Another week down and yet again we get closer to being able to call football's latest champions. And in the course of the last seven days or so, all manner of great matches have been played, with some of the world's finest stepping up to the plate. It's those players who find a place in FIFA 22's Team of the Week (TOTW) #18, with Leeds United's hat-trick hero Jack Harrison right up there with the best in the world.
If you're planning on using a newer Intel processor in your next media center PC build, a combination of security precautions and digital rights management might just have you singing the Blu-ray blues. Intel is dropping support for the software guard extension feature in 11th- and 12th-gen Core processors, which breaks DRM functionality for the latest 4K “Ultra HD” Blu-ray discs and player software. The end result: Those fancy movies will now play back in a rather pedestrian 1080p resolution.
As reported in Bleeping Computer, there's no intentional malice in this move. Intel is depreciating the SGX functionality that's been present in Core processors since Skylake (2015) because of a series of attacks made by security researchers, who found it an easy vector for getting through CPU defenses. So doing without it will result in appreciably increased security (and perhaps less patching work on Intel's part) for newer hardware. And weighed against the vast majority of users who no longer have or use an optical disc drive, it seems like a prudent move.
Still, this is going to be a serious problem for home builders who enjoy the dwindling media center PC niche. (AMD's Ryzen CPU architecture also does not support 4K Blu-ray playback.) CyberLink, maker of the most popular Blu-ray playback software, has noted the problem and doesn't mention any work-around. At the moment there doesn't appear to be any option for users who want 4K Blu-ray on newer PCs. Sticking to older Intel hardware or using a dedicated Blu-ray player are the only choices.
Playing a sport like football, boxing, mini golf or ping pong is easy on the Quest platform. Here's our list of the best sports games available on Oculus Quest 2.
Tim Reichert’s name might not be all that familiar to most esports fans in Europe, but his work and legacy certainly are. One of the founders of SK Gaming, former Head of Esports at Schalke 04 Esports, and a client manager for Media Com Germany, Reichert is a man of many talents. Most recently, he’s […]
Air Serbia has made this announcement: Starting on April 21, 2022, Air Serbia will launch new scheduled direct flights between Belgrade and Valencia, as well as seasonal flights to three new destinations in Europe – Bari, Palma de Mallorca and Rijeka, starting from June 5, 2022. Flights between Belgrade and Valencia will operate twice a […]
As the NFT craze continues to sweep across the industries of the world, it’s clear that the technology is moving away from the fringe “tech enthusiast” space and into the limelight. At this point, it is safe to assume that everyone has heard of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, but crypto alone is far from the only game in town. NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are quickly surpassing cryptocurrencies in popularity as they gain mainstream attention for their use in sports, gaming, contemporary art, and even real estate. Currently, the NFT market boasts a multi-billion dollar valuation which is bigger than many well-established cryptocurrencies projects that have been around for several years. The market is projected to grow even more as companies and organizations begin to adopt these NFTs across an array of different industries. However, while they are mostly associated with art or gaming and collectibles NFTs are also making waves in the sports industry. NFTs in Sports The world of sports makes for a prime example of how NFTs can truly change the way fans interact with each other as well as with their favorite teams. Consider, for example, fans of a specific football club. Every year season ticket holders have to decide whether or not they’ll renew their tickets as prices increase. In addition to this, members must also decide if they want to upgrade their seats or even purchase new ones. Every year, the cost of renewing your tickets increases, which means that fans must either fork out more money or risk losing their seats to someone else. As a result, many fans are forced to make the difficult decision between spending money on football tickets or other day-to-day necessities like groceries and utilities. However, NFTs can eliminate this issue as they can be used by the sports team to galvanize funds from fans while allowing fans holding season tickets to earn a percentage of the revenue the team receives. In essence, the fans can earn tokens by holding their NFTs and spend those proprietary tokens by engaging in various activities and experiences with their favorite club. With NFTs, the fans no longer have to choose between renewing their tickets or paying for other necessities because they can do both simultaneously. For instance, after attending a match, fans will collect tokens which they can then spend on other experiences like meeting their favorite players, watching training sessions, or even taking a tour of the stadium. This gives the fan a chance to be truly invested in the team’s success and also helps to keep the most devoted fans coming back year after year because they have access to exclusive team events and experiences which are only available to the team’s NFT holders. Not only do NFTs allow teams to attract more season ticket holders by giving them exclusive access to club-related experiences, but they also allow clubs to reduce ticket prices. In addition, this allows teams to earn money from NFTs as fans buy them and redeem them at games or events where the team can take a percentage of each purchase. MetaFans NFTs The utility of NFTs in the world of sports goes beyond the memorabilia of digital art or other forms of collectibles. However, existing sports NFT projects primarily focus on selling NFTs in mass instead of offering the most value to NFTs holders and creators. MetaFans seeks to offer a unique solution with a sports NFT platform that combines the love for collecting sports memorabilia with various levels of utility to encourage the development of a sports fandom. MetaFans is the first-of-its-kind company to offer a collection of sports NFTs that go beyond cookie-cutter digital art that currently proliferates the sports NFT marketplace to offer a new era of collectibles with real-world value and experiences. Created by cofounders Maxfield Bala and Marion Phillips MetaFans uses NFTs to foster a community of fans who can gain residual reward opportunities as well as have real-life experiences with their favorite teams. With the initial launch of its first 10,000 Sports Fan NFTs, not to mention a reward-driven NFT collection called FanEpack NFTs, MetaFans is set to go beyond the world of sports with a strategy that not only benefits NFT collectors but also supports respectable brands, athletes, musicians, gamers, and actors to mention a few. MetaFans Diamond Club Collection MetaFans’ Diamond Club Collection is the main attraction the company offers NFT collectors and enthusiasts. It contains a set of 10,000 unique digital collectibles built on Ethereum’s ERC-721 standard. From this collection, there are over 700 unique traits across 4 avatars that are designed by Maxfield Bala who spent hours illustrating each trait by hand. Bala is an internationally renowned illustrator and fine artist who has worked with brands such as Disney, the NFL, Coca-Cola, and Samsung. He has collaborated on various mainstream artistic projects around the world. Each NFT in the Diamond Club (DC) Collection gives holders membership to an exclusive group of successful blue-chip investors, entrepreneurs, and lifestyle curators within the MetaFans ecosystem. This is the MetaFans approach at enabling fans to have access to a digital country club for sports fans. With this feature, NFT holders in the MetaFans platforms will be able to join an eccentric ever-growing community of fans while still enjoying the multiple benefits and utilities of owning those NFTs. Benefits of Owning MetaFans NFTs Apart from the perks that come with owning a MetaFans DC NFT, the opportunity to mind additional NFTs within the MetaFans platform also comes with additional features. For instance, MetaFans offers the Owners Box Guest NFTs, which grant holders the privilege and power of having the best seats in the house during sports and entertainment events. This set of NFTs includes super rare collectibles completely hand-drawn by Bala (the project’s founding artist). Also, those who hold Genesis MetaFans NFTs in the DC collection will be able to mint a FREE MetaFans FanEpack NFT that can be redeemed for various giveaways and benefits separate from the main MetaFans DC NFTs. Some of the benefits include a claim to real-world merchandise, NFTs of clothing and accessories that can be used with various avatars in the metaverse, and access to future trade-up programs such as collecting enough FanEpack NFTs to burn for a Backpack. Conclusion: MetaFans Future Collaborations Sporting teams around the globe are quickly realizing that NFTs are the future, especially for sports fans. They allow fans to truly interact with their favorite clubs in a way previously thought impossible. While many teams have recognized this potential, they have yet to fully capitalize on it because they don’t understand the industry well enough. MetaFans was created to fill this hole, which is the company’s core mission. Once a fan owns a MetaFans NFT, they can use it as a ticket replacement for any future event held by their favorite teams and clubs throughout the country or around the world. These collectibles can also be used as promotional items during special events, giveaways, and other activities within the team’s community. As for athletes, many are already part of the MetaFans ecosystem, given MetaFans plans to collaborate with professional athletes, music stars, and gaming influencers. NFT holders in the MetaFans community will have advanced access to NFT collections launched by various sports stars, musicians, and influencers at a discounted price. These and other developments in the MetaFans ecosystem will go a long way to give amazing rewards and gifts to NFT holders in the world of sports and entertainment.
Did you know that Samsung makes its own processors? You'd be forgiven for glossing over that — the flagship Galaxy S series of phones technically uses Samsung's home-grown Exynos system-on-a-chip, but almost never in the United States, where Samsung uses Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips. But you might want to track down an all-Samsung machine for your next Android phone, as the newest Exynos processor will pack some serious graphical punch via a partnership with AMD.
The Exynos 2200 series of chips was announced this morning and is presumably slated for the upcoming Galaxy S22, Galaxy Z Fold3, and Flip3 phone lines. In addition to the usual incremental improvements in ARM-based SoC designs, Samsung is letting AMD handle the design of the new Xclipse GPU series. It's a “hybrid graphics processor” using RDNA 2 architecture.
What does that mean? Not a lot in terms that matter to end users, but Samsung does say that the Exynos 2200 platform will use “the industry's first hardware-accelerated ray tracing on mobile.” Ray tracing is an advanced graphics lighting technique that, while possible on more or less any hardware, really requires custom-designed chips in order to effectively run during active gameplay. Ray tracing has only become widespread recently for desktop and mobile gaming, starting with new GPU designs in 2018.
Samsung also said that the Xclipse GPU can handle variable-rate shading and will come with a multi-IP governor system to enhance efficiency. And,, lest you think this is a one-off promo deal, the press release states that there are “multiple planned generations” of AMD-powered Exynos GPUs in the works. Expect to see the first fruits of this union in the first quarter of 2022, when Mobile World Congress (or its pandemic-era digital equivalent) occurs.