Month: February 2024

Enlarge (credit: Google)

On Wednesday, Google announced a new family of AI language models called Gemma, which are free, open-weights models built on technology similar to the more powerful but closed Gemini models. Unlike Gemini, Gemma models can run locally on a desktop or laptop computer. It's Google's first significant open large language model (LLM) release since OpenAI's ChatGPT started a frenzy for AI chatbots in 2022.

Gemma models come in two sizes: Gemma 2B (2 billion parameters) and Gemma 7B (7 billion parameters), each available in pre-trained and instruction-tuned variants. In AI, parameters are values in a neural network that determine AI model behavior, and weights are a subset of these parameters stored in a file.

Developed by Google DeepMind and other Google AI teams, Gemma pulls from techniques learned during the development of Gemini, which is the family name for Google's most capable (public-facing) commercial LLMs, including the ones that power its Gemini AI assistant. Google says the name comes from the Latin gemma, which means "precious stone."

Enlarge / Four Xbox console exclusives will soon be exclusive no more. (credit: Microsoft)

During a "business update" video podcast last week, Microsoft addressed widespread rumors of Xbox software going multiplatform by saying that four of its legacy titles would be going "to the other consoles" in the future. But the company waited until today to confirm the names of the four soon-to-be-multiplatform titles.

The Xbox games coming to other consoles in the coming months are (multiplatform launch date in parentheses):

• Pentiment (Feb. 22, Switch, PS4/5): Obsidian's historical murder mystery has a sprawling narrative that reacts strongly to player choices.
• Hi-Fi Rush (March 9, Switch, PS5): A rhythm-action game from Bethesda Softworks where you have to match your attacks and movements to the beat to maximize your impact.
• Grounded (April 16, PS4/5): Obsidian's co-op survival adventure will be fully cross-play compatible across all platforms.
• Sea of Thieves (April 30, PS5): Despite what we considered a poor first impression, Rare's pirate-themed multiplayer simulation has attracted 35 million players so far, according to Microsoft. This title will also be cross-play compatible across platforms.

Microsoft's announcement comes just after Grounded and Pentiment were announced for Switch as part of the morning's Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase video stream, the timing of which likely prevented Microsoft from announcing its plans for those titles last week. There wasn't a lot of drama to today's announcement, though; both The Verge and independent journalist Stephen Totilo cited anonymous sources in accurately naming all four games just after Microsoft's presentation last week.

Enlarge / Elon Musk at the New York Times DealBook Summit on November 29, 2023, in New York City. (credit: Getty Images | Michael Santiago )

Twitter employees prevented Elon Musk from violating the company's privacy settlement with the US government, according to Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan.

After Musk bought Twitter in late 2022, he gave Bari Weiss and other journalists access to company documents in the so-called "Twitter Files" incident. The access given to outside individuals raised concerns that Twitter (which is currently named X) violated a 2022 settlement with the FTC, which has requirements designed to prevent repeats of previous security failures.

Some of Twitter's top privacy and security executives also resigned shortly after Musk's purchase, citing concerns that Musk's rapid changes could cause violations of the settlement.

Enlarge / The iPhone 14. (credit: Apple)

Counterpoint has a new report on the top-selling phone models of 2023, and for the first time, the top seven sold models for the year are all iPhones. The report tracks worldwide sales of individual smartphone models, and while hundreds of new phones are released yearly, Counterpoint says this top-10 list represents a whopping 20 percent of the worldwide market.

The top three spots are all the iPhone 14 models, with the cheaper base model taking the top spot. 2023 saw the release of the iPhone 15, but only in September 2023. The iPhone 15 models rocketed to spots 5, 6, and 7 with only about three months of sales. Sandwiched in between the 14 and 15 models at No. 4 is the iPhone 13, the cheapest modern-looking iPhone Apple sells.

Counterpoint's 2023 smartphone chart. (credit: Counterpoint)

The actual cheapest iPhone, the iPhone SE, didn't make the list this year. The dated design and (maybe?) small size isn't resonating with consumers, and right now, the rumor mill suggests Apple won't be making another SE. The 2022 version of this report included the SE, so eight of the top 10 devices were Apple phones, but a Samsung phone crept in at spot No. 4.

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  The game includes recreations of classic battles from the original trilogy... [credit: Lucasfilm ]

There was once a time of outstanding Star Wars computer games, before Disney made a deal with publisher EA that led to a plethora of lukewarmly received multiplayer games-as-a-service and mobile titles. (And Jedi Fallen Order, of course.) Now a cornerstone of that era is set to be revived in the form of the Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection.

Announced this morning, the collection includes two beloved LucasArts-developed online multiplayer shooters from the 2000s: Star Wars Battlefront and Star Wars Battlefront 2. Although it debuted during a Nintendo livestream, the collection won't just be coming out on Nintendo Switch—it's coming to PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, too.

The collection will include "restored online play for up to 64 players" of all the previous Galactic Conquest and Campaign mode content from both games on all platforms, including bonus maps and extras that were previously exclusive to specific consoles. Additionally, the Hero Assault mode will now be playable on all ground maps.

The Borderlands video game franchise is one of the bestselling of all time, racking up more than $1 billion globally in sales over all the titles in the series. So naturally, there would be a film adaptation: the forthcoming Borderlands, directed by Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, The House with a Clock in its Walls). Lionsgate just dropped the official trailer, and Roth has certainly captured the trademark cel-shaded look of the film—especially Cate Blanchett's fluorescent-haired outlaw.

The Borderlands games all take place on a planet called Pandora, home to many dangerous lifeforms as well as bandits and raiders—former prisoners of corporations that previously tried to colonize the planet, believing there were precious minerals to be mined. Pandora's long-extinct race, called the Eridians, also left behind numerous alien artifacts, which eventually led to the discovery that there are various mythical vaults purportedly filled with treasure and guarded by ancient monsters. Along with corporate and military interests, there are renegade Vault Hunters who seek to claim the hidden treasures for themselves.

It might feel like Borderlands the film has been in development forever. Lionsgate announced the adaptation in 2015 and initially considered Leigh Whannell (The Invisible Man) to direct. The script went through multiple revisions by several different writers, and Roth was hired as director in February 2020. Primary filming took place in Budapest, Hungary, in 2021, mid-pandemic, with reshoots occurring early in 2023. Tim Miller (Terminator: Dark Fate) directed the reshoots with Roth's blessing, since by then the latter was already working on another film (2023's Thanksgiving). Initial first-look images were released in June 2021, although those were just black-and-white silhouettes of the cast.

Enlarge (credit: SOPA Images / Contributor | LightRocket)

Thousands of the most dedicated Reddit users will have a chance to snag shares when the company goes public in 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Citing people familiar with the matter, The Journal reported that 75,000 of the "most prolific" Redditors will have an opportunity to buy "an as-yet-undetermined number of shares" before trading starts.

This privilege, WSJ noted, is "normally" reserved for "big investors" who can stand to hugely profit if the share prices dramatically rise after Reddit begins listing shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which is expected to happen this March.

Enlarge / Important note: You (probably) will not look this good when using the C-Infinity. (credit: Neurosync)

Anyone who has spent significant time trying to traverse large spaces in virtual reality knows that it can sometimes be a nauseating experience. The mismatch between a vestibular system telling your body it's standing still and a VR headset telling your eyes that you're moving often causes an almost instant upset stomach for many VR users.

For years, VR games and experiences have tried to mitigate this problem with software tricks, such as movement by "teleportation" and "snap" turning that jumps in sharp, discrete angles. But these solutions come with their own problems for games in which smoother walking motion and free rotation are important.

Rather than focusing on software, Neurosync has decided to use hardware to try to solve this problem. The company's C-Infinity "VR Locomotion Platform" (which is currently wrapping up a successful Kickstarter campaign) promises to "effectively reduc[e] motion sickness while delivering an unparalleled true sense of movement... while also reducing fatigue."