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Despite The Division's ongoing graphics downgrade controversy, Ubisoft is extremely confident in the open-world online shooter. The devs claim that the game is leveraging the full extent of consoles and PC, saying that no platform's hardware performance will go to waste.

"With the SnowDrop Engine, we are able to get the max out of any platform," Ubisoft creative director Magnus Jansen said in a recent interview. "And for us, it's a matter of pride, to be able to support everyone who invests money and they buy the game and allow them to make most out of their hardware. We are utilizing every tiny little cycles of all the platforms to its maximum. That's the sense of pride about not wasting people's hardware."

Although Jansen's claims sound great on paper, is it really a good move to push the Xbox One and PS4 to their limits? Ubisoft did this in the past with Assassin's Creed: Unity, and both consoles simply buckled under the game's weight, leading to disastrous bugs and glitches. Will we see another reprise of this horrific launch, or has Ubisoft learned their lesson?

Securing your PC has always been a priority, and a challenge for Intel, especially in the enterprise sector. But vPro, a small co-processor that helps to secure your system in a variety of different novel ways, is a little long in the tooth even though it's still very relevant. So Intel is innovating on their vPro architecture by adding new functionality and making it a much better and more sophisticated in the wake of more refined attack methods.

Intel Authenticate is their new hardware-enhanced multi-factor authentication solution that'll make use of the existing vPro processor to authenticate users. It's able to verify your identity by using a combination of three things; something you have, which is a security token or even a smartphone or an app on that phone, something you know, such as a pin or password, and something you are, biometrics.

How does it work? In the hardware is a certificate that's completely separated logically and physically from the rest of the system, so this certificate is theoretically very secure and can't be spoofed. You're information is stored with that certificate and compared against it. It's actually a very good solution, and this hardware-assisted MFA is a step in the right direction. And with Synaptics making finger-print sensors easier to integrate into systems, and smartphone authentication apps becoming so ubiquitous, it's a natural evolution.

The PlayStation 4 was released with outdated hardware, and if Sony wants to keep up with today's new innovative gaming tech, then a refreshed PlayStation 5 is a no-brainer. We've heard past rumors on the PS5's possible release date and capabilities, but a new batch of speculation suggests that the future gen PlayStation will go purely digital and cut disc-based games.

According to new rumors circulating the web, Sony's PlayStation 5 may transform into a console/streaming set-top box hybrid. These claims spell out the death of game discs, ruminating that the PS5's games will be completely digital, with the possibility of games being stored online via the cloud.

The rumors also suggest more robust cross-platform streaming, but there appears to be no need for this feature. Sony isn't about to make another Vita, and gamers can already play PS Now games on Sony Bravia TVs, and I highly doubt the PS5 will support streaming to and from PCs.

The University of Washington has come up with a much better way to count calories than we've traditionally done it, by using lasers to 3D map your food and count it's calories with science.

Well, there are other ways to count calories. You could separate all the ingredients, weight them and then look up their corresponding calories online somewhere. Or you could take whatever you're eating to a lab and stick into an actual calorimeter, but that's just too hardcore. This solution uses an external accessory that connects to a smartphone that takes precise measurements of the food, cross-checks in from a database within the app they've designed and estimates, based on the volume, exactly what you're eating.

The gadget created by a crew of electrical engineers at the University of Washington is called the NutriRay3D and currently recognizes around 9,000 different types of food. And can estimate nutritional content, macro-nutrients as well, of those foods with an accuracy between 87.5-91%. Not too shabby.

Set over a three-year period, Microsoft will be giving a cool $1 billion worth of cloud services to not for profit organizations and researchers, helping alleviate financial stress for companies and individuals who cannot otherwise afford the technological assistance that 'the cloud' has to offer.

Brad Smith, Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer, wrote that this helping hand will be spread over approximately 70,000 organizations before the end of 2017, with his company looking to donate around $350 million worth of cloud services to companies before the end of 2016.

This news follows the World Economic Forum at Davos in Switzerland, with experts questioning the global advantages of cloud services if poorer nations cannot access the helpfulness that it brings.

Square Enix is letting everyone who owns any version of Life is Strange have the director's commentary as free DLC, included in the newest patch.

That commentary was originally going to be exclusive to the boxed, limited edition of Life is Strange, but instead they've decided that everyone should be able to enjoy the commentary about the development of the game. This is something that Square Enix is actually quite excited about, because it lets them share their artistic process with the world.

The commentary itself is in the form of a documetary that can be launched from within the game itself. It's about an hour long and isn't interactive, though it's full of quite a bit of informative knowledge.

Rainbow Six Siege is set to get two new operators soon and it seems that their visage has been showed off just a bit early. Screenshots have been posted in the Rainbow Six Siege sub-reddit that let you see who you'll be able to select in an upcoming update.

The two newcomers are Buck and Frost, both of Canadian origin, bringing some unique abilities into the fray. Frost brings with her a "welcome mat" which is a mechanical trap that she can deploy to slow down any would-be adversaries and Buck brings with him a "skeleton key" which is an under-barrel shotgun attachment. A fitting term because shotguns are frequently used as a "key" to breach locked or barricaded doors.

These two Canadian operators are going to be part of the Operation Black Ice DLC, which is the first major expansion coming to Rainbow Six Siege. Thankfully, though the DLC might also cost, each new character can actually be unlocked through normal gameplay, so there's no need to spend any extra money on anything. And they've even determined that it should take between two to three weeks to unlock new characters too.

In a recent speech, Donald Trump expanded on another way that he's planning to make the US "greater than ever before," telling all that he plans to ensure Apple manufacturers its products on US soil.

"We're going to get Apple to build their damn computers and things in this country instead of in other countries," said Trump, with that being basically all that was mentioned on this topic. In addition to this, Trump explained that he has a similar vision for Ford, stating that "For every car, truck and whatever else you're building, you're going to pay a 35 percent tax every time you bring a car across the border." This tax came about due to Ford investing in Mexican manufacturing plants, rather than focusing on US production.

ZDNet reported that Apple's only all-US product is the Mac Pro, while this tech giant does stipulate that 31 of the 50 US states are used to provide Apple with parts, marerials and equipment.

With TSMC saying that they're looking at hitting 10nm in the next few months, and even 7nm by 2018, news has broken that the Taiwanese firm will open a 5nm fabrication facility by 202.

TSMC is expected to push 5nm in the first half of 2020 but notes that the production of chips using the 7nm process will happen in early 2018. If this happens without any issues, we could see a 50% reduction in current fabrication technology, in the span of only two years. Developing the manufacturing process capable of sub-7nm lithography has been extremely hard, but TSMC says it has hopes in extreme ultraviolet lithography (UAV).

TSMC says that they've made "significant process" in using UAV, where they're expected to use the technology make the 5nm production happen.

GIGABYTE is always-on top of the overclocking challenges in the world, with the motherboard maker announcing its new GIGABYTE Z170 Winter OC Challenge, which will be hosted by HWBOT.org in February.

Overclockers from around the world are invited to overclock their sixth-generation Intel Core processors on GIGABYTE 100-series motherboards, with 5x motherboards to be won. Starting on January 31, there will be four different rounds for a chance of the big prize. The overclocker with the most ports from all stages of a category wins, which means the competition is super simple. The lucky draw includes a GIGABYTE Z170X-Gaming G1 motherboard, which isn't too shabby at all. As for the stages:

Round 1: Enthusiast, Rookie and Novice Overclockers - 2 Cores

If there's an exciting Xbox One exclusive coming out this year, it's from Remedy Entertainment, the developer behind Max Payne and Alan Wake.

Quantum Break arrives in April, but Remedy has let some of gaming press around the world play the game, with Remedy's Creative Director and Writer - and the face of Max Payne - Sam Lake, take to Twitter to talk about it. Lake said that letting the press play Quantum Break was "exciting yet terrifying", but he was "excited to have members of press visiting" the Remedy HQ. Remedy laid out the yellow carpet - and not red - well, Monarch yellow as Lake explained it, saying that the press will be playing the game and playing Quantum Break soon.

Quantum Break was due out last year but was delayed - like most games in the last few years. According to Remedy's Drama Director, Stobe Harju, the "shivering" end scene was locked down and was one of the key parts of the game's success. Sam Lake said late last year: "We're really proud to be part of the incredible Xbox One line-up. We thank our fans for their patience, and want them to know that the team is taking advantage of this opportunity to polish and fine tune the game to create the kind of standout entertainment experience they've come to expect from us".

Fans of the hilarious animated hit 'Archer' can breathe a sigh of relief - the FX Network show will return to TV screens in March.

The AV Club have confirmed that season 7 will premiere on FX's spin-off channel FXX on March 31, with 13 new episodes of soon-to-be classic Archer. Series creator Adam Reed has confirmed that the latest season will be a slight departure from the norm, telling audiences at last year's ComicCon "we are a little behind schedule this season, because we are refreshing Archer for Season 7. It's not a reboot, but we are creating tons and tons of new elements: wardrobe, weapons, cars, the sets. So we're drawing so much that we're a little behind, and we don't have the season premiere as we usually do. Not one to spoil it all, I can say that it's more sexy and dangerous than ever. Or equally as sexy and dangerous."

The Division beta isn't far away, with its release on Xbox One set for January 28 and on the PS4 and PC the next day on January 29.

Thanks to someone leaking the details out on Reddit, we know that the PC beta weighs in at 26.25GB, which is 3GB bigger than the Xbox One alpha test. We should expect more content within the beta, as well as higher fidelity graphics than the alpha. We should expect the same file size for the PS4 and PC versions of the game, but I'm hoping the PC version is bigger thanks to the better graphics - but that's probably just me dreaming.

To celebrate this week's release of the incredible true drama 'Everest' on Blu-ray HD and DVD, we have ten Blu-ray prize packs to give away thanks to our friends at Universal Sony Entertainment.

Inspired by the incredible events surrounding an attempt to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain, Everest documents the awe-inspiring journey of two different expeditions challenged beyond their limits by one of the fiercest snowstorms ever encountered by mankind. Their mettle tested by the harshest elements found on the planet, the climbers will face nearly impossible obstacles as a lifelong obsession becomes a breathtaking struggle for survival. The epic adventure stars Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, Sam Worthington, Keira Knightley, Emily Watson and Jake Gyllenhaal. Everest is directed by Baltasar Kormákur, the film was shot in part on location in Nepal on the foothills of Everest, the Italian Alps.

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

There's a rumor floating around the Internet that seems to suggest that NVIDIA is very close to releasing their top-end mobile GPU, the GeForce GTX 980MX as well as the little brother, the GTX 970MX. Keep in mind that these are strictly mobile parts, and not related to the full-fat GTX 980 that's being stuffed into laptops.

There doesn't appear to be any actual source to confirm the imminent release, though they seem to be very adamant that NVIDIA is intent on releasing these high-end mobile parts soon. And these chips will be plenty fast and actually provide power efficiency that'll be necessary in thinner laptops.

The GTX 980MX is rumored to have 1664 CUDA cores, 104 texture units, 64 raster devices and a clock speed of up to 1048MHz on a 256-bit memory bus. This is slightly more CUDA cores than the slightly smaller part, the 980M. Oddly the TDP is only 25W less than the full-blow 980 laptop variant at 125W. That's still a lot of power, and you definitely wouldn't be gaming with a notebook powered by this monster without being tethered to the wall.

That Xbox One February update we were so patiently waiting to hear about? Well it seems that some details are now coming out thanks to the Preview Program. And the focus is going to be on adding more social features to the Xbox One.

The new social features should make it easier for you to know what's going on in the Xbox universe and to join your friends in the fun that they're having. So many games now have a cooperative or multiplayer element that it's only natural to make that more accessible.

Probably one of the most significant changes is the inclusion of the Avatar store, which lets you customize your digital self even more than before. It used to be a big part of the Xbox 360 experience, and they're moving back towards that trend. So now there's a better Xbox One news feed, a better ways to compare your Gamerscore. Check out the list of features appearing below.

Square Enix just entered into a partnership with an Italian company known as Milestone S.r.l, who specialize in bringing the joy of racing into the gaming world, in order to bring that racing genre goodness to more people around the world. The first game, Sébastien Loeb Rally EVO is coming March 15th on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and of course the PC.

They've entered a multi-game partnership where Square Enix will publish Milestone's games well into 2016 and will start that with Sébastien Loeb Rally EVO, which has earned a great reputation for how challenging and realistic it is. There seems to be a resurgence, or sorts in the various simulation genres, and Square Enix wants to be a part of that. You'll be able to drive over 50 different vehicles across more than 300km of simulated track. It stands to be a great entrant.

"Partnering with Square Enix, a world-renowned and respected industry leader with a vast wealth of expertise and resources will allow us to better reach our dedicated and enthusiastic fans and ensure a successful partnership," affirms Luisa Bixio V.P. Milestone. "We look sharing our passion for four and two wheels with a larger audience."

Although the imminent VR boom could be a considerable boon for beleaguered mobile manufacturer HTC, the company today officially denied that it won't be spinning off its VR business into a separate virtual-reality focused division.

Last night, Taiwanese media reported that HTC's Chairwoman Cher Wang is in the midst of transforming the company's Vive-based VR presence into a subsidiary independent of HTC's smartphone business. The company was quick to squash the reports with an official statement, saying that it has no plans to divide business.

"Recent media reports in Taiwan, such as by United Evening News, stating that Cher Wang is planning to spin off HTC's VR operations into an independent entity that will be wholly owned by Wang is incorrect. HTC will continue to develop our VR business to further maximize value for shareholders," the statement reads.

The government of British Columbia, Canada will be adding computer coding into its school curriculum over the next three years across all grades, including kindergarten. The new lessons will be integrated into mathematics and science programs, and apart of a new "applied design, skills, and technologies" (ADST) component. At the kindergarten level, it will be designed to encourage "exploratory and purposeful play" and stimulate ADST aptitude; older students will learn about computational thinking and programming in general; by the time grade 9 is over, students will be able to code on a basic level; high school students will be able to specialize in a particular area of technology.

The move serves as a pointed decision to address BC's technology skills shortage -- though the industry employs more than the forestry, mining, and oil and gas industries combined (86,000), there's traditionally been a much bigger focus on serving those now suffering industries instead. The government last month put up $100 million in funding for tech startups, so this is part of a broader plan. Google has put its money where its mouth is, too: its Codemakers program aims to bring programming to 100,000 Canadian children.

"Computer science skills ... are increasingly critical as technology is where all future job growth lies," said Jeff Booth, CEO of Vancouver's BuildDirect Technologies Inc., a web company that ships construction materials. "There is already a war for talent in technology that has companies like ours searching the world for the best engineers. ... It's very possible that computer coding and other technology skills may become as critical as reading and writing."

With the Oculus Rift's controversial $599 price tag kicking off the VR price war, gamers and industry vets alike have speculated on the price point of the other contenders in the VR triumvirate. Now it looks like we have a big hint on the cost of Sony's PlayStation VR, and it might not be that far off from the Rift.

According to a trio of listings from three different Swiss e-tailers, Sony's PlayStation VR headset could cost as much as $550 when it's released this year. We have a breakdown of the prices below from least-to-greatest. Interestingly enough, the prices are all in the same tiers, but the last page may hint something dire.

The first website, Brack.ch, pinpoints the PSVR at 499 CHF (Swiss frans), or $497. Second up is Internet.ch, which shows Sony's VR headset for $539. Techmania bumps up the PSVR's price to $550, but this listing shows a crossed-out price of $608, which may indicate the headset's original retail price.