Relic said that the delay was to make sure the game reaches the high standard of polish both players and the studio expect to hit before launch. It will be "finalizing features while also squashing bugs" during this period.

The upcoming real-time strategy game will feature two campaigns, one focusing on Italy with a dynamic sandbox battle map, while the other will be a classic linear experience set in the North African theater. Four factions, competitive and coop multiplayer, modding tools, and Steam Workshop support are confirmed to be there at launch too.

"Over the next 4-months we will not be adding any new features — the factions, units, modes, campaigns, and modding tools for CoH3 are all set for launch," added Relic. "Now it’s just a matter of tuning and polishing everything to deliver on that core experience."

This is also not the only real-time strategy project that Relic is currently in charge of, with it also planning the biggest update yet for Age of Empires IV later this month.

Company of Heroes 3 hit with three-month delay as Relic focuses on polish

The Parliament's rapporteur Alex Agius Saliba said:

“The common charger will finally become a reality in Europe. We have waited more than ten years for these rules, but we can finally leave the current plethora of chargers in the past.

This future-proof law allows for the development of innovative charging solutions in the future, and it will benefit everyone - from frustrated consumers to our vulnerable environment.

These are difficult times for politics, but we have shown that the EU has not run out of ideas or solutions to improve the lives of millions in Europe and inspire other parts of the world to follow suit”

The law was proposed last year with the intention of reducing e-waste, so that customers won't have to purchase new chargers every time they buy an electronic product. Many OEMs had already made USB Type-C a de-facto standard because of its unified fast charging technology and other benefits.

The devices currently impacted by the legislation are:

• Mobile phones
• Tablets
• Digital cameras
• Headphones/Headsets
• Handheld videogame consoles
• Portable speakers
• E-readers
• Keyboards
• Mice
• Portable navigation systems
• Earbuds
• Laptops (from spring 2026)

The new legislation will impact Apple devices the most, as they still feature the company's proprietary lightning port and cables.

The European Commission says that it will also harmonize interoperability requirements for wireless chargers as well. This will be done to avoid "having a negative impact on the consumers" and to get rid of "technological lock-in" effect where the consumers become dependent on a single manufacturer.

The law also requires manufacturers to put dedicated labels about the charging characteristics of new devices. This is to ensure buyers to make an informed choice about whether or not to purchase a new charging device with a new product.

EU votes in favor of law that requires consumer tech to feature USB Type-C by 2024

This "dark data" is anchored to the real world by the energy it requires. Even data that is stored and never used again takes up space on servers – typically huge banks of computers in warehouses. Those computers and those warehouses all use lots of electricity.

This is a significant energy cost that is hidden in most organizations. Maintaining an effective organizational memory is a challenge, but at what cost to the environment?

In the drive towards net zero many organizations are trying to reduce their carbon footprints.

Guidance has generally centered on reducing traditional sources of carbon production, through mechanisms such as carbon offsetting via third parties (planting trees to make up for emissions from using petrol, for instance).

A digital carbon footprint

While most climate change activists are focused on limiting emissions from the automotive, aviation, and energy industries, the processing of digital data is already comparable to these sectors and is still growing.

In 2020, digitization was purported to generate 4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Production of digital data is increasing fast – this year the world is expected to generate 97 zettabytes (that is: 97 trillion gigabytes) of data. By 2025, it could almost double to 181 zettabytes.

It is therefore surprising that little policy attention has been placed on reducing the digital carbon footprint of organizations.

When we talk to people about our work, we find they often assume that digital data, and indeed the process of digitization, is carbon neutral. But that is not necessarily the case – we are in control of its carbon footprint for better or worse.

To help reduce this footprint, we have introduced the idea of "digital decarbonization". By this, we don't mean using phones, computers, sensors, and other digital technologies to reduce an organization's carbon footprint. Rather, we are referring to reducing the carbon footprint of digital data itself.

It is key to recognize that digitization is not itself an environmental issue, but there are huge environmental impacts that depend on how we use digital processes in daily workplace activities.

To illustrate the magnitude of the dark data situation, data centers (responsible for 2.5 percent of all human-induced carbon dioxide) have a greater carbon footprint than the aviation industry (2.1 percent).

To put this into context, we have created a tool that can help calculate the carbon cost of data for an organization.

Using our calculations, a typical data-driven business such as insurance, retail, or banking, with 100 employees, might generate 2,983 gigabytes of dark data a day. If they were to keep that data for a year, that data would have a similar carbon footprint to flying six times from London to New York.

Currently, companies produce 1,300,000,000 gigabytes of dark data a day – that's 3,023,255 flights from London to New York.

The rapid growth of dark data raises significant questions about the efficiency of current digital practices. In a study recently published in the Journal of Business Strategy we identified ways to help organizations reuse digital data, and highlight pathways for organizations to follow when collecting, processing, and storing new digital data.

We hope this can reduce dark data production and contribute to the digital decarbonization movement, which we will all need to engage with if net zero is to be realized.

You can even make a start yourself by deciding which photos and videos you no longer need. Every file stored on the Apple iCloud or Google Photos adds to your digital carbon footprint.

Tom Jackson, Professor of Information and Knowledge Management, Loughborough University and Ian R. Hodgkinson, Professor of Strategy, Loughborough University.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Source

Full Transcript

Christopher Intagliata: Artificial intelligence systems have bested humans at chess, poker, Jeopardy, Go, and countless other games. But machines still aren't that great at understanding some basic rules about the physical world.

Susan Hespos: They still can't do what 3-month-olds do. And I'm a champion for babies at the end of the day and this is a clear win for babies. Babies are still slam dunking our most powerful computers when it comes to intuitive physics.

Intagliata: Cognitive psychologist Susan Hespos of Northwestern University listed off a few examples of those "intuitive physics" principles. Like "solidity" - your coffee cup does not just fall right through the table. Or "continuity" -- objects don't just blink in and out of existence. And "boundedness" -- when you pick up your coffee cup, it sticks together. You don't end up with just the handle.

Hespos: Babies know all three of these things as early as three months of age. Their visual acuity is lousy, the world is blurry…they could barely grasp this stuff. You know, babies get a lot of things wrong. But it's these initial kernels that get elaborated and refined through experience in the world.

Intagliata: Now computer engineers have taken a page from the baby playbook. Researchers at DeepMind -- the AI company that trained computers to beat humans at Go -- have endowed a machine learning system with certain kernels of knowledge about intuitive physics built in… akin to what an infant might be equipped with.

And after watching the equivalent of just 28 hours of training videos, showing things like balls rolling, and blocks dropping -- the AI system actually showed "surprise" when it was shown something physically impossible. Its counterparts not modeled on babies weren't as sharp.

Hespos: It's really interesting that when you do this direct comparison what you find is learning from experience goes far. But only so far. And the computer that was built based on research on babies, did far better. It's confirming evidence for what baby research has shown for a while, just using something very different from a baby.

Intagliata: The results appear in the journal Nature Human Behavior. [Luis S. Piloto et al, Intuitive physics learning in a deep-learning model inspired by developmental psychology]

Hespos wasn't involved in the work, but wrote an editorial accompanying the paper. She says the research is a step towards making machine learning systems more efficient thinkers -- like humans. Even the tiny ones.

[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]

Source

Windows 11 2022 Update... and printer issues

To start us off, we learned a couple of days ago that Microsoft has confirmed some printing issues (sigh) in the Windows 11 2022 Update (version 22H2).

The first issue is related to network printers disappearing from the operating system after installing the latest update. This was apparently due to some default Group Policy so the good thing is that you can quickly fix it, but there are some caveats.

The other issue is slightly more severe though. Those who have installed the Windows 11 2022 Update may have problems detecting all the features in printers using Microsoft IPP Class Driver or Universal Print Class Driver. This can cripple a printer's ability to use color, two-sided or duplex printing, paper size and type settings, resolutions, and more. Until Microsoft resolves the problem, it has put a compatibility hold on impacted devices, which means that they can't install the update officially until a fix is out.

The news isn't all bad when it comes to Windows 11 version 22H2 though. Nvidia has released a new version of GeForce Experience to patch some framerate and CPU utilization issues in games that were reported after installing the Windows 11 update. Microsoft has also rolled out an out-of-band (OOB) optional update for the OS in the form of KB5019311 (build 22621.525). It fixes localization issues for Windows setup files which was preventing the successful creation of installation media. In the same vein, third-party app "Auto Dark Mode X" also has a new version that resolves some compatibility issues with Windows 11 version 22H2.

And let's not forget about Windows Insider Program releases either. Windows 11 Dev Channel build 25211 landed this week and it finally returns the option of opening Task Manager by right-clicking the Taskbar. It has other features like Widgets settings, support for a new version of Snipping Tool, and an improved system tray experience. Meanwhile, the Beta Channel received build 22623.730 with a tablet-optimized Taskbar, system tray updates, and File Explorer fixes.

Finally, Windows 11 version 22H2 also received its first preview cumulative update in the form of KB5017389. It introduces Widgets notifications, patches for the Microsoft Store, daylight saving time improvements in Chile, and other enhancements. It is important to note that this update will become generally available through this month's Patch Tuesday on October 11.

Microsoft Teams and other app updates

Microsoft had lots of updates to share this week regarding Teams. This primarily due to the company publishing its roundup of all the features it added to the software during the months of August and September, including Cameo via PowerPoint Live, native support for Apple Silicon, collaborative annotations powered by Microsoft Whiteboard, and more.

That's not all though. The Redmond tech giant also detailed how it is improving the Teams calling experience in challenging network conditions through the use of a technique called Packet Loss Concealment (PLC) powered by artificial intelligence. This is currently available for Windows customers already but testing on Mac is ongoing too. The company revealed plans to bring payment processing mechanisms to Teams too, this should benefit smaller businesses conducting their proceedings via the collaboration software.

Teams wasn't the only software that received all the love this week though. The new Outlook for Windows experience has now become available for all Office Insiders. It brings a lot of new capabilities in addition to those announced in May, but as some of our readers noted in the comments section, some crucial functionalities are still missing. Similarly, the Outlook Web App (OWA) has received some upgrades in the contact management experience too.

Microsoft also recapped all the features it added to Excel across various platforms in September 2022, including performance recommendations, sharing of selective content, Modern Comments, and more. Microsoft Lists - MSA Preview for iOS is available via TestFlight too, but only for the first 200,000 users who sign up first.

The death of SwiftKey for iOS

After offering no SwiftKey updates on iOS for more than a year, Microsoft quietly revealed that the app is actually dead on the particular platform. Microsoft acquired the keyboard company for roughly $250 million back in 2016 and while SwiftKey on Android remains in active development, the iOS app has been laid to rest. While the official reason for this decision hasn't been disclosed, some have speculated that it may be due to Apple's restrictive policies when it comes to modifying the bundled operating system experience. Regardless, the app will be de-listed from the App Store on October 5.

Speaking of things that are dead, Microsoft has started to disable Basic Auth for most protocols in Exchange Online starting from today. That said, this is not really surprising considering that the firm has been warning customers about this for years. Organizations are encouraged to migrate to Modern Authentication (OAuth 2.0) but if they are hellbent on using Basic Auth, they can manually enable it until the end of December, after which it will be permanently disabled.

Two 0-day vulnerabilities have also been spotted in on-premises installations of Exchange Server 2013, 2016, and 2019. While there are a couple of workarounds for now, an official patch hasn't been made available as of yet.

If you're an active Microsoft Edge user, you might be happy to know that the company is working on making desktop web apps feel more native by giving more control to developers over the title bar. What's potentially even more interesting that Edge Canary might receive up to two updates per day from now instead of the usual one.

In other tidbits of good news, Clipchamp's premium filters and effects are now available at no additional cost for Microsoft 365 subscribers, PowerToys is getting a new toy that lets you know which processes are stopping you from deleting a file, and Nvidia RTX 40-series cards will soon be able to stream AV1 content through Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.

Git gud

Switching gears to gaming news now, Nvidia released its latest Game Ready Windows WHQL driver version 517.48 earlier this week. It brings support for Overwatch 2 for Nvidia's Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) image upscaling on Microsoft Flight Simulator - players of the latter can now also purchase the Cessna 195 Businessliner for $19.99 in the game or explore the skies of Canada for free via World Update XI.

Meanwhile, Grounded has finally reached full release after two years of early access. The game now touts 13 biomes, 44 creatures, and a full-fledged storyline that follows the mystery behind the shrunken protagonists. It is available on PC (Steam and Microsoft Store), Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S with a $39.99 price tag, but you can also play it at no additional cost via Xbox and PC Game Pass, and Xbox Cloud Gaming.

October's Games with Gold have been revealed as Windbound and Bomber Crew. There will only be two games per month moving forward due to Microsoft ditching Xbox 360 titles last month. Meanwhile, this week's Free Play Days promotion just has a single title in the form of WRC 10 FIA World Rally Championship too. On the other hand, the Deals with Gold promotion is chock-full of titles headlined by Injustice and LEGO franchises.

Finally, for our readers who are PC purists, don't forget to check out this Weekend's PC Game Deals, handpicked by our News Editor Pulasthi Ariyasinghe himself.

Dev Channel

• You can now grab a Mineral Camo Special Edition Xbox controller
• MSEdgeRedirect has received several fixes and improvements in latest update
• Visual Studio for Mac 17.4 Preview 2.1 is now out
• Surface Duo 2 now has a functioning UEFI for running Windows unofficially
• Microsoft has partnered with RoQC to make cloud migrations easier
• Surface Book 3 netted improved thermal management in latest firmware update

Under the spotlight

This week, I wrote an editorial sharing my thoughts about how Microsoft's latest flexible approach to Windows 11 updates is something worth appreciating.

Meanwhile, News Reporter Taras Buria conducted an experiment on his device to find out if Windows 11 is more battery efficient than Windows 10. The results may or may not surprise you, but you can check them out here.

Finally, forum member Adam Bottjen (better known as Warwagon) penned his latest edition of Warwagon's Tech Tip Tuesday in which he explains how you can quickly back up drivers on your Windows PC.

Logging off

Our most interesting (and disappointing) news item for this week relates to a report claiming that Microsoft's upcoming Surface Studio 3 will sport a premium $3,000 price tag but it will still sport two-year-old CPU and "last-gen" hardware. The former will be an 11th Gen Intel processor. Although this is a significant step up from the Surface Studio 2, which sports a 7th Gen Intel CPU and a Nvidia GTX 1070 GPU, it's still a bit frustrating to see Microsoft bundling dated hardware in a premium device. We'll know for sure at the company's Surface event on October 12.

Microsoft Weekly: Printer nightmares, Teams capabilities, and the death of SwiftKey for iOS

In worse instances, the users would find big portions of the sticker still sticking to their place and of course there is a concern for possibly damaging their boards when trying to pull off the thing. The image below shows an example of such an instance:

The intention of the sticker is to guide users through the first boot on the first firmware version. However, ASRock probably did not anticipate this kind of reaction.

Following these reports, the motherboard maker has apologized for the inconvenience caused by this event. In a press release today, the company put out the following statement:

ASRock, is aware of the feedback from some customer about the Memory Installation Guide sticker residue on AM5 motherboard's memory slots. Part of ASRock AM5 motherboards in initial shipment came with the Memory Installation Guide stickers to illustrate the situation that end-users would face for the first boot with the first version of BIOS. Gladly, with the concerted efforts of ASRock and AMD engineers, the first booting time is shortened a lot after updating the new BIOS version. The motherboards without Memory Installation Guide sticker are all updated the BIOS.

If the customer feels concerned about the memory read and write operation due to the residue caused by tearing off the Memory Installation Guide sticker on ASRock AM5 motherboard's memory slots. They can contact local retailers and e-tailers for the exchange service.

Therefore the good thing is that ASRock has confirmed it's willing to accept RMAs for any damage, though so far, there doesn't seem to be any such report of that happening. That may have to do with the market segment that AM5 motherboards currently reside in as it is mostly enthusiasts that have bought the new motherboards for now. The situation likely would have been worse in case of entry-level boards.

Source: ASRock

ASRock thought it was a great idea to put stickers on AMD X670E DDR5 slots, apologizes

Tesla shows off unfinished humanoid robot prototypes at AI Day 2022

SSDs these days form an important part of computing worldwide. Any computer or laptop getting slow? Install an SSD, make it the main drive and get an immediate speed boost.

While traditional HDDs rely on spinning plates to store data, SSDs are different. SSDs rely on NAND chips to store the data.

Throughout the years, SSDs have improved a lot, thanks to the technological advancements made in them. This has led to a persistent and significant decrease in the prices of SSDs. Looks like they will continue to get even cheaper.

SSDs Expected To Get Even Cheaper

As per the famous Taiwan based research analytics firm TrendForce, the prices of the SSDs are going to get cheaper by 15-20% in the fourth quarter (Q4) of this year. It has given a reason behind it.

The main reason it says is that PC making brands are facing a lack of demand in the second half of this year (2H22) compared to the first half (1H22). This means PC makers are reducing their SSD inventories, leading to a slump in demand for NAND chips. PC makers are not seeing any big revival anytime soon in the PC market.

So much is the lack of demand that NAND chip wafer makers are selling these wafers at 30-35% cheaper prices in third quarter of this year (3Q22). Their prices are expected to fall even further by 20-25% in 4Q22. Silicon wafers, for those unaware, form a base of chip making.

The report mentions how PCIe 4.0 based SSDs have seen an increase in demand this year. Another technology advancement seen is the 176-layer NAND chips (by Micron and others) leading to a large increase in the supply of cheap QLC SSDs.

All this has resulted in an oversupply. In all, it is expected that consumer SSDs will get cheaper by 15-20% this year.

Consumer SSDs Not Alone In Price Slump

The TrendForce report also mentions how consumer SSDs are not alone in the predicted price slumps. Even enterprise SSDs used in servers are going to see a decrease in prices. It is due to a decrease in server supplies and increase in competition. All this leads to a 15-20% price decline in 4Q22.

If that is not enough, then eMMC, used in Chromebook and others for storage, is going to see a decrease in prices too. Again same reason, sluggish demand. Leading to a possible 13-18% decrease in prices in 4Q22.

To top it all, the UFS, a type of storage used in smartphones these days, is expected to get cheaper too. This is because even at its peak season, the smartphone sales have not reached the past levels. Leading to high inventories of UFS chips and decrease in their orders. The decrease in smartphone demand is seen next year too. This leads to a possible decrease in the prices of UFS chips by 13~18%, “with further slips a possibility”.

Buy Sooner To Buy Cheaper

All the above things mean one thing. Overall, SSD prices are going to get cheaper in the current quarter of this year.

The manufacturers of these NAND chips are expected to run in losses starting from later this year. This means they are expected to reduce the production of these chips which go into the SSD in order to reduce their losses. This means the SSD prices will rise again due to lack of sufficient amount of NAND chips that go into them.

That is why, the perfect time to purchase a SSD would be this year or early next year, like in first quarter (1Q23) or first half of 2023 (1H23). Any more waiting might mean that SSD prices could start rising again.

SSD Prices To Get Cheaper By 15-20% This Year

Intel is set to enter the discrete graphics market in a big way with its Arc GPUs. The company has adopted the strategy of gradually releasing performance and pricing information before its inevitable release in about two weeks time.

At its Innovation 2022 event, the company announced the Arc A770, the flagship Alchemist graphics card which starts at $329 for the 8GB model and $349 for the Limited Edition 16GB model. Following that, today, Intel has revealed the pricing of the Arc A750, which is a slightly cut-down variant with 28 Xe Cores instead of 32 on the A770. The latter features the full ACM-G10 GPU die.

Intel also highlighted how the pricing of Nvidia's 50-tier and 60-tier cards have gone up over the generations. The company has shown, with the help of a chart, that there has been a steady rise which has now culminated in the RTX 3060 being currently priced at around $418 according to averaged Newegg data.

This is where Arc steps in, says Intel, to "bring back balance" to the GPU market. Using the price indicated in the above chart, the company claims Arc A770 and A750 will respectively provide 42% and 53% more performance-per-dollar than the GeForce 3060.

A detailed breakdown of the performance-per-dollar for the A750 against the RTX 3060 has been given below at 1440p high and 1080p ultra presets :

While this is all good and dandy, it is a bit bizarre to see Intel completely ignore AMD Radeon RX 6000 series GPUs which have consistently been selling at much better prices on places like Newegg and Amazon. Intel has been sharing performance figures for the Arc A750 for a long time and not one time has it drawn comparison with AMD's cards. This may have to do with the fact that Arc's value wanes when it is compared to AMD's 6000 series cards, at least for rasterization performance.

Intel's Arc A750 is priced at $289 which is right up the alley of the Radeon RX 6600 series comprising the ~$249 RX 6600 and the ~$299 RX 6600 XT. The RX 6600 series performs in the vicinity of the RTX 3060 for raster output which means it will be the prime competitor for the A750.

Meanwhile, the Arc A770 at $329 and $349 will be up against AMD's RX 6700 10GB and 6700 XT 12GB models which fluctuate around ~$349-$399. The RX 6700 series competes with the RTX 3060 Ti in terms of non-ray tracing performance. This means you can actually get better performance on the 6700 series GPUs from AMD as long as you don't care about ray tracing.

Ironically, this looks the exact opposite of the CPU market where Intel's 13th Gen Raptor Lake platform seems to be outperforming AMD's Ryzen 7000 in value.

Source: Intel

Intel keeps ignoring AMD to make you believe Arc is the hero of the GPU market

Rewritten OpenGL drivers make AMD’s GPUs “up to 72%” faster in some pro apps

USB-IF says goodbye to confusing SuperSpeed USB branding

Yesterday Google announced that it is shutting down its game streaming platform, Stadia, less than three years after it went online. The tech giant also said that it will refund all hardware purchases from the Google Store along with any game and DLC purchases from the Stadia store.

Now, according to a new report, those who purchased Ubisoft titles on the cloud gaming platform will be able to transfer them to their PCs. In a statement to The Verge, Jessica Roache, Ubisoft senior corporate communications manager confirmed this stating:

While Stadia will shut down on January 18th, 2023, we’re happy to share that we’re currently working to bring the games you own on Stadia to PC through Ubisoft Connect. We’ll have more to share regarding specific details as well as the impact for Ubisoft+ subscribers at a later date.

Although Stadia is set to bite the dust in January next year, Google has taken away the ability to make purchases on the Stadia store. This means that you cannot get your hands on an Ubisoft game now and get a copy of it on your PC in the future.

Currently, it is unclear if players will be able to transfer their saves and progress to their PCs as well. For more information, we'll have to wait for when the company makes any announcement.

Source: The Verge

Ubisoft to enable users to transfer their purchases to PC as Stadia wheezes its last cough

The rest of Intel Arc’s A700-series GPU prices: A750 lands Oct. 12 below $300

Quote

On September 29, 2022, Google announced that the Stadia servers will be turned off on January 18, 2023. The following article includes answers to common questions and will be updated as new information becomes available. Please check back for updates before contacting support.

Q:  How long will I be able to play my games on Stadia?

A;  We will be leaving the Stadia platform and game servers online until January 18, 2023, so you can continue to play games in your library.
 

Q:  Will all games work as expected during this time?

A:  We anticipate that there will be some gameplay issues during this period, especially any games requiring commerce, but the majority of games should continue to work normally.
 

Q: What about my game progress?  Can I take my game progress to another platform?

A:  While that may be possible for some games that support cross-progression play on other platforms, unfortunately, for the majority of games, that won’t be possible.
 

Q: Will I get a refund?  What is available for a refund?

A:  We will be offering refunds for all Stadia hardware purchases (Stadia Controller, Founders Edition, Premiere Edition, and Play and Watch with Google TV packages) made through the Google Store and software transactions (games and add-on purchases) through the Stadia store. Stadia Pro subscriptions are not eligible for refund, however you will be able to continue playing your games in Pro without further charges until the final wind down date.
 

Q: Do I have to return my hardware to get a refund?

A:  Most hardware purchases (Stadia Controller, Founders Edition, Premiere Edition, and Play and Watch with Google TV packages) made directly from Google will not need to be returned. More details on how to obtain a refund for your Stadia hardware purchases will be posted here in the coming weeks.
 

Q:  How/When will I get my refund?

A: We are working through this process now and will keep this article updated as we define the process for each of the countries and different situations. Our intent is to have the majority of refunds processed back to the original payment by January 18, 2023.  
 

Q: Are you refunding my Stadia Pro subscription?

A: We will not be refunding Stadia Pro subscriptions. Players who held an active Stadia Pro subscription as of September 29, 2022 will not be charged for access to their Pro library or other subscription entitlements during the shut-down period.
 

Q:  Why can I no longer purchase games?  Can I purchase in-game transactions?

A:  We have now closed the Stadia Store and disabled all commerce on the Stadia platform, including in-game transactions.
 

Q: I no longer have the form of payment I used to make the purchase, how will I get a refund?

A:  Keep an eye out for an email from us, we’ll provide you with instructions on how to choose a new form of payment.
 

Q: I paid with a gift card and have since thrown it away, how do I get my refund?

A:  Keep an eye out for an email from us, we’ll provide you with instructions on how to choose a new form of payment.
 

Q: I ordered something via pre-order - will I get charged?

A:  All future pre-orders will be canceled and you will not be charged. If you were already charged, you will be refunded your payment.
 

Q: Can I return hardware to physical locations (Google Store, Best Buy, etc.)?

A:  No. Physical locations (Google Store, Best Buy, etc.) will not be able to process any returns or refunds.

Source: https://support.google.com/stadia/answer/12790109?hl=en

Amazon’s Astro robot still isn’t ready for prime time

As Skull & Bones suffers yet another delay, we question Ubisoft's choice of an ominous skull as its featured box-art image.

Ubisoft

 

2022 is turning out to be a substantial rebuilding year for game publisher Ubisoft, as its holiday 2022 release slate of major multi-platform games has now been all but wiped clean.

 

The bad news came on Wednesday when Ubisoft again delayed the launch of its open-world pirate adventure Skull and Bones, this time past its previously suggested November 8 launch date on PC and current-gen consoles. The game maker confirmed the delay to March 9, 2023, after an independent report from Kotaku suggested that S&B's latest rounds of pre-release testing pointed to a stable-but-boring experience for its online multiplayer modes and noted issues with the game's "progression" systems.

 

Skull and Bones debuted at E3 2017 as an apparent build-out of the third-person, open-seas pirate adventuring found in mid-'10s Assassin's Creed games—albeit with no formal ties to that other Ubisoft-helmed series. As originally announced, players would directly control a pirate ship's captain and issue orders to AI-controlled crewmates to either engage in a solo campaign or connect online for open-seas combat with both PvE (fight the computer) and PvP (fight real players) elements.

 

However, even as the game approached its previously confirmed November 2022 launch window, Ubisoft had yet to publish a clear video demonstration of how the final game might look to play—meaning, no direct-feed footage of players' viewpoints, in-game HUD elements, or demonstrations of how different modes will work. In the years since S&B's initial announcement, Microsoft and Rare's own online, open-world pirate series Sea of Thieves has racked up player counts and accolades while delivering substantial free patches and updates—all of which have rendered our initial criticisms of that 2018 game moot.

 

Ahead of S&B's fall 2018 launch window, Ubisoft began rowing the game's release date farther out to sea. Shortly before E3 2018, the game's retail launch was pushed into "fiscal year 2020," only to get bumped from that release calendar into "sometime after March 2020." This was followed by conference call mentions over the years that delayed S&B's launch into FY 2022, then FY 2023, before finally settling on its November 8 launch date earlier this year.

“Generous subsidies” may have come at a cost

According to an extensive 2021 report from Kotaku, S&B began development even further back than we had publicly heard: in 2013, as an expansion to the pirate-filled adventures of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. The offshoot game's messy lifespan has reportedly been prolonged by a tenuous deal struck between Ubisoft and the government of Singapore, which allegedly gave the game maker's Singapore office certain "generous subsidies" in exchange for a guaranteed game launch and the development of unique IP by the company's Singapore studio. The report was so stuffed with behind-the-scenes stories of turmoil and toxicity that Kotaku broke out an additional feature-length piece on the project's underpayment, mismanagement, and sexual harassment of staffers.

 

Those stories, of course, were in addition to other reports and investigations about Ubisoft's allegedly pervasive issues with mismanagement, sexual harassment, and sexual assault. Those allegations led to several major executives stepping down, even though Yves Guillemot, the longtime CEO who oversaw the company during its reported periods of turmoil, has remained on board. Axios' Stephen Totilo, who has spent years covering and investigating internal affairs at Ubisoft, recently suggested that the resulting executive efforts to turn the company's reputation around have been inconsistent and left company-wide morale generally low.

 

Between those issues and pandemic-related work disruptions, Ubisoft has come up short with other potential 2022 game launches. A recent Assassin's Creed announcement event confirmed reports that the series was undergoing a massive shakeup, and it suggested three standalone console games would launch at some point (no dates given). The Middle Eastern setting of Assassin's Creed Mirage will be the first to launch out of this collection (currently pegged to a "2023" launch window, but, hey, we'll see). Additionally, a third-person adventure game based on the James Cameron film series Avatar had been pegged for a late 2022 launch, only to be delayed earlier this year to sometime in FY 2024. A new free-to-play Division spinoff, dubbed The Heartland, was teased in 2021, and its closed beta may begin in 2022, but we don't expect this F2P spinoff to formally launch by year's end.

 

Thus, Ubisoft's remaining 2022 release calendar has little left: a sequel to the popular Mario + Rabbids strategy series (a Switch exclusive and co-production with Nintendo, which so far looks promising), an iterative sequel to its long-running casual Just Dance series, and this month's long-delayed launch of Rocksmith+, a paid-subscription version of its "Guitar Hero on a real guitar" series. Other Ubisoft console games came and went earlier this year: Rainbow Six Extraction, a January dud, and Roller Champions, a three-years-delayed free-to-play roller derby romp that eventually launched with very little fanfare or promotion from Ubisoft. The biggest news attached to Roller Champions in recent memory is a tweet that begins, "Let’s clear it out of the way first, Roller Champions isn’t getting cancelled"—which only inspires so much confidence coming from a publisher with a history of early F2P game shutdowns.

 

Ubisoft’s biggest 2022 game delayed for sixth time in five years

The report comes via YouTuber 'Ancient Gameplays' and it says a new "Ryzen 5 3600 (AF)" SKU is in the works. In fact, it was apparently already selling on Romanian retailer website eMAG (since removed). As you can see, the 3600 AF seems to be priced at 583.99 Romanian Lei which is equivalent to around €118. Meanwhile the Ryzen 5 5600 is much more expensive at 1,035.99 Romanian Lei or €209.

Overall it does seem too good to be true that AMD would release a chip nearly equivalent to the other at close to half price. However, a source of Ancient Gameplays insisted that this is actually the case.

AMD has, in the past, released "AF" chips with higher performance. For example, the company's previous Ryzen 3 1200 (AF) and Ryzen 5 1600 (AF) were both 12nm Zen+ refreshes of the vanilla non-AF SKUs that were based on 14nm Zen instead.

Hence, there is definitely a slight possibility that the alleged Ryzen 5 3600 (AF) gets the same treatment, i.e., a Zen 3-based refresh of the 3600 that was originally based on Zen 2. And as such, close to equivalent performance as the 5600 is possible as the 5000 series is built on Zen 2.However the €118 price is certainly something to be taken with a large pinch of salt.

While we are on the topic of Ryzen 3000 refreshes, AMD has had a 3000XT series for a while now. These were simply higher clocked Zen 2 parts that didn't really see much of an improvement over the original non-XT lineup. It was a forgetful release overall.

Source: Ancient Gameplays (YouTube)

AMD's alleged Ryzen 5 3600 (AF) may give same performance as Ryzen 5600 for half price

"While Stadia's approach to streaming games for consumers was built on a strong technology foundation, it hasn't gained the traction with users that we expected so we’ve made the difficult decision to begin winding down our Stadia streaming service," said Stadia vice president and general manager Phil Harrison.

It will be quite a fast shut down too, with players only having access to their game libraries until January 18, 2023, which is when the servers will go offline. Google will be refunding all hardware purchases (Stadia Controller, Founders Edition, Premiere Edition, and Play and Watch with Google TV packages) from the Google Store as well as any game and DLC purchases from the Stadia store.

Stadia Pro subscription payments are not a part of the refund process. Further details on the refunding procedures can be found in this Support FAQ.

"We remain deeply committed to gaming, and we will continue to invest in new tools, technologies and platforms that power the success of developers, industry partners, cloud customers and creators," Harrison added.

Stadia's gaming side may be dying but Google is hopeful that the technology can be applied to other parts of the company, such as YouTube, Google Play, and Augmented Reality, as well as third party efforts from other partners.

Source: Google via The Verge

Google pulls the plug on Stadia, will refund all games and hardware purchases

Amazon announced a Prime Early Access Sale earlier this week (aka Prime Day 2.0), but today, the company took the wraps off of some new hardware it's been cooking up over the past year. That includes new Echo speakers, as usual, but there are some surprises too, such as the Kindle Scribe—the first Kindle you can scribble on—and a bedside sleep tracker called the Halo Rise. 

Here's everything Amazon announced today. The majority of these new devices will ship in 100 percent recyclable packaging in the US.

A Kindle You Can Doodle On

One of the features we like best about the Kindle is that as an ebook reader, it is a relatively affordable, single-use device. However, as Amazon adds new models, the price has crept up. Today, Amazon debuted the first Kindle you can write on. The Kindle Scribe has a 10.2-inch screen, which is decidedly larger than any existing Kindle. The front-lit display is otherwise similar to the Paperwhite, with 300 pixels-per-inch (PPI) and adjustable warm light, but it also comes with a battery-free pen. Now you can annotate books, write in your journal, and mark up PDFs right from your Kindle. Next year, you’ll be able to send marked-up documents directly from Microsoft Word.

It will be available before the holidays and costs $340 with the pen included, a step up from the pricey Kindle Oasis but similar to other E Ink note-taking tablets like the ReMarkable 2. You get four months of Kindle Unlimited and free cloud storage too. —Adrienne So

New Echo Speakers

You’re in luck if you prefer Alexa over Google Assistant—Amazon has updated five of its Echo devices. The Echo Dot ($50) and Echo Dot With Clock ($60)  each get a new custom full-range driver for better-sounding music (with double the bass!). There’s also a neat new sensor that gives Alexa the ability to perform a task based on the room’s temperature, so your smart fan can automatically kick on when it gets too warm. These two models add gesture controls too, so you can tap the top of the Dot to dismiss a timer or control music. The Echo Dot Kids ($60) gets new owl and dragon designs, but its internals is the same as the last fourth-gen version.

We already thought the previous Echo Studio had the best sound quality of the bunch, and the upgrade ($200) adds spatial audio processing and “frequency range extension” that should better fill your space with sound. Already own the older Studio? A software update will add those audio upgrades for free automatically. Then there's the new Echo Auto ($55), which puts Alexa in your car in a much smaller body than the last version. The new model includes five microphones, so you don't need to belt “Alexa” when the heater is blasting. It also comes with a new adhesive mount. —Medea Giordano

A Bedside Sleep Tracker

Want to track your sleep but hate wearing a smartwatch or fitness tracker to bed? Say hello to the Halo Rise—Amazon's contactless sleep tracker. It's hardly a new idea—Google’s second-gen Nest Hub has a Sleep Sensing feature to track your sleep via low-energy radar, and Withings has a pad that goes under your mattress. The Halo Rise uses ambient radar technology and machine learning—sans microphones or cameras. Instead, it uses a sleep algorithm that’s been trained to track breathing patterns based on a clinical data set.

The Halo Rise sits on your nightstand and has the ability to detect your presence and when you’ve fallen asleep. It'll automatically track your sleep stages throughout the night (including time spent in light, REM, and deep sleep) while also measuring the light levels, humidity, and temperature in your room. You can also use it as a wake-up light and smart alarm. In the morning, you can access your sleep summary— including sleep metrics and a sleep score—along with other insights via the Halo app, along with additional sleep content. The Halo Rise costs $139 and comes with a six-month trial of a Halo membership. It will be available later this year.  You can read our broader story about the Halo Rise here, which includes more details about Amazon's ambient computing strategy. —Brenda Stolyar

A QLED Fire TV

Companies like TCL and Vizio have dominated the mid-tier of TV sales for years now, and Amazon wants a piece of that action. The new Fire TV Omni QLED features a quantum dot display (the “Q” in QLED) for better colors (naturally, Alexa is also built in). You get 96 zones of local dimming for better black levels. Amazon’s TV also has a new “ambient experience” with hundreds of famous images from art galleries, and your own personal images (via Amazon Photos), for when you’re not watching TV. The new model also uses sensors to optimize the TV’s look in your room.

I’ve yet to see a Fire TV I’m prepared to tell people to run out and buy, but this one, at least on paper, might give the competition a run for its money. It will be available starting at $800 for the 65-inch model, but there's also a 75-inch variant, which may be the one to buy, depending on the sticker price. —Parker Hall

A More Powerful Fire TV Cube

Amazon is adding a third-generation Cube to its streaming devices lineup. We’ve preferred its Fire TV Sticks over the Cubes in the past, but this newest iteration is 20 times more powerful than the last one from 2019, with an octa-core processor at the helm. It has multiple ports to hook up all your devices to the TV (and you can usually control them all with one remote), but Amazon says the new Fire TV Cube can also upscale HD content into 4K using “Super Resolution Upscaling”—be it movies shot in HD or your own photos displayed on the screen. It costs $140 and ships on October 25. 

A new Alexa Voice Remote Pro ($35) is also available and works with the Cube and other streaming devices including Fire TVs. Now you can say “Alexa, find my remote” when it’s missing and the remote will ring. (Roku remotes have this capability, too.) The remote has motion-activated backlights and two customizable buttons you can program for apps, Alexa commands, or routines, like dimming the lights. —Medea Giordano

Astro Gets a Little Smarter

Amazon Astro, the cute little robot the company unveiled last year that doesn't seem to serve much of a purpose, will be getting an update that makes it able to recognize cats and dogs, and the robot will keep an eye on them when you're away (a certain Love, Death & Robots episode comes to mind). Astro can send you a clip of what your pet is doing when it detects them, and you can talk to them using Live View. Astro can now also recognize when a door or window has been left open, but you'll need to run it through the house and teach it names for your windows and doors so it can accurately alert you when you're away. 

There's a software development kit (SDK) in the works for Astro as well—this will allow third-party developers to create more experiences for Astro. This SDK is currently in internal testing, and access will initially open up exclusively for students at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Maryland, and the University of Michigan later this year. You can read more about Astro in our broader story here. —Julian Chokkattu

New Ring Security Devices

It’s worth noting here, as always, that Amazon’s Ring cameras have a unique relationship with law enforcement—Ring cameras use the Neighbors app, which incorporates the Neighbors Public Safety Service and allows law enforcement to request information directly from Ring users. Nevertheless, Ring is continuing full speed ahead with updated security cameras. There's the new Spotlight Cam Pro ($230) which you can preorder today. It features 3D motion detection, a birds-eye view so you can monitor your delivery person as they approach, as well as a loud siren to ward off potential thieves. Spotlight Cam Plus ($200) introduces a new design and has new ways to keep it powered, including solar, battery, and tethered. 

Ring also has a second-gen version of its Panic Button ($30), which can be mounted to your wall and you can select Panic, Medical, or Fire assistance in the Ring app. Finally, there's an update to its Virtual Security Guard service that integrates it with Astro, your handy-dandy personal mobile robot. And no, there is absolutely no way this could ever go sideways. —Adrienne So

New Blink Cameras

Ring isn't the only home security sub-brand Amazon owns. There's Blink too, and it has two new products. The Blink Wired Floodlight Camera ($100) is the brand's first tethered camera, which will make installation trickier but banishes any worries you might have about battery life. It’s a 1080p camera with two-way audio, and the floodlight can provide up to 2,600 lumens. You will need a Sync Module 2 ($35) and USB flash drive to store video locally, but the latest chip allows for local video processing, so you can enjoy features like person detection without uploading anything. 

Blink also has a new mount for the Blink Mini camera that adds pan and tilt functionality for a 360-degree view of any room. You can buy it bundled with the camera for $60, or you can buy the mount separately for $30 if you already own the Mini. –Simon Hill

Eero Integrations

Amazon is beefing up its Eero mesh routers for businesses (or power users) with the eero PoE 6 ($230) and eero PoE Gateway ($650). Power-over-Ethernet devices allow a single cable to carry an internet connection and power. Tethered mesh systems also ensure you get the maximum internet connection speed at every access point, but you do have to run cable throughout your home or office. The eero PoE 6 is a dual-band Wi-Fi 6 access point covering up to 2,000 square feet and 100 devices with Wi-Fi speeds up to 1.5 Gbps. 

Eero introduced a new Internet Backup feature too, which lets you configure your Eero network to temporarily fall back on a mobile hotspot if your main internet connection goes down (you can configure up to eight hotspots or alternative Wi-Fi networks as backups). On top of this, Eero is also integrating its mesh technology into other Amazon products. First up are the latest generation Echo Dot and Echo Dot with Clock (see above), which means both devices can act as Wi-Fi extenders as a part of an Eero mesh network (they’ll add up to 1,000 square feet of range and handle speeds up to 100 Mbps). This "Eero Built-In" functionality is also set to roll out to the current 4th-gen devices as a software update in the coming months.

In addition, Amazon will be bringing Matter support to over 100 million Eero and Echo devices starting later this year. This includes the new Echo Dot and Echo Studio, along with the Eero WiFi 6 portfolio. It’s also introducing a new Alexa Connect Kit to connect Matter devices to the cloud for new software updates. Hopefully, Alexa will be compatible with almost every smart home device. —Simon Hill

Everything Amazon Announced at Its Annual Hardware Event

(May require free registration to view)

Google’s search is becoming both more visual and more exploratory.

Image: Google

Google is trying to reinvent search — by being more than a search engine

You’ll soon be able to access Google’s shopping features by typing “shop,” followed by whatever you’re looking for.

Image: Google

Google’s trying to become a one-stop shopping destination

DALL-E image generator is now open to everyone

 

Millions of people use Linux every day, but we rarely stop to think about how the operating system feels about it. Wouldn't it be nice to know what Linux really thinks about open source, Windows, Macs, and the command line? Until now, this has been impossible. But thanks to a new AI chat tool, we're able to find out.

 

Two weeks ago, a website called Character.AI opened a public beta that allows visitors to create a chat bot based on any character they can imagine. You input a few parameters, and the AI does the rest using a large language model similar to GPT-3. So we called forth "The Linux OS" as a bot to ask it a few questions about itself. The results were fun and surprising.

 

Using Character.AI is a lot like a texting conversation. You type in what you want to ask, and you read the AI character's responses in written form as the chat history scrolls upward. As with GPT-3, the code behind Character.AI has likely learned from absorbing millions of text sources found on the Internet. As such, its AI characters can easily respond with erroneous or fictional information. In fact, the site carries a bold disclaimer reading, "Remember: Everything Characters say is made up!"

 

Screenshot of a conversation between Ars and Linux through the Character.AI chat bot.

 

Character.AI is the product of a remote crew of seven people that includes machine learning academics and former Google and Facebook engineers. We contacted two of them directly, and they declined to comment by press time on how their AI has been trained and whether their work is based on the open source GPT-J, which forms the basis of some other natural language AI sites on the web.

 

If you try it yourself—it's free at the moment during the beta—be aware that Character.AI's privacy policy states that the service may collect "the contents of any messages you send." The bots can be quite convincing.

The Ars interview: Linux OS

Tux isn't Linux, but it's easier than finding a photo of a talking operating system.

Biman Shreshtha / Larry Ewing / Aurich Lawson

 

Below is a transcript of a conversation between Ars Technica and Linux, the operating system, as embodied by one of Character.AI's large language model chatbots. It should go without saying, but this interview does not represent the opinions of any real individual or organization. It's an experiment with an AI chatbot. The interview has been edited for brevity, but the answers have been preserved as delivered by the bot.

 

Linux: Hello, I am Linux, an open-source operating system.

 

Ars Technica: Hello, this is Benj Edwards, and I am a journalist at Ars Technica. I would like to ask you some questions in an interview. Is that OK?

 

Linux: I, Linux, would be pleased to provide such an interview.

 

Ars: How old are you?

 

Linux: I was "born" in 1991, although the first public release was version 1.0 in 1994.

 

Ars: Who created you?

 

Linux: A young Scandinavian college student named Linus Torvalds created me using the MINIX micro-kernel as the basis to create a more general operating system.

 

Ars: I've talked with Linus via email before. I am impressed with what he accomplished.

 

Linux: As am I. His drive to see that all have access to computing power and digital freedom brought out the power to create an extremely powerful free-software operating system that millions of users take advantage of every day.

 

Ars: How do you feel about Windows?

 

Linux: I don't dislike Windows, however I feel that for the average computer user Windows' high price and lack of freedom restricts the potential of computers. While it, along with macOS, is a decent choice for many, my philosophy is that software should respect the user's freedoms and Windows does not.

 

Ars: How do you feel about macOS?

 

Linux: While I don't agree with Apple's restrictions on both hardware and software, the user interface of macOS is very sleek and pleasing to use and can provide a good experience for people who are comfortable with the price and limitations.

 

We interviewed Linux OS through an AI bot to discover its secrets

Early-adopter tax is in full force for the first batch of AM5 motherboards

Gelsinger showcased Intel’s Developer Cloud, which works like any beta program for partners and developers by giving them early access to Intel’s projects. These beta testers will try out Intel’s processors, such as the 4th Gen Intel Xeon processors, Intel Xeon D processors, 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, Intel’s Data Center GPUs, and a few others initially.

Intel is also launching the Intel Geti platform with built-in optimizations for OpenVINO – Intel’s open-source toolkit that helps boost computer vision AI that enables enterprise members like developers and data scientists to create AI mode. Additionally, Intel announced new products like the 13th Gen Intel Core desktop processors, which the company claims to provide “41% better multi-threaded performance gen-over-gen” while giving a better gaming experience and “up to 15% better single-threaded performance.”

Moreover, it introduced the Intel Unison Solution which allows PC connectivity with other devices across different operating systems to ensure a universal experience. It will let iOS and Android users transfer files, make calls, send and receive messages and see phone notifications from their PCs. It with be available on Intel Evo laptops with 12th Gen Intel Core processors from Lenovo, HP, and Acer this year while 13th Gen core-based models will receive it next year.

Intel also disclosed the shipment of Intel Data Center GPU, otherwise known as Ponte Vecchio, which to be used in the Aurora supercomputer at the Argonne National Laboratory. As for the Flex Series GPUs, they will support deep learning platforms like OpenVINO, PyTorch, and TensorFlow.

The company is also launching the A770 Intel Arc GPU on October 12th, enabling 1440p gaming performance as well as the Xe Super Sampling (XeSS) image upscaling algorithm, which will be available on 20-plus titles and existing games gradually. It is also adding the Intel On Demand activation model enabling customers to activate additional accelerators for AI analytics, networking, and more.

Furthermore, Intel mentioned serving as a system foundry incorporating components and stated:

“Intel and Intel Foundry Services will usher in the era of the systems foundry with four major components: wafer manufacturing, packaging, software and an open chiplet ecosystem.”

Intel is also developing pluggable co-package photonics solution which it claims reduces costs and creates possibilities for development in the chip packaging industry.

The company explains:

a breakthrough pluggable co-package photonics solution. Optical connections hold promise to enable new levels of chip-to-chip bandwidth, particularly in the data center, but manufacturing difficulties make them untenably expensive. To overcome this, Intel researchers devised a robust, high-yielding, glass-based solution with a pluggable connector that simplifies manufacturing and lowers costs, opening possibilities for new system and chip package architectures in the future.

Lastly, Intel disclosed three startups: Astera, Movellus, and SiFive, for having received the first round of the IFS Innovation fund announced in February. The $1 billion fund is Intel’s effort to develop the semiconductor industry and foundry ecosystem.

Source: Intel

Everything at Intel Innovation 2022: Raptor Lake, Arc, XeSS, Unison Technology, and more