Elon Musk teased that Tesla’s new Model S Plaid would be capable of running Cyberpunk 2077 earlier this year, and he’s now demonstrated the car’s “PS5-level performance.” The refreshed Model S includes a new Tesla infotainment system, powered by AMD’s Ryzen processor and a discrete AMD RDNA 2 GPU.
“There’s never been a car that has state of the art computing technology, state of the art infotainment where this is literally at the level of a PlayStation 5,” said Tesla CEO Elon Musk during a demo event last night. “This is actual PlayStation 5-level performance… yes it can run Cyberpunk. It’s high frame rate, it will do 60fps with state of the art games.”
AMD revealed last week that it’s powering this new infotainment system in both the new Model S and Model X, with 10 teraflops of compute power. That in itself is nearly identical to the 10.28 teraflops found on Sony’s PlayStation 5, although Tesla’s total compute includes both the integrated and discrete GPUs so it won’t be a full 10 teraflops for gaming alone.
We only saw a brief demo of Cyberpunk 2077 running at high frame rates on the $130,000 Model S Plaid during Tesla’s event, alongside a closer look at the updated UI on the infotainment system.
A Tesla-branded controller.Paul Spivak (Reddit)
In separate demonstrations after the event, some Tesla fans were able to get pictures of what appears to be a Tesla-branded game controller. It’s not clear if the controller, which mimics the shape of the car’s steering wheel, is a dummy unit or not. It appears alongside an Xbox controller in a photo published by Reddit users (above), and videos seem to show the Xbox controller being used to play Cyberpunk 2077.
You might be wondering why you’d need PS5-level gaming performance in your car, which the Technoking is happy to answer. “If you think about the future of where the car is often in autopilot or full self-driving mode, then entertainment is going to become increasing important,” said Musk. Until that’s a reality, we’re hoping to see the folks at Digital Foundry benchmark a car running the latest AAA games against powerful PCs, the PS5, and the Xbox Series X.
Hacked data stolen from CD Projekt is circulating online, the company says. The studio behind Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 says it can not confirm the exact contents of the data being circulated, but believes it relates to its games, contractors, and both current and former employees. It also warned that the data may have been manipulated or tampered with.
The disclosure comes four months after the studio first announced that it had fallen victim to a ransomware attack. It initially said hackers had managed to access “certain data” from the company. CD Projekt posted the ransom note it received in which the hackers claimed to have access to source code from its games including Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3, and Gwent. The note also said the hacked data included details relating to its HR, accounting, and other internal operations.
The company said it would not give in to the hackers’ demands, and days later the attackers claimed to have sold the data online. However the nature of the sale, in which the hackers claimed to have found a buyer outside of a hacking forum auction, raised questions about whether they were able to find a buyer at all. Writing in a blog post, Emsisoft threat analyst Brett Callow said he thought it was “likely” that the hackers were just claiming to have found a buyer to “save face” after having failed to monetize the hack.
CD Projekt has previously admitted that hackers were able to encrypt some of its employee data on its network. But the company said its investigation had found no evidence that the data had been transferred out of the company’s systems.
The hack followed the troubled launch of the studio’s latest blockbuster title, Cyberpunk 2077. Although it sold well and was initially well-received by critics, players quickly discovered that the game was riddled with bugs, and almost unplayable on older consoles. The situation was so bad that the game was pulled from the PlayStation Store. As of this writing, it is yet to return.
CD Projekt says it’s continuing to work with law enforcement and outside experts as it responds to the hack, and said it is “committed and prepared” to take action against anyone sharing the stolen data.
A lucky 25 customers received Tesla’s redesigned Model S “Plaid” at an event hosted by CEO Elon Musk in Fremont, California on Thursday night.
The Silicon Valley automaker has billed this new $130,000 version of the Model S — first announced in January and originally slated to ship in March — as the “quickest production vehicle ever made,” with the ability to go from 0-60mph in under 2 seconds. Its name is a reference to the unthinkable speed beyond “Ludicrous” in the comedy classic Spaceballs. It’s also expected to get around 390 miles of range. (Tesla is selling a less powerful version of the redesigned Model S with more range — 412 miles — that starts at just a hair under $80,000. Deliveries of those start later this year.)
Why so fast? “We’ve got to show that an electric car is the best car, hands down,” Musk said at Thursday night’s event. “It’s got to be clear [that] sustainable energy cars can be the fastest cars, the safest cars, [and] can be the most kick-ass cars in every way.”
“This car crushes,” he said.
On June 6, Musk announced Tesla had canceled the most expensive version of the new Model S, which was called Plaid Plus. That version, which had a starting price of around $150,000, was supposed to go 520 miles on a full battery. It was also supposed to be powered by the new 4680 lithium-ion battery cells that Tesla is developing. A redesigned Model X was also announced in January, but deliveries of that new SUV have been pushed back months, and Musk didn’t mention the updated SUV Thursday night.
Musk once shot down rumors of a Model S and Model X redesign in 2019, saying there was “no ‘refreshed’ Model X or Model S coming.” Instead, Musk said Tesla was always making minor improvements to both vehicles. But sales of both vehicles have stagnated in recent years as Tesla focused on the more affordable Model 3 sedan and Model Y compact SUV. The redesigned versions are a chance to boost sales of these older cars. The company seems confident enough in the new Model S Plaid that it raised the starting price by $10,000 earlier today.
Musk got deep into the weeds about Tesla’s “practically alien” engineering, but he was also light on details about execution. Musk said that Tesla plans to deliver “several hundred [Model S Plaids] per week soon,” and will “probably” ramp up to around 1,000 per week next quarter. But he made almost no mention of the Model X Plaid, the dual-motor “long range” Model S, and he didn’t expand on his reasoning for canceling the 520-mile Plaid Plus. Earlier this week, he simply told Electrekthat “more range doesn’t really matter.”
“There are essentially zero trips above 400 miles where the driver doesn’t need to stop for restroom, food, coffee, etc. anyway,” he said.
The new Model S is the first major overhaul for the sedan since it launched in 2012 and set Tesla on its path to its current status as the world’s top electric vehicle company. The exterior design is largely unchanged (though it has a super low drag coefficient of 0.208) and the interior has received a big facelift.
The Model S now has a horizontal touchscreen like the one found in the Model 3 and Model Y, but with a bigger 17-inch version with smaller bezels. Unlike the Model 3 and Model Y, there’s a digital instrument cluster behind the steering wheel. A third screen is found behind the center console for rear passengers. Tesla showed off a new UI for the screens on Thursday night, which features drag-and-drop elements and other refinements. Musk even capitulated to shouts from the crowd of fans at one point and agreed to finally add a waypoint feature to Tesla’s navigation system.
There are other upgrades, too, such as more room for rear passengers, as well as rear-seat wireless phone chargers. “The current Model S, the backseat is not amazing. But the new one — it’s actually a legit backseat,” Musk said.
The Model S Plaid has extremely powerful processing that can run AAA games on the car’s screens at 60 frames per second, in addition to powering all of the other services Tesla allows, such as Netflix, Spotify. “Really, it’s like a home theater experience,” Musk said.
Tesla has also changed a lot under the proverbial hood. The Model S Plaid is powered by a new tri-motor drivetrain that Tesla originally started developing for the forthcoming second-generation Roadster. (The company tested the Plaid powertrain in a Model S sedan at famous racetracks: Laguna Seca and the Nurburgring.) Those three motors collectively put down around 1,000 horsepower, and the car can reach a top speed of 200 miles per hour — though only when outfitted certain wheels and tires that won’t be available until later this year. “It hits you right in the limbic system,” Musk said.
Earlier Model S sedans weren’t exactly slow, but the new one will be more capable of repeating that performance thanks to some new tech Tesla developed. The company has been working on new heat pumps starting with the Model Y, and in the Model S Plaid Tesla says the pump improves cold-weather range by 30 percent and reduces the energy consumption of running the HVAC system by 50 percent. The radiator is also much bigger in order to help cool the battery pack during demanding drives. Tesla even developed new carbon-wrapped rotors in the electric motors that power the Plaid system in order to keep them from breaking apart at high RPM.
Repeating high performance runs was a tricky prospect in older Model S sedans, so much so that Porsche made sure to market the Taycan’s ability to make lots of fast runs without losing performance when that EV launched. All of those changes should help Tesla answer Porsche. Musk claims the new Model S will be safer than most other cars on the road based on Tesla’s internal data. The car has not yet been tested by safety regulators.
One possible hiccup in safety: the striking, U-shaped “yoke” steering wheel. It was reportedly a surprise to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. When Musk was asked by Joe Rogan in February whether he thought the new steering wheel was legal, the CEO said “they use a yoke in Formula One.”
“Yeah, but you’re not on the highway in a Formula One car,” Rogan responded. Musk answered that he believed Tesla’s Autopilot driver assistance system “is getting good enough that you won’t need to drive most of the time.”
Tesla not only changed up the steering wheel design, but it also got rid of all of the stalks on the steering column. There will be an option on the touchscreen to select drive modes, but Tesla sees that as a backup. Instead, the car will default to automatically shifting between park, reverse, and drive.
“I think, generally, all input is error,” Musk said Thursday night.
Microsoft is hosting another Summer Game Fest event to give you a chance to play demos of some unreleased Xbox Series X / S and Xbox One games. This year’s event is coming up soon, running from June 15th through June 21st, and there will be more than 40 demos to check out, the company said in a blog post. While Microsoft hasn’t released the full list of games just yet, it has shared a few that you can look forward to.
One that I have my eye on is Sable, which looks like a comic from Jean “Moebius” Giraud come to life and takes inspiration from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. After years in development, Sable is set to release on September 23rd, and you can see some footage from it in this performance from Thursday’s Summer Game Fest Kickoff live event by Japanese Breakfast, who wrote a song for the game:
Microsoft’s event will also feature Tunic, an isometric adventure game starring an adorable fox adventurer that I’ve been looking forward to ever since it was announced at E3 2018. You can get a preview of that game in this new video:
Lake, The Riftbreaker, and Echo Generation will also be among the demos included as part of the demo event.
Have you even made it as an artist if you’re not singing in a made up language for a Sims game? There’s a proud tradition of popular musicians like Carly Rae Jepsen or Janelle Monáe re-recording songs in Simlish, the in-game language of The Sims, and now, celebrated alternative artist Japanese Breakfast (Michelle Zauner) is joining their ranks with a cover of her single “Be Sweet” for The Sims 4 Cottage Living.
Zauner’s track is summer-y and eminently danceable, and it feels just the same underneath a trailer hawking more features for The Sims 4, even with the chorus transformed to “Ya wana baleesh da voo ya wana baleeeeeeeeesh”. It’s also delightfully weird in the way all covers in “Simlish” are — I just love hearing famous musicians sing nonsense! Check out the song in English (with an X-Files inspired music video) for a better comparison:
Simlish is a deliberately cultivated kind of baby talk, relying more on rhythm, emotion, and cadence than direct translation from one language to another, according to The Sims’ developers. There’s just something bizarre about hearing a song you love filtered through The Sims’ almost understandable, but totally inscrutable digital babbling. It’s even more strange seeing it happen in-person, like in this now-infamous Katy Perry video:
Lending some talent to a classic life simulation game isn’t Zauner’s only foray into video games either. The artist is also composing music for Sable, an upcoming Xbox and PC open world game. We just learned at the Summer Games Fest that Sable is coming out later this year on September 23rd, 2021.
Borderlands developer Gearbox and 2K Games announced a new fantasy shooter called Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands on Thursday at Summer Games Fest. It has an all-star cast, including Andy Samberg, Will Arnett, Wanda Sykes, and Ashly Burch. The new game is set to launch in early 2022.
At the event, Burch, who voices Tiny Tina in the Borderlands series, described it as a “high fantasy looter shooter,” and in the trailer, it certainly looked a lot like a Borderlands game, both with its cel-shaded visual style and the appearance of a ridiculous-looking gun that shot some kind of electric laser beam. Unlike in Borderlands, though, you’ll create your own character.
The game will be coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC (on Steam and the Epic Games Store), Xbox One, and Xbox Series X when it launches early next year. It will have a full-length campaign and four-player co-op, Polygon reports.
Tesla will hold a delivery event for its new, high-performance “Plaid” version of the Model S on Thursday. It’s an effort by Elon Musk’s company to reignite interest in its nearly decade-old electric sedan, which is also facing stiff competition from Porsche and Mercedes-Benz. When its released, Musk claims the Plaid Model S will be the “quickest production car ever made.”
The event, which will be held at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, CA, will be livestreamed for the public starting at 7PM PT / 10PM ET. It was originally scheduled for June 3rd, but Musk pushed it to the 10th after tweeting that the vehicle needed “one more week of tweak.”
The delivery of the refreshed Model S has also been delayed, with the company originally stating that it expected to begin shipping to customers in March. A revamped version of the Model X SUV was also expected to begin deliveries in March but has been pushed to an unspecified future date.
The Plaid Model S wasn’t inevitable. Despite persistent rumors for years, Musk seemed uninterested in the idea, tweeting in 2019 that “[t]here is no ‘refreshed’ Model X or Model S coming.” Tesla instead was constantly making minor improvements to both vehicles, he said.
But less than two months later, a prototype version of the Plaid powertrain made its debut at the Laguna Seca raceway, lapping the famous California racetrack in just one minute and 36 seconds. The company later showed off another prototype as part of its Battery Day presentation in September 2020. Plaid, much like the “Ludicrous” acceleration mode in Tesla’s cars, is a reference to one of Musk’s favorite movies, Spaceballs.
We already know most of the relevant specs: an estimated range of 390 miles, a top speed of 200mph (with the “right tires,” Musk has said), and a 0–60mph sprint in 1.99 seconds (although there’s been some questions about the validity of that last claim). The new model is priced at $129,990, compared to $79,990 for a long-range Model S. A “Plaid Plus” version of the Model S, which was supposed to have a range of more than 520 miles, was canceled after Musk tweeted that basic Plaid is “just so good.”
The new Model S will also feature a simplified interior, with a landscape touchscreen similar to what’s found in the Model 3 and Model Y. There’s also a stalkless U-shaped butterfly steering wheel, much like what Tesla has said will appear in the forthcoming second-generation Roadster. And there’s an added screen behind the center console for rear-seat passengers. Unlike the Model 3 and Model Y, the new Model S still features a cockpit screen behind the steering wheel.
Tesla says that the Plaid Model S should be able to do five times as many quarter-mile runs as previous Model S sedans, thanks to the new powertrain and the new heat pump that was developed for the Model Y. It will also come with an infotainment system that’s powered by a chip capable of 10 teraflops of processing power, allowing passengers to play games like The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 (with wireless controller support).
When it first launched in 2012, the Tesla Model S redefined electric luxury, with a sleek design and long driving range. But the company is facing a new wave of competition, with the release in recent years of the Porsche Taycan, Audi E-tron GT, Lucid Air, and Mercedes EQS. If Tesla wants to stay in the luxury EV game, it needed to make some changes to its flagship vehicle.
The abrupt cancellation of Plaid Plus, however, is raising questions about the automaker’s battery plans. Plaid Plus was supposed to feature Tesla’s new tabless 4680 battery cells. These cells, which are supposed to enable longer ranges of 500 miles or more, are bigger than the company’s current cells, measuring 46 millimeters by 80 millimeters (thus the name). In addition to more energy and power, the new cells are expected to result in a 14 percent reduction in cost per kilowatt-hour (kWh) at the cell form factor level only.
Plaid Plus was supposed to get a range of 520 miles. While Musk could shock everyone Thursday night with a longer range Plaid than originally advertised, he also recently threw cold water on the idea of needing ranges longer than 400 miles. In a statement to Electrek, Musk said “more range doesn’t really matter. There are essentially zero trips above 400 miles where the driver doesn’t need to stop for restroom, food, coffee, etc. anyway.”
Ignoring for a moment that most restroom breaks last shorter than the time it takes to recharge an electric vehicle, Musk’s reversal on Plaid Plus could signal a delay in the production of Tesla’s 4680 battery cells. In addition to Plaid, the new cells are supposed to be used in Tesla’s Cybertruck and Semi vehicles, which are still expected later this year.
In an April earnings call, Musk said that Tesla was still “12… to 18 months away from volume production of 4680.” It remains to be seen whether we’ll get an update on that estimate at the event Thursday evening. But with Musk, you never know for sure.
Intel introduced the Iris Xe discrete graphics processor months ago, but so far, only a handful of OEMs and a couple of graphics card makers have adopted it for their products. This week, VideoCardz discovered another vendor, Gunnir, that offers a desktop system and a standalone Intel DG1 graphics card with a rare D-Sub (VGA) output, making it an interesting board design.
It’s particularly noteworthy that the graphics card has an HDMI 2.0 and a D-Sub output that can be used to connect outdated LCD or even CRT monitors. In 2021, this output (sometimes called the VGA connector, yet a 15-pin D-Sub is not exclusive for monitors) is not particularly widespread as it does not properly support resolutions beyond 2048×1536. Image quality at resolutions higher than 1600×1200 heavily depends on the quality of the output and the cable (quality is typically low). Adding a D-Sub output to a low-end PC makes some sense because some old LCD screens are still in use, and retro gaming with CRT monitors has become a fad.
As far as formal specifications are concerned, the Gunnir Lanji DG1 card is powered by Intel’s cut-down Iris Xe Max GPU with 80 EUs clocked at 1.20 GHz ~ 1.50 GHz paired with 4GB of LPDDR4-4266 memory connected to the chip using a 128-bit interface. The card has a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface to connect to the host. The card can be used for casual games and for multimedia playback (a workload where Intel’s Xe beats the competition). Meanwhile, DG1 is only compatible with systems based on Intel’s 9th- and 10th-Gen Core processors and motherboards with the B460, H410, B365, and H310C chipsets.
(Image credit: Gunnir)
It is unclear where these products are available (presumably from select Chinese retailers or to select Chinese PC makers), and at what price.
Intel lists Gunnir on its website, but the card it shows is not actually a custom Gunnir card but is a typical reference design of an entry-level add-in-board from Colorful, a company that officially denies it produces Intel DG1 products as it exclusively makes Nvidia-powered GPUs.
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
, so that gamers who stream are getting the company’s most powerful hardware.
Xbox’s announcement
comes ahead of Xbox’s joint E3 games showcase this Sunday with its recent acquisition, Bethesda, and also comes with a slew of new attempts to push Xbox onto just about any device you might already have. The Xbox division is moving to get its software embedded into internet-connected TVs, which would require no additional hardware other than a controller to play cloud games.
Additionally, the company is looking into new subscription offerings for Game Pass. (though it didn’t get into specifics), and is looking into new purchase options for Xbox All Access, which lets people buy the console and Game Pass for a monthly fee, rather than paying up front. (This is similar to how many pay for smartphones in the U.S.).
Building its own streaming devices, however, is a bigger push to make Xbox an ecosystem outside of consoles and even moves Xbox into competition, to a degree, with Chromecast, Roku and Apple TV for the living room. (Chromecast is scheduled to get
Google Stadia
support later this month).
Still, the company sees its consoles, the Xbox Series X and Series S, as its top-notch offering, even while it expands in mobile, on PC and in streaming. In fact, that’s the other major piece of hardware Xbox is working on: the next console.
(Image credit: Xbox)
“Cloud is key to our hardware and Game Pass roadmaps, but no one should think we’re slowing down on our core console engineering. In fact, we’re accelerating it,” said Liz Hamren, corporate vice president of gaming experiences and platforms.
“We’re already hard at work on new hardware and platforms, some of which won’t come to light for years. But even as we build for the future, we’re focused on extending the Xbox experience to more devices today so we can reach more people.”
This isn’t exactly surprising. Consoles start getting designed years in advance, and these days, the mid-life cycle refresh cycle is common. Microsoft has also positioned the latest consoles as a “series” of devices, so it’s possible there will be new entries in the line that remain compatible with the current options.
Cloud gaming in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is set to launch in Brazil, Japan and Australia later this year. Meanwhile, cloud gaming in a web browser, including support for Chrome, Edge and Safari, will go live to Game Pass Ultimate subscribers “in the next few weeks.” The Xbox app on PC will also get cloud gaming integrated this year.
Hamren said that Game Pass has more than 18 million subscribers, though that wasn’t broken down between the console, PC and ultimate plans, (which include game streaming).
The Series X and S haven’t seen a ton of new titles from Microsoft Studios yet, but it sounds like that will change.
“In terms of the overall lineup, we want to get to a point of releasing a new game every quarter…” said Matt Booty, the head of Xbox Game Studios. “We know that a thriving entertainment service needs a consistent and exciting flow of new content. So our portfolio will continue to grow as our service grows.”
Xbox has more than 23 studios and also recently acquired ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Game Studios, as well as id Software, ZeniMax Online Studios, Arkane, MachineGames, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog and Roundhouse Studios.
Game Pass games are released simultaneously on PC and Xbox, which Xbox Head Phil Spencer used to poke at its competitors, namely Sony and its
PlayStation 5
.
“So right now, we’re the only platform shipping games on console, PC and cloud simultaneously,” Spencer said. “Others bring console games to PC years later, not only making people buy their hardware up front, but then charging them a second time to play on PC. And, of course, all of our games are in our subscription service day one, full cross-platform included.” (PlayStation brought Horizon Zero Dawn and Days Gone to PC but long after their PlayStation 4 releases.)
Tim Stuart, the chief financial officer for Xbox, said “we’ll do a lot more in PC for sure.” There have been rumors of big changes to the Microsoft Store on Windows, including making it easier for developers to sell games. That’s another avenue we may see explored soon, as Microsoft explores
what’s next for Windows
later this month, after E3.
The Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase will take place on Sunday, June 13 at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET and will stream on YouTube, Twitch, Facebook and Twitter.
Summer Game Fest 2021, hosted by Geoff Keighley, is getting started with new game announcements two days ahead of E3 2021 with its “Kickoff Live” event. In addition to news, it’s perhaps the only event to feature both an appearance from Jeff Goldblum and a musical performance by Weezer. The list of partners for the preview event includes 2K, Activision, Blizzard, Capcom, InnerSloth, Epic Games, Sony PlayStation, Riot Games, Square Enix, Ubisoft, Microsoft Xbox, and more. Here’s how to watch.
When does Summer Game Fest start?
The kickoff show is happening this Thursday, June 10th at 2PM ET / 11AM PT / 6PM GMT. And like last year’s happenings, it’s all online, so you can just hang out at home and watch all of the announcements from your PC, phone, or TV.
Like last year, there will likely be more Summer Game Fest events throughout the season.
Where can I stream Summer Game Fest?
This game event is being hosted on several platforms, giving you plenty of options. It’s being livestreamed on YouTube (we’ve embedded the video above that’ll go live later), as well as Twitch, Twitter, and Facebook.
Google is using machine learning to help design its next generation of machine learning chips. The algorithm’s designs are “comparable or superior” to those created by humans, say Google’s engineers, but can be generated much, much faster. According to the tech giant, work that takes months for humans can be accomplished by AI in under six hours.
Google has been working on how to use machine learning to create chips for years, but this recent effort — described this week in a paper in the journal Nature — seems to be the first time its research has been applied to a commercial product: an upcoming version of Google’s own TPU (tensor processing unit) chips, which are optimized for AI computation.
“Our method has been used in production to design the next generation of Google TPU,” write the authors of the paper, led by Google’s head of ML for Systems, Azalia Mirhoseini.
AI, in other words, is helping accelerate the future of AI development.
In the paper, Google’s engineers note that this work has “major implications” for the chip industry. It should allow companies to more quickly explore the possible architecture space for upcoming designs and more easily customize chips for specific workloads.
An editorial in Naturecalls the research an “important achievement,” and notes that such work could help offset the forecasted end of Moore’s Law — an axiom of chip design from the 1970s that states that the number of transistors on a chip doubles every two years. AI won’t necessarily solve the physical challenges of squeezing more and more transistors onto chips, but it could help find other paths to increasing performance at the same rate.
Google’s TPU chips are offered as part of its cloud services and used internally for AI research. Photo: Google
The specific task that Google’s algorithms tackled is known as “floorplanning.” This usually requires human designers who work with the aid of computer tools to find the optimal layout on a silicon die for a chip’s sub-systems. These components include things like CPUs, GPUs, and memory cores, which are connected together using tens of kilometers of minuscule wiring. Deciding where to place each component on a die affects the eventual speed and efficiency of the chip. And, given both the scale of chip manufacture and computational cycles, nanometer-changes in placement can end up having huge effects.
Google’s engineers note that designing floor plans takes “months of intense effort” for humans, but, from a machine learning perspective, there is a familiar way to tackle this problem: as a game.
AI has proven time and time again it can outperform humans at board games like chess and Go, and Google’s engineers note that floorplanning is analogous to such challenges. Instead of a game board, you have a silicon die. Instead of pieces like knights and rooks, you have components like CPUs and GPUs. The task, then, is to simply find each board’s “win conditions.” In chess that might be checkmate, in chip design it’s computational efficiency.
Google’s engineers trained a reinforcement learning algorithm on a dataset of 10,000 chip floor plans of varying quality, some of which had been randomly generated. Each design was tagged with a specific “reward” function based on its success across different metrics like the length of wire required and power usage. The algorithm then used this data to distinguish between good and bad floor plans and generate its own designs in turn.
As we’ve seen when AI systems take on humans at board games, machines don’t necessarily think like humans and often arrive at unexpected solutions to familiar problems. When DeepMind’s AlphaGo played human champion Lee Sedol at Go, this dynamic led to the infamous “move 37” — a seemingly illogical piece placement by the AI that nevertheless led to victory.
Nothing quite so dramatic happened with Google’s chip-designing algorithm, but its floor plans nevertheless look quite different to those created by a human. Instead of neat rows of components laid out on the die, sub-systems look like they’ve almost been scattered across the silicon at random. An illustration from Nature shows the difference, with the human design on the left and machine learning design on the right. You can also see the general difference in the image below from Google’s paper (orderly humans on the left; jumbled AI on the right), though the layout has been blurred as it’s confidential:
A human-designed chip floor plan is on the left, and the AI-designed floor plan on the right. The images have been blurred by the paper’s authors as they represent confidential designs. Image: Mirhoseini, A. et al
This paper is noteworthy, particularly because its research is now being used commercially by Google. But it’s far from the only aspect of AI-assisted chip design. Google itself has explored using AI in other parts of the process like “architecture exploration,” and rivals like Nvidia are looking into other methods to speed up the workflow. The virtuous cycle of AI designing chips for AI looks like it’s only just getting started.
Microsoft is making some significant upgrades to its Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud) service in the next few weeks. The Xbox cloud streaming service will be moving to Xbox Series X hardware on the server side, bringing dramatic improvements to load times and frame rates. Microsoft is also moving xCloud on the web out of beta, which is good news for owners of Apple devices.
“We’re now in the final stages of internal testing, and we’ll be upgrading the experience for Ultimate members in the next few weeks,” says Kareem Choudhry, head of cloud gaming at Microsoft. “The world’s most powerful console is coming to Azure.”
The upgrade will include major improvements to xCloud, with players able to benefit from the same faster load times and improved frame rates that are available on Xbox Series X consoles. Microsoft’s xCloud service launched in September, powered by Xbox One S server blades. The load times have been one of the troubling aspects of using Xbox game streaming, and this upgrade will dramatically reduce the wait time of launching games. Players will also be able to access Xbox Series X / S optimized games.
Microsoft’s xCloud service on an iPhone.Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge
Alongside the server upgrades, Microsoft is launching Xbox Cloud Gaming through the browser for all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members in the next few weeks. The service is currently in an invite-only beta mode, but the expansion will make it available for all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members to access xCloud streaming on iPhones, iPads, and on any device with a compatible browser (Chrome, Edge, and Safari).
Microsoft is also expanding cloud gaming to Australia, Brazil, Mexico, and Japan later this year, and hinting at plans for new Xbox Game Pass subscriptions. “We need to innovate to bring our games and services to more people around the world, and we’re investigating how to introduce new subscription offerings for Xbox Game Pass,” says Liz Hamren, head of gaming experiences and platforms at Microsoft.
These new Xbox Game Pass subscriptions will likely include some form of access to xCloud game streaming. Microsoft currently only offers Xbox game streaming to those who subscribe to the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate tier, which is priced at $14.99 per month. It’s easy to imagine a future where Microsoft offers a separate Game Pass tier that only provides access to Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud).
Microsoft is also announcing plans for an Xbox TV app and its own streaming stick today, alongside the ability to access and use xCloud on Xbox consoles later this year.
Microsoft is planning to let Xbox console owners try games before they download them later this year. The new Xbox dashboard feature will allow console players to stream games through Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud) service instantly. It’s part of a push to integrate xCloud more into Xbox consoles and into the Xbox app on Windows PCs.
“Later this year, we’ll add cloud gaming directly to the Xbox app on PCs, and integrated into our console experience, to light up all kinds of scenarios, like ‘try before you download,’” says Kareem Choudhry, head of cloud gaming at Microsoft.
Microsoft isn’t detailing all of the ways that xCloud will appear on Xbox consoles, but trying games before you download them certainly opens up possibilities for Xbox owners who want to know what a game is like before buying it.
Microsoft’s Xbox Series X dashboard.
Either way, utilizing xCloud to let Xbox players quickly jump into games before they’re downloaded will be particularly useful on day one game launches. With games regularly exceeding 100GB, it often takes hours to download titles if you didn’t plan ahead and preload a game before its launch.
In a briefing with members of the press ahead of Microsoft’s Xbox E3 event on Sunday, the company’s head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, was keen to stress Microsoft’s commitment to Xbox Game Pass and cloud gaming.
“So right now we’re the only platform shipping games on console, PC, and cloud simultaneously,” says Spencer. “Others bring console games to PC years later, not only making people buy their hardware up front, but then charging them a second time to play on PC.”
Spencer is of course referring to Sony and its ongoing efforts to bring more PlayStation games to PC years after their launch. Microsoft obviously prefers its own approach to launching simultaneously across multiple platforms and being available on Xbox Game Pass on day one.
Speaking of Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft is also committing to some form of a timeline for exclusive first-party content for the service. “In terms of the overall lineup, we want to get to a point of releasing a new game every quarter … we know that a thriving entertainment service needs a consistent and exciting flow of new content,” explains Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios. “So our portfolio will continue to grow as our service grows.”
Microsoft isn’t providing an update on its Xbox Game Pass subscription growth yet. The service jumped to 18 million subscribers earlier this year, after growing steadily throughout 2020. Today’s announcements are part of some broader Xbox and xCloud news, including server upgrades to xCloud and Microsoft’s plans for an Xbox TV app and streaming sticks.
Microsoft is working with TV manufacturers to make an Xbox app available on devices soon. The software giant is planning to bring its Xbox Game Pass service to TVs through its xCloud streaming technology, opening up more ways to get access to Xbox games. This will be available as both an app on TVs, and with Microsoft’s own dedicated streaming stick.
“We’re working with global TV manufacturers to embed the Game Pass experience directly into internet-connected TVs so all you’ll need to play is a controller,” says Liz Hamren, head of gaming experiences and platforms at Microsoft.
Microsoft isn’t announcing exactly when this Xbox app will be available on TVs, nor which manufacturers will bundle it on their devices. Xbox chief Phil Spencer previously hinted at an Xbox app for TVs late last year, noting he expects to “see that in the next 12 months.”
Spencer also hinted at Microsoft’s own Xbox streaming stick last year, something Microsoft now says will appear soon. “We’re also developing standalone streaming devices that you can plug into a TV or monitor, so if you have a strong internet connection, you can stream your Xbox experience,” reveals Hamren.
Much like the TV app plans, Microsoft isn’t providing any details on release date or pricing for its own Xbox streaming devices. We don’t even know what they will look like. Microsoft revealed these details in a special press briefing ahead of its E3 event later this week. Microsoft will be focusing on games at its E3 showcase on Sunday June 13th, so it’s unlikely we’ll get any further details until the devices are ready to ship.
This Xbox Game Pass expansion to TVs is part of a broader effort by Microsoft to make its subscription service available beyond just phones and Xbox consoles. Microsoft is also announcing upgrades to its xCloud server blades today, and the ability to access and use xCloud on Xbox consoles later this year.
(Pocket-lint) – Whether you agree with the polarising design or not, Apple’s AirPods became an overnight phenomenon back in 2017. Since then those in-ear wireless buds have gone on to become the number one sellers in the world – and you only have to head to any city street to see how many people are wearing a pair.
Following the launch of a tweaked second-gen AirPods earlier in 2019, Apple has deemed the headphone popular enough to expand the range with the AirPods Pro. But this isn’t just about offering tweaks; no, it’s a completely redesigned experience, adding active noise-cancellation (ANC) and more.
But with so many in-ear headphone choices on the market, do the AirPods Pro offer a decent package or are you better off going with Bose, Sony, or a myriad of other options? We’ve be wearing them since launch.
A pro design
Each bud: Measures 30.9 x 21.8 x 24mm maximum / Weighs 5.4g
Wireless charging case included (45.2 x 60.6 21.7mm / 45.6g)
There are two elements to the AirPods Pro that you need to worry about: in the ear and in the pocket.
The carry case, which doubles as the charging case, is shorter in height but wider in design than the one you’ll find with the original AirPods. It’s still very much just as pocketable, in fact one of the most pocketable in-ear headphones cases on the market, and comes in a gloss white finish. It’s also included as standard.
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The AirPods Pro headphones slot into the case and instantly drawn in by magnets and start charging immediately. Charging can be done via a Lightning cable or by putting the case on a wireless charging pad, even the newer MagSafe charging pucks.
The Pro design is considerably different to the AirPods. The most noticeable difference is the inclusion of silicone tips to improve the fit or ‘seal’, while the thin rod that hangs out of your ear isn’t especially long. This short length will certainly appeal to those who thought the originals’ design just looked odd.
Finding your fit
Three silicone tip sizes; small, medium, large
Vent system for pressure equalization
Ear Tip Fit test via iOS 13.2
Uses Apple H1 chip
Connecting the AirPods Pro for the first time is incredibly simple. You simply open the case near your iPhone (running iOS 13.2) and press ‘connect’ on the screen. It’s as simple as that thanks to the use of Apple H1 chip – as also found in the AirPods and Beats Powerbeats Pro.
Unlike AirPods, the Pro requires a secondary step, which involves running an Ear Tip Fit Test. Using both the internal and external microphones within the headphones, iOS 13.2 analyses the sound and tweaks its profile to sound better for you.
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The process, which involves playing some music, takes about five seconds. It’s during this time that it will determine whether you’ve got a good fit, and if not recommend you change the silicone tip to another size – there is a small, medium, and large options included. For us the medium worked perfectly and we were up and running with a minute.
The silicone tips feel a little tight in the ear – more so than the standard AirPods, but not that they’re uncomfortable – so Apple has included air vents to try and reduce potential pressure and isolation build up. It calls this a “vent system for pressure equalization”, and in all the time we’ve been wearing them they’ve been fine. It doesn’t hurt wearing them for a long period of time, and if you have concerns over whether or not they would be as easy to put in and out as the standard AirPods, they aren’t.
Active Noise Cancelling (ANC)
Internal and external microphones actively listen for noise changes
Adaptive EQ and Transparency Mode
One of the main features of the AirPod Pro is ANC, or active noise-cancelling technology. This uses the in-built microphones to check the ambient noise around you over 200 times a second and react accordingly, dumbing down external sound. This is the same process as other noise-cancelling headphones, designed to negate wind tear and other real-time sounds around you as best as possible.
You can also dial-down the feature if you want to hear more around you – a feature called Transparency – which allows you to hear people talking, given the frequency cut-off. This is all controlled via a squeeze of the AirPods Pro, via your iPhone volume control settings, or using the Apple Watch.
We’ve used them on the London Underground, the train, by the sea side, cutting the grass, and on a plane, and in all cases the Pro earbuds cut out the majority of the noise. Classical music fans will no doubt love the Pros, as will those that want to really immerse themselves in the music.
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Switching between the two modes with that squeeze will take a little getting used to, as there’s a specific indented area where you need to squeeze. Precision is key; as is speed: do it too quickly and you’ll stop the track. It’s yet another new control mechanism that you’ve got to learn. Overtime it has become second nature.
Another interesting side effect is wearing the AirPods Pro while talking. Because of the microphones both internally and externally that are trying to cancel the noise, your own voice is amplified when in Transparency mode. The best way to describe it is akin to speaking into a microphone while wearing headphones to hear yourself. You don’t get that experience when you’re on a call with ANC on, although the silence is somewhat alien if you’re used to hearing lots of noise around you all the time when on a call, and if the environment you are in is loud, we’ve found your voice is cancelled out, according to the person at the other end. Our advice is not to use ANC when talking to people on the phone.
Music sounds better with you
5 hours battery life / 4.5 hours with ANC enabled
Custom high dynamic range amplifier
Custom high-excursion Apple driver
We’ve tested the new AirPods Pro with a range of music, from dance tracks from Ministry of Sound, to the Interstellar soundtrack by Hans Zimmer, and everything inbetween from Pink Floyd to Billie Eilish.
Pocket-lint
What is clear is that the AirPods Pro are considerably better than the standard AirPods and certainly hold their own compared to the competition.
The originals focus of the AirPods was on ease of use rather than amazing sound quality, whereas the AirPods Pro address that latter point espeically when you factor in support for Apple’s Spatial Audio technology that’s now rolled out on Apple Music and is available on both the AirPods Pro and AirPods Max and will be coming to more apps and services later this year with iOS 15.
Following the launch we’ve been listening to a number of tracks in Spatial Audio. Some tracks are clearly enhanced by the new experience, while others are barely noticeable. When you do notice it though, the results are amazing. The best way we can describe it, is that It’s a bit like 4K on your TV. Some can see the changes instantly and refuse to watch anything else, while others will be more than happy with the HD footage and wonder what the fuss is about. Apple has big plans for Spatial Audio bringing it to everything from FaceTime calls to games. All that’s left is to see whether the industry embraces it and then runs with it. That’s where things will really start to get interesting.
The Spatial Audio feature also works with movies and that really sings when connected to an iPad or iPhone, especially when it’s been recorded in Dolby Atmos.
But you don’t need Spatial Audio to enjoy the AirPods Pros. They work perfect well in standard stereo whether that’s listening to music, watching a movie or TV show, or taking a voice call. Sure, the Pro doesn’t come as bass-focused as the PowerBeats Pro, for example, but still certainly delivers a decent sound for what they are. For many they will be more than good enough for commuting, especially once you factor in the ANC performance and when available Spatial Audio.
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By Dan Grabham
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Verdict
We are incredibly impressed with the ease of setup and quality of sound that the AirPods Pro deliver. Active noise-cancellation makes a huge difference to ambient noise, making these in-ears far more capable than the originals, and Spatial Audio enhances the music experience to the “next level”.
The Pro is more comfortable to wear and better sounding than we were expecting from Apple, too, given the previous AirPods experience.
But with Beats offering the Powerbeats Pro for a smidgen less cash, the AirPods Pro isn’t the only H1 chip-touting in-ear wireless headphones in town. They will be better if you want to be more “active” or are worried that the AirPods Pro will fall out – they shouldn’t but we also know that some people’s ears just aren’t suited to this type of headphone.
And falling out, or should we say taking out, is one of the big advantages here. Popping them in and out of our ears for the last two years has been easy, and if you make a lot of calls, that’s almost worth it on its own.
The ease of use and great sound, make this a great buy.
This article was originally published on 29 October 2019 and has been updated to reflect its full review status
Also consider
Pocket-lint
Beats Powerbeats Pro
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Like the sound of active noise-cancellation but want more bass and bigger sound? That’s where Beats comes into play, if you’re willing to pay the extra for the improved quality.
Read our review
Writing by Stuart Miles.
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