Fail

Dell has denied that there are any BIOS related GPU issues with XPS 15 9570 laptops, the company has informed us. Despite providing the company with data and numerous online posts demonstrating otherwise, it has not been able to determine what is causing some NVIDIA GPUs to throttle until reaching 48 °C/118 °F.

The UK Parliament has seized important internal Facebook documents from an executive of the software start-up Six4Three. The unprecedented move is believed to be partly in response for Mark Zuckerberg’s failure to stand before British politicians and answer questions in regard to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Facebook is also facing accusations that employees knew about privacy policy loopholes and assisted in exploiting them.

In a report published by the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC), it was revealed that LinkedIn has been using 18 million non-user emails to generate targeted ads on Facebook. It was also shown that LinkedIn has been using the personal data of its users to automatically build professional networks.

AMD posted a response to a common complaint from Ryzen-based laptop users on Reddit earlier this week, stating that the company would better support graphics drivers for Ryzen laptops starting in 2019. However, AMD plans to work with laptop OEMs and depend on them to release device-specific graphics drivers twice a year. The response garnered further criticisms of what many see as a lazy blame-shifting solution.

Fallout 76 is getting hammered by critics and gamers alike. In its first week after release, the game has fallen close to the bottom of Metacritic's ratings. The PC version currently has a Metascore of 55, while the PS4 and Xbox One have Metascores of 49 and 48, respectively. All three versions have failed even harder with gamers; user scores across the three platforms sit at about 2.4-2.9.

The Gameband, formerly known as the Atari Gameband, looked like a promising gaming-focused smartwatch during its successful Kickstarter campaign last year. Despite raising a total of $500,000 between Kickstarter backers and other investors, the Gameband has officially been killed. Worst of all, backers may never receive a refund

The latest issue in the growing string of problems with the Windows 10 1809 update affects devices using certain versions of Intel's display drivers. The Windows 10 October update breaks audio playback through monitors or TVs connected via versions 24.20.100.6344 and 24.20.100.6345 of Intel's display driver.

Microsoft has acknowledged that there is a known issue with its latest Windows 10 update. Some users have reported that the seek bar in Media Player has become inoperable after downloading the new patches. The issue corresponds to KB4467708 (OS Build 17763.134) that applies to the now somewhat notorious Windows 10, version 1809 (October 2018 Update).

Apple’s stock price has suffered from further decline over recent days, with the current price reported by NASDAQ standing at US$176.78. Cautious investors are apparently biding their time to see what the Cupertino-based tech giant’s next move is going to be, and some analysts expect this to be a temporary downturn in the company’s fortunes.

According to malware researcher Lukas Stefanko, Google Play users have installed a number of driving game apps that are actually malware. The 13 affected apps, which all come from the same developer, had been downloaded and installed over half a million times before Google pulled them from its store. Two of the apps had actually been trending, offering greater visibility to users.

Two men have been jailed in England for their parts in the hacking of TalkTalk in 2015, which cost the British telecoms company an estimated £77 million (~ US$98.5 million). TalkTalk has already been fined £400,000 (~ US$512,000) for having inadequate security procedures.

Chinese officials, citing "massive evidence," have accused Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix of colluding and fixing the price of DRAM. If the allegations are true, the three largest DRAM manufacturers in the world would be directly responsible for the massive price increase for DRAM over the past few years. This isn't the first time these three companies have been accused of price-fixing. Back in 2005, all three pled guilty to similar charges levied by the US Department of Justice.

It looks like some media outlets have a bone to pick with Nvidia, blowing things out of proportion where it really is not the case. Yes, there are faulty RTX 2080 Ti cards out there and Nvidia admitted some cards did not go through the QA process, but the cards are out of stock now not because Nvidia was forced to delist them for too many manufacturing faults. The green team simply did not expect the demand for these cards to be so great.

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and other leading cryptocurrencies have been experiencing sharp falls in their prices in the market recently. Bitcoin in particular has suffered a terrible week that will have owners feeling nervous about their digital currency holding. The well-known cryptocurrency has seen its price drop by over US$2,000 in less than seven days.

Valve quietly announced that once physical stock of the Steam Link streaming device sells out, they will no longer sell physical units. Instead, Valve will shift focus and support to the Steam Link mobile app, currently only available for Android. While the reasons for the discontinuation aren't entirely clear, it's likely that the Steam Link is no longer selling enough to warrant continued support.

Tumblr's disappearance from Apple's App Store finally has an official reason: what was first simply described as "an issue" was, in fact, child pornography that slipped through the filters — enough of it to make the app vanish. This is not the first time Tumblr has run into pornography-related problems — most likely not the last time, either.

According to some of its suppliers, Apple has cut orders for both the iPhone XS and iPhone XR. Citing a weak Chinese market and a slowdown in smartphone demand, Apple has had to pare back its supply of the new iPhones, a move that will inevitably reduce sales in the short term.

The Apple iPad Pro is apparently not a very durable tablet as demonstrated by Zack Nelson of the popular YouTube channel, JerryRigEverything. Zack was easily able to bend the iPad Pro with very minimal effort, which raises concerns about Apple putting build quality at stake in the quest for slimness.

T-Mobile looks like it has some great deals on some of the best smartphones released this year. Handsets like the iPhone XR and Galaxy S9 can be had for free, but reading the fine print shows a few caveats. In addition to activating two new lines and trading in an eligible device, the phones are only free because of a bill credit that is granted over a 36-month period, which effectively locks consumers into a three-year contract.

Tetsuya Nomura, the director of the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Remake, said in an interview with Famitsu that Square Enix was still working on the title and that development was "progressing favorably." He did mention that the company's marketing efforts were heavily focused on Kingdom Hearts III, which releases this January. After January 2019, Square Enix's PR team will likely shift its focus to Final Fantasy VII Remake.

As the studio winds up and begins liquidating assets, Telltale has apparently pulled some of its titles from Steam. Back to the Future and Jurassic Park (among others) are no longer available for purchase, though some of their bigger games like Game of Thrones can still be bought through Steam.

NVIDIA seems to have finally acknowledged that some of its GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Founders Edition cards seem to have missed testing during QA and that could have been the reason for the increasing number of complaints about faulty cards causing all sorts of problems. Those affected can directly contact NVIDIA Support to get their issue resolved at the earliest.

The British regulator Ofcom has announced that it has fined EE and Virgin Media £6.3 million (~ US$8.035 million) and £7 million (~ US$8.928 million) respectively. The regulator has fined the two companies principally for overcharging early-exit fees to hundreds of thousands of customers and for not explaining contractual terms clearly enough.

Apple’s stock price seems to have stabilized and even briefly bounced back after days of steep decline. The NASDAQ community has offered a “bullish” rating for the stock, implying there is still plenty of optimism in the company’s recovery. However, it’s unlikely Mark Zuckerberg is going to be investing in the Cupertino-based firm any time soon.

While we're still coming to terms with the distressing fact that notches may be a long-term feature in smartphones, Japanese OEM Sharp has gone the extra mile by including two notches on its new flagship. And no, that is not a joke.

The Fairphone 2 has finally received an update to Android 7.1 Nougat, a two-year-old version of the mobile OS. Considering the Fairphone 2's age and the slow rollout of supported software, the handset may be entering its end-of-life.

Noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has told investors to temper sales expectations for the iPhone XR. Citing trade disputes, consumer fatigue, and steep competition, Kuo has slashed sales expectations for the iPhone XR by 35% for 2018Q4 and 30% for 2019Q1 and 2019Q2.

Nintendo has won $12 million in a settlement with LoveRoms.com and LoveRETRO.co, two ROM distribution sites it sued this past summer. The couple that operated the two sites admitted that they participated in copyright infringement and agreed to the $12 million judgement against them. While it's unlikely the couple will have to pay the full judgement, this ruling will surely send a message to other ROM sites that distribute ROMs of Nintendo games.

Lasso is a new short video sharing platform from Facebook designed to compete with TikTok. The new app, available now on iOS and Android, "makes it easy for anyone to create and share short videos with fun effects." Marketed at teens and young people, Lasso looks like the latest effort by Facebook to retain young users.

Stock prices for Apple have fallen again today, reaching a low of US$193.79 in the late morning. The price stood at US$204.47 at the previous close, meaning the Cupertino-based company has seen more billions of dollars wiped off its market cap. The new plunge has been attributed to an updated business outlook statement from Lumentum.

Want to play Fallout 76 when it comes out later this week? Be prepared to stare at a loading bar. The game comes with a mandatory day-one patch that is a massive 56 GB in size. This is in addition to the 45 GB base game, meaning that gamers will need about 100 GB of free space. This patch has only been confirmed for the PS4, but considering the game's buggy beta, the PC and Xbox One versions are likely to have similar day-one patches.

In a deal struck with Apple to begin selling the newest Apple products, Amazon has announced it will ban unauthorized third-party sellers from listing or selling Apple products through Amazon. While sellers can become an authorized Apple reseller, the qualifications are far out of reach for most small businesses. This move will inevitably kill many small businesses and Apple resellers that rely on Amazon as a storefront.

The upcoming PlayStation Classic has been found to use the open-source PCSX ReARMed emulator to run its games. The emulator has been developed by retro gaming enthusiasts, not Sony. It's curious that Sony opted to use an emulator rather than develop their own system for the retro console.

The team over at iFixIt has published a complete teardown of the new MacBook Air Retina. While soldered storage and an integrated keyboard count heavily against the device, new pull tabs under the battery and a separate logic board for the dual Thunderbolt 3 ports make some components easy (well, easier) to repair. Overall, the MacBook Air Retina scored a 3 out of 10 for repairability.

The EverythingApplePro YouTube channel's drop and bend test is an increasingly common staple of each new iPad release. This year, its host Filip Koroy found his optimism about the iPad Pro 2018's durability daunted as he put the 11-inch variant of this new tablet through the procedure.

The Pixel 3 series of phones is now linked to overheating, leading to complete shutdown. Numerous users claim that their units do this while charging, whereas one or two assert that it happens while doing tasks such as using the camera. Google has yet to act on this new issue with its latest smartphones.

A strange bug in Microsoft's activation servers is causing deactivation of several Windows 10 Pro licenses and prompting users to install Windows 10 Home. Trying to purchase a Pro key from the Store is apparently not solving the problem. Fortunately, Microsoft is aware of this issue and said that it is working to resolve it at the earliest.

Some Huawei Mate 20 Pro owners have been complaining about the display of their brand-new flagship device. A green hue has been seen on faulty handsets, to the extent that it becomes quite visible under certain conditions. The cause of the verdant tint has yet to be fully explained; affected consumers have been offered replacements in some countries.

Apple’s share price fell below the US$200.00 mark today, reaching a low of US$198.17 at the time of writing. The continued stock plunge has devalued the company from its previous trillion-dollar valuation; market capitalization currently stands at US$950.8 billion. In early October, the share price stood at just over US$230.

Till now, WhatsApp has remained mostly free of the advertorial trappings of its parent company Facebook. All of that is set to come to an end, though, as a WhatsApp executive has confirmed that the messaging app will soon start displaying ads. How the data needed for such targeted ads will be collected remains a mystery.

Diablo Immortal, the latest title in the storied Diablo franchise, has hit a wall of criticism. Many gamers are upset over the mobile-only release, claiming that the game is a cheap cash-in and a re-skin of another mobile game that developer NetEase released a while ago. Whether or not these claims are true, the game has drawn the ire of Diablo fans around the world.

The Precision 7530 is a powerful and hefty workstation, but it's definitely not smaller than the XPS 15. Dell has confirmed a minor measurement error on its product page and will update the dimension from 337.6 mm to a more accurate 375.92 mm.

Some Apple Watch Series 4 users have reported that updating their wearable to watchOS 5.1 bricked their device. After rebooting the Watch when installing the update, the device would freeze on the Apple logo and become unresponsive. Apple has since pulled the update and is working on a fix. In the meantime, affected users have been instructed to contact AppleCare for assistance.

Although Apple has previously said that this controversial feature would not be pushed to its post-iPhone 7 handsets, it seems that the Cupertino-based giant has decided to add speed throttling for the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X in the iOS 12.1 update after all.

After failing to fulfill a contract with Snapchat's PR firm, PR Consultants (PRC), Instagram influencer and actor Luka Sabbat is being sued by PRC for $90,000. Sabbat signed a contract with PRC to promote Snapchat's Spectacles v2 with some Instagram posts and real-world appearances, but he failed to fulfill the terms of the contract.

Despite a 4.4% percent in trading today, Amazon's stock price tumbled 20.2% over the month of October, its worst month since the 2008 financial crisis. Slow growth in key business areas, like retail and Amazon Prime, are likely to blame.

A bug in the Fallout 76 beta launcher would cause the game to delete itself. After instructing gamers to "not click any buttons," Bethesda admitted the bug and instructed affected players to re-download the 50 GB title. In an effort to make good with its playerbase, Bethesda extended the beta to include this Thursday, November 1, from 2 PM to 11 PM.

Some users who managed to get the Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti Founders' Edition claim that the GPUs have critical instability issues that lead to black screens, BSoDs, and artifacting. There are instances where the cards were dead on arrival, and the replacement cards sent by Nvidia were still affected. Nvidia stats that this is normal, the number of affected users is limited, and they are dealing with each customer.

Apple is rolling out iOS 12.1 today, and if you have an iPhone Xs, Xs Max, or XR, you can use Apple's new dual-SIM feature... as long as you're not using Verizon on your digital SIM or as your secondary number. Both T-Mobile and Verizon have stated that their networks are not ready to fully support the dual-SIM tech but are working on getting their networks up to scratch "in the near future."

In a recent study concerning children and media consumption, researchers discovered that the majority of apps targeted at children 5 years of age and younger contained advertising. Some of these ads were not clearly marked, were difficult to close, or contained disturbing imagery. Additionally, some of the ads pushed the user to make purchases, a clear violation of the FTC's rules regarding ads used in children's media.