Uncrowned Guard

The contract worth nearly $22 billion and spanning 10 years will supply the US Army with HoloLens-based headsets to incorporate augmented reality into the military. 120,000 headsets will be delivered to the US Army over the next 10 years that will enable training via augmented reality and other machine learning enabled software. Back in 2018 Microsoft won a nearly $500 million contract to supply the US army with augmented reality headsets and now images are surfacing of a much more rugged and customized version of their HoloLens appearing for the new contract. Since then, Microsoft has worked with the US Army to develop many prototypes of their devices and tools required for the military to achieve their training goals. Overall, the augmented reality market has been stagnant in the consumer space lately, but the development side has been massively increasing between major tech companies like Microsoft, Google, and Facebook who are devoting exceptionally large portions of their staff toward research and development of augmented reality. Many experts believe that augmented reality will be a massive technology achievement once it is more practical and now that Microsoft has achieved a military contract utilizing this technology the development space and competition is likely to massively increase. The Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) appears to be the system that Microsoft has developed based around their HoloLens and it utilizes multiple sensors along with military integrated technology like night vision and target acquisition but overall, the system is mostly unknown and even press releases from Microsoft have contradicted each other over the software and capabilities of the device. Although being a military device it is unlikely that we will get a full breakdown of the technology and software being utilized for quite some time. View full article

The contract worth nearly $22 billion and spanning 10 years will supply the US Army with HoloLens-based headsets to incorporate augmented reality into the military. 120,000 headsets will be delivered to the US Army over the next 10 years that will enable training via augmented reality and other machine learning enabled software. Back in 2018 Microsoft won a nearly $500 million contract to supply the US army with augmented reality headsets and now images are surfacing of a much more rugged and customized version of their HoloLens appearing for the new contract. Since then, Microsoft has worked with the US Army to develop many prototypes of their devices and tools required for the military to achieve their training goals. Overall, the augmented reality market has been stagnant in the consumer space lately, but the development side has been massively increasing between major tech companies like Microsoft, Google, and Facebook who are devoting exceptionally large portions of their staff toward research and development of augmented reality. Many experts believe that augmented reality will be a massive technology achievement once it is more practical and now that Microsoft has achieved a military contract utilizing this technology the development space and competition is likely to massively increase. The Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) appears to be the system that Microsoft has developed based around their HoloLens and it utilizes multiple sensors along with military integrated technology like night vision and target acquisition but overall, the system is mostly unknown and even press releases from Microsoft have contradicted each other over the software and capabilities of the device. Although being a military device it is unlikely that we will get a full breakdown of the technology and software being utilized for quite some time.

Discord has been in talks to sell itself lately and Microsoft has entered the talks as a possible buyer. Sources have stated a possible cost of $10 billion for Discord but nothing is official yet and it is still possible that Discord will go public instead of selling itself. Discord is a San Francisco based communication platform focused around gaming. The service offers text, voice, and video chat on a platform that also offers numerous gaming services on both PC and Mobile. The service has been trying to expand from gaming as of late and seems to be doing well in this market during the current pandemic. Microsoft purchasing Discord makes a lot of sense as Xbox is rapidly growing on PC, but Discord is often the chat service used with these games. Xbox also has a poor cross platform chat service and really offers nothing for many of Discords features so bringing Discord to Xbox consoles would make many gamers happy. Discord has been in sales talks with other tech giants before but details for those talks are also limited. There is also no reason to suspect these talks have any momentum to them or that this sell has any higher chance than others, but it seems to have really perked up the interest of gamers this time. View full article

Discord has been in talks to sell itself lately and Microsoft has entered the talks as a possible buyer. Sources have stated a possible cost of $10 billion for Discord but nothing is official yet and it is still possible that Discord will go public instead of selling itself. Discord is a San Francisco based communication platform focused around gaming. The service offers text, voice, and video chat on a platform that also offers numerous gaming services on both PC and Mobile. The service has been trying to expand from gaming as of late and seems to be doing well in this market during the current pandemic. Microsoft purchasing Discord makes a lot of sense as Xbox is rapidly growing on PC, but Discord is often the chat service used with these games. Xbox also has a poor cross platform chat service and really offers nothing for many of Discords features so bringing Discord to Xbox consoles would make many gamers happy. Discord has been in sales talks with other tech giants before but details for those talks are also limited. There is also no reason to suspect these talks have any momentum to them or that this sell has any higher chance than others, but it seems to have really perked up the interest of gamers this time.

Mozilla has announced that the new version of Firefox will introduce Total Cookie, which is a feature that will lock cookies to the site that created them and prevent other sites from seeing what you are doing elsewhere. Yes, that means Social Media will not be able to see what you have been searching for around the web or the items you have recently looked at. This is a huge step forward in user privacy as cookie tracking is currently one of the most popular ways that commercial companies track your online activity and log what you are doing on sites they do not own. Since 2019, Firefox has had features to reduce cookie tracking but this is the first time the browser will allow a user to truly protect their privacy online. Total Cookie should still allow third-party logins and special cookie usage that is not focused on tracking user data and the company states that this feature should not affect a user’s regular browsing experience in today’s highly integrated web. Preventing companies from “tagging” your cookies to track your online activity is the sole concept of this feature and that should still allow most other cookie-based features that users may not even know are enhancing their experience. We absolutely love to see this feature being added to the browser and will certainly be turning it on and giving it a try! Hopefully, this will encourage other browsers who have pursued isolating cookies per site to continue down that route and make the web a little bit more private each time. Although we will have to see how this feature effects other functions as cookies from other sites are often used for tasks beyond tracking and advertising. View full article

Mozilla has announced that the new version of Firefox will introduce Total Cookie, which is a feature that will lock cookies to the site that created them and prevent other sites from seeing what you are doing elsewhere. Yes, that means Social Media will not be able to see what you have been searching for around the web or the items you have recently looked at. This is a huge step forward in user privacy as cookie tracking is currently one of the most popular ways that commercial companies track your online activity and log what you are doing on sites they do not own. Since 2019, Firefox has had features to reduce cookie tracking but this is the first time the browser will allow a user to truly protect their privacy online. Total Cookie should still allow third-party logins and special cookie usage that is not focused on tracking user data and the company states that this feature should not affect a user’s regular browsing experience in today’s highly integrated web. Preventing companies from “tagging” your cookies to track your online activity is the sole concept of this feature and that should still allow most other cookie-based features that users may not even know are enhancing their experience. We absolutely love to see this feature being added to the browser and will certainly be turning it on and giving it a try! Hopefully, this will encourage other browsers who have pursued isolating cookies per site to continue down that route and make the web a little bit more private each time. Although we will have to see how this feature effects other functions as cookies from other sites are often used for tasks beyond tracking and advertising.

An Asus ROG Phone 5 model with 16 GB of RAM and a Snapdragon 888 processor briefly appeared on Geekbench’s Android Benchmarks and overtook the current champion after surpassing the ROG Phone 3 in both single and mutli-core. The ROG Phone 5 is expected to launch sometime in the spring of 2021 and is rumored have multiple configurations being available for the phone’s hardware. NotebookCheck stated they have discovered an 8 GB model and the 16 GB model to have both listed well above 1000 points on Geekbench but those listings have been pulled as the product is not released. These scores are not unexpected as the ROG Phone line has a history of launching as the most powerful phone at that time and the 5 will have a more processor and overall a better hardware then the current ROG 3 phone. Granted these scores are a single phone and the scoreboard on Geekbench is supposed to be an average of many user’s devices. So, it is not a true placement but with the listed specs, but it is safe to assume that the ROG Phone 5 will be the leader come launch day. For those curious, we did not get an official reason why Asus is skipping the ROG Phone 4, but it is commonly known that 4 is an unlucky number in several Asian cultures and that may have been the reason. View full article

An Asus ROG Phone 5 model with 16 GB of RAM and a Snapdragon 888 processor briefly appeared on Geekbench’s Android Benchmarks and overtook the current champion after surpassing the ROG Phone 3 in both single and mutli-core. The ROG Phone 5 is expected to launch sometime in the spring of 2021 and is rumored have multiple configurations being available for the phone’s hardware. NotebookCheck stated they have discovered an 8 GB model and the 16 GB model to have both listed well above 1000 points on Geekbench but those listings have been pulled as the product is not released. These scores are not unexpected as the ROG Phone line has a history of launching as the most powerful phone at that time and the 5 will have a more processor and overall a better hardware then the current ROG 3 phone. Granted these scores are a single phone and the scoreboard on Geekbench is supposed to be an average of many user’s devices. So, it is not a true placement but with the listed specs, but it is safe to assume that the ROG Phone 5 will be the leader come launch day. For those curious, we did not get an official reason why Asus is skipping the ROG Phone 4, but it is commonly known that 4 is an unlucky number in several Asian cultures and that may have been the reason.

NVIDIA announced the RTX 3060 GPU quite awhile ago but we now have a MSRP and a release date. The card is going to drop on February 25th (one week from today) and will be suggested to be listed at $329. This card is designed to be a “budget” card in the 3000 series along side the more expensive, and more powerful, 3070, 3080, and 3090 cards. If you did not know, NVIDIA GPUs currently uses the first two numbers (30) for the series and the last two numbers (60) as essentially a performance mark with the higher number being more powerful. Also the Ti versions are more capable than the non-Ti versions although are also more expense and the RTX 3060 Ti is already released for $399+ if you can find one. While this is great news for gamers who are looking for an exceptionally good budget card, it is not all good news as the GPU shortage has already shown its head for these new cards. Many stores offering preorders have already raised the prices over 50% of the MSRP and multiple sites have already reported that miners and scalpers are eyeing up the new cards. Overall, we are excited to hear about the new cards and truly hope they find themselves in the hands of gamers. However, it seems like these cards are already destined to fall into the GPU nonsense pit and be a hard to find in the overpriced GPU nightmare like the rest of the 3000 series. We would recommend preordering a card if you can in order to avoid the nightmare restocking process that is likely to follow. View full article

NVIDIA announced the RTX 3060 GPU quite awhile ago but we now have a MSRP and a release date. The card is going to drop on February 25th (one week from today) and will be suggested to be listed at $329. This card is designed to be a “budget” card in the 3000 series along side the more expensive, and more powerful, 3070, 3080, and 3090 cards. If you did not know, NVIDIA GPUs currently uses the first two numbers (30) for the series and the last two numbers (60) as essentially a performance mark with the higher number being more powerful. Also the Ti versions are more capable than the non-Ti versions although are also more expense and the RTX 3060 Ti is already released for $399+ if you can find one. While this is great news for gamers who are looking for an exceptionally good budget card, it is not all good news as the GPU shortage has already shown its head for these new cards. Many stores offering preorders have already raised the prices over 50% of the MSRP and multiple sites have already reported that miners and scalpers are eyeing up the new cards. Overall, we are excited to hear about the new cards and truly hope they find themselves in the hands of gamers. However, it seems like these cards are already destined to fall into the GPU nonsense pit and be a hard to find in the overpriced GPU nightmare like the rest of the 3000 series. We would recommend preordering a card if you can in order to avoid the nightmare restocking process that is likely to follow.

The NZXT H1 is a premium small form-factor PC case that has been in the highlight as of late for shipping with a faulty PCIe riser cable that has exposed wiring touching the metal screw used to attach the cable to the case. The riser was designed poorly and lacked reinforcement where the screw is inserted, which allowed the screw to break down the board material and come in direct contract with the internal wiring and create a new circuit. This screw would then heat up and cause a fire. NZXT stated this was an extremely low probability issue and shipped out nylon screws to customers to replace the included metal ones. The nylon screws are non-conductive and therefore could directly touch the internal wiring without risk of fire. However, the company made an oversight as customers could very easily switch the screws out with metal ones and there were no warnings on the product to remind customers not to change the screw type years later. The product has been officially recalled by NZXT as a fire hazard and the official company letter states that they will be pulling the product off their company store until new risers are available and will be sending replacement risers to current customers. The letter states that customers may return the case if they purchased it from their official store, but states that customers must work with the retailer to return the case if purchased somewhere else. The letter also lists how to get a repair packet for current owners. The CPSC has issued an official recall notice as well for the product and stated that around 32,000 units were sold.

The latest Bloomberg Innovation Index report lists South Korea as the world’s leader in innovation after suppressing Germany, which was the last leader and has now fallen to 4th place. South Korea leading in innovation is not uncommon as they have led seven out of the nine years that Bloomberg has published the index. Much of the data used in the index was obtained before the COVID-19 pandemic, although the chart does seem to indicate that the top innovators have done the best at handling the pandemic. The Index does note that China received a large boost due to Wuhan’s impressive ability to test 10 million residents of a city for coronavirus, which was a massive public health innovation. South Korea is a notable leader of the group as they are often not considered as developed as many over nations and are battling a losing technology battle against China’s low-cost labor. However, the nation, and more importantly the people, have a mindset focused on research and development and much of the country’s policies are focused on that concept. The United States and China are the world’s two largest economies and neither has made the top ten on the list. One of the largest declines in the U.S. is due to an extremely poor ranking higher education system that has underperformed in numerous areas. President Biden has made a push to focus on manufacturing R&D, but so far has not stated any plans to deal with the education problems. The ranking process begins with over 200 nations which are scored on a zero to ten scale in seven categories. Many nations do not properly report their data in these categories and are automatically eliminated and Bloomberg only publishes the top 60. You can view a summary of the report here, although is does require a special subscription. View full article

Gaming has always been my boredom killers, although it has certainly been lacking between work, college, and building some online communities.

The latest Bloomberg Innovation Index report lists South Korea as the world’s leader in innovation after suppressing Germany, which was the last leader and has now fallen to 4th place. South Korea leading in innovation is not uncommon as they have led seven out of the nine years that Bloomberg has published the index. Much of the data used in the index was obtained before the COVID-19 pandemic, although the chart does seem to indicate that the top innovators have done the best at handling the pandemic. The Index does note that China received a large boost due to Wuhan’s impressive ability to test 10 million residents of a city for coronavirus, which was a massive public health innovation. South Korea is a notable leader of the group as they are often not considered as developed as many over nations and are battling a losing technology battle against China’s low-cost labor. However, the nation, and more importantly the people, have a mindset focused on research and development and much of the country’s policies are focused on that concept. The United States and China are the world’s two largest economies and neither has made the top ten on the list. One of the largest declines in the U.S. is due to an extremely poor ranking higher education system that has underperformed in numerous areas. President Biden has made a push to focus on manufacturing R&D, but so far has not stated any plans to deal with the education problems. The ranking process begins with over 200 nations which are scored on a zero to ten scale in seven categories. Many nations do not properly report their data in these categories and are automatically eliminated and Bloomberg only publishes the top 60. You can view a summary of the report here, although is does require a special subscription.

During the current pandemic in-person press conferences and major release events, not to mention major tech events, have all but come to a halt. Microsoft is planning to deal with these hurdles by separating their large events, that often have numerous types of product launches and announcements, into smaller focused virtual events. Microsoft plans to separate it's events into individually focused virtual announcements with more individualized categories such as cloud computing, gaming, or Windows. It also sounds like the company might be having more corporate based events that focus on security and such mixed in with these other events. This is notably exciting as Microsoft seems to have a very rich supply of announcements to make this year including the new Windows 10X operating system coming into more and more end users' hands and the gaming events are sure to be full of Game Pass announcements along with the upcoming xCloud gaming projects that are sure to be running wild this year with features and game releases. Of course we expect a Surface focused event to be somewhere in the mix as well. This is certainly an exciting announcement and we cannot wait to hear more details about how many or how detailed each event will be. These events are definitely a benefit during the pandemic and at a time when more people are working remotely or even studying abroad were making in person events such as Microsoft's Build are simply impractical even before the COVID-19 outbreak. There is currently no timeline or schedule of these events although we will let you know when more is known. View full article

Plex, one of (if not the most popular) home media streaming systems, has announced the release of Plex Arcade which will allow users to stream games via their Plex account and applications. The streaming app provider has stated that it will utilize Parsec to let users stream retro titles from a host computer to a variety of different platforms. This is very similar to Plex’s standard home theater streaming for movies and TV shows but will require a subscription cost due to the utilization of Parsec and cloud partnerships. So far it has been reported that Amazon Fire TV, Android and Android TV, Apple products, Chromebooks, and Windows products will be able to utilize the service. Plex has partnered with Atari to offer 27 retro titles at launch that you can find at the bottom of this article. Plex has also confirmed that users will be able to stream games from their own computer library however has not released any details about the limitation of the service beyond saying it is designed for retro games. The current cost of the service is $4.99 USD a month or $2.99 a month if you are a Plex pass subscriber. While there are plenty of sources at this point able to stream games via the cloud or even play retro games directly on mobile devices and smart TVs, it is very intriguing with Plex’s ability to utilize a Home Server and the limitations of the service may be endless. Included Atari game list at launch: 3D Tic-Tac-Toe Adventure Aquaventure Avalanche Basketbrawl Centipede Combat Dark Chambers Desert Falcon Fatal Run Food Fight Gravitar Haunted House Human Canonball Lunar Lander Major Havoc Milipede Missile Command Motor Psycho Ninja Golf Outlaw Gunslinger Planet Smashers Radar Lock Sky Diver Sky Raider Solaris Super Breakout View full article