Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War requires 250GB on the PC

Activision has confirmed that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will require up to 250GB of storage space at launch on PC. This is for the gamers who will be running the game in 4K with ray-tracing enabled. For the standard non ray-tracing, the game will require 175GB for the offline story mode and 50GB only for the multiplayer mode.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will feature 4K visuals, uncapped frame rates, Ray Tracing Shadows, NVIDIA DLSS, and Reflex Technology.

It is possible that Black Ops Cold War could be a lot closer to its PC size on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, as the consoles will be able to harness the power of new ray-tracing enabled GPUs with resolution up to 4k.

Sony has said PlayStation 5 will offer players more flexibility on how they manage their storage on the console, enabling users able to configure installations and choose to install just a game’s multiplayer or delete the single-player campaign once completed.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will be released on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on November 13, 2020.

Minimum Specs:

OS: Windows 7 64-Bit (SP1) or Windows 10 64-Bit (v.1803 or higher) CPU: Intel Core i3-4340 or AMD FX-6300 RAM: 8GB RAM HDD (at launch): 50GB (MP only), 175GB (all game modes) GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 / GeForce GTX 1650 or Radeon HD 7950

Recommended Specs:

OS: Windows 10 64 Bit (latest update) CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K or AMD Ryzen R5 1600X processor RAM: 12GB RAM HDD (at launch): 175GB HD space GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 / GTX 1660 Super or Radeon R9 390 / AMD RX 580

Recommended Specs for Ray-Tracing:

OS: Windows 10 64 Bit (latest update) CPU: Intel i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen 1800X RAM: 16GB RAM HDD (at launch): 175GB HD space GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070

Recommended Specs for Competitive mode (to run at high fps with high refresh rate monitor):

OS: Windows 10 64 Bit (latest update) CPU: Intel i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen 1800X RAM: 16GB RAM HDD (at launch): 175GB HD space GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 / RTX 3070 or Radeon RX Vega64 Graphics

Ultra Specifications:

OS: Windows 10 64 Bit (latest Update) CPU: Intel i9-9900K or AMD Ryzen 3700X RAM: 16GB RAM HDD (at launch): 250GB HD space GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080  

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Oxygen OS Open Beta 9 is now live for OnePlus 7T and OnePlus 7T Pro users

If you are a OnePlus 7T or 7T Pro user and like testing out new features on your smartphone, then there is good news for you. The Oxygen OS Open Beta 9 is now live for OnePlus 7T and OnePlus 7T Pro users. So, what’s new in this Beta? It brings with it improved system stability and fixed general issues, updated Android Security Patch to 2020.10. The update also fixes the flashback issue when switched to the front camera in particular cases. 

On its official blog, OnePlus says, “Please keep in mind that this is beta software. These builds are sometimes not as stable as our official OTAs generally are. By installing this update, you accept the potential risks. For those who were on previous versions for OnePlus 7T and OnePlus 7T Pro, we appreciate your active feedback and for reaching out to us. With your help, we have been able to better optimize and improve several key areas. Thank you for your patience and as always, we look forward to getting your continued feedback via the Community app”.

As far as the official OTA updates are concerned, the OnePlus 7, 7 Pro and 7T received an OTA update in October 2020. The latest update doesn’t have new features as such, but updates the software to version 10.3.6 for users in India, fixing some bugs and retaining the previous September security patch. You can learn more about it here.

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To replace the iPhone 12 camera, you will have to visit an official Apple technician

The iPhones are quite expensive in India and if something goes wrong with the device outside of the warranty, one usually resorted to getting their devices fixed by third-party repair shops. It looks like this may be difficult for iPhone 12 users. iFixit has discovered that replacing the camera module of the iPhone 12 causes some issues. It's not just a simple error screen that one gets. However, it looks like the same problem does not affect the iPhone 12 Pro. 

As reported by GSMarena, “iFixit explains that Apple has changed its training manuals. Starting with the iPhone 12 series, changing the display and camera requires the use of the System Configuration tool, which will connect to Apple’s servers before reprogramming the new component to work properly.” 

During the era of the iPhone 5s, one could only fix the fingerprint sensor on the iPhone via an authorised Apple repair. This made sense as the fingerprint sensor is vital for security. You can check out the iPhone 12 camera swap test video below.

 

Speaking of the new iPhones, the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro are on sale in India, with the iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max going on sale later in November. The smartphones announced earlier in October can be purchased from the online Apple Store, and from authorised retailers across the country. Interestingly, the new iPhones are yet to be made available on both Flipkart and Amazon. You can learn more about the iPhone 12 devices here. 

If you are an iPhone user, then know that the Apple One subscription is now available in India. You can learn all the details here.

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Laxmii, IPL 2020 Final, and More on Disney+ Hotstar in November

Laxmmi Bomb / Laxmii, The Mandalorian season 2, IPL 2020 final, Lego Star Wars Holiday Special, The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, Marvel's 616, Inside Pixar, Grey's Anatomy season 17, His Dark... https://ift.tt/2JhRyfL

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Apple rejects an app designed to verify a person's ballot status in PA, says the app violates its guideline which forbids compiling user data without consent (Mikey Campbell/AppleInsider)

Mikey Campbell / AppleInsider:
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TikTok stars got a judge to block Trump’s TikTok ban

TikTok has won another battle in its fight against the Trump administration’s ban of its video-sharing app in the U.S. — or, more accurately in this case, the TikTok community won a battle. On Friday, a federal judge in Pennsylvania issued an injunction that blocked the restrictions that would have otherwise blocked TikTok from operating in the U.S. on November 12.

This particular lawsuit was not led by TikTok itself, but rather a group of TikTok creators who use the app to engage with their million-plus followers.

According to the court documents, plaintiff Douglas Marland has 2.7 million followers on the app; Alec Chambers has 1.8 million followers; and Cosette Rinab has 2.3 million followers. The creators argued — successfully as it turns out — that they would lose access to their followers in the event of a ban, as well as the “professional opportunities afforded by TikTok.” In other words, they’d lose their brand sponsorships — meaning, their income.

This is not the first time that the U.S. courts have sided with TikTok to block the Trump administration’s proposed ban over the Chinese-owned video sharing app. Last month, a D.C. judge blocked the ban that would have removed the app from being listed in U.S. app stores run by Apple and Google.

That ruling had not, however, stopped the November 12 ban that would have blocked companies from providing internet hosting services that would have allowed TikTok to continue to operate in the U.S.

The Trump administration had moved to block the TikTok app from operating in the U.S. due to its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, claiming it was a national security threat. The core argument from the judge in this ruling was the “Government’s own descriptions of the national security threat posed by the TikTok app are phrased in the hypothetical.”

That hypothetical risk was unable to be stated by the government, the judge argued, to be such a risk that it outweighed the public interest. The interest, in this case, was the more than 100 million users of TikTok and the creators like Marland, Chambers and Rinab that utilized it to spread “informational materials,” which allowed the judge to rule that the ban would shut down a platform for expressive activity.

“We are deeply moved by the outpouring of support from our creators, who have worked to protect their rights to expression, their careers, and to help small businesses, particularly during the pandemic,” said Vanessa Pappas, Interim Global Head of TikTok, in a statement. “We stand behind our community as they share their voices, and we are committed to continuing to provide a home for them to do so,” she added.

The TikTok community coming to the rescue on this one aspect of the overall TikTok picture just elevates this whole story. Though the company has been relatively quiet through this whole process, Pappas has thanked the community several times for its outpouring of support. Though there were some initial waves of “grief” on the app with creators frantically recommending people follow them on other platforms, that has morphed over time into more of a “let’s band together” vibe. This activity coalesced around a big swell in voting advocacy on the platform, where many creators are too young to actually participate but view voting messaging as their way to participate.

TikTok has remained active in the product department through the whole mess, shipping elections guides and trying to ban QAnon conspiracy spread, even as Pakistan banned and then un-banned the app.

Trump administration’s TikTok ban has been delayed

 

 

 

Cough-scrutinizing AI shows major promise as an early warning system for COVID-19

Asymptomatic spread of COVID-19 is a huge contributor to the pandemic, but of course if there are no symptoms, how can anyone tell they should isolate or get a test? MIT research has found that hidden in the sound of coughs is a pattern that subtly, but reliably, marks a person as likely to be in the early stages of infection. It could make for a much-needed early warning system for the virus.

The sound of one’s cough can be very revealing, as doctors have known for many years. AI models have been built to detect conditions like pneumonia, asthma and even neuromuscular diseases, all of which alter how a person coughs in different ways.

Before the pandemic, researcher Brian Subirana had shown that coughs may even help predict Alzheimer’s — mirroring results from IBM research published just a week ago. More recently, Subirana thought if the AI was capable of telling so much from so little, perhaps COVID-19 might be something it could suss out as well. In fact, he isn’t the first to think so.

NWU researchers develop a throat-worn wearable that could offer early warnings for COVID-19 patients

He and his team set up a site where people could contribute coughs, and ended up assembling “the largest research cough dataset that we know of.” Thousands of samples were used to train up the AI model, which they document in an open access IEEE journal.

The model seems to have detected subtle patterns in vocal strength, sentiment, lung and respiratory performance, and muscular degradation, to the point where it was able to identify 100% of coughs by asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers and 98.5% of symptomatic ones, with a specificity of 83% and 94% respectively, meaning it doesn’t have large numbers of false positives or negatives.

“We think this shows that the way you produce sound, changes when you have COVID, even if you’re asymptomatic,” said Subirana of the surprising finding. However, he cautioned that although the system was good at detecting non-healthy coughs, it should not be used as a diagnosis tool for people with symptoms but unsure of the underlying cause.

I asked Subirana for a bit more clarity on this point.

“The tool is detecting features that allow it to discriminate the subjects that have COVID from the ones that don’t,” he wrote in an email. “Previous research has shown you can pick up other conditions too. One could design a system that would discriminate between many conditions but our focus was on picking out COVID from the rest.”

For the statistics-minded out there, the incredibly high success rate may raise some red flags. Machine learning models are great at a lot of things, but 100% isn’t a number you see a lot, and when you do you start thinking of other ways it might have been produced by accident. No doubt the findings will need to be proven on other data sets and verified by other researchers, but it’s also possible that there’s simply a reliable tell in COVID-induced coughs that a computer listening system can hear quite easily.

The team is collaborating with several hospitals to build a more diverse data set, but is also working with a private company to put together an app to distribute the tool for wider use, if it can get FDA approval.

FluSense system tracks sickness trends by autonomously monitoring public spaces

Sources: Italy's biggest payments company Nexi is leading negotiations to buy its Nordic rival Nets in an all-stock deal worth around $10B (Reuters)

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Daimler's truck division invests an undisclosed sum in lidar startup Luminar, as part of a partnership that seeks to develop autonomous trucks (Kirsten Korosec/TechCrunch)

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Twitter lifts restrictions from the NY Post's Twitter account, updating its practice of "not retroactively overturning prior enforcement" (Robert McMillan/Wall Street Journal)

Robert McMillan / Wall Street Journal:
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Apple says it will replace AirPods Pros manufactured before October 2020 that have crackling sounds, static, and active noise cancellation issues (Kif Leswing/CNBC)

Kif Leswing / CNBC:
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US judge issues temporary injunction blocking Trump's TikTok ban in TikTok creators lawsuit, saying ban exceeds gov't authority, causes users "irreparable harm" (David Yaffe-Bellany/Bloomberg)

David Yaffe-Bellany / Bloomberg:
US judge issues temporary injunction blocking Trump's TikTok ban in TikTok creators lawsuit, saying ban exceeds gov't authority, causes users “irreparable harm”  —  - Pennsylvania jurist says U.S. probably exceeded its authority  — Administration calls Chinese apps a national security threat