Latest News - Page 2143

Tesla sent shock waves throughout the transportation industry when it unveiled its new Semi electric truck, but how have pre-orders been going since? Amazingly well, that's how.

According to Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas, Tesla Semi pre-orders have been doing extremely well, and could be as high as 1230 vehicles so far. Jonas said in a note that Business Insider got their hands-on: "The game-changing capabilities and economics of the Tesla semi potentially set off separation between the technology leaders and the laggards among carriers, shippers, truck OEMs and suppliers".

When you've got companies like Pepsi, Walmart, and Sysco pre-ordering the electric Semi trucks from Tesla, it's easy to get excited. Pepsi has reportedly ordered 100 new Tesla Semi trucks, while Walmart has committed to 15 of them. UPS has stepped up, pre-ordering 125 new Tesla Semi trucks, their biggest order yet.

NiceHash has been embroiled in a massive Bitcoin heist over the last few weeks, where some $60 million+ was stolen, forcing the company to close its doors to miners, temporarily.

Well, the company has announced on its website that they are coming back online, where they said: "Dear Miners: Final checks are in progress and NiceHash.com platform will be back online and operational tomorrow, December 20, 2017 until 24.00 CET".

Once NiceHash is back online, you might need a guide to get you going again - it just so happens I wrote one in the days leading up to the hack.

Can you believe we're this close to the v1.0 release of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds on the PC, with the smash hit game of 2017 finally breaking out of its Steam Early Access shackles.

Ahead of the v1.0 release, developer Bluehole will be resetting the Battlegrounds leaderboards - and that is happening real soon. The leaderboards on the PC will be reset on December 19 at 6PM PT/9PM ET, which works out to 3AM CET/12PM AEST on December 20.

The new season will start when the v1.0 release lands on the PC sometime on December 20, but official confirmation will be announced "soon". As for what v1.0 of PUBG will entail, we can look forward to climbing and vaulting (which makes things so much easier) with creator Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene himself saying that it "will change the game severely".

Studio Wildcard has just announced that they've enabled cross-play between the Windows 10 Store and Xbox One versions of ARK: Survival Evovled, as it's now an Xbox Play Anywhere title.

ARK has also passed 12 million sales across all platforms including PC, Xbox One, and PS4 while there is the new Aberration expansion which adds five new Biomes, 14 new creatures, and 30 new craftable Engrams. The new expansion costs $19.99, but can also be purchased as part of ARK's Season Pass which costs $44.99.

The big issue here is that the cross-play goodness is locked to the Windows 10 Store version of the game, while millions of gamers own it on Steam and are locked away from playing it with their friends on Xbox One because of it. Sigh.

Forza Horizon 3 and Crackdown 3 developer Sumo Digital is now worth 145 million pounds per the company's new IPO.

The games developer, which is currently working on Microsoft's first-party exclusive Crackdown 3 as well as Dead Island 2, didn't meet the initial IPO valuation estimate of £150 million made by The Times, falling £5 million or so short from the value that sources told the publication.

"This is a significant step forward in Sumo's journey to become a global leader in premium development and creative services to the video game and wider entertainment industries. We have had an overwhelmingly positive response to the IPO, which has been very well supported by blue chip institutional investors," Sumo Digital founder and CEO Carl Cavers said in an announcement.

It's no secret that PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds runs quite poorly on the Xbox One (not even the higher-end Xbox One X can run it very well) where it can drop to just 4FPS in some cases although it's meant to run at 30FPS on both systems. The team has heard all the feedback and now PUBG has received its first update in an effort to fix the hiccups.

While it's true PUBG on Xbox is in a game preview beta state, and that Bluehole is concentrating mostly on the fully-fledged PC release that's slated to launch quite soon, gamers didn't expect the last-man-standing shooter to run so poorly on consoles (but maybe it should be expected given PCs typically smash consoles and PUBG doesn't exactly run spectacularly on PC). The development team, which consists of both Bluehole and Microsoft's internal teams, has announced an official update that aims to shore up the rough edges a bit. By no means is this an official fix, and the game probably won't be out of the Xbox Game Preview program any time soon.

Most notably in the patch notes is the mention of "first pass visual and performance improvements," which aren't specific enough to glean any real details and may only result in a slight FPS bump or visual fidelity increase. Remember consoles have trade-offs, especially the base Xbox One which is quite...bad at times. Other improvements include "slightly improved anti-aliasing on Xbox One and Xbox One S," and the team has actually disabled keyboards.

Nintendo is currently researching and developing new ways to tap the JoyCon's potential.

One of the best things about the Nintendo Switch is that it's a portable arcade machine that can be played by two people on-the-go. Sure not every game supports local co-op/multiplayer in this way, but more than a few do, and they offer up a unique way to experience interactive gaming. This is all made possible by the handheld-console hybrid's JoyCon controllers, which can detach from the tablet screen and be used by two people (or more). But this isn't the end: Nintendo wants to find new and exciting ways to use the JoyCons in tandem with software to provide even more fun and value to the system.

"A really exciting hardware feature of the Nintendo Switch is the fact that you can separate the controllers. This makes lots of new forms of play possible, and we're currently researching a lot of different and interesting ideas," Nintendo exec Yoshiaki Koizumi told Engadget in a recent interview. "We've also seen many amazing and great ideas from our third-party development partners, as well as the Nindies community."

Blizzard is working on a brand new unrevealed FPS with a "robust games engine," and thanks to the latest job listing it appears the game should have vehicles of some sort.

Since 2016 we've known that Blizzard is making a brand new first-person shooter that uses a fresh and higher-end games engine, and little by little the dev has released more clues about the project. For example, the new game might be Overwatch-related; outside of the obvious FPS clues an older Blizzard job listing specifically called for candidates to have a "knowledge and understanding of the Overwatch universe."

Now even more clues are slowly being revealed. A recent Blizzard job listing for its Irvine studio calls for a senior software engineer of gameplay and vehicles, pretty much confirming the new game (Overwatch 2?) will have vehicles and the physics system to accompany them. The listing says candidates should have "expertise engineering highly-optimized networked vehicle physics and game systems."

Now that mobile phones have become a necessity in everyday life and a very large amount of the population carry the device, a common thought across peoples minds is the breaking of your precious phone screen and the annoyance of having to go and get it replaced. Luckily, we are making advancements in phone screen technology to prevent the breaking from occurring in the first place as well as now a much more possible solution, self-regenerative phone screens.

Researchers in Tokyo have discovered a new polymer that will be able to do just this and will be the future of self-healing phone screens. Professor Takuzo from the University of Tokyo published a study in Science called "Mechanically robust, readily repairable polymers via tailored non-covalent cross-linking," this new glass is called "polyether-thioureas" and will be able to heal itself with only the pressure from our hands.

This special glass was actually found by accident by a graduate student named Yu Yanagisawa, Yanagisawa thought that the material was going to turn to a glue like paste but was shocked at the discovery of the individual shard of glass reforming with each-other at just 21 degrees Celsius, hand temperature.

French newspaper Le Pariksien has reported that a complaint has been made with the Paris Commerce Court against e-commerce super-giant Amazon for abusing their dominate position in the market.

This complaint will cause a two year investigation into Amazon from the DGCCRF which is a consumer fraud investigation company. The Economy Ministry is seeking a retribution stack of $10 million euros ($11.8 million USD), and they have also confirmed this complaint to be true and not taken as a warning.

A DGCCRF official named Loic Tanguy told Le Parisien that "The platform imposes unbalanced relations to its vendors."

For those who still use BlackBerry's Messenger app there has been an update that most will enjoy, Uber has become a in-built service within the app making for fast Uber calls and easier access.

It may seem strange as to why Uber and BlackBerry want to collaborate on what seems like a not so popular app let alone phone brand but for those wondering it is because currently there are 60 million users using the app in Indonesia alone, making it the most used app in the country.

Also, this update compliments the current surge in self driving vehicle services that India is going through right now, according to a report from Google and Temasek, 40 percent of the industry in South East Asia will become a ride-hailing business.

Project Loon is an initiative to connect as many of the planets population to the internet as possible through massive balloon technology that will use beams of light to deliver high-speed connectivity to remote places of the planet, such as some areas in India.

Currently over 53 million Indians are living in a state called Andhra Pradesh and less than 20% of the states population have access to standard broadband. To fix this issue the states government has decided to take action and has committed to providing the rest of residents that do not have access to the Internet a stable connection, to do this the Loon team partnered with Ap State FiberNet a telecom company in Andhra Pradesh to create Free Space Optimal Communications, or FSOC for short.

FSOC is basically optic-fiber speeds of internet just without the use of the cable, this was tested by Project Loon by sending a copy of the movie Real Genius between two balloons in the stratosphere 100 kilometers apart. Instead of laying optic-fiber cable to connect the state of Andhra Pradesh FSOC technology will be implemented by placing node boxes on roof tops or building towers.

Virgin Group invested into Hyperloop One earlier this year, which saw Virgin boss Richard Branson being placed onto the board, and adding Virgin's name to Hyperloop One.

Axios is now reporting that Branson is the new Hyperloop One chairman, replacing Shervin Pishevar who took a leave of absence after he was swept into sexual harassment allegations and an arrest for rape (that didn't result in a charge) just last month.

Now that Branson is the chairman of Virgin Hyperloop One, the company is reportedly receiving a bunch of new funding to the tune of $50 million from current investors Caspian Venture Capital and DP World. These two companies are based in Russia and Dubai, respectively, with Virgin Hyperloop One starting off on its capital and running out, with 300 employees at risk of losing their jobs if more funding wasn't secured.

EA is getting into the Christmas spirit by launching a new update to Need for Speed Payback, with the new Speedcross update adding a slew of new class of races, and much more.

Need for Speed Payback's new Speedcross races will see you driving through point-based competitions where all the cool stuff matters the most: jumps, high speeds, drifting, and destruction. NFS Payback developer Ghost Games is also throwing in new cars, steering wheel support (why didn't it launch with this?!), and multiplayer Drift Run competitions.

You'll need to own the Deluxe Edition version of the game in order to play the Speedcross races as it's paid DLC, but all of the new cars, multiplayer additions, and even steering wheel support are all free.

Ubisoft is working on what the future of autonomous driving could be like, teaming with car maker Renault on a VR experience for Renault's autonomous car.

Renault's concept car 'Symbioz' packs an Oculus Rift headset, with Ubisoft providing the VR experience that changes based on the immediate surroundings. So picture yourself sitting behind the drivers seat, with the car driving itself and you slide on your VR headset, playing games or watching a movie or TV episode.

Ubisoft explained in a news release: "The driver dives into an immersive universe which progressively changes from a realistic representation of both the vehicle and its immediate surrounding, to a futuristic and surrealist landscape".

Facebook has a bi-annual report that details all of the data requests the social networking company receives from the government, with their latest Transparency Report for the first half of 2017 being released.

We have information like account data, content restrictions and internet disruptions, as well as reports from rights holders related to copyright, trademark, and IP counterfeiting. The social networking giant said that government requests for users' data increased by 21% worldwide in the first half of 2017, compared to the first half of 2016.

Over half of those requests, some 57% of them included a non-disclosure order that stops Facebook from notifying the account holder of the request of data from the government. This number is up a whopping 50% from last year, with Facebook adding that there has been a massive 304% increase in the number of content restrictions around violating local law.

BMW has announced it has partnered with battery developer Solid Power, which was a company that was 'spun-out' of the University of Colorado Boulder, and has been working on solid state rechargeable batteries since 2012.

Doug Campbell, founder and CEO of Solid Power said in a statement: "Since the company's inception, the Solid Power team has worked to develop and scale a competitive solid state battery paying special attention to safety, performance and cost. Collaborating with BMW is further validation that solid state battery innovations will continue to improve electric vehicles".

Solid state batteries are the in-thing right now for EV battery companies and the future of autonomous cars, as they pack larger energy density, which extends the range of EVs, and they have much less chances of catching fire and exploding - while supporting rapid recharging.

Inno3D has stepped up into the cryptocurrency mining scene in a big way with the introduction of their new GPU Mining System P104-100 which packs up to 9 graphics cards based on the P104-100 GPU from NVIDIA.

Inside, the new Inno3D GPU Mining System packs a CPU controller card that includes an Intel Celeron 3865U mobile processor, 4GB DDR4-2133 SO-DIMM RAM, and a 64GB M.2 SSD.

As for the GPUs, Inno3D is using their P104-100 Crypto-Mining Accelerator which packs an "optimized GPU and circuit board for mining purposes" with Inno3D maximizing the GPU and memory clocks in order to provide maximum cryptocurrency mining performance.

Following the big Battlefront II controversy which rocked the foundations of EA's monetization strategy for the game, gamers have been taking aim at lootboxes in general and have pushed local governments to regulate them as gambling.

First the ESRB stated that lootboxes aren't gambling, then the ESA shortly followed. Now on the heels of big player pushback, New Zealand's gambling commission has sided in favor of big-name publishers. Contrary to popular belief from tons of gamers worldwide, the country's officials say that lootboxes in fact do not constitute gambling under their specific laws.

"While the payment of money for a loot box with the contents of which are determined by chance may appear to be gambling, the Darpartment is of the view that loot boxes do not meet the legal definition of gambling. The Department therefore has no ability to regulate this activity under the Gambling Act of 2003," New Zealand official Trish Millward wrote in a statement.

Starbreeze Studios and Overkill are collaborating on a big The Walking Dead online co-op shooter, and now the dev has released a few new tidbits about the title.

Back in May the devs unearthed tons of new details about their Walking Dead game, highlighting key features like the character-driven story that follows the comic series and the co-op action players can expect from the FPS. In fact, from the lingo thrown around in the latest interview with ComicsBeat, the game should be an online service-based game possibly with Payday 2-style microtransactions (or a season pass maybe).

"We started on the project in 2014, exploring technologies to allow us to build our unique vision for the game," game executive producer Saul Gascon told ComicsBeat. "Since then, the game has evolved and grown into something more engaging and better than what we originally planned. It's been great for us to have the time to see the game evolve to its current state. We look forward to showing it off next year, and get people excited for its fall 2018 release."