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4K gaming audience is 'too limited' for Nintendo
PC gamers have been able to enjoy 4K gaming for years now, with consoles finally catching up in some ways with the PS4 Pro, and in a bigger way with Xbox One X... but what about Nintendo?
During an interview with The Verge, Nintendo US boss Reggie Fils-Aime said that gamers interested in 4K are still too limited, instead, the company wants to access as many customers as possible. Fils-Aime said: "The Nintendo mission is to reach as many consumers as possible and to have them engage and have fun with our [intellectual property]. That's what we try and do. So inherently, we go for a more mainstream audience. Inherently, we want our products to be affordable. We want our products to be easy to pick up and experience, low learning curve. We want our IP to shine as we deliver these experiences".
He continued: "That's the way we approach it. And so, what that means is, a sweet spot of $300 for the Nintendo Switch, a platform that has Mario and Zelda and Splatoon. Going against a more limited consumer pool, a higher price point, requiring investments in other ways - 4K TVs, what have you - that is a strategy that for us, candidly, is a bit too limited".
Continue reading: 4K gaming audience is 'too limited' for Nintendo (full post)
AMD EPYC: 64C/128T dual-CPU against Intel 56C/112T CPUs
AMD has been making some pretty serious waves with its Zen CPU architecture, but now that the enterprise/server-grade EPYC processors are here, Intel is in for a big fight - even with its spiffy new Xeon Platinum line of CPUs.
AMD's new EPYC 7601 comes in 32C/64T, but has been used in a dual-CPU server with a total of 64C/128T for some serious computational power - with SiSoft Sandra and Cinebench R15 2P benchmarks. We're seeing a competition between Intel's new 28C/56T processors in both single- and dual-CPU configurations, with a dual-CPU rig with Intel's new Xeon Platinum 8180 and a total of 56C/112T of power.
The benchmarks saw an average all-core CPU clock of 2.7GHz on all 64C/128T of AMD's dual EPYC 7601 system, while the dual Intel Xeon Platinum 8180 had 3.4GHz across all of its dual-CPU goodness at 56C/112T. In the Cinebench R15 performance, we're looking at AMD's EPYC 7601 scoring around 6879 points, while Intel's new Xeon Platinum 8180 pushes 8301.
Continue reading: AMD EPYC: 64C/128T dual-CPU against Intel 56C/112T CPUs (full post)
Samsung is close to the world's most profitable company
Whatever electronics device you own, it probably has something manufactured or made by Samsung in it, which would lead to the company eventually getting to the point where they are tipping towards becoming the most profitable company of Q2 2017.
According to ET News, Samsung will be showing off some record breaking numbers for Q2 2017 very soon, above the predicted $11.6 billion to $12.3 billion that analysts have Samsung pegged to announce. Samsung's main competitor Apple is poised to be under the South Korean's shadow in the financial fight with just $10.5 billion of earnings, very shy of Samsung's hefty lofts of $12 billion or more. Samsung hitting this amount would put them in the ballpark of the combined operating profits of tech industry giants Facebook, Google, Netflix, and Amazon - all expected to pull $11.1 billion.
Samsung's financial dominance comes from the fact that they have countless successful smartphones, tablets, notebooks, NAND, DRAM, AMOLED displays, and so much more. The likes of Apple and Google can't say that, especially in physical consumer products. Samsung, keep killing it.
Continue reading: Samsung is close to the world's most profitable company (full post)
AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition vs NVIDIA TITAN Xp
AMD's new Radeon Vega Frontier Edition launches today, with PCWorld being one of the first outlets with the Vega-based graphics card in their hands.
The new AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition has been confirmed at $1200, with 16GB of HBM2 memory, and is air-cooled. The liquid-cooled Radeon Vega graphics card will cost $1800, quite a chunk more. The air-cooled version has a 300W TDP, while the liquid-cooled version has a 375W TDP.
Now remember, Radeon Vega Frontier Edition is not a consumer graphics card for gaming... with AMD aiming it at "data scientists, immersion engineers, and product designers". This pushes it into the same sphere as NVIDIA's Quadro and Tesla cards, and not the TITAN Xp so much. PCWorld had the TITAN Xp in their hands for testing, so why not? AMD set up two identical PCs for PCWorld, rocking Ryzen 7 1800X processors, 32GB of DDR4 RAM, SSDs, 4K displays, and Windows 10 Enterprise Edition.
Continue reading: AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition vs NVIDIA TITAN Xp (full post)
Meizu Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus specs and prices leak
Meizu is expected to launch the Pro 7 this summer, and the first images of the phone have already leaked revealing that the device could feature a secondary display.
Now, a new report from China has revealed its specs and pricing. According to the report, Meizu will launch two phones, the Meizu Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus, on July 26th. The devices should be available shortly after the launch, on August 4th.
Both models will come with a secondary display on the back, which will likely be used for notifications like other phones.
Continue reading: Meizu Pro 7 and Pro 7 Plus specs and prices leak (full post)
Sony's next gen PS5 may be traditional console gen
Sony's next-gen PlayStation may hearken back to the original console cycle instead of pushing forth the new iterative family of consoles cadence.
The rhythm of the console market has changed. Console-makers like Sony and Microsoft haven't hit the reset button on the current generation, and have instead embraced an iterative cycle of systems which allows for better hardware revisions while ensuring full software compatibility at the cost of newer consoles being held back by parity regulations. But eventually this new cycle could shift back to the old cadence to ensure true next-gen performance. The first shift away from iterative consoles could be Sony's PlayStation 5.
Shawn Layden, President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment America, told German website Golem.de some interesting new tidbits about the next PlayStation successor, hinting that the system could herald a new console gen and not an iterative system held back by its previous older-generation kin.
Continue reading: Sony's next gen PS5 may be traditional console gen (full post)
Samsung Galaxy Stellar 2 specs and pricing leaked
Back in 2012, Samsung introduced a Verizon-exclusive smartphone, the Galaxy Stellar. It now appears that the company is working on its successor.
A new report from China says that the Galaxy Stellar 2 is almost ready for launch. According to the report, supported by images of the phone, the Galaxy Stellar 2 should feature a 4.5-inch 720p AMOLED display, and be powered by a Snapdragon 626.
The device should have 2.5GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The Galaxy Stellar 2 should have a 5MP main camera and a 1.2MP front shooter.
Continue reading: Samsung Galaxy Stellar 2 specs and pricing leaked (full post)
Samsung introduces new color option for the Galaxy S8+
Samsung has announced another color option for the Galaxy S8+ - Rose Pink.
The phone launched back in April, is also available in Midnight Black, Orchid Grey, Arctic Silver, Coral Blue, and Maple Gold colors. The Rose Pink color option will be available in Taiwan first, but it could hit other markets as well.
The pink color was rumored a while back, alongside the Amethyst color, which we're yet to see.
Continue reading: Samsung introduces new color option for the Galaxy S8+ (full post)
Xiaomi Mi 6 finally available outside of China
The Xiaomi Mi 6 was unveiled back in April, and up until now, the phone was only available in China.
As of today, the device is now available in Hong Kong, followed shortly by Taiwan. There's still no info about the pricing in these markets.
It is also unknown if and when the Mi 6 will hit other markets.
Continue reading: Xiaomi Mi 6 finally available outside of China (full post)
Nokia 6 available in the US in early July
Back in January, HMD Global unveiled its first Nokia-branded Android smartphone - the Nokia 6. However, many were disappointed that the device was available only in China.
Now, HMD Global has announced that the device will finally hit the US market. The phone will be available in early July on Amazon.
The phone will be available in two colors, Matte Black, and Silver, at a price of $229.
Continue reading: Nokia 6 available in the US in early July (full post)
Nintendo SNES Mini includes 21 built-in games for $79.99
Nintendo officially announced the Super NES Classic Edition with a hiked price point of $79.99 and a total of 21 SNES games pre-loaded.
The Super NES Classic Edition includes many golden age classics like Donkey Kong Country, F-Zero, Final Fantasy III, EarthBound, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Mega Man X, Super Metroid, Mario Kart, Secret of Mana, and even the unreleased Star Fox 2 (yes, really). The mini console will cost $79.99, up $20 from last year's NES Classic Edition, and includes less games than its predecessor (21 SNES games versus 30 NES games on the NES Classic Edition). However, the SNES mini-console comes with an extra SNES controller for multiplayer action.
The SNES Classic Edition is slated to release on September 29, 2017 for $79.99. Let's just hope Nintendo has made enough units this time...back in 2016 retail stores only received 2-5 units per store, leading to a widespread catastrophe for brick and mortar retailers.
Continue reading: Nintendo SNES Mini includes 21 built-in games for $79.99 (full post)
Enjoy the photos of another historic SpaceX launch
Back in March, SpaceX successfully launched and landed an already used Falcon 9 rocket, which was the first time in history that an already used rocket was launched again.
This weekend, the company marked the second reflight of a Falcon 9 first stage. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched the BulgariaSat-1 satellite into orbit - the first geostationary communications satellite in Bulgaria's history.
Now, the company has published images of this historic launch.
Continue reading: Enjoy the photos of another historic SpaceX launch (full post)
4K textures required in Xbox One X games even on HDTVs
Microsoft confirms that Xbox One X owners will download 4K assets in games that support them--such as Forza Motorsport 7--even if they're playing on a 1080p HDTV instead of a 4K UHD television set.
One of my biggest concerns about the new push to native 4K console gaming is installation size. Games are already pretty huge--Halo 5 Guardians was at 90GB+ before I uninstalled it, and Final Fantasy XV is at 68GB now on my PS4--but file sizes are about to get a whole lot bigger thanks to native 4K textures. This means that Xbox One X owners will likely fill up their 1TB hard drives pretty fast.
In fact, a single game will fill up roughly 11% of the Xbox One X's 1TB (real capacity is 931GB) hard drive: Microsoft has confirmed that Forza Motorsport 7 will have a whopping 100GB install size at launch, and that includes the Xbox One X version.
Continue reading: 4K textures required in Xbox One X games even on HDTVs (full post)
Nintendo wants best third party games on Switch
The company behind any new console wants to bring all the latest and greatest games on their platform, and Nintendo is no exception. The Japanese console-maker has expressed interest in attracting key external third-party developers to bring their "best and brightest" games onto its new Nintendo Switch hardware.
Nintendo has had a hard time convincing key Western publishers and developers to bring new big-name Western games like Far Cry 5, Overwatch, Star Wars: Battlefront II, Assassin's Creed: Origins and Call of Duty: WWII to the Nintendo Switch. At the same time, however, publishers like EA and Take-Two Interactive are experimenting with Switch support with new games like FIFA 18 and NBA 2K18.
Other companies seem reticent to support the Switch for many reasons, including the hybrid console's lower-end power, the console's smallish 3.6 million install base due to early lifetime sales, the fact that it can be played entirely offline on-the-go and forgoing any earnings from live services like microtransactions, and the fact Nintendo has yet to implement an attractive online framework that allows for adequate long-term games monetization and facilitates a strong social online network like Xbox LIVE or the PlayStation Network.
Continue reading: Nintendo wants best third party games on Switch (full post)
'xXx 4' is a go, with Vin Diesel to return
After letting the franchise rest for over a decade, the $350 million haul of 'xXX: The Return of Xander Cage' at the international box office has ensured that a fourth film in the series will happen.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, a new production company called 'The H Collective' has been formed and will include 'xXx 4' in its first slate of films to hit. Veteran Producer Joe Roth, one of the proponents of the new company hasn't shied away from making big investments, saying "In today's Hollywood, it requires strong partners to produce and finance such big-budget movies as the xXx series".
There's no current word on a director or script as of yet, so it might be a few years before 'xXx' rides again.
Continue reading: 'xXx 4' is a go, with Vin Diesel to return (full post)
Major flaw found in Intel CPUs and HT, needs BIOS fix
If Intel wasn't already in enough trouble with AMD's constant onslaught of products with Ryzen and now Ryzen ThreadRipper, the company is now going to have a huge storm surrounding it over a newly-discovered flaw in Intel's Skylake and Kaby Lake architectures with Hyper-Threading.
The HT-enabled processors with critical flaws were discovered on the Debian Linux user list, and sent out without a warning notification - but these issues extend to Windows, and other operating systems, too. The errors with HT-enabled Skylake/Kaby Lake CPUs can lead to various issues ranging from your entire system locking up, major data corruption or loss, or even more. As HotHardware points out: "the replication conditions are very specific and are unlikely to be encountered by most users in the wild". Still, it's not a good thing to see a company the size of Intel experiencing major issues like this, especially with AMD now competing in a big way in the CPU market again.
The problems surrounds Intel errata documentation, explained as:
Continue reading: Major flaw found in Intel CPUs and HT, needs BIOS fix (full post)
Apple talks about designing the touchscreen for iPhone
Can you believe it has been nearly 10 years since the original iPhone was released? I can, as I got my hands-on one here in Australia, which at the time was incredibly expensive and a huge process to do. The years before worldwide distribution of the iPhone, where it was limited as hell, and half the apps didn't work for me, including MMS.
Now we have The Wall Street Journal sharing a video that has three of Apple's former executives talking about the first days of designing the iPhone with Steve Jobs, with Scott Forstall, Tony Fadell, and Greg Christie taking to screen. Fadell was the Senior VP of the iPod division, where he talked of a time when Jobs introduced the executives the first demo of what would eventually turn into the touch-based iOS for the original iPhone.
Jobs and his team were prototyping different ways to usher in a new smartphone interface, with the first being the iPod click wheel interface which ended up turning into something truly revolutionary. Fadell was invited into a demo room to try out a new interface by Jobs, with Fadell recounting: "Steve goes, "Come over here I need to show you something." So he walked me into the room...and it was basically like a ping pong table sized demo with a projector that was projecting a Mac interface on it. And you could use your whole hand and you could touch different things on it, like it was a big big Mac".
Continue reading: Apple talks about designing the touchscreen for iPhone (full post)
Facebook pays up to $3 million per ep for original shows
Facebook is looking at building out its own original TV shows, reportedly offering Hollywood studios up to $3 million per episode for original shows. The social network is looking at the 17 to 30 age range, with shows similar to ABC's own Pretty Little Liars, Scandal, or The Bachelor.
The social networking giant is going to be launching over 24 shows when it launches its TV shows later this year, and is now offering Hollywood bundles of cash for original TV shows at up to $3 million per episode, according to The Wall Street Journal. The future of business in this space is content heavy, something Facebook is fully aware of. We know that content rules, which is why Netflix, Apple, Amazon, Hulu, and many others make their own original TV shows... it's massive business, and Facebook is seeing this growing wave and is jumping onto its surfboard in a big way.
Snapchat is a big competitor for Facebook, as they've signed deals with the likes of DIsney, MTV, MGM, Time Warner, and A&E for original content. Snapchat isn't the same as Facebook and Netflix with full original TV series, but they will have episodes between 3 and 5 minutes long.
Continue reading: Facebook pays up to $3 million per ep for original shows (full post)
Intel's next-gen 6C/12T: competes with AMD Ryzen 5 1600X
Intel has been reacting to AMD's new Ryzen CPUs with the tease and release of their new Core i9 processors, but the mainstream Coffee Lake CPUs that are set for a reported launch early next year are being teased more and more.
The latest on Intel's upcoming Coffee Lake-based Core i7 processors is that they will come out in 6C/12T flagship models, with similar to performance of AMD's Ryzen 5 1600X, which is also a 6C/12T processor. There's now a listing on the Geekbench database of a few new Intel processors, with a 6C/12T model with 1.5MB of L2 cache and 12MB of L3 cache. We should expect the 6C/12T processor to come with up to 3.5GHz base and 4.2GHz boost clocks, which is hefty for a 6C/12T mainstream CPU, especially from Intel.
With the Geekbench entry, the chip is clocked at 3.2GHz base, and has a single-core score of 4619 and multi-core score of 20,828. If we compare this against a retail AMD Ryzen 5 1600X processor, we have a single-score of 4574, and multi-core score of 20,769. Right on the money against the Ryzen 5 1600X.
Continue reading: Intel's next-gen 6C/12T: competes with AMD Ryzen 5 1600X (full post)
Microsoft sees 32TB of unreleased Windows builds leaked
Update: After this article went live, I was pointed in the direction of an update to the story from Andy, the administrator of Beta Archive. He posted on the forum saying:
Microsoft is experiencing a massive leak in its security, with files leaked that relate to Microsoft's USB, storage, and Wi-Fi drivers for Windows 10 posted to Beta Archive last week. Beta Archive, if you didn't already know, is an enthusiast website that tracks Windows releases, and asks its members to donate money or contribute something Windows-related after accessing a private FTP full of archived Windows builds.
In an email to The Verge, a Microsoft spokesperson said: "Our review confirms that these files are actually a portion of the source code from the Shared Source Initiative and is used by OEMs and partners". The Register is claiming that 32TB of data was leaked, including unreleased Windows builds - something The Verge reports that "most of the collection has been available for months, or even years".
Continue reading: Microsoft sees 32TB of unreleased Windows builds leaked (full post)






















