The companies have ramped up their buying of the artificial intelligence (AI) capable semiconductors since early this year, helping China account for about 30% of Samsung's (005930.KS), opens new tab HBM chip revenue in the first half of 2024, one of the sources said.

The moves show how China is gearing up to keep its technology ambitions on track amid rising trade tensions with the U.S. and other western nations. They also show how the tensions are impacting the global semiconductor supply chain.

U.S. authorities are planning to unveil an export control package this month that will impose new restrictions on shipments for China’s semiconductor industry, Reuters reported last week, citing sources.

Those sources also said the package is expected to lay out parameters for restricting high bandwidth memory chip access. The U.S. Department of Commerce declined to comment but had said in a statement last week that it is continually assessing the evolving threat environment and updating export controls "to protect U.S. national security and safeguard our technological ecosystem."
Reuters was unable to determine the details of the proposed HBM restrictions and how they would impact China.

HBM chips are crucial components in developing advanced processors such as Nvidia's (NVDA.O), opens new tab graphics processing units that can be used for generative AI work.

There are only three major chipmakers producing HBM chips - SK Hynix (000660.KS), opens new tab and Samsung from South Korea, and U.S.-based Micron Technology (MU.O).

Chinese chip demand has been largely focused on the HBM2E model, which is two generations behind the most advanced version HBM3E, said the sources who are familiar with China's interest in HBM. The global AI boom has led to a tightness in supply of the advanced model.

"Given that its domestic technology development is not yet fully mature, China's demand for Samsung's HBM has become exceptionally high, as other manufacturers’ capacities are already fully booked by American AI companies," said Nori Chiou, investment director at Singapore-based White Oak Capital Partners.

While it is hard to estimate the volume or value of the stockpiled HBM chips in China, businesses ranging from satellite manufacturers to tech firms such as Tencent (0700.HK), opens new tab have been buying them, the sources said. One of the sources said chip designing startup Haawking recently ordered HBM chips from Samsung.

Huawei (HWT.UL), meanwhile, has been using Samsung HBM2E semiconductors to make its advanced Ascend AI chip, according to one of the sources.

Samsung and SK Hynix declined to comment. Micron, Baidu, Huawei, Tencent and Haawking did not respond to requests for comment. The sources did not wish to be named due to the sensitivity of the subject.

SAMSUNG VS HBM RIVALS

Chinese firms have made some headway in producing HBM, with Huawei and memory chipmaker CXMT focusing on developing HBM2 chips, which are three generations behind the HBM3E model, Reuters reported earlier.

But those efforts could be impacted by the new U.S. rule.

Restrictions on HBM sales to China could have a bigger impact on Samsung than its key rivals which rely less on the China market, said the sources who were briefed on the sales.

Micron has refrained from selling its HBM products to China since last year, while SK Hynix, whose major HBM customers include Nvidia, focuses more on advanced HBM chip production, they said.

SK Hynix said earlier this year it is adjusting production to expand HBM3E output and its HBM chips were sold out for this year and almost sold out for 2025.

Source

Nvidia launched the GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card more than a year ago. At launch, the reviews found it to be performing similarly to the RTX 3080 and AMD Radeon RX 6080 XT graphics cards.

It was later rumored that RTX 4070 wasn’t selling that much after the launch and Nvidia had cut its GPU’s supply to the board partners.

Later, Nvidia was working on the RTX 4070 Super version, along with Super versions of other graphics cards. These Super versions have improved performance over their non-super variants. They also have better value and seem to selling better.

Interestingly, Nvidia used GDDR6X memory chips in all the graphics cards from RTX 4070 and above in the RTX 4000 series. But it looks like that’s likely to change.

RTX 4070 Cut To GDDR6

Well known Twitter (now X) based leaker MEGAsizeGPU has revealed (via VideoCardz and Tom’s Hardware) that Nvidia is working on another variant of the RTX 4070 with GDDR6 VRAM instead of GDDR6X one.

In the tweet, MEGAsizeGPU has revealed that the GDDR6 VRAM model will be running at 20Gbps, without any memory overclocking. Which is very similar to the GDDR6X model, which runs at 21Gbps. The other specs like the CUDA core count and GPU seems to be the same.

The overall memory bandwidth will likely decrease from 504 GB/s to 480 GB/s. Which is just 5% decrease. Though, we feel the power usage might go down further.

Why is Nvidia doing this, though. The likely explanation seems to be the shortage of GDDR6X memory. Several days ago, Tom’s Hardware reported that GDDR6X memory is in short supply. But that issue is just temporary. So it’s unlikely that Nvidia would be making a new model just for that temporary shortage.

Another possibility is that Nvidia is trying to save some costs. The GDDR6X is a VRAM that Micron specially designed in collaboration with Nvidia for its graphics cards. At the time of its launch, it was faster than the GDDR6 VRAM and still likely costs more than it. The pricing of this model isn’t available yet though.

Interestingly, MEGAsizeGPU had predicted way back in October 2023 that Nvidia would be making a GDDR6 version of RTX 4070. That tweet had also predicted the launch of the RTX 4070 Super variant and that turned out to be true.

Whatever the reason. If Nvidia does launch the GDDR6 variant of RTX 4070, we are hoping that Nvidia labels it correctly, so that the buyers are not misguided by it.

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In Short

•     Intel shares hit lowest in 50 years

•     15 per cent workforce layoffs announced

•     CEO quotes Bible amid crisis

Things are not going well for Intel. On Friday, Intel’s shares plunged to the lowest in 50 years. Intel reported a significant earnings shortfall for the June quarter. So much so that the company said it will have to lay off 15 per cent of its workforce. Amid all that, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has shared a post on erstwhile Twitter quoting the Bible. His post reads: “Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways” Proverbs 4:25-26.

Several people have responded to the tweet. Some say Gelsinger is “resorting to religion to save the company”, another jokingly says “Bro’s shares are down so bad he’s praying”. However, people on X missed that Pat Gelsinger shares similar Bible quotes on a weekly basis.

Meanwhile, Chamath Palihapitiya, CEO of Social Capital, also responded to Gelsinger's post and offered a critical perspective on Intel's current strategy while acknowledging its historic contributions to the tech industry. He recognises Intel's pivotal role in transforming technology throughout the 80s, 90s, and 00s, calling it a "wild ride."

However, Palihapitiya suggests that Intel needs to rethink its current direction. He observes that instead of advancing up the value chain by creating innovative intellectual property (IP) and collaborating with low-margin contract manufacturers (CMs), Intel appears to be descending into the lower market segments, effectively becoming a CM itself. This shift, he argues, is problematic without the development of next-generation IP to support a vertically integrated, non-China dependent solution—a narrative the market might appreciate.

Palihapitiya warns that without such IP innovation, Intel risks becoming a capital-intensive company focused on low-margin manufacturing for others. To counter this, he recommends leveraging Intel's balance sheet more aggressively to acquire cutting-edge IP in fields like memory, batteries, and machine learning ASICs. He suggests that Intel could become a dominant acquirer of innovative technologies, enhancing its portfolio and either integrating these innovations into its CM operations or using them internally before spinning off the CM division.

This approach, Palihapitiya believes, could result in an IP and CM arm that are greater than the sum of their parts, providing a more sustainable and profitable future for Intel.

Intel's stock experienced a historic plunge on Friday, marking its steepest decline in 50 years and dropping to levels not seen since 2013.

The dramatic fall followed a significant earnings miss and the announcement of a major restructuring plan. The shares tumbled 26 per cent, closing at $21.48. This marked the second worst trading day for Intel since its IPO, surpassed only by a 31 per cent drop in July 1974. Consequently, Intel's market capitalisation has now fallen below $100 billion.

The company's financial performance was disappointing across all metrics. Intel reported a net loss of $1.61 billion, a stark contrast to the net income of $1.48 billion it recorded in the same period the previous year.

Source

Over the weekend, Eurogamer reported that the online resume of voice actor Natasha Chandel has a listing for a Valve game she worked on with the code name Project White Sands. Many people believe that's a reference to Half-Life 3. The online resume later removed that particular credit and has subsequently gone down due to going over its bandwidth limit.

Now, the well-known Valve data miner Tyler McVicker posted a video on his YouTube channel (via GameSpot) where he claims that the Project White Sands listing is indeed a new single-player Half-Life game.

McVicker claims that back in 2021, the code name for this game was uncovered inside the code for other Valve games. That code name is HLX. According to McVicker:

In the interim, I have been slowly and silently digging into this story. HLX is a confusing one. HLX seems to be a fully-fledged non-VR Half-Life game, something that seems too good to be true, and something that I wanted to be very sure of before going live with any of this information.

He added later in the video:

Do I think this is Half-Life 3? I gotta be very careful in answering that question. But yes.

While all of that may be true, the bigger question that has not been answered is, "Will Valve ever release a true Half-Life 3 game?" Fans have been waiting for the cliffhanger ending for Half-Life 2: Episode 2 to be resolved ever since it was released in October 2007, over 16 years ago. In 2020, Valve released the VR-exclusive game Half-Life: Alyx, which is set before the events of Half-Life 2.

Earlier this year, McVicker and others reported Valve was working on a new multiplayer game with the name Deadlock. Despite lots of screenshots and gameplay footage that allegedly show the game in action, Valve has yet to comment on the leaks.

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What you need to know

• CrowdStrike fires back at Delta Air Lines after the airline company indicated it will seek damages amounting to $500 million.
• The cybersecurity firm says Delta's lawsuit is 'meritless' and would prefer to work cooperatively with Delta to find a solution.
• Delta reportedly didn't respond to CrowdStrike's free onsite IT consultation offer during the outage.

The digital pandemic caused by a faulty CrowdStrike kernel driver continues to brew more trouble. Last week, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian indicated the company lost $500 million in five days due to flight cancellations, reimbursements, and more. The executive stated that the company was moving to court and had already hired a bigshot attorney, David Boies to seek damages from Microsoft and CrowdStrike for the damages incurred.

Delta's CEO indicated the company might rethink its partnership with Microsoft and CrowdStrike citing fortification concerns. "When was the last time you heard of a big outage at Apple?" added the CEO. While a veteran Microsoft Software Engineer recently explained the cause of the global outage that left 8.5 million Windows devices with BSoD errors for hours (potentially exonerating Microsoft from blame) the tech giant can't seem to catch a break.

In the past few weeks, blame for the digital pandemic has been shifted across CrowdStrike and Microsoft. However, CrowdStrike blatantly indicates that it's not to blame for the outage that toppled Microsoft's services, leaving thousands of passengers stranded across airports (via The Wall Street Journal).

Who caused the global IT outage? CrowdStrike says it's not at fault

CrowdStrike logo (Image credit: CrowdStrike)

In the apology letter addressed to the airline, CrowdStrike indicated it's "highly disappointed by Delta's suggestion that CrowdStrike acted inappropriately and strongly rejects any allegation that it was grossly negligent or committed misconduct."

“If you’re going to have priority access to the Delta ecosystem... you’ve gotta test this stuff. You can’t come into a mission-critical, 24-7 operation and tell us, ‘We have a bug.’ It doesn’t work,” indicated Delta CEO Ed Bastian in an interview with CNBC. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz indicated he reached out to Bastian within hours of the outage and offered onsite assistance, but didn't receive a response. Technically, Bastian confirmed Kurtz's claims when he indicated that CrowdStrike had offered "free IT consultation advice."

CrowdStrike admitted the faulty update affected "more than half of Delta computers, including many of Delta’s workstations at every airport in the Delta network." The cybersecurity firm describes Delta's IT system as "complex," prompting manual recovery.

A CrowdStrike spokesman indicated that the company hopes Delta Air Lines will consider working together to find a plausible solution for the emerging issues. "Public posturing about potentially bringing a meritless lawsuit against CrowdStrike as a long-time partner is not constructive to any party," the spokesman added.

As highlighted in the letter addressed to Delta by CrowdStrike, the airline company will have to answer the following questions if it decides to file the suit in court:

1. Why Delta’s competitors, facing similar challenges, all restored operations much faster?
2. Why Delta turned down free onsite help from CrowdStrike professionals, who assisted many other customers to restore operations much more quickly than Delta?

Finally, the letter states, "any liability by CrowdStrike is contractually capped at an amount in the single-digit millions." It seems no one wants to accept the blame for the massive outage, with the affected parties pointing fingers at each other. Will CrowdStrike's erroneous $10 Uber Eats gift cards and apology be enough to get Delta to back down?

Source

In March, Nvidia officially unveiled its next-generation Blackwell data center architecture, saying it would arrive later this year. Now that it's August, it's crunch time for Nvidia, but the company might not meet its deadline. It's now being reported the company is pushing back Blackwell's deployment plans by a few months due to a design flaw it discovered late in the process.

This surprising development comes from The Information, a paywalled news site. However, The Verge notes that the site says it has two sources who worked on the Blackwell project and a source from Microsoft. The sources stated that Nvidia has told Microsoft and at least one other cloud partner that it needs at least three more months than originally planned to provide Blackwell B200 chips to its partners due to the design flaw it has discovered.

 The GB200 is the flagship AI chip and consists of two GPUs connected by a 10TB/s interconnect along with a Grace CPU. . Credit: Nvidia

The delay will likely push the rollout of Blackwell into early 2025 instead of late 2024 as expected. An Nvidia PR person confirmed to The Verge that production of Blackwell should "ramp in 2H" of 2025. It's also being reported that companies like Meta, Microsoft, Google, and other tech monoliths have already placed orders worth tens of billions of dollars with Nvidia for Blackwell chips.

Nvidia's March announcement for Blackwell included the text, "Blackwell-based products will be available from partners starting later this year," but that might no longer be the case. The company is reportedly working with TSMC on a new set of validation tests to resolve the issue. Luckily for Nvidia, the H100 GPU that the Blackwell B200 chip will theoretically replace is still in high demand, but this unplanned discovery could affect Nvidia's Q4 balance sheet.

Source

Since data transfer often consumes more time than AI computation, there is a critical need for a data compression method that minimizes both data volume and communication time while preserving the integrity of the original data. The new technology can accelerate data transmission for AI computations and reduce the volume of data transmitted over wide-area networks, such as 5G/6G wireless communications and the Internet, resulting in significant global power savings.

Conventional data compression technologies compress and store data in finite chunks. For this purpose, they require bulky memory and processors that increase the size of the compressor and limit real-time compression to finite data streams.

Researchers at the University of Tsukuba have addressed these challenges by developing a technology that automatically detects frequently occurring data patterns and compresses them to a minimum of one bit after a single pass through the compressor. This technology ensures complete real-time data restoration. The research is published in the journal IEEE Access.

Unlike previous technologies that can compress only one unit of data to one bit, the new method simultaneously compresses multiple data units to one bit, thereby enhancing the compression efficiency by 10%–30% compared to conventional methods.

In addition, this innovative technology enables the development of high-speed, compact data compression modules in hardware without the need for additional processors, memory, or other devices. If integrated into semiconductor chips and AI systems, this technology could revolutionize data transmission by boosting speed, reducing data volume, and conserving power in communication pathways, propelling us toward the vision of Society 5.0.

Source

Nvidia has been firing on all cylinders lately, riding every hype wave in technology to become the second most valuable technology firm after Microsoft. That Microsoft and Nvidia currently top the list speaks to the high value the market places on artificial intelligence, which both companies have invested heavily in. However, regulators are beginning to worry Nvidia has too much power in AI. The Justice Department is reportedly probing a recent acquisition by Nvidia, which could lead to a full investigation.

It was a relatively low-profile acquisition earlier this year that attracted the government's attention. Nvidia picked up an Israeli firm called Run:ai in April. The companies did not disclose a price, but reports have suggested it was around $700 million. For most companies, that would be a lot of money, but Nvidia's market cap is currently sitting at more than $3 trillion.

The investigation has not been officially detailed by the Justice Department, but five sources have provided an overview to Politico.

Run:ai, which had a previous partnership with Nvidia, built GPU virtualization technology, allowing companies to do more with less silicon. That can be a major advantage when the best AI accelerators, like Nvidia Blackwell, might cost $70,000 each.

The Run:ai investigation is related to but separate from inquiries into Nvidia's business practices. Investigators are concerned that Nvidia's control of roughly 90% of the AI accelerator market would allow it to bundle other services to unfairly stifle competition.

Because Run:ai's technology can reduce the number of AI accelerators a company needs, regulators are concerned that Nvidia may have purchased the firm to bury the technology and force companies to invest in more compute resources. And given Nvidia's dominance, it would probably be the one selling those chips.

 Nvidia's Blackwell chips could cost $70,000 each. Credit: Nvidia

This is not the first time Nvidia's business has attracted antitrust scrutiny. Regulators in the US, UK, and EU all opposed the $66 billion deal, eventually causing Nvidia to walk away. ARM instead went on to launch an IPO, which has seen the company's value nearly double.

And that played out before AI fever pushed Nvidia's value into the stratosphere. If Nvidia continues to grow, this scrutiny will only escalate. There are also numerous regulatory investigations around AI safety and national security that could affect Nvidia's plans.

Source

Paul's Hardware (1.48M subscribers)

August 4, 2024

Video length: 13m 24s

0:00 Welcome to Paul’s Tech News - August 4, 2024

1:42 Intel Cuts 15,000+ Jobs As CPU Scandal Deepens, Class Action Lawsuits Loom

5:06 AMD’s Ryzen 9000 CPUs Almost Ready, Pricing Leaks

6:40 AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 Reviewed, Impressive Efficiency and Performance

TECH BRIEFS

8:48 Nvidia hit by antitrust investigation

9:24 Bad GDDR6X might mean supply shortage for RTX 4070 and up

9:47 Intel to Launch "Lunar Lake" Core Ultra Chips on September 3rd

10:34 Newegg expands hardware trade-in program to include CPUs

11:18 Logitech has an idea for a “forever mouse” that requires a subscription

12:13 Microsoft 365 and Azure outage takes down multiple services

Source

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Table of contents:

1. Q4 2024 results
2. Windows 10 and 11 news
3. Windows Insider Program
4. Updates are available
5. Reviews are in
6. Gaming news

Q4 2024 results

On July 30, 2024, Microsoft posted results of the Q4 2024 fiscal year. The company generated $64.7 billion in revenue, with a net income totaling $22 billion. You can check out more details that Microsoft revealed during its earnings conference call with investors.

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.

This week's Windows section kicks off with fresh stats from Statcounter and Valve. According to Statcounter's July 2024 report, Windows 11 crossed the 30% mark for the first time since its launch three years ago. Valve, on the other hand, reports a slight decrease in Windows 11 users. On Steam, the OS now sits at a little lower than 46%.

Although we are a few days away from the August 2024 Patch Tuesday updates, Microsoft released some additional patches and improvements for its operating system. KB5001716 is out for Windows 10 and 11 to make Windows Update components run better, and KB5040529 is out as an optional update for Windows 11 24H2.

Also, Microsoft restored some of its previously missing official virtual machines, which are also known as Windows Developer Environment. WDE 2407 is now available for VMware users, but the Parallels version is still missing. On the bright side, the timebomb has been prolonged to October 29, 2025, instead of October 9, 2025.

Microsoft quietly confirmed a bunch of known bugs in the latest Windows Server updates. The most important one is probably a bug with the old Remote Desktop protocol, which causes intermittent connection dropouts. While Microsoft is busy fixing the bug, IT admins can apply a temporary workaround to mitigate the problem.

Finally, Microsoft offered a detailed explanation of the root cause of the recent CrowdStrike outage, which still sends ripples across the industry. Although CrowdStrike and Microsoft managed to recover most of the systems that were affected by the no-legendary outage, the story is far from over. Delta Airlines, which suffered big time, is now reportedly planning to file lawsuits against Crowdtrike and Microsoft. Apparently, those $10 Uber Eats gift cards were not enough to remedy the situation.

Windows Insider Program

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

Earlier this week, Microsoft quietly updated release notes for the most recent Windows 11 preview builds to notify users that the setting for toggling on or off tray clock seconds now lives in another part of the Settings app. Now, if you want to turn on the tray clock seconds, you should navigate to the Date & Time settings section, not Personalization.

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.

PowerToys, one of our favorite apps, received a big new update this week. Version 0.83 delivered a revamped Awake module and a metric ton of improvements for other modules. Sadly, there are no new utilities, but Microsoft says it is working on more substantial changes in versions 0.84 and 0.85, so stay tuned for those.

StartAllBack, this time a third-party app for tweaking Windows 11, received a new update with Windows 11 24H2 support. Besides removing the upgrade block, the update improves performance and introduces several new features.

Skype is another Microsoft-made piece of software that got a large update. The most notable change in version 8.125.76.201, which is currently Insider-only, is the complete removal of any ads. Skype is now ad-free across platforms, something that is truly unique in the modern Microsoft world. Besides, there are AI image generation improvements, OneAuth support on iOS, and some bug fixes.

Teams, one more communication service from Microsoft, also received new features. In a blog post, Microsoft outlined new capabilities, such as a new gallery design, better 3D avatars, and improvements for the events feature. In addition, the company is working on merging Teams chats and channels in a new UI.

Microsoft also released several updates for Windows 365, a service that lets you keep a Windows computer accessible in the cloud. It now features improved security and tiers with GPU-enabled hardware acceleration. Later this year, Microsoft will ship a new Windows App.

Not a single week goes by without browser updates. Microsoft had quite a lot this week. In the Stable Channel, Edge users received three security patches and a new feature for Edge for Business. Edge Dev Insiders can try out version 128.0.2739.1, which brought several fixes and one nasty bug that can seriously break your workflow, so you better not use Edge Dev as your main browser. Finally, Edge 128 arrived in the Beta Channel for final testing before heading out to all users in the Stable Channel.

Chrome, the world's most popular browser, is getting a new layer of protection for cookies and passwords and several AI-powered features, such as Google Lens, Tab Compare for shopping assistance, and text prompts for searching in history.

The next is Arc Browser, a new player on the market. The Browser Company delivered its promise and released Arc on Windows 10. Since Arc is slightly more complicated than, say, Microsoft Edge, it has higher system requirements, such as Windows 10 version 1901 and the BMI2 instruction set. Also, there is no ARM version yet, but that is something developers plan to fix soon.

Creative people who use Adobe's applications on Copilot+ PCs or other Windows on ARM computers should rejoice as the company released an ARM-native version of Illustrator, one of the most popular apps for editing scalable vector graphics. Before you download it, though, keep in mind that it is in beta, so some bugs may pop out here and there.

Other notable updates include the following:

• The new Outlook app for Windows is now generally available for business users.
• Python in Excel can now run on a local device.
• Windows Package Manager has been updated to version 1.8 with support for Microsoft Store offline distribution.
• Fences 5.8 is out with Windows 11 24H2 support and multiple improvements.
• Outlook on Android and iOS received a new contact editor.

• Windows Admin Center v2 received a new Public Preview update with new features.

• Microsoft revealed new features for the Planner app in Teams, including quick links to plans.

• Microsoft 365 Backup is now generally available for businesses.

• Copilot can now offer suggestions to make better quizzes and surveys in Microsoft Forms.

• Microsoft added new functions for the Commute map feature on the Bing Android app.

   

And here are the newest drivers released this week:

• Intel 31.0.101.5762 WHQL with Stormgate support and performance improvements.
• Nvidia RTX Enterprise 552.86 and 560.76 with a few fixes and security updates.
• AMD launched a new driver preview with Fluid Motion Frames preview.

This week, Microsoft ended support of the third-generation Surface Laptop. This legendary computer no longer receives firmware and driver updates, so if that is important for you, it's time to upgrade. However, it is worth noting that the end of support does not mean the end of Windows updates—the operating system has a separate life cycle, so Windows 10 and 11 will continue receiving fixes and new features on the Surface Laptop 3.

As for still-supported devices, a bunch of Surface computers received new firmware updates. The Surface Laptop Studio 2 got fixes for display glitches, and the Intel-based Surface Laptop 4 received audio improvements to prevent disruptions when playing or recording audio.

As usual, this section ends with the latest Microsoft 365 Roadmap Weekly. This time, it focuses on new features that are coming soon to Microsoft Teams.

Reviews are in

Here are hardware and software we reviewed this week.

Robbie Khan reviewed the OXS Thunder Lite, an affordable soundbar with solid sound quality, multiple connectivity options, and a decent price. It is hard to criticize a good-sounding $99 soundbar, but this one still has some negative quirks, so check out the review here.

Another review from Robbie this week was about the UGREEN's 48,000 mAh 300W power bank. This unconventional power source is a well-made device with premium materials, looks, and features, plus it packs long-life LiFEPO4 batteries that promise up to 3,000 recharge cycles.

On the gaming side

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

Gamescom is coming August 12-15, and Microsoft has already confirmed its presence on the show. Moreover, the company published a list of the current and upcoming games that will be showcased in some way. They include Avowed, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Sea of Thieves, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, DOOM: The Dark Ages, and more.

You may have heard about the original Xbox One consoles not being able to update their software. As it turned out, it was not Microsoft bricking its less-than-successful console. The company resolved the bug with Xbox One consoles' software, and now, systems with the OS versions released before November 2018 can update to the most recent version and access all of Xbox Live features.

Microsoft also shared some info about the long-rumored Xbox mobile game store. It was initially expected in July 2024, but as you can tell, July is no longer with us, and neither is the promised store. A Microsoft spokesperson revealed that "testing has begun for our browser-based mobile store." There is no info on when gamers will be able to try it out, so let's sit tight and wait.

Another thing that is in the works is a new team for Blizzard IPs. A new report surfaced this week that after revealing big layoffs in its gaming division, Microsoft and Blizzard formed a new team to make smaller AA games from Blizzard's current IPs.

Microsoft released a new update for Xbox Insiders. It introduced new features for owners of the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 and Xbox Adaptive Controller. The highlight of the update was toggle hold, a Sticky Keys-like feature designed to assist users who have trouble holding down multiple keys simultaneously. In addition, Xbox Insiders can try out Discord integration improvements.

Speaking of controllers, check out the new Sky Cipher Special Edition gamepad. It features a transparent blue shell and, for the first time, a new packaging design. It is now available for preorder for $69.99, and shipments begin on August 13.

There was some bad news for gamers eagerly awaiting the release of Obsidian's RPG Avowed. Microsoft has officially confirmed that the game is delayed to give "backlog some breathing room." In other words, Microsoft has too many games in the pipeline, so it does not want Avowed to clash with different releases.

Riot Games surprised its fans with an unexpected release of Valorant on Xbox Series X|S. It is now available for everyone for free, plus Xbox and PC Game Pass subscribers can get all of the game's agents for free.

On August 2, THQ Nordic held its Digital Showcase, where it announced new games, teasers, gameplay trailers, and fresh details about already confirmed titles. As usual, for events like this, we made an overview of the event, so check it out here.

Nvidia revealed some news for its GeForce NOW customers. In addition to new games, the company revealed that the service will soon drop Windows 7 and 8.1 support. That will happen in November 2024, most likely due to the lack of Chromium support on those operating systems.

Deals and freebies

After conducting a fighting game fest, Valve launched another event celebrating a different genre. This time, fans of tower defense titles can purchase various games with big discounts. The Steam Tower Defense Fest will end on August 5, so hurry up if that is your cup of tea.

As usual, we have a dedicated article where you can find not only the latest freebies but also a metric ton of other deals and special offers. Check out this week's Weekend PC Game Deals here, which also includes Epic Games Store's latest giveaway, LumbearJack.

Other gaming stories include the following:

• Mafia: Definitive Edition was confirmed for Xbox and PC Game Pass in August.

• Minecraft received a new Tetris DLC.

• Starborn could be Bethesda's second expansion for Starfield.

• Double Fine released a final 90-minute chapter to its huge Psychonauts 2 documentary.

• Microsoft is reportedly working with Capcom to get more of its games on Xbox consoles.

• Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions gameplay unveiled, out in September.

• The latest Ara: History Untold Encarta video dev diary takes a look at historical Korea.

• Sins of a Solar Empire II will launch on Steam on August 15 with new features.

Some interesting trivia

This week's Microsoft Weekly finishes with an interesting story about the Blue Screen of Death, something CrowdStrike victims had to observe quite a lot last month. A Microsoft veteran revealed that there are three different BSODs, and each has its own distinct author.

Source

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The report comes from a Chinese tech forum (via Tom's Hardware) where a local admin claims, citing allegedly "accurate information," that Nvidia had notified its board partners about the incoming end of manufacturing, urging them to place their final orders. The information, if accurate, means that the manufacturing of RTX 3060 graphics cards may end in just a few months, just a little short of four years after the initial announcement.

The end of manufacturing does not mean that the remaining RTX 3060 graphics cards will suddenly evaporate from store shelves. You can expect these graphics cards to be available for quite a while with the stock slowly depleting. It also does not mean that Nvidia will stop supporting the GPU—like the rest of the RTX 3000 lineup, it will continue receiving driver updates, new features, support for new games, and other changes for years to come.

These days, you can get the RTX 3060 with 12GB of video memory for about $285. While the more powerful RTX 4060 is not that far away price-wise, the RTX 3060 offers more VRAM, which may be an important factor to consider for those shopping in the lower-end segment of the market. If you are looking for a sub-$300 segment, you can also consider the RX 6700 XT or even RX 6750 XT, which offers the same 12GB of VRAM with a significantly better performance in games.

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The report comes from The Information, citing unnamed sources. The story says Nvidia has informed its many AI GPU customers, including Microsoft, that its Blackwell B200 chips have a design flaw that will cause the company to delay the mass production and shipments of the processor.

Nvidia first announced the Blackwell GPU architecture in March during its GTC conference. The Blackwell B200 processor will pack in 208 billion transistors. The GPU could offer performance of up to 20 petaflops with 4-bit floating point (4FP) support. They are designed to replace the Hopper H100 GPUs that are currently used by Microsoft, OpenAI, Google, Meta, and others in their AI data centers.

The report claims that this design flaw was found very late in the production of the Blackwell B200 chips. Nvidia is reportedly going through a new round of production tests with the chip. It was supposed to begin mass shipments of the GPU by the end of the year, but The Information says Nvidia is now planning on mass production to start in the first quarter of 2025.

Officially, a spokesperson for Nvidia told The Information that "production is on track to ramp" sometime later in 2024 for the Blackwell chips, but added, "We don’t comment on rumors.”

Nvidia's many AI chip customers have reportedly already ordered "tens of billions of dollars” of the upcoming Blackwell B200 GPUs, according to the Information. A lengthy delay in the release of these chips could affect not only Nvidia in terms of revenue but also its customers, who have likely been counting on the big performance boosts from the chip to help add new and improved AI features.

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Gamers Nexus (2.25M subscribers)

August 3, 2024

Video length: 47m 06s

00:00 - Intel's Shady Behavior

05:00 - THISISFINE

06:06 - Intel's Worst Day & Earnings

11:57 - Investigation Notes

12:37 - TIMELINE of FAILURE

23:45 - Intel Doubles-Down on Bad Take

25:33 - TIMELINE Continued

27:52 - Silently Changing Statements

28:55 - Intel's Terrible Response

42:10 - GN Ceases Comms with Intel on This Issue

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Titan Quest II

The sequel to the cult hit Roman-Greek mythology-based action RPG is looking good in this new trailer with gameplay. There's no word on a release date, but it's due for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S platforms.

New Darksiders game (?)

No name was revealed, but this teaser trailer looks like we will be getting a new game in the Darksiders franchise sometime in the future.

Untitled Tarsier Studios Game

Tarsier Studios, the developers of Little Nightmares I and II, is working on an all-new game. The teaser trailer, which shows a big talking pig, shows that this game will be revealed in a few weeks at Gamescom Opening Night Live.

Wreckfest 2

Developer Bugbear Interactive is working on a sequel to their arcade racing game with a revamped physics and destruction engine for its cars and more. There's no release date yet, but it's coming to the PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5 platforms.

Gothic 1 Remake

We got new gameplay footage from this long-awaited remake of the classic fantasy RPG. It's coming for the PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S platforms, but there's no release date yet.

The Eternal Life of Goldman

This is a newly announced 2D platformer game with an impressive-looking hand-drawn art style. There's no release date yet, but it's coming on the Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC platforms.

Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed

The remastered version of this classic Disney-based game looks great based on this gameplay trailer. It's coming on September 24 for PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Switch platforms.

Space for Sale

This indie game, about a space explorer traveling the galaxy, is actually available in Early Access on the PC via Steam right now.

Way of the Hunter Lintukoto Reserve DLC

The final game, or actually a DLC release for the popular hunting sim game, is also out right now for the PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S platforms.

One more thing. THQ Nordic says the publisher still has 13 unannounced games, so the 2025 edition should be interesting as well.

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If there was something wrong with an old game, or you wanted to make a different version of it, and you wanted people to help you fix that, you typically did that on RomHacking.net. After this week, you'll have to go elsewhere.

 

For nearly 20 years, the site has been home to some remarkable remakes, translations, fix-ups, and experiments. Star Fox running at 60 fps, Super Mario Land 2 in color, a fix for Super Mario 64's bad smoke, even a Pac-Man "demake" that Namco spiffed up and resold—and that's not even counting the stuff that was pulled down by corporate cease-and-desist actions. It's a remarkable collection, one that encompasses both very obscure and mainstream games and well worth preserving.

 

Preserved it will be, but it seems that the RomHacking site will not go on further. The site's founder posted a sign-off statement to the site Thursday night, one that in turn praised the community, decried certain members of it, and looked forward to what will happen with "the next generation."

 

To condense the statement by founder Nightcrawler: the site had come a long way, he missed the early small-group days, there are more options now, and then, last year, he attempted to hand control over to a small internal group. That is when, Nightcrawler writes, he "discovered a most dishonest and hate filled group," one that targeted him for cutting out of the site and harassment.

 

The site's database, minus accounts and profiles, has been handed off to the Internet Archive. RomHacking will have news posts and forums, but everything else is read-only, and the official Twitter and Discord "affiliations" are ended.

 

"I thank all of the many staff and community members whom kept the wheels turning and the lights on over the years. I am proud of our many accomplishments here together. I will carry forward remembering the good times, laughing about the bad times, and knowing she was right for the time, but time has a way of moving on," Nightcrawler wrote.

Not the whole story

Gideon Zhi, proprietor of Time Capsule Games and member of RomHacking for more than 20 years, took issue with Nightcrawler's monologued coda. In a thread on X (formerly Twitter), Zhi acknowledged the site's technical debt, monetary cost, and the burnout in being its administrator. "But he existed as a single point of failure for the site and exerted iron-fisted control over community-created content, and categorically refused basically all offers of help over the last decade," Zhi wrote.

 

Zhi details a near abandonment of the site last year, followed by attempts by interested members, gathered on the site's Discord chat server, to transition the site's back-end to modern storage and file serving, such as Amazon Web Services S3, and last-minute refusal by Nightcrawler to enact the changes. He also denied that the volunteers on the attempted transition threatened or doxxed Nightcrawler.

 

An administrator on the now "unofficial" Discord for the site confirmed a "rocky" relationship between the founder and the would-be administrators, as reported by PC Gamer. The Discord admin also denied threats or harassment toward Nightcrawler.

 

While ROM hacking, translation, demakes, and other game-altering work will certainly continue elsewhere, the gaming world has lost a kind of central depot for the most notable fixes, one with a community full of very experienced hackers.

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GameStop has also decided to wipe out all of the content from the Game Informer website, leaving only a brief message and image, revealing the closure of the site and magazine. GameStop has not made any further official comments on this decision, including why it was made.

Game Informer magazine was first launched in August 1991 as a newsletter from the FuncoLand gaming retail store chain. GameStop purchased FuncoLand in 2000 and continued to publish the Game Informer magazine. The companion website launched in 1996, and while it was closed after GameStop bought the magazine, it was revived in 2003.

GameStop added a subscription to the Game Informer magazine as part of its PowerUp Rewards program. That caused the magazine's subscription numbers to go up by as much as 8 million monthly copies in 2011. The magazine was also known for its in-depth previews of games and its frequently impressive covers.

The last issue of the print magazine, for July 2024, has already been released and mailed, with a cover story about the upcoming Dead by Daylight single-player spin-off game The Casting of Frank Stone. GameStop has already revealed in emails to subscribers that the digital version of that issue is no longer available. The message also has an email address for people who wish to get a prorated refund on their subscription.

The decision to close Game Informer clearly took the magazine and website's employees off guard, who have now unfortunately been laid off immediately. Many of them have been posting messages expressing their feelings on this decision. One of them, Kyle Hillard, revealed on his X account that the Game Informer magazine team was "about 70% done with the next issue, and it was going to have a GREAT cover)."

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China is on track to achieve basic self-sufficiency in building chipmaking equipment by this summer, reports the South China Morning Post. The publication cites Gerald Yin Zhiyao, chief executive of Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment China (AMEC), a China-based maker of wafer fab equipment (WFE).

Chip fabs are equipped with thousands of tools and machinery, and they are usually made in the Netherlands, the U.S., Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. However, these countries recently restricted the shipments of tools necessary to make chips on advanced nodes to China. Hence, the country accelerated its efforts to build its own supply chain for chipmaking equipment. While this supply chain is not yet world-class, and the tools can only be used to make chips on basic process technologies, it is about to become a reality, according to Gerald Yin Zhiyao, who formerly worked at Intel, Lam Research, and Applied Materials.

"I had thought we need at least 10 years to find a solution, but with joint efforts from hundreds of companies over the past two years, we can reach basic self-sufficiency by this summer," he said.

China's semiconductor supply chain is growing quickly, thanks to collaboration among hundreds of companies over the past two years. Gerald Yin Zhiyaoo expressed confidence that China could achieve self-sufficiency, albeit with ongoing challenges in quality and reliability.

Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment China (AMEC) produces etching systems and metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) tools. Some of these tools are reportedly good enough to make chips on 5nm-class process technologies (in collaboration with tools made by ASML, though), but it is impossible to verify this.

AMEC now sources 60% of the parts for its etching tools and 80% of the components for its MOCVD tools from within China. This shift towards domestic sourcing has been crucial in reducing reliance on foreign imports. Given that most parts AMEC uses are now from China, we could say that the company is about to achieve 'basic' self-sufficiency.

However, significant gaps remain in China's semiconductor tool sector. Locally produced equipment currently constitutes only 15% to 30% of the tools used by Chinese foundries. The most notable deficiencies are in lithography systems (as the best that China's SMEE can produce in volume are good enough for 90nm-class process technologies and thicker), ion implantation tools, and electron beam inspection systems.

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With these stellar results, AWS now has an annualized revenue run rate (ARRR) of more than $105 billion. Annualized revenue refers to an estimate of the total revenue a business generates over a year. It’s calculated based on less than one year’s worth of data, so it provides an approximation of the total income for the year. In this case, Amazon's quarterly revenue, $26.3 billion, is multiplied by four to reach its $105 bn ARRR figure.

During the earnings call, Amazon's CFO said that organizations are now turning their attention to newer initiatives, bringing more workloads to the cloud, restarting or accelerating existing migrations from on-premises to the cloud, and taking advantage of the power of generative AI, which resulted in impressive numbers for AWS.

AWS segment results are in line with other major cloud providers as well. Recently, Microsoft and Google reported similar solid growth from their cloud businesses. Jamin Ball from Altimeter tweeted the following table comparing the results of all three big cloud players.

Andy Jassy, Amazon President & CEO, mentioned in the earnings report that they are seeing continued reacceleration in AWS growth and said the following:

“As companies continue to modernize their infrastructure and move to the cloud while also leveraging new Generative AI opportunities, AWS continues to be customers' top choice, as we have much broader functionality, superior security and operational performance, a larger partner ecosystem, and AI capabilities like SageMaker for model builders, Bedrock for those leveraging frontier models, Trainium for those where the cost of compute for training and inference matters, and Q for those wanting the most capable GenAI assistant for not just coding, but also software development and business integration.”

AWS continues to beat expectations, achieving impressive growth despite its already massive scale. This reaffirms its dominant position in the cloud market and highlights the sustained demand for cloud services.

Source: Amazon (PDF)

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Intel posted an email sent by its CEO Pat Gelsinger to the company's employees today. He wrote in part:

Simply put, we must align our cost structure with our new operating model and fundamentally change the way we operate. Our revenues have not grown as expected – and we’ve yet to fully benefit from powerful trends, like AI. Our costs are too high, our margins are too low. We need bolder actions to address both – particularly given our financial results and outlook for the second half of 2024, which is tougher than previously expected.

Gelsigner stated that the decision to lay off 15,000 of Intel's employees is "the hardest thing I’ve done in my career." He added that the company will launch an "enhanced retirement offering" along with a program to accept voluntary departures sometime next week.

The news comes at the same time that Intel revealed its financial results for the second quarter of 2024. Revenues came in at $12.8 billion, which was down 1 percent from the same period a year ago. It lost $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to a net income of $1.47 billion for the same period a year ago.

In addition to the layoffs, which are expected to be mostly completed by the end of 2024, Intel also announced a cost reduction plan that will total $10 billion. Intel hopes to spend about $20 billion for all of 2024, followed by just 17.5 billion in 2025. It also plans to cut costs even further in 2026 but did not provide details. Intel will also pause offering dividends for people who own stock in the company starting in the fourth quarter of 2024.

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iPhone sales for the quarter were $39.2 billion compared to a slightly higher $39.6 billion from the same period a year ago. Mac sales came in at $7 billion for the quarter, slightly up from $6.8 billion from a year ago. iPad sales were recorded at $7.2 billion for the quarter, much higher than revenues of $5.8 billion from a year ago.

The Wearables, Home, and Accessories section, which includes the Apple Watch and (presumably) the Apple Vision Pro headset, came in at $8.1 billion for the quarter, down from $8.3 billion from the same period a year ago. Apple's Services division, which includes Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, and more, had revenues of $24.2 billion, which is much higher than the revenues of $21.2 billion from the same period a year ago.

Apple CEO Tim Cook was quoted in the press release as saying:

During the quarter, we were excited to announce incredible updates to our software platforms at our Worldwide Developers Conference, including Apple Intelligence, a breakthrough personal intelligence system that puts powerful, private generative AI models at the core of iPhone, iPad, and Mac. We very much look forward to sharing these tools with our users, and we continue to invest significantly in the innovations that will enrich our customers’ lives, while leading with the values that drive our work.

Apple's next major hardware release will likely be the iPhone 16 family of smartphones. That's expected to happen sometime in September, along with the official release of iOS 18.

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The game has been available on the Epic Games Store as an Early Access title since October 2022. However, the game's Steam launch will add a ton of new features, including a new playable faction, support for up to 10 players in online multiplayer, and a new in-game mod browser that will allow for easy access to fan-created content for the game.

Here's a look at the features players can expect for the Steam launch of Sins of a Solar Empire II:

• Three playable races including the Advent, Vasari, and TEC return with two sub-factions that utilize unique items, mechanics, and Empire Systems to achieve total victory
• Orbiting planets that dynamically alter the map during play, requiring players to gradually shift strategies as new challenges and opportunities emerge
• Minor factions that provide unique capabilities to players that befriend them through a new influence system
• Enhanced tactical battles and deeper combat simulation including lasers and missiles that can be blocked or deflected
• New economy model that allows players to truly customize their worlds to fit production needs
• Ten-player multiplayer matches that allow players to seamlessly join or resume games
• Build and command thousands of high-fidelity ships in a new engine built from the ground-up for Sins of a Solar Empire II
• Capital ships that can be equipped with special augmentations to be more effective in battle
• New in-game mod browser allows for easy installation for user generated content and maps

Owners of the game from the Epic Games Store will get all of the new features on August 15 as well, and there are plans to continue to add new content and features after the Steam launch.

You can wishlist the game now on Steam. It will be priced at $39.99 for the standard edition when it launches. There will also be a Sins of a Solar Empire II - Premium Edition that will be priced at a discount of $79.99 for August 15. In addition to the base game, it will add its digital soundtrack and its first Content Pass post-launch.

Disclaimer: Neowin's relationship to Stardock

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In a support page that was quietly posted this week, Nvidia confirmed that starting sometime in November 2024, it will stop updating the GeForce NOW app and end its official support.

The support page added:

If GeForce NOW is already installed on a legacy operating system, you will be unable to update to the latest GeForce NOW app. We recommend using a fully supported operating system to continue playing, not just to have the latest GeForce NOW app updates but also because it may become required to play games on GeForce NOW in the future.

The support page did not offer a specific date for when the GeForce Now apps will end the support for those older PC operating systems.

The Nvidia support page does note that if you still insist on using a PC with those older operating systems, you can still connect and play on the GeForce NOW service with a supported web browser at its official website. However, it does add that even if a web browser on those operating systems can access the GeForce NOW site they "may not support the latest versions and security updates on legacy operating systems."

A post on the Nvidia GeForce NOW blog also reveals what games are being added to the service this week:

• Stormgate Early Access (New release on Steam, July 30)
• Space for Sale (New release on Steam, July 30)
• Cyber Knights: Flashpoint (Steam)
• Dark and Darker (Steam)
• Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess (Xbox, available on PC Game Pass)
• Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess Demo (Steam and Xbox)

It also posted what will be added to the service during the month of August:

• Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks (New release on Steam, Aug. 6)
• Ratten Reich (New release on Steam, Aug. 9)
• Level Zero Extraction (New release on Steam, Aug. 13)
• shapez 2 (New release on Steam, Aug. 15)
• Akimbot (New release on Steam, Aug. 29)
• Gori: Cuddly Carnage (New release on Steam, Aug. 29)
• MEMORIAPOLIS (New release on Steam, Aug. 29)
• Visions of Mana (New release on Steam, Aug. 29)
• Breachway (New release on Steam, Aug. 30)
• Star Wars Outlaws (New release on Ubisoft, Aug. 30)
• Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (Steam)
• Heading Out (Steam)
• Nine Sols (Steam)
• Saturnalia (Steam)
• We Were Here Too (Steam)

Remember that Nvidia is currently offering 50 percent discounts for both Priority and Ultimate GeForce NOW memberships in both month-to-month and 6-month subscription plans. The big discount is available until August 18.

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In a post on the Xbox Wire site, Microsoft stated there will be a ton of games, along with over 240 gaming stations, to show off titles from its first part studios and many third-party developers and publishers, at the Xbox Gamescom 2024 booth. Some will offer hands-on demos for attendees, while others will be available as a theater presentation at the booth, or just with a photo opportunity.

The official Xbox Gamescom site has an overview of the booth, along with the games that will be demoed or promoted at the booth. Here is the list of current and upcoming games that will be showcased in some way at the booth:

Xbox Games Studios

 

• Age of Mythology: Retold (Hands-On, Photo Opportunity)
• Ara: History Untold (Hands-On, Photo Opportunity)
• Avowed (Theatre Presentation, Photo Opportunity)
• Towerborne (Hands-On, Photo Opportunity)
• Forza Horizon 5 (Hands-On)
• Microsoft Flight Simulator (Hands-On)
• Sea of Thieves (Experience, Photo Opportunity)

 

Bethesda

 

• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (Theatre Presentation, Photo Opportunity)
• Starfield Shattered Space (Theatre Presentation, Photo Opportunity)
• The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road (Hands-On, Photo Opportunity)
• Fallout 76: Milepost Zero (Hands-On, Photo Opportunity)
• DOOM: The Dark Ages (Photo Opportunity)

 

Blizzard Entertainment

 

• World of Warcraft: The War Within (Experience, Prescheduled Creator Streaming, Photo Opportunity)
• Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred (Hands-On, Photo Opportunity)
• Diablo: Immortal (Daily Tournament Play, Photo Opportunity)

 

Games from Partner Studios

 

• Valorant (Hands-On)
• Star Wars Outlaws (Hands-On, Experience)
• Little Nightmares 3 (Hands-On, Photo Opportunity)
• Date Everything (Hands-On)
• Space Marines 2 (Hands-On)
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl (Hands-On)
• Dustborn (Hands-On)
• Commandos: Origins (Hands-On, Photo Opportunity)
• Farming Simulator 25 (Hands-On)
• Fortnite Festival (Hands-On)
• Marvel Rivals (Hands-On)
• Mecha BREAK (Hands-On)
• Planet Coaster 2 (Hands-On)
• Atomfall (Hands-On)
• Visions of Mana (Hands-On)

 

Indie Selects from ID@Xbox

 

• Squirrel with a Gun (Hands-On)
• The Alters (Hands-On)
• Descenders 2 (Hands-On)
• Winter Burrow (Hands-On)
• Voidtrain (Hands-On)
• REPLACED (Hands-On)
• Overthrown (Hands-On)
• Parcel Corps (Hands-On)
• KILL KNIGHT (Hands-On)
• Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter (Hands-On)
• All You Need is Help (Hands-On)
• Creatures of Ava (Hands-On)
• Train Sim World 4 (Hands-On)
• Star Trucker (Hands-On)
• Let's Build a Dungeon (Hands-On)
• Spirit of the North 2 (Hands-On)
• Funko Fusion (Hands-On)

In addition to the games that will be promoted at the Xbox booth during Gamescom 2024, the booth will have an official Xbox Gear Shop where attendees can get merch from Microsoft Xbox, Bethesda, Activision, and Blizzard games. Microsoft will also be live streaming from Gamescom from August 21-23 starting at 6 am Pacific time (9 am Eastern time).

There will also be special giveaways at the Xbox booth with prices like Game Pass codes, OMEN PC monitors and more.

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Paul's Hardware (1.48M subscribers)

August 1, 2024

Video length: 14m 19s

0:00 Welcome to Probing Paul #88

1:03 Pre-Probing Notes

1:39 What Should Intel Users Do? 13th or 14th Gen - Best Advice I Have…

6:33 My PC Is Always Too Dusty, What Do?

8:51 Why do Youtubers focus on Gaming PC Builds?

11:23 External USB DAC or sound card? Which is better and why?

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