Latest News - Page 2400

AMD's upcoming Zen CPUs and new AM4 socket are closer and closer to being revealed, and now we have leaked shots of the PGA (Pin Grid Array) design which looks to have 1331 pins - just 6 short of that awesome 1337 number, AMD.

The current AM3+ socket from AMD is running out of steam, with the upcoming AM4 socket delivering native PCIe 3.0 support as well as native USB 3.0 and USB 3.1 functionality. AM4 will support dual-channel DDR4 RAM with up to 4 x DDR4 DIMMs at 3200MHz. The new socket will support up to 24 PCIe lanes, depending on the chipset - bringing AMD to an equal playing field against Intel's mainstream LGA 1151 socket.

AM4, just like previous sockets from AMD, is a PGA socket with zero insertion force. The same locking mechanism is in play, with the same 40x40mm space used on AM4, just like AM3+ before it. AMD has changed the pin count up on the AM4 however, with 1331 pins over the 942 of AM3+ and even more than Intel's current LGA 1151 socket - a first for AMD.

Samsung is busy enough with the global recall of its sometimes exploding Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, and now Apple is in the firing line with iPhone 7 owners reporting 'hissing' iPhones during certain loads and use.

Some users are putting this down to 'coil noise' or 'coil whine', just like we get on some graphics cards. But when the new iPhone 7 is under load, the hissing sound is there, and it's enough to make people who have spent around $1000 on a new iPhone, well - justifiably mad.

There's absolutely no way to fix this issue if it's a hardware-based issue, which begs the question: will the new iPhone 7 be recalled over this issue? Samsung pulled an unprecedented move with its recall on the Note 7, seeing $26 billion wiped from its market value.

While 65 inch is fast becoming the defacto size for large screen TV's for those that require just a little bigger, LG's OLED series can help fill that demand... But only if you've got the budget to spare.

According to The Verge, LG have now released their top-end Signature series 77" inch to the U.S. market for a grand total of $20K which not only gets you a huge display, but cutting edge features such as an insane black level, HDR, Dolby Vision and 4K to boot. The cash also gets you access to LG's "24/7 VIP service" tech support, as well as a bonus LG G Pad tablet. So all in all, you can't afford to not get one!

Alienware is invested in the future of VR, with the company recently launching their new Alienware 15 and 17 laptops, with the option of AMD's Radeon RX 480 graphics card.

Well, Global Marketing Director Joe Olmsted thinks the portable nature of gaming notebooks will be a huge beacon of hope for VR, which he thinks will become the new Nintendo Wii, where people will bring their consoles with them to parties, and more.

Olmsted said: "I don't know if you remember but ten years ago it was hard to get a Wii, and yet everyone wanted one, everyone wanted to play it, everyone wanted to do tennis and bowling. So we had one, we just lugged it around in a bag and went from place to place to place, you know, be wherever our buddies were at on a Friday night. With VR, I can see that happening; I certainly do it myself".

To celebrate this week's release of 'The Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season' on Blu-ray and DVD, we have ten Blu-ray copies to give away thanks to our friends at eOne Home Entertainment.

Season six starts with Alexandria's safety shattered by multiple threats. To make it, the people of Alexandria will need to catch up with our survivors' hardness while many of Rick's people will need to take a step back from the violence and pragmatism they've needed to embrace. These reversals won't happen easily or without conflict. But now Rick's group is fighting for something more than survival...They're fighting for their home, and they will defend that at any cost, against any threat, even if that threat comes from within.

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

Microsoft has finally confirmed it's "monster" Project Scorpio console will be the first console to render games in native 4K.

Microsoft's finally said what we've been waiting for: Project Scorpio will render games in native 3840 x 2160 4K resolution unlike Sony's new PlayStation 4 Pro, which uses Checkerboard Upscaling techniques to upscale base 1080p resolution to 4K.

"Any games we're making that we're launching in the Scorpio time frame, we're making sure they can natively render at 4K," Microsoft Studios Publishing general manager Shannon Loftis told USA Today.

At E3 2016, Capcom and Microsoft revealed the latest 'Dead Rising 4' trailer, with the new title set to be released exclusively for Xbox One and Windows 10 this coming December. Dead Rising 4's new trailer is titled 'Return to the Mall', with main character Frank West back again killing zombies in the middle of a shopping mall.

The 1.5-minute action packed video starts off with West fighting his way through a large wave of zombies, in what seems to be set in a standard food court. Throughout the duration of the clip, it is obvious that hoard has overrun the mall, and it's deemed that the fate of the mall, and the world, is in the hands of the Frank... but this time, it's done with extra features.

The new upgraded armour and weapons are just some of the additional perks provided. West uses high-powered guns and explosives in order to break through the rampage of zombies, with the most exclusive upgrade being seen at the end of the trailer, with a wardrobe update. Frank's new armour is in the form of a mechanical suit, accompanied by heavy duty guns and bionic like abilities, too.

Apple didn't really push the boundaries with its new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus smartphones that were revealed earlier this month, so it's time to get excited about the new iPhone that will probably be mostly the same thing as we have now - but what if it's not?

When Apple announces the new iPhone in 2017, it will have been 10 years since the original iPhone that started it all - completely changing the smartphone industry and much of the tech industry. The new iPhone has plenty of rumors behind it already, so let's line them up and see what could work, and is exciting.

5.) iPhone 8 will have an edge-to-edge display

Grand Theft Auto 5 was a great looking game by default, but the mods that are available make it look jaw-droppingly gorgeous - and now the beautiful GTA 5 Redux mod is here, blowing us all away. You can get the new GTA 5 Redux mod right here.

The mod requires 70GB of HDD space, and as for the PC, the developer notes "with optimal performance, and the ability to handle a 5-20 frames per second drop in comparison to the 'vanilla' game, the variance between 5 and 20, is due to the players choice of ReShade presets. All the different options come with a different style, as well as performance impact".

There is lots going on though, including:

Raw Data is one of the best VR games so far, with developer Survios making over $1 million in sales during the first day of its release, making Raw Data the first consumer VR game to reach $1 million sales in a month.

Survios has said that at least 20% of all HTC Vive owners have purchased the game, a number that includes myself and many of my HTC Vive owning friends, with Raw Data costing $40 on the Steam store. Raw Data became the first-ever VR game to reach the #1 spot on Steam, a massive achievement for Survios.

Nathan Burba, CEO of Survios, told Fast Company: "We saw a need in the market for a AAA title. It's more expensive than anything for the Vive, and more people wanted that... By putting more money in [and] having a higher price point, we're signaling to users that this is a AAA title". Burba is right in that people who can afford the $799 price for the HTC Vive, and a PC good enough to run it at high detail, will buy AAA games like Raw Data and expect next level gaming.

It's not everyday that companies like AMD and Lenovo donate a bunch of laptops, so when the news that they donated some AMD-based Lenovo ThinkPad E-series notebooks to The Jamaica Positive Foundation - but it was when I discovered it all happened thanks to a simple Facebook post.

Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness posted on Facebook, where he donated a notebook to a student in his constituency. Lenovo GAM VP David Bennett followed Holness on Facebook, and together with his Jamaican heritage, noticed that the Lenovo laptop Holness was giving away in Jamaica was an AMD-powered one.

AMD and Lenovo were then in contact with the Jamaican PM, who agreed to talk with the companies and over a courtesy call, PM Holness gave his gratitude for the donation saying that there was a digital divide in the country, so the notebooks would make some rather large differences in students lives.

Xiaomi is often referred to as the 'Apple of China' with its massive sales and growing following in the China, but now a report from Thijs Broenink has surfaced that has Xiaomi the AnalyticsCore.apk that arrives pre-installed on all Xiaomi smartphones, which allows the company to install code onto the smartphone without you noticing, with total access to every single bit and byte of your data.

It gets better, as this backdoor calls back to Xiaomi every 24 hours, sending the user's "IMEI, MAC address, Model, Nonce, Package name and signature". This data gets analyzed, and told which apps to install - as it can overwrite your signed, pre-installed apps with modified versions of them.

The report reads:

Here's to another lazy PC port, with multiple Steam reviews saying BioShock: The Collection and its remaster of the original BioShock games being a "lazy" PC port with a myriad of problems.

One of the reviews said: "The game looks like [BioShock] in pretty much most regards, only a better lighting and a VERY slightly sharper texture pack was implemented. The game looks good with 1080p, when it wants to run well, it does so brilliantly. Problem is ... it has stutters, [and] apparently people have crashes (I only played 30 mins but those were fine) as well".

Other problems with BioShock: The Collection is that it won't launch, and some reviews aren't happy with the texturing options, and more. There were good comments about the new textures in the remastered BioShock games, with one of the reviews saying the improved textures were almost worth the purchase of The Collection.

If there's one thing you can say about Samsung over the Galaxy Note 7 battery problems, its global recall and then the intervention of the US government with an official recall, is that the company is handling it in a great way.

Samsung Electronics America President and COO, Tim Baxter, recently took to a video apologizing about the battery problems on the Note 7 smartphone. The video reiterates all of the issues, and that Note 7 owners should immediately stop using their smartphone, turn it off and return it.

Baxter notes that new Note 7 without the battery fault will be in stock "no later than September 21", which is next Wednesday. Personally, I'm still using my Note 7 like usual with no change, and it's fine. It's a damn good phone, and I really don't want to have to return it. Sigh.

We all know religion is big business, but did you know that the mostly tax-free religion industry in the US is an absolute profit monster? According to the latest numbers, there are around $1.2 trillion (yes, that's trillion with a 't') in religious "healthcare facilities, schools, daycare and charities; media; businesses with faith backgrounds; the kosher and halal food markets; social and philanthropic programmes; and staff and overheads for congregations".

The report comes from The Socio-economic Contribution of Religion to American Society: An Empirical Analysis, co-authored by Georgetown's Brian J Grim and Newseum's Melissa E Grim, and published in the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion. The authors say that the $1.2 trillion estimate is "conservative", noting that religion as a whole has been declining in the US, and that spending on religious "social programs" has tripled since 2001, to a huge $9 trillion.

The report notes: "Grim and his co-author Melissa Grim of the Newseum Institute in Washington came up with three estimates of the worth of US religion. The lowest, at $378bn, took into account only the revenues of faith-based organisations. The middle estimate, $1.2tn, included an estimate of the market value of goods and services provided by religious organisations and the contributions of businesses with religious roots".

CD Projekt RED is completely devoted to Cyberpunk 2077 and doesn't have the time to upgrade Witcher 3 for the PS4 Pro.

Sony and a smattering of third-party devs have embraced the PS4 Pro, and are busily upgrading their games to support upscaled 4K HDR, higher frame rates in 1080p, boosted environmental lighting effects, and super-sampling techniques. But PS4 Pro owners won't get to play one of the best games of era in 4K: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Curious Redditor govind1262 actually emailed CDPR to see if Geralt's last adventure would get upgraded on the PS4 Pro, and the devs actually responded, saying that Cyberpunk 2077 and Gwent have their full attention right now: "I'm afraid that we have no plans to release the PS4 Pro edition for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Our teams are currently working very hard on our upcoming projects such as GWENT: The Witcher Card Game and Cyberpunk 2077. We want to be entirely focused on the development of these projects."

Sony has confirmed what tech enthusiasts already knew: most of the games played on Sony's new PS4 Pro will be upscaled to 4K resolution, not native 3840 x 2160p 4K.

Sony is marketing its new high-end PS4 Pro towards "hardcore" gamers, offering a "premium" 4K HDR gaming experience. The truth is, however, that the PS4 Pro's highly customized Polaris GPU--while a massive improvement over the original PS4--isn't capable of hitting true 4K resolution in every game.

Developers use "streamlined rendering techniques" like Checkerboard Rendering to multiply native 1080p textures at the PS4's original High preset four-fold to simulate 4K resolution on the PS4 Pro. Sony President Andrew House has now admitted that the majority of games upgraded with the PS4 Pro--including both old and new PS4 games--aren't rendered in native 4K, so you're not going to get a full 4K experience with every title.

If you want to add more spy/cyberpunk-esque gadgets to your life, Sgnl has you covered. A "smart strap", it replaces the current strap on your watch and allows you to answer calls by placing your fingertip on your ear and speaking through the microphone on the strap. It's also said to allow for outbound calls. To put it another way, it's a much cooler take on the "traditional" Bluetooth headset.

Sgnl -- created by Samsung spin-off Innomdle Lab -- is discrete in that audio is directed into your ear directly through bodily vibrations, and noise canceling capabilities means you'll be able to hear whoever's on the other end clearly.

It's not hard to imagine a smartwatch company will design a product with this functionality built in before long, especially if Sgnl takes off (and it may very well, with $834,308 raised on Kickstarter in about a week, far above its $50,000 ask). If you don't want to wait, $99 will get you the tech before long.

No Man's Sky will go down in history as one of the biggest blunders in recent gaming, but who's to blame for all the misleading advertisements, trailers, and footage? Not Sony, of course: it's all Hello Games' fault.

Despite signing a deal with Hello Games to publish No Man's Sky, promoting a massive advertisement campaign built on misdirection and misleading content, and putting out an actual TV commercial for the game, and promoting almost a dozen misleading trailers for the game, Sony pretty much shrugs off all accountability for No Man's Sky's massive PR failure.

"It wasn't a great PR strategy, because he didn't have a PR person helping him, and in the end he is an indie developer," Sony Worldwide President Shuhei Yoshida told Eurogamer in a recent interview. "But he says their plan is to continue to develop No Man's Sky features and such, and I'm looking forward to continuing to play the game."

BioShock streaming is not avaliable! Yes, that's right - 2K has posted on their support boards confirming this to be the case, but has not explained to gamers as to why the content is unavailable.

For those wanting to stream from their console, no date or time frame has yet been given to users as to when it will be back online. With this weeks release of BioShock: The Collection for PS4 and Xbox One, which have all three Bioshock games and content included, the unavailability of streaming may create frustration for gamers wanting to stream, as neither console supports the ability to do so.

2K support did release this for customers: "Unfortunately, streaming BioShock: The Collection isn't an option right now. We will update this article should this situation change".