Xbox app adds quickbar for convenient game launches on Windows handheld PCs
The Xbox app's new jump back in feature is a great addition for anyone playing PC games on their Lenovo Legion Go, ASUS ROG Ally, or other Windows handheld PC.
Microsoft is slowly but surely working its way up to a dedicated Xbox handheld. But before the hardware is ready, there's still lots of work to do on Xbox's native PC gaming presence, especially when it comes to adapting to a handheld's smaller screen.
On-the-go gaming is all about convenience. If you can pair that up with instant access, like, say, with Valve's innovative quick access button and suspend and resume feature, it's a potent combo for gamers. While the Xbox PC app doesn't have some sort of revolutionary built-in Quick Resume, it does have "jump back in," which is essentially a quick launch carousel of your recently played games.
GTA 6 delay into 2026 likely, top reporter says: 'I'd be shocked if GTA 6 releases in 2025'
The video games industry's uneasy Survive Till '25 mantra may have to get updated with a new number as industry figures believe Grand Theft Auto 6 is likely to be delayed beyond 2025.
Rockstar Games is no stranger to delays. Red Dead Redemption 2 was delayed twice, originally set to launch in Fall 2017, then pushed back to Spring and then Fall of 2018. GTA V was delayed once on consoles, and then three times on PC. Given this trend, the consensus is that the massively anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 will also be delayed.
In a recent Kinda Funny Games Daily podcast, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier shared his thoughts about GTA 6 launching in 2025. While this is Schreier's own thoughts, and not based on insider information from sources as per usual of his reporting, Schreier has extensive knowledge on the trends and goings-on in the industry, and has been reporting on GTA 6 specifically for many years.
ASRock unveils new OLED gaming monitor designed for both speed and clarity
Another slew of glorious OLED gaming monitors has been announced ahead of CES 2025, which is undoubtedly going to be inundated with the incredible pixel technology in various forms.
ASRock has taken to its website to unveil three new OLED gaming monitors, the PGO32UFS, the PGO27QFS, and the PGO27QFV. The company's latest flagship gaming monitor is the PGO32UFS, which is a 32-inch flat WOLED panel that sports a 4K resolution and a native 240Hz refresh rate. However, the PGO32UFS is a dual-mode monitor, meaning it's capable of dropping its resolution down to 1920 x 1080p and increasing its refresh rate to 480Hz.
The idea behind this new mode, which is becoming more prominent among gaming monitor companies, is to enable a gamer to seamlessly switch between 4K (high fidelity) and 1080p (Performance). A gamer that flexes between graphically intensive, slower, RPG-like titles would want the 4K monitor for the graphics, while a competitive gamer that plays first-person-shooter games will opt for the high refresh rate display. Dual-mode monitors seek to provide the best of both worlds. Announced alongside the PGO32UFS was the PGO27QFS, a 27-inch monitor featuring a WOLED panel, a QHD resolution, and a 240Hz refresh rate.
Cyberpunk 2077 patch delivers eye-opening up to 33% performance boost for Intel Arrow Lake CPUs
Cyberpunk 2077 just got a big update, and it seemingly ushers in a major performance boost for those with a new Intel Arrow Lake CPU in their PC.
Doubtless you haven't missed the controversy around the launch of Core Ultra 200S (desktop) processors, which underperformed compared to the expectations Intel built up in the prerelease marketing phase.
Gaming performance turned out particularly shaky in terms of the generational uplift on 14th-gen CPUs, and Intel has acknowledged this, and is preparing microcode updates to boost frame rates (while also fixing apparent issues with Windows, too, that are slowing down Core Ultra 200S chips).
First possible look at Nintendo Switch 2 in since removed accessory trailer
The latest in what seems like a never-ending line of Nintendo Switch 2 rumors is what very well could be the first look at Nintendo's next-generation console.
Nintendo's next-generation console, presumably called the Nintendo Switch 2, considering the immense success of the Nintendo Switch, has been hinted at by Nintendo several times, with the company confirming via financial reports that a successor console was on the way, and that the company will ride the original Nintendo Switch out until the end of this fiscal year in March 2025. However, Nintendo did confirm that it will announce the successor console this fiscal year, which means any time now Nintendo could reveal the highly-anticipated handheld.
It was only earlier this month that six development studios confirmed to a publication that titles being worked on for the next-generation Nintendo console will be released between June and July next year, meaning the Nintendo Switch 2 will have already been announced and on shelves. The latest rumor about this elusive console comes from Satisfye, a company dedicated to creating accessories for gaming consoles.
Microsoft announces Recall can now be used on AMD and Intel-powered PCs
When Microsoft first unveiled Windows Recall, it was met with heavy criticism for its intrusive nature on a PC, along with the potential security risk as a result of the feature working as intended.
For those that don't know, Windows Recall works by indiscriminately taking screenshots of a user's desktop and then storing those images within a folder. Users are able to "recall" what they were doing on a PC earlier in the day by simply asking via natural language or scrubbing through the time. While at face value, that seems like an interesting tool, but the word "indiscriminately" should be emphasized here, as Recall will capture everything on the desktop, meaning passwords, sensitive data, confidential information, and any other personal digitized information. A hacker gaining access to the folder containing screenshots of a session could prove a catastrophic security risk for that individual.
Microsoft has since added more layers of security to Recall in its re-release of the new app, which has also seen Recall become available on Copilot+ PC hardware. Since the re-release, Windows Insiders with Copilot+ PC hardware have been reporting issues with Recall, some of which have been officially recognized by Microsoft, who will address them in future updates. The expansion of Recall continues with Redmond announcing via its Windows Blog that Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2510 (KB5048780) to the Dev Channel contains support for AMD and Intel-powered Copilot PCs.
Google's new breakthrough quantum computing chip says 'we live in a multiverse'
Quantum computing, much like the acronym AI (artificial intelligence), has been caught in the lexicon as a piece of technology we will much more widely integrate into society sometime in the future. Today, that future just took a much bigger than anticipated step closer to the present, as Google has unveiled "Willow," the company's most advanced quantum processor.
Quantum computing has been around since the 1990s, and engineers, physicists, and scientists alike have been battling one big but tiny problem with implementing the technology: the number of errors it generates. Firstly, quantum computing is completely different than classical computers, which conduct calculations based on whether a bit is a 0 or a 1. However, quantum computing changes things, as it uses tiny pieces of information called qubits, or quantum bits, which can be on, off, or both.
Moreover, quantum computing also introduces quantum entanglement, an observable phenomenon that connects two particles together, synchronizing their states. The quantum entangled particles aren't restricted in distance, as their connection can stretch as far as the other side of the universe. But what does that all have to do with computing? Quantum computers are designed to exploit the mysteries of quantum mechanics, the study of how physical matter exhibits the properties of both particles and waves, but there are a few problems that need to be worked out first.
Microsoft will officially watermark old PCs that install Windows 11
It was only last week Microsoft clamped down on the hardware restrictions of Windows 11 by requiring systems to have TMP 2.0 for Redmond's latest operating system. Now, the company has seemingly changed its mind with a new blog post detailing the process of how to get Windows 11 onto a machine with hardware that doesn't meet Windows 11's hardware requirements.
Microsoft explained in its recent blog post that it doesn't recommend running Windows 11 on hardware that doesn't meet its specifications, as it means the machine won't receive critical security updates, making the system exponentially more vulnerable to progressively sophisticated cyber attacks. However, Microsoft writes that if the OS needs to be installed on an older machine, it can be, but a watermark is added to the Windows 11 desktop, along with a notification displayed in Settings to notify the user the hardware requirements haven't been met.
For those wondering if getting Windows 11 running on an outdated machine will cause more headaches than leaving it on Windows 10, don't worry, there is always the option of rolling back the machine to the older generation OS. Microsoft writes users can do this by going through the system recovery process. Right-click on the Start menu and select Settings > System > Recovery.
Continue reading: Microsoft will officially watermark old PCs that install Windows 11 (full post)
Microsoft's new 'native' Copilot app for Windows exposed as website
Microsoft recently took to its blog to announce that Copilot has become available for Windows Insiders and that the new software is "native" to Windows 11. However, that doesn't seem to be the case.
According to recent reports, Microsoft appears to have mistakenly labeled Copilot's new app as "native" to Windows 11, as the new Copilot loads copilot.microsoft.com. The difference between the new and old versions of Copilot is Microsoft's new AI companion no longer uses Microsoft Edge's Progressive Webb System (PWA) but still uses the rendering engine that powers Edge, WebView 2. Notably, WindowsCentral reports that the only part of Copilot that is "native" to Windows is the menu in the title bar and the About screen.
It's likely that Microsoft is referring to the new hotkey functionality as being "native" to Windows, as Windows Insiders are able to press Alt+Spacebar keys to bring up a new quick view interface for Copilot. However, this is still the Copilot website, just in a smaller window. Additionally, this new feature adds Copilot to Windows' System Tray. It should be noted that Copilot is still in preview, meaning many of these problems or lack of features will be added to or fixed before Copilot becomes available to the wider public.
Continue reading: Microsoft's new 'native' Copilot app for Windows exposed as website (full post)
Marvell unveils its new custom HBM compute architecture to optimize cloud AI accelerators
Marvell has just unveiled its new custom HBM compute architecture, enabling XPUs to have even higher levels of compute performance and memory density.
The new HBM compute architecture is available on all of its custom silicon partners, with Marvell collaborating with its cloud customers and leading HBM manufacturers SK hynix, Samsung, and Micron to develop custom HBM solutions for next-generation XPUs.
Will Chu, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Custom, Compute and Storage Group at Marvell, said: "The leading cloud data center operators have scaled with custom infrastructure. Enhancing XPUs by tailoring HBM for specific performance, power, and total cost of ownership is the latest step in a new paradigm in the way AI accelerators are designed and delivered. We're very grateful to work with leading memory designers to accelerate this revolution and, help cloud data center operators continue to scale their XPUs and infrastructure for the AI era".