Latest News - Page 823

Google hasn't yet officially announced the Pixel Watch 2 but we know it's coming, and it's likely to arrive alongside the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro phones. Leaks are starting to bubble to the surface as well, and now a new one appears to have actually come from Google itself.

9to5Google reports that Eos, the codename for the Pixel Watch 2, has now appeared in the Google Play Console device catalog which is a list of Android devices that developers can access and use when they distribute their apps. Whenever a device appears here, it's a sign that it's on its way to release and what's more, it also includes some key specifications for the device as well. That means that we now have more information than we did before, specifically about things like the chip and RAM that will be on offer.

According to the entry the Google Pixel Watch 2 will switch from the Exynos 9110 chip that was used in the previous model. It'll be replaced by a Qualcomm SW5100 which is thought to be a standard Snapdragon W5 chip.

Elon Musk has been accused of locking a New York University marketing professor out of his X account after he posted critiques of the X owner.

Scott Galloway, a marketing professor at New York University, has claimed Elon Musk has personally locked him out of his X account, which has more than 560,000 followers, after Galloway posted criticisms of Musk. At the moment, it's unclear what exactly triggered Musk to allegedly lock the marketing professors' account, but according to Galloway, who wrote on Threads, a mutual friend informed him Musk feels "unfairly attacked" and "wants to meet".

Galloway wrote on the Threads post that he declined Musk's offer to meet up, and then two days later, his account was locked. As previously mentioned, it's unclear what exactly Musk is allegedly upset about, but Galloway's last X post on July 28 was about a Reuters story that claimed Musk created a secret team at Tesla to cancel service appointments for Tesla owners reporting trouble with their vehicle's range.

A group of researchers has published a new study detailing the extraction of a Pink Floyd song from someone's brain.

The new study was published in the journal PLOS Biology and details work conducted by neurologists at New York Albany Medical Center that involved 29 participants that were hooked up to 2,600 intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) nodes.

The participants listened to the Pink Floyd song "Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 1" and the nodes were placed over the part of the brain known as the superior temporal gyrus, or the part of the brain that is responsible for auditory processes.

Harvard professor and known alien hunter Avi Loeb has sat down with Fox News to discuss potential advanced civilizations.

Loeb is a trained physicist who was awarded his Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem at just the age of 24, and during the Fox News interview, Loeb emphasized that it's an egregious thought to think humans are alone in the universe. Loeb said it would be "arrogant of us to think that we are alone, that we don't have a neighbor out there." Adding, "There are tens of billions of planets in the Milky Way galaxy alone and hundreds of billions of galaxies like the Milky Way in the observable volume of the universe."

The Harvard physicist went on to say that if humans were to discover an alien species, it could be the "wake-up call" that unites the human race. Additionally, Loeb said that there could be alien races that are far more advanced than humanity, and that discovering them could be an opportunity for humans to learn and put themselves in a much better position for the future.

When Apple announced the Vision Pro headset during the WWDC opening keynote on June 5, there was plenty of new information despite years of rumors. But there are still some aspects of the headset that are a mystery, including how much storage it will ship with. Now, a new report claims to be able to shed some light on the situation although it also raises yet more questions.

That report comes via the French website iPhoneSoft and appears to be based on a leak by someone who has been able to get their hands on the Vision Pro headset as part of their app development process. And according to them, the Vision Pro headset will be available with 1TB of storage.

The iPhoneSoft report says that its source was able to confirm that by heading into the Settings app on the headset with 1TB of storage then displayed. However, it isn't yet clear if that is the amount of storage that all headsets will have or if this is an upgraded model.

Immortals of Aveum is a first-person shooter themed around battlemages, but the real battle could be getting it to run okay on your PC - the specs are eye-watering to say the least.

As Wccftech reports (via the above tweet from Sebastian Castellanos), the developer has now confirmed the PC requirements for Immortals of Aveum.

And in the graphics card department - at the lowest spec level, for 1080p resolution (60 fps) - you'll need an AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, or an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super.

The price of Bitcoin is an a freefall and according to reports more than $800 million in cryptocurrency positions were liquidated within just 30 minutes.

The mass sell off caused the price of Bitcoin to plummet down to $25,300, the lowest its been since January this year. The liquidations coincide with a recent article published by The Wall Street Journal that revealed rare details about Elon Musk's private space flight company SpaceX.

The report from Wall Street Journal revealed details about Elon Musk's finances and claimed that SpaceX's Bitcoin holdings were $373 million for last year and the year before, but the company has now "sold the cryptocurrency".

Photography was invented in 1826, and since then, photographers have been snapping images at an exponential rate, but its only taken 150 years for artificial intelligence-powered image generators to create more images.

A new study published in Everypixel Journal has explored how many images have been created by AI-powered image generation tools such as OpenAI's DALL-E, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and Adobe Firefly. That total number of images was then compared to how many images have been taken by photographers since the inception of photography, and the results are shocking.

According to the new study, it has only taken 150 years for AI imagery to beat the total number of photography images. The study states that AI tools have generated 15 billion images, a figure that photographers only reached in 1975. So, how did the researchers arrive at these figures? The study looked at OpenAI's reporting of its DALL-E tool, which the company says more than two million images were generated - the researchers rounded that figure up to 916 million images over 15 months.

Users of the WhatsApp instant messaging service can now send photos in a higher quality than ever thanks to a new feature that has been announced by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Taking time out from not fighting X CEO Elon Musk, Zuckerberg posted on Facebook that people can now use the new HD photos option when sending an image via the instant messaging app. WhatsApp has long supported sending photos and even videos to one or multiple people, but this is the first time there has been a wide rollout of HD support. WhatsApp had previously tested allowing people to send HD photos using the iPhone TestFlight beta version of the app before rolling it out to everyone.

Thanks to HD photos, those who share images will now be able to keep the higher resolution of the original image when sending it to their recipient, whereas previously WhatsApp would downscale it to save on things like data usage. It still will, by default, but a new HD button at the top of the photo-sharing screen will allow people to override that setting from here on out. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any way to change the default behavior, however.

The founder of what is now called X and what was called Twitter has announced he is no longer using Instagram.

The Twitter co-founder took to Nostr to announce that he has deleted his Instagram account, writing, "Don't know why it took me so long". With the deletion of Dorsey's Instagram account the @jack handle is now back up for grabs, which is undoubtedly causing waves among the community of people that hunt for sought after handles such as @jack. Notably, simple handles such as this typically sell for thousands of dollars, unless you are Elon Musk or X, which recently nabbed the @X handle from a user that possessed it for 16 years.

Dorsey wrote in his post that he thinks he was one of the first 10 people to create an account on Instagram, while also being one of the first angel investors in the company. Furthermore, Dorsey explains that Instagram co-founder Kevin Systorm was originally an intern at Odeo, an organization founded in 2005 by Noah Glass and Evan Williams, which later became the roots that grew into Twitter.

If you've been using your Mac over the last little while and wondering why some apps simply weren't behaving how they should, it could have been thanks to a bug relating to how location access permissions work. But don't worry - Apple just fixed it.

The issue was one that meant some apps that required the Mac's location data to work, like weather and mapping apps, were not able to display a permissions dialog as they would normally do. That essentially prevented them from working at all, in some cases, leaving people stuck. However, Apple has now released macOS 13.5.1 which fixes the issue for those who were affected.

The new update is now available as a free download via the System Settings app on affected Macs and is worth getting a hold of even if you don't think you've been afflicted with this particular issue - there is no telling whether you will in the future.

We're now pretty certain that Starfield won't be supporting anything but FSR when it comes to boosting frame rates in the game on PC.

As Sebastian Castellanos (a name we see quite commonly chipping in around leaks on X, formerly Twitter) tweeted to say (hat tip to PC Gamer), they have combed through the preload files for Starfield on PC. And there is no sign of NVIDIA DLSS or Intel XeSS support anywhere, sadly.

That means DLSS almost certainly isn't happening, and the lack of any announcement from NVIDIA at this point backs that up, too. Given that the release date of Starfield is less than three weeks away now (the game just went gold, ahead of a September 6 launch for PC and Xbox).

Intel created PresentMon a while back, an SDK and tool used by popular GPU metric applications like CapFrameX and NVIDIA's FrameView to measure things like Frametimes and other metrics.

Until now, it has simply been something that Intel created and made open-source without the company using it to create a tool that anyone could use to measure and analyze GPU performance when playing games.

With the arrival of the powerful and fully customizable Intel PresentMon Beta app and a brand-new metric called 'GPU Busy,' Intel is about to shake up the whole GPU data collection and analytics process. This is fantastic news for those who love reviewing pages of benchmarks and in-game data.

Earlier this year, Intel delivered a significant driver release for its Intel Arc graphics cards, where, alongside a price drop, the mainstream Intel Arc A750 became a true competitor to NVIDIA's popular GeForce RTX 3060. This February driver release focused on DirectX 9 and some of the most popular games that use this aging API, like League of Legends, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and CS:GO.

The update brought a massive 43% performance improvement (on average) to some of the most popular DX9 games still being played in 2023. And even though Intel has released 30 new driver updates for the Intel Arc range since the GPUs first appeared late last year, with most major PC game releases getting day-one driver support, today we've got another milestone driver release - this time focusing on DirectX 11 performance.

And it's another big bump to overall performance on the Intel Arc A750 - with an average 19% improvement to 1080p performance across some of the most popular DirectX 11 titles played today. Apex Legends sees an impressive 17% improvement in performance, with titles like GTA V and Overwatch 2 seeing the most significant gains with 27% and 33%, respectively.

The world is waiting for Apple to announce the iPhone 15 lineup of devices and it's likely that will happen on September 12 or September 13. And a new leak claims that at least some of the phones will pack a new fast-charging option that will allow people to top their batteries up in double-quick time.

According to the report, Apple's new iPhones will support 35W fast charging - but it isn't immediately clear if that will only apply to the high-end iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max or if it will be available on the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus as well.

The current iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus models are limited to 20W fast charging, while the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max top out at around 27W according to tests carried out after their release last year. However, 9to5Mac cites unnamed sources when it says that some of the new models will benefit from 35W charging. However, given the split which saw the fastest charging limited to the Pro models in 2022, it seems likely that we can expect something similar this time out as well.

NVIDIA's RTX 5090, or whatever the next-gen flagship GPU ends up being called, might not be as much of a leap forward as previously thought.

This is one of the latest bits of chatter to come via the YouTube rumor mill, specifically leaker Moore's Law is Dead who is forthcoming with a lot of material on future GPUs and CPUs.

In this case, Moore's Law is Dead was talking about the subject of whether NVIDIA will cancel its high-end GPUs (following suit with AMD, which at this point is heavily rumored to be pushing aside top-end RDNA 4 offerings, seemingly to focus on RDNA 5 and making that better).

The new Razer BlackWidow V4 75% is the company's most customizable keyboard, featuring hot-swappable switches to deliver "unparalleled customization" for a Razer mechanical keyboard. As the latest version of the popular BlackWidow keyboard, it arrives in the popular and very new 75% form factor that does away with the numpad while retaining the more critical arrow keys and system keys like PgUp and PgDn.

Arriving in black and white, the Razer BlackWidow V4 75% hot-swappable switch compatibility extends to all 3 or 5-pin switches. The socketed PCB design of the new keyboard allows for seamless swapping to alternative pre-loaded switches to give users complete control of each key's mechanical feel and responsiveness.

The new Razer BlackWidow V4 75% also ships with Razer's new Orange Tactile Mechanical Switches Gen-3, which the company describes as featuring "a higher bump point and a cleaner sound profile that resonates with every keystroke."

External storage has been around for so long that most of us probably have USB sticks, drives, and dozens of other movable gigabytes sitting around collecting dust. The point is external storage is a part of everyday life - whether it's being used for productivity or work-related things or storing media files or even a Steam library, you can take it on the go.

What makes the new Sabrent 1TB Rocket Nano XTRM External SSD so cool is that not only is it the size of a USB stick, but it houses NVMe storage and is capable of delivering speeds of up to 2,700 MB/s over Thunderbolt 3. Falling back to USB mode, it's still a fast little unit with speeds of up to 900 MB/s over USB 3.2. It comes packed with both Thunderbolt and USB-C to USB-A cables.

Designed to work with Windows and macOS devices, the Rocket Nano XTRM is small, lightweight, portable, and perfect for taking on the road. With an aluminum body for durability and heat dissipation, the Rocket Nano XTRM also ships with a silicon sleeve for extra protection against drops.

The Samsung Freestyle Gen 2 is a new portable projector with cloud-gaming functionality built-in alongside Bluetooth controller support. This means you can pop it on a coffee table, aim it at a wall, and as long as you've got a stable internet connection, you'll be gaming in minutes.

Cloud gaming functionality arrives courtesy of Samsung's impressive Gaming Hub suite, which includes two of the most extensive cloud gaming services today - Xbox Game Pass and NVIDIA GeForce Now. It's a feature available in all of Samsung's Smart TVs, so its addition to the Samsung Freestyle Gen 2 is excellent news.

Spec-wise, the Freestyle Gen 2 features a Full High Definition (Full HD) 1920 x 1080 LED projector with 230 ANSI Lumen peak brightness with HDR10 support and HLG for proper color calibration. The portable unit can project a screen as large as 100 inches. It also features an inbuilt 5W speaker system, and with a total power consumption of 50W, it's also compatible with an external battery power source.

Linus Tech Tips, one of the biggest tech YouTubers in the world, is battling ongoing controversy following the exposure of multiple inaccuracies in their videos and the blatant mishandling of a Billet Labs' Monoblock.

The controversy began when competing tech channel Gamers Nexus posted a 45-minute video exposing a collection of poor reporting by Linus Media Group, the parent company managing the multiple channels that fall under its umbrella. The examples brought forward by Gamers Nexus ranged from tragically incorrect benchmark results for GPUs, temperature testing for hardware, unfair review processes, and more. Gamers Nexus proposed that Linus is prioritizing quantity and the bottom line of his channels over quality videos.

An apology video was posted to the Linus Tech Tips YouTube channel addressing the allegations against the quality of their videos. On the same day the apology video was posted, former Linus Tech Tips employee Madison Suop took to her personal X account to outline her experience working at the company. Soup wrote that she quit her role at LTT over egregious working standards and a toxic work environment, which was ruining her mental health.