Verizon's new activation fees cost more in-store, less in-app - Engadget

SIPA USA/PA Images

Verizon has simultaneously slashed and increased its activation and upgrade fees, depending on how you process the transaction. According to CNET and reports posted online, you now only have to pay $20 if you upgrade your device or activate a line on the carrier's website or the My Verizon app. That's down $10 from the previous $30 fee for either service. However, if you walk into a store or call the company's phone line for upgrade or activation, you'll now have to pay $40 instead.

A Verizon spokesperson described personal and over-the-phone transactions to CNET as a "full-service experience," perhaps suggesting that those channels deserve the extra $10. The company is probably hoping to discourage people who can do things on their own from engaging customer service and sales reps, though what the fee adjustments mean for employees remains to be seen. The Redditor who posted the news on the website claimed to work for an indirect store and said employees aren't getting a pay upgrade despite the higher fees. We've reached out to Verizon for confirmation and will update when we hear back.

Verizon owns Engadget's parent company, Verizon Media. Rest assured, Verizon has no control over our coverage. Engadget remains editorially independent.

Source: CNET, Reddit

In this article: business, gear, mobile, verizon

110 Shares

Share

Tweet

Share

Save

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.engadget.com/2019/04/17/verizon-new-activation-fees/

2019-04-17 05:31:47Z
52780270256315

First PS5 Details: Backwards Compatible, PSVR, SSDs, And More - GameSpot

Sony has revealed a bit of the information for its next-generation console, most likely named PlayStation 5. In an interview with Wired, Mark Cerny, lead system architect for the PlayStation 4, talked about his work on the PS4's successor.

In the interview, Cerny didn't name the console. The next-gen PlayStation is partially based on PS4 architecture, which means that it is backwards compatible. Cerny also revealed that it is not an all-digital device, and will accept physical discs. Wired's article describes the transition from PS4 to PS5, as indicated by Cerny, as a "gentle one," adding that numerous games will be released for both PS4 and the next-gen console.

Housed in the console will be an AMD chip that has a CPU based on the third-generation Ryzen. It'll have eight cores of the seven-nanometer Zen 2 microchip. Although the console will support 8K, displaying at this resolution will be dependant on TVs catching up.

The graphics, meanwhile, will be driven by a custom version of Radeon's Navi line. This graphics chip will support ray tracing, something which is starting to become popular in movies and video games. Although it is traditionally thought of as a lighting technique, Cerny says that there are implications beyond creating realistic environments.

"If you wanted to run tests to see if the player can hear certain audio sources or if the enemies can hear the players' footsteps, ray tracing is useful for that," he explained. "It's all the same thing as taking a ray through the environment."

In fact, audio is one the main improvements Cerny is keen to talk about. The AMD chip will enable 3D audio, and this, according to Cerny, is key to immersing players deeper. This naturally led to discussions of PlayStation VR, and while Cerny didn't confirm whether a new version of Sony's headset will be released, the existing one will be supported.

"I won't go into the details of our VR strategy ... beyond saying that VR is very important to us and that the current PSVR headset is compatible with the new console," he confirmed.

Another key leap the next PlayStation will make comes through its hard drive. According to Cerny, developers let Sony know that what they want solid-state drives in the new hardware, as opposed to the slower equivalents used in current consoles. These SSDs are relatively prevalent now in laptops, and what Sony is bringing to the next PlayStation is described as being specialized for the hardware.

Cerny demonstrated the change an SSD introduces to gaming by comparing a load sequence from Insomniac's Spider-Man on a standard PS4 Pro and a dev kit of the next-gen PlayStation. On the former, it was around 15 seconds, while on the latter it was 0.8 seconds. This, Cerny added, has implications on how the world can be rendered too, which in turn impacts how quickly Spidey can move through the world. On the new hardware, the camera moves through the city much quicker, as the hardware is capable of keeping up with rendering requirements.

Discussing the SSD, Cerny said "the raw read speed is important, but so are the details of the I/O [input-output] mechanisms and the software stack that we put on top of them. I got a PlayStation 4 Pro and then I put in a SSD that cost as much as the PlayStation 4 Pro—it might be one-third faster."

Cerny didn't provide any details on any of the services or a broader overview of PlayStation's vision for the next-generation of gaming, instead focusing on the nitty-gritty of its hardware. It is currently unclear when the console will be fully unveiled. Traditionally, Sony would has debuted its new PlayStations at E3, but the company will not have its usual press conference this year. This leaves PlayStation Experience, one of its new Nintendo Direct-like State of Play streams, or a standalone PS5 announcement event as possibilities--that is assuming it plans to reveal the PlayStation 5 this year.

It is also unclear when Sony plans to launch the PS5. In May 2018, Sony's head of PlayStation, John Kodera, said the new PlayStation was three years off. "We will use the next three years to prepare the next step," he said, "to crouch down so that we can jump higher in the future."

While Sony's plans are still largely unclear, Microsoft's are starting to come into focus. The company is set to have an E3 press conference this year, and head of Xbox Phil Spencer said it is going to go "as big at E3 as we've ever been." In 2018, Microsoft confirmed that a new Xbox was in development, and it is expected that we'll see this next-generation console at E3 2019. More immediately, it has been suggested that an all-digital Xbox One S will be announced soon. As the name indicates, this new console would not accept physical discs and designed around downloading and streaming.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ps5-first-details-specs-backwards-compatible-8k-ps/1100-6466281/

2019-04-16 19:39:00Z
52780269715879

PS5 First Details: Backwards Compatible, PSVR Support, SSDs, And More Specs - GameSpot

Sony has revealed some information about its highly anticipated next-generation PlayStation. In an interview with Wired, Mark Cerny, who was lead system architect for the PlayStation 4 and is currently working on its successor, divulged details on the components that will power the next-gen system and teased some of the breakthroughs it is making.

In the interview, Cerny didn't name the console, though conventional thinking states it will probably be PlayStation 5. The next-gen PlayStation is partially based on PS4 architecture, which means that it is backwards compatible. Cerny also revealed that it is not an all-digital device, and will accept physical discs. Wired's article describes the transition from PS4 to PS5, as indicated by Cerny, as a "gentle one," adding that numerous games will be released for both PS4 and the next-gen console.

Housed in the console will be an AMD chip that has a CPU based on the third-generation Ryzen. It'll have eight cores of the seven-nanometer Zen 2 microchip. Although the console will support 8K, displaying at this resolution will be dependant on TVs catching up.

The graphics, meanwhile, will be driven by a custom version of Radeon's Navi line. This graphics chip will support ray tracing, something which is starting to become popular in movies and video games. Although it is traditionally thought of as a lighting technique, Cerny says that there are implications beyond creating realistic environments.

"If you wanted to run tests to see if the player can hear certain audio sources or if the enemies can hear the players' footsteps, ray tracing is useful for that," he explained. "It's all the same thing as taking a ray through the environment."

In fact, audio is one the main improvements Cerny is keen to talk about. The AMD chip will enable 3D audio, and this, according to Cerny, is key to immersing players deeper. This naturally led to discussions of PlayStation VR, and while Cerny didn't confirm whether a new version of Sony's headset will be released, the existing one will be supported.

"I won't go into the details of our VR strategy ... beyond saying that VR is very important to us and that the current PSVR headset is compatible with the new console," he confirmed.

Another key leap the next PlayStation will make comes through its hard drive. According to Cerny, developers let Sony know that what they want solid-state drives in the new hardware, as opposed to the slower equivalents used in current consoles. These SSDs are relatively prevalent now in laptops, and what Sony is bringing to the next PlayStation is described as being specialized for the hardware.

Cerny demonstrated the change an SSD introduces to gaming by comparing a load sequence from Insomniac's Spider-Man on a standard PS4 Pro and a dev kit of the next-gen PlayStation. On the former, it was around 15 seconds, while on the latter it was 0.8 seconds. This, Cerny added, has implications on how the world can be rendered too, which in turn impacts how quickly Spidey can move through the world. On the new hardware, the camera moves through the city much quicker, as the hardware is capable of keeping up with rendering requirements.

Discussing the SSD, Cerny said "the raw read speed is important, but so are the details of the I/O [input-output] mechanisms and the software stack that we put on top of them. I got a PlayStation 4 Pro and then I put in a SSD that cost as much as the PlayStation 4 Pro—it might be one-third faster."

Cerny didn't provide any details on any of the services or a broader overview of PlayStation's vision for the next-generation of gaming, instead focusing on the nitty-gritty of its hardware. It is currently unclear when the console will be fully unveiled. Traditionally, Sony would has debuted its new PlayStations at E3, but the company will not have its usual press conference this year. This leaves PlayStation Experience, one of its new Nintendo Direct-like State of Play streams, or a standalone PS5 announcement event as possibilities--that is assuming it plans to reveal the PlayStation 5 this year.

It is also unclear when Sony plans to launch the PS5. In May 2018, Sony's head of PlayStation, John Kodera, said the new PlayStation was three years off. "We will use the next three years to prepare the next step," he said, "to crouch down so that we can jump higher in the future."

While Sony's plans are still largely unclear, Microsoft's are starting to come into focus. The company is set to have an E3 press conference this year, and head of Xbox Phil Spencer said it is going to go "as big at E3 as we've ever been." In 2018, Microsoft confirmed that a new Xbox was in development, and it is expected that we'll see this next-generation console at E3 2019. More immediately, it has been suggested that an all-digital Xbox One S will be announced soon. As the name indicates, this new console would not accept physical discs and designed around downloading and streaming.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ps5-first-details-specs-backwards-compatible-8k-ps/1100-6466281/

2019-04-16 17:43:00Z
52780269715879

HP Announces New Midmarket Business PCs and Workstations - Thurrott.com

HP today announced new mid-range EliteBook laptops, Z Book portable workstations, and a 32-inch business-class display.

“To achieve a culture of innovation, companies everywhere are focused on driving employee engagement and satisfaction, and the technology they deploy plays a significant role,” HP’s Andy Rhodes said in a prepared statement. “We are helping businesses build the office of the future by delivering superior technology experiences that empower and delight today’s workers, while providing IT departments next-generation endpoint security to confidently face the threats of tomorrow.”

HP’s new business PCs were announced as part of the firm’s annual EMEA Innovation Summit in Barcelona, Spain. They include:

HP EliteBook 830/840/850 G6. The 6th-generation EliteBook 800-series laptops come in three display sizes—13-, 14, and 15.6-inches—and delivers much of the quality and functionality from the more premium EliteBook 1000 series at lower price points. Each provides faster processors and brighter screens than before and enhanced connectivity, including gigabit-class 4G.

HP EliteBook x360 G6. The latest EliteBook x360 looks and works much like the 800-series but provides a convertible form factor with four functional usage modes and HP Smart Pen support.

HP ZBook 14u/15u G6 Mobile Workstation. HP’s new mobile workstations deliver high-performance Intel processors, 32 GB of RAM, 128 to 2 GB of fast SSD storage and come in a 14- or 15.6-inch UHD IPS display.

HP EliteDisplay E324q. This 31.5-inch QHD display offers three-sided micro-edges, a four-way ergonomic designed, and HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C inputs.

In addition to the hardware, HP also announced an AI-based malware defense solution called Sure Sense that expands on its already comprehensive suite of business-focused security software and services. Sure Sense will ship on the HP EliteBook 800 G6 series and ZBook 14u/15u, and will presumably be made available on other business-class HP PCs as well. It works well alongside existing anti-malware solutions, according to HP.

Each of these new offerings will ship between May and June, HP says.

Tagged with HP, HP EliteBook

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.thurrott.com/hardware/205115/hp-announces-new-midmarket-business-pcs-and-workstations

2019-04-16 16:01:41Z
52780270156707

PS5 confirmed to support 8K video, ray tracing, all on Navi - TweakTown

We are now finding out some official specs and details on Sony's next-gen PlayStation 5 console with PS5 architect Mark Cerny recently revealing some details in an interview with Wired.

 

 

Cerny says that an AMD chip is at the heart of the PS5, with Sony tapping a custom third-gen Ryzen CPU with he new 7nm Zen 2 CPU architecture, as well as a custom variant of AMD's upcoming Radeon Navi family of graphics cards.

 

But the big surprising thing here is that Sony is confirming that the PS5 with its Navi GPU will support ray tracing, but it goes beyond just better graphics according to Cerny. It's also good to see that my sources were indeed correct: Sony is working with AMD on the next-gen Navi GPU architecture for the PS5.

 

He told Wired: "If you wanted to run tests to see if the player can hear certain audio sources or if the enemies can hear the players' footsteps, ray tracing is useful for that. It's all the same thing as taking a ray through the environment".

 

Sony's new PlayStation 5 will also feature an AMD built custom audio solution for 3D audio that Cerny thinks will take audio to the next level. He explained: "As a gamer it's been a little bit of a frustration that audio did not change too much between PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. With the next console the dream is to show how dramatically different the audio experience can be when we apply significant amounts of hardware horsepower to it".

 

Cerny reiterates that the "gold standard" of audio is headphone audio, and that this new 3D audio solution on the PS5 will not require external hardware.

 

The PS5 will also feature a full SSD that will take game load times and larger games to the next level, with Cerny teasing the PS4 Pro version of Spider-Man taking around 15 seconds to load into the map. But on a next-gen PS5 devkit this is reduced to just 0.8 seconds. This really, really will be a huge deal for console users.

 

Sony isn't talking about the SSD solution it's using inside of the PS5 but Cerny did say: "The raw read speed is important, but so are the details of the I/O [input-output] mechanisms and the software stack that we put on top of them. I got a PlayStation 4 Pro and then I put in a SSD that cost as much as the PlayStation 4 Pro-it might be one-third faster".

 

We're probably looking at an NVMe M.2 SSD being placed inside, but WIred seems to think it could use the upcoming PCIe 4.0 standard which would really make the PS5 a home beacon for kick ass next-gen technology. 7nm CPU, 7nm GPU, 8K support, ray tracing, and new levels of storage performance... imagine the games that can be built with these specs as the new minimum.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.tweaktown.com/news/65581/ps5-confirmed-support-8k-video-ray-tracing-navi/index.html

2019-04-16 15:14:45Z
52780269715879

Sony Details Next-Generation PlayStation Console - News - Anime News Network

Sony Interactive Entertainment's Mark Cerny, PlayStation 4 lead system architect and game designer, spoke with Wired magazine about the "next-gen console" that will be the successor to the PS4. The unnamed console has been in development for four years, and Cerny is again serving as the lead system architect. Cerny stated that the console will not launch in 2019.

Cerny hinted that the new console will allow "for fundamental changes in what a game can be." Multiple studios have been working with the console, and Sony recently accelerated its release of development kits for the console.

The console will feature an AMD chip with a custom unit for 3D audio. The graphics processing unit (GPU) will be custom variant of Radeon's Navi family and support ray tracing. The next-generation console will also have a solid-state drive (SSD) to drastically decrease loading times.

Cerny declined to comment if there will be a next-generation PlayStation VR unit for the new console. However, he said that the current PS VR headset is compatible with the new console.

The console will be backward-compatible with PS4 games, as it is partly based on the PS4's architecture. When the new console launches, Cerny confirmed that many new games will get releases for both the PS4 and new system.

Sony revealed in October that the PS4 has sold more than 86.1 million units worldwide as of September. Sony president Kenichiro Yoshida told Financial Times in October that "it's necessary to have a next-generation hardware." Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO John (Tsuyoshi) Kodera revealed in May 2018 that the PS4 console was entering the "final phase of its life cycle."

The PlayStation 4 console first launched in the U.S. and Canada in November 2013 and in Japan in February 2014. Sony shipped 7.5 million units during fiscal year 2013, 14.8 million in fiscal year 2014, 17.7 million in fiscal year 2015, 20.0 million in fiscal year 2016, and 19 million in fiscal year 2017.

Sony released the PlayStation Classic, a console pre-loaded with 20 games from the original PlayStation console's catalog, on December 3 (commemorating the December 3, 1994 release date of the original PlayStation).

Sony Interactive Entertainment will not attend the Entertainment Software Association's 2019 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) event in June. Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios chairman Shawn Layden explained that E3, held in June, is too late in the year for a trade show where the company has Christmas holiday discussions with retailers.

Sources: Wired (Peter Rubin) via Gematsu, Siliconera

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2019-04-16/sony-details-next-generation-playstation-console/.145792

2019-04-16 16:24:00Z
52780269715879

Play Store tests simultaneous downloads, internal app sharing, more - Android Police

The Play Store is a breeding ground for Google's A/B tests. Every couple of days, the app shows different interfaces and options for some users, and it's tough to stay on top of them all. Recently, the Play Store started showing a dedicated Events tab for gaming, rolling out Pixel updates on Android Q, and we know it's working on a Material Design revamp. But there's much more in the works. In the past couple of days, app updates started behaving a little weirdly for some users, with the most important sign being the appearance of simultaneous downloads. We've also spotted a new Play Protect interface, the ability to browse TV shows by networks, and a mysterious internal app sharing toggle. Without further ado...

Simultaneous app downloads

Since time immemorial, the Play Store has downloaded apps in a row: one app starts, and when it's done, the next app begins downloading. Simultaneous downloads should have been a thing years ago, but they're only finally starting to show up.

If you have multiple apps waiting to update, tap to update all and watch what happens. The apps flip flop around as if they were drunk, and for some users, concurrent downloads are happening. You can see them in the screenshots above and the one on the left below. This means that if you're downloading or updating a huge game, for example, you won't need to wait for it to finish before your other apps get updated. It's quite nice.

Left: Simultaneous downloads. Right: When the downloads are done, they install one by one.

This is a server-side change, and we can't re-produce the simultaneous downloads, though the flip-flopping is happening for us too. It looks like Google is changing the algorithms there to introduce the feature, so we can only hope it'll spread to more users soon.

Internal app sharing

Last year, Google simplified app testing on the Play Store for developers by allowing them to have an open beta, closed alpha, and an internal test channel for a maximum of 100 users. The latter is meant to allow developers in large companies to test their apps among the team, or to have a super small loyal user group willing to try a rough draft of an app or update.

By default, anyone invited to an internal test channel and who approves it is able to install that app. So it's weird to see a toggle to allow this appear in the Play Store. The new setting is hidden but shows up after repeatedly tapping on the Play Store version in Settings. It works on most recent versions of the Play Store and for everyone, so this isn't reliant on a server-side change.

The toggle looks disabled by default, but as we said, it already works. Perhaps the big benefit once it is configured properly is that you could disable the installation of all internal test channel apps in one fell swoop.

Left: Internal app sharing toggle. Right: Explanation after toggling it on.

New Play Protect interface

When Play Protect showed up and later made its way to the Play Store, it had a simple one-page interface. We don't know when exactly a new interface rolled out, but it's different now, for everyone. The main Protect UI still has the recently scanned apps, but the settings to scan the device and improve harmful app detection have been moved to a different screen. I'm not sure why this had to be changed. The one-page layout was alright since there aren't too many settings.

Left: Play Protect first screen. Right: Separate settings.

Browse TV shows by networks

And finally, we have spotted one more change in the Play Store's Movies & TV section. Again, we're not exactly sure when this began showing up, but it's there for all of us. In the TV tab, there's a new filter bubble to display shows by Networks. That way you can see all series made by your favorite channels.

Left: Networks filter in Play Store's TV section. Right: Browsing series by network.

If you've seen any other odd Play Store changes, or if you can replicate the simultaneous downloads, let us know in the comments. And don't forget that you can always grab the latest Play Store version from APK Mirror.

• Thanks:
• Johny,
• Himanshu,
• Connor,
• Raghunath,
• James,
• Samarth,
• Nick

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/04/16/play-store-tests-simultaneous-downloads-internal-app-sharing-more/

2019-04-16 15:00:00Z
52780267517190