Latest AMD Radeon Software beefs up ‘Dirt 4’ and ‘Prey’ performance

Why it matters to you

Another version of AMD’s Radeon Software Crimson Relive Edition is out and you will want to update right away if you’re playing Dirt 4 or Prey.

The easiest way to get the most out of your PC is to make sure you are running the most current drivers for all of your components. This is doubly true with the GPU, where new drivers and software can dramatically improve performance and reliability and periodically add new features.

AMD’s Radeon Software Crimson Relive Edition software is no different, as it provides not only the core drivers for the company’s Radeon GPUs but also provides a host of added functionality. On Thursday, AMD updated the software to version 17.6.1, with the usual performance improvements for some popular titles along with a host of fixes.

First up is improved support for Dirt 4. Version 17.6.1 adds in multi-GPU support, along with up to 30 percent faster performance on the Radeon RX 580 8GB GPU when the game is configured with 8xMSAA turned on. That GPU’s performance in Prey is also a bit faster, with a four percent improvement.

AMD also listed a number of issues that have been resolved in Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition 17.6.1. Here is the list, taken directly from AMD’s release notes:

• Virtual Super Resolution may fail to enable on some Radeon RX 400 and Radeon RX 500 series graphics products.
• HDR may fail to enable on some displays for QHD or higher resolutions.
• Flickering may be observed on some Radeon RX 500 series products when using HDMI with QHD high refresh rate displays.
• AMD XConnect: Systems with Modern Standby enabled may experience a system hang after resuming from hibernation.
• Fast mouse movement may cause an FPS drop or stutter in Prey when running in Multi-GPU system configurations.
• Adjusting memory clocks in some third party overclocking applications may cause a hang on Radeon R9 390 Series products.
• Graphics memory clock may fluctuate causing inconsistent frame rates while gaming when using AMD FreeSync technology.
• Mass Effect: Andromeda may experience stutter or hitching in Multi-GPU system configurations.
• The GPU Scaling feature in Radeon Settings may fail to enable for some applications.
• An error message “Radeon Additional Settings: Host application has stopped working” will sometimes appear when hot-plugging displays with Radeon Settings open.

As usual, you will want to keep in mind that most new software includes some known issues. Here is the list for version 17.6.1:

• Graphical corruption may be experienced in Tom Clancy’s: Rainbow Six Siege when MSAA is enabled.
• Adobe Lightroom may experience an application crash with GPU acceleration enabled on Windows 7 system configurations using Radeon RX 390 Series graphics products.
• A few apps may experience issues with Borderless Fullscreen mode and AMD FreeSync technology if other applications or game launchers are running on the primary screen in the background.
• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and World of Warcraft may experience flickering or performance issues the first time the game is launched on a system boot with AMD FreeSync technology enabled. Workarounds include exiting and restarting the application or task switching (alt+tab) in and out of the game to fix the issue.

As usual, you can head over to the AMD support site to download the new software.

Shooting 360-degree video with a GoPro is about to get easier with Fusion camera

Update on June 8, 2017: While details are still limited, GoPro has officially revealed the Fusion. The camera has similar design cues as the Hero5 Black, but the square-like dual-lens camera is wider and taller, and weighs roughly the same. The Fusion is targeted toward consumers and even pros looking to shoot a quick and easy spherical video. GoPro also released a video edited from spherical content taken with the Fusion, which you can view below. We will update as more details are announced.

Original article, published on April 17, 2017: Just ahead of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show on Saturday, GoPro has announced its first immersive video camera, called the Fusion. While the company has offered a 360-degree solution for some time in the form of the Omni cage —  which locks six GoPro Hero cameras together — the Fusion is a compact, single-camera device designed to be mounted in all the same ways as a normal GoPro.

Initial details on the new camera remain scarce, but one interesting tidbit is that it shoots 5.2K resolution, slightly above the now standard 4K. This is good news for immersive video enthusiasts, as higher resolutions tend to make a dramatic difference in 360 video, where all of those pixels are spread out over a spherical area. GoPro says this will also allow for HD-quality, non-360 video to be extracted from any angle, essentially giving Fusion users the ability to create both immersive and traditional fixed-frame content from the same camera, at the same time.

“Whether filming for VR or traditional fixed-perspective content, Fusion represents the state-of-the-art in versatile spherical capture,” said GoPro founder and CEO, Nick Woodman, in a statement. He did not elaborate on other ways in which the Fusion would be state-of-the-art.

What we do know is that work remains to be done to get the Fusion ready for the public. GoPro announced it will run an exclusive pilot program this summer, and is asking professional content creators to apply for it starting today. The goal is to field test the Fusion and produce content that GoPro can use to demonstrate its power before taking the camera to market. Assuming all goes well with the pilot program, GoPro expects to offer a “limited commercial release” by the end of 2017. No other details on pricing or availability have been given.

While the Fusion certainly seems interesting, our current sentiment can best be described as cautiously excited. We’re glad to see that GoPro is taking a single-camera approach to immersive content, but with so many 360 cameras popping up all the time from brands both big and small, the Fusion will need to deliver a trifecta of power, usability, and affordability to truly stand out from the crowd. For now, we’ll wait patiently for more details to emerge.

Why don’t we pay for everything with our phones now? We asked the experts

Our smartphones have replaced MP3 players, compact cameras, and handheld video game consoles, but they still haven’t killed off wallets or purses. Even though you can use all the latest Android smartphones or iPhones to pay for your goods and services, most of us don’t.

Only 21 percent of people with Apple Pay, 14 percent of those with Samsung Pay, and 10 percent of people with access to Android Pay on their smartphones have actually used it, according to surveys by PYMNTS.com. To make matters worse, most of those people tried it once and then went back to cards and cash.

“There are three factors right now limiting mobile payment adoption: Value proposition, lack of ubiquity, and fear,” Daniel Csoka, managing director of Mobile Money Matters, told Digital Trends. “What is the value proposition for me to make a mobile payment? My credit card works just fine.”

“It needs to work everywhere, every time.”

Respondents to the PYMNTS survey agree. They consistently gave satisfaction with their current payment methods as the main reason for not using mobile wallets, followed by uncertainty over how it works, and security concerns.

If you’ve tried mobile payments yourself, then you’ll understand the issue. It’s often faster to slip a card from your wallet and insert or swipe than it is to pull your phone out, unlock it, and complete your purchase. You also have to consider whether the technology is supported at the checkout. The last thing you want to do is get to the register and discover that the terminal won’t accept your payment method.

“It needs to work everywhere, every time,” Csoka said. “That’s why my card works so well, because it always works everywhere. We still don’t have ubiquity on mobile payments — some are NFC, some are QR codes, Apple Pay can’t talk to Android Pay, and with all these different payments sources, the merchant has to decide what to support.”

Outside of major cities, you’ll find it difficult to get by on mobile payments alone, and even in cities you’re generally limited to larger businesses. Only 36 percent of the merchants surveyed by J.P. Morgan Chase recently accept digital wallets today, but a surprising 69 percent of merchants expect to be accepting most of their payments using a digital wallet within five years. Interestingly, only 41 percent of consumers think they’ll be making most of their payments via mobile in five years.

“This is no different from when debit cards were introduced,” Ben Colvin, senior vice president of North America Security Solutions and Processing at Mastercard, told Digital Trends. “Consumers want to feel the means with which they’re paying is safe, but more, that they’re confident it will work.”

That confidence will surely build through experience, though progress looks to be much slower than many predicted. Even if the technology works and it’s available in most places, folks still need a compelling reason to change their habits.

“People are asking: Is it better than what I’m doing today?” Colvin said. “That usually becomes, ‘is it easier or quicker, or do I feel safer using it?’”

The security issue for mobile payments is an interesting one. There’s a general fear that mobile payments may be insecure, but it’s tied to personal information. A Mastercard survey found that 77 percent of Americans are anxious about their financial information and social security numbers being stolen or compromised, and 55 percent said they would rather have naked pictures of themselves leaked online than have their financial data stolen.

Concerns about identity theft and loss of funds are understandable, but they may be misplaced when it comes to mobile.

“A mobile payment transaction is safer than a card transaction.”

“A mobile payment transaction is safer than a card transaction,” Csoka said. “It’s like the early days of online payments, no one wanted to put their credit card online because they were worried hackers were going to steal it. We’re seeing that same trepidation with mobile payments.”

Since Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Android Pay are all pass-through technologies, that allow you to add and use cards, if you wanted to dispute a transaction, then you would take it up with the card issuer.

Your smartphone potentially adds extra layers of security because you must be in possession of the device and it has built-in location tracking, there’s also biometric authentication via fingerprint or iris scanning, and there’s scope for behavioral analysis.

“With behavioral biometrics, you can get that additional level of authentication without the consumer realizing it – creating a truly frictionless experience,” Colvin explains.

Mastercard recently acquired NuData, a security firm that draws on session and biometric information to analyze online, mobile app, and smartphone interactions, so it can distinguish authentic users from fraudsters and flag high-risk transactions.

In security terms, this kind of technology could make life for criminals very difficult indeed. It also has implications for convenience. One day soon, we may be able to walk into stores, pick up what we want and leave without swiping or tapping anything.

Csoka envisions a near future where our smartphones add value for merchants and consumers, and the shopping experience is “Uberized”. Picture this, if you will:

You drive to the mall and use your mobile app to get access to special VIP parking, because you’re a valued shopper. The mall now knows that you’ve arrived and Brooks Brothers sends you a notification that the blue blazer you were looking at online is in stock. You use indoor maps on your mobile to locate the store and, as you approach, a beacon informs the sales staff that you’ve arrived. There’s no register, but the assistant has an iPad and your photo and profile automatically pops up with details on what you want. They have the blazer ready, but also point out a buy-one-get-one-free deal on matching shirts. You try the blazer on, decide to take it along with the shirts, and simply walk out. The receipt is emailed to you.

This is personalized shopping, done in the cloud, and authenticated by your phone and store profile.

“Effective loyalty and offers combined with customer engagement, all surrounded by the fact that this is more secure than a credit card — that’s the winning combination,” says Csoka.

You’d be forgiven for having privacy concerns. The kind of system Csoka is talking about would require you to opt-in and agree to be tracked, though you might be surprised at the level of smartphone tracking that already goes on. Using a combination of apps and beacons, some companies already map your journey around a store, and they can tell if you spent ten minutes in front of that new LG OLED TV.

The companies that are vying for a slice of mobile payments have some good reasons for doing so. It’s not just about the bottom line. Walmart may be able to save on interchange fees with its own payment system – interchange fees are charged by card issuers and average 2 percent of transaction value in U.S. – but the data might be even more valuable to them.

“If I use my card they only know how much I spent, but they want to know what I bought,” says Csoka.

We know that tech giants like Google are drawing enormous value from big data, and so the battle for our mobile payments will rage on. But, while the value for merchants and payment providers isn’t that hard to see, the value for us is still not so clear.

The idea of ditching the physical wallet and having all our cards, including loyalty cards, on our phones is undeniably attractive for many of us, but it’s not enough. Even when mobile payment systems are ubiquitous, we’re confident that they work, and we’re convinced of their safety, providers are still going to have to persuade us to choose them over plastic, and the biggest stumbling block right now is convenience.

How to install the Deluxe Audio Strap on your HTC Vive

Adding a Deluxe Audio Strap to your Vive is easy, but a little nerve wracking.

HTC’s Deluxe Audio Strap, which as the name suggests adds headphones to the actual headset, is finally available to purchase. If you’re planning on picking on up, there’s a few things you need to know about how to attach this accessory to your Vive without doing any damage to the headset or your new strap. Here’s a quick guide for removing the current strap and attaching the new one!

Read more at VR Heads!

Pokemon Go announces real-life worldwide events for anniversary

Pokemon Go is set to take over the world again.

Last year, Pokemon Go exploded onto the scene and became a massive hit overnight. People in almost every country downloaded the app and took to the streets to catch ’em all. Now, one year later, in an effort to celebrate the game’s first anniversary, Niantic said it plans to hold in-game and in-person events across the world. The first event, called the Solstice Event, will take place in the game on 13 June.

It’ll include Fire-type and Ice-type Pokemon, as well as XP bonuses and discounted Lucky Eggs. As for the first in-person event, it is scheduled for 22 July in Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois. Called Pokemon Go Fest Chicago, tickets for the event will go on sale on 19 June. Pricing and details are not yet available. Niantic said it’s targeting about 20,000 people for the huge Pokemon Go fest.

• Help! Pokemon Go isn’t working: How to fix common Pokemon Go problems
• Pokemon Go top tips: Master the Pokemon mayhem
• Pokemon Go Gym tips: How to battle, train and win
• Pokemon Go: How to play and other tips and tricks

There are other events planned for Europe between July and September, too. According to Forbes, the events in Europe cannot be announced yet, as location issues are holding up the process. But the events will be announced across Europe end of June/early July, apparently. There will even be one in Yokohama, Japan in August. That event will be called Pikachu Outbreak, but again, details are scarce right now.

Niantic also said it will release an update that focuses on collaborative gameplay. It hinted at a “new way” to play the game, though it also said it would temporarily close down in-game gyms for a bit. It’s rumored the company wants to overhaul gyms to help fight cheating. It might also introduce raids, allowing players to team up or play against one another in the gyms.

We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

Those awkward AirPods will automatically link up to your Apple TV

Apple’s AirPods might look pretty unusual, but no other pair of wireless earbuds on the market is as easy to use — as long as you have Apple hardware, that is. Indeed, once you connect the AirPods to your iPhone, they are automatically ready to use with any of your other devices with the same iCloud account, which includes iPads, Macs running Sierra and the Apple Watch. Soon, those AirPods could work on one other Apple device in your home: your Apple TV.

According to 9to5Mac, those AirPods will appear as a new speaker option starting with tvOS 11. It should already be available in the first developer beta, and consumers will likely see it when the update arrives this fall. This means that the AirPods will automatically be set up with your Apple TV without having to manually pair it via Bluetooth. Just connect it to your phone and voila, you can start using it with your TV. Or at least that’s how it’s supposed to work anyway; we haven’t tested it so we don’t know for sure.

Apple TV (as well as Amazon’s Fire TV and most other TVs these days) already supports Bluetooth audio, so you can technically use any pair of wireless headphones with it, which is great if you want to watch TV without disturbing other people in your household. If you’d rather use wired headphones instead, some Roku boxes come with remote controls that have headphone jacks. Still, if you have an Apple TV, AirPods will probably be the easiest to pair. Bonus: since you’ll be wearing them at home, you won’t have to worry about being seen in public.

Twitter to stream its first basic cable drama: TNT’s ‘Claws’

TNT is premiering its new drama “Claws” this Sunday, but if you miss the first showing on the network itself, you can catch an encore on Twitter.

TNT’s parent company, Turner, streamed TBS’ “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee’s Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner” on Twitter in April. But in a statement, the company said that “Claws” will be the first basic cable drama to stream on the platform, which Twitter confirmed to Engadget.

Earlier this year, Twitter COO Anthony Noto stated that the platform was looking to stream shows from subscription TV channels and while the “Claws” premiere isn’t that exactly, it is a step in that direction. Twitter has already streamed boxing matches, MLB and NHL games, as well as National Lacrosse League games.

The new show, set in a central Florida nail salon and starring the likes of Carrie Preston, Jenn Lyon, Judy Reyes and Karrueche Tran, will premiere June 11th on TNT at 9PM Eastern / Pacific and the Twitter encore will take place at 10PM Eastern, which means west coast viewers can catch it on Twitter before it airs on their TV.

Via: CNET

Source: Turner

Apple remembered to add Touch Bar support to GarageBand

While the list of apps supporting the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar has been growing at a decent clip, Apple’s own entry-level music learning and production software has been sadly left behind. The company’s own professional level production suite, Logic Pro X added touch features earlier this year but the desktop version of GarageBand has only just now joined the party with an update that arrived during this week’s WWDC. It didn’t even take this long to get Doom running on the tiny touch screen.

With the 10.2 update, users can now easily navigate through GarageBand projects, adjust levels and play instruments from the MacBook Pro’s dynamic function row. For everyone else diving back in to GarageBand, you’ll find the latest update also brings a “modern design with improved ease of use” and the ability to add track you started on the mobile versions of the app. There are also some new drum loop controls and a trio of new virtual drummers that can play Pop, “Songwriter” or Latin styles.

Touch Bar features aside, the latest update for GarageBand is a welcome one. Although there were a few incremental updates in between, it’s been two years since Apple gave the app a proper feature release. It’s also reassuring to see that Apple hasn’t forgotten to update it’s entry level software with some of those pro-level features.

Via: Apple Insider

Source: Apple

App Highlight: Motorsport Manager

The App

Developed by Christian West, Motorsport Manager is an established app with well over 500,000 installs. Having been updated on May 15, 2017, the developer is constantly fixing various bugs with the latest update adding Google Play Saved Game support. Motorsport Manager puts you in charge of your own racing team.

What it does

As a race team owner, you will be responsible for hire racing drivers, developing your car, coming up with a strategy, and making decisions within the race to help fulfill your sponsors objectives. Experience the action in real-time to watch overtakes and formulate a strategy to undercut your opponents.

• This is your racing team. Hire drivers, develop your car and invest in technology.

• Work with your drivers to achieve the perfect qualifying lap.

• Formulate the ideal pitstop strategy to win races.

• Watch the race in real-time or jump into the strategy screens to take control of the action.

• React to weather changes, crashes and safety car periods.

• Win championships across the world to reach the pinnacle of motorsport.

Why we like it

Motorsport Manager is the best racing simulator on the market. It is extremely well thought out, well designed, and will keep you hooked. With various classes of racing, full car development, and driver improvements, you’ll be sure to play this one over and over again. One improvement I would like to see is qualifying enhanced to perhaps have a staged phase like F1 to make it more interesting.

How to get it

Motorsport Manager is available from the Google Play Store. You can download it right here.

App Highlight: Trident for Zooper

The App

Developed by Milan Dragovic, Trident for Zooper is a little bit different when it comes to an app highlight since it is more of a widget. It’s relatively new at only 10,000 installs – you’ll need Zooper Pro for use this widget pack, but Trident will give you some gorgeous widgets.

What it does

Trident gives a number of Google Pixel style widgets as well as Samsung Galaxy S8 widgets. There are also a number of minimal and vintage widgets to provide some excellent styles to compliment your Android smartphone. All widgets scale perfectly so work on any resolution screen and look great.

– Download and install Zooper Widget Pro 2.38 or above
– Download and install Trident
– Add a Zooper widget to your homescreen
– When Zooper widget skins list pops up, choose Trident
– Select the widget you want to add

Why we like it

Here at AndroidGuys we love customizing our devices and Zooper is one of our favorite apps. On its own, it’s pretty basic, but when combined with something like Trident, the possibilities are endless. My personal favorite is the ability to have a Galaxy S8 style weather widget that you can use with something like Nova Launcher. If you like minimalist design then be sure to check out Trident.

How to get it

Trident is available from the Google Play Store. You can download it right here.