Latest News - Page 426

NVIDIA's next-gen GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop GPU is rumored to be around 40-60% faster than the current-gen RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, according to the latest leaks. Let's go:

In his new video, leaker Moore's Law is Dead says his NVIDIA source told him: "By the way, this December we've been validating a GN22 X9 sample that has 16GB of GDDR7, a 175W max TGP, and 7680 CUDA cores. This definitely seems like the RTX 5080 Laptop Edition, and it should be 40-60% faster than the current RTX 4080 Laptop GPU".

We've been hearing more and more about NVIDIA's next-gen GeForce RTX 50 Laptop GPUs lately, with ASUS's next-gen ROG gaming laptops featuring the new RTX 5090 Laptop GPU, RTX 5080 Laptop GPU, and RTX 5070 Ti Laptop GPU in 2025.

Palit has just unveiled its first "Mini AI hardware" with the launch of its new Pandora system, check it out:

The new Palit Pandora system has been built specifically for AI inference, machine learning, and other AI-focused tasks, with the Pandora running the Ubuntu operating system, and supports NVIDIA SDK for AI acceleration. Pandora has been made for enthusiasts and small developers who want an AI-focused system, ready for multiple fields.

This includes smart retail, education, robotics, generative AI applications, and more. Palit explains: "Compact at 121mm x 145mm x 66mm and weighing only 470g, Pandora is ideal for space-constrained environments. Pre-installed with a 128GB SSD, Ubuntu OS, and JetPack SDK 6.1.1, Pandora is ready for AI deployment, excelling in smart retail, education, robotics, and generative AI applications".

Rather than buying Kadokawa Corp for multiple billions of dollars, Sony has chosen to invest in the manga giant instead.

Sony will not be acquiring Kadokawa after all. Both companies have announced a strategic partnership that sees Sony purchasing 10% of Kadokawa's stock for 50 billion yen, or about $319.5 million. That's a lot less than it would have cost to buy out Kadokawa completely.

Despite Kadokawa's commanding presence in the manga/anime markets (not to mention its gaming might thanks to FromSoft and others), Sony making this kind of investment makes more sense than an outright buyout. The news comes at a time when Sony is aggressively slashing its budgets and spending in an effort to boost profitability, and new consolidation could take years to unravel. Based on Kadokawa's market capitalization, it could have cost Sony over $3.3 billion to buy out Kadokawa's existing shares.

The worldwide games market pulled in $184.3 billion throughout 2024, driven primarily by digital software and microtransactions, analyst firm Newzoo estimates.

Newzoo has just updated its forecasted earnings figures for 2024, and the new numbers are actually slightly down. According to coverage from Games Industry.biz, Newzoo now projects that the global video games industry earned $184.3 billion throughout 2024. It should be noted that the data does not include advertising revenues, hardware and peripheral sales, and earnings from regulating gambling games.

The actual results are considerably less than what Newzoo had originally expected that gaming would make in 2024. Previous coverage shows that Newzoo had forecast gaming to hit $187.7 billion in 2024, meaning the current results are off by some $3.4 billion, or nearly 2%. Global digital game revenue was $175.8 billion, making up 96.4% of total earnings, whereas physical clocked in at around $8.5 billion and accounted for just 4.6% of yearly spending.

A new job promotion under Xbox's management team could hint at a handheld-based future for Microsoft.

Through a series of interviews, Xbox gaming CEO Phil Spencer has teased that Microsoft wants to make an Xbox handheld. There's just two problems: Microsoft has a bad track record with hardware profitability, especially Xbox consoles; and two, Microsoft has never actually made a gaming handheld before (but they did make phones),

So that's why Microsoft has been drumming up interest and helping mature the nascent-but-growing handheld market in its own way, through third-party deals, advertisement promos with Game Pass, and strong marketing campaigns like the recent "this is an Xbox" barrage. LG signed such a deal with Microsoft to promote its Logitech G Cloud handheld. Microsoft is essentially finding ways to bolster the handheld market while not actually having to produce any hardware of its own.

Is it time for some good news about Windows 11 24H2, finally? No, it isn't sadly, instead we've got further tales of woe about fresh bugs in the 24H2 update.

There are two new critters which are skittering about in the works of Windows 11 24H2, as highlighted by Microsoft in its release health status dashboard for the OS.

The first glitch is with the Auto HDR feature, and when it's switched on, those running 24H2 may find the colors in games are messed up (with "certain display configurations" Microsoft advises).

The US government has asked NVIDIA to investigate how its best AI chips are ending up in China, pushing the company to ask big distributors, to start spot checks on customers in Southeast Asia.

In a new report from The Information and Reuters, we're learning that the US Department of Commerce is asking NVIDIA to look into how its chips are getting into China.

NVIDIA was being pushed to ask its big distributors Dell and Super Micro Computer (SMC) to conduct spot checks on their customers in Southeast Asia, with The Information reporting that 5 different people involved in smuggling NVIDIA chips say they've so far managed to evade detection during recent inspections by Super Micro.

Lenovo will have a "special guest" at its gaming handheld event in Las Vegas at CES 2025 on January 7, and that special guest is Valve... with Lenovo cooking up its first SteamOS gaming handheld.

We heard rumors of the Lenovo Legion Go S last week from leaker Evan Blass, but now The Verge is confirming that "the future of gaming handhelds is coming to CES '25 and you have a front row seat!" The January 7 event is titled "Lenovo Legion x AMD: The Future of Gaming Handhelds" with a special guest: Valve SteamOS and Steam Deck co-designer Pierre-Loup Griffais.

Lenovo and AMD call him Valve's "Chief Design Architect" but Griffais will be joined by Microsoft VP of Xbox Gaming Devices and Ecosystem, Jason Ronald, where he will be introduced as Microsoft's "VP of Next Generation".

The next-gen ASUS ROG Strix G835 gaming laptop has been teased, powered by NVIDIA's next-generation GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU.

In some new leaks from retailers, early listings were spotted for multiple next-gen ASUS ROG gaming laptops with the ROG Strix G835 featuring up to the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, up to 64GB of DDR5 memory, a 2TB Gen4 SSD, and up to NVIDIA's next-gen flagship GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU, and an 18-inch QXGA display with a peak brightness of 1200 nits.

ASUS will also have the next-gen ROG Zephyrus GU605 which will feature up to Intel's new Core Ultra 9 285H processor, 64GB of LPDDR5X memory, and a 16-inch QXGA OLED display. On the GPU side of things, ASUS will reportedly offer a choice of the RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5070 Ti Laptop GPU options.

Rapidus has just become the first Japanese semiconductor company to announce 2nm trial production, using ASML's bleeding-edge High-NA EUV lithography machines, and could enter the coveted supply chain for NVIDIA.

TSMC is ahead with its 2nm production but Rapidus is coming in quick, leaving semiconductor competitors Intel Foundry and Samsung, in its 2nm dust. Rapidus is an emerging semiconductor company, using ASML EUV scanners in a facility in Japan, with 2nm production reportedly on track and ready to compete with Taiwan semiconductor giant TSMC.

Rapidus unveiled that ASML's bleeding-edge EUV machines were being installed by the end of December 2024, which is said to be a revolutionary development for Japan's semiconductor industry. Rapidus said that it will kick off pilot production in April 2025, with commercial development expected to start in 2027.

OneXPlayer has just unveiled its new G1 compact gaming laptop, powered by AMD's new "Strix Point" APU, and featuring a detachable keyboard... check it out:

The new OneXPlayer G1 gaming laptop features the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 "Strix Point" APU with 12 cores and 24 threads of Zen 5 processing power at the ready, backed up by 16 Compute Units of RDNA 3.5-based GPU. The G1 features an 8.8-inch display at a 2.5K resolution with a refresh rate of up to 144Hz.

There are USB4 and OCulink ports that allow OneXPlayer G1 gaming laptop owners to use an external graphics card, with the laptop weighing in at 900g. There's a detachable keyboard and two methods of controlling the G1 laptop: the physical keyboard itself, or the game controllers that are hidden underneath.

The latest version of GPU-Z has just dropped with v2.61.0 adding support for Intel's new Arc B580 and B570 "Battlemage" graphics cards, as well as preliminary support for AMD's new RDNA 4-based Navi 48 GPU. You can download GPU-Z 2.61.0 here.

TechPowerUp GPU-Z 2.61.0 is also the first version of the software to support detection of Qualcomm Adreno 540, 630, 640, and 642L with the team noting that "GPU-Z is an x86 application, although you can run it on Windows on Arm platforms, where the operating system's emulation allows GPU-Z to detect the underlying hardware".

Not only do we have Battlemage and RDNA 4 GPU support, the team has added support for the integrated GPUs of the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, NVIDIA H100 80 GB HBM3, A4000H, A800 40 GB Active, RTX 5880 Ada, and Tesla K40st. There's also new PCI vendor detection for ONIX, the new Intel Arc board partner, as well as Shangke.

The first trailer for James Gunn's new Superman is here, showing Kal-El battered, bruised, and bleeding before Krypto comes to save him. Check it out:

The new Superman movie is being directed by James Gunn, who helmed the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy for Marvel and the MCU, but is now the co-chief of DC and the writer + director on Superman. In the opening scene of the trailer, Krypto is called to (well, whistled) by Superman who needs help... as the trailer cuts to other parts of the movie.

We get to see the visual style and color grading that James Gunn has used for Superman, shots of Lois Lane and Clark Kent in the Daily Planet, cuts to the Kent Farm with Clark and Pa Kent embracing... it shapes up so well, but then Superman flies in front of a little girl that has just been attacked by a... KAIJU... an epic shot, absolutely epic.

Recently, Alienware launched a new line of Pro peripherals for PC gamers, designed in collaboration with and for pro gamers and enthusiasts. The recent launch of the Alienware Pro Wireless Headset Review blew us away with its comfort and audio tuning, primarily when used for PC gaming.

It's also versatile, with Bluetooth support and ANC, making it a great travel companion for long flights or a short commute to work or school. "With premium comfort and sound quality to match, it's easy to recommend the Alienware Pro Headset for gaming - this is the sort of high-quality sound you expect from a premium brand," our review says. "With decent ANC, you'd gladly take it on the road or your daily commute connected to a smartphone or portable gaming handheld like the Steam Deck."

Is it perfect? Well, no product is, and here, the lack of a dedicated mobile app is disappointing but not a deal breaker. Recently, we sat down with Brian Wong from Alienware, who was instrumental in designing the Alienware Pro Wireless Headset, to discuss what went into the design, how the headset was created in collaboration with Team Liquid, and how he wants to change the public's perception of the brand when compared to peripheral heavy hitters like Logitech and Razer.

NVIDIA's next-gen GPU range creeps ever nearer, and as is par for the course, the RTX 5000 leaks are also coming hot on each other's heels now - and here's another one.

This time, we've got a whole range of potential Blackwell GPUs aired by Palit, which just filed a host of models with the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), as flagged up by leaker @momomo_us on X.

Typically, these filings indicate that upcoming products are near, and may also give us a clue as to what launches we'll see - but in this case, Palit has gone for a spray-and-pray approach, quite clearly.

An on-court PS5 giveaway has gone wrong for a young fan at an NBA basketball game on Monday.

During the December 15 clash between the Charlotte Hornets and Philadelphia 76ers, a child and his uncle were called onto the court and presented with a 'PS5, and VIP experience for a future game'. The segment centralized around a Christmas theme, aimed to promote the holiday spirit. A presenter from the Hornets reads out the boy's holiday wish - a request for a PS5 to play the NBA 2k series.

The boy is ecstatic upon receiving the gift - the team's presenter, and a santa-dressed mascot wishing him a happy holidays. But when the cameras turned off things began to started taking a turn.

SpaceX is undoubtedly celebrating the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) awarding the company a launch license for its upcoming 7th test flight of Starship.

The celebration isn't for the license itself but more so for the speed at which it was obtained, as the FAA only took about a month to evaluate the previous launch of Starship and issue the new license. This kind of timing is unheard of and has even resulted in SpaceX and company CEO Elon Musk publicly slamming the FAA and its regulatory hurdles for holding up the development of Starship. However, the license issuing for Flight 7 stands as an example of the FAA improving internal efficiencies.

SpaceX hasn't confirmed when Flight 7 will take place, but given the history of previous flights, they typically occur within weeks of the launch license being obtained. However, with Christmas around the corner, it might not be until mid-January we see Starship take flight again. As for the mission objective, while SpaceX hasn't released any details about Flight 7, it would be a reasonable guess that it will include another catch attempt of the Super Heavy booster, as unforeseen problems that emerged in Flight 6 resulted in a catch attempt having to be abandoned.

The Nintendo Switch 2 leaks continue to emerge, as a YouTuber posted a video with a dummy Nintendo Switch 2 unit, which is now the best look we have gotten at the design of the upcoming handheld.

It was only yesterday that multiple Nintendo insiders pointed to the same month for the Nintendo Switch 2 unveiling, which was preceded by a known Nintendo leaker teasing a new Mario Kart game as a launch title for the unreleased console. Additionally, the Nintendo Switch 2 was revealed in leaked images traced back to Chinese accessory manufacturers or brands, which posted renderings of the new console within product listings for accessories designed for the "Switch 2".

We can now add one more "leak" or rumor to the overwhelming mountain of rumored evidence of the Nintendo Switch 2, and it's possibly the most valuable one yet. YouTuber NerdNest published a 20-minute hands-on video with a Nintendo Switch 2 dummy sourced from accessory maker iVolver. The YouTuber explained that while he had a dummy unit for the Switch 2 in his possession, he chose not to publish a video about it until the dbrand leak happened, which, for those who don't know, was also a dummy Nintendo Switch 2 unit. In fact, it was the same unit NerdNest had in his possession.

Grand Theft Auto fans are patiently waiting for the sixth game, which is currently scheduled to be released sometime in 2025 but is rumored to be pushed back to 2026. Now, an actor who worked on Grand Theft Auto 5 has teased a possible release window.

Fans of Grand Theft Auto have been searching online for any piece of information about the upcoming title and have previously even gone to the extent of aggregating all known leaks, rumors, and rumblings into one single document. Another piece of information can now be added to the document, as an actor who previously worked on Grand Theft Auto V has subtly teased his involvement in Rockstar's upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI.

The actor Johnny Ray Gill, who appeared in the TV series Cross, recently sat down for an interview on the YouTube channel Check It TV, where he hinted at possible involvement in Grand Theft Auto VI. Gill, while not being able to directly confirm his involvement in the project, did allude to it quite heavily, and given Gill's history with working on Rockstar games, such as GTA 5 and also Red Dead Redemption 2, his comments were seen through quite easily.

The first crossover collaboration for Helldivers 2 has been unveiled, and the collaborative DLC is Killzone-themed but has sparked anger from fans of the title due to its price.

Before Sony and Helldivers 2 developers Arrowhead Studios announced the collaboration on social media, images for the cosmetic DLC were leaked online. These images were promptly pulled down by the copyright holder, which in this case would be Sony. Shortly after the leaks were plugged the official announcement was posted to the Helldivers 2 X account, and then began the backlash from fans. Purchasing everything within the cosmetic DLC will cost a player 1,975 Super Credits, the Helldivers 2 in-game currency. Notably, players can pay $20 for 2,100 Super Credits.

The new cosmetic DLC is the most expensive set currently available to purchase in Helldivers 2, and it being the equivalent of approximately $20 to buy, it means the new DLC pack is half the price of another copy of Helldivers 2. Furthermore, while games such as Apex Legends, Overwatch 2, Fortnite, and others survive through cosmetic DLC releases such as this one, each of those aforementioned titles is free to play, while Helldivers 2 costs $40.