AMD is keeping the Ryzen ball rolling this week as its new Ryzen 5 processors are now officially available. Reviews are live and retailers have stock, meaning AMD is now ready to take on Intel's Core i5 lineup with its impressive new architecture. We have already reviewed the Ryzen 5 …
Read More »Qualcomm counters Apple’s $1bn lawsuit, denies anti-competitive claims
Back in January, Qualcomm was blindsided by not one but two massive lawsuits involving Apple. One from the US Federal Trade Commission and another from Apple itself. Qualcomm already responded to the FTC's lawsuit last week and now this week, the chip maker is hitting back at Apple's case, claiming …
Read More »G2A speaks out on Gearbox demands, claims there is no wrongdoing on its part
Last week, Gearbox gave G2A a bit of an ultimatum, it asked that the shady key marketplace commit to several changes in an effort to be a fairer place for both game developers and customers. If G2A did not respond, Gearbox would pull out of its Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition …
Read More »AMD is getting into wireless VR headset technology
When AMD launched its Radeon RX 480 graphics card it promised to deliver VR for the masses, or at least the computing power to do so. And it did. Fast forward 10 months and while VR-capable graphics cards have become relatively the norm, the software (apps) and hardware (headsets) ecosystem …
Read More »SK Hynix introduces 72-layer 3D NAND
There has been a lot of innovation in the memory market recently. First Intel launched its 3D XPoint technology and now, SK Hynix is introducing the industry's first 72-layer 256 gigabit 3D NAND flash based on TLC arrays. By moving up to 72-layers, SK Hynix is able to stack 1.5 …
Read More »AMD RX 580 and RX 570 confirmed to be using Polaris 20
Following several weeks of leaks and a tiny bit of conflicting information regarding the GPU used on AMD's upcoming RX 580 and RX 570 graphics cards, we finally have confirmation of Polaris 20 XTX and Polaris 20 XL. Thanks to a driver leak this week, we now know that AMD's …
Read More »Rumour claims Intel has brought forward its Skylake-X and X299 launch
It looks like Intel might be planning to launch its new batch of enthusiast series CPUs earlier than anticipated, with reports this week indicating that the launch has been brought forward to June. Previously, Intel's X299 and Skylake-X CPUs were expected in August but apparently due to mounting pressure from …
Read More »Minecraft is getting premium currency microtransations and paid mods
Since buying Minecraft for $2.5 billion, Microsoft has been mulling over ways to continue making money. Core game sales are still impressively high, with Minecraft averaging 53,000 sales per day over the course of 2016. However, There are a lot of people who already own the game, and Microsoft isn't …
Read More »Kodi wants to attract more legal content, may implement DRM to help
Kodi is widely considered to be an excellent media streaming platform but over the years, it has also been used as a convenient tool for piracy. Plenty of add-on packs have been made for Kodi over the years which grant access to pirated streaming services and the popularity of ‘fully …
Read More »Apple is seeking out graphics engineers in latest hiring spree
Earlier this month we learned that Apple would be abandoning its use of IMG's graphics technology for iOS devices in two years time. At the time, Imagination Technologies (IMG) had some doubts about Apple's ability to produce its own mobile GPU but it looks like Apple is looking to prove …
Read More »Google Pixel 2 will reportedly jump to curved displays from LG
We are used to hearing quite a lot of early information when it comes to smartphones these days but so far, things have been relatively quiet as far as the Google Pixel 2 is concerned. However, it seems that some information is finally starting to come to light, with reports …
Read More »Bioware quietly fixes slipup that led to early Mass Effect Andromeda crack
Denuvo has been slipping somewhat recently. Resident Evil VII only took one week to crack and pirates successfully managed to break in to Mass Effect Andromeda fairly quickly too. However, it seems that in Mass Effect's case, the fault lies with Bioware, who forgot to update their version of the …
Read More »Gearbox exits partnership with G2A after demands go unmet
Last week, Gearbox announced a partnership with G2A, bringing Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition to the key marketplace in an official capacity. This caused plenty of outcry and after seeking the help of YouTuber ‘TotalBiscuit', Gearbox instead decided to give G2A a list of demands to better protect customers and developers …
Read More »Leo gets his grubby mitts on the £900 CM ‘Made In Japan’ PSU
My colleague Allan reviewed this weeks ago, but I wanted to get a hands on myself. £900 for a PSU?
Read More »EA to strengthen ranks in Montréal, invests CAD 500 million
The Québécois government has announced EA will be upping its existing investment in the city of Montréal and – over the course of 10 years – bring 500 new jobs and an estimated $500 million, presumably Canadian, to the dinner table. Montréal is where EA's Bioware studios have been hard …
Read More »G.SKILL Announces Trident Z RGB DDR4-3333MHz 128GB and 64GB kits
PC enthusiast memory maker G.SKILL has announced a new line-up of top-tier memory kits for discerning modders and gamers. The Trident Z RGB DDR4-3333MHz 128GB and 64GB retail kits are squarely aimed at the high-end X99 and Z270 motherboards, respectively, currently driving the likes of Intel's Xeon E5 (v3)-series and Kaby Lake …
Read More »BAFTA eSports Audience Award leaves PC game developers scratching heads
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awarded its second eSports Audience Award in a ceremony last night, giving the people a vote in recognizing the popularity and importance of eSports and related game franchises. The nominee list, chock-full of AAA-rated MOBA and TDM games like Overwatch, DOTA …
Read More »AIDA64 update adjusts Ryzen temp readings, adds support for RX 500 series
Shortly after Ryzen's launch, AMD made it clear to reviewers that its Ryzen 7 series processors were built with a +20°C temperature offset, meaning software would be showing these CPUs running 20 degrees hotter than they actually were. Now, a few weeks later, it looks like CPU monitoring software is …
Read More »Toshiba NAND bid hits $30 billion mark. TSMC bows out, leaves Foxconn in the lead
Reports have surfaced in the Japanese press that TSMC has quit on its bid to buy Toshiba's rather precious NAND-flash business, leaving Foxconn in the lead position. Foxconn has offered to pony-up 3 trillion Yen (around $30 billion), or $21.2 billion more than what Reuters had reported as the sought-after …
Read More »Nvidia’s new driver adds support for Quake Champions and Windows 10 Creators Update
If any of you are planning on trying out Quake Champions this weekend during its closed beta phase, then it may be worth double checking that your drivers are up to date as this week, Nvidia released an all-new Game Ready driver in preparation for id Software's new fast-paced competitive …
Read More »Australian consumer watchdog goes after Apple after iPhone ‘Error 53’ glitch
Back in February last year, Apple finally acknowledged ‘Error 53', a Touch ID glitch that would brick iPhones and make them unusable. At the time, Apple did offer a workaround for customers but it seems that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) wasn't impressed with the whole situation and …
Read More »New Microsoft Surface Pro 5 details leak out
There have been quite a few Microsoft Surface rumours lately, most of which have surrounded the future of the Surface Book. However, this week, the rumour mill has turned its attention to the Surface Pro 5 instead, with reports this week revealing a few details about Microsoft's upcoming tablet. According …
Read More »YouTube to stop allowing monetisation on channels with less than 10K views
Over the last couple of weeks, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding YouTube and advertisers pulling out of the platform. Apparently, YouTube's algorithm has been placing ads from big brands on videos containing objectionable content. In an effort to try and stop this from happening in the future, …
Read More »The Skyrim: Special Edition Script Extender release has been pushed back
Last year, Bethesda released Skyrim: Special Edition, updating the best-selling RPG with an upgraded engine and better graphics. This was a free upgrade for PC owners of the original Skyrim (and its DLC), which was a good deal but unfortunately, it did break compatibility with the original Skyrim Script Extender, …
Read More »CD Projekt Red explains why it trademarked the term ‘Cyberpunk’
Recently, it was discovered that CD Projekt Red had applied to trademark the word ‘Cyberpunk' in Europe and already has the trademark over in the US. This caused quite a stir, especially since Cyberpunk is a general term used to describe a genre of science fiction in lots of media. …
Read More »Gearbox demands major changes from G2A following Bulletstorm partnership
Earlier this week, it was announced that Gearbox would be partnering up with G2A for the launch of Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition. This special edition partnership was unusual given G2A's reputation as a fraudulent key marketplace and ended up causing quite an uproar on social media. It turns out, Gearbox …
Read More »Nintendo Switch costs $257 to make, won’t line Nintendo’s pockets suggests report
Despite a number of teardown sites already having published complete guides on the Nintendo Switch, we now get a better idea of the BoM involved in the manufacture of the device through a report from Fomalhaut Techno Solutions in Japan. This lab has gutted the gaming device in order to …
Read More »Canonical drops Ubuntu phones, tablets. The future is in the Cloud
Mark Shuttleworth, CEO of Canonical, introspectively announced on the Ubuntu insights blog that his company is facing a change of direction, despite highlighting how great a quarter the company has just had. Six years after adopting Ubuntu Unity (not to be confused with the open-source graphics engine), the project that …
Read More »Samsung to be the sole supplier of iPhone 8 OLED panels
At this point, the next iPhone having an OLED display is all but confirmed. We've seen countless leaks over the last 12 months but the latest this week indicates that Samsung will once again be doing business with Apple, by becoming the sole supplier of curved OLED panels for the …
Read More »Microsoft updates Windows Store policies to ban emulators
Back when Microsoft began allowing developers to publish Windows UWP apps on both Windows 10 and Xbox One, a program called NESBox popped up. This little emulator allowed you to run NES, SNES and Mega Drive games on the Xbox One and Windows 10. As you might imagine, Microsoft didn't let …
Read More »