Latest News - Page 219

Electronic Arts has been acquired by a consortium of private equity firms and Saudi Arabia's PIF for $55 billion.

One of gaming's biggest publishers will soon be privately owned. Today, EA announced an agreement to sell to a trio of investors in a massive all-cash transaction valued at $55 billion.

The group, which offered $210 per share, consists of Saudi Arabia's PIF sovereign wealth fund, Silver Lake, and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners. EA's board of directors approved the deal, and the acquisition is expected to close in Q1 FY27 (April 2026) pending shareholder approval.

China is just "nanoseconds behind" the United States in chip development according to NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang.

US companies like NVIDIA have been working to compete in China for a while now, which benefits both Beijing and Washington, as Chinese companies have been working around the clock to be "NVIDIA-free". The US government should allow its technology industry to compete around the world -- including China -- to "proliferate the technology around the world" so that it can "maximize America's economic success and geopolitical influence" says Jensen.

The NVIDIA founder said that China is "nanoseconds behind" the US, adding "so we've got to compete". Jensen said during a podcast hosted by tech investors Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley: "This is a vibrant, entrepreneurial, hi-tech, modern industry".

The ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X gaming handhelds are set to launch on October 10 (check out our report on pricing and availability here), and they will debut with a custom version of Microsoft's Windows 11 operating system optimized for Xbox and PC gaming.

This collaboration between ASUS and the Xbox team has been in development for a considerable time. It marks a shift toward a future where Xbox hardware will encompass everything from a console to PC, gaming handheld, and mobile device connected to the cloud. With ROG Xbox Ally gaming handhelds right around the corner, Sandisk has announced that it's releasing two officially licensed storage expansion options for the handhelds.

First, there's the Sandisk microSD Card for ROG Xbox Ally (X), available in 512GB ($69.99 MSRP), 1TB ($149.99 MSRP), and 2TB ($299.99 MSRP) capacities, which allows gamers to store and play games directly off the card. With support for up to 50 modern AAA-sized games and read speeds of 200MB/s, these microSD Cards also ship with a lifetime limited warranty and are designed to withstand shocks, drops, and x-rays.

ENDORFY's new Thock V2 series of stylish 'Alt Gray' and bright blue keyboards has launched with no less than 17 models. Now, this might seem like a lot (and it is), but this covers four different size options, wired and wireless versions, three different layouts (ANSI US, ISO CZ, ISO DE), and two switch types - basically, every style of keyboard. Expanding on the four different sizes offered, you've got 100% full-sized, TKL, 75%, and Compact.

The new ENDORFY Thock V2 series is all about delivering premium build quality and features at a price point that won't cause damage to your digital wallet. "We redesigned the construction, added hot-swap support, refined switches and stabilizers, and introduced advanced acoustic treatment," ENDORFY's Rafal Zaniewski says of the new V2 design.

One of the big focuses for the team when it came to the design was the overall acoustics and comfort of the typing experience. Both the wired and wireless variants include three layers of acoustic foam, including PORON and IXPE, with silicon dampeners underneath the space bar.

ASRock and Capcom have partnered to release a custom Monster Hunter-themed gaming GPU with the arrival of the new Radeon RX 9070 XT Monster Hunter Wilds Edition 16GB. The physical design looks to be based on the company's impressive Steel Legend line-up, albeit presented in a very different light, thanks to the "Arkveld" design inspired by one of the game series' most iconic monsters.

With a mix of silver and blue tones, it also includes a custom metal backplate with both Arkveld and the Monster Hunter Wilds logo joining the 'AMD Radeon' branding. Like ASRock's Steel Legend design, there's a dedicated ARGB switch, with premium cooling that includes high-quality striped ring fans, a nickel-plated copper base for maximum GPU contact, and a phase-change thermal pad.

Outside of the GPU, the Radeon RX 9070 XT Monster Hunter Wilds Edition 16GB ships with a limited edition "Arkveld" packaging and a custom Monster Hunter-themed version of ASRock's POLYCHROME SYNC software. Interestingly, this custom GPU variant isn't an OC model as it ships with the Radeon RX 9070 XT's reference Boost Clock speed of 2970 MHz.

Valve has updated Steam, revamping the storefront UI with a new menu system designed to make it easier to find games and access the areas you visit most often. The most notable aspect of this update is that the top blue menu bar has effectively merged with the left column to create a unified menu system featuring tabs that expand to display large buttons, icons, and graphics, which disappear when inactive or outside the mouse pointer's reach.

The updated UI also adds the new menu and Steam search bar "on more pages across the Store" for easier access. Dramatically changing the navigation flow of Steam, an app that has been around for decades, might seem like a bold move on Valve's part. But the revamped Steam UI has received a generally positive response from the community.

Personally, I'm a big fan of the improved Search Panel, as it now includes quick access to the genres of games that make up most of my playtime, alongside recently viewed items and some of the most popular current community searches. That, and the new Ways to Play tab that offers quick access to Steam Deck-enhanced, controller-friendly, and VR titles.

In the AI era, it's not uncommon to consider petabyte-sized storage capabilities in a wide range of data centers, designed for running AI workloads and cloud-based computing. However, when it comes to petabyte-sized storage capabilities orbiting the Earth, on the Lunar surface, or somewhere in deep space, it is no longer the realm of science fiction.

Axiom Space and Spacebilt Inc. have announced that they are collaborating with a range of technology leaders to bring "optically-interconnected orbital data center (ODC)" infrastructure and technology to the International Space Station, or ISS, in 2027.

One of the partners for this exciting and ambitious project is Phison Electronics, where Pascari enterprise-grade SSDs will deliver over one petabyte of storage to the Axiom Orbital Data Center Node (AxODC). These will be paired with PIC64-HPSC processors from Microchip to enable AI acceleration and high-end computing in space.

Although still focused on the business and professional market, Dell's audio products got an impressive addition last year with the arrival of the Dell Premier Wireless ANC Headset. What made it stand out was that, in addition to being certified for Microsoft Teams and Zoom, it also delivered impressive comfort, audio quality, and ANC that made it double as a great pair of on-the-go headphones.

And now, Dell is planning to enter the wireless earbud market with the Dell Pro Plus Earbuds (EB525), featuring Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and an AI-powered noise-canceling microphone. The company notes that they're the first earbuds to receive Microsoft Teams Open Office Certification for "top-tier audio quality, even in shared or high-noise environments, and ensure the strictest performance standards."

Often, voice chat is a distant second for earbuds; however, the Dell Pro Plus Earbuds are primarily business-focused, so "clear, reliable audio" is a key part of the design. Dell Pro Plus Earbuds are also Zoom-certified and designed to integrate seamlessly with Dell laptops, docks, and software.

A gamer has purchased an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card on Amazon for $1000... but received an actual BRICK instead.

Reddit user "GlassHistorical5303" posted that he ordered a PNY GeForce RTX 5080 from Amazon for around $1000, but got a physical brick instead, safely wrapped in an anti-static bag of course. His Reddit post caused quite the stir, questioning Amazon's retail policies, with the retail giant refunding his order.

There is a particular reason why the user received a brick versus the RTX 5080 he ordered, as it's the aftermath of Amazon's internal FBA logistics. Say you've ordered an RTX 5080 instead of the Redditor, Amazon would search for a totally different seller with the same stock and then ship out the product... all without checking the contents, apart from the weight of the product and the desired packaging.

Apple is set to launch its new cheaper iPhone 17e smartphone in the first half of 2026, but it won't make the same mistake it did with the iPhone 16e, but why? Let's dive in.

The launch of the iPhone 16e was an important step for Apple as it was the first use of its new in-house C1 5G modem at the time, with its new ultra-thin iPhone Air sporting its new second-gen C1X 5G modem. The iPhone 16e was meant to be a cheaper, cut-down version of the iPhone 16 base model, but it was a little too powerful and specced well against the more expensive base iPhone 16.

Apple's iPhone 16e was an iPhone 14-inspired handset with thin bezels, a 6.1-inch OLED Super Retina XDR display, a smaller notch that featured the front-facing camera and Face ID technology, which was a departure from Touch ID that was in previous iPhones.

Apple's new iPhone Air is finally here, shipping in 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB variants but if you purchased a 256GB model and wanted to mod it to 512GB or 1TB... well, it's not going to work, and here's why:

The company is severely limiting storage upgrades to the iPhone Air with modder DirectorFong trying to upgrade his new ultra-thin iPhone Air 256GB smartphone to a larger 1TB of storage using intricate soldering methods. Once he disassembled the iPhone Air and got to the logic board, the modder found the storage chip features a serial number beginning with "2NB", noting he's not noticed this configuration on previous iPhones.

The modder says that the NAND flash modules weren't sourced from the usual suspects in Samsung, SK hynix, Toshiba, or Sandisk, noting that Apple could be using leftover inventory from YMTC since that company isn't a supplier anymore because of US trade restrictions.

Meta is reportedly accelerating the development of its smart glasses project -- codenamed Hypernova -- seeking suppliers throughout South Korea to reduce its heavy dependence on China.

In a new report from Korean outlet MK picked up by @Jukanlosreve on X and their electronics industry source, Meta plans to contract DB HiTek, an SK foundry to manufacture power management integrated circuits (PMICs) for charging its upcoming AR smart glasses.

This source said that Meta representatives visited DB HiTek last month and that discussions were underway for final delivery and if that contract is finalized, production of its next-gen Hypernova AR smart glasses would begin in 2026 with a release window for 2027.

AMD's next-gen Instinct MI450X AI accelerator has reportedly "forced" NVIDIA to make changes to its Rubin VR200 AI GPU, according to the latest reports.

In a new post on X from SemiAnalysis, we're hearing rumors in order for NVIDIA's new Rubin AI GPUs to maintain a lead over AMD's upcoming Instinct MI450X series AI chips, VR200 Rubin had its HBM4 memory bandwidth increased to 20TB/sec per GPU (from 13GB/sec per GPU). Rubin went from 5TB/sec per GPU behind MI450X in memory bandwidth, to just ahead with 0.4GB/sec per GPU more bandwidth.

Not only that, VR200 Rubin was previously an 1800W TGP design, but two months ago it was bumped up to 2300W TGP, closer to Instinct MI450X which has a higher 2500W TGP. These new AI GPUs are thirsty... very, very thirsty.

Steam's latest beta test adds Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 detection, allowing gamers to easily check and see if PCs support the new security mandates.

The Steam client will soon get a new feature that helps gamers prep their PCs for modern games. New titles like Battlefield 6 and Black Ops 7 both require hardware-based security features to be enabled, including TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot. Gamers may have to go through BIOS settings to tick on the settings, and in some cases, may have to buy new systems altogether.

This can be a headache for the common gamer. To help ease the frustration of the process, Valve is baking in native detection tools into Steam that will check and see if these protocols are turned on and show the results in a handy, easy-to-read info pane.

EA has released a live-action trailer for Battlefield 6 ahead of the scheduled launch next month, and the trailer features celebrities such as Zac Efron, Paddy Pimblett, Morgan Wallen, and Jimmy Butler.

Ahead of the scheduled launch for Battlefield 6 on October 10, EA has released a live-action trailer to continue the hype train moving along, leading up to launch. The trailer opens with a full squad stepping out of a vehicle, showing the Assault class as actor Zac Efron, NBA superstar Jimmy Butler as an Engineer, artist Morgan Wallen as Support, and UFC superstar Paddy Pimblett as Recon.

The squad is then abruptly interrupted by a missile, killing them all, which was quickly followed up by a soldier asking, "Who was that?" and then another answers, "Doesn't matter, let's move."

Hades II is the current indie hit on the market, where it looks to become a top-seller on both PC and Nintendo Switch.

Supergiant's roguelike sequel is showing signs of being a big success. The game launched to critical acclaim and high playercounts on PC and Switch, where Hades II is attracting over a hundred thousand players on Steam alone. In its first 24 hours, Hades II had 103,890 players on Steam, and high playercounts are telltale signs of popular game launches.

Hades II likewise did well on Nintendo platforms. The game is currently the #1 best-seller on the Nintendo eShop's digital-only games list, dethroning Hollow Knight Silksong which had previously topped the list. At the time of writing, Hades II Switch 2 edition is #1, and the base Switch version is #2, with the first Hades game rounding out the list at #3. For the time being, Supergiant Games' underworld franchise is dominating the eShop's digital sales charts.

Amazon and Google will give NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang a call before they announce any new in-house AI chip efforts, as Jensen doesn't like being surprised by his competitors.

In a new article from The Information, it's reported that when companies like Amazon and Google have new AI chip announcements, they'll give Jensen a heads-up ahead of time, as he doesn't like being blindsided. These companies can't survive without access to NVIDIA GPUs, so they play ball with Jensen as there is no alternative, he's almost like the AI GPU Godfather.

The Information's report explains: "at the center of it all is Huang, to whom other leaders in the industry show unusual forms of deference. For example, when Amazon and Google have news to announce about their in-house AI chip efforts -- which they're developing to lessen their dependence on NVIDIA -- they've learned it's best to first give a heads up to Huang, say several people involved in these communications".

TSMC's advanced 3nm and 5nm process nodes continue to be in hot demand, as cloud and AI applications push into a full-scale explosion, expected to be "100% booked" into 2026, and it's no surprise.

In a new report from Ctee, we're learning from industry insiders who have said TSMC's new 3nm and 5nm production capacity remains fully utilized, with the capacity utilization rate (UTR) projected to hit 100% in the first half of 2026. Multiple big tech companies like Apple, Qualcomm, and MediaTek have fully soaked up TSMC's new 3nm process node, with NVIDIA's next-gen Rubin AI platform in the HPC field also expected to consume a bunch of its production capacity in 2026.

US tech companies have adopted TSMC's new 3nm process node already, with Apple's new M5 family of processors on TSMC's new 3nm node, as well as Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X2 Elite processors, while on the HPC side of things NVIDIA's next-gen Rubin GPU family and AMD's next-gen Instinct MI355X AI accelerator will debut in 2026 on TSMC's new 3nm process node.

Forza Horizon 6 is indeed coming to PlayStation 5, but not at launch, proving Microsoft still believes in a measure of exclusivity...even if it's temporary.

Years ago during the start of the PS4 generation, I remember writing an article discussing how timed exclusivity was the hottest new trend. Not much has changed since then, and publishers still make these deals. What has changed, though, is Microsoft's radical shift to break platform exclusivity and bring Xbox games to PlayStation. This prompts Microsoft to utilize temporary advantages like timed exclusives.

We're seeing this play out with Forza Horizon 6, which is timed exclusive to Xbox and PC. The racing sim won't come to PlayStation 5 at launch, but instead sometime post-release. This hasn't been the case for all cross-platform games, as Gears of War Reloaded launched day one on PS5. That was a remaster, though, and Forza Horizon 6 is a sequel release in Xbox's highly lucrative tentpole franchise.

New reports indicate that Halo Studios is working on a persistent, always-online Halo game...and Microsoft's business practices fuel speculation that the new game could also launch on PlayStation consoles.

Microsoft's dedicated Halo team is working on two projects right now. While they haven't been announced, rumors say that one of them is a Halo Combat Evolved remake on Unreal Engine 5, and the other is an online game. It's possible that the latter project is a cross-platform game that releases on PC and consoles, including Sony's PlayStation 5.

It's worth noting that the following is speculation based on rumor, but the guesswork is based on Microsoft's current business trends. Sources tell reliable leaker Rebs Gamingthat a "live service, long-term updating multiplayer game" is in the works at Halo Studios. Given Halo Infinite's success, this new multiplayer might also be free-to-play to maximize player reach.