October 7, 2016 - The WAN Show Document

[LinusTech]

https://soundcloud.com/thewanshow/the-wan-show-google-pixel-cool-30fps-lock-bad-october-7-2016

 

Main News Topics

Google Event 4th October

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/670965-google-event-4th-october/ OP: Arcanekitten

Source 2:

• Main announcements: Pixel phones, 4K Chromecast, Amazon Echo competitor, new “Daydream” VR platform

 

• Pixel & Pixel XL

  • Aluminum unibody and polished glass design

  • Hi-def AMOLED display

  • Snapdragon 821

  • 4GB LPDDR4 RAM

  • Rear fingerprint sensor

  • 2770 or 3450 mAh battery

  • 12.3 MP with f/2.0 aperture rear camera

    • No camera bump, took a shot at Apple there

  • 32GB or 128GB

  • USB Type-C

  • 3.5mm headphone jack

  • 3 colors - “Quite Black,” “Really Blue,” “Very Silver”

  • First phone with Google Assistant built in

  • First Daydream-ready phones

  • Pricing (US)

    • Pixel 32GB - $649

    • Pixel 128GB - $749

    • Pixel XL 32GB - $769

    • Pixel XL 128GB - $869

 

• Daydream View

  • “First Daydream-ready VR headset”

  • A “nice” field of view, “with the Daydream phone, low latency and really accurate head-tracking”

  • Talked a lot about design, comfort, fit & finish

  • “In designing it, we weren’t inspired by gadgets - we looked at... what do people actually wear?”

  • Fabric, soft micro-fibre, and other materials found in clothing and athletic wear

    • Worked with clothing designers to finalize a design

  • 30% lighter than “similar devices”

  • Designed to fit nicely over glasses

  • Focus on comfort and ease of use

  • Wireless connection to the phone, “auto-alignment system that gets everything just right”

  • Also has a controller with clickable touchpad & two buttons, as well as sensors inside that respond to how you move

    • Can point, swing, aim, draw, etc. with it

  • Controller is stored inside the headset when not in use

  • $79

 

• Google in the home

  • Google WiFi

    • “Expandable system” of APs

    • Hardware is designed to be “visually subtle”

    • Comes with a featureset called network assist

      • Optimizes which AP you’re accessing

    • Also gives you a network management app

    • Workst together with TP-Link/ASUS Google OnHubs

    • Pre-orders available in November, shipping in early December

    • $129 for a single unit, $299 for a 3-pack

 

• Chromecast Ultra

  • “Most premium TV streaming device to date”

  • Cast content in up to 4K UHD

  • HDR and Dolby Vision support

  • Google Play Movies & TV rolling out 4K content in November

  • Ultra is 1.8x faster at loading content, major WiFi improvmenets

  • Supports ethernet

  • $69, available in November

 

• Google Home

  • Seems like a huge focus for them as

  • Google Assistant interaction within your home

    • Control music, smarthome features, ask questions, etc.

  • Design of Google Home “inspired by wine glasses and candles”

  • Voice control is the main interaction method, but top of the device also has a capacitive touch panel

  • Comes with a physical mute button - “The product is only listening for the hotword when you want it to be”

  • 3-speaker setup within the device

  • Customizable bases with easy swappability

  • $129, includes a 6-month free trial of YouTube RED

  • Pre-orders available now, will ship and be available in retail stores on November 4

Post-Recall Galaxy Note 7 Caught Fire on Southwest Airlines Flight

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/671523-post-recall-galaxy-no OP: Nineshadow

Source 2: http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/5/13175000/samsung-galaxy-note-7-fire-replac

• Flight was evacuated while still at the gate due to a smoking Note 7

• This phone was a replacement Note 7, one of the units deemed safe by Samsung

• The owner had powered down the phone and placed it in his pocket when it began smoking

• A “thick grey-green ‘angry’ smoke” poured out of the device as he dropped it onto the floor

• After a few moments the phone had burned through the carpet and scorched the subfloor of the plane

• The phone was charged to about 80% when the incident occurred

  • The owner had only used a wireless charger since receiving the device

• When the phone’s IMEI was run through Samsung’s recall eligibility checker it read “Great News! Your device is NOT in the list of affected devices. If you have any other questions contact us at…”

• Samsung issued a statement regarding the event:

  • “Until we are able to retrieve the device, we cannot confirm that this incident involves the new Note7. We are working with the authorities and Southwest now to recover the device and confirm the cause. Once we have examined the device we will have more information to share.”

• The phone is currently in the hands of the local Fire Department, with the arson investigation unit

• The US Consumer Product Safety Commission is opening an investigation into the incident: http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/5/13179804/samsung-galaxy-note-7-fire-replacement-plane-investigation-regulators

• This appears to be the first reported incident of a replacement phone going bad within the US

• The owner of the Note 7 has already replaced it with an iPhone 7 (LOL)

Samsung Wants You to Appear in Note 7 Advert After REcall Debacle

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/671415-samsung-w OP: hey_yo_

Source 2: https://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-wants-you-to-appear-in-note-7-advert-

• A Chicago-based casting agency posted a call for current or former owners of the Note to “share their experiences witht he Galaxy Note 7, the Note 7 recall, and their overall experience with Samsung.”

• Those not in Chicago were asked to submit a video application

• Ad will be shot in New York, and those who are chosen will be paid $600 or more

Apple Patents Fingerprint Sensor That Works Through Displays

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/670945-apple-patents-fingerpri OP: NinerL

Source 2: http://appleinsider.com/articles/16/10/04/apple-patents-fingerprint-sensor-tha

• Apple now owns “IP covering a fingerprint sensor capable of gathering accurate readings through structures like a device screen.”

• It is rumored that the 2017 iPhone will get rid of the iconic home button entirely, making way for a “full-screen face” edge-to-edge OLED display

• Apple is said to be working on a virtual button which “presumably carries over the same features and functions”

• With most fingerprint sensors, separation between the contact surface and the capacitive sensing array results in a blurring of the finger’s electric field, leading to degraded fingerprint image resolutions and decreased recognition accuracy

• Apple’s proposed implementation uses electrostatic lenses, described as one or more patterned conductive layers

  • Depending on position, relative voltage, and shape, the layers are able to shape or bend the electric field associated with the user’s finger

  • In some cases this bending can offset the natural dispersion a finger’s electric field experiences as it passes through a dielectric layer of space

Washington State Gambling Commission Orders Valve to Stop Skin Gambling via Steam

Source 1: http://www.esportsbettingreport.com/washington-state-valve-skin-betting/

Source 2:

• Washington State Gambling Commission sent a letter to Valve co-founder Gabe Newell on Sept. 27, ordering the company to cease and desist the transfer of its skins to gambling sites

• “Skins continue to be used as consideration for illegal gambling activities on third party websites. The Gambling Commission expects Valve to take whatever actions are necessary to stop third party websites from using ‘skins’ for gambling through its Steam Platform system, including preventing these sites from using their accounts and ‘bots’ to facilitate gambling transactions.”

• Valve has until October 14 to respond to the letter and explain how it is in full compliance with Washington State’s gambling laws

• If they do not comply, “Valve could risk the seizure and forfeiture of prepoerty used to conduct illegal activitties, forfeiture of its corporate charter, as well as criminal charges.”

• The WSGC first contacted Valve in February of 2016

• They initially met with Valve’s in-house counsel, and expressed concerns that Valve was offering illegal gambling by facilitating the use of skins as a virtual currency with which to place bets

• After the initial meeting, it reached back out to Valve on multiple occassions to learn more about how Steam helps third-party websites conduct gambling in the first place, but later attempts elicited no response.

• They allege that Valve aided illegal gambling activties because it is aware that third-party sites use Steam to conduct activities, yet doesn’t do enough to stop it

• “Valve corporation appears to have rules against the use of bots in its user agreement, however it has not strictly enforced its user policy preventing the use of bots and continues to knowingly allow thord-party websites to conduct gambling transactions through its Steam platform.”

• Separately, a US district court in Washington State granted a motion to dismiss a complaint against former website CSGOLotto

 

HOLOLENS - LUKE

 

Rapid Fire

MSI and ASUS Release BIOS Updates for their LGA1151 Boards for Upcoming Intel’s Kaby Lake CPUs

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/671645-msi-and-asus- OP: zMeul

Source 2: https://www.pcper.com/news/Motherboards/Kaby-Lake-support-official-AS

• H110, B150, H170, Q170, Z170 and C232 will support Kaby Lake CPUs

• A BIOS update may be required to boot

• ASUS announced that they were releasing the appropriate BIOS updates on October 5, with MSI following suit on Oct 7

• From ASUS’s site: “Our firmware teams have been busy compiling and validating UEFI builds that enable support, and those builds are ready to download.”

• “The current support list includes no fewer than 87 ASUS motherboards, with more to be added in the near future”

Core i7 7700k Benchmark

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/670329-core-i7-7700 OP: NumLock21

Source 2: https://browser.primatelabs.com/v4/cpu/583064

• Not much info, just a benchmark result from September 29

Capcom’s Street Fighter V Installs Hidden Rootkit on PCs

Source 1: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/23/capcom_street_fighter_v/

Source 2:

• New update installs a rootkit that gives any installed application kernel-level privileges

• Capcom claims it uses the driver to stop players from cheating within the game, but the code is so poorly-designed that it opens up a full-blown local backdoor

• The capcom.sys driver provides an IOCTL service to applications that disables SMEP on the computer, executes code at a given pointer, and then reenables SMEP

  • Essentially goes around a crucial security mechanism in x86-based processors

• Capcom has responded

  • “We are in the process of rolling back the security measures added to the PC version of Street Fighter V. After the rollback process to the PC version, all new content from the September update will still be available to players. We apologize for the inconvenience and will have an update on the time-frame for the PC rollback solution soon.”

Oculus Rift has a New Minimum Spec

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/672207-oc OP: Mr_Troll

Source 2: http://www.polygon.com/virtual-reality/2016/10/6/13189600/oculus-rift-minimum-spec

• New min spec

  • Nvidia 960 or greater

  • Intel i3-6100 or AMD FX4350 or greater

  • 8GB RAM

  • Compatible HDMI 1.3 output

  • 1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0

• This is a reduction from the previous GTX 970/AMD 290 equivalent or greater, and Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater

• Also modified from their previous requirement of 2x USB 3.0 ports

• Announced a new $499 “Oculus-Ready” AMD-powered PC from Cyberpower

• The price of the headset itself has not changed as of yet

Windows 10 Losing Market Share

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/669865-windows- OP: Delicieuxz

Source 2: http://betanews.com/2016/10/01/wtf-windows-10-losing-share/

• “According to figures [from NetMarketShare], Windows 10 went from 22.99 percent globally to 22.53 percent”

• These figures measure USAGE, so this is only based on PCs that are actually being used, rather than install-base

• This decrease is still surprising, as Windows 8.x only saw a decline after multiple months of diminishing growth

• Windows 7 actually GREW last month by 1.02 percentage points, from 47.25 to 48.27

World of Warcraft has Reached 10 Million Subscribers Again [Blizzard denies that this was said]

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/671133-world-of-warcr OP: Johners

Source 2: http://www.pcgamer.com/world-of-warcraft-climbs-back-to-more-than-ten-million

• Polish Magazine Pixel claims that Tom Chilton of Blizzard told them that the current subscriber count is “around 10.1 million”

• WoW’s peak was at around 12M players

• At the end of 2015 it was 5.5M, at which point Blizzard stopped publicly reporting subscriber numbers

• Blizzard has since issued a statement denying that Tom Chilton provided the 10.1 million subscriber number to the magazine

  • “This was a misquote, or some kind of misunderstanding on the part of the journalist. Our policy for almost a year now is that we do not talk about subscriber numbers, and Tom did not do that with this publication.”

Discovery of the World’s Smallest Transistor Gate (1 nm)

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/672335-discovery-o OP: glassjaw003

Source 2: http://phys.org/news/2016-10-materials-smallest-transistor-nanometer-carbon.html

• Has been known that there was a 5-nanometer threshold on the size of transistor gates among conventional semiconductors

• That has since been totally swept aside, as a research team at the Berkeley Lab has created a working 1 nanometer gate

  • For comparison, a strand of human hair is about 50,000nm thick

• This was accomplished using carbon nanotubes and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), an engine lubricant commonly sold in auto parts shops

  • Part of a family of materials with immense potential for applications in LEDs, lasers, nanoscale transistors, solar cells, and more

• This could be key in maintaining the progression of Moore’s law

Spotify is Serving Malware-Infested Ads to its Users

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/671715-spotify-is-serving- OP: hey_yo_

Source 2: https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/05/spotify-free-malware-mac/

• Users are reporting that Spotify is serving malware-infested ads

• Originally reported to be occurring on Windows 10, but the issues persists in other operating systems as well, including Ubuntu and MacOS

• Spotify has said that they are currently looking into the affair

• They dealt with a similar issue back in 2011

• Spotify claims they have “successfully identified and eliminated the source of the problem”

  • “A small number of users have experienced a problem with questionable website pop ups in their default browsers as a result of an isolated issue with an ad on our free tier. We have now identified the source of the problem and have shut it down. We will continue to monitor the situation.”

Mafia 3 Appears to be Locked to 30FPS on PC

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/671946-mafia-3-appears-to-b OP: SteveGrabowski0

Source 2: http://www.pcgamer.com/mafia-3-appears-to-be-locked-to-30fps-on-pc/

• A statement on their site confirmed that they game would be locked to 30fps on all platforms at launch

  • “We know how important having options that best suit your PC’s performance capabilities are. The team has been hard at work ensuring that Mafia III’s performance is consistent across all platforms, and right now the game runs at a solid 30 frames-per-second. We are currently working on an update for PC that will give players the option to play Mafia III at higher framerates. We’ll share more details about the update, and when you can expect it to arrive, very soon. “

• It appears that “very soon” was accurate, as they’ve since revealed that they’re testing the patch now, which could be released as early as this weekend

  • “We currently have a patch running here at the studio that includes 30, 60, and unlimited frames-per-second options in the video menu, among other improvements for the PC version of Mafia III. We’re verifying the patch now to ensure everything is working as expected. If everything goes well, we expect the update to go live this weekend. We will be keeping the PC community up-to-date on the status of the patch throughout the weekend and thank you for all the feedback!”

Pascal GP107 PCB Pictured

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/670125-pascal-gp107-pcb-pictured/ OP: awesomeness10120

Source 2: http://videocardz.com/63757/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1050-ti-with-gp107-gpu-pictured

• Shows the full PCB of the GTX 1050 Ti

• Single 6-pin power connector, which was added to increase overclocking headroom

• Slightly smaller than GP106, with just enough room to fit 6 GPCs (Graphics Processing Clusters)

• 4GB GDDR5

• The launch should *allegedly* take place in about two weeks

Amazon Bans Reviews Based on Free or Discounted Products

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/671026-amazon-bans-reviews OP: M.Yurizaki

Source 2: http://arstechnica.com/business/2016/10/amazon-bans-incentivised-rev

• Amazon had always allowed businesses to offer products (or discounts on products) to customers in exchange for a review on their site, provided that this affiliation was disclosed in the text

• A recent study of over 7 million reviews by ReviewMeta found that incentivised reviews (those with some kind of disclaimer text) were rated 0.38 stars higher than non-incentivised reviews overall

• While it seems like a small change, that could potentially boost a product from the 54th percentile to the 94th percentile

  • This could, in some cases, bring a product from average to “Top Rated”

• “The study also found that incentivised reviewers were 12 times less likely to provide a 1-star rating and nearly four times less likely to leave a critical review.”

• The only exception to the new rule is books - Amazon will “continue to allow the age-old practice of providing advance review copies.”

7th Generation AMD PRO

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/670610-7th-generat OP: sof006

Source 2:

• Video launched by AMD announcing AMD Pro 7th Gen

• Claims up to 17% more system performance than competitors

• Up to 88% more graphics performance than competitors

• “Quantum leap in energy efficiency”

• 18 month image stability guarantee

• Product longevity of 24 months

• “Future-ready technologies”

Sharp Revealed a Prototype 27” 8K 120Hz HDR IGZO Monitor in CEATEC 2016

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/671258-sharp-revealed-a-pro OP: snowComet

Source 2: http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/event/1023147.html

• Shown off at CEATEC Japan 2016 (Japanese equivalent of CES)

• Portotype 27” 8K HDR IGZO monitor

• 7680 x 4320, 326ppi

• 120Hz

  • Due to the refresh rate it’s safe to say that this would require multiple cables

  • If this is the same model that was shown off a few months ago at IFA 2016, it may require as many as 16 HDMI cables!!!

• Extremely thick design

• No known release date or price as this is just a prototype for now

AMD Reportedly Launching Zen and X370 Motherboards at CES

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/671342-amd-reportedly-launchi OP: Coaxialgamer

Source 2: http://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/matthew-wilson/amd-report

• Reports claim that AMD is set to ramp up clearance of current batch CPUs like the FX-8350 in preparation for a launch in early 2017

• This is believed to be a paper launch, with no expected retail availability until a later date

Nike Has Self-Tying Shoes

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/669303-nik OP: Chief_Yum_Yum

Source 2: http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/21/12998474/buy-nike-self-lacing-shoes-hyperadapt-1

• Inspired by the self-tying shoes in Back to the Future 2

• Named “HyperAdpat 1.0”

• Will be available for “experience & purchase” starting on the 28th of November in select Nike locations in the US

• Pricing is unknown, but we should “expect a high price tag”

• Also features LED lights in the heel

 

 

 

[MoonlightSylv]

I'm sorry but is that green comic sans?

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, ShadowTechXTS said:

I'm sorry but is that green comic sans?

previous one is the same too

[MoonlightSylv]

Just now, dexxterlab97 said:

previous one is the same too

I never noticed that  

[ARikozuM]

Why is this unreadable for dark theme?

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

Why is this unreadable for dark theme?

huh?

[Daniel644]

RETURN TO NORMAL UPLOAD TIMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tech_Dreamer]

WOAH! This is super quick upload, Thanks Linus & whoever assisted in uploading so early!

[LeapFrogMasterRace]

I'm just gonna leave this here

Quote

SAN JOSE—When Oculus first announced the minimum PC specs for the Oculus Rift, the headset needed an Nvidia GTX 970 equivalent and an Intel i5-4590 to run acceptably. Now without changing the hardware, Oculus has used a new software API called "asynchronous spacewarp" to officially lower that recommended spec

 

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/10/oculus-lowers-minimum-rift-specs-using-asynchronous-spacewarp-tech/

 

John Carmack is a part of the company this really isn't some BS lie 

[Snadzies]

If you buy a phone 6 months from now it will likely be one of the safest phones to date because I'm sure all the phone manufacturers are freaking the hell out about the potential of their batteries catching fire after all this Samsung Note 7 stuff.

[Octagoncow]

@LinusTech I was pretty sad with the lack of knowledge on why the Rift minimum spec was set to the gtx 960 and the Intel i3-6100 or AMD FX4350. This change was introduced after announcing Asynchronous Space Warp (which is different from Asynchronous Time Warp). I realize that you and @Slick are busy and don't have to to read each article in depth, but it didn't seem right to me to start claiming that the minimum spec was lowered because Oculus isn't selling enough headsets. 

[xnamkcor]

The "ethernet" function of the Chromecast 4k is "built into the power adapter". Which sounds exactly like the Ethernet Adapter that came out alongside the second generation Chromecast. Which is 10/100.

 

My "expandable system of APs" consists of Wireless AC1200 or better routers connected via ethernet.

[Sacredsock]

Did @Slickmake a GMM reference in the opening?