In a press release, Samsung revealed it has started sampling for the 256GB microSD cards based on the SD Express standard. This is the first such microSD card from the company that will support that standard.

That means the top sequential read speeds for this card can go up to as high as 800 megabytes per second. That's up to four times as fast as normal UHS-1 microSD cards, and even faster than the top read speeds of SATA SSDs, which have a limit of up to 560MB per second.

Samsung says the speeds of the new 256MB SD Express microSD card will offer PC and smartphones better overall performance. The microSD cards also use Dynamic Thermal Guard (DTG) technology to make sure the temperature in the card remains steady even after long hours of use.

Samsung also announced it has begun to mass produce a 1TB version of its Pro Plus and Evo Plus microSD card products. They stack up stacks eight layers of Samsung's V-NAND in the small card design. The company said:

The new 1TB microSD card passes the industry’s most rigorous test settings and offers reliable usage even in challenging environments, with features such as water protection, extreme temperature, drop-proof design, wear-out protection, as well as X-ray and magnetic protection.

The Samsung 256GB SD Express microSD card will launch sometime later this year, while the 1TB Pro Plus and Evo Plus microSD cards will go on sale sometime in the third quarter of 2024. The company has not yet revealed prices for the new microSD cards.

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The HBM3E 12H delivers a bandwidth of up to 1,280 gigabytes per second (GB/s), coupled with a storage capacity of 36 gigabytes. Both aspects have seen an improvement of over 50% compared to the 8-stack HBM3 8H. Samsung has employed advanced thermal compression non-conductive film (TC NCF) in the 12-layer configuration, maintaining the same height specification as the 8-layer counterpart to meet existing HBM package requirements.

Samsung's Executive Vice President of Memory Product Planning, Yongcheol Bae, stated:

The industry’s AI service providers are increasingly requiring HBM with higher capacity, and our new HBM3E 12H product has been designed to answer that need, This new memory solution forms part of our drive toward developing core technologies for high-stack HBM and providing technological leadership for the high-capacity HBM market in the AI era.

This technological advancement is poised to offer additional benefits, particularly as the industry addresses chip die warping issues associated with thinner die in higher stacks. According to the tech giant, its commitment to reducing the thickness of its NCF material has resulted in the industry's smallest gap between chips at seven micrometers (µm) and the elimination of voids between layers. Consequently, there has been an enhancement in vertical density, exceeding 20% compared to the HBM3 8H.

The use of Samsung's TC NCF extends to improving the thermal properties of the HBM. This is achieved by enabling the deployment of bumps in various sizes between the chips. During the chip bonding process, smaller bumps are placed in signaling areas, while larger ones are designated for effective heat dissipation.

The adoption of the HBM3E 12H in AI applications is expected to result in a 34% increase in the average speed for AI training, with the potential to expand the number of simultaneous users of inference services by over 11.5 times.

Samsung has commenced sampling of the HBM3E 12H to customers, with mass production scheduled for the first half of this year.

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The shareholder proposal urges the company to talk about the social impact and ethical concerns revolving around the deployment of AI in business operations. The investors mentioned the company shares "very little" information about its risk management strategies regarding AI.

The proposal was initially presented by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and is being supported by Norges Bank Investment Management (Apple's eighth-largest shareholder) and Legal & General (Apple's tenth-largest shareholder).

Major concerns of the proposal include the impact of AI on jobs and rising unemployment rates, privacy and security of user data, and how AI is increasingly being used for deep fakes.

While Apple has not commented further about this issue, it stated in its annual meeting notice that revealing such information could give competitors insights into upcoming projects. It wrote:

“We are committed to responsibly advancing our products and services that use AI, have a robust approach to addressing ethical considerations across our business operations, and already provide resources and transparency on our approach to artificial intelligence and machine learning. The scope of the requested report is overly broad and could encompass disclosure of strategic plans and initiatives harmful to our competitive position."

That said, Apple is one of many companies facing growing concerns of stakeholders such as governments and investors. In December's meeting, Microsoft's shareholders urged the company to "evaluate the risks posed by misinformation and disinformation generated and disseminated through artificial intelligence, and to report on plans to mitigate these risks."

According to Tim Cook, the iPhone maker intends to reveal new AI capabilities at the WWDC 2024. While the company isn't bound to act upon the request of shareholders, if 30% of company investors support the proposal, then the company is pressured to address the situation.

Source: Financial Times

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Months ago, AMD released the Radeon RX 7900 GRE graphics card for the Chinese market. While it was slowly getting available in other countries too, it wasn’t available everywhere.

In a blog post, AMD has officially announced the worldwide launch of the RX 7900 GRE graphics card. It would be available starting February 27.

The RX 7900 GRE graphics card will cost $549, which is a $100 cheaper than what it was originally launched at. It features a cut-down version of the Navi 31 GPU, the same GPU found in the RX 7900 XTX and 7900 XT graphics card.

It also fills the gap between RX 7800 XT and RX 7900 XT, which are priced at $499 and $899 respectively. Basically, there was a difference of $400 between them and the RX 7900 GRE graphics card fills it.

Specs & Comparison

In terms of specs, RX 7900 GRE comes with 80 Compute Units, 5120 Steam Processors, 160 AI Accelerators and 16GB VRAM running at the speed of 18Gbps with 256-bit bus. The base clock of it is 1880MHz, the boost clock is 2245MHz. It also comes with 64MB of 2nd Gen Infinity Cache. The TBP is 260W. It also comes with DisplayPort 2.1 and AV1 hardware encoding support. As one can see, all specs are cut-down from the more expensive RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT.

In terms of comparison, it is directly comparing the RX 7900 GRE with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 (non-SUPER) graphics card. Claiming it’s 14% faster than the RTX 4070 in the selective benchmarks.

AMD is quick to point out how RTX 4070 is similarly priced but is slower than RX 7900 GRE and comes with just 12GB VRAM.

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It is also comparing the RX 7900 GRE with Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER graphics card when used with HYPR-RX and AMD Fluid Motion Frames (AFMF) technology, which is a driver level upscaling version of FSR 3.

Reviews And Availability

Many reviewers have reviewed the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE. However, as always, the best reviews come from TechPowerUP, TechSpot (Hardware Unboxed video on YouTube) and Tom’s Hardware. VideoCardz has a full list of reviewers who have reviewed the card.

As per TechPowerUP, RX 7900 GRE is 12% faster than RX 7800 XT, 5% faster than the RTX 4070 SUPER and 9% slower than RTX 4070 Ti SUPER at 1440p. What’s interesting is, as per them, it’s faster than the RTX 4070 than what AMD claims.

TechSpot claims it’s just 5% faster than RX 7800 XT, 3% slower than RTX 4070 SUPER and 16% slower than RTX 4070 Ti SUPER at 1440p Though this difference could also be due to different games tested.

Tom’s Hardware puts RX 7900 GRE in similar speed as RTX 4070 SUPER. Though it found it to be 8% faster than RX 7800 XT and 10% slower than RTX 4070 Ti SUPER in raster performance at 1440p. Though, the ray tracing performance is a lot slower in the AMD offerings when compared to Nvidia ones.

In terms of availability, AMD claims that the likes of Acer, ASRock, ASUS, GIGABYTE, PowerColor, Sapphire and XFX will launch their variants. Though Acer and ASUS would launch them a bit later in March.

Overall, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE graphics card is interesting. Specifically because of its price rather than its performance. It would need to be seen how it well it sells now that it’s launched worldwide.

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What you need to know

• Qualcomm AI Hub just launched, giving developers access to over 75 AI models that are optimized to run on Qualcomm processors.
• Those models can be used to perform on-device AI tasks, such as image generation, voice recognition, and real-time translation.
• Running AI models on a device rather than relying on the cloud takes away the need for an internet connection and also improves privacy.
• PCs running Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processors are set to ship later this year, and Qualcomm shared the results of a head-to-head comparison between a Snapdragon X Elite-powered PC and one running an Intel Core Ultra CPU.

AI is the biggest buzz word in tech these days, and you shouldn't expect it to go away any time soon. In fact, the latest announcement from Qualcomm shows tech that will bring AI closer to you. The company unveiled the Qualcomm AI Hub, which provides developers with access to over 75 AI models optimized to run on Qualcomm chips. That means that your next smartphone or PC may be able to run powerful AI models locally rather than relying on an internet connection and the cloud.

Qualcomm AI Hub includes some of the biggest names in AI, including image generator Stable Diffusion, speech recognition tool Whisper, and Yolo-v7, which can detect objects in real time. With those models optimized for Qualcomm chips, they should have lower memory utilization and better power efficiency.

With Qualcomm AI Hub, developers should be able to integrate the supported AI models into applications with relatively little effort.

“With Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for smartphones and Snapdragon X Elite for PCs, we sparked commercialization of on-device AI at scale. Now with the Qualcomm AI Hub, we will empower developers to fully harness the potential of these cutting-edge technologies and create captivating AI-enabled apps,” said Qualcomm Senior Vice President and General Manager of Technology Planning and Edge Solutions Durga Malladi. “The Qualcomm AI Hub provides developers with a comprehensive AI model library to quickly and easily integrate pre-optimized AI models into their applications, leading to faster, more reliable and private user experiences.” 

The models are available now through Qualcomm AI Hub, GitHub, and Hugging Face. 

"We are thrilled to host Qualcomm Technologies' AI models on Hugging Face," said Clement Delangue, cofounder and CEO, Hugging Face. "These popular AI models, optimized for on-device machine learning and ready to use on Snapdragon and Qualcomm platforms, will enable the next generation of mobile developers and edge AI applications, making AI more accessible and affordable for everyone."

Snapdragon X Elite vs Intel Core Ultra

We should see Snapdragon X Elite-powered laptops later this year, and Qualcomm is making some big promises about performance of the chips. (Image credit: Daniel Rubino)

By the end of the year, both Qualcomm and Intel will have processors optimized for artificial intelligence. But according to Qualcomm, its upcoming Snapdragon X Elite chip beats out its Intel Core Ultra competitor. Qualcomm tested a Snapdragon X Elite-powered laptop against an Intel Core Ultra laptop by having both PCs generate an image in GIMP with the Stable Diffusion plug-in. The Snapdragon X Elite PC finished the task in 7.25 seconds, while the Intel PC took 22.26 seconds.

Of course, this is a specific test, and we don't know all of the parameters used for the head-to-head comparison. The full specs of both PCs are also unknown. At this point, the biggest takeaway from this test is that Qualcomm feels comfortable boasting about better performance than Intel when it comes to generative AI. If times were closer, I think Qualcomm would have chosen a different narrative. We'll have to wait until PCs powered by a Snapdragon X Elite ship later this year to see real-world testing.

It's an exciting year for fans of AI and those that will benefit from its features. Much of Qualcomm's announcement focused on the benefits of running AI models locally on smartphones, but there should be a knock-on effect for PCs. Since Qualcomm is working to optimize AI for its own chips, any device that runs on them should benefit. Qualcomm promised "support for additional operating systems" and that it will add more models to Qualcomm AI Hub over time.

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What you need to know

• In an interview with Tom's Hardware, Intel Foundry Services Head Stu Pann discussed Intel's plan to fight for market share in the foundry market. 
• Intel Foundry Services is working with Faraday to develop a 64-core 18A processor using the Arm Neoverse design. 
• Stu Pann says they want to offer foundry services in more geographical locations than competitors, especially within the U.S.

Arm is all the rage right now; with our recent report that upcoming Surface devices will have an Arm variant, as well as the Xbox leak from last year that the next generation of Xbox might be Arm-based, it seems the entire world is shifting towards Arm. 

With Intel being open to building Arm chips, Microsoft looking to integrate Arm with its in-house hardware projects, and the upcoming Snapdragon X Elite possibly making waves in the PC SOC market, Arm is set for a huge awakening in 2024.  

Intel's vision for foundry

Intel foundry services plants are now building Arm chips.  (Image credit: Intel)

During the IFS direct connect, Intel described how they want to be vital to the foundry market. They want to be the #2 Foundry by 2030 and become a resilient Foundry that can withstand supply chain disruptions due to geopolitical issues and wars going on around the world. Intel even stated that semiconductors are the new oil of geopolitics and hinted that the world will fight over silicon in the future as they have fought over oil for the last 50 years.  

Intel wants to rebalance the semiconductors from 80% in Asia closer to 50% in the Americas/Europe and 50% in Asia. 

This goes hand in hand with what was mentioned by Stu Pann in the interview with Tom's Hardware. 

"A lot of customers want at least a ‘Made in the Americas’ kind of setup. And if we do a wafer fab in the US for an 18A logic device, for example, we can package something in the Americas in its entirety without having to have it cross the Pacific Ocean."

Intel is looking for effective ways to bring most of its manufacturing closer to the Americas in an effort to have a dependable supply chain. 

Intel and Arm, the future seems symbiotic. 

During the IFS direct connect, Arm CEO Rene Hass discussed that it feels like they are strange bedfellows, and it feels odd to be working together with Intel. However, the world seems to be getting past the idea of exclusive hardware and instead wants to build the most efficient chips for large companies like Microsoft or Faraday to power AI data centers. 

The Arm Neoverse V3 is 50% faster than the Neoverse V2, which is used in data centers. The N3 Neoverse is 20% faster, but most importantly, they are much more efficient. 

Rene Hass said, "When you think about these AI data centers which are pulling hundreds of megawatts and more, efficiency matters."

With Intel's impressive 18A process node, it seems that both Intel and Arm want to ensure that the two companies benefit from the advancements the other side is making.

Where does Intel go from here?

Intel wants to be the world's #2 Foundry by 2023. (Image credit: Intel)

Intel is making the smart play and has the backing of the United States government as well. They were able to get the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to attend the Intel IFS Direct Connect 2024 and discuss the United States's interest in having more chip manufacturing in the country as part of the CHIPS Act. This is a huge indicator of the importance of Intel's long-term strategy in offering a reliable supply chain to the western world as geopolitics continue to spiral toward negative realities. 

By swallowing their pride, both Intel and Arm CEOs stand in a much better situation now than they did when they were stark enemies. While they are still competing in the same space, they are now working together to try to produce the most powerful, efficient chips to meet the demand for AI, as chip production lags far behind the needs seen in the world today. 

Intel recently announced its newest customer Microsoft, who will be using Intel to make homegrown chips for its needs and these are the types of partnerships that will help Intel win back some market share. 

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Nikkei believes that Nintendo has strategic reasons for pushing back the timeline. Since the Switch is still very popular, the company wants to support it with new games until early 2025. This will give developers more time to create titles for the new hardware.

Perhaps more importantly, Nintendo is focused on avoiding the supply issues that plagued the launches of the PS5 and Xbox Series X. By planning further ahead, Nintendo hopes to manufacture enough units of the new console before it hits store shelves.

The report also sheds some light on the features of the new console. It is said to continue Nintendo's focus on hybrid portability, similar to the original Switch. The screen will also be slightly larger than the original, while maintaining the same hybrid design.

Other reports claim the Switch 2 could have as much as 12GB of RAM. That is three times the amount found on the original Switch and also more than the 10GB of RAM that Microsoft put into the Xbox Series S console.

In August 2023, Nintendo reportedly showed off demos of the Switch 2 console behind closed doors to developers and publishers. The software demoed on the early Switch 2 hardware reportedly included an updated version of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but with a higher frame rate and resolution compared to the original Switch version.

If Nikkei's report is accurate, it would mean that the launch of the Switch 2 will be close to the release date of the original Switch model, which went on sale on March 3, 2017.

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As previously leaked earlier this month, Lenovo officially introduced a new concept device during this week's Mobile World Congress 2024 trade show in Barcelona, Spain. it showed a laptop with a transparent display.

In fact, the company officially gave this product a pretty basic name, the Lenovo ThinkBook Transparent Display Laptop Concept, in its press release. The company believes the addition of the transparent screen, combined with AI apps and services, will allow owners to interact more directly with apps and possibly come up with new features and form factors.

The actual concept product shown at MWC 2024 has a 17.3-inch Micro-LED display with no bezels, which means every part of the screen could be used. It also has a transparent keyboard area that can be interacted with a stylus.

With all of this hype, keep in mind this concept is exactly that right now, and nothing more. Lenovo has not indicated it plans to offer a transparent display in a real ThinkBook notebook. Also, we have seen other Lenovo concepts show up at trade shows only to disappear. At MWC 2023, it showed a laptop with a rollable screen, but there's no word it will make such a notebook for real buyers anytime soon.

The company did reveal some upcoming notebooks today that it will be selling in the near future. One is the Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Detachable Gen 2. The Windows 11-based notebook has a 12.3-inch IPS display that can separate from the keyboard. Inside the screen is an Intel Core Ultra U CPU, along with up to 1TB of storage and up to 32GB of RAM, along with a built-in kickstand. The keyboard includes Lenovo's trademark TrackPad if a mouse is not available.

In many ways, this new Lenovo 2-in-1 is much like the PCs sold by Microsoft with its Surface lineup. The ThinkPad X12 Detachable Gen 2 is due out in April for a starting price of $1,399.

There's also the upcoming ThinkBook 14 2-in-1 Gen 4. The 2-in-1 3.61-pound Windows 11 notebook has a 360-degree hinge so it can be also used as a tablet when the 14-inch touchscreen is flipped. It also has Intel Ultra Core CPUs, up to 64GB of RAM, and up to 2TB of storage for high-end business and enterprise users. It's due in March for a starting price of $1,169.

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Table of contents:

1. Windows 11 news
2. Updates are available
3. Gaming news
4. A blast from Microsoft's past
5. Random fact about Microsoft

Windows 11

Here we talk about everything happening around Microsoft's latest operating system in the Stable channel and preview builds: new features, removed features, controversies, bugs, interesting findings, and more. And of course, you may find a word or two about older but still supported versions.

If you are on Windows 11 version 21H2 or 22H2, get ready for some forced upgrades. Microsoft announced that Windows 11 version 23H2 is now ready for prime time, and the company began upgrading users to the latest release.

Windows 11 users are reporting some odd stuff in KB5034765, the latest cumulative update for versions 22H2 and 23H2. According to some scattered reports, the update breaks the operating system by removing its taskbar and everything on it. Uninstalling KB5034765 should solve the problem.

We also have an update for the recent story about broken apps on Windows 10. As it turned out, there was a regression in the vclibs framework package that many apps rely on. That broke Photos and other Store apps on systems without SSE4.2 instructions. The good news is that Microsoft is working on resolving the problem.

Speaking of processors, you may want to downclock your Intel processor to avoid the "out of video memory" blue screen of death, which has nothing to do with discrete graphics cards from AMD or Nvidia. Some users, however, want or need to intentionally crash their systems to a BSOD. If you are one such user doing it for a good cause or simple fun, check out this article that details how to initiate a system crash properly.

This week, Microsoft confirmed that the problem with the WVC1 codec in Windows 10 and 11 is finally fixed. To get the needed patch, update your system to the latest cumulative updates released earlier this month.

Windows 11 already allows you to track NPU (it stands for neural processing unit) activity on a system with Intel chips equipped with dedicated NPUs. AMD, which recently introduced its first NPU-powered processors, the Ryzen 8000 lineup, is about to follow suit. The company published a post on the AMD Community website, claiming an upcoming Task Manager update will add NPU monitoring for the Ryzen 8040 CPU family.

Another big Windows 11-related story published this week is all about those forced restarts. If you are annoyed by the fact that Windows 11 frequently requires a reboot, you will be delighted to know that Microsoft is working on bringing Hot Patching to consumer editions of its operating system. Hot Patching will let you install security updates without mandatory restarts, keeping your system uninterrupted for up to three months.

Finally, Microsoft updated its documentation with references to Windows 11 "2024 Update," which should be the official marketing name for the upcoming version 24H2.

Windows Insider Program

New builds released for testing this week include the following:

In addition to a new build in the Canary Channel, Microsoft released improved Copilot integration, which can finally do much more stuff with your system. With the latest changes, you can ask Copilot to turn on various accessibility features, check for Wi-Fi networks, fetch the battery info, toggle Bluetooth, and more.

Microsoft also released an update for the Photos app, giving its Spot fix tool "a boost with the help of AI." It is now called Generative erase, and you can use it to remove unnecessary objects from your photos with more seamless and realistic results.

Paint is another app that will most likely get a feature update soon. Look out for two new capabilities: a reworked brush slider and improvements for the layer panel.

If you are a Windows Insider, you might find this nifty guide interesting. It details how to make sure Windows 11 does not reinstall some of the stock apps every time you upgrade to a newer build.

To finish the Windows 11 section, here is a concept that tries to mix two likely non-existing things into one: Windows 12 and Windows Mobile. Yes, seven years after the end of Windows Phone, people still daydream about this platform. Still not dead™.

Updates are available

This section covers software, firmware, and other notable updates (released and coming soon) delivering new features, security fixes, improvements, patches, and more from Microsoft and third parties.

Stardock's Object Desktop app suite is now fully ARM-friendly. Start11 v2, Fences 5, and Groupy 2 now run natively on Windows PCs with ARM chips inside, such as the Surface Pro 9 5G or the Surface Pro X.

No Microsoft Weekly is complete without stories about Microsoft Edge. In typical Microsoft fashion, some of them are positive, and some are not. Let us start with the first one: the browser is getting a separate search bar that will let you search for something on the internet without opening a new tab manually. Check out our article here to learn how to try that feature.

The release of Edge 122 on the Stable Channel also counts as positive news. The latest update delivers fixes, changes for the built-in screenshot tool, deprecation of the image enhancement feature, and more.

On the negative side, Microsoft Edge is once again annoying users with controversial and non-removable UI bits. This time, it received a new sidebar button on the toolbar. You cannot remove it the easy way, so enthusiasts found a way to force-disable the button with a command. It is not a very elegant solution, but it still works.

Firefox 123 is out in the Release channel. The latest improvements and new features include a search for Firefox View, a new tool for reporting website compatibility issues, translation improvements, and more.

Google also released a big update for Chrome. Version 122 is now available for download with a new AI writing tool that uses the recently launched Gemini LLM.

Other notable updates released or announced this week include the following:

• Surface Laptop 5 received a new firmware with fixes for boot issues and battery error messages.
• Google is planning a new Chrome feature to safeguard your home and private networks.
• The Notebook feature with up to 18K character support is now available in Copilot.
• Word for the web now lets you add checklists to your documents.

Here are the latest drivers released this week:

• Nvidia pushed out a driver duo for systems with the now-unsupported Kepler GPUs and PCs running Nvidia cards on Windows 7, 8, and 8.1. These two drivers contain nothing but security fixes.
• There is another driver from Nvidia. This time, it is for those with supported hardware and software. Version 551.61 WHQL adds optimizations for Nightingale a support for the new Nvidia App, which combines all the company's apps into one.

Finally, here is the latest edition of the Microsoft 365 Roadmap Weekly series, where we track upcoming features for Microsoft's Office applications.

Reviews are in

Check out this week's hardware and software reviews

Steven Parker reviewed this week the GEEKOM A7, a mini PC with a sleek and stylish aluminum enclosure, a powerful Ryzen 9 processor with an NPU, speedy DDR5 memory, a lot of space, and fast USB 4 ports. However, it also has some flaws, such as the lack of an extra port for another SSD, odd design choices, and more. Check out the full review here if you are interested (and even if you don't).

Pulasthi Ariyasinghe published a review of Skull and Bones, Ubisoft's long-in-the-making pirate-themed game. Look out for nice naval combat, world exploration, and decent performance, but beware of a shallow story (get it?), grind, a lot of fetch quests, and other rough surfaces. Arrrr!

Robbie Khan reviewed the Baseus Eli Sport 1, an interesting-looking and well-sounding pair of TWS earbuds. These offer great performance, solid build quality, easy maintenance, and other upsides while also suffering from the lack of wireless charging, muffled mics, and other quirks.

On the gaming side

Learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, freebies, deals, discounts and more.

As of right now, Xbox Cloud Gaming is a perk that only lets you play games that are part of the Game Pass catalog. Titles you own outside Game Pass are not available in the cloud. However, Microsoft wants to change that. A direct message exchange between Phil Spencer and an Xbox fan confirmed that the ability to play the titles you own on Xbox Cloud Gaming is coming later this year. However, the feature will most likely still require a subscription.

Xbox boss also confirmed that ZeniMax and Activision Blizzard games will be playable on PC and Xbox Game Pass on day one, further increasing the service value for those subscribed.

Bethesda finished testing a much-needed update for Starfield and pushed it out to the public. It is now available with AMD FSR 3 and Intel XeSS and fixes for various issues, including saves corruption.

Another neat announcement from Bethesda is the Fallout SPECIAL Anthology containing seven games from the series, a mini-nuke case, and a set of seven collectible cards. There are no prices yet, but expect the set to go live on April 11. Hopefully, this one will not flop as the Fallout 76 collectible edition did.

Microsoft has revealed the previously promised four games coming from Xbox to Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5. Those are Grounded, Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, and Sea of Thieves. Speaking of Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment, these two games will soon get physical editions via Limited Run Games, further supporting Phil Spencer's claim that the company is not ditching games on physical media.

Minecraft Bedrock Edition is getting mods support. Called add-ons, they will let you customize your gaming experience with all sorts of paid and free mods. The first batch of add-ons is already available in the Minecraft Marketplace.

This week, Microsoft held a special livestream dedicated to its Age of Empires franchise, which currently has over 50 million total players. During the event, the company announced the following:

• Age of Empires Mobile is coming soon to iOS and Android. It is already available for pre-register, and Microsoft plans to release it "later in 2024."
• Age of Empires II: DE will soon get a campaign-focused expansion. Look out for the Victors and Vanquished update with 19 different scenarios.
• New DLCs and content updates for Age of Empires III and IV.
• A sneak peek at Age of Mythology: Retold, which should launch later this year.

If you are an Xbox or PC Game Pass subscriber, here are the latest additions to the catalog you may find interesting. The second wave of games for February 2024 includes Madden NFL 24, Maneater, Space Engineers, and more.

Nvidia's GeForce NOW service received eleven more games, allowing you to play Nightingale, Le Mans Ultimate, Pacific Drive, PAC-MAN MUSEUM+, and other titles.

Deals and freebies

Super Meat Boy Forever is up for grabs in the Epic Games Store until next Thursday. If you are in the mood for some PC game shopping, check out the latest Weekend PC Game Deals series where you will find plenty of heavily discounted titles.

Here is one more freebie you can get from Microsoft: a custom-made Palworld-themed Xbox Series S with four controllers.

A blast from Microsoft's past

John Callaham's weekly "Look back" series provides throwbacks into the past, detailing the company's products, partnerships, mishaps, and successes from years ago.

This week's look back is about the Xbox Insider Program, which lets you preview Xbox updates before their public release. On February 20, 2024, the program marked its tenth anniversary, so we made a quick look back detailing its history from its inception to modern times. How time flies.

Another Xbox-related look-back article covers the Xbox HD DVD add-on for the Xbox 360 console. Check out a brief story of this relic of the past made for the standard that is no longer with us.

Random fact about Microsoft

And here is a randomly selected piece of trivia about the company, Windows, and other Microsoft-made things.

This week's random fact about Microsoft is Task Manager-related: did you know you can hold the Ctrl key to freeze Task Manager and stop the processes from moving around? Windows has dozens of processes running side-by-side, so catching the one you need might be a challenge. Keeping the Ctrl key hold will make things a little easier for you.

You can find other issues of the Microsoft Weekly series using this link. Also, you can support Neowin by subscribing to our Newsletter to get regular news recaps delivered directly to your email.

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Last week, Microsoft revealed its 2024 plans for the series. That includes new content for Age of Empires III and IV, a new expansion pack for AoW II, and the long-awaited remastered version of the spin-off game Age of Mythology. However, we are also getting an all-new game in the series, Age of Empires Mobile, which is scheduled to launch later this year for iOS and Android.

It's interesting that Microsoft is trying once again to launch a successful Age of Empires game for mobile devices for a couple of reasons. One is that so many mobile strategy games, including some pretty popular ones, are obviously influenced greatly by AoE (some might even say a few of them are pretty blatant rip-offs, but that's another topic entirely). The other is that there have been attempts to create official Age of Empires games for mobile devices, but they have not ultimately been successful. We are going to look back at these attempts now.

The first is a free-to-play PC-mobile hybrid game called Age of Empires: Castle Siege. First announced in 2014 and then launched later that same year, the game was primarily developed by Smoking Gun Interactive. It belonged in the RTS sub-genre, the tower defense game.

Players could pick one of several Middle Ages-themed civilizations. They were tasked with building their castle and its walls and defenses, and they had to defeat invading armies who were determined to destroy their castle. If players survived the invading forces, they could build up their own army and start laying siege to other player's castles and defenses online. There was even a campaign mode where players could participate in 10 historical battles. Like in the PC AoE games, the campaign required players to reach a specific Age level before unlocking the next battle in the campaign.

The game was originally released for Windows 8.1 PCs, but it also launched for Windows Phone. Castle Siege could even be played on low-end Windows Phone devices that only had 512MB of RAM, which was a big selling point for the game.

In 2015, Castle Siege was launched on iOS devices, and in 2017, it finally arrived on Android phones and tablets. It also allowed players to switch devices and pick up where they left off with an Xbox Live or Microsoft account.

However, the game would soon reach the end of its life. In November 2018, Microsoft announced it would shut down the servers for Castle Siege in May 2019.

A much lesser-known mobile game in the series is Age of Empires: World Domination. It was developed by KLab and launched in its home country of Japan, as well as other Asian countries and territories, in December 2015 for iOS and Android.

KLab stated in its press release:

Players are challenged to advance an array of civilizations through new ages to forge their own custom empire. After creating buildings that produce resources required for the expansion of their fledgling army, players can utilize the newly-collected resources to build barracks for training new soldiers. For success in battle, new rulers are advised to strengthen their army by leveling up buildings and troops.

However, the free-to-play mobile game was not successful in its soft launch, and KLab quietly shut down the title in November 2016, less than a year after its initial release.

The good news is that the new Age of Empires Mobile game, with Microsoft and Worlds Edge working with the development team at Timi, looks a lot better than World Domination while staying true to the RTS gameplay of the PC and Xbox game series. Hopefully, this attempt at a smartphone AoE game will make us forget the shut-down mobile games.

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CNBC reports that the court documents that were revealed late on Friday show Google's claims that Microsoft offered to sell Bing to Apple in 2018. Microsoft also allegedly proposed a secondary plan where the company and Apple would launch a joint venture with Bing.

The court documents included quotes from Eddy Cue, who was then Apple’s senior vice president of services. He stated that he was unimpressed with the search quality for Bing, and Microsoft's own investment in the division. The filing has Cue stating:

They weren’t investing at any level comparable to Google or to what Microsoft could invest in. And their advertising organization and how they monetize was not very good either.

The court filing also shows Apple CEO Tim Cook sending an email to his company's executives about its opinions on Bing, but the filing redacted Cook's specific comments.

The new filing became unlocked as part of Google's antitrust court cast against the US Department of Justice. The DOJ claims Google has a monopoly in the online search industry. Google's court filings are an attempt by the company to show that there is indeed competition with Bing.

The documents from Google also claim Microsoft tried a number of times over the years to get Apple to replace Google Seach as the default search engine for Apple's Safari web browser. Apple reportedly rejected all of those proposals from Microsoft. Bing was used by Apple as the search engine for its Siri digital assistant from 2013 to 2017. However Apple later decided to switch to Google Search as the default for Siri.

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Fans of Call of Duty got some good news this week, as Xbox lead Phil Spencer confirmed that the game will launch on Xbox Game Pass. Some Activision Blizzard games have taken a while to get onto the subscription service following Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard.

Keeping the good news rolling, a report states that Xbox games people own will be available through Xbox Cloud Gaming in 2024. That's a welcome addition to the library of titles already available through the service.

Over on the non-gaming side of things, we saw Dell launch three gorgeous XPS laptops: the XPS 13, XPS 14, and XPS 16.

Here are all of the biggest news stories from the past week plus the best deals in tech and all our latest reviews.

Call of Duty on Game Pass

(Image credit: Activision Publishing)

Microsoft's Gaming CEO Phil Spencer confirmed this week that Call of Duty will launch on Xbox Game Pass. While first-party games generally launch on Xbox Game Pass on day one, there are occasions when titles are delayed, such as when having to integrate content acquired through purchases of gaming companies.

“Our intent is the full portfolio of games from ZeniMax, Activision Blizzard and XGS —Xbox Game Studios —will be on Game Pass, day one,” said Spencer in an interview with Game File. "We're doing the back end work to make them come to PC and console simultaneously," added Spencer.

Spencer also discussed if Microsoft will move away from physical media, which has been a hot button topic lately.

If you're a new subscriber to Game Pass or have an expired subscription, jump down to our deals roundup from the week to see a great Xbox Game Pass Ultimate deal.

New XPS laptops

Three new Dell laptops launched this week. Dell introduced new sizes for its Ultrabooks with the XPS 14 and XPS 16 and refreshed the XPS 13 with a new design. All three of the laptops feature a modern design with a zero-lattice keyboard, invisible haptic touchpad, and a haptic row of function keys.

The design of the XPS 13, XPS 14, and XPS 16 will look familiar to anyone who has seen the XPS 13 Plus. Dell took inspiration from that design when making the XPS 14 and XPS 16. The laptop also shifted its XPS 13 to the new design, removing the need to sell both the XPS 13 Plus and "classic" XPS 13.

In addition to having a modern design, the new XPS laptops run on Intel Core Ultra graphics and either NVIDIA GeForce RTX or Intel Arc graphics. 

Our Editor-in-Chief already has a Dell XPS 14 review, so you can see how the new laptop stacks up against the competition.

Your games on Xbox Cloud Gaming

(Image credit: Jez Corden - Windows Central)

Xbox Cloud Gaming is a lovely service for streaming games to a variety of devices, including smartphones, PCs, select smart TVs, and certain consoles. While the library of titles you can stream is vast and growing, you can only stream certain games through the service. Soon, you'll be able to stream games you own that aren't part of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate library.

Spencer commented on the long-awaited and highly requested feature on X (formerly Twitter) this week. When asked about streaming owned games through Xbox Cloud Gaming, Spencer said "should be this year."

Microsoft has talked about adding the ability to stream owned games through Xbox Cloud Gaming for a long time, so it's nice to see the wait is almost over.

Sticky Notes update

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft only started teasing a major update Sticky Notes a few weeks ago, but you can already try out the redesigned application. The new Sticky Notes app on Windows is now available in preview, and it looks much more modern than the previous version.

The new experience is "focused on creating and recalling notes more seamlessly than ever," according to Microsoft. The new Sticky Notes app includes a fresh design and a new stool for capturing screenshots that lets you find the source of the image easily.

The Sticky Notes app team has promised in the past that updates won't transform the app into a web app. That's a welcome promise as many complain about the performance and optimization of web apps on Windows.

You can try out the new Sticky Notes by enrolling in the Microsoft 365 Insiders Current Channel (Preview). You need to be running OneNote Windows Version 2402 (Build 17328.20000) or later to get the new experience.

Reviews

(Image credit: Daniel Rubino

We love to get our hands on the latest laptops, accessories, and games. We're also known to sit down and enjoy an episode of the Halo TV series. This week we shared a TON of reviews, so make sure you browse through the whole list below to catch up.

• An Xbox and ASUS ROG Ally lover tries out the Lenovo Legion Go PC gaming handheld: Week one review impressions.
• Razer Blade 16 (2024) review: Mild improvements for a top gaming laptop, but is it enough at this price?
• This tiny TV dock lets you swap between Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck, and I love it
• Nanoleaf Lines review: It permeates my gaming room without hurting my sensitive eyes and I love it
• Nanoleaf Shapes Ultra Black Hexagons review: A sleek way to add color and lighting effects to any gaming room
• Halo TV series Season 2, Episode 3 review: The storm clouds gather
• Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Mouse review: The smoothest mouse I've ever used
• Alienware Pro Wireless Gaming Keyboard review: Alienware is starting to get REALLY good at this
• Dell XPS 14 (9440) review: An outstanding Windows laptop, thanks to its minimalist design, superior display, and powerful graphics
• Helldivers 2 PC review: A co-op triumph that delivers maximum fun in every way
• Crucial Pro Memory: Overclocking Edition DDR5 RAM review — Hitting the Ryzen sweet spot with no frills

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Reddit is offering its users a chance to buy a piece of the company before its impending debut on the stock market. They’re not all racing to sign up.

In public Reddit forums, private chat rooms, and interviews with WIRED, several moderators and power users—who on Thursday learned they would get the rare chance to buy IPO shares at the same price as institutional investors—say they have little interest in sinking money into the company. Although the opportunity is being extended to those who’ve already invested time in Reddit, such as longtime commenters and volunteer moderators who’ve put in countless unpaid hours, even these users are skeptical about the company’s prospects. The nearly 19-year-old business has never made a profit and lost $91 million last year.

“Reddit has a very rocky history,” says Alex Cook, a volunteer moderator (or “mod” in the community’s lingo) for several gaming subreddits. “I see it as a very risky investment at best.”

Other users disparaged the offer in private chat rooms for mods. “Reddit already fucks us over enough, now they want us to pay for it as well,” one wrote. Another joked: “They’re using my data and work on reddit to sell me back to me through an IPO!!! Look Ma, I’m gonna be rich!!!!”

The cold response from some Reddit users could undermine a long-held ambition of Reddit CEO and cofounder Steve Huffman, who has said he’d like to see contributors to the unique community become owners. It also could temper prices when the RDDT ticker debuts on the New York Stock Exchange as soon as next month, generating less cash for Reddit and the investors who have put in $1.2 billion over the past decade. (Advance Publications, the parent company of WIRED owner Condé Nast, is Reddit’s largest shareholder.)

Reddit has more than 73 million daily users, so some may be more open to investing—or may change their views in the coming weeks. “Honestly they have been gunning hard for every ad dollar they can get,” Reddit user Noor Al wrote on the platform. “Whatever happens, I’m just very excited to be coming along for the ride.” But the initial skeptical reactions from some highlight the volatile relationship between the company and its users who, although attached to the online communities that the social platform hosts, sometimes disdain its decisions on policing content, generating revenue, and launching new features.

Some users are still angry over the company’s decision last year to begin charging for access to its API, an interface used by software developers to draw on user posts and other Reddit content. The fees led to several popular independent Reddit mobile apps shutting down, and protesting users temporarily closed some forums on the service for weeks in a failed effort to pressure the company into reversing course.

IPO shares won’t soothe lingering frustration, says a user who goes by Rat and volunteers as a mod for the r/StardewValley video game community. “I guess this could be their attempt at the ‘pizza party,’” Rat says, referring to a conciliatory gesture commonly offered to children.

Reddit didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.

Unwanted Offer

Reddit’s investment offer to users is known as the Directed Share Program. “Because you have helped make Reddit what it is today, you now have the opportunity to become Reddit owners at the same price as institutional investors,” the company wrote to the first batch of invitees, both in emails and direct messages through Reddit.

The program allows users to buy shares the day before shares in the company begin trading, at a price to be set by Reddit’s bankers. If the start of public trading attracts a frenzy of interest, shares bought on the eve of trading can immediately rocket in value. Users won’t face any restrictions on selling the shares.

Such IPO buy-ins are typically reserved mostly for huge investors, such as retirement funds and ETF issuers, that tend to hold shares for a long time. Involving individual investors in an IPO can lead to unpredictable swings in pricing, since individuals may sell their shares sooner.

Companies such as Facebook and Robinhood suffered share price shocks after giving individuals an unusually high number of shares—about a quarter to a third of those in the IPO. Airbnb, which set aside about 7 percent of its IPO shares for hosts on the housing rentals marketplace, faced fewer issues.

Reddit hasn’t announced how many shares it will allocate users, but it will be a limited number. First dibs go to significant contributors as measured by joining company advisory boards or having high karma, a secretly determined grade of someone’s behavior on Reddit. The first tier also includes some of the busiest moderators, who create discussion forums and enforce the rules for contributing to them.

Additional waves of users with successively lower levels of contributions will be invited in the coming days. Everyone has until March 5 to register their interest in buying shares, but nobody is obligated to follow through with a purchase. Starting March 1, any user can try to sign up regardless of activity or moderating history, though some may end up on a waitlist.

To be eligible for the program, users must be at least 18 years old and must reside in the US. These restrictions left some teenaged mods, and those located in several other countries, feeling miffed. “Redditors based outside of the US are an equally important part of making Reddit what it is today,” the company wrote in FAQs on its website, citing unspecified regulations for the geographic limitation. “Unfortunately, this one is out of our hands.”

Cook, the gaming mod, who is based in the UK, says international availability of the shares wouldn’t have persuaded him to buy in—but adds that Reddit’s inability to find a workaround or strive for fairness “doesn’t instill confidence.”

Former Reddit employees who had been involved in IPO preparations say resentment from overseas moderators had long been identified as a pitfall of the plan. Staff also told executives they think many moderators would fear buying in, worrying it would taint their volunteer work or invite the wrath of their community members for appearing to sell out. But Cook framed it differently: He said stock simply isn’t the payoff volunteers are after. “A moderator’s ‘reward’ is making the community they’re in better for everyone,” he says.

Other user complaints about the IPO program take aim at its design. Some moderators not yet invited to buy shares have complained that their significant contributions to the vibes of a community aren’t reflected in Reddit’s official measures, because they happen off the platform in private chats. Meanwhile, another group of users criticize the offer for not being exclusive enough: Beside any user eventually being able to sign up, other people who can get in at the premarket price include Reddit employees’ families and friends, and some clients of investing services such as Robinhood, SoFi, and Fidelity.

Matthew Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, a provider of pre-IPO research and an IPO-focused ETF, says widespread rejection of the offer by users could be significant. “I don't believe vocal users would necessarily be representative of everyone who is offered shares at the IPO price,” he says. “But if Reddit couldn't even get regular users to put in on the deal at the IPO price ... that would not be a good sign!”

The IPO offer isn’t the first time Reddit has suggested users become financial stakeholders. In 2014, Reddit investor and (now) OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced a plan to gift to users 10 percent of the shares he and other financiers received that year, when they put $50 million into the company. It couldn’t be determined what came of the idea, known as Reddit Notes, as company communications about the plan fizzled out.

Users who don’t buy in early could still become shareholders through traditional purchases after Reddit goes public. Investors on one of its own forums, the 15-million-member r/WallStreetBets, rallied behind shares of struggling companies like GameStop and drove them briefly onto the Fortune 500 in 2021. The former employees say Reddit has discussed how to tamp down similar activity with its own shares as well as any protests on the service in its first days of public trading. In the wake of the IPO news, Reddit users on r/WallStreetBets and similar forums are already talking about buying put options on Reddit shares, a type of investment that bets a company’s share price will tumble.

Updated 2-23-2024, 6:45 pm EST: This article was updated with the name of Reddit user Noor Al and comment from Matthew Kennedy.

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Players of Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition will be getting a new DLC sometime in late 2024. It will include two new civilizations to try out. While they were not actually revealed by name, images of two country flags, Denmark and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, were shown during the live stream. No other details about this DLC pack were revealed. You can play a free trial version of Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition on Steam right now.

Age of Empires IV, which added The Sultans Ascend expansion pack in November 2023, will get some new content this spring, which will also commence its Season 7 update. The updates will add team-ranked play for the Xbox edition and a Free For All mode for Quickmatch. More info on the updates and Season 7 will be revealed in the near future.

Unfortunately, there was no info about major updates coming to Age of Empires I. Still, Microsoft did reveal during the livestream that Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition will get its own expansion pack late this year. The long awaited remastered version of the spin-off game, Age of Mythology Retold, will launch sometime in 2024 for PC and Xbox, and, of course, will be a Day One release for Xbox Game Pass subscribers.

All in all, this looks to be a very busy 2024 for the AoE franchise, with new updates and expansion packs for three out of the four main games, plus the launch of Age of Mythology Retold. It will be interesting to see if all of this new content could cause Microsoft to launch another all-new game in the franchise.

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I have been documenting the process in our forums. It all started when I changed the GPU in my main system to an AMD 7900 XTX. Previously, I had a 4070 Ti in that system, and although I experienced the glitching when my Neo came out of power saving (due to my PC being locked) it was easy to fix with a driver restart key combo of CTRL + WIN + SHIFT + B. This would resolve the glitching immediately, but with the AMD card, this trick did not work. I had to power cycle the monitor in order for it to stop glitching.

October 26 - Let's start a Warranty repair request

Since the factory warranty would end at the start of January 2024, I decided to RMA it via Samsung (Netherlands), where I had also registered it with proof of purchase and the serial number. The repair page suggested doing it via WhatsApp, so I did this, and after a bit of back and forth with "^Julian," he stopped responding to messages. Eventually, after four hours, I decided to try to get the repair process started online, which was successful.

Nov 2 - Samsung tech visits for in-house repair

A guy from CE Repair, who is contracted by Samsung to fulfill repairs for many of their products, including monitors, came out and swapped the "ASSY PCB MAIN;G95NA," which was the main board of the screen. He did not test or configure it, so I figured it was not needed.

Then I discovered that there was no longer a Model code or Serial number (S/N) listed in the OSD. Local Dimming could no longer be set (kept returning to OFF when the screen power cycled), HDR would not work, and the screen was no longer listed as "G-SYNC Compatible," which, to me, indicated that that the new PCB either wasn't configured properly or wasn't the right one for my monitor.

Nov 4 - 9: In-house repair introduced more problems

I tried contacting Samsung multiple times between Nov. 4 and Nov. 9 on WhatsApp and via telephone, again, which is documented in more detail in the forums... Long story short, (because I was promised by Samsung on the telephone a next day pick up that never happened,) it took a week to finally get a hold of someone who said they would pick it up, but not before November 15.

Dec 5: The monitor is "misplaced" in the wrong repair center

Three weeks after it was picked up, and after again trying to contact Samsung on the status of the repair via Twitter DM and telephone, I was told that they took it to the wrong repair center. It took Samsung to start an "internal investigation" for CE Repair to finally find it and deliver it to the correct repair center to be looked at.

Dec 7: No action taken, CE Repair claims user fault

CE Repair sent me an email that no action was taken because they couldn't find a fault with it. Their "technician" made a note, saying, "It's probably client's video card". They did not confirm or fix the additional problems their own technician introduced when he replaced the monitor's PCB, which, as a reminder, had:

• No model number identification
• Missing serial number
• No GSync certification
• Local Dimming would not stay on
• HDR stopped working

I had already made a video of the problem, which was required by Samsung, with indications to the following timestamps:

• from 00:29 center left
• from 00:48 roughly same place
• from 00:56 left of the clock
• from 01:11 top left/center portion
• from 01:21 left of login

CE Repair was also made aware of the video via email in replies to their "no action" email.

Dec 12 - Jan 3: (it takes this long to return it to me)

CE Repair failed to respond to email replies of their "No action" and multiple DMs to Samsung mainly resulted in their questioning if CE Repair had contacted me and that they would start an "internal investigation" into why it is taking so long.

Two weeks later, on December 20, I got an email that they would return the monitor on Dec. 23. I got confirmation of delivery on Dec. 22. In the afternoon of Dec. 23, CE Repair called me to apologize and said that the monitor was not out for delivery, because it is in the wrong repair center (again) in the South of Holland (I live near Amsterdam in the North). They claim they will plan a new delivery date.

On December 27, I got an email that my monitor would be delivered on January 3.

January 7: The problem now seems worse

Although the screen has been returned to me in a good physical state, the flickering now seems even worse than it was before. I am kind of amazed they haven't been able to reproduce it themselves, or maybe they didn't even try.

I filmed it again and told Samsung on DM three days later, on January 10. Another person, ^Hanaa, says she will start an internal investigation and agrees that this is just not on. Another five days pass, and yet another person, ^Wendy, says on January 15, she has forwarded the issues to the repair (CE Repair) and complaints department. Two more days pass, after which CE Repair calls to arrange a pickup. WTF?!

I refuse to arrange a pickup, because of their amateur dealings with me thus far and DM Samsung again to come up with a different solution. On Jan 18 ^Kautar comes onto the DM to ask if my problem has been sorted, to which I say a resounding No.

FOUR DAYS LATER, on Jan. 22, ^Safie comes on the chat to tell me that a technician will call me. The next day ^Safie told me that I had a repair number and that CE Repair was waiting on parts. They also called me to arrange pickup. I include an A4 piece of paper with the outstanding issues with the monitor, which is packed for pickup again.

January 26 - Feb 5: CE Repair and Samsung finally agree the monitor is broken

Three months after I first put in the repair request, they confirmed there was an issue without saying what part needed replacing (I suspected the PSU), but it seems they cannot get a hold of the part they need and need to consider other options, (machine translated from Dutch).

Another ten days passed, and finally, on Feb. 5, CE Repair emailed to say that the monitor would not be repaired, (machine translated from Dutch).

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

We would like to inform you about your Samsung B2B TV/Monitor 49" LS49AG952NUXEN with order number xxxxxx, external reference: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx. Your B2B TV/Monitor 49" LS49AG952NUXEN will not be repaired, Samsung has decided to proceed to credit or possibly exchange, with RMA number 000xxxxxxxxx.
The above is (often) based on depreciation and duration of use. After crediting or exchange, the product will become the property of Samsung.

 

Your supplier, where you have purchased the product, will contact you soon or you can contact them yourself if desired. They will e.e.a. Continue handling with you.
CE Repair Services as a service organisation has no influence on the further processing, as this is a matter between Samsung and your supplier.

 

We trust to have informed you sufficiently,

 

With kind regards,

 

CE Repair Services

Feb 14: Now the real fun begins

I bought the monitor in Germany at Tech-Express24 on eBay, which is represented by EL-EXpress GmbH, and is a registered German company. Samsung now says I have to go to them for a refund and that they have forwarded the GRMS-number (whatever the hell that is) to "their accountant". I called them at the number listed on their page, but the person on the telephone said that Samsung Germany had never contacted them and that I should email the details to them, which is what I did on Wednesday, Feb. 14:

Today, Friday, Feb. 16, I called EL-EXpress GmbH again to see if they had a response to the email. The guy on the phone indicated to me that he did not speak English, so I instead sent a message on eBay messenger asking the company to comment on the email I sent, and I received the following response:

So I am left without my €1,300 monitor, and Samsung is saying, "Go to the seller," and the seller is saying, "Go to Samsung." I am honestly lost as to what to do now.

Feb 16: Don't call us, we'll call you

After writing this earlier today, I called Samsung again on the support number listed here, this time I have a reference number and although the guy seemed willing to help, is still adamant the "account manager" in Germany has to issue the refund, he will ask internally if they can come up with a solution, half an hour into the call the line drops, great.

I wait five minutes and call back, this time I get a woman, who is able to confirm the line dropped due to a mistake. Another 15-minute call later I am asked again to be patient while they figure this out internally. This time, they say, Samsung will call or email me early next week. This will be the first time Samsung initiates contact with me outside of social media, will it happen? WHO KNOWS?!

To the following people I was passed around to on WhatsApp and at @SamsungNL on Twitter DM: ^Julian, ^Ava, ^Lita, ^Shenice, ^Wendy, ^Hanaa, ^Kautar, ^Safie, and ^Ana, that sent me round and round in circles, sometimes promising solutions and "internal investigations," or just stopping responding at all for days and not actually helping me as evidenced above. Do better, guys.

One thing is for sure: I will never buy Samsung products ever again.

Feb 23 update; Back to square one

A week passed and I was not called or emailed by Samsung (big surprise,) so I called again today. The guy is able to see previous call logs and asks if I can hold while he checks something. Almost a 20-minute call later he comes back with the same "You have to get the seller to contact Samsung." I tell him again they refuse to take any action. Why would they? The seller does not have the monitor, Samsung NL has it. I never approached the seller for a warranty. I approached Samsung directly and Samsung approved the warranty repair. Samsung should see it through, but they are also refusing.

Now it is time to take legal action, it's gone on long enough.

I'll update once I have started that process. Samsung, you suck.

Note: For some reason, X (formerly Twitter) DM messages between Oct 26 and Nov 14 mysteriously disappeared from the @SamsungNL chat, so I screenshot the rest, including saving those on WhatsApp.

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What you need to know

• To celebrate the second anniversary of Dying Light 2, a big update has arrived in the game bringing players firearms at long last. 
• The Firearms Update (1.15) is out now and adds guns to fight off the hordes with, just as we could in the first game. 
• Everyone who logs in before March 7 will get the Harran Pistol for free added to their inventory to get them up and running. 

Dying Light 2 launched in 2022 and was easily my favorite game that year, and I certainly wasn't alone. But there was a lingering question on everyone's lips, to which I wrote a post titled "Where are all the guns in Dying Light 2?" There was actually some in-game lore attached to a side mission that detailed the history and what happened to all the firearms in Villedor, but two years later, they're back. 

The Firearms Update (1.15) is now available and as the title implies, the big deal is that the long wait for weapons of a bullet-based nature is finally over. To get everyone started, any players who log in before March 7 will get the Harran Pistol dropped in their stash for free. 

Claim the Harran Pistol for free by logging into Dying Light 2 before March 7. It'll be there waiting for you in your stash. 

(Image credit: Windows Central)

As with the original Dying Light, you're not going to find guns and ammo all over the place, and chances are it'll be even more scarce this time around. When you get your Harran Pistol, it isn't loaded, so you can't even use it until you find some bullets to put inside it. 

As per the patch notes, there are four types of firearms being added to Dying Light 2. 

• Pistols — when things go wrong, a reliable sidearm can save the day. It’s your basic firearm.
  SMGs — high firepower and capacity, harness its recoil to seize the edge in close quarters combat.
  Rifles — the perfect package of precision and power.
  Shotguns — deadly in point-blank range, your go-to crowd control tool.

As there was a bit of backstory behind just why there were no guns in Villedor, it would be a bit rude to just dump them back without so much as a how do you do. There's a side mission called "Lost Armory" in the Journal for folks to go and play through and learn the story of how they reappeared. I won't spoil it, well, I can't, because I haven't played it yet. 

Additionally, the Agent you meet during the Lost Armory side mission will be an important figure going forward for you in acquiring firearms-related goodies, so it's probably worth your time to crank it out. 

I have quickly tried out my new Harran Pistol, and, well, it's alright. Ammo is scarce but not terribly hard to get hold of, but I'm not sold yet. Some of the melee weapons in Dying Light 2 are absurd, and it's so satisfying slicing through the hordes and being rewarded with endless gory effects. I'm also pretty attached to my Crossbow and Bow. I'll have to get my hands on some more potent firearms to properly get a feel for it, but it's certainly nice to have some new weapons and a new style of play.

I haven't played Dying Light 2 in a while, but if there's going to be an update that'll bring players back, it's definitely this one. 

It's not ALL about the firearms, though

The second anniversary is a big one.  (Image credit: Windows Central)

Firearms are the focus, of course, but not all that's being delivered along with this second anniversary update. The patch notes are the place to go to check it all out, since there's a lot. 

There are now an additional 50 Legend levels to achieve, survivor and elite missions designed for co-op, a new enemy type, environmental upgrades, and from February 29, even the return of some old names from the first Dying Light game. 

Oh, and one more thing. The Bloody Ties DLC is now free for all players, so if you didn't pick it up yet, be sure to grab it. 

Techland is one of the absolute best in the business when it comes to long-term support. Two years into Dying Light 2, that's still very much the case. Here's to the next two years and beyond. 

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You're welcome.

In a new filing today with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Reddit revealed its current financial number, along with the number of users that the online forum currently has. That usually means the IPO could happen at any time. When it does, shares of Reddit will be sold, bought, and traded on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol "RDDT".

The filing stated that Reddit currently has 267.5 million active weekly users, along with about 73 million daily users The site itself has 1 billion posts. In a separate announcement from Google, it was revealed that the company now has access to Reddit’s Data API. That means Google's AI models will be able to train by using the content on Reddit's posts. While financial details were not revealed by Google or Reddit, Reuters reports that Google will pay $60 million a year to Reddit for this agreement.

Reddit also disclosed that it generated revenues of $804 million in 2023, and 98 percent of that money came from advertising. However, it also revealed that it is not yet profitable as it lost $90.8 million last year as well.

Also in 2023, Reddit revealed it would start charging money to most developers for access to its API. That caused a huge backlash from many Reddit users. Some of its most popular subreddits went "dark" for a period of time to protest the API changes. In today's filing, Reddit indicated it will try to monetize its data in different ways along with getting revenue from commerce solutions, in addition to advertising.

One other interesting thing Reddit says it will do is give its top moderators, along with users with top karma scores, an invite to buy stock in the company. it will set aside an unnamed amount of its stock that could be purchased by about 75,000 of its top users and moderators if they wish. So far, Reddit has yet to reveal its starting price for buying a piece of the company.

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Call it a comeback—with consequences not just for Intel but also the US government’s hopes of maintaining a lead in artificial intelligence. The troubled chipmaker’s CEO, Pat Gelsinger, announced today that Intel is relaunching and expanding its foundry business, which manufactures chip designs for other companies.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also appeared at the Intel event, where he announced that his company will use Intel’s relaunched foundry to make future chips. That’s a major coup for the chipmaker as it seeks to become relevant again and compete with the world’s leading foundry, Taiwan’s TSMC, which makes chips for customers that include Apple and Google.

“We will need a reliable supply of the most advanced high-performance and high-quality semiconductors,” Nadella said. “That's why we're so excited to work with Intel foundry services.” He said that Microsoft’s chips will be produced using Intel's new 18A manufacturing process, which the chipmaker said today would be available later this year. Intel says 18A will be competitive with the most advanced offerings from its leading rivals, Taiwan’s TSMC and South Korea’s Samsung.

Gelsinger said that the 18A process was the result of two years of intense work that yielded advances that might normally take a decade. He said that Intel’s goal is to become the world’s second placed foundry by 2030. TSMC is currently the world leader.

Total Reboot

A factory tool that places lids on data center system-on-chips at an Intel fab in Chandler, Arizona.

Photograph: Intel Corporation

Intel’s foundry move is aimed at tapping the recent generative-AI boom to revitalize a company that has slipped from its place at the pinnacle of the tech industry over the past few decades. Intel failed to anticipate the importance of mobile computing a decade ago and also lost its manufacturing edge by choosing not to adopt the most advanced lithography techniques used to carve out silicon chips.

Intel also missed out on being the leader in chips used in machine-learning projects. Rival Nvidia, which mints chips with TSMC, became the AI industry’s workhorse and has seen its business soar. But Gelsinger argues that with AI still growing fast and millions of AI chips expected to be needed, Intel can become a major player. Generative AI “is transforming everything about computing,” he said at the company event in Santa Clara, California, on Wednesday. “Through our foundry I want to manufacture every AI chip in the industry.”

The success of Intel’s new plan is crucial not only to the company but also the hopes of the wider US tech industry and US government of being a world leader in AI and semiconductors.

Gina Raimondo, the US secretary of commerce, spoke at Intel’s event today and compared the US government’s current focus on revitalizing its chip industry to the space race of the 1960s. “The fact that we are so overly dependent on a couple of countries in Asia that we need for life-saving medical equipment, cars, every piece of technology, showed us we’ve got to get back to work making more chips,” Raimondo said.

Full Disclosure

Intel’s new foundry strategy will involve breaking out the new unit’s financials to let investors see how that part of the business is operating. “We're not fixing one company; we're establishing two vibrant new organizations,” Gelsinger said.

An Intel factory employee holds a wafer with 3D stacked Foveros technology at an Intel fab in Hillsboro, Oregon.

Photograph: Intel Corporation

Now all Intel needs is more customers willing to trust it with the future of their business. Some chip industry insiders say the company’s revamped foundry plans seem more likely to succeed than previous attempts to revive Intel’s fortunes.

“Before Pat joined they really didn’t have an understanding of the foundry market,” says Dan Hutcheson, a long-time chip industry analyst with Tech Insights. “This has steadily improved. The messaging is much more focused, and they are picking up customers, which proves they are doing something right.”

Gelsinger took over as CEO of Intel in 2021 with the company on a downward trajectory following several high-profile missteps. He promised an aggressive comeback plan that would involve developing more competitive chips of its own while also regaining an engineering edge in manufacturing and offering that up to other firms.

Hutcheson says the company’s biggest edge may be that it can offer advanced packaging of newly carved chips into working components, guaranteed supply lines, and other ancillary chipmaking solutions that customers see as more secure in an uncertain world. “Their biggest point of differentiation seems to be that they are a strategic alternative to TSMC,” he says.

Intel’s decline has caused concern in the US national security establishment because of the importance of computer chips and the extraordinary potential of AI. China’s technology ambitions and the potentially vulnerable location of most of TSMC’s factories in Taiwan has caused fears that US access to the world’s best chips could be cut off. In 2022, the US government passed the CHIPS Act promising $52 billion to reinvigorate domestic chipmaking and secure silicon supply lines. According to a Bloomberg report, Intel is in line to receive $10 billion of that money.

Intel apparently believes it could make use of even more government cash. Onstage today Gelsinger asked Secretary Raimondo if the US government might need a second CHIPs act. “I suspect there will have to be—whether you call it CHIPS Two or something else—continued investment if we want to lead the world,” Raimondo said.

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What you need to know

• Microsoft President Brad Smith recently discussed AI in an interview, covering topics such as regulation, if artificial intelligence will replace jobs, and what controls need to be put in place.
• Smith emphasized that Copilot is a tool and likened it to the printing press or other technological developments that people adapted to use.
• The Microsoft president also discussed the "existential threat to humanity" that many bring up when discussing AI and what needs to be done to prevent possible issues.

Artificial intelligence is one of the hottest topics of 2024, and Microsoft is all in on the technology. The tech giant has invested billions of dollars into AI and is working to incorporate some form of artificial intelligence into all of its software. Microsoft President Brad Smith recently spoke about AI in an extensive interview with EL PAÍS.

The entire interview is worthwhile, as it provides unique insight into the potential for AI to advance society and what's being done to mitigate potential threats. While AI has many worthy uses, it's also used for cyberattacks. Smith touched on everything from if AI will replace employees to how to stop the plot of Terminator from happening in real life.

Regulating AI

Brad Smith has repeatedly pushed for regulation of AI and reiterated his points in a recent interview.

(Image credit: Windows Central)

Smith has said several times that Microsoft should help drive regulation over AI. He reiterated that sentiment and drove the point home with an analogy.

"When we buy a carton of milk in the grocery store, we buy it not worrying about whether it’s safe to drink, because we know that there is a safety floor for the regulation of it," said Smith.

"If this is, as I think it is, the most advanced technology on the planet, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask that it have at least as much safety regulation in place as we have for a carton of milk."

Specifically, Smith touched on the European AI Act and similar legislation in the United States and United Kingdom.

While Smith values regulations, he warned of "onerous administration that would drive up costs." Microsoft is the most valuable company in the world, so it won't struggle to deal with administration — a point made by Smith — himself but startups could be hurt by poorly made regulation.

Putting an emergency brake on AI

Microsoft President Brad Smith called for an emergency brake on AI. (Image credit: Generated by ChatGPT)

One concern about AI is that it will either reach a point of sentience or become intelligent enough to harm humanity. While that may sound like the stuff of science fiction, there are genuine threats about how much power and control AI can develop. Smith covered this toward the end of the interview.

Smith explained that we can solve today's problems and tomorrow's problems now, and that there's no need to wait. He added that buses and trains have emergency brakes, so a similar concept makes sense for AI.

"This is intended to address what people often describe as an existential threat to humanity, that you could have runaway AI that would seek to control or extinguish humanity. It’s like every Terminator movie and about 50 other science fiction movies. One of the things that is striking to me after 30 years in this industry is often life does imitate art," said Smith.

"It’s amazing that you can have 50 movies with the same plot: a machine that can think for itself decides to enslave or extinguish humanity, and humanity fights back and wins by turning the machine off. What does that tell you? That we better have a way to slow down or turn off AI, especially if it’s controlling an automated system like critical infrastructure."

Who guards the guardians?

While many agree there be some form of regulation over AI, there's a debate on who decides what to regulate. (Image credit: Future)

I don't know many arguing against having at least some level of control and regulation over AI. But the age-old question of "who guards the guardians" remains. Microsoft has a vested interest in AI, so how much of a role should it play in what's regulated or limited? Politicians have a variety of motives, not all good, so it's not like full control over AI should be handed over to governments.

As is the case with any advanced technology, organizations, experts, and governing bodies need to come together. There will be tension, pushing and pulling to expand or retract the influence of AI, but that's better than leaving either side go unfettered.

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Nvidia's results also showed a net income of $12.285 billion for the quarter. That was up by 33 percent compared to the previous quarter. More importantly, the net income number was up by a staggering 769 percent from the same period a year ago, when those numbers were "just" $1.414 billion.

Investors like Nvidia's numbers as the company's stock is up by over 7 percent in after hours trading at the moment, according to CNBC.

For Nvidia's entire fiscal year of 2024, revenues came in at $60.9 billion, up from $26.974 billion from the 2023 fiscal year. Net income for the fiscal year was $29.760 billion, which is much higher than the $4.368 billion it generated from the 2023 fiscal year.

If you have been following Nvidia over the past year or so, you know that the company's massive financial numbers were due to companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and others buying lots of Nvidia's AI-themed GPUs. The company's Data Center business, which includes its AI GPU division, brought in $18.4 billion in revenue in the last quarter, up by 27 percent in the last quarter and up by a huge 409 percent from a year ago.

Nvidia also had higher revenues from its Professional Visualization division. It had fiscal year fourth quarter 2024 revenues of $463 million, or up 105 percent from a year ago. Gaming revenues came in at $2.9 billion for the quarter, up 56 percent from the same period a year ago. However, the Automotive division had revenues of $281 million for the quarter, which was actually down slightly by 4 percent from a year ago.

We can expect to hear more about Nvidia's AI GPU plans on March 18 during the keynote address for the company's GTC conference.

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However, this announcement was somewhat superseded by the fact that Microsoft will be the first revealed customer of Intel Foundry. Intel says Microsoft will use its Intel 18A process with its foundry so that Microsoft can create its own chip.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella appeared virtually at the Intel Foundry Direct Connect event to officially confirm this news. In a statement on Intel's press release, Nadella is quoted as saying:

We are in the midst of a very exciting platform shift that will fundamentally transform productivity for every individual organization and the entire industry . . To achieve this vision, we need a reliable supply of the most advanced, high-performance and high-quality semiconductors. That’s why we are so excited to work with Intel Foundry, and why we have chosen a chip design that we plan to produce on Intel 18A process.

Microsoft did not reveal any details about this new chip that Intel Foundry will make for the company today. In November 2023, Microsoft announced two new custom-designed processors specifically designed for AI workloads.

Intel used today's event to also showcase its foundry roadmap for the next few years.The Intel 18A process will be ready for full product design later in 2024, The more advanced Intel 14A process was added to the roadmap today but it likely won't be ready for a while yet.

Intel revealed today a number of partners for the foundry business, including Synopsys, Cadence, Siemens, Ansys, Lorentz, and Keysight. All of these companies will offer "tool qualification and IP readiness" so customers like Microsoft will be able to speed up their chip designs based on the Intel 18A process.

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The T705 is what Crucial calls a "fully optimized Gen5 masterpiece" that "takes PCIe 5.0 performance to the next level," with speeds reaching up to 14.5GB/s, which is significantly faster speeds than its predecessor, the T700. Crucial promises 20% faster random write speeds and 18% faster sequential read, all within the same power envelope as the previous flagship.

Crucial is using the same Phison controller as the previous-gen model, but faster 232-layer TLC NAND chips allow for notably higher read and write speeds. Customers can pick between three storage configurations: 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB.

Like other manufacturers, Crucial lets you spec your SSD with a built-in heatsink made of aluminum and copper. If your motherboard already has heatsinks for solid-state drives, you can go for a cheaper variant without a heatsink. Just keep in mind that a heatsink is a must for a high-performance PCIe 5.0 SSD, which can throttle hard if not cooled properly.

In addition, the manufacturer offers a white 2TB limited edition for those wanting to build a computer out of white components. For better or for worse, depending on who you ask, the T705 has zero RGB lights, so look elsewhere if lights are a must for your SSD.

The Crucial T705 is now available for preorder on the official website. Shipments begin on March 12, 2024. The drive will also be available in select retailers.

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While Nvidia's DLSS 3 upscaling and frame-generation tech is restricted to the latest generation GeForce RTX 40-series and newer graphics cards, AMD's implementation, FidelityFX Super Resolution 3 (FSR 3), is platform agnostic. This allows even past-generation Nvidia, AMD, and Intel graphics cards to utilize frame generation to massively benefit frame rates.

Alongside FSR 3, Intel Xe Super Sampling (XeSS) upscaling technology has also been added. Both of the new options can be found in the Upscaling section on the Display settings page. Plus, a couple of bug fixes have been made to DLSS in Starfield.

While upscaling tech is for now exclusive to the PC version, console players will benefit from the other changes in this update too. The biggest change is the way Bethesda handles FormIDs when loading save files. This should resolve save corruption issues users have been complaining about for a while now.

Here are the full patch notes for Starfield Update 1.9.67:

GRAPHICS

 

• Added support for AMD FidelityFXTM Super Resolution 3 (FSR 3). (PC)
• Added support for Intel Xe Super Sampling (XeSS). (PC)
• Fixed an issue that could make the clouds appear to vibrate when using DLSS performance mode. (PC)
• Fixed minor visual artifact that could occur when aiming with a weapon or task swapping.

 

STABILITY

 

• Changed how FormIDs are freed when loading saves. This should improve stability for saves that have visited many locations.
• Fixed a crash that could happen when making changes to the ship that required all items to be moved to the cargo bay in the Ship Builder menu.

 

MISCELLANEOUS

 

• Reverted a change that caused the data menu to open when taking screenshots with F12 (PC)
• Fixed an issue causing the resolution scale to reset to 1.0 when switching from Fullscreen to Windowed mode when using DLSS. (PC)

Following this update, Bethesda has another major patch in the works for all platforms in the coming weeks. While exact details have not been released yet, expect this to land around mid-March 2024.

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However, before the official launch of the Windows Insider Program, Microsoft was already offering a select group of people who owned an Xbox One console a way to try out early versions of the console's upcoming software updates. That began 10 years ago today, on February 20, 2014.

While Microsoft previously released public beta tests for upcoming Xbox 360 updates, this was the first time the company used this method to invite users to try out updates for the Xbox One. The official reveal from Microsoft announced that a select few Xbox Live users would be invited into this program.

Microsoft never revealed how it picked those lucky few Xbox One software testers. However, the people who were chosen were given access to a private forum where they could offer feedback on those updates. The first such beta version included a revamped friends app, improvements in the console's party chat features, and more.

After that, Microsoft began bringing in more people to test upcoming Xbox One software updates, and it eventually became known as the Xbox One Preview Program. It remained an invite-only program for a while, and those folks got to test out new dashboard updates, a way to purchase backward-compatible Xbox 360 games directly from the Xbox One, and more.

In March 2016, Microsoft announced that the Windows Insider Program would merge with the Xbox One Preview Program later that year. In November 2016, Microsoft said that the Xbox One Preview Program would be renamed as the Xbox Insider Program. It also canceled the invite-only method of joining the program, allowing any Xbox One owner to participate.

In November 2016, Microsoft announced that Xbox Insider Program members would get system updates to the Xbox One console for the first time. It also revealed that testers could pick one of four "rings" for updates. The Alpha ring members would get the "cutting edge" updates but could also experience more bugs and would also remain invite-only. The Beta ring got fewer updates, but they were more stable, while the unnamed third and fourth ring users would get even fewer updates with fewer bugs than the Alpha and Beta rings.

Xbox Insider Program users got the first access to some major updates, including the first public testing of Xbox Game Pass in December 2017. Also in 2017, the third and fourth rings finally got actual names: Delta and Omega, respectively. Microsoft also added a Skip Ahead variant of the Alpha Ring in 2017 for people who want to access even earlier updates than they could on the standard Alpha ring.

In 2024, the Xbox Insider Program continues to offer both Xbox One and now Xbox Series X and S console owners a way to try out new features before they are released as part of Microsoft's regular updates for those devices. Insiders can also try out new features on the Xbox Windows gaming app via the Insider Program. On occasion, Insider members get invited to play upcoming Xbox games in preview versions before they are generally released.

As with every type of software testing program, we expect the Xbox Insider Program to evolve and change in the months and years to come. Indeed, it was recently announced that release notes for the Insider updates will soon move from the Xbox Wire page to the Xbox support site. However, there are no indications the program will be ending anytime soon.

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