ArduinoMania

Warner Bros Discover (WBD) has scored a coup by inking a "Pay-1" deal with indie darling A24 for priority streaming rights, the company announced. That means new releases from A24 like Iron Claw (above) will appear first on HBO, Max and Cinemax before streaming on any other platform. The deal also extends WBD's licensing for A24's film catalog, giving it access to titles like Uncut Gems, Everything Everywhere All At Once and others.

"Movies included in the pay-1 output agreement include Dicks: The Musical, Priscilla, Dream Scenario, The Zone of Interest, Stop Making Sense (2023), The Iron Claw, Love Lies Bleeding, Civil War, and more," Warner Bros Discovery wrote in a press release. "Between the existing and new library of A24 films, subscribers will have access to more than one hundred A24 titles over the term of the agreement." 

Typically films start in theaters, then go to digital purchase/rental before heading to streaming or OTA broadcast. Pay-1 gives streaming companies exclusive access to titles for a period of 12-18 months before they had to Pay-2 for general licensing and syndication. 

Paramount's Showtime has held the Pay-1 deal with A24 since 2019, but it expired in November 2022 (and was then extended a year), according to IndieWire. WBD only mentions having Pay-1 access to A24 movies released after the new deal, so anything released before that (Talk to Me, The Inspection and others) will likely remain Pay-1 on Showtime. 

In any case, the deal will be a boon for A24 and viewers in general. WBD's Max and Discovery+ have a combined 95.1 million subscribers, while Paramount+ has 63 million subs, and not all of those have the ad-free "with Showtime" tier. Around the end of 2022, HBO and HBO Max gained access to some of A24's older films, but they'll now have many more, over 100 in total.

Just ahead of the A24 deal, WBD was touting the improved tech and a updated UI of the Max streaming app. Other upcoming A24 films include Tuesday (2024, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Problemista (2024, Julio Torres, Tilda Swinton and RZA). 

• Read more about STMicroelectronics Unveils Game-Changing Free Nano Edge AI Deployment for Edge Devices
• Log in or register to post comments

• Read more about Why Intel, Siemens Collaborates on Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing
• Log in or register to post comments

When LG still made phones (sigh), at one point it tried to implement a "Hand ID" unlock gimmick on the G8 ThinQ, though in our experience, there was much room for improvement. For one, you'd have to turn on the screen first to toggle hand tracking. That was dumb. Fast forward to today, Realme is bringing a similar feature back to a new phone, the GT5 Pro, with support for some seemingly practical hand gestures.

Rather than using a time-of-flight camera and an infrared light, the Realme GT5 Pro utilizes its 32-megapixel selfie camera to detect your palm print. In the above demo, you can see how the screen wakes up automatically when the palm moves away from it. I highly doubt that the front camera stays on all the time, so I'm willing to bet that this is working in conjunction with an ultrasonic proximity sensor — most likely by Elliptic Labs, which is present on many Android handsets.

Realme said palm unlock is faster than face recognition, partly thanks to machine learning using over 10,000 models. The company even went as far as claiming that this security feature passed a penetration test involving over 10 million attacks. Still, the good-old under-display fingerprint reader is still there, so palm unlock is just an extra option — probably the most convenient for when you're cooking or driving.

Realme

Like the LG, the Realme GT5 Pro also supports several hand gestures. A pinch gesture would toggle the recent app list, and from there you can gently brush left or right to browse through the recent apps. Holding up your index finger will toggle cursor control, and hovering over a spot triggers a click. A three-finger palm gesture takes a screenshot. Flipping your palm around takes you back to the home screen. Pointing your thumb to the left toggles a "back" action. Finally, moving your palm towards the screen switches it off.

The phone itself is otherwise a standard flagship affair. It packs Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, a 6.78-inch curved AMOLED panel from China's BOE (2,780 x 1,264, 144Hz, 4,500 nits), a generous 5,400mAh battery which supports 100W fast charging (12 minutes to 50 percent charge) or 50W wireless fast charging, USB-C 3.2, NFC, dual speakers and infrared remote. As part of its nine-layer thermal structure, Realme threw in a three-layer vapor-cooling chamber, which apparently has the industry's largest cooling surface area. The device is also rated with IP64 for dust and liquid protection.

Realme

Photography-wise, you get a 50-megapixel main camera (powered by a Sony LYT-808 sensor; as found on the OnePlus 12), an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera and the same 50-megapixel, 3x periscopic telephoto camera (with a Sony IMX890) as the one on the Oppo Find X6 series. You can already tell the synergy between Realme, Oppo and OnePlus within the BBK family here.

The Realme GT5 Pro is available in China starting from 3,298 yuan or about $460 for the 12GB RAM with 256GB storage model, and maxing out at 4,198 yuan or $590 for the 16GB RAM with 1TB storage model. Color options include black for the glass body, and orange or gold for the vegan leather options.

It was reported in late November that Google Drive for desktop (v84.0.0.0-84.0.4.0) had a sync issue, which caused months or even years of files to disappear. If you were unfortunate enough to be part of this "small subset" of users, there's finally some good news. In the latest version of Drive for desktop app (version 85.0.13.0 or higher), you'll be able to access a file recovery tool via a few steps: go to the menu bar or system tray, click the Drive for desktop icon, press and hold the "Shift" key and click "Settings," and then you'll be able to hit "Recover from backups." 

From there, you should see a notification saying "Recovery has started," and hopefully you'll get a "Recovery is complete" message after a while. You'll then find a new folder named "Google Drive Recovery" containing the unsynced files on your desktop. 

Good luck, though, as Google doesn't expect this method to work for everyone. "If you’ve tried to run the recovery tool and are experiencing issues, submit feedback through the Drive for desktop app with the hashtag '#DFD84' and make sure to check the box to include diagnostic logs," the company said on the support page. There are also instructions for those who prefer trying with command line interface, Windows backup and Time Machine backup.

Today, Meta has unveiled what it calls "the biggest set of improvements to Messenger since it was first launched in 2011." First and foremost, end-to-end encryption is now a default for private chats and calls on Messenger and Facebook, meaning your secured communication can't be spied on by others — not even by Meta itself, apparently. Once updated, Messenger will ask users to set up a PIN, in case they need to recover messages on a new device later. The global rollout may take a few months to complete, due to the fact that the app has over a billion users.

End-to-end encryption became an option for Messenger in 2016, but Meta is obviously stepping up its safety efforts — a sensible move given the company's other recent scandals, especially with child predation content. Meta added that "this has taken years to deliver because we’ve taken our time to get this right," and also "to rebuild Messenger features from the ground up."

Meta

In addition to a set of new privacy, safety and control features, Messenger is getting improved image quality for photos and videos. Meta says it's currently testing HD media sharing with a small test group, before rolling this out "in the coming months." Messenger is also receiving other handy tools that are seemingly inspired by WhatsApp, namely message edit (for up to 15 minutes after sending), voice message playback speed options, continued voice message playback outside the chat or app, read receipts control and disappearing messages (after 24 hours; this is now available to all chats since end-to-end encryption has become a default).

Overwatch 2's eighth season went live on Tuesday and things aren't exactly going smoothly for everyone. Some are complaining about performance issues, particularly concerning frame rates on PlayStation 5. On Blizzard's own forums and Reddit, players are suggesting that even the menus are lagging on the console.

"I play on PS5 with 120 Hz monitor and settings for that output, but randomly either in [fights] or walking back from spawn, even on menus, I am dropping down to what seems like single digit to low double digit frames per second," a player who goes by Sartell wrote. Others claim that Overwatch 2 is "unplayable" on PS5 at the minute, with some claiming that frame rates are dropping to below 20 fps. The problem doesn't seem to be as prevalent on other platforms.

I encountered the same issues in a brief test on PS5. It took a few seconds for my character to complete a full rotation, which can practically be a kiss of death in such a fast-paced shooter. It was almost like playing GoldenEye 007 at 12 fps all over again.

In the current list of known issues, which was last updated on Tuesday, Blizzard notes that "We are investigating reports of performance issues for some platforms." Engadget has asked Blizzard when a fix might be ready.

The performance issues are a pity in general, but even more so given that new tank character Mauga is a blast to play. As such, PS5 players may need wait for a hotfix before they can properly check out the latest hero, unless they're content with enjoying the action as though it were a colorful slideshow. Otherwise, downloading the PS4 version of the game could work in a pinch.

The digital audio workstation (DAW) Bitwig Studio just received a substantial update that brings plenty of new sounds and effects. Version 5.1 boasts a spate of enhancements, including new waveshapers, new filters, polyphonic voice stacking, a dual oscillator and more. This is especially good news for avid sound designers, as the filters and waveshapers should allow for plenty of tinkering to find that perfect tone.

The filters are all rather unique, going a step further than a simple lowpass or something. For instance, the Fizz filter offers two separate cutoffs with embedded feedback. The Rasp filter is bright and resonant with a host of adjustment options. Vowels is a morphing format filter with an array of models, pitch and frequency offsets that can be programmed to change over time. Finally, there’s Ripple, which is described as a “hyper-resonant circuit.”

There are six new waveshapers to choose from, including the Push soft clipper and Heat S-shaped clipper. Both of these could be great for adding a bit of sizzle to dry tracks. Soar is a soft wavefolder that “makes the quietest parts loud” and Howl does something similar, but with a focus on creating harsh, glitchy sounds. Shred helps get rid of unwanted artifacts and Diode is a classic circuit, which Bitwig calls “a warm, familiar option.”

All filters and waveshapers can be used within the DAW’s Filter+ and Sweep devices, though they are also available as standalone Grid modules. That’s the magic of Bitwig Studio and what sets it apart from other DAWs. Everything is modular, with mix-and-match options for every effect, filter, oscillator and waveshaper.

As for other tools, there’s a new Voice Stacking module that offers layered playback of up to 16 voices per note and a dual oscillator called Bite. Bitwig has also added experimental elements to the quantizing function, which should make for some wild remixes, and adjusted the UI so the mixer can be dragged and dropped anywhere. These changes follow Bitwig Studio 5.0, which offered many new audio playback tools.

Bitwig Studio 5.1 is out now, and it's a free upgrade for license holders with an active plan. The company constantly adds new features to the DAW, as recent-ish updates saw tools to mangle MIDI performances and the addition of a hybrid modular synth.

The DAW is also on sale at the moment. You can get Bitwig Studio for $299, down from its usual $399 price. The bare-bones Essential version of the software, meanwhile, is $79 at the moment instead of $99.

Last January, AMD beat out Intel by launching its Ryzen 7040 chips, the first x86 processors to integrate a neural processing unit (NPU) for AI workloads. Intel's long-delayed Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" chips, its first to integrate an NPU, are set to arrive on December 14th. But it seems AMD can't help but remind Intel it's lagging behind: Today, AMD is announcing the Ryzen 8040 series chips, its next batch of AI-equipped laptop hardware, and it's also giving us a peak into its future AI roadmap.

The Ryzen 8040 chips, spearheaded by the 8-core Ryzen 9 8945HS, are up to 1.4 times faster than its predecessors when its comes to Llama 2 and AI vision model performance, according to AMD. They're also reportedly up to 1.8 times faster than Intel's high-end 13900H chip when it comes to gaming, and 1.4 times faster for content creation. Of course, the real test will be comparing them to Intel's new Core Ultra chips, which weren't available for AMD to benchmark.

AMD

AMD's NPU will be available on all of the Ryzen 8040 chips except for the two low-end models, the six-core Ryzen 5 8540U and the quad-core Ryzen 3 8440U. The company says the Ryzen 7040's NPU, AMD XDNA, is capable of reaching 10 TOPS (tera operations per second), while the 8040's NPU can hit 16 TOPS. Looking further into 2024, AMD also teased its next NPU architecture, codenamed "Strix Point," which will offer "more than 3x generative AI NPU performance." Basically, don't expect AMD to slow down its AI ambitions anytime soon.

It's worth remembering that both AMD and Intel are lagging behind Qualcomm when it comes to bringing NPUs to Windows PCs. Its SQ3 powered the ill-fated Surface Pro 9 5G. That was just a minor win for the Snapdragon maker, though: the Windows-on-Arm experience is still a mess, especially when it comes to running older apps that require x86 emulation.

The far more compelling competitor for Intel and AMD is Apple, which has been integrating Neural Engines in its hardware since the A11 Bionic debuted in 2017, and has made them a core component in the Apple Silicon chips for Macs. Apple's Neural Engine speeds up AI tasks, just like AMD and Intel's NPUs, and it helps tackle things like Face ID and photo processing. On PCs, NPUs enable features like Windows 11's Studio Effects in video chats, which can blur your background or help maintain eye contact.

Just like Intel, AMD is also pushing developers to build NPU features into their apps. Today, it's also unveiling the Ryzen AI Software platform, which will allow developers to take pre-trained AI models and optimize them to run on Ryzen AI hardware. AMD's platform will also help those models run on Intel's NPUs, similar to how Intel's AI development tools will ultimately help Ryzen systems. We're still in the early days of seeing how devs will take advantage of NPUs, but hopefully AMD and Intel's competitive streak will help deliver genuinely helpful AI-powered apps soon.

Acer just announced a new gaming laptop, the Nitro V 16. This computer has some serious bells and whistles, with the key takeaway being the inclusion of the just-announced AMD Ryzen 8040 Series processor. The processor has plenty of oomph for modern gaming applications, with the addition of AI technology to enable enhanced ray-traced visuals.

You can spec out the laptop how you see fit, with GPU options up to the respectable NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060. This GPU features DLSS 3.5 tech and its own AI-powered ray-tracing, called Ray Reconstruction. You have your pick of two display options, with availability of WQXGA or WUXGA screens. Both options boast 165 Hz refresh rates and 3ms response times. Acer promises that the displays offer “fluid visuals with minimal ghosting and screen tearing.”

As for other specs, you can beef up the laptop with up to 32GB of DRR55600 RAM and 2TB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage. Acer also touts a new cooling system that features a pair of high-powered fans that make it “well-equipped to take on heavy gameplay.” To that end, you can monitor performance and temperature via the company’s proprietary NitroSense utility app.

There are three microphones outfitted with AI-enhanced noise reduction tech, for online tomfoolery, and the speakers incorporate DTS:X Ultra sound optimization algorithms for immersive audio. Finally, you get a USB-4 Type C port, two USB 3 ports, an HDMI port, a microSD card reader and WiFi 6E compatibility.

If the name of the processor seems a bit confusing, that's because AMD recently changed up its naming conventions. Here's a simple breakdown. The "8" relates to 2024 and the second number refers to the product line or relevant market segment, so that doesn't mean much to consumers. The third number, however, is all about performance. The "4" indicates that the chip uses the advanced Zen 4 architecture. Finally, the fourth number illustrates what type of Zen 3 architecture the chip uses. The "0" denotes a lower-tier Zen 3 experience when compared to Zen 3+, which would be marked as "5". 

The Windows 11 gaming laptop will be available in March, with a starting price of $1,000 for the base model. It also comes with one month of Xbox Game Pass, so you can run it through its paces.