Facebook to Prioritise 'Trustworthy' News Based on Surveys

Facebook will prioritise "trustworthy" news in its feed of social media posts, using member surveys to identify high-quality outlets and fight sensationalism and misinformation, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Friday.

The company, which has more than 2 billion monthly users, said its members, not experts or Facebook executives, would determine how news outlets rank in terms of trustworthiness. It also said it would put an emphasis on local news sources.

The move is likely to send shockwaves through the media landscape in nearly every country, given the ubiquity of the world's largest social network and how central it has become in some places to the distribution of news.

Zuckerberg said on Friday he expects recently announced changes to shrink the amount of news on Facebook by 20 percent, to about 4 percent of all content from 5 percent currently.

The chief executive outlined the shakeup in a post on Facebook, saying that starting next week the News Feed, the company's centrepiece product, would prioritise "high quality news" over less trusted sources.

"There's too much sensationalism, misinformation and polarisation in the world today," Zuckerberg wrote.

"Social media enables people to spread information faster than ever before, and if we don't specifically tackle these problems, then we end up amplifying them," he wrote.

The quality of news on Facebook has been called into question after alleged Russian operatives, for-profit spammers and others spread false reports on the site, including during the 2016 US election campaign.

Two years ago, Facebook users saw hoaxes saying Pope Francis endorsed Republican Donald Trump for US president and that a federal agent investigating Democrat Hillary Clinton was found dead. Facebook initially proposed fighting false stories by letting users flag them.

The change will affect not only links posted by news outlets but also news stories that individuals share, Facebook said.

News organizations immediately began considering how they would fare in the ranking.

Fighting fake news
The trust ranking will help to address fake news stories, said David Chavern, president of the News Media Alliance, a trade group for old-line U.S. newspapers.

"For some time, we have argued that Facebook should give priority to news from trusted sources," he said in a statement.

Tom Gara, opinion editor at BuzzFeed News, wrote on Twitter that he expected partisan outlets to fare worse: "This sounds like extremely good news for news publishers that aren't hated by one side or the other."

Facebook has had a stormy relationship with news organizations, especially those with strong political leanings. In 2016, Republican US lawmakers expressed concern that Facebook, based in liberal Northern California, was suppressing news stories of interest to conservative readers.

Facebook said that ranking by trustworthiness was not intended to directly impact any specific groups of publishers based on their size or ideology.

Zuckerberg said he settled on the idea of surveying Facebook users after rejecting having the company itself rank news outlets' trustworthiness.

"We decided that having the community determine which sources are broadly trusted would be most objective," he wrote in his post.

Facebook said it did not plan to release the survey results because they will represent an incomplete picture of how a story's position in a person's feed is determined.

Many factors determine where a post appears in a Facebook user's News Feed such as subject of the post, who wrote it and who is commenting on it.

Last week, Zuckerberg said the company would change the way it filters posts and videos on News Feed to prioritise what friends and family share.

News Corp, owner of the New York Post and other outlets, responded to the earlier Facebook announcement with a pledge to look for "any signs that the weighting of news sites is politically motivated."

The Rupert Murdoch-led company had no immediate comment on Friday.

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Made-in-India Video Games Could Come to the Nintendo Switch

It appears that games made in India may find their way to the Nintendo Switch. Multiple sources speaking to Gadgets 360 have said that Nintendo employees are in the country evaluating games from Indian studios for potential release on its platforms. This was confirmed by a Facebook post from Bengaluru-based Holy Cow Productions that was visited by Nintendo, whose staff are in the city for the Indian Gaming Show as well.

Previously, indie developers such as Yacht Club Games — responsible for Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove have come out in admiration for Nintendo’s support for independent developers with ample promotion and advertising.

Nintendo looking at India for games is a welcome move considering the intense competition on Android and iOS make it tough for local developers to stay afloat let alone monetise. So much so that game studios are looking at other revenue opportunities like e-sports to pivot to.

Amusingly, the Nintendo Switch isn’t available in India officially, though it has been selling steadily across stores - both online and offline.

“We see more customers asking for the Nintendo Switch than they do for the PS4 or Xbox One,” a buyer for a large format retail chain tells us.

For what it’s worth, we found the Nintendo Switch to be one of the better efforts from the House of Mario, more so with a strong line-upin its second year. The possibly of games from India just strengthen the notion of it being one of the more inclusive, developer-friendly consoles around.

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Intel RealSense D415, D435 Depth Cameras Launched

Intel has launched two new D400-series 3D RealSense cameras. The D415 and D435 cameras were unveiled at CES 2018. Intel saysthe cameras can add 3D capabilities to any device. They come with a USB-powered form factor and can process complex depth data in real time because of a D400 depth module, a turnkey optical depth solution, and the new Intel RealSense vision processor. The cameras can also be used both indoors and outdoors and in any lighting environment, Intel claims. In terms of pricing, the D415 is available for $149, while the D435 costs $179.

The D415 and D435 depth cameras come with Intel's RealSense SDK 2.0, which is now a cross-platform, open source SDK. Intel explains the technology as,"RealSense Stereo Depth Technology brings 3D to devices and machines that only see 2D today." According to Intel, the target audience for the camera are not just developers and manufacturers, but also makers and educators. It says the cameras are easy to use and works as soon as they are plugged in. Meanwhile, the company says that the new cameras add human-like 3D vision to devices. Intel RealSense VP Sagi Ben Moshe, in a statement, said, "Many of today's machines and devices use 2D image recognition-based computer vision, but with Intel RealSense's best-in-class depth technology, we are redefining future technologies to 'see' like a human, so devices and machines can truly enrich people's lives."

While both the new cameras appear to be identical, the difference lies in the field of view. The D415 has a narrow field of view and a rolling shutter that scans its environment from one side to the other to take an image. Meanwhile, the D435 has a wider field of view and has a global shutter that takes images all at once. This means the former is useful for smaller objects that require precise measurement while the latter is to capture depth perception in moving objects and larger areas. Also, the depth cameras offer a 1280x720 resolution at 90 frames per second while the RGB sensors provide the same resolution at 30fps.

When it comes to dimensions, there is a marginal difference between the cameras. The D415 is 99x20x23mm and the D435 is 90x25x25mm.

In terms of functionality, Intel also said, "With its compact, ready-to-use form, the Intel RealSense D400 Depth Camera series not only makes it easy for developers to build 3D depth sensing into any design, but they are also ready to be embedded into high-volume products."

"With its compact, ready-to-use form, the Intel RealSense D400 Depth Camera series not only makes it easy for developers to build 3D depth sensing into any design, but they are also ready to be embedded into high-volume products."

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Xiaomi Mi TV 4A 50-Inch Variant 4K HDR TV Launched: Price, Specifications

Xiaomi has introduced a new the 50-inch Mi TV in its lineup. Xiaomi had launched the Mi TV 4A series in 2017 and the 50-inch TV is its 6th addition. The new Xiaomi 50-inch Mi TV 4A has been priced at CNY 2,399 (roughly Rs. 23,800). Just like Xiaomi's other products, it is currently unclear if the new television set will make its way to the other markets, including India. The new 50-inch model has been added by Xiaomi to the Mi TV 4A lineup which already has five variants, and comes with several features.

The new 50-inch Xiaomi Mi TV 4A features a 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution display and a 60HZ refresh rate with support for HDR10+ HLG. The Mi TV 4A series feature a frameless design and comes with integrated Mi TV Bar with 10 speakers, 2 wireless rear satellite speakers, and a subwoofer. The models support Dolby Atmos audio technology with 2 up-firing speakers for what the company claims can offer "an immersive 3D sound experience."

The new Xiaomi TV also features its AI (artificial intelligence) based recommendations UI called PatchWall to the Mi TV 4. The PatchWall, a UI layer on top of the Android OS, is based on deep learning AI technology. It enables curation of content based on recommendations.

The Mi TV 4A 50-inch is equipped with a 64-bit Amlogic L962 quad-core processor coupled with 2GB RAM and internal storage is 8GB. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11ac (2.4/5 GHz dual-band Wi-Fi), Bluetooth 4.2, Dolby, and DTS Audio. The Mi TV 4A also sports a blue light-reducing mode to reduce eye strain problem. The 50-inch Mi TV 4A has 3 HDMI ports, 2 USB ports, AV input, an ethernet port, and an S/PDIF audio output port. The TV also comes with a Mi Bluetooth Remote Control, with features such as Bluetooth, Speech Recognition, Mi Touch, and Infrared.

In January 2017, Xiaomi had showcased its Mi TV 4 television lineup at CES. Later in March, the Mi TV 4A series was launched in three screen sizes 65-inch, 55-inch, and 49-inch. Further, in July 2017, the company released the smallest model of the Mi TV4A that sports a 32-inch display.

Meanwhile, the pre-order registrations of the Mi TV 4A will reportedly begin on Friday and will go on sale on January 23. Xiaomi is also said to be offering a CNY 100 (roughly Rs. 1,000) discount when sales begin. Xiaomi also has a Mi TV 4, which is an upgrade to the Mi TV 4A series.

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow matsonvoice on Twitter, Facebook,

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Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition, PC Version Release Date Announced

Square Enix has announced the Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition for the PS4, Xbox One, and Windows PC. It includes the base game, all its currently released downloadable content, and cosmetic items. Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition release date is March 6 on all platforms including PC. The Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition price is $50 internationally for PS4, Xbox One, and Windows PC.

In India, Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition PC price should be around Rs. 1,699, which is what Square Enix charges for PC games on Steam that have a $50 price internationally. There will be a PC physical edition as well, though much like Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, it's simply a Steam installer on a disc.

Those who have purchased the standard edition of Final Fantasy XV on PS4 and Xbox One can pay $20 for the content of the Royal Edition not included in the Final Fantasy XV season pass. No Indian prices for the PS4 and Xbox One versions of Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition have been revealed just yet.

Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition contents

• An all-new dungeon - Insomnia City Ruins: Expanded Map o New features such as first person mode, new gear, and new bosses. 
• All season pass content – Episode Gladiolus, Episode Prompto, Multiplayer Expansion: Comrades, and Episode Ignis.
• Armiger Unleashed – after you collect all 13 royal arms, a more action-oriented mode of the Armiger is unlocked.
• Royal Vessel – the boat from FFXV is now a controllable vehicle. The same body of water (between Cape Caem and Altissia) can now be freely explored. 
• Over a dozen pieces of DLC, including weapons, Regalia car skins, and item sets.
• The game itself - Final Fantasy XV

Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition PC specifications

Furthermore, Square Enix has revealed what kind of PC you'd need to play Final Fantasy XV. Starting at an Intel Core i5 and 8GB RAM, it seems to be exceptionally resource intensive.
Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition minimum requirements (playable at 720p)

• OS: Windows 7 SP1/Windows 8.1/Windows 10 64-bit
• Processor: Intel Core i5-2500 or AMD FX-6100 (3.3GHz or higher)
• Video card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 760, 1050, or AMD Radeon R9 280
• RAM: 8GB
• Hard drive space: 100GB or higher
• DirectX: DirectX 11

Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition recommended requirements (playable at 1080p)

• OS: Windows 7 SP1/Windows 8.1/Windows 10 64-bit
• Processor: Intel Core i7-3770 or AMD FX-8350
• Video card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB or AMD Radeon RX480
• RAM: 16GB
• Hard drive space: 100GB or higher
• DirectX: DirectX 11

Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition 4K HDR requirements

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit with Fall Creators update
• Processor: Intel Core i7-7700 or AMD Ryzen 1600X
• Video card: Nvidia GeForce 1080Ti
• RAM: 16GB
• Hard drive space: 155GB or higher
• DirectX: DirectX 11

Would you be playing Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition on PC or console or have you moved on to other games? Let us know in the comments.

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New Xbox Elite Controller With USB Type-C Charging Leaked

Revealed at E3 2015, the Xbox Elite Controller was Microsoft’s attempt at making a premium gaming peripheral. And it appears to have been successful enough to warrant a new variant.

According to several reports, a new Xbox Elite Controller is in the works with USB Type-C charging and native Windows Bluetooth support (the current version requires you to use Microsoft’s proprietary dongle to use it wirelessly with your Windows PC). Other additions include three-level Hair Trigger Locks, longer key travel for the paddles, and a three-profile switch.

There are new grip sections to be added to the controller as well which should prevent wear and tear over time. Three LEDs are also present which is speculated to represent either battery life or extra profile support.
While Microsoft is yet to confirm the existence of a revised Xbox Elite Controller, we won’t be surprised to see it revealed at or before E3 2018. Considering that Microsoft India has brought controllers branded with its IPs such as Gear of War and Minecraft, this should see an India release as well.
Hopefully it makes it to India sooner than the current Xbox Elite Controller did — a whole year after its international debut. It retails for Rs. 10,990 and was initially exclusive to Flipkart. Despite the high price point, multiple sources in the supply chain confirmed to Gadgets 360 that it sold out its initial shipment of a 100 units in the month of release.

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Twitter's Bookmarks Feature Spotted in Android Beta App

Twitter in October had announced that it is developing a bookmarking feature to save tweets for later. The social media giant appears to be finally testing the new feature on Android smartphones. While the feature was called Save For Later earlier, the name was changed to Bookmarks in the following month. In November, the company said that it had started testing the feature. With the latest update, it is clear that Twitter has stayed with the name and the feature is aimed at helping Twitter users privately flag tweets for personal viewing at their convenience.

A report from 9to5Google has revealed that the Bookmarks feature was spotted in the latest beta (version 7.29) for Twitter's Android app. We were not able to see the same feature however, despite being on the same version. It thus appears to be a limited test for beta users. The report says, "Tapping the carrot in the top-right corner of every tweet reveals a new "Add Tweet to Bookmarks" option that is now the very first item in that menu. A snack bar pops up at the bottom of the display to confirm the action, with it featuring a shortcut to view the full list of saved tweets." Meanwhile, the Bookmarks can be accessed in the navigation drawer placed below the Moments tab, the report adds.

To recall, Twitter had announced in October 2017 that it is developing the feature to save tweets. Additionally, Keith Coleman, Head of Product, Twitter, had revealed that a new feature #SaveForLater was in the works. Later, in November, Tina Koyama, a staff product designer at the company, had tweeted "News from the #SaveForLater team! We've decided to call our feature 'Bookmarks' because that's a commonly used term for saving content and it fits nicely alongside the names of the other features in the navigation."

Bookmarks, which essentially keeps a private copy of a tweet for the user instead of liking or retweeting, has been a much-awaited feature. Twitter's product manager Jesar Shah had said in October last year that the feature was popularly requested by users.

Meanwhile, Twitter has not made any official announcement regarding the feature as of now. It also raises questions such as what will be the time limit until when the tweets will be saved, or whether the private copy will remain with the user even after the original tweet is deleted.

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OnePlus Confirms 'Up to 40,000 Users' Impacted by Credit Card Breach

Earlier this week, several people who had shopped at the OnePlus online store reported they were seeing fraudulent transactions on their credit cards. At the time, the company said it was investigating the claims "as a matter of urgency". These investigations seemed to have thrown up some results as OnePlus that credit card details of "up to 40,000 users" may have been stolen thanks to malicious code injected onto its website.

"One of our systems was attacked, and a malicious script was injected into the payment page code to sniff out credit card info while it was being entered," a OnePlus staff member wrote on the company’s online forums on Friday. "The malicious script operated intermittently, capturing and sending data directly from the user's browser. It has since been eliminated."

The company said that only users who entered credit card details afresh on the website "between mid-November 2017 and January 11, 2018" would potentially be impacted. If you paid using saved credit card details, or completed the payment using "Credit Card via PayPal", or via PayPal directly, you should not be affected, the company added.

"We cannot apologise enough for letting something like this happen. We are eternally grateful to have such a vigilant and informed community, and it pains us to let you down," the post said.
OnePlus added that it is contacting the potentially affected customers directly and it is "working with our providers and local authorities to better address the incident".

If you’ve entered your card details on the OnePlus website between mid-November 2017 and 11 January 2018, it would probably be a good idea to request a fresh card from your bank, even if you haven’t seen any fraudulent activities on your card yet. If you see any charges on your statement that you don’t recognise, contact your bank and initiate a chargeback.

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South Korean Group Files Complaint Against Apple CEO Over iPhone Slowdown

A South Korean consumer group has filed a criminal complaint against Apple CEO Tim Cook over slower iPhone devices, after probes in Europe into allegations the firm had deliberately shortened the life of its handsets.

Apple is already facing lawsuits in the United States and elsewhere over accusations of having defrauded iPhone users by slowing down devices without warning to compensate for poor battery performance and to push clients into buying new phones.

The South Korean advocacy group, Citizens United for Consumer Sovereignty, in its complaint submitted on Thursday accused Apple of destruction of property and fraud.
"For the sake of its loyal fans, Apple has to take responsibility over the slowing iPhones," Park Soon-jang, an official at the advocacy group told Reuters by phone on Friday.

The group also represents about 120 plaintiffs in a civil damage suit against Apple filed earlier this month.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office declined to comment when asked if it would launch an investigation into Apple following the complaint from the consumer group.
Apple Korea, the US tech firm's South Korean subsidiary, was not immediately available for comment.

The California-based company acknowledged in December that iPhone software can slow down some phones with battery problems and apologised for the issue. However, it said it would never do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product.

Apple will release a software update that will allow users to turn off a feature that slows down iPhones when batteries are low on charge, CEO Cook told ABC News on Wednesday.
Italy's antitrust body said on Thursday it had opened a probe into allegations that Apple and Samsung Electronics used software updates to slow their mobile phones and push clients into buying new handsets.

A French prosecutor has also launched a preliminary investigation into Apple's alleged deception and planned obsolescence of its products.

© Thomson Reuters 2018

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'Fable 4' for Xbox One and Windows PC in Development: Report

A new Fable game for Xbox One and Windows PC is in development. The game is being made by Forza Horizon 3 studio Playground. In recent months the UK-based company has been hiring staff for an open-world non-racing game poaching talent that’s worked on games like The Witcher 3, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice.

Sources speaking to Eurogamer have confirmed that the game in development is an entry in Microsoft’s Fable series. The last mainline entry was Fable 3 for the Xbox 360. And Playground’s efforts could very well result in Fable 4.

Prior to this, Microsoft cancelled development on co-op action role-playing game, Fable Legends and shuttered the studio behind it, Lionhead.

"I have slightly mixed feelings," Fable co-creator Simon Carter told Eurogamer.

"On the one hand it's great for the UK games industry, and very pleasing that Fable isn't dead; indeed, it will be lovely to play one as a punter, without coming out in hives.

"On the other hand it is a little curious to get rid of the team that is uniquely expert in making Fable, and then try and make Fable. Fable is a weird game, and a tough one to deconstruct for a new team. That said, the team in question is very talented, and I'm sure they'll do a fantastic job."

Apparently, the reason for the change of heart to bring Fable back from the dead was Microsoft seeing the success Sony had with Horizon Zero Dawn selling 3.4 million units as of June 2017.

With an install base of over 70 million PS4s, it’s no surprise that Horizon Zero Dawn found an audience and with the Xbox One reportedly having half the install base, it will be interesting to see how well this new take on Fable does.

The last entry in the franchise was Fable Fortune — a free-to-play digital card game by Flaming Fowl Studios that consists of Lionhead veterans.

And if you were wondering what would happen to the Forza Horizon series, fear not. According to the Brazilian ratings board, we could see Forza Horizon 4 this year.

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God of War Stone Mason Edition Revealed

An ad from US retailer Gamestop has revealedthe existence of a special edition version of PS4-exclusive God of War. Called the God of War Stone Mason Edition, it comes with a statue, steelbook case, lithograph, and a host of other items. The God of War Stone Mason Edition price is $149.99.

God of War Stone Mason Edition contents

• 9-inch Kratos and Atreus statue
• Steelbook case that includes the God of War PS4 game
• Two Hulora brothers carvings
• Cloth map

God of War Stone Mason Edition Exclusive Contents

• Stone Mason’s ring
• Mimir’s head talking keychain
• Defender of the Chosen Shield

God of War Stone Mason DLC

• Death’s vow armour set
• Exile’s guardian shield
• God of War digital comic
• Dynamic PS4 theme

God of War Stone Mason pre-order bonus

• XP boost In-game
• DLC shields (three in total)

Sony India hasn’t confirmed if India gets the God of War Stone Mason Edition just yet. Considering that Uncharted 4’s special editions skipped India, it’s safe to say this will be the case with God of War as well. The Gamestop ad states this edition will be available in early 2018, suggesting that Sony won’t be delaying the game to next year.

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WhatsApp Business App Launched for Small Businesses; Only Available on Android for Now

The WhatsApp Business standalone app was announced by Facebook on Wednesday in an effort to make business communication with customers more streamlined for SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) on the popular messaging platform. A part of its WhatsApp for Business initiative that was first officially announced back in September last year and tested with businesses like BookMyShow and MakeMyTrip in India since, the new app for SMEs is now available to download via Google Play in Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, the UK, and the US. The WhatsApp Business app is free, and will be rolled out across the world in the coming weeks, which is when it can be expected in India. It will be only available for Android phones at launch, but the company will eventually have a version for iPhones too.

The WhatsApp Business app is aimed at making it easier to for small companies to connect with their customers, and more convenient for the 1.3 billion WhatsApp users to chat with businesses that matter to them. The app will help customers with useful information such as a business description, email or store addresses and website.

It will also save time with smart messaging tools - quick replies that provide fast answers to frequently asked questions, greeting messages that introduce customers to your business, and away messages that let them know you're busy.

"People will know that they're talking to a business because you will be listed as a Business Account. Over time, some businesses will have Confirmed Accounts once it's been confirmed that the account phone number matches the business phone number," WhatsApp said in a statement.

Regular users can continue using WhatsApp as usual as there's no need to download anything new. "People will continue to have full control over the messages they receive, with the ability to block any number, including businesses, as well as report spam," the company added.

The statement claimed WhatsApp helps over 80 percent of small businesses in India and Brazil communicate with customers and grow their business, citing a Morning Consult study. WhatsApp also claimed that 84 percent of SMBs think that WhatsApp helps them communicate with customers, andA80 percent of SMBs think that WhatsApp helps them grow their business.

The new business accounts are aimed at firms that receive a high volume of WhatsApp messages and need help keeping up, WhatsApp Chief Operating Officer Matt Idema said. "What we saw was a need for businesses to have more efficient tools," Idema said in an interview with Reuters.

Idema, who was a Facebook executive before he joined WhatsApp last year, said WhatsApp intends to charge businesses in some form in the future, but he said it was too soon to discuss when that would happen or what the future business services would look like.

WhatsApp competes in a crowded market that also includes Facebook's Messenger application, Tencent Holdings's WeChat and numerous other messaging services.

Written with agency inputs

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Samsung Starts Production on Next-Gen 16Gb GDDR6 DRAM Chips for Graphics Cards

South Korean giant Samsung Electronics on Thursday announced that it had initiated mass production of its first 16Gb (gigabit) Graphics Double Data Rate 6 (GDDR6) DRAM chip for upcoming graphics processors. The GDDR6 chip will use Samsung's new 10nm technology. The new chip also uses a proprietary low-power circuit design that is claimed to consume approximately 35 percent less energy than other GDDR6 chips in the market. Additionally, Samsung has doubled data transfer over its previous 8Gb GDDR5 chip.

As we mentioned, Samsung has begun production for its latest innovation in graphics DRAM chips. Succeeding the earlier 20nm technology is the latest 10nm class used in the new chip. It has a claimed pin speed of 18Gbps and data transfer speed of 72GBps. Additionally, it operates at 1.35V energy consumption using Samsung's low-power circuit design. Apart from a low energy advantage, Samsung also claims a 30 percent manufacturing productivity gain over the previous 20nm 8Gb GDDR5 chip.

These new chips will be adopted by major players involved in the production of next-generation graphics cards and gaming devices, with applications also in automotive, network, and AI systems. It will be compatible to work with complex technologies such as 8k video processing, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and artificial intelligence (AI), Samsung said.

"Beginning with this early production of the industry's first 16Gb GDDR6, we will offer a comprehensive graphics DRAM line-up, with the highest performance and densities, in a very timely manner. By introducing next-generation GDDR6 products, we will strengthen our presence in the gaming and graphics card markets and accommodate the growing need for advanced graphics memory in automotive and network systems." said Jinman Han, Senior Vice President, Memory Product Planning & Application Engineering at Samsung Electronics.

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Samsung Galaxy S9, Galaxy S9+ to Feature AI Chips: Report

While the tech world is all set to see some of the major rumours getting transformed into reality at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018, Samsung is reportedly preparing a surprise, too. This is the building of the company's native neural processing units aka artificial intelligence (AI) chips that are expected to be a part of the upcoming Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ models. The AI chips by Samsung are claimed to deliver compelling results to take on AI chips developed by Apple and Huawei.

Samsung is planning to showcase various capabilities of its new AI chips through the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ flagship models that will be unveiled at MWC 2018 in Barcelona on February 25, reports The Korea Herald. The initial experience has already reached the technological levels of Apple and Huawei, though there are also the plans to bring better chips in the second half of the year, the report by the South Korean English daily claimed, citing people familiar with the development.

The new AI chip-equipped Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ could come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC in the US and an Exynos 9810 SoC in various international markets. Further, the new handset models are rumoured to have 18:9 aspect ratio-supported Infinity Display panels and an improved iris scanner.

Samsung is said to have almost prepared the AI chips for servers. These chips are likely to be commercialised in the coming future. However, the prime dedication is reportedly set for an enhanced NPU that would come with the Galaxy Note 9, which is expected for September this year.
An in-house team is reported to have been established by Samsung to enhance R&D efforts towards the AI chip manufacturing. The company is also said to be working with professors and researchers at Seoul National University, Pohang University of Science and Technology, and Kaist.

Apple developed the AI-supported A11 Bionic chip for the iPhone X last year to enable features such as Animoji. Following the footsteps of the Cupertino giant, China's Huawei also stepped into the same nascent space in last September with its HiSilicon Kirin 970 chip that is enabling advanced experiences on the Mate 10 Pro. The SoC has an NPU that supports features such as image-recognising Bokeh effect. Huawei calls its AI implementation as MobileAI.

Alongside competing with Apple and Huawei, Samsung's new AI chips are likely to rival similar innovations designed by chip makers such as Intel and MediaTek. Intel developed its self-learning AI chip called "Loihi" that is scheduled to reach universities and research institutions in the first half of 2018. Likewise, MediaTek at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2018 announced AI chip models.

The Chinese manufacturer is also designing its NeuroPilot SDK that will be available for smartphones, smart homes, automobiles, and others.

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Xbox One X review: Grab an Xbox One X with six free games NOW

Already suffering from January blues? Well, Tesco has just the ticket to turn that frown upside down, with an excellent Xbox One X deal.

That's right, head on over to Tesco's website and you can purchase an Xbox One X for £449, and add up to six free games to your order. The free games on offer? That'll be Gears of War Ultimate Edition, Halo 5, Overwatch, Middle Earth: Shadow of War, call of Duty: WWII and Assassins Creed Origins. That's six Xbox One X games at no extra cost.

Microsoft Xbox One X review:

Before I get onto that, though, let me first outline the console’s key features. The Xbox One X is Microsoft’s first proper 4K games console. It will sit alongside the Xbox One S, which also has a 4K Blu-ray drive for UHD movie playback, but can only play games at 1080p resolution.

In terms of the UI and what you can do with the console, the Microsoft Xbox One X is pretty much identical to the One S; yes, it looks a little different, but switch it on and you’ll forget all about that. The key difference is more power under the hood, plus support for gaming at 4K and HDR, which means sharper graphics, frame rates and a richer colour palette.

To enable all that, there’s more power squeezed inside the Xbox One X than any other games console around, with a quoted 6TFLOPS of computing power – compared with the PS4 Pro’s 4.2TFLOPS – 12GB of GDDR5 RAM with 326MB/sec of bandwidth, 8GB of flash storage plus a 1TB internal hard disk.

Microsoft Xbox One X review: Design and the hardware:

The Xbox One X is a masterpiece of design. It doesn’t look flashy or even particularly exciting, but it’s compact – around the same size as the One S – it’s quiet and has all the connectivity you’d expect.

The front and left side is stepped with a short overhang obscuring the Blu-ray drive slot on the left side, there’s a front-mounted USB 3 socket and two further on the rear, plus a pair of HDMI sockets - one is for connecting your set-top box; while the other is an HDMI 2.0 output for connecting the console to your TV. The optical S/PDIF port makes another appearance, which gives plenty of flexibility to those preferring that type of output, or who have a wireless headphone like the Steelseries Siberia 800 connected.

The box itself supports HDR10, which is the most common form of HDR. It would have been nice to have Dolby Vision as well, which supports higher peak brightness and dynamic range than HDR10, but for now the Xbox One X covers most of the HDR-enabled TV’s on the market. Assuming you have a compatible TV, like the Samsung UE65KS9500 I tested the Xbox One X with, you’ll see both richer colours and brighter specular highlights.

Microsoft also promotes the console’s ability to support Dolby Atmos on its website, which is very much a GOOD THING. It’s worth underlining, though, that this is not only for 4K Blu-rays and streamed TV and movie content, but also those enhanced games (more on that later).

One thing the Xbox One X doesn’t bring is any kind of improvement on the controller front; in fact, you get exactly the same Bluetooth-enabled controller in the box as comes with the Xbox One S. It’s a great controller, but it would have been nice to see some features trickling down from the Xbox Elite controller, such as rear-mounted paddles or a rechargeable battery pack as standard.

Microsoft Xbox One X review: 4K performance and games content

And so to the elephant in the room: 4K games, how they look and how they play. The answer to the second part of that question is “exceptionally”. Play Gears of War 4, Super Lucky’s Tale, Forza Motorsport 7 or FIFA 18 side by side with the same titles on a One S and the differences are obvious.

Before I go on, though, it’s important to note that not all enhanced games will run in native 4K. Some will run with checkerboarding like the PS4 Pro and some will offer enhanced frame rates while others will use the power of the new console to offer dynamic resolution, increased texture detail and higher polygon counts. Some, of course, will do all of these things and look stunning – the point is, not all will.

In the end, it’s up to the developer to decide how to optimise for the One X, but all the games I’ve installed so far play more smoothly, look more colourful and pack cleaner, crisper and sharper visuals across the board on the One X. When you go back to the same games on the One S you’ll wonder where all the detail went and you'll certainly notice the frame rates are less smooth.

As far as Blu-ray video content goes, it looks just as good as it ever did on the Xbox One S with settings for 8-bit, 10-bit and 12-bit output, depending on what your TV supports.

As with all 4K content, however, there is a catch. And that is that is that, although the smoother gameplay and colours are obvious from any distance, as soon as you sit a reasonable distance away from your TV the extra detail that 4K brings just fades away. Everything looks great sitting in my Ikea armchair a metre away from my 55in Hisense M7000, but as soon as I go to sit on the sofa and play, those differences become less apparent.

The other issue for Microsoft is that the number of fully 4K-optimised games available at launch isn’t all that great. At launch, Microsoft’s first-party games support is fronted by Forza Motorsport 7, which it has to be said, does look utterly gorgeous, but the rest of the first-party 4K titles leave a little to be desired, with only Disneyland Adventures, Rush: A Disney-Pixar Adventure, Zoo Tycoon Ultimate Animal Collection, Super Lucky’s Tale, Killer Instinct, Gears of War 4, Halo 5 Guardians, Halo 3 and Halo Wars 2 among the list.

On the third-party front, only a light scattering of AAA titles is ready for day one. FIFA 18 is the headliner here, and it stars alongside Assassin’s Creed Origins, Call of Duty: WWII in 4K and Rise of the Tomb Raider.

And, it must be noted that that the same was true of Sony’s 4K library when the PS4 Pro launched but  Sony does have a year’s head start, so there’s a much larger current selection of games than is available for the Xbox One X right now.

Still, as more developers begin to release patches for existing games, the landscape should change soon; in fact we expect as the console goes on sale from midnight on 7 November a whole slew of games should become available. And, since Microsoft states there are 130 titles confirmed as “Xbox One X Enhanced”, there will be plenty available to play by Christmas 2017 and throughout 2018. You can keep tabs on those on Microsoft’s website.

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