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Another Apple event is in the books and, as expected, the Let Loose showcase was all about iPad. We now have our first Apple device powered by an M4 chip in the iPad Pro, with the company surprisingly choosing to debut it there rather than in a Mac. There's also an upgraded iPad Air that's available in two sizes: 11 inches and 13 inches. There are some accessory updates too, which isn't a big shock given that an Apple Pencil was prominent in the event's teaser image. So, without further ado, here's a rundown of everything Apple announced at its blessedly brief Let Loose event. iPad Pro It had been expected for a while that any updated iPad Pro would have an M3 chip, but Apple decided to upend the expectations of many by instead slotting the brand new M4 into its highest-end tablet. Apple says the new device delivers 50 percent faster performance than the M2 iPad Pro. Rendering performance is said to be four times faster than on the M2 Pro as well. For the first time on an iPad, Apple is bringing support for dynamic caching, hardware-accelerated ray tracing and hardware-accelerated mesh shading to the Pro with the M4. There are some power efficiencies here too. Apple says the M4 can deliver the same performance as an M2 using half the power. So, if you're using the tablet for tasks that aren't too strenuous, it stands to reason that the battery should last for longer. The other major upgrade for the iPad Pro is new display tech called Tandem OLED. As the name suggests, it uses two OLED panels layered on top of each other. That means this tablet should have richer colors and deeper blacks on what Apple is calling the Ultra Retina XDR display. Apple says the brightness levels max out at 1000 nits for standard and HDR, and 1600 nits for HDR. Despite the dual layer, the OLED panels are still thinner than an LCD display. To that end, Apple says the iPad Pro is now somehow thinner than an iPod nano (RIP, you beautiful thing), making it the company's most slender product ever. There's a nano-textured glass option for the first time on an iPad Pro too, but only if you opt for at least 1TB of storage. One other notable change is that the Ultra Wide 12MP front-facing camera is now on the landscape edge. The Magic Keyboard users out there may be pleased about that tweak. The new iPad Pro starts at $999 for the 11-inch model and $1,299 for the 13-inch, each with 256GB of storage. Add $200 to each of you want 5G cellular connectivity via eSIM. We've already had a hands-on with the iPad Pro and, at first glance, the display seems like the show stealer. M4 We have to chat a bit about what's powering the iPad Pro: the all-new M4 chipset. The Pro is the first Apple product to use the M4, even before any Mac. The M4 has a new CPU with four performance cores and six efficiency cores. There's a 10-core GPU as well. Notably, the chipset's neural engine is focused on machine learning and AI. Apple says the neural engine is capable of 38 trillion operations per second it's 60 times faster than the first neural engine that debuted in the A11 chip. AI features that the M4 will power on the iPad Pro will include real-time Live Captions, the ability to isolate subjects and remove backgrounds in videos in Final Cut Pro and automatic musical notation in StaffPad. Odds are high that we'll start seeing Macs with the M4 pop up later this year, which might put folks off from buying the M3 MacBook Air Apple started selling just a couple of months ago (though the company says the MBA is now the best-selling 13-inch and 15-inch laptop on the planet). The main reason for Apple skipping a silicon generation with the iPad Pro is likely to start a transition into AI hardware ahead of its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Expect the company to talk much more about what it plans to do with AI across all its products next month. iPad Air Apple The iPad Air was well overdue for an update after being stuck with an aging M1 chipset for over two years. The latest model (or models) boast an M2 chipset. Still recent enough to make it a notable upgrade from the previous Air while keeping the more powerful iPad Pro distinct. As I mentioned, the iPad Air now comes in two sizes, the existing 11-inch form factor and the new, larger 13-inch variant. That makes the Air the most cost-effective large screen iPad as things stand. Oh, and the front-facing camera is also positioned on the longer edge of the Air now. Thanks, Apple. The company has doubled the base storage from the previous generation to 128GB. The 11-inch model starts at $599 and the new 13-inch Air is $799. For 5G cellular connectivity, you'll need to pay $150 extra. As with pretty much everything else Apple showed off today, the new iPad Air will drop next Wednesday. We've also had some hands-on time with the new iPad Air. With the combination of the price and the various hardware updates, Apple could be onto another winner here. Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard Apple There's a new Apple Pencil around town and it has some nifty tricks up its sleeve, including haptic feedback. The Apple Pencil Pro supports a newsqueeze gesture too. If you rotate the barrel, you can change the orientation of brush and pen tools, just as you would with a pen and paper. Find My support for the first time in an Apple Pencil is very welcome, considering how easy it is too lose the dang thing if you don't store it securely on the side of your iPad. The Apple Pencil Pro costs $129. Preorders are open today and it ships on May 15. Apple Meanwhile, there's a new Magic Keyboard that's only compatible with the iPad Pro. This one is made from aluminum to give it a more premium feel and perhaps help users believe that the iPad Pro is the laptop replacement Apple has long envisioned its tablets being. The latest version has a larger trackpad with haptic feedback, while there's a row of function keys, la a more traditional keyboard. The new Magic Keyboard also ships next week. If you want one for the 11-inch iPad Pro, it'll run you $300, while the larger variant is $350. Follow all of the news live from Apple's 'Let Loose' event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/everything-announced-at-apples-let-loose-ipad-event-161005007.html?src=rss
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In the last five days, Helldivers 2 was removed from the PC market in 177 countries and the games Steam reviews collapsed under the weight of more than 200,000 negative ratings, dropping from Positive to Mixed. Its now Tuesday and the Helldivers 2 Steam page is overrun with people ranting against Sony and celebrating democracy, and for anyone taking their first glance at the game, its all a bit confusing. Heres whats going on. Helldivers 2 is a third-person co-op shooter developed by independent team Arrowhead Game Studios and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It went live on PlayStation 5 and Steam on February 8, marking a rare instance of cross-platform parity from Sony. Immediately, Helldivers 2 was a hit on PC it clocked more concurrent players on Steam than any other PlayStation game, beating God of War, Spider-Man Remastered, Horizon Zero Dawn and The Last of Us Part I. Helldivers 2 was so popular in its first few weeks that Arrowheads servers had trouble meeting demand and had to be capped at 450,000 players. I am completely exhausted by the success, Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt tweeted one week post-launch. So is the team, many, many late nights, on-calls, emergency meetings, discussions around server capacity, shards, capacity units, CPU utilization, login rates and CCU. Tired, but very, very pleased. Sony Interactive Entertainment Helldivers 2 is one of the first tests of Sonys long-term multiplatform goals. While Pilestedt was taking stock of Helldivers 2s launch week, Sony executives were telling investors about their fresh plans to aggressively chase revenue streams on PC. Sony president Hiroki Totoki said the objective was to proactively work on releasing first-party games on PC alongside PlayStation, a shift from the companys longstanding console-first approach. Helldivers 2 isnt a first-party Sony game, but its console-exclusive to PlayStation 5 and Sony has been supporting its development as its publisher. As long as Helldivers 2 has had a Steam page, its also had a dijon-yellow notification box alerting players that theyll need to link up a PlayStation Network account in order to play. According to Sony, account linking is all in the name of security and cross-platform play, but of course it also helps boost the studios PSN monthly active user numbers. Due to the games early network issues, Sony decided to postpone the account-linking requirement when Helldivers 2 went live on Steam on February 8. It hit the digital PC storefront for $40 with no notable region or account-linkage restrictions. For nearly three months, Helldivers 2 had its moment in the sun. And then it started to burn. On Thursday, May 2, Sony announced that all Helldivers 2 Steam players would be required to log into their PSN accounts in order to continue accessing the game on PC. The requirement would go live for new players on May 6, and existing players would start seeing a mandatory login prompt at the end of the month. Due to technical issues at the launch of Helldivers 2, we allowed the linking requirements for Steam accounts to a PlayStation Network account to be temporarily optional, Sonys announcement said. That grace period will now expire. Usually this wouldnt be a massive issue, since PSN accounts are free and its relatively painless to link one to Steam. However, Helldivers 2 had been sold around the world, and PSN is only available in 73 countries. That would leave well over 100 countries and territories in the lurch, with those players unable to play a game they'd already paid for. Refunds were also out of the question for most players especially the most dedicated ones since Steam generally limits those to games thatve been played for less than two hours. The bad reviews started pouring in. Sony Interactive Entertainment Neither Arrowhead nor Sony seemed to know what to do next. Sony published an FAQ in the Helldivers 2 Discord that didnt offer solutions, and instead seemed to advise affected players to create PSN accounts in different countries, a violation of the platforms terms. It became readily apparent through tweets and Discord updates that while Sony was the driving force behind the PSN requirement, Arrowhead developers kind of hated it. They even encouraged the review riot. I want people to make their displeasure known in a place where it might actually make a difference, Steam reviews and refund requests will do that, angry posting in the Discord wont, Arrowhead associate community manager Spitz posted in the games Discord server on Friday. Im not happy about this decision either. Over the weekend, more than 200,000 people posted negative reviews of Helldivers 2 on Steam, tanking its overall rating. On Sunday, May 5, Sony silently removed Helldivers 2 from Steam in 177 countries and territories that dont have access to PSN. That same day, Arrowhead CEO Pilestedt tweeted, We are talking solutions with PlayStation, especially for non-PSN countries. Your voice has been heard, and I am doing everything I can to speak for the community but I don't have the final say. Sony Interactive Entertainment On May 6, the day the PSN requirement was set to go live for new players, Sony backtracked. The company tweeted that its account-linking plans would not be moving forward. The message continued, Were still learning what is best for PC players and your feedback has been invaluable. Thanks again for your continued support of Helldivers 2 and well keep you updated on future plans. Helldivers 2 is now available in every region that has Steam, with the option to link a PSN account. Its PC review score is slowly recovering as the rioters return to adjust their rankings, now alongside cheeky messages about the power of democracy. On Monday, Pilestedt quoted Sonys reversal tweet and added, Firstly, I am impressed by the willpower of the @helldivers2 community and your ability to collaborate. Secondly I want to thank our partners and friends at @PlayStation for quickly and effectively making the decision to leave PSN linking optional. We together want to set a new standard for what a live game is, and how developers and community can support each other to create the best game experiences. With Helldivers 2, the account-linking issue was easily avoidable. Sony was knowingly selling a game to people who wouldnt be able to play it but first, it gave them a paid trial and three months of false hope. At best, it looks like Sony was completely unaware of the logistics that would support its bold new PC strategy. At worst, it all feels mildly diabolical. Sony Interactive Entertainment Its unclear what the 2024 Helldivers 2 Steam riots will mean for future Sony games on PC, but theres another test coming up soon with the release of Ghost of Tsushima Directors Cut on May 16. Just like Helldivers 2, the games Steam page contains a little yellow rectangle warning players that it requires a PSN account for online multiplayer and the PlayStation overlay. According to SteamDB, Ghost of Tsushima is currently on sale in a handful of countries that dont have PSN. As the Helldivers 2 drama began to kick off on May 3, Ghost of Tsushima developer Sucker Punch Productions responded to a concerned fan on X with the following account-linking clarification: "Just so you are aware, A PSN account is required for Legends online multiplayer mode and to use PlayStation overlay. It is not required to play the singleplayer game." As long as the terms of engagement are clear and Sony doesn't attempt to pull the rug out from under players three months after the game comes out, that all sounds just fine. Account linking isn't a new or even rare scenario in gaming Microsoft (including Activision Blizzard), Ubisoft, Riot, EA and most other major video game studios require a proprietary sign-in to access their games on Steam and other third-party storefronts. The issue with Helldivers 2 wasn't account linking. The issue was Sony's short-sighted execution of a high-profile PC rollout and its poor communication with upset players after the fact. Most gaming fans want to see PlayStation titles on PC, and Sony wants to wring as much money out of its core franchises as possible by putting them on additional platforms this plan should be win-win. With Helldivers 2, it's been more like win-lose-win, but at least we got there in the end.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/what-the-heck-is-going-on-with-helldivers-2-163829512.html?src=rss
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TikTok is officially challenging the law that could lead to a ban of the app in the United States. The company, which has long claimed that efforts to force a sale or ban of its app are unconstitutional, announced a lawsuit against the federal government. In the lawsuit, TikTok claims that a divestiture of its business from ByteDance is simply not possible, and that the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act violates the First Amendment. They claim that the Act is not a ban because it offers ByteDance a choice: divest TikToks U.S. business or be shut down, the suit states. But in reality, there is no choice. The qualified divestiture demanded by the Act to allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States is simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally. The filing of the lawsuit is the first beat in whats expected to be a lengthy legal battle over the law, which was passed last month. Under the law, TikTok has up to a year to separate itself from Chinese parent company ByteDance or face a ban in US app stores. However, legal challenges from TikTok could significantly delay that process. DevelopingThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tiktok-is-suing-the-us-government-to-stop-its-app-being-banned-163132752.html?src=rss
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