‘Gears of War 4’ will require a monster machine to play in 4K
You might have been delighted to hear that Gears of War 4 will take full advantage of your PC, but you might not be quite so thrilled when you realize what it takes to run the game in its full 4K glory. On top of a 4K gameplay demo (below), Microsoft has outlined the Windows version’s system requirements… and they’re not exactly modest. While you can get by on mid-range 2014 hardware as a baseline, the “ideal” experience (effectively, 4K) demands both a high-end AMD FX or Intel Core i7 processor as well as one of the highest-end graphics cards in recent memory, such as a GeForce GTX 1080 or a Radeon R9 Fury X. You’d better have splurged on your system in recent months, in other words.
The steep demands aren’t entirely surprising. PC hardware has only just started making 4K playable without resorting to multi-card graphics, and it’s going to be a while before that kind of horsepower filters down to the mainstream. Even the latest low-cost cards, like the GeForce GTX 1060 or Radeon RX 480, fall short of being fast enough for that kind of pixel count. Look at it this way, though: this could be the excuse you need to buy a long-overdue system upgrade, and you’ll have a reason to revisit the game if you have to “settle” for a lower resolution on launch day.
Source: Xbox Wire
Windows Holographic coming to all Windows 10 PCs next year
We already knew that all Windows 10 PCs will be compatible with Windows Holographic, a “mixed reality” experience that’ll let you immerse yourself in faraway lands. Now, we know when that will be. Terry Myerson, Executive VP of Microsoft’s Windows and Devices group, just came on stage at the Intel Developer’s Forum to announce there’ll be an update to Windows 10 to add the holographic shell update as soon as next year.
This means that all mainstream PCs will soon have holographic or mixed reality capabilities. Thanks to a Windows Holographic Platform collaboration with Intel, Myerson said compatible PCs includes tiny Intel NUCs with embedded Iris graphics, as well as the latest and greatest PCs. It’ll have optimization for PCs and laptops, and in addition to HoloLens, it’ll be compatible with Project Alloy as well.
Source: Microsoft
Microsoft will let you try Windows 10 games early
The Xbox Game Preview program is a nice way to try indie console games before they’re finished, but what about PC gamers? Where’s Microsoft’s answer to Steam Early Access? At last, it’s here. Microsoft has announced that Xbox Game Preview is coming to Windows 10, giving you a chance to play early desktop games and potentially influence their design. The company has only confirmed Rockfish Games’ Everspace as one of the launch titles for the initiative, but it’s vowing that there will be “many more to come.”
The effort could help Microsoft generate some of the indie buzz that has been missing on the Windows Store. You might not have to go to Steam to find the next Ark: Survival Evolved or Kerbal Space Program while it’s still in development. There’s no doubt that the crew in Redmond faces an uphill battle, though. Steam is still the default portal for many gamers, and they may not feel compelled to switch unless they can expect to find a similar volume and quality of titles in Microsoft’s digital shop.
Source: Xbox Wire
HDHomeRun’s DVR app is ready for the Xbox One
Earlier this year Microsoft confirmed that development of a DVR feature for the Xbox One is “on hold,” so what’s next for fans of its OneBox dream? SiliconDust’s answer is an app that lets you watch TV streamed directly to the game system from a DVR (which could be a PC, Android TV box or NAS — but not the Xbox itself) running its software and connected to a TV tuner device. Doing that means you can completely control it via the gamepad or Xbox remote — and ditch the system’s HDMI passthrough/IR blaster combo that can’t do simple things like set up a new recording without switching remote.
Shh! Snuck a new pic. Come on @Xbox @xboxuk @XboxCanada @majornelson #XboxOne turn on UWP apps for #HDHomeRunDVR pic.twitter.com/VWuJI8tDgH
— Silicondust USA, Inc (@HDHomeRun_US) August 10, 2016
I can see the HDHomerun app by searching on the box, but it isn’t ready for downloading just yet (installing it on Windows 10 first may help). SiliconDust told Kickstarter backers last night that the app should be available within 24 hours, so it shouldn’t take long to show up.
Those who prefer a DIY approach to the DVR haven’t had as many options available since Microsoft decided not to extend Windows Media Center to the Xbox One and Windows 10, but the addition of Universal Windows apps means third parties can fill in the gap. SiliconDust is still developing the other parts of its DVR platform too, recently releasing an app for Windows Phone 10, as well as providing updates for the apps on Windows 10 desktop and OS X.
The update also referenced a recent issue with Samsung’s TVs, where the last update disabled the RUI feature that let TVs connect directly to an HDHomeRun DVR server. SiliconDust says it’s in touch with the “right people” at Samsung, but there are no specific plans to share right now. As far as other features users are waiting for, the company says trick play (the ability to pause, fast-forward or rewind live TV) will arrive by the end of the month, and it’s still working on support for protected channels too.
Source: HDHomeRun DVR (Kickstarter), HDHomeRun (Windows Store)
Play ‘Minecraft’ on the Oculus Rift today
Minecraft has landed on the Oculus Rift as part of a free update to the Windows 10 Edition beta. Anyone who owns the PC or Mac version of Minecraft is automatically granted access to the Windows 10 beta version; hit up Mojang to sign up and start playing.
We tried out the Oculus Rift version of Minecraft back in March and found it to be absolutely delightful.
“It’s one of the best and more immersive VR experiences I’ve had thus far,” senior editor Nathan Ingraham wrote. “In fact, that lack of fine detail actually helps Minecraft be so successful — the game doesn’t try to mimic reality. Instead, it felt more like I stepped into a cartoon.”
Minecraft is already playable on the Samsung Gear VR, though that’s limited to the features of the Pocket Edition. The Oculus Rift version features support for the Xbox One controller plus keyboard and mouse, and players’ VR-specific settings are saved separately from their traditional Minecraft world.
Mojang developer Tommaso Checchi tweeted on Thursday that the Oculus Rift version of Minecraft would land some time this week, though he didn’t divulge an exact date. Happy Monday, everyone.
Source: Xbox Wire
Exploring the past, present and future of AI with Engadget
Few things stir up as much excitement, fear and confusion as artificial intelligence. So we’re dedicating this entire week to examining it from as many angles as possible. We’ll look at how current nascent AIs reflect some of society’s less admirable qualities, how it could be used to improve our criminal justice system and we’ll even explore the meaning of the “I” in “AI” — intelligence. Jess Conditt will challenge the notion that experts truly understand what it means to build an intelligent machine. And Nicole Lee will explore whether or not a minimum income is a viable solution to a workforce that demands less humans, and more computers and robots.
At this point practically every major tech company is making sizable investments in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon are all betting big on its potential. Google has built a special processor just for powering AI software. IBM is trying to shoehorn Watson into every industry from retail to medicine — it even had the damn thing write a cook book. Smaller players are looking for a foothold in the emerging market too, such as Fujitsu and startups like Viv.
Even though it seems like the tech industry is all-in on this whole AI thing, it’s not really that cut and dry. Google is pumping tons of money into research and services, while working on a kill switch to keep the machines from rising up and investigating the more mundane dangers of AI. Then there are titans of the industry like Elon Musk, who has invested in the technology while simultaneously warning us that we’re “summoning the demon.”
Musk is hardly alone. Plenty of major players and thinkers in the world of technology have warned of the dangers of AI, including Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking. But not every vision of the future is so apocalyptic. Theorists like Ray Kurzweil envision a world where machines don’t wipe humans out, but become part of us in the singularity. And for every Terminator film, there is a movie like Her, where AIs aren’t destructive forces, but three-dimensional characters and even romantic interests.
Whether you’re in camp armageddon (like Elon Musk) or eagerly awaiting the melding of human and machine (like Ray Kurzweil), one thing we can all agree on is that artificial intelligence is a rare truly transformative technology. Like the internal combustion engine, the assembly line, the transistor and the internet, AI has the potential to make the world of tomorrow almost unrecognizable.
But, before we spend the next week trying to untangle this mess, let’s take a look at the debate as it stands now. Below we’ve collected five quotes about the potential benefits and dangers of artificial intelligence from some of the biggest names in the field. And we’ve had each one loving illustrated by the fine folks at eBoy.
I absolutely don’t think a sentient artificial intelligence is going to wage war against the human species.
Daniel H. Wilson
Source: The Globe and Mail
With artificial intelligence, we’re summoning the demon.
Elon Musk
Source: MIT AeroAstro Centennial Symposium
Artificial intelligence will reach human levels by around 2029. Follow that out further to, say, 2045, we will have multiplied the intelligence, the human biological machine intelligence of our civilization a billion-fold.
Ray Kurzweil
Source: PBS News Hour
The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.
Stephen Hawking
Source: BBC
By far, the greatest danger of Artificial Intelligence is that people conclude too early that they understand it.
Eliezer Yudkowsky
Source: Artificial Intelligence as a Positive and Negative Factor in Global Risk (PDF)
Microsoft Office iPhone users can doodle with their fingers
If you want to sketch or perhaps add your signature to a Word, Excel or PowerPoint document on iOS, the only option has been to use the iPad Pro’s Pencil. Now, with the latest version of Office for the iPhone, you can draw directly on a document with no need for the stylus. Once you launch the app, you can “use your finger to write, draw and highlight with the tools in the new Draw tab,” Microsoft says.
Tools include a pen with adjustable line thicknesses and color, a highlighter and an eraser, and you can draw directly on cells, documents or slides. The new tools should come in particularly handy in conjunction with Office’s new collaboration tools, letting users easily mark up and share changes. The updated apps are now available on the App Store.
Via: The Verge
Source: Microsoft (iTunes)
Microsoft rolls out new Surface Pro Type Covers for NFL fans
Now that the NFL preseason is underway, Microsoft is taking advantage of the moment with a product designed specifically for football fans. If you own a Surface Pro 3 or Surface Pro 4, the company’s rolling out new Type Covers featuring logos from all 32 NFL teams, in case you’re interested in showing everyone your true colors. The themed peripherals, dubbed Surface Special Edition NFL Type Covers (say that ten times fast), are made from “premium quality” materials according to Microsoft. That said, they don’t feature the same high-end, suede-like Alcantara fabric as the Signature Type Covers introduced a few months ago. Doesn’t matter? Then you can get one today from Microsoft’s site or one its retail stores for $160.
MIT’s and Microsoft’s flash tattoos can control gadgets
Those stylish flash tattoos could do more than just look cool in the future. A team from MIT and Microsoft Research has developed a fabrication process called “DuoSkin,” which can be used to make temporary metallic tattoos that double as on-skin interfaces. MIT Media Lab already demonstrated their capability in three different ways. First, they can be used for input to control mobile devices and computers, transforming your skin into a trackpad, a button or a slider. They can also be used to turn your skin into a display of sorts, changing colors based on your body temp. Finally, they can store data that phones and other NFC-enabled devices can read.
One of the team’s lead researchers, Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao, said DuoSkin tattoos are pretty easy to make. You can use any graphics software to create patterns for the circuit and simply slap on a gold leaf layer on top for conductivity. A lot of research teams besides Kao’s are also developing high-tech temp tattoos, but these ones look like something people would actually love to wear. If you want to know more about DuoSkin than what the video below reveals, make sure to check out MIT’s scientific paper on the project’s official website.
Via: TechCrunch
Source: DuoSkin
Minecraft launches on the Oculus Rift next week
If you own an Oculus Rift and are eager to play Minecraft on it, we now know roughly when it’s coming. Mojang developer Tommaso Checchi tweeted that it’ll arrive to the Windows 10 Beta edition (version 0.15.6) sometime next week. We tried the highly anticipated VR version in March, and enjoyed exploring the blocky worlds in immersive, 360-degree 3D. Minecraft is one of the most highly-anticipated Oculus Rift titles, though the ultimate version might eventually be on Microsoft’s AR Hololens.
Microsoft-owned developer Mojang currently lets you download the Windows 10 beta version for free, provided you own Minecraft for PC or Mac. You just need to hit the website and enter your credentials to get access. We presume it will remain free for registered owners once Oculus support arrives, though Microsoft hasn’t confirmed that.
PSA: unsurprisingly, promised dates change 🙂
We said that Rift support would be in 0.15.6, but it will be out next week instead!— Tommaso Checchi (@_tomcc) August 11, 2016
Minecraft creator “Notch” Persson first floated the idea of on Oculus Rift version nearly four years ago to the day. However, he canceled the project after Facebook bought Oculus, saying “Facebook creeps me out.” Luckily, Microsoft put the project back on track after it bought Mojang for $2.5 billion. All that turmoil is now in the past, and you’ll be able to grab the title (in beta) by August 19th at the latest.
Via: Gizmodo
Source: Tommasso Checchi (Twitter)
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