Month: November 2024
The Virtual Villages Helping Digital Nomads Find Real-World Friends
Itinerant online workers needn’t suffer a single day of lonesomeness with these digital-first friend-finders.
Itinerant online workers needn’t suffer a single day of lonesomeness with these digital-first friend-finders.
LinkedIn: We’re too boring for kids for social media ban
It is one of a number of tech firms pushing back against Australia’s plan to ban social media for under-16s.
It is one of a number of tech firms pushing back against Australia’s plan to ban social media for under-16s.
Black Ops 6 Season 1 Reloaded release time and what to expect
Here’s what we know about the Black Ops 6 Season One Reloaded release date, including a look at a confirmed launch date.
Black Ops 6 Season 1 Reloaded launches later today, adding new maps, a new Zombies main mission, and more.
Even without extra Season One Reloaded content, we’re having a blast with Black Ops 6, landing it a place on our list of the best FPS games to play in 2024. This upcoming midseason update will freshen things up somewhat, giving players a new shotgun, and sniper rifle to work towards.
Here’s what we know about Black Ops Season 1 Reloaded so far, including a look at the confirmed release date, as well as what might be added. As we hear more from Activision, this page will be updated.
Black Ops 6 Season 1 Reloaded release time
(Image credit: Activision)
The Black Ops 6 Season 1 Reloaded release time is Thursday, December 5 at 9AM PT / 12PM ET / 5PM GMT.
It’s the season that keeps on giving. Season 01 Reloaded arrives on December 5 🎅
🧟♂️ Citadelle des Morts: brand-new Zombies map
🎁 CODMAS Limited Time Modes and festivities
🎄 3 Multiplayer Maps including Hacienda
🪂 Call of Duty Warzone Ranked Play: Battle Royale
➕ More pic.twitter.com/WeSwWqqYFUDecember 3, 2024
Black Ops 6 Season One Reloaded – what’s being added?
(Image credit: Activision)
Activision has now announced what’ll be added to Black Ops 6 as part of Season 1 Reloaded. This includes new maps, a new Zombies mission, and new weapons. Here’s a brief summary of what’s being added:
Maps: Racket, Hacienda, Nuketown Holiday, Citadelle Des MortesWildcard: High RollerWeapons: AMR MOD 4, MAELSTROM, CleaverModes: Prop HuntBundle: BrightmareWarzone: BR Ranked PlayCODMAS: Limited time modes for Christmas
For a full breakdown of Black Ops 6 Season 1 Reloaded, head on over to the Call of Duty blog. This includes some limited time modes that’ll be available to enjoy over the holidays.
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MrBeast says game show allegations ‘blown out of proportion’
Beast Games is set to stream next month amid allegations contestants were mistreated on set.
Beast Games is set to stream next month amid allegations contestants were mistreated on set.
Air taxi startup Vertical Aerospace extends runway with $50mn lifeline
Vertical Aerospace has been thrown a crucial lifeline, staving off potential bankruptcy at the cash-strapped air taxi startup. The UK-based company — which makes electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft — secured the fresh funds from its largest creditor, American debt investor Mudrick Capital. The agreement, announced Monday, includes a $50mn cash injection and a substantial debt-to-equity swap. Mudrick will invest $25mn upfront and guarantee another $25mn in future funding, offset by contributions from third-party investors. Mudrick will also convert half of its $130mn in outstanding loans into equity at $2.75 per share, taking its ownership stake in Vertical…This story continues at The Next Web
Vertical Aerospace has been thrown a crucial lifeline, staving off potential bankruptcy at the cash-strapped air taxi startup. The UK-based company — which makes electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft — secured the fresh funds from its largest creditor, American debt investor Mudrick Capital. The agreement, announced Monday, includes a $50mn cash injection and a substantial debt-to-equity swap. Mudrick will invest $25mn upfront and guarantee another $25mn in future funding, offset by contributions from third-party investors. Mudrick will also convert half of its $130mn in outstanding loans into equity at $2.75 per share, taking its ownership stake in Vertical…
This story continues at The Next Web
Review: ‘We Are Your Robots,’ Still Tuning Up
In Ethan Lipton’s musings on A.I., Mozart has a place alongside humpback whales.
In Ethan Lipton’s musings on A.I., Mozart has a place alongside humpback whales.
Margrethe Vestager, the World’s Top Tech Cop, Is Making Her Exit
Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s antitrust regulator, who put technology’s harms on the global agenda, reflected on a decade of taking on the biggest companies and what comes next.
Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s antitrust regulator, who put technology’s harms on the global agenda, reflected on a decade of taking on the biggest companies and what comes next.
[Sponsor] Streaks and Little Streaks
Streaks first appeared on Daring Fireball back in 2016, and since then has won an Apple Design Award and remained one of the most well-known and effective habit-tracking apps.
It’s a once-off purchase, and the latest update has added seasonal themes, just in time for Christmas (and your New Year’s resolutions!).
If you have young children, be sure to also try Little Streaks. It’s a great way to help them focus on routines: meal-time, bed-time, learning to ride, whatever you like! It’s free for one routine, or use code “DARING” for 50% off the first year.
★
Streaks first appeared on Daring Fireball back in 2016, and since then has won an Apple Design Award and remained one of the most well-known and effective habit-tracking apps.
It’s a once-off purchase, and the latest update has added seasonal themes, just in time for Christmas (and your New Year’s resolutions!).
If you have young children, be sure to also try Little Streaks. It’s a great way to help them focus on routines: meal-time, bed-time, learning to ride, whatever you like! It’s free for one routine, or use code “DARING” for 50% off the first year.
Apple TV’s Hardware Situation Is Fine
Mark Gurman, in his weekly Power On column:
The best scenario for Apple in TV hardware would be a cheap stick
(perhaps with no physical remote — use your iPhone instead). It’s
an idea that Apple marketing executives detest, but it would help
the company quickly expand its presence. If consumers want more
power and storage, they can opt for the current box.
At the top of the line, Apple could offer something like the new
Mac mini, providing the best streaming quality and gaming options.
For this exercise, let’s call these three tiers the Apple TV SE,
Apple TV and Apple TV Max. It would use the same “good, better,
best” strategy employed by the iPhone, Mac, iPad, AirPods, Apple
Watch and even the Apple Pencil.
Neither of these suggestions makes any sense. The only interesting thing about either idea is trying to decide which one is worse.
Streaming sticks are crap, and Apple doesn’t make crap. I also think streaming sticks are fast going the way of the dodo — they were a stopgap low-cost solution for when TV sets didn’t have “smart” experiences with built-in integration for major streaming platforms. Those built-in integrations obviate the need for streaming sticks, and Apple TV is now built into TVs from all major brands, including Samsung, Sony, LG, and Vizio. That’s the Apple TV app, not the full Apple TV tvOS platform, but that serves Apple’s needs. I don’t think it’s possible to provide a full-fidelity tvOS experience via a stick-sized computer that draws power from an HDMI port, and it’s certainly not possible to do so by omitting the goddamn remote control. Arguing that Apple needs to or even ought to build a cheap TV stick today is like those dumb columns from 2009 arguing that Apple needed to make a netbook to compete against shitty $300 laptops. Apple TV is to set top boxes as the Mac is to PCs — it’s never going to get a large share of the overall market, but it dominates the high-end of the market catering to people who actually care.
As for Gurman’s high-end hardware idea, a Mac Mini starts at $600. What would be the point of connecting such hardware to your TV? A Mac Mini wouldn’t offer better streaming quality than the existing Apple TV 4K offers. 4K is 4K, and even older Apple TV hardware streams it perfectly. And while in theory an M4-powered Mac-Mini-caliber Apple TV could offer better gaming than the iPhone-13-era A15 Bionic chip in the current Apple TV 4K hardware, there are zero tvOS games today that target hardware like that, and there’d be little reason for game developers to target such an “Apple TV Pro” device because almost no one would buy one. Whatever the reasons are for gaming not being a big deal on tvOS today, the lack of a “pro” $500 or $600 hardware tier is not one of them.
I think Apple should get the entry price down to $99 (currently $129), and sooner or later they need to update the hardware, if only to support Apple Intelligence. (Perhaps to the A18 or A18 Pro next fall — the current A15 Bionic Apple TV 4K models came out one year after the chip debuted in the iPhones 13.) But the hardware story for Apple TV is fine.
★
Mark Gurman, in his weekly Power On column:
The best scenario for Apple in TV hardware would be a cheap stick
(perhaps with no physical remote — use your iPhone instead). It’s
an idea that Apple marketing executives detest, but it would help
the company quickly expand its presence. If consumers want more
power and storage, they can opt for the current box.
At the top of the line, Apple could offer something like the new
Mac mini, providing the best streaming quality and gaming options.
For this exercise, let’s call these three tiers the Apple TV SE,
Apple TV and Apple TV Max. It would use the same “good, better,
best” strategy employed by the iPhone, Mac, iPad, AirPods, Apple
Watch and even the Apple Pencil.
Neither of these suggestions makes any sense. The only interesting thing about either idea is trying to decide which one is worse.
Streaming sticks are crap, and Apple doesn’t make crap. I also think streaming sticks are fast going the way of the dodo — they were a stopgap low-cost solution for when TV sets didn’t have “smart” experiences with built-in integration for major streaming platforms. Those built-in integrations obviate the need for streaming sticks, and Apple TV is now built into TVs from all major brands, including Samsung, Sony, LG, and Vizio. That’s the Apple TV app, not the full Apple TV tvOS platform, but that serves Apple’s needs. I don’t think it’s possible to provide a full-fidelity tvOS experience via a stick-sized computer that draws power from an HDMI port, and it’s certainly not possible to do so by omitting the goddamn remote control. Arguing that Apple needs to or even ought to build a cheap TV stick today is like those dumb columns from 2009 arguing that Apple needed to make a netbook to compete against shitty $300 laptops. Apple TV is to set top boxes as the Mac is to PCs — it’s never going to get a large share of the overall market, but it dominates the high-end of the market catering to people who actually care.
As for Gurman’s high-end hardware idea, a Mac Mini starts at $600. What would be the point of connecting such hardware to your TV? A Mac Mini wouldn’t offer better streaming quality than the existing Apple TV 4K offers. 4K is 4K, and even older Apple TV hardware streams it perfectly. And while in theory an M4-powered Mac-Mini-caliber Apple TV could offer better gaming than the iPhone-13-era A15 Bionic chip in the current Apple TV 4K hardware, there are zero tvOS games today that target hardware like that, and there’d be little reason for game developers to target such an “Apple TV Pro” device because almost no one would buy one. Whatever the reasons are for gaming not being a big deal on tvOS today, the lack of a “pro” $500 or $600 hardware tier is not one of them.
I think Apple should get the entry price down to $99 (currently $129), and sooner or later they need to update the hardware, if only to support Apple Intelligence. (Perhaps to the A18 or A18 Pro next fall — the current A15 Bionic Apple TV 4K models came out one year after the chip debuted in the iPhones 13.) But the hardware story for Apple TV is fine.
Samsung Galaxy S25 specs predictions: all the key rumored specs for every model
We have a good idea of most of the specs the Samsung Galaxy S25 series might offer as an upgrade over its predecessor.
The still-rumored Samsung Galaxy S25 and its siblings could rank among the absolute best phones of 2025, and there’s probably not long to wait for them, with a launch rumored for January.
While nothing will be known for certain about these phones until then, we do have a good idea of what to expect, as there has been an influx of leaks and rumors.
As such, combined with our own educated guesses, we’ve been able to collate a partial list of the likely specs you’ll find on these phones, which we’ve detailed below.
Samsung Galaxy 25 rumored specs
The Samsung Galaxy S24 (Image credit: Future | Roland Moore-Colyer)
The base Samsung Galaxy S25 won’t have as much high-end tech as the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, but this phone could still impress.
Rumors suggest the Samsung Galaxy S25 will have a roughly 6.2-inch screen, and while the resolution has not been leaked, we predict it will be 1080 x 2340, just like the Samsung Galaxy S24, since the rumored screen size is the same.
That would translate to a pixel density of around 416 pixels per inch, and the Samsung Galaxy S25 is also sure to have a 120Hz refresh rate, since its predecessor does, and since higher refresh rates are typically reserved for gaming phones.
There has been some disagreement over which chipset will be used, but sources seem mostly to now agree that the Samsung Galaxy S25 will be equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Elite, which is Qualcomm’s top smartphone chipset. That said, one recent benchmark listed the Exynos 2500, so there’s still the possibility that will be used.
Multiple leaks also suggest the Samsung Galaxy S25 will have 12GB of RAM. That’s more than the 8GB in the Galaxy S24. But even if these leaks are right, it’s possible there will also be 8GB models.
Storage capacities are unknown for now, but we predict Samsung will once again go with 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB models – though it’s not impossible that the 128GB model will be ditched or that a 1TB version will be added.
For cameras, TechManiacs reports that they’ll be the same as on the Samsung Galaxy S24, meaning a 50-megapixel primary camera, a 12MP ultra-wide, a 10MP telephoto (with 3x optical zoom), and a 12MP front-facing camera.
We’d take this with a pinch of salt since we’ve only heard it from one source, but the fact that we haven’t heard other camera leaks rather suggests that not much is changing.
Finally, we’ve heard that the Samsung Galaxy S25 might also have the same size battery as the S24, at 4,000mAh.
Samsung Galaxy 25 Plus rumored specs
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
Information tidbits suggest that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus will have a 6.66-inch screen, which will probably be marketed as 6.7 inches, just like the display on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus.
We can guess, therefore, that its other screen specs might largely match the S24 Plus too, perhaps meaning a 1440 x 3120 resolution for around 513 pixels per inch. And the Galaxy S25 Plus will also almost certainly have a 120Hz refresh rate, since that’s the standard for high-end handsets.
For the chipset, we’re expecting a Snapdragon 8 Elite. In fact, the Snapdragon 8 Elite will probably be used in every Galaxy S25-series model. Some benchmarks suggest the Snapdragon 8 Elite could even perform better than the chipset in the iPhone 16 Pro Max, so this could be a big win for Samsung.
Though as with the base Galaxy S25, we can’t completely rule out a different chipset, or different chipsets in different regions.
In any case, the Snapdragon 8 Elite will reportedly be joined by 12GB of RAM in the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus, which would be no change from the Galaxy S24 Plus. There’s no word yet on storage, but there’s a good chance Samsung will stick with the same capacities as the current model, meaning 256GB and 512GB versions.
Our only real camera information comes from the TechManiacs report linked in the Samsung Galaxy S25 section, pointing to the same megapixel counts as the Galaxy S24 Plus. That would mean a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide camera, a 10MP telephoto camera (probably with 3x optical zoom), and a 12MP selfie snapper.
And we’ve heard from that same source that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus will have a 4,900mAh battery, just like its predecessor.
Samsung Galaxy 25 Ultra rumored specs
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)
The best specs are likely to be reserved for the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, which rumors suggest will have a 6.86-inch screen, likely to be marketed as 6.9 inches. That will make it marginally larger than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s 6.8-inch display.
We haven’t heard what resolution the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s screen will be, but given the likely size increase there’s a chance it will be higher than the 1440 x 3120 of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. We also haven’t heard what the refresh rate will be, but we’re almost certain it will be 120Hz, since that’s the standard for most high-end phones.
As with the rest of the Samsung Galaxy S25 series, it’s reported that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra will have a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, and in fact we’re even more sure this phone will get that than the other models, since some leaks pointed to other chipsets for the rest of the line, but not for this.
We’ve also heard that the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra might have 16GB of RAM, though it’s not clear whether that would be the starting amount or just the amount you get in the top configuration. Either way though, that’s an improvement on the 12GB found in every configuration of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, and it should help give any Galaxy AI features a boost.
There’s no news on storage, but the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra comes in a choice of 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB, and we’d think those same capacities are likely to be offered again.
The cameras could get an upgrade though, with sources suggesting the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra will have a new 50MP ultra-wide camera, up from 12MP on the current model. However, the other cameras reportedly won’t be changing, meaning a 200MP main sensor, a 50MP 5x telephoto, and a 10MP 3x telephoto, along probably with a 12MP camera on the front.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra’s battery also reportedly won’t be any bigger than the S24 Ultra’s, with leaks suggesting it will once again be 5,000mAh, and will once again charge at 45W.
Samsung Galaxy 25 Slim rumored specs
The Samsung Galaxy S24 (Image credit: Future | Roland Moore-Colyer)
Along with the Samsung Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra, leaks have suggested a Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim is on the way, and this might land alongside the other models.
However, we don’t know much about it yet. From what we’ve heard, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Slim could have a better camera than the base Galaxy S25. One tip even suggests the Galaxy S25 Slim will have an ‘Ultra’-level camera.
So it may impress for photography, and of course it should also be thinner than the rest of the S25 series, though reportedly Samsung hasn’t been able to make the S25 Slim as thin at it would like.
We don’t really know anything else about this phone, which is why we haven’t included a specs chart. But we can predict that it will probably have a 120Hz refresh rate and a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset like the rest of the S25 line.
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