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30.09.2024 22:00 Verizon mobile customers reported widespread outages across the US on Monday. Starting at around 9:30AM ET, hundreds of thousands of people flagged issues with their mobile service on Downdetector, which tracks user-submitted outage reports. The volume of reports spiked at almost 105,000 at 11:20AM, but were still reaching almost 59,000 at 12:52PM. Many folks claimed they were unable to make or receive calls or exchange text messages. Those with an iPhone may be seeing "SOS" instead of the usual connection bars on the top right of their screen. That's a common sight when there's limited service or none at all. However, affected iPhone users can still make emergency calls via other networks. A Downdetector heatmap suggested that the issue was most prevalent in New York, New Jersey, Georgia and elsewhere on the east coast and midwest. A narrow yellow band of reports was also emerging on the west coast as of 1:10PM ET. along with an intensifying heat spot in Los Angeles. We are aware of an issue impacting service for some customers. Our engineers are engaged and we are working quickly to identify and solve the issue.— Verizon News September 30, 2024 Verizon confirmed that service was affected for some customers. “Our engineers are engaged and we are working quickly to solve the issue,” the company wrote on X at 11:48AM. The cause of the outage is not yet clear. As of 3:45PM ET, Verizon had yet to provide an update on the outage via X. User outage reports were still flooding into Downdetector, however, with almost 48,000 of them at 3:10PM. Update 3:47PM ET: Noting that the issue had not yet been resolved over six hours after it first started.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/verizon-confirms-a-network-outage-is-affecting-mobile-customers-across-the-us-172126080.html?src=rss

30.09.2024 22:00 Ford is looking to take some of the sting out of EV charging by offering a free home charger. The automaker will even send out a technician to install it at no cost to you if you buy or lease a retail Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning or E-Transit between October 1 and January 2. However, Ford may opt to extend the program if it proves successful. According to Joanna Stern of The Wall Street Journal, those who take up the offer will get a Level 2 charger at home. This should save Ford EV buyers and lessees a pretty penny, since the Ford Charge Station Pro costs $1,310 and the company typically charges $2,000 for installation. Still, those who want to take up the deal may need to make sure their garage is wired up properly to fully take advantage of Level 2 charging. The EV side of Ford's business has been struggling as of late — the company expects that division to lose as much as $5.5 billion this year. In January, it cut production of the F-150 Lightning due to lower than expected demand and shifted resources to make more Broncos and Rangers. A few months later, the company delayed some EV models, including a planned three-row SUV, and placed more focus on hybrids. But in August, the automaker killed the three-row SUV project entirely while further delaying some other EVs. Incentivizing EV purchases and leases with a free home charger and installation is smart and it could pay off for Ford. However, it may turn out to be little more than a Band-Aid for the division's deeper-set problems. Update 9/30 2:53PM ET: The headline has been updated to reflect that the offer is available for all new EV purchases and leases in the US.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/ford-chucks-in-a-free-ev-home-charger-and-installation-with-some-models-160138994.html?src=rss

30.09.2024 22:00 Reddit has just changed the rules so moderators of subreddits must get admin approval to switch from public to private, as originally reported by The Verge. This is being seen by many as an attempt to curb sitewide protests, as these requests must be approved by Reddit staffers. There will be no way for multiple subreddits to go private at once without Reddit having its hand on the lever. The company put a little note on the support page that reads “if you’re changing your community type after community creation, you’ll need to submit a request.” This page doesn't offer any reasoning behind the decision. Reddit We reached out to Reddit to inquire about this most recent policy change and the company pointed us to a post on the subreddit r/modnews written by VP of community Laura Nestler. She wrote that “the ability to instantly change Community Type settings has been used to break the platform and violate our rules.” So it looks like last year’s protests are absolutely connected to today's changes. Nestler also suggested that this is an issue of personal responsibility, writing that “communities should honor the expectations they set – public communities should remain accessible to all; private communities should remain private.” On the topic of recent protests, switching from public to private is the exact way in which subreddits expressed dissatisfaction with last year’s API pricing changes. In that case, over 8,000 subreddits went private in tandem. This means that the subreddits became inaccessible to the general public, though they remained active for current members. The site’s daily traffic suffered as a result. This allegedly had an impact on the functionality of Reddit itself, as there was a major site outage after all of those subreddits went private. The company blamed the protests for this outage, telling Engadget that "a significant number of subreddits shifting to private caused some expected stability issues.” Not all protests involve switching a subreddit from public to private. Some moderators protest Reddit by labeling a subreddit as NSFW. This disallows advertising on the subreddit and makes it harder to search for. The company also put the kibosh on this move, as that kind of switch also now requires admin approval. It’s worth noting that last year’s protests didn’t work. Reddit went ahead with those API charges, which forced third-party apps like Apollo to shut down. The company also went in and took complete control of one of the larger subreddits that participated in the protest. Now, there’s today’s change that effectively bans sitewide protests altogether. Adding insult to injury, Reddit recently struck gold by licensing its content to train AI models. That deal will reportedly net the company around $60 million per year, but the users who actually created the content that’s being licensed will be getting approximately $0 per year. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/reddit-policy-changes-make-sitewide-protests-nearly-impossible-183754240.html?src=rss

30.09.2024 22:00 ASUS's latest Zenbook S14, much like the Zenbook 14 OLED we reviewed last December, is a solid ultraportable with one major selling point: It's among the first laptops to use Intel's newest CPUs. In this case, it's the Core Ultra 7 258V, a processor that sits in the mid-range of the company's "Lunar Lake" lineup. While Intel touts these chips as its most efficient ever, I've been curious about what that means for raw performance, especially since they top out with just eight cores. Based on my testing, I can confirm that the Zenbook S14 delivers the best battery life we've ever seen from an Intel laptop. It reached 16 hours and eight minutes in the PCMark 10 battery benchmark. In comparison, the Zenbook S16 powered by AMD's new Ryzen AI 9 365 chip only hit 12 hours and 47 minutes. The Intel system's timing is close to the 17 hours and 45 minutes we saw from the Dell XPS 13 Copilot+ , which is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite. While it's astounding to see how much progress Intel has made with battery life, that does come with some compromises. In a few benchmarks, the Zenbook S14 doesn't score much higher than Intel's last-gen Core Ultra chips, and it's often bested by AMD's Ryzen AI on multithreaded tasks. But, as we often say, benchmarks don't tell the entire story. A gorgeous ultraportable When I reviewed the Zenbook 14 OLED a year ago, I couldn't help but point out how dated it looked. It was practically the same as ASUS' laptops from a decade ago . Not so with the Zenbook S14. It's impressive the moment you open it up and feel its lid, which is built with a material ASUS calls "Ceraluminum." As the name implies, it's a combination of ceramic and aluminum, and it feels almost uncanny, like something between high-end plastic and smooth metal. It's still premium, but it's also distinctly different from most other laptops. Combining ceramics and aluminum isn't exactly new — ASUS notes that it's a popular option for aerospace and watch designs — but we haven't yet seen it deployed in laptops. It's not just for looks, either. The material should also be more durable than standard metal. The rest of the Zenbook 14 S's body is made out of a solid block of metal, but ASUS added some unique tweaks there as well. The lower part of the case features a geometric grille above the keyboard, consisting of 2,715 circular cooling vents. ASUS claims this design enhances airflow while also keeping dirt and dust out. Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget ASUS 14-inch 3K "Lumina" OLED display dominates the Zenbook S14, and it delivers everything I want from a modern laptop screen. It sports a fast 120Hz refresh rate and 500 nits of peak brightness. While its bezels are relatively thin compared to older ASUS systems, they're still noticeably chunkier than Dell's latest InfinityEdge screens on the XPS 13 and 14. The system would look much sleeker if ASUS could shave off more of its bottom and side bezels. Most importantly, though, the OLED display looks glorious, with deliciously dark black levels and colors that pop off the screen. The Zenbook S14 is surprisingly sturdy for a 14-inch laptop that weighs 2.65 pounds and measures 0.47 inches thin. It's slightly lighter and a hair thicker than the most recent 13-inch MacBook Air, and feels similarly polished. Notably, it also offers many more useful ports than Apple's ultraportable. The S14 includes two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C connections, a full-sized HDMI 2.1 port, a headphone jack and even an old-school USB Type-A port. The only thing it's missing is Ethernet and an SD card slot. Unfortunately, ASUS couldn't get everything right with the Zenbook S14. Its quad-speaker audio system is serviceable, but the sound loses any sort of depth and detail as you ramp up the volume. And while it's nice to have a Windows Hello-compatible webcam for fast logins, the 1080p sensor looks far grainier and less detailed than Dell's XPS line and the MacBook Air. Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget Its keyboard also feels merely serviceable, with little responsive feedback while typing. That’s a particular shame, since that’s been a constant complaint we’ve had with ASUS keyboards. At least the touchpad is large and responsive to swipes and multi-finger gestures. You can also adjust the volume and other settings by sliding your finger along the sides of the touchpad. In use: Capable, but don't stress it Thanks to Intel's Core Ultra 7 258V chip, the Zenbook S14 felt impressively zippy from the start. I breezed through the Windows setup process, downloaded the latest updates and installed my usual testing programs in just a few minutes. It didn't sweat whenever I needed to jump between apps like Spotify, Slack and Evernote, and I didn't notice any of the lag I often see on Windows notebooks bogged down by third-party bloatware. It was always ready to get work done. PCMark 10 Geekbench 6 CPU 3DMark Wildlife Extreme Cinebench 2024 ASUS Zenbook S14 6,688 14,215 2,569/10,442 7,158 121/482 Dell XPS 13 Copilot+ 14,024 2,621/14,194 6,191 122/748 Dell XPS 13 6,806 2,276/11,490 4,579 90/453 Apple MacBook Air N/A 3,190/12,102 8,310 141/490 In PCMark 10, the Zenbook S14 scored almost exactly the same as the Surface Laptop 7 for Business, which uses the last-gen Core Ultra 7 165H. It also matched the XPS 13 Copilot+ edition, which had a Snapdragon X Elite chip, in the PCMark 10 Applications benchmark. The Zenbook's multithreaded performance was noticeably worse than either of those machines in Geekbench 6, likely due to the reduced core count this generation. The big selling point for Intel's Lunar Lake chips is their dramatically improved NPU , which can reach up to 47 TOPS of AI performance. In comparison, the previous Core Ultra chips had a significantly less powerful 11 TOPS NPU, while AMD's new Ryzen AI chips reach up to 50 TOPS. Higher TOPS figures means Copilot+ PCs like the Zenbook S14 will be able to tackle demanding AI workloads more quickly, without impacting overall CPU performance. Unfortunately, there still aren't a ton of AI features to test at the time of this review. Microsoft's Copilot+ Windows 11 update for Intel and AMD systems isn't arriving until November, and even that will only include a beta version of the controversial Recall feature. It's also hard to find apps that take advantage of a local NPU — most entries in the Windows Store "AI Hub" rely on cloud AI processing. Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget At least there's Audacity's OpenVino plugin, which Intel developed to show off its AI PC hardware. It offers NPU-powered features like noise suppression and transcription, but it also requires an involved setup process that may be confusing to Audacity novices. I was able to completely remove incessant jackhammering from a five-minute clip in one minute and eight seconds using the NPU alone. That's not very fast in the world of audio editing , but what's key is that the NPU handles the same work using very little power. That could be important if you're stuck editing on battery in a plane or remote location. I was also impressed by Intel's latest Arc 140V GPU, which let me play Halo Infinite between 35 fps and 45 fps in 1080p with low quality graphics settings. That's far from a smooth experience, but it's fascinating to see it from a built-in GPU. Intel's graphics also scored well above the Snapdragon X Elite across the board, especially in the Geekbench 6 GPU test. Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget Pricing and the competition ASUS launched the Zenbook S14 with a starting price of $1,500, but it’s already slightly discounted at Best Buy for $1,400. That configuration gets you a Core Ultra 7 chip, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. That’s not too shabby, considering the XPS 13 Copilot+ system with a Snapdragon X Elite costs $1,800 when equipped with 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and an OLED display. The Zenbook also doesn’t have the compatibility issues inherent with Snapdragon systems, which have to emulate older Windows apps and can’t run many popular games at all. As usual, ASUS also delivers far more value than Apple. A MacBook Air with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD costs $1,700, and that’s also stuck with a 60Hz LCD screen. Wrap-up The Zenbook S14 leans more on efficiency than raw power, but it’s still an incredible achievement for Intel, a company that used to be infamous for energy-devouring mobile chips. While the Lunar Lake chip’s NPU makes the Zenbook ready for Copilot+ and AI features, its true selling points are its excellent battery life, slick ASUS design and gorgeous OLED display.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/asus-zenbook-s14-review-a-showpiece-for-intels-lunar-lake-ai-pc-chips-171642261.html?src=rss

30.09.2024 22:00 AI enthusiasts who like the Raspberry Pi range of products can rejoice, as the company is now announcing its new Raspberry Pi AI Camera. This product is the result of the company’s collaboration with Sony Semiconductor Solutions , which began in 2023. The AI Camera is compatible with all of Raspberry Pi’s single-board computers. The approximately 12.3-megapixel AI Camera is intended for vision-based AI projects, and it’s based on SSS’ IMX500 image sensor. The integrated RP2040 microcontroller manages the neural network firmware, allowing the camera to perform onboard AI image processing and freeing up the Raspberry Pi for other processes. Thus, users who want to integrate AI into their Raspberry Pi projects are no longer limited to the Raspberry Pi AI Kit. The AI Camera isn’t a total replacement for Raspberry Pi’s Camera Module 3, which is still available. For those interested in the new AI Camera, it’s available right now from Raspberry Pi’s approved resellers for $70.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/raspberry-pi-built-an-ai-camera-with-sony-165049998.html?src=rss

30.09.2024 22:00 The first of two Sea of Stars content updates for the next year has an official release date. The free Dawn of Equinox, which adds a co-op mode, new combat and other features, arrives on November 12 on all platforms. Announced in March, Dawn of Equinox adds new game modes and mechanics for our favorite lunar-solar heroes, Valere and Zale. It includes a new local co-op mode that lets you and up to two friends play the entire game together. Each player has independent movement when traversing the world , and there’s a new co-op Timed Hits feature that turns one of the core game’s mechanics into a group effort. Sabotage Studio The update also includes Combat 2.0, which adds some fun wrinkles to Sea of Stars’ battles. Mystery Locks adds a new challenge to unlock enemies’ spells the first time you face them. Combo points also remain after battles, which should open the door to some epic beat-downs on your opening moves in subsequent standoffs. In addition, developer Sabotage Studio says it’s put effort into rebalancing the entire game to reflect the new mechanics and incorporate player feedback. Other changes include a more action-oriented prologue that ditches the old flashback structure, a bonus cinematic and a relic designed for speedrunners. There will also be three difficulty options when starting the game. Finally, it enhances the game’s secret-tracking parrot and adds a French Canadian translation, “for Quebec’s finest Solstice Warriors.” The new features in Dawn of Equinox will also apply in the upcoming Throes of the Watchmaker DLC. That content will add an all-new storyline next spring in what Sabotage Studio describes as “an encore to Sea of Stars’ original adventure” . The DLC will send Valere and Zale into a “magical miniature clockwork world threatened by a cursed carnival,” forcing the heroes to adapt their sun and moon magic to the mysterious environment. Sabotage Studio Sea of Stars was one of 2023’s biggest surprises, garnering grassroots praise and taking home the hardware for Best Indie Game at last year’s Game Awards. Engadget’s Lawrence Bonk praised the game’s Chrono Trigger vibes earlier this year, calling out its gorgeous pixel art and an overworld map that pays proper tribute to its ’90s RPG inspirations. Sea of Stars is available now on all major platforms: PC, Switch, PS5/4, Xbox One Series X/S and Xbox One . The full game costs $35, and both big upcoming content updates will be added for free.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/sea-of-stars-free-dawn-of-equinox-update-arrives-in-november-164023516.html?src=rss

30.09.2024 22:00 Amazon Prime Day is right around the corner, but the deals have already started to roll in. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max is currently available for $35, which is a new record low price. This is a discount of more than 40 percent, as the typical cost is $60. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max is a great streaming device, with support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+. As the name suggests, it can stream content in 4K Ultra HD. The stick also supports Dolby Atmos audio, for added immersion. This streaming stick includes the company’s proprietary Fire TV Ambient Experience, which allows users to display art and photos on the screen. This mimics the functionality of something like Samsung’s The Frame TV. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max also boasts 16GB of storage, for downloads, apps and games. Speaking of games, this thing doubles as a highly functional cloud gaming box. It can stream Xbox games via Game Pass Ultimate and integrates with Amazon Luna. We singled out this device as a great option for retro gamers, as it can easily run many emulation apps. Finally, it ships with an upgraded remote that offers Alexa integration. This is part of a larger sale on Fire TV sticks and streaming boxes. The popular Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite is available for just $18. Incidentally, this one made our list of the best streaming devices, due to its low price and robust suite of features. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice in the lead up to October Prime Day 2024.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/early-prime-day-deals-include-the-fire-tv-stick-4k-max-for-a-record-low-of-35-163133279.html?src=rss

30.09.2024 22:00 As first reported by Reuters, ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, is planning to train and develop an AI model using chips from fellow Chinese company Huawei. Three anonymous sources approached Reuters with this information; a fourth source couldn’t confirm that ByteDance was using Huawei chips but did say that a new AI model was in development. Previously, ByteDance’s AI projects used NVIDIA’s H20 AI chips, which were designed for the Chinese market and avoided the trade restrictions the US government placed in 2022. Chinese customers were only allowed to purchase select models of AI chips, which was an attempt to slow down Chinese technological advancement. ByteDance has ordered 100,000 Ascend 910B chips from Huawei this year but only received 30,000 of them. Huawei’s Ascend 910B chips are said to be superior to NVIDIA’s A100 chips in GPU performance and computing power efficiency. Nevertheless, the chip shortage halted ByteDance’s AI model development project. The news isn’t confirmed by ByteDance yet, but it’s not the only company to switch away from NVIDIA products. Many other Chinese companies are slowly transitioning to local chips. Even though ByteDance had previously used loopholes to get NVIDIA AI chips, the latest development shows how China is attempting to reduce its dependence on Western products.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/bytedance-will-reportedly-use-huawei-chips-to-train-a-new-ai-model-154846749.html?src=rss

30.09.2024 17:32 It’s always beautiful when two lonely corporations find one another. DirecTV has reached an agreement to acquire Dish Network, according to reporting by The New York Times. This would create a global behemoth in the satellite TV space. It would also provide some financial armor for the struggling Dish Network. The company’s in debt to the tune of billions of dollars because, well, satellite TV isn’t exactly a growth industry anymore. Stream, baby, stream. All told, Dish has $2 billion in debt that’s due in November and only $500 million in available cash. That math don’t add up to anything but bankruptcy. The specifics of the deal are pretty dang convoluted. It’s a multi-step transaction with a few players. First, the private equity firm TPG will acquire a majority stake in DirectTV from AT&T for $7.6 billion. Next, DirecTV will buy Dish Network for just a single dollar. However, it’ll also take on that $2 billion in debt. EchoStar, the parent company of Dish, will hold onto some parts of the business as part of the transaction, including over $30 billion in wireless spectrum investments. DirecTV will get the Sling TV video service as part of the deal. The acquisition would create a massive pay-TV provider, with a combined total of around 19 million subscribers. As a counterpoint, cable TV leader Comcast has 13.2 million subscribers. Netflix is creeping up on 300 million subscribers, to show the stark contrast between pay-TV and streaming. The companies say they expect the deal to close in the second half of 2025, though the whole thing is subject to regulatory approval. The Justice Department denied a similar merger back in 2002, but that was when the satellite TV industry was at its peak. More recently, the federal government side-eyed a potential merger between the two companies in 2020 on the grounds that it would deprive rural customers a viable alternative to Dish and DirecTV when looking to purchase 5G wireless service.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/directv-to-acquire-rival-dish-network-for-1-subject-to-regulatory-approval-152041300.html?src=rss

30.09.2024 17:32 There are bargains aplenty to be had in the lead up to the October edition of Prime Day. Many are even bringing the prices of certain products down to record lows. Case in point: the USB-C Apple Pencil is cheaper than it’s ever been right now. You can snap one up for $69, which is $10 off and matches the lowest price we’ve seen to date for it. Apple debuted this model last year as its most budget-friendly Apple Pencil so far, and this sale makes the peripheral even more wallet-friendly. However, Apple's long had a problem with making it clear to consumers which version of the stylus is compatible with their iPad. For the sake of clarity, here are all the iPad models with which the USB-C Apple Pencil works: iPad Pro 13-inch iPad Pro 12.9-inch iPad Pro 11-inch iPad Air 13-inch iPad Air 11-inch iPad Air iPad iPad mini Although being able to charge the peripheral with a USB-C cable is handy, this version does lack some of the fancier features of the Apple Pencil Pro and second-gen Apple Pencil. While you can attach it to the side of iPads with magnetic holders for safekeeping and convenience, there's no support for magnetic charging. Pressure sensitivity isn't available and you can't use Apple's nifty double-tap feature. However, the company says the USB-C Apple Pencil does support pixel-perfect accuracy, low latency and tilt sensitivity. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice in the lead up to October Prime Day 2024.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-usb-c-apple-pencil-is-cheaper-than-ever-in-this-early-prime-day-deal-144636955.html?src=rss

30.09.2024 17:32 Some users may know that Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, has had its own app store for a while now, the Epic Games Store. The company also won an antitrust lawsuit against Google last December that found Google held an illegal monopoly on app distribution and in-app billing services for Android devices. Despite that win, it seems that Epic’s court war has only begun. Epic Games is now suing Google again, but it also named Samsung in the lawsuit as a defendant. This time, its sights are trained on Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature. In the latest lawsuit, Epic Games is claiming that Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature is making it difficult for users to install the Epic Games Store on the latest Samsung devices. This is because Samsung now activates Auto Blocker, which only allows app installs from the Google Play Store and Samsung Galaxy Store, by default and prevents third-party app installation unless you disable the function. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney is even suggesting that Google and Samsung are working together, though he admits there’s no concrete evidence for this claim. The Verge’s Sean Hollister put these claims to the test and discovered that his Samsung smartphone did prevent him from installing Epic Games Store, but it wasn’t so simple. There were no instructions on how to deactivate Auto Blocker. He then searched “turn off auto blocker” in the search bar, which yielded results but required jumping through several screens. Besides winning against Google and legally proving that Google had a monopoly over Android app sharing, Epic Games also won a lawsuit against Apple. Apple had refused to let Epic Games launch its app store on iOS devices, but the EU forced Apple’s hand. However, Apple is still resisting and claims that its acceptance is only temporary. How Google and Samsung will respond remains to be seen, but it’s possible that both companies will resist and claim they aren’t making it difficult to install the Epic Games Store. Once again, we’ll likely be waiting for the legal system to sort things out.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/epic-is-suing-google-and-samsung-for-making-it-too-hard-to-download-fortnite-142846819.html?src=rss

30.09.2024 17:32 Football Manager 25 is finally on its way, with Sports Interactive confirming the news and announcing a release date. The game will arrive for PC, Mac, Xbox and PS5 on November 26, just in time for some Thanksgiving gameplay. At the same time, FM25 Mobile is launching exclusively on Netflix, while FM25 Touch should come to Nintendo Switch on December 3. FM25 comes with two big updates: a switch to the Unity engine and women's football arriving into the same world as the men's teams. Sega-owned SI first announced the development of women's games in 2021, claiming it would take a while to do in order to provide the same depth as the men's ones. Last year, it confirmed women's teams would be in FM25. In a statement, Sports Interactive Studio Director Miles Jacobson said, "The world gets to see two of our multi-year projects come to fruition: the switch to the Unity engine and the introduction of Women's Football. It gives us a real sense of achievement to begin sharing our hard work with you and we're really looking forward to showing you more of the game in the weeks before the game's release." Right now, anyone who pre-orders FM25 for PC or Mac from a SEGA-approved digital retailer will get 10 percent off. SI will announce pre-orders for Xbox and PS5 editions later.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/football-manager-25-is-out-on-november-26-140032348.html?src=rss

30.09.2024 17:32 After arriving two weeks late, AMD's Ryzen 9000-series desktop processors disappointed some buyers and reviewers due to lackluster performance. Now, the company has addressed those issues with several new updates. The biggest speed brake for Ryzen 9000 desktop CPUs was the lack of Windows 11 branch prediction optimizations. For relief, you needed to either wait for Windows 11 24H2 , or add the optional KB5041587 update. However, AMD announced that the fix is now included by default in both Windows 11 version 23H2 build 22631.44112 or the latest 24H2 builds. That should boost performance by 3-13 percent across various games, with the biggest gains in Ryzen 9000 and Zen 5 processors. On top of that, AMD released the AGESA PI 1.2.0.2 BIOS update for Ryzen 5 9600X and Ryzen 9700X processors. That extends the warranty on those processors to allow for a TDP level of 105W, way up from the 65W launch TDP. That alone will boost speeds up to 10 percent on AM5 and X870 series motherboards, AMD said. It also introduced core-to-core latency optimization for Ryzen 9000 series multi-CCD models. Testers noticed that it sometimes took two transactions to both read and write when information was shared across cores on different CCDs. Though AMD called this a "corner case," the latest BIOS update cuts the number of transactions in half, helping latency in that scenario. "Our lab tests suggest Metro, Starfield and Borderlands 3 can show some uplift, as well as synthetic tests like 3DMark Time Spy," AMD wrote. Still on the speed theme, AMD noted that X870 and X870E motherboards are now available with support for PCIe Gen 5 graphics , NVMe storage and USB4 as standard. AMD also introduced support for "enthusiast-class" DDR5-8000 EXPO memory support, with 1- to 2-nanoseconds of latency improvement. While not for everyone, "it's a great option for enthusiasts who want to push their systems to the limit," AMD said. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/amds-latest-updates-address-9000x-desktop-cpu-performance-issues-130038015.html?src=rss

30.09.2024 17:32 Buyers that paid at least $93,990 to be among the first to own Tesla's Cybertruck are finally getting a key, promised feature: Full Self-Driving . Several people on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum — including an Angeleno who posted a video — say that it has finally arrived in early access to select users, Electrek reported. After Tesla promised that FSD would arrive to Cybertrucks in September, the supervised version 12.5.5 v12 is shipping, but only to users in the early access program. That means the feature won't be available to most buyers for at least another month, based on Tesla's previous FSD history. FSD worked smoothly for the short amount of time it was shown, according to the video above from Cybertruck Owner's Club forum user espresso-drumbeat. It guided the vehicle through an urban area then onto a freeway ramp before arriving on the I5 toward LA, all in relatively light evening traffic. According to the update description, FSD v12 includes vision-based attention monitoring with sunglasses and merges city and highway into a single software stack. In other words, it's the first version to fully manage driving using end-to-end AI. Cybertruck deliveries first started 10 months ago, so FSD has been a long time coming. Recent testing by the independent automotive testing group AMCI determined that Tesla's FSD can only go 13 miles on average before requiring human intervention. Elon Musk recently promised unsupervised self-driving by the end of 2025, but he has been making that same claim for nearly 10 years and it's still not here. There's more pressure now than ever, though, as the company is set to reveal its FSD-dependent robotaxi product on October 10th. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/teslas-full-self-driving-is-now-available-for-some-cybertrucks-120055932.html?src=rss

30.09.2024 17:32 The UK's last coal plant will sigh out its final pollutants Monday before shutting down for good and officially ending the country's century and a half of coal production. Nottinghamshire's Ratcliffe-on-Soar plant was the last of its kind following Britain's 2015 commitment to close all coal power plants by 2025. Ratcliffe was originally scheduled to shut down in 2022 but stayed open after Russia invaded Ukraine and Europe entered a gas crisis. The Ratcliffe plant once had 3,000 engineers but only employs 170 staff now. That group will gather to watch a livestream of the plant being turned off, and over 100 of them are set to work on decommissioning the plant over the next two years. Many of the other employees will enter new jobs at different power plants owned by Uniper, Raticliffe's German owner, while others will enter training programs to work on other aspects of the industry. Britain opened the world's first coal power plant in 1882, London's Holborn Viaduct, with the help of Thomas Edison's Edison Electric Light Company. Coal has played a major part in the UK until very recently. According to a report from energy think tank Ember, coal was responsible for 39 percent of the UK's energy supply in 2012 but shrunk to just two percent in 2019. The decrease in coal production was reportedly equal to double the amount of all greenhouse gases used in the UK in 2023. Between 2012 and 2023, wind and solar generation also increased from six percent to a 34 percent share of the UK's energy. Britain still has a long way to go, but this step has made it the first G7 country to remove all coal power production.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-uk-says-goodbye-to-coal-production-114520865.html?src=rss