Latest News - Page 714

The new AMD Ryzen 7 8700G ($329 USD), with built-in Radeon 780M graphics, can deliver fast and playable full-HD 1080p gaming even in demanding titles like Cyberpunk 2077. Naturally, to hit over 60fps, you're looking at low settings, and AMD advised that the new Ryzen 7 8000 Series isn't a replacement for discrete graphics - but it's impressive nonetheless.

Compared to the fastest integrated Intel desktop graphics (found in the Intel Core i7-14700K), using far less power, the Ryzen 5 8600G ($229 USD) and the Ryzen 7 8700G deliver 2X, 3X, and even 4X the performance in some titles. This is brilliant news for small form-factor mini PCs and should lead to some powerful, tiny gaming PCs.

The built-in Radeon 780M graphics is compatible with AMD's HYPR-RX software so it can access the driver-level Fluid Motion Frame frame gen tech to boost performance. AMD notes that even without AFMF, the Ryzen 7 8700G outperforms the entry-level GeForce GTX 1650 for gaming and productivity

AMD has announced its new RDNA 3 GPU at CES 2024 as the Radeon RX 7600 XT 16G. Yes, this is another mainstream GPU from Team Red, but this time with 16GB of VRAM for $329 USD.

Available January 24, 2024, with models from Acer, ASRock, ASUS, GIGABYTE, PowerColor, Sapphire, and XFX, it's set to fill the sizable performance gap between the Radeon RX 7600 and the Radeon RX 7700 XT. At least, that was the expectation. Per AMD, in-game performance will be closer to the 7600 than the 7700 XT.

With 16GB of VRAM, AMD notes that this mainstream GPU is 'ready to take on 1440p' in games where VRAM capacity is a concern but is better suited for AI and content creation. Outside of the bump in VRAM and faster clock speeds, the specs are identical to the existing Radeon RX 7600 non-XT that launched in May 2023. What does this mean for performance? Let's dig into AMD's benchmarks and info.

Oppenheimer has taken yet another win home with Cillian Murphy winning the award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama.

The actor starred as Robert J Oppenheimer, the rightly named "Father of the atomic bomb." in the Christopher Nolan-directed historic drama biopic Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer blew through the box office and was an outstanding picture during a year full of outstanding pictures, securing itself as the third-highest-grossing film of the year.

Kicking off CES 2024 strong, one of the biggest players in mobile accessories, Belkin, has announced a full range of Qi2 devices with just about something for everyone.

Qi2 is the latest in open wireless charging technology and is about to make a massive difference depending on how you charge. Similar to Apple's MagSafe chargers, Qi2 uses a similar setup with magnets that help you line up your device and the charger port.

This reduces the likelihood of a user failing to quickly throw a device on charge because the connector wasn't lined up correctly. The stand out of the new range is the Qi2-enabled BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 Magnetic Stand. It sits fancy with a Qi2 charger for a phone, an Apple Watch charger, and a flat spot at the bottom to wirelessly charge AirPods or any other wireless charging-compatible devices.

Nearly two decades since the Golden Globes introduced its Best Animated Film category, The Boy and the Heron has made history as the first anime film to secure the award.

The renowned writer/director Hayao Miyazaki has made Golden Globes history with the latest film out of Studio Ghibli, The Boy and the Heron, which has won the globe for Best Animated Film. Since the Golden Globes started acknowledging achievements in animation back in 2006, no anime film has yet to garner as much attention as bigger studios such as Disney and Dreamworks.

However, this award season has changed that. The film follows a young boy's quest through a mysterious world accompanied by a talking Heron. The win, when announced by presenters Florence Pugh and Natalie Portman, stunned viewers not only in attendance but worldwide, especially given this year's competition with the likes of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Elemental, and Suzume among the nominees.

The official shipping date has been revealed for the Apple Vision Pro, the next-generation of augmented and virtual reality.

The Apple Vision Pro was first unveiled in June 2023 at the Worldwide Developer Conference where it quickly gained a lot of attention for its industry leading capabilities and its sharp price of $3,499. Despite its price tag the AR/VR headset caught the spotlight for its impressive specifications with 4K displays for each eye, a dial that enables users to bleed in/out the virtual world, and intuitive interaction techniques that remove the need for controllers, such as the eye tracking and hand gestures.

It was only recently that Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman stated in the weekly Power On newsletter that Vision Pro headsets are currently on the way to distribution warehouses across the country in preparation for the coming launch in February. It appears that Gurman's predictions were spot on with Apple CEO Tim Cook announcing via his X account that Apple will begin shipping the Vision Pro on February 2. Preorders for the VR/AR headset will open on January 19.

With Award season in full swing, the Golden Globes Ceremony is giving us more than just this year's winners.

Swinging by the red carpet, Spider-Verse creative duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller spilled some beans on what fans can expect of the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse trilogies final and upcoming chapter Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.

XREAL, an augmented reality (AR) company that is concentrating its efforts on glasses, has announced that a new pair of AR sunglasses is hitting the market. Introducing Air 2 Ultra priced at $699.

Air 2 Ultra can currently be ordered by developers, who are expected to receive their shipment sometime in March. XREAL's latest offering is the most recent device to start competing with the Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro.

As for what the Air 2 Ultra can do, the company explains via a press release that the sunglasses feature "spatial computing," which projects a floating image in front of the users' eyes, and with its dual 3D cameras located on each side of the glasses it's mapping the environment surrounding the user, while simultaneously tracking hand movement. Notably, the Air 2 Ultra features a full six degrees of freedom or 6DOF tracking.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has taken to the weekly Power On newsletter to report Apple Vision Pro headsets are on the way to distribution warehouses across the United States.

The Bloomberg reporter, who is known in the industry as being very spot on with the movements within Apple, reports the stock that is being moved to US warehouses is enough to fuel the scheduled February launch. Backing up his own statement, Gurman stated this would be the case in a newsletter published in December, as shown here. Due to the launch date only being around the corner, we can expect Apple to make an official announcement that will reveal the specific availability date for the Apple Vision Pro.

Notably, Gurman also writes that retail employees have already begun flying to Apple Park to undergo the Apple Vision Pro training required to demo the products in Apple stores across the country. Furthermore, these employees flown out to Apple Park will then be required to return to their respective Apple Store and train other staff members.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) hosted annually attracts some of the most cutting-edge technology, and sometimes that can come in new TVs or robotics, and other times it can come in bathroom upgrades.

Have you ever wished you could speak to your toilet? Well, if you have, Kohler, a 151-year-old company known predominantly for its plumping solutions, has showcased a new accessory called the PureWash E930 Bidet Seat, a bidet seat that incorporates many features of a smart toilet, such as voice activation for washing, warm/dry air, UV cleaning and more.

Users are able to take advantage of both the front and rear wash modes, adjust water temperature and pressure settings, swap between oscillating or pulsating sprays, a more delicate mode for children, and a boost spray to get into all those nooks and crannies. Additionally, the PureWash E930 comes with a nightlight for those nighttime trips to relieve yourself.

If you are a heavy user of an iPhone 15 that utilizes the smartphone's full camera capabilities, you may have reached your storage limit on your device, especially if you are shooting in 4K.

Dockcase has a solution that may be worth considering adding to your arsenal of devices within a quick-to-go-bag for a spontaneous shoot. Introducing the Dockcase's Pocket M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure. This tiny enclosure is capable of holding up to a 2TB M Key M.2 (NVMe/PCIe) and can be plugged directly into an iPhone 15 via the USB-C port. Users are able to shoot directly onto the storage device, eliminating the issue of phone storage reaching 100%, along with the transfer times of pulling video off the iPhone.

Additionally, the Pocket comes with some nerd stats designed specifically for people who enjoy transfer rates or are interested in what is happening under the hood of the device. The Pocket comes equipped with a screen that informs the user about the health of the device, what SSD is within it, read/write speeds, a read-only mode, and more.

The Golden Globes have just taken place to recognize and award all the fantastic achievements in Television and Film throughout the last year.

This Award season is a little different, though, with the Globes ceremony adding a new award category to the roster to highlight blockbuster films. The newly named award is Cinematic and Box Office Achievement. This new award is made to acknowledge films that made a minimum of $150 million during their release, with $100 million of it coming from the Domestic box office.

This new category saw a wide range of last year's favorites nominated with Barbie, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, John Wick: Chapter 4, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, Oppenheimer, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and also the concert film phenomenon Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.

Christopher Nolan has secured the gold medal from this year's Golden Globe award ceremony, receiving his very first Golden Globe for Best Director for his 2023 film Oppenheimer, a 3-hour historical drama about the ethical dilemma and the consequences of Nuclear weapons.

Although this is his first win, it is not his first nomination at the Globes, having previously nominated for his writing of 2000's film Momento, writing and directing 2010's Inception, and directing 2017's Dunkirk. With 2023 being such a massive year for movies, the competition was somewhat fierce, with several huge names in the race. Nolan was up against Bradley Cooper for Maestro, Yorgos Lanthimos for Poor Things, Martin Scorcese for Killers of the Flower Moon, Celine Song for Past Lives, and Greta Gerwig for her massively successful Barbie.

When Nolan took to the stage, he honored a dear friend, stating, "The only time I've ever been on this stage before was accepting one of these on behalf of our dear friend, Heath Ledger, and that was complicated and challenging for me," Nolan directed Ledger in his 2008 superhero flick The Dark Knight, the actor sadly passed at the age of only 28 of an accidental overdose shortly after filming was complete.

Acer has four more additions to its already extensive line of Predator gaming monitors, with the company unveiling the Predator Z57, Predator X34 V3, Predator X39, and Predator X34 X.

The company has taken to its website to publish a press release detailing each of the new additions to its range of gaming monitors.

First up, we have the Predator Z57, the goliath of the four as it measures at 57-inches with a resolution of 7680 x 2160 (DUHD), a refresh rate of 120Hz, a 2304-zone Mini LED technology for intense picture quality, 1000R curvature designed to consume the user's field of view, top-of-the-line VESA Display HDR 1000 certification, two HDMI 2.1 ports, DisplayPort 1.4, and a wide DCI-P3 98% color gamut.

Samsung has just announced its new Smart Monitor M80D with a 32-inch 4K panel, featuring a bunch of cool technology inside. It'll work with or without your PC or console attached. Check it out:

The new Samsung Smart Monitor M80D features a 32-inch 4K panel with HDR10+ compatibility, built-in 2-channel speakers, and Bluetooth so you connect other devices to it, like your smartphone or wearables. Samsung has even built a tool that lets you quickly send images and text from Samsung devices, like its range of Galaxy smartphones, to the Smart Monitor M80D.

Samsung's new smart monitor will also connect to your Galaxy Buds, offering a "surround sound-like experience" without much latency at all. Thanks to its 4K HDR capabilities, using this as a monitor for your PC or a smaller TV with 4K resolution support and HDR makes for a great video experience on your desk, or anywhere for that matter.

Ambient Photonics, a solar technology firm concentrating on clean energy solutions is slated to unveil its new solar cell technology that eliminate, or at least reduce the reliance on rechargeable, or disposable batteries.

The company is backed by Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund, along with many other venture capital firms. According to a press release Ambient Photonics will unveil its first bifacial solar cell at CES 2024, which is a new groundbreaking technology that will enable light to be harvested from both sides of the solar cell.

According to Bates Marshall, Ambient Photonics' Co-Founder & CEO, the applications for this newly improved solar cell are widespread. Additionally, the company claims these cells offer three times more generated power than competing solutions, even in environments that are extremely dim.

The Golden Globe Awards ceremony for 2024 is in full swing, and Oppenheimer has secured an early win with Robert Downey Jr adding a new Golden Globe to his collection.

The beloved actor won the Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. Downey undoubtedly deserved the win for his portrayal of Lewis Strauss in the film, but his win was far from guaranteed.

The competition was fierce this year with nominees such as Ryan Gosling for Barbie, Mark Ruffalo and Willem Defoe for Poor Things, Robert De Niro for Killers of the Flower Moon, and Charles Melton for May December, all of which were award-worthy performances.

Samsung's brand new 2024 OLED TVs have just been announced, with the introduction of its new S90D and S95D 2024 TVs teased.

The company offers its new 2024 S90D and S95D are offered in sizes between 55 inches and 77 inches, with Samsung using its latest OLEDs in the new 2024 sets. Samsung is proud to announce it's using "OLED Glare Free" technology on its new S95D flagship, although it should be on the S90D too, the company hasn't confirmed that.

Samsung says its new 2024 S95D OLED TV should feature fantastic picture quality no matter what's going on in the room, with lights or sunlight beaming through, while viewing angles should be great as well.

MSI has launched a fleet of new QD-OLED gaming monitors for CES 2024, with this fleet of new gaming monitors covering various sizes all the way up to 49 inches.

MSI is no stranger to the gaming monitor market, making some of the most affordable displays available to gamers. Now, the company is diving head-first into OLED, specifically QD-OLED, with a range of new displays that push refresh rates far beyond 120Hz. At the top of the pile of new gaming monitors, we have the MPG 491CQP QD, a 49-inch 5,120 x 1,440 resolution, 0.03 GTG response time, a 144Hz refresh rate, 250 nits typical brightness, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x USB Type-C 90W PD port, VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 and more.

Moving on to the smaller variant we have the MPG 321URX / 271QRX. These two monitors are the same except for their size and refresh rate. The 321URX is a 32-inch display that features a 240hz refresh rate, while the 271QRX features a 360Hz refresh rate. Both the 271QRX and the 321URX have all the same connectivity and color capabilities as the 49-inch 491CQP.

Samsung has just announced its new Neo QLED 8K flagship TV, packing the company's latest and most innovative TV processor yet: NQ8 AI Gen3.

The new Samsung Neo QLED 8K TV uses its new neural processing unit (NPU) that's twice as fast as the previous generation chip, with the number of neural networks increasing 8x from 64 to 512, allowing the new flagship Neo QLED 8K TV to display every single pixel in crisp detail.

Samsung's new flagship QN900D comes in at up to 85 inches, ensuring native 8K and even 4K content upscaled using the new AI processor, look amazing. It's the first TV on the market with a variable refresh rate of up to 240Hz at 4K, which is going to be perfect for gamers with large pockets. I'd love to see the QN800D with 8K content, and 4K @ 240Hz on a huge 85-inch panel. Very, very nice to see.