Latest News - Page 2617

Xbox One gamers have been looking forward to the console's new Xbox One Experience update for quite some time. Not only does the update bring much-needed UI changes, it introduces backward compatibility, opening up new doors for a host of yesteryear games. While we've been told in the past to expect the update in November, Microsoft has finally revealed a specific date when the NXOE will roll out.

During last night's Halo 5 livestream celebration, Xbox boss Phil Spencer unveiled that the substantial Xbox One update will hit on November 12, just two days after the anticipated launch of Fallout 4. The update is set to completely optimize the Xbox One in a slew of different ways, including offering backward compatibility across 100 different Xbox 360 games, letting users set their own specific customized button-mapping profiles via controller settings, and a cleaner, much more responsive Xbox One UI.

One of the biggest additions comes with Windows 10 integration, which will come wrapped up within the console's big update. In order to bring the new OS to the Xbox One, Microsoft developed a console-specific kernel called OneCore, which aims to boost productivity and further optimize the Xbox One's cross-platform unification into the Windows 10 ecosystem. OneCore will also plant the seeds for DirectX 12 integration onto the console, which could boost the console's ESRAM performance by 15%.

One of LG's most interesting phones would have to be the new V10 smartphone, with dual screens and so much more. But inside, it rocks some serious storage performance thanks to Sandisk's "best-in-class embedded storage solution for imaging", the iNAND 7232 embedded flash drive (EFD).

LG's V10 smartphone is the first handset to meet Sandisk's guidelines for 'Extreme Photo-Imaging Capabilities', or EPIC. Sandisk's EPIC guidelines were designed by Sandisk for its OEMs, so that it could differentiate handsets which are EPIC-capable, from other handsets. The impressive iNAND 7232 storage solution used in the V10 smartphone is optimized for high frame rate, 4K content.

Christopher Bergey, VP and GM of Mobile and Tablet Solutions at Sandisk explains: "LG has once again reaffirmed their leadership in smartphone imaging and video with the LG V10, and we are proud to recognize it as the first Sandisk 'EPIC' smartphone. The LG V10 smartphone is an exciting step forward for the Sandisk EPIC initiative. Leveraging Sandisk's deep understanding of flash storage, digital imaging and the mobile ecosystem, our EPIC marketing initiative is uniquely bringing together ecosystem hardware, software and storage to break new ground in smartphone imaging".

Corsair has just unveiled its latest peripheral, the Katar gaming mouse. Corsair's latest product is a new competitive gaming mouse for huge eSports titles like CS:GO and League of Legends.

The new Corsair Katar has been created "with the help of top pro-gaming teams around the world" and even goes as far as including a "pro player mode" which lets you "get up to speed with preconfigured performance and tuning settings customized by the world's top players". The Katar has an 8000 DPI optical sensor, a 'zero lag interface' with the Katar polling at 1000Hz, and more. Corsair will be selling the new Katar gaming mouse with an MSRP of just $39.99.

The company also unveiled its new MM300 mouse pad, in three sizes: small, medium and extended. The new Corsair MM300 includes a "Textile-weave surface designed for pixel-precise targeting and low friction tracking" and "Surrounded stitched edges guard against surface peeling". The MSRP on the new Corsair MM300 mouse pads are as follows: Small for $14.99, Medium for $19.99, and Extended for $29.99.

When we heard whispers of NVIDIA using GDDR5X on its upcoming Pascal GPUs, it made sense. HBM2 is going to be sparse, and with AMD reportedly having 'priority access' to HBM2, the use of GDDR5X is going to come in handy, big time. Not only is NVIDIA said to be set to reveal GDDR5X-based video cards, but AMD will, too.

According to a new presentation, GDDR5X is going to provide twice the data rate per memory access. We're going to see it jump from the current 32B data per memory access, to 64B data per memory access. GDDR5 has hit a ceiling at around 7Gbps, but GDDR5X is going to have a much higher I/O rates of around 10-12Gbps.

It looks as though GDDR5X is going to be used well into 2018, while GDDR5 will most likely be kept for lower-end cards. I think we're going to see $50 - $300 cards with GDDR5, $300 - $500 cards (and possibly higher) with GDDR5X, and $500+ left for the higher-end HBM2 technology. The use of GDDR5X by AMD and NVIDIA is going to save much more money on R&D, because instead of moving over their entire next-gen GPU product lines, they can continue to use GDDR5X, which is not all that different to the current GDDR5 technology.

Bethesda has just confirmed that Fallout 4 will be preloading onto the Xbox One, PS4 and PC very soon. In an official post on the Bethesda Softworks Twitter page, the developer said: "We can confirm that #Fallout 4 will have pre-loading on Xbox One, PS4, and PC so you have a few days to download the game before 11/10".

When exactly can we expect it, if Bethesda says gamers will have "a few days" before launch to get it preloaded? Bethesda boss Pete Hines posted on Twitter, saying: "We will be preloading for Fallout 4 on PC, Xbox One, and PS4. Exact day/time TBA. All should be available a few days before launch day".

As for the size of Fallout 4, we should expect it to weigh in at around 28GB (on the Xbox One at least). It might be a bit bigger on other platforms, however.

One of the big deals about DirectX 12 is that you can use two different GPUs, from two different companies - such as an AMD Radeon card mixed with an NVIDIA GeForce card - in tandem, for more performance. AnandTech has gone ahead with quite an elaborate article, looking at Ashes of the Singularity with mixed GPUs running under Windows 10 and DirectX 12.

Ashes of the Singularity is the first game demo that makes use of DX12's multi-GPU Explicit Multi-Adapter feature, which has some surprising results in such an early game. The results using an R9 Fury X + GTX 980 Ti together are surprising, as it comes out on top - even compared to an R9 Fury X and R9 Fury combination at 2560x1440.

The same can be said for 4K, where the R9 Fury X + GTX 980 Ti comes out on top of even the GTX 980 Ti + GTX Titan X combo, as well as the R9 Fury X and R9 Fury combo. But where it gets exciting is with older cards, so for gamers who might own something like an AMD Radeon HD 7970, and have a GTX 680 laying around not being used (or you could pick one up cheap second hand) - the performance addition dropping the second GPU into the system is great. The HD 7970 on its own at 1440pis capable of 30FPS, but when mixed with the GTX 680, it gets bumped up to 46FPS average - not too bad at all, huh?

While VR tech is in full swing for its release in 2016, the next avenue of dimensional computing has kicked off thanks to Microsoft's HoloLens, and it looks like major players are getting involved in augmented reality. Not long ago we reported that ASUS is thinking about making its own AR headset, and now the online retailer giant Amazon is jumping into AR as well.

A recently published patent filing shows what appears to be the Amazon AR headset and reveals key details on the device. The filing notes that the Amazon AR glasses are technically a "tablet goggles accessory" with a "single-touch immersion control" that's tethered to a tablet. The tablet will control and trigger various functionalities such as switching between AR and real-life views.

The patent shows a huge number of variants of the Amazon AR, using different technologies like polymer dispersed liquid crystals, suspended particular devices, and electrochromic solutions that could all be used in the device's variable-transparency layers. The patent notes that the Amazon AR goggles will need a tablet in order to function (probably a new-gen Kindle Fire) meaning the HMD will leverage a tablet's power.

As wearable tech continues to expand into our everyday lives, OEMs are charged with finding innovative new ways to optimize and streamline wearables--especially in the battery life department. With this spirit in mind, Samsung has just revolutionized the world of wearables with its new line flexible strip batteries.

Samsung unveiled its new bendable battery duo, the Stripe and the Band, at this year's InterBattery 2015 showcase in Seoul, displaying a new generation of power solutions for two key wearable types. The South Korean tech giant called the new tech the "embodiment of the age of wearable batteries that is applicable to any curves of a human body."

Since the Stripe sports an ultra-slim 0.3mm battery strip with "innovative energy density", it could pave the way for nonexisting wearables like smart shirts, necklaces or hairbands. Thanks to its shape and size, the Stripe is extremely versatile and can mold and fit a huge assortment of form factors.

The Surface Book launches today, and with it, Microsoft is apparently not content to just have it be a success with those already in its camp, but wants a piece of that Apple pie, too. And so it's designed a website -- dubbed "Making the switch" -- intended to help Macbook users make the transition, whether they're considering a Surface Book or already have one.

The site is comprimised of four main sections. The first helps Mac users become acquainted with the Start menu and the interface; the second answers common questions longtime Mac users have like "Do I have to worry about getting viruses now?" and "How do I talk to my friends and family without FaceTime and iMessage?"; the third offers step-by-step instructions on how to move files, contacts, and so on from your Macbook over to the Surface Book, and the fourth offers information on iPhone, iCloud, and iTunes compatibility (MS says they all work fine).

If you are a Macbook user and are thinking about making the switch or already have, hit the source.

Version 5.11.5408 of popular system cleaning app CCleaner is out today, complete with some important changes.

Apart from the usual minor fixes, you get better Chrome Download History and Firefox 41 cleaning, improved detection of Start-up items (should you wish to configure which start and which don't), and tweaks to keyboard navigation and shortcuts. Then there are a couple of bigger additions: the option to uninstall Windows Store apps (not normally easy for the built-in ones), and support for Office 2016 cleaning.

You can see the full list of changes below; hit the source to download.

We've known for a while that both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 will have mod support for Fallout 4, allowing console owners to tap the wealth of potential that user-created mods bring to any Fallout game. But now Bethesda has confirmed that the mods themselves will still need a PC to create.

Bethsoft exec and wise Fallout guru Pete Hines revealed the news in a Twitter interaction, iterating that mods will indeed be playable on consoles, but the PS4 and Xbox One won't be getting the mod tools required to create mods.

Fallout 4's modding suite will be pretty expansive and matches the exact same software that the studio used to create the game. Sadly users will have to wait until 2016 before the modding tools are released. "Early next year we'll release for free the new Creation Kit for the PC. This is the same tool we use in the studio. You'll be able to create your own mods and share them with others. We're especially excited these same mods will then be coming to Xbox One, and then PlayStation 4."

When AMD released the Radeon R9 Nano, we fell in love with not only its performance (for being such a tiny, tiny card) but its ultra awesome aesthetics. Well, it looks like we can expect ASUS to release a new R9 Nano, but the shroud on the cooler will be white.

According to ComputerBase.de, ASUS has used its own custom PCB (which isn't white) while dipping the shroud in white paint. The fan is still black, but you can't deny that it doesn't look slick. I would've expected something different from ASUS, maybe doing a black and red theme (in line with AMD's reference card) and in line with their Republic of Gamers brand.

But, you can't deny this R9 Nano doesn't look cool. Now I want to build a new black and white themed system with this new R9 Nano from ASUS.

It looks like NVIDIA is testing out a new GPU, with a new 'JM601 graphics processor' spotted on Zauba. The most mysterious part of this is that it's called 'JM601', which is completely out of place, and totally unexpected.

So what do we think the new JM601 GPU is? Well, for one it could be a dual GPU card based on NVIDIA's current Maxwell architecture - think GTX 990 (dual GTX 980s, or heaven forbid, dual GTX 980 Ti/Titan X GPUs). Alternatively, it could be there to throw us off - but the most exciting part is that it could be a huge Pascal GPU and the name used here - 'JM601' - is to throw us off.

The new JM601 GPU is sitting on Zauba where it was sent on October 14, priced at 73,917 INR - which converts to around $1136. This isn't a cheap chip, so we should expect a monster dual-GPU, or this is the first Pascal-based card, possibly with GDDR5X as we reported not too long ago.

Last month, Jim Keller left AMD as their CPU architect, with the last of his work being done on the Zen architecture. Keller had helped AMD with their K7 and K8 architectures, which were some of AMD's more golden times in the CPU market.

It's now being rumored that Keller has joined Samsung, where he'll begin work in the mobile processor division. Keller has previously worked on mobile processors, where he helped out on the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S with Apple's A4 and A5S processors, respectively. The news of Keller joining Samsung is big, as he will be working out of their R&D centers in Austin, Texas.

Keller should further develop Samsung's already great mobile offerings, especially since the South Korean giant is on the forefront of 14nm FinFET technology.

Despite being more powerful than Microsoft's Xbox One console, Sony's PlayStation 4 leaves much to be desired; its Jaguar APU is quite outdated and matches up to yesteryear PC builds in terms of performance. But it looks like Sony might consider refreshing the PlayStation 4 with new hardware to meet and go beyond the 1080p 60FPS standard.

In a recent interview with Japanese publication 4Gamer, Sony exec Masayasu Ito said that the PS4's x86 architecture opens up the possibilities for expanded hardware in the future. "The PS4's x86 architecture makes the console forward compatible, making it possible to incorporate performance enhancements required at any time," Ito said, answering the query on a possible enhanced PS4.5 console. "[As such], the possibility of a high-performance version of PS4 is an idea that can be considered."

It's been no secret that consoles have always lagged behind PC's in terms of hardware, and consoles traditionally ship with outdated hardware. With today's blistering-fast evolution of tech, that disparity has become pretty obvious, especially with mid-range PC's easily maintaining 1080p 60FPS, and let's not even get into 4K gaming which is becoming more mainstream with 4K displays dropping in price as each month passes. It'd be great to see the PS4 adopt dedicated GPU and CPU solutions to help significantly boost performance, but that would likely compromise the console's unified 8GB GDDR5 RAM system and call for a complete overhaul.

Thinking back to when I started 'gaming' in 1994 and beyond, games like WarCraft II, Age of Empires and Red Alert series filled up my childhood gaming experiences, with Real Time Strategy (RTS) games being king of the times. Advancements saw awesome games like StarCraft: Brood War and WarCraft III blossom into flourishing eSports titles, played around the world by gamers who were vying for thousands of dollars in prize money.

Skip ahead to 2015 - where is the RTS scene right now? As written by Evil Genius' Geoff 'iNcontroL' Robinson, it would seem that RTS is now a completely dying genre. With Robinson pointing out StarCraft as "the last stand," he makes mention that while we have Call of Duty titles being sequentially released yearly, when's the last time you saw consistent, competitive, RTS releases?

With WarCraft 4 quite possibly far away on the horizon, Robinson made mention that he believes "the RTS genre is just not what people get excited about these days," reasoning that "RTS games require patience, deep thought, speed, a bit of a gamble and so much more."

Razer has now opened pre-orders for its OSVR Hacker Development Kit headsets, with the OSVR headset available for $300, and begins shipping on November 23.

The peripherals giant wanrs that the OSVR headset has a warning that "the OSVR Hacker Developer's Kit is for development purposes and will ship with a 30 day warranty". Consumers can dive in, but Razer has warned you. As for the OSVR itself, it features a 5.5-inch OLED screen with an awesome 120Hz refresh rate, offering a pixel density of 401PPI.

The Razer OSVR also has an IR camera operating at 100Hz, and 360-degree tracking, too. Razer CEO Min-Liang Tang added: "Gaming is moving towards the virtual reality platform and this poses huge benefits and challenges to gamers at every level. OSVR brings game developers, gamers and hardware manufacturers together to solve those challenges and make virtual reality gaming a reality for the masses".

If there's one game that's on my radar, but I'm ready to be disappointed with, it would have to be The Division. The latest video released on YouTube showcases the incredible lighting and weather effects in the game, so check it out below.

As you can see, The Division is running on a Xbox One, and it still looks great. After a tumultuous time of purported graphics downgrades, it's nice to see that it still looks great. We've heard that there could be a post-release graphics upgrade, so we don't know what to expect when it arrives. We do know that The Division will be capped at 30FPS on both the Xbox One and PS4.

While Nintendo disappointed Wii U owners across the globe by delaying the new Zelda Wii U game to 2016, the games maker plans to use that extra time to pepper some hidden surprises that will make the open-world Zelda adventure much more memorable.

In a recent interview with IGN, Legend of Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma revealed that he will adapt his own interpretation of fan's feedback and inject it right into Zelda Wii U's huge open world.

"We actually had some feedback from Skyward Sword, where people were saying, 'This is not exactly the Zelda game I was looking for, I was looking for a bigger open world.' Unfortunately, I can't go into details but I'm hoping to put a surprise, or kind of a twist, on my view of an open world game. I hope that you'll look forward to it."

While virtual reality tech requires high-performance hardware to simulate the low-latency mirage-like magic of a virtual space, the other half of the VR puzzle lies in a developer's experience. Devs need to have in-depth knowledge and be familiar not only with professional-grade GPU's and hardware, but also be able to push the tech past its known boundaries--but the VR space is chocked full of inexperienced devs.

Everyone wants to get in on VR. As the new gaming platform of the future, VR represents a leap forward in innovation and possibility, attracting a staggering amount of developers across the world. But not all of these developers are actually qualified to create games on the platform, leading to amateur experiences rather than the dazzling and immersion games that fully harness VR's potential.

"What we often find is less experienced teams that we're seeing demos from, they don't have enough experience with graphics optimisation," said Thor Gunnarsson, developer at Solfar Studios, an interview with Games Industry Biz. "Things like shader development, lighting, and so on. Consequently, they often end up with these quite basic, solid-shaded or cartoony style experiences. We think that's a bit of a challenge. You ideally want to have teams that have some background from console or high-end PC development to actually create the richness of the environment."