Saturday, April 11, 2020

Apple : The DualSense PS5 controller is packed with fancy features - but they won’t get used

Apple : The DualSense PS5 controller is packed with fancy features - but they won’t get used

The DualSense PS5 controller is packed with fancy features - but they won’t get used

Posted: 11 Apr 2020 10:00 AM PDT

In a blog post that came seemingly out of nowhere, Sony finally revealed the new DualSense PS5 controller. It marks a radical departure from the DualShock 4, but the redesigned pad will share one thing in common with its predecessor – developers will continue to ignore almost all of its unique features. 

And that’s a shame, as the DualSense is stuffed full of exciting and potentially game-changing technology. Sony wants to tingle your fingertips and massage your palms in a variety of interesting ways using haptic feedback and adaptive triggers – and I’m all for it.

We’ve seen the tech used effectively in VR controllers, but if you’re new to haptic feedback it basically means you’ll feel more of what you see on screen – the sludginess as you drive a car through mud or the tension of pulling back a bow string as you shoot an arrow, for example.  

The problem is – and I hate to admit this – that these features will largely be ignored by everyone but Sony’s first-party studios. History has shown us time and time again that even if you design a console entirely around a distinctive input device (hello, Nintendo Wii), third-party developers will still find a way to ignore 95% of a controller’s special qualities.

Ignored and underused

Let’s take a look at the DualShock 4 as our primary suspect. It’s got a lovely light bar which can change color to reflect what’s happening in a game, such as flashing white if you’re using a torch, or turning red if your health is low. How many games use it in this way, though? The answer is: barely any.

Next up, the DualShock 4 touch bar. If you ever needed a more concrete example of developer apathy in full effect, it’s that battery-draining touch bar. We saw Killzone: Shadowfall, a PS4 launch title, use the touch bar in some interesting ways – as did Infamous: Second Son. But how many other games can you name that transform the experience in any meaningful way using this feature? Probably no more than a handful, because basically every game just uses it as an oversized map button. Brilliant.

What about the PS4 accelerometer? A feature that’s been around since the SixAxis controller, which launched with the PlayStation 3. When did you last play a video game that used the accelerometer for something other than a silly gimmick? Yeah, didn’t think so.

Features schmeatures

But hold on. Maybe it’s because those features were rather superfluous. I mean, come on, a flashing light that you can’t even see most of the time? Who cares! Members of the court, may I present to you exhibit B: HD Rumble on Nintendo Switch.

The masters of cramming quirky technology down gamers’ throats, Nintendo always tries to introduce some bizarre new input system into their consoles. With Nintendo Switch it was no different. We were promised the sensation of feeling ice cubes in a controller – because of course we were. Despite the technology genuinely wowing in games like 1-2-Switch, it’s basically been ignored by even Nintendo themselves, and hasn’t come close to reaching the potential we were promised. 

Still in denial? Okay, let’s wrap this up with one more sorry example. You might not know this, but the Xbox One controller has impulse triggers. And they’re freaking awesome and never, ever get used.

Do yourself a favor and play any of the Forza Motorsport games on Xbox One and you’ll experience a fingertip-defining moment that will make every other racing game seem a little sad in comparison. The triggers rumble and respond according to where your tyres are on the track, so you can physically feel the sensation of a wheel locking up, moving over gravel and responding to torque. It’s so damn good, but clearly not a priority for any developers.

One feature fits all

So why does this worrying trend constantly happen? Truth be told, it all comes down to time and money. Video games are extremely expensive to make, and require a lot of resources to do so. There’s no monetary benefit to developers spending the extra time to code for features that are specific for one console. Occasionally it can happen, but it’s an anomaly. 

The odds are stacked against the DualSense controller, then. There’s no doubt that we’ll see some truly awe-inspiring moments from Sony’s first-party studios (firing Aloy’s bow in Horizon: Zero Dawn 2 is a given for the adaptive triggers), but try not to feel too disappointed if half the time these features come as a pleasant surprise, rather than a new standard moving forward.

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Broadband deal: John Lewis's £40 gift card offer is among UK's cheapest internet plans

Posted: 11 Apr 2020 08:30 AM PDT

You don't need us to tell you that times are strange. But somethings just don't change, with internet providers taking the Easter weekend to drop some of their best ever broadband deals.

This year it's John Lewis's turn to impress. It has reintroduced its £40 gift card freebie, which is available on the retail giant's already excellent £20 a month cheap broadband deal. And because this is an e-gift card, you won't have to leave isolation to make it count on your next John Lewis purchase.

This deal is on the provider's Unlimited Broadband deal and comes with free 24/7 customer support, free line rental and free evening and weekend call plan.

Naturally, JL also offers faster fibre broadband deals, too, but they don't come with that gift card. You can compare all of the ISP's plans at our dedicated John Lewis Broadband deals page for more information.

It's worth noting that the strict UK lockdown means most broadband providers have stopped offering new installation of broadband if you don't already have a phone line set up.

However, this doesn't mean you can't install it yourself. As long as you have a telephone line, it's a super easy and straightforward process. If you don't already have one, we highly recommend looking into Virgin Media broadband deals or 4G home broadband plans, as these look to be the two remaining ways to get a broadband connection installed right now.

This great value John Lewis Broadband deal in full:

How do I claim my John Lewis e-gift card?

John Lewis says that your e-gift card will be sent to you by email within 60 days of you activating your broadband service. This means that if you cancel your broadband within those 60 days then sadly the offer of that free e-gift card will be withdrawn.

Existing John Lewis Broadband customers

Unfortunately, John Lewis confirms on its website that this deal is exclusive for new customers only, so if you went and signed up for one of its broadband deals last week then you're out of luck.

And if you aren't sold on this offer and want to compare the prices to other broadband deals in the UK, you can follow the link or check out our broadband price comparison below.

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Analyst points to April for the iPhone SE 2, October for the 6.7-inch iPhone 12

Posted: 11 Apr 2020 08:00 AM PDT

With the coronavirus outbreak causing chaos across the world, the usual tech launch schedules have been thrown into question – and that includes Apple's.

A new note from analyst Jeff Pu, reported by MacRumors, suggests that the iPhone SE 2 will arrive in the middle of this month, while the largest and most expensive iPhone 12 will be delayed until October.

That iPhone 12 is the 6.7-inch model, which we think will be called the iPhone 12 Pro Max and have a triple-lens plus LiDAR scanner camera on the back.

Presuming the other iPhone 12 models are all on schedule, Apple may well announce the new upgrades in September as usual – it's just that you won't be able to go out and buy the most premium one of the bunch until October.

All in the timing

It's not unusual for Apple to have to delay the launch of one iPhone model for a month or so, even when there aren't supply problems and cargo transport issues caused by a global pandemic.

As for the iPhone SE 2, rumors of an updated, affordable iPhone have been swirling pretty much since the first iPhone SE appeared in 2016. There's still some debate over whether it'll be called the iPhone SE 2 or the iPhone 9.

It makes sense for Apple to launch this particular model earlier in the year to keep its sales ticking over. We're expecting it to have a design very similar to the current iPhone 8, which means the Home button will still be in place.

That phone might appear as early as next week, Pu says. We haven't heard much from the analyst recently, but he has been right about certain Apple predictions in the past, including the introduction of triple-lens cameras on the 2019 iPhone range.

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Gaming laptops will never be the same, and it's all thanks to AMD

Posted: 11 Apr 2020 08:00 AM PDT

Even the best laptops are, traditionally speaking, a lot slower than a full desktop PC. The PC components that laptop manufacturers shove into a portable machine consume way less power, and are generally constricted  by thermal limits imposed by being in a tight space – especially with recent Ultrabooks and such getting thinner and thinner. However, with AMD Ryzen 4000, that has fundamentally changed. 

We've finally been able to get our hands on a Zen 2-powered laptop, in the shape of the Asus Zephyrus G14. That laptop is equipped with the Ryzen 9 4900HS, which is the 35W variant of the most powerful laptop chip in the lineup right now. And let us just say this: it's mighty impressive. 

In fact, this processor blew our minds so much, that we did a full round of testing, putting it up against the most powerful consumer processors on the market right now from both Intel and AMD. It's definitely not faster than either the Intel Core i9-9900K or the Ryzen 9 3900X, but it comes close enough to definitely be classified as desktop-class performance. 



But first: battery life

However exciting it would be to just dump a bunch of performance graphs in your face (don't worry, that's coming here in a bit), we want to note that there's a fundamental difference in what's valuable for a laptop and for a desktop. 

When you're picking up a desktop processor, power consumption does matter to a point. The more power you draw from the wall, the more you're typically going to spend on your power bill each month. The difference between a 65W Ryzen 7 3700X and a 95W Core i9-9900K each month will likely be trivial, but there's definitely a difference there. 

For a laptop, however, battery life comes into play in a huge way. One of the major appeals of having a portable device is to, like, be able to carry it around wherever you go, and if your gaming laptop dies after an hour or two of just browsing the web or watching a movie on the train, what's the point of it even being a laptop?

For the longest time, that's kind of been the compromise you had to make for having a gaming laptop in the first place. Even the most power efficient gaming laptops out there only last 3-5 hours doing even the most lightweight tasks – but that's changed now. 

In our battery tests for the Zephyrus G14, the laptop has battery life that's right up there with the likes of the Dell XPS 13, a laptop that is designed first and foremost for working on the road. All in a gaming laptop that can play all the latest and best PC games. 

Thanks to a controller that's built into the CPU die, AMD's firmware is able to dynamically adjust clock speeds depending on the actual workloads being imposed on the laptops. So, if you're just browsing the web or writing up a document in Microsoft Word, clock speeds come down, which also brings down power consumption. 

This is pretty much standard, but what sets AMD apart from either Intel's current Ice Lake chips or even AMD Ryzen 3000 mobile is how much faster these Zen 2 processors are at adjusting clock speeds – as the simple act of adjusting clock speed takes power, too. 

This was all done in the name of maximizing real-world battery life beyond what people even test for. AMD flew us out to their Austin, Texas campus to do a deep dive into what Ryzen 4000 would be capable of, and in an interview AMD director of product management Renato Fragale told us that rather than focusing on hard benchmarks, "we need to be looking at, or around, a cross-section of applications". 

We specifically asked a question for one of our own use cases, like traveling internationally to a big tech conference (even if they've been cancelled for a bit), and Fragale explained to us "if you know you're going to be unplugged for 14 hours, and you know you've gotta get some work done, you slide [the Windows Power Slider] towards battery life. Because realistically, if you're doing Word or PowerPoint, or whatever, you probably don't need a ton of performance to do that; so let's go save some battery."

Long story short, AMD has introduced laptop chips that can provide excellent performance for workloads like gaming – which we're about to dive into now – yet can also deliver battery life to get you through a long plane flight. It's finally the best of both worlds. 


AMD Ryzen 4000 crushing those benchmarks

So we teased the performance a bit when we noticed earlier that the AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS is faster than the Intel Core i7-9700K in Cinebench R20. To be fair, this was a claim that AMD made way back when it revealed its lineup back at CES 2020. We don't know about you, but we never trust manufacturer-delivered benchmarks – we like to test everything ourselves. 

And, well, that's exactly what we did. We tested the Ryzen 9 4900HS against the Intel Core i5-9600K, Core i7-9700K and Core i9-9900K. And, for parity's sake we also tested the AMD Ryzen 5 3600, Ryzen 7 3700X and Ryzen 9 3900X. The numbers are frankly astounding. 

Like we already mentioned in that earlier news story, the AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS scores a whopping 4,194 points in the Cinebench R20 multi-core test against the Intel Core i7-9700K's 3,726. But we had to go deeper for this one. 

In Geekbench 5, the 4900HS comes ahead in multi-core with 7,820 points to the 9700K's 7,728, while coming close to the same single-core performance with a 1,170 single-core score. Even in 3DMark, where Intel is historically very strong, the 4900HS beats the 9700K with a CPU score of 8,438 to Team Blue's 8,106.

What's even more impressive, however, is how close the AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS comes to the Intel Core i9-9900K. A chip that not only retails for $479 (£469, about AU$696) on its own, but also has a TDP of 95W – more than double the power of the 4900HS. 

In Cinebench R20, the Core i9-9900K gets a multi-core score of 4,789 and a single core score of 515. That's just 13% and 7% faster, respectively, for a processor that consumes more than double the power and is being cooled by a 360mm AIO liquid cooler. 

Even in Geekbench, the 9900K is just 13% faster than the AMD laptop chip, scoring 8952 in the multi-core test. The higher numbers might look at first to be a win for Intel, but we can assure you they're not. 

The 4900HS is even within reaching distance of AMD's own desktop processors, namely the Ryzen 7 3700X. AMD's 8-core, 16-thread mainstream desktop processor gets a Cinebench R20 multi-core score of 4,802 and a GeekBench multi-core score of 9,037. 

The AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS certainly isn't faster than the Ryzen 9 and Core i9 desktop processors, but the fact that it is right up there with them should be applauded. 

This is excellent news for anyone that needs a powerful workstation that won't break your back while traveling. If you just need something that can handle video editing while traveling, now's the time to pick up that new laptop. Best part? During our testing the temperatures for the Ryzen 9 4900HS peaked at 91 C – short of the thermal limit that most MacBooks constantly bump up against. 

We are in a new age of high-end mobile computing, and it's all thanks to the amazing work AMD put in here. 

Razer Blade 15 Studio Edition

Looking to the future

However it's not all sunshine and roses here. Right now Intel has claim to all the shiny flagships on the market right now. The Razer Blade 15, the MSI GS66 Stealth and more are all still exclusively rocking Intel Comet Lake-H processors. 

To be clear, we haven't tested Comet Lake-H processors for ourselves yet, so we can't speak to their performance or the battery life offered. 

What we can say, however, is that Intel processors are the ones that are getting paired with an RTX 2080 Super to provide high-end gaming or video production laptops. 

Now, it's important to note that AMD isn't restricting manufacturers from pairing an AMD Ryzen 4000 processor with a higher-end GPU. In our Austin interview, AMD Senior Manager of Product Management Scott Stankard told us that "we didn't place a restriction. But in the contest of: we are attacking the market, we are saying that we want to go over double the systems from 2019 to 2020."

In short, AMD wants to make sure it has the bulk of the market covered. And, it's true that when you're out there shopping for a laptop, a high-end device that can cost thousands of dollars is only going to appeal to a limited number of people. 

And again, as much as we'd like to see AMD processors in the halo laptops of the world, AMD isn't the only company that has to make that decision – laptop OEMs have to, well, put the processors into the halo laptops. 

Stankard tells us "in the notebook, it's a collaboration with the OEMs. So the OEM has to look at their portfolio, figure out what they want to go build and how they want to go attack it. So we don't have the full free-rein to say, "we will do this"." AMD can certainly influence laptop manufacturers, but the Asus's and the Dells of the world have to actually make the decision to include the processors they want to include. 

Personally, we can't wait to see these processors paired with the best GPUs on the market. We absolutely love the idea of pairing a high-end AMD CPU with the top-end mobile GPU in a gaming laptop that can absolutely destroy games even at 4K. That day isn't here yet, but as more laptop manufacturers come around to just how good AMD Ryzen 4000 is, and the benefits it provides everyday users, we're sure that's going to change. 

Until then, we can just revel in the performance that these processors deliver. The best gaming laptops just got a whole lot better, and if things continue in this direction, we might even start recommending gaming laptops over an Ultrabook, thanks to the increased performance without having to compromise on battery life. It's just that good. 

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How this YouTuber pulled off the elaborate GTA 6 fake announcement

Posted: 11 Apr 2020 07:10 AM PDT

Rockstar Games hasn't officially announced GTA 6 is in the works but, with a new console generation on the horizon and Red Dead Redemption 2 out of the way, we're expecting a new Grand Theft Auto game to be in the pipeline - we just don't know when we'll see it. 

There's been heaps of rumors and leaks about GTA 6 over the past few years, but hype is now at a fever pitch as we rocket towards the PS5 and Xbox Series X's release, with some expecting Rockstar to announce the next GTA sometime in 2020. 

However, there's not been a peep from the developer, and fans are getting pretty desperate for information. Which led to one group of pranksters putting together an elaborate April Fool's Day plan: fake the GTA 6 announcement.

Now there have been plenty of unlikely leaks, rumors and countdowns surrounding GTA 6 - we've even debunked some of them to stop fans getting their hopes up. But few GTA 6 hoaxes see such planning as that of Joe Designs and his cohorts, who faked a GTA 6 logo, teaser trailer and announcement stream - all for April Fool's Day. 

Editor's Note: TechRadar does not condone Joe Designs actions. This piece aims to show that you can't always believe every leak and rumor you see on the internet. We at TechRadar aim to provide authority when it comes to leaks and rumors, but treat all speculation with scepticism. 

Putting the plan together

GTA fans were originally expecting an announcement for GTA 6 to take place on March 21, with a trailer expected to drop on March 25. 

As we pointed out at the time, this was highly unlikely given that Rockstar Games hadn't teased anything itself or made any official statement that an announcement was coming. And, as expected, those dates passed with no announcement made. 

However, with GTA 6 hype at a fever-pitch, Joe O'Shea (aka Joe Designs) and his friends decided that now was as good as any to roll out an elaborate fake GTA announcement that they had been considering for a few months. 

"I think even for us, it started out quite small initially, and then we kept throwing ideas in. And then it grew."

Joe's friend Zach has a penchant for grabbing old, inactive usernames on sites and handing them over to other people. It just so happened that, a few months prior to the prank, Zach got his hands on the GTAVI username on Twitch. This sparked an idea, where Zach wanted to create a logo for GTA 6 to trick people into thinking an announcement was on the way.

"If you're going to try and fool people, the most realistic thing Rockstar would do in that situation would not be a logo on a black screen with a rubbish countdown," Joe O'Shead explains to TechRadar. "They would big it up."

Zach contacted Joe, who does freelance graphic design for YouTubers, and asked him to create a logo. Within 15 minutes Joe had created the logo you see above, but they wanted to take it that step further.

"In my head I was thinking 'yeah, I can do you a logo - but I could do a lot more than just a logo'," Joe tells TechRadar. "If we did a little bit more, there's a chance that this could take off as a good April Fool's joke.

"I think even for us, it started out quite small initially, and then we kept throwing ideas in. And then it grew."

The plan turned into a fully formed idea: they would set up a 24 hour Twitch stream counting down to their fake GTA 6 announcement, complete with a teaser trailer to really get fans excited.

The stream went live on March 28, and was ran by another friend, Ryan, who had a PC capable of running a 24 hour Twitch stream. 

Obvious signs

There were several points where Joe didn't think the plan would work. After all, the logo had been designed in 15 minutes and included a fake skyline he found online and a blacked out image of Jason Statham. The music playing in the background of the stream was also from GTA: Vice City - after all, some rumors suggest GTA 6 will be set in Miami.. 

There were plenty of clues but, according to Joe, few people picked up on them.

But that's not to say everyone believed the hoax, the majority of viewers clocked on straight away, but that didn't stop many from hoping that this could be the real deal. Nor did it stop 125,000 people viewing the stream.

"I don't think that the graphics were 100% convincing," Joe tells us. "The fact that there's so much hope probably adds to that and makes it a little bit more believable." 

The Twitch stream chat was torn between those who called it fake, and others defending the stream.

"I think people are so hopeful for a new game that they're willing to accept things a little bit more," Joe told us. "If they took a step back and asked themselves if it makes sense, they'd probably realize: it doesn't. They want the game so desperately that it's like a mild delusion."

Rumbled by Rockstar

The plan was going better than the threesome had expected, with viewership improved by news outlets, and a popular YouTuber, covering the stream. This was further helped by the group sewing the seeds of the fake announcement stream in GTA forums and through social media.

But the question remained: what would they do when the countdown ended?

"Because there was three people: me, Zach and Ryan, there was a bit of a conflict of interest between what we were going to do," Joe tells us. "I was very much in the mindset that I wanted to keep it going forever, I wanted to keep it under wraps and never reveal it."

While some members of the group wanted to simply throw their names up on the screen when the countdown ended, Joe had another idea. He wanted to make another trailer, using remastered GTA: Vice City shots, which subtly cited Summer 2021 as the GTA 6's release window. 

But then Rockstar caught on to the stream and the jig was up - and reactions among the group differed.

"I think people are so hopeful for a new game that they're willing to accept things a little bit more."

"Zach was a bit taken back by it, he didn't expect it to go this far," Joe tells us. "I think he was half-happy and half-worried about the whole thing. Ryan didn't want anything to do with it anymore."

Joe was personally happy with the development, hoping that Rockstar being in stream would add authenticity, but Ryan wanted to pull the plug - primarily due to Rockstar's history of legal action. So, just two days after it went up, the GTA 6 fake announcement stream was taken down on March 30. Two days before April Fool's Day.

To try and prevent legal pursuit from Rockstar, the group released a statement on the stream which clarified that they are fans of the series and they had no malicious intentions with their joke. That didn't stop the community from theorizing that Rockstar had sent the group a cease and desist order.

"The truth is: no one has done anything," Joe explains. We still have the account and we could stream from it right now if we wanted to."

The reaction of the community to the group's joke was mixed: ranging from well-humored to death threats. Some even accused the group of using the prank for their own monetary gain, with the aim to gather subscribers, before selling the account on to someone else.

"If we wanted we could have used it maliciously," Joe tells TechRadar. "But I think because it was an April Fool's they're a bit more calm about it. But I think the minute we decided to do anything else with the stream, that would be taking the mick."

A lesson learned?

Joe and his cohorts never made it to their planned April Fool's unveiling, and they very nearly missed legal action from Rockstar Games, but the thing Joe has taken away most from the hoax is not to believe every leak and rumor you see. 

"It seems like something that happens once in a blue moon," Joe explains. "So the fact that we did it and it worked in the way that these things do makes me wonder what I'm reading online and if it's entirely true.

"Anyone can do it, regardless of their intentions. So, be a bit more aware."

But does Joe feel guilty about the fans that were the collateral damage in the prank?

"The intention was it was an April Fool's joke and my pride comes from the fact my work was to a standard that a game company could have done that logo," he tells us. "But obviously I do feel massively guilty for those people who were looking forward to it."

TechRadar contacted Rockstar Games for comment but received no response.

Joe created an video where he explains how the plan came together, which you can watch here. 

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Nintendo Switch Pro: what we want to see from a new Switch console

Posted: 11 Apr 2020 05:36 AM PDT

There have been rumors that Nintendo is working on a Nintendo Switch Pro for quite a while now. However, if Nintendo does indeed have something up its sleeve, we, at the very least, know it won't be coming in 2020 as the company has confirmed it won't be releasing any new consoles this year. 

That doesn't guarantee, though, that we won't see the release of a new Nintendo Switch sometime in the future. 

There's already precedent another iteration of Nintendo's beloved console. In 2019 there were technically two new Switch consoles: one with a longer battery life and a streamlined dedicated handheld, the Nintendo Switch Lite. After these another, more premium, version of the console doesn't seem entirely out of the realms of possibility. 

This new Switch (or Switch Pro) could build on the original Nintendo Switch, offering upgraded hardware with improved graphics and processing power. There are many routes Nintendo could take to enhance the Nintendo Switch and while it's been reported that any upgrade won't be as extensive as we'd like to see, there's nothing certain just yet. 

And that's because, at this time, Nintendo hasn't even confirmed the existence of a Switch Pro and it's ruled out any new console in 2020. Regardless, the rumors persist so while we wait for more definitive answers from Nintendo, we're going to run through the likely (and unlikely) possibilities for a Nintendo Switch Pro below.

Switch Pro

Image credit: Nintendo

In 2019, Nintendo released two new Switch devices: the Switch Lite and the Nintendo Switch with improved battery life. However, we're still expecting the House of Mario to have yet another new Nintendo Switch up its sleeve.

A Wall Street Journal report has suggested that—in addition to these new devices—there's also a premium Nintendo Switch console on the way: potentially a Switch Pro. While we're taking these rumors with the requisite pinch of salt, the report did correctly predict the release of the Switch Lite, adding more weight to this speculation. But when could we see this new Switch?

Several reports claimed that we would be seeing a new Switch in 2020, however Nintendo has officially shut down these rumors. Nintendo's CEO Shuntaro Furukawa has said that there are "no plans to launch a new Nintendo Switch model during 2020" which is a fairly clear cut statement. 

That means we're pretty much in the dark about when a Switch Pro might arrive but we're hoping for a release date sometime next year.

Switch Pro

Image credit: Nintendo

Obviously redesigns cost money, and redesigns with improved hardware doubly so. We're fully expecting the Switch Pro, with its updated hardware, to cost more than the current Switch's £279/ $299/AU$469 pricing. 

In addition, the Switch Lite isn't exactly cheap. The handheld Switch costs $199.99/£199.99/AU$329.95, which isn't too far off the original's price - and that's with fewer features than the original.

Dr Toto suggested a price tag of $399, which seems a good estimate. After all, the PS4 Pro is $100 more than the PS4. The price mark up takes into account the improved hardware without being prohibitive. However, this is Nintendo we're talking about, and we wouldn't be surprised to see a Switch Pro cost a tad more than that.

Switch Pro

Nintendo may not have officially announced the Switch Pro, but we've gathered all the biggest news and rumors surrounding the new Nintendo Switch right here for your perusal.

Nintendo isn't worried about the next console generation

2020 isn't the year of a new Nintendo Switch console, but it is the year that Sony and Microsoft launch the next generation of consoles: the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Nintendo, however, isn't worried about catching up. Talking to investors during a Japanese Q&A (via VGC), Nintendo's president Shuntaro Furukawa said that while the gaming landscape will change, the company doesn't think the release of these next-gen consoles will have a big impact on its own fortunes.

“We do not believe that the business trends of other companies will have a significant impact on our business,” Furukawa told investors, explaining that the reason Nintendo is so confident that the PS5 and Xbox Series X won't pose huge competition is because the Nintendo Switch targets a different audience.

While this doesn't tell us a whole lot about any specific new console plans Nintendo has, it does suggest that the company isn't feeling any great hurry or pressure from its supposed competitors to release, or even announce, a Nintendo Switch Pro in the immediate future. 

No 4K or performance upgrades? - Debunked
On Korean site Clién's community forums (via Wccftech), a poster named Cathedral Knight claimed that the Switch Pro will launch in Q4 2020 but will not boast 4K and upgraded performance as expected.

Instead of moving to an upgraded version of Tegrax1 +GPU, the post claims Nintendo will work with Nvidia to create a custom processor based on Volta. In other words, not much will actually improve with the Switch Pro, it may just be a little faster.

However, Nintendo has since shut down rumors that a new Switch will release in 2020 - meaning we can probably assume the claims about performance are also untrue.

Production rumored to start as soon as April - Debunked
A report by Taiwan newspaper DigiTimes claimed that mass production on a new Switch will start "at the end of first-quarter 2020"- with the console itself releasing in mid-2020. However, as we've pointed out, Nintendo has ruled out a 2020 release date.

No Switch Pro in 2019
At a press briefing for the announcement of the Switch Lite, Nintendo president Doug Bowser revealed that we wouldn't be seeing another new Switch model in 2019, according to CNET.

"[The Nintendo Switch Lite will] be the only new Nintendo Switch hardware this holiday, as Bowser says the larger Switch won't get an upgrade right now," CNET wrote.

However, Bowser's comments suggested an upgraded Switch model is on the way, perhaps a Switch Pro?

Switch pro

Image credit: Nintendo

Two new Nintendo Switch devices
A Wall Street Journal report suggests that Nintendo is working on two individual Switch variants that, rather than making the current Nintendo Switch obsolete, would put it in the middle of a range growing to suit all budgets.

According the publication's sources, the first of these new devices will be aimed at budget gamers, and will see the Switch presented in a more traditional handheld-first format. It'll replace removable Joy-Cons with fixed ones, and ditch their HD Rumble feature in order to bring costs down. This was confirmed with the announcement of the Nintendo Switch Lite.

The second new version of the Nintendo Switch, going by the rumor, is a little harder to pin down, but would be a premium version of the console with "enhanced features targeted at avid videogamers." That's not to suggest it would be aiming for 4K or HDR visuals, but would more likely have features and services baked in that would accommodate the modern obsession with streaming to platforms like Twitch. 

The confirmation of the Switch Lite adds some weight to this report and could mean we will see another new premium Switch console at a future date.

The 5.0 firmware dig
Though the Nintendo Switch’s 5.0 firmware update wasn’t up to much on the surface, hackers on Switchbrew dug into the upgrade in 2019 and found evidence which suggests a hardware refresh is in the works. 

Switchbrew discovered references to a new T214 chip (which would be a small improvement on the current T210) as well as an updated printed circuit board and 8GB of RAM instead of the current 4GB. This T214 is likely what was used in the Switch Lite and improved battery Switch, but we're expecting the Switch Pro to have even further hardware improvements that will push the devices overall performance.

Switch Pro

Nintendo Switch Lite (Image credit: Nintendo)

AR and VR support
VR and AR support for the Switch never looked likely, with the MD of Nintendo France citing a lack of mainstream appeal for the technology back in 2018, but the Labo VR Kit shows Nintendo has changed its mind about the viability of VR.

The Switch doesn't have the high resolution of most VR gaming rigs, so we could see an advanced model with 2K or 4K resolution to improve those close-up VR experiences. However, given the VR Kit is still focused mainly on children, we'd be surprised to see a visual overhaul simply for this one peripheral.

What about 3D?
Another Nintendo patent came to light in early 2019: this time for a 3D sensor array that sits above your television, and creates a stereoscopic image in a similar way to the 3DS, meaning you wouldn't even need glasses.

3D visuals felt like a passing gimmick even with Nintendo's handheld consoles – and the troubled Microsoft Kinect camera will no doubt keep it wary of unnecessary TV peripherals. But getting convincing 3D imaging on standard 2D TVs may the step needed to bring 3D gaming mainstream.

Could it support 4K?
While Sony and Microsoft push at the 4K market, there isn’t really any big reason for Nintendo, the company that staunchly sets itself apart from other hardware producers, to follow suit. 

In the same interview where he dismissed VR, Nintendo France General Manager Philippe Lavoué also brushed off 4K saying that the technology has “not been adopted by the majority” and it would, therefore, be too early for Nintendo to jump in. 

Nintendo didn’t enter the HD console market until 2012 when it released the Wii U. This was around four years after Sony and Microsoft and at the point when more than 75% of US households actually had HD displays in their home. 

Miyamoto however has said he wished Nintendo had done the jump to HD sooner than this, saying that the display technology became popular around three years before Nintendo expected it to. It's expected that by 2020, 50% of US households will have adopted 4K technology and it might be at this point that Nintendo decides to join the 4K fray, rather than waiting until the 75% market saturation of before. 

  • Looking forward to the next generation of gaming? Read more about the Xbox Series X and PS5

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You can now get at your Instagram DMs on the web

Posted: 11 Apr 2020 04:00 AM PDT

Instagram users have been able to view photos and stories on the web for a while now, but the latest upgrade to the online app adds direct messages as well.

That means you can slide in and out of your Insta DMs right in your web browser, without touching your phone. Based on the official tweet announcing the news, it looks as though the feature is live right now for everyone around the world.

If you're new to the whole Instagram-on-the-web experience, you need to open the site here and then log in using your account credentials. Your DMs can be accessed by clicking the little paper aeroplane icon in the top right.

You can start new conversations, continue old ones, send pictures from your computer, and jump to the profiles of your friends. Everything syncs to the app on your phone, as you would expect.

Insta on the web

With Instagram on the web able to send you notifications as well, just about the only thing you can't do through a browser is post new photos to your feed or story – this is still limited to the mobile apps for now.

You can explore what's happening across the Instagram network, check up on activity directly related to your account, start following and stop following people... and now handle your direct messages too, including group chats.

Most mobile apps now have at least some presence on the web too – you can check out your Facebook news feed or send messages from WhatsApp for example. Snapchat and TikTok are two exceptions that remain very much mobile-only for the most part.

As for Instagram, it's also recently been experimenting with a new dark mode, as well as changes to the order of the main feed, and a tool for seeing which Instagram users you're interacting with the least.

Via The Next Web

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EE just released one of its best ever SIM only deals - 100GB for just £20 a month

Posted: 11 Apr 2020 03:30 AM PDT

While EE is both the UK's most popular network and the fastest 4G option, it is also usually the most expensive of the main four networks, sitting miles behind Vodafone, Three and O2. 

However, EE has recently stepped up its game, offering some bargains in the big data SIMO realm. Over Black Friday and continuing through to the current day, EE had an excellent 60GB for £20 offer. But now, it has taken that a step further.

EE's latest venture comes in at 100GB for that same £20 a month, making this one of the best SIM only deals EE has ever put out. However, it has dropped a large 'limited time' badge on this offer and left us all in the dark on the end date.

Normally, a deal like this would be an absolute winner, topping everything else out there but the market is very strong right now. Both Smarty Mobile and Three have some bargain prices that closely match this. We've listed everything you need to know below.

EE's big data SIM only deal:

What other SIM only deals are available right now?

As mentioned above, there are just two retailers EE will have difficulty beating - Smarty and Three. Offering an unlimited data cap for just £18 a month, Three currently has the market beat. 

Or, on the cheaper side, Smarty Mobile is rocking an 100GB data plan at a price of just £15 a month. And with this deal, you'll be on a 1-month rolling contract meaning you can stay for as long as you want and leave when you like.

Just want something cheap and cheerful? iD Mobile's 500MB of data for £3.99 option could be ideal.

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Microsoft Surface Go 2 could be about to launch

Posted: 11 Apr 2020 02:01 AM PDT

Microsoft’s Surface Go 2 could be about to go on sale, at least according to the latest from the rumor mill.

According to insider sources who spoke to MS Power User, Microsoft is about to reveal the Surface Go 2 in the ‘coming weeks’, and the expectation is that the refreshed convertible will go on sale in May.

Obviously this is just speculation, but there are reasons – and sound ones – for believing a launch to be on the near horizon.

Firstly, it was previously rumored that Microsoft would be holding a Surface event in the spring of 2020, although that was seemingly scuppered by disruption from the coronavirus outbreak.

The expectation is that we will still get a launch, albeit an online one, and this is backed up by the fact that the existing Surface Go is now sold out on the Microsoft Store (with inventory likely to be cleared before the launch of a new model). That’s in the US, mind – the UK store does still have some stock left, although not of the cheapest entry-level model.

It’s also been almost two years since the Surface Go was first announced in July 2018, so it’s about time Microsoft revamped the tablet.

Finally, in recent times, we’ve seen several leaks pertaining to what are supposedly Surface Go 2 devices, the latest of which came courtesy of a 3DMark benchmark.

Spec speculation

We were truly impressed with the original Surface Go as a more affordable option for a modern Surface device, but sadly our excitement over the sequel has been dampened somewhat given the rumored specs.

The CPUs which will allegedly be used in the new Surface Go 2 include the Pentium 4425Y and Intel Core m3-8100Y, which are relatively outdated models at this point (the latter is two-years-old, an 8th-gen part). So, in short, we aren’t expecting great things in terms of a performance upgrade.

That said, the Surface Go is made as an affordable device, and as such, the specs are never going to set the world on fire – although if the grapevine is correct, there will at least be an option for a Core CPU this time around. There will also be LTE and non-LTE variants, as before.

One thing we can keep our fingers crossed for is that if it is indeed incoming, the Surface Go 2 will hopefully take a leaf out of Microsoft’s recent Surface products (excepting the Surface Pro 7), and be more thoughtfully designed when it comes to repairs.

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Samsung Galaxy S20 and S10 price drop: save £140 with these Easter weekend deals

Posted: 11 Apr 2020 01:30 AM PDT

Samsung's S20 series and last year's Galaxy S10 handsets have undoubtedly been some of the best phones on the market in recent years. But with that in mind, it is no surprise that they are also some of the most expensive.

Luckily, every so often we see a price cut come around to make things that little bit easier. For the S10, with a year under its belt, these price drops come around pretty frequently. But for the brand new S20 trio...not so much.

With that in mind, any price drop on Samsung Galaxy S20 deals is well worth exploring, especially when, like the deals below, those price cuts go as big as £110 off!

Whether you want the brand new S20 or Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus deals or even last year's Galaxy S10 deals, we've listed some stellar price drops on these handsets below.

These affordable Samsung phone deals in full:

What's so good about these Samsung devices?

Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus:
The middle child of Samsung's latest trio, the S20 Plus offers high-end specs in all of the areas you would hope for. It has one of the best phone screens out there, an awesome 4500mAh battery, powerful internals, 120Hz refresh rate and even a super-powered quad camera set-up.

Samsung Galaxy S20:
The cheapest of Samsung's latest trio, the S20 offers very similar specs to above at a lower price. You're getting a 4000mAh battery, an almost identical camera set-up, that same powerful display and the 120Hz refresh rate still.

Samsung Galaxy S10:
Just because its the oldest of the three, it doesn't mean its a bad phone. The Galaxy S10 was one of our favourite devices of 2019, packed with some incredible internal power, a top-notch camera, beautiful display and all of the other features that make up a flagship.

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Five PC games to play while you’re staying safe at home

Posted: 10 Apr 2020 11:54 PM PDT

Staying at home during the coronavirus outbreak is the smartest thing you can do, but it could be a struggle to find things to do to stay occupied. Though the first half of the day can be spent on work-related tasks, the rest of the day can prove to be challenging. 

Luckily, PC gaming is here to save the day, and gaming on the Omen 15 powered by a 9th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 processor is a real treat. It’s super portable, so you can set up your little gaming corner in almost any space in your house. You can use it to do office work during the day and then easily flip over to some great games when you need a bit of a break. Armed with plenty of storage, fast DDR4 RAM and a GeForce GTX 1660Ti graphics card, you’ll be able to enjoy all your games with smooth framerates and great performance. 

Of course, there are thousands of PC games out there, so choosing the right ones can be a bit tricky. Here are five great PC games you can play on the  Omen 15 that will keep you entertained for hours on end. 


Doom Eternal 

What’s better at curing boredom than hunting down demons? Grab your favourite weapons and dive into some brutal action with cutthroat fights, gory finishers, and phenomenal graphics. There are plenty of secret areas and challenges to explore as well, so make sure you’re stocked up on ammo before diving into battle. And no matter how many times you’re bashing away, the Omen 15 RGB keyboard is more than up to the task. 


Overwatch 

If you’re into team-based games and want a roster of unique characters to choose from, then Overwatch is the game for you. Team up with friends (or strangers) to frantically capture a point in the level or work together to move a payload through to its destination. It’s fast-paced and offers plenty of challenges, and if you really thing you’re up for it, you can queue up for ranked competitive matches to show off your skills. 


Ori and the Will of the Wisps 

This charming sequel is a beautiful game to play, filled with lots of areas to explore. The soothing soundtrack and gorgeous graphics are great to put your mind at ease but be prepared for challenging puzzles and some excellent action sequences. 

The Bang & Olufsen speakers on the  Omen 15 really help you enjoy the phenomenal background music that this game showcases. 


Fortnite 

It’s the game that’s sweeping the Internet, with thousands of gamers streaming their gameplay skills to the world. Team up with your friends and see how long you can survive against hordes of other players in this unique build-to-survive game. 

There’s a reason it remains one of the most popular games to play, so scour for loot, grab some supplies, and hunt your way to the top. And thanks to the 144Hz display refresh rate of the  Omen 15, you’ll be picking off your enemies faster than they can react. 


The Jackbox Party Pack 

If you’re looking at games to keep your family entertained, then The Jackbox Party Pack is a sure-fire hit. Just connect your  Omen 15 to your TV using the HDMI port, and then grab your phone or a laptop to join in on the myriad of games available. 

Design funny t-shirts, test your trivia knowledge in a murder house, or even try your hand at stand-up comedy. There are plenty of games to choose from depending on which pack you buy, but all of them are sure to deliver hours of entertainment. 

In the UAE, the  Omen 15-dh0000ne is available at Sharaf DG and Amazon, while in Saudi Arabia it’s available at Jarir. 

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AMD’s next game changer may have nothing to do with CPU or GPU

Posted: 10 Apr 2020 08:00 PM PDT

AMD has recently dropped support and distribution for its intelligent storage acceleration software solution, StoreMi.

The software was licensed from a development company called Emmotus and allowed slow hard disk drives to be “fused” with faster drives for SSD-like performance. Apple and Intel have both attempted to accomplish the same goal in the past two decades with the Fusion drive and Robson/Turbo Memory respectively.

StoreMi is compatible with NVMe, SATA and 3D Xpoint storage, with Emmotus now using it to pair slow QLC and fast SLC into hybrid SSD. But AMD may be looking to push beyond StoreMi's capabilities. AnandTech reports the company is “focus[ing] its internal development resources on a replacement solution,” which is set to be released before July 2020.

AnandTech adds that “AMD is explicitly noting the use of ‘internal’ resources, [which] strongly suggests whatever the company is working on, it’s an in-house solution rather than a licensed solution like StoreMi”.

What about Radeon RAMdisk?

We also contacted AMD and partner Dataram to find out more about their collaboration on a little-known piece of software called Radeon RAMDisk, which can be used to create RAM-based storage devices that are far faster than most solid state drives on the market. The last version of Radeon RAMDisk was released in December 2013, which leads us to believe the software has been abandoned.

One of Intel’s current unique selling points has been to use Optane to differentiate itself from AMD. The technology has even trickled down to consumer laptops, such as this HP model with a seventh generation Core i3 CPU and a 1TB hard disk drive. The marketing blurb boasts of “storage acceleration, creating speeds of an SSD hard drive without the extra cost.”

So, could AMD be looking to bring out its own Optane rival? Perhaps a software-based solution? After all, the firm could harness learnings from the storage technology it deployed in the brand new Xbox One X games console.

Via AnandTech

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An old programming language is threatening global stability

Posted: 10 Apr 2020 05:27 PM PDT

It sounds like the name of a rock band from the 1960's but COBOL, which stands for Common Business Oriented Language and was first developed in 1959, is back in the news.

As reported by CNN, US state governments have raised the prospect of shortage of COBOL programmers to help them tackle the pandemic in the US particularly where it is still widely in use today.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy recently put out a call for volunteers who know how to code the decades-old computer programming language as many of the state's systems are still running on older mainframes. 

A recent report highlighted a startling fact: in 2019, 64 per cent of mainframe-powered organisations were planning to run more than half their mission-critical workloads on the platform, an increase from 57 per cent in 2018.

A lack of COBOL programmers is also hurting Connecticut as the state is currently struggling to process its large volume of unemployment claims using a COBOL mainframe and four other separate systems. New Jersey is facing a similar situation as 362,000 of the states residents have filed for unemployment in the past two weeks and its 40-year-old mainframes are now being overloaded.

COBOL

For instance, a 2017 report from Reuters revealed that there are still 220bn lines of COBOL in use today as 43 percent of banking systems and 95 percent of ATM swipes still rely on the aging computer programming language.

COBOL is also still used by the US federal government across a variety of agencies including the Department of Veteran Affairs, the Department of Justice and the Social Security Administration.

A survey earlier this year by Micro Focus highlighted the fact that most organisations favor modernization as an approach for implementing strategic change. In other words, they are opposed to replacing or retiring their COBOL applications as they continue to provide a low-risk and effective means of transforming IT to support digital business initiatives.

This might be due to cost factors or because of the criticality of the tasks run by COBOL based system. Very often, the catalyst for change - as it was the case with the Y2K/Millennium bug, is a global, external factor. If you've ever wanted to learn COBOL, now would be the perfect time to do so.

Via CNN

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