Month: August 2024
Tech tycoon Mike Lynch body found in wreckage of ‘unsinkable’ superyacht
The bodies of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and four others have been recovered from the wreckage of the superyacht Bayesian, the Financial Times reports, citing Italian officials. Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, and four others have been missing since Monday, after an intense storm struck the Bayesian, causing it to sink off the coast of Sicily. A total of 22 people were on board, 15 of whom were rescued, including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares. The vessel’s cook, Recaldo Thomas, was confirmed dead on scene. Divers, assisted by an underwater drone, recovered four of the corpses from the wreckage yesterday,…This story continues at The Next Web
The bodies of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and four others have been recovered from the wreckage of the superyacht Bayesian, the Financial Times reports, citing Italian officials. Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, and four others have been missing since Monday, after an intense storm struck the Bayesian, causing it to sink off the coast of Sicily. A total of 22 people were on board, 15 of whom were rescued, including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares. The vessel’s cook, Recaldo Thomas, was confirmed dead on scene. Divers, assisted by an underwater drone, recovered four of the corpses from the wreckage yesterday,…
This story continues at The Next Web
The Morning After: Our verdict on the Pixel 9 Pro and XL
Google is selling its ultra-premium Pixel 9 Pro in two sizes, but it’s not the size that counts here. Instead, it’s the suite of AI features Google hopes will revolutionize how you use your phone. The Morning After’s Mat Smith has spent plenty of time with both handsets to work out if they’re good enough to justify your cash.
He explores headline features, like Gemini Advanced, as well as the smart new AI-enabled photo tweaks. One of my favorites is Add Me, which puts you in the background of a group shot you were holding the phone for. Or Zoom Enhance, which offers a CSI-like level of clarity enhancement for the furthest point in a photo.
I won’t spoil the review beyond saying Mat thinks the Pixel 9 Pro, sorry Pixels 9 Pro, are well worth the cash. But you’ll have to read it all to work out why.
— Daniel Cooper
The biggest stories you might have missed
Google strikes a deal with California lawmakers to fund local news
A new AI support chatbot is available for hacked YouTube channels
Microsoft’s latest accessible controllers include the Xbox Adaptive Joystick
Lego’s first Mario Kart sets start throwing out shells on January 1
You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!
Rotten Tomatoes further dilutes its utility with Verified Hot badge
Nothing matters anymore!
Rotten Tomatoes has become a perpetual battleground in the internet’s perpetual culture war. But it’s trying to placate its user base by launching a Certified Hot label that reflects rapturous viewer reviews alongside those of critics. Viewers will need to prove they’ve seen a film but can only do so if they bought tickets via Fandango. Will that be enough to end the culture of review-bombing the site is suffering from? Who knows.
Continue Reading.
You can pre-order the all-digital Xbox Series X starting today
Shipping begins October 15.
Microsoft
Microsoft’s strategy of pushing cloud gaming with one hand and a dedicated console business with the other hasn’t necessarily been a winner. But the company isn’t deterred and has now opened pre-orders for the disc-free version of its Xbox Series X. The console is $50 cheaper than the disc-enabled version and, uh, the list of benefits with this new model stops there. But you can pre-order today, with shipping due to begin October 15.
Continue Reading.
The JBL Tour Pro 3 earbuds come with a case that can transmit audio wirelessly
Plug it into a USB or analog source and listen along.
JBL
JBL reaches for the useful side of quirky with its Tour Pro earbuds, and the third-generation model is no exception. The true wireless earbuds already have a screen in the charging case and can now transmit audio wirelessly. Plug the case into a USB or analog source and you can listen along, ideal for plane trips or when you need to listen to an old-timey record player.
Continue Reading.
Ford’s electric three-row SUV is dead
It’s pulling back from its EV push to save cash.
Ford has canceled plans to build a three-row electric SUV as part of a broader pull back from the EV market. It has also delayed the launch of its next-generation electric truck that would have followed the F-150 Lightning. Losses on current EV models are mounting up, which could total as much as $5 billion by the end of the year, and that’s too rich even for Ford’s blood.
Continue Reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-our-verdict-on-the-pixel-9-pro-and-xl-111535947.html?src=rss
Google is selling its ultra-premium Pixel 9 Pro in two sizes, but it’s not the size that counts here. Instead, it’s the suite of AI features Google hopes will revolutionize how you use your phone. The Morning After’s Mat Smith has spent plenty of time with both handsets to work out if they’re good enough to justify your cash.
He explores headline features, like Gemini Advanced, as well as the smart new AI-enabled photo tweaks. One of my favorites is Add Me, which puts you in the background of a group shot you were holding the phone for. Or Zoom Enhance, which offers a CSI-like level of clarity enhancement for the furthest point in a photo.
I won’t spoil the review beyond saying Mat thinks the Pixel 9 Pro, sorry Pixels 9 Pro, are well worth the cash. But you’ll have to read it all to work out why.
— Daniel Cooper
The biggest stories you might have missed
Google strikes a deal with California lawmakers to fund local news
A new AI support chatbot is available for hacked YouTube channels
Microsoft’s latest accessible controllers include the Xbox Adaptive Joystick
Lego’s first Mario Kart sets start throwing out shells on January 1
You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!
Rotten Tomatoes further dilutes its utility with Verified Hot badge
Nothing matters anymore!
Rotten Tomatoes has become a perpetual battleground in the internet’s perpetual culture war. But it’s trying to placate its user base by launching a Certified Hot label that reflects rapturous viewer reviews alongside those of critics. Viewers will need to prove they’ve seen a film but can only do so if they bought tickets via Fandango. Will that be enough to end the culture of review-bombing the site is suffering from? Who knows.
You can pre-order the all-digital Xbox Series X starting today
Shipping begins October 15.
Microsoft’s strategy of pushing cloud gaming with one hand and a dedicated console business with the other hasn’t necessarily been a winner. But the company isn’t deterred and has now opened pre-orders for the disc-free version of its Xbox Series X. The console is $50 cheaper than the disc-enabled version and, uh, the list of benefits with this new model stops there. But you can pre-order today, with shipping due to begin October 15.
The JBL Tour Pro 3 earbuds come with a case that can transmit audio wirelessly
Plug it into a USB or analog source and listen along.
JBL reaches for the useful side of quirky with its Tour Pro earbuds, and the third-generation model is no exception. The true wireless earbuds already have a screen in the charging case and can now transmit audio wirelessly. Plug the case into a USB or analog source and you can listen along, ideal for plane trips or when you need to listen to an old-timey record player.
Ford’s electric three-row SUV is dead
It’s pulling back from its EV push to save cash.
Ford has canceled plans to build a three-row electric SUV as part of a broader pull back from the EV market. It has also delayed the launch of its next-generation electric truck that would have followed the F-150 Lightning. Losses on current EV models are mounting up, which could total as much as $5 billion by the end of the year, and that’s too rich even for Ford’s blood.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-our-verdict-on-the-pixel-9-pro-and-xl-111535947.html?src=rss
Russia blames mass tech outages on DDoS attack
Russian authorities have blamed a DDoS attack for widespread app outages, but activists aren’t so sure.
The Russian government has blamed the widespread outage of several popular mobile applications on a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack.
The outage affected a number of messaging apps and online services, including Telegram, WhatsApp, Skype, Wikipedia, Steam, Discord, Twitch, and VKontakte – a Russian social network.
However, people in Moscow reported regaining access to services when using a VPN, prompting some to speculate that Russian authorities were to blame for the outage.
DDoS or Kremlin blocking?
Roskomandzor, the Russian federal censorship agency, reported on the outage, stating, “On August 21 at 2:00 p.m., [Roskomnadzor’s] Public Communication Network Monitoring and Management Center detected an outage affecting several services on Russian territory. The outage was due to a DDoS attack on Russian telecom operators. As of 3:00 p.m. Moscow time, the attack has been repelled, and services are working as normal.” (Via Meduza).
The outage also affected Telegram users in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
This isn’t the first time widespread application outages have been reported within Russia, with Russian activist and blogger Mikhail Klimarev saying that, “This kind of thing usually happens when they activate their so-called ‘anti-messenger mode.’ I have the distinct feeling that something [similar] happened, but this time on the national level.”
Telegram has been sanctioned by the Kremlin before, with a court order circumventing any appeal process and effectively blocking the messaging app from April 2018 until June 2020. However, it continued to be used by a number of official channels to share information and was eventually unblocked. It continues to be a popular platform in Russia, particularly to share details and analysis of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia recently blamed a slowdown in YouTube’s services within the country on Google’s failure to invest in it’s infrastructure, something both Google and tech experts have rejected, with many more Russian activists blaming the Kremlin for throttling the service. Google has since announced that it will be shutting down Russian-based AdSense accounts due to “ongoing developments” within the country.
More from TechRadar Pro
Take a look at the best VPN with antivirusCybercriminals linked to China are going after Russian targetsThese are the best firewalls
Ring’s New Battery Doorbell Starts Improving Key Design Features
Ring is bringing high-tech camera features like Head-to-Toe video to its flagship Battery Doorbell, plus new dismounting options for charging.
Ring is bringing high-tech camera features like Head-to-Toe video to its flagship Battery Doorbell, plus new dismounting options for charging.
AMD says Microsoft’s next big Windows 11 update will improve Zen 5 CPU performance
Image: AMD
AMD says Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 11 version 24H2 update will improve performance for its new Zen 5 CPUs. The Ryzen 9000 series launched earlier this month, and failed to live up to AMD’s performance promises in most reviews. After rumors of a Windows bug, AMD has revealed that AMD-specific branch prediction code will be optimized in Windows 11 version 24H2, which is expected to ship next month.
“Zen 5 will see the biggest boost, but this Windows update will improve performance for Zen 4 and Zen 3 as well,” admits AMD. While the chip maker hasn’t revealed how much better its older CPUs will perform, it’s predicting a 13 percent performance improvement for its 9950X CPU in Far Cry 6 running 24H2 instead of 23H2, and a seven percent jump for Cyberpunk 2077. Both are fairly significant increases for a single Windows update. AMD says it’s “collaborating with Microsoft to roll out this optional update to all Windows 11 users soon.”
Reviewers found that in some cases the previous generation Ryzen 9 7950X looked like better value than AMD’s new flagship Ryzen 9 9950X. Over a 13-game average running at 1080p with an RTX 4090, Hardware Unboxed found that the 9950X was just a single percent faster than the existing 7950X. In productivity tasks, that gap was just 3 percent.
We’ll now have to wait for reviewers to test 24H2 with these latest Ryzen chips to see if AMD’s claims of a bigger boost to these chips are accurate, particularly as Zen 4 and Zen 3 processors will be improved too. Despite the poor initial gaming benchmark results for the 9950X, AMD insists the Ryzen 9000 series “delivers leadership performance across content creation, productivity and AI applications.”
Image: AMD
AMD says Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 11 version 24H2 update will improve performance for its new Zen 5 CPUs. The Ryzen 9000 series launched earlier this month, and failed to live up to AMD’s performance promises in most reviews. After rumors of a Windows bug, AMD has revealed that AMD-specific branch prediction code will be optimized in Windows 11 version 24H2, which is expected to ship next month.
“Zen 5 will see the biggest boost, but this Windows update will improve performance for Zen 4 and Zen 3 as well,” admits AMD. While the chip maker hasn’t revealed how much better its older CPUs will perform, it’s predicting a 13 percent performance improvement for its 9950X CPU in Far Cry 6 running 24H2 instead of 23H2, and a seven percent jump for Cyberpunk 2077. Both are fairly significant increases for a single Windows update. AMD says it’s “collaborating with Microsoft to roll out this optional update to all Windows 11 users soon.”
Reviewers found that in some cases the previous generation Ryzen 9 7950X looked like better value than AMD’s new flagship Ryzen 9 9950X. Over a 13-game average running at 1080p with an RTX 4090, Hardware Unboxed found that the 9950X was just a single percent faster than the existing 7950X. In productivity tasks, that gap was just 3 percent.
We’ll now have to wait for reviewers to test 24H2 with these latest Ryzen chips to see if AMD’s claims of a bigger boost to these chips are accurate, particularly as Zen 4 and Zen 3 processors will be improved too. Despite the poor initial gaming benchmark results for the 9950X, AMD insists the Ryzen 9000 series “delivers leadership performance across content creation, productivity and AI applications.”
Bitunix Announces Major Security Upgrade: $5 Million Insurance Backed by UK-Based Security Partner
Singapore, Singapore, 22nd August 2024, Chainwire
The post Bitunix Announces Major Security Upgrade: $5 Million Insurance Backed by UK-Based Security Partner first appeared on Tech Startups.
Singapore, Singapore, 22nd August 2024, Chainwire
The post Bitunix Announces Major Security Upgrade: $5 Million Insurance Backed by UK-Based Security Partner first appeared on Tech Startups.