraWide 38WN950 monitor packs a 37.5-inch Nano IPS-based UltraWide panel, with native resolution of 3840 x 1600 and refresh rate of 144Hz. It too has DisplayPort Adaptive-Sync support, and is NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible, with height and tilt adjustment on tap as well as the ability for the UltraWide 38WN95C to swivel.

LG will be showing off its new UltraWide 38WN950 at CES 2020 in early January 2020, joined by its also-impressive UltraGear 27GN950 which is a 27-inch 4K monitor with 144Hz refdresh, and overclockable up to 160Hz. It matches the new UltraWide 38WN950 in virtually every other area with 450 nits, 98% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, 1ms response time and VESA DisplayHDR 600 support.

LG has just teased some of its upcoming 2020 monitors, with the new UltraGear 27GN950 standing out from the crowd with its native 4K resolution and up to 160Hz refresh rate.

The new LG UltraGear 27GN950 rolls out with a 27-inch Nano IPS panel, native 3840 x 2160 resolution, and stock 144Hz refresh rate. LG allows for this to be overclocked, with the 144Hz capable of being driven up to 160Hz -- if you can find a graphics card capable of pushing 160FPS at 4K, that is.

We have a 1ms response time, VESA DisplayHDR 600 certification, DisplayPort Adaptive-Sync and G-SYNC Compatible, with 2 x HDMI ports, 1 x DP port, and 2 x USB ports joined by a 3.5mm headphone jack. LG provides the ability of height adjustment, pivot and tilt adjustable.

It seems Nintendo is in some hot water over a Switch user installing a Sandisk microSD card into his Nintendo Switch, which then promptly melted and destroyed his portable gaming machine.

Nintendo Switch owner 'NefariousZhen' said on the Nintendo Switch subreddit that he installed a brand new Sandisk Extreme PLUS 1GB microSD into his Switch, which then burned a hole in it. He said: "I thought that I was getting a good deal on Black Friday when I bought a 1TB micro sdxc card. Apparently not! It melted the switch the first time I turned it on after installing (it was off as required). Switch is at version 9.1.0".

The microSD card that he used wasn't a cheap one either, with the Sandisk - Extreme PLUS 1TB microSDXC UHS-I costing $400, more than the Nintendo Switch on its own. The Nintendo Switch was out of warranty, but good guy Nintendo has stepped up and said they will replace the burned-out Switch.

Apple's new Mac Pro might cost over $50,000 and even has optional $400 wheels and hell, even the ProDisplay XDR can only be cleaned by a special-made Apple cleaning cloth -- it is a rendering beast.

In a new test with Apple's freshly-baked Mac Pro, it can handle 16K video playback using the new Afteburner add-in card. Jonathan Morrison used his new Apple Mac Pro and the $2000 additional Afterburner card, throwing 4 x 4.5K ProRes RAW videos into a single timeline without a problem.

The four separate 4.5K video streams combine into an effective 16K video, whcih boasts a huge resolution of 15360 x 8640. This is 16x the pixels of 4K. Morrison created 9 separate 4.5K ProRes RAW video streams in separate windows, something that shows just what an add-in card built for content creators can really do. But Apple, about those $400 wheels for the Mac Pro...

It seems like 2020 could be the year of VR hitting the mainstream, with both the Oculus Quest and Valve Index headsets both backordered through to February 2020.

UploadVR is reporting that Facebook has told customers ordering Oculus Quest headsets that they won't get their new all-in-one VR headset until February 2020, while other online stores are out of stock. The higher-end Valve Index is no different, where even if you buy it from Steam direct, you won't receive it until February 2020 -- just in time for Half-Life: Alyx.

Could it be that 2020 is the year VR really takes off? With both the Oculus Quest and Valve Index headsets effectively sold out until February 2020 in the United States, it seems so. Has the hype of Half-Life: Alyx driven VR headset sales this much? I would dare say so, and even as an Oculus Rift and HTC Vive owner, I'm wanting to pull the trigger on a new Valve Index just for Half-Life: Alyx alone.

Intel has been going through all sorts of issues over the last couple of years, with its troubled modem division selling to Apple for $1 billion, the constant world of hurt AMD is hitting them with in the consumer/HEDT/server CPU markets, and now it seems their discrete GPU is in trouble.

A fresh new rumor has floated online saying that Intel's upcoming DG1 is in trouble, cementing in some of the whispers I've been hearing from my own industry sources. A new post on Reddit suggests that "DG1 is not shaping up very well at all", and that the thermals and power is "looking to be dismal as Koduri is having a hard time reigning in DG1's power envelope. Anyone that has followed his GPU designs know that this has been his downfall forever".

A new graphics card with a 25W TDP isn't going to get anywhere near even the lowest-end Radeon or GeForce graphics card from competitors to Intel in AMD and NVIDIA, and if DG1 is this bad at this long away from release -- Koduri won't look good at all. He was the man behind the failed launch of Radeon RX Vega under AMD and Radeon Technologies Group at the time, with the Reddit post continuing: "The real question now is should we expect to see Koduri still be working for Intel after Q3'20? If not, you can expect to never see DG2 make its way to a retail product".

Talented designer Pope has created some impressive mock-ups teasing special edition Xbox Series X consoles.

The Xbox Series X's unique shoebox chassis design is prime real estate for custom designs. The case itself is a talking point that'll attract lots of attention when it releases (people are calling it a fridge, a monolith, etc). But with a special skin or wrapper thrown on, the system will take on a whole new kind of personality.

Now we get our first taste of how the system will look with special edition first-party themes. Artist Pope made four special edition Xbox SX mock-ups: one for Halo Infinite, another for Gears of War, a very striking and tribal Senua's Saga model, and a very pristine white model for Cyberpunk 2077. They all look pretty spiffy.

On the heels of shipping its big blockbuster Death Stranding, Kojima Productions just celebrated its four-year anniversary.

Hideo Kojima has come a long, long way in just four years. First his next game Silent Hills was cancelled, then Konami fired Kojima, kicking off a big industry-wide controversy. His name was scrubbed from Metal Gear Solid V and the alum was left to fend for himself. And fend for himself he did. Kojima fired up a new studio, Kojima Productions, and pulled a good portion of his old Konami team with him--including the president of Konami. After negotiating with Sony and getting the greenlight to use Guerrilla's Decima Engine, Kojima started work on Death Stranding, reining in big talent like Norman Reedus and Mads Mikkelsen for the project.

Now four years after the studio was founded, Kojima Productions celebrates some pretty big milestones. It's shipped a AAA game. It's iterated on one of the best-looking games engines in the industry. It's solidified a multi-platform deal with 505 Games to bring Death Stranding to PC for long-term sales. And now Kojima is already planning his next series of projects.

Artist Giuseppe Spinelli recreates the PlayStation 5's DualShock 5 controller based on a recent patent.

Following a recent patent outlining features and a leaked photograph, we actually know a fair bit about the PlayStation 5's new next-gen controller.

It looks quite similar to the DualShock 4, but has a more ergonomic design that's closer to an Xbox controller. The lightbar on the back has been removed, it has a USB Type-C charging port, there's a built-in microphone (likely for the AI-powered PlayStation Assist feature) and new mic/external ports on the bottom.

Redbox, the last bastion for video game rentals, will soon stop renting and selling video games. Now it's clearing out its inventory with a big sale.

Redbox is permanently retiring its games section and is currently holding an everything must go sale on used games. Titles across PS4, Xbox One and Switch are deeply discounted, with newer games like Jedi: Fallen Order discounted to $25, Borderlands 3 is only $18, and Modern Warfare is priced at $30. Death Stranding can be had for $35 (it's also on sale at Amazon for the same price new) and Metro Exodus is only $13.

Once the games are gone, they're gone. Also remember these are used second-hand games that were rented out by Redbox, so there could be some scratches and defects. Your mileage will greatly vary here. If you're in the market for some cheap games, definitely hit up this sale.

The new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare reboot has generated over $1 billion sales, Activision today confirms. That doesn't even include microtransaction revenues.

Modern Warfare is a gargantuan success for Activision. Not only did it pass $1 billion in to-date sales since its release on October 25, the game is the most-played Call of Duty game of this console generation, beating out other titles like Ghosts, Black Ops 4, and CoD: WWII.

"The award-winning title, which has sold more than $1 billion in sell-through worldwide, has surpassed 500 million multiplayer hours played since release with nearly 300 million multiplayer matches," the press release says.

Remember when Sony said the PlayStation 5 would support 8K? That wasn't just for video playback. The system's next-gen Zen 2 and Navi GPU-powered SoC will apparently play games in 7680x4320 resolution too.

Sony actually confirmed the PS5 will support 8K gaming back in October, where it also confirmed the PS5 would have an 8-core, 16-thread Zen 2 CPU as well as an RDNA-powered GPU (likely a second-gen Navi GPU because of native ray tracing support). "Up to 8K resolution output for games," reads the post.

This actually aligns with previous reports of PlayStation 5's 8K capabilities.

Instagram has just rolled out a new feature for the layout section of Instagram Stories. This new feature will allow users to create a cool collage.

The news was announced via the official Instagram Twitter account, which says that users can now capture and share multiple photos in their stories. The new update adds a collage feature that allows users to choose between two and six photos to combine together.

Instagram are continuously thinking of new innovative ways to keep its userbase using their stories section and not go back over to Snapchat. Or on the other side of the fence - attract Snapchat users over to Instagram. Instagram will no doubt, continue to add new features to their layout section, that will be designed to attract new users and keep their regular ones.

A device invented in 1804 by French weaver and merchant Joseph Marie Jacquard called the Jacquard machine is an essential part of computing history, and it just sold for $43,750.

Since you might not have heard of the device before, here's a quick rundown. The device attached to a weaving loom and used printed punch cards to "program" patterns into the looms woven fabric. Jacquard's machine had extreme precision when it came to weaving patterns, and in 1886 it was used to create a prayer book that was woven together with silk.

Due to the Jacquard machine relying on replaceable punch cards to control the outcome of what was being woven, the machine was titled a precursor of computer programming. It became a staple point for future creations, such as Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine. The Jacquard mechanism just sold at the Sotheby's annual History of Science and Technology auction for $43,750.

NASA has announced that its experiemental supersonic X-59 jet has been approved for assembly. This jet could pave the way forward for commercial supersonic air travel.

The shape of the X-59 is to reduce the loudness of a sonic boom when the craft reaches those speeds. The idea of behind the design is to take that 'boom' and convert it more into a gentle thump, no louder than a car door being closed. According to NASA's website, the X-59 will be flown over US communities to generate data from both sensors and people on the ground. With this data, regulators will be able to create new guidelines for commercial air travel.

The X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology or QueSST for short is designed by Lockheed Martin in partnership with NASA. The first test flights for the craft could take place as soon as 2021. For those wondering what 'supersonic' speed is - the speed range of an aircraft travelling faster than Mach 1.3. For reference, Mach 1 is the speed of sound (343 m / s or 767 mph).

This coming February, hardcore gaming history addicts will be able to snag an unusual piece of gaming history, a Nintendo Play Station prototype.

Back in the 1980s, Nintendo and Sony were working on a deal for Sony to create a CD-based add-on to Nintendo's coming Super Nintendo. This console would have been called the Nintendo Play Station and act as a hybrid console that could play both CD games as well as cartridge games. That deal fell through, and both companies went there separate development ways, but out of the rubble of that deal were the prototype units, such as the one above.

After the deal ended, all prototypes of the hybrid console were meant to be destroyed, but former Sony executive Olaf Olafsson who was leading the deal between Nintendo and Sony, kept his. Olafsson then brought the hybrid console to a credit card company called Advanta, Advanta went out of business, and its assets went up for auction - along with the hybrid console. This is where things get really interesting. Terry Diebold, a former maintenance man at Advanta, placed a winning bid on the lot containing the hybrid console, and for some years, has refused to sell it.

A man is facing 12 years imprisonment for possessing and manufacturing more than $1.4 million counterfeit goods.

Ever thought about ripping off Nintendo? Maybe this story will halt your nefarious curiosity. According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, the owner of an El Monte toy import business has been charged with manufacturing and possessing more than $1.4 million dollars worth of counterfeit goods. Some of the counterfeit goods that were made and sold were rip off Nintendo products mainly aimed at the Super Mario and Pokemon franchises.

The man who is facing the charges is named Wan Piao and is currently facing seven felony counts of counterfeit offenses and an allegation of "taking more than $500,000 through fraud and embezzlement". Piao has also been accused of manufacturing and possessing more than 500,000 counterfeit items, and he could face up to 12 years custody. Other counterfeit brands that were found in his possession are: Hello Kitty, Angry Birds, Lego Ninjago, JanSport, and Shopkins.