Latest News - Page 2380

The world continues marching towards the warm embrace of machines in the formation of Skynet, so it should come as no surprise that a new Defense Department report says the United States need to take "immediate action" to increase the development of its AI war technology.

The US military is behind in AI research and autonomous technology when compared against academic and private research, reports Engadget, which also adds that the US has been primarily focused on launching heavy, physical attacks like previous wars, that it has left itself behind the AI and autonomous technology race. Well, that needs to stop - and we can be sure that over the coming years US taxpayers' money will be spent on it, in a big way.

In the report, the Defense Department said that the Pentagon needs to gather intelligence on other nations' AI capabilities, and work on "counter-autonomy" solutions. So in other words, the bully didn't do his homework or bring lunch money, so he's going to cheat off your test and steal your lunch money and claim victory.

The IFA or Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (International radio exhibition Berlin) is one of the oldest industrial exhibitions in the world and Europe's biggest tech show. IFA takes place in Berlin at the beginning of September every year and this year it will be held between September 2nd - 7th, with press events starting a couple of days before.

One of the most exciting announcements at this year's IFA will come from Huawei. It is very likely we will see a successor to popular Mate 8 at Huawei's September 1st event, probably named Huawei Mate 9. Huawei launched Mate S at last year's IFA and they didn't announce a new phone since P9 launch in April this year.

Samsung launched its Galaxy Note 7 just few weeks ago so we aren't expecting any new phone announcements from them, but that doesn't mean the South Korean giant doesn't have an ace up their sleeve. They sent out invites for two separate events, one for August 31st and one for September 1st.

Sony's new high-end upgraded PlayStation 4 Neo console has been sketched out by a Foxconn worker, showing what looks to be a cross between a PS4 and a PS2.

The new 4K-ready PlayStation 4 Neo (aka PS4K, PS4.5) retains the rhomboidal design set forth by the original PS4, combining with the PS2's crenellated style for a rather unique-looking console. That's if a Foxconn worker's rough sketch can be believed, of course. Remember that Foxconn is currently manufacturing Sony's PlayStation 4 Neo--among tons of other technology--so the workers have seen tons of unreleased hardware behind closed doors.

The source says that "five or six thousand of these machines" are in a particular production line, and that the purported PS4 "Neo" console is 3cm thicker than original PS4 and is "heavier like bricks," possibly weighing 8 or 9 lbs. Perhaps the most interesting tidbit is that the worker mentions something about a "PS Plus-like device" in the works. This could be the fabled next-gen PS Vita "Trinity" that would fill out Sony's triumvirate (Morpheus, Neo, and Trinity).

Overwatch continues to expand into new territories, with Blizzard signing a deal with Facebook that allows Overwatch players to stream their battles to News Feed and friends over Facebook Live.

Blizzard has only rolled out the Facebook streaming ability to Overwatch gamers on the PC in certain countries, incuding the United States, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Other countries will have their FB Live streaming feature enabled in the coming months - but for those living in the countries where it works, it's super simple.

All you have to do is connect your Battle.net account with your Facebook account, and start streaming your Overwatch games to Facebook - it's really quite simple.

World of Warcraft is making a comeback right now, with Creative and Twitch teaming up what could end up as the largest global initiative to gather all World of Warcraft gamers in a single platform for the race towards level 110.

The current level cap in World of Warcraft is 100, but now the race will be towards 110 with the help of Twitch and Creative. What better way to do this than by having a huge prize pool? Up for grabs is an NZXT case, Hue+ lighting system and Grid+ fan controller - while Creative throws in a Sound Blaster H5 Gaming Headset, AlphaPad Gaming Mousepad, and G5 Soundcard - all in the grand prize, too.

There will be 5 consolation winners, each receiving a Sound Blaster X AlphaPad Gaming Mousepad and an NZXT LED Lighting Kit. You'll have to register on Sound Blaster's official website, for the race to level 110 competition.

Nintendo has gamers excited with the possibilities of their next-gen NX console, but we know nothing concrete so far - but now there are reports that an Nintendo NX prototype featured a 6.2-inch 720p multi-touchscreen.

The report is coming from Emily Rogers, who some refer to as a 'Nintendo insider', with Rogers tweeting that the "NX prototype had a 6.2 inch 720p multi-touch touchscreen. Unknown if final product's screen size will be larger / smaller than prototype". The more interesting tweet from Rogers teased that the NX prototype featured a docking station for USB ports, with the prototype at the time reportedly having two USB ports. Rogers' previous information hasn't been correct, but she has landed some reports that turned out to be true.

Derek and I have talked about this behind the scenes for a while now, and I've been telling him that NX would feature a docking station of some sort. I think if Nintendo wants to succeed, it needs to truly stand out from Microsoft and Sony as the Xbox Scorpio and PS4 Neo will be powerhouses compared to the usually conservative Nintendo.

CD Projekt RED's total worth now exceeds one billion dollars thanks to consistently strong cummulative sales growth in Witcher 3 properties and record-breaking GOG.com and GOG Galaxy revenues.

Witcher 3 developer CD Projekt RED has just posted its first half earnings for 2016, and the results are good. CDPR's year-over-year earnings fell a bit as H1 2015 saw huge earnings thanks to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's launch, but the Polish AAA devs have raked in 319 million Zloty ($82.7 million USD) in sales revenues. Out of that value the company earned 135 million Zloty ($34.9 million) in profits, representing 42% profitability. That's only down 4% from CDPR's 1H2015's net profitability of 46%.

As a result of this consistent market performance, CD Projekt RED now has a rated capitalization of 3,919,038,000 Zloty, or $1 billion USD.

To celebrate this week's release of 'Captain America: Civil War' on Blu-ray and DVD, we have five Blu-ray copies to give away thanks to our friends at Disney Home Entertainment.

United we stand. Divided we fall. After an incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, pressure mounts to install a system of accountability, dividing our heroes in 2 camps. Marvel's 'Captain America: Civil War' finds Steve Rogers leading the newly formed team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. But after another incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability, headed by a governing body to oversee and direct the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers, resulting in two camps-one led by Steve Rogers and his desire for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, and the other following Tony Stark's surprising decision to support government oversight and accountability.

To go into the running to win a prize, simply correctly answer the following question:

If there's one thing that will boost your sales on an expensive product, it's monthly payments that make it more affordable for those who don't want to spend a large sum of money at once. UK retailer Game is offering the HTC Vive on monthly payments, requiring a 10% deposit and two years of some pretty affordable payments.

Once the 10% deposit of £75.90 ($100 USD or $131 AUD) is paid, there are 24 monthly payments of £32.79 ($43 USD or $57 AUD) - with a 14.9% fixed interest rate per annum. Not a bad deal, but it gets better when you consider Game is letting you trade in old games and consoles to pay off the HTC Vive faster. Monthly payments would make HTC Vive sales increase considerably, especially for those who have the money to spend on a fast enough PC to play it - now you can just pay a small amount per month and enjoy the best VR experience available, for now at least.

Sony's new PlayStation 4 "Slim" model is confirmed to support the new 5G 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard.

Sony's new cheaper, lighweight PS4 "Slim" model will support both 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless frequencies across 802.11ac/n/g thanks to its new Wi-Fi networking card. Users will be able to switch between 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies at any time, provided they have the requisite networking technology.

Verified PS4 "Slim" owner Shortman82 took a picture of the new PS4's manual, which states: "The frequencies used by the wireless networking feature of this product are the 2.4GHz / 5GHz ranges. The 2.4GHz range of radio waves is shared by various devices. This product has been designed to minimize the effect of other devices using the same range. Only use 5GHz band wireless equipment indoors."

Far from the cynical cash grab I was fearing, this year's 'Angry Birds Movie' turned out to be a pretty damn good animated adventure which had appeal for all age groups. And while it grossed far less than other recent animated smash hits such as 'Minions', 'Frozen' and 'Zootopia', it's respectable $350 million worldwide take from a $75 million production budget has ensured that the Birds will fly again.

According to HitFix, Rovio CEO Kati Levoranta said "we have started planning the sequel to The Angry Birds Movie" which basically just confirms something we already knew - that Rovio love money. But based on the amount of time it took to get the first film up and running, it could be a number of years before another film hits cinemas and who knows what apps will be the range - or if anyone's still playing 'Angry Birds' at all.

KFC's blend of 11 herbs and spices have tantalised junk food junkies across the world for decades and served as the company's most valuable intellectual property, so it's no wonder that many have tried to crack the recipe. Many have gotten close, but not quite there. So when The Chicago Tribune posted a recipe given to them by Joe Ledington, the nephew of Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Colonel Harland Sanders which was located in a 70 year old scrapbook and which convincingly passed the taste test, the internet exploded. KFC at home? What a time to live. But KFC have tried to shoot the whole thing down.

According to a KFC statement posted by The Telegraph, KFC have denied the recipe is the real deal saying "many people have made these claims over the years and no one has been accurate - this one isn't either". The company holds that the original 1940 recipe handwritten by Sanders is locked up in a safe encased in two feet of concrete and monitored by extensive video and motion detection surveillance systems.

Of course, there's no reason that the newly discovered recipe simply be a duplicate? You can't keep your secrets forever, not in this day and age.

Survios has been busy working away on what is arguably the first 'AAA' game in VR, with Raw Data really stirring up a huge following for HTC Vive owners, myself included.

Raw Data launched last month and debuted at #1 on the Steam Top Seller list on the day it launched, and that's in Early Access, after a popular run behind the scenes in testing. Survios has a huge update for Raw Data that is now rolling out, adding a slew of new enemies, features, and a brand new mission. Here's what to expect with the Raw Data update:

New Mission - Nuke Fusion

HTC has had a great run of success with the Vive, with it being a superior VR experience thanks to its room scale VR and two controllers bundled for $799. HTC is now teasing its next-gen Vive headset, which doesn't yet have an official name - but Vive 2.0 sounds awesome.

Earlier this year the company split its VR division into its own subsidiary: Vive Corporation, with Raymond Pao in the position of Vice President for Future Technologies, as well as HTC itself. Pao traverses the globe finding new inspiration for next-gen technology, including the next Vive headset, with his latest trip seeing him spend some time in San Francisco with the team from Upload VR, and talking up a tiny storm on the Vive 2.0 headset.

Pao said: "We are still having internal discussions as to what the next generation will be. And we don't feel that we are limited by time or any one particular new feature", and when pressed about the possibility of wireless VR with the new Vive, he said: "Internally we have a couple ideas but its not solid yet and its not at the stage where we are confident that we have a plan".

CON MAN fans, the wait is over with the new game released by Monkey Strength Productions, available now for Apple and Android devices. Download it from the App Store or Google Play and begin the life of a comic book convention manager.

The game features Alan Tudyk, Nathan Fillion and the cast of the Con Man web series in assisting you to create the largest, most diverse convention ever: Shock-A-Con! The game utilizes all management-like tasks cons require to operate, from unclogging toilets to emptying trash cans, the app has the realistic qualities of a standard convention. Not forgetting the infamous crowd control as well.

Self-titled, the simulated game is based upon the hit show CON MAN, where characters from season 1 will assist you in everything from placing VIP booths, to attracting cosplayers and even hiring staff when needed. Everything a real comic book convention would need in order to run smoothly. You are the creator, you have the ability to build it your way!

It's official - Ubisoft has announced that they will be eliminating the servers for four PC free-to-play games by the end of 2016. The first three games will be removed by October with the fourth scheduled for December. Ubisoft's website confirms the news, along with the names and dates of the games coming to an end.

So far The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot will be ending on the 25 of October whilst Might & Magic Duel of Champions and Tom Clancy's Endwar Online are set to finish October 31 with the fourth game, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Phantoms will be shuttered on December 1. In addition to this, the closures will also effect the game's websites, forums, and social media channels as they too will be eliminated in the process. Ubisoft will also be discontinuing any updates/upgrades prior to these end dates.

The fate was decided by the French gaming development company due to the lack of interest, with the added issue of declining numbers on forums and channels amongst gamers. This then posses the idea, after this cull who else is on the list for termination due to popularity decrease? All we know thus far is that these four titles are the only ones that have been announced for the chopping block, that we know of.

The wait is nearly over with SEGA unveiling the next chapter in the Sonic Boom universe; Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS. The new game is set to be released for single and multiplayer on September 27, with Sonic and his friends out to save the world. The infamous Dr. Eggman has discovered the supercharged element ragnium on the mythical Island of Ragna Rock, and whilst mining it has created a new project that's causing problems in this unexpected turn of events, Sonic and his friends might have to save Dr. Eggman from his own creation.

Choose your favourite character and race through this brilliant new adventure as Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles or Sticks to stop the dreaded Dr. Eggman and an all new creation making their debut, D-Fekt. The game lets you wilde the power of fire and ice to burn through obstacles, puzzles, and freeze enemies in their tracks. Embrace classic character abilities such as Sonic's speed, Tails' flight, Knuckles' strength, Sticks' Boomerang and Amy's hammer to explore, fight and race through an undiscovered land like never seen before.

Compete with your friends in 2-player bot racing and unlock 6 new tracks as you collect artifacts along your way throughout this new world. Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice boss battles are so big they take up both screens, not forgetting to play mini-games filled with puzzles and time trials including an updated Sea Fox.

Lenovo has launched its new Thinkpad X1 Yoga laptop, which features a beautiful OLED touchscreen, with the OLED screen "truly a thing of wonder", Engadget writes.

The new Thinkpad X1 Yoga features a 14-inch OLED touchscreen with a native resolution of 2560x1440, with Lenovo using premium materials on the new OLED-based laptop. It weighs just 2.8 pounds and is 0.67 inches thin, keeping it line with other Ultrabooks in its class. Lenovo still includes 3 x USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, and miniDisplayPort connectivity, back up by a microSD card slot and even a fingerprint scanner.

The OLED display can be rotated a full 360 degrees into tablet mode, with the physical keyboard recessed behind the display. This is what has made previous Yoga devices from Lenovo so popular, as they are very individual - and can be used virtually anywhere.

AMD has confirmed it will be launching its next generation Vega architecture in the first half of 2017, saying it will launch Vega-based graphics cards for the "enthusiast market" in 1H 2017. The last we heard, Vega-based graphics cards were launching in March 2017.

If we look at the Polaris announcement to retail launch, it was announced in December 2015 and released to market with the introduction of the Radeon RX 480 graphics card in the last days of June. If the same timeframe is used for Vega, we should expect an unveiling in December and a launch earlier than Polaris, and maybe sometime in March-April in order to make a bigger impact on the market - especially against NVIDIA's formidable Pascal-powered graphics cards.

AMD's next-gen Vega architecture will be an interesting upgrade over Polaris, which I've been hearing from industry sources will be a superior architecture in many ways. Vega will be using HBM2 technology, so we can expect much more VRAM than the HBM1-based Radeon R9 Fury X offered, which featured just 4GB of HBM1. We will probably see 8GB and 12GB models, but I'd like to see a higher-end Vega graphics card with 16GB of HBM2 - ok, AMD?

AMD now has an arsenal of over 100 monitors that feature its FreeSync technology, with the introduction of the Lenovo 27-inch Y27f monitor, a curved 1080p display with a 144Hz refresh rate, as well as FreeSync.

With a range of over 100 monitors compatible with FreeSync, AMD is definitely ahead of the competition, outflanking NVIDIA and its smaller number of G-Sync monitors. Samsung has even teased their upcoming 34-inch curved UltraWide monitor rocking a 3440x1440 @ 100Hz panel, with FreeSync supported. It will be the new UltraWide gaming display that Radeon owners will want on their wishlists.