Новости за 23.11.2022

CD Projekt Red has finally shared a gameplay trailer for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's imminent "next-gen" update, and it's largely what you'd hope for. The overhauled action role-playing game looks better thanks to more detailed character models (with 4K textures), ray-traced lighting effects and other cosmetic upgrades. Geralt looks more grizzled than ever, while even the water reflections are prettier. It's not surprising that the refreshed game would look at least somewhat better than the 2015 original... Читать дальше...

More than seven years after the first Wall Street Journal story about problems with Theranos’ blood tests, its founder, Elizabeth Holmes, was sentenced to over a decade in prison for defrauding the company’s investors. She had been found guilty on four counts of fraud during a months-long trial where her lawyers argued that she was an inexperienced entrepreneur who hadn’t intended to mislead anyone.

Sony has more exclusive games than Xbox does, according to Microsoft, which claims that many of its rival's first-party titles "are better quality." Lest you believe Microsoft is dunking on its own game studios for no reason, the company made the assertion in a filing with the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is conducting an in-depth review of the planned Activision Blizzard acquisition. Although the filing is dated October 31st, Eurogamer notes that the document has just been made publicly available. Читать дальше...

God of War: Ragnarok has sold more copies in its debut week than any other first-party PlayStation title, according to the official PlayStation Twitter account. Sony says the game tallied 5.1 million sales through its first week, placing it ahead of The Last of Us Part II, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Ragnarok’s predecessor, God of War (2018).

With the United States facing a historic housing shortage, researchers from the University of Maine believe they may have found a solution to the problem. Using one of the world’s largest 3D printers, the university’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center (ASCC) recently created the first 3D-printed home made entirely of bio-based materials. Finding a way to manufacture 3D-printed homes at scale is a challenge many have tried to tackle in recent years. To date, most solutions have involved... Читать дальше...

The San Francisco Police Department is currently petitioning the city's Board of Supervisors for permission to deploy robots to kill suspects that law enforcement deems a sufficient threat that the "risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers is imminent and outweighs any other force option available to SFPD." The draft policy, which was written by the SFPD itself, also seeks to exclude "hundreds of assault rifles from its inventory of military-style weapons and for not include personnel... Читать дальше...

Cryptocurrency mining companies hoping to set up shop in New York State may bump into some limits. Governor Kathy Hochul has signed legislation restricting crypto mining in the country, making it the first state to clamp down on the practice. The environment-focused law establishes a two-year freeze on new and renewed air permits for fossil fuel power plants used for mining that uses demanding "proof-of-work" authentication. The Department of Environmental Conservation will also have to study... Читать дальше...

Ticketmaster's chaotic handling of Taylor Swift's tour ticket sales has brought the company under increased scrutiny, including from lawmakers. Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Mike Lee (R-UT), the chair and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust and Consumer Rights, have announced a hearing to gather evidence on competition in the ticketing industry. They have yet to confirm when the hearing will take place or the witnesses that the committee will call upon. Читать дальше...

Moog's holiday promos this year include a particularly nice perk: a freebie. The synthesizer pioneer has released a free new MF-109S Saturator add-on (shown above) for all Moogerfooger Effects Plugins users. As the name implies, the plugin gives you more control over the input drive circuit to produce anything from analog saturation through to smooth compression. It also replicates the noise generator circuit of the Minimoog Model D, with control through a switchable filter type.

If you’re looking for something to help you get in shape or assist someone else on their health journey, a fitness tracker can be a worthwhile purchase. With Black Friday around the corner, Amazon has discounted a selection of Fitbit’s most popular devices. To start, the entry-level Inspire 3 is currently 30 percent off, putting it just under $70. That’s a new all-time low for the wearable. What’s more, the Inspire 3 is a great option if you’re looking for a no-thrills fitness tracker that nails the essentials. Читать дальше...

Hulu has jumped into the Black Friday action with steep discounts on its Hulu with Ads plan. You can grab a year of the service for $2 per month ($23.88 for the year), savings yourself a hefty $6 per month or 75 percent off the regular $8 per month rate.

Anyone looking for a portable, high-performance gaming laptop might want to move on this Black Friday deal from Razer. Right now this configuration of the Blade 14, normally $2,800, is down to $2,000. This Blade runs on an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX 8 Core processor, and while that's AMD's previous generation chip, it's still plenty fast to handle the latest titles. 

Netflix's new in-house game teams may be particularly ambitious. The company has posted a job listing for a director in Los Angeles who would lead work on a "brand-new AAA PC game" — this is not just another mobile title. While many details remain unknown, the new hire will ideally have experience with first- and third-person shooters, constantly evolving "live service" games (think Destiny 2) and quickly prototyping in Unreal Engine. The perfect candidate would also be comfortable with both cooperative and competitive multiplayer... Читать дальше...

If you're looking for a new pair of AirPods to gift to a loved one this year, you're certainly not alone. These popular wireless earbuds have been high on many wish lists since they first debuted in 2016. We're now on the third-generation of Apple's standard earbuds, and the second full revamp of the higher-end AirPods Pro. And those who want all of the conveniences of AirPods in a classic, over-ear design can still turn to Apple's AirPods Max. Regardless of which model you're looking to gift (or buy for yourself)... Читать дальше...

It’s the year 2022 and going to the office for work is no longer the norm for a lot of people. You probably know at least one person in your life who’s remote either part-time or full-time. Working from home has its perks – not having a commute being chief among them – but it’s not without challenges. Household disturbances are big ones, as well as poor lighting or simply the lack of professional-level equipment that they might have access to only in-office. That’s why we recommend giving them... Читать дальше...

Every Pokémon generation brings a new region to discover. But with the open-world design of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, instead of simply getting an updated map with a linear path from start to finish, it feels like there's a vast countryside to explore. Then you add a deeper story with three branching paths, along with a bunch of quality-of-life improvements and tweaks to the traditional Pokémon format, and you have a game that's a blast to get lost in — even with the title's unfortunate performance issues. Читать дальше...

Solo Stove's Black Friday deals are in full swing, and they've cut up to 40 percent off all of the company's fire pits. You'll find the biggest discount on the Yukon, the largest of Solo Stove's machines, which comes in at $400. That's $350 off its usual price and the cheapest we've seen the second-generation fire pit. Meanwhile, the Bonfire 2.0 is down to $225, the Ranger is on sale for $180 and the tabletop-friendly Mesa is only $80 right now. The latter actually has its own promotion as well... Читать дальше...

Elon Musk is refusing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel bills accumulated by Twitter employees before he took over the company, The New York Times has reported. The company is on a drastic cost-cutting campaign and Musk has reportedly issued orders to slow or even halt payments to vendors and contract services. The move has sparked complaints from Twitter insiders and vendors who are owed millions of dollars in back payments. 

Apple and Google’s domination across the mobile internet is under scrutiny again. Earlier this year, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was consulting on a possible probe into Google and Apple's dominance in the mobile phone market. Now, the regulator has announced it received "widespread support" for its proposals and has launched a market investigation into the two tech giant's "duopoly" in cloud gaming and mobile browsers. The CMA noted that Apple and Google have a "stranglehold" over mobile device operating systems... Читать дальше...

Samsung's Black Friday deals have arrived, and one of biggest discounts you can get is for the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. The wireless earbuds in Bora Purple are currently on sale for $125 at Amazon, 46 percent less than their original price of $230. They'd previously gone for as low as $155 on Prime Day, but this is the lowest price we've seen for them on the website. We called the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro Samsung's best earbuds yet in our review, where we praised them for being more comfortable than their predecessor. Читать дальше...

Honor’s second foldable, and the first destined for the west, has been unveiled today in China as the Honor Magic VS 5G. The VS is a follow-up to the Magic V, but you’ll spend a while playing spot the difference between the two handset’s spec sheets. This new model keeps the same measurements, display resolutions and connectivity options, but gets Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 paired with a bigger 5,000mAh battery.

Foxconn's largest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, China has been hit by worker protests including violent confrontations, Bloomberg has reported. Videos show hundreds of workers marching and confronting a manager, along with several instances of violence. Employees are reportedly upset over lesser benefits and longer wait times for bonuses, according to videos posted on Weibo seen by Engadget Chinese.

Even if you aren't familiar with Daniel Arsham, chances are you might have already come across his crystallized Pokémon sculptures. Fans can now get a similar makeover on a smartphone, by way of a collaboration between Xiaomi and the New York-based artist. The Xiaomi 12T Pro Daniel Arsham Edition features a faithful reproduction of the artist's iconic "fictional archaeology" vibe, which mainly consists of bronze crystals set in an eroded green patina. 

Within less than a couple of months, you'll no longer be able to access Deus Ex Go, the turn-based puzzle game entry in the cyberpunk-dystopian franchise. Deus Ex Go was developed by Square Enix Montreal, which was acquired by Swedish game company Embracer Group back in May. While Embracer rebranded the studio to Onoma in October, reports came out less than a month later that it was going to shut down the mobile games developer. Now, Onoma has announced on Twitter that Deus Ex Go, Arena Battle Champions... Читать дальше...

You know that lofi beats have taken over when companies are designing entire instruments around them. Sonicware has introduced the Liven Lofi-12, a groovebox devoted to producing subdued tracks. The machine centers around a 16-bit, 12/24kHz sampling engine with a 12-bit sampler mode that gives any sound that "genuine" lofi vibe. You can't just recreate the effect with a bit crusher or similar tools, the company claims.