The Morning After: IRS’ payment system went down on tax day

Hey, good morning! Happy hump day! An accidentally discovered enzyme can eat up plastic, and the IRS’ online payment system went down at the worst possible moment: on tax day. We also have EMG wristbands that can type with your thoughts… at some point in the future, at least.

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Now you have an extra day to file.
IRS’ direct online-payment system went down on tax day

For most of tax day in the US, a “glitch” took down the website that accepts IRS payment. As a result, the agency extended its window for filers an extra day, through midnight tonight.

We know a patch that it could take care of.Scientists accidentally produce an enzyme that devours plastic

Researchers studying a newly discovered bacterium found that, with a few tweaks, the bug can be turned into a mutant enzyme that starts eating plastic in a matter of days, compared to the centuries it takes for plastic to break down in the ocean.

The squabble continues.
AMD calls out NVIDIA’s partner program, G-Sync ‘gamer taxes’

According to AMD, NVIDIA’s GeForce Partner Program (GPP) hides an attempt to elbow competition out of high-profile system lines. That’s why ASUS suddenly launched another gamer brand, AREZ, for Radeon cards, which is separate from the ROG lineup. NVIDIA claims it’s just trying to let customers know exactly what will be in their new PC.

The notes app doesn’t count.
The best to-do apps

Add installing to-do apps to your to-do list.

But hey, don’t worry, Casey Hudson says ‘Anthem’ will be great.
‘Mass Effect’ failings forced BioWare to reevaluate how it makes games

Mass Effect: Andromeda wasn’t the critical and commercial success that Bioware was banking on. In a post on the company’s blog, producer Casey Hudson apologized for how that game turned out — and that DLC issue.

“That experience ultimately became a defining moment in refocusing BioWare’s mission,” Hudson writes. “We need to delight players with new experiences and innovation, but we must stay focused on the importance of the world, character and storytelling elements that players expect from our games.”

Six more sequence buttons make a big difference.
Roland’s TR-8S drum machine is ready to tackle the stage

Find out why Roberto Baldwin said this is “one of the easiest to understand electronic instruments I’ve used.”

But wait, there’s more…

• Boosted’s 2018 line includes faster and shorter electric skateboards
• EMG wristbands may spell the end for keyboards and mice
• Amazon is turning William Gibson’s ‘The Peripheral’ into a series
• Pros and cons: our verdict on Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Yoga (2018)
• Cambridge Analytica may have used other quizzes to gather Facebook data
• Windows 10 update will support more password-free logins

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Airbnb just opened an ‘Office of Healthy Tourism’

In a bid to counteract tourist saturation in major cities around the world, Airbnb is opening a new global Office of Healthy Tourism. The move is designed to bring the economic benefits of tourism to small businesses and local residents in destinations off the beaten track, while lessening the burden on popular holiday hotspots.

The office will be tasked with finding new ways to use technology to create new travel destinations, and will build on the work of similar, previous initiatives. Last year, for example, the company launched a program to promote 40 villages in Italy. Speaking to Fast Company at the time, Airbnb CEO Brain Chesky said, “If I could summarize the major problem with travel, it’s millions of people are going to see a few things, rather than millions of people going to see millions of things.”

The announcement comes at a critical time for Airbnb, which has faced scrutiny for its impact on housing markets in major cities such as San Francisco and Paris. A report last year noted that four major areas of Paris, located near popular tourist attractions, were seeing a drop in the number of residents, with some officials blaming home sharing for the decline. In Venice, Italy, some nine percent of its total historic housing stock is listed on Airbnb as whole-home rentals.

Last week, Airbnb was hit with a lawsuit from Paris for allegedly failing to remove listings that don’t conform with the city’s legal requirements. Meanwhile, Amsterdam has drastically reduced the number of days owners can rent out their properties, and at one point, the city of Detroit was considering banning Airbnb rentals altogether. The company says the new initiative is designed to mitigate the pressure its business is bringing to cities and to open up unknown destinations to travelers, but it’ll have undoubtedly considered the program’s potential in getting legislators off its back, too.

Source: Airbnb

Russia stops at nothing to silence Telegram

The protracted fight between the Russian government and encrypted messaging app Telegram is coming to an end. Last week, the country’s court granted a request for the app to be banned, enabling officials to begin work on booting it out of the country. Then, yesterday Roskomnadzor, Russia’s equivalent of the FCC, began telling mobile networks that they had to block access to Telegram.

In addition, Roskomnadzor has reportedly told Apple and Google to remove the app from their storefronts. The agency has also metered out some punishment to both Amazon and Google, since Telegram uses the pair’s infrastructure for its own backbone. In order to block Telegram’s access in the country, Russia has indiscriminately blocked the better part of two million IP addresses owned by both companies, which means other services that use the same hosts are also at risk of disruption.

The country is adopting a similar playbook to the one it used while battling Zello, another secure messenger service. Zello, which offered walkie-talking services, became popular with political protesters in areas like the Ukraine, Turkey and Hong Kong. Much like in the Telegram case, a huge number of AWS IPs were blocked in Russia, forcing Amazon to ask Zello to switch provider. Another casualty of this policy was LinkedIn, which was blocked in Russia back in 2016 for refusing to bow to the country’s demands for access to user data.

The fight between Telegram and Russia is the same one playing out between many tech companies and governments around the world. Platforms are built to be secure and can potentially put communications beyond the reach of the authorities. A similar fight took place in the US between Apple and the FBI following the San Bernardino attacks. And, like then, Telegram’s clash with the FSB began after 2017’s St Petersburg Metro bombing.

Russian law forces messaging providers to sign up with the government and store six months of user correspondence. Should the police or security services require this information, even without a warrant, it is to be handed over without delay. Since digital communications are encrypted, most companies are required to hand over the decryption keys. It wasn’t until early 2017 that Telegram officially signed up as a listed information distributor.

Unfortunately for Telegram, it had become infamous for its popularity with some terror groups, including Daesh. In 2015, Telegram founder (and Russian native) Pavel Durov said he knew the platform was being used by nefarious characters. When asked how he felt about this state of affairs, he responded that protecting the privacy of his users was paramount. It did, however, begin closing public channels that were seen to encourage violence and, later, began cracking down on inappropriate content.

We promised our users 100% privacy and would rather cease to exist than violate this promise.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov

That said, even if Telegram was passively enabling some murky business to take place, it appears to have lacked access to a fair hearing. OpenDemocracy explains how the Telegram case was fast-tracked through the courts in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s re-election. The subsequent hearing, on April 13th, apparently only took 18 minutes to play out, and Telegram representatives were reportedly not permitted to travel to the court or request a delay.

It’s not likely that Russia is concerned with the optics of the move, but its scorched-earth policy may hurt its standing in the technology world. In an editorial published in business publication Vedomosti, Russian journalist Yelizaveta Osetinskaya says entrepreneurs may not want to do business there. After all, what sort of person would launch a startup in the country that has such a blatant disregard for corporate interests and the rule of law?

And it’s fair to remember that founder Pavel Durov was considered something of a great Russian success story. According to Statista, Telegram is the world’s ninth-biggest messenger, just behind Line, Snapchat and Viber. Unfortunately, Durov was forced to leave the country in 2014, after being forced out of his role at “Russian Facebook,” VKontakte. Since then, he has become an outspoken critic of the country’s repressive regime and policies.

In response to today’s ruling, Durov posted a missive to his public Telegram channel offering his feelings on the matter. “We promised our users 100 percent privacy,” he said, “and would rather cease to exist than violate this promise.” Durov also claimed the ban has not — yet — caused a drop in user engagement in the country since many Russians use proxies and VPN services. The CEO did, however, publicly thank Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft for “not taking part in political censorship,” and said that he would hand out Bitcoin grants to groups who help run VPNs and proxy servers within the country. It’s not clear if Apple and Google will acquiesce to Russia’s demands; although, it’s likely that they will, given similar capitulations related to VPN apps in China. But it’s clear that Durov isn’t prepared to go quietly into the night.

Durov’s battle with Russia will serve as a test run for a much bigger fight that is likely to come later this year between the Kremlin and Facebook. Much like LinkedIn, the currently-embattled social network was told to move its local data storage to Russia, where information about users could be accessed by the authorities. In an interview with the Kremlin-aligned Izvestia Daily, and outlined by the Moscow Times, Roskomnadzor head Alexander Zharov said Facebook would be inspected by the end of the year. And, if officials aren’t happy about their access to people’s private communications, then “the blocking question will come up,” Zharov reportedly said.

Source: Roskomnadzor

Google Chrome 66 Browser Adds Default Mute Autoplay Feature, Password Export, and More

Google is currently rolling out its Chrome 66 update to users of the web browser on Mac and iOS. The Mac version now mutes autoplaying content by default, while both desktop and mobile versions include a passwords export option, security improvements and new developer features.

Mute autoplay was originally slated for Chrome 64, which introduced autoplay settings on a per-site basis, but the function got pushed back for unspecified reasons. However, Chrome 66 now rolls out the default behavior for all users, and feeds into Google’s wider intention to make the media playback experience more consistent when users navigate the web.

Going forward, web-hosted media can only automatically play if it has no audio, if the user interacted with the page during a previous browsing session, or if the user frequently plays media on the site. Similarly on mobile, media can only autoplay if the site was added to the Home Screen by the user.

The new passwords export option was previously hidden in Chrome’s backend flag menus, but Chrome 66 adds the option to the user-facing settings.

As for enhancing security, Chrome 66 follows through on Google’s plan to deprecate Symantec-issued certificates, after the company failed to comply with industry security standards. The decision to end its trust for Symantec certificates was made when certificates for example.com and variations of test.com escaped into the wild.

Additionally, Chrome 66 includes a Site Isolation feature that offers additional protection from the Spectre CPU vulnerability, by forcing websites to run as different processes, with blocks to prevent them receiving certain types of sensitive data.

Google Chrome for Mac is a free download available directly from Google’s servers.

Google Chrome for iOS is a free download for iPhone and iPad available on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Tags: Google, Chrome
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Things 3.5 Update Brings Layout and Tagging Tweaks, New Clipboard Features, and More

Popular to-do app Things received a “spit and polish” update today for both macOS and iOS. Version 3.5 of the software bundles in 29 features and improvements based on user feedback, including performance tweaks, tagging enhancements, and more.

Collapsible areas in Things has been one of the most requested features, according to the developers, which is why Things 3.5 enables users with particularly long project lists to collapse or hide them using new chevron buttons alongside project titles.

On iOS, users should be able to find and add tags more quickly, now that the tag window is searchable. App-wide tag searches have also been made more broad, so that if a user searches for a tag, they’ll see not only items with that tag, but also items with the tag nested under them. Additionally, the “No Tag” filter has been reinstated, due to popular demand.

Things 3.5 introduces some helpful copy/paste features for bringing content into the app, too. For example, if a user copies text from another app then switches to Things and pastes that text, a new to-do is automatically created containing the clipboard data. On top of that, several new to-dos are created when pasting multiple lines of text.

The same thing works with Universal Clipboard, allowing you to copy some text on your Mac and paste it in Things on an iPhone to auto-create new to-dos. You can also drag text from another app into Things to achieve the same thing.

Elsewhere, thanks to a new “update” command it’s now possible to edit workflows that make use of the recently launched Things URLs feature (for creating to-dos in Things from outside the app). The Today widget has also received a few tweaks, and now shows icons for checklists and reminders, as well as a moon icon for items in This Evening, and progress pies for projects.

In other notable changes, link and data handling in Things is now more consistent across the app, the iOS settings screen has been redesigned for clarity, and the Things MacBook Pro Touch Bar is now customizable. Lastly, the layout in fullscreen mode on Mac has also been tweaked, numerous bugs have been fixed, and a number of workflows for using Things in business tools are now available.

Things 3.5 can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $49.99 and from the iOS App Store. The iPad version is priced at $19.99 [Direct Link] while the iPhone version (which includes Apple watch support) is priced at $9.99. [Direct Link] A 15-day trial of Things for Mac is available on the Cultured Code website.

Tags: Things, Cultured Code
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Apple Registers Several New Unreleased iPhone Models in Eurasia Ahead of WWDC

French website Consomac has discovered a new Russian-language regulatory filing in the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) database pointing towards several unreleased iPhone models that Apple could be launching relatively soon.

Versions of iPhone running iOS 11 are listed with the model numbers A1920, A1921, A1984, A2097, A2098, A2099, A2101, A2103, A2104, A2105 and A2106. None of the numbers correspond to Apple’s existing smartphone lineup.

The EEC filing, published on Tuesday, satisfies Russia’s requirement for companies to register all products containing encryption and/or cryptographic tools. On February 19, the EEC revealed the existence of two new models of iPad, which proved to be the Wi-Fi and cellular versions of Apple’s 9.7-inch iPad unveiled on March 27, so there’s a decent chance the new model numbers identify iPhones tipped for a May or June launch. Several new models of MacBook were also registered with the EEC in May of last year, and those laptops were announced at WWDC 2017.

Apple is rumored to be introducing three flagship iPhones in 2018: Two OLED models measuring in at 5.8 and 6.5 inches and a 6.1-inch lower-cost LCD model. All three will feature Face ID and edge-to-edge displays, but none are expected to arrive before the usual September timeframe when Apple’s major annual iPhone event typically takes place.

However, rumors suggest Apple will bring a new entry-level smartphone model to market similar to the iPhone SE that will support wireless charging and be released in time for summer 2018.

Apple hasn’t properly refreshed the iPhone SE since it launched back in March 2016, although it did double the available storage capacities to 64GB and 128GB in March 2017. A May/June launch would put it within touching distance of Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, which starts on June 8, although Apple hasn’t launched an iPhone at WWDC in the last seven years. The last announcement being the iPhone 4 in 2010.

Related Roundups: iPhone SE, 2018 iPhonesTag: EECBuyer’s Guide: iPhone SE (Don’t Buy)
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Facebook explains how it will comply with the EU’s GDPR

After a lot of scandal and a great deal of confusion, Facebook has finally made clear what its privacy settings will look like in the wake of Europe’s forthcoming GDPR (the General Data Protection Regulation). In a news release, the company said that everyone, no matter where they live, will be asked to review information on the way Facebook uses their data. The options will roll out in Europe first, ahead of GDPR implementation on May 25.

On the face of it, the options seem comprehensive enough. Facebook will ask you to make choices about adverts, sensitive information and face recognition technology, and claims that it’s developed better tools to access, delete and download information. It also says it’s making tweaks for younger users, since GDPR demands stricter privacy controls for teenagers.

But there are a number of issues with the way Facebook has presented these choices. The text-heavy consent screens give you two options: ‘accept and continue’, which is accessed by a big blue button, or ‘manage settings’, accessed via a smaller gray box. And before you can start tweaking your settings, you’ll be presented with a spiel where Facebook tries to dissuade you from removing your information. It’s a tedious process, designed no doubt to encourage the user to whizz through clicking ‘accept’ to all.

Targeted advertising is still non-negotiable, although the settings give the illusion of personal control by asking what types of advertising you want to receive. Advertisers aren’t allowed to target you based on sensitive info, such as sexual identity, religion or political views, which is obviously a good thing. However, in the US, advertisers can tap into your political views via political pages and events you interact with. You can opt out of this, but doing so means removing all the information you’ve shared in these categories. There’s no way to keep it on your page without letting Facebook use it.

Finally, Facebook’s new terms of service have been updated so they’re easier to read. No significant changes were made, but like the privacy consent flow, its interface isn’t great either. You can either accept the terms via the big ‘I Accept’ button, or look at your alternatives via a tiny ‘see your options’ hyperlink, which takes you to a page brandishing a very final ‘delete my account’ option.

These settings are the bare minimum Facebook could have conjured. Given the furore around its privacy agenda in recent times, many assumed they’d do more in a bid to get the whole world back onside. Sure, many of the consent options give users the illusion of control, but as the interface suggests, it’s clear Facebook still holds the reins when it comes to your personal data.

Source: Facebook

There’s a bit of a problem with the Waze navigation app, L.A. official claims

Community-driven navigation app Waze may be a great tool for finding your way and avoiding traffic jams, but a Los Angeles official claims it’s also causing serious traffic issues in the city.

Councilmember David Ryu points to the situation in his own area, L.A. City Council District 4, which he believes has worsened because the app’s algorithm is sending drivers along streets that aren’t designed to take so many vehicles. He says the neighborhood has become overrun with rush-hour traffic, with one narrow street built for local use taking 679 vehicles an hour, leading to a number of accidents.

Ryu claims the problem is so bad that he’s written to the City Attorney suggesting its office considers taking legal action against the Google-owned company.

“Waze has upended our City’s traffic plans, residential neighborhoods, and public safety for far too long,” Ryu said in a release posted on Tuesday. “Their responses have been inadequate and their solutions non-existent. They say the crises of congestion they cause is the price for innovation — I say that’s a false choice.”

“If we do nothing, Waze will lead us on a race to the bottom — where traffic plans are ignored and every street is gridlocked,” the councilmember said.

The official insists he’s made “numerous attempts” to resolve the issue with Waze, but concludes, “It has become clear that any and all legal options should be considered.”

Another L.A. councilmember, Paul Krekorian, recently made similar complaints about navigation apps disrupting quiet neighborhoods, telling the L.A. Times, “The use of apps to save 90 seconds of travel time not only is destroying the qualify of life in neighborhoods all over, but also endangering public safety.”

Waze is yet to offer any official response to Ryu’s claims, but insisted to the L.A. Times that it’s helping cities to address “their toughest transportation challenges” by working to ease congestion on their busiest roads.

But the problem, it seems, is not a recent development. A GQ analysis a couple of years back, while praising Waze as “an amazing navigation app,” pointed out that it “doesn’t seem to care if the street it’s sending people down is a huge boulevard or a tiny side street.” The report explains that with so many people turning to Waze to make their drive a little less stressful on L.A.’s congested roads, the way the algorithm creates routes really does matter. “In a world where 1.7 million people are using Waze in Los Angeles each month, what you’re left with is countless people trying to take the same short cut. So suddenly, a quiet street is constantly full of drivers. Traffic’s not being avoided so much as it’s being moved to a collection of streets that were not designed for it.”

Ryu has clearly had enough of the issue, and is now turning to the City Attorney in the hope of finally resolving it.

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Xiaomi Mi LED Smart TV review: Two months on, the best budget TV you can buy today

Xiaomi’s 55-inch Mi TV 4 offers a fantastic 4K HDR panel for the asking price.

For years now, Xiaomi fans in India have been clamoring for the Mi TV to make its debut in the country. Xiaomi finally introduced its TV range back in February starting with the 55-inch Mi TV 4, rebranded as the Mi LED Smart TV for the Indian market.

It’s easy to see why there’s such a massive amount of interest in the Mi TV: there aren’t many decent affordable TVs, and while the likes of Vu have rolled out 4K-enabled models that sell for under ₹50,000, there have been questions regarding long-term reliability.

That’s where Xiaomi comes into the picture. The Mi TV offers the same sturdy build quality as the manufacturer’s phones, and it offers features that are limited to premium TVs from Sony, LG, and Samsung. With a 10-bit 4K panel and HDR10 compatibility for just ₹39,999, the Mi TV offers unmatched value for money. Here’s what it’s like to use the TV for two months.

Xiaomi Mi TV What you’ll love

The most striking aspect of the Mi TV is just how sleek it is. The TV tapers to a thickness of just 4.9mm, making it one of the thinnest TVs in the world. The TV does get noticeably thicker at the base — where the internals are housed — but overall it is one of the better designs in this category. It’s the little things that make all the difference, and the Mi TV has a brushed metal back and a dark blue accent around the frame that makes it stand out.

The Mi TV also has minimal bezels, and overall the design and build quality are top-notch: the TV conveys an upmarket feel without the exorbitant price tag.

Most TVs in this price point feature a lackluster panel to cut costs, but that’s thankfully not the case with the Mi TV. The 55-inch TV offers a 10-bit 4K Samsung-made VA display that’s calibrated by Xiaomi. What’s of particular interest is that it also comes with HDR10 compatibility, as well as the ability to handle 4K at 60Hz.

The 4K panel offers saturated colors, and the display is calibrated out of the box. But if you’re using the TV in a well-lit room, you can boost the backlight levels from the settings. You’ll also be able to tweak the colors to your liking. I’ll talk more about the software side of things below, but for the most part, I used the Mi TV with a Chromecast Ultra, and it was an enjoyable experience.

The Mi TV lowers the barrier for 4K HDR in India.

The Mi TV has three HDMI ports (including an ARC port), one USB 3.0 port, and a USB 2.0 port, along with Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi ac, and an Ethernet port. The internal hardware is also impressive — the TV is powered by an Amlogic T968 chipset with four Cortex A53 cores at 1.8GHz, along with 2GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage.

The RAM may not seem like much, but it’s more than enough to navigate the interface of the Mi TV. Talking about the interface, the PatchWall skin is customized for the Indian market, and I particularly like the content recommendation engine that’s on offer. It’ll tailor recommendations based on your viewing history, and it does a great job of suggesting similar TV shows and movies. The best feature though, has to be the universal search: the ability to search your DTH box’s programming library is a game-changer.

Xiaomi Mi TV What you won’t

The main issue with the Mi TV right now is the content ecosystem. With Xiaomi being a new entrant into the market in India, there’s not a whole lot in the way of content partnerships. You don’t get Netflix on the Mi TV, nor Hotstar, Prime Video, or even YouTube.

For what it’s worth, Xiaomi rolled out a YouTube app that mimics the web interface, but using it is clunky, and it doesn’t let you stream 4K videos. And although the Mi TV has enough HDMI ports, it’s missing a 3.5mm jack.

There’s no Netflix, Hotstar, or Prime Video, and that’s a problem.

For Xiaomi, the primary goal with the Mi TV was to elevate the user experience when pairing the TV with a DTH box. In that context, the Mi TV performs magnificently. The ability to seamlessly integrate the DTH is a novel addition, and those that are looking to stream content from the likes of Netflix or Hotstar can always pick up a Chromecast. Even factoring in the cost of a Chromecast or Fire TV Stick, the Mi TV is a stellar deal.

Another area where the Mi TV falls short is availability. Two months after its release, it’s still incredibly hard to get a hold of one, either online or from Mi Home stores.

The lack of availability is largely attributed to the fact that these TVs have to be brought in em masse from China, as there is no local manufacturing facility yet. Xiaomi said during the launch that because of the sleekness of the Mi TV, there are a limited number of factories in the world that possess the technical know-how to manufacture the panel — currently, the Mi TV is made in the same factory that manufactures iMacs.

Whether the brand will be able to set up a facility to get the TV assembled locally is an unknown at this point, but doing so would undoubtedly bring down costs for what is already a stellar bargain.

Xiaomi Mi TV Bottom line

The Mi TV is ideal if you’re looking for a budget TV with a great panel. Sure, you’re missing basic content streaming services, but that can be fixed with a Chromecast. The panel is one of the best in this category, and the Mi TV is a fantastic choice if you’re looking to pick up an Xbox One X or PlayStation 4 Pro for 4K HDR gaming.

Following the launch of the 55-inch Mi TV, Xiaomi also rolled out two variants in the 1080p Mi TV 4A series in India: a 32-inch model that costs just ₹13,999 and a 43-inch version for ₹22,999. The 32-inch model is also enticing as it offers Wi-Fi connectivity and comes with the PatchWall interface, while retailing for less than the price of the Redmi Note 5 Pro.

By making three models available across price points, Xiaomi is catering to the needs of a mass-market audience. The 55-inch model, in particular, sets the benchmark for its segment, and the quality of the panel alone justifies the ₹39,999 price tag. The rest is a bonus. If you can get your hands on the Mi TV, you should absolutely go for it.

See at Flipkart

AMD calls out NVIDIA’s partner program, G-Sync ‘gamer taxes’

A promotional push by NVIDIA has apparently tied up PC builders, and raised the ire of its competitor AMD. The current leader in the graphics card market, NVIDIA has apparently developed a GeForce Partner Program (GPP) that it claims exists to “ensure that gamers have full transparency into the GPU platform and software they’re being sold, and can confidently select products that carry the NVIDIA GeForce promise.”

But according to AMD, that vague explanation hides an attempt to elbow competition out of high-profile system lines. A recent report by HardOCP suggests that for PC builders to be a part of the program (with access to combined marketing efforts, bundles and rebate offers) they have to exclusively align their gaming brand with NVIDIA’s GeForce hardware (and not AMD’s Radeon). Things came to a head yesterday when ASUS suddenly announced a new gaming line, AREZ, that apparently exists only to keep AMD Radeon-powered PCs out of its well-known ROG gaming equipment. With AMD out of the way, the ROG line can join NVIDIA’s GPP.

Meanwhile, AMD has taken the opportunity to go all William Wallace, proclaiming that “Freedom of choice is a staple of PC gaming.” Its screed never mentions NVIDIA, the GPP or any of its proprietary tech like G-Sync or GameWorks, but reading between the lines makes things clear. From AMD’s side, it claims that tech like FreeSync and Vulkan improvements it has developed move the industry forward without harming the competition.

We’re not sure if that will convince anyone when it’s time to upgrade their graphics card or build a new PC, but it’s worth knowing where the sides stand. Asked about the situation, NVIDIA pointed to its March 1st blog post making the case that GPP is simply about consumer education.

Via: HotHardware

Source: AMD