Latest News - Page 713

The new GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the first of three new GPUs in the 40 SUPER Series set to launch, available on January 17. With 20% more CUDA Cores and beefed-up specs, it's faster than the GeForce RTX 3090 for 1440p gaming, using a fraction of the power.

Ahead of our full review (coming at a later date), we are allowed to present a first-hand look at the new GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER Founders Edition GPU - an unboxing! Similar in size to the RTX 4070 Founders Edition, the SUPER branding and metallic shroud are now in shiny black.

Putting the two RTX 4070 FE models side by side, the difference in look is immediately apparent, with the black metal giving the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER Founders Edition a more rugged and sleek look.

Xbox gamers can play Final Fantasy XIV starting this February.

At the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Fest in Tokyo, Japan, director Yoshi-P confirmed launch timing for the MMORPG's available on Xbox platforms. Square Enix's strategy is to release an open beta test for FF14 on Xbox in February, possibly around February 21st or thereabouts.

"As far as Xbox goes, we will be beginning the open beta test in February. Our current plan is to begin the open beta around the 21st, plans could change for a few days in any direction, but that's our current plan," Naoki Yoshi-P Yoshida said during the event.

When it comes to finding your lost wallet, bag, keys, or just about anything else, you really can't go wrong with using an AirTag. The little item tracker lasts for a year or so on a single battery and connects to Apple's own Find My network for quick and accurate locating. So why would Apple go through the work of launching an updated model?

That's the question that everyone has been asking and the simple answer might be that it isn't going to. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, writing in the weekly Power On newsletter, claims that Apple is now in "no rush" to release a new version of the AirTag, which means that we might be waiting until 2025 at the earliest. The AirTag 2 is something that will surely happen eventually, but 2024 now seems increasingly out of the question.

Writing in a paywalled response to a question in his weekly Power On newsletter that was then reported on by 9to5Mac, Gurman suggested that there are no standout new features that Apple could add to the AirTag 2 and that the current model still does most of the things anyone could want from such a device.

If you're still on the fence about treating yourself to a new Vision Pro mixed reality headset, Apple is giving you a chance to try one on for size for absolutely nothing. That's after the company began to email potential Vision Pro buyers across the United States to tell them that they can pop down to their local Apple Store and take the headset for a spin.

Apple confirmed today that the Vision Pro headset will go on sale on February 2, and now we also know that the same date will see demonstration units made available in Apple Stores so that people can try the mixed reality offering out before they decide on whether or not to splash the cash. And quite a lot of cash it will be, with the Vision Pro selling for $3499 in this very first iteration. Thankfully, Apple is already rumored to be hard at work trying to find a way to make a future version of its headset cost less.

In an email sent to customers, Apple says that its Vision Pro headset will be available for try-ons starting from 08:00 on Friday, February 2. Demotimes will be available through the weekend on a first-come, first-serviced basis although we have to assume that slots will also be available beyond the weekend.

Mobile revenues dipped in 2023, but the $100 billion segment is expected to bounce back in 2024.

Much to the dismay of publishers like Take-Two Interactive, who recently purchased Zynga for $12.7 billion, mobile gaming saw a decline throughout 2023. Analyst firm Newzoo estimates that mobile gaming dropped 16% year-over-year to $90.4 billion, excluding advertising.

These trends are set to change in 2024. Analyst firm Data.ai forecasts that mobile gaming will boost some 4% in 2024 to $111.4 billion revenues. The group also predicts that the United States will be the largest driver for spending growth throughout 2024. This seems to be consistent with Newzoo's data which trends towards North America as having the largest spend-to-population ratio in the world.

There have been ongoing rumors of Apple launching new OLED iPad Pro models in 2024 for some time now, and it's looking increasingly likely that it will happen within the next few months. But a new report suggests that anyone looking to buy one of them might want to start saving a little more quickly.

That's according to a new report on the Naver blog by the account yeux1122, someone with a hit-and-miss track record to date. But taking it at face value, the news isn't great for anyone who had planned on buying a new iPad Pro in 2024.

The report claims that the new OLED iPad Pro will start at $1,500 and rise to anything between $1,800 and $2,000, figures that are much higher than the current entry-level offerings. MacRumors notes that these price increases represent an 80% hike on the 11-inch iPad Pro and around a 60% increase on the 12.9-inch model.

Apple's Vision Pro finally has an official release date, with the company confirming that it will go on sale on February 2nd. The news was announced in the middle of CES 2024 with Apple seemingly keen to try and take some of the attention away from what is going on in Las Vegas. And the new release date wasn't all that Apple announced in its press release, either.

Alongside tidbits like the fact that buyers will be able to pick up Zeiss prescription lenses from $99, the press release also confirmed what people will get in the box when they buy a new Vision Pro headset. And as you might expect for something that costs so much money, you do get more than just the headset and a charger, thankfully.

As Apple has now confirmed, the Vision Pro will come with a pair of bands in the form of a Solo Knit Band and a Dial Loop Band. Apple says that this is to give users different options so that they can choose the one that best fits their head and their needs. Other options will likely also be available to buy both from Apple and third parties, too. Think Apple Watch bands and you probably won't be far off the mark.

Apple today confirmed that the Vision Pro mixed reality headset will go on sale on February 2nd in the United States, news that had started to leak ahead of time thanks to reports by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. But while the confirmation was always going to be welcome, the release date isn't the most interesting aspect of the news. Instead, that was reserved for something that was left as a footnote within Apple's press release.

Back when Apple announced its Vision Pro headset in June of 2023 it confirmed that there would be no way for people to wear their glasses and the headset at the same time. That's obviously a problem for people who need to wear glasses to be able to see, but Apple had the answer - Zeiss prescription lenses would be sold via the optical company's website. However, there were no details as to how much those lenses would cost which was obviously less than ideal. With the headset itself costing $3,499, some had worried that prices could get out of hand. Thankfully, that isn't the case.

At the bottom of Apple's press release, the company confirmed that Zeiss will sell prescription lenses for those who just need a reading prescription for $99, while those who need another prescription will pay $149. While those costs are less than ideal when you're already spending $3,499 on a headset, the figures are undoubtedly lower than the $600 that some people had suggested would be required.

PC gaming is off to a big start in 2024 as Valve sets a new all-time record for Steam gamers online at the same time.

Yesterday on January 7, Steam has set a new concurrent user record of 33.67 million gamers simultaneously active and connected to the service. The previous record had been set in March 2023 and saw some 33.59 million Steam concurrent users--the exact numbers are 33,675,229 and 33,598,520 for 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Alongside the concurrent user milestone, Valve also set a new record for the number of in-game Steam users. There were over 10.83 million users playing games when the new concurrent record was set.

Microsoft is bringing a new feature to its Copilot AI in Windows 11 that could prove a handy addition in terms of help for the average user.

It goes by the name of 'Add a screenshot' and we're told that this is now rolling out to Windows 11 users across the globe - but as ever, it's a phased process, so you may not see this for a while yet.

Windows Latest discovered the capability, which consists of the ability to take a screenshot of Windows 11 and get Copilot to explain the content of that grab (in the same vein as a standard image query).

Netflix could be the first to bring advertisements to premium games within a subscription service.

In 2021, Netflix announced that it would start offering free mobile games for subscribers to enjoy. All active Netflix users could play a growing lineup of mobile games for no extra charge--a carefully strategized value-add that's aimed at subscriber retention. From the get-go, the company has proudly boasted that its games don't feature ads or optional in-game purchases.

The lineup of games typically included smaller-scale titles at first, but has since ramped up to include some heavy-hitters like Rockstar Games' mega-popular Grand Theft Auto series. Now the service features more than 80 games, with mobile hits like Too Hot to Handle, Football Manager 2024 and GTA: San Andreas among the most-played titles. In fact, Netflix briefly took the #1 top gaming spot on both the Google Play Store and the App Store with its version of GTA: San Andreas.

Final Fantasy XIV Online has broken 30 million registered users, making it one of the most-played MMORPGs in gaming.

10 years after the launch of A Realm Reborn, Final Fantasy XIV is still going strong. The landmark high fantasy MMO has gained tremendous momentum over the years by achieving 30 million players worldwide on PC and PlayStation platforms.

The news was confirmed by the game's official Twitter account, and the online player count is likely to jump by many millions of players once Final Fantasy XIV rolls out on Xbox platforms in 2024. Square Enix has planned an open beta test for next month in February.

NVIDIA is partnering with Twitch and OBS for something special for content creators and streamers: the ability to stream multiple encodes concurrently to give viewers the 'optimal viewing experience.'

GeForce RTX GPUs power the new Twitch Enhanced Broadcasting beta, which solves an issue with Twitch streaming: choosing between higher resolution or more reliable lower bandwidth streaming for older devices. Server-side transcoding is only available for the top-performing channels, with most streamers left with a single-stream solution. So, if someone doesn't have enough bandwidth to watch a 1080p or higher stream, they're out of luck.

With Twitch Enhanced Broadcasting (the beta coming later this month), using NVENC hardware in GeForce RTX and GTX GPUs, streamers can broadcast up to three resolutions simultaneously - up to 1080p. And that's just the first version; there's an update coming that will support up to 5 concurrent streams using the new and improved AV1 codecs for GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs, up to 4K.

NVIDIA revamped its Founders Edition design for the GeForce RTX GPUs with the GeForce RTX 30 Series, where it introduced one of the most stylish and unique GPU designs in years. From revamped cooling with intake and exhaust fans on each side of the GPU to an all-metal build with intricate fins, it's a look and design language that has carried through to the Ada-powered GeForce RTX 40 Series.

With NVIDIA announced three new GeForce RTX 40 SUPER Series GPUs at CES 2024, the company also confirmed that two of the three models (the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER and GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER) will be getting Founders Edition models. Sadly, the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is missing out.

With a similar form factor to the non-SUPER models for these graphics cards, these new Founders Edition cards include the new 'SUPER' branding but with black colored metal instead of the various shades of grey seen in the non-SUPER editions and the 30 Series.

NVIDIA's GeForce NOW cloud gaming service continues to grow from strength to strength. At CES 2024, the company is announcing a whole suite of new goodies coming to the service - from games to membership options and even VRR technology in the form of G-Sync.

First up, some games. As 2023 drew to a close, the first Activision title joined the service - the juggernaut that is Call of Duty. The next two Activision Blizzard games set to join GeForce NOW are Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 (support for the Steam versions is coming first), which are "coming soon" thanks to the 10-year NVIDIA and Microsoft partnership.

Also coming soon are Capcom's Exoprimal, HoYoverse's Honkai: Star Rail, and the highly anticipated everything medieval sim Pax Dei. Coming in February is a cool initiative for those looking to check out Ultimate and Priority memberships that take advantage of GeForce RTX 4080 hardware for 4K, DLSS, and RT-powered gaming. Day Passes will offer full benefits 'one day at a time.'

NVIDIA first showcased its new NVIDIA Avatar Cloud Engine (ACE) technology created in partnership with Convai back at Computex 2023, with a Cyberpunk-style diner showcasing a fully realized AI character you can interact with (via voice) who will then dynamically respond and react depending on what's happening in the game world.

At CES 2024, NVIDIA is presenting an updated version of the diner demo with an additional character in the scene and confirmation that a broad list of developers are now using the technology for game development. Charisma.AI, Convai, Inworld, miHoYo, NetEase, Games, Ourpalm, Tencent, Ubisoft and UneeQ.

Tencent calls NVIDIA ACE a "milestone moment for AI in games" and will use the tech in upcoming projects. NVIDIA notes that the latest version gives AI NPCs awareness of objects so they can pick them up and drop them off. In addition, NPCs can lead players.

After several months of leaks, rumors, and official teases, the GeForce RTX 40 SUPER Series of GPUs has been officially unveiled at CES 2024. Based on specs, pricing, and performance, the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, and GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER all make a strong case for potentially picking up a new NVIDIA GPU.

NVIDIA is increasing performance without increasing prices - in the case of the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER (launching January 31), the price is being lowered from an MSRP of $1199 USD to $999 USD - a 16.7% decrease. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER (launching January 24) replaces the existing $799 GeForce RTX 4070 Ti while bumping up the specs and the VRAM capacity to 16GB of fast GDDR6X memory for the same price.

And then there's the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER (launching January 17), which features 20% more CUDA Cores than the GeForce RTX 4070 to deliver "faster than GeForce RTX 3090" 1440p gaming performance for the same MSRP of $599 USD. And with that, the TGP is increasing to 220W compared to 200W on the baseline GeForce RTX 4070.

NVIDIA's RTX Video Super Resolution has been out for a while, which brought a DLSS-style AI upscaling to video playback for all GeForce RTX graphics card owners. After a few months out in the wild, it received a notable version 1.5 update in October 2023 that improved image quality while adding a de-artifact feature to native resolution playback.

As part of its CES 2024 presentation, where the company announced the new Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB GPU, AMD also revealed that the latest Radeon Adrenaline Software update is bringing driver-based upscaling for video playback using FSR technology.

In addition to this, the popular VLC video playback software is getting a Radeon-specific update in Q1 2024, adding FSR upscaling and hardware-based noise reduction.

AMD has announced new budget and mainstream gaming Ryzen 5000 desktop CPUs at CES 2024, including the Ryzen 7 5700X3D and the Ryzen 7 5700 for AM4. AMD notes that these new "gaming processors" are designed for those who want a simple upgrade path on their existing AMD rig or want to assemble a cost-effective AM4 socket gaming PC.

The Ryzen 7 5700X3D includes AMD's 3D V-Cache technology, which is well-known for delivering exceptional gaming performance. Like the popular Ryzen 7 5800X3D, the new Ryzen 7 5700X3D is an 8-Core, 16-Thread processor but with a lower 4.1 GHz Max Boost and a 3.0 GHz Base clock speed (compared to 4.5GHz and 3.4GHz for the Ryzen 7 5800X3D). But at a much lower price, it could be the budget gaming CPU to get.

Throw in 100MB of Cache, a 105W TDP, and this new AM4 CPU priced at $249 USD is set to compete with the similarly priced Intel Core i5 13600K while delivering improved gaming performance.

At CES 2024, AMD announced a range of new products, from new Ryzen CPUs to a brand-new RDNA 3 desktop GPU in the form of the Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB. With 16GB of VRAM and a $329 USD price-point, it's positioned to deliver mainstream generative AI performance, content creation, and even gaming where VRAM workloads are intensive.

The Radeon RX 7600 XT is launching on January 24, 2024, and it also marks the date AMD Fluid Motion Frames leaves beta or 'technology preview' to become a part of Radeon's Adrenalin Edition software suite and its HYPR-RX package.

With Fluid Motion Frames as part of the driver, Radeon RX 7000 and Radeon RX 6000 Series owners can now enable frame generation globally in any DirectX 11 or DirectX 12 title.