With the unveiling of the Nintendo Switch 2 rumoured to be at hand, a new leak has popped up that might give us an idea of the horsepower under the hood of the new console. In a post on the Famiboards forums, user Zachy claims to have discovered the compute speed of the Nintendo Switch 2s hardware.According to Zachy, the Switchs GPU will be able to hit a clock speed of 561 MHz, which would roughly translate to around 1.71 TFLOPS (a measurement of how many floating point operations hardware can complete in a second). This is for when the Switch 2 is used in handheld mode. Docked mode, on the other hand, will offer a considerable power boost, doubling the clock speed up to 1000 MHz, coming in at around 3.1 TFLOPS.For context, the Nintendo Switch 2 is rumoured to be running on an Nvidia Tegra 239 SoC, which is considerably less powerful than the last few generations of desktop processors and GPUs. On the other hand, the hardware is still a considerable upgrade over the original Switch. While these numbers do give us a useful look at the potential power behind the hardware, it is worth noting that real-world use cases for the power tends to be different.Going by the relatively lower power of the hardware in the upcoming Switch 2, it looks like the previously-rumoured image upscaling in the console will see quite a bit of use when it is launched. These previous leaks have indicated that the Switch 2 will be equipped with a neural net for AI-based image upscaling, which will allow lower-resolution visuals to be rendered at 1080p or even 4K without losing too much in fidelity or clarity.The Switch 2 reveal rumoured to take place later today is slated to be a showcase of the new consoles hardware, with no games being present during the presentation. Rumours of the presentation happening today came about thanks to reliable industry insider Nate the Hate on a podcast hosted last week.Among the rumours about the Nintendo Switch 2 that have been making the rounds for quite some time is a picture of the new consoles dock, which indicates that, owing to higher voltage requirements, the new console will be incompatible with the original Switchs charger. The console will also seemingly have a new mounting mechanism for its JoyCon controllers, complete with a new trigger-styled button to slide the JoyCons off.Weve also gotten a look at what the logo for the Switch 2 will look like, being quite similar to the original Switch logo, with the addition of a giant 2 to signify that it is definitely new console hardware.On the software front, while Nintendo has been quiet about the console in that regard as well, rumours have indicated that heavy hitters like the upcoming Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater will be making their way to the Switch 2. Ubisoft is also rumoured to be working on bringing a host of its games to the new console.

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Zibra AI has released a new free edition of ZibraVDB for Unreal Engine.The plugin makes it possible to import, play back and render data in .zibravdb format inside the game engine, and comes with four free smoke and fire effects.A new AI-based technology for compressing and playing back volumetric effectsLaunched commercially last year, ZibraVDB is a new AI-based technology for compressing volumetric data in OpenVDB format.It enables users to compress VDB files, like effects created in software like Houdini or EmberGen, then decompress and render them at runtime inside Unreal Engine.That enables users both game developers and VFX and virtual production studios to render much more complex effects than would previously have been possible in real time.According to Zibra AI, ZibraVDB can compress VDB files up to 100x, and render them twice as fast as Unreals native SVT system, introduced in Unreal Engine 5.3.New free Unreal Engine plugin comes with four free stock explosion and tornado effectsThe new free Unreal Engine plugin doesnt include the compression system itself, but it does make it possible to test the quality of the results it generates.To do that, you can download four free smoke and fire effects three explosions and a fire tornado compressed into .zibravdb format, and use it to import them into UE5 for rendering.There are no license restrictions on the assets, so once youve tested them, you can also use them as stock assets for future projects.Price and system requirementsThe free edition of ZibraVDB for Unreal Engine is compatible with Unreal Engine 5.3+. It is available via Epic Games Fab online marketplace under Fabs Standard license, which permits use in commercial projects.The full commercial version of ZibraVDB is available subscription-only, with individual subscriptions priced at $29/month or $299/year, and studio subscriptions priced on enquiry.Download the free edition of ZibraVDB for Unreal EngineDownload four free stock smoke and fire effects for use with the free edition(Requires registering your contact details on the Zibra AI website)Read more about ZibraVDB on Zibra AIs websiteHave your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we dont post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.

Botika, a started focused on AI-generated fashion models, has raised $8 million and launched its new mobile iOS app.Read More

Soul Assembly cuts 15% of workforce"This step was necessary to position the company for future success during a challenging time for the gaming industry," says CEO David SolariImage credit: Ubisoft/Soul Assembly News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on Jan. 16, 2025 Just Dance VR developer Soul Assembly has laid off 15% of its staff.As reported by UploadVR, employees across its QA, marketing, and animation departments have been affected."This decision was taken to ensure the studio is aligned with the requirements of our upcoming projects," said Soul Assembly CEO David Solari. "We are providing support to the affected team members as they transition to new opportunities and thank them for their contributions."This step was necessary to position the company for future success during a challenging time for the gaming industry."Employees affected have been sharing the news on LinkedIn, including 3D artist Kristina Jonaityte, QA technician Simon Kent, QA team lead Jamie Keys, and senior character artist Jonathan Pearmain."It seems I've once again been caught in the ups and downs of the industry," wrote Pearmin. "I've been made redundant, effective from the end of this week."Based in Leamington Spa, Soul Assembly was formed in 2022 after being spun out of Pixel Toys. As of 2023, the studio has over 70 employees.It has developed titles including Drop Dead: The Cabin, Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister, and Last Stand.

VR studio Soul Assembly has laid off 15 percent of its workforce.Studio CEO David Solari confirmed the news in a statement to UploadVR. "We can confirm a reduction in our team by 15 percent. This decision was taken to ensure the studio is aligned with the requirements of our upcoming projects," he wrote."We are providing support to the affected team members as they transition to new opportunities and thank them for their contributions. This step was necessary to position the company for future success during a challenging time for the gaming industry.Soul Assembly recently partnered with Ubisoft to work on Just Dance VR and has released a litany of other VR titles including Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister and Drop Dead: The Cabin.Last year, it launched spatial puzzler Soul Spire exclusively for Apple Vision Pro.The layoffs at Soul Assembly come months after UK-based VR studio nDreams announced it would be cutting up to 17.5 percent of roles to renew its "strategic focus."Analysts believe the consumer VR industry has entered a "challenging period." Consumer VR market researched published by Omdia in December 2024 indicated that headset sales had declined by 10 percent year-over-year to 6.9 million units.Omdia senior principle analyst George Jijiashvili said the market is expected to decline further in 2025."The consumer VR market continues to face significant challenges, with several indicators highlighting a lack of momentum and adoption," wrote Jijiashvili on Game Developer last year."The highly anticipated Apple Vision Pro debut has failed to deliver the resurgence the industry hoped for, with limited developer enthusiasm and fading momentum ten months post-launch. Meanwhile, Metas recent entry-level Quest 3S has yet to spark a notable sales boost."Omdia and Game Developer are sibling companies under InformaTechTarget.

Realme just launched its 14 Pro phones in India, and they come with a party trick: the phones can change color in the cold. Thats in addition to a triple camera flash and a triple IP rating that should protect the phone from extreme water conditions.Both the Realme 14 Pro and 14 Pro Plus share the color-sensitive tech, though its limited to the pearl white versions, with purple and gray models stuck on one lousy color. Co-designed with Danish studio Valeur Designers, the pearlescent phones include thermochromic pigments that start out as white, but pick up blue hues when the temperature drops below 16 degrees Celsius (about 61 degrees Fahrenheit), reversing as it warms up again. Image: RealmeRealme says that the colder the temperature, the faster the phone will change. Its even possible to create short-lived patterns by only cooling specific spots, which Indian YouTubers are already enjoying putting to the test. It does come with one meaty caveat in the small print though: The cold-sensitive color-changing function will gradually lose effect due to daily use and is not a quality issue. How long it will last remains to be seen, but even Realmes own website only promises the effect during initial use.The color-changing design isnt the only oddity to the 14 Pro series. The rear cameras include three separate flash modules, a design which Realme says automatically restores natural skin tones in low-light conditions. On the 14 Pro Plus those flashes sit in between three camera lenses, though the 14 Pro pulls a bit of a fast one, including two rear cameras and a third circle that only looks like a lens, but is in fact empty.The Realme 14 Pro looks like it has three rear cameras, but looks can be deceiving. Image: RealmeThis is also the latest phone to feature an IP69 rating for protection against dust and jets of water at high temperatures and pressure, joining the OnePlus 13, Moto G Power, and Honor Magic 7 Pro in adopting the stringent standard, which until recently was limited to the bulkiest rugged phones. The 14 Pro is also rated IP68 for submersion in water and IP66, which also applies to jets of water but for higher water volume at lower pressures and longer distances.Otherwise, the two Realme phones are typical midrangers. They both feature 50 megapixel main cameras and middle-of-the-line chipsets, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 in the Pro Plus model and a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 in the Pro. The large 6,000mAh batteries and 80W charging speeds are still impressive, though. Both phones are out in India now, and start at 22,999 (about $265).

Video understanding has long presented unique challenges for AI researchers. Unlike static images, videos involve intricate temporal dynamics and spatial-temporal reasoning, making it difficult for models to generate meaningful descriptions or answer context-specific questions. Issues like hallucination, where models fabricate details, further compromise the reliability of existing systems. Despite advancements with models such as GPT-4o and Gemini-1.5-Pro, achieving human-level video comprehension remains a complex task. Accurate event perception and sequence understanding, coupled with reducing hallucination, are crucial hurdles to overcome.ByteDance researchers have introduced Tarsier2, a large vision-language model (LVLM) with 7 billion parameters, designed to address the core challenges of video understanding. Tarsier2 excels in generating detailed video descriptions, surpassing models like GPT-4o and Gemini-1.5-Pro. Beyond video descriptions, it demonstrates strong performance in tasks such as question-answering, grounding, and embodied intelligence. With an expanded pre-training dataset of 40 million video-text pairs, fine-grained temporal alignment, and Direct Preference Optimization (DPO) during training, Tarsier2 achieves noteworthy improvements. For example, on the DREAM-1K dataset, it outperforms GPT-4o by 2.8% and Gemini-1.5-Pro by 5.8% in F1 scores.Technical Innovations and BenefitsTarsier2 integrates several technical advancements to enhance performance. The models architecture includes a vision encoder, vision adaptor, and a large language model, combined in a three-stage training process:Pre-training: A dataset of 40 million video-text pairs, enriched with commentary videos that capture both low-level actions and high-level plot details, provides a solid foundation for learning.Supervised Fine-Tuning (SFT): Fine-grained temporal alignment during this stage ensures the model accurately associates events with corresponding video frames, reducing hallucination and improving precision.Direct Preference Optimization (DPO): This phase employs automatically generated preference data to refine the models decision-making and minimize hallucinations.These advancements not only improve the generation of detailed video descriptions but also enhance the models overall versatility across video-centric tasks.Results and InsightsTarsier2 achieves impressive results across multiple benchmarks. Human evaluations reveal an 8.6% performance advantage over GPT-4o and a 24.9% improvement over Gemini-1.5-Pro. On the DREAM-1K benchmark, it becomes the first model to exceed a 40% overall recall score, highlighting its ability to detect and describe dynamic actions comprehensively. Furthermore, it sets new performance records on 15 public benchmarks, including tasks like video question-answering and temporal reasoning. In the E.T. Bench-Grounding test, Tarsier2 achieves the highest mean F1 score of 35.5%, underlining its capabilities in temporal understanding. Ablation studies further underscore the critical role of the expanded pre-training dataset and DPO phase in enhancing performance metrics like F1 scores and accuracy.ConclusionTarsier2 marks a significant step forward in video understanding by addressing key challenges such as temporal alignment, hallucination reduction, and data scarcity. ByteDance researchers have delivered a model that not only outperforms leading alternatives in key metrics but also provides a scalable framework for future advancements. As video content continues to dominate digital media, models like Tarsier2 hold immense potential for applications ranging from content creation to intelligent surveillance.Check out the Paper. All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also,dont forget to follow us onTwitter and join ourTelegram Channel andLinkedIn Group. Dont Forget to join our65k+ ML SubReddit.(Promoted) Aswin Ak+ postsAswin AK is a consulting intern at MarkTechPost. He is pursuing his Dual Degree at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. He is passionate about data science and machine learning, bringing a strong academic background and hands-on experience in solving real-life cross-domain challenges. Meet 'Height':The only autonomous project management tool (Sponsored)

Video game piracy has entered a new era as Japanese police have arrested, for the first time, someone accused of modifying Nintendo Switch hardware.As reported by NTV News and translated by Automaton, a 58-year-old Japanese man was arrested on January 15 on suspicion of violating the Trademark Act. He is suspected of modifying Switch consoles to run pirated games before selling them.This was allegedly done by welding modified parts to the circuit boards of second-hand consoles that allowed them to run pirated games. The man is accused of loading the hardware with 27 illegally accessed games and selling the consoles for 28,000 (around $180) each.He has admitted to the charges and is currently being investigated for other possible violations, according to police.Video game companies like Nintendo have long battled with piracy. A takedown request in May 2024, for example, saw Nintendo target 8,500 copies of Switch emulator Yuzu after the emulator itself was taken down two months prior. Its initial lawsuit against creator Tropic Haze said the $70 game The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo's premiere video game release of 2023, had been pirated one million times before it was even released.Legal action like this is becoming more and more common in an attempt to thwart piracy, however. Other successful lawsuits include those against game file sharing website RomUniverse, which was ordered to pay $2.1 million in damages to Nintendo in 2021, while a similar case saw it receive more than $12 million in damages in 2018. It also blocked GameCube and Wii emulator Dolphin from releasing on PC game platform Steam.This week, a patent lawyer representing Nintendo lifted the lid on the companys approach to piracy and emulation, discussing how the propagation of emulators could lead to software piracy. Nintendo's Assistant Manager of the Intellectual Property Division, Koji Nishiura, said: To begin with, are emulators illegal or not? This is a point often debated. While you cant immediately claim that an emulator is illegal in itself, it can become illegal depending on how its used.Image Credit: NintendoRyan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

The latest Apple store opens on Saturday, and the company has shown off a few photos ahead of time. It has the same curved frontage weve seen in a couple of earlier mall stores.Apple has previously aimed for a relatively seamless transition between the exterior and interior of these stores, and the latest example in Hefei, China, continues this trend Third mall store with curved, seamless frontageWe first saw this design in India back in 2023 (below), with Apple describing it at the time as a unique feature.Apple Saket welcomes customers through a uniquely designed curved storefront with white oak tables displaying Apples products and accessories, as well as a feature wall manufactured in India.You can see the gently curved frontage here, on the opening day with both CEO Tim Cook and retail head Deirdre OBrien in attendance:The uniqueness didnt last long, with the same design seen at a second mall store in Shenzhen, China, just a week later.The latest iteration (top photo) has been shown off by Apple in preview photos of Apple MixC Hefei, in Chinas Anhui province. In this example, there are no pillars obstructing the exterior, so it feels like an even more subtle transition from outside to inside.As is now usual, locally sourced materials have been incorporated.Located near Swan Lake and in a prominent business and financial district, Apple MixC Hefei features a wide, curved glass storefront, seamlessly blending the inside and outside, and inviting customers into the store. The new store features sustainably and locally sourced materials, reflecting Apples commitment to design excellence and the environment.Given the proximity of the opening to the lunar new year, Apple is marking the occasion in several ways.In celebration of the upcoming Chinese New Year, customers can purchase a pair of special-edition AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation that have been engraved for the Year of the Snake. They can also sign up for a special Chinese New Year workshop that teaches fresh ways to capture and relive memories using iPhone 16 and Apple Vision Pro, Apples first spatial computer which transforms the way people work, collaborate, and connect. Customers at Apple MixC Hefei can also enjoy festive window decals and decorative elements inside the new store that create a celebratory atmosphere.The store opens at 10am on Saturday, January 18.Photos: AppleAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Businesses everywhere face pressures to enhance their security postures as cyberattacks across sectors rise. Even so, many organizations have been hesitant to invest in cybersecurity for a variety of reasons such as budget constraints and operational issues. The EUs new Network and Information Security Directive (NIS2) confronts this hesitancy head on by making it mandatory for companies in Europe and those doing business with Europe to invest in cybersecurity and prioritize it regardless of budgets and team structures.What Is NIS2?The first NIS Directive was implemented in 2016, which was the EUs endeavor to unify cybersecurity strategies across member states. In 2023, the commission introduced the NIS2 Directive, a set of revisions to the original NIS. Each member state was required to implement the NIS2 recommendations into their own national legal systems by October 17, 2024.The original NIS focused on improving cybersecurity for several sectors, such as banking and finance, energy and healthcare. NIS2 expands that scope to other entities, including digital services, such as domain name system (DNS) service providers, top-level domain (TLD) name registries, social networking platforms and data centers, along with manufacturing of critical products, such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices and chemicals; postal and courier services; and wastewater and waste management.Related:Organizations in these industries are now required to implement more robust cyber risk management practices like incident reporting, risk analysis and auditing, resilience/business continuity and supply chain security. For example, member states must ensure TLD name registries and domain registration services collect accurate and complete registration data in a dedicated database. The new regulations also strengthen supervision and enforcement mechanisms, requiring national authorities to monitor compliance, investigate incidents and impose penalties for non-compliance.The goal of these new measures is to ensure the stability of societys infrastructure in the face of cyber threats. Entities in the EU will benefit from adopting these security measures over the long run, better preventing a devastating cyberattack. In doing so, they will also avoid the NIS2 penalties, which are significantly more punitive and clearly defined than those created under the original directive.Impact on OrganizationsMuch like how the European Unions General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) reset the standard for privacy globally, NIS2 sets clear requirements for businesses to establish stronger security defenses, but not without a cost. Failing to comply can lead to severe financial penalties and legal implications.Related:The official launch of NIS2 in October was met with mixed reactions. While some organizations could testify, they had been preparing all along, many others had left NIS2 on the backburner. In addition, as a result of the new sectors covered by NIS2, there were businesses that did not initially believe they would be impacted and therefore had not laid their own groundwork.All this said, it will be interesting to see how penalty enforcement plays out in 2025. If organizations dont demonstrate compliance early in the new year, or at least show progress toward becoming compliant, I predict we will start to see consequences, though it may be too soon to tell which sectors will face them first.To those still grappling with NIS2 implementation, it may understandably seem like a daunting task, but it does not have to be. Here are three actions organizations can take today to ensure a more seamless NIS2 implementation:1. Evaluate your business partners. NIS2 is not just about strengthening one business security; It also demands businesses thoroughly evaluate every entity they engage with in their supply chain. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and the same can be said for businesses and their partners security postures. It is essential for organizations to audit their partners to ensure every entity they do business with meets NIS2 requirements. Evaluating any security gaps now can help to avoid overlooked issues down the road.Related:2. Consolidate your domains. We have heard anecdotally that some businesses are not fully aware of their domain registrars or who is responsible for managing and securing the domains within their organization. This lapse in knowledge creates more than siloed work environments; it can cause major repercussions when it comes to secure domain management and NIS2 compliance. Taking a more consistent, consolidated approach to managing and securing domains helps strengthen an organizations overall domain security and checks one more task off the teams compliance checklist.3. Stay security-minded, organization-wide. With new NIS2 requirements, businesses must report cybersecurity incidents within 24 hours. This demand requires an organization-wide culture shift to a more security-minded approach to the way they do business. For example, businesses may need to evaluate what cybersecurity protocols they have in place to secure the way they interact with their customers and their supply chain. Without security being top-of-mind, businesses may miss NIS2 requirements that could lead to revenue loss, loss of customers and even dents in their reputation. This shift doesnt happen overnight but working with partners that are security-minded helps organizations stay a step ahead in their security.As cybercriminals become more elusive in targeting reputable organizations, and as global geopolitical tensions leave many companies in the crossfires of nation-state attacks, adhering to NIS2 standards becomes all the more critical. These three strategies are guiding principles for organizations to contribute to a safer, more secure enterprise environment in Europe and around the world.