Category: Technology

Nintendo has confirmed it isn’t planning on bumping up the price of its Nintendo Switch in Japan. The publisher, along with fellow console makers Microsoft and Sony, was recently asked about this possibility by Bloomberg. Nintendo’s response was that it had “no plans” to do so at this time.

Currently, Japan’s yen is falling in value, having dropped 21 percent over the past year. As a result, electronics manufacturers have been slightly increasing the prices of electronics to compensate. For example, Apple products are now 25 percent costlier in Japan compared to in the United States.

As Bloomberg noted, video game consoles are currently $100 cheaper everywhere in the world except Japan. There’s reason for all three major console developers to worry that increasing the price of a console will turn away players and developers to competition.

Last week during its earnings call, Sony financial officer Hiroki Totoki simply said there was “nothing specific” to share about a PS5 price increase, though that question was in relation to the system across the world, rather than simply Japan. Like Sony, Microsoft declined to speak definitively on the possibility of a price increase.

Though console makers seem reluctant to hike up prices, analyst Kazunori Ito pointed out to Bloomberg that at this point, Japanese customers have adjusted to the country’s price inflation for TVs, monitors, and household appliances. “I don’t see them getting upset if game consoles followed suit,” he said.

Right now, the Switch’s most current model—the OLED, which released in 2021—is $349 in North America, and 37,980 yen in Japan, which converts to roughly $290. Scalpers and resellers have jumped on the opportunity, buying consoles at the Japanese price and upselling them when a major console game is close to release.

Both Sony and Microsoft (which made their own earnings call in late July) reported a drop in sales and service usage for their respective systems.

AMHERST, Mass. – Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently announced that they have figured out how to engineer a biofilm that harvests the energy in evaporation and converts it to electricity. This biofilm, which was announced in Nature Communications, has the potential to revolutionize the world of wearable electronics, powering everything from personal medical sensors to personal electronics.

“This is a very exciting technology,” says Xiaomeng Liu, graduate student in electrical and computer engineering at UMass Amherst’s College of Engineering and the paper’s lead author. “It is real green energy, and unlike other so-called ‘green-energy’ sources, its production is totally green.”

That’s because this biofilm—a thin sheet of bacterial cells about the thickness of a sheet of paper—is produced naturally by an engineered version of the bacteria Geobacter sulfurreducens. G. sulfurreducens is known to produce electricity and has been used previously in “microbial batteries” to power electrical devices. But such batteries require that G. sulfurreducens is properly cared for and fed a constant diet. By contrast, this new biofilm, which can supply as much, if not more, energy than a comparably sized battery, works, and works continuously, because it is dead. And because it’s dead, it doesn’t need to be fed.

“It’s much more efficient,” says Derek Lovley, Distinguished Professor of Microbiology at UMass Amherst and one of the paper’s senior authors. “We’ve simplified the process of generating electricity by radically cutting back on the amount of processing needed. We sustainably grow the cells in a biofilm, and then use that agglomeration of cells. This cuts the energy inputs, makes everything simpler and widens the potential applications.”

The secret behind this new biofilm is that it makes energy from the moisture on your skin. Though we daily read stories about solar power, at least 50% of the solar energy reaching the earth goes toward evaporating water. “This is a huge, untapped source of energy,” says Jun Yao, professor of electrical and computer engineering at UMass, and the paper’s other senior author. Since the surface of our skin is constantly moist with sweat, the biofilm can “plug-in” and convert the energy locked in evaporation into enough energy to power small devices.

“The limiting factor of wearable electronics,” says Yao, “has always been the power supply. Batteries run down and have to be changed or charged. They are also bulky, heavy, and uncomfortable.” But a clear, small, thin flexible biofilm that produces a continuous and steady supply of electricity and which can be worn, like a Band-Aid, as a patch applied directly to the skin, solves all these problems.

What makes this all work is that G. sulfurreducens grows in colonies that look like thin mats, and each of the individual microbes connects to its neighbors through a series of natural nanowires. The team then harvests these mats and uses a laser to etch small circuits into the films. Once the films are etched, they’re sandwiched between electrodes and finally sealed in a soft, sticky, breathable polymer that you can apply directly to your skin. Once this tiny battery is “plugged in” by applying it to your body, it can power small devices.

“Our next step is to increase the size of our films to power more sophisticated skin-wearable electronics,” says Yao, and Liu points out that one of the goals is to power entire electronic systems, rather than single devices.

This research was nurtured by the Institute for Applied Life Sciences (IALS) at UMass Amherst, which combines deep and interdisciplinary expertise from 29 departments to translate fundamental research into innovations that benefit human health and well-being.

Intel has delayed the release of its 4th Generation Xeon Scalable “Sapphire Rapids” processor for a number of times without disclosing its reasoning. Last week the company admitted that it had to change up Sapphire Rapids because of a security bug, but it appears that the problem is bigger than Intel says. According to Igor’s LabSapphire Rapids had about 500 bugs that required the company 12 steps to fix them.

Intel’s fourth Gen Xeon Scalable Sapphire Rapids’ processor will not only increase core count to up to 60, but will bring in numerous new features, including Advanced Matrix Extensions (AMX), Data Streaming Accelerator (DSA), CXL 1.1 protocol, DDR5 and HBM2E memory support, PCIe Gen 5 interface, and many more. But the host of additional features increase probability of hardware bugs, so Intel had to fix almost 500 of them, Igor’s Lab reports.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is one of the year’s best-reviewed Nintendo Switch games, thanks to its deep combat, sweeping story, and giant world that’s fun to explore. The game is engrossing from the moment you start, but there’s a way to get even more immersed in this epic JRPG.

As pointed out by the YouTube channel BoomStickGaming, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is entirely playable in first-person. Xenoblade series veterans will recognize this as a recurring feature, but as someone who has bounced off most of the prior games in the series, I was completely unaware it was possible.

I’ve now played the first 10-ish hours exclusively in first-person mode (aside from one boss battle), and while it’s probably not the optimal way to experience the entire game, playing in first-person truly helped me sink into Xenoblade Chronicles 3‘s early chapters, and I intend to play as much of the game as possible this way.

how to play Xenoblade Chronicthe 3 in first person

To play in first-person, hold down the ZL button on your Switch controller and push the right thumbstick up to zoom the camera all the way in to a first-person view, then push the stick left or right to adjust the height. You can also adjust the “camera movement” and “camera zoom” speed in the settings menu to suit your preferences. Make sure the “camera position” setting is set to the middle option to center on your character’s head, otherwise your view will be awkwardly offset to the left or right.

To further the sense of immersion, I also disabled the “mini-map,” “auto-targeting,” and “additional information” settings, and made sure to hide or disable all quest markers and notifications whenever possible.

Screenshot: Brendan Hesse

These are optional changes, but they’re worth trying, even if you’re playing in the default camera view. Doing so removes much of the UI clutter, so you can see even more of the world as you’re exploring. It also forces you to pay closer attention to your surroundings, which I find helps me connect to the environment more (you can easily open the map from the shortcut menu if you need to double-check your heading).

Es Xenoblade Chronicles 3 actually playable in first-person?

just because you dog do something doesn’t mean you should, but so far, Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s first-person view feels great to me, though it took some getting used to.

Playing the game in first-person gives you a closer look at the characters, enemies, and locations you interact with, and really emphasizes the world’s massive scale. The obvious comparisons to other large-scale first-person RPGs like The Elder Scrolls are immediately apparent, but running around these vast landscapes dotted with high-tech military bases and populated with alien flora and fauna reminded me of an anime-tinged No Man’s Sky.

Moving, jumping, and picking up collectible items remains easy, and most other actions you’ll perform — like swapping between party members, talking to NPCs, climbing ladders, and interacting with important objects — are intuitive and work as intended.

Combat is the only part of the game that takes some real adjustments to make it work, but it’s doable.

Xenoblade 3 makes a strong first impression. And yes, I am playing exclusively in first-person mode and pretending it’s anime sci-fi Wizardry. pic.twitter.com/877rcFCjDm

— Brendan Hesse (@Brendan_LH) August 2, 2022

Overall, the MMO-like battle system works just fine in first-person. Since the game clearly marks whether you’re standing to the front, back, or side of your target, it’s easy to tell if you’re in the right spot for an attack, even if you’re staring up at a giant alien gorilla , and your party members’ banter will fill you in on what moves they’re using. In first person mode, the battles feel more like the tactical combat in CRPG blobbers like wizardry 8 or Might & Magic X.

That said, you’ll need to tweak some settings if you plan to play Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in first-person for the long haul, since the constant visual barrage of combat UI and other effects can be downright chaotic in that mode. Do as the BoomStickGaming video above suggests and disable all battle numbers except your character’s damage pop-ups in the settings menu. This will make fighting a lot more comfortable in first-person. I also chose to disable the “Battle camera” option to stop the cinematic cutscenes intercuts for certain attacks.

So far I’ve found the game to be entirely playable at the normal difficulty mode after implementing those settings tweaks, but feel free to set the gameplay difficulty to “Easy” if you still find the combat too difficult to manage. You can always pan out the camera just before a battle starts to take advantage of the third-person perspective, then zoom back in while exploring.

No, first-person mode is not the “intended” way to play Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but it’s made it much easier for me to get into one of the year’s best JRPGs. If you prefer first-person games, or just want to try playing Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in a novel way, I definitely recommend giving it a shot.

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently announced that they have figured out how to engineer a biofilm that harvests the energy in evaporation and converts it to electricity. This biofilm, which was announced in Nature Communicationshas the potential to revolutionize the world of wearable electronics, powering everything from personal medical sensors to personal electronics.

“This is a very exciting technology,” says Xiaomeng Liu, graduate student in electrical and computer engineering at UMass Amherst’s College of Engineering and the paper’s lead author. “It is real green energy, and unlike other so-called ‘green-energy’ sources, its production is totally green.”

That’s because this biofilm—a thin sheet of bacterial cells about the thickness of a sheet of paper—is produced naturally by an engineered version of the bacteria Geobacter sulfurreducens. G. sulfurreducens is known to produce electricity and has been used previously in “microbial batteries” to power electrical devices. But such batteries require that G. sulfurreducens is properly cared for and fed a constant diet. By contrast, this new biofilm, which can supply as much, if not more, energy than a comparably sized battery, works, and works continuously, because it is dead. And because it’s dead, it doesn’t need to be fed.

“It’s much more efficient,” says Derek Lovley, Distinguished Professor of Microbiology at UMass Amherst and one of the paper’s senior authors. “We’ve simplified the process of generating electricity by radically cutting back on the amount of processing needed. We sustainably grow the cells in a biofilm, and then use that agglomeration of cells. This cuts the energy inputs, makes everything simpler and widens the potential applications.”

The secret behind this new biofilm is that it makes energy from the moisture on your skin. Though we daily read stories about solar power, at least 50% of the solar energy reaching the earth goes toward evaporating water. “This is a huge, untapped source of energy,” says Jun Yao, professor of electrical and computer engineering at UMass, and the paper’s other senior author. Since the surface of our skin is constantly moist with sweat, the biofilm can “plug-in” and convert the energy locked in evaporation into enough energy to power small devices.

“The limiting factor of wearable electronics,” says Yao, “has always been the power supply. Batteries run down and have to be changed or charged. They are also bulky, heavy, and uncomfortable.” But a clear, small, thin flexible biofilm that produces a continuous and steady supply of electricity and which can be worn, like a Band-Aid, as a patch applied directly to the skin, solves all these problems.

What makes this all work is that G. sulfurreducens grows in colonies that look like thin mats, and each of the individual microbes connects to its neighbors through a series of natural nanowires. The team then harvests these mats and uses a laser to etch small circuits into the films. Once the films are etched, they’re sandwiched between electrodes and finally sealed in a soft, sticky, breathable polymer that you can apply directly to your skin. Once this tiny battery is “plugged in” by applying it to your body, it can power small devices.

“Our next step is to increase the size of our films to power more sophisticated skin-wearable electronics,” says Yao, and Liu points out that one of the goals is to power entire electronic systems, rather than single devices.

PCIe Gen5 storage on AMD platform

At 2022 Flash Memory Summit AMD and Phison have demonstrated PCIe Gen5 SSD running on Ryzen 7000 platform, reports Tom’s Hardware.

This is not the first time Phison is showing off the speed of next-gen SSD storage. Around May this year, the company showcased its PS5026-E26 PCIe controller attached to ASUS X670 Hero ROG motherboard. There, the SSD offered up to 12 GB/s of sequential read and up to 10 GB/s write speed.

AMD Ryzen 7000 system with Phison PCIe Gen5 SSD, Source: Tom’s Hardware/Future

The new demo at Flash Memory Summit does not have any PCIe riser card, it is straight up connected to the M.2 slot and running off the available PCIe Gen5 lanes from the CPU. Furthermore, it is based on Micron 232-layer B58R TLC technology which is still in the tuning phase. For this reason the read and write speed is actually lower than in previous demos (reaching up to 10 GB/s).

This new TLC flash memory is currently running at 1600 MT/s, however it should reach 2000 MT/s, which should eventually enable 12/11 GB/s sequential read/write speeds.

AMD Ryzen 7000 system with Phison PCIe Gen5 SSD, Source: Tom’s Hardware/Future

It is said that the AMD Ryzen 7000 reference platform that pictured above featured an undisclosed Ryzen CPU with OPN code of “100-000000593-20_Y”. As it turns out, we already know what CPU this is thanks to this leak. The CPU was Ryzen 5 7600X 6-core Raphael CPU with Zen4 microarchitecture.

AMD X670 and B650 motherboards will both support PCIe Gen5 M.2 storage. The company is also set to launch X670E and B650E chipsets which will additionally enable Gen5 interface for GPUs. For now, no Gen5 storage and gaming GPUs are available, however this is likely to change in the fourth quarter as both Intel and AMD release their new platforms.

Source: Tom’s Hardware