Gaming platform Roblox will mandate facial recognition-based age verification to enable chat features, initially rolling out the requirement in Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands before expanding globally. The company described the measure as establishing enhanced safety standards by restricting communication between minors and adults through age-appropriate grouping.
Users must complete facial age estimation or identity document verification to access messaging capabilities, with verified individuals limited to conversing within similar age brackets unless establishing trusted connections with known contacts. The platform characterized the transition from self-declared ages and behavioral monitoring as progress toward more...
AMD introduced the Instinct MI430X accelerator featuring 432 gigabytes of HBM4 memory and 19.6 terabytes per second bandwidth as part of its expanding artificial intelligence hardware portfolio designed for high-performance computing environments. The processor incorporates next-generation CDNA architecture optimized for hardware-based double-precision floating point calculations, positioning the chip as a successor to the MI300A model deployed in the El Capitan supercomputer system.
The company plans integration across major research installations, including Discovery at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which will pair the accelerators with Venice EPYC processors on HPE Cray platforms for large-scale model training and scientific...
French video game publisher Ubisoft will release delayed financial results following a postponement that sparked acquisition speculation centered on Chinese technology conglomerate Tencent. The company halted stock trading and pushed back earnings disclosure for its fiscal first half while citing efforts to prevent market volatility, though officials attributed the delay to procedural requirements without confirming buyout discussions.
Industry observers noted Ubisoft recently established Vantage Studios, a joint venture with Tencent that controls intellectual property rights for Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six franchises, representing the publisher's most valuable assets. Corporate leadership acknowledged reviewing...
Apple has requested additional production capacity from TSMC after ordering between 4 million and 5 million supplementary A19 and A19 Pro processors to address surging demand for iPhone 17 models. The California technology company secured the extra manufacturing allocation following strong sales performance during October and November that exceeded initial projections.
Industry sources indicate the higher-specification A19 Pro chip powering the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max represents the bulk of increased orders, as premium models continue capturing the majority of consumer purchases. The standard iPhone 17 has attracted substantial interest through its $799 pricing combined with an LTPO OLED display, 8 gigabytes of memory...
Turkish studio TaleWorlds Entertainment will introduce naval warfare to Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord through the War Sails expansion, priced at $24.99 across all platforms. The downloadable content adds 20 historically modeled medieval vessels, including 15 warships, four trading ships, and one fishing boat for maritime campaigns across the expanded Calradia setting featuring the new Nord faction.
An eight-and-a-half-minute trailer demonstrates nighttime river combat between Nord and Khuzait forces. Players without the expansion receive complementary updates addressing mission atmospheres, spear mechanics, and enhanced modding tools alongside refined melee, ranged, and cavalry systems.
Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus pressured technology reviewer Debayan Roy to remove social media commentary describing thermal problems with the OnePlus 15 during outdoor video capture. Roy reported his review unit reached 50 degrees Celsius and halted recording after five minutes while filming at 4K resolution and 60 frames per second during winter conditions, with the camera remaining disabled temporarily.
The device incorporates an enlarged vapor chamber advertised as providing doubled heat dissipation capacity and handles standard operations without incident. Performance deterioration occurs under intensive workloads attributed to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, which consumes approximately 22 watts when stressed...
Take-Two Interactive chief executive Strauss Zelnick indicated during a television business program appearance that artificial intelligence will enable video game characters to engage players through natural dialogue rather than predetermined scripts. The technology would train digital personas using material from professional writers while allowing dynamic responses beyond scenarios developers initially programmed, according to the executive leading the publisher behind franchises including Grand Theft Auto.
Zelnick emphasized the company employs machine learning primarily for operational improvements rather than workforce reduction, allowing staff to abandon repetitive tasks for creative endeavors. Technologies from NVIDIA ACE and...
Gaming studio Bungie has resolved copyright litigation brought by author Matthew Kelsey Martineau, who claimed the developer appropriated elements from his online writings for the Red War storyline in Destiny 2. The plaintiff alleged similarities between his work published on WordPress between 2013 and 2014 and content featuring the Red Legion faction.
Judge Susie Morgan rejected the studio's dismissal motion after Bungie proved unable to supply direct campaign examples because the contested material had been removed from the game and rendered incompatible with current systems. The court rejected alternative evidence, including gameplay videos from YouTube and wiki documentation, because the complaint did not specifically reference...
Austrian cooling specialist Noctua has introduced black editions of its flagship air cooler and accompanying fan series, though pricing reaches premium territory with the revised models. The chromax.black variant of the NH-D15 G2 tower cooler retails for $189.90, representing a substantial increase over both its standard counterpart and predecessor models, while featuring eight heat pipes and three high-performance fans with the updated black coating.
Matching fans from the NF-A14x25 G2 series are available separately at $44.90 in either square or round frame configurations for chassis mounting or radiator applications. These units incorporate Sterrox liquid-crystal polymer impellers with minimal 0.7-millimeter tip clearance, designed...
