Tesla Cybertruck inserted into the first Back to the Future movie

Anthony Garreffa | Electric Vehicles & Cars | Feb 7, 2020 10:34 PM CST

Back to the Future is one of my top 10 movies of all time (seriously movie studios: do NOT ever remake or reboot this movie) -- but the insertion of the Tesla Cybertruck is just plain awesome.

Tesla Cybertruck inserted into the first Back to the Future movie

Toronto-based visual effects studio Fort York VFX has beautifully inserted the Tesla Cybertruck into Back to the Future, at the point when the DeLorean is first cranked up and goes back in time and flies through Doc and Marty. The entire video is all A-class stuff, looking like it was done by a team of movie professionals.

There were nine Fort York VFX staffers that worked on the project, but it has to be the last few seconds when the number plate is spinning around that was the cherry on top. In the movie Back to the Future the number plate reads 'OUTATIME' but in this Tesla Cybertruck infused version of Back to the Future they troll with 'LOL GAS'.

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Used Model S has Autopilot feature remotely disabled by Tesla

Anthony Garreffa | Electric Vehicles & Cars | Feb 7, 2020 9:48 PM CST

Tesla has just performed a very sneaky move on a new Tesla Model S electric car owner, where the company remotely disabled the Autopilot function of the vehicle after the new owner purchased the Model S at an auction held by Tesla.

Used Model S has Autopilot feature remotely disabled by Tesla

Tesla has said that the new owner "did not pay" for these features, so they are not allowed to use them... unless they pay, of course -- and a hefty $8000, too. The Model S in question was traded into a dealership with Autopilot enabled from its previous owner, sold to the new owner with all of the bells and whistles, but then Tesla remotely disabled the Autopilot feature.

For other hardware-based upgrades like the 4WD and all-wheel drive options, or even the adaptive cruise control, they stay with the vehicle no matter what. But Tesla can remotely disable software-based functions like the self-driving Autopilot feature, where owner 'Alec' is now frustrated. Alex purchased the car with both the Enhanced Autopilot and Full Self Driving Mode features enabled, with Jalopnik reporting that they've reviewed the documents from the car dealership itself.

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Friends reunion special on HBO Max would make for an explosive launch

Anthony Garreffa | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Feb 7, 2020 9:11 PM CST

HBO Max is launching in May 2020 and one of its shining beacons that will attract subscribers will be the entire Friends library, something that they paid $425 million for the rights to -- but now there's news of a Friends reunion special.

Friends reunion special on HBO Max would make for an explosive launch

Deadline is reporting that they hear that Friends stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry have all "reached an agreement in principle with series' producer Warner Bros. TV to do what I hear would be an hourlong special. No one would comment, but I hear each of the six stars will be paid in the $3 million-$4 million range for appearing in the special".

It was just a few days ago that Matthew Perry tweeted something mysterious, sending Friends fans into a flurry. Perry tweeted: "Big news coming..." and nothing else -- a tease to this newly-rumored Friends reunion deal. HBO Max securing this would be a big deal as there are millions upon millions of Friends fans (myself included) that would love to see the stars of the show in an hour-long reunion special.

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ZTE Axon 10s Pro the first with Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 inside

ZTE has just unveiled the world's first Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 powered smartphone, the new ZTE Axon 10s Pro which is a powerhouse smartphone -- right on the eve of Samsung's new Galaxy S20 family of smartphones.

ZTE Axon 10s Pro the first with Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 inside

The new Axon 10s Pro smartphone packs the Snapdragon 865 chip which means it has 5G connectivity, but it also debuts with a delicious 6.47-inch AMOLED curved display but just a 1080p resolution display with a 19:5:9 aspect ratio. There's an in-display fingerprint sensor and water-drop notch, which doesn't stand out too much.

There's up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage, while ZTE will offer a lower-end 6GB RAM / 128GB storage model. Both of ZTE's new Axon 10s Pro smartphones will roll out with a 4000mAh battery and support for Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0 technology.

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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip Joker & Harley Quinn smartphone costs $5210

Samsung is days away from its Unpacked 2020 event on February 11 where we'll see the new Galaxy S20 family of smartphones unveiled, as well as our official look of the Galaxy Z Flip foldable smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip Joker & Harley Quinn smartphone costs $5210

The new Galaxy Z Flip smartphone will be competing directly against Motorola's just-released foldable Razr smartphone, but now we have some slick new custom Galaxy Z Flip smartphones from Russian custom smartphone maker Caviar. The new Galaxy Z Flip is receiving some gorgeous Joker & Harley Quinn limited edition love, as well as some high-end luxury Carbon Titanium and Golden limited edition handsets.

First up we have the new Joker & Harley Quinn limited edition Samsung Galaxy Z Flip smartphone, with Harley Quinn on one side of the phone, and Joker on the other. The entire phone is dipped in 24-carat gold, with a deliciously decorated border that has card game symbols in the heart, diamond, clover, and spades.

Continue reading: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip Joker & Harley Quinn smartphone costs $5210 (full post)

YouTuber uses Gigapixel AI to upscale 1896 video to 4K 60FPS

The internet is an amazing place that I started my journey on back in the dial-up days and 14.4Kbps modems, all the way through to fiber connections and 5G -- but there's not much these days that makes me sit back and think "yeah, holy crap"... but today, is one of those days. Check out this video:

YouTuber uses Gigapixel AI to upscale 1896 video to 4K 60FPS

This is 'L'Arrivee d'un train en gare de La Ciotat', a 50-second silent short film that debuted in 1896 (that is NOT a typo), and when it was first showed to cinema-goers, rumor has it that many of them thought the train was going to burst through the screen as they had not (ever) seen video before. The low-quality original film can be viewed in a comparison towards the end, while it is shown in the glorious 4K resolution at 60FPS.

YouTuber Denis Shiryaev used publicly available AI-powered enhancement programs DAIN and Gigapixel AI to upscale the 1896 footage to 4K 60FPS. It looks absolutely awesome in comparison, with the 60FPS side of things really helping smooth the entire video out.

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Call of Duty 2020 confirmed, expected to sell less than Modern Warfare

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Feb 7, 2020 5:20 PM CST

Despite the disruption in its development teams that saw the franchise's studios reduced from three to two teams, Call of Duty will remain an annual franchise.

Call of Duty 2020 confirmed, expected to sell less than Modern Warfare

To no one's surprise, Activision confirms another mainline Call of Duty game will release in Q4 2020. "In Q4, we plan to launch the next premium release of Call of Duty. We can't wait to unveil what our teams have been working on, and we feel great about the content," Activision CFO Dennis Durkin said in a recent earnings call.

No actual information was revealed on the game, but reports indicate Call of Duty 2020 is Black Ops 5 and takes place in the Cold War era. Black Ops 5 is expected to have a singleplayer campaign mode set in the age of Communist scares and atomic bombs. The project is to be developed by a trio of studios collaborating together including Treyarch, Sledgehammer Games, and Raven Software.

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Mobile is the apple of Activision's eye: 'It's our leading platform'

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Feb 7, 2020 3:24 PM CST

Thanks to the incredible success of Call of Duty Mobile, Activision-Blizzard will continue doubling-down on smartphone games.

Mobile is the apple of Activision's eye: 'It's our leading platform'

Making mobile games is a big part of Activision-Blizzard's new four-pronged business model. In its recent Q4 earnings call, the publisher discussed its plans for growth and how mobile will be--and currently is--a transformative force.

Call of Duty Mobile is doing tremendously well right now. So well in fact that Activision now sees mobile as its largest platform, and rightly so, because more people own phones than they do gaming PCs or video game consoles. Case in point: Call of Duty Mobile has been downloaded over 150 million times globally, making it a massively lucrative entry point to monetization and engagement (the company's core principals). Activision-Blizzard has taken a big bite out of the $68.5 billion mobile market and now they're hungry for more.

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Diablo II remastered may release in 2020 after all

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Feb 7, 2020 12:28 PM CST

On the heels of Warcraft 3: Reforged's colossal failure, Activision-Blizzard confirms it has plans to remaster more old games. Diablo II could be next on the chopping block.

Diablo II remastered may release in 2020 after all

In its recent Q4'20 earnings call, Activision-Blizzard announced that more remasters will release in 2020. No games were explicitly confirmed, but Diablo II could be the next classic franchise to be torn apart and glued back together for the sake of reselling nostalgia.

"In addition, our business units will continue to tap into our portfolio of beloved IP to bring several remastered and re-imagined experiences to our players in 2020, which we will announce closer to launch," Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said in the earnings call.

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GTA V hits 120 million sales, breaks microtransaction records

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Feb 7, 2020 11:17 AM CST

More than seven years in, Grand Theft Auto V simply won't stop making money. GTA Online is just as successful and is breaking records left and right.

GTA V hits 120 million sales, breaks microtransaction records

In its latest Q3'20 earnings report, Take-Two revealed some not-so-surprising stats: GTA V is still selling tremendously well, and GTA Online is still making serious cash. Rockstar's landmark crime simulator has now sold-in more than 120 million copies to date (that's a 5 million jump in a quarter) and saw a huge 54% spike in microtransaction revenues in GTA Online. Active players are also up to an all-time high thanks to the massive engagement from the new Diamond Casino Resort updates.

"Grand Theft Auto Online once again exceeded our expectations, delivering the best holiday quarter ever for both audience size and net bookings," Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said in the earnings call.

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