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Henry Cavill lets his geek flag fly, shows off miniature-painting skills

TechSpot News | April 13, 2020, 10:20 p.m. | Original

In a nutshell: If ever there was someone who proved that lovers of all things nerdy no longer conform to outdated stereotypes, it’s Henry Cavill. The Superman and Witcher actor is not only a fan of video games, but he’s also into Games Workshop’s tabletop titles.

Cavill posted a photo on his Instagram account showing him painting a helmet from one of Warhammer's miniatures. It’s been many years since I’ve played a Warhammer/Warhammer 40K tabletop game, but

Steam's Summer Game Festival slated for June 9 to 14

TechSpot News | April 13, 2020, 10:32 a.m. | Original

Something to look forward to: SteamWorks has another online game festival scheduled for this summer. It just announced the dates today but had no information on developers that have agreed to participate or games that would be shown. The last event had almost 60 demos on exhibit, and this one should be as big or bigger.

On Monday, Geoff Keighley announced via Twitter that the Steam Game Festival: Summer Edition is slated for June 9 through 14. If you missed the Spring Edition last month, the upcoming event would

Huawei said to be eyeing the server GPU market, first chips to arrive later this year

TechSpot News | April 13, 2020, 9:35 a.m. | Original

Why it matters: While everyone is waiting for Intel to unveil its long-promised Xe discrete GPU, it might be a while before we see it in an actual product. In the meantime, Huawei is reportedly making the finishing touches on a multi-year effort to build the first Chinese discrete GPU for the server and HPC markets.

The GPU market is about to have a new player, and it comes from China. According to a report from a South Korean publication, Huawei is setting up a new division in

New ESRB label will tell you if a game has loot boxes or other similar mechanics

TechSpot News | April 13, 2020, 8:48 a.m. | Original

In context: Despite being deemed "illegal gambling" in some countries, loot boxes continue to be a thing in the games industry. So many titles from mobile to AAA contain random loot purchases that the ESRB has deemed it necessary to come up with new labeling on its ratings to inform consumers of the controversial mechanic.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) announced on Monday that it will start to label whether a game contains purchasable random items. Any games with loot boxes, card or item packs, prize wheels,

Intel

Raspberry Pi boards are being used to build ventilators

TechSpot News | April 13, 2020, 7:24 a.m. | Original

In brief: The Raspberry Pi Foundation has seen demand for all Pi models surge in recent weeks as people are turning to the inexpensive DIY board for remote learning and home projects. But that’s not the only segment interested in the affordable hardware.

Ventilator manufacturers are reportedly turning to the company’s ultra-affordable Raspberry Pi Zero to help power the life-saving devices. According to Raspberry Pi founder Eben Upton , this is the first time (to his knowledge) that Pi boards are being used in medical devices

Intel

High-end Intel 10th gen desktop CPUs are quite power hungry

TechSpot News | April 13, 2020, 6:11 a.m. | Original

A hot potato: Intel’s 10th generation Comet Lake desktop CPUs – or at the very least, upper-tier family members – could require some serious cooling to keep temperatures under control if recent leaks prove accurate.

ExtremeTech points to a recent post on Twitter which claims the Core i9-10900F, a 10-core / 20-thread part, has a PL1 of 170 watts and a PL2 of 224 watts. PL1 (

Researchers at Eindhoven have finally developed photonic silicon

TechSpot News | April 13, 2020, 5:37 a.m. | Original

Forward-looking: Scientists have been looking to create light-emitting silicon for over 50 years. It had become something of a "Holy Grail" in the microelectronics community. Such a discovery would mean faster on-chip communication, lower heat production, and higher power efficiency.

Now researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) have figured out this decades-long conundrum by creating a new hexagonal silicon alloy capable of emitting light. The hexagonal shape is key to creating a direct bandgap that will emit

iPhone 12 rumored to have flat edges and smaller notch, AirTags and smaller HomePod will arrive alongside it

TechSpot News | April 13, 2020, 4:57 a.m. | Original

Something to look forward to: Apple's roadmap for 2020 has been detailed in a new report, and it looks like the company is gradually updating the design language of its iPhones starting with this year's premium models. People who have been waiting for a new take on the classic iPhone 5 design will no doubt be pleases, as will people who are big fans of augmented reality apps and smart accessories.

Foxconn's business saw a significant hit during the last quarter of 2019

Amazon is hiring an additional 75,000 workers on top of the 100,000 new jobs created last month

TechSpot News | April 13, 2020, 4:22 a.m. | Original

In brief: Amazon has taken a number of steps to cope with the ongoing pandemic including distributing personal protective gear to employees, increasing pay for hourly workers, doubling the regular hourly base pay for every overtime hour worked and extending the refund window for items purchased during March and April.

Amazon on Monday said it is adding 75,000 additional jobs to help meet customer demand and assist existing employees in fulfilling orders for essential products. That’s in addition to the 100,000 jobs

The GT710 is back, this time with four 4K HDMI ports

TechSpot News | April 13, 2020, 3:47 a.m. | Original

Why it matters: Do you remember Nvidia’s GeForce GT710? Probably not. The card was a budget offering when launched back in 2016, costing around $35 for the 1GB option and $40 for the 2GB model. Now, a redesigned version has arrived, and this time it comes with four 4K-capable HDMI ports.

The new GT710 has appeared on Asus’ website . Like the original , it features a mere 192

In a nutshell: If ever there was someone who proved that lovers of all things nerdy no longer conform to outdated stereotypes, it’s Henry Cavill. The Superman and Witcher actor is not only a fan of video games, but he’s also into Games Workshop’s tabletop titles.

In brief: The Raspberry Pi Foundation has seen demand for all Pi models surge in recent weeks as people are turning to the inexpensive DIY board for remote learning and home projects. But that’s not the only segment interested in the affordable hardware.

A hot potato: Intel’s 10th generation Comet Lake desktop CPUs – or at the very least, upper-tier family members – could require some serious cooling to keep temperatures under control if recent leaks prove accurate.

Forward-looking: Scientists have been looking to create light-emitting silicon for over 50 years. It had become something of a "Holy Grail" in the microelectronics community. Such a discovery would mean faster on-chip communication, lower heat production, and higher power efficiency.

Why it matters: Do you remember Nvidia’s GeForce GT710? Probably not. The card was a budget offering when launched back in 2016, costing around $35 for the 1GB option and $40 for the 2GB model. Now, a redesigned version has arrived, and this time it comes with four 4K-capable HDMI ports.

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