Latest News - Page 529

Sabrent has just teased its new Rocket XTRM 5, which uses Intel's new Thunderbolt 5 connectivity to create one of the fastest standards on the planet with up to 80Gbps of bandwidth.

The new Sabrent Rocket XTRM 5 delivers the dream of pumping desktop-class ultra-fast transfer speeds to an external SSD thanks to Sabrent's world-class SSDs, mixed with the new insane bandwidth capable through Thunderbolt 5.

Sabrent will make its upcoming Thunderbolt 5-powered Rocket XTRM 5 SSD in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities, so there's one for everyone. It would've been nice to see 8TB at launch, but I'm sure we'll see that down the track.

Qualcomm wants to offer more affordable devices with the Snapdragon X Plus chip as their engine next year.

The news comes from the top, Qualcomm's CEO Cristiano Amon, who made the revelation in an earnings call following the firm's Q3 2024 fiscal results.

The Verge reports that Amon said:

Star Wars Outlaws, a new open-world game set in the iconic universe where you take on the role of a smuggler from the studio behind The Division, sounds like a winner. However, with recent gameplay deep dives and previews being mostly lukewarm and Ubisoft asking for extra money to play the game a few days early, the hype for what should be this month's biggest release doesn't seem to be there.

On the plus side, the PC version sounds technically impressive, with real-time ray-tracing and the new DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction tech dramatically improving image quality on a GeForce RTX rig. However, with Ubisoft updating the official storage page with full PC requirements and hardware specifications for Star Wars Outlaws, you're going to need some serious power to play this at 1440p or higher.

The recommended specs, which cover running the game at 1080, 60 FPS, with the 'High' graphics preset, require at least an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT GPU. But even then, DLSS or FSR needs to be set to 'Quality,' which means rendering the game at 720p before the upscaler does its thing.

Lots of stories are discussed in this week's episode of The TT Show, but before Jak and Kosta dive into the week that was, there's fallout from the CrowStrike Windows blue-screen and crash stuff to go through. As the dust settles, the billions of dollars in lost revenue and the number of PCs affected have become apparent.

Then there's the ongoing saga that is Intel's 13th and 14th Gen desktop CPU troubles. Thanks to an explosive new interview at The Verge, the size and scope of the problem are bigger than we thought and startling, to say the least. Irreparable damage, no product recall, and the entire lineup of CPUs, including 65W mainstream models, are all affected.

Onto the new stuff: NVIDIA's engineers released a paper on a brand-new AI-powered technology it calls Real-Time Neural Appearance Models. Without getting too technical, it will make objects based on real-world properties like metal and ceramic look more realistic in games and run up to 24 times faster - a true game-changer. Also, Logitech is thinking about creating what it calls a "forever mouse."

NVIDIA ChatRTX is an AI chatbot that is fully customizable, from the LLM used to the data. The company describes it as an AI that lets you "chat with your files" as you can customize the data set across different file formats, documents, images, and other data. The latest version of the application is available now, with a minimal and clean UI overhaul that highlights how powerful it can be.

As you can see in the screenshot, the new UI (built using the Electron + Material UI framework) highlights ChatRTX's two main components: the AI Model and the Data. Even better, users and developers can add their own UI elements and expand ChatRTX's functionality by using an open UI framework.

ChatRTx can tap into powerful AI models for customization and, as such, requires at least a GeForce RTX 30 or GeForce RTX 40 Series GPU with at least 8GB of VRAM to run.

Logitech is known for creating some of the highest-quality peripherals on the market and innovating in ways that have enabled it to capture large segments of consumers.

Its no surprise that Logitech Research and Development laboratories would be constantly producing new and interesting designs of established products, with the goal of inventing a fresh take that attracts more customers. Logitech's CEO Hanneke Faber gave a glimpse behind the curtain at Logitech's "innovation center" in Ireland in a recent interview with The Verge. Faber said they were shown a "forever mouse" that was designed to capture similar longevity as a watch.

Faber was asked what made the "forever mouse" a "forever mouse," to which Faber responded it was heavier, came with great software that users would constantly be updating and was "beautiful." Faber was further pressed about how Logitech would make money from selling a mouse to consumers that they would never have to replace. Faber said that such a product would need to offer value in the form of a service in the form of software updates.

At SIGGRAPH 2024, NVIDIA introduced and expanded on the future of digital humans by introducing its latest AI advancement - adding a path-traced realistic-looking human face (and voice) with emotion and detailed animation to the idea of interacting with an AI assistant. This is a massive leap forward compared to the usual text-based interface for AI chatbots and assistants, and it was brought to life by the latest in RTX technologies.

'James' is built using similar NVIDIA ACE technology that we went hands-on with at Computex 2024 as part of an interactive game demonstration where you interact with digital humans in real-time to solve a mystery. This time, however, it's being used in the context of a virtual assistant or customer service agent.

'James' is also built on NVIDIA NIM microservices; Jensen Huang explains how it works and confirms that the visual 'RTX On' front end can connect to existing AI chatbots like ChatGPT.

Hardware reviewers GamersNexus have earned a positive reputation for providing in-depth testing and analysis as part of their reviews and investigations into issues surrounding hardware faults. Like everyone in the industry, the channel has been reporting on the whole Intel CPU fiasco surrounding 13th and 14th Gen CPUs, including the recent confirmation by Intel that any damage is permanent.

However, with news that the outlet is putting together a multi-part in-depth report on the issues surrounding Intel's failing CPUs, GamersNexus has taken to X/Twitter to call out Intel - calling the company "unbelievably slimy." These are bold words, possibly due to how Intel has handled this issue over the past several months. However, it's most likely due to how Intel has responded to GamersNexus as part of its investigation.

Calling a company as big as Intel "unbelievably slimy" is no small thing, and for Intel, at least, the CPU debacle seems to be going from bad to worse.

Popular hardware and component retailer Newegg has expanded its trade-in program to include CPUs - just in time for the arrival of AMD's Ryzen 9000 Series. This announcement comes alongside the ongoing controversy surrounding Intel's 13th and 14th-generation CPUs. However, you need to know how Newegg's trade-ins work.

Newegg provides a pricing guide covering the components' trade-in value, and the trade-in values are noticeably low. Here are some examples of USD. The mainstream Intel Core i5-13600K will cost $150, the flagship Core i9-14900K $300, and the previous-gen flagship Core i9-13900K $260. On the AMD front, the Ryzen 9 7950X will cost $310, with the popular Ryzen 7 7 7800X3D worth $220.

On average, Newegg's trade-in prices are around 50% lower than what could be obtained by selling these CPUs on eBay, which is disappointing. However, there's the added convenience of trading in your old CPU for something new without hassle unless something goes wrong.

Windows 11 could see Copilot coming to the Start menu in some form, if a clue spotted in preview builds of the operating system is anything to go on.

Windows Latest, the source of a good many leaks related to Windows 11, has been doing some digging in previews of the incoming 24H2 update, and uncovered some hidden code.

Specifically, the tech site found a 'CotextualCopilotActionsOnStartRecommended' string which suggests that, well, Copilot could be integrated in the Start menu in some way.

Google has been battling deep fakes of people who didn't consent to their creation for quite some time, but recently, the search engine giant has upped its efforts.

The increase in its efforts against AI-generated non-consensual deepfakes is in response to the rise of generative AI tools that are making it easier for people to create deepfakes of people without their consent. Google has decided to respond to the influx of AI-generated content with a new system that streamlines the request for removal process from the victims' perspective, along with improvements to the response to removal requests.

Additionally, when the new system confirms a request it is then added to the algorithm, which is designed to filter out any other explicit instances related to the individual from Google Search. Any duplicates of the content will automatically be removed, even if its posted on various social media platforms. Moreover, the new system works to proactively reduce the spread of deepfake content that is emerging.

Since 2019, Russian-affiliated hackers have hijacked an estimated 30,000 domains since 2019, with the cybercriminals exploiting a flaw in DNS.

The vulnerability was detailed by security researcher Matt Bryant in 2016, who looked at how the vulnerability led to the hijacking of 120,000 domains. The same problem reared its head again in 2019 with GoDaddy, an internet domain registry, domain registrar, and web hosting company. The 2019 issue led to sextortion attempts and bomb threats.

The technique being used is called Sitting Ducks. It essentially exploits gaps in administrative privileges, enabling cybercriminals to alter domain records without any validation from the owner. Unfortunately, the hijacked domain isn't just damaging for the owner of the domain but also for any visitor to that domain, as hijacked domains are commonly used for phishing, scams, spam, and other illegal activity.

ASUS has launched a new dual-mode gaming monitor that gives the user the option of switching between 4K @ 240Hz and 1080p (FHD) @ 480Hz.

Introducing the ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDP, a new gaming monitor that comes with a dedicated button for switching resolution and refresh rate. The PG32UCDP uses the new WOLED panel technology that enables this switching feature, which is presumably designed for gamers who flex between games that call for image clarity and high refresh rates. I'd imagine the PG32UCDP would be particularly useful for gamer who jumps between FPS and RPG titles.

As for the specifications, the PG32UCDP comes with an Anti-glare finish across the panel, Auto-KVM functionality, a 0.03ms GtG response time, and a 99% DCI-P3 color gamut. As for connectivity, ASUS has outfitted the PG32UCDP with a DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC port, a HDMI 2.1 port, a USB 3.2 hub, a SPDIF port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a USB-C port capable of 90W power delivery charging.

The CEO of Delta Air Lines, Ed Bastian has said during an interview on Wednesday the global CrowdStrike outage cost the company half a billion dollars in lost revenue, as the company was forced to cancel thousands of flights and put travelers up in hotels.

The global CrowdStrike catastrophe is still unfolding. We are just now hearing the first estimations of how much revenue was lost as a result of millions of Windows PCs being thrown into blue screen of death boot loops. For those who don't know, CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company, pushed out a faulty update to its security software, which is downloaded on millions of Windows machines around the world.

The faulty driver update triggered an error within the kernel, or before the PC boots to the user mode of Windows, leading to infinite blue screens of death. It was only recently that a cloud monitoring and insurance company estimated the global loss of revenue as a result of the outage to be $15 billion. That same insurance company estimated an $830 million loss for airlines.

Microsoft confirmed via an update on its Azure Status website that a 9-hour outage was a result of a DDoS attack that affected its Microsoft 365 and Azure services.

The distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack affected the services globally, and within the blog post, Microsoft didn't specify where or who the attack came from. More specifically, the post states that while the initial DDoS attack did trigger the event, it was responded to by Microsoft's protection mechanisms, but following investigations, Redmond discovered "the implementation of our defenses amplified the impact of the attack rather than mitigating it."

Furthermore, Microsoft said that customer impact began at 11:45 UTC, and by 14:10 UTC, the fix was already rolled out, and the majority of the impact was successfully mitigated. The only details we have on how the outage occurred was Microsoft's description of the outage being caused by an "unexpected usage spike" that "resulted in Azure Front Door (AFD) and Azure Content Delivery Network (CDN) components performing below acceptable thresholds, leading to intermittent errors, timeout, and latency spikes."

Microsoft is testing further Discord integration on Xbox as a new feature has hit the Insider program for Xbox users.

Reports indicate that Microsoft has rolled out a new update that enables users to view Discord streams straight from their Friends list. The new option has appeared for users in Xbox's insider program, specifically those in the Alpha Skip-Ahead and Alpha rings. That isn't all of the new Discord features, as Microsoft is reportedly testing the integration of Discord buddies, which appear in your Friends list by relinking accounts.

Having Discord buddies enabled will mean a user will be able to jump into a voice channel without having to use their smartphone or PC. It's great to see further Discord integration into Xbox and if it will be possible for popular PC features such as share-screen will eventually make their way over to consoles. In other Microsoft-Xbox news, the company announced the end of an iconic Xbox era, as the Xbox 360 store was officially sunsetted.

On the heels of Reddit rolling out an update that booted Microsoft's Bing from accessing its data, Reddit's CEO has come out slammed Microsoft and other big tech companies for refusing to negotiate.

Reddit pivoted early this year and made major changes to its business, particularly how it handles its API with third parties. Seeing the massive rise in demand for data to train AI models, Reddit altered its API policies and began charging for access to its massive data pool. This change nuked popular third-party Reddit apps that were used by thousands of users. Reddit users caused the platform to go dark after that, but it has seemingly recovered.

These new API changes and Reddit now selling access to its data scored the company a deal with Google, which includes the $60 million a year paycheck for direct access to Reddit's wells of user data. Additionally, Reddit also signed on to OpenAI, which enables Reddit posts to appear in responses from ChatGPT and other AI tools. No specific financials were revealed about the deal.

It's only a matter of time before artificial intelligence-powered devices integrate into different facets of society, and considering these impressive AI tools are powered by Large Language Models (LLMs), it only makes sense the integration begins with roles that require communication with humans.

One of the fundamental aspects of LLMs and, by extension, these AI-powered chatbots is to bridge the gap between human and machine communication. Microsoft recently revealed it created an AI model that was so powerful that it could perfectly replicate the sound of an individual's voice to the point where it was indistinguishable from the human-generated voice. Microsoft deemed the technology too dangerous to release to the public.

On the other end of the spectrum, AI voice generators could be capable of replacing a monotonous job such as a drive-thru server. Taco Bell is seemingly one of the first to take this step, as the fast-food chain revealed in a new press release that its parent company, Yum! Brands has been testing "Voice AI" technology at more than 100 Taco Bell drive-thru locations across the US. The parent company plans on bringing the technology to "hundreds" of more locations.

Samsung has launched new 1TB capacity variants of its Samsung PRO Plus and Samsung EVO Plus microSD cards, bringing capacity and speed to various compatible devices. Having 1TB to play with on a tiny microSD is impressive, with sequential read speeds of 180MB/s on the PRO Plus and 160MB/s on the EVO Plus - fast enough for 4K video and gaming.

As you can slot a microSD card into a range of portable gaming devices, including the Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, ROG Ally, and countless other Windows and Android gaming handhelds from companies like MSI, Lenovo, and AYANEO, 1TB goes a long way.

As Samsung highlights in its announcement, it's enough to store 45 console games (weighing 20GB each) or over 400,000 4K images.

During financial earnings calls to investors, EA's CEO, Andrew Wilson, has a history of hyping up the games in development across the various studios under the Electronic Arts umbrella. A few months ago, we reported on Wilson proclaiming that the next mainline Battlefield game, currently in development, has the "largest team in franchise history" working on it.

As part of the latest financial earnings call covering the company's various games and franchises, Wilson stated that not only is the new Battlefield game being worked on by the largest team in the series' history, but that it's "one of the most ambitious projects in our history."

This comes down to rumors and reports indicating that it will include single-player, multiplayer, and various modes as a one-stop Battlefield portal. Apparently, four studios are working on it, including franchise creators DICE and Criterion Games. However, Andrew Wilson also threw out the same "one of the most ambitious projects" line for the previous game, Battlefield 2042.