tweaktown
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December 2
- Sony's first Spider-Man game has made $3.8 billion in sales revenue➀ Sony's original Spider-Man game has generated nearly $4 billion in revenue within two years; ➁ The game sold 20 million copies worldwide; ➂ Sony could have spent around $300 million on Spider-Man 2.
- Intel Arc Battlemage is official, full reveal coming December 3➀ Intel is set to announce its next-generation Battlemage graphics card, the Arc B580, on December 3rd; ➁ The card is expected to compete with GeForce RTX 4060 and Radeon RX 7600, offering 12GB VRAM at around $250; ➂ Intel will need to showcase its value proposition against competitors like GeForce RTX 3060, RTX 4060, and Radeon RX 6600 and RX 7600.
- Intel is not allowed to sell its Foundry business even if it wants to➀ Intel faces significant challenges, including stock price drops, layoffs, and CPU controversies. ➁ The company plans to spin off its Foundry division but will need to maintain control due to the $7.86 billion CHIPS Act deal with the U.S. government. ➃ Intel's CHIPS Act deal includes a 'change of control' restriction requiring Intel to retain 50.1% control or ownership of its Foundry business.
November 30
- Top five Black Friday Amazon deals on ASUS gaming laptops, graphics cards, and monitors➀ ASUS is offering significant discounts on various products for Black Friday and Cyber Monday; ➁ Notable deals include the ASUS Chromebook CX1, RT-AX86U Pro gaming router, and ROG Swift and Strix gaming monitors; ➂ Discounts range from 21% to 48% off.
- Apple products heavily discounted for Black Friday, savings of up to 23%➀ Apple products are heavily discounted on Amazon for Black Friday, with savings up to 23%; ➁ MacBook Air models and Apple Watch Ultra are among the discounted items; ➂ Discounts include up to $319 off the Apple Studio Display.
November 29
- Australia passes law to ban under 16-year-olds from TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat➀ The Australian Senate has passed a law banning under 16-year-olds from using social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram; ➁ The law requires platforms to implement age verification; ➂ The government plans to use biometric and behavioral data for age verification trials.
- Panasonic resurrects its founder as an AI trained on thousands of recordings➀ Panasonic has developed an AI of its founder Kōnosuke Matsushita using 3,000 recordings and writings. ➁ The AI is designed to embody Matsushita's management philosophies and assist in business decisions. ➂ The project aims to preserve Matsushita's legacy and provide insights into his management style.
- Tencent unveils what Palworld is to Pokemon but for Sony's Horizon Zero Dawn➀ Tencent's subsidiary, Polaris Quest, has announced 'Light of Motiram', an open-world survival crafting game inspired by Guerilla Games' Horizon Zero Dawn; ➁ The game is listed on Steam and Epic Games Store but has no release date yet; ➂ The game faces potential legal challenges from Sony due to its similarities.
- Qualcomm Snapdragon X-based AI PC laptops flop: only 720,000 laptops sold, 0.8% of market➀ Qualcomm's Snapdragon X laptops have sold 720,000 units globally, capturing only 0.8% of the AI PC market; ➁ Despite a 180% growth in Q3 2024, they remain niche with less than 1.5% market share; ➂ Microsoft leads in shipments, followed by Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, and ASUS.
- Nintendo Switch 2 rumor - console to launch in March 2025, big reveal in January➀ Rumors suggest a January 2025 reveal and March 2025 launch for the Nintendo Switch 2; ➁ The source is a credible Weibo forum user with a history of accurate leaks; ➂ Nintendo has confirmed a next-gen console reveal by the end of March 2025.
- GeForce NOW Black Friday Deal - 50% off new Ultimate or Performance subscriptions➀ NVIDIA's GeForce NOW Black Friday Deal offers 50% off the first three months for new Ultimate and Performance memberships; ➁ Ultimate users get access to RTX 4080 GPUs, streaming up to 4K at 120 FPS; ➂ Both plans have a 100-hour monthly limit, with options to continue on a free tier or pay extra.
- Intel plans to release more desktop GPUs after the first Arc Battlemage card debuts in December➀ Intel is expected to release the Arc B580 Battlemage GPU around December 12, priced at approximately $250; ➁ Intel plans to continue developing desktop GPUs with future Arc Celestial and Arc Druid models; ➂ Intel's focus is shifting towards budget desktop GPUs.
November 28
- Scientists unveil breathtaking 100 mile per pixel photograph of the Sun➀ The Solar Orbiter, launched by the European Space Agency, captures high-resolution images of the Sun; ➁ The images are stitched together to form a breathtaking 100-mile-per-pixel photograph; ➂ The orbiter is on a mission to study the Sun and its environment.
- Neuralink wants people for a new brain chip that controls a robotic arm with thoughts➀ Neuralink is preparing a feasibility trial for its N1 implant to control a robotic arm with thoughts; ➁ The trial aims to restore digital and physical freedom for individuals with paraplegia and other physical disabilities; ➂ The company has a history of similar trials, with a 2015 Caltech experiment successfully implanting a neural prosthetic device.
- PS5 and controllers hit with Black Friday sale, savings of up to $100 on Amazon and Newegg➀ PS5 and its controllers are heavily discounted on Amazon and Newegg; ➁ The PS5 Slim is discounted by over $100; ➂ The DualSense Wireless Controller is available for 28% off.
November 27
- Elon Musk's Neuralink to conduct trial to see if its brain implact can control a robotic arm➀ Neuralink has received approval to test its wireless brain-computer interface (BCI) implant with an assistive robotic arm; ➁ The trial aims to allow users to control a robotic arm using only their thoughts; ➂ Neuralink's BCI is wireless, making the process easier than previous setups.
- Ausom discounts powerful Leopard DT1 Pro electric scooter by up to $100 for Black Friday➀ Ausom is offering a $100 discount on the Leopard DT1 Pro electric scooter for Black Friday; ➁ The Leopard DT1 Pro features a forged aluminum frame, max speed of 41 mph, and a top range of 47 miles; ➂ The discount brings the price down from $1,199 to $1,149 with an additional $50 off using the code 'TweakBF'.
- NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 5090, RTX 5090D rumor: same GPU, same clocks, other parts being tuned➀ NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5090D share the same GPU configuration and clock speeds; ➁ The RTX 5090D was developed to bypass export restrictions, similar to the RTX 4090D; ➂ Both models are set to launch in January 2025 with similar pricing.
- GTA 6 developer teases 'cutting-edge' tech, 'procedural generation' for objects, environments➀ GTA 6 is expected to cause a significant global distraction upon release; ➁ A Principal Engine Programmer at Rockstar has been working on GTA 6, focusing on next-gen consoles and PC; ➂ The game will feature advanced technologies like ray tracing and procedural generation.
November 26
- Microsoft accused of using online Word and Excel content for AI training, unless you opt-out➀ Microsoft is accused of scraping user-generated content from Word and Excel to train its AI models; ➁ The 'Connected Experiences' feature is enabled by default and requires specific settings to opt-out; ➂ Microsoft denies using customer data for AI training, stating the feature is for internet-required functions like document co-authoring.
- Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Air rumored to be the thinnest iPhone in over 10 years at 6mm thick➀ The upcoming iPhone 17 Air is rumored to be the thinnest iPhone ever, just 6mm thick; ➁ It is expected to be significantly slimmer than previous models, the thinnest since the iPhone 6; ➂ Apple analyst Jeff Pu agrees that the iPhone 17 Air will be around 6mm thick.
- NVIDIA reportedly using Samsung GDDR7 memory chips for next-gen GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs➀ NVIDIA is set to use Samsung's new GDDR7 memory chips for its upcoming GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs; ➁ The RTX 50 series will feature both 28Gbps and 32Gbps GDDR7 memory; ➂ Samsung's GDDR7 memory chips will be used by NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs in early 2025.
- Tesla is looking for AI Teleoperation workers: remote control robotaxis, humanoid robots➀ Tesla is hiring for its AI Teleoperation team; ➁ Candidates will use advanced VR rigs to remotely operate and train robotaxis and humanoid robots; ➂ The team is responsible for providing remote access to robotaxis and humanoid robots, operating autonomously in challenging environments.
- AMD Ryzen Threadripper 9000 'Shimada Peak' CPU spotted: 96-core, 16-core Zen 5 variants teased➀ AMD's Ryzen Threadripper 9000 series 'Shimada Peak' CPUs are launching with 96-core and 16-core models for HEDT systems; ➁ The flagship 96-core CPU includes 12 CCDs and 384MB of L3 cache; ➂ AMD's new Zen 5 architecture is ready for the huge SP6 socket.
- DDR5 OC world record broken again: blistering 12,611.6MT/s with Patriot Viper Xtreme 5 RAM➀ Overclocker 'snakeeyes' sets a new memory OC world record with 12,611.6MT/s using Patriot Viper Xtreme 5 RAM; ➁ The record was achieved with LN2 cooling on an ASRock Z890 Taichi OCF motherboard; ➂ The setup now ranks #1 on HWBOT's memory frequency rankings.
November 25
- GeForce RTX 5070 specs reveal fewer CUDA Cores than RTX 4070 SUPER, 40% less than RTX 5070 Ti➀ The GeForce RTX 5070 features fewer CUDA Cores than the RTX 4070 SUPER and 40% fewer than the RTX 5070 Ti; ➁ NVIDIA's upcoming mid-range RTX 50 Series card might not offer a significant improvement over the GeForce RTX 4070; ➂ The performance of the RTX 5070 is speculative and will depend on clock speeds and memory bandwidth.
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, RTX 5080 leaks: launching late January 2025, probably costs $1999➀ NVIDIA is set to unveil the GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 at CES 2025, with a launch expected shortly after; ➁ The RTX 5090 may be priced at $1999 with 32GB of GDDR7 memory and over 20,000 CUDA cores; ➂ The RTX 5090 is expected to offer 4K 240FPS+ gaming performance.
- ChatGPT maker OpenAI rumored web browser could kick Google's ass as it struggles with Chrome➀ OpenAI is considering developing a web browser to compete with Google's Chrome; ➁ The browser will integrate AI chatbot and search features; ➂ OpenAI is in talks with developers and exploring partnerships, including with Samsung.
- AI servers of the future: 'rack density' of 1000kW+ with NVIDIA's next-gen Rubin Ultra AI GPUs➀ AI servers are expected to consume over 1000 kW of power due to NVIDIA's upcoming Rubin Ultra AI GPU and HBM4 memory; ➁ Current AI servers use 130-250 kW, but future models like Blackwell Ultra and Rubin AI servers will require 250-900 kW, with up to 576 GPUs per rack by 2026-2027; ➂ NVIDIA's future AI servers with Rubin Ultra AI GPUs will use 1000 kW or more by 2028-2029+.
- AMD to launch Ryzen 9 9950X3D, 9900X3D by end of January 2025: only one CCD has 3D V-Cache➀ AMD is rumored to launch Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D processors by the end of January 2025; ➁ The 9950X3D will have 16 cores, 32 threads, and 144MB of cache, while the 9900X3D will feature 12 cores, 24 threads, and 140MB of cache; ➂ Only one of the CCDs in the dual CCD processors will have 3D V-Cache technology.