Latest News - Page 973

NVIDIA's generalist AI agent has won itself an award for playing Minecraft, well, performing actions from written prompts, at the recent NeurIPS conference.

The AI agent won the Outstanding Datasets and Benchmarks Paper Award at the 2022 NeurIPS (Neural Information Processing Systems) conference, with NVIDIA researchers pumping a huge 730,000 videos of Minecraft from YouTube into training the MineDojo framework to play Minecraft.

We're talking over 2.2 billion words transcribed, 7000 stacked webpages from the Minecraft wiki, a huge 360,000 posts on Reddit, and 6.6 million comments on Reddit that described Minecraft gameplay to the AI agent crafted by NVIDIA researchers. The data allowed NVIDIA researchers to create a custom transformer model it calls MineCLIP, which uses video clips with specific in-game Minecraft activities.

GIGABYTE has just announced that its "Instant 6GHz" feature is now available for their Z690 motherboards with a simple BIOS update, ready to boost performance on Intel's Core i9-13900K and Core i7-13700K processors.

The new Instant 6GHz feature on GIGABYTE's fleet of Z690 motherboards will add another 3% performance for single-core on the Core i9-13900K and Core i7-13700K processors. This new Instant 6GHz feature is great for Z690 motherboard owners who have the new Core i9-13900K or Core i7-13900K, without needing to buy a new Z790 motherboard to hit 6.0GHz.

GIGABYTE Z690 motherboard owners will simply need to upgrade to the latest BIOS on their motherboard to enjoy the Instant 6GHz feature, with the system automatically tweaking CPU voltage and Vcore Load Line Calibration of the Intel Core i9-13900K and Core i7-13700K processors, detecting the two most optimized cores to handle 6.0GHz, providing an additional 3% of single-core performance, just like the Z790 motherboards easily do.

EK has just announced its new EK-Quantum Vector2 waterblock, built for Intel's new Arc A770 and Arc A750 graphics cards, and while it looks pretty... it costs nearly as much as the Arc A750 graphics card itself.

The new EK WaterBlocks waterblock for the Intel Arc A770 and Arc A750 graphics cards is called the EK-Quantum Vector2, and costs €248. If we compare this against the cost of the Intel Arc A770, it's not so bad -- the Arc A770 costs €419 -- but up against the slower Arc A750, it's close to the same price the Arc A750 costing €333.

EK will begin shipping out its new EK-Quantum Vector2 waterblock in mid-December, so we're still a couple of weeks away from the launch, so if you wanted to water cool your Arc A770 or Arc A750 graphics card, you'll still have a couple of weeks to wait.

Samsung has just announced its new GDDR6W memory, which the South Korean giant says was created for "immersive metaverse experiences with powerful graphics memory" or whatever that means.

The new Samsung GDDR6W was created with double the capacity, and performance based on the cutting-edge Fan-Out Wafer-Level Packaging (FOWLP) technology. The new Samsung GDDR6W memory is the industry's first next-gen graphics DRAM technology, building on top of the foundations of Samsung's GDDR6 memory with the new Fan-Out Wafer-Level Packaging (FOWLP) technology, boosting memory bandwidth and capacity.

GDDR6 has been on the market for a while now, with Samsung unleashing faster 24Gbps GDDR6 memory in July 2021, quickly becoming the industry's fastest graphics DRAM. The new GDDR6W modules have bandwidth and capacity that are doubled over GDDR6 while maintaining the identical side of GDDR6 modules.

NVIDIA has reportedly discontinued production of their GeForce RTX 2060, GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, GeForce GTX 1660, and GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER graphics cards... with plans moving onto the GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs moving forward.

If you rewind the clock, the GeForce RTX 2060 and GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER graphics cards are based on the Turing GPU architecture and were released back in 2019. Sure, there have been upgrades in that time, with the GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER released later, as well as being upgraded with the 12GB model in 2021.

However, NVIDIA's older-gen GeForce GTX 1660 and GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER graphics cards are a bit old in the tooth now... lacking features like ray tracing and DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) technologies. AIB partners are currently getting rid of their existing stock of GeForce RTX 2060, GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, GeForce GTX 1660, and GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER graphics cards, and pumping up the manufacturing of GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs in their replacement.

German manufacturer ZF has shown off a smaller, lighter new e-drives designed for passenger cars and commercial vehicles. The company believes the auto industry's immense backlog for electronic drive components is worth upwards of $26 billion - and more can be done to help car companies.

Instead of finding ways to engineer better mechanical components for an internal combustion engine, R&D is now focused on creating efficient electric powertrains.

To meet customer demands, ZF plans to hone in on efficiency, performance, and cost, among other major requirements drivers may have. The company's next-generation platform includes the electric motor, power electronics, transmission, and control software to help it all run properly.

TIDAU has just announced its new 34-inch Mini-LED curved ultrawide gaming monitor, with a native 3440 x 1440 resolution and super-smooth 165Hz refresh rate.

Titanium (aka TAIDU) is a Chinese monitor manufacturer that has just unveiled its new Titanium M34HWW-Pro gaming display, which is sold exclusively in China for 5799 RMB which converts to around $800 USD. Inside, it rocks a new HVA quantum dot display with a contrast ratio of 4000:1, a 21:9 aspect ratio, and a screen curvature of 1500R.

We have a full-color gamut (DCI-P3) of 97% while the Adobe RGB color gamut is identical -- TAIDU has an independent 2304 partition matrix backlight design, which the company explains with a "light-focused display" that Longli Technology uses for halo reductions, better use of light, and "first-class" energy efficiency.

AMD recently launched its fleet of Ryzen 7000 series "Zen 4" processors, but now early listings by retailers for some non-X variants have hit the internet in the form of the Ryzen 9 7900 and Ryzen 7 7700 processors.

The upcoming AMD Ryzen 9 7900 processor will feature 12 cores and 24 threads of Zen 4 processing power, while the Ryzen 7 7700 processor packs 8 cores and 16 threads of Zen 4 processing power, both with 65W TDPs by default. They're identical to the X-series processors -- the Ryzen 9 7900X and Ryzen 7 7700X in terms of core and thread count -- but CPU clocks have changed.

The upcoming Ryzen 9 7900 processor has a 3.6GHz to 3.8GHz base CPU frequency, which is 900MHz to 1.1GHz lower than the Ryzen 9 7900X, and down 105W from the Ryzen 9 7900X and its 170W TDP. Moving onto the Ryzen 7 7700, the CPU clocks have been reduced by 700MHz to 900MHz from the Ryzen 7 7700X.

NASA has taken to its social media and its blog to share an image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope of the globular star cluster Pismis 26.

Pismis 26 is a globular star cluster, which is a region of space that contains a stable, tightly bound cluster of anywhere between tens of thousands to millions of stars. Pismis 26 is approximately 23,000 light-years from Earth and resides within the constellation Scorpius near the galactic bulge. Notably, the globular star cluster was first discovered in 1959 at the Tonantzintla Observatory in Mexico.

Furthermore, the location of Pismis 26 features a high density of dust that results in a process called "reddening" to occur. NASA explains that dust scatters short wavelengths of blue light, allowing longer wavelength red light to pass through, causing the image to be distorted with a reddening effect.

Officials report the world's largest active volcano Mauna Loa, located on the Big Island of Hawaii, has erupted, marking the very first eruption in the last 38 years.

The US Geological Survey has issued a warning to 200,000 residents that they must prepare for the worst-case scenario as volcanic eruptions can change extremely quickly, "and the location and advance of lava flows can change rapidly". Officials have issued warnings to residents that they need to prepare to evacuate from the region if reports indicate that lava flows are heading in their direction.

As for the eruption itself, the US Geological Survey said the eruption was first detected on Sunday, with the lead scientist at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory explaining that air quality across the Big Island may deteriorate over the course of two weeks if the volcano's historical patterns are anything to follow.

Artificial intelligence imagery is being taken to a new level with the new AI system that's designed to show users in different eras of human existence.

The new app created by the online genealogy platform and DNA analysis company MyHeritage is called AI Time Machine and allows users to generate images of what they would look like throughout different periods of human civilization through the use of an artificial intelligence system. Users are required to take between ten and twenty-five images of themselves which include three full-body shots, five upper body shots, ten close-up shots, and two side profiles.

Notably, the website recommends that users select pictures that are already in their camera rolls as "variety is key". Furthermore, the new AI system is able to provide individuals with a selection of different eras that range from Egyptian to medieval to 19th-century lord or lady, to an astronaut in space, and more. Notably, other themes include ancient Greece, and that upon first use, a "few themes will be selected for you automatically, and you can choose additional themes that you find intriguing on the results page once your images are ready."

Twitter owner Elon Musk has taken to his personal Twitter account to announce that Apple has "threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store," but won't inform the company of its reason why.

Musk has launched a fully-fledged attack against Apple's App Store policies in response to the company's alleged threats against Twitter. Musk specifically targeted the 30% tax the platform takes from any in-app purchases, as well as claiming that Apple has "censored" developers. Additionally, Musk followed up with another tweet that revealed Apple has "mostly stopped advertising on Twitter". Musk then, if Apple "hate free speech in America?", then tagged Apple CEO Tim Cook, asking him, "What's going on here?"

The SpaceX and Tesla CEO didn't stop there as he continued to post more free-speech-themed tweets, with Musk writing that "This is a battle for the future of civilization. If free speech is lost even in America, tyranny is all that lies ahead." Notably, Musk didn't specify if Apple was considering removing the app entirely from iOS, or would prevent Twitter from rolling out new updates to the service.

On November 11, BlockFi paused withdrawals, which coincided with the same day FTX filed for bankruptcy and the fallout of what was the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange began.

On November 14, the cryptocurrency lender reported having "significant exposure" to the now-bankrupt FTX, and all its entities, with sources at the company speaking to the press and informing them that the company was currently preparing to file for bankruptcy. Fast forward to November 28, wherein an official statement, the New Jersey-based company announced it will be focusing on recovering all obligations owed to BlockFi, but "recoveries from FTX will be delayed" due to its bankruptcy.

Rewind back to June of this year, BlockFi announced that it signed a deal with FTX that enabled them a $250 million line of credit that gave the cryptocurrency lender access to capital that "further bolsters our balance sheet and platform strength," according to BlockFi CEO Zac Prince. BlockFi wrote on November 11, the same day that FTX filed for bankruptcy, that "we, like the rest of the world, found out about this situation through Twitter." Adding, the company was, "shocked and dismayed by the news regarding FTX and Alameda."

An unprecedented wave of protests have erupted in China over the country's zero-tolerance policy toward COVID-19.

These massive protests that are erupting in several cities across the country have coincided with a large wave of X-rated content on Twitter, according to China-focused data analysts. Reports indicate that there has been a "significant" increase in the number of bot-posted content that appears when a user searches a major Chinese city on Twitter.

Thousands of people have hit the streets in major Chinese cities as well as universities to express their disdain for strict COVID-19 laws that have resulted in long lockdowns, temporary shutdowns of businesses, and general life intrusion.

Binance has sent a whopping $2 billion worth of Bitcoin to an unknown wallet address, amounting to a total of 127,351 Bitcoin sent in a single transaction.

Whale Alert reported the transaction occurred on November 28, with on-chain data suggesting that the $2 billion was sent at 10:00 AM UTC and only cost Binance a fee of 0.000026 BTC, or $0.42. Following the collapse of what was the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, many cryptocurrency holders are justifiably concerned with the movements of cryptocurrency exchanges, especially ones of such large volumes.

Unsurprisingly, the transaction caused a ripple effect of fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) to spread online, which sparked a response from Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, who took to Twitter to explain that the $2 billion transaction was a part of Binance's proof-of-reserve (PoR) audits. These audits are to demonstrate that the cryptocurrency exchange holds the same number of funds it publicly claims to have, hence "proof-of-reserve".

NVIDIA will be unveiling its third Ada Lovelace GPU which will power the upcoming GeForce RTX 4070 Ti graphics card, and now we have GIGABYTE kinda, accidentally leaking out their fleet of GeForce RTX 4070 Ti graphics cards... and not only that but also their family of Radeon RX 7900 series graphics cards.

GIGABYTE has submitted a lengthy list of AD103-powered GeForce RTX 4070 Ti graphics cards, and Navi 31-powered Radeon RX 7900 XTX and Radeon RX 7900 XT graphics cards to the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) regulatory office. As with these listings with the EEC, the company might not release every single model listed, but we can expect many of them to hit the market in the coming months, and more so into 2023.

The upcoming GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is going to effectively be a re-branded GeForce RTX 4080 12GB graphics card, which NVIDIA announced, and then "unlaunched" not so long ago now. As for the Radeon RX 7900 XTX and Radeon RX 7900 XT graphics cards, we already know about those, but GIGABYTE has a huge list of them that are ready to be unleashed in December and more so in January 2023 and beyond.

Intel will have a bunch of new 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" mobile processors to show off at CES 2023 in just a few weeks' time, with the new 14-core CPU in the form of the Core i7-1370P mobile CPU teased.

The new Intel Core i7-1370P processor will reportedly feature 14 cores and 20 threads of Raptor Lake CPU power at up to 5.0GHz, which is going to be pretty sweet to see inside of a new gaming laptop. We've already heard about Intel's upcoming H, HK, and HX series CPUs based on Raptor Lake, but now we're hearing more details on the Core i7-1370P mobile processor.

Intel is reportedly going to have its low-power P-series with a default TDP of 28W, which will see the Core i7-1370P processor -- and other P-series CPUs -- destined for next-gen ultra-thin laptops, as well as high-end tablets that will debut in 2023.

Intel is reportedly gearing up for a February 2023 reveal of its next-gen HEDT platform in the form of the upcoming Sapphire Rapids "Fishhawk Falls" Xeon CPUs... but with it we'll see the W790 chipset, and now, we have a Canadian retailer listing pricing for a W790 motherboard real, real early.

Intel's upcoming 4th Gen Xeon Scalable CPU will be based on the Sapphire Rapids CPU architecture, which will be unveiled on January 10 according to the latest rumors... meanwhile, Canadian retailer ATIC has listed -- very early, very, very early I might add -- the SuperMicro X13SWA motherboard which is based on the upcoming W790 chipset.

SuperMicro X13WSA-TF motherboard based on the W790 chipset (source: ATIC)

Intel is gearing up to battle AMD in the HEDT market with its new Sapphire Rapids Xeon CPUs, with some new teases of a reveal and release date in the rumor mill.

The new Intel Sapphire Rapids-WS processors will be unveiled on February 7, 2023 according to sources of Wccftech, while the release will be a couple of months later in April 2023. We recently heard that Intel had massive delays of its new Sapphire Rapids platform, with this just adding to it... although its earlier than previous rumors.

AMD already has its Ryzen Threadripper PRO series of CPUs smashing cores together like they're nothing, with Intel pretty far behind in the HEDT market now. We have no idea what type of pricing to expect on Intel's next-gen Sapphire Rapids Xeon CPUs, but they won't be cheap... while alongside the new Sapphire Rapids Xeon CPUs we'll see the new W790 chipset and a slew of next-gen W790-based motherboards.

Merging with Microsoft could substantially disrupt Activision's revenues and/or profitability due to Xbox Game Pass integration.

Microsoft has been very clear on its motivations for wanting to buy Activision Blizzard King for $68.7 billion. The main rationale behind the deal is to bolster Xbox's billion-dollar digital empire through mobile gaming, substantial value boosts in Xbox Game Pass subscriptions, increased revenues from more service-based games and content, and substantially increased monetization potential through the publisher's incredibly popular franchises.

While the bulk of Activision Blizzard King relies heavily on monetization across a fleet of digital-based billion-dollar IPs like Candy Crush, Overwatch, and Warcraft, the Activision segment in particular is still quite reliant on full game sales driven primarily by its annualized Call of Duty franchise.