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New USB-C Mac accessories tipped for a spring 2024 release
Before Apple announced the new 24-inch M3 iMac recently it was expected that the company would also announce new USB-C-powered accessories. But that didn't happen and you can still buy a brand-new iMac and get a keyboard and mouse with a Lightning port. However, there is now a hint that might change - but it isn't going to be any time soon.
Apple needs to move all of its accessories away from Lightning and towards USB-C by the end of 2024 in order to meet EU requirements for a common charging cable. But a new report by leaker Instant Digital, picked up by, MacRumors, suggests that we might see a change in spring.
Instant Digital was posting to the Chinese social network Weibo when they said that Apple intends to launch new accessories with USB-C in spring 2024. That means that we can expect new Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Mouse accessories to come with USB-C as part of the refresh. However, it isn't yet clear whether the change of port will be the only change or if we should expect a change in aesthetics or features.
Continue reading: New USB-C Mac accessories tipped for a spring 2024 release (full post)
This $4.01 from Steve Jobs check is now worth $46,000
If you wrote a check for $4.01 in 1976 it would probably still be worth the same amount in 2023. But the same can't be said for anything with Steve Jobs' signature on it with this check now being sold for a huge sum of money.
All kinds of Steve Jobs and early Apple memorabilia have been sold over the years much of it bringing in huge amounts of money for those lucky enough to own them. This check is a prime example of that after it sold at auction for a whopping $46,063. The check itself was issued by Apple Computer Company in 1976 and was made out to RadioShack. The timing of the check fits in with when Jobs and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak were working on the Apple-1 computer, but it isn't known what the check actually bought for the company.
The check lists a Palo Alto address for an answering service and mail drop-off point that Jobs was known to have used when Apple was still being run out of his garage, MacRumors notes, and these details have appeared on other Apple memorabilia previously.
Continue reading: This $4.01 from Steve Jobs check is now worth $46,000 (full post)
GTA 6 trailer was in-game, not pre-rendered, GTA 5 dev says
Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 animator Mike York shares his thoughts on the recent GTA 6 trailer and hypes up Rockstar Games in the process.
It's not so often that we see actual game developers lend their expertise to YouTube trailer breakdowns. Mike York, who worked on two of Rockstar Games' highest-profile games, did a quick GTA 6 trailer reaction that's been making the rounds.
York's analysis is that the GTA 6 trailer is entirely in-game and has no pre-rendered footage--a declaration that has caused a bit of confusion among gamers.
Continue reading: GTA 6 trailer was in-game, not pre-rendered, GTA 5 dev says (full post)
Xbox may offer free xCloud streaming with ads
Xbox gaming CFO Tim Stuart suggests that Microsoft could offer free game streaming over xCloud in exchange for ad viewership.
Ads could be the next phase step evolution in Microsoft's gaming content and services roadmap. Experts believe that a cheaper ad-supported Xbox Game Pass subscription tier could be offered, and we've heard Xbox president Sarah Bond discuss topics like ads and Xbox offering "slices of gameplay" to users.
Now we have very interesting quotes from Xbox chief financial officer Tim Stuart on the topic of ads, and how they could be used for Xbox cloud gaming. The following was transcribed with Stuart's interview at the Wells Fargo TMT Summit held late last month.
Continue reading: Xbox may offer free xCloud streaming with ads (full post)
Scientists unveil the world's first Harry Potter invisibility 'cloak'
The iconic Harry Potter invisibility cloak has been brought to life by a group of scientists who have unlocked a ground-breaking new level of optical technology.
According to several reports and the South China Morning Post, the new technology is called an InvisDefense Coat and is capable of hiding the human body day or night, specifically from security cameras that are being monitored by artificial intelligence. At a recent scientific event in Shanghai, China, Chu Junhao, a renowned physicist from Donghua University, took to the stage to demonstrate how certain materials can be invisible to the human eye, which generates an effect that is out of science fiction or fantasy.
The scientist explained that the new technology uses what are called convex cylindrical lenses, which are placed in a row across the sheet of paper seen in the above video. "Each vertical lens can shrink and thin objects parallel to it so that light can refract," Chu explained. Technology such as this has widespread application, and specifically in the military sector, as vehicles such as fighter jets could have the material placed on their belly, entire structures built out of it, and general stealth applications.
Continue reading: Scientists unveil the world's first Harry Potter invisibility 'cloak' (full post)
Call of Duty devs triggered over God of War voice actor comments at Game Awards 2023
A group of Call of Duty developers have taken to social media to voice their concerns about the recent comments from God of War voice actor Christopher Judge at The Game Awards 2023.
The controversy started when God of War voice actor (Kratos), Christopher Judge took to the stage and said that his speech wasn't going to be long and that he wasn't going to be taking up too much of their time. Judge went on to say that his speech wasn't going to be eight minutes long "like last year," when the actor won Best Performance for his role as Kratos in God of War Ragnarok. No one, including the Call of Duty developers, didn't have a problem with any of those words from Judge.
What they did have a problem with is the following line, "But fun fact, my speech was actually longer than this year's Call of Duty campaign," he added. That cheeky comment from Judge, which was clearly done in jest, triggered a bunch of past and present Call of Duty developers that took to X to rebut Judge's comment. While Judge's comment was clearly a joke, many individuals working on Call of Duty didn't see it that way.
Jurassic Park: Survival is the Jurassic Park game fans have always wanted
Jurassic Parks fans are rejoicing at the recent reveal at this year's Game Awards, as Jurassic Park: Survival hit the big screen for the first time.
The new horror-action title takes Jurassic Park fans back to Isla Nublar, and it appears that things will kick off right after the events of the first movie. So, what is Jurassic World: Survival? It's likely the style of the game Jurassic Park fans have been asking for, as it features horror elements, gore, iconic dinosaurs, and a fully-fledged single-player action-adventure.
The trailer showcases the main character, Dr. Maya Joshi, an InGen scientist who's been left behind on Isla Nublar, and players will be taken on a journey of escape as Dr. Joshi attempts to make her way off the island while avoiding the most iconic dinosaurs in the movies, as well as some from the original book. At the moment, there isn't a release date for Jurassic Park: Survival, but what we do know is that it will be coming to Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.
Nintendo Switch 2 leaks point to big upgrades and early release date
Rumors about the Nintendo Switch 2 continue to swirl around, as fans of the company are excited to see what the next console could entail.
There are a couple of rumors, and the first comes from a Korean News site, Chosun Biz, which has claimed that Nintendo is currently engaging in conversations about implementing "next-generation OLED panels" for the company's new devices. Unless Nintendo releases an entirely new device, it appears that the display upgrade is for the Nintendo Switch 2. The report claims that Nintendo is in talks with Samsung Display about supplying OLED panels on December 1, 2023.
An additional rumor comes from the known Samsung leaker @Tech_Reve (Revegnus) on X, which reports indicate has had a pretty good track record with accurate Samsung leaks. Revegnus took to his X account on December 4 and posted that the Nintendo Switch 2 will be coming out "early next year". Further rumors regarding Nintendo's new device include the adoption of an NVIDIA chip that enables DLSS support, 4K support, the company releasing a digital-only model that features an LCD screen, and a physical cartridge model with an OLED screen.
Continue reading: Nintendo Switch 2 leaks point to big upgrades and early release date (full post)
Elon Musk's SpaceX is now worth more than Disney or Comcast
It appears that Elon Musk's rocket company, SpaceX, is worth more than Disney or Comcast, according to recent reports from Bloomberg.
The new report from the publication indicates that SpaceX is considering selling shares at a valuation of $175 billion, which would make Musk's company worth more than Disney or Comcast. Notably, SpaceX officially denied reports that insinuated the company was having an internal consideration about an IPO for its Starlink division next year while also upping its valuation by $25 billion more than it was last summer.
According to unnamed sources in the report, SpaceX is considering a share price of $95, which would generate $500 to $750 million if initiated. For reference, Comcast and Disney are worth about $167 billion, and Musk's rocket company hasn't even released put into place its best product - Starship. The company's newest generation rocket that's designed to land on the moon and Mars.
Continue reading: Elon Musk's SpaceX is now worth more than Disney or Comcast (full post)
Matthew McConaughey reveals trailer for 'Interstellar sequel' video game
Matthew McConaughey has revealed he is joining the world of gaming by voicing a character within Archetype Entertainment's new title called Exodus.
The trailer for the new game debuted at The Game Awards 2023, and the title was introduced by Matthew McConaughey, who took to the stage to explain how he became a part of the project. McConaughey explains that he will be voicing a character in the game, and this character will have a unique relationship with each player.
Additionally, McConaughey reveals that time will play a big factor in the game as it "moves differently. Days for you are decades for your loved ones back home. The choices that you make not only affect the people that you love, they will also affect your entire civilization for generations to come."
New Hellblade 2 trailer is movie-level sets the gold standard for video game trailers
Ninja Theory has released what I'm now considering the gold standard of video game trailers for the developer's upcoming Senua's Saga: Hellblade II.
The developers behind the award-winning Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice have released a new trailer for the sequel at The Game Awards 2023. The new trailer showcases intense gameplay and cinematic sequences that display an incredible level of motion capture technology, sound design, combat, the game's setting, and much more.
Ninja Theory explains in the YouTube video description that Hellblade 2 will be set in "Viking Iceland," and Senua will journey throughout, saving those who have fallen victim to tyranny while attempting to overcome the darkness within and without. Furthermore, the trailer showcases the impressive capabilities of the Xbox Series X, as it is detailed at the beginning of the trailer - the in-game shots were captured on Microsoft's flagship console.
Intel keeps up the good work with Arc GPU driver: up to 34% boosts, Battlefield V is 23% faster
Intel's Arc GPUs just got a new graphics driver which again brings in some impressive performance uplifts.
Driver version 31.0.101.5074 offers a rather tasty boost of up to 34% for Train Sim World 3 (at Full HD resolution, Ultra settings) and Arc graphics card owners are getting 23% more FPS in Battlefield V at those same 1080p settings.
Here's a full roundup of the frame rate uplifts provided by the new Arc graphics driver:
Final Fantasy XVI on PC: there's possible good news on DLC, and bad news on the spec (for some)
Final Fantasy XVI is coming to the PC next year, and we just got some more details on the port, bringing some good news regarding bundling the DLC, and some not so great news as to the potential minimum hardware requirements.
The info was spilled in an interview conducted by Famitsu (a Japanese magazine) with producer of the game Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida.
In the interview, Yoshi-P suggested that the PC release would come complete with both expansions, and as that second DLC for Final Fantasy XVI is due in the spring of 2024, we can perhaps hope that the port will arrive on PC then, or shortly thereafter (fingers crossed - though from previous hints, it may well take longer).
Here's why you shouldn't cheap out on a PSU - a Redditor found a lump of iron inside theirs
If anyone is building a PC and asks our advice, we always point out that while it might seem tempting to get a cheap PSU, this isn't a good approach - and if we ever needed an incident to effectively illustrate why, well, here it is.
As Tom's Hardware spotted, a Redditor bought a cheap (claimed) 500W power supply - an Equites T500 (no, we've never heard of the brand either) - and then opened it up.
To their surprise, they found at one side of the power supply, a block was attached, filled with iron filings. It had no functional purpose, and wasn't connected to anything, the block was just sat to one side of the PSU, doing nothing.
WhatsApp chat filters are coming and they're now in beta
While the world continues to discuss whether Apple should open iMessage to make it work with other platforms like WhatsApp, the meta-owned messaging service is pushing on with new features of its own. The app has had new features added over the last few months and now a new one is on the way after it appeared in the latest WhatsApp beta that's now available to testers.
The new feature adds support for filtering chat threads to make it easier to find the one that you're looking for. The WhatsApp beta watchers at WABetaInfo have reported on the change that is now available to users of the latest build that is now in the hands of those running the latest TestFlight beta.
The new WhatsApp feature adds a filter row to give users the chance to filter out chats that they don't want to see. One example is being able to filter unread messages so that they are easier to find in a sea of chat threads. Other options include the ability to filter group chats and more.
Continue reading: WhatsApp chat filters are coming and they're now in beta (full post)
WhatsApp gains listen-once voice messages
The instant messaging platform WhatsApp has announced a new feature that could well help keep voice messages more private after they have been sent. Normally, sending a voice message to someone means that the message is there forever and that the recipient can listen to it whenever they want to. However, a new change allows people to now send the same voice messages but have them automatically disappear immediately after they have been listened to.
Such listen-once voice messages can be used for sending messages that are only valid for a short period of time. WhatsApp's announcement blog post includes the example of reading out your credit card details to a friend, although we're not sure that's something you should be doing all that much anyway. Another example is when planning a surprise, too.
Voice messages of the listen-once variety are clearly marked as such so those who receive them will immediately know what the situation is before they listen to that message. The new voice messages work in much the same way as the existing view once photos and videos that are already supported by WhatsApp.
Continue reading: WhatsApp gains listen-once voice messages (full post)
Elon Musk rolls out new AI to X that has a 'killer feature'
Elon Musk has officially started rolling out the new AI-powered chatbot Grok, developed by Musk's AI startup, xAI.
X has taken to its official X account on the platform to announce that Grok is now being rolled out to Premium+ subscribers across the United States. For those that don't know, Premium+ is the paid version of X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter, and it costs $16 a month, which gets you an ad-free experience on the platform, other features, and now Grok.
The new AI chatbot is powered by the generative model called Grok-1 and is trained on data acquired from the web that's as recent as Q3 2023. Additionally, Grok differentiates itself from other chatbots, such as OpenAI, as it also incorporates real-time data from X, which means the chatbot should be able to provide responses on posts occurring on X in real-time.
Continue reading: Elon Musk rolls out new AI to X that has a 'killer feature' (full post)
Facebook Messenger is now end-to-end encrypted as standard
Meta, the company that makes Facebook Messenger and owns the similar instant-messaging platform WhatsApp, has announced that it finally supports end-to-end encryption as standard with that being the default for all new chats. The move comes after Meta promised to make this change some time ago. Messenger has been around since 2016 and launched against a very different instant messaging backdrop.
By adding end-to-end encryption Facebook Messenger ensures that all messages and calls are protected from snooping eyes before they leave the sending device. They are then unencrypted when they are received at the other end, with nobody between those two points able to decipher what was going on. That also goes for Meta, although that will change should the message be reported for violation of the Facebook Messenger terms.
Meta does say that it might take a little while for all chats to be updated with the new default, but there will be no limitation on the functionality that is available to the people using those chats once end-to-end encryption has been enabled.
Continue reading: Facebook Messenger is now end-to-end encrypted as standard (full post)
Confirmed: iPhone 15, 14, and 15 will support 15W Qi2 wireless charging
When Apple announced the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro it was confirmed that both phones will support the Qi2 wireless charging standard. Similar to MagSafe, the new standard allows for magnetic charging with speeds of up to 15W. However, it wasn't confirmed at the time that we should expect the iPhone to also charge that fast using those chargers. To date, iPhones have only charged at 15W when using MagSafe, limiting standard Qi chargers to just 7.5W. However, there's good news.
Apple's upcoming iOS 17.2 update is set to bring Qi2 support to the older iPhone 14 and iPhone 13 families of devices which had people wondering what that meant for charging speeds. Would all of these devices top out at 15W, or would Apple limit people to a lower charging speed if they didn't choose an official MagSafe charger?
Now, we appear to have had an answer. Speaking with The Verge, Anker an Anker spokesperson confirmed that its MagGo products will indeed charge at 15W when used on compatible iPhone 13, iPhone 14, and iPhone 15 devices with Qi2 support. The one difference will be the iPhone 12 mini which will continue to max out at 12W, just as it does when paired with one of Apple's own MagSafe chargers. It's thought that's down to the smaller size and the inability to properly dissipate the heat generated by 15W charging.
The iPhone SE 4 is tipped to borrow this vital component from the iPhone 14
There have been rumors of Apple launching the iPhone SE 4 for some time now, with most of those rumors suggesting that it will be the first iPhone to use Apple's own in-house 5G modem. But as it becomes increasingly clear that Apple is struggling to make that modem work in the sizes that are required to fit into a phone, it now looks increasingly likely that a Qualcomm modem will be used. What's more, it now looks like Apple is going to reuse another part from an old iPhone, too.
That part, according to a new MacRumors report, will be the battery taken out of an iPhone 14. That battery will have a capacity of 3279mAh which is considerably bigger than the 2018 mAh capacity of the battery currently sold inside the iPhone SE 3. If that's the case, we can likely expect a significant battery life improvement from the new iPhone.
MacRumors says that the new iPhone SE 4 is currently being developed under the device identifier D59 and that it will now use the iPhone 14's battery with partially assembled models now using that part.





















