FCC votes to restore net neutrality
The agency voted to reclassify internet service providers under Title II of the Communications Act but says it doesn’t plan to regulate prices.
The agency voted to reclassify internet service providers under Title II of the Communications Act but says it doesn’t plan to regulate prices.
Feed refreshed
‘Scuderia Ferrari’ is changing its name to ‘Scuderia Ferrari HP,’ and HP’s logo will appear on the cars from Maranello for the Miami Grand Prix in May.
I can’t see it being on the wheels like McLaren’s Google logo, but at least it’s not a cigarette brand in camouflage.
An overnight email from Apple says the company can’t complete the trade-in process... even though the people getting it, like our reader Kevin, traded in their iPhones last year. MacRumors notes forum members and people on social media have reported receiving the message, and it seems like an odd glitch, but we’ve reached out to Apple to confirm.
The Comcast-owned streaming service says it added 3 million paid subscribers over the past few months, bringing it to 34 million total members. In addition to airing the “most-streamed event ever in the US” in January, Peacock also added Oppenheimer and other Christopher Nolan flicks to its lineup.
Stellar Blade launches tomorrow on PS5 and just in time for release day, PlayStation is sharing a new launch trailer and information on the game’s New Game + mode. Eve’s weapons, HP, and healing items will get level boosts. Skill trees will be expanded and there will be harder difficulties for players looking for a challenging fight. But most importantly, New Game + will add over 30 new outfits to collect.
What it does, the R1 seems to do well enough — with some typical AI quirks. But where are all the features we were promised?
Microsoft has started reminding Xbox owners that it will start deleting game captures from its Xbox Network after 90 days, starting on May 30th. If you don’t want to lose game clips and screenshots, then you’ll need to back up any old ones to OneDrive or an external drive over the next month. There’s more information over on Microsoft’s support site.
Post-Barbie, Mattel has been making a lot of noise about its plans to keep the toy-to-movie ball rolling with projects based on IP like Hot Wheels and Magic 8 Ball. But the company also wants to channel that energy into series meant for the small screen, and it has just hired Sidney Clifton, Cory Bennett Lewis, and Amy Suh to spearhead those efforts.
[corporate.mattel.com]
The two companies say their partnership “has never been stronger,” possibly calming any fears after Google merged its Android and hardware teams. It sure looks like we’re going to see more AI in both Samsung and Google devices soon beyond Circle to Search, which is something to watch for as more AI-powered devices like the Rabbit R1 come to market.
Earlier this month, Bethesda announced that Fallout 4 would be getting a next-gen update (y’know because everybody wants to play a Fallout game now). That update is out today granting console players performance and quality modes along with other bug fixes and PC players get wide and ultra-widescreen support and the much-coveted Steam Deck verification.
Amazon continues to bolsters its sports offerings, this time by nabbing regional streaming rights for the NHL’s Seattle Kraken. Starting next season, Prime Video will be home to the team’s “non-nationally televised” games in Oregon, Washington, and Alaska, including “preseason, regular season, and the first round of playoffs.” Bad news for subscribers if the Kraken make a deep run in 2025.
Nvidia is adding the Battle.net versions of these classic Blizzard games to its cloud streaming service this week, alongside StarCraft II and Diablo III.
AV1 support (which provides higher streaming quality at lower bitrates) is also being rolled out for GeForce Now users with Mac M3 devices.
We found a collection of unique gift ideas that go beyond the flowers and chocolates that typically rule the day.
The Biden administration’s pledge will help Micron’s $100 billion plan to build new DRAM fabs in New York, with the proposed funding set to unlock a $25 billion investment for another facility under construction in Idaho.
Micron, the sole US-based memory manufacturer, hopes to onshore 40 percent of its DRAM chip production. Its leading-edge chips are currently made in Japan and Taiwan.
TSMC says it’ll start production of 1.6-nm chips by 2026 in a move that should “greatly improve logic [chip] density and performance,” according to Nikkei. Meanwhile Intel is targeting 2-nm and 1.8-nm technologies by 2025, with Samsung targeting 1.4-nm in 2027.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Lars Wingefors said he’s been “taking a lot of hits and criticism” over Embracer Group’s restructuring efforts that have led to studio shutdowns, layoffs, and the gaming conglomerate being split into three separate companies.
“We can’t make all the games we wanted to make three years ago, but we need to adapt to it. We will still make games, we still have one of the biggest, if not the biggest, pipeline of games in the industry. And we have great plans over the coming years or decades.”
[GamesIndustry.biz]
The Sony Afeela prototype is part of GT7’s free update. “Before the real vehicle is released, we would like as many people as possible to ride it in-game. Please enjoy it,” writes Sony Honda Mobility.
You also get a Škoda Vision Gran Turismo concept “created exclusively for the game,” and a ‘70 Chevrolet Chevelle SS454 Sport Coupe.
OLED iPad Pros, a big iPad Air, and new accessories (oh my?).
The team behind the sandbox game posted that “the takedowns came from Nintendo,” and continued:
Honestly, this is fair enough. This is Nintendo’s content and what they allow and don’t allow is up to them. They don’t want you playing with that stuff in Garry’s Mod - that’s their decision, we have to respect that and take down as much as we can.
The post asks contributors to help by deleting “Nintendo related uploads and never uploading them again.”
We stan a relatable king. Who hasn’t had their whole day leveled by emails?
“Sunscreen, shades, ZZ Top’s Degüello album and beer is INCOMPATIBLE to emails! Natural adversaries!”
Why does the villain in this Knuckles series sneak peek look familiar to me? Is it because he was in Game of Thrones and Slow West? Nope, didn’t see those. Season of the Witch? No, he had a bit part.
It seems the only role I’ve seen Rory McCann play is Michael Armstrong, aka the “yarp” guy, in Hot Fuzz. Anyway, Knuckles starts streaming Friday on Paramount Plus.
You can update your console now to gain access to the feature, which offers community-generated hints for supported games like Granblue Fantasy: Relink and the upcoming Stellar Blade.
It started with notebooks, but that wasn’t the master plan.
The app now has 150 million monthly users, Mark Zuckerberg said Wednesday during Meta’s earnings call. There were almost 100 million monthly Threads users in October.
The metric I’d really like to see, however, is daily users. Meta is juicing the visibility of Threads posts in the Instagram feed, and I’ve heard that a lot of user growth has been coming from that drive-by traffic. If it really wants to kill X, Meta still needs to build a sticky experience that more people come to daily.
Production designer Howard Cummings talks glass houses, Red Rockets, and how Fallout became a verb.
Two months later, Asus says the framerate-boosting tech is nigh! There’s also a firmware update that lets you map triggers to back buttons.
AFMF can’t make its fake frames out of nothing; you’ll need a game that already runs at a decent clip to get best results. Here’s the Asus guide on how to use it.
[rog-forum.asus.com]