Now EA's KILLING Playstations...?
TechLinked
·TechLinked
·2019-05-06
·
1,329 words · ~6 min read
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You know what I wish was in the tech news today? Some kind of technology that
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can make your hair not look ridiculous
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and put your colleagues in stitches through that window that you can
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definitely You know, your hair's not so great either, Pella. Last week, the USB-IF,
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the organization that oversees USB standards, announced in a phenomenally
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stupid renaming scheme for existing USB
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specifications and designated the latest 20 gigabit per second capable version as
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USB 3.2 Gen 2 by 2. Well, if you're on
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the bleeding edge of data transferring connections, you might not have to worry
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about that very much because Intel has just given the specification for
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Thunderbolt 3, which is capable of 40
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gigabits per second, to the USB-IF, who
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will then use it to form the basis of USB 4. This means that essentially USB 4
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will encompass the protocols for USB 3.2
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Gen 2 by 2. So stupid. And Thunderbolt
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3, meaning that device makers won't have to determine whether or not to include
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Thunderbolt controllers in their products. This means that upcoming
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devices will have USB Type-C ports that
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are capable of everything that USB and
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Thunderbolt ports are capable of. So, like charging, display output, data
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transfer at up to 40 gigabit per second. But, the USB-IF couldn't just leave it
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at that. All good news. They had TO SCREW IT UP. THEY SCREWED UP THE NAME.
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USB 4 DOESN'T HAVE A space in it. It's
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just USB 4. For what? For who? It's
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mostly good. We'll never know. Someone's got to have a look at their heads. Speaking of
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heads, you know, this past console generation has really been an
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eye-opener, and your eyes are on your head. That's where I was going with that. For Microsoft, they learned a lot
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of things, like how bad Sony could destroy them in PS4 versus Xbox sales.
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So, during a press at their headquarters in Washington, the company laid out a
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vision that involves giving gamers access to games on every platform. Now,
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we already talked last week about their plans to reportedly bring Xbox Game Pass
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to the Nintendo Switch. But at the event, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said that
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Xbox wants to bring Game Pass to any
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device that somebody wants to play on. I
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mean, even the PlayStation 4, PHIL? HAVE YOU GONE MAD? NOW, as unlikely as Sony
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would be to agree to such an arrangement, it looks like Microsoft
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would be open to the idea. So, we'll hopefully get more news about the
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company's plan at GDC 2019, where they're expected to talk about their
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multi-platform plans and Project xCloud
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game streaming, and then maybe even some new Xboxes, if maybe you'd like to buy
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one of those instead of a PS5. You'd like whatever. Yeah, it's I mean, it's
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fine, though. It's all about choice. Yeah. And Anthem,
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the looter shooter from EA and BioWare, launched to a decidedly more subdued
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level of hype than its publishers anticipated. The developers have been
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working hard to incorporate community feedback, but it's now become much
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harder for players to appreciate any changes being made because their
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consoles are being bricked by the game. PlayStation 4 players are reporting that
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the game will sometimes crash back to the console's home screen and even turn
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it off. Some players have even reported being unable to reboot their machines
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after a crash. So, it's just the latest setback for the game, but maybe if they
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didn't want such a rocky launch, they shouldn't have tried to jam a classic
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BioWare-esque narrative-focused game and
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a multiplayer grindy looter shooter into the same cartridge. It was never going
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to fit in there, EA. It's just physics. Also, who uses cartridges anymore? Who
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wrote this thing? Uh now, it's time for the Back Quacks,
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brought to you by the Marlin screwdriver set from iFixit. Each fixed blade
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screwdriver features an ergonomic knurled rubberized handle with a swivel
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top, plus a black oxide-coated tip so that it hangs onto tiny screws with a
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steel grip. Pretty much everyone here at Linus Media Group uses an iFixit kit
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when they need to repair something, so you can trust us when we say that you
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can trust them.
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iFixit's Marlin screwdrivers are manufactured in Germany and backed by
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iFixit's lifetime warranty. So, get yours for $24.99 at ifixit.com/Linus
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or at the link below. On to the Back Quacks. What the what? Project Zero,
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Google's initiative to hold developers accountable for fixing security issues
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in their software, has publicly disclosed a high-severity flaw in the
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macOS kernel. The vulnerability could allow hackers full control over a Mac
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while avoiding detection. Now, as they usually do, Project Zero actually gave
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Apple 90 days to fix the bug, but they
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didn't. With that said, 90 days is not like a
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lot of time. Apple, they had stuff to do, like um Yeah. Like they lattes,
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making Takes a long time. You got to steam the milk. And then once you're
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done, you you to drink it, it's hot, you know? You got to wait a while.
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NVIDIA's GTX 1660 Ti is out, and we've
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heard about a possible non-Ti 1660 and a
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1650. But then,
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Dell just ruined the whole rumor mill because they spilled the beans on the
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existence of an RTX 2050 on the specs
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page for their G5 15 gaming laptop. So,
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that's exciting news for gamers who need
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glorious rays at 480p, I suppose. Last
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week, we saw some developers install Android on a Nintendo Switch, and now
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others have managed to install the ARM-compatible version of Windows 10.
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They apparently even managed to summon a blue screen of death. But uh that
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shouldn't be any real surprise. This means Yeah, they're having the the full
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Windows experience. Now, it's time for an update on MIT's
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future robot-killing machines.
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The institute's adorable mini cheetah robot can now do a backflip. It can also
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stand up to gentle kicks and even land softly on its feet from a fall. T'war
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one, and encouraging for the future of the robot race. Not so much for humans,
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though. And SpaceX successfully docked their
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Crew Dragon spacecraft with the International Space Station yesterday.
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Despite the name, there were no actual crew members on board, and in fact, no
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dragons. The flight was just a test undertaken before SpaceX's first manned
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mission using the Dragon later on this year. I believe that's when Elon Musk is
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planning to move to the ISS permanently
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to avoid having his tweets regulated. Oh, yeah. That would make sense. And
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now, WE'VE GOT TO NO, WAIT. THERE'S ONE MORE IMPORTANT piece of
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news. Can I get Can I get some sad music? Can
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Yeah, thank you. Okay. So,
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a little over a year ago, we did a review of what I thought really was
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going to be the first true robot companion for humans. I'm just kidding.
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Everything about the idea was terrible, and the execution was just as bad. But,
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Jibo, Jibo, I'm afraid is no longer with us as
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of today. Jibos themselves have been informing their owners that the servers
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that run the Jibo service are being shut
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down, and so I just wanted to I want us all, actually, to take a moment and
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remember Jibo. Ah, Jibo. Oh, Jibo.
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You were terrible. Speaking of terrible, I have some terrible news. More terrible
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news. It's the end of TechLinked. But just for today, come back Wednesday.
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There'll be more. That was scary.
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Cool.