Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the feed-and-speed department: Apple revealed its refreshed iPad Pro lineup at its "Let Loose" virtual event Tuesday, featuring a slimmer design, OLED displays, and the company's latest M4 chip. The new 13-inch and 11-inch models boast enhanced brightness, color saturation, and contrast, with the 13-inch model measuring just 5.1 millimeters thick, making it Apple's thinnest device ever.
The M4 chip, which powers the new iPad Pros, delivers a 50% faster CPU and improved efficiency compared to the previous-gen M2 chip. Apple has also introduced updated accessories, including a redesigned Magic Keyboard with an aluminum palm rest and function key row, and the Apple Pencil Pro with squeeze gestures, Find My location tracking, and haptic feedback. The switch to OLED technology ensures consistent display quality across both iPad Pro sizes, addressing the previous disparity between the 12.9-inch Mini LED model and the smaller, traditional-screen version.
The base storage for both models is now 256GB, with prices starting at $999 for the 11-inch and $1,299 for the 13-inch. Both are available for preorder today and will be available in stores next week.
Posted by msmash from Slashdot
From the tough-luck department: Wesley Yin-Poole, reporting for IGN: Microsoft has closed a number of Bethesda studios, including Redfall maker Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush and The Evil Within developer Tango Gameworks, and more in devastating cuts at Bethesda, IGN can confirm. Alpha Dog Studios, maker of mobile game Mighty Doom, will also close. Roundhouse Games will be absorbed by The Elder Scrolls Online developer ZeniMax Online Studios.
On Redfall, the disastrous vampire co-op game will now not receive promised updates as Microsoft has ended all development on the game. Microsoft said Redfall will remain online to play, and it will provide a "make-good" offer for those who bought the Hero DLC. In an email to staff sent by Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, Microsoft blamed the cuts on a "reprioritization of titles and resources."
Posted by from MMO Champion
Dragonflight Patch 10.2.7 - Dark Heart Live This Week
Dragonflight Patch 10.2.7 Dark Heart goes live this week!
What's New?
Dark Heart Content Update Notes The War Within Prologue Draenei And Troll Heritage Armor Sets New Dragonflight Quests Hunter Pet Stable Update WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria Dark Heart Content Update Notes
Here are the official content update notes for Dragonflight Patch 10.2.7 Dark Heart.
The War Within Prologue
Khadgar has summoned us and Alleria Windrunner to investigate a mysterious figure called the Harbinger, who possesses a powerful relic called the Dark Heart.
Draenei And Troll Heritage Armor Sets
Draenei and Troll characters level 50 and above can start new questlines to unlock their heritage armor sets:
Draenei - Seek out the Magically-Sealed Parcel in Stormwind to begin the quest "An Artificer's Appeal".
Troll - Seek out Zi'guma in Orgrimmar who will offer the quest "Return to the Echo Isles".
New Dragonflight Quests
< This article continues on their website >
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the bad-management-meets-bad-software department: The Register provides a retrospective look at how Microsoft "absorbed the handset division of Nokia" ten years ago, only to kill the unit two years later and write it off as a tax loss. What went wrong? "It was a fatal combination of bad management, a market evolving in ways hidebound people didn't predict, and some really (with a few superb exceptions) terrible products," reports The Register. From the report: Like Nokia, Windows Mobile's popularity peaked in 2007, then started to drop away. The iPhone was the tech item of choice for fashionistas, Blackberry was seen as essential for serious business, and Android -- with Google as its new owner -- was gaining traction. Microsoft by that time had a new CEO in Steve Ballmer, who completely and famously failed to see the shifting sands in the mobile market. He dismissed the iPhone as a threat to what he thought was Windows Mobile's unassailable market position, and was roundly mocked for it. So the scene was set for a mobile standards war, and Steve Ballmer staked his professional pride on winning it. Microsoft recruited Nokia to help out. [...]
< This article continues on their website >
Posted by from MMO Champion
Cataclysm Classic Hotfixes - May 6, 2024
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
Cataclysm Classic
Account wide achievements that reward titles now grant them at an account level.
Fixed an issue that prevented players from receiving daily Random Battleground rewards.
Smoke Bomb will now properly cancel Stealth, Prowl, and Shadowmeld from enemy players.
Fixed an issue that would prevent Warden Stillwater from spawning during the Lawn of the Dead quest.
Fixed an issue where Death Knights in Blood Presence could be incorrectly, critically hit by all melee attacks.
Reduced the cost of all honor and arena gear from Wrath of the Lich King, to better match honor gain while at level 80 compared to level 85.
Holidays
Made some improvements to the Children's Week Quests The Banshee Queen, Malfurion Has Returned!, and The Fallen Chieftain to more consistently grant quest credit.
Warlock
The Warlock Demon Soul ability will now work with the Incubus pet.
Fixed an issue where Warlock Demonology pets were not properly updating from Mastery.
Fixed an issue with the incorrect tooltip on Demonic Pact. It should correctly read that it grants the Warlock 2% increased personal spell damage.
Posted by BeauHD from Slashdot
From the safety-first department: "Out of an abundance of caution," Boeing says its historic Starliner launch has been postponed, citing an issue with the oxygen relief valve on the Atlas V rocket's upper stage. It was expected to launch tonight at 10:34 p.m. ET. TechCrunch reports: There are backup launch opportunities on May 7, 10 and 11. After years of delays and over $1 billion in cost overruns, the mission is set to be Boeing's first attempt to transport astronauts to the International Space Station. Once the issue is resolved with the upper stage, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V will carry the CST-100 Starliner capsule to orbit along with the two onboard astronauts -- Butch Wilmore and Sunny Williams -- from Florida's Cape Canaveral at 10:34 PM local time Monday evening. The mission also marks the first time ULA's Atlas will carry crew. The rocket boasts a success rate of 100% across 99 missions. (ULA is a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.)
The astronauts would now dock at the station at the earliest on Thursday, where they would remain for at least eight days. The two astronauts will return to Earth in the capsule no earlier than May 16. If all goes to plan, Boeing will be able to finally certify its Starliner for human transportation and begin fulfilling the terms of its $4.2 billion NASA astronaut taxi contract. That contract, under the agency's Commercial Crew Program, was awarded in 2014. Elon Musk's SpaceX was also granted a contract under that program, for its Crew Dragon capsule, and has been transporting astronauts to and from the ISS since 2020.