Month: April 2021

Enlarge / Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen, seen here at Dreamhack's 2019 Winter Open, may be allowed back in Valve-sponsored events despite a VAC ban. (credit: Stephanie Lindgren / Dreamhack)

If you know just one thing about the Valve's Anti-Cheat system (VAC), you probably know that a ban issued through it lasts forever. As Valve's support page lays out clearly, "VAC bans are permanent, non-negotiable, and cannot be removed by Steam Support."

Now, apparently, there is one sizable exception to this rule, at least when it comes to esports. A post to the Counter-Strike: GO blog yesterday notes that some VAC-banned players will now be able to participate in events surrounding the game's next Regional Major Rankings (RMR) season.

The CS:GO team notes in the post that its event guidelines were initially written around the game's 2012 release, when "all CS:GO VAC bans were relatively recent." Now, though, the team has decided to update those guidelines to reflect the fact that "VAC bans can now be more than eight years old." As such, VAC bans older than five years, as well as VAC bans that pre-date a player's first participation in a Valve-sponsored event, will no longer be taken into account when assessing RMR event eligibility.

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The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has ruled that Google misled Android users over its collection of location data. This ruling is in reference to the "Location History" controversy from a few years ago. The Associated Press reported at the time that turning off the Location History setting does not disable all location-tracking features across every Google product.

The ACCC's press release states that from January 2017 to December 2018 (the AP article was published in August 2018), "Google misrepresented that the ‘Location History’ setting was the only Google Account setting that affected whether Google collected, kept or used personally identifiable data about their location." The ruling continues, saying, "In fact, another Google Account setting titled 'Web & App Activity' also enabled Google to collect, store and use personally identifiable location data when it was turned on, and that setting was turned on by default."

With the ACCC's finding of wrongdoing, it's not clear what the Australian government plans to do about the situation yet. The press release says, "The ACCC is seeking declarations, pecuniary penalties, publications orders, and compliance orders. This will be determined at a later date." ACCC Chair Rod Sims added, "In addition to penalties, we are seeking an order for Google to publish a notice to Australian consumers to better explain Google’s location data settings in the future. This will ensure that consumers can make informed choices about whether certain Google settings that... collect location data should be enabled."

Enlarge (credit: China News Service | Getty Images)

Don’t let American companies sell semiconductor design software to Chinese firms, two members of Congress are asking the Department of Commerce. 

Sen. Tom Cotton (R- Ark.) and Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Tex.) yesterday requested that electronic design automation (EDA) tools be designated as “foundational technologies” by the Department of Commerce. The label would require companies to obtain export licenses if they want to sell EDA tools to Chinese companies. The congressmen also requested in their letter to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo that any fab worldwide that uses American tools be prevented from selling 14 nm or better chips to Chinese companies.

The current leading edge in semiconductors is the 5 nm node, and currently, only Samsung and Taiwanese semiconductor company TSMC are producing chips commercially at that node. Restricting Chinese companies to 16 nm or larger could possibly keep them four generations off the leading edge. 

Enlarge / The PS5 is bigger than Xbox Series X in more ways than one (at least, in the United States). (credit: Sam Machkovech)

While we're still waiting on exact sales numbers for last year's newest video game consoles, select stats have begun to emerge that, at least in the US, give a clear lead to Sony's PlayStation 5. As it turns out, the lead is historically significant.

The NPD Group, a longtime retail analyst, has confirmed via brick-and-mortar and digital sales figures that the PlayStation 5 sold more units than any other console sold in its first five months in the US.

NPD rarely confirms exact sales figures, and stitching together an estimate of PS5 sales in the US thus far is therefore a bit tricky. In early 2018, Nintendo claimed the title of fastest selling console in US history at a mark of 10 months, by which point the company had sold "more than 4.8 million" Switch consoles.

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  Mercedes-Benz's mighty S-Class sedan is regularly ranked as the world's best luxury car. Now it has an electric alternative, called the EQS. [credit: Mercedes-EQ ]

You can tell there should have been an international auto show this week by the flurry of new car announcements. These announcements have already included new battery electric vehicles from Mazda and Audi, as well as a little Hyundai truck that seems to have impressed many. Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz has taken the wraps off an electric alternative to its mighty flagship S-Class. Actually, let me correct that—it's the first car from a new sub-brand, called Mercedes-EQ, and the car is called the EQS. And unlike the EQC crossover, this one is definitely going on sale here in the US.

Do not mistake this car for an S-Class with a battery pack and some electric motors instead of an engine and transmission. Although the two cars share technology, the EQS uses a purpose-designed BEV architecture that we'll see in other, probably more modest Mercedes-EQs. Over in the conventionally powered world, the S-Class has for decades been the car to beat for the title of "World's Best," and the EQS is sticking to that playbook.

The EQS has a drag coefficient that might make a Lucid Air driver wonder if someone left a window open. It has a range far in excess of a Tesla Model S Long Range. It can regenerate more braking energy than a Porsche Taycan Turbo S. And the dashboard has been replaced by 56 inches of AI-enhanced data screens. Oh, and did I mention the doors close themselves?