Technology

Razer has been talking up modular gaming PCs with streamlined swappable parts for years. Now, after various concepts, CES reveals, and standard PC cases with associated branding, the company is actually selling a pre-built desktop PC for the first time. The Tomahawk is the final version of what we saw at CES 2020 back in January. It’s a simple case design with two PCIe slots: one for a full-sized GPU, and one for an Intel NUC Element board that contains the CPU, the RAM, the storage, and basically everything else you need for a functional PC. The NUC module includes a 45W Core i9-9980HK Coffee Lake processor, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, a 512GB NVMe SSD, and a 2TB hard drive. The memory and storage are upgradable, but the CPU is not — unless Intel releases another compatible NUC board that you can s...

The highly-anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 is just days away from its December 10th release. But depending on where you live and what platform you’re playing on, you might get to play the game a bit earlier than you might have expected given the previous guidance. Developer CD Projekt Red shared exactly when Cyberpunk 2077 will be available in a tweet posted Thursday. If you’re playing on PC or Stadia, you’ll be able to start the game at 12AM GMT on December 10th no matter where you are in the world. That means, for example, that if you live on the US East Coast, you can jump into the game at 7PM ET on December 9th. If you want to know exactly when 12AM GMT is in your timezone, check the map below. Console players will get access to the game at midnight local time, according to CD Projekt Red. ...

The next time you get on a plane, you’ll probably have plenty of new things to worry about, but having to listen to people talking on the phone won’t be one. Way back in 2013, the FCC announced that it would be considering removing a ban on passengers making phone calls once the plane was above 10,000 feet. The proposal was unpopular even within the FCC, with then-Chairman Tom Wheeler saying he would prefer people not be allowed to make calls on a plane. The FCC originally announced that it would be considering the proposal on December 12 (of 2013), but it took until today to reach a verdict (via Boing Boing): no. The decision cites “strong opposition,” especially among pilots and flight attendants, claiming that the proposal “[failed] to address significant safety and national security co...

If you’ve ever used Cash App and thought “wow, I wish I could put this on my body…” we may need to talk about your relationship with apps. But also you’re in luck! The payment service announced in a tweet today that it’s launching its own apparel line, called (what else) Cash. According to its website, the apparel line will follow the standard streetwear release model of “limited edition drops”. If you follow this link from the tweet, you’ll first be subjected to some creepy 3D models — you can click on them to make them dance — before you actually get to the shop. Once there, you can browse the “fits” (as I’ve heard the kids calling them). If you need a new T-shirt, sweatshirt, jacket, or pair of pants, and for some reason don’t mind being a walking billboard for a company that make...

Razer released its first set of true wireless earbuds in 2019, with the main appeal being a low-latency mode that made them better suited for mobile gaming. Now, the company is ready with its second pair, the Hammerhead True Wireless Pro, which go on sale today for $199.99 and add active noise cancellation and THX audio certification to the mix. “The Hammerhead True Wireless Pro uses hybrid ANC to nullify both external and unwanted internal noise by generating inverse sound waves simultaneously,” Razer wrote in its press release for the new buds. Passive noise isolation also helps there, and Razer has switched to a proper in-ear design — unlike the AirPods-esque open style of the original Hammerhead True Wireless. (There’s a “quick attention mode” for piping in outside audio when you want ...

A strap for an Apple Watch equipped with front- and rear-facing cameras is finally launching after nearly four years in development. The Wristcam has an 8-megapixel camera that can shoot 1080p video and take stills in 4K resolution and a 2-megapixel camera for selfies. The company says you’ll also be able to use it as a video walkie-talkie with real-time live-streaming. Those might be serviceable cameras, but they’re not likely to replace your iPhone camera. The company sent over a sample of images shot by the Wristcam, which are pretty decent, if a bit underwhelming in the details. A photo taken with the new Wristcam.Image: Wristcam Image: Wristcam Image: Wristcam Wristcam, originally called CMRA, shows images on the Watch screen but has a separate battery, which the company says can last...

A global phishing campaign has been targeting organizations associated with the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines since September 2020, IBM security researchers say. In a blog post, analysts Claire Zaboeva and Melissa Frydrych of IBM X-Force IRIS announced that the phishing campaign spans six regions: Germany, Italy, South Korea, Czech Republic, greater Europe, and Taiwan. The campaign appears to be focused on the “cold chain,” the segment of the vaccine supply chain that keeps doses cold during their storage and transportation. Some vaccines need to stay at extremely low temperatures in order to remain potent. Pfizer, for example, recommends that their COVID-19 vaccine be stored at negative 70 degrees Celsius (colder than winter in Antarctica). That poses a logistical challenge for the ph...

Looking Glass Factory, a company that designs personal holographic displays, just launched a Kickstarter for its new Looking Glass Portrait, a smaller, more affordable take on its previous light field display. The new Looking Glass can operate as a standalone device, and in a clever move, supports portrait mode photos from smartphones like the iPhone for creating simple holograms. The Looking Glass Portrait displays holographic photos, videos and 3D models in a 58 degree viewing cone, which basically amounts to the experience of a 3D video or hologram, but viewable by multiple people without the need for special glasses. Holographic light field tech isn’t new, particularly in smaller sizes like a cellphone screen. Where Looking Glass Portrait differs from other displays, like Sony’s $3,000...

After a not-so-subtle tease from Sony on Wednesday, God of War protagonist Kratos is now available as a purchasable skin in Fortnite. Although Kratos is a Sony character, he’s not exclusive to PS4 or PS5 platforms — you’ll be able to buy the Kratos skin on any platform where Fortnite can be played, and players on all platforms will be able to see Kratos in-game, Fortnite-maker Epic Games tells The Verge. We should note that there is one PlayStation-exclusive thing about Kratos, though — if you play a match as Kratos on PlayStation 5, you’ll unlock the Armored Kratos Style: Kratos in his Armored Kratos style.Image: Epic Games For 2,200 V-Bucks, Fortnite’s in-game currency, you get the Kratos skin, a glider, a Mimir back bling, and the Leviathan Axe pickaxe (which comes with an emote). You c...

Twitter has been experimenting with threaded replies for some time as a way to potentially make replies easier to read and follow. But the company has decided to end those experiments because of user feedback, it announced on Thursday. “We asked and you let us know this reply layout wasn’t it, as it was harder to read and join conversations,” the company wrote in a tweet published today. “So we’ve turned off this format to work on other ways to improve conversations on Twitter.” Your feedback shapes Twitter. We asked and you let us know this reply layout wasn’t it, as it was harder to read and join conversations. So we’ve turned off this format to work on other ways to improve conversations on Twitter. https://t.co/pA4Yd0QfyW — Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) December 3, 2020 In a follow...

Today, the National Science Foundation (NSF) released shocking footage of the collapse of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The video, captured on December 1st, shows the moment when support cables snapped, causing the massive 900-ton structure suspended above Arecibo to fall onto the observatory’s iconic 1,000-foot-wide dish. “the drone operator was very adept to see what was happening.” The videos of the collapse were captured by a camera located in Arecibo’s Operations Control Center, as well as from a drone located above the platform at the time of collapse. The operator of the drone was able to adjust the drone camera once the platform started to fall and capture the moment of impact. NSF, which oversees Arecibo, had been doing hourly monitoring of the observatory with drones, e...

WarnerMedia is pushing even more aggressively into streaming by releasing every single on its movies movie in 2021 simultaneously on HBO Max. There are some limitations to the new business model. The movies will only stream on HBO Max for one month before leaving the platform for a period of time. They will also play in theaters simultaneously, keeping the relationship with movie theater distributors like AMC and Regal. The plan is to run this experiment for one year. For people where HBO Max doesn’t exist, it appears that theatrical releases will still be the go-to option. The movies Warner Bros. is planning to release for now include: The Little Things, Judas and the Black Messiah, Tom & Jerry, Godzilla vs. Kong, Mortal Kombat, Those Who Wish Me Dead, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me...