Sony is updating its PS4 software this week for both console and mobile platforms. The new PS4 Remote Play app for Android will work on all phones with Android 5.0 and up; it was previously available only on Sony Android phones. Remote Play is already available for iOS. Sony is also updating its Second Screen app that turns your phone into a companion device while console gaming. Second Screen will now include a voice transcription accessibility feature for group chats, which converts party voice chat to text, and enables you to enter text that is read aloud to other party members. The new software is rolling out this week.

Sony Interactive Entertainment has officially announced PS5 will be launching in late 2020, during the holidays season. This is the first time Sony has officially announced such a precise release window for its next-gen console. While everyone guessed so, this is also officially the first time Sony confirmed their next-gen console is indeed titled "PlayStation 5". The blog post furthermore mentions how the PS5 controller will be using two new innovations. The first one is using haptic feedback instead of rumble as it's been the case till now. The second innovation will be "adaptive triggers", to make the L2 and R2 buttons programmable by developers. This will allow devs to change the resistance of the triggers depending on the in-game action they correspond to, or depending on which situation the player is currently in. Sony confirms in the blog post some game studios already received early versions of the PS5 controller for development purposes.

In a newly published Wired article, Sony shared more details on the platform with a specific focus on its new controller:

• PlayStation 5 supports ray-tracing. This is not a software-level fix. "There is ray-tracing acceleration in the GPU hardware," system architect Mark Cerny said, "which I believe is the statement that people were looking for."
• Physical games will use 100 gigabyte optical discs, which are inserted into an optical drive that doubles as a 4K Blu-ray player.
• Game installation is mandatory, but a bit different than game installation on PlayStation 4. Installation and removal is a more configurable process. "Rather than treating games like a big block of data, we're allowing finer-grained access to the data," Cerny said. For example, you may be able to install just a game's multiplayer campaign, and leave the single-player campaign for later. Or install the whole thing and delete the single-player campaign when you have finished.
• The user interface has been completely revamped. "Even though it will be fairly fast to boot games, we don't want the player to have to boot the game, see what's up, boot the game, see what's up," Cerny said. "Multiplayer game servers will provide the console with the set of joinable activities in real time. Single-player games will provide information like what missions you could do and what rewards you might receive for completing them-and all of those choices will be visible in the UI. As a player you just jump right into whatever you like."
• The PlayStation 5 controller looks like the DualShock 4, but has a little hole in it, which Cerny said will be discussed at a later time. One of its new features is the "adaptive triggers," which offer varying levels of resistance, and can make shooting a bow feel authentic in that the tension increases as you pull the arrow back, or make shooting a machine gun feel different from shooting a shotgun. It also has haptic feedback "far more capable" than the rumble motors of current controllers, with "highly programmable" voice-coil actuators in the left and right grips of the controller.
• Sony demonstrated the controller features with demos of Astro Bot: Rescue Mission and Gran Turismo Sport. Here are Wired's impressions:
  • Astro Bot: Rescue Mission - "I ran a character through a platform level featuring a number of different surfaces, all of which gave distinct-and surprisingly immersive-tactile experiences. Sand felt slow and sloggy; mud felt slow and soggy. On ice, a high-frequency response made the thumb sticks really feel like my character was gliding. Jumping into a pool, I got a sense of the resistance of the water; on a wooden bridge, a bouncy sensation."
  • Gran Turismo Sport - "Driving on the border between the track and the dirt, I could feel both surfaces. Doing the same thing on the same track using a DualShock 4 on a PS4, that sensation disappeared entirely. It wasn't that the old style rumble feedback paled in comparison, it was that there was no feedback at all. User tests found that rumble feedback was too tiring to use continuously, so the released version of Gran Turismo Sport simply didn't use it."
• The PlayStation 5 controller uses a USB Type-C connector for charging and has a larger-capacity battery. While a bit heavier than the DualShock 4, it will still be a bit lighter than the current Xbox controller "with batteries in it."
• A number of studios already have PlayStation 5 development kits, and the controller prototypes began rolling out more recently.
• Shadow of the Colossus developer Bluepoint Games is working on a PlayStation 5 title. "We're working on a big one right now," said Bluepoint Games president Marco Thrush. "I'll let you figure out the rest." He added, "The SSD has me really excited. You don't need to do gameplay hacks anymore to artificially slow players down-lock them behind doors, anything like that. Back in the cartridge days, games used to load instantly; we're kind of going back to what consoles used to be."


While PlayStation 5 is still more than a year away, Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Jim Ryan said in a PlayStation Blog post that there are still "plenty of blockbuster experiences coming your way on PS4, including Death Stranding, The Last of Us Part II, and Ghost of Tsushima."

Activision has released the launch gameplay trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is due out for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Battle.net on October 25.

AMD today released a newest update to its Radeon Adrenalin driver. Dubbed version 19.10.1, the new release brings many new bug fixes and improvements to the table. For starters it will enable support for the newly released Radeon RX 5500 an 5500M desktop and mobile graphics cards, so now the buyers of these cards will have a driver from day one to start their experience smoothly. Additionally, support for the upcoming game "GRID", set to release on October 11th, is also included with this driver release.

Support For:

• AMD Radeon RX 5500 desktop graphics products
• AMD Radeon RX 5500M mobile graphics products
• GRID

Fixed Issues:

• Borderlands 3 may experience an application crash or hang when running DirectX 12 API.
• Borderlands 3 may experience lighting corruption when running DirectX 12 API.
• Display artifacts may be experienced on some 75hz display configurations on Radeon RX 5700 series graphics system configurations.
• Radeon FreeSync 2 capable displays may fail to enable HDR when HDR is enabled via Windows OS on Radeon RX 5700 series graphics products system configurations.
• Some displays may intermittently flash black when Radeon FreeSync is enabled and the system is at idle or on desktop.

Known Issues:

• Radeon RX 5700 series graphics products may experience display loss when resuming from sleep or hibernate when multiple displays are connected.
• Toggling HDR may cause system instability during gaming when Radeon ReLive is enabled.
• Call of Duty : Black Ops 4 may experience stutter on some system configurations.
• Open Broadcasting Software may experience frame drops or stutter when using AMF encoding on some system configurations.
• HDMI overscan and underscan options may be missing from Radeon Settings on AMD Radeon VII system configurations when the primary display is set to 60hz.
• Stutter may be experienced when Radeon FreeSync is enabled on 240hz refresh displays with Radeon RX 5700 series graphics products.
• AMD Radeon VII may experience elevated memory clocks at idle or on desktop.

AMD has officially announced its latest mid-range graphics cards, the AMD Radeon RX 5500 series. This basically means that the red team will release three variants which are: RX 5500M, RX 5500 and RX 5500 XT. The first one is for mobile whereas the other two are for desktop.

The RX 5500 series will feature GDDR6 memory and a 128-bit bus. Thus, its theoretical maximum bandwidth will reach 224 GB/s. The RX 5500 will support up to 4GB of memory, whereas the RX 5500XT will support up to 8GB.

Moreover, AMD claims that the RX 5500 provides 1.6X performance per Watt over RX 480. Its chip will also have more transistors than Polaris 10 (6.4B vs 5.7B). Videocardz has shared an image with all the known specifications for the new RX 5500 and RX 5500XT. And while AMD promises that RX 5500 series will be available this quarter, there is no specific date yet or price.

Star Trek fans have been eagerly awaiting the new series Star Trek: Picard, slated to debut in January 2020. It was first announced at the Las Vegas Star Trek Convention in August 2018, and a nice long trailer just debuted at this weekend's New York Comic-Con. It's practically a Star Trek: The Next Generation reunion, featuring plenty of familiar faces alongside the new cast.

Sleep well :-D

This cat is ready for spooky season 👻 from r/aww

YouTube and technician Louis Rossmann decided to crack open a malfunctioning MacBook Air to see what was going wrong with the machine. What he found inside did not please him.

Taking Vitamin C won't cure your cold, why did we think it would to begin with?

Could be the intro to a 007 film! :-D

What if Endgame were a Disney movie? Or a horror movie? Find out now!

The Asus ROG Phone II is a beast of a phone. It's loaded to the gills with top-end specs and unique extra features that cater to hard-core gamers. But some of its wilder specs - like its massive 6,000 mAh battery and huge screen - might appeal to casual gamers, and even people who don't game on their phones at all.

We're just five days away from Patch Tuesday, the day that Microsoft will release new updates for all supported versions of Windows. Apparently, the company just couldn't wait, as it released a whole round of updates today. Unlike most non-Patch Tuesday updates, these are actually mandatory. That means that your PC will install it automatically at some point. The updates are billed as security updates, fixing an issue where print jobs might fail. As always, you have the option of installing it manually, or letting it install automatically through Windows Update.

• Version 1903 - KB4524147 (build 18362.388 / download)
• Version 1809 - KB4524148 (build 17763.775 / download)
• Version 1803 - KB4524149 (build 17134.1040 / download)
• Version 1709 - KB4524150 (build 16299.1421 / download)
• Version 1703 - KB4524151 (build 15063.2079 / download)
• Version 1607 - KB4524152 (build 14393.3243 / download)
• Version 1507 - KB4524153 (build 10240.18335 / download)

The 10th generation Core X HEDT processor family is based on the new 14 nm++ "Cascade Lake" silicon, which comes with hardware fixes against several classes side-channel vulnerabilities, and introduces an updated instruction-set that includes more AVX-512 instructions, and the new DLBoost instruction. DLBoost leverages new fixed-function hardware on silicon to accelerate AI deep-learning neural-set building and training by up to 5 times. Intel's first wave of 10th gen Core X lineup is rather slim, with just four processor models. The company did away with the Core i7 brand extension, as core-counts in the mainstream desktop segment have already reached 8-core. The lineup now begins at 10-core/20-thread, with the chip's full 48-lane PCI-Express and 4-channel DDR4 interfaces enabled across the board. All models feature the "XE" brand extension, and feature unlocked base-clock multipliers. The Core i9-10900XE is your gateway to the series. This 10-core/20-thread chip comes with a fascinating price-tag of just USD $590, a significant drop from the $999 price for the previous-generation 10-core chip, the i9-9900X. It's clocked higher, with 3.70 GHz nominal, 4.50 GHz Turbo Boost 2.0, 4.70 GHz Turbo Boost Max 3.0 and 4.30 GHz all-core Turbo. The chip is endowed with 1 MB of dedicated L2 cache per core, and 19.25 MB of shared L3 cache.

The Core i9-10920XE is a $689 12-core/24-thread chip priced under AMD's upcoming flagship AM4 model, the Ryzen 9 3950X. It's marginally faster than its predecessor, the i9-9920X, with 3.50 GHz base clocks (same), 4.60 GHz Turbo Boost 2.0, 4.80 GHz Turbo Boost Max 3.0, and 4.30 GHz all-core turbo. Interestingly, the increase in core-count doesn't bring additional L3 cache, you get the same 19.25 MB.

The next step in this series is the $784 Core i9-10940XE, a 14-core/28-thread processor clocked at 3.30 GHz, with 4.60 GHz Turbo Boost 2.0, 4.80 GHz Turbo Boost Max 3.0, and 4.10 GHz all-core turbo. Yet again, you get just 19.25 MB of shared L3 cache. Interestingly, Intel did not plan a 16-core/32-thread model in this series, you jump straight to the flagship.

Leading the pack is the Core i9-10980XE, an 18-core/36-thread processor priced at a mouth-watering $979, which is less than half that of the previous-generation Core i9-9980XE. It ticks at 3.00 GHz, with 4.60 GHz Turbo Boost 2.0, 4.80 GHz Turbo Boost Max 3.0, and 3.80 GHz all-core turbo. You get a larger 24.75 MB of shared L3 cache. All four chips have their TDP rated at 165 W.

According to Planet 3DNow, owners of AMD's Ryzen CPUs will receive a new microcode update said to feature many performance fixes and improvements that bring additional features. Dubbed AGESA 1.0.0.4, the new microcode improvement should bring over 100 new features that don't just include bug fixes, but also additional features. Leaked by MSI's "Insider Show" YouTube series host Eric Van Beurden, he revealed that new microcode will arrive next month after getting tested by motherboard manufacturers for stability and compatibility with existing models of motherboards. Unfortunately, Van Beurden didn't reveal anything specific about what features will be present with the new AGESA microcode update, however we can expect to see plenty of new additions, and possibly higher CPU performance that further firmware optimizations bring.

NVIDIA today released an hotfix driver for their GeForce Suite. Version 436.51 includes fixes specific for FIFA 19, FIFA 20 and Star Wars: Battlefront II, where these games would randomly crash to desktop; and also for Apex Legends, where the screen would intermittently flicker during gameplay. Other than that, there are no other changes compared to their latest Game Ready Drivers, version 436.48. Follow the NVIDIA link in the source to download this latest software suite, which apparently isn't being distributed over GeForce Experience.

The Apple says that the new iPhone 11 Pro has the toughest glass on a smartphone... but they didnt say anything about it acting like a chalk board. The new iPhone 11 has a subtle frosted textured glass, and in todays durability test we are going to see how that piece of glass handles different materials. Keys, coins, and razorblades are going to come in contact with the new iPhone 11 Pro Max. The results might surprise you.

Starting today and for a limited time only, gamers in the U.S. and U.K who join Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or Xbox Game Pass for PC (Beta) for the first time will also receive 6 months of Spotify Premium. With all the benefits of Xbox Live Gold, access to a curated library of over 100 great games on console and PC, and millions of songs available on-demand on Spotify, new members will never run out of hits for their gaming playlists. Let me point out the biggest deal here:  it's only a $1 to upgrade to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate right now.  Already an Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass for Console member? When you upgrade to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $1, you convert your pre-paid time on Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate credit, AND you get 6 months of Spotify Premium on top of it.

The Surface Duo is essentially a smaller version of the Surface Neo, a dual-screen tablet not unlike Microsoft's Courier concept. The prototype shown today features two 5.6-inch displays that unfold to form an 8.3-inch tablet. Unlike the gimmicky folding phones being pushed by other companies, Microsoft's solution is two separate screens, meaning you won't have the durability issues that plague folding screen... and you can fold them completely back, just like a 2-in-1 laptop, for even more usage modes. Surface Duo, as you may have guessed, won't run a modified version of Windows like the company's old phones did. Instead, the device will be built on Android. Interesting, right?

Intel is readying the i225-V "Foxville," its new generation of low-cost Ethernet PHY controllers for client-segment motherboards and notebooks. With it, the company will be mainstreaming 2.5 Gbps as the client-segment wired-networking standard, after nearly 15 years of 1 GbE dominance. The i225-V is expected to feature in the upcoming wave of socket LGA2066 motherboards for Intel's "Cascade Lake-X" HEDT processors, followed by the company's 400-series chipset that launches alongside the "Comet Lake-S" MSDT processors. The i225-V isn't the first of its kind, with the likes of Realtek and Broadcom having already launched 2.5 GbE PHYs. The Intel chip, however, is expected to mainstream the standard as it's currently the most popular GbE PHY brand with the success of the i219-V and i218-V.

Much like the i219-V, the i225-V is a low-cost PHY that relies on PCH-based Ethernet MAC and its proprietary PCIe-based bus that runs at half the data-rate of PCIe. This is precisely why the i219-V doesn't feature on AMD motherboards, but rather its pricier sibling, the i211-AT, which comes with an integrated MAC and a standard PCIe interface. Both chips are known to offer identical throughput performance, however, the i211-AT edges ahead with some features such as TCP segmentation, direct cache access, etc. The i219-V sells for as little as $1.5 per chip in high-volume reels to motherboard manufacturers, and the i225-V is expected to be priced roughly similar. In contrast, the i211-AT goes for almost $3.25 a pop. Intel is yet to publish documentation that details software features of the i225-V, but the Linux community is already on the job at developing drivers. 2.5 GbE uses existing Cat5E/Cat6 cabling requirements as 1 GbE, and hence has a better chance at mainstreaming compared to 10 GbE, which has been around for a decade, with little success in the client segment.

The end of extended support for Windows 7 is right around the corner. Users of the operating system will no longer get patches after January, and Microsoft is offering Extended Security Updates (ESUs) for businesses willing to pay up. But while the Redmond firm previously said it will only be available to Volume Licensing customers and some Microsoft 365 users on Windows 7 Professional or Enterprise, it announced today that small- and mid-size businesses (SMBs) will have the same options. The deal is the same, although Microsoft wasn't specific about pricing. ESUs will be provided for up to three years, and the price of the ESUs will increase on a yearly basis. Obviously, the goal is to get everyone on Windows 10 at some point, and it would seem that businesses aren't transitioning quite as fast as Microsoft would like. SMBs choosing this option will be able to use the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program, and they'll be able to sign up beginning on December 1. ESUs are sold on a per-device basis, and while Microsoft didn't specify pricing, there was a leak earlier this year that said that Windows 7 Enterprise ESUs start at $25 while Windows 7 Professional ESUs start at $50, and it doubles each year.

As you can see, there's quite a variety to choose from, from current super-hero epics to modern-day crime dramas and some truly classic films, action or otherwise.

1.Avengers: Infinity War
2.Black Panther
3.The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
4.300
5.Raiders of the Lost Ark
6.Road House
7.Hellboy (2004)
8.Olympus has Fallen
9.xXx
10.The Hurricane Heist

Both Intel and AMD invented a methodology that can select the fastest core to be the 'favored core'. However, as with anything, Windows does not recognize that. Basically an application could end up at the slowest core. That is going to change with a pending 'big' Windows update as Microsoft will be including favored core awareness into the OS, and that can speed up single-threaded applications up-to 15%. For Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0, an operating system will use information stored in the CPU to identify which cores are the fastest and then prioritize them, Intel, says "delivers more than 15% better single-threaded performance". "A CPU may have multiple "favored" cores (logical processors of the highest available scheduling class). To provide better performance and reliability, we have implemented a rotation policy that distributes work more fairly among these favored cores."

NVIDIA today released its latest GeForce software suite. Version 436.48 WHQL of these drivers come game-ready for the week's biggest AAA game release, Tom Clancy's "Ghost Recon: Breakpoint," and "Asgard's Wrath." The drivers also add support for the HTC VIVE Cosmos VR headset. Among the fixes with this release are an application crash with Tom Clancy's "The Division 2" in DirectX 12 mode, an error when trying to invoke GeForce Experience Freestyle or Ansel via hotkeys in games that use the Vulkan API, game crashes with "UBOAT," missing objects in "Tradesmen OS3DE," and a ghosting effect observed in Maxon Cinema 4D in with certain brushes.

NVIDIA GeForce 436.48 WHQL Driver Release Notes

Game Ready
Provides increased performance and the optimal gaming experience for Tom Clancy?s Ghost Recon Breakpoint and Asgard?s Wrath.

Gaming Technology
Adds support for the HTC VIVE Cosmos VR HMD.

Software Module Versions

• nView - 149.77
• HD Audio Driver - 1.3.38.21
• NVIDIA PhysX System Software - 9.19.0218
• GeForce Experience - 3.20.0.118
• CUDA - 10.1
• Standard NVIDIA Control Panel - 8.1.940.0
• DCH NVIDIA Control Panel - 8.1.956.0

Fixed Issues

• [UBOAT]: The game crashes due to memory allocation issues when launching Sandbox mode from the main menu. [2694301]
• [Tom Clancy?s The Division II]: The game may crash when played in DirectX 12 mode. [200406322]
• [Vulkan-based games]: Error message appears in the game when invoking GeForce Experience Freestyle or Ansel using the hot keys. [200549987]
• [Tradesmen OS3DE]: Some objects are missing in the game. [2691363]
• [Cinema4D]: Brushes produce a ghosting effect. [2633267]

Surprisingly, coke isn't the liquid that does the most damage to your teeth. And by damage, we mean having the enamel of your teeth just fall off like mulch.

On Episode 1 of UFC 243 Embedded, middleweight champion Robert Whittaker enjoys the calm before the storm, playing video games and wrangling his kids for a family photo shoot. Lightweight Al Iaquinta acclimates to Australia in the gym. Interim middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and lightweight Dan Hooker are greeted in Melbourne with a traditional haka. UFC 243 Embedded is an all-access, behind-the-scenes video blog leading up to the middleweight title unification bout taking place Saturday, October 5th.

Setting up a local account on Windows 10 was already a convoluted process: people had to make sure their device wasn't connected to the internet, confirm they don't have internet, click "Continue with limited setup" and then finally select the option to create an offline account. Otherwise the setup process would all but force them into setting up a Microsoft Account even though they really only wanted to use the system they had paid for. So how could that process be made even worse? The "Offline account" option has simply been renamed to "Domain join instead". Once clicking this option, you will see the familiar prompt that allows you to set your username and go through the motions to complete your install. Microsoft of course still tries once again to get you to create an online account, but you obviously don't have to at this point. It's a small change, but one that is likely to leave more than a few customers scratching their heads on how to create a local account. And that is likely just what Microsoft wanted to do; sow confusion so that users would throw their hands up in frustration and simply cave to creating a Microsoft Account.

AMD today released their latest Radeon Software driver. Version 19.9.3. brings with it a much requested feature: support for Radeon Image Sharpening (RIS) on graphics cards based on the Vega architecture. It has been a sore point in the community for some time now how AMD's Vega, their high-performance architecture that offered greater performance than Polaris, was left in the dust in support for AMD's RIS, with only Navi (and then Polaris) users being able to benefit from the image quality-enhancing feature. Now, AMD has finally baked in driver support for that feature with Vega, so you can go on, install the latest driver, and see what it's all about. Additionally to adding RIS support for Vega, this driver includes specific performance and stability optimizations for Ghost Recon Breakpoint, the online tactical shooter from Ubisoft whose release is slated for October 4th. You can rest assured that you will have the best gameplay experience AMD could muster for launch day with this particular set of drivers

Over the weekend, news spread of an unpatchable "checkm8" exploit that could allow millions of iPhone users to quickly and easily jailbreak their handsets. Lest there was any doubt it works, the hacker who developed the exploit posted a video on Twitter showing checkm8 in action on an iPhone X running iOS 13.1.1. The bad news for Apple is the nature of this exploit makes patching it away impossible. That's because checkm8 works its magic in the iOS bootrom, which itself resides in read-only memory inside a chip in affected iPhone models. Any jailbreaks that leverage the iOS bootrom can't be mitigated with a software patch. "HACKED! Verbose booting iPhone X looks pretty cool. Starting in DFU Mode, it took 2 seconds to jailbreak it with checkm8, and then I made it automatically boot from NAND with patches for verbose boot. Latest iOS 13.1.1, and no need to upload any images," axi0mX stated in a Twitter post. Checkm8 works on every iPhone model from the iPhone X (and presumably iPhone XS Max and iPhone XS) down to the iPhone 4S, though not the newer iPhone 11 series. There are hundreds of millions of affected devices still in use, and iOS updates can't stop checkm8 from working. That said, this is technically not a full jailbreak, but an exploit. It requires being tethered to a Mac. Axi0mX notes in a follow-up tweet that "when it is not plugged in or in DFU it will boot to stock iOS 13.1.1." That is an inconvenience, though it also makes the prospect of a remote hack "impossible."

HACKED! Verbose booting iPhone X looks pretty cool. Starting in DFU Mode, it took 2 seconds to jailbreak it with checkm8, and then I made it automatically boot from NAND with patches for verbose boot. Latest iOS 13.1.1, and no need to upload any images. Thanks @qwertyoruiopz pic.twitter.com/4fyOx3G7E0

— axi0mX (@axi0mX) 29. záøí 2019

AMD announced the 2019 edition of its "Raise the Game" game-bundle offer that goes with purchase of its Ryzen desktop processors and Radeon RX graphics cards. The bundle extends the 3-month Xbox Game Pass to a much larger part of AMD's product lineup, and not just the Radeon RX 5700-series. The bundle introduces three new AAA games to the mix - Tom Clancy's "Ghost Recon: Breakpoint," "The Outer Worlds," and "Borderlands 3," including AMD-exclusive in-game content. Depending on what AMD product you buy, you either get both games, or get to choose between the two. The 3-month Xbox Game Pass stays included. AMD's flagship Ryzen 9 series and Ryzen 7 3800X includes both games - "The Outer Worlds" and "Borderlands 3," - and the 3-month Xbox Game Pass. The Ryzen 7 3700X, 3600X, 2700X, and 2700 include one of the two games - "The Outer Worlds" or "Borderlands 3," and the 3-month Xbox Game Pass. The Ryzen 5 3600, 3400G, and Ryzen 5 2000-series include just the 3-month Xbox Game Pass. Over in the GPU front, buyers of Radeon RX 5700-series, RX 590, RX 580, and RX 570, get to choose one of the two games - Tom Clancy's "Ghost Recon: Breakpoint" or "Borderlands 3," and also receive the 3-month Xbox Game Pass. The Radeon VII, Radeon RX Vega series, and Radeon RX 560 stocks include 3-month Xbox Game Pass. You also get to choose either of the two games when you buy a qualifying pre-built desktop or notebook powered by AMD Ryzen or Radeon products

Like the already announced Ryzen 3000 desktop processors, the Ryzen 3000 Pro family is based on AMD's 7nm Zen 2 architecture. At this time, there are three new Zen 2 processors that have been announced: Ryzen 5 Pro 3600, Ryzen 7 Pro 3700, and Ryzen 9 Pro 3900. All three processors have a TDP of just 65 watts, while the total amount of cache (L2 + L3) ranges from 35MB on the Ryzen 5 Pro 3600 to 70MB on the Ryzen Pro 3900. The most interesting member of the family is no doubt the Ryzen 9 Pro 3900, with its 12 cores and 24 threads. Interestingly, the specs for this processor lineup exactly with the Ryzen 9 3900 (without the "X") that we told you about late last week. That means that we're looking at a base clock of 3.1GHz and a boost clock of 4.3GHz. Given that these are "Pro" processors, they come with a number of security-centric features onboard aimed at businesses including AMD GuardMI, Memory Guard encryption, secure boot, and fTPM/TPM 2.0 (among others). AMD says that its new Ryzen Pro 3000 processors will be available during the fourth quarter.

A report that surfaced over the weekend claims the House Judiciary Committee is investigating Google's plan to add DNS over TLS to the Chrome browser. DNS is the service that takes an easier to remember and type a domain name, such as Google.com, and translates that into a site's physical IP addresses. TLS, in turn, refers to transportation layer security. DNS information is currently mostly unencrypted, and this allows service providers to see which websites a user visits and then monetize those traffic records. Google is reportedly considering integrating TLS into DNS in Chrome. There are some upsides to using DNS over TLS as it would help to protect Chrome users from spoofing attacks or unauthorized snooping into web traffic. However, the downside is that the change by Google would prevent service providers that don't support the new standard from observing user behavior when gathering data. Opponents to Google's plan have also pointed out that the company currently owns 64% of the global browser market and operates its own DNS service. Opponents note that Google could flip a switch and transfer Chrome users away from their service provider managed DNS to its Google Public DNS service. The opponents claim that would give Google an unfair advantage over user behavior data that is used for advertising purposes. House committee investigators sent Google a letter on September 13 that asked why it was promoting DNS over TLS and if any of the data it collects or processes will be used for profit. Google has denied that it has any plans to become "the centralized DNS provider" and that any claim it had that intention was inaccurate.

Sunny Cove is codename for Intel's first truly new performance CPU core design since "Skylake," and made its debut with the company's 10 nm "Ice Lake" processors, packing the first tangible IPC increase in years. VLSI guru Jim Keller is leading the effort to build Intel's future CPU core designs, and dropped a big hint on what to expect, speaking at a gathering in U.C. Berkeley. It's unclear which specific core Keller is referring to. The immediate successor to "Sunny Cove" is codenamed "Willow Cove," and Intel's own public sketch hints at an incremental upgrade over Sunny Cove, with faster caches and process-level optimization. It's only with "Golden Cove," slated for 2021, that Intel speaks of its next round of IPC increases (dubbed "ST perf"). It's plausible that Keller is referring to this core since a 2021 launch would fit better with a 2018-19 design phase.

In his talk, Keller describes Intel's next big CPU core as being "significantly bigger" than "Sunny Cove," with its 800-wide instruction window, and "massive" data- and branch-predictors, to put Intel back on a linear performance growth trajectory between generations. Keller also commented on this being a "mindset change" at Intel, which over the past decade, only delivered minor IPC increments between generations, and focused on other areas, such as efficiency. In stark contrast, through the 1990s and 2000s, Intel delivered IPC leaps between generations, such as the one between "Netburst" and "Conroe," and onwards to "Nehalem." These were in-part helped by rapid process advancements that slowed in the 2010s as Intel approached the sub-10 nm scale.

A motherboard maker has added support for AMD's yet-to-be-announced Ryzen 9 3900 CPU. The product will be one of the industry's first 12-core CPU featuring a mainstream TDP of 65 W. In addition, the same manufacturer revealed that there is a Pro version of the said CPU incoming. Biostar's X470NH motherboard recently gained support for AMD's yet-to-be-announced Ryzen 9 3900 CPU with a 65 W TDP, which may indicate that the launch of the unit is imminent. This is not the first time an unannounced CPU has been listed in a CPU validation list. As a second source, the processor was listed in Eurasian Economic Union's index of crypto-capable devices as a 'twelve-core microprocessor'. Based on the information provided by the sources, AMD's Ryzen 9 3900 is a 12-core CPU with SMT that operates at 3.1 GHz default frequency (and presumably featuring a 4.2 GHz maximum turbo frequency from a 3DMark listing) and a 65 W TDP. The relatively low thermal envelope makes the Ryzen 9 3900 compatible with mainstream motherboards and cooling systems and enables PC makers to build relatively small computers featuring a 12-core processor. Meanwhile, the Ryzen 9 Pro 3900 adds various security technologies, enterprise management, and reliability enhancements for business and corporate computers. It is unclear when exactly AMD plans to introduce its 12-core Ryzen 9 3900 and Ryzen 9 Pro 3900 processors and how much will they cost, yet it is reasonable to think that both products will be available in the near future.

In other news, AMD's Ryzen 9 3900X CPU which currently reigns supreme as the flagship offering of the 3rd Gen Ryzen lineup is facing a severe shortage across the globe and in all major retail outlets. The 12 core chip launched back in July at an introductory price of $499 US but you'd be lucky if you can find it now & for the same price. Now three months after the launch of the processor, it faces an incredible shortage throughout the globe. Just going through major retailers, the chip is now selling for $799.99 US on Newegg, $829.99 US on Amazon and $799.99 US (plus $222.03 Additional Costs) on eBay. The chip was selling for a lower price on Micro Center but is no longer available and same is the case with the renowned German retailer, MindFactory, who don't have the chip available anymore. There's also a 1-2 week shipping delay depending on the retailer you get the product from.

Check the the top auditions from magicians on America's Got Talent 2019!

This is exactly what internet was invented for! :-D

FYI, all music written and performed by John Mollusk. Inspired by, and all lyrics by Greta Thunberg.

They say the cameras on smartphones like the iPhone 11 Pro are getting so good they're close to replacing DSLR cameras, but just how much of that statement holds true?

Amazon's new Εcho Buds are true wireless Bluetooth earbuds with Amazon's Alexa voice assistant, although they are also compatible with Siri and Google Assistant. Using three microphones in each bud, they offer Bose Active Noise Reduction, as well as Passthrough Mode for bringing in ambient noise when desired. Each bud has two premium, balanced armature drivers for better sound. They're rated IPX4 to withstand "splashes, sweat, or light rain." The buds alone last 4-5 hours, and the case provides three additional charges. Using Alexa requires the Alexa app on your connected phone. Εcho Buds will cost $130. They are available for pre-order now and will ship October 30th

OnePlus today revealed the OnePlus 7T, a new model that's a blend of the 6T and 7 Pro, offering most of the best features of both, for less money than the 7 Pro. It has a small-notch screen design like the 6T, but in an extra-tall 20:9 ratio with full-HD resolution and HDR10+. The 20:9 ratio allows the 7T to be slightly narrower than the 7 Pro. It also has the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ processor, a slightly faster, gaming-optimized version of the top-end 855. Like the 7 Pro, it has three rear cameras (standard, wide, and telephoto) including a 48-megapixel main sensor, but the telephoto camera has been upgraded from 8 megapixels to 12. A new Macro Mode lets users to get up close to a focus distance of 2.5cm. Also like the 7 Pro, it has 90 Hz display refresh rate, "Warp Charge" fast charging, 128 GB of UFS 3.0 storage, Cat 18 LTE, and an in-display fingerprint reader. The 7T has 8 GB of RAM and a 3,800 mAh battery. It will ship with the just-released Android 10. Available color options are Glacier Blue and Frosted Silver. It will sell for $599 unlocked starting October 18th, and T-Mobile will be the exclusive US carrier for it.

DP Truong demonstrates his skill at crafting two drawings at the same time.

Chinese website ITHome has new info on the release of NVIDA's GeForce GTX 1660 Super graphics cards. According to their website, the release is expected for October 22nd, which seems credible, considering NVIDIA always launches on a Tuesday. As expected, the card will be built around the Turing TU116 graphics processor, which also powers the GTX 1660 and GTX 1660 Ti. Shader counts should either be 1472, because NVIDIA wants to position their card between GTX 1660 (1408 cores) and GTX 1660 Ti (1536 cores). The memory size will be either 4 GB or 6 GB. Specifications of the memory are somewhat vague, it is rumored that NVIDIA's GTX 1660 Super will use GDDR6 chips, just like GTX 1660 Ti - the plain GTX 1660 uses GDDR5 memory. Another possibility is that shader count matches GTX 1660, and the only difference (other than clock speeds) is that GTX 1660 Super uses GDDR6 VRAM.

The Chinese pricing is expected around 1100 Yuan, which converts to $150 - surprisingly low, considering GTX 1660 retails at $210 and GTX 1660 Ti is priced at $275. Maybe NVIDIA is adjusting their pricing to preempt AMD's upcoming Radeon RX 5500/5600 Series. Videocardz has separately confirmed this rumor with their sources at ASUS Taiwan, who are expected to launch at least three SKUs based on the new NVIDIA offering, among them DUAL EVO, Phoenix and TUF3 series.

After continuously testing its Project xCloud streaming gaming service in an internal group, Microsoft is now looking to expand its testing of the service for a broader audience. This will be done via a Beta launch of the service, available at first only for residents in the US and UK (click here, and (South) Korea (click here). The idea is to stress-test the service, since according to Microsoft, "It's time to put Project xCloud to the test in a broader capacity, with a range of gamers, devices, network environments and real-world use-case scenarios, and this is where you come in." There is no end in sight for the Beta: Microsoft wants it to last "until customers are consistently reporting a great, fun experience and the technology meets our internal quality standards."

The only thing that's needed to participate is a Bluetooth Xbox One controller that you can connect to whatever device you want, be it a smartphone, tablet, or other streaming-capable device. The idea here is to test the xCloud service in as broad hardware and network configurations as possible, and it's a Beta, so remember to cool your expectations adequately. You won't be able to play games that are already connected to your account - Microsoft offers a curated selection of titles that includes (for the time being) Halo 5: Guardians, Gears 5, Killer Instinct, and Sea of Thieves.

The new Apple Watch is out today, and it pretty much has one new feature, an always-on display. Announced a week and a half ago, you'll finally be able to see the time without raising your wrist. Apple says that the display can go between 1Hz and 60Hz, so the new feature shouldn't affect battery life by much, still promising 18 hours.

Cricket is offering a choice of eight different phones for free to new customers through the end of the month, and two models after that. Until October 1st, the free choices include several mid-range models such as the Moto g7 Supra, LG Stylo 5, and Nokia 3.1 Plus. Also free are the Samsung Galaxy J2 Pure, LG Harmony 2, LG Fortune 2, Moto e5 Cruise, and Nokia 3.1 C. After Oct. 1st, the Moto e5 Cruise will continue to be free until Nov. 21. The Samsung J2 Pure will be free again Oct. 11 - Nov. 21.

Intel is constantly having troubles with its silicon manufacturing business lately. Firstly the late delivery of 10 nm, then the shortage of 14 nm chips that started all the way back in 2018. Despite the making of $1 Billion investment into extending its 14 nm production capacity, there seems to be no end of troubles in sight. According to sources close to DigiTimes, 14 nm production has fallen short of demand again and will likely cause many notebook manufacturers to delay their products to 2020. Most likely victim of this delay is the newly announced 10th generation mobile CPUs codenamed Comet Lake. Those CPUs were supposed to be built using Intel's "14nm++" revision of 14 nm technology which targets higher CPU frequencies and improved efficiency, but most likely due to continued shortage of 14nm, there will be only a few notebooks powered by these chips. As the source suggests, many manufacturers are likely to delay the launch of their products to 2020, when this situation is supposed to be resolved.

FinalWire Ltd. today announced the immediate availability of AIDA64 Extreme 6.10 software, a streamlined diagnostic and benchmarking tool for home users; the immediate availability of AIDA64 Engineer 6.10 software, a professional diagnostic and benchmarking solution for corporate IT technicians and engineers; the immediate availability of AIDA64 Business 6.10 software, an essential network management solution for small and medium scale enterprises; and the immediate availability of AIDA64 Network Audit 6.10 software, a dedicated network audit toolset to collect and manage corporate network inventories. The new AIDA64 release implements AVX optimized benchmarks for Zhaoxin processors, adds PCIe 4.0 and NVMe 1.4 devices support, monitoring of sensor values on Matrix Orbital EVE3 displays, and supports the latest AMD and Intel CPU platforms as well as the new graphics and GPGPU computing technologies by both AMD and nVIDIA.

While the rest of CD Projekt Red is busy with Cyberpunk 2077, company co-founder Michal Kicinski is bringing a minimalistic mobile phone to Kickstarter. The Mudita Pure is available to pre-order today and "aims to improve your wellbeing" by ditching apps, LCD screens, games, internet, and most most features high up on most shoppers' lists.

What the Mudita Pure does have is a 2.84-inch E-Ink screen, a multi-band global GSM module, its own Mudita OS, tethering functionality, a loudspeaker, a music player for said loudspeaker, and a battery life up to 14 days on standby - those were the days. What has also survived the modern day distraction cull is the Medita Pure's meditation timer - or 'timer' as it's more commonly known - which will ensure you never miss a yoga session or chance to align your chakras.

The phone has been built from the ground up to ensure that you can stay offline when you don't want to be disturbed. That means no internal browser (but it can be used to connect to another device), and a slider on the side that shifts from connected to do not disturb or offline.

The phone itself is 14 x 1.4 x 59cm and has been designed to look like... a pebble. It's plain and simple, essentially. It's also rather stylish in its simplicity.

You can pick up the Mudita Pure on Kickstarter right now starting at $221, discounted from the full retail price of $369, and the campaign will likely be funded by the time I finish writing this sentence.

The Galaxy Fold is here for its official durability test! See what your phone looks like with the new Robot Skin HERE: https://dbrand.com/robot The Galaxy Fold was announced about a year ago, but then over the course of that year, the Samsung Galaxy Fold was delayed for quite a while because of structural issues. The screen wasn't strong enough, and dust was getting inside the device. So Samsung canceled their customers preorders, added a few new slight design changes, and here we are, almost a year after the first announcement, with Version 2 of the Galaxy Fold. Is this new version of the Galaxy Fold stronger than the original? Is it strong enough for every day life? Today we will find out with a Samsung Galaxy Fold durability test. We are going to see what the Fold is made out of, and see how soft the inner screen is. And maybe find out why so many of them were breaking in the first place.

Samsung has finally set a US release date for its delayed and tweaked Galaxy Fold: this Friday, Sept. 27th. While T-Mobile had originally planned to offer the Fold, now it will only be available from AT&T and in an unlocked version. Select Best Buy and Samsung Experience Stores will sell both the unlocked version and the AT&T version. The Fold will come with a special support offering called Galaxy Fold Premier Service. This will include a dedicated phone number, video chat service, and in-person support. "Samsung experts" will be available for complimentary "onboarding" as well as ongoing support. The Galaxy Fold is the first smartphone for the US with a flexible pOLED screen that actually folds in half. It also has a full touchscreen interface on the outside. Its specs are similar to the high-end Galaxy S10+, including a top-end Snapdragon 855 processor, 12 GB of RAM, and triple rear cameras (wide, standard, and telephoto.) The Fold was originally slated to launch April 26th of this year, but the launch was delayed after multiple reviewers experienced serious issues soon after receiving the phone. The design has since been improved to address the issues seen on the original design.

Following the well-received launch of Apple Arcade, Google today is officially introducing its own take on subscription-based access to premium mobile games - or, in Google's case, premium mobile apps, too. The new Google Play Pass subscription, arriving this week, will offer over 350 apps and games that are completely unlocked, with no upfront fees, in-app purchases, or advertisements. And the initial price point is something of a no-brainer - it's just $1.99 per month for the first year, Google says. That price will increase to $4.99 per month after the first 12 months have passed, which is the same price as Apple Arcade at launch. This launch promotion is only available until October 10, 2019, however.

The two services are similar in concept, as both are providing a large library of premium content for a monthly subscription. But there are some differences between the two. For starters, Apple Arcade is filled with exclusives - meaning its games will not be found on Andriod. The reverse is not true for Google Play Pass. Instead, the Play Pass catalog includes many cross-platform titles, including some that even found their fame first on iOS, like ustwo's Monument Valley.

Notable launch titles include Stardew Valley, Risk, Terraria, Monument Valley, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Reigns: Game of Thrones, Titan Quest, and Wayward Souls. Some lesser-known additions include LIMBO, Lichtspeer, Mini Metro, and Old Man's Journey. Others, like This War of Mine and Cytus, are coming soon. And for little kids, there are some preschooler-friendly titles like Toca Boca classics and the My Town series. In addition, Play Pass's launch titles aren't all games. There are also ad-free versions of popular mobile apps, like AccuWeather, Facetune, and Pic Stitch, for example.

Play Pass subscriptions can be shared with up to five family members and also integrate with Google's parental controls for the Play Store. Unlike Apple, Google isn't requiring more stringent privacy standards from apps included in Play Pass — though the removal of all ads is a big step forward for many of them.