Google's next WiFi 6E router may have been revealed prematurely via a B&H Photo Video listing, 9to5Mac has reported. The "Google Nest WiFi Pro 6E" is shown available for pre-order at $199.99 in multiple colors, or $299.99 and $399.99 in 2- and 3-packs. No images or other details are shown, including whether it will ship with the "Point" network extenders.
Google's Made By Google event takes place on October 6th, with the company set to unveil the Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel Watch and "additions to the Nest smart home portfolio." That now seems likely to include the Nest WiFi Pro, which already leaked in an FCC listing that detailed Bluetooth LE and mesh networking. The update to WiFi 6E means that the routers will be less subject to interference than current WiFi 6 models, thanks to an additional 6-7Ghz bandwidth range.
If accurate, it seems that Google is following the "Pro" naming scheme used on its Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel Buds Pro. It's therefore likely to sell it alongside the current WiFi lineup which is currently seeing steep discounts — a sure sign of an upcoming product. For instance, the Nest WiFi router is normally $349 for a three-pack but is currently marked down by $150, and the the $100 Google WiFi router is also on sale.
The next generation of iPhones only just went on sale, but enough about them; what about the iPhone 15? According to display analyst Ross Young, the new Dynamic Island, found on iPhone 14 Pro models, will be standard on all 2023 iPhones, mimicking the rollout of Apple’s display notch which first appeared on the 2018 iPhone X.
Making the Dynamic Island standard on every new iPhone would cajole developers into utilizing the new display layout. Once iOS 16.1 arrives later this year, Dynamic Island will also work with Apple’s Live Activities API, adding interactive notifications. ProMotion 120Hz displays will likely stay exclusive to Pro variants, ensuring the cheaper iPhones remain more affordable.
Apple’s new Dynamic Island interface is also being used in… different ways. Take Reddit client Apollo, which has added “Pixel Pals.” The feature adds a Tamagotchi-like critter that does cute things on top of your phone’s Dynamic Island while you have Apollo open. You can even choose between a few animals, including a cat, dog, hedgehog, fox or axolotl. Game-changing? No. Cute? Very.
Sony’s PlayStation VR2 headset will arrive early next year, and some folks have tested it out at the Tokyo Game Show. It’s been well-received so far, but enthusiasm was tempered by news that existing PS VR games will not work on the next-gen hardware. The company’s senior vice-president of platform experience Hideaki Nishino said: “PS VR2 has much more advanced features, like [an] all-new controller with haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, inside-out tracking, eye tracking, 3D audio is coming together and 4K HDR." He added: "This means developing games for PS VR2 requires a whole different approach than the original PS VR.”
If you were thinking of grabbing Apple’s second-generation AirPods Pro, you should consider buying them from Amazon – because they’re already discounted. Ahead of their September 23rd release date, the retailer has priced the earbuds at $240, or $10 less than MSRP. We haven’t reviewed the 2022 AirPods Pro yet, but expect improved active noise cancellation thanks to Apple’s new H2 chip and the addition of volume touch controls, something the first-gen AirPods Pro lacked.
Genshin Impact is one of the biggest gaming success stories of the last few years. Finally, fans will have another way to enjoy the world of Teyvat at some point, as developer miHoYo has teamed up with animation studio Ufotable to create an anime based on the free-to-play action RPG. There’s already a concept trailer to watch, but given the lush anime aesthetics of the game, it’s a little surprising this spin-off took this long.
If you're seeking a wireless charger or other smartphone accessories, now is a good time to stock up. For today only, you can pick up various Anker products at Amazon with discounts as high as 39 percent, including its 622 Magnetic Battery, USB-C to Lightning cables and 533 USB-C Hub with 100W power delivery.
The Anker 622 Magnetic Battery (MagGo) snaps right on to your iPhone 12/13, boosting range by a significant 5,000mAh. It's relatively thin at 12.8mm, attaches using a super-strong magnet and charges either wirelessly or via the USB-C port and included cable. It also doubles as a kickstand, letting you prop up your phone for video chats, movie watching and more. It's normally priced at $60, but you can now grab one for $45 for a savings of $15 (25 percent).
If you're tired of losing iPhone charging cables and just want to get a bunch of them, Anker's USB-C to Lightning cable is available in a five-pack for $37, or 38 percent off the regular $60 price. For that, you get two 3-foot cables, two 6-foot cables and one 10-footer, each compatible with USB-C chargers up to 87 watts. They also allow you to connect your iPhone to a Mac for seamless sync and charging.
And if it's a hub you're after, Anker's 533 8-in1 USB-C Hub is a solid option. It offers 100W power delivery, 4K 60Hz HDMI, USB-C 3.2 10 Gbps, two USB-A 3.2 10 Gbps and SD/microSD UHS-1 ports. That makes it ideal for connecting all types of accessories to MacBooks or certain iPad Pro models, while not taking up a lot of desk space. It's on sale for $56, which is a full $24 (30 percent) off the normal price. If you're interested in any of these, act soon, because it's strictly a one-day sale.
Boom recently lost its jet engine partner for the Overture supersonic jet, and other major engine manufacturers aren't interested in the project either, Insider has reported. After Boom signed an "engagement agreement" with Rolls-Royce for supersonic jet engines back in 2020, the latter announced last week that it had left the project. Now, other major jet engine manufacturers including Pratt & Whitney, GE Aviation, Honeywell and Safran Aircraft Engines have told FlightGlobal they're not currently interested in supersonic aircraft.
Boom said that the project is still on track, though, and that it will soon announce an engine partner. "We can reconfirm our intention to announce Boom's selected engine partner and transformational approach for reliable, cost-effective, and sustainable supersonic flight, later this year." Boom told Insider. The company has 20 airplanes on order from American Airlines and 15 from United. It plans to build build a factory in California and start flying passengers by 2029.
For its part, Rolls-Royce said that "after careful consideration... [we] have determined that the commercial aviation supersonic market is not currently a priority for us and, therefore, will not pursue further work on the program at this time."
After careful consideration, Rolls-Royce has determined that the commercial aviation supersonic market is not currently a priority for us and, therefore, will not pursue further work on the program at this time.
There are a limited number of other manufacturers capable of developing a supersonic jet engine, and all of the biggest ones said that it's not in their plans. Honeywell, Safron and GE shut down the idea, while Pratt & Whitney stated that supersonic travel is "tangential" to its business.
Pratt & Whitney cited efficiency as an issue for supersonic jets, and other manufacturers said they're focused on reducing fuel-burn. That's the primary direction for the industry right now, given criticism of air travel's contribution to global warming. In addition, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) recently criticized supersonic travel, noting in a report that it would use 7-9 times more fuel per passenger, per kilometer, than subsonic jets.
Boom has said that it would offset its carbon output through the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). However, the ICAO report said that would be a poor use of scarce SAF fuels, given the high fuel burn compared to a regular jet. It also noted that "the high cruise altitude of supersonics increases the residence time of emissions significantly."
Interfacing TM1637 4 Digit Seven Segment Display Module with Arduino
If you are thinking about building your next project around a 4-digit seven-segment display, you need at least 12 connecting pins to drive all the segments properly, that is most of the pins for a microcontroller like Arduino. The workaround for this problem comes in the form of an IC, and as the title of the project suggests it's called TM1673 LED Drive Control.
After the launch of the ROG Phone 6 Pro gaming phone, some hardcore fans were left wondering what happened to the "Ultimate" variant. As it turns out, ASUS waited for over two months before unveiling its "one more thing": the ROG Phone 6D Ultimate. It's identical to the 6 Pro in almost every way, except for four things: the new "space gray" color, the interesting choice of the MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ processor (which is what the "D" in "6D" stands for), the switch to the faster LPDDR5X RAM, and the new "AeroActive Portal" design for blowing cool air into its internal heat-dissipation fins — I'll abbreviate this as heatsink from here onwards.
The AeroActive Portal itself is essentially a door flap that opens when the bundled AeroActive Cooler 6 is attached, so that a portion of the cool wind produced by the fan — at nearly 1,000cc per second — is guided through a wind tunnel and into the heatsink, with hot air coming out from the top slot. The heatsink is, of course, linked to the generously sized thermal layers covering the logic board and battery cells, in order to transfer heat from the components to the airflow. This is to help sustain a high frame rate over a longer period while gaming, as well as to ensure the phone is still comfortable to hold.
Richard Lai/Engadget
ASUS claimed that after 60 minutes of Perfdog benchmarking on Genshin Impact at 60Hz in air cooling mode, the ROG Phone 6D reached 36.9°C (98.42°F), which was 3.4°C lower than the ROG Phone 6 in the same mode. It appears that the AeroActive Portal does make a notable difference. Likewise in "Frosty" and "Frozen" modes (with the Peltier thermoelectric cooling chip enabled), and it's worth noting that the AeroActive Cooler 6 is the only Peltier-enabled cooler in the market that doesn't require additional power externally — it only needs that for the more powerful "Frozen" mode.
While the AeroActive Portal only kicks in when an AeroActive Cooler 6 is attached, you can open it temporarily in settings for cleaning purposes. The flap is otherwise shut tight to safeguard the phone's IPX4 splash resistance. It also has fall detection for automatically retracting the flap, and the stepping motor along with the zirconium alloy hinge are apparently good for over 40,000 flips — both of which are based on the learnings from the now-retired Flip Camera feature from the Zenfone series.
ASUS
The 6D Ultimate packs the same set of key features as the 6 Pro: 165Hz 6.78-inch AMOLED display, 720Hz touch sampling rate, up to 512GB of storage, 6,000mAh battery, 65W fast charging (42 minutes), Dirac-tuned front-facing stereo speakers, ultrasonic "AirTiggers" and a customizable "ROG Vision" color display on the back. It's also the same set of cameras: a 50-megapixel main camera with Sony's IMX766 sensor, a 13-megapixel ultra-wide camera plus a 5-megapixel macro camera; and on the front, there's a 12-megapixel selfie camera with a Sony IMX663 sensor.
For the processor, ASUS made the surprise switch to MediaTek for its Dimensity 9000+ processor, which apparently scores a tad higher than the ROG Phone 6's Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. The company added that while the Snapdragon flagship chipset packs a better GPU, the Dimensity's CPU is allegedly 10 percent more powerful (albeit with the same 3.2GHz maximum clock speed), and this is more crucial to most mobile games. The CPU is complemented by the faster LPDDR5X RAM as well, though this is the same reason as to why this is capped at 16GB instead of 18GB here.
ASUS
The ROG Phone 6D Ultimate will be available across Europe very soon, with the sole model (16GB RAM with 512GB storage) priced at €1,399 (around $1,400) or £1,199. Again, this premium model comes bundled with an AeroActive Cooler 6. There's also the ROG Phone 6D launching alongside, which is basically the ROG Phone 6 but packing MediaTek's chipset and LPDDR5X RAM instead (also, it's just an RGB logo instead of an ROG Vision screen on the back; and no AeroActive Portal, of course). This starts from €949 (around $950) or £799 with the 12GB RAM plus 256GB storage base model.
The entire iPhone 15 lineup will reportedly include the iPhone 14 Pro’s Dynamic Island. In a tweet spotted by MacRumors, display analyst Ross Young said he expects Apple to make the screen cutout standard on all 2023 iPhones. Additionally, the company will reportedly keep its ProMotion 120Hz display technology exclusive to Pro variants due to a supply chain that “can’t support” the feature on more affordable models. In a subsequent tweet, Young said Apple is likelier to trickle down the technology to less expensive iPhones in 2024.
Making the Dynamic Island standard on every new iPhone moving forward would make a lot of sense for Apple, particularly to encourage developers to take advantage of the feature. Some apps already use the cutout for fun features. Once iOS 16.1 arrives later this year, Dynamic Island will also work with Apple’s Live Activities API. It’s also a feature that would make the standard iPhone more appealing to consumers holding onto their current device. While the iPhone 12 was a big upgrade over the iPhone 11, the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 have been less exciting. There’s not much reason to buy the latest one unless you’re coming from an iPhone several years old, and that's not great for Apple's bottom line.
Yes, Dynamic Island expected on standard models on the 15. Still not expecting 120Hz/LTPO on standard models as supply chain can’t support it.
Almost exactly five years after Hurricane Maria left Puerto Rico in the dark, the US territory is once again facing a power crisis. On Sunday, LUMA Energy, the company that operates the island’s electrical grid, announced that all of Puerto Rico had suffered a blackout due to Hurricane Fiona, reports Reuters.
With the storm nearing the island’s southwest coast, the National Hurricane Center warned of “catastrophic” flooding as Fiona began producing winds with recorded speeds of 85 miles per hour. Without even making landfall, the storm left a third of LUMA’s customers without power. On Twitter, Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi said the government was working to restore power, but after the events of five years ago, there’s worry there won’t be an easy fix.
In 2017, Hurricane Maria caused the largest blackout in US history when the Category 5 storm battered Puerto Rico, leaving 3.4 million people without power. The island had only recently begun rebuilding its weakened infrastructure, with blackouts a daily occurrence in some areas. Officials have tried to stress that Hurricane Fiona won’t bring a repeat of 2017. “This is not Maria, this hurricane will not be Maria,” Abner Gomez, the head of public safety and crisis management at LUMA Energy, told CNN before Sunday’s power outage.
If From Software’s uncompromising approach to difficulty has prevented you from playing Elden Ring, you’ll soon have another way to experience one of the most popular games of the year. This week, Steamforged Games announcedit is adapting Elden Ring into a board game.
According to Mat Hart, the co-founder of the company, “fans should expect a dark, richly-realized tabletop world of mystery and peril, with satisfying combat and rewarding exploration.” At this stage, there aren’t many details on the project, but Steamforged promised a combat system that won’t involve dice rolling. Additionally, you’ll be able to play the game with up to three other friends – or by yourself, if you so choose.
Like Steamforged’s take on Dark Souls and Horizon Zero Dawn, Elden Ring: The Board Game will come with a handful of miniatures. On Friday, the company shared a render of one, showcasing how Margit, one of Elden Ring’s early-game bosses, will look in miniature form. Despite his small size, this version of the Fell Omen looks just as intimidating as his video game counterpart. Steamforged will share more details on the project when it brings the game to Kickstarter at a later date. Until then, you can sign up to receive updates as the company is ready to share them.
With fall quickly approaching, Fortnite is ready to say goodbye to its summer-themed “Vibin” season. Dubbed Paradise, season four of chapter three introduces one of the most significant gameplay tweaks to the game since Epic made the Zero Build mode a permanent part of Fortnite’s rotation in March.
A new substance called Chrome is taking over the island, and you can use it to your advantage to gain a jump on other players. You can throw Chrome vials on walls to pass through them and at your feet to turn yourself into a blob that is faster and immune to fire and fall damage. As a Chrome blob, you also gain the ability to air dash, allowing you to close distance on your enemies quickly.
Chrome has changed the island too. You’ll find a new point of interest called the Herald's Sanctum by the abandoned Sanctuary. Other locations, such as Condo Canyon, now float in the air as they try to find safety from the substance. Smaller gameplay tweaks include a buff to sniper rifles. Oh, and sliding into other players will now knock them back.
Of course, a new season also means a new battle pass, and this one comes with no shortage of cool skins. The obvious highlight is Spider-Gwen, but there’s also a nifty skater cat and what looks like a bear within a werewolf costume for players to unlock. Season four is available to play starting today.
