Thursday, January 31, 2019
Didn’t buy a smartphone in 2018? First full-year decline shows you weren’t alone
Think Apple’s lower-than-expected iPhone revenue was worrisome? Multiple market research reports assert that global smartphone shipments had a full-year decline for the first time in 2018.
Q4 2018 was the fifth straight quarter of declining smartphone shipments, rising to a 7% reduction in the latest quarter, according to Counterpoint Research’s report. It tagged the year-long decline in 2018 at 4%, dropping from 1.56 billion units shipped in 2017 to 1.49 billion this past year. Other market research firms claimed similar reductions between 4% and 6%.
“Consumers held on to their devices longer due to the absence of groundbreaking innovations and higher prices of devices being offered by the OEMs,” Tarun Pathak, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research, noted in a press release announcing the report.
This was the first year the highest-end devices broke the $999 highwater mark set by the iPhone X in 2017. Flagship phones crept up in price across the board, too.
There are other reasons consumers held on to old phones, like continued security updates and OS upgrades to older devices. But some wounds were self-inflicted: Apple openly noted that its cheap battery replacement program (itself an apology for intentionally slowing older iOS devices) contributed to fewer iPhones sold than anticipated.
And as Pathak said, the smartphone industry didn’t make great innovations in the last year. Manufacturers still tried to push sales with extra features like improved AI, triple-lens cameras (LG V40, Huawei Mate 20), full-screen displays, in-screen fingerprint scanners (OnePlus 6T) and other additions – but none drove sales as a must-have tech development.
Other market research firms offered additional reasons for the downturn in their reports: Strategy Analytics also cited economic headwinds, while IHS noted political effects on sales, like the US-China trade dispute driving a patriotic fervor in the latter country for citizens to buy smartphones from Chinese manufacturers (Huawei, Xiaomi, etc).
Lower smartphone shipments, shifting market share
Aside from noting the reasons behind the shipment decline, the reports (from Counterpoint Research, Strategy Analytics and IHS) cited other changes from 2017 to 2018 - namely, market share.
Samsung remains at the top with 19% of all smartphones shipped across the world, though its 318 million units shipped in 2017 dropped 8% to 291 million. Apple retains second place per these reports with 14% share and 206 million units sold, though third-place Huawei briefly claimed that spot last fall – but the real story is that Huawei rose from 10% market share in 2017 with 153 million units shipped to vie with Apple in 2018 at 14% market share by shipping 205 million units.
Xiaomi at fourth in global market share (8%) upped their units shipped from 96 million to 121 million, a 26% increase. Oppo (120 million shipped) and vivo (102 million shipped) didn’t change their rankings at 8% and 7%, respectively. LG reportedly shipped fewer phones - from 55.9 million in 2017 to 41.2 million in 2018, a 26% reduction. LIkewise, Lenovo dropped from 49.9 million units in 2017 to 38.3 million last year, a 23% decline.
Motorola stayed fairly consistent, shipping 39 million units over 2017’s 38 million. TCL-Alcatel dropped from 21 million phones shipped in 2017 down to 17 million last year, an 18% reduction.
The big surprise at the lower end of the market share pie: HMD Global’s Nokia line shipped 15 million units last year, up from 5 million in 2017.
The rest of the phones shipped saw a trend-reflected 22% drop in units shipped, from 429 million in 2017 to 336 million last year. Thus, the winners this year were those who retained their shipment numbers despite a less friendly consumer base.
So...what about 2019?
As always, it’s impossible to predict what will happen in 2019. But it’s hard to ignore that aforementioned contributing factors to last year’s lower shipments are still going strong - namely, lack of innovation.
TechRadar went to CES and saw some promising phones, but no groundbreaking tech – and we’re including the Royole FlexPai, the first working foldable phone that you’ll have to pay dearly to own. Other manufacturers could prove us wrong on the concept, especially if they’ve developed something actually flat and neat, like Xiaomi’s alleged folding phone.
Other developments coming this year aren’t exactly showstoppers: punch hole cameras and other notch-avoiding schemes, in-screen fingerprint sensors and incremental upgrades on phone specs. 5G is also coming. but there won't be much choice of compatible phones just yet.
Perhaps something exciting will be revealed at MWC 2019 next month. Or perhaps other global developments will make markets more receptive - like a thawing between US and China, though that seems less likely after the US Department of Justice officially charged Huawei on 23 criminal counts.
- Numbers aside, folks are still buying phones - including you. Check out our list of the best smartphones on the market
from TechRadar - All the latest technology news http://bit.ly/2So2nQE
New 'collection' data dump contains 2.2bn usernames and passwords
Earlier this month, Have I Been Pwned's Troy Hunt brought attention to the largest ever online data dump containing 12,000 separate files and over 87GB of data containing 773m unique email addresses and 22m unique passwords.
Hunt referred to the wealth of personal data he found on MEGA as Collection #1 and now Collection #2-5 has appeared online containing 2.2bn unique usernames and passwords along with 845GB of data and over 25bn records.
Collection #2-5 contains almost three times as many unique records as Collection #1 and Phosphorous.io's founder Chris Rouland explained to Wired that more than 130 people are making the data available to download online.
So far the data has been downloaded 1,000 times which means that the personal details Collection #2-5 contains will likely remain online indefinitely.
Collection #2-5
While the site Have I Been Pwned was a useful resource in discovering if your credentials had been leaked in Collection#1, the site has not yet been updated with the information from Collection #2-5.
Instead users curious to know if their details have been leaked in the latest collection should check out Hasso Plattner's Info Leak Checker which contains details from 8bn accounts spanning 810 leaks.
Much of the stolen information contained in Collection #2-5 is from previous data breaches that affected Yahoo, LinkedIn and Dropbox.
However, these details could be utilized by hackers to launch credential stuffing attacks to compromise other accounts that use the same login details.
Via Wired
- Worried about your credentials being exposed? Protect your passwords with the best password manager and secure your devices online with the best VPN
from TechRadar - All the latest technology news http://bit.ly/2CVWSid
Microsoft Surface Pro 7: what we want to see
Over the last few years, Microsoft’s Surface Pro lineup has consistently pumped out some of the best Windows tablets and 2-in-1 laptops we’ve seen. But, when the Surface Pro 6 launched with few substantial changes, we started wondering when we could expect more meaningful improvements on the Surface formula.
Cue the Surface Pro 7, which we’re starting to see all kinds of patents for coming out of the woodwork that can change how we use Microsoft’s tablets.
With Intel’s Ice Lake processors launching this year, and with the rumors of a new USB-C magnetic charger in the works at Microsoft, the Surface Pro 7 may end up being one of the best Surface devices yet. But, because nothing has been confirmed, keep in mind that this is all rumors and educated speculation. Regardless, we will keep this article updated with all the latest news and rumors alongside our wishes, so you have an idea of what to expect.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? The next Surface Pro tablet
- When is it out? Late 2019 at the earliest
- What will it cost? Probably around $899 (£879, AU$1,349) to start.
Surface Pro 7 release date
Because the Surface Pro 6 essentially just came out, it’s unlikely that we’ll see the next one any time soon in 2019 much less this year at all.
Both the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Pro 6 launched in October 2015 and 2018, respectively, but the Surface Pro 2017 launched in June of that year. Now, it’s possible that the Surface Pro 7 will launch in October 2019, but the release cadence for Surface Pro devices seems to be approximately every 16 to 18 months.
So, it’s possible that we won’t see the Surface Pro 7 until June 2020. It’s possible that we’ll see the Surface Pro 7 as early as October 2019, if Microsoft wants to target that annualized release, but we wouldn’t hold our breath.
Don’t worry, though, we’ll update this article just as soon as we hear any word – official or otherwise – on the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 release date.
Surface Pro 7 price
The Surface Pro 6 launched at $899 (£879, AU$1,349) for the base model, but that marked an increase in price over the Surface Pro 2017, the base model of which was $799 (£799, AU$1,199). So, the pricing of the Surface Pro 7 could go one of two ways: another increase of $100, or it may just stay the same price – we doubt the price will drop again, though.
If the price does go up by another $100, and start at $999 (about £770, AU$1,380), it’ll put the Surface Pro 7 in the same league as devices like the Dell XPS 13 and the HP Spectre x360 – not to mention the new iPad Pro.
Much like anything else here, we won’t know the actual pricing of the Surface Pro 7 until Microsoft is ready to share it. But, we’ll update this article as soon as that happens.
What we want to see
Because the Surface Pro 7 is so far out right now, it’s hard to predict what exactly will be in the next Surface device. However, with all the patents that Microsoft has filed recently – though they’re by no means any kind of confirmation – we have come up with a wishlist of updates we’d like to see.
Blazing Speed
Back at CES 2019, Intel announced Ice Lake, the first 10nm Sunny Cove architecture for laptops. And, while we don’t have any kind of details about these processors or how they’ll perform, the smaller manufacturing process will inevitably lead to better performance and efficiency.
If the Surface Pro 7 includes these new processors, you can expect much greater performance, while also getting improved battery life across the board.
Thunderbolt 3, please
Microsoft, for obvious reasons not worth getting into here, has been hesitant to implement Thunderbolt 3 into its Surface Products. And, while this was excusable in the early days, it’s getting harder to ignore with each Surface release.
Luckily, we have reason to believe that Microsoft will launch the Surface Pro 7 with Thunderbolt 3 support, or at the very least basic USB-C charging. Microsoft has patented a new magnetic charger with a USB-C input that would function like the current Surface charger.
We’re truly not sure whether Surface Pro 7 will support Thunderbolt 3, as it depends upon Microsoft’s willingness to trade its proprietary technology for Thunderbolt 3, which it must pay Intel to license.
An improved Type Cover
The Surface Pro 6’s Type Cover is already one of the best tablet keyboard accessories out there. It’s responsive, has plenty of feedback, and is made of pleasant materials. But, we haven’t seen any marked improvements to its since the Surface Pro 2017. We don’t think there’s any such thing as a perfect product, so we can’t wait to see how Microsoft improves on the formula next.
And, we might have an idea of the next generation Type Cover will look like. Microsoft has patented a thinner Type Cover that should reduce the footprint of the device all around. It looks like Microsoft is planning on doing this by using a trackpad that’s built right into the printed circuit board.
It would also use haptic feedback in the keys, to improve the tactile response of typing – which would be necessary on a thinner keyboard cover.
It’s a bizarre move, but we’re nonetheless intrigued – if Microsoft can make the Type Cover slimmer without falling in the same trap as Apple’s Butterfly keyboards, it could change the game.
- These are the best Windows tablets at the start of 2019
from TechRadar - All the latest technology news http://bit.ly/2MMQX3C
UK SMEs using technology to overcome their fears
UK SMEs feel positive about the economy and their strategies for the future despite facing a host of challenges in 2019 according to a new study from American Express conducted by Oxford Economics.
The research, which is conducted annually among senior executives and decision-makers in SMEs across 15 countries, shows that UK SMES are remaining resilient even when faced with old and new business challenges.
Of those surveyed, over two thirds (64%) forecast policy, legal and regulatory changes as the greatest threat to SMEs in 2019 followed by economic uncertainty surrounding Brexit and trade relationships. Cyber and data security is an emerging treat to UK businesses and 31 percent ranked it in their top three external business threats this year compared to only 11 percent last year.
Revenue growth may be the most important long-term objective for UK SMEs but organisations have scaled down their profit projections for the year ahead showing they're more realistic about what they can achieve given the current climate.
Continued growth
SMEs plan to focus on productivity in 2019 with businesses predicting that increased productivity and operational efficiency will have the greatest impact on their financial performance over the next three years. To help realise these goals, UK SMEs plan to implement cost-saving programs (66%) and improve management decision making (59%) going forward.
Organisations are also leveraging their small business advantages to drive growth and 60 percent believe they are now more likely to be a disruptor as opposed to being disrupted. This belief is reflected in their appetite for risk with 70 percent of UK SMEs saying they are willing to take big risks to gain big rewards.
Executive Vice President of Global Commercial Services International at American Express, Jose Carvalho provided further insight on the findings of the study, saying:
“Despite operating in turbulent times, and facing fresh challenges for the year ahead, the optimism and focused resilience shown by the country’s SMEs is encouraging. Our research shows that they are single minded in their approach to growth and 85% are assured about the strategies they have in place to meet their objectives. Although confident, our SMEs are far from complacent. They’re realistic in their attitudes towards revenue growth – and must now invest in improving cost savings and decision making to meet their productivity goals.”
- We've also highlighted the best small business software
from TechRadar - All the latest technology news http://bit.ly/2sXv08D
Best secure drives 2019: top USB drives to protect your data
Whenever you carry important data around with you on a USB stick or external hard drive, you're running the risk of other people getting hold of it, either through physically stealing the drives, or leaving it somewhere public.
In this guide to the best secure drives of 2019, we look at the top data storage devices that will allow you carry private data around with you, safe in the knowledge that if the device itself becomes compromised, your data will remain safe.
The best secure drives will use either software or hardware encryption (or best of all, a combination of both), to stop other people accessing and viewing your data. Many of the best secure drives on this list will have ways to prevent access, such as a physical keypad, and will also come with rugged, tamper-proof, cases that can further protect your files.
We don't often get Indiegogo projects on our list but we're making an exception for the EyeDisk, which hails itself as the first unhackable USB flash drive. The concept is pretty simple; use your iris as your password rather than cumbersome passwords, making it much more secure. It is compatible with Windows and Mac but not Linux and you will have to run an app every time you plug it in a client. There's no password to log though, just your iris to be scanned and this takes a few seconds to be registered. It's not as rugged as other secure drives on this list, but it managed some very decent numbers on CrystalDiskMark (130MBps transfer rate on read and 84MBps on write) which means that it won't keep you long. At the time of writing, you can only pre-order it via Indiegogo, the crowdfunding platform, and it is scheduled for delivery from March 2019. With a starting price of $59 plus shipping for the 32GB version and $99 for the 128GB, it is reasonably priced.
The D300S was announced by Kingston and is an updated version of the D300, launched in 2016, with the suffix S standing for Serialised. It appears to be a standard USB drive, but with a more robust design. However, it's the price that really stands out. There is a reason why the D300S carries such a premium according to Kingston. The drive uses custom hardware for encryption (FIPS 140-2 Level 3 256-bit) and decryption which eliminates vulnerabilities associated with any process done on the host system. That chip and the rest of the hardware is sealed in a tamper evident epoxy material that hardened when it dried. It's also waterproof up to 120cm, and can survive knocks and drops as well
diskAshur's products are some of the best secure drives on the market, and the diskAshur Pro is the company's best external hard drive yet. The key selling point of the diskAshur Pro is its physical keypad that will only grant access to the data stored within upon entering a PIN number. Asides from the physical security (which extends to IP56 water and dust resistance and even a self-destruct feature), the diskAshur Pro also comes with some enviable encryption, sporting XTS-AES 256-bit real-time full disk hardware encryption and EDGE technology to offer even more levels of safety.
If you need to have small amounts of sensitive data being carried around, then the 3NX could well be a life saver. It brings advanced data protection features to a mainstream market thanks to its attractive low price ($59 for the 2GB/4GB model) and $189 for the 128GB one. What you do get is some military grade, enterprise-level features like FIPS 140-2 level 3, real time hardware-based encryption, a platform-agnostic setup and a rugged extruded aluminum enclosure. The data is encrypted using an onboard 10-digit keypad and is powered by an onboard battery.
The ultra-rugged Aegis Secure Key 3Z is designed to keep the data safe for people who regularly work outdoors or on the road, with a rubber exterior, which is IP58 protective against dust and water, safeguards a rugged aluminium build inside and out, meaning that there is no easy way to break into this device. Meanwhile, it also features a physical keypad for keeping your data safe and secure. It's pricey, but well worth the investment.
The Apricorn Aegis Secure Key comes with a full 10-key alphanumeric keypad with two function keys plus three status lights. It then slots into a hardened epoxy-potted rugged aluminum enclosure which makes it dust and waterproof; the device is also certified IP-58 and at 46g and 93mm long. It also features built-in hardware encryption (256-bit AES) which means that it is totally independent from the host client and OS-agnostic. No keyloggers and no BadUSB vulnerability. The Aegis Secure Key has received a FIPS 140-2 level 3 accreditation from NIST, the US-based National Institute of Standards and Technology, which oversees US government IT and computer security, which means this is one of the most secure drives you can buy.
The Kingston Ironkey D300 (IKD300/8GB) comes with software security that can make it a bit complicated and confusing to begin with (it will initially show up on your PC as a CD drive with 14.4MB capacity), but once you've configured it, which includes setting a password, you'll have a very secure drive. With its cap on, it is waterproof (up to 4ft) and dustproof and at 51g, feels solid. More importantly though, the more compelling protection happens inside the device itself. It is a FIPS 140-2 Level 3 certified device with 256-bit AES hardware encryption. There is a hardware cryptographic module inside the device itself which means that the encryption and decryption is done on the drive rather than on the host PC, with digitally signed firmware which makes the D300 immune to the notorious BadUSB exploit.
- Best USB flash drives of 2019: memory sticks for all your data storage needs
from TechRadar - All the latest technology news http://bit.ly/2sXuXJZ
One in five email attacks uses compromised accounts
Account takeover-based (ATO) attacks now comprise 20 percent of all advanced email attacks according to new research from the email security and protection company Agari.
The firm's recently published Q1 2018 Email Fraud & Identity Deception Trends report found that ATO attacks are rising in popularity among cybercriminals because they are more difficult to detect than traditional attacks and can bypass email filters since they are sent from a real sender's email account.
Senior Director of Threat Research at Agari, Crane Hassold provided further insight on the treat posed by ATO attacks, saying:
“Credential phishing was already a huge risk for organizations because of the potential for data breach, but now there is a new wave of account takeover attacks leveraging compromised accounts to commit additional fraud, which evade traditional email security controls. Business email compromise attacks are still very active, especially against C-suite targets.”
Advanced email attacks
According to Agari's Cyber Intelligence Division, brand impersonation remains the most common attack vector and this technique was used in 50 percent of advanced email attacks during Q4 2018 with cybercriminals impersonating Microsoft in 70 percent of these instances. Microsoft is often a target for credential phishing since attackers can use Office 365 accounts in subsequent ATO attacks.
However, a different pattern was identified when it came to attacks against executive targets with 33 percent of advanced email attacks against C-level employees using display name deception to impersonate an individual. This tactic is also commonly used for business email compromise (BEC) attacks that frequently target an organisation's CFO.
With the approach of tax season in the US, impersonation of the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) surged in the fourth quarter. The IRS was impersonated in nearly one in ten attacks which is up from less than one percent in the third quarter.
W-2 scams occur quite often in the runup to tax season, as cybercriminals utilise phishing emails and social engineering to obtain a business' W-2 files which contain a wealth of sensitive information such as social security numbers, salaries and other confidential data that is used to commit tax fraud or identity theft.
- Protect your devices from the latest threats with the best antivirus
from TechRadar - All the latest technology news http://bit.ly/2MMQSNm
Final Fantasy 7 remake: trailers, release date, news and features
First released in 1997, Final Fantasy 7 immediately cemented its place as one of the best JRPG titles around and introduced an entire genre to millions of gamers globally.
Due to the success of Final Fantasy 7 over 20 years ago (and the pleads from die hard fans), Square Enix is releasing a remake. Not only because that seems to be the done thing these days but also because it’s something fans genuinely seemed to want – when the Final Fantasy 7 remake was announced as being in the works at E3 2015, the news was raced straight to our nostalgia organ like a chocobo released from the stables.
The path to release hasn’t been smooth for this game, though. After two years in development we’re still not entirely sure when we’ll see the Final Fantasy 7 Remake released.
With news and rumors still churning around the great wide web but official information still pretty thin on the ground, we’ve gathered up everything we know has been confirmed and all the rumors right here for your perusal.
[Update: Could the Final Fantasy 7 remake be heading to PS5? With no new release date information shared, and the game touted being massively ambitious, a new analyst report suggests it's possible.]
Cut to the chase
- What is it? A remake of the popular JRPG Final Fantasy 7
- When can I play it? There’s no official release date just yet but we're hoping 2019
- What can I play it on? It’s been confirmed the game will come to PS4 first, but it may appear later on PC and Xbox One. Given the age of the PS4, and the ambitious nature of the game, a cross-gen title with next-gen platforms isn't out of the question
Final Fantasy 7 trailer and screenshots
The first trailer for the game was released upon the remake's announcement at E3 2015. The trailer is largely cinematic and you can watch it for yourself below:
A further trailer this time featuring gameplay was revealed at PSX in 2015:
Square Enix has also released a number of screenshots from the game which we've collected together below.
Final Fantasy 7 release date
The Final Fantasy 7 remake has had something of a troubled development, so unsurprisingly we still don’t have a solid release date.
It's also very possible that the the game will end up having several release dates, as Square Enix has confirmed the game's story would be told episodically.
The game has been in the works since 2014 but there have been few significant official updates since the E3 2015 reveal.
In this time, development of the game has moved from external developer CyberConnect2 to Square Enix’s in-house team. Overhauls like this can cause big delays to a game’s progress but according to Square Enix's Naoki Hamaguchi the decision was made out of a desire to maintain “control quality as well as keeping the schedule stable.”
Things may be further along than we think, however. In an interview with Famitsu, the game's director (Tetsuya Nomura) said that some parts of Final Fantasy 7 such as cutscenes are further along in development than the now-released Kingdom Hearts 3. This gives us hope that we may see the first portion of the Final Fantasy 7 remake at some point in 2019 still. Maybe. Perhaps.
Something we do know is that the game will be available to PlayStation 4 players “first” as was promised at its E3 reveal. Saying “first” suggests this isn’t an outright exclusive and that the game will eventually come to Xbox One and PC. However, there was no indication as to how long the agreed exclusivity period would be.
The recent timed exclusive Rise of the Tomb Raider ran for 11 months on the Xbox One before coming to the PS4, while Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 was exclusive to PS4 for just three months. Given this variation it's hard to say how long FFVII's timed exclusivity might last.
Final Fantasy 7 news and rumors
Could the release date be a long way off?
The highly-anticipated Final Fantasy 7 remake may not have a confirmed release date just yet but it seems like a safe bet to say that we’re probably not going to see it within the next year.
In fact, according to a recent report from The Lifestream (via Destructoid) we might not see it for another five years.
Reports of turbulence in the games development emerged around a year ago and if they're true it's likely that they slowed progress somewhat. A recent behind-closed doors conversation between producer Yoshinori Kitase and development lead Naoki Hamaguchi suggests the game could be as far away as 2023.
The conversation apparently took place at a recent Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary celebration event and a translated transcription has been uploaded by a Lifestream user.
The conversation doesn’t give much solid information in terms of release date or progress but Kitase and Hamaguchi say that they want the Final Fantasy VII Remake to have launched before Final Fantasy’s 35th anniversary in 2023.
Now, even if this conversation did take place the transcription makes it hard to read any kind of tone from this. It could very well be a joke in reference to the long development process that they also say is now running "smoothly." With no official comment from Square Enix on the matter we say take this with a pinch of salt for now. It's highly likely that we'll hear more about the game's progress and maybe a potential release window during Square Enix's E3 presentation this year.
It’s a reconstruction, not a shot-for-shot remake
The Final Fantasy 7 remake will follow the original game’s narrative and feature the iconic characters and locations that fans love.
Considering it’s so beloved there’s a lot of pressure on Square Enix to not stray too far from the original source material but according to director Tetsuya Nomura it won’t be a completely direct recreation. In an interview with Wired, Nomura said “We're not intending for this to become a one-to-one remake, or just the original Final Fantasy VII with better graphics.”
Nomura has said that he wants the remake to "apply to the current era" and "the current generation of players." He added the caveat that he doesn't "want to change it so much that it's unrecognizable" but it has to be offering something "fresh and new."
To accommodate modern consoles and gamers, changes will naturally have to be made to the game both in terms of gameplay, mechanics and perhaps even to some elements of the story. For starters, early trailers show a game more akin to Final Fantasy XV mechanically, with fixed viewpoints and static backdrops swapped out for full-3D terrain, and a turn-based battle system removed in favour of a real-time action-orientated one.
It’s episodic
A significant way the remake is going to differ from the original game is that its story will be told episodically. This is a detail that was confirmed back in December 2015.
The reasoning behind the decision, according to series producer Yoshinori Kitase is that “a proper HD remake” just wouldn’t fit into one instalment and maintain the “same feeling of density of the original.”
“We've seen everyone's comments and reactions to the news that Final Fantasy 7 remake will be a multi-part series and many have speculated correctly as to the reason why we have made this decision,” he said, “If we were to try to fit everything from the original into one remake instalment, we would have to cut various parts and create a condensed version of Final Fantasy 7. We knew none of you would have wanted that.
“I hope that by explaining a little more about our design decisions that you can appreciate the size of this project and what we have planned for this remake. Going beyond the scale and depth of the world, narrative and gameplay from the original to deliver something that feels familiar yet new. As I said before, we like delivering surprises.”
Each episode will apparently be its “own unique experience” but as yet we don’t know how many episodes there will be or how they’ll be structured in relation to the original story.
No more turn-based battles
As mentioned above, a major element that’s changing from the original game is a move away from turn-based battles.
In an interview with Famitsu, Nomura said that battles in the remake will be “action-based” rather than command-based. Nomura didn’t go into much more detail with regards to the game’s combat system but it’s widely expected that we’re going to see a formula more similar to Kingdom Hearts and FFXV.
This would mean a more active and seamless style of battling involving party members whom the player will be able to switch between.
Though the loss of turn-based combat will be mourned, a move towards a system like Kingdom Hearts will be more accessible to new players.
A PS5 release?
PS5 development kits are now said to be out in the wild, with Sony's first-party development teams working almost solely on titles for the as-yet-unannounced next-gen system. With the ambition on display here, could Square Enix be planning to shift Final Fantasy 7's remake to the next machine? For Sony, it'd be a system seller right out of the gates for the new console generation, and for the developers you'd imagine it'd offer more processing grunt and a little longer in terms of the development window. This is speculation at this point, but as the sun sets on the PS4, and titles like Final Fantasy 7's remake being no closer to even having a release date, it starts to seem like the looming next generation machines may be now what they're being aimed at.
- Find out more about Nomura's other big release - Kingdom Hearts 3
from TechRadar - All the latest technology news http://bit.ly/2w0NmJ6
Intel releases its monstrous 28-core processor for $2,999
After talking about its 28-core processor for what we feel like was forever, Intel is finally releasing the Xeon W-3175X.
The new workstation processor packs 28-cores, 56-threads and a whopping $2,999 (about £2,280, AU$4,120) price tag. That’s quite the cost even compared to the most expensive HEDT chips, including the $1,979 (£1,919, AU$2,999) Intel Core i9-9980XE and $1,799 (£1,639, AU$2,679) AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX
Of course, this is a much hardier enterprise-level CPU designed to take on the biggest workloads, such as creating and rendering media, film editing and 3D graphics rendering. Not only will the Intel Xeon W-3175X do the work, it’ll work faster than other chips, thanks to its 3.1GHz base frequency, 4.3GHz single-core Turbo clock and 38.5MB of L3 cache.
Likewise, this chip's supporting Intel C621 chipset is meant for production system builds. The chipset brings support for up to 68 PCIe lanes (44 PCie 3.0) and six-channel DDR4-2666 memory, which will allow users to pair this processor with up to a gargantuan 512GB of RAM.
While we don’t have any plans to review this workstation processor, as it's outside of our scope of consumer-class components coverage, you can read all about how this processor performs from our friends at Anandtech and Tom’s Hardware.
- Here’s are the best processors designed for everyday computing and gaming
from TechRadar - All the latest technology news http://bit.ly/2sZnx99