Latest News - Page 407

With the White House imposing a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports into the U.S., some tech companies, like ASRock, are not only considering their alternatives but actively planning to change their business models. In response to PCMag, the acclaimed PC components maker is planning to move the manufacturing of its GPU and motherboard products to other countries.

ASRock is known for creating high-quality AMD Radeon and Intel Arc graphics cards in the GPU space. Recently, we reviewed the ASRock Intel Arc B580 Steel Legend GPU and were impressed by its gaming and thermal performance, not to mention its RGB-lit all-white physical design.

At CES 2025, we got to preview and go hands-on with the company's new flagship ASRock Radeon RX 9070 XT Taichi GPU that, according to the latest RDNA 4 rumors, is set to launch on March 6, 2025. By moving its GPU manufacturing out of China, ASRock can avoid the new 10% tariff on Chinese imports.

Amidst the rising competition from DeepSeek, OpenAI has been rushing to fortify its market share by making more features available to free users. In a recent development, OpenAI has announced it will be making AI-powered search available to everyone, regardless of whether they have an account. OpenAI posted the announcement to X on Wednesday. The feature was first released to paid users in October 2024, and made available for users with accounts in December.

The move follows a string of feature releases previously only available on paid plans. OpenAI's latest reasoning model, o3-mini, was made available for free on the 31st of January. Prior to that, OpenAI's o1-mini was also made openly available without a fee.

Since DeepSeek's r1 model burst onto the scene in late January, AI firms have significantly accelerated the pace of their feature rollouts. On Wednesday, Google released its Gemini 2.0 series of models, which included the freemium Gemini 2.0 Flash. Similarly, OpenAI quickly pushed out their AI agent tools 'Operator' and 'Deep Research' in rapid succession.

A new patent for the Nintendo Switch 2 has revealed new functionality with the joy-con controllers, and while Nintendo hasn't officially confirmed the functionality, the company did subtly showcase it in its most recent trailer for the Switch 2.

The new patent shows Nintendo has been exploring using its Joy-Con controllers like a computer mouse, which was briefly showcased in the above trailer with the Joy-Con's sliding around on their connector side. However, it wasn't touched on for the rest of the trailer and was left to ambiguity and speculation. But, the newly released patent provides more details on the proposed functionality, as the images included in the patent show the Joy-Con being held horizontally with both the SR and SL buttons facing downward, with a user's thumb placed on the joystick.

More specifically, an image shows the right index finger and middle finger placed over the R and ZR buttons, similar to the left and right buttons on a traditional mouse. This design has led to the assumption that an optical sensor within the joy-con is downward facing. The patent also includes the translation "mouse operation sensor" 28 times, according to The Verge.

EA recently announced that its fantasy RPG Dragon Age: The Veilguard failed to meet its sales targets, so the publisher adjusted its financial forecasts. This is another commercial miss from the veteran studio, whose most recent titles, Anthem and Mass Effect Andromeda, also failed to make a critical and commercial impact.

In the following days, reports of developer BioWare losing team members emerged, alongside reports of some moving to other EA studios. The developer confirmed that the downsizing wouldn't affect progress on the new Mass Effect game as it was still in the pre-production phase - confirming that the highly anticipated game isn't ready for 'all hands on deck' development.

However, the fate of Mass Effect 5 - which is being presented as a sequel and spiritual successor to the original trilogy - is currently up in the air thanks to comments from EA CEO Andrew Wilson. During a recent financial call with investors, Wilson blamed the lack of live service features and multiplayer for Dragon Age's failure to meet the company's expectations.

AI researchers from Standard and the University of Washington claim to have made significant progress in the development of low-cost AI models. Published in a recent research paper, the model entitled 's1' was reportedly built using a small dataset of 1,000 questions and a budget of less than $50.

The development was achieved through a process called distillation. Distillation allows smaller models to leverage the capabilities of larger models throughout the training process. In this instance, the s1 model was distilled from Google's Gemini 2.0 - utilizing the 'thinking' process behind each answer from Gemini Flash 2.0 experimental.

Google's terms of service prohibit using Gemini's API to develop models that compete with their AI models, leaving s1 in somewhat of a legal gray area. No official comments have been made in response to the development. The s1 model reportedly rivals the coding and mathematics performance of OpenAI's o1 and DeepSeek's r1, achieving strong performance in benchmark results. While it does not surpass the industry-leading models, it comes surprisingly close considering its budget.

Redditor 'EssDee3D' was lucky enough to purchase one of NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 5080 Founders Edition graphics cards... except it wasn't the RTX 5080 FE, but the higher-end RTX 5090 FE... except it wasn't.

Once the Redditor opened the box, he noticed it was the far more expensive RTX 5090 Founders Edition... except it wasn't. The RTX 5090 engraving seems to be an error in manufacturing, as it's recognized as an RTX 5080 in Windows and GPU-Z. The packaging says RTX 5080 but the card itself is engraved with "RTX 5090" but there are big differences between the RTX 5090 FE and RTX 5080 FE coolers, even though they look the same from the outside.

The Redditor explained: "I ordered a 5080 and I got a graphics card with 5090 engraved on it. The outer box has the 5080 SKU on it. Wondering if anyone else has seen something like this before?".

Things are heating up in the world of Radeon, with RDNA 4 set to get its big reveal soon and the Radeon RX 9070 and Radeon RX 9070 XT set to launch on March 6, 2025. Frank Azor, the Consumer and Gaming Marketing lead at AMD, has been quietly hyping up RDNA 4 recently, with one of his latest social media posts teasing a full presentation on RDNA 4.

The post responded to a question from content creator Dee Batch, who wanted more information on AMD's answer to the GeForce RTX 5070 and GeForce RTX 5070 Ti. Frank Azor posted, "Yes, full details are coming soon," confirming that AMD will host a presentation or live stream that will go through all the juicy RDNA 4 details. Rumors are pointing to this happening in late February.

In addition, in response to a follow-up question about the price point for the RDNA 4 flagship Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU, Frank Azor also confirms that AMD is "listening" to the community when it comes to launching at a price that isn't simply a bit cheaper than NVIDIA.

MSI will soon release its fleet of new AMD B850-based motherboards, focusing on the budget gaming PC side of the market, but the new mobos will be tuned for Ryzen X3D processors and feature the latest I/O connectivity.

Our friends at Wccftech got their hands on an upcoming MSI AM5 B850 roadmap, with 5 new motherboards based on the B850 chipset arriving in Q2 2025. We can expect a new MPG-branded B850 motherboard, with a Mini-ITX design, and a full-sized ATX motherboard in the upcoming B850 Gaming PLUS Wi-Fi PZ. These motherboards will include:

Outside of the new MPG B850I Edge Wi-Fi and B850 Gaming PLUS Wi-Fi PZ motherboards, the rest of MSI's upcoming B850 motherboards are found in the PRO series. MSI's new B850 series motherboards will feature the latest I/O connectivity, including support for Wi-Fi 7, Gen5 PCIe and M.2 SSD slots, CPU and RAM overclocking, a bunch of EZ DIY features, and enthusiast-grade 5GbE ethernet.

Layoffs continue at Sony Interactive Entertainment, and this time nearly an entire UI/UX division has been let go.

Sony is trying to cut costs to improve profit margins and has laid off hundreds of workers in the process. Now the cutting continues as Sony's gaming segment orders more job terminations--this time affecting a group that's responsible for making big changes to what users see on the PS5's dashboard.

The new layoff report comes from Oscar Diaz, who operates under the handle Ryosuke said this on Twitter: "Most of my team was just laid off from PlayStation. It was a dream to get to work with Sony on the platform I'd grown up playing since the PS1 and contribute to the PS5, Portal, PSVR2, PS App, and future consoles. If you know anyone who needs an engineer, feel free to reach out."

The latest rumors suggest a March 2025 launch for the GeForce RTX 5060 and GeForce RTX 5060 Ti, NVIDIA's mainstream RTX Blackwell options for the new 50 Series. According to a new report (via Videocardz) citing a source with close ties to NVIDIA partner ZOTAC, the GeForce RTX 5060 Series will use the traditional 8-pin PCIe power connector rather than the new 16-pin power connector.

The source also claims that the GeForce RTX 5060 Series, which covers both the Ti and non-Ti variants, will require a power supply with at least 650W - which indicates more power-hungry cards compared to the 550W of the current GeForce RTX 4060 Series.

There's also some preliminary pricing information for the GeForce RTX 5060 Series. Although it's in RMB (Chinese Yuan), it does look like we'll see a price increase of around 8% for the GeForce RTX 5060 and 3% for the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti. This could mean a price point of $329 USD for the RTX 5060 and $419 USD for the RTX 5060 Ti.

Apple has teased the future with a team of robotics researchers at the company designing and prototyping a robot with lifelike movements, that looks like a lamp that you'll have on your desk.

In a new video published last month on the Apple Machine Learning Research website, we get a look at something that resembles Pixar mascot Luxo Jr. The video shows the robot interacting with a person in a lifelike way, with the user asking the robot what the weather will be like today, and the robot looks out the window before responding with the forecast... a nice touch.

The user says that they'll be going for a hike that day, but the robot looks sad when it finds out it's not invited on the journey. In another situation, the robot responds to the user's hand gestures by moving to provide the desired lighting for iPhone photography. In another test, the robot pushes a mug on the desk towards the person, acting as a reminder to drink more water.

Take-Two Interactive is apparently so confident in Rockstar's perfectionism that it hasn't laid out exact sales predictions to determine GTA 6's success.

GTA 5 is one of the most successful games ever made. This trend is expected to continue with GTA 6, which could be big enough to lift up the entire video games industry through sales and long-term network effects. As for internal targets, Take-Two hasn't obsessed over recreating GTA 5's sales with in-depth predictions and strategies.

In a recent Q3FY25 earnings call, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick made it seem that the company has total faith in Rockstar Games.

ASUS already has the most expensive custom GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card on the market, but has just one-upped it with the introduction of the new ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 Dhahab Edition, exclusive to the Middle East, with an absolutely gorgeous gold-themed design, check it out:

The new ASUS ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 Dhahab Edition is a super-luxurious collector's item with its all-gold finish, with the word Dhahab being Arabic for gold. ASUS has used the gold theme throughout the card, including the cooling shroud, backplate, and the GPU retention bracket. It looks stunning.

ASUS is also using a turquoise-like embellishment that refracts light into a beautiful blue-green tone, just like the real stone. The company also uses multiple cultural elements into the design of the ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 Dhahab Edition, which includes Arabic calligraphy, with motifs teasing "strength, courage, and unity". There's also a gold backplate that features machined regional motifs that represent the desert and skyscrapers.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is indeed a console release with Rockstar publisher Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick making a statement during its earnings call today, where he said: "GTA 6 is a console release".

Zelnick was asked during the call about different generations of gamers wanting to play GTA 6, as dads would now be playing it with their kids who are old enough to play it. He said: "Rockstar Games seeks perfection in everything they do. If we do that right and focus on delivering for our consumers, that's our best opportunity to succeed".

He added: "GTA 6 is a console release and we know what the current console base looks like", meaning that there is no PC version that will see the light of day this year, but we could see a PC release of GTA 6 in 2026... if not, I bet we'll see it alongside NVIDIA's next-gen GeForce RTX 60 series that should drop in 2027.

Rockstar's sales spree continues as Grand Theft Auto V breaks 210 million units shipped worldwide.

GTA V might be 12 years old but the game shows no signs of slowing down. Released across 3 console generations, GTA V has accumulated some of the best-selling figures in the entire industry. Take-Two Interactive today confirmed that GTA V has reached 210 million unit sales, up 5m units from last quarter. This continues the game's streak of selling 5 million copies per quarter that had been going for many periods in a row.

The game is now so big that GTA V is close to capturing half of all Grand Theft Auto franchise sales by volume (it has already far outstripped any previous Grand Theft Auto title in total earnings). Take-Two says that GTA is now at 440 million, meaning GTA V comprises over 47% of the series' total combined worldwide sales.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is out in the wild, and seems to be one of the most optimized games on the market... capable of running at the insane 16K resolution on NVIDIA's new flagship ultra-enthusiast GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card.

In a new video shared by YouTuber 'zWORMz Gaming' we're seeing Warhorse Studios' new game running at 16K -- which is 15360 x 8640 -- on low settings, with NVIDIA DLSS set to Performance mode on the new GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card. The game doesn't run like a slideshow at 16K surprisingly, with performance hitting around 38FPS average which is more than playable.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance at 16K was allocated 24GB of VRAM while using 22GB of VRAM on the RTX 5090, but when DLSS upscaling was disabled, performance dropped to just 3FPS when running at native 16K resolution. 32GB of VRAM is simply not enough for 16K gaming... pushing right up to the limits of the framebuffer. 16K gaming will be for future-gen GPUs with 48GB or even 64GB of VRAM (without DLSS enabled).

Grand Theft Auto 6's release timing has been reiterated by Take-Two Interactive management.

Will GTA 6 be delayed? No one knows for sure, but Take-Two isn't make the announcement today. The publisher just posted up its Q3'FY25 earnings results and highlighted the upcoming slate of games set to launch this calendar year. The lineup includes the megaton GTA 6, which is still due out sometime in Fall 2025 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

"Looking ahead, this calendar year is shaping up to be one of the strongest ever for Take-Two, as we plan to launch Sid Meier's Civilization VII on February 11th, Mafia: The Old Country in the Summer, Grand Theft Auto VI in the Fall, and Borderlands 4. We continue to invest prudently in our development pipeline and remain confident in Zynga's potential to create new mobile forever franchises as demonstrated by their ongoing success with Match Factory. As we continue to deliver hits, we remain highly confident that we will achieve sequential increases in, and record levels of, Net Bookings in Fiscal 2026 and 2027," Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said.

A newly-published patent shows that the Switch 2 controllers will indeed have optical sensors that allow the JoyCons to be used as mice.

The Switch 2's new and improved JoyCons will have some interesting surprises this time. Gamers will be able to use the devices as makeshift mice, presumably a unique new form of gimmicky interaction for games like Mario Party and perhaps even a new generation Mario Paint.

The functionality was first outed in the highly accurate Switch 2 leaks, and then hinted at by Nintendo in the Switch 2's original reveal video. Now we have even more proof that the JoyCons can be used as mice--this time lifted directly from a patent for the actual accessory hardware.

Take-Two has confirmed that Grand Theft Auto 6 is confirmed for a Fall 2025 release, with the company confirming the news during its earnings call just minutes ago.

During its Q3 2024 earnings call, Take-Two confirmed GTA 6 is still coming for its previously announced release window of Fall 2025, and that the game hasn't been delayed. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick spoke with IGN ahead of the release of its financial report, saying that while "there's always a risk of slippage" the company feels "really good about it (fall 2025)".

IGN asked Zelnick how confident he felt in Rockstar being able to release GTA 6 by fall 2025, to which he said: "Look, there's always a risk of slippage and I think as soon as you say words like absolutely, you jink things. So we feel really good about it".

E3 might be gone, but its trade show roots are returning.

E3 originally kicked off as a private trade show where tech and game-makers would gather to show off their products. The goal was to attract investors, make deals with cohorts, and network with others. Now the ESA has announced a new show that is once again exclusive to industry employees--namely big-time executives and "thought leaders."

The ESA's new professional event is called the Interactive Innovation Conference (or iicon for short). E3 is firmly shut down, though, and iicon won't take place at the LA Convention Center. It's taking place on April 27 - 30 at the Fontainebleau Resort in Las Vegas, and the ESA says iicon will deliver "visionary keynotes, engaging discussions and workshops, and elite networking opportunities."