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China's space station is going to crash into the Earth

Anthony Garreffa | Science, Space, & Robotics | Sep 23, 2016 1:28 AM CDT

It won't be long from now that China's first space station, Tiangong-1, will plunge from space and back into the Earth in the second half of 2017 - where keen-eyed viewers will be looking for that 'Made in China' sticker.

Senior officials have confirmed the news, with Tiangong-1's re-entry and uncertainty about falling debris worrying because China is providing a broad timeline for the events. Speculation has started that China has possibly lost communication to Tiangong-1, the result of a possibly damaged module, meaning it's no longer capable of controlling its descent.

Jonathan McDowell, a Harvard astrophysicist, told The Guardian that parts of the debris could be as large as 100kg/220lbs, adding: "Not knowing when it's going to come down translates as not knowing where its going to come down". If a large piece were to fall into a house, building, or crowded place - it could cause a fair amount of damage, and even worse - people could be hurt, or killed.

Continue reading: China's space station is going to crash into the Earth (full post)

HTC Bolt leak: another phone without a headphone jack

Anthony Garreffa | Mobile Devices | Sep 22, 2016 11:24 PM CDT

Apple caused quite the stir with its iPhone 7 lacking a headphone jack, and with rumors that Samsung will be removing the 3.5mm port on its upcoming Galaxy S8 - but now we have HTC Bolt details leaked, with it lacking a headphone jack.

The render comes courtesy of leaker Evan Blass, with the HTC Bolt to be a Sprint-exclusive for US consumers only. It looks to be shaping up as a mass-market device, something that HTC could use to dip its toes in the 'hey guys, we're going to start removing the 3.5mm jack from our smartphones', testing consumers reactions to the Bolt.

It seems as though HTC has tweaked the look of its HTC 10 handset, with the Bolt to most likely be built from aluminum, double chamfer, and more. The fingerprint sensor is at the bottom, with a USB Type-C connector for charging/syncing.

Continue reading: HTC Bolt leak: another phone without a headphone jack (full post)

ESL's upcoming CS:GO event in NY live streamed in VR

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Sep 22, 2016 9:55 PM CDT

ESL is stepping up its broadcasting game, with its upcoming ESL One New York Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament to be the first eSports event livestreamed in VR.

The battle will take place on October 1-2, with those tuning in with virtual reality able to feel like they're watching the CS:GO tournament in the Barclays Center, or from in-game viewpoints of the action with an awesome first-person point of view off to the side. You'll be able to look around in 360 degrees thanks to VR, but you won't be able to choose specific locations to watch from.

A broadcaster will be selecting the viewing points, just how regular games are broadcasted. Sliver.tv is the company handling the VR broadcast, which will play on all VR platforms: iOS, Android, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and the Gear VR. You'll need to watch the games through the Sliver.tv app, or the Sliver.tv website.

Continue reading: ESL's upcoming CS:GO event in NY live streamed in VR (full post)

Xbox bullish on 4K Blu-ray, rubs salt into Sony fans

Ben Gourlay | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Sep 22, 2016 6:27 PM CDT

When the expected support for the 4K UltraHD Blu-ray format didn't eventuate with the PS4 pro, Microsoft were quick to burn PlayStation fans with a well-timed tweet. And while Sony have continued to dig their heels in regarding a video streaming future, Microsoft have doubled down on the rhetoric.

Speaking with Eurogamer, Microsoft's Product Management and Planning head Albert Penello revealed that the decision to include a 4K Blu-ray drive was driven by "a personal belief in 4K" with the decision "locked a long time ago". Penello continued to explain his strong personal belief in the format, saying: "I think it's as meaningful an upgrade as it was going from SD to HD, when you start seeing the native 4K content. And so we were just really bullish on it. We wanted to make sure we delivered when we said 4K, that we had streaming, up-scaling and physical media as part of the 4K story for Xbox One S. So I think it's fair to say I'm a fan.... For the high-end enthusiast, 4K Blu-rays look amazing. "

And just in case it wasn't clear Penello echoed the feelings of upset PlayStation fans in "We have good differentiation between the PS4 slim and us." Ain't that the truth.

Continue reading: Xbox bullish on 4K Blu-ray, rubs salt into Sony fans (full post)

VR pioneer Mark Polas hired by Microsoft

Anthony Garreffa | Extended Reality (XR) | Sep 22, 2016 4:34 PM CDT

A name you might not know is Mark Bolas, but Microsoft has scooped him up and dropped him into the position of Partner Director of Program Management within Microsoft Research.

Bolas used to run the Mixed Reality Lab inside of USC's Institute for Creative Technologies, where he hired Oculus founder Palmer Luckey years before he took to Kickstarter with the Oculus Rift. Todd Richmond, Director Mixed Reality Lab/Studio and Advanced Prototypes at ICT said in an email to Upload VR: "While I don't speak for all of USC, I can say without hesitation that Mark is a brilliant researcher and was a valued colleague and dear friend. I'd welcome him back to ICT in a heartbeat".

Microsoft hasn't said what Bolas will be doing exactly, but Upload VR does provide some mouthwatering data points on Bolas:

Continue reading: VR pioneer Mark Polas hired by Microsoft (full post)

VR suitcase has HTC Vive, decked out PC - costs $10,000

Anthony Garreffa | Extended Reality (XR) | Sep 22, 2016 2:28 PM CDT

VR gaming PCs are going to come in all shapes and sizes eventually, but a Munich-based company is already stepping up, showing off a VR suitcase which packs an HTC Vive headset, and a gaming PC to run it.

The suitcase has everything you'll need for an unpack-and-deploy VR gaming experience, including a gaming laptop and batteries, getting the VR set up in less than five minutes. The Innoactive VR suircase packs a VR-ready notebook powered by NVIDIA's new GeForce GTX 1060, a carbon fiber docking station with an integrated pre-wired Vive link box, rechargeable battery and power adapters, the HTC Vive headset, controllers, and carbon fiber monopods for the base stations with integrated rechargeable battery packs for up to 8 hours of wireless operation.

As you can see, Innoactive has thought of everything. The VR-ready gaming PC is MSI's GT72R, powered by an Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, 256GB SSD, 1TB HDD, and the GeForce GTX 1060. It's not cheap, with each VR suitcase costing around $9400, plus applicable taxes and shipping.

Continue reading: VR suitcase has HTC Vive, decked out PC - costs $10,000 (full post)

Time Warner boss says DC movies 'could be better

Anthony Garreffa | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Sep 22, 2016 12:26 PM CDT

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was mashed together in a response to the money-making Marvel Cinematic Universe and the mega success of The Avengers, but too many chefs were in the kitchen and the movie was mostly a mess. The 3-hour 'Ultimate Edition' was a much better put-together movie, but it still failed to be a massive box office success.

Well, now we have Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes coming out and saying Batman v Superman underperforming, and Suicide Squad doing solid business, both were critically ripped apart. He recognises something is wrong, and when he sat down with Variety, he said: "We do think there's a little room for improvement. We can do a little bit better on the creative".

He continued: "The DC Comics characters have a little more lightness in them than maybe what you saw in those movies, so we're thinking about that. The strategy worked. The execution did deliver what we wanted to do. We're right on course or better. The main thing was to launch DC and reinvigorate it with the fan base. The reboot of Batman with Ben Affleck was a big success".

Continue reading: Time Warner boss says DC movies 'could be better (full post)

Dark Souls III's Ashes of Ariandel new trailer released

Emma Tucker | Gaming | Sep 22, 2016 8:34 AM CDT

Dark Souls III's Ashes of Ariandel expansion has a new game trailer trending right now. Released only hours ago, publisher Bandai Namco titled the video: "Divert Thine Eyes" and is available to watch below:

The trailer showcases character abilities such as the use of fire to vanquish enemies as well as trademark combat fighting styles, famous to Dark Souls gamers. It also gives viewers a chance to see the type of scenery and map surroundings in which they will be playing on.

In addition, the Ashes of Ariandel expansion pack includes updated weapons, exclusive armor and new-age magical elements, all of which have not been seen in previous games.

Continue reading: Dark Souls III's Ashes of Ariandel new trailer released (full post)

Dragon Ball Fusions lands on Nintendo 3DS on December 13

Emma Tucker | Gaming | Sep 22, 2016 6:22 AM CDT

Publisher Bandai Namco announced recently that Dragon Ball Fusions will arrive on Nintendo 3DS in the US on December 13 and Europe on February 17, 2017.

At a press release delivered by the company, the following statement was given: "Use the Nintendo 3DS' camera to take pictures with friends and fuse them with Dragon Ball characters or trade special moves with nearby players."

Dragon Ball Fusions will contain more changes from previous editions with the most obvious being released as an RPG. Players will also be given the ability to create their own custom avatar, in addition to building their own team of warriors. The game will obtain a multiplayer feature and as stated in the quote, will fuse fighters together in order create an all-new character.

Continue reading: Dragon Ball Fusions lands on Nintendo 3DS on December 13 (full post)

Harmonix release new themed DLC pack for Rock Band 4

Emma Tucker | Gaming | Sep 22, 2016 4:16 AM CDT

The classic Rock Band game has recently been under pressure, with complaints from players regarding the quality of artists and songs chosen for the game's set list. Developer Harmonix, in attempts to fix the issues, have announced a new Rock Band 4 DLC, titled: Ozzfest meets Knotfest 2016 Pack.

The Ozzy Osbourne, Slipknot and Megadeth themed expansion pack, provides players with more difficult but classic, rock songs from all three bands. It can purchased for $5.49 as a pack, or $1.99 if purchased individually via the Harmonix website.

The expansion contains songs "Dystopia" by Megadeth, "Road to Nowhere" by Ozzy Osbourne, and "The Devil In I" by Slipknot. It will be avaliable for PS4 and Xbox One and are now available on the Xbox One and PS4.

Continue reading: Harmonix release new themed DLC pack for Rock Band 4 (full post)

Toyota's new electric car runs on your poop

Anthony Garreffa | Electric Vehicles & Cars | Sep 22, 2016 3:26 AM CDT

This is something I didn't think I'd be typing, but Toyota has been working on a car that runs on your poop. The company has turned human waste into renewable hydrogen fuel to power its new electric car.

Chief Engineer of Toyota's Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car, Yoshikazu Tanaka, said that human waste is expected to solve Toyota's big 'chicken or the egg' problem. Toyota has said that nobody wants to buy their hydrogen cars when there are no hydrogen fuel stations, adding that no one wants to build a hydrogen fuel station when there are not a mass amount of hydrogen cars on the road.

Toyota is now producing the human waste-based fuel in a wastewater treatment plant in Fukuoka, Japan. How does it work? The sewage is separated into solids and liquid, with the solid waste called sewage sludge. In order to break down the solid waste, microorganisms are added, creating a biogas - which is around 60% methane, and 40% carbon dioxide.

Continue reading: Toyota's new electric car runs on your poop (full post)

Oculus Touch costs over $200, more expensive than Vive

Anthony Garreffa | Extended Reality (XR) | Sep 22, 2016 2:50 AM CDT

Just as I've predicted, Oculus have seemingly priced their Touch controller at over $200 - with leaks coming from UK game retailer GAME. The store has the unreleased Touch controllers for the Rift priced at £189.99, requiring a £50 deposit.

£189.99 converts to $246, so we should expect around $249 for the Oculus Touch controllers in the US, and around $4199 in Australia. GAME have teased a "winter release" for Touch, something they were told by an in-store Oculus representative. With that out of the way, let's discuss why this pricing is utterly ridiculous, and dangerous for Oculus.

HTC has priced its much better, room scale VR capable Vive headset at $799 - which includes the Vive headset itself, and the two sensors and controllers. It's a complete package, instead of shipping the Oculus Rift in an Early Access-style way, throwing the Touch controllers out into the market nearly a year after the Rift CV1 was released, and now with a purported price of $250? Come on, Oculus.

Continue reading: Oculus Touch costs over $200, more expensive than Vive (full post)

HTC Vive 2 could use improved, and cheaper tracking chip

Anthony Garreffa | Extended Reality (XR) | Sep 22, 2016 2:17 AM CDT

We're beginning to hear more and more on the successor to the HTC Vive, with Valve now recommending a new chip for future SteamVR-based headsets and accessories. The new chip will deliver improved performance and huge power consumption reductions compared to the first-gen solution, and it should also be cheaper, too.

The chip in question is the TS3633 integrated circuit from Triad Semiconductor, a US-based company that specializes in custom analog and mixed signal integrated circuits. Valve worked with Triad on the architecture of the chip itself, with Road to VR reporting that the chip "sits next to the photodiode as an interpreter of the raw signals from the Lighthouse basestations".

The original HTC Vive uses a discrete circuit sensor that has 41 individual components, while the new TS3633 has only 9 components, resulting in a simplified manufacturing process. Triad's VP of Marketing & Sales, Reid Wender, explained that the new chip is cost-optimized for high volume manufacturing. For the full system consisting of the VR headset and controllers, there are around 80 sensors, with the chip reducing component placements by 2560 over the 41 component per-sensor design of the current Vive.

Continue reading: HTC Vive 2 could use improved, and cheaper tracking chip (full post)

Netflix wants more original shows in its vast catalog

Anthony Garreffa | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Sep 22, 2016 12:33 AM CDT

Netflix has completely changed itself over the last few years, and that change isn't stopping with company CFO David Wells saying during the week that there is a big change in the balance between licensed content and Netflix's own original shows.

The company was already "one-third to halfway" towards reaching this goal, but Wells explained that it was all part of a "multiyear transition and evolution toward more of our own content". Netflix is now on a path towards its half-original goals, while reducing the cost of production, and increasing the number of bidders in the streaming business make it both cheaper, and easier to take bigger chances on shows and movies versus traditional TV networks.

Wells explained: "You have supply and demand settling out. We don't necessarily have to have home runs. We can also live with singles, doubles and triples especially commensurate with their cost".

Continue reading: Netflix wants more original shows in its vast catalog (full post)

First 'Ghost In The Shell' movie teasers hits the web

Ben Gourlay | Celebrities & Entertainment | Sep 21, 2016 10:53 PM CDT

After years of talk, the live-action 'Ghost In The Shell' feature is finally coming to cinemas next year, and today Paramount Pictures have released five 10 second teaser trailers to amp fans up.

Based on the 1989 manga which was turned into the 1995 animated film, the 2017 'Ghost In The Shell' stars Scarlett Johansson as The Major and Pilou Asbæk as Batou in the live-action version which is helmed by 'Snow White and the Huntsman' director Rupert Sanders. If you're keen to see more, hit up Paramount's YouTube channel for the remaining four teasers.

'Ghost In The Shell' is set to hit cinemas worldwide in March 2017.

Continue reading: First 'Ghost In The Shell' movie teasers hits the web (full post)

There are only 28 websites available in North Korea

Anthony Garreffa | Internet & Websites | Sep 21, 2016 10:35 PM CDT

North Korea made the technological leap to land a man on the sun a few years ago, but it seems they're lacking when it comes to diversity with their websites.

GitHub released a full list of North Korean websites that can be accessed by outsiders, with just 28 websites on the list. How did they get their hands-on the list of domains? They explain: "On Sept 19, 2016 at approximately 10:00PM (PST), one of North Korea's top level nameservers was accidentally configured to allow global DNS zone transfers. This allows anyone who performs an AXFR (zone transfer) request to the country'sns2.kptc.kp nameserver can get a copy of the nation's top level DNS data".

They created the TL;DR project, with 28 websites using the .KP top level domain, and some of them aren't even working. Here's the full list:

Continue reading: There are only 28 websites available in North Korea (full post)

Samsung SSD Summit 2016 keynote, watch it here!

Anthony Garreffa | Storage | Sep 21, 2016 8:44 PM CDT

Samsung SSD Summit 2016 - Samsung has unveiled a bunch of new SSDs and teased technology at its own SSD Summit 2016 in South Korea, with our storage guru Jon Coulter on the ground in Psy's home country. We have the keynote of that speech here:

During the Samsung SSD Summit 2016, the company unveiled its new 960 Series M.2 NVMe drives that feature 48-layer V-NAND and up to a huge 2TB in capacity.

There was also the world's fastest SSD unveiled with 2.1GB/sec writes in the new 960 PRO and 960 EVO drives from Samsung, as well as the massive 15TB SAS drive, and the new PM1725a which arrives at up to 6.4TB and can churn out an insane 6GB/sec for enterprise environments.

Continue reading: Samsung SSD Summit 2016 keynote, watch it here! (full post)

Nike's self-lacing HyperAdapt shoes available on Nov 28

Anthony Garreffa | Wearable Computing & Fashion | Sep 21, 2016 8:30 PM CDT

Hot damn, those self-lacing shoes we all loved from Back to the Future II are nearly here, with Nike set to release their HyperAdapt 1.0 shoes at "select" retailers by appointment only, starting November 28.

Nike had the folks at Wired over to check out the behind the scenes of the HyperAdapt's development, with a massively detailed and great article to read right here. Wired got to try Nike's new HyperAdapt 1.0 shoes on, with the company teasing that "all you have to do is step into it", and once your foot is inside of the HyperAdapt shoes, an "electric whizzing noise" can be heard, and it - as Wired puts it "embraces my foot in a gentle kind of hug".

The team of designers and engineers at Nike have put over a decade of work into the HyperAdapt 1.0 shoes, with the series of sneakers being a breath of fresh air for Nike, which has always been a company that stays ahead of shoe innovation. Wired added that the person trying the shoes on had broken their ankle previously, with their right foot still swollen. Well, after the HyperAdapt 1.0 shoes were put on, the right shoe laces were "visibly looser, but the grip is no less secure".

Continue reading: Nike's self-lacing HyperAdapt shoes available on Nov 28 (full post)

Disney CEO hints at more 'Star Wars' films beyond 2021

Ben Gourlay | Celebrities & Entertainment | Sep 21, 2016 7:35 PM CDT

After purchasing the 'Star Wars' brand back in 2012, the Disney corporation made it clear that it wanted to continue the feature film franchise immediately, starting with Star Wars: Episode VII and then continuing with stand-alone features such as this year's 'Rogue One'. But how much life does the series have beyond Episode IX? Potentially a lot.

In a new article published in Variety, Disney Chief Bob Iger confirms that he's recently met with the keeper of the 'Star Wars' flame, Lucasfilm CEO Kathy Kennedy to "map out 'Star Wars' movies from 2021 and beyond" and that the studio is "looking beyond that date [2021] for ways to exploit the Jedi Knights and space adventurers that populate the fantasy film series". In the same article, it's revealed that Iger recently confirmed to a Goldman Sachs investor conference that they've found the writer for the as-yet unnannounced, but could-be Boba Fett standalone feature which is planned to hit cinemas in 2021.

For fans of that Galaxy far, far, away, it seems the stars shine quite brightly.

Continue reading: Disney CEO hints at more 'Star Wars' films beyond 2021 (full post)

AMD's Crimson Edition 16.9.2 ready for Forza Horizon 3

Anthony Garreffa | Graphics Cards | Sep 21, 2016 7:30 PM CDT

Following the release of NVIDIA's new GeForce 372.90 drivers tuned for Forza Horizon 3, AMD has released their new Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.9.2 drivers that also have support for Forza Horizon 3.

There are a bunch of fixed issues as well, as well as known issues that AMD are aware of. The new RSCE 16.9.2 drivers fix a "small amount of corruption" in the lower right hand corner of the display on Radeon HD 7000 series cards in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and some stuttering issues with CrossFire mode in DX11 in Mankind Divided.

Here's the full list of fixed issues on RSCE 16.9.2, which you can grab here:

Continue reading: AMD's Crimson Edition 16.9.2 ready for Forza Horizon 3 (full post)

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