HiTechEdge

Category: Tech

All news related to tech.

  • Steam Deck Won’t Run Every Available Game

    Steam Deck Won’t Run Every Available Game

    Prospective Steam Deck buyers are in for a disappointment, with news the console won’t run all available Steam games.

    Valve announced it was releasing a Nintendo Switch-like console, named the Steam Deck. The console has already been making waves, with users excited about the possibility of having their entire Steam library at their fingertips.

    Valve has seemingly supported this notion with some of their comments.

    “This is the first time we’ve achieved the level of performance that is required to really run the latest generation of games without problems,” said Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais, according to Boiling Steam, via Rock Paper Shotgun. “All the games we wanted to be playable is, really, the entire Steam library. We haven’t really found something we could throw at this device that it couldn’t handle.”

    Unfortunately, those comments don’t paint a complete picture, at least according to CodeWeavers president James B. Ramey. Steam Deck is powered by a Linux distro, and CodeWeavers makes the Proton compatibility layer that allows the Linux-based Steam Deck to run Windows games.

    According to Ramey, not all games will be compatible with Proton right away, but Ramey suspects the confusion stems from Valve talking about how powerful the Steam Deck hardware is, not necessarily commenting on software compatibility.

    “I think there are two messages that have been kind of mashed together when people focus and talk on this,” Ramey told Boiling Steam. “The first message is when Pierre-Loup made his announcement and stated that the Steam Deck can support any and all games. I think what he was referencing is — and this is my opinion, this is my perception, this is not something I have talked to him about — but I think he was trying to state that the device itself, the hardware specs on this device, can support any game.”

    “I don’t necessarily think he was referencing supporting that game in Proton — I think he was referencing that the device has the horsepower, the video graphics, the RAM, the hard drive space to support any game out there.”

    As Boiling Steam points out, even if it doesn’t support the entire Steam library, the Steam Deck still supports a whopping 16,000 games. If the device is as successful as early feedback would seem to indicate, the remaining games may be tweaked for compatibility sooner rather than later.

  • ProtonMail Logs User’s IP at Behest of Authorities

    ProtonMail Logs User’s IP at Behest of Authorities

    ProtonMail is having a PR crisis as a result the revelation that the company logged a user’s IP address at the behest of authorities.

    ProtonMail has built its reputation as one of the most private and secure email services, providing end-to-end encryption. Despite that, French authorities wanted information on an activist being monitored.

    According to TechCrunch, ProtonMail did not initially cooperate with the French authorities. In response, the French enlisted the aid of authorities in Switzerland, where ProtonMail is based. While the company doesn’t log IP addresses by default, it will do so if local authorities require it to.

    With Swiss authorities aiding their French counterparts, ProtonMail was compelled to log the user’s IP and turn it over. In doing so, the company showed the privacy it provides has its limits — that limit being whatever the Swiss government says it is.

  • Kids in China Limited to Three Hours of Gaming a Week

    Kids in China Limited to Three Hours of Gaming a Week

    China is continuing its crackdown on video games, limiting minors to three hours of gaming per week.

    China has a contentious relationship with its technology companies. On the one hand, the country encourages its tech companies to achieve dominance — even looking the other way when they engage in blatant IP theft — but on the other hand, it doesn’t approve of the impact technology has on its own citizens, especially video games.

    According to state media outlet Xinhua, via ZDNet, China will only allow minors to play from 8pm to 9pm, Friday through Sunday, as well as on holidays.

    As part of the ban, National Press and Publication Administration (NAAP) also called on companies to implement real-name registration to help keep users under 18 from playing more than the allowed time.

  • Samsung Phone Owners at Risk of Losing Their Photos

    Samsung Phone Owners at Risk of Losing Their Photos

    Samsung smartphone owners are in danger of losing their photos if they don’t retrieve them from the cloud soon.

    Samsung offers its Samsung Cloud service for backing up one’s smartphone, and that includes backing up one’s photo library. Unfortunately, Samsung is killing off that particular feature. Samsung Cloud will still be able to back up other data from a smartphone, such as contacts, calendars and documents, but not photos or videos, according to Forbes.

    As a result, users have a limited time to retrieve their photos before the service shuts down. Unfortunately, Samsung isn’t making it very easy to know which group a person is in, as the company has split its users into two groups, each with their own cutoff date.

    Consider this a PSA: Download your photos off of Samsung Cloud now, or risk losing them forever.

  • Linux Hits 30! How it Changed the World and Where It’s Headed

    Linux Hits 30! How it Changed the World and Where It’s Headed

    Linux is officially 30 years old today, the single greatest open source success story that forever changed the world.

    Linus Torvalds sent a message to the comp.os.minix newsgroup on August 25, 1991, announcing he was creating a Unix-type operating system (OS) and asking for feedback and input on possible features. Three decades later, it’s hard to believe how far the OS has come.

    Because Torvalds based Linux on Unix, the new OS inherited many of Unix’s advantages. Unix had long been used to power mainframes, and had a reputation for stability. It was not uncommon for Unix computers to go months, or even years, without rebooting. The OS also had far better security built into it than many of the systems that would follow, such as Windows. Torvalds included many of those features in Linux, ensuring it could, and would, be used for the same type of mission-critical services and applications that were once the sole domain of Unix.

    Linux may not be a popular option on the desktop, with less than 5% market share, but the OS has had a profound impact on virtually every other aspect of the computing market. The majority of web servers run Linux, as do virtually all the world’s supercomputers. On the other end of the computing spectrum is the smartphone, with Android running on a modified Linux kernel, meaning billions of devices are Linux-powered. As a result, while Linux may never have reached its goal of truly challenging Windows and macOS, in many ways it has far surpassed them both.

    Even on the desktop, where its success has been far more limited, Linux has made great strides in the past 30 years. Rather than one single version, Linux is available in countless different distributions (distros), each maintained by individuals, groups, organizations or, in some cases, companies. Each distro offers unique advantages and focus, with some offering more fine-tuned control, others offering greater ease-of-use and still others offering top-notch security.

    In the early days, the Linux desktop scene was dominated by Red Hat, Mandrake, Caldera, SUSE, Debian and Slackware. Now there is no shortage of available options, including ones that mimic the Windows and macOS platforms people may be migrating from.

    Even on the smartphone, Linux is beginning to make progress beyond Android. Several years ago, Ubuntu, one of the most popular distros, made headlines when it announced it was working on a version for smartphones, Ubuntu Touch. The goal was to create true convergence devices: devices that had the form factor and convenience of a smartphone, but could be plugged into a dock and serve as a full-fledged computer. The devices would run the same OS, software and services, allowing a person to use a single device for all their needs.

    While Ubuntu eventually abandoned its plans, Ubuntu Touch was picked up by the community. Ubuntu Touch has continued to improve, and now supports an array of phones and devices. Other distros have also come out with smartphone and tablet support and some devices, such as the PinePhone and Librem 5, have been designed specifically to run Linux. It remains to be seen if these endeavors will make a dent in Apple and Google’s duopoly, but with the current anti-Big Tech sentiment, there’s never been a better time for an alternative to have a fighting chance.

    When Linus Torvalds sent that fateful message 30 years ago, he likely never could have imagined how important his creation would become, how much the world would depend on it, or the potential that still lies ahead.

  • Better Late Than Never — Hulu Starts Embracing HDR

    Better Late Than Never — Hulu Starts Embracing HDR

    Hulu is finally beginning to roll out HDR, years after other platforms have done so.

    Hulu is one of the top streaming platforms on the market, and its live TV service is widely considered the main competitor to YouTube TV. Despite its position in the market, the company has been slow to adopt improved technology, including HDR.

    According to TechCrunch, however, the company is finally embracing HDR, with the rollout beginning August 19. For now, only the company’s high-profile original content will get the upgrade, although Hulu intends on eventually bringing it to its entire catalog.

    The company’s plans are good news for Hulu subscribers, even if the implementation will take more time.

  • Microsoft’s Cloud Gaming Service Coming to Xbox Consoles

    Microsoft’s Cloud Gaming Service Coming to Xbox Consoles

    Microsoft is expanding its Xbox Cloud Gaming service, bringing it to Xbox consoles during the holiday season.

    Xbox Cloud Gaming brings over 100 high-quality games to devices via the cloud. The service is already available on mobile devices, in web browsers and on Windows PCs. Now Microsoft is bringing the service to its namesake: the actual Xbox console.

    “Today during today’s Gamescom 2021 Xbox stream we revealed we’re bringing cloud gaming to Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One this holiday, enabling Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members to play 100+ games right from the cloud and discover new games with the click of a button,” writes Jake Rosenberg, Senior Program Manager at Xbox. “It’s a way for console gamers to play some of their favorite games as quickly as possible, jump into games with friends more easily, and try out Xbox Game Pass titles before installing them.”

    The announcement is a big win for Xbox customers, and the gaming market in general.

    https://youtu.be/BomfVh2PSkM
  • Saygus CEO Charged With Fraud Over Vaporware Phones

    Saygus CEO Charged With Fraud Over Vaporware Phones

    Be careful what you promise — that’s the lesson Chad Leon Sayers is learning after being charged for fraud over vaporware smartphones.

    Sayers pitched the Saygus V2 as “a revolutionary new smart phone” to investors, ultimately convincing them to invest roughly $10 million. The investors were “promised imminent billion-dollar success.”

    Unfortunately for investors, the Saygus V2 was vaporware and never saw the light of day. Instead, Sayers used the money for personal expenses, as well as used money from new investors to pay old investors.

    The US Attorney’s Office, District of Utah, has now filed fraud charges against Sayers. Moral of the story: If you take millions of investors’ dollars, you better deliver what’s promised.

  • T-Mobile Users File Class Action Lawsuits Over Data Breach

    T-Mobile Users File Class Action Lawsuits Over Data Breach

    T-Mobile’s issues are going from bad to worse, as customers have filed two class action lawsuits over the company’s data breach.

    T-Mobile acknowledged it was the victim of a data breach, impacting tens of millions of users. The hacker responsible has been trying to sell the data, including very sensitive data, online.

    According to Business Insider, T-Mobile’s customers have filed two class action lawsuits. One claims a violation of California’s Consumer Privacy Act, while the other claims a violation of the Washington State Consumer Protection Act.

    The lawsuit show the high stakes for companies responsible for consumer data.

  • Samsung Pay Now Supports Digital COVID Vaccine Card

    Samsung Pay Now Supports Digital COVID Vaccine Card

    Samsung has announced Samsung Pay now supports SMART Health Cards, including digital COVID-19 vaccine cards.

    Governments and organizations around the world are working to develop vaccine passports and digital vaccine cards. With the Delta variant surging around the world, many companies are requiring vaccines, and some jurisdictions are requiring them for travel.

    Samsung is working with the Commons Project Foundation to bring SMART Health Cards, and COVID-19 vaccination status, to Samsung Pay.

    “Samsung Pay simplifies transactions for millions of mobile device users. As more and more consumers use their Samsung devices as a digital wallet it is a natural extension to make Covid-19 vaccination records more easily accessible,” said Rob White, Sr. Director of Product for Samsung Pay, Samsung Electronics America. “We are proud to partner with The Commons Project Foundation on this important initiative and to help make life easier.” 

    “CommonHealth’s collaboration with Samsung marks another important milestone as the availability and acceptance of SMART Health Cards as the standard for digital vaccination records continues to expand,” said JP Pollak, cofounder and chief architect of The Commons Project. “As a leading mobile device manufacturer and digital wallet, Samsung offers a secure and easily accessible place for consumers to store this vital health information. The Commons Project is committed to the continued expansion of our network of partners, empowering users with their own health data to use in enhanced and secure ways.”