Latest News - Page 928

LG OLED. A bunch of acronyms, sure, but when it comes to TVs, they are highly regarded as delivering the best visual experience for gaming and watching media. So much so that we've seen many PC gamers buying up LG OLEDs specifically for PC use thanks to the perfect black levels you get from OLED and the unbeatable near-instantaneous response times. Not to mention the just about infinite contrast you get from self-lit pixels.

Although it's not the first company to release OLED gaming monitors, LG's new UltraGear OLED panels are set to debut this month and look very impressive. Available in two models, a 27-inch (27GR95QE) 1440p display and a massive 45-inch (45GR95QE) curved ultrawide with a WQHD resolution of 3440 x 1440 - they take full advantage of current OLED panel technology.

Both LG UltraGear OLED displays feature a fast 240Hz refresh rate with Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) support. And being OLED, this comes with a true 0.03ms Gray-to-Gray (GTG) response time to ensure clarity and the very best image stability. OLED means no light bleed, so you're getting vibrant DCI-P3 with 98.5% color accuracy for immersive cinematic visuals.

Aston Martin is renowned for creating high-performance automobiles with a focus on style and luxury - and the brand has been the vehicle of choice for fictional spy James Bond for decades. Lenovo, which has been in the PC game for quite a while, creating products for enthusiasts, everyday consumers, and businesses for years, has partnered with Aston Martin for its new range of ThinkStation PX, P7, and P5 workstations.

These high-powered machines are designed for high-compute workloads, equipped with up to 120-core Intel Xeon processors, NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation GPUs, and beefy 1850W PSUs.

So instead of pushing Call of Duty to triple-digit frame rates in native 4K, they're more likely to be used for machine learning, scientific research, engineering, virtual production, and other applications where workstations sit at the core of cutting-edge computing.

To celebrate the upcoming Academy Awards for film, particularly the Best Visual Effects category, NVIDIA has posted an update outlining how some of the biggest spectacle-driven movies today incorporate NVIDIA RTX technologies. It states that all five nominated films incorporated NVIDIA tech while creating their impressive visual effects.

The five films are All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Batman, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Top Gun: Maverick.

"For over a decade, filmmakers and VFX studios around the world have used NVIDIA technologies to power the most advanced, visually rich movies ever made," NVIDIA writes. And even though each frame of special effects heavy film goes through multiple renders and post-processing work with artists and technicians, things like real-time ray tracing, physics simulation, AI, and virtual production all use NVIDIA RTX hardware.

Rocksteady has delayed its new Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League live game once again, sources tell Bloomberg's Jason Schreier.

Following a long multi-year development timeline, the release date for the new Suicide Squad game has been pushed back once again. Originally set to launch in May, the live service title is now expected to launch later this year.

The delay comes shortly after a controversial gameplay trailer shown at Sony's recent State of Play event. Fans have picked apart the footage, comparing the game to Square Enix's failed Avengers live service title. Cursory investigation shows that Suicide Squad retains all the familiar trappings of live service titles: Huge inventory management systems with in-depth stats, skill upgrade trees, collectibles and crafting, and in-game purchases.

AI's influence continues to grow as Discord, the leading gaming chat app, embraces artificial intelligence to boost its operations.

Discord today announced plans to integrate OpenAI into multiple parts of the popular app. There's three main areas that will be affected by AI: the Clyde chatbot, AutoMod functionality, and new conversation summaries.

The most impactful addition could be Clyde's new AI upgrade. Following the popularity of ChatGPT and the Bing AI assistant, Discord's Clyde will be the AI nexus that oversees various functions of the chat app. Users will be able to chat directly to Clyde, ask the robot questions, and share GIFs and memes and the like.

Epic reveals how much money its PC gaming storefront made in 2022, and gives interesting data on playerbase numbers and first-party vs third-party sales.

Epic's latest year in review report gives an update on the company's PC performance. The Epic Games Store made $820 million in 2022, down 2% year-over-year from the $840 million generated in 2021.

Metrics show that the Epic Games Store is still very much a first-party driven storefront/platform. Consumers spent the most money on first-party games in 2022, with $465 million or 57% of total spend made from first-party titles. Third-party conversely made up $355 million, or 43%, of total spending. It's worth noting that Fortnite makes over 5x more revenues from consoles than it does on PC.

Sony's latest PlayStation 5 update brings welcomed additions and features, including variable refresh rate (VRR) support for 2560x1440 resolution displays and native Discord chat functionality.

It's been a long time coming, but the PS5 finally supports Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) in 1440p. Gamers had been waiting some time for the PS5 to output native 1440p resolution and it's been an even longer wait for Variable Refresh Rate support to be included in the display mode. Remember that VRR is only compatible with HDMI 2.1 displays and TVs, but you can still use 1440p 120Hz even if your monitor or TV does not support HDMI 2.1.

There's some other major features included too. Gamers can now transfer data from one PS5 to another PS5 console using LAN or local Wi-Fi (USB-C will not be used for transfers), which is something that frankly should have been available at launch. PS5 owners can choose what data gets transferred, including game data, save files, and captured media like screenshots and video.

NVIDIA is now shipping RTX 4090 graphics cards which are built using a slightly different GPU than the original 4090s, if a bunch of details posted on Reddit is correct.

The Redditor in question (Cavitysearch123) tells us that they've just picked up a new RTX 4090 Founders Edition card from NVIDIA, and that a close inspection of the board (during the process of mounting a waterblock) revealed that it's a different GPU.

To be precise, it's an AD102-301 GPU as opposed to the original AD102-300. So, what's the difference here, exactly?

DuckDuckGo, a search engine focused on maintaining user privacy, has revealed a new AI feature called DuckAssist that has just entered beta testing.

Right off the bat, we should clarify that this isn't a full-on chatbot like Microsoft's Bing AI which we've been hearing so much about lately, but rather an assistant that pops up to field some search queries.

As the company explains, DuckAssist is essentially a new form of 'Instant Answer' (in beta) that surfaces an immediate response to a question, if that query can be answered by Wikipedia. (Other sources will be used, such as Britannica, but it's mostly Wikipedia to start with, partly due to the regularity of its updates).

An official from Valve has revealed details about the company's upcoming next-gen Steam Deck, which is expected to come with a "significant bump in horsepower."

The details come from Valve designer Lawrence Yang that spoke to Rock Paper Shotgun recently, where he answered several questions about the current shelf life of the Steam Deck and the possibility of a new portable device coming out in the near future. Yang explains that Valve will be waiting "a few years" before releasing an upgraded version of the current Steam Deck as the company believes that the Steam Deck still has the potential to be a solid target for consumers within this generation of consoles.

It should be noted that while the Steam Deck is showing some age in select newly released titles, the portable console still has more than 8,000 titles supported, with many of those being rated 'Playable' or stamped 'Verified' by Valve's official Compatibility program.

Recently Cooler Master debuted its new top-of-the-line case fan, the Mobius 120 OC. With silent performance and an impressive build, there was one area where some might have felt that it was lacking. And that's in RGB lighting, as the Mobius 120 OC has no bright rainbow-colored action.

But don't worry; Cooler Master has got you covered thanks to the debut of the next-gen versions of its popular MasterFan 120 Halo series, with the Halo 2 available in 120 and 140mm sizes. Cooler Master has redesigned the Dual Loop LED fans by increasing the fan size by 10% for better airflow and cooling performance. Which Cooler Master lists as a 58% increase in air pressure.

The frame has also been reworked to improve stability without increasing the fan's overall real estate. The upgraded driver IC is also said to boost cooling performance and minimize overall noise, with a max dBA noise level of 27.

Alienware is prepping to launch its latest high refresh-rate display in the US, with the Alienware AW2524H featuring a 500Hz IPS full-HD (1920x1080) panel. Launching this month on March 21, it will be the first 500Hz display of its kind, though it won't come cheap as it also carries a price point of USD 829.99.

The Alienware AW2524H is a 24.5-inch gaming monitor with an out-of-the-box native refresh rate of 480Hz that can be overclocked to 500Hz. As an IPS panel, it also features impressive specs with 99% sRGB color accuracy and a wide viewing angle.

Usually, high refresh-rate 1080p displays for gaming use the more cost-effective TN panel technology, which is widely considered a step down from IPS regarding color, viewing angles, and other features.

ASUS has revealed its new TUF GAMING B760M-BTF WIFI D4 motherboard, and it features a rare physical design in that the BTF series is all about hiding the connectors on the underside of the motherboard. ASUS notes this will allow clean cable management for that cable-free minimalist look.

BTF stands for "Back To (the) Future" for reasons we assume relate to ASUS engineers being huge fans of the 1980s time-travel classic Back to the Future rather than the cryptic "new era for all PC DIY gamers." Hiding the connections on the underside of the motherboard is something we've seen briefly in the past from the likes of MSI, but it looks like ASUS is set to follow up with the concept, with this new motherboard being the first of more BTF motherboards.

In addition to the main power connectors, the underside houses USB connectors for front panels, fan headers, and an M.2 PCIe Gen 4 slot for additional storage. Of course, this motherboard will require a compatible case, as only a few PC cases provide access to where the underside connectors are placed.

Taiwanese computer company Acer has confirmed that it has experienced a massive data breach. However, its investigation into the hack indicates that customer data has not been stolen and is limited to things found on a server for repair technicians. The confirmation arrives after a hacker put up the data for auction on a popular hacker forum - claiming that 160GB of data had been stolen.

The hacker claims that the data includes "confidential" internal slides and presentations, staff documentation for technical support, Windows images, product information across various devices, "tons of BIOS stuff," and other files. The threat actor shared screenshots of schematics for an Acer display and other confidential documents to prove the data theft was real.

There isn't a price set other than the data will go to the highest bidder with the condition that payment is made via the hard-to-trace cryptocurrency Monero.

It's been a while since we've seen a proper shake-up regarding memory module sizes. We've been in the era of 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB for many years. With the arrival of faster DDR5 memory, we've seen the debut of 24GB and 48GB memory modules. Recently CORSAIR debuted 96GB and 48GB kits in RGB and non-RGB flavors, running at 5,600MT/s and 5,200MT/s. Read our report on that here.

Now CORSAIR offers something for enthusiasts that want nothing but the best (i.e., the fastest) with high performance and capacity 7000MT/s 48GB (2x 24GB) VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 and VENGEANCE DDR5 memory kits. DDR5-7000 with 40-52-52-114 timings is fast, though it is limited to the 24GB modules. The RGB 48GB kit (2x 24GB) is priced at USD 284.99, while the non-RGB kit (2x 24GB) is priced at USD 274.99 - via CORSAIR.

Regarding compatibility, CORSAIR notes that the new high-speed 1.4V DDR5 memory modules support Intel XMP 3.0 for easy installation. It has worked closely with ASUS to ensure they work great across its entire range of new 700 series motherboards for 13th Gen Intel Core processors. Of course, CORSAIR notes that the memory kits are compatible with all Intel 700 series motherboards.

For the first time ever, Google Translate can now be used with images. That means that you can throw an image at the Google Translate website on your Mac or PC and have it translate any text it finds into the language of your choice.

While Google Lens already allows image translation, the key difference here is that Google Translate supports offline images, allowing you to provide your own file. Google Lens only works online, which leaves it in a bit of a pickle sometimes.

The confirmation of Google Translate's new powers came in an unassuming community post. There, users were informed that they could head to translate.Google.com and then click the new images option. After doing so they can then select the image that they want to have translated.

Netflix has started to roll out a change that could be a big deal for people who use subtitles and closed captions. The new feature allows those people to heavily customize what the on-screen text looks like, making it easier to read.

The new addition gives people plenty of options including the ability to choose from three different text sizes and four styles and colors of text. Combined, the new options give people plenty of scope to find a look that best suits their tastes as well as any specific accessibility needs they might have.

That doesn't mean that everything is rosy in the world of Netflix and subtitles, though. Some users report that they're watching content with subtitles that disappear off the bottom of the screen, something that's particularly problematic when watching on a projector with a fixed screen, for example. The position of the subtitles isn't something that this latest round of customizations allows people to change, unfortunately.

Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan reportedly said that Sony is not interested in making a deal with Activision or Microsoft.

Activision exec Lulu Cheng Meservey reveals why Sony hasn't accepted Microsoft's 10-year Call of Duty deal. According to Meservey's latest Tweet, Jim Ryan had stark words for both Microsoft and Activision regarding any sort of deal: "I don't want a new Call of Duty deal. I just want to block your merger."

It is believed that Ryan said this during the closed-door hearing with European Commission regulators on February 21. Meservey gave this date when asked directly about the timing of the quote. These hearings were not public, and Microsoft is believed to have swayed EU regulators with recent access remedy offers.

In an attempt to cover all the bases and be as thorough as possible, Sony's legal counsel makes controversial new claims on how Microsoft could use Call of Duty to harm the PlayStation brand.

UK anti-trust regulators at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today published two new documents that outline both Sony's and Microsoft's responses to the CMA's proposed merger remedies. The CMA's provisionary findings indicate that the Microsoft-Activision merger could harm competition by partially or fully foreclosing access to Call of Duty in the console and cloud gaming markets.

In Sony Interactive Entertainment's response, Sony lawyers argue that Microsoft could trigger a partial foreclosure strategy--in this case, damaging Call of Duty on PlayStation--by purposefully degrading game performance on PlayStation hardware. In short, Sony creates an unlikely scenario where Microsoft may deliberately and knowingly release an inferior and buggy version of Call of Duty on PlayStation while keeping the better version on Xbox.

It's finally happening: Bethesda has officially confirmed the release date for Starfield, the studio's first new franchise in many years.

Starfield will release on September 6, 2023, Bethesda Softworks today announced with a surprise video reveal. The studio also confirmed that a special Starfield Direct showcase is coming on June 11.

There's just one question: Why would Bethesda announce the release date now and not save the reveal for the big direct stream? Probably because Bethesda has an absolutely massive stream prepared for viewers and they wanted to get the launch date info out of the way and clear the path for a deep dive into the new sci-fi FPS.