Interstellar 10th Anniversary: back in theaters, in IMAX, new 4K Collector's Edition box set
Can you believe Interstellar was released into theaters 10 years ago? Paramount Pictures is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Christopher Nolan's epic space movie being re-released into theaters, into IMAX, and a new 10th Anniversary Collector's Edition 4K Blu-ray box set.
The new 10th Anniversary Collector's Edition was created with Christopher Nolan's participation and approval, which includes Interstellar in both 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray disc, as well as a third Blu-ray. There's also a digital copy of Interstellar, reproductions of the 5 costume patches, 5 theatrical poster reproductions, and a never-before-seen storyboard sequence from Nolan's archives.
Interstellar's new 10th Anniversary set also includes over 2 hours of new and legacy bonus content that drives deeper into the science of the film, its groundbreaking production, and a brand-new discussion on the impacts Interstellar has had in the last 10 years.
Elon Musk's 'free' Starlink service for Hurricane Helene victims could be predatory
SpaceX founder Elon Musk announced on X that communities hit by the devastating Hurricane Helene were able to get Starlink "without need for payment," or according to SpaceX's own statement, "Starlink is now free for 30 days".
However, it doesn't appear to be as simple as that as "free" comes with a few undisclosed caveats that were unfurled by The Register, which published a report detailing users attempting to sign up for Starlink in Helene disaster-stricken zones were being prompted for a $350 payment for the Starlink terminal. SpaceX discounted the terminals for users within the affected areas down to $299, which, after shipping and taxes, lands a Hurricane Helen victim attempting to sign up to Starlink with a bill approximating $400.
Starlink explains on its help page that qualifying Hurricane Helene victims will receive 30 days of free Starlink internet access, and after those 30 days, the user will be moved to a $120-a-month subscription. As for existing Starlink customers who wish to take advantage of the free 30 days of Starlink are required to lodge a support ticket with that will then be evaluated by Starlink and if qualifying, issue a waiver for an upcoming monthly payment.
SpaceX pencils in the date for its most daring and highest stake Starship launch
SpaceX has taken to its website to post an update on when it plans to launch Starship again, the world's largest and most powerful rocket.
The Elon Musk-led company took to its website to state its targeting no earlier than October 13 for the fifth flight of Starship, and that after the success of Flight 4, where SpaceX conducted its first-ever booster soft landing in the Gulf of Mexico, the company is ready to take another step toward achieving full and rapid reusability. SpaceX explains Flight 5's primary objective will be attempting the "first ever return to launch site and catch of the Super Heavy booster."
SpaceX will be attempting to land and catch the 233-foot-tall booster on the Starbase launch pad with "chopstick" arms attached to the Mechazilla tower. While sounding like a sci-fi movie, SpaceX writes its engineers and various teams have "spent years planning and months testing". As for the Super Heavy booster going up in Flight 5, SpaceX says it has implemented new hardware and software into the booster to improve chances of success, and that infrastructure at Starbase has also been significantly improved.
Qualcomm issues response to possible spyware exploit within devices
Qualcomm is urging device makers that use a selection of its chips to implement the fixes the company has rolled out for vulnerabilities within chip firmware that reports state has been exploited in the wild.
The Register reports the vulnerability that affects the following Qualcomm chips: Snapdragon 660 and newer models, Qualcomm's 5G modems, FastConnect 6700, 6800, 6900, and 7800 Wi-Fi/Bluetooth kits, were subject to a vulnerability called "CVE-2024-43047," which was rated 7.8 out of 10 on the CVSS rating scale. The vulnerability was reported by Google's Project Zero team and Amnesty International's code testers, and reports indicate that the involvement of the latter group of code testers indicates third parties exploited the bug.
Other notable security flaws out of the 20 patches Qualcomm rolled out is CVE-2024-33066, an input validation issue with the WLAN resource manager. This flaw received a 9.8 CVSS ranking, but luckily hasn't yet, or at least publicly, exploited. Other flaws within the firmware involve memory corruption in the camera driver, and a similar memory flaw related to the device's operating system.
Continue reading: Qualcomm issues response to possible spyware exploit within devices (full post)
NVIDIA x MediaTek AI PC SoC to arrive in 2H 2025: will be used by Dell, Lenovo, HP, and ASUS
NVIDIA and MediaTek are expected to unveil their co-developed Arm-based AI PC processor in 2H 2025, with hardware partners in ASUS, Dell, HP, and Lenovo.
In a new post by leaker 'Mobile Phone Chip Expert' on Chinese social platform Weibo, we're learning that the new NVIDIA x MediaTek AI PC processor is coming in 2H 2025, just in time for Computex 2025 in Taipei, Taiwan. The leaker teases that the new Arm-based AI PC processor has already reached the tape-out stages.
NVIDIA has been pushing more and more into the custom chip business, with the AI PC market a gigantic market that it wants to step into and dominate, just like it has utterlry dominated the AI GPU business with its Hopper and now Blackwell AI GPU architectures.
Google responds to claims Pixel smartphones send private user data to Google every 15 minutes
Google has responded to the recent report that its Pixel smartphone was relaying private user information back to Google servers every 15 minutes, with the company's response refuting the claims from the report and providing additional background on the overall process.
The report came from Cybernews, which looked at the web traffic between Google and its latest flagship smartphone, the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL. The report stated that even before any app is installed, the device is sending private user data back to Google servers, with the researcher stating that every 15 minutes, a packet of data is sent back to Google servers, and within that packet is information such as an email address, phone number, location, network status, and other telemetry data.
Google has since responded to this report with a statement it has provided me, saying the report "lacks crucial context, misinterprets technical details, and doesn't fully explain that data transmissions are needed for legitimate services on all mobile devices regardless of the manufacturer, model or OS, such as software updates, on-demand features and personalized experiences."
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 leaked specs: 16GB GDDR7 at fastest 32Gbps, 1TB/sec bandwidth
NVIDIA's next-gen GeForce RTX 5080 is expected to feature the fastest GDDR7 memory modules available, at 32Gbps, giving its 16GB of GDDR7 up to a crazy 1TB/sec of memory bandwidth.
In previous rumors we heard similar: that NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce RTX 5080 would feature 16GB of GDDR7 but we didn't know if it was 28Gbps or 32Gbps GDDR7 modules. But now, our friends over at Wccftech have talked with their sources that have confirmed the GeForce RTX 5080 will feature 16GB of GDDR7 at 32Gbps, which is 4Gbps faster than the 28Gbps GDDR7 modules on the flagship GeForce RTX 5090.
This means that the GeForce RTX 5080 with 16GB of GDDR7 at 32Gbps on a 256-bit memory bus will spit out a rather hefty 1TB/sec of memory bandwidth, matching the previous-gen flagship GeForce RTX 4090. It's also a gigantic leap over the RTX 4080 which features 16GB of GDDR6X at 23Gbps (RTX 4080 = 23Gbps, RTX 5080 = 32Gbps).
Google appeals historic antitrust lawsuit ruling that threatens its $12.4 billion mobile biz
Yesterday, United States District Judge James Donato delivered a historic ruling that will change Google's mobile business for the next three years. Now Google is predictably appealing the decision.
The Epic v Google trial is officially over, and Epic won the fight. The district courts sided with Epic, and issued a permanent injunction that forces Google to open up its Google Play Store and allow competing third-party stores right on the marketplace for the next 3 years.
Google also has to allow third-party developers to use their own billing systems. These new orders will undoubtedly affect Google's mobile business to a significant degree as developers can now undercut Google and completely avoid the costly 30% commission fees that Google had been charging for years.
NVIDIA showcases stunning LEGO Fortnite PC with GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER GPU
As part of its weekly DLSS update, which sees DLSS, Frame Generation, and ray-tracing technologies arrive in new releases like FragPunk, the Silent Hill 2 remake, and Starship Troopers: Extermination, NVIDIA also took time to highlight a very cool build from modder czuga.
Inspired by Fortnite's LEGO modes, the build includes over 1,000 LEGO bricks to support all components, including the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Founders Edition graphics card and customer watercooling. With an entire LEGO Fortnite scene that includes characters, biomes, and the iconic Fortnite bus, it's a stunning one-of-a-kind build.
It didn't come together quickly either; it took countless hours to design the complete setup and around 14 days to build, test, and decorate. The fact that it uses LEGO for the case and all physical hardware support is awe-inspiring.
The Diablo 4 that never was: Permadeath hardcore by default with third-person view
Blizzard's original vision for Diablo 4 would have changed the franchise in significant ways, bringing the dungeon crawler to the realm of third-person gaming.
Jason Schreier's new book Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future Of Blizzard Entertainment chronicles some of the most interesting and pivotal moments of the game-maker's history. The book also discusses many of the cancelled projects and games, including Blizzard's own unique take on Minecraft.
One such story touches upon what kind of major departure that Diablo 4 could have been for the series. Blizzard sources tell Schreier that at the tail-end of Diablo 3's popular Reaper of Souls expansion, then-Blizzard president Mike Morhaime had put top leads in charge of pre-planning the next big Diablo game.