SaLaH.

Corsair's "Plan your next power move" page covers speedy DDR5 RAM, CPU coolers, high-performance PSUs, and some tempting numbers for next-gen storage. It has also outed the name of its first PCIe 5.0 SSD as the Corsair MP700 Gen5 PCIe x4 NVMe 2.0 M.2 SSD. That's quite the mouthful. Importantly, this new SSD promises to hit 10,000MB/s reads and 9,500MB/s writes. That's speedy to be sure, although some way off the doubling of throughput that the new interface promises. For comparison, the MP600 Pro XT, which is a second-generation PCIe 4.0 drive built around Phison's E18 controller, manages 7,100MB/s reads and 6,800MB/s writes. Phison has already said that its new E26 controller is capable of hitting 13,500MB/s(opens in new tab), so Corsair could be playing it safe or possibly isn't using that controller. That's still plenty speedy in terms of straight throughput though, and besides sequential reads and writes are only part of the story. Random performance is important, and from the noises made by Phison(opens in new tab) and Sabrent(opens in new tab) recently, a drive's ability to handle sustained transfers for long periods of time is going to be vital to get the most out of DirectStorage. Keeping the drive running cool while sustaining high transfers and also handling drive maintenance duties looks to be key here, and could explain that 10,000MB/s figure. Alternatively, we may see a similar situation as PCIe 4.0 which saw a notable uplift in performance going from first-generation and second-generation drives. There's a good chance that we'll find out more details about this new PCIe 5.0 SSD, and others for that matter, with the release of AMD's Zen 4. AMD's Ryzen 7000 CPUs will support PCIe 5.0 storage devices directly and are expected to be announced later this month at AMD's livestream event on August 29(opens in new tab). Intel's Raptor Lake, which is the follow-up to Alder Lake, is expected to be released at roughly the same time and will also natively support PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSDs. Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/corsair-mp700-pcie-5-ssd/

Discord, the platform for chatting with users across different servers about games and other topics, is rolling out a cheaper plan of its 'Nitro' subscription service for UK users on the desktop later today (August 18), called 'Nitro Basic'. Priced at approximately $2.99 a month to start with, Discord told TechRadar it had received feedback that users wanted to access the most po[CENSORED]r features without having to pay $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year for the regular Nitro plan(opens in new tab). Julie Park, Senior Director of Product Marketing at Discord, told us that the cheaper plan will be rolling out to UK users later today for desktop users, and for iOS users in the coming weeks. While there are only four features available to start with, what these are may just tempt some users who didn't want to pay for Nitro at its regular price every month or year. What's included in Nitro Basic? We asked Park why the test is beginning in the UK to start with, and we were told that it was due to the wide variety of age ranges and how Servers are used across the platform, alongside the UK being one of the most po[CENSORED]r markets for Nitro lately, which is why the location of the test made sense for the team. Arguably using Discord while you play a game has become second nature to some, especially due to it being integrated on both Xbox and PlayStation 5. However, Nitro Basic looks to be the best of both worlds for users - a cheaper monthly plan with four po[CENSORED]r features: Custom and Animated Emoji Increased file upload to 20MB Special Stickers Special badge to show that you're a subscriber to Nitro Basic You could argue that without these four features to start with, a cheaper Nitro subscription would almost be pointless. Thankfully, each of these will be tempting to many who use Discord almost daily. Emoji is part of the platform, and being able to use custom and animated emojis will tempt many on its own. Yet an increased file upload size limit, special stickers, and even the 'Nitro Basic' badge make this a compelling price for what you get. You don't, however, get one of the adorable fake-Funko-Pop-esque figurines Discord used in their marketing material, which is a shame. Source:https://www.techradar.com/news/discord-is-rolling-out-nitro-basic-today-a-cheaper-plan-with-some-great-features

OnePlus isn't just a phone brand, it's a personality brand. The company carved out a niche for itself among Android enthusiasts and power users with its “never settle” motto and flexible yet slick software. Even as its growing po[CENSORED]rity pushed it into the mainstream and prices kept rising, it remained different enough to keep its fans happy. However, all of that is now changing. OnePlus has been absorbed into sister company Oppo, their software efforts have been merged, and that differentiation is eroding. The brand new OnePlus 10T 5G is a bit intriguing since the ‘T' designation is usually used for mid-year refreshes, but there was no OnePlus 10. It's newer than the OnePlus 10 Pro (Review) and has a few features that could be considered more modern, but it being launched as a successor. In terms of price and positioning, the 10T 5G starts at Rs. 49,999 for the base variant with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. There's an option with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for Rs. 54,999, and if you want to go up to 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, it will cost just a little more at Rs. 55,999 So what exactly do you get? Is this just any old phone or has OnePlus found a new way to stand out? Here are our first impressions of the OnePlus 10T 5G. Instead of the usual tall OnePlus box, we have a pretty standard design now. It contains a protective case, a Red Cable Club membership card, some stickers, and a letter from OnePlus in addition to the phone it self, a huge 160W charger, and a red USB Type-C cable. You can see that there's some resemblance to the OnePlus 10 Pro 5G in the way that the cameras are arranged, but rather than a separate band, the rear panel of the 10T 5G just bulges a little. You'll also notice how extremely reflective the rear panel of this phone is. The volume buttons are on the left, the power button is on the right, and there's no alert slider. There are small speaker and mic holes on the top, and the bottom is where you'll find the dual-SIM tray, USB Type-C port and primary speaker.. Source:https://gadgets360.com/mobiles/reviews/oneplus-10t-launch-price-first-impressions-3218204#pfrom=indepth

While Intel plans to pull in release dates of its 13th Generation Core 'Raptor Lake' processors for notebooks, and many of these CPUs are set to be released later this year, until today, no benchmark results of those chips have leaked. Yet as Intel's partners begin to test new processors, some of their findings inevitably hit the Web. Today someone accidentally (or purportedly) published benchmark results of Intel's Core i5-13600HX processor in BAPCo's CrossMark benchmark(opens in new tab) (via @momomo_us(opens in new tab)). The CPU has 14 cores and can process 20 threads simultaneously, which means either a 6P + 8E configuration or a 4P and 10E cores configuration (we assume the latter). To add some context, Intel's Core i5-12600HX processor has 12 cores (4P + 8E cores). The CPU was tested using Intel's AlderLake-S SBGA DDR4 SODIMM CRB (customer reference board) equipped with 32GB of DDR4-3200 memory and two 1TB SSDs running in RAID mode as well as plugged into a 4K display. It is necessary to note that Intel's HX processors are aimed at desktop replacement laptops, and small form-factor desktops with good cooling as these CPUs feature base power of 55W and maximum turbo power of 157W. Since Intel's HX CPUs are not particularly po[CENSORED]r among users of the general-purpose CrossMark benchmark, we had to compare the results of Intel's Core i5-13600HX (with a balanced power profile) with the Core i5-12600H. Meanwhile, the hitch is that all latter results were obtained on a system equipped with a Full-HD monitor, so the comparison is not fair. Nevertheless, we took the best (which used the best performance power profile) and the worst(opens in new tab) results of the model i5-12600H to give some additional perspective. Another thing to point out is that BAPCo's CrossMark(opens in new tab) benchmark has three groups of tests(opens in new tab) (consisting of seven sub-scenarios) — Productivity (document editing, spreadsheets, web browsing), Creativity (photo editing, photo organization, video editing), and Responsiveness (application launches and the file opens taken from other sub scenarios) — designed to illustrate general system performance and responsiveness 'using models of real-world applications.' All these scenarios are very general, so while they can quantify the difference between an entry-level Core i3-powered machine and a high-end Core i9-based system, we doubt that BAPCO's CrossMark can accurately illustrate the difference between Intel's Alder Lake and Raptor Lake. Source:https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-raptor-lake-mobile-benchmarked

H.B!

Good activity but u must respect rules and other players and admins Remember activity isnt everything PRO from me

Despite launching a while back, Qualcomm’s 3D Sonic Max fingerprint sensor has yet to show up in any Samsung-branded smartphone for unknown reasons. Fortunately, 2023 might be the first time it gets employed on such a phone, as a rumor claims that the Galaxy S23 Ultra will ship with one. A 3D Sonic Max Fingerprint Reader Will Increase the Authentication Surface Area, Making It Easier to Unlock the Galaxy S23 Ultra Chinese manufacturers are quick to adopt the latest technologies, which is why Qualcomm’s 3D Sonic Max is found in flagships like the X80 Pro and iQOO 9 Pro, both of which belong to vivo. According to Alvin, a rumor is doing the rounds claiming that this security unit will be found in the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Having a 3D Sonic Max not only increases the surface area for users to authenticate, but the speed at which the lockscreen grants access to the home screen also increases. Qualcomm provides the following description of the 3D Sonic Max. The only logical explanation as to why Samsung has yet to use Qualcomm’s 3D Sonic Max on a flagship is increased manufacturing costs. The Korean manufacturer has incorporated an ultrasonic under-display fingerprint scanner on the Galaxy S22 Ultra, but we have yet to see a larger one on any of Samsung’s top-end models. In case you forgot, according to an agreement that Samsung and Qualcomm made in which all Galaxy S23 variants would ship with a Qualcomm chipset next year, perhaps an extra condition would have been shipping 3D Sonic Max sensors at a lower price. That ‘extra’ condition was not a part of the agreement during Qualcomm’s earnings call, but it could be something both companies discussed at length without any prying eyes interfering. We hope to see a larger and faster fingerprint scanner on the Galaxy S23 Ultra since it would eliminate the need to accurately place a registered fingerprint on a specific area of the screen. Let us hope the feature makes it to the final batch. Source:https://wccftech.com/galaxy-s23-ultra-shipping-with-qualcomm-3d-sonic-max-fingerprint-reader/

With a 28% increase in GPUs, it's now a top-7 supercomputer worldwide by GPU count Tesla has boosted its in-house AI supercomputer with thousands of additional Nvidia A100 GPUs. The Tesla supercomputer had 5,760 A100 GPUs about a year ago, and that count has since risen to 7,360 A100 GPUs — that's an additional 1,600 GPUs, or about a 28% increase. According to Tesla Engineering Manager Tim Zaman, this upgrade makes the firm's AI system a top-7 supercomputer worldwide by GPU count. An Nvidia A100 GPU is a powerful Ampere architecture solution aimed at data centers. Yes, it uses the same GPU architecture as GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs, which are some of the best graphics cards currently available. However, there is no close consumer relation to the A100, which comes with 80GB of HBM2e memory on board, offers up to 2 TB/s bandwidth, and requires up to 400W of power. The architecture of the A100 has also been tweaked for accelerating tasks common in AI, data analytics, and high-performance computing (HPC) applications. The first system Nvidia showed wielding the A100 was the Nvidia DGX A100, which packed in eight A100 GPUs linked via six NVSwitch with 4.8 TBps of bi-directional bandwidth for up to 10 PetaOPS of INT8 performance, 5 PFLOPS of FP16, 2.5 TFLOPS of TF32, and 156 TFLOPS of FP64 in a single node. That was eight A100 GPUs — Tesla's AI supercomputer now has 7,360 of these. Tesla hasn't publicly benchmarked its AI supercomputer, but the similarly-equipped GPU-based NERSC Perlmutter, which has 6,144 Nvidia A100 GPUs, achieves 70.87 Linpack petaflops. Using this and data from other A100 GPU supercomputers as performance reference points, HPC Wire estimates the Tesla AI supercomputer is capable of achieving about 100 Linpack petaflops. Tesla doesn’t intend to continue down the Nvidia GPU architecture path for its in-house AI supercomputers long-term. This world’s top-7 machine by GPU-count is merely a precursor to the upcoming Dojo supercomputer, which was first announced by Elon Musk back in 2020. A year ago we got a look at the Tesla D1 Dojo chip, which are designed to supplant Nvidia's GPUs for “maximum performance, throughput and bandwidth at every granularity.” The Tesla Dojo D1 is a custom ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) design, purposed for AI training, and it is one of the first ASICs in this field. Current D1 test chips are manufactured on TSMC N7 and pack in about 50 million transistors. More information about the Dojo D1 chip, and the Dojo system, might be revealed at next week's Hot Chips Symposium — three Tesla presentations are schedule for next Tuesday, addressing Dojo D1 chip architecture, Dojo and ML training, and enabling AI through system integration. Source:https://www.tomshardware.com/news/tesla-brags-about-in-house-supercomputer-now-with-7360-a100-gpus

According to a Tweet by @Zed__Wang, Nvidia has resurrected the RTX 3080 12GB SKU, in an effort to clear out more GA102 dies from its overstocked inventory. This is a very abrupt change by Nvidia since the 3080 12GB was reportedly dropped from production lines just two months ago. But, we can't blame Nvidia with the "oversupply" crisis going on right now surrounding high-end GPUs. For those unfamiliar with Nvidia's "stealthy" 3080 model, the 12GB was quietly introduced earlier this year in January at the sole request of AIB partners. We don't have an official explanation for why it was created, but the 3080 12 GB's specs suggest this model was designed to use up uniquely defective GA102 dies which had all 12 memory controllers working, but were unusable for 3080 Ti's and 3090s. This GPU model was launched at the height of the GPU crisis, so it makes that AIB partners would have asked for this model in particular. The RTX 3080 12GB's full specifications feature the fully unlocked memory system from the 3080 Ti, including a 384-bit-wide bus, and 12GB of VRAM for a total of 912GBps of memory throughput. But SM counts took a big hit from 80 to 70, resulting in a CUDA core count reduction of 1,280, to 8960. But compared to the 10GB model, this is a core count upgrade with 256 additional cores. Ironically, the buffed-up memory system makes the 3080 12GB a gaming beast, with the card actually outranking the 3080 Ti on our GPU benchmarks hierarchy. Considering that the RTX 3080 12GB could be quite a bit cheaper than the 3080 Ti, this is a great value. Now that Nvidia is dealing with oversupply issues, it makes sense Nvidia would resurrect the 3080 12GB to more efficiently distribute its overabundance of GA102 dies. Once this GPU becomes more widely available, Nvidia can price cut the 3080 10GB more aggressively, while keeping the 12GB model at a higher price. This strategy should allow Nvidia to sell more cards and make higher profits simultaneously. We also suspect the 3080 12GB will be sold at its lowest price ever since its launch in January. Even before the card supply dried up two months ago, you could snag a 3080 12GB for just $729 on a temporary discount. We wouldn't be surprised if Nvidia priced the 3080 12GB around this price, or even lower on a good sale Source:https://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-restarts-3080-12gb-production

Researchers at RWTH Aachen University in the team of Prof. Sebastian Trimpe and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) Stuttgart have recently developed the Wheelbot a symmetric reaction wheel unicycle that can autonomously jump onto its wheels from any initial position. This unique robot, introduced in a paper published in the IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters was fabricated using a combination of off-the-shelf and 3D printed components. "Our research group works at the intersection between data science and engineering. One particular direction of our research focuses on combining insights from control theory with machine learning," René Geist, member in Trimpe's team in Aachen and lead researcher behind the Wheelbot, told Tech Xplore. "Testbeds such as pendulums, robot arms, and quadcopters, help us to check if the theoretical assumptions underlying an algorithm are practical in reality. Ideally, these testbeds are simple to use while being challenging to control with state-of-the-art algorithms, forcing us to think outside the box." Two other examples of such testbeds are the so-called "Balancing Cube" and its descendant the "Cubli". These two systems have often helped to evaluate the effectiveness of network control systems and data-driven methods for achieving non-linear control. The recent work by Trimpe, Geist and their colleagues builds on these previous efforts in the field. Their goal was to develop a minimalistic unicycle robot that could be used as a testbed by roboticists and computer scientists worldwide. To do this, Trimpe and his research group at RWTH Aachen University joined forces with Jonathan Fiene, head of the ZWE Robotics laboratory at the MPI-IS. "Early on in the project, we opted for using brushless motors, as the ZWE robotics has plenty of experience using these in the open dynamic robot initiative, while prices for light-weight brushless motors dropped due to the widespread adaption of quadcopters in the consumer market," Geist explained. "When you look at a motor, arguably the simplest actuator one can come up with is to attach a wheel to it. If such a wheel touches the ground, we call it a 'rolling wheel', if it does not, we refer to it as a 'reaction wheel'." Balancing a single-body, non-flying robot with the ability to drive and perform maneuvers generally requires a minimum of two wheels. These can either be rolling wheels, resulting in a Segway-like robot or a single rolling wheel and a reaction wheel, resulting in what is known as a "reaction wheel"—or "moment exchange'—unicycle robot. Source:https://techxplore.com/news/2022-08-wheelbot-symmetric-unicycle-reaction-wheels.html

This Spider-Man Remastered RTGI PC mod aims to simulate full ray tracing on your rig. Created by ‘Hickley_’, this mod is a Reshade preset based on the po[CENSORED]r Reshade "RT" Global Illumination shader by Pascal ‘MartyMcFly’ Gilcher. Unfortunately, in order to use it, you’ll need Pascal Glitcher’s ReShade Global Illumination beta, which can be purchased ($ 5 USD) and downloaded via Patreon. In addition, this new preset uses Jak0bW's Motion Estimator FX, which can be downloaded from Github here. This Reshade preset aims to simulate full ray tracing as the Spider-Man Remastered only features ray traced reflections. As seen in the screenshots below, there’s plenty of bloom when using this preset, but we’re pretty sure some fans will love the result. Check out the comparison screenshots down below: Those interested can download the Spider-Man Remastered RTGI PC mod from Nexusmods. Spider-Man Remastered is available globally now on PC (through Steam) and PlayStation 5. The regular version is also available on PlayStation 4. Be sure to check out our PC analysis and the recent PC vs console comparison that we covered. Here's what Alessio Palumbo wrote in his analysis of Nixxes' excellent PC port: As for the game itself, if you aren't among the over 20 million gamers that already played it, then Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered PC is the proper way to rectify this mistake. As mentioned in the original PS4 review, this is undoubtedly one of the best superhero games ever made, which now looks better and performs smoothly provided you have the hardware. Whereas PS5 users have to decide between the Fidelity (4K+RT with dynamic resolution, 30FPS), Performance (1440p, 60 FPS), and RT Performance modes (1080/1440p+RT, 60 FPS), you can now get all the bells and whistles at once on your beefy PC. Source:https://wccftech.com/spider-man-remastered-rtgi-pc-mod/

Native DX9 hardware support is officially gone from Intel's Xe integrated graphics solutions on 12th Gen CPUs and A-Series Arc Alchemist discrete GPUs. To replace it, all DirectX 9 support will be transferred to DirectX 12 in the form of emulation. Emulation will run on an open-source conversion layer known as "D3D9On12" from Microsoft. Conversion works by sending 3D DirectX 9 graphics commands to the D3D9On12 layer instead of the D3D9 graphics driver directly. Once the D3D9On12 layer receives commands from the D3D9 API, it will convert all commands into D3D12 API calls. So basically, D3D9On12 will act as a GPU driver all on its own instead of the actual GPU driver from Intel. Microsoft says this emulation process has become a relatively performant implementation of DirectX 9. As a result, performance should be nearly as good, if not just as good, as native DirectX 9 hardware support. This DX9 change from Intel appears to be a very good move as a result. Intel can now divert driver development resources towards DirectX 11 optimizations -- which we know is very bad at this time, and Intel won't suffer performance consequences as a result, with DX9 optimizations "outsourced" to Microsoft entirely. According to Microsoft, with how performant D3D9On12 is, it will be interesting to see if Nvidia and AMD follow the same path as Intel. But, there could be consequences to the API translation, including higher CPU usage (since the translation is software accelerated) and potential side-effects with older games. Nvidia and AMD also have almost 20 years of driver experience with DirectX 9, which might result in performance losses with the DX12 emulation layer. Intel, on the contrary, only has experience with DirectX 9 on its integrated graphics, which does not translate into the experience with its much higher-performing discrete graphics. So it makes a lot of sense that Intel is immediately transitioning to emulation as it gets closer to launching Arc worldwide. Source:https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-xe-arc-swap-to-dx9-emulation

Facebook and Apple have been at odds for several years now; Apple announced back at WWDC 2020 that iOS would require apps to ask users to opt-in to cross-app advertising tracking. Facebook spent much of the next months speaking out against Apple's plans and predicting revenue instability due to the upcoming changes, but the feature was released in iOS 14.5 back in April of 2021. Somewhat surprisingly, though, a new report from The Wall Street Journal claims that before this all went down, Facebook and Apple were working on a partnership and revenue-sharing agreement. According to the Journal, Apple and Facebook were considering a a subscription service that would offer an ad-free version of the platform. And since Apple takes a cut of in-app purchases, including subscriptions, it could have been a very lucrative arrangement indeed. Another arrangement that was discussed and ended up being a point of contention was Apple taking a cut of "boosted posts," which essentially amounts to paying to put a post in front of a larger audience. Facebook has long considered boosted posts part of its advertising portfolio; as the Journal notes, small businesses often use boosted posts to reach more people. The issue came down to Apple saying boosts should be considered in-app purchases, which would be subject to the 30 percent revenue cut that the company takes. Facebook, on the other hand, maintained that those were advertising products which aren't subject to Apple's cut. Since rolling out its user-tracking changes in 2021, research firm Insider Intelligence claims that 37 percent of iPhone users have opted in to letting companies track their activity across apps. Since the change went into effect, Facebook (now Meta) has seen its revenue growth shrink significantly — and last quarter, Meta reported the first revenue decline in the company's history. As these discussions reportedly took place between 2016 and 2018, we're a long way off from these talks. Apple is doing its best to position itself as a defender of privacy, and Meta... well, Meta is busy trying to make the Metaverse a thing. But for now at least, advertising is the only notable way Meta makes revenue, so the company will have to continue to adjust to a world in which iOS app tracking protection is a thing that most users take advantage of. Source:https://www.engadget.com/apple-facebook-ad-sharing-subscription-app-170039310.html

can i join?

Surely you had ever thought about recording your classes or transferring your presentations to videos, but you had not found the time to learn this digital skill or you thought it was too difficult. Actually creating an educational video is not complicated. It is not about creating a movie with Hollywood-style animations and special effects, but simply recording our explanation so that it can be viewed as many times as necessary. In a previous article, I mentioned free videoconferencing and live streaming platforms to be able to give face-to-face classes. But another practical option is to previously record the PC screen with the presentation and send the video to the students so that they can watch it at home at their own pace and thus be able to connect at the time that works best for them. Source:https://www.totemguard.com/aulatotem/2020/03/grabar-pantalla-pc-audio-webcam/

AOTW #52: @Sanz : Rewarded with 7 days of VIP

Winner V3 CONGRA!

V1:me (1 vote) V2:Glow (5 votes) winner :Glow T/C

When I started my career as a games then tech journalist nigh-on two decades ago, I never thought I'd spend so much time writing about furniture. I'm no interior designer and sticking a couple of LED panels on the wall is about all you're going to get out of me as far as DIY is concerned. And yet PC gaming has changed so much that even chairs and desks are created with your computer habits in mind. We write about gaming chairs a fair bit, but desks less so. Though we've tested our share of gaming desks(opens in new tab), and even PCs within desks(opens in new tab), we haven't really had smart desks. Which is kind of what Lumina is promising with the first programmable desk and it looks as sleek and shiny as it does largely impractical for my own personal work style. But with an inlaid OLED panel in the desktop I can't help but want it. It's a way off, however, as the Lumina Desk(opens in new tab) has only been announced and is still very much in the prototype stage. Final release of the ~$1,500 motorised desk is scheduled for the second half of next year, though we are told that it does already have the OLED screens working in its prototype models. It is obviously that 24-inch OLED panel in the middle of the desktop that makes it so damned sci-fi, but it's probably not going to work in the way you might think. When I first saw the pictures I was expecting some kind of Star Trek Next Gen touchscreen console—like some tablet on motorised legs—but it's not strokeable and is only configurable from a desktop app. Thankfully it's still resistant to fingerprints, with a 1200cd/m² peak luminance and an oleophobic coating. Though my phone still has that and is grubby as all hell. From there, Lumina promises, you'll be able to configure it to display a "wide array of integrated apps like Google Calendar, Instagram, Zoom, Slack, Robinhood, Twitter, and many more." So, if you were hoping for some touch-sensitive second-screen action, where you could drop a web-page, or video while you game on your main device, you might be disappointed. But Lumina still wants to riff on the Star Trek analogy: "The Lumina Desk goes boldly where no other desk has gone before. As the first programmable desk, and compatible with Windows and Mac, the Lumina Desk possesses its own operating system, which we call Lumina OS. We also are offering a software development kit (SDK) for developers to build on our platform." Lumina's also kitting the desk out with a bunch of hidden power sockets, with six USB Type-C sockets and a pair of wireless charging surfaces built into the unit, capable of delivering some 200W of charging power. There are some more dubious features Lumina is planning on baking into its desk, however. Personally I'm not convinced that having a motorised desk that goes from sitting to standing on a schedule is that great an idea. I get the health benefits of ensuring you alter your working position throughout the day, but having my desk suddenly lurch up or drop away doesn't fill me with wonder. Though maybe having my desk remind me to take a break might be nice. "Hey Dave, go grab a coffee. Treat yourself." But as much as I'm into the idea of this sleek, screen-ladened motorised desk, I do not possess the habits that such a workplace surface demands. I'm messy, and my desk is always cluttered with cables, a mic, bits of various computers, different mice, and pens. Inexplicable pens. I don't write anything down anymore, yet there are still pens. No paper. Just pens. Any super-handy bright OLED panel telling me what my work schedule is looking like that day, or feeding me yet more ever-changing next-gen GPU specs via TweetDeck, is going to be buried beneath the detritus of my cluttered working habits. And any reminders to take a break every now and then are likely to be muffled by the discarded packaging of key switches, gaming mice, or maybe a random laptop. source;https://www.pcgamer.com/sci-fi-gaming-desk-lumina/

V1:V2:

Although the fantasy action RPG Gothic did not make a huge splash in terms of sales, it still managed to garner a fair bit of praise from fans and critics alike. With this in mind, THQ Nordic no doubt captured the attention of fans when it released a playable demo of a potential Gothic remake in 2019 to gauge player reactions. The announcement in early 2020 that a complete remake would indeed happen confirmed that the demo ended up successful. Any potential doubt regarding the demo’s success dissipated thanks to today’s THQ Nordic digital showcase, which featured a full two-minute trailer of the Gothic remake. Notably, the trailer did not showcase any gameplay, as it consisted entirely of long, sweeping shots of the remake’s enhanced environments and NPC models. It starts off in a calm outdoor mining town before transitioning into a network of dark caves. The initially peaceful atmosphere eventually takes a turn for the unsettling when a group of giant spider-like creatures devours two of the townsfolk traveling through the cave. Gothic remake will be updated, while staying true to the classic According to the Steam page, the Gothic remake boasts a “modernized combat system that takes the basic premises of the original combat system to the modern age.” Players control the Nameless Hero as they explore the mining colony, engage with its challenges, and defend themselves against all sorts of dangerous animals and convicts. So far, it seems that developer Alkimia Interactive has put its all into faithfully recreating the setting of Gothic using modern technology. Fans may or may not feel positive about the new, in-game visuals after watching the trailer, but whether or not fans truly enjoy the Gothic remake comes down to the gameplay, which the developers have not explained much of. Hopefully, the changes made to the gameplay and visuals will enhance what fans appreciated about the original version. Source:https://www.pcinvasion.com/cinematic-trailer-gothic-1-remake-shown/

Happy birth day

One of the most critically acclaimed and po[CENSORED]r TV shows of the past few decades was Breaking Bad on AMC. Its spin-off, Better Call Saul, has also been hugely po[CENSORED]r and successful. Now, ahead of Saul’s final episode, the creator behind both shows, Vince Gilligan, has confirmed that there were plans and attempts to make a video game set in the Breaking Bad universe, but it never happened. And he warns those still wanting a game to not hold their breath. As spotted by ComicBook.com, Gilligan appeared on a recent episode of the Inside The Gilliverse podcast to talk about the final episodes of Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad’s legacy, and the future of the franchise and its characters. But at one point in the podcast, Gilligan was asked about the lack of Breaking Bad video games and if they had ever wanted to make a game set in that universe. Surprisingly, Gilligan was very candid, admitting that they had tried to get a game made, but that it just never happened for various reasons. “I’m not much of a video game player, but how can you not know Grand Theft Auto?” said Gilligan on the podcast. “I remember saying to the guys—[who are] off running Apple now…who said yes originally to Breaking Bad— ‘Who owns Grand Theft Auto? Can’t you have a module, can’t there be a Breaking Bad [add-on]?’ Still makes sense to me!” It appears Gilligan is suggesting that at one point he or his people contacted Rockstar Games about making something based on Breaking Bad, though by his own admittance, he’s not a big gamer, so it’s unclear. Regardless of who he talked to about making a GTA-like Breaking Bad game, it never happened. And this isn’t the only time that a Breaking Bad game was discussed, planned, and then eventually shelved. “There have been quite a few attempts at video games,” said Gilligan. “And some of them kind of sort of made it to market. We tried to do a VR experience with the Sony PlayStation VR headset. We did a mobile game that lasted for a little while…” According to Gilligan, a lot of “energy and effort and talent” went into writing new storylines for different games that never happened. And while a mobile game was released, it barely lasted a year before shutting down in 2020 with little fanfare. As for why none of these projects and planned games ever happened, it seems to just come down to a simple fact: Video games are a pain in the ass to make. “Making a video game is damned hard, from what little I learned through this process,” admitted Gilligan. “It literally takes years and years and millions of dollars, especially when you are trying to break new ground with VR and whatnot. Never quite came to fruition. It’s a shame.” Another possible roadblock is that Gilligan and his team are very concerned about making sure anything with the Breaking Bad name on it is up to their high-quality standards. During the podcast, he joked about the infamously bad E.T. game for the Atari 2600, joking that they didn’t want a game based on the show that was so bad it ended up buried in a desert. Instead, any game using Breaking Bad characters and set in that world would have to be “great” and would have to include all the details. With all that said and with Better Call Saul wrapping up later this month, plus Gilligan saying he has no plans to revisit the franchise anytime soon, it seems unlikely the world will get the Breaking Bad game it deserves. In fact, Gilligan warned those of you who might be waiting for a GTA-like game starring Walter White that you shouldn’t “hold your breath” on it ever happening at this point. source:https://kotaku.com/breaking-bad-better-call-saul-gta-game-vince-gilligan-1849402652

It had been a long time since OPPO launched a new smart bracelet, and this has changed, since the company has put on the market a model that evolves in a very important way compared to its first generation. An example of what we say is that this model is aesthetically reminiscent of smart watches because of its screen. We tell you the most important thing it offers. The accessory is called OPPO Band 2 and its rectangular screen goes from 1.1 inches to 1.57 inches. It is an important leap and being a high-quality AMOLED component (256 x 402 pixel resolution), it undoubtedly stands up to all the models with which it competes on the market -including the new Xiaomi Band 6 Pro-. By the way, this does not cause you to have problems in ergonomics, since its weight is only 20 grams and the dimensions remain at 45.3 x 29.1 x 10.6 millimeters. Registration of all kinds of information in this OPPO This is a basic function in smart bracelets, and the new one from the Asian firm fulfills it perfectly. The reason is that it has a high number of sensors, such as the heart rate itself or a three-axis accelerometer. This means that you will be able to know the amount of oxygen you have in your blood; going through the level of stress throughout the day; and even the quality of sleep. Therefore, there is nothing that this smartband does not cover. When it comes to sports, this is a device that does quite well, as it includes tools for it (including a feature-rich operating system, and which obviously does not support the installation of applications). The fact is that you will be able to recognize a good number of them automatically and you will be able to establish precise registers in up to 100 different ones. Something that makes this OPPO Band 2 special is that it allows directions in navigation mode, so you won't get lost on the road when you run or ride a bike. Good autonomy and its price With a 200 mAh battery, which is an adequate charge for the weight and dimensions of the wearable accessory, the time specified by the manufacturer is 14 days. More than enough so you don't have to worry too much about using your USB charger. By the way, when it comes to compatibility, good news: you can synchronize the smartband with both iOS and Android, always using Bluetooth technology for this OPPO product. At first, the OPPO Band 2 can be obtained in black and blue colors in China, it is completely certain that they will arrive in Spain in a short time. In what has to do with prices, the basic model stays at about 35 euros to change (competition, and the good one for Xiaomi or Amazfit) and, if you decide on the model with NFC, what you have to pay goes up at €45. Nothing especially crazy. source:https://cincodias.elpais.com/cincodias/2022/08/11/gadgets/1660205749_085021.html