Instagram head Adam Mosseri today announced new features for Threads. The new features include the ability to follow a thread by turning on notifications for 24 hours without following the account, and the ability to quote other posts on web.
“New for Threads: On mobile, you can now keep an eye on a thread and follow the conversation by turning on notifications for 24 hours. No need to follow the account. On web, you can now quote other posts when posting from www.threads.net. Click on the ‘repost’ logo under the post you want to quote, then select ‘quote’,” Mosseri posted on his Instagram Broadcast Channel.
Also read: Threads keyword search feature now rolling out in India: Here’s how to use it
Mosseri also shared a very short video of the new thread notifications features while announcing the new features. According to the video, users will be able to follow a thread by tapping a new bell button present at the top right corner of that post.
Also read: Threads starts keyword search feature, as Meta and Zuck refuse to give up
In our opinion, the new features on Threads will offer several advantages and benefits. The new mobile notifications will help users to keep up with important or interesting threads without having to follow the account, ensuring that they don't miss out on updates. Also, notifications for 24 hours will provide a temporary way to stay engaged with a specific conversation without a long-term commitment.
On the other hand, the ability to quote other posts will allow more precise and context-aware responses, improving the quality of discussions.
Despite Threads’ user drop, the company has been continuously introducing new features in order to gain back users. Last week, Threads launched its keyword search feature in India. This feature is available on both mobile and the web version. For those who are unaware, the keyword search feature allows users to search for posts on Threads.
Last month, Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced the feature to directly share a Threads post to Instagram DMs and the ability to add custom alt-text for photo/video. He also introduced a new mention button to easily mention someone's account.
AMD unveiled two new graphics cards - the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT and RX 7800 XT - at Gamescom 2023. These two new GPUs join the flagship RX 7900 XT, 7900 and the lower mid-range 7600 cards. Both cards being announced today are based on the same RDNA 3 microarchitecture and have support for AV1 Codec as well as DisplayPort 2.1. The cards will be available for sale on the 6th of September, 2023 but pricing for either card is yet to be revealed. Indian prices for the cards will also be revealed closer to launch.
AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT Specifications
The RX 7700 XT, while positioned as a mid-range card, boasts specifications that would have been considered top-tier just a few years ago. With 54 Compute Units and an equal number of RT Accelerators, this card is designed to handle ray-tracing with ease. The inclusion of 108 AI Accelerators hints at AMD's focus on AI-driven tasks, potentially offering enhanced gaming experiences and more efficient content creation workflows.
The game clock speeds peak at 2171 MHz, with a boost clock reaching 2544 MHz. Paired with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory running at 18 Gbps on a 192-bit interface, this card promises to handle modern AAA games with ease. There’s also the 48 MB AMD Infinity Cache which acts as an additional memory cache that will further reduce latency and improve overall performance.
AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT Specifications
For those seeking to get a few more frames, there’s the RX 7800 XT. With 60 Compute Units and an equal number of RT Accelerators, the 7800 XT offers slightly better ray-tracing performance. Similarly, the 120 AI Accelerators will come into play as more software incorporate AI features.
The game clock on the RX 7800 XT is slightly lower than its sibling at 2124 MHz, but its boost clock still reaches 2430 MHz. This is common when the cores within a CPU or GPU scale. Also, it would seem that AMD is not holding back on the memory front. With a whopping 16 GB of GDDR6 memory running at 19.5 Gbps on a 256-bit interface, this card is designed to handle higher quality textures and run at higher resolutions, be it 4K gaming, VR, or high-end content creation. Although, AMD is primarily positioning both cards for 1440p gaming. And, there’s also 64 MB of AMD Infinity Cache to help get a little extra performance.
Both cards come with support for DisplayPort 2.1 and AV1, ensuring compatibility with the latest displays and also include support for what’s purported to be the next mainstream CODEC. The total board power for the RX 7700 XT and RX 7800 XT stands at 245 W and 263 W. AMD has had a rather disastrous launch with the RX 7600 which offered incremental performance gains over the 6650 XT, so we can only hope that the 7700 XT and 7800 XT offer a lot more than their predecessors, especially since these are launching about nine months after the first RDNA 3 card was announced. In the above graph, we only see the 7800 XT and 7700 XT cards being compared against the 4-year old RDNA 1-based RX 5700 XT from AMD. So the performance gains over the 6000 series cards will only be clear once the reviews are out.
Software Improvements: FSR 3 and Hyper-RX
AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) and Radeon Super Resolution (RSR) have been great additions on the software front, especially considering that FSR is more open and is not locked to the latest-gen cards. However, FSR developments have slowed a little compared to the competition and with FSR 3, they’re playing catch up with the introduction of Fluid Motion Frames which is similar to Frame Generation from NVIDIA. FSR 3.0 was announced last year alongside RDNA 3 but has not been launched yet. If rumours are to be believed, we might see FSR 3.0 sometime next month. Several video games, already launched and those yet to be, have promised to incorporate FSR 3.0. These include games such as CyberPunk 2077, Frostpunk 2, Starship Troopers Extermination, Immortals of Aveum and more.
Another interesting announcement is that of Hypr-RX. AMD’s software stack has had several interesting technologies to improve the experience of gamers. These include AMD Radeon Boost, Anti-Lag and Radeon Super Resolution. Unfortunately, all of these technologies could not be used in tandem. That limitation goes away with Hypr-RX which ensures that all three technologies will work at the same time. AMD also stated that Fluid Motion Frames, a technology that generates and interpolates frames to boost FPS, will also be included in the driver itself. However, this will not happen at the launch of Hypr-RX. That will come a little later.
OnePlus announced its very first mechanical keyboard in February, expanding its product portfolio. The company calls this mechanical keyboard, Keyboard 81 Pro. It is now available in many countries for purchase after five months. The Keyboard 81 Pro is now also launched in India and will be available in open sale from August 7 on the OnePlus online store. But there will be early access starting from July 18 to July 24.
You can buy the Keyboard 81 Pro from the OnePlus online store from July 18 to July 24 at a price of ₹17,999. However, the open sale of Keyboard 81 Pro will start from August 7 as mentioned above, so the price of mechanical keyboard might differ.
Also read: OnePlus Pad price mistakenly revealed on Flipkart, will you buy one?
The OnePlus keyboard features a comfortable design that comes along with springy thermoplastic elastomer marble-mallow keycaps.
It has a lightweight aluminium body and gasket, allowing for enhanced typing feels. Speaking of its features, you can enjoy a built-in holder, hot-swappable switches as well as open-source firmware.
It has 4,000 mAh of battery, and the company promises a 100 hours battery life when used at low brightness. Further, it can be charged with a USB Type-C port. It takes up to 5 hours for a full charge.
Also read: OnePlus 12 might come with a Periscope Lens, leaked renders suggest
On the compatibility side, it has collaborated with Keychron making it easy to pair with macOS, Windows as well as Linux. It comes with both wired and Bluetooth connectivity and has a wireless range of up to 10 metres.
The OnePlus Keyboard 81 Pro offers cool features and the design of the keyboard hits us with nostalgia and takes us back in time when we used to have those old-school PCs with the TFT monitors. But still I think the keyboard is a little pricey. Tell us what you think in the comments below.
Amazon's Prime Day 2023 Sale is now finally here. If you are looking for a feature-packed smartphone but don’t want to break the bank, today is your lucky day. We picked up some smartphones that are available on Amazon during the sale. If you are tech-savvy looking for a pocket-friendly device or a first-time smartphone user, these handsets provide affordability with impressive performance and user-friendly features.
Redmi A2 is available on Amazon at a reduced price of ₹5,699. It is equipped with a 6.52-inch IPS LCD display and is packed with a 5000 mAh battery.
Also read: 5 attractive smartphone deals of Amazon Prime Day 2023
Tecno Spark 9
Tecno Spark 9 is priced at ₹7,499 on Amazon during the Prime Day sale. Talking about the specifications, it features a 6.6-inch IPS LCD display which supports 90Hz refresh rate. The smartphone is packed with a 5000mAh battery.
Realme Narzo N53
Realme Narzo N53 can be bought at a price of ₹8,999 during the Prime Day Sale. This smartphone comes with a sleek design and it features a 6.74-inch IPS LCD display that offers 90Hz refresh rate. The Realme Narzo N53 has a 50-megapixel primary camera.
Samsung Galaxy M04
Samsung Galaxy M04 is available with a ₹4500 steal on Amazon. It is powered with the Mediatek Helio P35 processor and backed up by a 5000mAh battery with 15-watt fast charging support.
Also read: Amazon teases the most affordable phone deals to check out on Prime Day 2023
OPPO A17K
OPPO A17K is also in the list because it can be grabbed at a price of ₹8,549. This budget-friendly smartphone has a Mediatek Helio G35 processor and also features a 6.56-inch HD+ display.
Amazon Prime Day 2023 Sale would be a great opportunity to buy a new smartphone as along with discounts it will also add bank discounts on the devices. However, the prices mentioned above for the smartphone can change during the sale.
Zotac Gaming, a leading manufacturer of high-end graphics cards has announced its latest product line: 8GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics cards series. These are manufactured on Nvidia’s Ada Lovelace design. They bring Ray Tracing and improved performance and power efficiency. Here are the complete details.
Zotac RTX 4060 graphics cards features
1. Zotac RTX 4060 graphics cards sport Ray Tracing and Nvidia DLSS 3.0 at high frame rates. This ensures you get enhanced graphics with close-to-reality lighting effects.
2. There is AV1 codec support which offers more efficiency and bandwidth for 4K and higher-res video encoding.
Also Read: NVIDIA Unveils GeForce RTX 4060 Family - 4060 Ti 8GB, 4060 Ti 16 GB and 4060 starting ₹31000
3. The new 8GB Zotac RTX 4060 cards offer simple drop-in installation which means you can opt for big cards (up to 8.8 in / 222.3mm in length and 2-slot in width) and small cards (up to 163mm / 6.4 inch in length).
4. It works with an 8-Pin PCIe power connector and a lower minimum recommended power supply of 500W.
5. You get to fine-tune various performance aspects like clock speed, voltage, fan speed, fan curve settings, and the RGB lighting effects.
Also Read: Intel Shakes Up Core Processor Lineup with Significant Rebranding Initiative
Zotac RTX 4060 graphics cards price and availability
You can buy select models of the Zotac RTX 4060 from June 29 at 6:30 PM IST. These include — A Solo edition (₹31,399) and an OC Spider-man: Across The Spider-verse bundle (₹31,990). You can also grab a Twin Edge OC White edition from July at ₹32,990.
Zotac offers 3 years standard warranty + 2 years after registration on its new graphic cards.
Intel is set to rebrand its entire lineup of client processors for both desktop and laptop devices. This significant shift marks the most extensive brand update in 15 years for the tech giant, with changes slated to go into effect from the start of the second half of 2023. The rebranding initiative will also extend to the vPRO processor lineup, which is primarily aimed at enterprises. The first processors to be impacted by this shift will be the Meteor Lake processors, which were initially intended to bear the label of Intel's 14th Gen Core processors.
The aim of this rebranding effort, according to Intel, is to introduce a level of simplicity to the processor portfolio's nomenclature. However, early reactions to some of the proposed changes suggest that they might complicate, rather than simplify, processor identification.
“Our client roadmap demonstrates how Intel is prioritizing innovation and technology leadership with products like Meteor Lake, focused on power efficiency and AI at scale. To better align with our product strategies, we are introducing a branding structure that will help PC buyers better differentiate the best of our latest technology and our mainstream offerings” said, Caitlin Anderson, Intel vice president and general manager of Client Computing Group Sales.
Here are the key changes in Intel's rebranding initiative:
No More Generational Labelling
Under the new system, Intel will no longer denote the generation of the processor at the start of its name. This marks a significant departure from the previous naming convention that clearly indicated the generation, as seen in the 12th Gen "Intel Core" label for the Alder Lake processors. However, consumers will still be able to determine the generation of the processor based on the first two digits of the processor name.
Dropped "i" from Processor Tiering
The second major change involves the removal of the "i" from processor tiers. This means that the familiar Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, and Core i9 designations will be rebranded as Core 3, Core 5, Core 7, and Core 9, respectively.
Introduction of "Ultra" Tier
A significant new development is the introduction of an "Ultra" tier for high-end processors. However, the definition of what constitutes "high-end" under the new system is somewhat ambiguous. Intel announced that it will have Ultra 5, Ultra 7, and Ultra 9 processors. The mid-tier i.e. Core i5 or Core 5 are quite far from being flagships, so labeling them Ultra, is a bit confusing.
While some may view the new branding as a simple marketing strategy, it may also be seen as a reflection of a broader shift in Intel's business strategy. The new naming convention could be indicative of Intel's attempt to redefine its product portfolio in response to the evolving demands of the tech industry. However, the success of this rebranding will ultimately depend on how well it is received by consumers and how effectively it communicates the strengths and capabilities of Intel's processors.
The rebranding might not be as radical as it seems at first glance. Intel has previously experimented with similar changes, such as dropping the "i" from the processor name with its Amber Lake Y processors. It remains to be seen whether this latest change will be more successful in simplifying Intel's processor lineup and making it more accessible to consumers.
NVIDIA has just unveiled the latest addition to their RTX 4000 series graphics processing unit (GPU) family - the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti and the RTX 4060. Comprising two powerhouse GPUs that boast all the cutting-edge features of the NVIDIA Ada Lovelace architecture, these graphics cards offer technologies such as DLSS 3 neural rendering and third-generation ray tracing at pretty high frame rates. This is the most sought-after segment of graphics cards since it targets the 1080p gamers who make up the vast majority of gamers, as per Steam. What's even better, these new graphics cards start at a highly competitive price of INR 31,000.
The GeForce RTX 4060 Ti and GeForce RTX 4060 like their predecessors from the 60-class of graphics cards strike a balance between price and performance. Also, for the first time, NVIDIA's popular 60-class GPUs bring double the processing power of the latest gaming consoles, complete with ray tracing.
“The RTX 4060 family delivers PC gamers both great value and great performance at 1080p, whether they’re building a gaming battle box or an AI-assisted creation station,” said Matt Wuebbling, vice president of global GeForce marketing at NVIDIA. “These GPUs deliver an incredible upgrade, starting at just $299, putting Ada Lovelace and DLSS 3 in the hands of millions more worldwide.”
The GeForce RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 4060 are designed for 1080p gaming. And there are two RTX 4060 Ti SKUs being announced today. The 8GB VRAM SKU will be available this month followed by the 16 GB SKU in July. As per NVIDIA, the RTX 4060 Ti provides on average 2.6x the speed of the RTX 2060 SUPER GPU and 1.7x the speed of the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti GPU while factoring in frame generation. Even for titles without frame generation, the RTX 4060 Ti supposedly outpaces the RTX 2060 SUPER GPU by 1.6x.
The GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB version will be available from Wednesday, May 24, starting at INR 41,000. The 16GB version, along with the GeForce RTX 4060, will hit the market in July, with prices starting from INR 51,500 and INR 31,000, respectively.
The NVIDIA Founders Edition of the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB will be available directly from NVIDIA.com and select retailers. Add-in card providers such as ASUS, Colorful, Gainward, GALAX, GIGABYTE, INNO3D, KFA2, MSI, Palit, PNY, and ZOTAC will offer custom boards for the entire RTX 4060 family, including stock-clocked and factory-overclocked models. These will also be available from gaming system integrators and builders worldwide.
Apple M3 Pro specs have been tipped by Mark Gurman of Bloomberg through his Power On newsletter. The M3 Pro could bring 12 CPU cores and 18 GPU cores. This may seem similar to the Apple M2 Pro, but there are some key differences that you should know.
Apple M3 Pro vs Apple M2 Pro (Expected)
Apple M3 Pro could have fewer performance cores as per Mr Kuo. That is, out of the supposed 12 CPU cores, 6 will be performance cores and the rest for efficiency. This is different from the Apple M2 Pro in terms of core structure. You get 8 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores on the M2 Pro.
This could be paired with 36GB of RAM (4 gigs more than its precursor). And offer a unified design, as in integrated with the CPU. This allows for quicker access to memory and hence results in higher efficiency.
If we expand upon the logic used by Apple M2 Max and M2 Ultra design language, we suspect the Apple M3 Max could bring 14 CPU cores and 40 GPU cores. Meanwhile, the M3 Ultra can pack 28 CPU and 80 GPU cores.
Also, Mr Kuo tells us the M3 Pro could be manufactured on a 3nm process from TSMC.
Not just that, we should be hearing more about the Apple M3 series of chips before long as Apple is apparently testing the chips as we speak. Kuo says it is being tested on a forthcoming MacBook Pro.
As you may know, MacBook Pro is used for the Pro, Max, and Ultra chipsets because they could heat a lot more than vanilla M-series chips and a proper cooling system is required to dissipate the same. A bigger battery also gets used in the power they consume. Only a thicker and larger MacBook can house such a battery and cooling system, which the Air models lack.
We could also get to see an M3 Ultra within one of the upcoming Macs (desktop PCs from Apple).
Besides the core structure, the new chips could also feature other enhancements. Let’s see if we hear about them at this year’s WWDC which is slated to take place next month.
Power On: As Apple prepares to launch its next M2 Macs, the company is already ramping up testing of M3 chips. Here are the details and code counts of the next-generation 3 nanometer processors https://t.co/gjmjXDjKJX
AMD today unveiled its most powerful workstation graphics cards to date, the Radeon PRO W7000 Series, including the Radeon PRO W7900 and Radeon PRO W7800. Built on the AMD RDNA 3 architecture, these cards claim to offer higher performance than their predecessors and also better performance-per-dollar compared to competitors.
The Radeon PRO W7000 Series features their first workstation GPU architecture based on AMD's chiplet design that has been featured in AMD’s CPUs for quite some time. The chiplet approach offers flexibility for the manufacturer to offer a vast array of configurations and also helps reduce wastage of silicon. Intel also has a chiplet-based design for their “Intel Data Center GPU Max” data centre GPUs which were recently unveiled. The new cards are also the first professional workstation GPUs to offer AMD Radiance Display Engine with DisplayPort 2.1, delivering higher resolutions and supporting a wider colour gamut.
“The new AMD Radeon PRO W7000 Series are the most powerful graphics cards AMD has built to date, providing professionals, creators, and artists with exceptional performance and value to drive the most demanding professional design and creative applications,” said Scott Herkelman, senior vice president and general manager, Graphics Business Unit at AMD. “The AMD Radeon PRO W7900 and W7800 Series graphics cards are built to deliver incredible performance and reliability in professional applications while providing color-critical accuracy and an incredible visual experience. The AMD Radeon PRO W7000 Series graphics cards give professionals the ability to tackle larger projects, render faster and create more complex models loaded with more pixels, more polygons, and more textures.”
Key features of the Radeon PRO W7000 Series include AMD RDNA 3 Architecture, Advanced Chiplet Design, Dedicated AI Acceleration, Second-Generation Raytracing, up to 48 GB GDDR6 Memory, and AMD Radiance Display Engine with DisplayPort 2.1. AMD Radeon PRO W7000 Series workstation graphics cards are designed for professionals for CAD/CAM and other similar workloads. Workstation cards are also certified to work seamlessly with industry-standard software solutions.
The AMD Radeon PRO W7900 and W7800 cards are priced at US $3,999 and $2,499, respectively, and are expected to be available from leading retailers starting in Q2, 2023. OEM and SI system availability is anticipated in 2H 2023.
Samsung recently launched its first smartphone of the year which was the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G at a starting price of ₹18,999. Samsung has now revealed that it will launch the same Samsung A14 in a 4G LTE version as well. However, there is no official information about the configuration of the Samsung Galaxy A14 4G but the specification of the phone has been leaked. The phone is likely to be launched in Europe by the end of March at a price of €200 (approx. ₹17,999).
Samsung Galaxy A14 4G: Design
WinFuture has leaked the images of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy A14 4G and it looks like the phone is going to roll out in three colours. Namely, Black, Green and Silver. The device is similar to the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G but there is a slight change in the design pattern on the back, according to the leaks. The Samsung Galaxy A14 4G is slightly slimmer than the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G. It could sport a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, 3.5mm headphone jack and USB type-C port.
Samsung Galaxy A14 4G: Display
Samsung Galaxy A14 4G might feature a 6.6-inch PLS LCD screen with Full HD+ resolution. The display reportedly supports a 60Hz refresh rate.
Samsung Galaxy A14 4G: Performance
The Samsung Galaxy A14 4G is expected to be powered by the MediaTek Helio G80 processor paired with 4GB6GB RAM and 64GB128GB storage. It is likely that it will run on Android 13-based One UI 5.0.
Samsung Galaxy A14 4G: Camera
The Samsung Galaxy A14 4G could sport a triple camera setup with a 50-megapixel primary camera along with a 5-megapixel ultrawide lens for wide-angle shots and a 2-megapixel macro camera for close-up shots.
Samsung Galaxy A14 4G: Battery
The device is expected to be packed with a 5000mAh battery with 10-watt of fast charging support.
Apple has drawn the curtain back from what was a fairly obvious update - the upcoming MacBook Pros will now be powered by the new M2 Pro that comes with a 10- or 12-core CPU. The M2 Pro is believed to offer 20% better performance when compared to the M1 Pro. It also offers 200GB/s of unified memory bandwidth and up to 32GB of unified memory. It also has a new GPU that has up to 19 cores and offers up to 30% better graphics performance. The chipset also has a 40% faster Neural Engine.
MacBook Pro with M2 Max chipsets
The MacBook Pro with M2 Max offers up to a 38-core GPU, which is claimed to result in 30% improved graphics when compared with the M1 Max. It also offers 400GB/s of unified memory bandwidth, which is twice what the M2 Pro offers.
The M2 Max also comes with a next-gen 12-core CPU that has up to eight high-performance and four high-efficiency cores. It is claimed that this results in up to 20% greater performance when compared to the M1 Max. It has a more powerful media engine when compared to the M2 Pro. The company claims that it has twice the ProRes acceleration, which ends up speeding up media playback and transcoding.
Other MacBook Pro specifications to note
The MacBook Pro has two models, one with 14.2-inch and the other with 16.2-inch displays. Both models come with ProMotion technology with an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz, a Liquid Retina XDR mini-LED display, a Magic Keyboard, and an aluminium body.
Prices for the updated MacBook start at ₹1,99,900.
OPPO has launched the OPPO A78 5G in Malaysia, a new mid-range smartphone from the brand. Now, it is getting ready to bring this smartphone to India. While OPPO itself has not confirmed the date, a report by 91Mobiles has leaked the date, along with some of the specifications and colour options. It is believed that the smartphone will launch with just one storage option, and will offer virtual RAM support - a feature we’re seeing in a lot of entry-level and mid-range smartphones these days.
OPPO A78 5G specifications (expected)
The OPPO A78 5G will come with a 6.54-inch LCD with an HD+ resolution of 1612 × 720 pixels. It will also have a 90Hz refresh rate. The smartphone is tipped to offer 8GB of RAM along with 128GB storage. It will also offer an additional 8GB of virtual RAM to bring users a smooth operational experience.
The OPPO A78 5G is rumoured to offer a 50MP primary camera along with a 2MP depth sensor. It also has an 8MP camera for selfies. The smartphone has a 5000mAh battery and supports 33W fast charging. It will run on the MediaTek Dimensity 700 SoC.
OPPO A78 5G launch date and price in India
The OPPO A78 5G is believed to be available for purchase starting January 18th, and will launch officially on January 16th. The smartphone is believed to carry a price tag of ₹18,999.
The much-awaited PlayStation exclusive God of War Ragnarok, the sequel to 2018’s God of War has finally been launched in India. The game is available on the PlayStation 5 as well as the PlayStation 4. Let’s check out more details about this game!
God of War Ragnarok: What’s all the hype about?
God of War Ragnarok has received some great reviews from critics. The game is already at a Metacritic score of 94 and gamers all around the globe who have started playing the game are already praising it and calling it a “worthy successor to the 2018 game.”
As for the story, the game takes place right after 2018’s God of War and the story follows Kratos and Atreus through the Nine Realms of Norse mythology. Both the father-son duo will have to face several beasts and gods on their journey to seek out a means to prevent Ragnarok while attempting to uncover answers behind Atreus' identity as Loki.
God of War Ragnarok in India
God of War Ragnarok marketing is finally in line with unit sale expectations in India. #ps5 #GodofWarRagnarok #india | A friend sent these with the following message: rumors are it stops at jotunhiem
pic.twitter.com/4ZR1Chr5YP
— 0xSkeptic (@RishiAlwani) October 25, 2022
God of War Ragnarok has gained a lot of attention in the past few months. Sony India planned a midnight launch for the game in multiple locations in the country and lots of gamers from around the country attended the launch from their respective cities.
An informative thread from Rishi Alwani covers all the details of the midnight launch that happened in multiple cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow and more!
God of War Ragnarok: Pricing and Availability
The digital version of the game is available on PlayStation Store. While the physical discs can be ordered online from ShopAtSC, Games The Shop, and Amazon India. Customers who had pre-ordered the game will get access to Kratos Risen Snow Armour and Atreus Risen Snow Tunic.
As of now, God of War Ragnarok’s Launch Edition is only available in online stores. However, as confirmed by Rishi Alwani, the Collector's Edition and Jotnar Edition for the game is also available in a few offline stores. You’ll have to check your local stores in your city if case you’re willing to pick those editions of the game.
Nonetheless, the official pricing for all the editions of God of War Ragnarok has been mentioned below:
- God of War Ragnarok Launch Edition (PS4) - ₹3,999
- God of War Ragnarok Launch Edition (PS5) - ₹4,999
- God of War Ragnarok Collector's Edition (PS5) - ₹13,500
- God of War Ragnarok Jotnar Edition (PS5) - ₹16,999
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in.
A fortnight after India witnessed a partial solar eclipse, the eastern parts of India and some other regions across the globe will see a total lunar eclipse on November 8. Lunar Eclipse, known as the Chandra Grahan in India. It will be the second and the last lunar eclipse of the year and the last total lunar eclipse for about the next three years. The celestial event will also be visible in India's neighboring Pakistan, Afghanistan, some parts of Russia, North and South America, Australia, the Pacific Ocean, and the North Atlantic Ocean, said astrophysicist Debi Prasad Duari, PTI.
When the whole of the lunar disc enters the Earth's dark zone called the umbra, the Moon appears reddish (Blood Moon), it is known as a total lunar eclipse. After about 14 minutes, the Moon moves out of Earth's umbra and back into the penumbra. In addition, the lunar eclipse will last a few hours, due to the red light, which has a longer wavelength than blue light, giving the lunar eclipse its characteristic reddish color. On Earth, we see the same effect during sunrises and sunsets, when the sky has a reddish glow, then during the day.
The Total Lunar Eclipse 2022 Timeline
A partial lunar eclipse begins - at 2.39 pm The total lunar eclipse begins - at 3.46 pm Maximum total lunar eclipse - at 4:29 pm The total lunar eclipse ends - at 5:11 pm Moonset - 6.19 am
Although the total Lunar eclipse would be seen only from the eastern parts of India, the Partial lunar eclipse would be visible from most of India. However, the lunar eclipse will still not be witnessed in its totality everywhere. Viewers don't require special equipment or glasses to observe a lunar eclipse, although using binoculars or a telescope can enhance the view and the red color.
The eclipse can be observed from all parts of India from the time of the moonrise, but during the beginning phase, the partial and total eclipse will not be witnessed because both the celestial event will begin when the Moon is below the horizon everywhere in India".
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in.
Intel has brought the 13th gen desktop processor including the Core i9 13900K to India. There are 6 variants in this ‘Raptor Lake’ series. Out of the lot, the Core i9-13900K is being touted as the world’s fastest desktop processor. We will learn its specifications, price, and availability details here.
Intel 13th gen Raptor Lake processors: Specs and features
Starting off with the alpha of the pack, the Intel Core i9-13900K is armed with 8 P-cores (performance-centric), and 16 E-cores(efficiency-centric) for a total of 24 cores (clocked at 3 to 5.8GHz speed; 125W-253W TDP) and 32 threads. It is complemented by 36MB of L3 cache, 32MB of L2 cache, and with Intel UHD Graphics 770. Intel claims this one offers up to 15% improved single-threaded performance and up to 41% multi-threaded gains.
The next-in-line i9-13900KF shares more or less the same configuration as the above one with the key difference being that it doesn’t have a built-in GPU.
Besides the CPU and GPU, the new processor also packs in Adaptive Boost technology and Thermal Velocity Boost for dynamic performance push on demand. You are also getting PCIe Gen 5.0 support, 20 PCIe lanes, DDR5 5600, and DDR4 3200 memory.
You can use the Intel 13th gen Raptor Lake chips on existing Intel 600 or new Intel 700 series of motherboards.
Check out the following table for details about the rest of the lineup.
Price and availability
In the US, the i9-13900K is priced at $589 (~₹48212.89). The prices for the Indian market are yet to be revealed. But, you could get more details once the chip will be available from October 21 in India.
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in.
In September 2022, popular graphics chip maker Nvidia announced that it would release two GeForce RTX 4080 models. While one of these was the 12GB RTX 4080, the other was the 16GB RTX 4080. However, the company faced criticism when fans realised that the graphic cards that belong to the same series have a considerable difference in their performance. Now, Nvidia has decided to “unlaunch” the 12GB RTX 4080, stating that it is not named right.
Nvidia cancels 12GB RTX 4080
In a press release, the California-based graphics card manufacturer Nvidia says that “the RTX 4080 12GB is a fantastic graphics card, but it’s not named right. Having two GPUs with the 4080 designation is confusing.” Adding to it, the company mentions, “we’re pressing the unlaunch button on the 4080 12GB. The RTX 4080 16GB is amazing and on track to delight gamers everywhere on November 16th.” It is important to highlight that the RTX 4080 15GB SKU was cancelled before its release.
As per the statistics released by the company, the 12GB RTX 4080 graphics card trailed behind the 16GB RTX 4080 by up to 30% while playing popular titles. The difference is also evident in the technical specifications of the graphics cards. While the 12GB RTX 4080 was supposed to come with 7,680 CUDA cores and a 192-bit memory bus, the 16GB RTX 4080 has 9,726 CUDA cores and a 256-bit memory bus. If players bought the 12GB RTX 4080 thinking that there are no differences between the graphics card except the RAM, they would have ended up being disappointed.
Nvidia could keep it going with RTX 4090 and 16GB RTX 4080
Anyways, the RTX 4090 launch will keep up the hype for the company for now. The graphics card is Nvidia’s best chip and costs $1,599 or Rs. 1,55,000. Those who cannot spend that amount can go for the 16GB RTX 4080 at $1,199 or Rs. 1,16,000, which is still a capable graphics processor. It will be available in the markets from November 16th, 2022. As far as the cancelled card is concerned, Nvidia can relaunch it as the RTX 4070 or the RTX 4070 Ti.
On October 14, 2022, CNN reported that SpaceX’s charitable contributions to the Ukrainian army could end. The Starlink division of SpaceX has warned that it will stop providing broadband service in Ukraine unless the United States military and Pentagon take over the funding. Recently, Musk’s peace plan for Ukraine and Russia received criticism, not only from netizens but from Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
SpaceX’s official writes to Pentagon seeking funding for Starlink services in Ukraine
As per documents obtained by the publication, SpaceX’s director of government sales wrote a letter to the Pentagon last month. In the letter, the official writes, “we are not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time.”
Bad reporting by FT. This article falsely claims that Starlink terminals & service were paid for, when only a small percentage have been. This operation has cost SpaceX $80M & will exceed $100M by end of year. As for what’s happening on the battlefield, that’s classified.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 7, 2022
Clearing out the timeline, Russia attacked Ukraine in February 2022, after which several nations worldwide sent help to the country in eastern Europe. In March 2022, SpaceX’s Starlink announced that it had sent thousands of satellite internet kits to Ukraine to “ensure people are still communicating,” said company president Gwynne Shotwell.
How much did it cost for SpaceX to send satellite terminals to Ukraine?
After Russia’s invasion, SpaceX sent Starlink satellite terminals as aid to the Ukrainian military. Since then, Ukraine’s military has relied heavily on the bandwidth provided by Starlink for its ground operations. Initially, the United States provided $3 million to Starlink for the cause; the Musk-led company has been bearing all the expenses.
On October 7, 2022, Musk tweeted in reply to a FT journalist that the Ukrainian Starlink operation has “cost SpaceX $80M & will exceed $100M by end of year,” and could cost as much as $400 million for the next 12 months. Musk also highlighted that only a “small percentage” of the terminals and services provided to the affected country was paid for by other organisations.
By June 2022, SpaceX had sent over 15,000 Starlink kits to Ukraine, which had been extremely useful for the country’s officials. At the moment, the Ukrainian sky has about 20,000 Starlink satellites. However, contrary to Musk's tweet, the CNN report says that “the vast majority of the 20,000 terminals have received full or partial funding from outside sources, including the US government, the UK and Poland.”
Chip-maker Intel has reportedly confirmed that its 'Alder Lake BIOS' source code has been leaked by a third-party on anonymous imageboard website 4chan and Microsoft-owned open source developer platform Github, in a 6GB file containing tools and code for building and optimising 'BIOS/UEFI' images.
The working of the 'BIOS/UEFI' code of the computer is to initialise the hardware before the operating system has loaded, reports Tom's Hardware website.
The company said in a statement that "Our proprietary UEFI code appears to have been leaked by a third party".
"We do not believe this exposes any new security vulnerabilities as we do not rely on obfuscation of information as a security measure. This code is covered under our bug bounty programme within the Project Circuit Breaker campaign, and we encourage any researchers who may identify potential vulnerabilities to bring them our attention through this programme," a company spokesperson was quoted as saying.
Intel said it is reaching out to both customers and the security research community to keep them informed of this situation.
Meanwhile, Intel was yet to confirm who leaked the code.
Also, Intel said there shouldn't be any security related issues as it doesn't "rely on obfuscation of information as a security measure".
Moreover, Intel in its 'Project Circuit Breaker' bug bounty programme, encourages researchers to submit any vulnerabilities they find, which will award them an amount between $500 to $100,000 per bug, depending on the reported issue's severity.
(Except for the headline and cover image, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in.
Sony has announced that they would be restocking the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Disc Edition in India. The last PS5 restock took place on September 26 and now the company has announced that it's next restock will take place on October 12.
Where will the PS5 be available?
As of now, both Sony Centre and Games The Shop have already confirmed that PS5 restocking will take place on their platforms at 12 PM on October 12. Sony has also said that other e-retail platforms like Flipkart, Amazon India, Reliance Digital, Croma and Vijay Sales will also have the PS5 restocks available.
Sony has listed on its official website that if a buyer pre-books either the PlayStation 5 or PlayStation 5 Digital Edition on October 12, then the console could be delivered by October 21 at the earliest.
How to order a PS5 in the next restock?
You can head on over to Amazon, Flipkart, Reliance Digital, Croma, Vijay Sales, Games The Shop or either e2z Store at 12 PM to pre-book the PS5 on October 12. We recommend saving all the card details beforehand so that the chances of your order getting processed are much higher.
Additionally, Sony is also offering a pick-up service if you order your PS5 via ShopatSC wherein you can physically go to an allocated Sony Centre and collect your PS5 once your order is processed.
Chances of getting offers on the PS5 are also pretty less as ShopatSC hasn’t listed any major offers for the PS5, however, there is the option for no-cost EMI available. You’d have a bit of better luck at finding any offers for the console on other retailers like Amazon and Flipkart because of the ongoing Diwali sales. So the chances of getting a a few cashback offers are much higher.
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in.
Tech giant Apple might bring USB-C port to AirPods and Mac accessories by 2024, the media reported.
According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the company might introduce USB-C to its newest AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods by the year 2024, while Mac accessories like the Magic Mouse, Magic Keyboard, and Magic Trackpad may convert to USB-C as soon as the next year.
"It's a safe bet that those accessories will move to USB-C in their next incarnation", Gurman was quoted as saying.
As the European Union moves to mandate USB-C charging on new smartphones, tablets, and headphones introduced in the territory in late 2024, there has been a rumoured shift away from Lightning ports.
Before EU legislation takes effect, Apple will replace its AirPods, the report said.
Tony Fadell, inventor of the iPod, has said that Apple should include USB-C port in iPhones, as the European Union passed a resolution on USB Type-C as standard charging port.
The debate started when a Twitter user questioned if the iPod would succeed if Apple was forced to utilise USB 1.0 rather than the fast FireWire technology.
"I can't see a problem. The world has converged on USB-C. The physical and user limits have been hit. Next up is wireless per, not a diff physical connection. So I'm not too worried about this regulation. They're simply forcing Apple to do the right thing. It's overdue frankly", Fadell posted on Twitter.
(Except for the headline and cover image, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)
For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in.
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