Alpha

Novavax says its COVID-19 vaccine is 90 percent effective

The two-shot COVID-19 vaccine made by Novavax is 90 percent effective against the disease, the company said today. The Novavax shots are a different type of vaccine than the ones already available: it’s a protein-based vaccine that directly delivers bits of the coronavirus spike protein, which the body then makes antibodies against. Novavax tested its… Read more

Pharma is winning the big business popularity contest

It used to be easy to hate pharmaceutical companies. Between soaring drug costs and the opioid crisis, the industry was widely perceived as one that put profits over people’s health. In a 2019 Gallup survey, pharma was ranked dead last for positive perception among United States institutions. People had more positive feelings about the federal… Read more

Xbox Is Making Streaming Hardware, Already Working on Next Consoles

Home News (Image credit: Xbox) Ahead of E3 Microsoft and Xbox are putting a heavy emphasis on cloud gaming and its Game Pass subscription program alongside its existing console ecosystem. This includes new, dedicated streaming hardware for any TV or monitor . It is also updating its cloud datacenters to use the Xbox Series X… Read more

Sony announces the $9,000 professional drone it teased at CES

Sony is now fully revealing its Airpeak S1 drone, which it teased at CES 2021 in January. The announcement contains a lot more detail on the drone’s capabilities, features, and reveals a $9,000 pricetag for the drone sans gimbal or camera, all of which cements the idea that this drone will be aimed squarely at… Read more

Micron Ships First 1-Alpha DRAM: Extreme Density Without EUV

Home News (Image credit: Micron) Micron said on Tuesday that it had started volume production of DRAM chips using its latest 1α (1-alpha) process technology. Initially the company will use the new node for LPDDR4X and 8Gb DDR4 memory ICs, but the company will eventually use the new fabrication tech to produce all of its… Read more

Dell has discontinued the Alienware Graphics Amplifier, its external GPU

We recently noticed that Alienware’s just-announced X15 and X17 thin and vaguely light gaming laptops are conspicuously missing a port — and it’s not because they’re thin-and-light, it turns out. Alienware has just confirmed to The Verge that it has discontinued the Alienware Graphics Amplifier external GPU, and so these laptops won’t need that proprietary… Read more

Samsung reportedly bringing HDR10+ to gaming

Home News (Image credit: Future) Samsung could enable HDR10+ for gaming, according to a German blog post spotted by HDTVtest. The article claims Samsung executives are working with ‘various unnamed studios’ to set up a steady supply of HDR10+ titles. The HDR10+ format was created by Samsung and is a competitor to Dolby Vision. Like Dolby… Read more

Razer Kraken V3 X Review: Light Weight, Heavy Sound

Our Verdict The Razer Kraken V3 X will keep you satisfied with an excellent microphone and solid rich audio reproduction. For + Lightweight + Solid audio reproduction and thump + Great, microphone + Succulently soft ear cups Against – ll-plastic design Designed to compete with the best gaming headsets, without breaking the bank, Razer’s Kraken… Read more

Et Tu, RAM? Computer Memory Price Hikes Are Coming

Home News (Image credit: Micron) High demand for PCs and, importantly, desktop PCs has already resulted in increased graphics card, PSU, HDD, and SSD pricing, but apparently, now DRAM is getting even more expensive, too. According to a new report from Taiwan, memory prices are set for double-digit growth in the coming months. Contract memory… Read more

That’s no moon: veteran Apple designer unveils $1,799 Cell Alpha speaker

Christopher Stringer, an ex-Apple designer who worked on everything from the HomePod to the original iPhone during his 22 year-stint at the company, has unveiled his new startup’s debut speaker. It’s called the Cell Alpha, a futuristic Death Star-shaped connected speaker with an emphasis on spatial audio. It costs $1,799, or $1,969 if you want… Read more

Microsoft rolls out Dolby Vision gaming test on Xbox Series X and S

Dolby Vision gaming is arriving on the Xbox Series X and S for testers who are a part of the Xbox Insider’s “alpha ring” group. This HDR format offers an upgraded set of features like support for dynamic metadata. Microsoft says the feature means “brighter highlights, sharper contrast, and more vibrant colors” in games when… Read more

TiVo’s first Android TV dongle also appears to be its last

Last May, TiVo attempted to muscle in on Roku and Amazon with an HDMI streaming dongle of its own — the $70 TiVo Stream 4K, which traded in the company’s traditional live TV + DVR functionality for the likes of Sling TV, Netflix, HBO and YouTube. It now appears that attempt was so unsuccessful, the… Read more

Xiaomi is getting back into the premium tablet game, MIUI reveals

The premium Android tablet range for the past few years has been limited to say the least with Samsung and Huawei being the only viable options. According to new info uncovered in MIUI 12.5 system apps by Xiaomi tipster kacskrz and the XiaomiUI Telegram group, we’re in for at least three premium Snapdragon 8-series powered… Read more

Microsoft Teams’ new reading feature helps students during the pandemic and beyond

Microsoft is adding a new Reading Progress feature to Microsoft Teams, designed to help students improve their reading fluency. Reading Progress works by allowing students to record themselves reading a passage of text, and offering teachers the ability to assess accuracy rates, mispronunciations, and more. Typically, students practice reading fluency in front of a teacher… Read more

MP3, AAC, WAV, FLAC: all the audio file formats explained

Home Advice Organising your digital music collection, you might be struck by the number of different audio file formats in your library. Almost everyone’s heard of MP3, but what about OGG, AIFF, MQA or DSD? If the list leaves you wondering whether all those songs studied at different universities to get such official-looking letters after… Read more