JayzTwoCents (4.22M subscribers)

July 9, 2025

Video length: 27m 55s

This is the FIRST video I have ever made using Linux as a windows replacement for a gaming system and it was REALLY easy! I should have done this sooner!

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The biggest requirement for a PC to support all Copilot+ PC features, such as Recall, Click to Do, Windows Studio Effects, and more, is a neural processing unit (NPU) capable of delivering at least 40 TOPS. Intel already has desktop chips with NPUs, but they provide fewer TOPS, which makes them ineligible for Copilot+ PC. That should change in the Arrow Lake Refresh generation.

According to a recent report, the next Core Ultra series will feature the NPU 4 design borrowed from Intel's mobile processors that support Copilot+ PC features (Lunar Lake), making the new series the first desktop processor lineup in the Copilot+ PC program. For reference, AMD's latest mobile chips also have eligible NPUs, but the desktop processors are still "regular" in terms of Windows 11's AI capabilities.

Besides a newer, more powerful NPU, Arrow Lake Refresh is expected to bring faster clocks to make Core Ultra desktop chips better at gaming. The Core Ultra 200 Series was disappointing in this regard, and AMD's X3D chips outperform Intel's latest offering on the gaming side. However, Arrow Lake Refresh is not expected to offer more processor or graphics cores. Instead, it will focus on improving AI workloads and general performance thanks to slightly higher clock speeds.

Intel Arrow Lake Refresh is expected to launch later this year with the same LGA-1851 socket, which will then be replaced by the Nova Lake and its LGA-1954 socket.

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On the issue notes, Microsoft wrote, "TPM attestation for AMD platforms with ASP firmware TPM might fail with error code 0x80070490 on Windows systems. This issue is resolved on later versions of AMD firmware. Consult with device manufacturers and firmware release notes for which firmware versions contain the update."

So while Microsoft stated that a future (post-2022) AMD firmware had supposedly already resolved the issue, we were a bit surprised to see that the issue still persisted, and as such, mostly blamed AMD for the problem.

However, it turns out we were not quite right in doing so. While browsing, Neowin spotted a new support article today regarding the TPM attestation failure that is still probably happening, AMD has clarified that the company had released the firmware patch already in 2022 but some of the motherboard vendors did not release that update for users.

The issue affects Ryzen 1000 (Zen1) up to Ryzen 5000 (Zen 3) processors, so it mainly affects AM4 motherboards. AMD further clarifies that "motherboards with AMD fTPM 3.*.0" are affected. If you are not sure the company says:

Run “Powershell.exe -Command Get-TPM” to determine if the system is impacted by this issue.

The company has explained the situation and its implications and how it can lead systems into BitLocker recovery:

AMD resolved this issue in TPM firmware updates provided to motherboard manufacturers in 2022.

 

• Some motherboard manufacturers chose not to redistribute these TPM firmware updates.
• BitLocker™ users can suspend BitLocker™ during these TPM firmware updates, which may clear the TPM outside the Windows® API. If users do not suspend BitLocker™, the computer may enter recovery mode when restarting and may require a recovery key or password to access the computer.

We are not sure why the board makers chose not to do so, perhaps they noticed some major issue elsewhere; and so AMD now recommends contacting your board's manufacturer directly if you are still having TPM attestation failures and related BitLocker issues or encountering other problems. For example, AMD notes that gamers may be unable to compete in online cash tournaments.

The company writes:

Contact your motherboard manufacturer’s customer service department to determine if a firmware update is available.

BitLocker lockout can be a massive problem if you are not careful and so it is recommended that you bookmark this official guide from Microsoft. You can find the support article regarding TPM attestation here on AMD's official website.

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Prepare to mark your calendars because Blizzard Entertainment has announced the release date for World of Warcraft: The War Within's next major content update, 'Ghosts of K'aresh'.

Starting on August 5, 2025, players can start exploring the ruined world of K’aresh to take on various new challenges, Delves, and a dungeon, among other exciting new ventures.

Then on August 13, 2025, Season 3 will begin and have players take on the Manaforge Omega raid, which will feature the return of an old Warcraft enemy called Dimensious as a city-sized raid boss.

Here are all the details you need to know about World of Warcraft's next big update.

The Ghosts of K'aresh is the third major content patch for World of Warcraft: The War Within, following the Undermine(d) patch. It will go live on August 5, 2025, for the public server realms and will include a ton of new content such as:

• New main campaign quests that will conclude the storyline for The War Within and help set up the events for the upcoming World of Warcraft: Midnight expansion.
• A new zone to explore called K'aresh, a world destroyed by the Void Lord Dimensious.
• Tazavesh the Veiled Market returns from World of Warcraft: Shadowlands as a hub city.
• A new raid dungeon called Manaforge Omega.
• Reshii Wraps, an artifact that can be upgraded through various gameplay activities and acts as a key to access a new outdoor activity called Phase Diving.
• A series of Delve dungeons called The Archival Assault.
• A new creature-collector activity called Ecological Succession.
• A new dungeon Eco-Dome Al’dani.
• The Tazavesh mega-dungeon returns with a new hard mode.
• Several class balance updates for Shadow Priest, Brewmaster Monk, Frost Death Knight, Unholy Death Knight, and more.
• Several PvP talent updates.
• A new PVP World Quest that can be accessed on Vanquisher's Wake Island.
• A new Warband Campsite screen called 'The Fate of the Devoured' which can be obtained by completing the 'A Shadowy Invitation' quest.
• Tons of new Ethereal-themed armor sets, mounts, and cosmetics will be made available in this update.

The Manaforge Omega raid dungeon will be open for players on August 13, 2025.

The raid schedule for Manaforge Omega's difficulty levels will be the following:

For those not familiar, the Curie temperature is the specific temperature at which a ferromagnetic material (like iron or certain semiconductors) loses its permanent magnetism and becomes paramagnetic.

FMS materials are known for combining electrical and magnetic properties, which makes them promising for spintronic devices that use both the charge and spin of electrons. Among them, Fe-doped narrow-gap III–V semiconductors like (In,Fe)Sb and (Ga,Fe)Sb have stood out due to their potential for high TC. But bringing in a large amount of magnetic elements like iron without damaging the crystal structure has been a big challenge.

In earlier attempts, materials like (Ga,Mn)As had low TC values and couldn’t be used effectively at room temperature. While past research managed to hit a TC of 420 K, that still wasn’t enough for stable, real-world operation.

In this new study, the Tokyo team found a way around the problem. They grew thin films of (Ga,Fe)Sb using a technique called step-flow growth on GaAs (100) substrates that were slightly angled—about 10° off-axis. This method let them add up to 24% Fe without ruining the structure of the material.

Thanks to this technique, they created (Ga₀.₇₆Fe₀.₂₄)Sb films with Curie temperatures between 470 K and 530 K, the highest reported so far in FMS research.

“In the conventional (Ga,Fe)Sb samples, maintaining crystallinity at high Fe doping levels was a persistent issue. By applying the step-flow growth technique on vicinal substrates, we successfully addressed this challenge and achieved the world’s highest TC in FMSs,” said Prof. Hai.

To confirm the magnetic behavior, the team used magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy, which checks how light interacts with spin-polarized electronic states. They also analyzed magnetization data using Arrott plots, a technique used to pinpoint the temperature where the material becomes magnetic.

The magnetic moment of each Fe atom in the sample measured around 4.5 μB, which is close to the ideal 5 μB expected for Fe³⁺ ions in a zinc blende structure. That’s about twice the magnetic moment of regular iron metal (α-Fe).

They also tested long-term durability. A thin 9.8 nm film stored in open air for 1.5 years still showed strong magnetic properties, though the TC dropped slightly to 470 K.

“Our results demonstrate the feasibility of fabricating high-TC FMSs that are compatible with room temperature operations, which is a crucial step towards the realization of spintronic devices,” Prof. Hai added. This work shows how careful control of growth methods and material design can lead to more practical and powerful semiconductors for future spin-based electronics or spintronics.

If you are wondering what makes this special, spintronics promise little-to-no standby leakage, low power consumption, amazing endurance, great read-write performances, all in a nonvolatile package, and is said to easily integrate with current CMOS-based electronic circuits. Spin-based magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) is also a universal memory candidate.

Source: Institute of Science Tokyo, AIP Publishing

This article was generated with some help from AI and reviewed by an editor. Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, this material is used for the purpose of news reporting. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.

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It’s important to note that these are still preliminary guidance figures; the full earnings report will come out later this month.

According to Korea Herald, the decline in profits is being driven by a decline in inventory replenishments, US tariffs, and US restrictions on advanced AI chips to China. Samsung is not alone in seeing declining profits; LG shared its preliminary Q2 results yesterday and its profits had roughly been cut in half too.

In a statement, Samsung said that its Device Solutions (DS) division, which includes semiconductors, was the main driver of profit decline. Ryu Young-ho, a senior analyst at NH Investment & Securities who spoke to Reuters, said another blow to Samsung was its delayed shipments of high-bandwidth memory to Nvidia. The analyst said: “For Samsung Electronics, the key issue remains regaining competitiveness ... Everything ultimately comes back to HBM. It will also be difficult to raise prices immediately due to competition, making it challenging to sustain high margins.”

Specifically, competition is fierce from competitors like SK Hynix and Micron. Both of these have benefited from the memory chip demand driven by AI growth in the US. Meanwhile for Samsung, it relies more on China, but US restrictions are stymying it.

Samsung expects somewhat of a recovery in the second half of the year. It said that its foundry business losses should narrow as demand picks up. The company will also buoy investor confidence by doing a buyback of 3.9 trillion won ($2.85 billion) worth of its shares. Samsung has an event planned for July 31 to share more details of its Q2 financial situation.

Image via Depositphotos.com

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Raspberry Pi has just released the standalone Camera Module 3 Sensor Assembly via its approved resellers, starting at $15. For context, these are the core sensor components that came with the 12MP autofocus Camera Module 3, minus the full module’s larger printed circuit board (PCB).

Raspberry Pi said that its goal with this latest product is to enable its integration into much smaller form factors for embedded and industrial applications. The camera sensor itself is exactly the same as what was in the Camera Module 3, the IMX708.

The IMX708 sensor from Sony, used in both the Camera Module 3 and Camera Module 3 Sensor Assembly, is an 11.9 megapixel camera with a resolution of 4608 x 2592. It features phase detection autofocus (PDAF) and is also available in visible-light and infrared-sensitive (NoIR) variants.

Raspberry Pi is also giving customers the choice of standard (75° diagonal) or wide (120° diagonal) field of view for use in a great range of projects. The NoIR variants will be ideal for night vision and security use cases, and the wide variants will be better for broader surveillance. The company said the standard/NoIR variants will cost you $15, while the wide/wide NoIR variants will set you back $25.

The existing Camera Module 3 is already being used in diverse applications, including workplace safety, wildlife conservation, glacier monitoring, manufacturing quality control, and museum education. With the new product, the use cases should expand with smaller and more specialized devices being possible.

Some areas where we could see the new module being used include micro-robotics, very compact IoT devices, and specialized medical imaging. While the possibilities are exciting, it’s worth noting that the need for custom PCB design means this product is more suitable for experienced embedded developers and OEMs, rather than casual hobbyists.

If you want to buy, just press the Buy now button on the Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3 Sensor Assembly product page and go to a listed approved reseller’s website to place an order.

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LG said that the decline reflects weaker consumer sentiment and a more challenging environment abroad, namely the trade tariffs imposed by the US, leading to higher LCD panel prices. More market competition is also negatively affecting LG’s profitability.

To try and get back its jive, LG says it’s planning to double down in areas where it sees high-margin and stable growth such as B2B sectors like vehicle solutions and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC). It also wants to scale its non-hardware businesses including the webOS platform services and subscription-based models. It’s also expected to enhance its direct-to-consumer sales through LGE.COM.

LG said that its vehicle solutions business was steadily growing even despite challenges that the industry is facing. The Korean firm has witnessed increased operating profit in this part of its business and plans to drive even more sales of its premium in-vehicle infotainment systems and diversify with new automotive content platforms.

It also plans to focus more on its HVAC operations with commercial air conditioning and industrial cooling. It’s not going to sit out on the AI hype here either, it plans to offer AI-powered technologies for data centers.

LG also mentioned that it plans to complete its purchase of OSO, a European hot water solutions company to join the rapidly growing air-to-water heat pump market as the continent makes the shift to green energy.

LG is a sprawling company in many sectors people don’t even realize. One area it is well known for competing in is media and entertainment. Unfortunately, during the second quarter, its media and entertainment solutions saw a slowdown in demand driven by higher LCD panel prices and increased marketing expenses.

With that said, the company is planning to cement its leadership in the premium OLED TV sector with new wireless products like the OLED evo M5. It said it’s also going to make webOS more competitive too by expanding into gaming and digital art content.

It’s unclear how long LG’s plans will take to turn the company’s earnings around but doubling down on the areas it excels in definitely seems like a good idea.

Image via Depositphotos.com

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Quick links:

1. Windows 10 and 11
2. Windows Insider Program
3. Updates are available
4. Reviews are in
5. Gaming news

Windows 11 and Windows 10

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 versions.

This month marks an important milestone for Windows 11: the four-year-old operating system is finally more popular than Windows 10. StatCounter reports that the OS took over its predecessor worldwide. Windows 11 is also doing pretty well among gamers, and in June 2025, it reached a new all-time high of nearly 60%.

This week, users noticed that Microsoft was quietly installing a Windows update on systems that are running out of support. However, after the news, Microsoft posted an update to the story. The company also clarified that Windows did not lose 400 million users, as was speculated by some outlets. Coincidentally, this number matches 400 million Windows 10 PCs that cannot run Windows 11. Public Interest Research Group slammed Microsoft for lackluster support for these devices and said that one year of free security updates is not enough.

The list of known bugs in Windows 11 version 24H2 has been expanded with new details about some of the upcoming 24H2 features triggering Windows Firewall.

To finish this week's Windows section, check out this blog post describing how a 13-year-old kid helped Microsoft improve its product security. Also, check out this cool concept, which fuses the looks of Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows XP, Windows 10, and Windows 11 into one big and odd soup.

Windows Insider Program

Here is what Microsoft released for Windows Insiders this week:

While this week was pretty slim in terms of new builds, enthusiasts discovered some cool stuff in the latest releases. Windows 11's lock screen battery indicator is finally getting a redesign. While you can enable it right now, Microsoft confirmed that the indicator is not ready for public testing just yet.

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.

June is now behind us, and as usual, Microsoft published recaps of new features for its productivity apps, such as Teams, Excel, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and more. Other Office updates include dynamic DPI support in OneNote, which allows the app to adjust itself on the fly when you move it across monitors with different DPIs. Also, Outlook mobile received a customizable toolbar on Android and iOS, desktop Outlook is getting new PST features, Teams is getting Storyline, and Planner got a bulk editing feature.

Speaking of Teams, check out this guide that will help you avoid awkward pop-ups during screen sharing on Teams.

On the browser side, we have several big updates. Opera released version 120 with a built-in translator and much-improved Opera Pro VPN. On the mobile side, Opera 90 for Android brought a smarter Aria AI and other improvements.

If you use Microsoft Edge, check out this useful guide, which will help you tidy up your scroll bars for a better, more modern and less distracting look. Also, Microsoft recently removed Mica from the Edge browser, but you can still sort of bring it back with a special command.

Finally, Vivaldi released version 7.5, adding colorful tab stacks, reworked tab menus, and other improvements.

Here are other updates and releases you may find interesting:

• Microsoft confirmed Intune is broken.
• Microsoft released Skype for Business Server SE because Teams cannot solve one problem.
• Microsoft explained how to fix the recently broken OneDrive search.
• Office apps will soon let you request permissions for locked-in documents.

• Microsoft 365 Copilot got 6 new languages, reaching 48 total supported.

• PowerToys 0.92 was released with performance improvements, a built-in speed test, and more.

   

Here are the latest drivers and firmware updates released this week:

• AMD Radeon Software 25.6.3 with FSR 4 support for GTA V and Monster Hunter: Wilds.
• Nvidia 576.88 with RTX 5050 support, DLSS 4 for Mecha BREAK, and more.
• Nvidia is ending driver support for some of its most legendary graphics cards.

Reviews are in

Here is the hardware and software we reviewed this week

Robbie Khan reviewed the Mobapad Huden2, one of the first gamepads with capacitive joystick controllers. It offers fantastic performance and a great app experience, but it also has some cons, such as a high price, weak vibration, trigger quirks, and more.

Also, Robbie published a review of the Topping DX5 II, a high-spec headphones amplifier, pre-amp, and DAC, all for less than $300. Check out the full review here.

Steven Parker reviewed the REDMAGIC Astra gaming tablet. This 9-inch device has a great 165Hz OLED display, a big battery life, and good performance. The only downsides include the lack of SIM, LDAC, and a charger.

On the gaming side

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

A lot of bad news happened in the gaming side of Microsoft. The company announced a massive wave of layoffs, which primarily hit its gaming divisions. At least three games were killed, half of Turn 10 Studios sacked, and Perfect Dark completely canceled. To add insult to injury, one of Microsoft's execs said that laid-off workers should seek help from AI. Yikes!

With everything that is going on in Microsoft's gaming division, one of the former executives voiced a pretty strong opinion, claiming that the current Xbox strategy is chaotic and the entire business overall is pretty much dead.

The recently rebranded Halo Studios promises some big announcements in the series later this year. The latest monthly blog post on Halo Waypoint teased a big October reveal, a special treat for fans of the franchise.

Helldivers 2 is finally ditching its console exclusivity. The game is coming to Xbox Series X|S on August 26, and you can already preorder the game in the Microsoft Store.

Microsoft announced new games coming to Game Pass. This month, look out for Little Nightmares II, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Trials of Mana, Legend of Mana, The Ascent, Minami Lanem High on Life, and more. Some games are also leaving the service, so check out the complete list here.

Prime Gaming, another gaming service, also announced new games and bonuses for subscribers. The latest additions include Dungeon of the ENDLESS Definitive Edition, Saints Row 2, TOEM, STAR WARS: Rebellion, and more.

We are not done with gaming services just yet. Do not forget about GeForce NOW, Nvidia's cloud streaming service. It also received a batch of fresh titles, including Killing Floor 3 and Schedule I, 21 games in total.

Mojang revealed details about the next content update for Minecraft. Future releases will bring a new copper golem, copper armor, copper equipment, and other stuff. The new copper golem will help you keep your storage sorted out and well-organized. You can now check out those changes in the latest preview update for Minecraft Bedrock Edition.

Finally, here is this week's Weekend PC Game Deals issue, where you will find a new freebie from the Epic Games Store and a massive list of discounted titles across different stores.

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Paul's Hardware (1.52M subscribers)

July 6, 2025

Video length: 11m 30s

0:00 Welcome to Paul’s Tech News - July 6, 2025 

1:36 RTX 5050 “Launch Reviews” reveal lackluster performance 

5:32 Stop Killing Games Petition reaches 1,000,000+ signatures 

TECH BRIEFS 

7:06 Denmark introduces anti-AI law giving individuals automatic copyright over their likeness 

8:01 RX 9070 XT Now Faster than RTX 5070 Ti, per Hardware Unboxed 

8:59 RTX 50 Super GPUs ALREADY? 5070 Super, 5070 Ti Super, 5080 Super Specs Leak 

10:07 DDR4 Warning! Prices Skyrocket in Past 2 Months

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Gamers Nexus (2.46M subscribers)

July 6, 2025

Video length: 32m 37s

In hardware news this week, we talk about a former founding member of the Xbox saying she is struggling to find a modern reason to buy Xbox hardware, the good news for Stop Killing Games (but it's not over yet!), and NVIDIA's next round of GPUs.

00:00 - Recap for the Week 

01:18 - Liquid Metal Factory Tour 

06:11 - Stop Killing Games Wasn't Killed 

12:12 - MSI Releasing Claw with Ryzen Z2 Extreme 

14:33 - Hyte Gundam Wing Hardware 

17:26 - NVIDIA to Release 5070 Super, 5070 Ti Super 

20:48 - NVIDIA RTX 5090 D V2 

23:08 - Phanteks, Montech Launch micro-ATX Cases 

24:19 - Xbox Founding Member: Xbox is Dead 2

6:13 - Microsoft Layoffs Underway

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I love playing video games. What, are you surprised or something? My job is to write about games and tech and a million other things, but one of my hobbies is to play.

I'm nerd enough that I'm proud of the Excel spreadsheet I use to keep track of all my completions, my backlog, and even my wishlist. Since I started that, I've completed (and in many cases, 100% completed) 195 unique games, I have 197 games installed on my Xbox Series X to play, and there are dozens more that I either don't own or haven't released yet on my wishlist.

2025 has already been one heck of a year for gaming, too, so I thought I'd take a look back at the games that stood out to me so far, my current game-of-the-year contender, and the games on my backlog that I can't wait to get to.

The honorable mentions

Xbox producer tells laid off employees to use AI

The still-ongoing lay-offs have resulted in the closure of entire studios including Perfect Dark developer The Initiative as well as the cancellation of other projects including Everwild, the “f*****g incredible” MMORPG from the studio behind Elder Scrolls Online and more.

In the now-deleted post, available here, Turnbull—who still has his job at Xbox—offered the “best advice” they could to the thousands of employees let go from their jobs. That advice was to use AI tools—including Microsoft’s in-house Copilot tool—to “help reduce the emotional and cognitive load that comes with job loss”.

Additionally, Turnbull explained that the laid off employees could use AI to users with “career planning” that would help workers with their “networking and outreach” as well as “emotional clarity and confidence”.

Turnbull’s lengthy spiel even provided multiple AI prompt that they claimed would help employees. The most egregious example reads: “I’m struggling with impostor syndrome after being laid off. Can you help me reframe this experience in a way that reminds me what I’m good at?”

Turnbull’s LinkedIn post has since been deleted following mass criticism from followers on the social media platform. Zenimax Online producer Eric Smith, an employee who was let go and had his long in-development project cancelled responded, saying, “Jesus Christ, read the room dude”.

Microsoft’s recent round of cost-cutting hasn’t only affected its in-house studios. The Xbox lay-offs have also resulted in funding being pulled from third-party partners, including DOOM creator John Romero’s independent studio

Romero Games, which has since had to lay off its entire workforce.

The viscous lay-offs come alongside a memo sent to developers explaining that the Xbox “platform, hardware, and game roadmap have never looked stronger”. Spencer told laid off employees “the success we’re seeing currently is based on tough decisions we’ve made previously.”

Source

It really has been a tough week for Xbox, naturally, worst for those affected personally by the raft of layoffs, cancellations, and closures.

Amid all of the bad news, it's reported that as much as 50% of the Turn 10 team was hit by the layoffs. Turn 10 is one half of the Forza gang at Xbox, taking charge of Forza Motorsport, as well as having been behind the ForzaTech engine upon which the games are built.

Now, we're starting to hear more about what it all might mean for the future of Forza Motorsport, and it's not the best news.

It starts with a former member of the Turn 10 team, Fred Russell, who has posted on Facebook (via Eurogamer) that Forza Motorsport has been "shuttered." Though it should be said, Russell isn't a member of the team that has been affected by these layoffs, rather someone who has worked there previously.

In a follow-up, Russell has further claimed that Forza Horizon will continue, and that Turn 10 will be pivoting to act as support for Playground Games that makes the Horizon franchise.

Windows Central's own sources, who remained anonymous due to lack of authorization to speak on the matter publicly, have said that there's currently no definitive "cancellation" of the series. It's understood it could return some day, but that Turn 10 for now will indeed focus on Forza Horizon.

Forza Motorsport was only rebooted in 2023, but even without this report, we weren't expecting a new title any time soon. In the alternating release cycle, we always expected a new Forza Horizon next, and Microsoft Gaming CEO, Phil Spencer, has already teased this for 2026 in the recent Xbox Showcase.

Earlier this week, Microsoft laid off 9,000 employees just after it ended its fiscal year, which translates to about 4% of its workforce. The layoffs impacted most of the company's divisions, including Xbox and Azure:

"We continue to implement organizational and workforce changes that are necessary to position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace."

As it turns out, the layoffs seem to be part of Microsoft's strategy to improve its sales of AI tools metrics. According to Business Insider, the vast majority of employees affected by the recent layoffs were salespeople.

The report further suggests that Microsoft intends to replace the affected employees with more technical salespeople to boost the sale of its AI tools as it tries to play catch up with Google and OpenAI.

This news comes after a separate report suggested that Microsoft often pesters OpenAI, requesting help to spell out the inner workings of its tech to employees. A source disclosed that Microsoft doesn't have the technical know-how to fully leverage its IP rights and often doesn't know what questions to ask.

As such, Microsoft plans to leverage these technical salespeople (often referred to as "solution engineers" internally) to better present products to customers, incorporating demos earlier on in the sales process.

So, Microsoft is reportedly using this approach to bolster AI sales by prompting technical and industry understanding among its customers. However, the company is also set to hire more salespeople, which it plans to use beyond its headquarters.

Microsoft initiated yet another round of layoffs this week, impacting multiple organizations including gaming, sales, and marketing. Over 9,000 employees were cut, on top of the 6,000 that took place back in May. That means the Redmond giant has laid off over 15,000 employees in 2025 alone, and it's all to fund more AI infrastructure.

According to a report from The Seattle Times, Microsoft is moving to reduce headcount to free up more capital for AI spending. Specifically, the company is looking to invest more money in AI infrastructure and technologies, and is making various cuts across many organizations and divisions to fund these efforts.

"Microsoft’s push into AI doesn’t mean the company is replacing workers with the technology. Rather, the significant cost of building out the infrastructure over multiple years has Microsoft looking to trim costs where it can," The Seattle Times reports.

That said, a chunk of the roles Microsoft has laid off in recent months were roles that could be aided by AI technology. The company has invested heavily in AI technology that can debug and write code and is reportedly planning to make AI use mandatory with checks to ensure this conducted in performance reviews.

Microsoft has announced that it intends to spend $80 billion on AI infrastructure in the coming year to keep pace with the rest of the AI bubble. This is up $25 billion over the previous fiscal year. In recent weeks, reports have suggested that Microsoft and OpenAI's multibillion dollar partnership has become strained as both companies seek different things.

It should be clear to anyone following Microsoft closely that the company has become AI crazed in the last two years. Since 2023, Microsoft has rushed to implement AI technology in as many products and services as it can, regardless of whether that technology is ready for mainstream use.

The recent layoffs amassing over 15,000 people come as Microsoft signs off one of its best years ever financially. The company has soared ahead of Apple in market cap, and is trailing NVIDIA as most valuable company in the world. Investing heavily in AI infrastructure and products at the cost of everything else is proving popular amongst shareholders.

Gamers Nexus (2.46M subscribers)

July 4, 2025

Video length: 23m 58s

In this video, we crawl through over 450 listings of GPUs from AMD, NVIDIA, and Intel. The one finding that jumps-out more than anything else is that the most available cards at the closest prices to MSRP are 8GB models, particularly when higher capacity models of the "same" GPU exist. This further reinforces that MSRP is no longer a reliable metric in GPU reviews (right now, at least) for even baseline comparisons of value. This type of research is limited in scope by nature as even just trying to capture one market accurately required documenting 3 major retailers for hundreds of listings, which took a lot of time to do. Prices will also change with time, making it difficult to keep track of. Still, we wanted to try and better understand what's going on, the best value video cards right now by proximity to MSRP, and which graphics cards people aren't buying.

00:00 - GPU Pricing Update 

02:19 - The Pricing Mess 

06:00 - Broad GPU Price Findings 

07:05 - Methodology of Price Collection

08:27 - Avg Price Over MSRP by Dollars 

09:40 - Avg Price Over MSRP by Percentage Increase 

10:08 - Listings At MSRP vs Total Listings 

11:49 - Count of Available GPU Listings 

12:34 - Percentage of In Stock Listings by Model 

13:23 - AMD's 9070 and XT MSRP Still Barely Exists 

15:18 - In Stock Price Spread Min-to-Max 

17:29 - NVIDIA's Most Expensive Partners 

17:58 - NVIDIA Partner Listings 

18:27 - Conclusion

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In an official blog post regarding the game's future, it was revealed today that Anthem's online services will be shutting down on January 12, 2026. Starting today, all in-game premium currency purchases are also being halted, but any remaining credits held by players can still be used in the store until the shutdown date.

"We have an important update to share regarding Anthem," said the post. "After careful consideration, we will be sunsetting Anthem on January 12, 2026. This means that the game will still be playable online for the next 180+ days."

As there is no offline mode attached to the co-op game, it will not be playable by those who purchased it following the January 12, 2026 date. Interestingly, EA Play subscribers will lose access to the game ahead of that date, with it leaving the subscription service (also affecting Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass) on August 15, 2025.

The last time Anthem was mentioned by EA and BioWare was in 2021, which is when the companies announced the cancellation of the rework. The team working on this Anthem NEXT project was then moved to the developer of the Mass Effect and Dragon Age games.

"We deeply appreciate your dedication, passion and support over the years and we’d like to thank you for that," added BioWare.

EA has also confirmed that Anthem's shutdown is not affecting any jobs at BioWare. "No, the sunsetting of Anthem has not led to any layoffs," it said.

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For those who may not have followed, Nvidia unveiled the GeForce RTX 5050 last month for $249 and released the Game Ready driver for the card this month with version 576.88.

As such, the RTX 5050 has now been tested by Korean site Quasar Zone where the GPU has been compared against other cards that are priced around that same bracket. The site has found that Nvidia's new entry-level offering is worse than Intel's Arc B580, a card that launched around six months ago for the same price.

As you can see in the image above, the Arc B580 was slightly faster on average. The biggest gap between the two was on Path of Exile 2. Another point in favor of the Arc GPU is that it has 12 Gigs of video memory whereas the RTX 5050 only has 8 GB.

The 5050 was also pitted against Nvidia's last gen RTX 4060 as well as AMD's RX 7600, both of which are also 8 Gig cards. The 7600 is often found at around $250 these days while the RTX 4060 frequents around $275.

The RTX 5050 is essentially neck and neck with the 4060 and is ever so slightly faster than the RX 7600. Once again this just highlights that Nvidia is essentially giving the same kind of performance that Intel and AMD GPUs have provided since last year or so.

In fact, if we consider the Radeon RX 6600 and 6650 XT GPUs, which have been available for around $180 to $220 in the past, it becomes clearer just how bad of a value the RTX 5050 is as those 6000 series AMD cards probably get pretty close to the 5050 in rasterization throughput.

Chances of something like "Fine Wine" are also slim given that the RTX 5050 just does not seem to have the hardware resources to pull off something like that later in this lifespan. If anything, we are more likely to see that happen from the Intel B580 GPU or AMD's $299 RX 9060 (there is already evidence of that).

Source and images: Quasar Zone

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We last covered the topic back in 2023, where we tested AMD's claims of improved ray tracing performance with driver 23.2.1, and we found some interesting results. Meanwhile, a year earlier in 2022, the company put out DirectX 11-specific optimizations that showed up to 34% better performance.

Now in 2025, Fine Wine is still relevant, as testing has shown that the latest RX 9070 XT sees significant improvement with the latest 25.6.3 Adrenalin driver. The measurements were conducted by the YouTube channel Hardware Unboxed as it compared the new driver against the driver version 24.30.31.03 / 25.3.1 RC that was used for review.

The biggest improvements were seen in Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered and Counter-Strike 2, which saw gains of 27% and 23% in average framerate. Those are literally generational gains these days, as we often see similar differentials going from one GPU architecture generation to the next.

Meanwhile, other titles like Hogwarts Legacy, Call of Duty Black Ops 6, Delta Force, and more, also see big gains of 10% or more. Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty saw a 7% uplift, which is still significant. The least significant gain was seen in Starfield, as it was 5% better on the newest driver.

Keep in mind though that these improvements are cumulative and thus if you are already on a much newer driver compared to the launch drivers, you are likely already experiencing some of these improvements. Not every tested title however saw an uplift, so a boost is definitely not guaranteed.

If you are wondering how a simple software update can bring so much to the table, there can be many reasons. Perhaps the newer drivers manage to reduce the CPU overhead greatly compared to the launch ones, or the newer drivers may also be better able to use the hardware resources available to the new RDNA 4 GPUs, or it is probably a mix of both.

Source and image: Hardware Unboxed (YouTube)

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There’s always a reason why universal USB-C ports don’t “just work” like you’d expect. In the early days, it was incompetence or naiveté. Later, manufacturers often cheaped out. But in the case of Nintendo’s Switch 2, it appears to be intentional.

With the Nintendo Switch 2, it should be easy to plug your new, more expensive console into video glasses or TVs when you’re traveling away from home. USB-C makes it so. But Nintendo has intentionally broken the Switch 2’s compatibility with those devices, using a new encryption scheme and some form of dedicated encryption chip, two accessory manufacturers tell The Verge.

I haven’t yet found proof of that encryption chip myself — but when I analyzed the USB-C PD traffic with a Power-Z tester, I could clearly see the new Nintendo Switch not behaving like a good USB citizen should.

A third-party Switch dock, plugged into a USB-C PD tester, about to be plugged into the Switch 2. Please forgive the terrible photo.

Photo: Sean Hollister / The Verge

 

If you’ve been wondering why there are basically no portable Switch 2 docks on the market, this is the reason. Even Jsaux, the company that built its reputation by beating the Steam Deck dock to market, tells us it’s paused its plans to build a Switch 2 dock because of Nintendo’s actions. It’s not simply because the Switch 2 now requires more voltage, as was previously reported; it’s that Nintendo has made things even more difficult this generation.

That “U” in USB isn’t always “universal,” but this is generally true: if you plug any USB-C to HDMI adapter, dock, or hub into a USB-C laptop, tablet or handheld that supports USB-C video output, you can expect to see your screen automatically appear on your TV.

The magic is normally possible because of a simple, standardized set of instructions that any manufacturer can follow to make their docking station or hub “talk” to the computer. In fact, they’re so simple I can mock up a basic version for you right here:

• Dock: “Hi, I’m a power supply. Here are the five different kinds of power I can give you!”
• Computer: “I’ll take 15 volts at 3 amps, thanks!”
• Dock: “Okay, I’m now powering you, you’re no longer powering me, got it?”
• Computer: “Yep! So what are you, anyhow?”
• Dock: “I’m a USB-C PD dock with extra modes, wanna know more?”
• Computer: “Sure.”
• Dock: “I support DisplayPort-Alt mode if you want to output video.”
• Computer: “Go for it.”
• Dock: “Doing it… done!”

This conversation, using standardized (known as “structured”) messages over the USB-C PD protocol, takes a tiny fraction of a second.

But as you probably now suspect, the Nintendo Switch 2 doesn’t do it that way. When you plug the Switch 2 into a third-party dock or hub, it may refuse to negotiate power. Other times, it’ll get the power it asks for, but then the conversation will abruptly grind to a halt.

Because that’s when the Nintendo Switch 2 will start talking in code — proprietary messages only Nintendo can decipher.

By now, you might be wondering how I can see any of this, coded or not. But all you need is a middleman to sniff the USB-C Power Delivery traffic passing between a dock and Nintendo’s handheld, like the Power-Z KM003C that I bought for this story. I plug one end of it into the Switch 2 (and other computers to compare), another end of it into the Switch 2’s dock (and other docks to compare), connect its third port to my Windows PC with a long cable, then fire up its app to log the passing data.

How the conversation between the Switch 2 and Switch 2 dock begins.

Screenshot: Sean Hollister / The Verge

 

When I analyze the conversation between the Nintendo Switch 2 and its dock, I can see the two devices begin speaking in Nintendo’s own flavor of “vendor defined” language early in the conversation, before they sign off on any video output. And then, seemingly before the dock confirms that it’s engaged video-out, they send over 30 proprietary “unstructured” messages to one another.

Other USB-C hubs and docks I’ve tested don’t have that same conversation — with one notable exception.

As of today, only one single third-party dock claims to be compatible with the Nintendo Switch 2. And you probably won’t be surprised to hear that when I tested the $36 Antank S3 Max (aka SiWiQU TV Dock Station), I found it speaks Nintendo’s coded language.

Here’s the Antank dock responding to a Nintendo request using Nintendo (0x057E) messaging.

Screenshot: Sean Hollister / The Verge

 

It doesn’t transmit every message in the same exact order as Nintendo’s dock, and it supplies a slightly different amount of electricity, but it sent almost exactly the same coded messages and responses to Nintendo’s requests, including a repeating code that I’m particularly curious about: 33 01 07 DA 06 01 6D 68 33 01 07 DA 06 01 6D 68.

According to Antank, which says it checked with its chip supplier, that hexadecimal string “is indeed the current key being used by Nintendo.” My other sources are less sure.

But just like with the official Nintendo Switch 2 dock, our TV lights up after the Antank sends those coded messages.

But that doesn’t mean any company can just copy Nintendo’s commands and expect their dock to keep on working. “We do expect Nintendo may further limit third-party docks and accessories via system updates to maintain device and system security,” Jsaux spokesperson Winnie Chen tells The Verge.

Antank seems to agree. “Yes — the key should be considered subject to change,” writes an Antank representative who goes by Susie. “However, our product supports firmware updates, and any future changes to the authentication key by Nintendo could theoretically be addressed via software, ensuring continued compatibility.”

So why is any of this a big deal, particularly when the Switch 2 comes with its own dock right in the box? Well, it’s not just big TV docks. Nintendo has also broken compatibility with portable docks that you can take on vacation or to your hotel room, and with video glasses like the Xreal One, which cost as much as or more than a Switch 2 all by themselves.

And to fix that, you’ll apparently need to buy brand-new hardware, Jsaux, Antank, and Xreal have found. While Xreal originally seemed to suggest it was a temporary problem that just required a “technical adjustment,” Xreal now says the fix will need a new gadget called the Xreal Neo. The good news: Xreal spokesperson Ralph Jodice tells The Verge the new device is already working in the lab and will ship “a little later this year.”

Another argument I’ve heard on Reddit: why shouldn’t Nintendo have the ability to protect the Switch 2 from fly-by-night docking stations and power supplies that might damage its new handheld and trigger more calls to Nintendo customer support?

There, I might point out that locking things down isn’t necessarily a fix. When Nintendo released the original Switch in 2017, accessory makers similarly had to figure out how to crack Nintendo’s esoteric docking protocols, and some of them (Nyko) allegedly led to damaged handhelds.

I expect some eagle-eyed Nintendo fans will also point out that the Switch 2, unlike the original Switch, needs active airflow to run properly: Nintendo’s official Switch 2 dock now has a fan inside, and the console has vents on the bottom that might get blocked by third-party docks. (In fact, the Antank dock already does block those vents!)

 

Nintendo official (top) vs. Antank (bottom), hotspot at top vent

But before you suggest that the vents and fan are strictly necessary, please know that the cooling fan in the Switch 2 dock doesn’t actually cool the Switch 2, and that Antank’s dock doesn’t seem to make a Switch 2 run hotter than the official dock. I ran Cyberpunk 2077 for an hour straight with each dock, then pulled out a thermal camera, and Antank’s actually seems slightly cooler. Perhaps having more airflow across the screen and back of the console offsets the impact of blocked vents. By that logic, perhaps the console could run even cooler if Nintendo let you use a USB-C to HDMI dongle instead of a dock. If only it weren’t locked down!

 

Nintendo official (top) vs. Antank (bottom), immediately after removing from dock

Mostly, it’s the principle of the matter. USB-C should just work, here’s a place where it usually does, and yet Nintendo has kept it from doing so.

Nintendo would not confirm or deny that it’s using encryption and authentication chips to lock down the Switch 2’s video output. It offered no comment for this story.

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Paul's Hardware (1.52M subscribers)

July 3, 2025

Video length: 12m 08s

0:00 4 Reasons Not to Buy an RTX 5050 

1:16 Wait - did the RTX 5050 Launch? Are There benchmarks? 

3:05 Reason 1 - There are Much Better New GPU Alternatives 

6:19 Reason 2 - There are Much Better Used GPU Alternatives 

8:32 Reason 3 - It only has 8GB of VRAM (and it’s GDDR6 too) 

9:54 Reason 4 - No Reviews - Is Nvidia Embarrassed?

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Microsoft says that Phil Spencer, Microsoft Gaming CEO and the head of Xbox, isn’t retiring “anytime soon.” The company has responded to rumors of Spencer’s retirement, which have spread online today following Microsoft’s major layoffs.

“Phil is not retiring anytime soon,” says Kari Perez, head of Xbox communications, in a statement to The Verge. The denial comes after Call of Duty leaker GhostOfHope claimed “Phil Spencer will be retiring from his role as CEO of Microsoft Gaming after the launch of the next generation Xbox” and that Xbox president Sarah Bond would be taking over as CEO of Microsoft Gaming.

While Microsoft’s comment doesn’t address the rumor fully, it makes it clear Spencer isn’t retiring imminently. Separately, Microsoft communications chief, Frank Shaw, took to X to claim that at least part of the rumor was made up.

Spencer originally assumed leadership of the Xbox division in 2014, a promotion from his role as the boss of Microsoft Studios. As the boss of Xbox, he’s overseen many big initiatives, including the launch of the Xbox Series X / S, a huge push into Xbox Game Pass, acquisitions of major companies like Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax Media, bringing more Xbox games to platforms like PlayStation and Nintendo Switch.

While Spencer isn’t retiring anytime soon, Microsoft is continuing its big cuts today that have affected Xbox studios and employees. Perfect Dark and Everwild have been cancelled, while Forza Motorsport developer Turn 10 Studios will be letting go of more than 70 staffers. Zenimax Online Studios also reportedly canceled a new MMORPG codenamed Blackbird that had been in the works since 2018.

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The main reason that Microsoft wants to make the cuts is to reduce the layers of management between the top executives and the people building the products and services. The Redmond giant also thinks the cuts will help it become more efficient and agile.

“We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in an email to CNBC.

While it’s unknown how much of a role AI has had in Microsoft being able to make these cuts, it is ironic that Microsoft has been saying AI is not a threat to employees at the same time that it has been cutting thousands of jobs.

Microsoft isn’t alone in its layoffs this year. Autodesk, Chegg, and Crowdstrike are other tech firms that have reduced headcounts this year. By reducing employee numbers, companies can curry favor with investors who are concerned that capital expenditure is too high in an economic landscape where things are tougher for people financially.

The layoffs come against the backdrop of an unexpected decline in US private sector payrolls in June. The US private sector saw jobs decrease by 33,000 while economists had predicted an increase of 100,000.

What do you think about these cuts? Do you think they're the last we'll see, or are there more to come?

Source: CNBC | Image via Depositphotos.com

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Nvidia has updated its official Unix graphics feature deprecation schedule to clarify that driver 580 will be the last to support three architectures: Volta, Pascal, and Maxwell. The driver branch is shared with Windows, so the change affects Windows PCs as well.

The first post has been updated to note that the release 580 series will be the last to support GPUs based on the Maxwell, Pascal, and Volta architectures.

For those unfamiliar with Nvidia's architecture naming, TITAN V graphics cards are based on Volta, GeForce GTX 10 Series is based on Pascal, and GeForce GTX 900 and certain 700 series cards like the 750 Ti are based on Maxwell. Note that the change does not affect the GTX 16 series, which is based on the Turing architecture. These graphics cards will continue receiving new drivers, updates, and fixes.

At this point, there is no information on when Nvidia plans to release driver branch 580 (the latest is 576.80). Therefore, if you own one of the affected graphics cards, no need to panic just yet. Besides, your beloved GTX 1080 Ti will not stop working overnight only because it can no longer download the latest driver. Also, Nvidia's most recent driver releases (those disastrous ones) primarily focus on fixes and optimizations for much newer graphics card generations.

If you are still using a GTX 10 series graphics card, do you plan to upgrade it anytime soon? Is the end of driver support a valid enough reason for you to pull the trigger and buy a newer GPU?

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