Month: December 2024
Restless Nights? Grounding Sheets Might Improve Your Sleep
Grounding sheets took over SleepTok. Here’s why this trending bed accessory may reduce your tossing and turning at night.
Grounding sheets took over SleepTok. Here’s why this trending bed accessory may reduce your tossing and turning at night.
Russia Admits Its Homegrown Consoles Can’t Match the PS5 or Xbox Series
Earlier this year, Russia President Vladimir Putin called on the government to develop its own domestically produced gaming consoles with proprietary operating systems and cloud-based platforms. “With Russia heavily sanctioned and looking to promote its own products, one of its in-development consoles is powered by the Elbrus processor,” notes TechSpot. However, the processor is “designed primarily for domestic applications in critical infrastructure, defense, and other sensitive areas” and “can’t match high-end CPUs from Intel, AMD, and Arm.” From the report: The Russian government admits that this device isn’t going to be on the same level as current-gen machines. “I hope my colleagues will approach this task with full responsibility and come up with something truly groundbreaking,” said Anton Gorelkin, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy. “It is obvious to everyone: Elbrus processors are not yet at the level required to compete equally with the PS5 and Xbox, which means the solution must be unconventional.” Gorelkin said that Russian consoles aren’t being designed only to play ports of hundreds of old, less-demanding games. He added that they should primarily serve the purpose of promoting and popularizing domestic video game products.
Another organization following Putin’s instructions is Russian telecommunications firm MTS. Its console (above) will use the company’s cloud-based gaming platform, called Fog Play. It allows owners of high-end PCs to rent out their computing power to those with less-powerful equipment, charging an hourly price. Those with more powerful PCs can access games on the service and use their own hardware to play them. MTS’ device is expected to cost no more than $45 and come with an Xbox-like controller, suggesting it’s unlikely to appeal to those who enjoy current-gen console games.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Earlier this year, Russia President Vladimir Putin called on the government to develop its own domestically produced gaming consoles with proprietary operating systems and cloud-based platforms. “With Russia heavily sanctioned and looking to promote its own products, one of its in-development consoles is powered by the Elbrus processor,” notes TechSpot. However, the processor is “designed primarily for domestic applications in critical infrastructure, defense, and other sensitive areas” and “can’t match high-end CPUs from Intel, AMD, and Arm.” From the report: The Russian government admits that this device isn’t going to be on the same level as current-gen machines. “I hope my colleagues will approach this task with full responsibility and come up with something truly groundbreaking,” said Anton Gorelkin, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy. “It is obvious to everyone: Elbrus processors are not yet at the level required to compete equally with the PS5 and Xbox, which means the solution must be unconventional.” Gorelkin said that Russian consoles aren’t being designed only to play ports of hundreds of old, less-demanding games. He added that they should primarily serve the purpose of promoting and popularizing domestic video game products.
Another organization following Putin’s instructions is Russian telecommunications firm MTS. Its console (above) will use the company’s cloud-based gaming platform, called Fog Play. It allows owners of high-end PCs to rent out their computing power to those with less-powerful equipment, charging an hourly price. Those with more powerful PCs can access games on the service and use their own hardware to play them. MTS’ device is expected to cost no more than $45 and come with an Xbox-like controller, suggesting it’s unlikely to appeal to those who enjoy current-gen console games.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Squid Game Season 3 Confirmed for 2025
You won’t have to wait too long for the answers to the Squid Game season 2 cliffhanger.
You won’t have to wait too long for the answers to the Squid Game season 2 cliffhanger.
Apple Vision Pro May Now Be Out of Production
Apple’s first-generation Vision Pro headset may have now ceased production, following reports of reduced demand and production cuts earlier in the year.
In October, The Information’s Wayne Ma reported that Apple had abruptly reduced production of the Vision Pro headset ahead of potential plans to stop making the current version of the device completely by the end of 2024. With the year now coming to an end, this means that the device may no longer be in active production.
Citing multiple people “directly involved” in making components for the headset, the report said that the scaling back of production began in the early summer. This indicated that Apple now has a sufficient number of Vision Pro units in its inventory to meet demand for the device’s remaining lifespan through to 2025. Historically, it is not unusual for Apple to do this with low-demand products, such as the iPhone 12 mini.
The Vision Pro is widely reported to have seen weak demand due to insufficient content and its high price point. The Information said that Vision Pro suppliers have now produced enough components for between 500,000 to 600,000 headsets. Some factories suspended production of Vision Pro components as early as May based on Apple’s weak sales forecasts, and warehouses remain filled with tens of thousands of undelivered parts.
Apple is said to have told Luxshare, a Chinese company that serves as the Vision Pro’s assembler, that it would need to wind down production in November. Luxshare was making around 1,000 Vision Pro headsets per day as of October, which was half that being produced at its peak. Apple will apparently still be able to resume Vision Pro production if sales pick up since the production lines are not yet due to be dismantled.
Moreover, Apple has purportedly suspended work on the original second-generation Vision Pro for at least a year to focus on developing a lower-cost headset. Interestingly, Apple told suppliers to prepare to build four million low-cost headsets over the entire lifespan of the future product. This is half the total number of Vision Pros that Apple told suppliers to produce, suggesting that sales expectations are even lower for the cheaper headset.
Weak demand for the Vision Pro has been attributed to its high $3,499 price point and insufficient content ecosystem. Apple CEO Tim Cook described the device as an “early-adopter product,” targeting users interested in cutting-edge technology rather than the broader mass market.
Although Apple’s work on the second-generation Vision Pro has apparently stalled, there are some indications that the company could release “an incremental update to the product with limited changes to its physical design,” such as a chip upgrade, according to The Information. Corroborating this, Kuo and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman have indicated that a more iterative second-generation Vision Pro is in active development, adding the introduction of an M5 chip and Apple Intelligence. Gurman has projected the device could launch between fall 2025 and spring 2026. This updated model is expected to reuse many components from the first-generation Vision Pro to offset the surplus inventory in Apple’s supply chain.Related Roundup: Apple Vision Pro
Tag: The Information
Buyer’s Guide: Vision Pro (Buy Now)
Related Forum: Apple Vision Pro
This article, “Apple Vision Pro May Now Be Out of Production” first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
Apple’s first-generation Vision Pro headset may have now ceased production, following reports of reduced demand and production cuts earlier in the year.
In October, The Information‘s Wayne Ma reported that Apple had abruptly reduced production of the Vision Pro headset ahead of potential plans to stop making the current version of the device completely by the end of 2024. With the year now coming to an end, this means that the device may no longer be in active production.
Citing multiple people “directly involved” in making components for the headset, the report said that the scaling back of production began in the early summer. This indicated that Apple now has a sufficient number of Vision Pro units in its inventory to meet demand for the device’s remaining lifespan through to 2025. Historically, it is not unusual for Apple to do this with low-demand products, such as the iPhone 12 mini.
The Vision Pro is widely reported to have seen weak demand due to insufficient content and its high price point. The Information said that Vision Pro suppliers have now produced enough components for between 500,000 to 600,000 headsets. Some factories suspended production of Vision Pro components as early as May based on Apple’s weak sales forecasts, and warehouses remain filled with tens of thousands of undelivered parts.
Apple is said to have told Luxshare, a Chinese company that serves as the Vision Pro’s assembler, that it would need to wind down production in November. Luxshare was making around 1,000 Vision Pro headsets per day as of October, which was half that being produced at its peak. Apple will apparently still be able to resume Vision Pro production if sales pick up since the production lines are not yet due to be dismantled.
Moreover, Apple has purportedly suspended work on the original second-generation Vision Pro for at least a year to focus on developing a lower-cost headset. Interestingly, Apple told suppliers to prepare to build four million low-cost headsets over the entire lifespan of the future product. This is half the total number of Vision Pros that Apple told suppliers to produce, suggesting that sales expectations are even lower for the cheaper headset.
Weak demand for the Vision Pro has been attributed to its high $3,499 price point and insufficient content ecosystem. Apple CEO Tim Cook described the device as an “early-adopter product,” targeting users interested in cutting-edge technology rather than the broader mass market.
Although Apple’s work on the second-generation Vision Pro has apparently stalled, there are some indications that the company could release “an incremental update to the product with limited changes to its physical design,” such as a chip upgrade, according to The Information. Corroborating this, Kuo and Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman have indicated that a more iterative second-generation Vision Pro is in active development, adding the introduction of an M5 chip and Apple Intelligence. Gurman has projected the device could launch between fall 2025 and spring 2026. This updated model is expected to reuse many components from the first-generation Vision Pro to offset the surplus inventory in Apple’s supply chain.
This article, “Apple Vision Pro May Now Be Out of Production” first appeared on MacRumors.com
Discuss this article in our forums
MicroStrategy’s Big Bet On Bitcoin Went Stratospheric
MicroStrategy has transformed into a “bitcoin treasury company,” investing billions in bitcoin through debt and equity issuance, driving its stock price up nearly 400% in 2024 despite declining software revenues and heightened financial risks. The Guardian reports: In the summer of 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic upended economies around the world, an obscure U.S. software firm decided to diversify. MicroStrategy, whose head office is situated next to a shopping mall and metro station in Tysons Corner, Virginia, had decided the steady business of “software as a service” was not racy enough. Instead, it would branch out by investing up to $250 million in alternative assets — “stocks, bonds, commodities such as gold, digital assets such as bitcoin or other asset types.” Less than five years later, that bitcoin side hustle has gone stratospheric. MicroStrategy’s share price has swollen twentyfold, lifting its market capitalization to almost $75 billion and catapulting the stock into the Nasdaq 100 index of top technology shares.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
MicroStrategy has transformed into a “bitcoin treasury company,” investing billions in bitcoin through debt and equity issuance, driving its stock price up nearly 400% in 2024 despite declining software revenues and heightened financial risks. The Guardian reports: In the summer of 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic upended economies around the world, an obscure U.S. software firm decided to diversify. MicroStrategy, whose head office is situated next to a shopping mall and metro station in Tysons Corner, Virginia, had decided the steady business of “software as a service” was not racy enough. Instead, it would branch out by investing up to $250 million in alternative assets — “stocks, bonds, commodities such as gold, digital assets such as bitcoin or other asset types.” Less than five years later, that bitcoin side hustle has gone stratospheric. MicroStrategy’s share price has swollen twentyfold, lifting its market capitalization to almost $75 billion and catapulting the stock into the Nasdaq 100 index of top technology shares.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
These Programs Can Help You Pay for Winter Heating Bills
How to get help paying your gas or electric bill, access energy efficiency upgrades and protect your household from utility shutoffs this winter.
How to get help paying your gas or electric bill, access energy efficiency upgrades and protect your household from utility shutoffs this winter.
Best Internet Providers in Yakima, Washington
Yakima offers a variety of high-speed internet plans with symmetrical upload speeds. Here are the top choices.
Yakima offers a variety of high-speed internet plans with symmetrical upload speeds. Here are the top choices.