MacBook Pro owners file class action lawsuit over keyboard issues
MacBook Pro owners have begun a petition to demand Apple recall all its MacBook Pros sold since 2016 to fix what they see as a defect with the keyboard, giving it a propensity for failure. Citing high repair costs and an unwillingness by Apple to acknowledge the problem, the petition signers want action.
It’s still short of a billion, but Windows 10 adoption hits a big milestone
More than 700 million devices around the world are now running Windows 10. That might include desktops, laptops, Hololens headsets, Xbox One consoles, and Windows mobile devices, but that's still a hell of a lot of different Windows hardware. It should see Microsoft well on its way to a billion installs by 2020.
Intel Optane DC could boost Xeon servers with up to three terabytes of memory
Intel has debuted a new stick of RAM and storage on a single PCB that blurs the line between the two types of storage. Acting like a large-scale caching drive that slots into a DDR4 memory module, it speeds up access to data for servers and can have a big improvement for reboot times and analytics.
Nvidia’s mini supercomputer is the fastest single computer humanity has built
Nvidia built a new server platform known as HGX-2 that combines 16 Tesla V100 graphics cards in a single housing. What's extra clever though, is that it allows them all to work as a cohesive unit, making it more powerful than 300 CPU-driven servers when it comes to A.I. and high-level data processing.
Think your GPU rig is fast? This Asus motherboard can handle 20 at once
Asus has a new generation cryptocurrency mining motherboard to debut at Computex in a week's time called the H370 Mining Master. It increases the number of supported graphics cards to 20, and simplifies their attachment through new, PCIe-on-USB connections, rather than standard PCIexpress x1 ports.
Atari co-founder and video game pioneer ‘Ted’ Dabney dies at 81
Video game pioneer Ted Dabney has died at age 81 after a battle with cancer. Best known for his time at Atari, a company he co-founded with Nolan Bushnell, Dabney was instrumental in the creation of the first arcade cabinet and would go on to aid the development of the first popular arcade game, Pong.
IBM banned USB drives. Is it the future of security or a knee-jerk reaction?
With the implementation of the GDPR, more companies than ever are looking to better protect their data and that of their customers. But are they going about it in the right way? Kingston believes that the recent announcement of IBM's outright ban on physical media isn't taking the right tack in protecting digital information.
Apple rejection means you can’t play Steam games on your iPhone after all
Apple has rejected Valve's Steam Link game streaming application as part of its approval process for App Store inclusion. That means that for the time being, if you want to stream your Steam library to your mobile handset or tablet, you will have to have an Android device, as the Steam Link app is not available on iOS.
Facebook’s revenge porn prevention tool now includes human review
Facebook is looking to help block revenge porn uploads before they can be shared, by asking users to pre-emptively upload their images. After initial testing, Facebook is expanding the tool by announcing more countries in the test and using specially trained review staff to examine the reports.
Dell rings the starting bell on its wide-ranging Memorial Day sale
Dell has reduced the prices of a number of XPS and Alienware products as part of its Memorial Day sales, and the company has also cut the prices of a number of accessories, monitors, and other peripherals. The discounts are wide-ranging and include both older hardware and newer products.
Is Microsoft planning a $400 Surface tablet?
Microsoft may be set to re-introduce its entry-level Surface tablet range with a price tag starting at $400. Although far from officially announced, the rumored hardware would sport Intel processors, 10-inch displays, and up to 128GB of storage -- and far shorter battery life than existing Surface Pros.
HP Spectre x360 15 vs. Dell XPS 15 2-in-1
2-in-1s are strange beasts, but HP and Dell have a couple of excellent examples of them and they sport exciting hardware that combines an Intel CPU with an AMD graphics chip. The question is, which is best? In this head to head, we pit the HP Spectre x360 vs. Dell XPS 15 2-in-1, to see which comes out on top.
New Spectre-like bug could mean more performance-degrading patches
Intel has released a new firmware patch to OEM partners to ward off a newly announced Spectre-like bug called Speculative Store Bypass. It may allow attackers to steal personal information, though is less easy to exploit than its predecessors. Still, new firmware patches can degrade performance.
Razer Blade Stealth vs. Dell XPS 13
In this comparison, we pit the Razer Blade Stealth vs. Dell XPS 13 to see which comes out on top as the best mid-range laptop. Both have great internal hardware, good-looking displays, and great input options, but can the Blade Stealth topple our favorite laptop of the past few years? It's certainly a tall order.
Alexa makes herself at home on a variety of new Acer laptops
Acer has announced the impending release of the first laptops to have official Alexa support at the point of sale. Its Swift, Spin, Aspire, and other laptop ranges will have full support in the coming weeks, with current owners able to download patches from the Acer Care Center to expand their laptop's capabilities.
Acer’s new 4K, HDR, 144Hz G-Sync gaming monitor will cost $2,000
Acer's new Predator x27 4K is a super high-end gaming monitor, but you do have to pay a premium for it. If you are willing to match the $2,000 price tag, you can net yourself a 4K IPS display with a 144Hz refresh rate, a 4ms response time, full support for G-Sync fram syncing, and 10bit high-dynamic-range.
Samsung’s 49-inch display pushes horizontal resolution beyond 5,000 pixels
Samsung has detailed a number of upgrades it is making to its VA panels, which could find their way into new monitors and televisions toward the end of this year. The upgrades include bolstered refresh rates, higher resolutions, and increased contrast ratios at a variety of sizes, all focused on ultrawides.
Save your tweeting eyes with Tweetbot 3’s new dark mode on MacOS
An upgrade to the Tweetbot client brings it to version 3.0 and offers features like dark mode and a revised timeline management system. It may be easier to use and more pleasing on the eye than older versions, but it comes at a price. Tweetbot now costs $10 when purchased on the app store.
Another Facebook privacy scandal — 3 million users’ data exposed by quiz
A new Facebook data leak has been revealed where some three million people have had their personal information and answers to a personality quiz left relatively unsecured on a third-party website, despite supposed protections in place to restrict access to the data to approved research partners only.
Supreme Court ruling on sports betting may let online gambling run the table
A federal change to the legality of sports betting in the U.S. could have a profound effect on gambling throughout the country, but the biggest winners of the Supreme Court's ruling could be online gambling firms and fantasy sports platforms, which are uniquely positioned to benefit from the changes.
Miss Windows XP? Watch this concept video that reimagines it for 2018
Windows XP is long dead to most people, but some still fondly remember its simple-colored days of glory. Even if we can't go back without risking security problems and sacrificing a lot of modern Windows features, we can at least imagine it with a new video for a concept of Windows XP in 2018.
Gamers aren’t convinced by Windows Mixed Reality headsets
Steam gamers aren't convinced that Windows Mixed Reality headsets are a viable alternative to the more established Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets. After months on sale, just 5 percent of all VR users are wearing WMR hardware, and those numbers have been falling over the past few months.
Nintendo’s tiltable Switch charger stand makes it easier to play while powered
Nintendo has debuted a brand new accessory for the Nintendo Switch console: an adjustable Switch charger stand. It combines the ability to charge the console while in tabletop mode, with a leg that can be tweaked to give the right angle for gamers no matter the environment or number of players involved.
Windows 10 Build 17666 takes us beyond April update with Explorer ‘dark theme’
The Windows Insider build 17666 is now available to those resting on the fast ring and Skip Ahead branches. It adds a number of new features to the Windows experience. Alongside improvements to the Edge browser and a new "clipboard experience," Microsoft has debuted a dark theme for Windows Explorer.
The Oculus Go is a VR headset for grannies, and that’s a good thing
Grandparents may not be the usual target for brand new, cutting-edge technology, but the new Oculus Go virtual reality headset could be a perfect fit for that generation. With its mix of ease of access, available applications, and lack of technical know-how, the Oculus Go could bring in the mainstream audiences VR needs.
You could win $200,000 playing Quake in August
QuakeCon 2018 willl take place in just a few months and Zenimax is keen to see it grow to something bigger and badder than last year. It has a BYOC LAN hall that's twice the size of last year's, an exhibition center that's running all weekend, and $200,000 in prize money for Quake Champions professionals.
AMD says the patches for its recent Ryzen flaws are almost ready
AMD has responded to an inquiry on the state of its Ryzenfall fixes, that it has released patches for the most severe bugs to "ecosystem partners" and will be rolling out additional firmware updates in the near future. It expects the patches to reach the general public as soon as partners have completed validation.
Microsoft preps next Windows update, as latest build breaks Chrome browser
Microsoft's recent update for WIndows 10, the April update, appears to have broken the Chrome browser for some users. A growing number are reporting crashes and freezes when using the browser after the latest update, and apart from one workaround, there hasn't been much of a response to the issue as of yet.
Oculus’ new prototype VR headset has something the HTC Vive Pro doesn’t
The Oculus VR "Half-Dome" headset that was revealed during the F8 developer conference gave us a glimpse at a potential feature of future VR headsets: mechanically-operated varifocal lenses and a much wider field of view. That's something that even HTC's newly expensive Vive Pro doesn't have.
Google Pay arrives on desktops — and it lets you choose your browser
Google has expanded support for Google Pay to desktop browsers including Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, as well as making it compatible with iOS. This will give the existing 100 million users a wider range of platforms to use the quick-pay service on, and could exponentially increase the number of users.
Grab the Surface Pro with LTE Advanced for $1,300 if you’re a student or teacher
Microsoft has put its Surface Pro with LTE Advanced on sale to the general public, offering a substantial discount to students, teachers, and parents. Potential buyers are locked into just one spec list, but the hardware should be more than enough for most buyers -- and they get that great data connection, too.
$200 Oculus Go VR headset hits Amazon
The Oculus Go mobile virtual reality headset was briefly available to pre-order on Amazon for $200, but sold out within just hours of its debut. Its price tag puts it squarely in the midrange between the likes of the Samsung Gear VR and the Oculus Rift, though is only a little cheaper than the PSVR. Shipment date is TBD.
The 5 best features of the Windows 10 April 2018 Update
Microsoft's Windows 10 April update is finally here after much speculation and it brings with it a number of great features. But which ones are the best? With some difficulty, we've narrowed down the five best features of the Windows 10 April update, from Timeline, to better control over what graphics chip you use during gaming.
Mastercard moving to mass biometrics with new remote fingerprint scanning
Mastercard has a new sleeve for its biometric credit cards which make it possible for users to register their fingerprint at home, without the need to go to a local banking branch. It's hoped that this will increase the adoption rate of the new security standard, reducing instances of fraud and bank card theft.
AMD leaks Ryzen 2000-series expansion with mobile and Threadripper CPUs
AMD has let slip the product names and numbers of its expanded Ryzen 2000-series in a portfolio page that has since been made private. Quick-fingered fans have managed to grab plenty of information though, giving us an idea of the Threadripper and entry-level Zen+ chips that are expected to debut in the coming months.
Move over Yeezys, K-Swiss is making performance sneakers for pro gamers
K-Swiss has announced a partnership with esports team Immortals to release a pro-gaming sneaker using the teams branding. That's just the start though, with both organizations also announcing the intention to create brand new, performance-enhancing gamer gear, with plans to document the whole design process.