Technology

Nvidia is launching its latency-reducing tech, Reflex, for anyone who has a Nvidia graphics card and plays the PC version of Overwatch. The company tested the feature in Overwatch’s PTR servers in March, but now Reflex is live and theoretically available for competitive play. Nvidia claims Reflex reduces the time between pulling the trigger in Overwatch and the game rendering the shot on screen by as much as 50 percent, and now you can easily test that. Latency can be caused by a variety of things (internet speed can be a big factor in competitive play) but Reflex is focused on reducing latency caused by computer hardware. The longer the delay between a click and the game reacting, the better chance whatever the player was responding to is already out of frame. In this case, Nvidia’s tech ...

Nintendo has announced Pac-Man 99, a new multiplayer game that’ll be included with its Nintendo Switch Online subscription service. Like Tetris 99 and the recently departed Super Mario Bros. 35, the game pits dozens of players against each other in a battle royale-style fight to the end. The game looks similar to the classic arcade original Pac-Man, but you can make it more difficult for opponents by munching on power pellets, eating ghosts, and sending “Jammer Pac-Man” over to their screens. There are eight different preset strategies you can use to screw with other players, for example by speeding up their game. Pac-Man 99 also has various themes available for purchase that change up the music and visuals based on other Namco games like Galaga, Xevious, and Dig Dug. There are 20 in total...

NIU, maker of popular, affordable electric mopeds, showed off its first-ever electric kick scooter. The new two-wheeler will be available starting this summer in China, Europe, and North America. The NIU Kick Scooter will come in two variants, Pro and Sport. In the US, the Pro scooter will have a top speed of 19.8mph, while the Sport version will have a top speed of 17.4 mph. In Europe, both versions will have a regulated top speed of 25 km/h (15.5 mph). The Pro will have a range 31 miles (50 km) on a single 7.5-hour charge, while the Sport will have a range of 25 miles (40 km) on a single 5.5-hour charge. The NIU Kick Scooter will come in two variants, Pro and Sport For the drivetrain, NIU is offering a 350W motor and 486Wh lithium-ion battery pack for the Pro kick scooter, while the Spor...

Lenovo’s next gaming phone has leaked, with a design that looks like a Michael Bay Transformer and a gaming PC merged together. It’s unlike anything I have ever seen on a phone before. I’m not sure if I like it. Pictures of what appears to be the phone were shown on the social media service Weibo recently, and I am speechless. Specifically, the dual-camera setup is located at the dead center of the phone, and there’s a built-in active cooling fan. It reminds me a lot of a Transformer, as you can see from the photo below. Grid View Image: Weibo Image: Weibo Now, Lenovo is not the first company to stick a cooling fan in a gaming smartphone. In 2019, Nubia’s Red Magic 3 had a cooling fan placed inside of the device. The Black Shark FunCooler Pro is an external cooling fan designed for people ...

Trade-in provider Gazelle exited the online trade-in business back in February, and now the company says it’s changing its mind. Gazelle is back to accepting online trade-ins of iPhones, Samsung phones, Google Pixel devices, and iPads and other tablets on its website, the company confirms to The Verge. The program resumed accepting new offers on April 5th, a Gazelle representative clarified. “Earlier this year, we announced that we will no longer be offering our trade-in option on Gazelle. After careful consideration, including feedback from customers like you, we have decided to keep Gazelle Trade-In going. Today, we are happy to say, ‘We’re back, baby!’” reads an email Gazelle sent to prospective customers and shared with The Verge. “Gazelle Trade-In is a pioneer of the electronics trade...

As we approach Google I/O 2021, the rumor mill has started pointing to new hardware, including a Pixel 5A and Pixel Buds A, a lower-cost set of true wireless earbuds that would slot in below the company’s main pair. Google seems to have gotten ahead of itself, however, as, according to 9to5Google, a new email contains an image of olive green Pixel Buds that aren’t part of the current lineup. The interior of the case is also color-matched to the buds, which isn’t the case with the second-gen Pixel Buds. Another clue that these are new is that the inside-facing part of the earbuds is also the same green. So with those things considered, we’re likely seeing the upcoming Pixel Buds A in this image. They look practically identical to the regular Pixel Buds, though the second LED inside the char...

Jimmy Fallon streamed Among Us on Twitch with a star-studded group in his debut on the platform Tuesday evening. The stream lasted about an hour, and near the end, more than 125,000 people were watching live. Fallon was joined by The Roots’ Questlove, Tariq Trotter, and Kirk Douglas; Stranger Things stars Noah Schnapp (who plays Will Byers) and Gaten Matarazzo (who plays Dustin Henderson); streamers Sykkuno and Rachel “Valkyrae” Hofstetter; YouTuber Corpse Husband; and Among Us developer InnerSloth’s community director, Victoria Tran. Parts from the stream will air on The Tonight Show next week, according to IGN. You can catch a replay of the stream on Fallon’s Twitch channel: [embedded content] Fallon also raised money for Feeding America during the stream. Donations from viewers totaled ...

Threes designer Asher Vollmer is launching a new studio, Vodeo Games, and announced the company’s first game, a turn-based adventure called Beast Breaker. Beast Breaker stars Skipper, a tiny mouse warrior fighting mosaic monsters. The game relies on tactical choices via pinball-like mechanics; players can also craft equipment to assist them on their journey. It’s heading to Nintendo Switch and PC this summer. Vodeo released a brief trailer alongside the news today that shows off the game’s quick gameplay and colorful art style. On its website, Vodeo says it plans to release small, intimate games “full of complex, interlocking systems that can take years to fully master,” once every year. The studio is already teasing a second one as part of its plan to work on multiple projects. Since rele...

NASA’s mini Ingenuity helicopter survived its first night all alone on the surface of Mars after getting dropped off by Perseverance on Saturday. Weathering frigid Martian temperatures, the newly deployed rotorcraft passed an important test of independence, giving engineers confidence to proceed with a series of warming-up exercises in preparation for its first flight this weekend. “That was one of the huge, huge achievements that we’ve been looking forward to, and now we can move on to the rest of the mission,” Teddy Tzanetos, Ingenuity deputy operations lead, said on Monday on a NASA live stream. “And now we’re on our own. We’re a separate spacecraft on Mars on our own energy.” The four-pound, solar-powered craft arrived on Mars attached to the belly of NASA’s Perseverance rover on Febru...

A Google researcher manager has resigned following the controversial firings of two female leaders in his organization. Samy Bengio, who oversaw the ethical AI team prior to a reorganization in February, is leaving to pursue other opportunities, according to Bloomberg. His last day will be April 28th. Bengio was a strong advocate of star AI ethics researchers Timnit Gebru and Margaret Mitchell, who previously co-led the ethical AI team. Gebru was fired in December while working on a paper about the dangers of large language models. Mitchell was terminated in February after using a script to search her emails for evidence of discrimination against Gebru. In a statement on Facebook in the wake of the firing, Bengio said he was “stunned” by what happened to Gebru. The terminations sparked out...

Alphabet shareholder Trillium Asset Management is pushing Google to adopt better whistleblower protections in light of the firing of prominent AI ethics researcher Timnit Gebru. The $3.5 billion sustainable investment firm has filed a shareholder resolution asking the board of directors for a third-party review of current policies. “Reporting suggests that many Google employees who have resigned or been fired … publicly report retaliation after voicing human rights implications of company practices, including systemic workplace racism and sexism,” the resolution reads. “These red flags suggest the potential for culture, ethics, and/or human rights problems internally.” Trillium owns 63,078 Alphabet shares— a stake currently worth roughly $140 million. Gebru was fired late last year while w...

Build-A-Bear has finally revealed what its new Animal Crossing: New Horizons-themed lineup will look like with two stuffed animal versions of fan-favorite Isabelle and infamous loan shark (loan raccoon?) Tom Nook, decked out in island outfits that match the game. Of course, because it’s 2021, you simply can’t just buy a hot item like an Animal Crossing Build-A-Bear doll — you’ll need to sign up for a PlayStation 5-style queue, which will then randomly assign you a place on line to buy the bears (are they still bears if they’re a dog and a raccoon? How does Build-A-Bear’s taxonomy system work?) today, April 6th, at 11AM EST / 8AM PST. Right now, Build-A-Bear has only showed off those two characters, although its possible that the company will have other outfits or merchandise as part of the...