I like to think that there's an alternate universe, where there's tech news every day,
and then talking dogs, and the talking dogs can fly.
And it rains cereal! A perfect universe.
Windows 12 will be supported by Intel's upcoming Meteor Lake platform,
according to the most reliable source we have.
A deleted tweet. But that tweet was twitten by Leaf Hobby,
the same leaker who revealed the full specs of Intel's Xeon chips before they launched.
Leaf Hobby claims that Intel's Meteor Lake S desktop platform,
which is due to be released this year, will have 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes.
They also quote, and I quote,
Support Windows 12 on OS list.
Now, obviously it's a bit early to do a plus one on Windows again,
so this is probably just an internal name for some big grand update for Windows 11.
But if so, couldn't they have chosen a better name?
Why not Windows 11.11 so I can make a wish whenever I boot my PC?
You have strange dreams.
Please make it rain cereal. We may never know what it really is, since both Microsoft and Intel refuse to comment on the leak when asked by the Verge.
We do know they plan on integrating more AI into future Windows versions,
since the head of consumer marketing said as much earlier this week,
and big boss, Panos Panay, said,
AI is going to reinvent how you do everything on Windows at CES this year.
Really? Is it going to reinvent how I look out pensively at the rain?
Yes. I'm inclined to believe him after it completely changed how we use Bing by making us want to use Bing.
That was not on my bingo card.
It's just been a long time. The European Union is expected to approve Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard according to early reports.
They had to put them through the ringer first, though.
Can't just give it to them. Originally, the EU was concerned the deal would be a major blow to competition in PC, console, and cloud gaming,
but now the European Commission isn't even expected to require asset sales to approve the buyout, which you normally have to have.
That's what I approve every time. Get your assets out.
Back that asset up. This is more than likely due to the actions the company took just last month,
such as announcing a 10-year Call of Duty deal with Nintendo and a deal with NVIDIA to bring all of Microsoft's PC releases to GeForce Now.
And just last week, Microsoft's Vice Chairman Brad Smith argued in a European hearing
that Microsoft's market share in the region's console sector was a mere 20% while Sony's was 80%.
A statement that sounds normal in universes where Nintendo doesn't exist.
The dark ones. Rude. Ones without talking dogs.
Yet this argument seems to have worked to move the deal forward despite Sony's disapproval.
To add insult to Sony's injury, a ruling in the FTC's case over in America might force the game's company to reveal just how much they pay for third-party exclusives for PlayStation.
I guess Microsoft's attorneys used the oldest legal argument in the book,
a tactic that practiced lawyers refer to as No You.
Sony should have followed up with You Smell Like Uptock.
What's up the- Oh, an Uptock! Objection! Pfft, adjourned, etc.
I call a mistrial. And eSports have come to the Olympics, sort of.
The International Olympic Committee announced the official lineup of games for the Olympic eSports Series 2023,
and, well, they are certainly games, we think. Hard to tell.
The event is a global virtual and simulated sports competition in which anyone can participate,
and will culminate in live finals hosted in Singapore.
Now, a couple of the games might be recognizable.
Gran Turismo's there for motorsports, Just Dance.
I guess dancing is Olympic now. But the official game they chose to represent archery is called Tic Tac Bo,
a mobile game with about a thousand downloads.
Developed by a Singapore-based studio called Refract Technologies.
Now, wouldn't you know it? The founder of the studio is an active commission member of the Global eSports Federation.
What a coincidence! It gets even coincidentier, because the official Taekwondo game,
virtual Taekwondo, is also made by Refract, with a little extra fun twist.
It's the flagship title for a motion capture console called Axis
that was launched on Kickstarter by, who'd have guessed, Refract Technologies.
The Axis isn't available for retail purchase either.
What about League, you know?
You can't jump up in the air and do scissor kicks.
Why not Rocket League, you know? I could join.
So yeah, anyone can compete in this Global Taekwondo tournament,
so long as you gave Refract over 500 Singapore dollars last year,
and the console arrives in time for you to compete.
And for you to practice using it, because you probably don't know how to use it.
If it doesn't, well, there's always tennis. That's just a free phone app.
You know, I like to think the number of guys and five guys was inspired by the number of quick bits.
There's no way that's true. Meta has cut the price of two of their VR headsets.
The 256 gig Quest 2 is $70 off, while the 128 gig Quest 2 is the same.
It's still $100 more expensive than it was at lunch.
But what's $100 when you can save $500 on a Quest Pro?
Just four months after launch, the Quest Pro is now $1,000,
which, I mean, is a smaller number than before.
Between this price cut and reports that there won't be a successor,
because the Sony PSVR 2 is so frickin' good,
I'm sensing Meta didn't sell many Quest Pros.
That's what happens when you make things $1,500 that no one wants.
Last pass has revealed more details about the leak of customer data that occurred late last year.
It turns out that a DevOps engineer's home computer was hacked through third-party software.
The engineer was one of four employees with access to the vault,
and if ours, Technica, is to be believed, their PC was hacked through an exploit in Plex.
Imagine if you exposed thousands of people's data just because you wanted to stream all your episodes of Monk
starring Tony Shalupe. Why Monk?
It's a good show. The latest TikTok trend, everyone's binging Monk...
starring Tony Shalupe. The newest version of the Steam Deck OS enables ray tracing in Doom Eternal.
Wow, which runs surprisingly well despite using AMD graphics and being a handheld console.
One user appears to have gotten above 30 FPS in the game with ray tracing on,
at least while looking directly at the ground. But damn.
That's the best place to look. Just look at that pool of demon blood glisten.
Magnifique. I wish that was real, demon blood on my floor.
Rather stop. I need to sleep. Amazon Basics has now entered the computer components market with a CPU air cooler.
It's selling on Jeff Bezos' book website for $27,
which will look like a great deal when you see it prominently placed on Amazon's marketplace.
Yeah, it's easy to be cynical, but you know what? It's got RGB, and it's likely just a rebranded Cooler Master product.
What, did you expect Amazon to make one from scratch?
Do you think they're made of money? It's funny because they are.
They almost literally are. And former FEMA officials are rallying to stop EV manufacturers from removing AM radio from their automobiles,
citing its importance as emergency communication.
Automakers including Ford and Tesla are removing the old radio standard,
with Ford claiming EVs create electromagnetic noise at the same frequencies as AM radio signals,
causing buzzing and signal fading. And you can't drive all your buzzed.
However, this didn't stop older models from having AM receivers.
Also, I don't understand how no AM radio is better than slightly noisier AM radio,
but I'm not an engineer. You're just cute. I just read the tech news.
But you don't have to be an engineer to know we'll have more tech news on Monday.
And this time, it will be Monday.
Unlike on last Monday when I said come back on Monday.
Is that what happened? Yes. And I said that?
Yeah, and I wrote it. That was like a real Anchorman situation.
Just reading that.