Category: Technology

It’s August. The hot, sticky summer air will slowly start to get cooler, and the leaves will start changing colors as the days get shorter. The bells will ring, and students will flood the halls of schools everywhere. These are the familiar sights, sounds, and feelings we get yearly around this time.

Like clockwork, the back-to-school season is in full swing, and for Apple, a bunch of new products — both hardware and software — will be released. The September event is highly anticipated across the tech world, and this year should feature the iPhone 14 (opens in new tab) as the cornerstone of the keynote presentation.

Think the September event is the only way Apple makes the school year work to its advantage? Think again.

August builds anticipation for Apple’s September event

Earlier this week, information appeared online seemingly confirming the long-anticipated launch and subsequent release date/s of AMD Ryzen 7000. – At the time, and as often is the case with such leaks, however, it did clearly need to be taken with a grain of salt. – That is, until now!

Following an official post on their Weibo account (which you can check out here), MSI has pretty much 99.9% confirmed that AMD Ryzen 7000 processors, along with X670 motherboards, will be set for a general consumer release on September 15th. – Yes, AMD’s next generation of processors is less than 6 weeks away!

MSI Confirms Ryzen 7000 Release Date!

With MSI seemingly confirming the previously alleged September 15th release date, this would also seem to add weight to prior rumors that Ryzen 7000 will be officially unveiled by AMD on August 29th. – And in this regard, there is already a lot of interesting building that AMD may take an incredibly aggressive strategy with its pricing with the 7600X (usually the most popular model in the Ryzen generations) said to be targeting a retail price of only around $200!

The bottom line though is that after months of speculation, we clearly don’t have much longer to go before the launch of Ryzen 7000 on its new AM5 socket platform. – One thing we can say for sure though is that MSI appears to be more than ready for it!

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!

San Francisco, Aug 7 (IANS): After Google said they had achieved what quantum computing researchers had sought for years, a team of Chinese researchers now claim to have replicated the performance of Google’s Sycamore quantum computer using traditional hardware.

In 2019, Google researchers claimed they had passed a milestone known as quantum supremacy when their quantum computer Sycamore performed in 200 seconds an abstruse calculation they said would tie up a supercomputer for 10,000 years.

Now, scientists in China have done the computation in a few hours with ordinary processors. A supercomputer, they say, could beat Sycamore outright.

“I think they are right that if they had access to a big enough supercomputer, they could have simulated the task in a matter of seconds,” said researcher Scott Aaronson, a computer scientist at the University of Texas, Austin.

The team used a system comprised of 512 GPUs to complete the same calculation developed by Google to demonstrate it had passed the quantum supremacy milestone back in 2019.

The advance takes a bit of the shine off Google’s claim, said Greg Kuperberg, a mathematician at the University of California, Davis.

Still, the promise of quantum computing remains undimmed, the team said.

Sergio Boixo, principal scientist for Google Quantum AI, said in an email the Google team knew its edge might not hold for very long.

“In our 2019 paper, we said that classical algorithms would improve,” he said. But, “we don’t think this classical approach can keep up with quantum circuits in 2022 and beyond”.

The “problem” Sycamore solved was designed to be hard for a conventional computer but as easy as possible for a quantum computer, which manipulates qubits that can be set to 0, 1 or any combination of 0 and 1 at the same time.

The Valorant Protocol is about to get a new addition soon.

A new email from the practice range in the Public Beta Environment (PBE) may provide clues to Valorant Agent 21’s identity (codenamed Mage), including their country of origin and background.

Riot Games has never been shy about dropping hints and teasers in the lead up to a new agent release, so you can be sure that the email is just the first of more clues to come.

Here’s everything we’ve gathered about the game’s next agent, including their background, role, abilities, and potential release date.

Who is Valorant Agent 21?

Riot Games hasn’t made an official announcement on who Valorant agent 21 is going to be, but a name has been linked to the competitive first-person shooter’s new character.

The email mentions one Varun Batra, the keeper of Legion’s new power source. Legion is Omega Earth’s version of the Valorant Protocol. However, unlike their Alpha rivals, they operate in the open and are publicly celebrated for their operations retrieving Radianite from Alpha Earth.

Valorant lore is only now delving deeper into Omega Earth. The Shattered cinematic and the introduction of Pearl, the first map to be set on Omega Earth, is expanding the narrative in new and fascinating ways.

While Omega agents have long been framed as the villains, perhaps things aren’t quite so straightforward after all.

Varun’s Alpha counterpart is a REALM operative and an antiquities expert, part of a multi-national taskforce that recovers historical artifacts from the black market.

As the keeper of Legion’s new power source, Varun Batra could be the one responsible for creating bridges from Omega Earth to Alpha Earth.

Fans were also quick to point out the Indian and Hindu origins of the name, sparking excitement for the game’s first agent from the country. And given Valorant’s surging popularity in South Asia, an Indian agent would hardly be surprising.

Another clue is a new symbol found on the bulletin board of the PBE’s Range. The image could be tied to Ella’s Agent 21’s powers and abilities, similar to how they teased Neon by having her Ella’s energy backpack appear in one of the player cards in Episode 3 Act 3’s Battle Pass.

The symbol also looks similar to the Hamsa hand, as pointed out by YouTube channel Valorant Update, yet another hint at the new agent’s possible Indian origins.

What are Agent 21’s abilities?

The name has also given rise to speculation about their abilities. Varun is evocative of Varuna, the Hindu deity commonly associated with the oceans.

This could mean that Agent 21’s abilities will be centered around water. Several other Valorant agents already have powers linked to elements. For instance, Phoenix uses fire, Jett maneuvers using air, Astra taps into her cosmic, ethereal abilities, and Sage wields the power of earth.

What role will the new agent fill?

Valorant currently has six duelists, five initiators, four sentinels, and four controllers in its roster. To keep things balanced, Riot Games could look to release a controller agent.

After all, the last time we got a new smoke agent was during Astra’s release in patch 2.04 in March last year.

When will Agent 21 be released?

Fans can expect Riot Games to share more details about the new agent toward the end of Episode 5 Act I, which will end on August 23. The new Valorant agent will likely be released alongside Episode 5 Act II.

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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are three months away from release, and so far, there have only been three trailers. There are still a lot of information fans want to know, but it seems Game Freak and the companies involved are keeping their cards close to their chest for now. Because of this, many have turned to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet rumors and leaks for details, some of which have proven legit and others not so much. The latest rumor is interesting though and details the pseudo-legendary for the new generation.

For the uninitiated, pseudolegendaries are powerful Pokemon who are almost, or are extremely basically, as powerful as a Legendary. These often end up being the standalone, three-stage evolution Dragon-type of the region, with Tyranitar and Metagross being the only exceptions. Dragon-type pseudolegendaries include Dragonite, Salamence, Garchomp, Hydreigon, Goodra, Kommo-o, and Dragapult. The rumors about the latest Pseudolegendary come from Kaka and have been shared by others in the community, with Kaka’s spot record being decent but not the best.

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Nonetheless, according to Kaka, the latest Dragon type in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will somehow be based on Sushi. This would seemingly imply it would be a Water/Dragon-type, but there’s no way of knowing and no other details were provided. It sounds like a workable idea, depending on the approach, as it could be like a segment Dragon similar to certain sushi rolls. It’s an out-there design, but then again, Game Freak has proven time and again it’s not against getting weird with designs. Drampa, Goodra, and other dragon-types certainly provide this.

Fans will have to wait and see if this leak proves legit or not, and given how piecemeal every Pokemon Scarlet and Violet trailer has been, it doesn’t seem too likely it’ll be confirmed too soon. Indeed, many wish Game Freak was more giving with the generation, as it seems to be in an overall odd spot. For example, it’s really hard to make a decision right now on which title to pick up. There are a few Pokemon Scarlet and Violet exclusives known, but given the new Pokemon pool is small and other details are even smaller, it’s a tough call right now.

Still, the pseudolegendary is likely available in both versions, and even if it is not Sushi-based, a Dragon-type pseudo legendary is a safe bet. Why a sushi-based Pokemon in the Spanish-inspired Paldea region is a big question mark, but again, there are odd things in the Pokemon World.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet release November 18 for Nintendo Switch.

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