Technology

Back in July, Nintendo launched a new Switch model with an OLED display. It was priced at $350, making it $50 more expensive than the regular Nintendo Switch. However, it seems that over in Europe, Nintendo has slashed the price of the base model in both the UK and various parts of the region.

So what are the new prices we can expect? Over in the UK, we’re talking about a drop from £279.99 down to £259.99, while in Europe, its price has gone down from €329.99 to €300.99. Unfortunately, it is unclear if these price cuts will also be making its way to the US, where the console, as far as we know, is still priced the same.

Do you miss playing your PS4? Did you sell it off for a PS5? Or maybe you just gave up on consoles but still miss some of the classics. The good news is that if you do want to play PS4 games on your PC, the first and only stable PS4 emulator, Spine, has finally been released after initially being announced a couple of years ago.

The emulator was actually announced in a YouTube video back in 2019, which means that it took the developer about 2 years or so to finally release it to the public. It isn’t the only emulator because as Kotaku notes, there are several others, but none of them save for Spine are ready for public consumption yet.

All smartphones come with their own virtual keyboards because otherwise, how would we type on them, right? For the most part, the one that comes bundled with Android and the ones that your smartphone manufacturer uses work just fine. They get the job done, but what if you wanted more?

What if you wanted to be able to do things like search for things directly within the keyboard itself? Obviously then you’d need to seek out some alternatives, but the question is now that you found it, what’s next? How do you change the default keyboard on your Android smartphone? Well, let us tell you how.

If you want to play games online with your friends on the Nintendo Switch, you will need a subscription to Nintendo Switch Online. However, to entice gamers and to sweeten the pot, as part of a subscription to Switch Online, gamers will also be able to access a library of classic games from older platforms like the NES and SNES.

However, if those platforms are a bit too old for you and you don’t recognize the games, then you might be interested to learn that Nintendo could soon offer Game Boy games as well.

That is something that Dr. Hiroaki Kitano, CEO of Sony Computer Science Laboratories is hoping for the future. His plan is to create a “hybrid form of science that shall bring systems biology and other sciences into the next stage”, which in other words is an AI so clever that it can match today’s top scientific minds.

The problem with most robots is that they’re really only as good as the person who made them, and the software that powers them. This is versus humans where we can think for ourselves, come to our own conclusions, and figure out the solution to problems. Some minds are clearly better at this than others, and that’s what Kitano is hoping to create in the AI space one day, or maybe by 2050.

From time to time, new malware is discovered, or in some instances, old malware can actually make a return. This is the case with the Joker malware that was initially discovered on Android devices back in 2017, and now according to the Belgian Police, it seems that the malware has returned.

For those unfamiliar, the Joker malware was discovered in 2017 where it embedded and hid within different Android apps. This malware had the ability to subscribe to payment services without the user’s knowledge, and in turn if you linked it up to a bank or a credit card, your funds would be drained very quickly.

Many gamers are no doubt eagerly waiting for Rockstar’s GTA 6. We have no idea when that will be arriving, but it seems that the company is more than happy to keep milking GTA 5. As you might recall, earlier this year it was announced that GTA 5 will be arriving on both the PS5 and Xbox Series X in November.

We know that some of you might already be sick of the game, but according to a post on the Sony Germany PlayStation Blog, it was revealed (via translation) that the game will run at 4K resolution at a buttery smooth 60 fps. This is for the PS5, but it’s probably safe to assume that the Xbox Series X should have no problems running the game at similar specs as well.

Following the disaster that was the Nintendo Wii U, many were understandably worried about how well the Switch would do as its successor. Fast forward to today, it seems that those concerns have all been alleviated because according to Nintendo’s most recent financial results, the Switch has sold extremely well.

According to the figures released by Nintendo, they have shipped 89.04 million units of the console to date. This still puts it slightly behind the likes of the Wii which sold over 100 million, but it means that the Switch has ultimately outsold other popular consoles like the Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox 360.

Sony is no stranger when it comes to virtual reality, but it has been a while since we last saw any major changes or updates on that front. However, it seems that Sony could actually be working on a new VR headset for the PS5 console. This is according to a report from PSVR Without Parole.

The video claims that Sony held a private conference for developers the other day where they detailed a new VR headset that they were working on. The folks at UploadVR have since verified that the event did take place, which while it doesn’t necessarily confirm anything, at the very least corroborates the claims.

However, before you get too excited for the update that will eventually be released to the public, it seems that adding this SSD to your console is more than just a plug-and-play process. According to Sony, “Using an M.2 SSD with your PS5 console requires effective heat dissipation with a cooling structure, such as a heatsink. You can attach one to your M.2 SSD yourself, either in a single-sided format, or double-sided format.”

Sony also notes that while PCIe Gen4 has read speeds of 5,500MB/s or faster, the company “cannot guarantee that all M.2 SSD devices meeting the described specifications will work with your console.” They also note that it might not be the same performance compared to using the console’s own internal storage.

According to a video from Impact Game Studio, they claim that come 1st of April 2022, Nintendo will apparently stop accepting submissions for the Wii U and 3DS eShop. According to a message they received, “We hereby wish to inform you, that it has been decided to cease the acceptance of submissions for new Nintendo 3DS / Wii U titles for eShop release by the end of the current fiscal year (effective from 1st April 2022). These new titles should be lotcheck approved latest within 3 months after the submission deadline.”

It’s not surprising that if this is true, a notice would have been sent this early. While it is less than a year to the 1st of April, 2022, it still gives developers time to either finish up what they’re working on or change their plans before it is too late. The message also states that the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U eShops will continue to remain active and that patches will still be accepted.

Sometimes at the workplace, it might not be financially feasible to give every employee their own laptop and/or tablet. This means that sometimes certain devices need to be shared amongst the staff, and since it gets passed around a lot, it might not  hold up quite as well over time.

If this is a problem you think your company is facing, then you might be interested to learn that Panasonic has since announced their latest Toughbook tablet in the form of the Toughbook G2. This is a Windows 10 tablet which as you can see in the video above, has been designed to be an extremely rugged device.

With Android, Google’s backup system is kind of split. You have one system that backs up data like contacts, call history, app data, and SMS, and then you have another like Google Photos that backs up your photos and videos. Despite it being separate, the experience is actually rather seamless.

However, to help give users a better idea and understanding of what’s being backed up, Google has since rolled out a new “Backup by Google One” update for Android. What this means is that the company is essentially unifying its backup services into one, thus making it easier for users to see what’s being backed up and also control it from a single location.

The Sony PS5 console was launched towards the end of 2020, but it seems that Sony could already be working on a new model. No, we’re not talking about the PS6t (although we wouldn’t be surprised if they were planning it already), but instead this will be a refresh of the current Digital Edition model.

This is according to the official product manual for the console that was discovered by @Renka_schedule on Sony’s Japanese PlayStation website. Based on this manual, it sounds as if Sony is working on refreshing the current Digital Edition PS5 and it seems that some of the changes Sony is making under the hood will result in the new model being 300g lighter.