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Samsung's mid-range Exynos chips leak

Lana Jelic | Processors | Jun 6, 2017 4:21 PM CDT

Two new Exynos SoCs have leaked online suggesting that Samsung could be introducing new SoCs for mid-range devices.

Samsung's mid-range Exynos chips leak

The first processor is the Exynos 9610 which is a step below the company's current leading SoC, the Exynos 8895. The Exynos 9610 is expected to use the 14nm process similar to the one used by the Exynos 8890 inside of the Galaxy S7.

The 9610 doesn't use a combination of Samsung's Mongoose cores with A53 cores, but rather off-the-shelf A73 cores instead. The interesting development is the inclusion of ARM's new G72 GPU which was announced at Computex and should be a pretty sizable upgrade over the G71 in the previous generation. It also has Cat. 13 LTE which isn't quite as fast as what's in the Exynos 8895.

Continue reading: Samsung's mid-range Exynos chips leak (full post)

PS2 games on PS4: Sony won't improve selection

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jun 6, 2017 3:23 PM CDT

Up until the PS4, Sony's new consoles have always had strong backward compatibility support. But with its current PlayStation 4 platform, the company has butchered a potential lucrative games foundation with its weird, fractured backward compatibility solutions, which rely on clumsy PS3 game streaming via PS Now and a handful of remastered PS2 games. And it looks like Sony isn't changing course any time soon.

PS2 games on PS4: Sony won't improve selection

Sony has a wealth of old beloved fan-favorite games that it could monetize and re-release onto the PlayStation 4, but instead of putting forth major efforts to make backward compatibility linear and painless, the games-maker has opted for a non-popular PlayStation Now paid streaming service for its PS3 games.

But what about the golden era PS2 games (you know, the games that helped the PS2 become the best-selling console of all time?) and nostalgic PS One games? According to Sony exec Jim Ryan, we shouldn't expect a massive influx of classic PS2 or PS1 games on the PS4 any time soon.

Continue reading: PS2 games on PS4: Sony won't improve selection (full post)

Battleborn's PVP is free-to-play

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jun 6, 2017 2:27 PM CDT

In an attempt to save its beleaguered MOBA Battleborn, Gearbox has made a strange hybrid scheme that combines a free to play structure with microtransactions while retaining the $30 retail version.

Battleborn's PVP is free-to-play

With Battleborn, 2K Games has found a way to merge freemium-style microtransactions with actual retail sales. Battleborn now has a "free trial" mode that offers unlimited PVP play with 30 free heroes across four modes, with a rotating cast of heroes. To offset the free trial mode, Battleborn will have premium digital currency that is purchased with real money, which is redeemed form cosmetics, gear, EXP boosters and more. The full game will still be sold for $30 on PS4, Xbox One and PC, and upgrading to the full game unlocks all 25 characters, the full story mode campaign, and private matches. The free trial mode is now available on Steam, PS4, and Xbox One.

Existing Battleborn owners who purchased the game before today get access to the Founder's Bonus Content loot pack, which includes premium platinum currency, credits, exclusive titles and skins, loot packs, and more. Gearbox meticulously outlines all of the changes to Battleborn in this huge post, so give it a read if you're interested.

Continue reading: Battleborn's PVP is free-to-play (full post)

LG to launch G6 Plus and G6 Pro with Snapdragon 835?

Lana Jelic | Mobile Devices | Jun 6, 2017 1:28 PM CDT

Back in February when LG launched its flagship, the G6, many were left disappointed that the device was only powered by last year's Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 instead of the newer Snapdragon 835.

LG to launch G6 Plus and G6 Pro with Snapdragon 835?

However, it seems that the company has an ace up their sleeve. According to a report from South Korea, LG is planning to launch two new devices - the LG G6 Plus and LG G6 Pro.

The same source claims that at least one of those devices, if not both, will be powered by the Snapdragon 835. Both devices are also said to come with upgraded features.

Continue reading: LG to launch G6 Plus and G6 Pro with Snapdragon 835? (full post)

Sony: Japanese games are super important to us

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jun 6, 2017 11:18 AM CDT

Much to the approval of gamers everywhere, Sony's PlayStation 4 console has been the home for traditional Japanese games for quite some time. As the region leaves consoles behind in favor of mobile games, Sony says that Japanese console games are "coming back," and re-affirms its commitment to hosting these experiences on its PlayStation platform.

Sony: Japanese games are super important to us

Freemium mobile games reign supreme in the Land of the Rising Sun, and the region makes up less than 10% of the PS4's near 60-million global salesbase. However, Japanese console games are quite popular in the West, and Sony has done its part to keep these unique experiences alive by hosting titles like Resident Evil 7, NiOh, NieR: Automata, Final Fantasy XV and Persona 5 on its PlayStation 4 ecosystem. Due to strong growth and widespread appeal Sony has no plans to change this trend any time soon--Japanese games have always had a home on PlayStation.

"Japanese publishers are coming back, and that's super important for us," Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Shawn Layden said in a recent interview with TIME. Layden goes on to tease some major Japanese game reveals for E3 2017, igniting hope for the fabled Bloodborne 2. "I think a lot of Japanese developers lost their way chasing the mobile games yen, if you will, but they're coming back to console in a major way. And speaking of, we'll have some big announcements at E3 in that precise vein."

Continue reading: Sony: Japanese games are super important to us (full post)

Switch getting Pokken, not Pokemon Sun & Moon remaster

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jun 6, 2017 10:16 AM CDT

Nintendo today announced some surprising news: Pokken Tournament DX is coming to the Nintendo Switch handheld-console hybrid, not the rumored Pokemon Sun & Moon HD remaster.

Switch getting Pokken, not Pokemon Sun & Moon remaster

The rumors were wrong: The Pokemon Company is bringing Pokken Tournament DX to the system, not the anticipated "Pokemon Stars" remaster of Pokemon Sun & Moon.

Pokken Tournament DX is slated to arrive on Nintendo Switch this September, bringing with it the myriad of form factor playstyles the Switch offers. Pokken Tournament Deluxe offers the 16 playable Pokemon from the original Wii U release and adds in five extra characters like Darkrai, Scizor, Empoleon, Croagunk, and Decidueye from Pokemon Sun & Moon. The fighter also features 3v3 battles, ranked matches online, and friends-only group matches. Also remember that Nintendo Switch's online service will be free up until its launch in 2018.

Continue reading: Switch getting Pokken, not Pokemon Sun & Moon remaster (full post)

Huawei confirms the Honor 9 launch date

Lana Jelic | Mobile Devices | Jun 6, 2017 9:25 AM CDT

Honor 9 was expected to be unveiled on June 20th, but last week's leak claimed that the company would unveil the device a week earlier, on June 12th.

Huawei confirms the Honor 9 launch date

Now, Huawei has confirmed the launch date, and it is indeed the June 12th. The promotional poster, revealed by the company, shows a huge number nine next to Honor's logo for dual camera setup.

The sign on the poster says "Beautiful and colorful," and we have already seen that the Honor 9 might come in some bold color options such as yellow. Huawei is clearly focused on colors this year; a trend they started in February with a Pantone green Huawei P10.

Continue reading: Huawei confirms the Honor 9 launch date (full post)

ZTE's Nubia Z17 sold out in just 51 seconds

Lana Jelic | Mobile Devices | Jun 6, 2017 8:21 AM CDT

ZTE launched its long anticipated flagship, the Nubia Z17, last week, and it seems that the reception has been fantastic.

ZTE's Nubia Z17 sold out in just 51 seconds

The Nubia Z17 went on flash sale in China through online retailer JD.com where 10,000 units were offered. The company has announced that they sold out the devices in just 51 seconds.

The next flash sale will be on June 12th, and it will be interesting to compare the numbers.

Continue reading: ZTE's Nubia Z17 sold out in just 51 seconds (full post)

Apple refreshes 12.9-inch iPad Pro, 10.5-inch iPad Pro

Anthony Garreffa | Mobile Devices | Jun 6, 2017 2:33 AM CDT

Apple has unleashed a bunch of new products today including the Radeon Pro Vega-powered iMac Pro with its 5K display and can be configured with an 18-core Intel Xeon CPU, the new MacBook and MacBook Pro units, and now the new iPad Pro refreshes.

Apple refreshes 12.9-inch iPad Pro, 10.5-inch iPad Pro

Apple refreshed its 12.9-inch iPad Pro, but also ditched the older 9.7-inch iPad Pro size and stretched it out to a slightly bigger 10.5-inch iPad Pro, which replaces the 9.7-inch version. The 10.5-inch iPad Pro rocks a native resolution of 2224x1668 (264 PPI) with 20% more screen real estate over the 9.7-inch model, and 40% smaller bezels. This leads to a 10.5-inch iPad Pro that is only a little bigger and roughly the same physical size as the smaller 9.7-inch predecessor.

The new iPad Pro has some high refresh rate goodness tucked up its sleeve with Apple's new ProMotion technology ramping up the refresh rate on the 10.5- and 12.9-inch panels to 120Hz.

Continue reading: Apple refreshes 12.9-inch iPad Pro, 10.5-inch iPad Pro (full post)

AMD announces the new Radeon Pro 500 series

Anthony Garreffa | Graphics Cards | Jun 6, 2017 1:40 AM CDT

Apple has just unveiled their impressive new iMac Pro all-in-one desktop that can be configured with up to an 18-core Intel Xeon CPU, and even the new AMD Radeon Pro Vega graphics card with 16GB of HBM2, but AMD also slid in the announcement of their new Radeon Pro 500 series graphics cards, too.

AMD announces the new Radeon Pro 500 series

The new Radeon Pro 500 series cards are available in Apple's newly updated 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMac systems, with up to 5.5 TFLOPs of compute performance - perfect for Adobe Premiere Pro, Photoshop, After Effects, and more. In AMD's press release, they explain: "It is incredibly satisfying to see the capabilities of Radeon Pro 500 series in elegant form factors and enabling amazing content creation, gaming and VR experiences".

Senior VP and Chief Architect of Radeon Technologies Group, Raja Koduri, said: "Radeon Pro 500 Series graphics are enabling new generations of makers with compute-accelerated creative tools and new APIs, bringing their imaginations to life in ways like never before".

Continue reading: AMD announces the new Radeon Pro 500 series (full post)

AMD's new Radeon Pro 500 series powers new MacBook Pro

Anthony Garreffa | Laptops | Jun 5, 2017 11:14 PM CDT

AMD is doing all sorts of great business with the likes of Ryzen, ThreadRipper, and their next-gen Vega GPU architecture making it into Apple's new iMac Pro. But the winning didn't stop for AMD with the iMac Pro, as AMD's new Radeon Pro 500 series graphics cards have made it into Apple's newly announced MacBook Pro refresh.

AMD's new Radeon Pro 500 series powers new MacBook Pro

The new Radeon Pro 555 with 2GB of VRAM powers the highest-end MacBook Pro, which has been upgraded with Intel's new Kaby Lake CPU architecture, over the Skylake architecture used in the 2016 MBP. The new 2017 MBP rocks the Core i7-7700HQ, 16GB of LPDDR3-2133 RAM, a 256GB PCIe-based SSD, and a whopping 4 x Thunderbolt 3 ports. We also have a bigger battery, with 76 Wh on offer, over the older 2016 MBP 15-inch model with its 54.5 Wh battery.

There will be the option of the Radeon Pro 555 and Radeon Pro 560, both based on the Polaris 11 GPU.

Continue reading: AMD's new Radeon Pro 500 series powers new MacBook Pro (full post)

AMD Radeon Pro Vega: 8-16GB HBM2, up to 22 TFLOPs

Anthony Garreffa | Graphics Cards | Jun 5, 2017 10:53 PM CDT

AMD has officially unveiled the Radeon Pro Vega, a new Vega-based graphics card that is destined for Apple's new iMac Pro all-in-one desktop PCs. The new Radeon Pro Vega is the third entry in the Vega family, following the professional Radeon Vega Frontier Edition and consumer Radeon RX Vega graphics cards.

AMD Radeon Pro Vega: 8-16GB HBM2, up to 22 TFLOPs

The new Radeon Pro Vega comes in two flavors, with 8GB and 16GB variants using HBM2 providing 400GB/sec of memory bandwidth. AMD is using the Vega 10 GPU, with 256 TMUs, and 64 next-gen Vega NCUs, each with two compute engines. Each of the compute engines have two separate compute clusters each with 512 stream processors and 32 TMUs, so in total Radeon Pro Vega has 4096 stream processors and 256 TMUs.

There are 64 ROPs and 16 distinct render back ends that are slapped into the 2048-bit memory bus with HBM2, in both 8GB and 16GB versions.

Continue reading: AMD Radeon Pro Vega: 8-16GB HBM2, up to 22 TFLOPs (full post)

AMD's first FreeSync 2 display: 1440p, 144Hz, 1ms

Anthony Garreffa | Displays | Jun 5, 2017 10:28 PM CDT

AMD unveiled their next-gen FreeSync 2 technology during their Tech Summit 2016 event in Sonoma, CA last year - and now we're finally seeing the fruits of that Journey to Pixel Perfection labor with the first FreeSync 2 display out in the wild.

AMD's first FreeSync 2 display: 1440p, 144Hz, 1ms

The world's first FreeSync 2 display in the wild is the new Samsung CHG70, a 27-inch curved Quantum Dot-based panel with 125% sRGB coverage, 2560x1440 native resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, and 1ms response time. It is an infusion of the best monitor tech you can get: FreeSync 2, 1440p @ 144Hz, accurate colors, and a low response time.

I need to get my hands-on one before Radeon RX Vega launches in August.

Continue reading: AMD's first FreeSync 2 display: 1440p, 144Hz, 1ms (full post)

IBM's new 5nm chip features 30 billion transistors

Anthony Garreffa | Processors | Jun 5, 2017 9:26 PM CDT

We're living in a world where our new graphics cards are made on the impressive 14nm and 16nm nodes, and we have companies like Qualcomm and Samsung making the latest and greatest SoCs on the small 10nm node - but IBM has trumped them all.

IBM's new 5nm chip features 30 billion transistors

IBM has recently began testing their new 5nm process, with a huge 30 billion transistors - 30,000,000,000 transistors on something as small as your finger nail, just let that sink in. A couple of years ago the team hit 7nm and had 20 billion transistors which was impressive back then, but now we're at 5nm and 30 billion transistors. Amazing stuff.

The team at IBM hopes to see the impressive new 5nm chip helping their own cognitive computing efforts, the Internet of Things (IoT), and other "data intensive" tasks. The new chip could also help smartphones, with "two to three times" more battery life than we have now. We shouldn't expect that, but maybe a blend of improved battery life and speed - all balanced perfectly on 5nm. We shouldn't expect 7nm any time before 2018 at the earliest, so 5nm is still quite a while away.

Continue reading: IBM's new 5nm chip features 30 billion transistors (full post)

AMD releases close up shot of Vega GPU die

Anthony Garreffa | Graphics Cards | Jun 5, 2017 8:26 PM CDT

I've just sat down at my desk in the GPU lab here in Australia, after an exhausting but awesome Computex 2017, and one of the first things I see is that AMD has released the die shot for the Vega GPU. STAHP.

AMD releases close up shot of Vega GPU die

The new Vega GPU die shot teases that the new GPU is divided into 8 clusters, each packing 8 Next Generation Compute Units. Each of these new NCUs features 64 stream processors, providing a total of 4096 FP32 cores. The difference between the previous-gen compute units and the new Vega NCU ones is that Vega packs 16-bit processing with doubled throughput.

Isn't it beautiful? Radeon RX Vega launches at SIGGRAPH 2017 which takes place in California between July 30 and August 3.

Continue reading: AMD releases close up shot of Vega GPU die (full post)

Sony plots mobile gaming initiative in Japan

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jun 5, 2017 7:44 PM CDT

Sony has initiated its new smartphone gaming push in Japan with preparations for the release of its first mobile game Everybody's Golf.

Sony plots mobile gaming initiative in Japan

Sony's PlayStation 4 console is not popular in Japan. Console gaming has significantly dropped in the past decade, and mobile gaming now reigns supreme, with big-hitting free-to-play freemium games conquering the region. Sony's PS4 has won big in the West, but mobile gaming is king in Japan. Sony has a plan, however, to penetrate Japan's lucrative smartphone market by converting its key IPs into mobile titles.

To facilitate this smartphone push, SIE created ForwardWorks, a development studio that's tasked in created key mobile versions of the company's popular IPs. Sony's first free-to-play Japanese smartphone game, Everybody's Golf, is about to roll out on the market with in-app purchases to ensure long-term revenue. Like Nintendo's recent Super Mario Run release, Everybody's Golf can be played with one hand, but unlike Mario on mobile, Sony's new golf game is available on both Android and Apple iPhone mobile phones at launch.

Continue reading: Sony plots mobile gaming initiative in Japan (full post)

Apple's new iMac Pro rocks 18-core CPU, Radeon Vega GPU

Anthony Garreffa | Computer Systems | Jun 5, 2017 7:11 PM CDT

Apple has just announced their new all-in-one desktop, the iMac Pro, and boy does it have some hefty specs. We're looking at Apple's new iMac Pro starting at $4999... and scaling much higher than that if you pack it with all of the tech goodies you can imagine.

Apple's new iMac Pro rocks 18-core CPU, Radeon Vega GPU

Apple's new iMac Pro will begin shipping in December, starting with an 8-core Intel Xeon CPU - but you can choose options right up to the insanely powerful 18-core Xeon processor. Not only that, but you can option it with a 27-inch 5K display and AMD's new Radeon Vega GPU. There's also 10GbE network connectivity, and 4 x Thunderbolt 3 ports.

You can option the Radeon Pro Vega with up to 16GB of HBM2 memory, while Apple will offer up to an insane 128GB of 2666MHz DDR4 ECC RAM, and up to 4TB of SSD storage. Apple intends for people to buy their new iMac Pro for high-end editing and graphics work, and even gaming and VR since the new iMac Pro is VR-ready as well.

Continue reading: Apple's new iMac Pro rocks 18-core CPU, Radeon Vega GPU (full post)

Project Scorpio devkit showcased in new official video

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Jun 5, 2017 6:19 PM CDT

Microsoft is set to reveal the exact name and price point of its high-end 4K-ready Project Scorpio console at E3 2017, but first we get a better glimpse at the system's development kit.

Project Scorpio devkit showcased in new official video

Xbox spokesman Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb recently sat down with Kevin Gammill from the Xbox engineering team to discuss Project Scorpio's devkit, and how it'll arm developers with the most powerful console ever made. We've already seen the devs at Turn10 hit native 4K 60FPS in Ultra PC settings with 88% of Project Scorpio's GPU utilized, and other developers like Monolith Productions are aiming for native 4K resolution in games like Middle-earth Shadow of War.

As we reported weeks ago, Project Scorpio's devkit is beefier than the retail model so that developers can "come in high and tune down," as Gammill says. The devkit features 12GB more RAM than the Project Scorpio's base 12GB GDDR5 RAM, or 24GB of GDDR5 unified RAM total. The devkit also features four more Compute Units, for a total of 44 customized Polaris-derived GPU Compute Units, and the GPU itself is clocked at 6.6 TFLOPS versus the retail model's 6TFLOPs of power.

Continue reading: Project Scorpio devkit showcased in new official video (full post)

OPPO R11 is official: Dual camera and Snapdragon 660

Lana Jelic | Mobile Devices | Jun 5, 2017 5:32 PM CDT

After weeks of numerous leaks, OPPO has launched the R11 out of the blue, while the R11 Plus remains just a rumor.

OPPO R11 is official: Dual camera and Snapdragon 660

The OPPO R11 is powered by Qualcomm's recently announced Snapdragon 660 processor and comes with 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of internal storage.

The phone comes with a 5.5-inch AMOLED screen and runs Android 7.1 Nougat painted with Color OS.

Continue reading: OPPO R11 is official: Dual camera and Snapdragon 660 (full post)

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