Latest News - Page 2185

TUNAI Creative has announced their new DRUM earphones, something they call the High-Resolution Bass Enhanced Audiophile Earphone.

DRUM has been engineered from the ground up to provide great sound across the audio spectrum, with the company saying the DRUM earphones deliver "clear, high-end, rich mid-range, and powerful bass. It gets you as close to perfect sound as our environment permits".

TUNAI Creative is looking to raise $15,000 on Kickstarter to get their new DRUM earphones into consumers' ears, and at the price they're selling DRUM... it'll be an easy pledge goal to hit. Get this: TUNAI have their Super Early Bird special where if you pledge just $9, you get a pair of DRUM earphones. The MSRP for DRUM is $39.99, so this is saving $30 - crazy.

In wake of Steam's Review system being abused by gamers due to Dota 2 being blamed for killing Half Life 3 and gamers supporting PewDiePie regarding Campo Santo's DMCA, Valve have made some changes in how Steam's game reviews work. Valve hope to prevent incidences like the two mentioned don't reoccur as those reviews don't provide a true reflection of the experience with the game.

Valve have immediately introduced a new feature called Histograms, a feature that shows a histogram of the positive to negative reviews since the game was released on a daily basis. This data reflects dramatic increases in positive or negative reviews from a certain period, indicating a time where possible outside influences (eg. No Half Life 3 or Campo Santo's DMCA) have affected reviews. You can isolate days to read particular reviews for the day, or days of your interest.

"Starting today, each game page now contains a histogram of the positive to negative ratio of reviews over the entire lifetime of the game, and by clicking on any part of the histogram you're able to read a sample of the reviews from that time period," Steam UI designer Alden Kroll said in the Steam blog.

i-rocks has released their sleek, gaming orientated RGB mechanical keyboard, the K60M PLUS. Featuring dual-layer PCB and genuine Cherry MX switches, the K60M PLUS is the perfect example of engineering for reliable performance.

The K60M PLUS has implemented a thick, high-quality aluminum chassis that is covered by layers of durable protective finish to prevent corrosion. For those long gaming marathon and for extreme typists, the K60M PLUS features a wrist-rest protector as a standard accessory to prove that ergonomics is as critical as performance.

The 16.7 million color backlight is completely customizable, with indivisual illumination configuration. Featuring in-built ARM Cortex processor, the K60M PLUS can record and playback up to 8 macros on-the-fly for quick command access and media control at your fingertip. Onboard memory lets you save profiles, macros and backlight settings for complete user preference. Optional software enables deeper customization and a visually intuitive user experience.

New heroes always add a new element to a game, too many new heroes too quickly can generally lead to balancing issues that can break a game. During a video withIGN's new Expert Mode, Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan discussed Overwatch's next hero, referred to only as "Hero 26".

"Hero 26 is very playable and very fun internally, and that's all I'll say. It's not coming out as soon as you think, but Hero 26 is already amazing." Kaplan then further elaborated "I don't think there's such a thing as too many heroes, but I think we also need to come out with heroes at a good pace."

It's been a few months since we last saw a hero released, July 27 in fact when Doomfist was introduced into Overwatch. Blizzard have put their time and resources into their latest patch that saw a new game modes and map. Typically, Blizzard hype up and tease new heroes before their release. With Jeff's comments, it appears it may be an extended wait for Hero 26.

Cross-platform between PlayStation 4 and Xbox One sounds like a complex dream, or perhaps it's as simple as setting a few parameters?

It was reported and later confirmed by an Epic Games representative, that cross-platform play between PlayStation 4 and Xbox One for Epic's Fortnite was enabled over the weekend due to a configuration issue.

"We had a configuration issue and it has now been corrected" the spokesperson said.

Thermaltake have revealed their latest micro-ATX case, the Versa H18 Window Micro case. This traditional style case features a wide body with a front bezel that is dominated by a mesh grill, while the side-panel features a clear-acrylic window in favor of the more common, and expensive tempered glass.

The front panel includes plenty of functionality with a USB 3.0 type-A port, two USB 2.0/1.1 ports, and HDA jacks. The Versa H18 Window Micro supports either three 120mm or two 140mm fans along the front, with either a 120/140mm on the top, and a 120mm rear exhaust fan. As for liquid cooling, there is enough room to mount a 240/280mm radiator at the front.

Weighing in at 4.5kg, this micro-ATX case is made from SECC steel and features a horizontal dual-compartment design that allows the PSU and 3.5" drives to be housed separately. With support for up to 350mm length graphics card, the Versa H18 Window Micro case presents extremely good value at $50.

GIGABYTE's upcoming X399 Designare EX motherboard is on the way, with it being the new flagship motherboard that will be perfect for AMD's super-powered Ryzen Threadripper CPUs.

There's a slick as hell silver theme, with dual GbE ports, USB 3.1 Gen 2 (Type-C and Type-A) ports, 8 x DDR4 DIMMs, 4-way CrossFire and SLI support (awww YES), and 3 x M.2 slots. All of the PCIe slots on GIGABYTE's new X399 Designare EX motherboard are protected with metal shielding, while the M.2 slots have heat sinks by GIGABYTE.

The blue LED that GIGABYTE is using on the chipset cooler looks beyond awesome, as it works beautifully with the black and silver style on the X399 Designare EX motherboard. I want one so bad.

We're still just under two months away from the release of Need for Speed: Payback, with publisher EA and developer Ghost Games releasing the PC system requirements.

Need for Speed: Payback requires a Core i3 6300 or AMD FX 8150 processor as a minimum, coupled with a GeForce GTX 750 Ti or Radeon HD 7850, which will be good for 720p @ 30FPS with low settings. If you want 1080p 60FPS at high settings, you'll need a Core i5-4690K or AMD FX 8350 along with the Radeon RX 480 or GeForce GTX 1060.

NVIDIA is celebrating Need for Speed: Payback with a new 4K gameplay video, powered by a single GeForce GTX 1080 Ti. NVIDIA explains: "Check out our exclusive Need for Speed Payback Graveyard Shift PC gameplay in 4K running at 60 FPS, captured on a GeForce GTX 1080 Ti PC. Watch as Tyler heads to the airfield and takes on the street league Graveyard Shift, race down the runway, grab some serious air, and work his way up through Silver Canyon".

It looks like AMD might have scored a seriously large contract through electric car maker Tesla Motors, with the companies collaborating on a new AI accelerator for self-driving cars.

Jim Keller, the legendary engineer in AMD's ranks is reportedly involved in the deal, along with 50 engineers at Tesla. Keller has been involved with Apple's A4 and A5 processors, the original Athlon 64 processors, and AMD's latest Zen architecture.

AMD has reportedly already sent Tesla early samples of the new semi-custom chip, with testing already underway. For Tesla, this is the firs ttime they've opted for a purpose built AI processor, which will be using both AMD and Tesla IP.

Google has just announced it has acquired HTC's mobile division in a deal worth $1.1 billion, which was expected after HTC announced it would briefly halt trading on the Taiwan stock exchange ahead of "material information" that was coming today.

Google hardware boss, Rich Osterloh, said about the deal: "These future fellow Googlers are amazing folks we've already been working with closely on the Pixel smartphone line, and we're excited to see what we can do together as one team. The deal also includes a non-exclusive license for HTC intellectual property".

HTC made both the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphone for Google last year, with the Taiwanese smartphone maker being a silent contractor. Google marketed the smartphones as if they were their own, without mentioning HTC. But this new deal means Google can better compete, very directly, against Samsung, Apple, LG, Huawei, and others that are industry heavyweights.

Project CARS 2 is about to slide onto the market, with news breaking that developer Slightly Mad Studios is working on a new Fast and the Furious game.

Eurogamer reports that the CEO of Slightly Mad Studios, Ian Bell, teased the game in a big way. Bell said: "Guess what the latest Need for Speed game is doing and have a think about which Hollywood film they're copying, and then I can tell you we have a six-year deal with that major Hollywood company that'll beat what Need for Speed is doing. For the next six years".

Considering the kind of money that Fast and the Furious makes with each movie, it makes sense for there to be a game to tie into it. What do you think about the Project CARS developer making a Fast and the Furious game? What would you want to see in the game itself?

AMD can't get enough Radeon RX Vega cards into gamers' hands, or any Vega 10 GPUs into AIB partner hands at all, but we're already looking to the future with Vega 20 and the upcoming shift to the 12nm FinFET process.

AMD has confirmed it will be moving to the 12nm FinFET process for both Ryzen and Vega parts, withi the upcoming Zen+ parts to launch in the second half of 2018. We should expect naming systems like Ryzen 7 1850X (up from 1800X), and changes to Threadripper.

But for the new Vega 20 GPU, we should see it pushed onto 12nm FinFET with "more than 10% improvement in performance over industry 16nm FinFET solutions", with "up to 15% improvement in circuit density".

2K Games is selling a $150 copy of NBA 2K 18 on the Nintendo Switch...which is half of the console's asking cost. Yes, really.

In today's industry the gaming world is inundated with expensive collector's editions, pre-order bonuses, season passes, and over-priced digital deluxe special edition gold-platinum mega editions, publishers it seems games-makers are all too eager to sell you anything but the base $59.99 copy of the game. One such explosively expensive digital version has popped up on the Nintendo Switch's eShop and is asking gamers to spend $150--or 50% of the Switch's $299 price tag--on a single game: NBA 2K18.

The NBA 2K18 Legend Edition Gold version costs a staggering $150, easily making it the most expensive game on the Switch's eShop. Yes, this kind of thing has invaded the Switch too--no longer is it the last bastion of hope against crazy expensive video game temptations. A quick cursory search showed that there are currently no other digital deluxe versions of games available on the Switch storefront. So what do you get if you spend $150 on this edition? 250,000 VC, which are units to spend on the game's massively lucrative microtransaction packs, 40 MyTEAM Packs--what you spend VC on--that are only doled out once a week, and a bunch of in-game digital jerseys and shoes.

Xbox division head Phil Spencer has now been promoted to a bigger leadership role at Microsoft, a move that strongly re-iterates the technology titan's support for gaming.

Phil Spencer, the man who's credited with essentially "saving" the Xbox brand and reversing significant damage incurred by the 2013 Xbox One launch, has now been promoted to a new role in Microsoft's executive branch. Mr. Spencer is now the Executive Vice President, Gaming at Microsoft, a promotion from his previous role as Head of Xbox

"Phil Spencer is executive vice president, Gaming at Microsoft. In this role, Spencer is accountable for leading Microsoft's gaming business across all devices and services," the company's leadership profile reads. "With his team and game development partners, Spencer continues to push the boundaries of creativity, technical innovation and fun across gaming genres, audiences and devices."

Beleaguered Taiwanese smartphone-maker HTC has halted trading of its shares, lending credence to buyout rumors.

HTC today announced that it has paused all trading of company stock on the Taiwan Stock Exchange ahead of a "major announcement," which is likely an official takeover reveal. The company, which once sat alongside the biggest phone-makers in the industry, recently reported its eighth straight consecutive loss in May, with losses of $66 million in first quarter of the current fiscal year.

Speculation indicates HTC will sell its research and development and smartphone divisions to Alphabet Inc, and other reports say the company will likewise spin off its VR division that's responsible for the HTC Vive headset.

Nintendo will sell 130 million units of its Switch handheld-console hybrid in four years of availability, investment firm Credit Suisse predicts.

Japanese console-maker Nintendo has been lifted to "outperform" status by Swiss investment broker Credit Suisse, who now forecasts the company to sell around 130 million Switch consoles by 2022. This prediction, which would see the Nintendo Switch beating the mega-popular Wii and the 3DS' current 67.08 hardware sales by 94% in four years, is predicated wholly on the basis that the Switch will be accepted mainly as a handheld by consumers. However Nintendo has been adamant in defining the Switch as a "home console first and foremost," and the portability aspect is seen as a sidenote, despite the fact regions like Japan thrive on handheld gaming.

Credit Suisse analyst Keiichi Yoneshima explains the prediction by saying the Switch will hit its sales peak about three years after its launch, or 2022 during Nintendo's fiscal 2019 year timeline.

Update: Intel reached out to me for some clarification on this article, informing me they're talking to the original source of this article, Digitimes, too. Intel said that their 10nm production is "on track and not delayed", adding that: "We'll be shipping our first 10-nanometer products near the end of the year beginning with a lower volume SKU followed by a volume ramp in the first half of 2018".

Intel has been reacting to AMD for most of the year, but now their plans for 2018 just went into disarray as the once champion of the industry has hit yet another roadblock of its next-gen 10nm CPU node.

Intel's upcoming Cannon Lake CPU architecture has been delayed, for a third time, to the end of 2018. Cannon Lake was once pitched as a mid-2017 release, and is now 18 months behind. Digitimes is reporting that Intel's delay of Cannon Lake is hurting OEM partners, who are thinking of skipping Cannon Lake for Ice Lake, which is reportedly coming out very close to the release of Cannon Lake.

The last few Terminator movies haven't been good at all, but now there's a new Terminator movie on the way from Skydance and Paramount.

During a private event, James Cameron announced the news of a new Terminator movie that would see the return of Linda Hamilton, who was last scene in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Cameron said: "As meaningful as she was to gender and action stars everywhere back then, it's going to make a huge statement to have that seasoned warrior that she's become return".

He continued: "There are 50-year-old, 60-year-old guys out there killing bad guys", in reference to older actors still making big action movies, finishing by adding "but there isn't an example of that for women".

Toshiba will sell its lucrative storage chip memory business to a consortium of buyers led by Bain Capital for $18 billion, Reuters reports.

After long weeks of negotiations, Japanese chip-maker Toshiba has agreed to sell its Toshiba Memory Corporation storage company for 2 trillion yen, or about $18 billion, down from the original 2.4 trillion offer. Toshiba has agreed to sell the business to a group of buyers led by Bain Capital instead of the Western Digital helmed consortium. The Bain group includes other companies such as SK Hynix, Dell, and others. Tech titan Apple also contributed to the investment, likely in an effort to get as close as possible to the chip supply chain.

The chip business is responsible for Toshiba's wide array of memory solutions, which include its latest high-efficient 3D NAND technology which has high use cases in modern smartphones, servers, and other major devices. Toshiba is the world's number 2 supplier of flash memory and remains a significant force in today's electronics market.

GeIL today announced the Super Luce RGB Lite DDR4 memory range. If you're a fan of GeIL products, you may remember that GeIL have recently released the Super Luce RGB Sync variant. These modules are practically identical with only a few subtle differences.

There is no software support for The Super Luce RGB Lite, this means you can't customize your RGB LED settings and are locked with the manufactures preset lighting. The Super Luce RGB Sync supported a cable that connected to your motherboard, allowing customization via software.

As for performance, as expected they're identical. Both feature single and dual-channel kits up to 32GB (2x16GB), speeds of DDR4-2133MHz to DDR4-3200MHz and are available in black and white finish. Backed with lifetime warranty, GeIL also offer AMD variants of the Super Luce RBG line up for those AMD Ryzen builds.