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Windows Store cracks down on emulators

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 7, 2017 12:16 PM CDT

Microsoft has nixed a key game emulator from the Windows Store an in effort to crack down on piracy.

Windows Store cracks down on emulators

Game emulation is widespread across PC and Android, and even the Windows Store has its sources. But Microsoft is making an earnest effort to push game emulation off the Windows Store, and has since removed apps like NESbox's popular Universal Emulator from the storefront.

Not content with just removing the infringing app, Microsoft now deigns emulators as breaches in the Windows Store terms of service. "Apps that emulate a game system are not allowed on any device family," reads the revised policy mandate.

Continue reading: Windows Store cracks down on emulators (full post)

G.SKILL reveals TridentZ RGB 128GB DDR4-3333 kits

Derek Strickland | RAM | Apr 7, 2017 9:23 AM CDT

G.SKILL today announced a new ultra high-capacity 128GB kit of its extreme enthusiast-grade TridentZ RAM that's outfitted with RGB LEDs.

G.SKILL reveals TridentZ RGB 128GB DDR4-3333 kits

"Since the widely-acclaimed launch of Trident Z RGB memory series in December 2016, G.SKILL focused heavily on bringing high performance DDR4 16GB RGB modules to the Intel X99 platform. Now, the Trident Z RGB is available in full sets of 8 modules for a total of 64GB (8GBx8) or 128GB (16GBx8) capacity, along with lighting control software support for the Intel X99 platform from most major motherboard vendors," reads the press announcement.

G.SKILL's latest TridentZ RGB kits come with eight DDR4 16GB modules at 3333MHz frequency, with CL timings of 16-18-18-38 and 1.35V of power.

Continue reading: G.SKILL reveals TridentZ RGB 128GB DDR4-3333 kits (full post)

Project Scorpio will play all Xbox One games better

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 7, 2017 8:34 AM CDT

Microsoft's new 'monster' 4K-ready Project Scorpio console is fully compatible with all existing Xbox One games, but what kind of performance boosts can we expect? Will all Xbox One games hit full 1080p 60FPS right off the bat? Can we just pop in a game and expect improvements without any updates and patches? Let's find out.

Project Scorpio will play all Xbox One games better

Xbox One games will benefit from Project Scorpio's improved hardware and highly synergized Windows 10 software toolset in five key ways:

We already know that Xbox One games will natively run better on Project Scorpio right out of the box. Xbox One games won't need any updates, enhancements or Forward Compatibility patches to tap the 4K Xbox's new Scorpio Engine. Just pop in the game and the console will scale its hardware to improve performance accordingly. This native optimization is similar to the PS4 Pro's new Boost Mode feature.

Continue reading: Project Scorpio will play all Xbox One games better (full post)

Valve making big changes to Steam's trading card economy

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 7, 2017 7:32 AM CDT

Valve will make some key changes to Steam's trading card economy in an effort to stop "asset flippers" from making cash on badly optimized game clones.

Valve making big changes to Steam's trading card economy

Steam's digital trading card economy is quite lucrative. Instead of making their money from actual game sales, a portion of Steam Greenlight indie developers actually make their cash from trading cards. In fact, some developers go so far as to create "asset flips," or multiple versions of the same game with subtle variations, and release them onto the platform for the lowest price as possible. Steam users then grab the game simply for its trading cards and sell the cards onto the market, generating a little kickback for the devs.

According to Jim Sterling, the internet's favorite D-list video games pundit who recently took a trick to Valve's offices to preview Steam's new changes, Valve has known about this practice for quite some time, and plans to do something about it.

Continue reading: Valve making big changes to Steam's trading card economy (full post)

Samsung teases 49-inch 32:9 aspect ratio gaming displays

Anthony Garreffa | Displays | Apr 7, 2017 4:44 AM CDT

I'm one of the biggest advocates of UltraWide monitors, so when Samsung announced they're working on 32:9 aspect ratio gaming displays, my excitement meter reached its end - and luckily I also have an UltraWide excitement meter.

Samsung teases 49-inch 32:9 aspect ratio gaming displays

Samsung teases its massive 49-inch 'mega-wide' panel with its 32:9 aspect ratio, something the company refers to as the "Grand Circle" format. It will rock a 3840x1080 resolution (which Samsung refers to as DFHD, or double full HD), on VA panel technology and a super-curvy 1800R curvative. The new 3840x1080 resolution panels will support up to 144Hz, with options for both AMD FreeSync and NVIDIA G-Sync.

The next monitor Samsung announced was the 'double 24.7-inch' which comes in at 44 inches, and a 29:9 aspect ratio. It is built from 2 x 24.7-inch displays, which end up being 44 inches in diagonal size. This new 44-inch monitor is meant to replace dual 24-inch displays, offering the higher 3840x1200 resolution.

Continue reading: Samsung teases 49-inch 32:9 aspect ratio gaming displays (full post)

AMD issues its third Ryzen Community Update

Anthony Garreffa | Processors | Apr 6, 2017 11:38 PM CDT

AMD launched its next-gen Ryzen CPUs with a huge marketing train, but the gaming performance on Ryzen hasn't been so great so far - but, AMD have been quick on their 'Community Update' rollouts, with the third one now out.

AMD issues its third Ryzen Community Update

AMD first launched Ryzen with tweaks to the High Performance power plan in Windows 10, and now with the third Community Update, AMD made tweaks to the Ryzen Balanced plan, which can be download here. AMD says that with the new Ryzen Balanced plan, there should be performance close to that of the High Performance setting - with AMD providing a graph that shows there's only a few percentage points between the Balanced and High Performance plans.

In the near future, AMD will make this new Balanced power plan part of the chipset drivers for Ryzen CPUs - while the power plan changes sometimes providing less performance in games - but AMD states "there are enough [affected] games to warrant a change".

Continue reading: AMD issues its third Ryzen Community Update (full post)

Apple's new iMac will be the highest-end iMac ever

Anthony Garreffa | Computer Systems | Apr 6, 2017 10:42 PM CDT

It looks like Apple is pushing into its next-gen iMac in a big way, with Apple's Phil Schiller teasing the new improvements Apple are making to the iMac.

Apple's new iMac will be the highest-end iMac ever

Schiller said: "With regards to the Mac Pro we are in the process of what we call 'completely rethinking the Mac Pro'. We're working on it. We have a team working hard on it right now, and we want to architect it so that we can keep it fresh with regular improvements, and we're committed to making it our highest-end, high-throughput desktop system, designed for our demanding pro customers".

The new iMac Pro will reportedly feature an Intel Xeon E3-1285 V6 processor, with 16GB (upgradeable to 32GB or 64GB of ECC memory), the latest NVMe-based SSD (up to 2TB) and AMD's latest GPU technology (most likely Vega, or the fastest Polaris at least). Thunderbolt 3 will be included, USB Type-C connectivity, and drum roll... a new keyboard.

Continue reading: Apple's new iMac will be the highest-end iMac ever (full post)

NVIDIA's new 381.65 driver has Quake Champions support

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Apr 6, 2017 9:53 PM CDT

NVIDIA's new GeForce 381.65 WHQL drivers are here, with optimizations for Quake Champions, support for Windows 10 Creators Update, and Dolby Vision support for games. You can grab the new drivers right here.

NVIDIA's new 381.65 driver has Quake Champions support

Inside, the new GeForce 381.65 drivers include DTS X and Dolby Atmos support for 5.1.2 speaker setups, and NVIDIA Ansel for Snape Pass and Kona. There are the usual bug fixes as well, with Battlefield 1's shimmering issues on grass/trees with SLI owners and in-game TAA enabled being fixed, as well as GTX 980 Ti owners getting stuck in low power state when they Alt-Tab from a game, and the new drivers also fix the flickering issues in Serious Sam HD when V-Sync is enabled.

They also include support for the newly-announced TITAN Xp graphics card, with the full list of release notes below:

Continue reading: NVIDIA's new 381.65 driver has Quake Champions support (full post)

Xbox Scorpio: the best display of AMD technology yet

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Apr 6, 2017 9:16 PM CDT

Microsoft detailed its mid-cycle Xbox refresh console, Project Scorpio, teasing that the new 6TFLOPs beast was a huge leap in technology and performance over the Xbox One - and even the PS4 Pro.

Xbox Scorpio: the best display of AMD technology yet

Microsoft's upcoming Project Scorpio console rocks a custom x86-based 8-core processor at 2.3GHz, with a GPU that rocks 40 CUs based on Radeon GPU technology at 1172MHz - a huge leap of the 12 CUs of Radeon GPU tech found inside of the Xbox One (at 853MHz) and the 36 CUs found in the PS4 Pro at 911MHz.

As it stands, it's the best showing of AMD's awesome APU technology inside of Project Scorpio - and the advancements that have been made since the 28nm design inside of the Xbox One, and the refreshed Xbox One S console with the 14nm FinFET tech being used. The new APU inside of Project Scorpio is nothing short of impressive, with both Microsoft and AMD putting in the hard yards to get it right. Microsoft has made some stellar choices with the architecture and design work in Project Scorpio, and AMD is able to perfectly showcase its APU prowess inside.

Continue reading: Xbox Scorpio: the best display of AMD technology yet (full post)

Samsung has started work on the Galaxy S9 smartphone

Anthony Garreffa | Mobile Devices | Apr 6, 2017 8:42 PM CDT

Samsung hasn't even got its new Galaxy S8 or S8+ smartphones in the hands-on consumers yet, and we're already reporting on the new Galaxy S9 that is reportedly in production already.

Samsung has started work on the Galaxy S9 smartphone

According to the latest reports, Samsung is working in phases on the development of the Galaxyh S9 - with the first phase of the S9 development being the display. Sources have said: "Since late last month, a display team for the S9 has started the development work with aims to supply samples from mid-April. About a month after the display, other key parts such as modules are expected to develop in phases".

Samsung recently secured a huge OLED display order from Apple, who wanted 160 million OLED displays, which saw Samsung invest a massive $9 billion into OLED production.

Continue reading: Samsung has started work on the Galaxy S9 smartphone (full post)

NVIDIA's new Titan Xp announced, ready for 8K60 HDR

Anthony Garreffa | Graphics Cards | Apr 6, 2017 7:05 PM CDT

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy - NVIDIA has just announced its new TITAN Xp graphics card - without any leaks, without any pre-release details - the first high-end/enthusiast level graphics card to arrive without major leaks.

NVIDIA's new Titan Xp announced, ready for 8K60 HDR

NVIDIA's new TITAN Xp is the world's most powerful graphics card, with NVIDIA bumping up a few of the specs of TITAN X - so we have 3840 CUDA cores (up from 3584 CUDA cores on TITAN X). There's still 12GB of GDDR5X, clocked at 11.4Gbps (compared to 10Gbps on TITAN X) on a 384-bit memory bus, which provides a huge 547.7GB/sec of memory bandwidth (up from the 480GB/sec on TITAN X).

NVIDIA has also thrown in 4 more SMs (60 SMs, up from the 56 SMs on TITAN X) while the GPU clocks hit 1582MHz (up from 1531MHz on TITAN X).

Continue reading: NVIDIA's new Titan Xp announced, ready for 8K60 HDR (full post)

Here's what CD Projekt RED's 'Cyberpunk' trademark means

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 6, 2017 5:18 PM CDT

CD Projekt RED recently caught flak for trademarking the word "cyberpunk" to accommodate it's massive upcoming game Cyberpunk 2077. Now the studio clarifies exactly why it made the trademark, and promises not to use the trademark as a sledgehammer to smash other games and studios.

Here's what CD Projekt RED's 'Cyberpunk' trademark means

"We want to protect our hard work and we don't plan on using the trademark offensively. It's a self-defense measure only," CD Projekt RED writes in their official explanation.

The devs have spent an incredible amount of time, money and effort into the project so far, and the game itself will be the biggest project they've ever taken on--much bigger than The Witcher 3. The studio will spend the next four years working on the game, dedicating a huge portion of its staff--some several hundred people--to the goal, all while incorporating high-end next-gen technologies.

Continue reading: Here's what CD Projekt RED's 'Cyberpunk' trademark means (full post)

ZTE officially announces the Nubia Z17 mini

Lana Jelic | Mobile Devices | Apr 6, 2017 3:18 PM CDT

ZTE has officially unveiled the Nubia Z17 mini, and the earlier rumors proved to be true.

ZTE officially announces the Nubia Z17 mini

The phone has a 5.2-inch display, and it comes in two versions. First one is powered by Snapdragon 652 and comes with 4GB of RAM, while the other one is powered by Snapdragon 653 and has 6GB of RAM. Both configurations have 64GB of internal storage expandable with a microSD card.

The ZTE Nubia Z17 mini comes with dual camera setup (13MP) and a 16MP selfie shooter. Other features include a fingerprint sensor and a 2,950 mAh battery.

Continue reading: ZTE officially announces the Nubia Z17 mini (full post)

Project Scorpio could challenge GTX 1070 and Fury X GPUs

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 6, 2017 2:33 PM CDT

Eurogamer's Digital Foundry is quite impressed with Microsoft's new 4K-ready Project Scorpio console, and to be honest, so am I. Microsoft has found an incredible synergy between all facets of the console, binding everything together on a software and hardware level in an extremely efficient harmony. But Digital Foundry makes a bold statement about the system, claiming that Project Scorpio could challenge video cards like NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1070 and AMD's Fury-X GPUs.

Project Scorpio could challenge GTX 1070 and Fury X GPUs

Project Scorpio does indeed have raw power, but it's not spread out at any one point. The system's 6TFLOPs GPU is highly customized and mostly derived from AMD's Polaris architecture, not its enthusiast-grade Vega GPU technology. If we looked at the GPU alone there'd be high doubts the system could maintain the native 4K performance Microsoft promised; but that's only part of the equation. Project Scorpio's power doesn't lie in its parts, but the dynamic fusion that sees all components come together with a strong, centralized software base using Windows 10 UWP framework. Project Scorpio has been customized on the silicon level, but it also has an extremely potent and flexible software pipeline that ensures games don't waste any power, and only use the resources they need. Essentially Microsoft has completely re-written the rules in which consoles are not only made, but how they maintain in-game performance. Remember Project Scorpio is a Windows 10 machine, and uses the massive scalability and flexibility of the platform.

Project Scorpio's customization and efficiency is so impressive that Digital Foundry's Richard Leadbetter reckons the system could take-on higher GPU hardware like a GeForce GTX 1070 or AMD Fury X, both of which handle 4K decently.

Continue reading: Project Scorpio could challenge GTX 1070 and Fury X GPUs (full post)

Samsung to pay $11.6 million to Huawei over patent case

Lana Jelic | Business, Financial & Legal | Apr 6, 2017 1:24 PM CDT

A Chinese court has ordered Samsung to pay 80 million yuan (around $11.6 million) to Huawei for patent infringement.

Samsung to pay $11.6 million to Huawei over patent case

The verdict is the result of a lawsuit filed by Huawei in May in China and the United States. A spokesman for Huawei said that the company welcomes the court's decision.

Huawei sued Samsung for making and selling more than 20 devices (smartphones and tablets) that are said infringed the patent. One of those devices is the Galaxy S7.

Continue reading: Samsung to pay $11.6 million to Huawei over patent case (full post)

Project Scorpio rocks high-end vapor chamber cooler

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 6, 2017 12:22 PM CDT

Microsoft's high-end Project Scorpio console is indeed capable of pushing native 4K gaming, and sometimes even 4K 60 FPS, but any PC gamer knows that this perf can come at a pretty substantial thermal output. To keep the system from frying from high temps, Microsoft has assigned Project Scorpio it's own unique vapor chamber cooling array.

Project Scorpio rocks high-end vapor chamber cooler

Vapor chamber coolers are typically used in enthusiast-grade video cards such as NVIDIA's Founder's Edition GTX 1080 and GTX 1080 Ti. Since Project Scorpio is churning out much more performance than traditional consoles, it needs something better than the normal heat pipe-and-fan conjunction found in most consoles.

Project Scorpio's vapor chamber cooling is complimented by a blower-style fan--again resembling a reference desktop-grade video card--that pushes heat out through the back of the system. Unlike current Xbox One and Xbox One S consoles, Microsoft's 4K machine doesn't have vents on its top or sides: heat is only expelled through vents on its rear side.

Continue reading: Project Scorpio rocks high-end vapor chamber cooler (full post)

Project Scorpio hits 4K 60FPS in Forza 6

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 6, 2017 9:43 AM CDT

Turn 10 ported Forza's engine to Microsoft's 'monster' 4K ready Project Scorpio console in just two days time. Two days. That's pretty insane on its own. But what's even more unprecedented is the engine just worked...it worked just fine after only two days of porting. "Not only did it work, but it was fast. Brutally fast. Without the benefit of any platform-specific optimization."

Project Scorpio hits 4K 60FPS in Forza 6

In order to stress test the engine on early Project Scorpio hardware to see its limits, Turn 10 created a specific demo that matches Forza 6's performance on Xbox One to use on Project Scorpio, and jammed as many cars as possible in a specific level. Within the stress test conditions the game ran at 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution at 60FPS at only 66% GPU usage. UPDATE: Leadbetter confirms that Project Scorpio can hit native 4K 60FPS at Xbox One's "High" graphical preset with "substantial overhead" with 66% of the GPU used, and 4K 60FPS Ultra.

"I've seen Microsoft's new console running a Forza Motorsport 6-level experience locked to 4K60 on the equivalent to PC's ultra settings - cranking up the quality presets to obscene levels was one of the first things developer Turn 10 did when confronted with the sheer amount of headroom it had left after a straight Xbox One port," Digital Foundry's Richard Leadbetter said during the exclusive Scorpio reveal.

Continue reading: Project Scorpio hits 4K 60FPS in Forza 6 (full post)

Project Scorpio: Jaguar CPU, Polaris GPU, 12GB memory

Derek Strickland | Gaming | Apr 6, 2017 8:43 AM CDT

Digital Foundry today confirmed specifications of Microsoft's "monster" Project Scorpio console. The system doesn't feature a Ryzen CPU, but no specifics were given on the exact Radeon GPU architectures the system will use.

Project Scorpio: Jaguar CPU, Polaris GPU, 12GB memory

Digital Foundry's Richard Leadbetter hypes up Project Scorpio's raw power, despite the fact the system uses an 8-core Jaguar CPU that's been "evolved" to target latency and synergy with the system's highly customized GPU. The GPU itself does indeed hit 6TFLOPs of power, and has 40 compute units at 1172MHz, giving the system an 11% increase in Radeon hardware and a 27% boost in frequency, totaling for a 47% compute advantage.

The GPU has features derived from AMD's Polaris technology, which in PC terms is basically the Radeon RX 480. Project Scorpio's GPU is 4.6 times more powerful than the Xbox One's. This GPU has 36 Compute Units versus the Scorpio's 40. But the dedicated RX 480 video card has 1266MHz, which is 94MHz faster than Scorpio's GPU. So I couldn't really believe Microsoft has squeezed that much frequency out of a console part.

Continue reading: Project Scorpio: Jaguar CPU, Polaris GPU, 12GB memory (full post)

Canon takes to the skies with its new $20,000 drone

Canon is taking to the skies with its new PD6E2000-AW-CJ1 drone, a six-rotor drone that has been designed to use Canon's high-end ME20F-SH camera into search and rescue operations, reports Engadget.

Canon takes to the skies with its new $20,000 drone

Canon's new PD6E2000-AW-CJ1 drone isn't radically different from other professional drones from DJI, but Canon wins in the camera department for low-light emergency situations thanks to the huge 4 million ISO. The new drone is also weather proof, and features a two-axis gimbal that can take 10kg of weight.

The drone costs $20,000 - but don't worry, your rewards points will be happy with the additional $20,000 required for the ME20F-SH camera as well.

Continue reading: Canon takes to the skies with its new $20,000 drone (full post)

Toshiba unveils its largest produced HDD at 8TB

Anthony Garreffa | Storage | Apr 6, 2017 2:27 AM CDT

Toshiba has just announced that it has created the largest HDD it has ever made, with its new 8TB drive in the MG Series with model ML05ACA800.

Toshiba unveils its largest produced HDD at 8TB

The new 8TB drive is for business critical servers and shared storage systems, with a pretty decent 33% increase over its previous-gen drives. The new 8TB model is on the 6Gbps SATA interface, and on the larger 3.5-inch HDD form factor. Toshiba is on a roll, with IDC recently calling Toshiba the fastest growing HDD vendor in 2016, and now Toshiba is moving its 8TB drive into the enterprise and data center markets.

Continue reading: Toshiba unveils its largest produced HDD at 8TB (full post)

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