Rainstorm.

Xbox Game Pass’s streaming powers are remarkable, but so far they’ve been limited to titles that have been released on Xbox consoles. Game Pass includes a ton of PC games (and plenty that are available on both), but in order to play them, you have to download the files locally and play them on a gaming PC. According to recently-revealed court documents, Microsoft was planning on adding PC games to the Game Pass streaming setup, competing directly with services like Nvidia’s GeForce Now. The info is not official, even though it was scrounged from internal Microsoft documents. As with a lot of corporate revelations as of late, you can thank a lawsuit for the news. This tidbit was revealed in an internal email chain presented as evidence in the US Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit, as Microsoft attempts to buy game publishing giant Activision Blizzard. A string of communications between Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and other executives back in 2021 showed them discussing Google’s Stadia game streaming platform, which has since flopped. The Verge breaks it down: Specifically, the execs were discussing Google’s ability to leverage its cloud computing muscle to offer Stadia to third-party companies as a white-label service (something that Google did, eventually, try out). Microsoft, itself a pretty huge player in the cloud computing world, might be able to compete. “I am assuming we will do the same for Game Pass PC, right?” Nadella asks, to which Microsoft’s gaming boss Phil Spencer and Xbox creator lead Sarah Bond respond in the affirmative. The issue is that Xbox Cloud Gaming’s streaming system is currently based on customized Xbox hardware, essentially stripped-down servers made out of the same chips you’d find in an Xbox Series X console. Though it’s all based on AMD x64 hardware, it’s incredibly fine-tuned to create a consistent console experience, and it can’t run PC games designed for a regular desktop with a discrete graphics card (at least not without a lot of extra software work). In order to deliver modern PC games a la GeForce Now or the late, not-so-great Stadia, Microsoft would need to update and augment some of the hardware of its Azure cloud platform. These emails indicate that Satya Nadella wanted this to happen, and his executive team was working on it at least conceptually two years ago. Will we see it come to fruition? That’s a lot less clear two years later. Spencer says in a later email that Nvidia’s service is “to date our #1 competitor,” and that remains true as Stadia has collapsed. Newer players in the market like Amazon’s Luna service and the revamped PlayStation Plus seem tepid at best. Meanwhile Microsoft is still going hard for conventional, locally played games and streamed Xbox titles. The mega-RPG Starfield, by Microsoft subsidiary Bethesda, is available as a local title on PC and Xbox, with the console version streaming to Game Pass subscribers as well. We may or may not see an expansion of PC-only games offered up for streaming play, but it seems like a natural extension of the everything, everywhere strategy of Game Pass. https://www.pcworld.com/article/2072865/microsoft-wants-to-stream-pc-game-pass-games-too.html

Microsoft's Pavan Davuluri will lead a team focused on Windows software, devices portfolio and semiconductor chips, the company said on Monday, while announcing the departure of longtime product chief Panos Panay. The team led by Davuluri will "build silicon, systems and devices that span Windows, client and cloud for an AI world," according to a staff email by Rajesh Jha, executive vice president of experiences and devices group at Microsoft. Reuters has seen a copy of the email. Microsoft has made big bets on generative AI, integrating the technology into a wide array of its products, including cloud, search and productivity software and services such as its Office suite. The rejigging of teams comes as Panay steps down after nearly 20 years with the Redmond, Washington-based company, where he helmed the creation of the Surface line of computers and more recently oversaw the launch of the Windows 11 operating system. Davuluri will report to Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella, the email said. Microsoft is also creating a team to work on web services and Windows experiences with a focus on AI-based offerings. The company is hosting a "special event" on September 21, where it is expected to announce updates to its Surface lineup, among other updates. https://www.gadgets360.com/internet/news/microsoft-product-chief-panos-panay-resignation-pavan-davuluri-lead-windows-team-4402216

Star Citizen is an exciting space game that places players amid the stars where they can experience immersive combat, trading, and more. Cloud Imperium hopes to offer interstellar adventures like no other online game has with Star Citizen‘s full release, and has been working to frequently update the alpha build for fans currently traversing the stars. The developer has just announced the massive upcoming Alpha 3.20 update, revealing that the patch will bring full HDR support to the game. In a post about the Alpha 3.20 patch, Cloud Imperium writes, “We’re excited to announce that High Dynamic Range (HDR) support is on its way to Star Citizen, and it’s set to make its debut in the upcoming patch Alpha 3.20.” The dev goes on to say the studio understands “that many of you have been eagerly awaiting this feature,” and has therefore “been working on optimizing the game to ensure you can fully immerse yourself in its beauty.” Cloud Imperium explains how HDR aids in immersion with “higher peak brightness while maintaining the darkness of shadow tones, therefore increasing the contrast ratio.” With the new setting, you’ll notice more visible details and bright highlights. Think of sunny days with snowy surfaces. The update comes after the recent Star Citizen public test access changes, which introduced a new priority system favoring the game’s most active players. For the most optimal experience, you should dim your room’s lights to see the new setting’s full effects. The dev says, “In a bright environment, even the best displays will reflect 1-2% of the ambient lighting, resulting in muddy shadow tones and a perceived loss of contrast.” You’ll choose how much HDR power or “peak brightness” your game uses with a new slider, which Cloud Imperium recommends pushing to the maximum. Be sure to activate HDR via your Windows settings before trying to do so in-game, since it won’t be available to toggle otherwise. It’s also important to note that not every build supports the setting, so you’ll have to make sure you’re able to make use of it hardware-wise first. For more information on the Alpha 3.20 patch as well as Cloud Imperium’s complete explanation of the game’s upcoming HDR support, you can find the dev’s post on the Star Citizen forums. If you’re searching for something new to play while you wait for Star Citizen’s full release, you can hop into some of these other great multiplayer games with your friends. Alternatively, browse through a few of the other most exciting upcoming PC games in the works right now. https://www.pcgamesn.com/star-citizen/update-hdr-support

Unlike its rivals AMD and Intel, Nvidia yet has to implement a multi-chiplet design for high-performance compute GPUs, but it looks like the company might be on track to finally use this design layout with its next-generation Blackwell generation of GPUs. At least so says renowned hardware leaker @kopite7kimi, who tends to have accurate information about Nvidia's intentions. For now, this is all a pure speculation though. "After the dramas of GA100 and GH100, it seems that GB100 is finally going to use MCM," @kopite7kimi wrote in an X post. "Maybe GB100=2*GB102." Nvidia's GA100 and GH100 compute GPUs feature a die size 826 mm² and 814 mm², which is very close to the maximum reticle size of 858 mm2. Producing such large chips with good yields is hard, but it looks like TSMC does it pretty well since Nvidia literally ships tons of H100 and A100 compute GPUs every quarter. While Nvidia has consistently managed to increase performance of its compute GPUs quite tangibly with every new generation so far, reticle size is still an issue. Using a multi-chiplet design would enable Nvidia to add more transistors into its next-generation compute GPU and increase performance gain over its H100 more significantly than it would do with architectural improvements alone. Since both AMD and Intel have already adopted multi-chiplet designs for their compute GPUs and will only further increase chiplet and transistor count going forward, Nvidia might not have a choice but to embrace a multi-tile design too. It remains to be seen whether the company would go with a dual-chiplet (like AMD's Instinct MI250) or multi-chiplet (like AMD's Instinct MI300 or Intel's Ponte Vecchio) approach, but the company just cannot ignore advantages presented by modern packaging technologies. If we continue to speculate, we might assume that Nvidia will adopt multi-tile design only for its Blackwell GPUs for AI and HPC compute, whereas its gaming GPUs will remain monolithic. This might make sense since making two GPUs work in parallel is hard. But then again, Nvidia might not be able to ignore multi-chiplet designs even for client PCs in the High-NA era since ASML's next-generation scanners will halve reticle size (to 429 mm2) and Nvidia will not be able to address high-end gaming machines with monstrous monolithic GPUs like the AD102 (609 mm2) unless they use at least two chiplets. https://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidias-next-gen-blackwell-gpus-rumored-to-use-multi-chiplet-design

Telecom regulator TRAI on Thursday invited public comments to explore ways and means to make smartphone affordable in the country for digital inclusion. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) as part of its consultation paper on "Digital Inclusion in the Era of Emerging Technologies" will assess if measures taken by the government such as focussing on local manufacturing are sufficient to bring down the prices of smartphones in India. "What measures should be taken to make digital devices and digital connectivity affordable to the citizens for empowering them to maximize the benefits of an inclusive digital society?" TRAI asked in the consultation paper. In the paper, TRAI has cited example of smartphone financing and exploring viability of second hand smartphones in the country. The regulator sees that the rapid pace of technological advancements and launch of 5G enabled services including artificial intelligence and machine learning can widen digital divide if not made affordable and accessible to marginalized communities and underserved regions. "Unequal access of infrastructure, limited digital literacy, and affordability issues could hinder the equitable distribution and utilization of emerging technologies, exacerbating existing disparities in digital inclusion. To ensure comprehensive digital inclusion, it is imperative to address the gaps which are likely to arise due to emerging technologies," TRAI said. The regulator has fixed October 16 as last date for giving comments and October 31 for counter comments on the paper. https://www.gadgets360.com/mobiles/news/trai-invites-public-comments-ways-means-make-smartphone-affordable-india-4397758