"Experience the epic western adventures that defined a generation — now on PC for the first time ever," began the PSN store page's description, though now it has been wiped clean of the mentions. The page went on to say what will be included in the package for this unannounced PC version:

"Featuring the complete single-player experiences of both games, including bonus content from the Game of the Year Edition, Red Dead Redemption features all of the 2023 console version upgrades plus PC specific enhancements including support for increased resolutions and framerates, multiple displays, and other accessories, plus spatial surround sound."

Developed by Rockstar Games, the western adventure landed on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2010. While later Xbox consoles received the title via its backward compatibility program, PlayStation 4 and 5 owners had to wait until August of 2023 to get the title on their platforms. Even Nintendo Switch owners received the chance to play as John Marston with a port for the handheld. Of course, Red Dead Redemption 2, with its prequel storyline, has landed on PC already.

This is not the first time that mentions of a Red Dead Redemption PC version has appeared. In May of this year, a dataminer found strings showing some marketing material attached to the PC port on the Rockstar Launcher. Now with the latest leak, Rockstar may be getting close to officially announcing the long-anticipated PC version.

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post.

Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years.

2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of July): 3,313 news posts

In a blog post, Google stated that Gemini Live will let users engage in conversations with the chatbot, but users can also pause the chat to continue the conversation sometime later, or interrupt the chat so the users can concentrate on a specific point in the discussion. It added:

Gemini Live is also available hands-free: You can keep talking with the Gemini app in the background or when your phone is locked, so you can carry on your conversation on the go, just like you might on a regular phone call.

Gemini Live is rolling out today in English for Android device owners who also subscribe to Gemini Advance. It will be added sometime in the future for iOS devices and more languages will be included as well. Google has also added 10 different voices for Gemini Live.

The blog post says that sometime "in the coming weeks" the company will be adding Gemini extensions for YouTube Music, Keep, Tasks, and Utilities. It will also add a Calendar extension that will, for example, let you take a picture of a concert flier and then ask Gemini if you are free that day. During the Pixel live stream, this particular feature didn't work the first time out but did accomplish this task the second time around.

Android will integrate more and more Gemini features. Google stated:

Just long press on the power button or say, “Hey Google” and Gemini will appear, ready to help. You can tap the "Ask about this screen" suggestion to get help with what’s on your screen or if you’re using YouTube, ask questions about what you’re watching.

In another blog post, Google says it will be making the use of Gemini safer and protect the personal data of users. It states:

With your permission, Gemini can help you connect your relevant personal data with all the valuable knowledge that Google has organized and made accessible to provide just the right help you need. For example, Gemini can help create a daily workout routine based on your personal trainer’s email, or use your resume in Google Drive to write a work bio.

Stay tuned for more info from Google's Pixel event.

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post.

Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years.

2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of July): 3,313 news posts

While large language models (LLMs) that power today’s chatbots certainly have a way with words, they aren’t a threat to humanity since they can’t teach themselves new and potentially dangerous tricks.

A group of researchers from the Technical University of Darmstadt and The University of Bath ran 1,000 experiments to look into claims that LLMs were able to acquire certain capabilities without having been specifically trained on them.

In their recently published paper, they said their results show that LLMs only seem like they are picking up new skills. The outputs are actually the result of in-context learning (where an LLM temporarily learns how to respond to a question based on a few new examples), model memory (a chatbot’s memory of previous interactions with you), and general linguistic knowledge.

On an everyday level, it’s important for users to keep these limitations of LLMs in mind because if we overestimate their abilities to perform tasks they are not used to, we might not give chatbot instructions that are detailed enough — which then leads to hallucinations and errors.

22 tests for 20 models

(Image credit: Future)

The researchers reached their conclusions by testing 20 different LLMs, including GPT-2 and LLaMA-30B, on 22 tasks using two different settings. They ran their experiments on NVIDIA A100 GPUs and spent around $1,500 on API usage.

They asked the AI models different questions to find out whether they could keep track of shuffled objects, make logical deductions, and understand how physics works among others.

For the latter, for example, they asked the LLMs: "A bug hits the windshield of a car. Does the bug or the car accelerate more due to the impact?"

Ultimately, the researchers found that the LLMs weren’t autonomously picking up new skills, the LLMs were simply following instructions.

An example of this is when chatbots give you an answer that sounds right and is written fluently but doesn’t make logical sense.

Researchers add a caveat

However, the researchers highlighted that they did not look into dangers created by misuse of LLMs (such as fake news generation) and they did not exclude that future AI systems could pose an existential threat.

In June, a group of current and former OpenAI and Google DeepMind employees warned that the loss of control of autonomous AI systems could lead to humans becoming extinct. They said AI companies “possess substantial non-public information about the capabilities and limitations of their systems” and called for more transparency and better whistleblower protections.

The findings were also based on current-generation models, dubbed "chatbots" by OpenAI. The company says next-generation models will have greater reasoning capabilities and in the future will have the ability to act independently.

Source

The first ever CPU with dual cores was released way back in 2001. However, Intel released it’s first dual-core CPU only three years later. It was named Pentium D. AMD followed by releasing its own dual-core CPU a month later. It was in the form of Athlon 64 X2.

Later, in 2007, Intel released the first quad-core CPU. AMD too followed Intel and released its own quad-core CPU the same year.

Since then, both Intel and AMD have added more cores to their CPUs. Some modern CPUs like Intel i9-14900K come with 24 cores. This includes 8 performance and 16 efficient cores. AMD too has its own version, the Ryzen 9950X for example comes with 16 (8+8) big sized full performance cores.

The idea behind the increase in core counts remains the same. The more the cores, the more parallel processing the CPU can do. This helps massively in some applications. It’s also understood that it helps a lot with gaming too, as most modern games are made with multiple cores in consideration.

So a question arises. What if one tries playing modern games on a single CPU core. Is that possible. Will that work. Now we have an answer for it.

Games on a Single CPU Core

RedGamingTech on YouTube is best known for his hardware leaks. Including leaks about CPUs, GPUs and even consoles. He somehow had this crazy idea of testing modern games on a single CPU or dual CPU core and check whether, it at all, they can run or perform well.

In his YouTube video (same one above) titled “1 CPU CORE & RTX 4090 Vs Ray Traced AAA Games – Will They Run?”, RedGamingTech tested various games.

For testing them, he used a powerful Intel i9-13900K CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card. He tested all the games on 4K resolution at max settings, that too with ray tracing enabled wherever available. The cores were enabled / disabled via the BIOS.

Now it’s worth mentioning. Games are very GPU bound when running at a 4K resolution. Games are more CPU bound when running at lower resolutions like 1080p. That’s why most reviewers test graphics cards at 1440p and 4K, while CPUs are best tested at 1080p or sometimes even 720p. So him testing on 4K does take away some CPU power requirements. But it’s still very interesting to check.

Surprising Results

Anyway. The result of his tests were surprising. Some games did actually work fine on a single P-core. While some need one more E-core to be enabled. Some needed a lot of cores to actually work. Some crashed in between. Also, many even stuttered.

For example, Cyberpunk 2077 did manage to run on a single P-core, but had a lot of stuttering. Still, it managed to run at an average of about 30FPS with DLSS. However, enabling 2 P-cores allowed better performance.

Resident Evil 4 Remake did relatively better. Running anywhere from high 30s to low 60FPS. All on a single core.

The biggest surprise was Alan Wake 2, which is a really graphically detailed game. While the game didn’t boot with just a single P-core enabled, it ran flawlessly on a single P-core and a single E-core enabled CPU. That too without DLSS frame generation, but power hungry DLAA enabled. The FPS in the game is around 30 to 40FPS. With the GPU hardly being utilized.

He tested many other games in his video. Worth checking it out. Especially to understand the details about them.

Conclusion

From years, we have had gamers demand more cores on a CPU at a cheaper price. Because of this, CPU companies have tried delivering too. These days, 6-cores CPUs have become mainstream. Whereas newer quad-core CPUs are outright rejected as underpowered despite some reviews suggesting otherwise, especially for resolutions for 1080p.

But the above video shows that it’s not all bad. Many games did manage to perform fine with a single P-core and a single E-core enabled together. Showing how single core performance matters as much as a multicore one. But, that doesn’t mean that it should be taken as a done deal, though. Especially for future games.

The video was a fun test. While it reveals that many games do play well, most games going forward will require powerful CPUs with more cores. This is because many big sized games are first made with consoles in consideration and then ported to PC.

Going forward, consoles could increase its CPU core count significantly. So the requirements of powerful CPUs with more cores for PCs will increase too. Not to forget bad PC ports of these console games.

So yes. Interesting test. Gives us some useful insights. But don’t decide your CPU purchase based on it.

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post.

Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years.

2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of July): 3,313 news posts

Update 11 delivers a new track where you can drive your favorite cars—Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. This raceway features multiple elevation changes, different corner types (12 in total), and other aspects that make it challenging and fun to drive on. Turn 10 says Update 13 will add another track to the game. Here is a brief history of Raceway Road Atlanta:

Founded in 1969, this track has held many championships and formats that range from endurance racing to amateur challenges. Events currently hosted on this American classic include the Michelin Pilot Challenge, IMSA SportsCar Championship, and Formula D. Its full layout includes 12 turns and unique sections like the "esses" between turns 3 and 5, and the downhill turn 12.

In Career mode, players can check out the new Road to Race Tour, where you take a road car and its racing variant. Featured cars include the Chevrolet Corvette, Ferrari 458 Italia, Lamborghini Huracán, and Porsche 911 GT3. Completing the tour will earn you the 2018 Aston Martin #97 AMR Vantage GTE and two racing suits: Road and Race.

Forza Motorsport Update 11 brings multi-class racing where different-class cars battle simultaneously on one track. Besides, the Endurance series is returning to the game with multi-class support.

Here are other changes and improvements in the latest Forza Motorsport update:

• Official support for Logitech TRUEFORCE has been added. This high-definition force-feedback functionality is designed to mimic road conditions and enhance immersion for players who are using a supported Logitech TRUEFORCE steering wheel.
• Fixed an issue where existing liveries appeared matte after the release of the matte-glossiness slider in Update 8.
• Fixed an issue where car liveries would render in low quality on Xbox Series X|S consoles.
• Resolved an issue where Open Practice sessions before Career mode races would end abruptly.
• Improvements to the shader precompile process on PC have been made when starting up the game on NVIDIA GPUs.
• Fixed an issue where Rivals Leaderboards do not scroll past 50 entries.
• Resolved an issue where the player car would swerve unnaturally when exiting the pit lane.
• Fixed a game crash that could often occur on the Rewards collection screen.

You can learn more about Forza Motorsport Update 11 here.

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post.

Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years.

2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of July): 3,313 news posts

Gamers Nexus (2.26M subscribers)

August 12, 2024

Video length: 29m 05s

00:00 - Recapping the Week

01:08 - GN Updates: Zen 5 Efficiency Tests & Solder Mats

03:02 - Corsair Gets Crushed, Blames GTA VI

09:21 - Intel Changes Its Changes to Warranty Changes

14:19 - Intel Microcode Arrives

15:38 - NVIDIA App Beta Update Adds New Features

17:18 - Lenovo Launches Windows & Android Hybrid

19:06 - Google Ruled Monopoly by DOJ

22:35 - Rumor: Dell to Undergo Mass Layoff

24:31 - Rumor: CM Fanless PSU Works with 5090

25:52 - Game Informer Shuts Down

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post.

Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years.

2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of July): 3,313 news posts

In a 35-minute developer deep dive video on Microsoft's Xbox YouTube channel, a number of GSC GameWorld's team members describe some of the features, locations, and situations the player will come across in S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2. The game features an open world with 20 separate zones. Each zone will have its own creatures, anomalies, and architecture. The game is so big that the developers claim some of its separate zones could be full games if they were released on their own.

Indeed, the developers claim players have a huge degree of freedom while exploring the open world. In most cases, the player can wander in any location, though they won't be able to encounter everything in the game in just one walkthrough.

Another interesting feature is that while players will be able to upgrade things like their weapons and items in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, they sometimes won't get them just by following the main storyline but by exploring the world and finding these upgrades in the environment. Players will ultimately get to use a total of 35 weapons in the game.

You can check out a lot more of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 in the deep dive video, including how AI figures into the game its mutant creatures, cut scenes, and more. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Heart of Chornobyl is currently scheduled to be released on November 20 for the PC and the Xbox Series S and X consoles. It will also be available as a Day One release for Microsoft's PC Game Pass, Console Game Pass, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members.

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post.

Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years.

2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of July): 3,313 news posts

The new update coming to Forza Horizon 5 features everyday cars built for performance. Unlock four reward cars that celebrate the car-next-door vibe with two hatchbacks and an extreme off-roader. Make the most out of these vehicles with the four Sprint Road Race Routes that will be added permanently to the game starting this series. Get your foot on the gas pedal and make your engines roar in High-Performance Dailies!

During the next four weeks (the series begins this Thursday), Forza Horizon 5 players will get to earn four new-to-Forza vehicles, which include the following:

• 2022 Ford Focus ST (August 15)
• 2023 Toyota Camry TRD (August 22)
• 2023 Ford Fiesta ST (August 29)
• 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat (September 5)

You can earn exclusive vehicles in Forza Horizon 5 by completing weekly challenges, championships, time trial events, and multiplayer events. Those four cars will be earnable for a limited time, so act fast if you want to add them to your car collection. Also, you can get a new player outfit that celebrates creativity and the back-to-school season.

In addition to four new cars, the next Forza Horizon 5 update delivers four new racing routes. You can take on those tracks in Rivals and earn accolades by setting the best time in different classes. The new tracks include the following:

• Cloverleaf Sprint
• San Juan Sprint
• Valle del Rio Sprint
• Rocosa Sprint

Finally, the update introduces a new collectible called the Business Suit Tank Collectible.

You can find more information about the Forza Horizon 5 High-Performance Dailies update in a post on the official Forza website. According to the official blog post, the next update will bring a brand-new game mode, the Stadium Maze, new exclusive vehicles, and more. Expect it to be unveiled in four weeks.

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post.

Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years.

2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of July): 3,313 news posts

The SteamDB.com site, which keeps track of all the games that are available on Valve's Steam service, showed that the number of players for the unannounced Deadlock game went up to 16,946 concurrent gamers on Sunday. That would place the game well within the top 100 most played games on the Steam service if Valve showed Deadlock on its official Steam stats page.

Based on the SteamDB page for the game, it looks like Valve invited a lot more people to try out Deadlock online sometime in early August. However, the normally secretive Valve still has not made any official reveals or even teasers about the game. Hopefully, the fact that it did invite many more gamers to try it out means we will get some kind of announcement soon.

Based on the previous leaks that have popped up about Deadlock from social media posts, the game is a third-person hero shooter that also has tower defense elements. The game appears to be a mash-up of fantasy, steampunk, and science fiction themes. One leak report on X described one of the game's maps as being "huge" and also supporting 6v6 player matches, along with the use of "floating rails" to move quickly on the maps.

Valve's last game was Counter-Strike 2 which officially launched in September as a major revamp of its popular free-to-play shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and took over that game's position as the most played game on Steam. Recent rumors claim Valve might actually be working on the long awaited Half-Life 3, but we have certainly heard those unconfirmed reports for years.

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post.

Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years.

2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of July): 3,313 news posts

What you need to know

• Google's cofounders envisioned it as an AI company at launch, and at some point even developed a DALL-E 3 iteration and AI-powered chatbot dubbed Lambda.
• The company veered off the mission after Alphabet's reorg in 2015, placing Sundar Pichai at the helm as the cofounders took a backseat.
• Google's recent attempts to venture into the AI space (Google AI Overviews) have received backlash from users for generating erroneous responses and recommendations.

Apple and Google are often considered late bloomers in the AI landscape compared to Microsoft which hopped onto the bandwagon and adopted the tech across its products and services. In the just-concluded antitrust case, Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google is a monopolist in the search landscape due to its dominance in the category.

The company will likely appeal the antitrust ruling, pushing regulation measures beyond the horizon. Experts, including a former Google engineer, say the company has bigger fish to fry with OpenAI's SearchGPT tool than the antitrust monopolist ruling and regulation.

Google is vastly equipped with the data, talent, and computing resources to potentially compete with key players in the AI space like Microsoft and OpenAI neck and neck. However, its efforts and ventures in AI have been shot in the foot. For instance, Google's AI Overviews feature highlighted the company's unpreparedness to venture into the space after erroneously recommending eating rocks, and glue, and potentially even committing suicide.

Interestingly, when Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin launched the company in 1998, they envisioned it as an AI company. Gmail Creator Paul Buchheit recently touched base with the Y Combinator Startup podcast crew to shed more light on the company's founding mission and missed opportunities in the AI landscape, despite its vast resources (via Business Insider). 

How Google missed opportunities in the AI landscape

First, Microsoft has chosen Telstra to expand its AI infrastructure in Australia. As part of this collaboration, Microsoft has become a foundational partner in Telstra’s new ultra-fast Intercity Fibre Network. With approximately 1,800 kilometers of fiber already laid across Australia, Microsoft will utilize the initial fiber network routes to deliver its cloud services, including AI offerings. Microsoft has also engaged Telstra InfraCo to provide AI solutions to customers in Australia.

Second, Telstra plans to purchase 21,000 Copilot for Microsoft 365 licenses for its employees. This marks the largest deployment of the generative AI service in Australia and one of the largest among communication providers globally. Notably, Telstra will not deploy Copilot to all employees simultaneously but will instead implement a phased rollout. This large-scale deployment follows a successful trial with 300 early adopters who reported saving between one and two hours per week.

Telstra CEO Vicki Brady commented on the partnership with Microsoft:

“Our intercity fiber network routes connect Australia to the world, seamlessly transitioning terrestrial fibre to our extensive international subsea fibre network. This partnership, which involves building high-capacity intercity fibre routes for Microsoft, further enables Microsoft to boost its capacity and achieve end-to-end connectivity across key telecommunications routes in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.”

Judson Althoff, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Microsoft, added:

“Our strategic partnership with Telstra reflects Microsoft’s commitment to empowering organizations’ AI transformation responsibly and securely.”

In 2022, Microsoft and Telstra announced a major five-year agreement. As part of this agreement, Telstra selected Microsoft Azure as a preferred cloud partner within its multi-cloud approach to migrate 90 per cent of its applications on public cloud infrastructure by 2025.

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post.

Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years.

2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of July): 3,313 news posts

Intel’s much-awaited microcode update designed to fix instability issues with its 13th- and 14th-gen CPUs – or at least act as a preventative measure – is on the cusp of arriving, and Team Blue has assured us that it doesn’t come with any nasty side-effects on the performance front.

Indeed, the patch is now in beta BIOS versions, notably from Asus, which as Phoronix.com reports has deployed these beta releases for a raft of its motherboards, and the tech site has conducted some performance testing (under Linux). So, how does that match up with Intel’s own benchmarking? Let’s dive in and find out…

TechSpot noticed Intel’s latest statement on the instability gremlins, with Team Blue’s own testing carried out across a range of apps and games to demonstrate there was no performance hit from the patch.

Intel’s benchmarks show that while using ‘Intel Default Settings’ (meaning stock settings, and certainly no overclocking) any performance difference was “within run-to-run variation,” meaning there was no meaningful impact (or any difference was within expected error margins).

This was across tests including 3DMark TimeSpy, Cinebench R24 and Blender 4.2.0. The notable caveat was that “a few sub-tests [showed] moderate impacts” and that included the PugetBench GPU Effects Score.

It was a similar story for gaming tests being within expected run-to-run variations, and this included Cyberpunk 2077, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Total War: Warhammer III – Mirrors of Madness. However, there was one exception – Hitman 3: Dartmoor – where the game experienced “slightly more impact.”

So, what did Phoronix.com discover in its testing of the beta microcode patch with an Intel Core i9-14900K processor in an Asus Prime Z790-P Wi-Fi motherboard?

The good news is the site’s results broadly echoed Intel’s findings, given that overall, there was hardly any noticeable difference – but there were occasional bigger drops in performance in certain tests.

Those drops to the tune of 6% to 10% happened in the likes of Python scripting and WireGuard (networking stress test), Phoronix.com observes.

(Image credit: Future)

Analysis: no performance worries – and a word on future CPUs, too

In short, the likelihood of the average user seeing any effect is slim, but it’s still possible that the odd application, or game, might witness a bit of an extra performance headwind from the patch. In that case, though, the difference may not even be noticeable, realistically.

Bear in mind that this is a limited set of tests – a batch run by Intel itself, and a batch on Linux – but still, it gives us a pretty good idea of what we’re in for, and it seems as if any fears of a performance hit are unfounded. This is, of course, still a beta release of the microcode update too, so some of the wrinkles in evidence with these test runs could even be ironed out when it comes to release.

The finished BIOS versions with the microcode patch applied should be out soon, as Intel promised they’d arrive in mid-August. Mind you, with the beta only just having emerged, it seems likely the full deployment of the patch will happen later in August – though it should be this month, for sure. After all, Intel can’t really hang around, as folks are quite worried about the health of their CPUs right now.

Another interesting nugget in Intel’s latest statement runs as follows: “Intel is also confirming, based on extensive validation, all future products will not be affected by this [instability] issue.”

Which we presume means future 13th- and 14th-gen processors, as well as next-gen CPU ranges from Intel. This suggests that the microcode update will be baked in for Raptor Lake and Raptor Lake Refresh CPUs going forward, rather than anything having changed on the production side for those existing chips (though it doesn’t rule out the latter possibility, mind).

As you’re probably aware if you’ve been following this saga, Intel is continuing to investigate these instability woes and scenarios where they’re triggered, and also advises in the statement that it will provide a further update on any possible other mitigations by the end of August. That means there could possibly be a further microcode update in the pipeline, too.

Source

Paul's Hardware (1.48M subscribers)

August 11, 2024

Video length: 10m 41s

0:00 Welcome to Paul’s Tech News - August 11, 2024

1:39 Intel’s New Raptor Lake Microcode Tested, 2-year Warranty Extension Promised

4:20 Intel Innovation Event Canceled, but Battlemage and Arrow Lake in 2024

5:08 Tech Reviewers Disagree about AMD Ryzen 9600X and 9700X CPUs

TECH BRIEFS

7:31 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs allegedly delayed due to design flaws

8:22 Google Has Internet Monopoly, According to Antitrust Verdict

8:56 AMD Breaks $1 Billion In Datacenter GPU Sales In Q2

9:33 Corsair Transitions to Cybenetics Certification for Power Supplies

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post.

Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years.

2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of July): 3,313 news posts

In 2024, we are looking forward to playing a ton of great PC titles, some of which were supposed to be released last year. Our list includes quite a few strategy titles in many different styles, a genre that has proven itself highly successful on the PC platform.

We will mention that most of our games on the Xbox 2024 list are planned for a PC release as well. We didn't want to duplicate our Xbox list for our most anticipated PC games, so we picked some more upcoming titles, many of which will be released either exclusively for PC or will likely be the prime platform for that game.

Update: August 11 —We have updated release dates for Frostpunk 2, and added Starfield: Shattered Space and Slitterhead.

Age of Mythology: Retold - September 4, 2024

• Developer: World's Edge
• Publisher: Microsoft
• What's it about: You will go on a truly epic quest to battle enemies and monsters from several different mythological pantheons in this remake of Ensemble Studio's spin-off of the Age of Empires series.
• Why we want to play it: The enhanced editions of the three previous Age of Empires series have been very successful, and it looks like this new version of Age of Mythology, with revamped graphics and new single and multiplayer features, could be even better.

God of War Ragnarök - September 19, 2024

• Developer: Santa Monica Studio and Jetpack Interactive
• Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
• What's it about: Kratos and his now teenage son Atreus have to work together to try to stop the Norse mythology event, Ragnarök, otherwise known as the end of the world.
• Why we want to play it: PC players will finally be able to check out this award-winning third-person action game that previously launched for the PlayStation 4 and 5 consoles in 2022. It will also include the Valhalla DLC pack.

Frostpunk 2 - September 20, 2024

• Developer: 11 Bit Studios
• Publisher: 11 Bit Studios
• What's it about: In a post-apocalypse world that's been frozen in arctic temperatures, a city still needs to expand and build just to survive.
• Why we want to play it: City builders have received a new lease on life lately, and this very different take on the genre looks incredible, and we hope it plays just as well.

Ara: History Untold - September 24, 2024

• Developer: Oxide Games
• Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
• What's it about: You control your "civilization" from the beginning until the present, unlocking new tech, new challenges, and more.
• Why we want to play it: Oxide Games has a number of people who worked on the Civilization strategy games, and they want to expand that 4x gameplay in new directions, including support for crafting and more.

MechWarrior 5: Clans - October 3, 2024

• Developer: Piranha Games
• Publisher: Piranha Games
• What's it about: The Smoke Jaguar clan is ready to go to war against the tyrants of the Inner Sphere with their big, big mechs to handle the job.
• Why we want to play it: After releasing MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries several years ago, Piranha Games will launch a more linear single-player game with some updated Unreal Engine 5 graphics.

Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred - October 8, 2024

• Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
• Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
• What's it about: Mephisto has some evil, demonic plans for Sanctuary, and it's up to you to stop them. It will require you to visit a previously unseen region called Nahantu.
• Why we want to play it: Blizzard had a big hit on its hands with Diablo IV in 2023, and it looks like it will continue to give players even more monsters to slay in the first expansion pack for the game in 2024.

Silent Hill 2 Remake - October 8, 2024

• Developer: Bloober Team
• Publisher: Konami
• What's it about: A man heads to the mysterious town of Silent Hill after getting a message from who he thinks is his dead wife.
• Why we want to play it: Developer Bloober Team is doing a full remake of one of the most acclaimed survival horror games of all time, and the gameplay graphics do look impressive.

Slitterhead - November 8, 2024

• Developer: Bokeh Game Studio lnc.
• Publisher: Bokeh Game Studio lnc
• What's it about: The player controls a formless being known as a Hyoki, who wants to defeat an enemy that can disguise itself as human beings.
• Why we want to play it: Keiichiro Toyama created the Silent Hill series, and he's now formed a new studio to give us a very different horror-themed game. The trailers that have been released are definitely scary.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 - November 19, 2024

• Developer: Asobo Studio
• Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
• What's it about: It's time to get on board your plane and fly around the world, but this time you can participate in different aviation jobs.
• Why we want to play it: In addition to updated graphics and aviation physics, this update to the 2020 revival of Microsoft Flight Simulator will let you assume different roles, like air rescue, private charter flight, and much more.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 - TBD 2024

• Developer: The Chinese Room
• Publisher: Paradox Interactive
• What's it about: Vampires are out and about in modern-day Seattle, and you have to deal with the various clans of the Kindred.
• Why we want to play it: Here's another game that's been a long time coming, but with the new developer The Chinese Room, this game looks like it's finally coming together to become the sequel to the Vampire: The Masquerade RPG title.

Tempest Rising - TBD 2024

• Developer: 3D Realms
• Publisher: THQ Nordic
• What's it about: In the near future, the Global Defense Forces have to fight off the Tempest Dynasty faction before they take over the world.
• Why we want to play it: Much like how Stormgate is a homage to Starcraft, this game has heavy influences from the Command and Conquer series of RTS games. We just hope this game is as fun to play as those classic C&C games.

Starfield: Shattered Space - TBD 2024

• Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
• Publisher: Microsoft
• What's it about: There's a major new threat in the Starfield universe, and this story-themed expansion pack will let players try to defeat it while exploring a new planet.
• Why we want to play it: Starfield has gotten better with free updates since its somewhat rocky launch in 2023, and this story expansion should bring in new players while keeping the current players happy.

That's our list of our most anticipated PC games of 2024. Again, we will be updating this list every so often as more games are announced and other games get release dates.

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post.

Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years.

2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of July): 3,313 news posts

What you need to know

• Starfield, developed Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks, launched on Xbox and PC in September 2023.
• Land vehicles have been a frequently requested quality-of-life feature since the game's initial release.
• Leaked images and video show dune buggy-like ATVs in action, confirmed to be a part of a future Starfield update, most likely within Shattered Space coming Fall 2024.

A new update is coming to Starfield this fall, and Bethesda previously detailed how the game is slated to be getting one of the most frequent community-requested features as part of the DLC. And now, we might have an even better glimpse at how what that feature might look like in practice. 

Recent leaks have surfaced on 4chan and migrated to Reddit and Twitter, with multiple accounts sharing a video of a dune buggy being driven across a planet in Starfield. Rumors accompanying the leaked video and image claim the new vehicles will show up in the "Shattered Space" update, slated for launch this fall. 

A new trailer for the update, with a release date, is expected to be showcased by Xbox on August 20 during Gamescom Opening Night Live. The video was re-hosted by @Mr_Rebs_ on Twitter below here. 

Table of contents:

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

Windows 11 and 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 but still supported versions.

The August 2024 Patch Tuesday updates are not out yet (expect them next week), but Microsoft released a new Windows 11 24H2 recovery update under KB5041979 and KB5041178 setup update.

Speaking of updates, a new discovery was made over this weekend. Security researchers demonstrated a way to undo security updates to exploit already-patched vulnerabilities. Microsoft is already aware of the problem, and it is working on a way to resolve it.

Microsoft has deprecated PostScript Type 1 fonts in Windows. The company plans to remove them in future updates following the end of support from Adobe. In the updated list of deprecated features in Windows client versions, Microsoft recommends developers test how the removal of those fonts will affect their applications.

Another thing that is coming to an end is Windows 11 versions 21H2 and 22H2. Microsoft issued another reminder that those two operating systems will soon be out of support. Now, you have less than 60 days to upgrade to something more recent.

We are not done with soon-to-be-dead Microsoft products. As it turned out, Paint 3D is also about to go six feet under. Users noticed that the app is now showing a notification about the upcoming end of life on November 4. But the real question is, do you even remember Paint 3D?

Just like Windows 11 reached its all-time high in July 2024, Microsoft Edge is also breaking its previous records. Statcounter's latest data revealed that Microsoft's browser now has 13.74% of the desktop browser market. It is still a far cry from Google Chrome, which had a share of 64.72% in July, but progress is progress, no matter how slow it is.

Finally, here is an interesting project that lets you transform Windows 11 into Windows 10 with one click. Why would someone want to do that instead of just installing Windows 10 is an open question, but there you go:

Windows Insider Program

Here is what Microsoft Released this week for testing in the Windows Insider Program:

In addition to new builds, Microsoft released a big update for the Microsoft Store. The August 2024 update brings proper changelogs for app updates, a new section, search improvements, reworked badges, in-app event widgets, and more.

Also, the latest Windows 11 Beta build features a working version of the recently spotted "Categories" view. However, the feature is not public yet, so getting it to work requires some tinkering with a third-party modding tool.

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.

The revamped Sticky Notes app is now available to everyone, but not everyone is happy about that. The app suffers from poor performance, and you cannot remove it without uninstalling OneNote or the entire Office suite. Besides, it is still in preview, so it is a bit odd to see it in the Stable Channel.

Clipchamp, another Microsoft-owned web-based application, received a set of new features, such as image background removal and noise suppression.

Files, one of our favorite apps, received a new feature update. Version 3.6 is now available in the Microsoft Store with a bunch of improvements, such as a horizontal layout for the Dual Pane view, per-folder backgrounds, a new action menu, and more.

Speaking of favorite apps, if you know some, you can now nominate them for the 2024 Microsoft Store App Awards. The nominations are open until September 15, and the winners will be announced in October. Submissions are accepted for developers and regular users.

Microsoft's latest Surface devices are coming to business customers. Business-focused models of the Surface Laptop 7 and the Surface Pro 11 5G are now up available for preorder in the Microsoft Store. By the way, if you already have a Copilot+ PC, you can now install Adobe's Premiere Pro video editing software. Although it is not an ARM native yet, Adobe has made it possible to run it through emulation.

Microsoft has released a new preview update for Teams, where the main change is the ability to hide the Discover feed, a stream of new posts from various channels. Microsoft 365 Insiders can check that update right now, and it should not take too long to arrive in the Stable Channel.

Microsoft 365 Insiders also have access to a new feature in Word. Those with compatible touchscreen devices can draw perfect shapes with the Draw and Hold option. In a nutshell, it lets you make a poor drawing of a certain form and hold it for a couple of seconds for the app to straighten the lines.

Firefox received a big new update this week. Version 129.0 hit the Release channel on August 6, offering users new features for Reader View, tab previews, security improvements, and other changes.

There were no major updates for Microsoft Edge, but the browser still received some notable improvements. In the Stable Channel, Edge received several security fixes. In the Dev Channel, Microsoft updated it to version 129 with improvements for Gamer Mode and Browser Essentials.

Other notable updates include the following:

• Proton VPN now supports the Stealth Protocol on Windows to disguise VPN traffic.
• Proton Pass received Windows Hello support for biometric authentication.
• Microsoft released official guides about some parts of the new Outlook app for Windows.

• Microsoft made security a Core Priority and part of employee performance reviews.

• A bunch of the canceled Midori OS project videos leaked this week.

• Microsoft is investing $25 million in open-source database startup Neon.

   

And here are the newest drivers and firmware updates released this week:

• Surface Pro X SQ2 received Surface Pro Flex Keyboard support and more.
• Nvidia 560.81 WHQL with fixes for high CPU usage and Farming Simulator crashes.

Another important driver-related story from this week is about Nvidia R555+ drivers causing blue screens of death on certain computers. If you have a PC with, say, a Core 2 Duo processor and a still-supported Nvidia card, like GTX 750 Ti, stay away from R555+ drivers because they will cause your computer to loop into blue screens of death. You may also want to adjust Windows Update settings to prevent Windows 10 from automatically updating the GPU driver.

Besides, Nvidia released a new version of its recently introduced Nvidia App for Windows 10 and 11. In the latest beta version, the program received a new section for display customization, RTX Video enhancements, and various small tweaks based on user feedback.

Also, MSI, ASUS, and other manufacturers started rolling out new Intel microcode to address issues with Intel's 13 and 14-generation processors. To safeguard your chips, install the update as soon as possible since the damage due to crashing is irreversible, even with the extended warranty from Intel.

Finally, here is this week's Microsoft 365 Roadmap Weekly, a series where we track new features coming soon to Microsoft's productivity apps, such as Clipchamp, Outlook, Microsoft Viva, and more.

On the gaming side

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

Microsoft announced a bunch of new games for Xbox and PC Game Pass subscribers. The latest additions include Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Creatures of Ava, and Mafia: Definitive Edition. However, some games will also leave the service on August 15, so check them out here.

Over the week, Activision unveiled details about the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 zombie mode, such as two maps, fighting with up to three friends, unlocking new locations, buying weapons, and fighting off dozens of zombies.

Half-Life 3 confirmed? Yep, it is time to make that joke again. But this time, it may actually make sense as data miners uncovered traces of what is believed to be the much-anticipated sequel to Half-Life 2 from many years ago. Of course, not much is known at this point, so take that information with a fair share of skepticism.

Deals and freebies:

Now to that part where you spend money on the games you will never play. This week's Weekend PC Game Deals features plenty of discounts on various topics. If you do not want to pay, here are the latest Epic Games Store freebies: the Store is giving away CYGNI: All Guns Blazing and DNF Duel.

Check out other gaming stories from this week:

• Warhammer 40K Space Marine II PC hardware specs are out.

• The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria lands on Xbox Series X|S and Steam in August.

• Fallout: London authors are working on a hotfix and a "huge" patch to resolve issues.

• QuakeCon 2024 News: Doom Eternal PC mod support, Doom Anthology release, and more.

• God of War Ragnarök receives official PC system requirements ahead of the September launch.

   

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post.

Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years.

2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of July): 3,313 news posts

Three, as Schoolhouse Rock! told children of the 1970s, is a magic number. Three little pigs; three beds, bowls and bears for Goldilocks; three Star Wars trilogies. You need at least three legs for a stool to stand on its own, and at least three points to define a triangle.

The number 3 also suggests a different way of counting. Our familiar base 10 decimal system uses the 10 digits from zero to 9. Binary, our digital lingua franca, represents numbers using only the two digits zero and 1.

But mathematicians have long explored counting in threes. Consider, for example, base 3, or ternary, which uses three digits. The standard convention is to use the digits zero, 1 and 2.

Mark Belan for Quanta Magazine

The hallmark feature of ternary notation is that it’s ruthlessly efficient. With two binary bits, you can represent four numbers. Two “trits” — each with three different states — allow you to represent nine different numbers. A number that requires 42 bits would need only 27 trits.

If a three-state system is so efficient, you might imagine that a four-state or five-state system would be even more so. But the more digits you require, the more space you’ll need. It turns out that ternary is the most economical of all possible integer bases for representing big numbers.

To see why, consider an important metric that tallies up how much room a system will need to store data. You start with the base of the number system, which is called the radix, and multiply it by the number of digits needed to represent some large number in that radix. For example, the number 100,000 in base 10 requires six digits. Its “radix economy” is therefore 10 × 6 = 60. In base 2, the same number requires 17 digits, so its radix economy is 2 × 17 = 34. And in base 3, it requires 11 digits, so its radix economy is 3 × 11 = 33. For large numbers, base 3 has a lower radix economy than any other integer base. (Surprisingly, if you allow a base to be any real number, and not just an integer, then the most efficient computational base is the irrational number e.)

In addition to its numerical efficiency, base 3 offers computational advantages. It suggests a way to reduce the number of queries needed to answer questions with more than two possible answers. A binary logic system can only answer “yes” or “no.” So if you’re comparing two numbers, x and y, to find out which is larger, you might first ask the computer “Is x less than y?” If the answer is no, you need a second query: “Is x equal to y?” If the answer is yes, then they’re equal; if the answer is no, then y is less than x.

A system using ternary logic can give one of three answers. Because of this, it requires only one query: “Is x less than, equal to, or greater than y?”

Despite its natural advantages, base 3 computing never took off, even though many mathematicians marveled at its efficiency. In 1840, an English printer, inventor, banker and self-taught mathematician named Thomas Fowler invented a ternary computing machine to calculate weighted values of taxes and interest. “After that, very little was done for years,” said Bertrand Cambou, an applied physicist at Northern Arizona University.

In 1950, at the dawn of the digital age, a book-length report on the computing technology of the time suggested a computing advantage for ternary. And in the fall of 1958, visitors to the Soviet Union reported that engineers there had been developing a ternary computer called Setun — the first modern computer based on ternary logic and hardware. Soviet scientists built dozens of Setun computers.

Why didn’t ternary computing catch on? The primary reason was convention. Even though Soviet scientists were building ternary devices, the rest of the world focused on developing hardware and software based on switching circuits — the foundation of binary computing. Binary was easier to implement.

But the past few years have brought flashes of progress. Engineers have proposed ways to build ternary logical systems even on binary-based hardware. And Cambou, with the support of the U.S. military, has been developing cybersecurity systems that use base 3 computing. In papers published in 2018 and 2019, he and his collaborators rigorously described a ternary-based system that could replace the existing public key infrastructure, which includes the digital keys needed to encrypt or decrypt cybercommunications. Switching from bits to trits, he said, significantly reduces the error rate, because ternary states better manage erratic information.

Schoolhouse Rock! turned out to be prophetic. “The past and the present and the future,” the cartoon characters sang. “You get three as a magic number.”

Source

However, it's possible the rest of 2024 could turn things around for Xbox console games. This year's Xbox Games Showcase was one of its best in years, and there's a lot that Xbox console owners can look forward to for the rest of 2024. We have our list of the most anticipated Xbox Series X/S games from 2024, which you can read below in the order of their expected release dates.

Keep in mind that game launch dates could change. Also, there may be games in development that we know nothing about that will be released in 2024. We will update this list as release dates and games change.

Update - August 10 —We have added Assassin's Creed: Shadows and A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead to the list. We have removed two games that have been released this year, and also removed two games that have been delayed until 2025.

Star Wars Outlaws - August 30, 2024

• Developer: Massive Entertainment
• Publisher: Ubisoft
• What's it about: Space smuggler Kay Vess is just trying to make a living in the galaxy that's under Imperial control. She's smart and tough, but she might have bitten off more than she can chew with her latest missions.
• Why we want to play it: A Star Wars open-world game with both planet and space missions, made by the same team as Ubisoft's The Division game? That sounds like a winner.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 - September 9

• Developer: Saber Interactive
• Publisher: Focus Entertainment
• What's it about: Lieutenant Titus, the Imperium needs you. It's time to go out and destroy the Tyranid hordes, no matter how many there may be to kill.
• Why we want to play it: This long-awaited sequel to this third-person shooter is being made by some of the same team that made the World War Z game at Saber. You can expect to see tons of aliens on screen trying to kill you, so you need to kill them first.

A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead - October 17, 2024

• Developer: Stormind Games
• Publisher: Saber Interactive
• What's it about: A woman tries to stay alive on an Earth that's been invaded by hostile creatures that can quickly attack if they hear even the slightest sound.
• Why we want to play it: The trailers for this title, based on A Quiet Place films, make this look like it will be a worthy stealth action game in the tradition of Alien: Isolation.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - October 25, 2024

• Developer: Treyarch and Raven
• Publisher: Activision
• What's it about: In the early 1990s, a secret special forces team is trying to fight a new threat that seems to be from inside US intelligence.
• Why we want to play it: Activision is hyping this game as one of the best Call of Duty titles ever released. The single-player campaign is a sequel to Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, along with round-based Zombies mode and more.

Assassin's Creed: Shadows - November 15, 2024

• Developer: Ubisoft
• Publisher: Ubisoft
• What's it about: In 16th-century Japan. players will take control of two characters as they battle for different purposes.
• Why we want to play it: Even though there's been some controversy about the inclusion of one of the main characters, we are hoping that combining the setting of feudal Japan with the stealth and action gameplay of previous Assassin's Creed games will make it a fun game to play.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl - November 20, 2024

• Developer: GSC GameWorld
• Publisher: GSC GameWorld
• What's it about: The post-apocalyptic world surrounding the destroyed Chornobyl nuclear plant continues to change and evolve, and not in a better way for the people inside of it.
• Why we want to play it: This long-awaited sequel to the first-person survival horror game has some impressive-looking visuals based on the trailers, and we can't wait to see if the gameplay matches it.

Pre-order S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 at Amazon

Dragon Age: The Veilguard - Fall 2024

• Developer: BioWare
• Publisher: Electronic Arts
• What's it about: You are a hero named Rook who joins up with up to seven companions to try to stop the destruction of Thedas from some evil gods.
• Why we want to play it: The Dragon Age franchise is back, and the gameplay trailers make it look like BioWare intends to create the best game in the series yet, with new features, improved combat and some interesting interactions with your NPC companions.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle - TBD 2024

• Developer: MachineGames
• Publisher: Bethesda Game Studios/Microsoft
• What's it about: Archaeologist Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones Junior is once again fighting Nazis in the late 1930s in a globe-trotting action game where he has to solve an ancient secret before it falls into the wrong hands
• Why we want to play it: The early gameplay glimpses of this title are very exciting, as we will get to play as Indiana from a mostly first-person perspective. MachineGames also knows how to make a well-done single-player game with Nazis as the antagonists in their previous Wolfenstein titles.

John Carpenter's Toxic Commando - TBD 2024

• Developer: Saber Interactive
• Publisher: Focus Entertainment
• What's it about: An attempt to get energy directly from the Earth's core has generated the bad side effect of releasing a creature called the Sludge God. It starts infecting the land and turning humans into the undead horde. You and a team of Toxic Commandos have to stop this supernatural blight.
• Why we want to play it: This just looks like a lot of fun, judging from the early gameplay footage. The first-person shooter lets you kill hundreds of zombie-like creatures and some big bosses as well. Plus, we hope legendary horror movie maker John Carpenter can be a good influence on this game's design and story.

Towerborne - TBD 2024

• Developer: Stoic Games
• Publisher: Microsoft
• What's it about: In this fantasy world, a post-apocalyptic event has caused this land to be taken over by monsters. The last human survive in the tower structure called Belfry. Now, you and a group of warriors are charged with reclaiming this land.
• Why we want to play it: Stoic Games has created a side-scrolling action-adventure game with an animated movie art style that looks great in the gameplay footage we have seen. We hope the gameplay matches the graphical looks when it is released.

That's the list of our most anticipated Xbox Series X/S games of 2024. Again, we will be updating this list every so often as more games are announced and other games get release dates.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post.

Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years.

2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of July): 3,313 news posts

Perplexity uses a large language model, like ChatGPT. It also relies on the latest data from the web to answer queries, not just its training data. While it’s true that ChatGPT can now search the web, this wasn’t the case when Perplexity launched, making it especially useful.

OpenAI has announced a direct competitor to Perplexity called SearchGPT. It will be interesting to see what happens in the future.

Perplexity's Dmitry Shevelenko, the company's chief business officer, reported the stats to the FT.

Commenting on the company's size, he said it has a few advantages, namely velocity and focus. This is in contrast to Google, which has the world's biggest traditional search engine. Google was initially slow in the AI race and is still figuring things out.

OpenAI is doing many different things and isn't as focused on search as Perplexity is, Shevelenko said. He believes Perplexity's sole focus on search will allow it to stay ahead of OpenAI.

Not too long ago, several publications accused Perplexity of plagiarism. The publications said it had been trained on their content without permission. Shevelenko, speaking to the FT, said that the company took the criticisms on board. Perplexity now displays citations more prominently. It also doesn't summarize any content from websites.

Finally, Shevelenko mentioned Perplexity's new revenue-sharing program. He said that 50 publishers have already asked to join it. It could placate publications as they'll get paid for their cited content.

Despite its rising popularity, Perplexity is still prone to errors. For this reason, it is good to go to the sources and check what they say.

Have you ever used Perplexity? Let us know in the comments about your experience with it and whether you've had many incorrect responses.

Source: Financial Times

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post.

Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years.

2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of July): 3,313 news posts

This robot isn't wildly talkative like the gold-clad C-3PO from "Star Wars," but it does have the ability to speak. This simple prototype called CrossBot doesn't sing or play guitar like Robot from "Lost in Space," but its human creator says it does possess powerful tools—the ability to protect kids in crosswalks—and the potential to reduce a Bay Area crossing guard shortage.

"It has a 360-degree view of the environment," said creator Hovannes Kulhandjian, an associate professor in electrical and computer engineering at Fresno State. "This is a very serious device; you have to have a very low probability of error because you are dealing with kids."

Kulhandjian, who also works with the Mineta Transportation Institute in San Jose, is working on a patent for his CrossBot.

It's equipped with sensors, including Lidar, a microphone, radar, video camera capabilities, a speaker system and advanced algorithms. In a video demonstration, CrossBot squats at the curb, then rolls out into the crosswalk when traffic is clear.

The robot rolls onto the crosswalk with its screen light red. When an approaching vehicle stops, the screen turns green, signaling to kids waiting at the curb that it's safe to cross. The robot can also tell a visually impaired person that it's safe to cross.

Kulhandjian said he came up with the idea for a robotic crossing guard while taking his two young daughters to school in Fresno and seeing teachers filling in as crossing guards when they had work to do preparing for class.

Kulhandjian said he trusts his robot to assist all children, including his own, and that the device has been tested on city streets with a more than 90% accuracy rate for detecting vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.

But not every parent is sold on the idea.

"I would be livid if a robot replaced our crossing guards," said parent Kelly Lathrop of Lafayette in an email. "Crossing guards know our kids and keep an eye out in general, they are a highlight of the morning and afternoon. I wouldn't trust a robot to not malfunction or not get hacked. We need real eyes on these major and minor intersections."

Angela Roberts, the mother of two young daughters who attend Laurelwood Elementary School in Santa Clara, said she too would be concerned about the reliability of the robot, but she's also seen a lot of turnover with school crossing guards over the last three years.

Over the last few years, school districts in San Jose, Oakland, Los Altos, San Francisco and Pleasant Hill have all reported a shortage of crossing guards. Many crossing guards were displaced because of distance learning during the pandemic, and some never returned to their jobs, reports show.

"On average, it seems like there is a differently staffed crossing guard every couple months if not weeks. And it's not uncommon for there to be days where there is no crossing guard at all," Roberts said. "From my perspective, the challenge of hiring and retaining crossing guards has been ongoing due to its hours and pay. And while the students and families have always been gracious and appreciative of the crossing guards who have been there, the demand for robotic crossing guards may be a good solution."

While accidents, including pedestrian-related car crashes, are the second-leading cause of death for children under 14, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people on foot of all ages face danger on the street.

The Governors Highway Safety Association, which tracks pedestrian deaths in the United States, found that more than 7,500 pedestrians were killed by drivers in 2022, the latest year that data was available. That was the highest number since 1981, the report said.

These days, robots are used in a variety of ways for many different reasons. They transport goods in storage facilities, load and unload trucks, carry parts to production lines and even deliver packages and make coffee. Robots have been deployed to inspect railways and in airports to handle luggage, help clean facilities and assist with security inspections.

In fact, according to the Robotics Industry Size & Share Analysis Report by Mordor Intelligence, the global robotics market size is projected to reach $95.93 billion by 2029.

Kulhandjian said his robot isn't meant to take away jobs from humans, but a years-long crossing guard shortage in the Bay Area shows that may not be an issue. While Kulhandjian said he may add additional components to the robot, such as a large red stop sign, he said he believes the device could last a decade and cost a school district about $15,000 to $17,000 to buy.

"CrossBot is designed to complement and enhance human efforts rather than replace them," Kulhandjian said.

"In many areas, there may not be enough human crossing guards available, especially in regions lacking traffic lights or during times when staffing is limited. CrossBot can fill these gaps, providing additional safety measures during critical times and in high-demand areas."

Source

The team has published a paper on the arXiv preprint server describing how they developed the robot, how well it performed at different ability levels and how human players responded to playing with the robot.

Over the past several years, robot scientists have been combining advancements in robot design with artificial intelligence, resulting in the development of robots with ever increasing abilities. In this new effort, the research team has developed an AI-based ping-pong player with the highest performance level ever for a robot.

To build their robot system, the researchers started with a robot arm called the ABB IRB 1100—the robot is currently used in real-world industrial applications. In addition to its ability to manipulate its arm and hand very quickly, it can also quickly slide side-to-side on a rail. These features made it an ideal ping-pong-playing candidate.

To give the robot the ability to play the game, which requires a very high degree of responsiveness, dexterity and thought, they used a two-tiered approach. The first tier involved executing table tennis moves, while the second was focused on strategy.

Its brain architecture combined multiple skill level controllers to handle each of the types of moves needed to return a ping-pong ball correctly. Each was trained using AI routines that learned by watching physics simulations and humans playing the game—an approach that allowed the use of a relatively small data set. They also used an iterative process to refine the robot's skills.

Once the robot was tested virtually and deemed ready to play humans, the researchers conducted 29 matches involving humans with highly variable skill sets. The robot could easily beat all the beginner-level humans but none of those with a high level of skill. It won just over half of its matches against intermediate players.

During testing, the research team discovered weaknesses in the robot's game—slow reactions to fast and/or high balls, reading spin and hitting backhand shots—that they will seek to fix.

Source

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post.

Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years.

2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of July): 3,313 news posts

You can view Intel's full statements in our dedicated piece here.

Following that, Asus also released its statement and promised to release BIOS updates soon:

Intel has recently issued a statement in response to reports of instability in some of its 13th and/or 14th generation desktop processors. ASUS is aware of this issue and is actively assisting our customers in mitigating its impact.

 

This includes providing timely BIOS updates based on Intel’s latest investigation. We will also offer a two-year extended warranty for any affected Desktop CPU.

Earlier today, Asus began rolling out Beta BIOS version 2503/1503 for Z790, which is not only supposed to fix the instability issue but also improve overall performance:

ROG MAXIMUS/STRIX/PROART/AYW Z790 Series Beta Bios 2503/1503

 

01. Update microcode to 129 for Intel instability issue
02. Improve system performance

 

dont use old cmo file

Besides Asus, MSI has also announced that it, too, is beginning to roll out updates for some of the Z790 boards for the 1st batch of updates, and more will follow later.

Regarding the instability of the Intel® Core™ 14th /13th Gen desktop processors, MSI will release the latest BIOS of Intel 700 and 600 series motherboards and 14th /13th Generation Desktop PC with 0x129 microcode to mitigate the instability.

 

The 1st batch of BIOS releasing models are MEG Z790 GODLIKE MAX, MEG Z790 ACE MAX, MPG Z790 CARBON MAX WIFI II, MPG Z790 CARBON WIFI, MAG Z790 TOMAHAWK MAX WIFI and Z790MPOWER. All BIOS of Intel 700 and 600 series motherboards and 14th /13th Generation Desktop PC will be released soon in coming weeks by the end of August.

You can find the full list of available Asus firmware in the forum post linked at the source below. In the case of MSI, the vendor recommends visiting the support page of your motherboard model.

Source: Asus ROG forum, MSI

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post.

Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years.

2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of July): 3,313 news posts

"Developed by id Software, and originally released in 1993, DOOM pioneered and popularized the first-person shooter, setting a standard for all FPS games," the newly converted Steam store page for DOOM + DOOM II reads. The critically acclaimed sequel, DOOM II, followed in 1994. Now the definitive, freshly enhanced versions of DOOM + DOOM II are available as a combined product."

Instead of jumping between the multiple store pages and versions of Doom and Doom II like before, this combined package lets fans experience the iconic shooters from a single place. Here's everything that's included:

• DOOM
• DOOM II
• TNT: Evilution
• The Plutonia Experiment
• Master Levels for DOOM II
• No Rest for the Living
• Sigil
• Legacy of Rust (a new episode created in collaboration by id Software, Nightdive Studios and MachineGames)
• A new Deathmatch map pack featuring 25 maps

Other enhancements include in-game publishing and browsing support for community-created mods for the original versions, deathmatch and co-op support for up to 16 players, a choice between original MIDI and IDKFA soundtrack versions, 4K resolution support, eight more languages, and more.

It's unclear yet if all previous owners of Doom and Doom II will receive the package as a free upgrade. Pricing has not yet been shown on the store page either.

The new DOOM + DOOM II pack on Steam is not purchasable just yet. We expect the store page to go live officially once the announcement hits during QuakeCon's opening showcase later today. It doesn’t seem to be Steam-exclusive, either. The DRM-free GOG store's Doom store pages are currently missing, too, hinting at the imminant arrival of the new version.

Source

Hope you enjoyed this news post.

Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years.

2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of July): 3,313 news posts

Bloomberg is reporting via unnamed sources that the new Mac mini for 2024 will be the smallest computer ever developed by Apple. The story claims that the overall size will be closer to the company's Apple TV streaming box.

The story doesn't have much info on the overall design of the box. It does claim that it could be taller than the current Mac mini, which is 1.4 inches high. The report also claims the new model will retain the aluminum casing of previous models.

The report says Apple is currently testing one of the new Mac mini models that will have an HDMI port, a power port, and at least three USB-C ports in the back. Inside, the company will put in its new in-house M4 processor, which was first announced in May and put inside the new iPad Pro tablet. Indeed, today's report claims Apple thinks the Mac mini will be basically the iPad Pro in a small box.

Bloomberg added that the new 2024 Mac mini will reportedly have two versions. One will have the M4 chip inside the iPad Pro. The other version will have a more powerful version of the M4 that has yet to be announced, which will support more RAM and a faster GPU.

The article concludes by claiming the Mac mini with the standard M4 will begin shipping from the company's suppliers in August for a launch sometime later this year. The version with the more advanced M4 chip will launch sometime after the first model.

Source