Intel has announced the release of an updated version of its AI Playground application, now optimized for the new Intel Core Ultra 200V "Lunar Lake" series of processors. This latest iteration, version 1.21b, brings a host of new features and improvements designed to make AI more accessible to users of Intel's AI-enabled PCs. AI Playground, first launched earlier this year, offers a user-friendly interface for various AI functions, including image generation, enhancement, and natural language processing. The new version introduces several key enhancements. These include a fresh, exclusive theme for 200V series processor users, an expanded LLM picker now featuring Phi3, Qwen2, and Mistral models, and a conversation manager for saving and revisiting chat discussions. Additionally, users will find adjustable font sizes for improved readability and a simplified aspect ratio tool for image creation and enhancement.

One of the most significant aspects of AI Playground is its ability to run entirely locally on the user's machine. This approach ensures that all computations, prompts, and outputs remain on the device, addressing privacy concerns often associated with cloud-based AI services. The application is optimized to take advantage of the Xe Cores and XMX AI engines found in the Intel Core Ultra 200V series processors, allowing even lightweight devices to perform complex AI tasks efficiently. Intel has also improved the installation process, addressing potential conflicts and providing better error handling. The company encourages user engagement through its Intel Insiders Discord channel, helping the community around AI Playground's development and use. Although the models users can run locally are smaller in size, usually up to 7 billion parameters with 8/4-bit quants, having a centralized application to help run them locally is significant for slowly embedding AI in all aspects of personal computing.

SPARKLE is announcing SPARKLE Intel Arc A770/A750 ROC Series, comes with the very first white card of SPAKRLE, "Luna Edition", and a standard black card. As the new flagship series of SPARKLE, ROC stands for the enormous legendary bird of prey and represents the power and the precision, which is the brand-new BEST choice of the A770 / A750, provides high performance and myriad of productivity without anything getting in the way.

ROC series equipped dual 100 mm double-ball bearing fan with 2.5-slot heatsink design, reduce the length of card effetely and ready to fit into the compact system. Furthermore, 100 mm DBB fans have brought the higher efficiency of cooling, lead to an ultra-silence experience without compromising performance. A blue breathing light of Intel Arc on the side of the card is bringing classic and style to your gaming setup.

Soon, you'll be able to play your favorite games from GOG, like the Witcher series or Cyberpunk 2077, on multiple devices of your choice. We're teaming up with Amazon Luna cloud gaming service to give you even more ways of enjoying your titles, while still keeping our mission of DRM-free gaming. Let's dive into it and take a look at how it works!

What exactly is Amazon Luna?
It is a cloud gaming service developed and operated by Amazon. The service first launched in March 2022 in the United States, and then spread its reach to other countries last year, with availability in the USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. Luna works by streaming games from cloud servers and runs on Amazon's powerful cloud computing service Amazon Web Services (AWS). And what it means is that it allows its customers to enjoy gaming on the go, on the couch, or anywhere else you have an internet connection. No lengthy downloads or updates, no need for an expensive gaming PC, complicated setup, or heavy computer processing - just pure joy of running your games on a device of your choice in high-quality.

Today, alongside the Early Access launch of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown on Ubisoft+, Ubisoft is renaming its subscription plans. Ubisoft+ Multi-Access and PC Access will now become Ubisoft+ Premium, offering day-one new releases and early access where applicable, alongside premium editions, monthly rewards, and more. Ubisoft is also introducing a new offer: Ubisoft+ Classics on PC, a curated selection of popular back-catalog and live games. We sat down with Director of Subscription, Philippe Tremblay, to discuss the changes and reflect on the past four years of of Ubisoft+.

What are the core differences between Ubisoft+ Premium and Ubisoft+ Classics?
Philippe Tremblay: Premium means day one access to new releases and in some cases, like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, early access to upcoming new releases. This is on top of our extensive back catalog, where you'll have access to premium editions, DLC, and monthly rewards. All of this is offered on Xbox, PC, and Amazon Luna, and you'll only need to subscribe once to have access to these games across all these platforms. Players can subscribe to Ubisoft+ Premium for a monthly fee of $17.99.

During the Q3 2023 earnings call, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger was answering some questions from analysts regarding the company's future and its position on emerging competition. One of the most significant problems the company could face is the potential Arm-based chip development not coming from x86 vendors like Intel and AMD. Instead, there could be fierce competition in the near future with the recently announced Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite X, possible NVIDIA Arm-based PC processor, and in the future, even more Arm CPU providers that Intel would have to compete against in the client segment. During the call, Pat Gelsinger noted that "Arm and Windows client alternatives, generally, they've been relegated to pretty insignificant roles in the PC business. And we take all competition seriously. But I think history as our guide here, we don't see these potentially being all that significant overall. Our momentum is strong. We have a strong roadmap."

Additionally, the CEO noted: "When thinking about other alternative architectures like Arm, we also say, wow, what a great opportunity for our foundry business." If the adoption of Arm-based CPUs for Windows PCs becomes more present, Intel plans to compete with its next-generation x86 offerings like Meteor Lake, Arrow Lake, Lunar Lake, and even Panther Lake in the future. As stated, the CEO expects the competition to manufacture its chips at Intel's foundries so that Intel can provide a platform for these companies to serve the PC ecosystem.

Amazon is today expanding its Luna cloud gaming service into three new territories - Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom. This is the first sign of the online retail giant's goal to broaden the service beyond the initial launch base in the USA. The company is clearly excited to offer their cloud games library to a larger customer base: "Gamers in the U.S. have been enjoying Luna for the past year and we're thrilled to expand the service, giving more customers the opportunity to play high-quality, immersive games without expensive gaming hardware or lengthy downloads."

These new territories have been granted access to Luna's full package which now consists of Ubisoft+, Jackbox Games, and Luna+ subscription services. The Luna app can be launched on 'select devices', which means a wide range of modern bits of kit can run it: Fire TV, Fire Tablets, Windows PCs, Chromebooks, Macs, iPhones, iPads, Android phones and tablets. Amazon confirmed that its Official Luna Wireless Controller is also being made available to customers in Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom - which is an exclusive item to the Amazon Store. It should be noted that you can run other compatible control devices via Bluetooth, including a wireless keyboard and mouse, as well as the Xbox One and PlayStation DualShock 4 gamepads.

Today, Ubisoft announced that Lost Between Worlds, a new Far Cry 6 expansion, is now available for £17.99, or as part of the Upgrade Pass, on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, as well as Windows PC through the Ubisoft Store and the Epic Games Store. Players can also subscribe to Ubisoft+ on PC and Amazon Luna.

Developed by Ubisoft Toronto, Lost Between Worlds is a thrilling new chapter of Dani Rojas' story, set in a fractured version of Yara. Players will dive into a rich action-packed gauntlet with deadly crystal enemies, a wide variety of unique gameplay challenges with bewildering supernatural obstacles, and multiple player paths. Players will test their wit, prove their skill, and overcome death itself - or be lost forever.

Today, Lenovo unveiled the newest addition to its gaming portfolio that comes with a novel twist. Designed for a wide audience of gaming enthusiasts across varying skill levels, the 16-inch Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook is the company's first ever cloud gaming laptop. Delivering more power, faster speeds, and stunning visuals, this device also comes with new ChromeOS software features, including the ability to easily find and access the latest games while enjoying an elevated gaming experience.

Much like the rest of the tech industry, gaming has surged in popularity over the last few years with the number of online gamers increasing by more than 32%, currently making up over one-third of the more than 3 billion total gamers worldwide. The droves of people who flocked to gaming as an outlet during the pandemic have diversified the space, as well, with people of all ages taking up the hobby. The IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook is built for a broad spectrum of players across generations and skillsets, offering an enhanced yet simple gameplay experience, as well as the device features that support productivity - all at an accessible price point.

ASUS today announced ASUS Chromebook Vibe CX55 Flip, engineered with a striking aesthetic and powerful components for nonstop cloud gaming—with an immersive 144 Hz FHD display, accurate anti-ghosting keyboard and ultra-fast WiFi 6 technology. According to Gartner, "The rise of cloud gaming, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30% from 2019 to 2025, will motivate many gamers to offload hardware to the cloud and rely on CSPs to provide the infrastructure to deliver these games." When emergent cloud-gaming services are factored in, it is clear that a vast and significant market is just waiting to be tapped—and that's where ASUS Chromebook Vibe CX55 Flip makes its bold entrance.

The fresh, vibrant design features a dynamic, distinctive and daring look that's both stylish and durable, with exclusive color-blocked WASD keycaps to bring flair to online play. Coupled with access to leading cloud-gaming services, including NVIDIA GeForce NOW, Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) and Amazon Luna, ASUS Chromebook Vibe CX55 Flip is set to energize this underserved audience—ready for all-new gaming adventures. Powering all the entertainment is up to an 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, 16 GB of memory and immersive Harman Kardon audio.

Acer today debuts its first Chromebook optimized for Cloud gaming - the Acer Chromebook 516 GE. With it, customers can enjoy a top-tier gaming experience with instant access to full PC and console games powered by the cloud. The new Acer Chromebook 516 GE is powered by the latest technology and features that matter most to gamers - 12th Gen Intel Core processors, a fast 120 Hz display, an RGB keyboard with anti-ghosting technology, advanced DTS audio, and most importantly, support for leading cloud gaming platforms including the highest performance tier of NVIDIA's GeForce NOW, Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta), and Amazon Luna.

"The Acer Chromebook 516 GE sets the stage for a new era of Chromebooks with the focus squarely on gaming; it combines the ideal collection of gaming hardware, game-streaming support for NVIDIA GeForce NOW's top tier and easy access to popular game titles from the leading cloud gaming platforms," said James Lin, General Manager, Notebooks, IT Products Business, Acer Inc. "Chromebooks have secured their position as an indispensable tool for education, work, entertainment and personal productivity, so now it's time to have more fun."

The latest episode in the whole Terra/LUNA debacle - which saw $40 billion in crypto evaporating in a few hours - showcases that the crypto world doesn't operate within its own locked ecosystem. A court order for the arrest of Terra founder Do Kwon and five others was issued this Wednesday morning, on charges of violating the Capital Markets Act. LUNA fell 36% in the past 24 hours while LUNC (Luna Classic, representing the circulating LUNA tokens before the UST stablecoin's catastrophic depeg from the dollar value) dropped 25%, with much of the price movement coming after news of the warrant was made public on Wednesday morning.

The Terra/LUNA debacle brought about billions in losses across the cryptocurrency ecosystem, with multiple companies in the crypto finance area (from DeFi [Decentralized Finance] through CeFi [Centralized Finance] players such as Celsius Network, Voyager Digital and Three Arrows Capital claiming bankruptcy as their Terra/LUNA investments and reserves trended towards zero value. Accusations have been spread left and right that Terra/LUNA operated like a Ponzi Scheme - it remains to be seen whether that's the interpretation of the South Korea justice system.

Intel and AMD will be releasing new CPUs that support DDR5 DRAM solutions for PCs and servers this year. In response, the DRAM industry led by South Korean suppliers is developing solutions to complement the arrival of the new CPUs. In the midst of the gradual shift to DDR5, DRAM suppliers will also scale back the supply of DDR3 solutions, according to TrendForce's latest investigations. With Korean suppliers accelerating their withdrawal from DDR3 production, Taiwanese suppliers yet to kick off mass production using newly installed capacities, and Chinese suppliers falling short of their expected yield rate, the global supply of DDR3 solutions will undergo an impending decline. With respect to the demand side, however, not only has the supply of networking chips been ramping up, but material shortage issues are also gradually easing. As such, buyers are now procuring DDR3 solutions ahead of time, resulting in a tight supply and demand situation in the DDR3 market. TrendForce therefore expects DDR3 DRAM prices to recover from a bearish first quarter and undergo a 0-5% QoQ increase in 2Q22.

Amazon today announced its Luna cloud gaming service is now available for all customers in the mainland United States with an expanded library of games and new features. The new Prime Gaming Channel brings Amazon Prime customers a unique offer to try a rotating selection of free games on Luna, and all players can now access even more games by subscribing to the new Retro Channel and Jackbox Games Channel. New Luna features include Live Broadcasting to Twitch and the Luna Phone Controller, which is available in the Luna Controller app for iPhone and Android phones.

Amazon Luna is a cloud gaming service that lets you play games on devices you already own, including Fire TV, Fire tablets, Windows PCs, Chromebook, Macs, iPhones, iPads, and Android phones. Luna offers a variety of channels to choose from, bringing great content from multiple genres so there is always something interesting to play for all types of gamers. Luna is powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), making it easy to stream games without lengthy downloads or updates, expensive hardware, or complicated configurations.

Amazon announced its Luna game streaming service as a competitor to Google Stadia and Microsoft xCloud back in 2020. Amazon is now launching the service for Prime members with a free seven-day trial available from June 21st. This is the first time the service will be offered to those without an early access invite and will cost 5.99 USD per month after the trial has expired. The Luna game library includes titles from Capcom, 505 Games, and Team 17 with some highlights including Control, GRID, and Metro Exodus. Ubisoft games will also be offered however they are separate from the base library and cost 15 USD per month. Amazon is also offering the Luna controller for the first time with a limited 30% discount bringing the cost to 48.99 USD.