Latest News - Page 655

Three authors have sued chipmaker NVIDIA, claiming the company used their books without their permission to train its AI platform, NeMo.

The proposed class action lawsuit was filed last Friday in San Francisco federal court and claimed that NVIDIA had used the author's books without their permission in the dataset used to train the NeMo AI platform, which is designed to simulate ordinary written language.

The lawsuit didn't specify the damages the authors are seeking, but according to the lawsuit, the following books were used to train the AI model: Keene's 2008 novel "Ghost Walk," Nazemian's 2019 novel "Like a Love Story," and O'Nan's 2007 novella "Last Night at the Lobster."

Star Citizen, the ambitious and perpetually 'in-development' sci-fi universe, not only lets you fly from planet to spaceport to planet in a variety of ships but also explore on foot and take on dangerous missions that require you to enter the situation with a gun in hand. In a new development update titled 'First-Person Assertion,' we learn how the next Alpha update "will bring the FPS combat to AAA standard."

One feature coming to the game, and a very cool one, is the new 'backpack reloading' ability. This ability increases the reload time but lets you access ammo clips and magazines stored in your backpack. With Star Citizen's focus on detail and realism, it adds an extra layer to the combat when you run out of mags or clips stored on your suit.

Also, Alpha Update 2.32 includes a more advanced recoil for all guns (including laser weapons) and a dynamic crosshair to match the movement of a gun's barrel (which can be disabled). Plus, it includes all-new UI and scope rendering (with zoom functionality).

Available this month, Logitech's new MX Brio webcam is the company's 'most advanced webcam yet.' The MX branding signifies that it is part of its Master Series peripheral line-up, and it's powered by the 8.5MP Sony STARVIS image sensor offering 4K 30 FPS and 1080p 60 FPS video. With 70 percent larger pixels than Logitech's previous Brio 4K webcam, image quality and sharpness get a big boost.

As a new product released in 2024, you can be sure there's AI action under the hood. Logitech notes that the MX Brio features AI face-based image enhancements to improve face visibility and image detail in various lighting conditions. On top of this, there's detailed software support for manual control of exposure and camera settings via Logi Options+, Logi Tune, and G HUB.

Designed as a solution for creators and professionals in the modern hybrid working environment, the compact Logitech MX Brio also includes beamforming microphones, tilt abilities, and a built-in privacy shutter.

Real-time ray tracing has been one of the biggest advances in GPU rendering and PC gaming in the past decade. Due to the sheer hardware grunt required to achieve it, it kickstarted the push into the world of DLSS AI-powered upscaling and Frame Generation.

In 2024, we're at the point where some high-end GPUs in the GeForce RTX line-up can run games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Alan Wake II with full path-traced lighting, offering a glimpse into the future of immersive game visuals. So, the idea of real-time ray-tracing or going "RTX On" with just a CPU sounds like a recipe for poor performance.

And that's what you've got with the latest Mesa 3D Graphics Library and its Vulkan driver-CPU-level support for ray tracing. The library ports the work to support ray tracing on older Radeon GPUs to CPUs, with Mesa developer Konstantin Seurer writing 'don't ask about performance' underneath a Quake II RTX screenshot.

With AMD's recent global launch (or re-launch) of the Radeon RX 7900 GRE for $549, the mid-range discrete GPU market got upsized with another great value option. The $400 to $600 USD price range for new graphics cards is pretty stacked at the moment, and with AMD offering the Radeon RX 7900 GRE for the same price as the GeForce RTX 4070, the company also officially dropped the price of the Radeon RX 7700 XT.

At the time, AMD noted that pricing for Radeon RX 7700 XT models would drop to as low as $419; however, over at US retailer Newegg, you can pick up the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 7700 XT 12GB reference model for $399 USD after entering a promo code at checkout.

This puts its price on par with the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, a card it outperforms by 16.7% in 1440p gaming workloads. In our full review of the Sapphire PULSE AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, we noted that it was an excellent alternative to NVIDIA's option-however, the price was too close to the Radeon RX 7800 XT.

Apple's Vision Pro mixed reality headset is a powerful, high-end device with cutting-edge microOLED display technology. It can deliver incredibly immersive visuals with unmatched clarity. Apple's claims that Vision Pro gives you the equivalent of a single 4K TV per eye is backed by a recent iFixit teardown of the device, which details that each pixel on each tiny display is the size of a single red blood cell.

With leaked 'Bill of Materials' reports indicating that it costs Apple around $456 to obtain the two microOLED 4K display panels from Sony, it's not hard to see why the Vision Pro is sold for $3,499 USD. Sony is Apple's only supplier of microOLED panels, which could be the case for a while because Samsung is predicting that it will take at least three to four years for the tech to become commercially viable.

"The market potential of micro OLEDs installed in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) is considerable, but I think the market will start in earnest around 2027 to 2028," Samsung Display CEO Choi Joo-sun said at a recent Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) event.

Helldivers 2 has been a mega-success so far, and we're only a month from its launch... but now industry insider "shinobi602" has said that the game has sold "way more" copies than 5 million.

We already know that Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has sold over 3 million copies of the Democracy-spreading cooperative game, but in a new post on the ResetERA forums, "Triggerhappytel" posted: "Wow, this is really incredible performance. Considering SM2 sold 4+ million in its opening week, Helldivers 2 could definitely be at 5 million sold by now."

In reply to that, shinobi602 said: "way more than that." We don't know how many more copies than 5 million is "way more," but I would dare say we're looking at the 6-7 million copies of Helldivers 2 sold so far without a problem. There are routinely 400,000+ players on a single planet, which is just under 10% of that total 5 million copies... and remember, that's without the game being on Xbox... it's just out on PlayStation 5 and PC right now.

NVIDIA is preparing its next-generation Blackwell GPU architecture as you're reading this, but now NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang has said that the company's next DGX AI system will be liquid-cooled.

This might not seem like much, but data centers aren't easy to liquid cool... it will be a huge infrastructure investment to continue down this path, but the insatiable demand for AI is driving it down this road. NVIDIA's next-gen Blackwell B100 AI GPU is expected to be unveiled at NVIDIA's upcoming GPU Technology Conference (GTC) event, while Dell recently teased the beefed-up B200 for 2025.

NVIDIA's next-gen B200 AI GPU is expected to draw 1000W+ of power when it drops in 2025, so hearing Jensen talk about the new DGX AI system being liquid-cooled makes sense if you consider those power numbers.

Blizzard has just announced that they're introducing a brand new Porsche-inspired Legendary D.Va skin once Overwatch 2's upcoming Season 10 launches. Check out the D.Va skin below:

The new Legendary D.Va skin was inspired by Porsche's all-new Macan Electric vehicle. As part of the collaboration, Onyx Forge Studios created a life-sized, 7-foot statue of D.Va's new Porsche skin. It looks incredible, and I'm sure it looks even better in person.

This isn't the only new skin in Overwatch 2 Season 10, with Blizzard teasing that a second skin, additional cosmetics, and the full details of the event will be unveiled after the launch of Season 10.

The Biden administration signed the CHIPS and Science Act in 2022, with $39 billion in grants and loans provided to semiconductor manufacturing companies to make chips on US soil... well, it's not going so well.

We've seen multiple setbacks over the last couple of years in US semiconductor manufacturing, with TSMC building multiple new fabs in the USA, as well as Intel pushing virtually all-in on domestic manufacturing. TSMC has pumped billions of dollars into getting chip-making fabs up and running in Arizona, but back in late 2022 that TSMC's engineers in the United States were "babies" for leaving Taiwan after experiencing culture shock in the country.

But now, DEI (diversity, equality, and inclusion) rules in the US are strangling any hopes of domestic semiconductor manufacturing. In a new report, The Hill writes that DEI is killing the CHIPS Act, reporting that commentators noted the CHIPS and Science Act money has been "sluggish." Why? Because they haven't noticed that the CHIPS Act is "so loaded with DEI pork that it can't move."

ZOTAC's new GeForce RTX 4090 D PGF OC Edition graphics card has been reviewed, and it is the largest graphics card on the planet... measuring in at 381mm long (!!!).

Expreview has tested the new ZOTAC RTX 4090 D PGF graphics card, with the downgraded internals meeting the China-specific US export rules. ZOTAC revised its GeForce RTX 4090 design with the RTX 4090 D PGF, with 3 x 11 fans and a vapor chamber cooler that features "high-frequency stability... comparable to that of water-cooled solutions."

The review of ZOTAC's new China-specific GeForce RTX 4090 D PGF graphics card from Expreview explained: "(The PGF) has high maximum TGP (530 W) and a powerful 28-phase power PCB design. Despite the technological headroom, the card struggles to offer much of the overclocking potential. The team from Expreview only managed to squeeze 3.7% more performance from this card. That's despite 24.7% more power theoretically available."

We've done it! We've librated Tien Kwan, which means developer Arrowhead has unlocked mechs for Helldivers 2, and man... they're fun to blast enemies down (and up) with.

Helldivers 2 players can now access the new EXO-45 Patriot Exosuit, which features a heavy machine gun and rocket launcher. You'll need to check the stratagems list, where the new stratagem is at level 25 and priced at 20,000 requisitions. But for now, Arrowhead has unleashed the mechs for all players, where you can call down a single EXO-45 Patriot Exosuit through a temporary permit. After this limited time, you'll need to buy the level 25 stratagem to use it.

Before this, the highest-level stratagem was level 20, so now we're up to level 25, where things are getting harder in Helldivers 2. The ongoing Galactic War saw developer Arrowhead ask the Helldivers 2 community to liberate Tien Kwan or risk seeing a delay in releasing the new mechs.

Microsoft has taken to its blog to officially announce that it is currently under attack by hackers sponsored by Russia.

In its blog post, the company explains that on January 12, 2024, Microsoft's security team detected an attack on its corporate email systems, which triggered an immediate response by Microsoft and an investigation. The company identified the hackers as "Midnight Blizzard," a Russian state-sponsored actor that is also known as Nobelium. Since then, Microsoft has been conducting its investigation and has reported back that Midnight Blizzard is using information that it obtained through its hack on Microsoft's corporate email systems to "gain, or attempt to gain, unauthorized access."

More specifically, Microsoft writes that these attempts have resulted in "some of the company's source code repositories and internal systems" being accessed. Notably, Microsoft writes that it hasn't discovered any evidence of Microsoft-hosted customer-facing systems being compromised. Furthermore, Microsoft writes that Midnight Blizzard has increased its volume of attacks by as much as 10 times in February compared to the attacks it was experiencing in January.

Rumors have been circulating about Apple releasing a foldable product for many years now, but in Apple fashion they have been officially airtight on the foldable situation, seemingly until a few hurdles of the new technology are overcome.

It was only late last month that reports surfaced that Apple has halted development on its rumored foldable iPhones, following reports that stated Apple was working on two iPhone prototypes that featured a similar design to Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip. These rumored iPhones were rumored to come with a severe thickness reduction, but engineers working on the projects were struggling to implement batteries as well as completely remove the dreaded crease that plagues all foldable devices currently on the market today.

Now, reports indicate that Apple hasn't completely given up on its foldable future as a new X post from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reveals a new "20.3-inch MacBook" is Apple's "only foldable product with a clear development schedule." Notably, this wasn't the only rumor to come out about a foldable laptop, as display expert Ross Young said on February 1, 2023, that he's heard about a 20.5-inch foldable notebook scheduled for 2025.

After years of waiting, the price of Bitcoin hit a new all-time high, pushing just above $70,000 before it quickly recorrected by 5%.

It was November 2021 when Bitcoin hit its previous all-time high, capping out at $69,000 before the world's most valuable cryptocurrency entered into a bear market of price recorrection. That bear market has seemingly come to its end as the price of BTC has been on the rise since November 2022, steadily increasing all throughout 2023 and now reaching its new all-time high of $70,184.

CNBC reports the upswing in price began when the US stock market opened, which can be traced back to the introduction of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the US. On Tuesday, BTC pushed to its previous highs, and once it got there, the cryptocurrency quickly tumbled back down by as much as 10%, which resulted in many other cryptocurrency coins coming down with it. However, those losses were then regained the next day, eventually leading to the new all-time high.

NVIDIA's next-generation GeForce RTX 50 series "Blackwell" gaming GPUs will feature a memory interface configuration that's not a big departure from the current-gen RTX 50 "Ada Lovelace" GPUs.

In a new post on X, leaker "kopite7kimi" said that "although I still have fantasies about 512-bit, the memory interface configuration of GB20x is not much different from that of AD10x." To give some context there, "GB20x" are the GPU SKUs of the next-gen Blackwell GPUs, while AD10x are the SKUs for Ada Lovelace. AD102 powers the GeForce RTX 4090, for example.

NVIDIA will be upgrading to next-gen GDDR7 memory on its GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards, where if we see the same 384-bit memory bus on the next-gen RTX 5090, we should expect a 50% upgrade in memory bandwidth with the slowest GDDR7 memory providing the RTX 5090 with 1.5TB/sec of memory bandwidth (the RTX 4090 has 1TB/sec memory bandwidth).

A recent update for Windows 10, patch KB5001716, has been reportedly failing to install for some users - and something pretty odd is going on here, apparently.

KB5001716 is actually an update for Windows Update across all versions of Windows 10, which Microsoft says does the following: "When this update is installed, Windows may attempt to download and install feature updates to your device if it is approaching or has reached the end of support for your currently installed Windows version. Feature updates offer new functionality and help keep your device secure."

Some folks are getting an error when trying to install the update, but the strange bit is the reason why they are getting this error message - because the update has already been installed on their Windows 10 PC.

The TT Show is back, and this week, Jak and Kosta examine all the current rumors swirling about next-gen gaming hardware and discuss what they mean for the Nintendo Switch 2, GeForce RTX 5090, and the RDNA 4 flagship Radeon RX 8800 XT (or 8900 XT). All three are coming either late 2024 or early 2025 and will represent a big across-the-board shake-up - from handheld gaming to mid-range PC gaming to enthusiast high-end flagship PC gaming.

And when it comes to PC gaming, Microsoft is set to bring some major updates to its DirectX 12 Ultimate platform - one that will make it easier for developers to insert all upscaling tech into their games (including DLSS, FSR, and XeSS), and another that will be a game change for PC game optimization. No more crappy PC ports? Fingers crossed.

In other gaming news, the duo talks about the recent Nintendo lawsuit against Switch emulator Yuzu, which in a week saw the popular app shut down and pay Nintendo millions of dollars in damages. In the world of Apple, Jak and Kosta discuss Apple's canceled electric car, new MacBook Air laptops, and why it was fined $2 billion in the EU over its music streaming and storefront practices.

After months of rumors and a launch earlier this week, Apple has today made the M3 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air laptops available to buy which means that those who placed an order earlier in the week will have started to receive their notebooks today today. It also means that those who prefer to pick their new laptop up in-store can do just that.

Both 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air laptops are available to buy at a local Apple Store today with stocks also offered in various colors as well. The base configurations are also available but those who want to upgrade to a more powerful device will have to choose a built-to-order model which won't be available for immediate in-store collection.

In its base configuration, the M3 MacBook Air comes with an M3 chip with an 8-core CPU and an 8-core GPU paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. You'll get two Thunderbolt / USB-4 ports which can be used for charging. Alternatively, the laptops also ship with a MagSafe 3 charging port as well. The 13-inch model comes with a 30W USB-C power adapter while those who choose the larger 15-inch model will get a slightly more capable 35W charger instead.

Rumors of smart speaker company Sonos entering the headphone market have been floating around for a while now, but so far nothing has actually launched. There was a report last month that Sonos was struggling with a software issue which meant that the launch of the headphones had been pushed until June. The issue was thought to relate to the way the headphones would connect to a user's Wi-Fi network, but now there's a hint that things might be progressing well.

That's after it was discovered by one Reddit user - and then picked up by MacRumors - that the headphones appear to have wound their way through the FCC approval process in the United States, a fact that suggests a launch is edging ever closer.

The headphones themselves are going to work with Bluetooth 2.4GHz as well as WiFI over the 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks as confirmed by the FCC documentation. We expect the new headphones to be designed to go up against Apple's AirPods Max but be priced slightly lower at around $449 which could give them the edge. The headphones will then be priced around the same level as competing products from Sony and the like, although potentially with a slightly different feature set.