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Baldur's Gate 3 helps spike Hasbro digital game revenues by 133%
Baldur's Gate 3's megaton success has spiked Hasbro's video game revenues with two months of sales.
Hasbro's latest Q3 earnings figures have underlined the exceptional performance of Larian's wildly popular Baldur's Gate 3. Hasbro is the parent company of Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary that owns the rights to the Dungeons & Dragons franchise--remember that BG3 takes place in D&D, so Hasbro's reports show how well all branches of its multifaceted gaming business are doing, whether it's tabletop, card games, or interactive experiences like BG3.
The company's earnings show that Wizards of the Coast's digital and license gaming revenues are up by roughly 133% year-over-year, driven by the release of Baldur's Gate 3 in August. Across a two-month period ending October 1 (Hasbro uses a calendar year for its schedules), WotC's digital and licensed gaming jumped to $133.1 million, up nearly $76 million dollars from last year. These earnings do include digital sales from Magic: The Gathering Online.
Continue reading: Baldur's Gate 3 helps spike Hasbro digital game revenues by 133% (full post)
Windows 11 23H2 update is now out - but don't get too excited
Windows 11's big annual update has finally arrived for 2023, and while it certainly brings goodies in tow as you'd expect, you may be a little underwhelmed.
That's because some of the major features for 23H2 - which Microsoft is calling the Windows 11 2023 Update (we'd prefer Windows 11 Fall Creators Update Part 7 ourselves) - have already been rolled out to those on 22H2.
That includes the most important new feature for Windows 11 this year, the Copilot AI (though it's still very barebones). This began rolling out at the end of September, but not quite everyone has it yet - if you grab the 23H2 update, you'll be assured of getting the AI assistant.
Continue reading: Windows 11 23H2 update is now out - but don't get too excited (full post)
Intel Core i7-14700HX leak shows a laptop CPU that's a good deal faster than the 13700HX
Intel's Core i7-14700HX processor has been spotted in a leaked benchmark, and it shows the next-gen laptop chip having considerable promise.
The 14700HX (Raptor Lake Refresh) is the successor to the 13700HX (Raptor Lake) and the benchmark is drawn from Geekbench, as spotted by Benchleaks on X (formerly Twitter).
Intel's Core i7-14700HX managed to hit 2,921 in single-core and 17,475 points for multi-core performance in Geekbench 6.
NASA telescope photographs 'bones' of ghostly hand floating out in deep space
A team of astronomers has used data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to detect a ghostly skeleton hand floating in deep space located more than 15,000 light years away from Earth.
NASA's latest and greatest X-ray telescope has used its Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) to observe MSH 15-52 for a total of 17 days, the longest Chandra has observed a single object since it launched in December 2021. So, what is the ghostly hand? The astronomers explain that MSH 15-52 is the leftover remains of a dead collapsed star. When a star exhausts its fuel, it collapses in on itself creating an extremely dense object called a neutron star.
A pulsar is a rapidly spinning neutron star, and technically, MSH 15-52 is a pulsar wind nebula that emits a very strong magnetic field that produces powerful jet streams of energized particles. The researchers recently penned a study published in the Astrophysical Journal where they explain the magnetic field created by the pulsar determines the basic shape of the nebula and, in the case of MSH 15-52, the bones of the ghostly hand.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 director updates fans on the villain situation
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is off to a great start since it was released on October 20, 2023, and now the game director for the title has commented on what seems to be a pretty big concern about the franchise.
Bryan Intihar, the director of Marvel's Spider-Man 2, has sat down for an interview with IGN's Beyond! Podcast where he discussed what fans could expect out of future sequels of the Spider-Man game. In what seems to be a move to quell fans' fears, Intihar said that Insomniac Games isn't running out of villains to include in new installments into the series. In fact, "I never think we're going to run out of villains, ever," said Intihar.
Notably, if you haven't played Marvel's Spider-Man 2, there will be some spoilers within this paragraph. According to Intihar, it was always planned that Otto (Doc Ock) was going to appear at the end of the game as the main teaser, and Insomniac Games doesn't feel as if it has already exhausted all of its villain characters.
Continue reading: Marvel's Spider-Man 2 director updates fans on the villain situation (full post)
NVIDIA RTX 4090 GPU ban in China could start very soon - so get ready for price hikes elsewhere
The latest on the NVIDIA RTX 4090 GPU ban over in China is that it's going ahead as planned for this month, and we've got a theoretical date for the kick-off - namely November 17.
That's the word from the rumor mill, anyway, though we should add a whole lot of salt to this, as the source is MyDrivers (specifically Kuai Technology). Note that MyDrivers is not top of our list of favored sources, it has to be said (but it has made correct predictions in the past).
We're told that 'many' graphics card makers over in China have confirmed to the tech site that the RTX 4090 will be banned in the country on November 17.
Las Vegas Sphere celebrates Halloween with epic jack-o'-lantern transformation
The massive Sphere located in Las Vegas has transformed itself into a gigantic jack-o-lantern in celebration of Halloween.
The $2.3 billion joint project between Sphere Entertainment and Madison Square Garden spawned a 366-foot tall by 516-foot-wide Sphere that is now the largest LED display in the world. The exterior of the Sphere spans 580,000 square feet and is a display that's made up of 1.2 million "pucks" that are capable of producing 256 million different colors. The Sphere was first turned on back in July and has since gone viral for the many different appearances it has taken on, such as planets, emojis, the American flag, and more.
As for the interior, The Sphere features a 160,000-square-foot LED display that completely engulfs an attendee's field of view. Seating The Sphere has 17,600 seats and a state-of-the-art audio system that includes more than 164,000 speakers. The Sphere was designed to fix the audio problem in the stadium where people at the back of the venue are unable to clearly hear the performer on stage. Everywhere within the stadium is crystal clear audio.
Elon Musk says old Twitter was an 'arm of the government' and Jack Dorsey didn't know
The owner of the social media platform once called Twitter, now called X, has revealed that the old version of the social media platform was an "arm of the government".
Elon Musk has sat down for a 2.5 hour podcast with Joe Rogan on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast where he discussed the variety of topics, one of which was how he carried out the $44 billion acquisition of the social media platform formerly called Twitter. Musk said that Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey wasn't aware of the level of control the government had over the social media platform, nor was the public.
Musk said he discovered this after taking over the company, saying a more accurate way of thinking of old Twitter was a "state publication". Musk explains that old Twitter was plagued by an extremely liberal ideology that pushed for the silencing of any other political opinion, with Musk even going as far to say that republican users on Twitter were "supressed 10 times the rate of democrats".
Elon Musk explains why Tesla shot a whole tommy gun barrel into a Cybertruck
Elon Musk has teased an upcoming Cybertruck event on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, where the Tesla CEO said that a video will play showing a tommy gun, along with other weapons, being fired at the Cybertruck.
Musk and Joe Rogan begin their conversation about the Tesla Cybertruck by discussing the vehicle's bulletproof exterior, which was tested by Rogan, who fired a broadhead arrow at the door of Musk's Cybertruck from an 80-pound draw-weight compound bow.
Musk goes on to tease the upcoming Cybertruck event by saying he "doesn't want to give it all away right now," but there is a video that will be played during the upcoming event that will show three demonstrations - the first is emptying a tommy gun into the side of the Cybertruck, the second is a shotgun test, and 45mm and a 9mm test. All of which Musk said the Cybertruck's exterior stopped with zero penetration.
Google Chrome just borrowed a controversial Safari feature on the iPhone
Google's Chrome web browser is available for download from the App Store for those who would prefer to use that than the Safari browser that ships with the iPhone. And now they have a new feature to use that borrows heavily from that incumbent browser.
Google has announced that its latest Chrome for iPhone update includes the option to move the address bar to the bottom of the screen for the first time. That's a feature that could be of huge benefit to people who like the larger display of devices like the iPhone 15 Pro Max but don't have the biggest of hands. However, for those who prefer to keep the address bar at the top, nothing needs to change.
This move echoes one that Apple made with its own Safari not that long ago. However, Apple moved the address bar to the bottom for everyone, a move that proved controversial. Ultimately, Apple later chose to allow people to decide for themselves with iPhones now featuring an option that allows people to move the address bar as required.
iPhone 16 tipped to gain an extra button with Action button changes also coming in 2024
The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max were the first to debut the Action button when they were announced back in September. But Apple doesn't seem likely to rest there, with new reports suggesting that it intends to not only bring the Action button to non-pro models next year but also add an extra button to the mix.
That's according to a Weibo post by the previously-accurate leaker Instant Digital. According to them, there is a "great chance" that Apple will add an extra button below the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro's power button. To do that, Apple is expected to move the mmWave antenna from its current location to the other side of the iPhone.
It's also rumored that the new button will be a solid-state affair, meaning that it won't physically move. Instead, a vibration will be used to simulate the feeling of a click as was rumored for the iPhone 15 Pro's Action button initially.
Apple's iPhone Weather app gets confused by snow
Following a (now-fixed) bug that prevented the Weather complication from working correctly on Apple Watches, it seems that the same app is now struggling to comprehend what snow is on the iPhone.
The issue appears to crop up when people have the Apple Weather widget on their Lock Screen with the app displaying a generic folder icon rather than the one normally associated with snow. There doesn't appear to be a fix right now, nor do we know whether the problem can be fixed on Apple's servers or if the issue will require a software update for all afflicted iPhones.
Apple is yet to confirm that it is aware of this particular weather issue, but it's fairly easy to understand how this one slipped through the cracks. Apple is of course based in Cupertino, California, and its people are unlikely to have come across snow during their testing of the Weather app or iOS in general.
Continue reading: Apple's iPhone Weather app gets confused by snow (full post)
Elon Musk explains what it will take for humans to live on Mars
Elon Musk has sat down with Joe Rogan to discuss his grandiose plan of one day terraforming the Red Planet, better known as Mars.
Getting humans to the Red Planet has been a long-standing goal of Musk as he fundamentally believes that civilization needs to become multi-planetary to prevent total annihilation of the species. These downfall of the human race could either be caused by self-inflicted actions, such as an out nuclear war, or an outside threat, such as an asteroid impact.
Musk believes that having humans on Mars as well as Earth would protect the species from extinction and that if humans are the only intelligent life forms in the universe, we are responsible for ensuring the flame of consciousness doesn't become extinguished. During the podcast, Musk briefly touches on what will need to be done to make Mars habitable, and according to the SpaceX CEO, a big hurdle will be changing Mars' atmosphere.
Continue reading: Elon Musk explains what it will take for humans to live on Mars (full post)
Twitch is ending support for the Nintendo Switch even though the app was added in late 2021
Twitch is officially dropping support for the Nintendo Switch, with the official word from the company stating that from "November 6th 2023, new users will no longer be able to download the Twitch app in the Nintendo eShop." On top of that, existing users will no longer be able to access the Twitch App on the console from January 31, 2024.
In a statement supplied to IGN, a Twitch representative added that Nintendo remains "a valued partner" and that the decision to remove support was a "difficult" one to make. Interestingly, Twitch did not provide a reason as to why it was being removed.
The reason for this comes down to the Twitch App for the Nintendo Switch being relatively new - it launched in late 2021, a full four years after the console's debut.
AMD's Q3 2023 financial report shows Ryzen mobile sales are up, while Gaming revenue is down
AMD has posted its latest financial results for Q3 2023, with the $5.8 billion 4% year-over-year growth attributed to Ryzen and "record server processor sales," according to AMD Chair and CEO Dr. Lisa Su. Like many other big tech companies, AMD is riding the wave of AI with its new MI300 chips set to drive sales to $2 billion in 2024.
"AMD Instinct MI300A and MI300X GPUs are on track for volume production in the fourth quarter to support deployments with several leading HPC, cloud, and AI customers," the Q3 earnings report writes. The company's Data Center segment showed flat year-over-year growth but is expected to grow as the company's new CPU and AI hardware takes hold.
The biggest growth sector for AMD was the Client segment (where most enthusiasts reside), with revenue up 42% year-over-year, driven by Ryzen mobile processor sales. AMD specifically highlights the success of its AMD Ryzen 7000 Series CPU in the mobile space as driving growth.
Elon Musk lets Joe Rogan fire an arrow at his Cybertruck to test if its bullet proof
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has returned to The Joe Rogan podcast for an epic interview that covers a variety of topics that Musk has his fingers in - one of which is the highly anticipated Cybertruck.
Tesla recently announced it would be launching the Cybertruck next month, with the company specifically saying that it will begin deliveries of the vehicle on November 30. This statement from Tesla was backed up by company CEO Elon Musk during a recent podcast with Joe Rogan, where the two decided to test if an arrow was able to penetrate the Cybertruck's bulletproof shell.
Rogan explains that he used an 80-pound draw-weight bow that launched a "545-grain arrow" at a speed of approximately 275 feet a second. This arrow was a broad head, and from the video, you can see the immediate spark that is caused when it hit the side of the Cybertruck. As Rogan says, the arrow barely made a scratch on the Cybertruck, only causing a small dent in its side and completely destroying the arrowhead.
Call of Duty, Robocop, Jusant, and many more PC games are getting DLSS 3 support
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is set to hit Early Access on November 2, and with PC specs already out there and with the recommended specs listing either a GeForce RTX 3060 or Radeon RX 6600 XT GPU, you won't need a monster rig to fire up the latest CoD. To play with competitive or 4K Ultra campaign settings, you will need a GeForce RTX 4070. The good news for GeForce RTX 40 Series owners is that the game will fully support DLSS 3 and its related technologies.
Which includes DLSS Super Resolution to boost performance, DLAA to maximize visual fidelity, NVIDIA Reflex to reduce system latency (which is perfect for Call of Duty multiplayer), and the new AI-powered DLSS 3 Frame Generation. Usually, NVIDIA provides benchmark results for its DLSS 3 announcements. Still, without any for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, we'll just have to assume it'll be the same impressive 2X and higher increase.
It's a big week for PC gaming adopting NVIDIA DLSS 3 technology, with games like Jusant, RIPOUT, The Talos Principle 2, and RoboCop: Rogue City all supporting the tech on day one.
ADATA launches the world's first USB4 external SSD, can transfer 10GB 4K video in 3 seconds
It was only a matter of time before USB 4 hit the scene, beginning the transition from USB 3 to a new, faster, and more performative standard. Right now, USB 4 is "next-gen" technology, but with the arrival of ADATA's USB4 SE920 External SSD, we've got the first external storage solution sporting the new USB 4 technology.
ADATA's USB4 SE920 external SSD, which supports Thunderbolt 3 and 4 and is backward compatible with USB 3.2 and USB 2.0, can reach up to 3,800 MB/s per second in full USB4 mode. As we've seen in the desktop space and PCIe Gen5 SSDS, hitting speeds of up to 40Gbps on an external SSD generates quite a bit of heat.
The good news is that the USB4 SE920 external SSD features a proprietary and patented active cooling solution with a micro fan and a casing that can extend via a simple touch to increase air circulation when in use. Outside of the incredible speed, the casing design for the USB4 SE920 external SSD from ADATA is one of its most impressive features.
Minisforum's upcoming AMD Ryzen 8000 APU-powered tablet has 14-inch 1440p 165Hz display
Minisforum has teased its next-gen 3-in-1 tablet, which will feature a high-end display, and it'll be powered by AMD's new Ryzen 8000 series "Hawk Point" APU.
The new Minisforum 3-in-1 tablet teased its new slate a month ago, but now we know the Minisforum V3 will be the first step into the tablet business for the company, and what a big one it'll be. Minisforum's new V3 tablet will be one of the first to use AMD's new Ryzen 8000 series "Hawk Point" APU and, with that power, will look at Microsoft's higher-end Surface Pro as its competitor.
Minisforum will use a higher-end 14-inch 1440p 165Hz display, so it will be in the middle of being a high-end panel mixed with a fantastic refresh rate. The whole 3-in-1 use of being a notebook, a portable display, or a tablet powered by AMD's new Hawk Point APU will be a refreshing entry into the market from Minisforum.
Apple's new 24-inch iMac with M3 chip and 4.5K Retina display is up to 2X faster than the M1
At Apple's recent 'Scary Fest' event, the company announced a range of new products that would feature its new M3 chip - making them the world's first personal computers to hit the scene with the latest in 3-nanometer process technology. The M3 chip was the star of the recently released iPhone 15 lineup, so seeing it unleashed at home is pretty exciting.
And Apple is throwing out some bold performance claims. iMacs with the new M3 chips are set to deliver up to 2X faster performance than the previous M1 generation and up to 2.5X faster than Intel-based iMacs.
The M3 Chip in the new iMac features an 8-core CPU with up to a 10-core GPU, with Apple stating that this will lead to up to 30 percent faster Safari and Microsoft Excel performance, with games loading faster and offering up to 50 percent faster frame rate.






















