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Following a ruling by the International Trade Commission (ITC), Apple had to stop selling its flagship Apple Watch Ultra 2 and the Apple Watch Series 9.

The banning of the two aforementioned Apple Watch's was a result of a dispute between Apple and medical technology company Masimo, which were debating the ownership of the blood oxygen sensor technology within both of the devices. The ITC announced its ruling back in October, upholding a judge's decision to rule in favor of Masimo back in January, 2023. Apple then informed 9to5Mac that it will no longer be selling its Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in the United States after 3 pm ET on Thursday, December 21.

However, thanks to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and according to a new statement from Apple to 9to5Mac, the company has confirmed the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 will be returning to retail stores and it's website on December 27. Apple explained that after undergoing an extensive process of appealing the ruling it filed an emergency request to get the ban lifted with the US appeals court, which proved successful.

Grinding in video games is something only a specific type of gamer likes to do, and how much you enjoy that grinding for gear ranges on a spectrum from "I don't mind grinding a little bit" to "I enjoy farming for the absolute best gear even if it means hours, days, or possibly months of my life".

Some gamers are simply built differently, and most that fit this category love the idea of an ultimate goal despite the time it would take to achieve. Diablo IV is filled with these types of loot-hunter gamers, and one such player took to the Diablo IV subreddit to share their spoils while also announcing their retirement. The player revealed they collected all seven Ancestral Unique items after 800 runs and a "month worth of grinding".

For those that don't know Diablo IV items but can appreciate drop rates, the Ancestral items are the rarest items in Diablo IV, and the runs that the player is referring to are extreme end-game content, likely Helltide Events or Nightmare Dungeons. Gamesradar reports that if the player acquired all seven of the Ancestral items in 800 runs, it would mean the player had a drop rate of just 0.00875% per run.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang is celebrating in a big way right now, with The Economic naming him the "Best CEO of 2023" after the explosive dominance of NVIDIA's fleet of AI GPUs.

The Economist took a look at the performance of the leaders of the largest companies in the S&P 1200 index, which looks at the big economies except for China and India. The list doesn't include any CEO that hasn't been in their position for less than three years, ranking the list of executives by the returns they generated for their shareholders relative to their sector's average.

On the list of the top 10 bosses, included Canadian mining firm Cameco and American homebuilder PulteGroup, which were left out of the left. A few other CEOs were left out of the group, leaving five "superstar chief executives" for 2023. At the top of that list was NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, which delivered an astounding 172.9% shareholder return; second under Huang was Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta.

NVIDIA is gearing up for the reveal of its new GeForce RTX 40 SUPER series GPU pricing, and now we've got some juicy leaks covering the pricing of all three of the new RTX 40 SUPER series graphics cards.

In his latest video, Tom from Moore's Law is Dead covers leaked pricing that sees an MSRP of $999 for the flagship GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER. NVIDIA's second fastest refreshed new card, the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, will reportedly have an MSRP of $799, while the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is reportedly priced at $599.

This is coming from multiple sources of Moore's Law is Dead, with a distributor source confirming that -- currently -- the GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER "seems" to be priced at either $999 or $1199... but $999 would be a much more aggressive mark for NVIDIA to take. This source added that without getting into the weeds of how price listings work in their system, the source summarized saying that NVIDIA is trying to either hide the RTX 4080 SUPER pricing, or the $999 price if "just being communicated now".

Star Citizen is a sprawling and impressive everything sci-fi game that has been in development for over a decade, and even though there doesn't seem to be an end in sight - over that time, the game has managed to raise hundreds of millions in funding via the cloud. One method is to sell in-game ships to players so they can cruise through the stars in style one day (or in the current Alpha).

The in-game ships aren't cheap, with some costing several hundreds of dollars. The latest digital space pack for Star Citizen from Roberts Space Industries has to be the most expensive DLC we've ever witnessed for a high-profile game. The LEGATUS 2953 package is described as the "perfect collection," featuring "over 175 vessels from every manufacturer of note."

The price? $48,000 USD.

GeForce NOW, NVIDIA's cloud gaming service that gives users a full GeForce RTX 4080-powered gaming experience without shelling out for expensive PC hardware, closed out 2023 in style.

From GeForce NOW Ultimate membership, which now includes three months of PC Game Pass, over 100 Xbox Game Pass titles hitting the service, and November and December 2023, seeing a whopping 150 new games arrive, NVIDIA is looking to continue that momentum in 2024.

One of the most impressive shooters in recent items, Embark Studios' free-to-play The Finals is now available to play on GeForce NOW. With a whole suite of RTX technologies. DLSS 3, DLSS, NVIDIA Reflex, and real-time ray tracing, it's a visually stunning and highly competitive game. It's joined this week by Redmatch 2 (Steam), Scorn (Xbox, available for PC Game Pass), and Sniper Elite 5.

If you've been building PCs, upgrading hardware, or consider yourself a veteran PC enthusiast, you'd undoubtedly have heard of Plextor. Or, more likely, you've used a Plextor drive at one time or another. The company was known by many for creating quality CD and DVD drives before pivoting to SSDs. For me, my very first beige-colored gaming PC from the 1990s had a Plextor CD-ROM burner.

With such a storied history and one that is built on performance and quality in the CD and DVD-ROM era, the news that Plextor is being shut down is a little 'sad face emoji.' Well, not exactly shut, as reports indicate that Plextor brand owner KIOXIA is simply retiring the name and will continue to release Plextor SSD products with its Solid State Storage Technology (SSSTC) branding.

The transition is underway; the official Plextor website now redirects visitors to SSSTC.com. At the end of the day, we're talking about a name change, but for veteran PC gamers, Plextor has a lot more weight than the generic Solid State Storage Technology branding.

AMD's CES 2024 presentation, 'together we advance AI,' is scheduled to take place on January 8 at 7 am PST - with AMD Chair and CEO Dr. Lisa Su and AMD's Senior Vice President of Computing and Graphics Jack Huynh set to take the stage.

The details for the event specifically mention 'AI in personal computers,' so we should probably expect both CPU and GPU announcements. "AMD is powering the end-to-end infrastructure that will define the AI era," the event description reads. "From cloud installation to enterprise cluster, AI-enabled intelligent embedded devices and PCs."

The presentation is scheduled to occur before NVIDIA's big GeForce RTX 40 Series SUPER reveal, so it will be interesting to see if AMD has anything Radeon to show. There are credible rumors of a new AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT with 16GB of VRAM launching in late January, and with RDNA 3 including AI hardware - the new GPU could be announced at this presentation.

Dell has just announced its new fleet of XPS 2024 laptops, providing major upgrades across the board with its XPS 16, XPS 14, and XPS 13 laptops.

The new Dell XPS 2024 laptops feature Intel's latest Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" CPUs which have AI at their heart, with Dell taking a minimalistic approach with the design of its new XPS family of laptops. The company is providing a sleek look using CNC-machined aluminum for the body and a Gorilla Glass 3-protected surface.

The new flagship Dell XPS 16 laptop will start at $1899, featuring up to the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H "Meteor Lake" CPU, which can be configured with up to 64GB of faster LPDDR5X-7467 memory, up to 4TB of Gen4 PCIe SSD storage, and up to NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4070 8GB graphics with a 60W TDP.

MSI has posted a teaser video on its social channels for a new PC gaming handheld from the company - something to rival the Steam Deck, ROG Ally, Legion Go, and products from Ayaneo. The full reveal and announcement are coming at CES 2024 next week, where the company will probably have a few prototypes or models on hand for attendees to check out.

And to make it just that little bit more interesting, unlike most PC gaming handhelds on the market rocking AMD Ryzen "Phoenix" hardware with integrated Radeon graphics, this new PC gaming handheld from MSI could be using an Intel 'Meteor Lake' APU.

MSI is set to announce its very own PC gaming handheld at CES 2024 next week, so we don't have long to wait to find out what's under the hood. All signs indicate an APU from the latest mobile Intel Core Ultra line-up with integrated Intel Arc graphics. But how will it stack up against AMD's Ryzen 7 7840U?

Razer has just teased its next-gen Blade 18 gaming laptop, where it invites gamers to experience the world's first 18-inch 4K 165Hz display. Check it out:

The new Razer Blade 18 gaming laptop is the most powerful new Blade gaming laptop the company has ever made, bringing out the full capabilities of high-resolution and high refresh rates for gamers and content creators. The new 18-inch 4K 165Hz display will bring "unparalleled detail and sharpness to larger screens".

Razer adds that the additional real estate provides gamers with a more immersive experience. For content creators, the increase real estate will allow them to comfortably fine-tune each minute detail of their creations. The 165Hz refresh rate ensures gamers enjoy a super-smooth gaming experience, but for everyone else, it'll make browsing and everyday tasks feel like butter. Personal note: I can't stand 60Hz displays, so this is something worth underlining.

MSI's next-gen TITAN 18 HX gaming laptop has been teased ahead of CES 2024, inside it'll rock Intel's new mobile flagship Core i9-14900HX "Raptor Lake Refresh" CPU and some delicious hardware to match. Check it out:

The new MSI TITAN 18 HX gaming laptop will feature an Intel Core i9-14900HX processor with 24 cores and 32 threads boosting up to 5.8GHz, with the choice of an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 or GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card. Interestingly, it'll feature a 270W power mode (for the combined CPU and GPU power).

This means we should see a 175W TGP for the GPU (both the RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 with 175W) and 95W for the CPU, which is a huge 40W boost from the default TDP of the Core i9-14900HX. What does this mean? MSI stays within the MTP (Maximum Turbo Power) limits of 175W that are set in stone by Intel, but it'll allow the Core i9-14900HX processor to sustain those huge 5.8GHz clock speeds for longer periods of time.

Sabrent's new USB-C Universal Docking Station has been announced, with the new do-everything USB-C dock ready to provide you with every port imaginable for about every device imaginable. Check it out:

The new dock truly has it all, offering dual HDMI ports, dual DisplayPort ports, a 1GbE ethernet port, dual USB-C 10Gbps ports, dual USB 2.0 ports, and a headphone jack... and that's just on the back. On the front of the Sabrent USB-C Universal Docking Station, we've got two USB-A 5Gbps ports, USH-I SD and microSD card slots, another headphone/mic jack, and a single USB-C 10Gbps port. Sheesh, that's a LOT of connectivity, folks.

The external power adapter lets you power with device charging of up to 80W, while there are some front-facing LEDs for extra clarity, adds Sabrent.

The illegal ransomware hack on Insomniac Games has delivered tons of leaks about Wolverine, new Spider-Man games, and potentially even Sony's upcoming PS5 Pro.

Reports indicate that Sony will release an upgraded PS5 Pro sometime in 2024. Like the original PS4 Pro, the Gen9 PS5 Pro may also prioritize graphics upscaling technology thanks to a special new chip. Sony is said to be working on some sort of proprietary raytracing acceleration tech that's akin to DLSS, potentially via new dedicated AI hardware.

The recent Insomniac Games hack appears to reinforce this theory. The hack saw hundreds of thousands of confidential files and materials leaked onto the internet, including new info about Insomniac's upcoming Wolverine game set for 2025. One slide specifically mentions complex game features like AI upscaling via machine learning, fluid dynamics, and deformable surfaces.

If you've always wanted an Xbox toaster, the accessory of your console gaming dreams has arrived courtesy of Walmart.

The Xbox Series S Toaster - yes, this is a real product, listed at Walmart - is a two-slice toaster (with a wide slot, you'll doubtless be pleased to hear) that jazzes up your toast by imprinting it with the Xbox logo.

It has a digital timer, six different levels of toast browning - the darker the shade, the more pronounced that Xbox logo will be - and settings for bagels, and for defrosting bread.

Forget the Windows key, there's a new introduction for Windows keyboards that Microsoft has just revealed - Copilot is getting its own dedicated key.

By pressing the Copilot key, as you can probably guess, you'll swiftly summon the presence of the AI assistant on your Windows 11 desktop (or Windows 10 for that matter, as Copilot is coming to the older OS, too).

In a blog post introducing the new key, Microsoft pointed out that this is the first 'significant change' to the Windows PC keyboard in the best part of 30 years. (It was nearly three decades ago when Microsoft first brought in the Windows key in all its shortcut-enabling glory.

CES 2024 kicks off next week in Las Vegas, and it will be huge. Everyone will be there, including the inventors of NAND flash and one of the leaders in memory and storage, KIOXIA.

AS CES 2024, KIOXIA will showcase its extensive portfolio of products for virtually any solution that uses flash technology, which covers almost everything that has technology! From enterprise servers to VR headsets, vehicles, cameras, portable smart devices, and traditional PCs - flash memory and SSD storage are key components.

KIOXIA will showcase its scalable KIOXIA BiCS FLASH 3D flash memory for a diverse and dynamic market, including cost-effective and high-capacity 4-bit per cell quad-level-cell (QLC) technology and XL-FLASH. The latter is a low-latency, high-performance flash memory solution that delivers the best performance.

Fans will soon be able to revisit the magic of the mega-popular animated hit Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which will return exclusively to IMAX theatres starting January 19.

The film, which is acclaimed for its groundbreaking animation, voice acting, and characters, will see our spider heroes swinging back onto the big screen for a limited time only, according to a recent post by the writer and producer Christopher Miller.

We have seen a recent surge of theatrical re-releases of films from the last year popping up in the last few months, most notably the return of Barbie and Oppenheimer. However, this particular re-release comes amid the build-up for the 2024 Academy Awards, where the spider-centric film is already gaining Oscar Buzz.

2023's Game of the Year, Baldur's Gate 3, has been out on Xbox for just shy of a month and seems to be landing some players in hot water after Xbox's default setting automatically shares content containing nudity recorded by a player.

An Xbox player experiencing a bit of naughty gameplay containing some nude character models while playing Baldur's Gate 3 decided to record a clip from the game. Unfortunately for them, due to the console's default settings, all recorded content is automatically uploaded to the Xbox public feed, resulting in a breach of Xbox's Terms of Service and a hefty consequence for the sharing player.

As Reddit user Daddy-Vegas tells it, one clip entitled "naked camp time fun" has landed him a ban lasting until the end of the year, of which we are less than a week into *Gasp. In an interview with DualShockers, Vegas explained he did not intend to share the footage and that his clips were automatically shared to the public feed due to the default settings.

Shift Robotics is bringing its latest version of 'robotic shoes' to CES 2024, called Moonwalkers X. With six wheels (the original Moonwalkers has 10 wheels), the Moonwalkers X look like fancy roller skates designed for business and commercial use for employees that do a lot of walking.

Although they feature wheels, they're not roller skates. Each Moonwalkers X show straps onto your existing shoe, and with AI measuring your stride 100 times per second, they adjust to speed up the walking process. With Moonwalkers X, you can walk up to 250% faster than normal, which is why Shift Robotics mentions warehouse workers who might walk as many as 30,000 steps daily.

The latest version of these 'robotic shoes' (the wheels are smart enough to lock into place when they detect stairs) are significantly lighter, less than one pound for each shoe - and have been overhauled for control, safety, and agility.