Latest News - Page 2472

Google I/O is taking place right now, with the search giant untiling its plans for VR with the announcement of its Daydream VR platform.

Google's new Daydream VR platform includes smartphones, headsets, controllers and apps - and will run on Android-powered smartphones, with under 20ms of latency says Google's VP of VR, Clay Bavor. Bavor said: "VR should be mobile, approachable". In a statement, Google said: "Together with Android manufacturers, we're working on upcoming phones, and sharing designs with them for a VR viewer and controller that will be really immersive, comfortable and intuitive to use. Your favorite apps and games will be coming to Daydream too, including Google's-like YouTube, Street View, Play Movies, Google Photos and the Play Store. More to come this fall".

Developers have already started work on Daydream VR, with Resolution Games' CEO Tommy Palm saying: "With Daydream's potential reach and accessibility and the current mobile VR headsets on the market, mobile is on track to become the number one VR platform in regards to headsets in the marketplace and potential for mainstream adoption. We are very excited to have been invited to be a part of Google's new VR initiative. We feel we share the same vision for VR and are looking forward to working together to increase VR's spread into mainstream and setting additional standards for the future of VR".

Following news late last year that the CBS network had committed to relaunching 'Star Trek' on TV in 2017, comes today's logo reveal in a very early teaser video.

Produced by Trek luminaries Alex Kurtzman, and Nicholas Meyer, alongside TV legend Bryan Fuller, the new series being produced under the temporary working title 'Star Trek' is set to premier next January, with filming beginning in Toronto in the coming months. No cast announcements have yet been made, but are expected to be announced soon. Meanwhile, the third film in the rebooted 'Star Trek' feature film franchise; 'Beyond' is set to premier in July this year.

With celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the sci-fi franchise ongoing, 2016 is sure shaping up as an exciting one for Trekkers.

NVIDIA's Shield TV device is set to receive its new v3.2 software soon, which will make it the first Android TV-based device to support High Dynamic Range (HDR) video. Android 7.0 will be capable of HDR, but NVIDIA wants to be first.

HDR will open the doors to VUDU and Netflix with HDR content, with HDR using different video feeds at different light levels combined to make the image vibrant with colors at all lighting levels. The catch? You'll need an HDR-capable TV, and there's not many of those, yet. Additionally, the v3.2 update to Shield will include support for 4K 60FPS playback on YouTube.

Not only that, but the new Shield update will allow NVIDIA's GameStream service to access HDR content as well, but with no date provided by NVIDIA, we don't know when to expect the exciting new update for Shield. Boo.

Google will be releasing Android N later this year, but during its ongoing Google I/O event, the company has begun peeling back the layers from Android 7.0 and teasing the world.

Android 7.0 focuses on the way users interact with the OS, with improvements to the already great user experience that'll be made through faster runtime and reduced storage space that gets sucked up by apps. Google is bringing the most optimized experience to Android 7.0, explaining: "We are redesigning how the features and the OS works to make the user experience better".

Google took to its Twitter account, tweeting: "The biggest changes in Android N are around performance, security and productivity". Android 7.0 will include a new Direct Reply feature that will let you long press a notification, and then respond directly from the notification itself. Improved multi-tasking abilities will arrive with Android 7.0, with split-screen support and an iOS-like Picture-in-Picture mode.

The remake of the classic sci-fi comedy 'Ghostbusters' has been received thus far with a mixture of indifference, annoyance and straight out venomous hatred, and the film's questionable marketing campaign has done it no favours whatsoever. The studio has today released another trailer to make amends, but does it fare any better? You be the judge.

Despite a solid cast including Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon and Melissa McCarthy and cameos by original stars Sigourney Weaver, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, the 'Ghostbusters' reboot has so far struggled to gain positive traction, unhelped by Director Paul Feig lashing out at "asshole" critics in a spray that only further alienated the film's target demographic.

Whether you want it to or not, 'Ghostbusters' hits screens worldwide in July.

Netflix has launched its speed test site Fast.com. Like Speedtest.net (which it links to for comparison purposes), it tells you your current download speed with a brief data test. In this case, the data is downloaded from Netflix servers.

Unlike with Speedtest.net, the test is extremely quick, the site pretty much only features the test itself, and it elects to nix upload speed and ping results, saying it's aimed at consumers of data who want a quick, straightforward tool (which makes sense given a lot of people will learn about it through Netflix).

The company says the results should be similar to what you see with Speedtest.net, so it's not about more accurate results, but simplicity and time.

Two weeks ago it was Battlefield 4's Dragon's Teeth DLC and Battlefield Hardline's Robbery DLC that were free on Origin. Now, you can grab Battlefield 4's Final Stand DLC for the low, low price of zero dollars.

Final Stand originally launched toward the end of 2014 and was the game's last major DLC. It features four large, distinct maps, a hovercraft, a futuristic Rorsch X1 rifle, and more, and while it doesn't rank among the best DLC the game has to offer, it's not the worst either.

Hit the source or boot Origin to grab it. As always, do it quick as the offer will expire soon.

Microsoft has at long last released what's effectively Windows 7 Service Pack 2 (SP2): a "convenience rollup" of updates that makes a fresh install or format of the beloved operating system much simpler than it has been. Until now, you'd have to install tons and tons of separate updates and reboot approximately a bajillion times in order to keep the OS current, but this update changes all that.

It's still not nearly as convenient as it could be: you can't download it through Windows Update for some ungodly reason and must download it manually instead, but not before installing the April 2015 servicing stack update for Windows 7. Also, you still need to install any updates that came out after April 2016.

On the bright side, non-security Windows 7 updates (and 8.1 updates) are now on a monthly schedule. Also, you can slipstream the rollup into Windows 7 install media to make the process easier.

Why was the new Star Wars: Battlefront game released half-finished without a campaign? So it could leech from the insane hype generated from The Force Awakens, of course!

After watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the theater, I wanted to continue my experience with a game. Publishers know this; that's why they've always served us with countless direct movie tie-in games, for better or worse. The new Battlefront game was yet another offering in this long tradition, and EA finally admits why the game shipped half-finished without a campaign.

"We made this choice due to time and being able to launch the game side-by-side with the movie that came out to get the strongest possible impact," EA Studios' head Patrick Soderlund said at the company's Investor's Day meeting. Ah, so that's the trade-off: either ship a fully-finished game and miss the huge sales generated by the Star Wars frenzy, or ship it early and half-finished and take the hit in credibility but rake in tons of cash.

By 2020, EA's DLC and season pass content will more than double, with physical disc-based games shrinking by half.

Based on EA's new Investor's Day slides, the company is making a big push to "leveraging digital to drive growth and profitability", meaning digital game downloads and DLC/season pass content will be a major focus for the company moving onward.

In about four years time, EA's physical games will be far overshadowed by full digital game downloads, and "extra" content like DLC, season passes and microtransactions will rise dramatically. EA's most lucrative "extra content" is FIFA Ultimate Team, which is expected to only increase in value. Subscriptions will hike up a bit, bolstering services like EA Access/Origin Access and "live services" like Star Wars: The Old Republic, with mobile pushing up some too.

Introducing Ludens, the official mascot for Hideo Kojima's new Kojima Productions studio.

Hideo Kojima recently unveiled Ludens, the official icon for his newly resurrected games development studio Kojima Productions. Now that KojimaPro is free of Konami, it's important they establish an iconic symbol to rally behind. Ludens--which is Latin for "game"--is a rather striking and interesting figure, and could deliver some key details on Kojima's new "big and extremely edgy" timed PS4 exclusive.

Ludens wears what looks like an astronaut suit, which is actually called an "Extra-Vehicular Activity Creative Suit," topped with his distinctive futuristic knight helm that ensconces his trademark skull. Kojima teased a while back that Ludens holds an important secret for the upcoming game, which will actually be a trans-media experience told across video games and possibly anime. Ludens represents Kojima Pro's future: "We'll deliver THE NEW PLAY in THE NEW FUTURE with the cutting-edge equipment, technology, & the frontier spirit," Kojima said in a Tweet.

BioWare's new mysterious IP may be action-based instead of an RPG, fitting neatly into EA's new action-oriented focus.

A new slide from EA's Investor's Day presentation may hint that BioWare's new unannounced IP is rooted in the action genre.

The slide examines the genres of today's current games, with EA affirming its commitment to the action genre. BioWare is listed under the action genre, which is curious considering Mass Effect: Andromeda is an RPG game. Now this all depends on how EA defines ME: Andromeda and whether or not they see it as an "action RPG" or just an "RPG". If it's the latter, then BioWare's brand new IP could be set in the action genre.

EA plans to fold in its own player-centric brand of competitive gaming into its business model, with features like "pay to spectate."

Over the next three years, EA will build its own competitive gaming sector that will bolster the company's revenue streams. The publisher makes it clear that competitive gaming is not eSports; instead of building up individual teams, EA wants to "make all stars out of all our players". Naturally this is accompanied by a whole new stream of money-making schemes, including monetized spectating and a heavy emphasis on in-game micro-transactions.

That's right: EA really wants to make people pay to watch competitive matches. The publisher claims that spectating isn't just about entertainment, but also teaching players new skillsets, which is actually true--and the company sees lots of opportunities in monetizing this. The competitive gaming arm is set to flex in the next 18 months and be fully established by FY 2019. EA will start with three major foundation goals: organize under a dedicated leader (likely an EA-branded competitive gaming sector), build core game features and platform, and establish partnerships with the biggest brands, devs, and names in gaming.

Mirroring announcements made by 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros and Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios has become the latest studio to announce titles for the 4K UltraHD Blu-ray format with three titles coming in August.

The Tom Cruise sci-fi actioner 'Oblivion', the Scarlett Johansson techno-thriller 'Lucy' and Mark Wahlberg's 'Lone Survivor' become the studios first 4K titles which hit the U.S. market on August 9. All titles include immersive audio and a standard Blu-ray disc with accompanying extra features. The support from the studio is exciting, with the studio boasting some of big blockbusters in its back catalogue, including the 'Back to the Future Trilogy', 'Jurassic Park', 'Fast and the Furious' and 'Despicable Me' movie franchises.

Ubisoft has detailed the upcoming v1.2 patch for The Division, something that has its own 'Conflict' trailer which you can check out below.

The official v1.2 patch for The Division will have a new Incursion known as Clear Sky, which will have Division agents playing against Rikers. This will have gamers trying to take back a LMB-controlled anti-air site. The new Conflict Incursion isn't the only new thing in the v1.2 patch, as we'll also be introduced to high-value targets, modifications to the Dark Zone, gamers having the ability to hijack loot, new gear sets and more.

Ubisoft explains: "Another new feature coming in the Conflict update is high-value targets (HVT). The HVT officer inside your base of operations will provide you with a list of these targets, along with a description, their level, and the recommended gear score you need to engage them. You'll have a limited amount of time and only one chance to take down these targets. The Dark Zone will see some changes that are going to make extractions even more intense than they were before. Specifically, Agents will now have the option to hijack your loot. This means that a player can run to an extraction rope and cut it, causing all of the loot to fall to the ground".

According to the latest rumors, Intel has secured itself a big contract with Apple for the next-gen iPhone. DigiTimes reports that Intel will be supplying Apple with half of the modem chips required for the next-gen iPhone launching in September.

Intel will reportedly package the modems for the new iPhone, but have tapped TSMC and tester King Yuan Electronics (KYEC) to manufacture the chips. Right now, Qualcomm is the supplier of LTE modems chips for the iPhone, but Apple is wanting to shift having all of its eggs in one basket.

There's not much new with the next-gen iPhone, but a win is a win for Intel in the smartphone game. Now imagine if the iPhone was truly powered by a mobile processor from Intel... that would change, everything.

NVIDIA has been dominating discrete GPU market share for a while now, but AMD has made a comeback in the last few months with its Radeon R9 300 series and the HBM1-powered R9 Nano and R9 Fury cards. In Q4 2015, AMD's discrete GPU sales increased by 6.69%, thanks to the release of the R9 380X.

On the other hand, NVIDIA's discrete GPU sales were down 7.56% after it released the GTX 950. This means that AMD could secure itself 7% of the discrete GPU market share in a single quarter, which is impressive. It won't be long until AMD fully unveils their next-gen Polaris 10 and Polaris 11-based video cards, but we'll have to wait until late this year according to the new rumors, or early 2017 for the HBM2-powered Vega GPU.

Right now, AMD has nothing to fight against the behemoth that is the GeForce GTX 1080, but it could shift focus to the mid-range market with its new Polaris 10-based cards priced at $299 or under.

We've just wrapped our review on the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080, with it blowing everything else out of the water, but one of the things I can't wait for is the cheaper GTX 1070.

NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1070 is going to be a video card that represents huge value for money, priced at $379. The specifications were hush-hush until now, but it looks like the GTX 1070 will feature 1920 cores, down from the 2560 cores found on the GTX 1080. The GP104-based GeForce GTX 1070 is expected to be faster than the current GM200-based GeForce GTX 980 Ti, and even the Titan X.

We can work out the rough GPU clock of the GTX 1070 if we look at the ~1600MHz Boost clock, comparing it to the 1733MHz Boost on the GTX 1080. The GTX 1080's default GPU clock speed is 1607MHz, so I'm expecting the GTX 1070 to fall somewhere in the 1400-1450MHz range. Coupled with 8GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit memory bus, we're talking about 256GB/sec of memory bandwidth - which is a kick down from the 320GB/sec on the GTX 1080 with its 8GB of GDDR5X on the same 256-bit memory bus.

Modder Zulliethewitch created the first person mods for Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2, and now she's back again with a first person mod for Dark Souls 3.

It's rudimentary to say the least: there is no character body visible from the new perspective and arms and hands float out in front of you attached to nothing. Presumably, the mod will be updated for realism, but if you just want to have some silly fun now, head here to download it (and here if you experience Windows 10 related issues with it).

The mod is said to not alter files in any way, but as always, use it as your own risk and know that a ban is a possibility, however slight.

Last week's Radeon 16.5.2 drivers included some optimizations for Doom, although no specific numbers were included. Now AMD has released a beta driver in 16.5.2.1 with yet more performance improvements, and this time with numbers in hand.

The company claims up to 35% better performance on the R9 390 over the previous drivers. Anyone on the 290 series should absolutely download these as well given the similar GPU architecture; it doesn't hurt to try for older cards either.

In my personal testing with a 290X, Ultra settings were giving me anywhere from about 40 to 110 FPS with frequent stuttering and a general feeling of input lag with 16.5.2; updating the drivers sees Ultra run smooth as butter, rarely if ever dipping below 60 FPS and often staying over 100, with little or no stuttering and no feeling of input lag. I'll go so far as to say this is likely the biggest performance improvement I've ever seen from a driver update.