Latest News - Page 938

With the arrival of the GeForce RTX 40 Series in the laptop space, we've already seen impressive performance and efficiency gains in the flagship entries like the GeForce RTX 4090 laptop GPU. Our review of the MSI Titan GT77 noted that the laptop RTX 4090 delivered impressive desktop-like gaming performance and could push the resolution to 4K even in games like Cyberpunk 2077.

Things become more attractive in the mid-range as laptops with GPUs like the GeForce RTX 4070 and GeForce RTX 4060 end up in more systems than the high-end chips. And as we're still waiting for the desktop variant to be revealed, there are a couple of notable GeForce RTX 4070 laptop reviews that don't paint a very flattering picture of the RTX 4070 when it comes to in-game performance.

Tom's Hardware has a review of the new GeForce RTX 4070 powered GIGABYTE AORUS 15X gaming laptop, saying that the performance of the new laptop GPU is disappointing. The outlet was expecting a generational leap over the previous-gen GeForce RTX 3070 Ti laptop GPU, and with the same results in specific benchmarks, that wasn't the case.

If you're serious about your racing games, that is, your Gran Turismo titles and entries in the Forza Horizon or Forza Motorsport series' then the new Playseat Trophy-Logitech G Edition might be for you. And we use the word 'serious' because you're looking at USD 599 or AUD 999 for a high-end racing cockpit without a racing wheel or pedals, and Logitech G's impressive wheels and pedals are sold separately.

That isn't a knock against the Playseat Trophy-Logitech G Edition but said to highlight that this is one premium bit of kit for racing fans designed for professionals and enthusiasts alike. With an open cockpit design, high-quality lightweight ActiFit materials, comfortable ergonomics, and a carbon steel frame that can be stored easily when not in use.

Playseat's ActiFit materials are impressive as it not only conforms to different body types but provides full support while dissipating heat for those long sessions in F1 22 and racing lap after lap. Everything is adjustable here, too, from the seat to the wheel placement to the pedal plate - with the option to "bolt down" adjustments, so they stay in place. And with an overall weight of 17kg, it's one of the lightest racing game chairs on the market.

We recently reviewed the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro, where we wrote, "as the lightest wireless gaming mouse, the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro is incredible when you factor in the underlying hardware. It may be no-frills in terms of lighting, luxury inbuild grips, and a multitude of buttons and profile options, but it certainly makes up for it in pure performance."

Today comes word of two new additions to the DeathAdder line-up, one being the funky DeathAdder V3 Pro Faker Edition created in collaboration with esports champion Lee "Faker" Sang-Hyeok. It features an impressive red 'Unkillable Demon King' aesthetic that looks very cool while sporting all the hardware features we praised in our review.

Faker has used and won world championships using a DeathAdder, so this collaboration is awesome to see. "This is a special moment for me," said Lee "Faker" Sang-Hyeok. "I've always dreamed of having my own mouse, and now I can share it with my family, friends, and fans. I love the design, and the performance is unparalleled. Huge thanks to Razer for all their efforts and for working with me on this amazing project."

Data recovery is a field all about precision, being able to inspect, analyze, and ultimately recover data from sources that are potentially damaged or otherwise deemed 'unsalvageable.' DriveSavers Data Recovery is one of the industry leaders in the field, and its latest breakthrough is a game changer in that it utilizes X-ray technology.

DriveSavers began using a real-time X-ray system on devices in December 2022, for evaluation, verification, and R&D, all linked to data recovery.

"DriveSavers is utilizing the same technology that has, until this point, been used by electronics manufacturers for inspection, failure analysis, and quality assurance," DriveSavers told TweakTown. "As the data recovery industry shifts away from mechanical spinning hard disk drives, the greater the importance in actively researching recovery methods for flash-based storage devices. X-ray technology helps us push the limit of what is possible and helps us peer into a world that would otherwise be hidden."

American video game developer and PC storefront operator Valve Corporation has hired legal counsel to represent the company in the FTC's Activision merger proceedings.

The Federal Trade Commission's case ledger confirms that Valve will be a part of the FTC's administrative lawsuit against the Microsoft-Activision merger. The filing, which was signed and published on February 17, 2023, shows that Fox Rothschild LLP partner Kristen W. Broz will represent Valve in the FTC's merger case. Valve will be included as a third party as it has not filed complaints against the merger.

Kristen Boz's profile page on Fox Rothschild's website says that Boz is an "experienced litigator with a national practice focused on class action, data privacy, intellectual property and federal government contracts litigation."

Microsoft executives push back against the idea of divesting or spinning off operating units of Activision Blizzard King in order to get the merger passed by regulators.

During an opportune press conference in Europe, Microsoft president Brad Smith said that the company is "more than ready" to address regulatory concerns regarding the $68.7 billion Microsoft-Activision merger deal, however Microsoft is apparently against key structural remedies that could drastically interfere with post-merger profitability while also getting the merger approved.

Analyst and games industry expert Joost van Dreunen came up with an interesting answer to FTC, CMA, and European Commission concerns: Microsoft could divest (sell or spin-off) the Blizzard segment as a structural remedy (learn more about structural remedies here) to satisfy regulators. Blizzard is the least-profitable operating segment but also contains billion-dollar franchises like Overwatch, Diablo, and World of Warcraft.

Sony has announced a new PlayStation State of Play event on the same day that Microsoft makes big power plays with the Activision merger.

Today both Sony and Microsoft attended a big meeting with the European Commission to discuss the $68.7 billion Activision merger. Microsoft outlined why it should be allowed to buy Activision in accordance to antitrust law, and Sony has reportedly countered with its own arguments. Microsoft then made a big PR move by announcing a partnership to bring Xbox PC games and Activision Blizzard titles to GeForce Now, a competing cloud streaming service, if the merger closes.

Sony has now taken an opportune moment to pull the spotlight back on PlayStation by announcing a new State of Play event that will highlight new games coming to the PlayStation platform, including titles for its newly-released PSVR2 headset, indies and third-party games, and a big showcase of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. The event apparently will not include major reveals or looks at first-party PlayStation 5 games, however.

Corsair's new DDR5 RAM kits now come in 192GB configuration kits just in case you need to smash hundreds of Google Chrome tabs.

Corsair today announced its new outrageously huge 192GB DDR5 RAM kits that are designed for high-performance workloads. Corsair's new Vengeance DDR5 RAM modules now come in 24GB and 48GB UDIMM capacities with configurations ranging from 192GB (4x 48GB), 96GB (2x 48GB), or 48GB (2x 24GB) across its base Vengeance and more premium Vengeance RGB lineup.

Corsair says these kits are specifically optimized for ultra-demanding scenarios like 8K video editing and RAM-intensive AI and deep learning applications. The higher-capacity RAM modules are also great for smaller PC builds where DIMM access is limited and allows owners to pack in serious memory capacity in just 2x lanes.

Microsoft Edge has long been testing an integrated VPN feature, and this functionality has now debuted with the browser.

The VPN, which will be bundled free with the browser and is known as 'Edge Secure Network', is now working in the release version of Edge according to reports from some users, as flagged up by Neowin.

The VPN was previously only accessible to Edge testers, but now the 'preview' label has been discarded, so it would seem to be the case that this is the start of the rollout of the built-in VPN, and presumably it will be coming to a wider audience in the near future.

NVIDIA now supports the Microsoft-Activision merger following a robust partnership deal that's too good to pass up.

Today was a big day for Microsoft. The company attended a closed-door hearing with European Commission regulators and argued why it should be allowed to acquire Activision-Blizzard for $68.7 billion. In a rather cunning PR move, Microsoft also held a press conference to publicly announce some major breakthroughs that it has made with competitors in an attempt to quash regulatory concerns.

Just last night, Microsoft signed a 10-year commitment to bring Call of Duty and other Xbox games to Nintendo platforms. Now at the press conference in Brussels, Microsoft has announced that it has signed a similar deal with NVIDIA to bring all Xbox PC games to NVIDIA's GeForce Now game streaming service. This includes Call of Duty games and other Activision-Blizzard titles. A press release confirms gamers will need to purchase and own a game before it can be streamed with GeForce Now.

Angry Birds developer Rovio has announced that the classic game will be removed from the Google Play Store this week. What's more, the game will remain on the App Store but will get a new name. And that name is less than inspiring. Angry Birds is dead. Long live Red's First Flight.

Yes, you read that right. And why is this all happening? Rovio says that it has reviewed the business case for the game and apparently believes that it's impacting other games it creates. In other words, Rovio wants to make other games with Angry Birds in the title and it knows the classic version will get in the way.

The announcement came via the tweet embedded above and notes that Angry Birds will be removed from the Google Play Store on Thursday, February 23 2023. Presumably, that is also when the App Store version will see its name changed, but that wasn't made clear in the statement. However, those who already have the Angry Birds game installed on their Android phones will continue to be able to play it so long as it remains installed. However, anyone who buys a new phone will not be able to redownload it, unfortunately.

Microsoft says that it has signed a 10-year deal with Nintendo that will see Xbox games be released on Nintendo's consoles. The move comes as Microsoft's attempted buyout of Activision Blizzard continues to cause concerns among antitrust agencies around the world.

Some are concerned that Microsoft owning Activision Blizzard could mean that flagship games like Call of Duty would become Xbox exclusives. But this deal would ensure that wouldn't be the case, with Microsoft also keen to sign a similar one with Sony and PlayStation.

Confirmation of the deal came when president Brad Smith took to Twitter to confirm that a deal had been signed, adding that it shows the company's commitment to ensuring Activision games like Call of Duty are available "to more players on more platforms."

A fresh version of Google's Chrome browser has just been pushed out, and there's some good news for laptop owners in the form of a pair of new features that have just gone live.

These aim to extend the battery life of a notebook, and they're called Memory Saver and Energy Saver, with both now rolling out to those using Chrome version 110 on the desktop.

As you may be aware, Chrome has long held a reputation for taking up too much in the way of system resources - and therefore draining battery life for those running the browser on a notebook - so this is part of Google's fightback against that perception.

An Apple iPhone from 2007 was put up for auction over the weekend and has been sold for more than $60,000.

The first-generation iPhone was listed for auction with LCG Auctions, which started bidding for the untouched relic of the technology industry at just $2,500. Notably, the 2007 iPhone retailed for $599, meaning it sold for more than 100 times its original value at Sunday's auction. According to reports, the previous owner didn't open the iPhone box after purchasing it in 2007, leaving the first-generation iPhone completely sealed in its original packaging.

This isn't the first time an original iPhone has sold for a ridiculous amount of money at an auction, as it was only last October that LCG Auctions listed a completely sealed first-generation 8GB iPhone that was described as "completely flawless". Bidding started at $2,500 for that iPhone and got up to $39,339, just over 65 times its original 2007 retail price. The most recent 2007 iPhone sale sold for $63,356.40.

The community of a popular app that allows users to create their own custom avatar, which is an AI chatbot designed to be a companion, is fuming at the recent abrupt changes made by the developers.

In a new report posted to The Conversation, a light is shined on the Replika AI app that enables users to create and interact with their own personal AI companion. For context, these AI-infused avatars aren't like Alexa or Siri. They ask users how their days were, how they are feeling, what they want, and they can even talk people down from heightened levels of anxiety.

The avatar also makes facial expressions based on the messages, giving the user the impression that it's listening to every word the user is typing to it. The entire goal is to get users to form a deep level of intimacy with the avatar. Replika doesn't stop there, as reports indicate that as conversations progress, the AI can begin to flirt with users and even informs them that if they want to continue down the road of this particular conversation, they will need to pay US$70 to upgrade their account to "erotic roleplay", which enables the AI to send "spicy selfies," and send dirty talk messages.

Uranus could be the next planet NASA begins preparing a mission for, as it has been more than 30 years since humanity has come close to the distant ice giant.

A new essay penned by Kathleen Mandt, a Planetary Scientist on NASA & European Space Agency (ESA) missions, calls for more knowledge to be gained about the solar system's outer planets and, in particular, Uranus. To compare the other planets in the solar system to Uranus, each of the innermost planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, have all had a probe placed in their respective orbit, which is gathering data for scientists. Uranus is yet to get the same treatment and has only experienced fly-bys, with the last being conducted by NASA's Voyager 2 probe in 1986 and 1989.

Since Uranus hasn't had a probe placed in its orbit, planetary scientists have a substantial gap in their knowledge about the planet's evolution. As outlined by Space.com, researchers know Uranus is an ice giant, which is a planet that has a greater percentage of heavy elements compared to gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn. Ice giants are some of the most common planets astronomers have found in the universe, and since there isn't much known about either Uranus or Neptune, these planets are often overlooked after being discovered.

One of the key members in the downfall of what was the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, will plead guilty to fraud charges.

A new report from Bloomberg has revealed that former FTX executive Nishad Singh is currently working on striking a plea deal with New York prosecutors that have filed charges of fraud against Singh. The report indicates the former FTX executive will plead guilty to the fraud charges and his involvement in the alleged scheme that resulted in the collapse of FTX. The publication cited its source as 'people familiar with the matter'.

Singh was the director of engineering at FTX and if a plea deal is struck, would be the newest member of Sam Bankman Fried's (SBF) inner circle to plead guilty, with FTX co-founder Gary Wang and former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, both entering into plea deals last year near the time of the collapse. If the plea deal is struck between Singh and authorities, it could involve working with prosecutors on their case, which was outlined in both Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang's plea deals.

NASA has shined a light on one of Hubble's Classic images of the cosmos, Caldwell 69, with the space agency taking to its social channels to remind everyone of the beauty of a butterfly in the stars.

NASA explains on its blog that the above image is of Caldwell 669, or NGC 6302, or more commonly referred to as Buttery or Bug Nebula. The nebula got its nicknames from its appearance, that's similar to a massive cosmic butterfly unfurling its wings out in deep space. The space agency explains that the Butterfly Nebula got its appearance from a Sun-like star exhausting its nuclear fuel, causing a massive explosion that spewed material into the space around.

Ultraviolet radiation from the aftermath of the explosion cause the surrounding material to glow, but after some time, the nebula will fade and leave behind what NASA calls a stellar corpse or a white dwarf star. The star we call the Sun will meet a similar fate when it runs out of fuel in approximately 5 billion years. Notably, the Butterfly Nebula is located about 4,000 light-years away from Earth and resides in the constellation Scorpius. The close-up image seen below was acquired by Hubble in 2009 with its Wide Field Camera 3.

Well-known modder 'Halk Hogan' is finally ready to release the highly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 HD Reworked Project, an impressive texture overhaul mod to CD Projekt RED's futuristic RPG, on March 12. It's a follow-up to the excellent The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project, which was incorporated in that game's official next-gen update.

The Cyberpunk 2077 HD Reworked Project updates many in-game textures to improve fidelity, sharpness, and overall detail without altering the art direction and original intent. The results can be seen in the trailer above, and it's all impressive, covering things like road surfaces, graffiti, window scuffs, tires, and more. Cyberpunk 2077's Night City is massive, which makes this even more impressive.

It's no secret that with or without a texture mod, Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the most visually impressive games available today, and you still need an absolute beast of a GPU to run the game with ray-tracing effects enabled. And you'll need something like NVIDIA's DLSS tech to maintain performance. The good news is that this mod won't impact performance as long as there's enough VRAM headroom for the new textures.

Windows XP might just be one of the most beloved versions of Microsoft's iconic OS, and it was fast, easy to use, and, best of all - stable. Well, at least once, the Service Packs rolled around. Apologies if this stat makes you feel old, but it debuted 21 years ago, back in 2001. Yeah, in the world of tech Windows XP is pretty ancient.

Many people still use the operating system in 2023, even for gaming, mostly to play older titles.

Today comes a little trip down memory lane and a glimpse at 'what could have been' designs for Windows XP logos. Microsoft turned to a company called Frog Design to create a new logo and help shape the look and feel of the UI and taskbars. At this point, the classic four window panes of the Windows logo were already well established, and even though brand identity was ultimately established with the final look, a few very strange options were put together.