Competitive games like Magic: The Gathering and League of Legends are absolutely dripping with lore. While they might not tell a story in the traditional sense, they have surprisingly robust fantasy worlds. Usually, you can only catch this in brief snippets through flavor text or character bios. But increasingly, game studios are attempting to build on these fictional worlds through more traditional storytelling, whether it’s comics, short stories, or TV shows.
The latest example is Dota: Dragon’s Blood on Netflix, which fleshes out the world of Valve’s long-running Dota 2 via an eight-episode anime. The good news is that it’s a fun, albeit brief, fantasy romp you can enjoy even if you haven’t played the game. The bad news is that it does very little to explain what makes the world of Dota interesting.
This review includes some spoilers for the early episodes of Dragon’s Blood.
Dragon’s Blood follows the paths of a few different characters, starting with Davion, a dragon knight helping a small town rid itself of some dangerous monsters. Early on, after a strange run-in with an elder dragon, he becomes possessed by a demonic force that occasionally causes him to inconveniently turn into a flesh-hungry dragon himself. Soon after that, he teams up with a disgraced princess named Mirana — who rides a giant cat — on a quest to cure himself and also prevent a war of some kind. There are also elves in search of magical lotus flowers, a goddess desperate to be worshipped, and a handful of other story arcs covering everything from warring elven factions to crazed monsters to the brief appearance of zombies. Oh, and an evil talking sword.
Really, there’s a lot happening, but the show moves at a brisk pace and never settles on a thread for too long. As is common in fantasy stories, there are a few groups with different goals, all seemingly rushing toward each other. But you rarely get to see those threads interact in interesting ways. Just describing the plot is difficult: there are people trying to stop a war, but some of the key elements — like those magic flowers that characters risk their lives for — are never really explained. It’s almost never clear why things that are deemed important actually matter.
There are some things the show does well. Most notably, it’s full of great action sequences — the animation was handled by Studio Mir, best known for its work on The Legend of Korra — with lots of cool special powers and dangerous-looking dragons. You don’t have to understand Dota lore to enjoy a well-choreographed battle between a superpowered knight and the dragon he’s been hunting for decades. The action is fast and fluid, and Dragon’s Blood makes great use of scale and spectacle, with a number of big battles and chase sequences. I should note, however, that things can get pretty graphic. Like Netflix’s Castlevania adaptation, Dragon’s Blood is full of blood and gore, with lots of decapitations and even one sequence where a dragon is butchered.
Essentially, the show is eye candy, quickly jumping from one action-heavy sequence to the next. It looks incredible, but since it’s only eight episodes, this fast pace means it never has the time to fully develop its characters or world. Even worse, Dragon’s Blood never does anything to make Dota stand out from the many other fantasy stories out there. I love ancient dragons and stealthy elf warriors as much as anyone, but they’re not exactly new territory. What is it that makes Dota 2’s universe interesting? As someone who watched the show but hasn’t played the game, I couldn’t tell you. I know it’s a franchise that has an incredibly devoted fan base, some who have played for thousands of hours. But the show reduces it to a bunch of great action sequences covering a generic fantasy story.
Maybe things will change in a second season now that the main cast has been introduced and the magical MacGuffins have been revealed. But after eight episodes, I can’t say I’m any more interested in playing a few rounds of Dota 2 than I was before. Dragon’s Blood is smart in that it doesn’t assume the viewer has much knowledge of the franchise. Unfortunately, it never inspired me to dig deeper, either.
Dota: Dragon’s Blood airs on Netflix starting on March 25th.
With cinemas closed, many of us are looking for ways to create a big-screen cinema experience at home. Step forward the Hisense L5F Laser Cinema, a new ultra-short throw projector that can throw a 120-inch 4K image when placed just 14-inches from a vertical surface.
The H5F – the latest addition to the Chinese tech firm’s L5 series of 4K projectors – launched in the US this week and carries an MSRP of $5000 (around £3700, AU$6600). Built-in Android TV brings support for a plethora of popular streaming apps such as Netflix and Hulu, and there’s a voice remote for using Google Assistant.
The DLP projector uses a single X-Fusion blue laser light source and phosphor colour filter for a claimed brightness of almost 2700 lumens and more than a billion colours. Indeed, Hisense claims the the L5F “delivers up to 83% of the DCI-P3 color gamut” – not bad for a projector that can be stowed away neatly between uses.
According to Hisense, the L5F delivers “true-to-life picture quality” with HDR support coming in the form of HDR10 and HLG. The company’s MEMC smooth motion technology should help deliver on the promise of crisp images during fast-moving scenes.
The projector has two 15-watt built-in speakers, so it’s technically an all-in-one entertainment solution. That said, you’d do well to upgrade to a separate soundbar or surround sound speakers if you want an audio experience worthy of the silver screen.
Those with a next-gen gaming console (here’s where to buy a PS5 and Xbox Series X, if you’re struggling to find one) will be pleased to note that you can connect a gaming system via the L5F’s four HDMI ports.
There’s no word on when the L5F will be available in the UK, but last year’s 100-inch L5F launched at AO.com for £5000 (it’s now dropped to £3000).
Looking for a more affordable way to get a big picture without a huge TV cluttering up your living room? Take a spin around our guide to the best projectors.
MORE:
Our pick of the best projectors: Full HD, 4K, portable, short throw
Hisense launches new TriChroma laser TVs at CES 2021
Expert advice: How to set up your projector and get the best picture
Netflix has announced that it will be experimenting with the release schedules of two reality TV shows, The Circle and Too Hot to Handle (via The Hollywood Reporter). Instead of releasing all of the episodes at once, it will release them over the course of a month, with each show having a batch of episodes released on Wednesdays, then releasing the finale by itself at the end of the run. This means you won’t be able to binge all of the episodes in a single weekend… and that may be a good thing.
These shows aren’t the first time Netflix has broken away from the binge model it popularized, in which all of the episodes of a show are released at once. It has released episodes of cooking competition The Great British Baking Show andmusic contest Rhythm + Flow on a weekly basis. With The Circle and Too Hot to Handle, though, Netflix is making a statement that it’s experimenting and trying to give people time to “dissect and dish” the events of the show. In other words, it’s giving people time to gossip about what happened and what could happen next.
There is a benefit to having people talking about your show for a month, rather than only for a weekend. Netflix arguably ran into this problem with The Witcher, with the show’s writing seeming better suited to weekly viewing rather than an eight-hour marathon. That’s especially true for a reality show like The Bachelor, with drama ratcheting up until a big finale. That’s the type of thing you’d want to keep people talking about — and maybe subscribing to your service to see what all the fuss is about.
That’s the type of effect Netflix could be trying to replicate. Reality TV lends itself especially well to a slow burn, keeping the internet buzz alive. Imagine if Tiger King had been released over a month or two, instead of all at once. While The Circle and Too Hot to Handle probably won’t become cultural touchstones like Tiger King did, there is a chance the release schedule will let them become bigger than they would’ve if we had all watched them over a weekend and then moved on.
I’m not trying to say that Netflix will (or should) switch to the weekly release model for its future narrative shows. Yes, Disney was very successful using that model with The Mandalorian and WandaVision, but those shows also had a lot going for them, and Netflix has a history of successfully releasing narrative shows all at once: the aforementioned Witcher series was still well-received, and Stranger Things was an inescapable cultural force for a while there. It’s also worth noting that narrative shows and reality TV are very different formats, and it could make sense to have different release plans for them.
The Circle is a game show about being isolated in an apartment and using only social media to connect with others (weirdly prescient for a show that first aired in 2018), and it will start showing on April 14th, with the finale releasing on May 5th. It seems like Netflix is planning a similar release schedule for Too Hot to Handle, a show where people try to date each other without any PDA, but the company hasn’t released exact details about it yet, other than a release window of “June.”
YouTube says the platform will not remove a controversial live-streamed video of a mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado, despite criticism of the streamer’s tactics and commentary.
“Following yesterday’s tragic shooting, bystander video of the incident was detected by our teams. While violent content intended to shock or disgust viewers is not allowed on YouTube, we do allow videos with enough news or documentary context,” YouTube spokesperson Elena Hernandez told The Verge. “We applied an age restriction to the content and will continue to monitor the situation.”
The live stream was broadcast from around the King Soopers supermarket in Boulder; according to Vice, it reached a live audience that peaked at around 30,000 people and has since been viewed around 585,000 times. The streamer, Dean Schiller, began recording inside the supermarket soon after the attack. He continued recording from outside for more than three hours, despite police requests for him to leave.
Schiller has identified himself in the past as a citizen journalist, and in 2019, he and another videographer were arrested and jailed for filming around the Boulder County Jail, following a series of videos that captured alleged police misconduct. But as Vice notes, Schiller has been criticized on several fronts for the shooting video. Some video commenters called him out for not dialing 911 or attempting to help people fleeing the building, while some other news outlets and anti-extremism researchers criticized him for speculating on the shooter’s motives, revealing police tactics, and briefly filming the bodies of victims.
Yesterday’s shooting in Boulder left 10 people dead, and a police spokesperson said the alleged killer was taken into custody after being shot in the leg by a police officer. Police have not offered a motive for the attack.
Videos of murder have created a quandary for social network moderators who are tasked with distinguishing between meaningful journalism and content that could inspire copycat attacks or play into a killer’s search for publicity. Platforms like Facebook and YouTube have scrambled to remove video directly recorded by mass shooters, including a 2019 attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. But they’ve also been criticized for removing video documenting newsworthy events like police shootings.
Platforms have also responded by surfacing trusted news outlets or by limiting the reach of controversial posts, even if they’re not banned outright. But YouTube didn’t outline any specific steps it had taken on Schiller’s video beyond requiring users to log in and verify their age before viewing it.
The video also plays into long-standing questions about how journalists should responsibly cover violence. While some YouTube comments called the video a negative byproduct of social media reporting, others drew parallels with sensationalist coverage in older mediums like TV news — comparing Schiller to the protagonist of the 2014 film Nightcrawler.
Traditional media outlets have gradually reevaluated their playbook for reporting on mass shootings in recent years. That includes trying to avoid an inordinate focus on the shooter or unsubstantiated speculation about their motives, particularly in the early stages of an incident, when very little is known about the attack. Some best practices also include avoiding graphic violence that’s posted without a clear purpose — and could add to the trauma of people who have survived the shooting.
It’s taken years, but OnePlus is finally getting in the smartwatch game with the newly announced OnePlus Watch, starting at $159. The new watch (as was revealed last week) has a round design that looks similar to a regular wristwatch, instead of the oblong rectangle popularized by the Apple Watch and its imitators, like the Oppo Watch.
The case itself is stainless steel, measures 46mm, and features two buttons on the side (one of which features the OnePlus logo). It’ll be available in two colors: silver and black. The display is a 1.39-inch OLED panel at 326ppi, with sapphire glass.
The watch will also feature a version of OnePlus’ Warp Charge system (promising a week of battery life off a 20-minute charge). OnePlus promises that the watch should last up to two weeks on a single charge or up to one week for heavier users.
Specs-wise, the OnePlus Watch features 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, and integrated speakers. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS are all built in, but there’s no cellular option. If you want connectivity on the watch, you’ll have to be connected to a nearby phone.
Image: OnePlus
Fitness is also a big part of the OnePlus Watch. It’ll offer over 110 workout modes, offer built-in GPS, and feature IP68 water and dust resistance. Additionally, the OnePlus Watch features internal storage for music, which allows users to store up to 500 songs to listen to over their Bluetooth headphones when out on a run, even if they don’t have their phone with them. The OnePlus Watch can also automatically detect and track workouts as well as monitor sleep, stress, blood oxygen saturation, and heart rate.
OnePlus isn’t using Wear OS for the OnePlus Watch, though. As the company had announced before the event, it’ll use RTOS-style software setup (similar to companies like Fitbit), with a companion app that will allow it to connect to your phone to receive calls and notifications. (An iOS app for Apple users is promised for the future, too.)
That means things like app selection and custom watchfaces will be largely limited to whatever OnePlus can build in-house — so no third-party apps, at least for now. That said, to start, there’ll be dozens of watchface options to choose from (with additional customization choices to add more style options), so users will have some flexibility.
The OnePlus Watch can also be connected to a OnePlus TV (where available), allowing it to be used as a remote. And if you happen to fall asleep when you’re watching TV on OnePlus’ set, the watch can automatically turn off the TV after it detects that you’ve fallen asleep.
Image: OnePlus
The company also announced a limited edition model made out of a cobalt alloy, which it says is twice as hard as stainless steel. OnePlus says that the Cobalt Limited Edition will be “coming soon,” but the company isn’t providing a price yet.
The OnePlus Watch will start at $159 and will be available starting on April 14th from OnePlus’ website.
With the number of leaks concerning Nintendo’s upgraded Switch console over the past few months, we can be almost certain that the Japanese gaming company is indeed preparing to launch an update to the Switch. This morning Bloomberg added some more details to the picture. As it turns out, Nintendo’s upgraded console will be powered by a new system-on-chip designed by Nvidia. Interestingly, the new SoC will even support some of Nvidia’s latest graphics technologies.
The upgraded version of Nintendo’s Switch console is expected to come with a 7-inch OLED screen, an upgrade from a 6.2-inch 720p LCD screen used on the currently available model. A higher resolution display automatically requires a significant upgrade of the graphics subsystem of a console, so it is not particularly surprising that the revamped Switch will use an all-new Nvidia SoC that can handle 4K graphics when docked to an external TV.
The original Nintendo Switch is powered by Nvidia’s Tegra X1 SoC featuring four Arm Cortex-A57 general-purpose cores as well as GM20B GPU with 256 CUDA cores featuring the Maxwell architecture (note that Nintendo’s Switch does not use four low-power Cortex-A53 cores also found in the X1). This processor was introduced in early 2015 and by now it is completely out of date.
The new system-on-chip from Nvidia will feature new general-purpose CPU cores as well as a new GPU that will support Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) that enhances graphics quality in games that support it, reports Bloomberg citing sources familiar with the matter. The console will also most likely come with more memory featuring higher bandwidth (think LPDDR4X or LPDDR5).
It is hard to say exactly what the new Nvidia SoC for Nintendo’s upgraded Switch will pack, but DLSS requires Tensor cores, so we are definitely talking about Volta, Turing or Ampere here architectures. The exact configuration of the GPU is unknown, but if Nintendo wants proper 4K graphics both on internal and external screens, it should not skimp on graphics performance.
The information about the new SoCs of course comes from an unofficial source and has to be taken with a grain of salt. For obvious reasons, neither Nintendo nor Nvidia commented on the matter.
Meanwhile, in a bid to maintain backwards compatibility with games for Switch, Nintendo had to use an SoC with Nvidia’s graphics, so a new chip from the green giant seems perfectly reasonable. Nvidia has experience integrating its latest GPU architectures into SoCs for automobiles, so it should not be a problem for the company to design a new processor for Nintendo’s upcoming game console.
The next Nintendo Switch will use a new Nvidia system-on-chip with support for DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling), according to a report in Bloomberg. The chip is said to bring improvements to GPU and CPU performance, with DLSS serving as Nintendo’s solution for displaying higher resolution images on 4K TVs.
DLSS was introduced with Nvidia’s RTX 20-series GPUs, based on the Turing architecture. It makes use of neural networks to reconstruct game images in real time at a higher quality. Different versions of the technology have variously relied on the GPU’s tensor cores and training the AI on specific games, but the upshot is that you can render a game at a lower traditional resolution and get a much higher output with minimal performance penalty.
That theoretically makes it a good fit for the Switch, which often struggles to hit its own native resolutions of 720p in handheld mode or 1080p on a TV screen. It’s also not surprising to hear that the new Switch would require an all-new chip design from Nvidia; the original Switch used a Tegra X1, which was announced in 2015 before Nvidia stopped producing general-purpose mobile SoCs. With the Switch’s success, though, it’s undoubtedly worth Nvidia’s while to deliver a new custom design.
Bloomberg has already reported that the new Switch will have a 7-inch OLED screen. Today’s report says the device is planned for this holiday season.
I just realized: I never came back to thank you for buying that $30,000 8K television. I mean, I’m sure the $1,500 coupon helped? But I feel like I still owe you a bit more.
How about this: why not be the first to stream PC games at 8K resolution to the other end of your mansion? When we saw that Steam now supports that feature, we immediately thought of you.
Imagine the possibilities: you could sit down on your fully immersive $9,000 toilet with your backup 8K TV — as you do — and instead wasting so many of those glorious pixels on a pillarboxed Snyder Cut, you can use all 33+ million of them to sling some not-terribly-demanding game at 8K resolution from your blinding rainbow death box of an RTX 3090-equipped gaming PC, without even disturbing its sanctum at the other end of your house!
You’ll likely need that level of PC, of course, and even then 8K may not be a given. “Results may very depending on hardware,” reads Valve’s release notes. I would also suggest a wired Ethernet cable to reduce latency, and you might want to unlock your bandwidth limiter in Steam > Settings > Remote Play > Advanced Client Options too — because 50Mbps may not cut it at 8K resolution. You’d know better than us, though.
8K Remote Play is now available in the stable Steam client, after coming to the beta a few days ago.
In all seriousness, it’s pretty cool to see Steam getting prepped for the TVs of the future. And please send us a very high resolution photo of your setup if it’s your TV of now, too.
On the other hand, if you’re the kind of person who can’t afford new games much less an 8K TV or high-end gaming PC, Valve has good news for you as well — the company just brought Steam Remote Play Together URL sharing out of beta, so friends can send you a link to join their local multiplayer games even if you don’t have a PC or a Steam account.
There’s a new iPad on the way. Or, rather, four to be exact.
Apple is said to be about to launch a new iPad Pro next month. While most range refreshes include minor tweaks, this one should bring some major new screen technology into play – and it’s tech that could really improve the user experience.
Not only that, but Apple is also thought to be working on a new iPad Mini that’s bigger than the current model, as well as a refresh to the standard iPad; both of those should launch this year. Add them to the two different-sized Pro models, and that makes four new iPads in the pipeline.
Excited? You should be. Here’s why.
Check out the current range: Best iPads: big, small, budget and premium
Apple iPad Pro 2021: release date
The next iPad Pro refresh could happen very soon indeed. That’s according to Bloomberg, which carried a report recently detailing the new models.
Its sources say that the new Pro models will launch in April. There’s no firm date set, and Apple is yet to announce any events for the coming weeks. But it usually gives at least two weeks’ notice, so expect a mid-April launch at the earliest.
Once they have been announced, however, the new iPads could go on sale just days later, or even immediately.
This would be the fifth generation of iPad Pro. The current model launched last March, a year ago almost to the day. But a spring launch isn’t a given for iPad Pros. The third generation launched in October 2018, while the second gen landed in June 2017. The first model was announced in September 2015 and launched in November of the same year. Fingers crossed it becomes a new spring regular.
OS agnostic? Read our guide to the best tablets covering both iOS and Android
iPad Pro 2021: price
(Image credit: Apple)
The iPad Pro is the daddy of the iPad family, a stylus-equipped tablet that’s superpowered for work and play. Want the best games? The crispest movies? Need it for work, be it illustrating, animating, video editing or music production? It’s the tablet for you.
Of course, all this power doesn’t come cheap. Here’s how the current Pro models stack up.
iPad Pro 11in: from £769 ($799, AU$1329)
iPad Pro 12.9in: from £969 ($999, AU$1649)
With all that natty new screen tech at hand to go with all the usual improvements, we can’t see Apple dropping the price of the new models. Expect them to be in keeping with the current price tags.
iPad Pro 2021: screen
(Image credit: Apple)
We’re expecting two new models of iPad Pro, in the same sizes as the current models (11in and 12.9in). And it’s the bigger of the two that’s really got our attention.
That’s because it is said to boast a Mini LED screen. Like OLED, this technology is used in TVs, but it has better contrast ratios than the current Pro’s OLED panel. It is also less susceptible to burn-in, so if you accidentally leave your tablet on YouTube over the weekend you won’t have to worry about the logo being forever etched in the screen.
We don’t have only Bloomberg‘s word for it. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said back in 2019 that he expected Apple to start using Mini LED screens in its tablets and laptops. He even predicted that Apple would launch the tech in the 12.9in iPad Pro. When two such reputable sources say the same thing, the odds are that it’s true.
Mini LED has a lot going for it. It’s pitched as a more affordable version of OLED, though it works similarly to LCD tech. Essentially, the LEDs on a Mini LED panel’s backlight are much, much smaller than those used on a traditional LCD screen – and therefore there are a great many more of them; we’re talking tens of thousands rather than tens of hundreds. The idea is that the more LEDs used, the greater control the device has over over local dimming – i.e. how bright or dim parts of the screen can go. Theoretically as a result, Mini LEDs can produce pictures with better contrast, pictures with more precise shading and, in turn, better colour reproduction than your average LCD screen.
With a backlight, Mini LED TVs can reach a higher peak brightness than an OLED screen is capable of, and as there is greater control over what portions of the screen are dark it’s easier to achieve deeper blacks. That said, as there is still a backlight in the mix and the LEDs can’t turn completely off, as the self-emissive diodes in OLEDs can, it’s doubtful they’ll be able to produce quite the lights-off blacks that OLEDs can.
Still, we can’t wait to see the technology in action on an iPad. And it sounds as though we won’t have to, for long.
iPad Pro 2021: design
While the screen may be all new, it doesn’t sound as if the design of the device will change much, if at all. According to Bloomberg‘s report, the new Pro models will look similar to the current models. But that’s no bad thing.
The current iPad Pro, after all, is about as sleek as tablets come. Thanks to its narrow bezel, it’s basically all screen, making movies, games and TV shows all the more immersive. Sticking to this design will only serve to better show off the new screen tech, too – when the device is all screen, it really enhances those popping colours and sharply defined edges.
The current models are super slim and light, too. The 11in model sizes up at 24.7 x 17.8 x 0.6cm, while the 12.9in version comes in at 28 x 21.5 x 0.6cm. The smaller model weighs 473g, while the larger tips the scales at 643g – that’s lighter than a squeezy bottle of ketchup.
Unlike some other tablets, the Pro features speakers on both its top and bottom. This means that, when watching a film with the tablet in landscape orientation, you benefit from stereo sound, in contrast to those tablets with speakers in only one place.
The Pro also features a USB-C connection, but the new models have reportedly been tested with Apple’s Thunderbolt connectors. It’s not clear at this point whether they will ship with Thunderbolt or USB-C.
Apple is also reportedly testing its MagSafe connector for laptops. MagSafe is a magnetic connector – because it connects using magnets, the connection breaks if the cable is yanked out, and your device won’t tumble to the floor (say if someone trips over the cable). It was first used in Apple’s laptops, but recently made a return in the iPhone 12 as a way of snapping on accessories. With Apple mulling over MagSafe for MacBooks, could the next iPads also use it?
iPad Pro 2021: specs
(Image credit: Apple)
While the new iPad Pros might look almost identical to the current models, they should be much more powerful. So powerful, in fact, that performance should reportedly be “on a par” with Apple’s M1 MacBook Airs, MacBook Pros and Max Mini.
These M1 devices are the first to feature Apple’s own processors. That’s because last year the firm stopped using Intel chips in favour of its own, homegrown ones, known as Apple silicon. With Apple making both the hardware and software, it is able to optimise performance – these chips are made specifically for Apple devices, after all, as opposed to off-the-shelf processors that power all manner of desktops, laptops and tablets.
Reviews have praised Apple silicon devices, due to their notably improved performance. They have also shown big improvements in battery life.
For example, the latest Apple MacBook Air boasts up to 15 hours of wireless web performance, and up to 18 hours of movie streaming via the Apple TV app. The current iPad Pros manage only about 10 hours of power before needing a recharge, so it’s quite possible that the new models will see a significant battery bump.
The new Pros are also said to have new cameras, but here details are a bit thin on the ground.
Tablets’ cameras are usually a bit of an afterthought; but not on the Pro. This is a device built for creative professionals, after all, and imaging technology is likely to be high on their priority list. It has two rear cameras (a 12MP wide-angle lens, and a 10MP ultra-wide), with 2x optical zoom and 5x digital zoom. It also allows for 4K video recording at 24fps, 30fps or 60fps, 1080p HD video recording at 30fps or 60fps, and 720p HD video recording at 30fps.
The 7MP front-facing camera also has 1080p HD video recording at 30fps or 60fps.
Any upgrade on these would be most welcome, especially to the filmmakers eyeing up a new tablet to help make their movies.
Other new iPads for 2021
(Image credit: Apple)
As we said, the new Pros aren’t the only iPads in the Apple pipeline. The firm is also reportedly working on a new iPad Mini and a refresh of the standard iPad.
The Mini should have a slightly larger screen than the current 7.9in iPad Mini. This follows the trend in mobiles, which has been for bigger screens in recent years. Though it would still carry the Mini moniker, so don’t expect it to supersize anytime soon.
The standard iPad will reportedly be slimmer and lighter than the current model. The current iPad measures 25 x 17 x 0.7cm, so cutting down these dimensions will be no mean feat.
Expect minor spec bumps for these two devices, too.
Both of these iPads are expected to launch later in the year, possibly around September. That would be a year on from the last iPad range refresh. It’s also when we’re expecting the new iPhone 13. Could be a busy month.
MORE:
Read our in-depth Apple iPad (2020) review
Find the perfect Apple tablet for you: the best iPads 2021
Apple’s first over-ear headphones rated: read our AirPods Max review
Everything we know so far about the rumoured AirPods 3
We ask The Verge staff what they like to work with, play with, and cook with
We all have our favorite stuff. It could be a laptop that you’ve used for several years or the snazzy new one that just arrived last week. It could be the headphones that deliver your favorite music and podcasts, the controller that helps you win your games, or the app that puts a weird background on your Zoom calls.
Of course, we’re not just talking tech. We’re also talking about your favorite coffee maker, the TV shows that you binged through the pandemic, the hiking boots that have never given you a blister, and the immersion blender that your friend gave you for your birthday.
We’ve talked to the people who work at The Verge and asked them to tell us about their favorite stuff, whether it be for working at home, cooking, or playing. Some of these things may be what you already like to use; others may give you ideas of the kind of items you could use for yourself. Either way, we hope you enjoy reading about the things we use and enjoy.
So I have utterly failed at trying not to watch Hannibal right before bed; it definitely makes for weird dreams but it’s so good. I’m about halfway through season 2 now and getting very nervous for some of the characters I don’t remember from Silence of the Lambs and/or Red Dragon. I also have Promising Young Woman queued up and trying to avoid spoilers for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier until I can watch the first episode. Honestly too much good streaming content to keep up.
That said, though, I am very excited by this week’s lineup because we have new trailers, plural, for In the Heights, the movie adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first Broadway play (he also wrote another one you may have heard of, about Alexander Hamilton). Directed by Jon M. Chu, who directed Crazy Rich Asians, the trailers have a lot of familiar faces from Hamilton, including Miranda as the Piragua Guy, Christopher Jackson (George Washington) as the Mr. Softee driver, and as narrator and main character Usnavi is Anthony Ramos, who played both John Laurens and Philip Hamilton. Let’s goooo…
In the Heights
Also starring in In the Heights: Corey Hawkins, Melissa Barrera, Olga Merediz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Gregory Diaz IV, Stephanie Beatriz, Dascha Polanco, and Jimmy Smits.
In the Heights- Washington Heights trailer
I absolutely cannot wait. In the Heights comes to HBO Max and theaters June 11th (the trailers say June 18th, but Chu announced on Twitter it was moving up a week):
Surprise. We coming to Theaters one week earlier!!! There has been so much demand since our trailer release this week that we decided to get it out to you sooner. Let’s gooooooooooooo!!!! See you soon. JUNE 11th 2021. https://t.co/P5NB6z3INB
— Jon M. Chu (@jonmchu) March 19, 2021
Yes there are a few other trailers this week too:
WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn
This documentary tells the story of the co-working business that grew into a massive company only to flame out in spectacular fashion after releasing itsbonkers S-1. There’s also a TV show in the works (based on the WeCrashed podcast) that will star Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto, but this doc looks to be tightly focused on WeWork CEO Adam Neumann, who was at the center of it all. WeWork comes to Hulu April 2nd.
Godzilla vs. Kong
I have to state for the record that I think Godzilla would win a head-to-head with King Kong. This is the latest trailer for the go-big-or-go-home monster movie that stars Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, and Brian Tyree Henry. It’s slated to hit HBO Max March 31st.
Concrete Cowboy
Another movie long-delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, Concrete Cowboy tells the story of a son reuniting with his estranged father who works at a stable in the inner city rehabilitating horses. Based on the novel Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri, Concrete Cowboy is directed by Ricky Staub and stars Idris Elba (honestly, so riveting in the trailer), Jharrel Jerome, Byron Bowers, Lorraine Toussaint, and Clifford “Method Man” Smith. It hits Netflix April 2nd.
Four Good Days
Glenn Close is mother to Mila Kunis’ heroin addict, and trying to help her get clean once and for all. Glenn Close is so intense in the trailer in the very best watchful-worried-mom way. Four Good Days was co-written and directed by Rodrigo Garcia, and is based on the outstanding piece How’s Amanda? A story of truth, lies and an American addiction by Eli Saslow of the Washington Post. The film comes to theaters April 30th.
Home/Component/Graphics/AMD Radeon Software update adds Performance Tuning tool and improves Radeon Boost and Anti-Lag
João Silva 12 hours ago Graphics
Besides a multitude of fixes, AMD’s latest Radeon Software 21.3.1 driver also comes with some new improvements for Radeon Boost and Radeon Anti-Lag, as well as a new stress test to ensure all of your settings are stable.
With the AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 21.3.1 driver, users can take advantage of Anti-Lag in DirectX 12 titles. Radeon Boost also received DX12 support, allowing users to optimise selected games featuring Variable Rate Shading.
Another feature included in this driver is the Performance Tuning Stress Test, a new built-in stress tool to test GPU overclock stability. AMD has also redesigned portions of the UI to simplify the process.
The following list includes all the fixes coming with AMD Radeon Software 21.3.1 driver:
Radeon Software may sometimes have higher than expected CPU utilization, even when a system is at idle.
A system hang or crash may be experienced when upgrading Radeon Software while an Oculus™ VR headset is connected to your system on Radeon GCN graphics products.
Minecraft DXR may exhibit corrupted or missing textures when ray tracing is enabled on Radeon RX 6000 series graphics products.
An application crash may occur in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with ray tracing on Radeon RX 6000 series graphics products.
Lighting fails to render correctly on Radeon RX 6800 series graphics products in Star Citizen.
A black screen may occur when enabling and disabling Enhanced Sync while vsync is enabled in some Vulkan API games.
A black screen or system hang may occur on Hybrid Graphics systems for some Vulkan API games when Enhanced Sync is enabled.
Bethesda launcher may experience an application crash on startup when launching some games.
Users may be unable to create a new scene in the Radeon Software Streaming tab on first launch or after a settings factory reset.
Game specific performance tuning profiles may fail to load when a global performance tuning profile has been created or set.
Disabling HDCP support and performing a factory reset and/or system restart may sometimes trigger a system crash.
Epic Games social overlay or launcher may exhibit color corruption.
Xuan-Yuan Sword VII may experience an application crash with DirectX 12 ray tracing enabled on Radeon RX 6000 series graphics.
Color corruption may be experienced in Cyberpunk 2077™ when Radeon Boost is enabled.
Display flicker or corruption may occur on high refresh rate/resolution multi-monitor system configurations on Radeon RX Vega series graphics.
Audio loss or cut-out may intermittently occur on some TV displays when Windows® audio is set to use 5.1 or 7.1 speaker configurations.
The new Radeon Software graphics driver also adds support for Radeon RX 6700 graphics and DOOM Eternal: the Ancient Gods – Part Two. Lastly, it also brings back Frame Rate Target Control (FRTC) and enhances Vulkan support.
You can download the new AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 21.3.1 driver HERE.
KitGuru says: The Performance Tuning Stress Test and DirectX 12 support on Radeon Boost and Radeon Anti-Lag are welcome additions to the software. Did you already try these new features? What do you think of them so far?
Comics have never been bigger: with Marvel TV shows, DC movies, and indie adaptations growing by the day, comic books have never been more prominent in pop culture. This ongoing Verge column recommends comic series new and old, whether you’re a longtime fan or a newcomer.
Sometimes the art and narrative of a comic go hand-in-hand. A horror story might be full of lots of black and reds, while a superhero comic is brighter and cleaner. Paranoia Killer goes in a different direction. The series is a dark thriller, full of violence and serious subject matter, but with a visual style reminiscent of a Nickelodeon cartoon. Somehow, it still works.
What is it? Paranoia Killer is a brand-new series — so far, only the first of four parts is available — that centers on Nathalie Laertes, an FBI agent forced to take on a very strange undercover job: impersonating her twin brother. It turns out that her twin, who she believed to be just a slightly troubled sibling, was actually one of the world’s most infamous hitmen. Surprise!
Nathalie learns all of this when her brother turns up dead, and her boss forces her to impersonate him in order to infiltrate a criminal organization. Part of it is that they’re identical twins, so she has the look down. But they also apparently share some kind of “aura” that makes the whole switch possible. The first issue ends just as things really start heating up, as she heads off to a criminal training facility in the middle of the desert.
The thriller setup has a lot of potential, and I’m hooked after just the first issue. But part of what makes Paranoia Killer so interesting is its contrast in styles. The story is R-rated material; you’ll see characters shot dead in cold blood, and it opens with what appears to be a torture sequence. But it’s coupled with a surprisingly lighthearted art style, with flat colors and lots of clear, simple shapes.
In the first issue’s afterword, creator Victor Santos says this contrast of styles was born partly out of stubbornness. “I went for a more exaggerated cartoon style in this book, I suppose because I’m very stubborn, and I keep reading from time-to-time some critics saying that you can’t do ‘serious things’ with that style,” he writes. Well, so far, he’s made his point; in issue one, the art doesn’t distract but instead gives Paranoia Killer a very distinct vibe.
Who is it by?Paranoia Killer is the brainchild of Victor Santos, a Spanish comics creator who handled every part of the project: story, art, and design. He’s probably best-known for the series Polar, which also happens to be about a hitman.
Where can I read it? Paranoia Killer is the latest release on Panel Syndicate, a creator-run digital platform for comics. So far, it’s featured excellent series like The Private Eye — a story about a future without the internet from Brian K. Vaughan, Marcos Martin, and Muntsa Vicente — and even a Walking Dead spinoff. It’s a great place to find some offbeat stories, like the incredible Umami from Ken Niimura, which might not have a place at more traditional publishers. It also operates under a pay-what-you-want system, letting you support creators however you feel comfortable.
AMD’s latest Radeon driver update, Adrenalin version 21.3.1, adds several new features to team red’s graphics cards, but the biggest update is a new stress testing utility that allows you to check the stability of your overclocked AMD graphics card right from the Adrenalin software.
When you install the 21.3.1 driver, the new stress test option should be available to you called “Performance Tuning Stress Test.” According to AMD, Adrenaline has also been updated to help novice overclockers with newer temperature gauges and easier-to-understand performance readouts, PC Gamer reported. AMD also said it added more indicators to show where performance is being limited on your best graphics card.
(Image credit: PCGamer)
We aren’t sure how much better this stress test is compared to stress testing your graphics card in popular games and applications like 3DMark, Superposition and your favorite graphically demanding video game. But it is nice that you can now stress test right from the Adrenaline software without using any other software to see if your GPU overclock is stable or not.
AMD didn’t say if this new stress test was limited to newer Radeon GPUs, so we assume that this new stress testing utility will work on any Radeon GPU that supports the 21.3.1 driver.
More Adrenalin 21.3.1 Updates
A few more highlights from 21.3.1 include added support for Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods – Part Two, as well as major updates to Radeon Boost and Radeon Anti-Lag with both technologies now supporting the DirectX 12 API. Plus, there are a few more updates to Vulkan support.
Here’s the full list of issues the driver fixes, as per AMD:
Radeon Software may sometimes have higher than expected CPU utilization, even when a system is at idle.
A system hang or crash may be experienced when upgrading Radeon Software while an Oculus VR headset is connected to your system on Radeon GCN graphics products.
Minecraft DXR may exhibit corrupted or missing textures when ray tracing is enabled on Radeon RX 6000 series graphics products.
An application crash may occur in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare when ray tracing is enabled on Radeon RX 6000 series graphics products.
Lighting fails to render correctly on Radeon RX 6800 series graphics products in Star Citizen.
A black screen may occur when enabling and disabling Enhanced Sync while Vsync is enabled in some Vulkan API games.
A black screen or system hang may occur on Hybrid Graphics systems for some Vulkan API games when Enhanced Sync is enabled.
Bethesda launcher may experience an application crash on startup when launching some games.
Users may be unable to create a new scene in the Radeon Software Streaming tab on first launch or after a settings factory reset.
Game specific performance tuning profiles may fail to load when a global performance tuning profile has been created or set.
Disabling HDCP support and performing a factory reset and/or system restart may sometimes trigger a system crash or hang on boot.
Epic Games social overlay or launcher may exhibit color corruption.
Xuan-Yuan Sword VII may experience an application crash with DirectX12 ray tracing enabled on Radeon RX 6000 series graphics.
Color corruption may be experienced in Cyberpunk 2077 when Radeon Boost is enabled.
Display flicker or corruption may occur on high refresh rate/resolution multi-monitor system configurations on Radeon RX Vega series graphics.
Audio loss or cutout may intermittently occur on some TV displays when Windows audio is set to use 5.1 or 7.1 speaker configurations.
OtterBox, the company best known for its ruggedized cases, has developed a $30 clip that can attach your phone to an Xbox controller for playing games. Called the Mobile Gaming Clip, it’s part of a growing trend of accessories for playing cloud-based console games right on your phone. What makes OtterBox’s clip different is it can also work as a phone stand, separate from the controller — although the phone stand feature isn’t quite as robust as what I was hoping for.
OtterBox’s clip is designed specifically for Xbox controllers, and it works with controllers made for the Xbox One, Series X / S, or the Elite Series 2 controller. There’s also a little cutout for the charging port, meaning if you need to connect your Xbox controller to a USB cable, you will not need to remove the clip from the controller. You can also detach the arm from the clip itself and use it as a stand to prop up your smartphone for tabletop gaming, watching movies, or video calls.
With Microsoft rolling out xCloud, it’s partnering with multiple manufacturers to make a variety of mobile gaming accessory companies, including OtterBox, Razer’s Kishi, and 8BitDo’s SN30 Pro for Android, provide different experiences. Microsoft is aiming to ensure there is a big ecosystem of gaming peripherals once its cloud gaming service becomes more widely available.
Setup for the OtterBox Mobile Gaming Clip is straightforward: connect your Xbox controller to your phone, attach the clip to your controller, mount the phone, and start playing. It does require more force than other gaming clips to attach it to the controller. Once you have it properly installed, the clip tightly clasps across the controller, so you don’t have to worry about it getting loose and falling off.
Some mobile gaming clips, like PowerA’s MOGA Mobile Gaming Clip, tend to feel unbalanced, particularly with a big or heavy phone or a phone with a bulkier case. OtterBox’s Mobile Gaming Clip has a better distribution of weight, which made the controller feel a bit more balanced.
One reason for that is OtterBox’s Mobile Gaming Clip has a “rapid adjust feature,” which means you can adjust the angle of your phone when using the clip. The clip’s arm can extend a bit, allowing you to experiment with the angles you prefer. There’s also a latch located on the arm of the Mobile Gaming Clip that allows you to lock it in place so it doesn’t shift around while in use.
There are three claws to keep your phone in place. The bottom claw extends, allowing bigger phones to fit into the accessory by extending a few centimeters. This makes it easy to fit bigger phones into the gaming clip. The claws don’t block me from reaching the volume or power buttons on my iPhone XR, though it is a bit cumbersome to have to unlock my phone while using the mount because it’s sideways in the mount. The design also makes it easy to use a pair of wired earbuds or connect a charger to charge my phone while I continue gaming.
I had to remove a case I was using that had a PopSocket attached in order to securely get my phone in place.
I did have some issues when I tried to mount my phone; the phone case I use primarily has a PopSocket attached in the center, and it added too much thickness and made my phone less secure in the clip, even popping out when I moved the clip even slightly. I ended up having to remove the case from my phone every time I wanted to use the clip. If you don’t have an accessory like a PopSocket on your phone, the clip should work with almost any standard case.
The most interesting feature for OtterBox’s Mobile Gaming Clip is tabletop mode. You can switch from the controller to tabletop mode by detaching the arm to the clip portion of the accessory, allowing you to use the gaming clip as a viewing stand for gaming or even watching movies and TV shows. The tabletop feature is an ambitious idea, but it ends up being more of a kickstand than an actual stand. You have limited ability to adjust the angle of the phone in this mode, and you can’t raise the phone up off the table in any way.
Yet, the option for a tabletop mode does address one of the biggest problems with mobile gaming clips: hand fatigue from the weight of a controller, phone, and clip combined. OtterBox helps solve this problem by allowing you the ability to take a break from the gaming clip but still giving you that freedom to continue gaming on your phone.
Tabletop mode is a great idea that can reduce hand fatigue, but the feature feels mostly like an afterthought.
In the last few years, the cloud and mobile gaming market has become a more exciting space in the industry, with successful free-to-play titles like Call of Duty Mobile and Microsoft truly beginning its push into cloud gaming. As cloud gaming continues to grow, there’s likely going to be a big expansion in the availability and variety of gaming clips like this one. This means if you do not like the current options available on the market, there is a high probability that similar products will be released in the coming months and years.
OtterBox’s Mobile Gaming Clip is not the perfect mobile gaming accessory, but it is one of the better mobile gaming accessories available now. It allows me the option to use a controller I own and not one designed for a specific product (aside from the fact that it has to be an Xbox controller). It’s also a bit more flexible in how to use it when compared to other mobile gaming accessories such as the Razer Kishi, which encloses your phone in a pair of controllers.
At $30, OtterBox’s clip is less expensive than those solutions, but there are still cheaper options if you want to clip your phone to an existing controller. I like how the clip does not feel unbalanced when attached to the controller, and the tabletop mode is interesting. But it ends up feeling like more of an afterthought because of how limited the clip ends up being when used on a table. Yet, the things OtterBox’s Mobile Gaming Clip does right are enough to justify the $5 to $10 price premium compared to other options available on the market.
Photography by Taylor Lyles / The Verge
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