Elizabeth Holmes has her 11-year prison sentence cut by two years

Elizabeth Holmes may be getting out of prison around two years earlier than expected. According to her profile on the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, Holmes' release date is now scheduled for December 29th, 2032. That means the time she'll serve is almost two years shorter than her original sentence, which was supposed to last for 11 years and three months. The agency has confirmed her shortened (nine years and seven months) sentence to The Guardian but didn't comment further, citing the privacy and safety of inmates. 

Holmes was indicted on charges of fraud back in 2018, a few years after a series of reports from the Wall Street Journal exposed that Theranos' proprietary "fingerprick" blood-testing technology was faulty. The publication had also reported that the company was aware of its issues but sent inaccurate test results to patients anyway. In 2022, Holmes was found guilty of defrauding investors and was sentenced to 135 months in prison, as well as three years of supervised release. 

The former Theranos chief, who had been out on bail from the time she was indicted, tried to convince the court to allow her to stay out of prison while she was appealing her case. She failed in her bid to stay out of prison, though, and reported to a minimum-security, all-female facility in Texas on May 30th. It's unclear why her sentence was quietly reduced, but factors like good conduct, the completion of assignments and rehabilitation programs, as well as the credits inmates receive for various activities could result in a shorter sentence. Based on the prison bureau's website, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, who was Theranos' former president, will also be released two years earlier than expected in April 2034. 

As for Holmes, she was ordered to pay $452 million in restitution to the fraud victims in addition to serving time in prison and going through supervised release. As Gizmodo notes, Holmes had an estimated net worth of $4.5 billion before Theranos' downfall. Forbes had lowered her estimated net worth to nothing a year later, and her lawyers argued that she could not afford to add $250 per month to her restitution schedule after she gets out. 

Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City Has Its First Trailer

The Resident Evil movie series is getting a reboot, and the trailer for the first movie has been released. The name of the movie itself is Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, and boy does it look like a wild ride while having nausea.

On the positive side, the trailer suggests that the movie will be quite faithful to the games. There were a few direct callbacks to specific scenes, and the main characters are from the games, and not an original self-insert Mary Sue type character. So you’d think that we’re off to a good start.

But then things quickly go downhill at the same time as while they were starting to look good. For one, most of the characters are unrecogniseable. The only exception is Claire Redfield, or rather her red jacket. The character that’s supposed to be Leon looks like Carlos from Resident Evil 3 Remake instead. I get that it’s not practical to cast people who look like their role’s video game counterpart, but it’s still confusing when one character looks like another different one.

For what it’s worth, the trailer ends with a premiere date of 24 November. It could be worth a watch, even if your sole purpose of doing so is to have a tally of the number of things that the film faithfully recreates from the games, and where it takes liberties.

GOG Pulls Hitman – GOTY; Admits It Has DRM In Its Current Form

Late last month, GOG put up its version of Hitman – Game of the Year Edition. Being on GOG usually meant no DRM, but gamers soon found out that many of the game’s unlocks were tied to having an internet connection. After over two weeks, the CD Projekt storefront finally unreleased the game.

In a forum post, GOG community manager Gabriela Siemienkowicz, via the handle “chandra”, said that “we shouldn’t have released it in its current form, as you’ve pointed out”. The post also mentions talks with IO Interactive, the developers of Hitman – GOTY, presumably to properly work on a version of the game that didn’t need online connectivity to unlock new gear and starting locations.

To quickly recap, the Hitman reboot trilogy by IO Interactive required an internet connection to unlock new gear, costumes and starting equipment for every stage that you clear. This is the crux of the game’s massive replayability value. But all those unlocks, and by extension replay value, being tied to an internet connection is considered DRM, and it’s not difficult to see why.

The bit about dialogue with IO Interactive implies that GOG will one day rerelease a version of Hitman – GOTY that doesn’t need an internet connection for the unlocks. But it’s still up in the air as to when, or even if, that will happen.

Xiao-i, a leading cognitive intelligence enterprise in China, has asked a Shanghai Court to Stop Production of Apple's iPhone 13

At the height of Apple's iPhone 13 production, it's being reported by Hong Kong's SCMP that a Chinese artificial intelligence firm has asked a Shanghai court to stop the production and sale of Apple’s iPhone in the country over a long-standing patent dispute involving virtual assistant Siri.

Shanghai Zhizhen Intelligent Network Technology, also known as Xiao-i Robot, last Friday applied to the Shanghai Higher People’s Court for a preliminary injunction to ban the manufacture, sale and export of iPhones containing Siri that infringe on its patent, according to the Chinese company’s statement that was posted on its official WeChat account on Tuesday.

Xiao-i Robot chief executive Yuan Hui said in the statement that Apple did not respect its intellectual property. “Apple should immediately stop the infringement, take down and stop selling the related products,” Yuan said.

The statement came a few hours before Apple, with a market capitalization of US$2.59 trillion as of Wednesday, announced a “special event” in the US on September 14, when the company is expected to launch its latest iPhone 13 line and other devices.

Responding to a request for comment on Wednesday, an Apple spokeswoman referred to the company’s previous statement issued in August 2020, when it refuted the allegations in Xiao-i Robot’s patent infringement lawsuit that sought 10 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion) in damages.

The 2020 statement read: "Siri does not contain features included in their patent, which relates to games and instant messaging … Independent appraisers certified by the Supreme People’s Court have also concluded that Apple does not infringe Xiao-i Robot’s technology."

In June last year, China’s Supreme Court ruled that Xiao-i Robot’s patent was valid, after multiple legal battles with Apple since 2012. The Chinese company first applied for its patent, described as a chat robot system that can complete conversations in natural language, in 2004. It was granted that patent in 2009, before Apple first integrated Siri with its iPhone 4s model in 2011.

Updated PS5 Has A Smaller Heatsink According To Teardown

We’ve seen a new variant of the PS5, a first revision, if you will, go through SIRIM. In Australia, one of the markets that it is already available in, we can see that it also has a new screw, and weighs about 300g less. There is a new teardown video, which shows that the weight difference manifests in the form of a smaller heatsink.

Austin Evans on his YouTube channel got his hands on the new revision PS5 from Japan, which confirms the new, tool-free friendly screw for the stand. The wireless module is very slightly different, which also confirms that what was noted in the documentation we saw before this. But most significantly, the heat sink is significantly smaller. And it explains the 300g weight reduction.

The argument here is that the smaller heat sink leads to less effective cooling, especially over time once dust starts building up inside the PS5. That being said, the temperature test in Evans’ video only takes into account the exhaust temperature – rather than that of the components – of the two versions of the console. And it’s a difference of about three degrees Celsius, with the newer model being the warmer one.

Evans argues that the original PS5 model was “over-engineered”, and that the newer revision means a production cost reduction while not impacting performance. But that remains to be seen, especially with long term use and the actual internal components’ temperature.

Xiaomi Now Has Its Own Robotic Dog: Powered By NVIDIA and Intel

Some think of quadrupedal robots as a marvel of science and engineering but there are those who feel that they are the stuff of nightmares. Whatever you think of them, you most probably would be surprised to know Xiaomi has decided to come out with its own four-legged robot.

Revealed alongside the new Mix 4 phone, it is hard not to be reminded of the Boston Dynamics’ Spot when we saw Xiaomi CyberDog for the first time. Powered by NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX, the CyberDog also comes with servo motors developed by Xiaomi itself that are said to have a maximum torque of 32N⋅m and 220rpm maximum rotation speed.

Xiaomi also claimed that the CyberDog has a maximum walking speed of 3.2m/s and is able to perform complex actions such as backflips. The robot also carries a variety of sensors including touch sensors, a 13MP AI interactive camera, a 2MP ultra wide-angle camera, an ultrasonic sensor, six microphones, and a GPS sensor alongside Intel RealSense D450 Depth module, 8GB RAM, 16GB eMMC storage, and 128GB solid state drive.

All the hardware that Xiaomi has equipped into CyberDog allows it to have autonomous object tracking, obstacle avoidance, and navigation. Designed to carry a payload of up to 3kg, the robot is also able to follow its owner and can also be controlled via the accompanying remote control or smartphone app.

Running on Ubuntu 18.04 and Robot Operating System (ROS) 2, Xiaomi has also added three USB-C ports and one HDMI port to allow developers to craft their own add-on hardware or software for CyberDog. Comes standard with a 5.2Ah 112.3Whr battery, the 14kg quadrupedal robot has a battery life of around 1 hour.

In terms of pricing, Xiaomi is selling the CyberDog for RMB9,999 (~RM6,522) although only 1,000 units are being made available at launch.

PLAY Interactive Has A Game Development Fund For Malaysian Devs

Video games development can, and often does, get very expensive. Which is probably the reason why PLAY Interactive set up its PLAY Game Development Co-Investment Fund. As the name implies, it’s there to help local devs get the the financial help they need in making their games.

PLAY Interactive says that it has RM1 million being set aside for this fund. And each game dev applying for it can get up to RM100000 to help complete their game. Though it will have to complete the game within two years of receiving the grant.

Development window aside, there’s another caveat, and likely a bigger one, to this deal of accepting financial support. Once your game is done, PLAY Interactive will also hold worldwide publishing rights to the project. This effectively turns the company into a publisher. That being said, it’s likely not too bad a deal for indie devs, since they won’t need to worry about the whole publishing side of the game-making process.

For what it’s worth, PLAY Interactive isn’t picky as to what kind of games devs can make when applying for its game development fund. So even mobile game makers have the potential of getting a bit of extra cash infusion. The company is even willing to give out grants for port projects. If you’re a developer and wish to know more about the PLAY Game Development Co-Investment Fund, you can find out more by visiting its official website linked below.

Zoom Has Games You Can Play With Others In A Call

Conference calls are a daily reality for many who are now working from home. With Zoom being a commonly used software for that, it is now integrating a number of games that you can play with others in a call.

There are nine games in total for now, and they are all of the multiplayer kind. These range from LGN Poker, which should be self explanatory, to one called Heads Up! It’s been on iOS and Android for awhile, and is described as “charades with a twist”, and is apparently made by TV personality Ellen DeGeneres.

Zoom integrating games is quite the odd one. On one hand, it’s easy to imagine this being useful for those who sign into a call early. These games can then be used to kill time, and wait for the actual meeting to start, or while waiting for the late ones to show up. It can also be used for team building, if your boss is so inclined. But on the other, games by their very nature will usually drag on, derailing the meeting.

At any rate, the option to play games with others in a Zoom call is now available. Maybe you can just casually call up a bunch of friends to play them. But more than likely, if you have friends for that, you’ll probably be hitting up a proper multiplayer video game on Steam or something else.

An Actual Flying Car Has Successfully Completed Its First Inter-City Flight

The modern day perception of a “flying car” is different from what most of us have imagined while growing up. Most concepts or prototypes of such vehicles proposed by various companies would look like oversized yet pilotable drones, with some even sporting huge table fan-like propellers.

But not the Slovakian-made AirCar by Klein Vision, which literally is a car with wings that unfolds when used as an aircraft. Sure, it’s not in the same line as the DeLorean from Back To The Future II or a Spinner from the Blade Runner movies. However, it is fully functional and in fact, had just recently completed its inaugural inter-city flight between the Nitra and Bratislava airports in Slovakia – a world’s first for any modern day flying car.

Company founder and AirCar inventor, professor Stefan Klein, said that the hybrid vehicle has been in development for more than 30 years. He added that the model used for the journey has previously recorded 142 successful landings and over 40 hours of test flights.

Klein Vision’s flying car is a petrol-powered two-seater equipped with a 160HP BMW engine, which also features a fixed-propeller and comes with a ballistic parachute safety mechanism in case of emergencies. Klein says it is capable of reaching a cruising speed of 170km/h in the air (slightly below the 190km/h limit) and has flown at 8200 ft, as well as achieving steep 45-degree turns as part of its maneuverability testing.

But unlike the modern flying car concepts mentioned earlier, the AirCar lacks VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) capability, therefore requiring an actual runway for takeoff and landing. This drawback will surely definitely disappoint those hoping to skip traffic jams by taking off into the air.

The maiden flight saw the AirCar travelling more than 100km which took around 35 minutes from start to finish, with Klein himself behind the wheel. Upon its safe landing in Bratislava airport, as noted by various news outlets, the inventor clicked a button to fold in the wings into the vehicle’s back and simply drove it home.

Thanks to its successful journey, Kelin is confident that the AirCar is ready to exit the concept stage and enter pre-production. He added that a revised version, dubbed the AirCar Prototype 2, will feature a more powerful 300HP engine and is slated to receive the European Aviation Safety Agency’s CS-23 aircraft certification, as well as an M1 road permit.

Tag Heuer Has A Limited Edition Super Mario Smartwatch

Luxury watch maker Tag Heuer is no stranger to the world of smartwatches, even if its presence isn’t exactly prominent. Last year, the company announced its third generation Connected smartwatch. The company has since announced that it will be making a limited edition, Super Mario-themed one.

The Tag Heuer Connected Super Mario edition will have lots of special features, and it’s not limited to a unique theme. One example includes dials that become “livelier and more animated” the more you move. There’s also a “gamification rewards system”, with Mario reminding you of your steps progress with different animations.

And it’s not just in the software either. Tag Heuer will also give the Super Mario edition Connected smartwatch extra touches on the physical side of things. For one, the bezels now have the mushroom symbol at three o’clock, the pipe at six, and the star at nine, as well as red highlights. The crown gets the red M that represents the character too. It will also have two interchangeable bands. One has a layer of black leather on red rubber, the other is just a red rubber, perforated band.

But for now, the Tag Heuer Connected Super Mario edition comes with a US$2150 (~RM9010) price tag. Only 2000 of these will be made, and they will be available on 15 July. You can register your interest in it via its official website, linked below.

Seagate Has A Limited Edition Cyberpunk 2077 SSD

Cyberpunk 2077 launched over half a year ago. The game has also weathered most of the bad press it got due to its messy launch. But the idea of “better late than never” was probably what went through the minds of the people at Seagate. The company has unveiled its limited edition SSD themed around the CD Projekt game.

Beyond the bright neon yellow skin, what Seagate has unveiled is a FireCuda 520 SSD in an M.2 2280 form factor. With it comes all the other benefits of an SSD of this type, like read and write speeds of 5000MB/s and 4400MB/s respectively.

TechSpot reports that Seagate is naturally only making 2077 of the limited edition Cyberpunk 2077 SSD. And it only comes in 1TB storage capacity. The standard editions of the FireCuda 520 SSDs come in 500GB and 2TB variants as well.

Last month, OnePlus also announced its Watch with the CyberPunk 2077 theme in its home market of China. While in a sense it’s also considered to be a little late to the party, the phone maker was among the first to cash in on the game’s hype, with the OnePlus 8T phone.

But back to the Seagate SSD. Considering it’s a limited edition, you can expect it to be priced a little higher than the standard FireCuda 520 SSD. Add the recent scalping trend in tech, and it will probably be unobtainable at a reasonable price anyway.

TEAMGROUP has officially launched its first DDR5 memory kit

TEAMGROUP has officially launched its first DDR5 memory kit, the ELITE DDR5 U-DIMM series. The memory kit is ready for next-generation DRAM platforms which will support the new standard and offer increased capacities and transfer speeds versus DDR4 memory.
TEAMGROUP DDR5 ELITE Series Memory Launched, 32 GB Kit at 4800 MHz For $399.99 US

The TEAMGROUP DDR5 ELITE series is going to be the base variant in the company's DDR5 lineup moving forward. The kit is expected to be available worldwide by the end of June & the beginning of July (some regions).

XPG Shows Off Next-Gen DDR5 CASTER RGB Memory Modules, Up To 32 GB Capacities & 7400 MHz Speeds

The product page for the TEAMGROUP DDR5 ELITE series lists down 16 GB capacity per module, 4800 MHz transfer speeds, and twice the number of memory banks compared to DDR4. The DDR5 memory module will also operate at an ultra-low voltage of 1.1V. The DDR5 memory modules also feature on-die ECC support PMIC (Power Management IC) which increases efficiency. From the renders, it can be seen that the Elite series DDR5 memory is very basic, featuring a black PCB and no heatsink.

The memory module is applicable for Intel 600 series motherboards with DDR5 compatibility. TEAMGROUP's DDR5 will be available globally at the end of June and the initial product launch will be hitting the shelves at Amazon US, Newegg, Amazon Japan, and various major EC platforms in Europe. Gamers, get ready for the first taste of the next generation and embrace the glory of the new DDR5 era with TEAMGROUP.

TeamGroup's gaming division, T-Force, already confirmed that they are developing next-gen DDR5 memory modules with overclocking support.  According to T-Force, the company has shipped out the first memory samples to major motherboard partners such as Gigabyte, MSI, ASRock, & ASUS for validation on their upcoming products.

Some features of TeamGroup's Elite series memory include:

    Frequency : 4800
    Latency : CL40-40-40-77
    Capacity : 32GB(16Gx2)
    Data Transfer Bandwidth : 38,400 MB/s(PC5 38400)
    Voltage : 1.1V

T-Force also states that DDR5 memory has far greater room for voltage adjustment when it comes to overclocking support. This is primarily due to the upgraded power management ICs (PMIC) that allows for voltages over 2.6V. It is also detailed that existing DDR4 memory modules handled their voltage conversion through the motherboard but that changes with DDR5. The components that are required for the voltage conversion are now moved over to the memory DIMM itself, reducing voltage wear and noise generation while simultaneously offering increased room for overclocking. You can check out more detailed specifications of next-gen consumer memory over here.

As for pricing, the 32 GB kit which comprises two 16 GB DDR5 memory modules will be priced at $399.99 US. Prices for 4000 MHz (32 GB) kits are around $299-$399 US so it's pretty much in line with what you would expect of such speeds. The first mainstream platforms to make use of these memory kits are expected to launch in Q4 2021.

Corsair Gives A Taste Of DDR5 RAM Running At 6400MHz; Has Nearly Double The Bandwidth Than DDR4

As the DDR4 memory standard begins to enter its sundown years, many of us are patiently awaiting the arrival of the next-generation DDR5 standard. And while there have been reports about the upcoming memory modules being made by Chinese brands, it appears Corsair has beaten them to the punch by giving the world a glimpse of the memory’s performance.

According to Corsair’s official blog post, its DDR5 memory modules were tested while running at considerably higher frequencies of 6400MHz. In addition to the higher speeds, its module also had a maximum bandwidth output of 51GB/s. For comparison’s sake, that’s nearly double the bandwidth output of your average DDR4 memory module, running at 3200MHz.

In addition to achieving nearly double the bandwidth, Corsair says that its DDR5 can achieve that while consuming less power at 1.1V. Further, and unlike DDR4, it is possible for the future memory standard to ship out with as much as 128GB in a single stick, versus 32GB for DDR4.

As to when we can expect DDR5, the answer is more or less the same as before; while there is no definitive launch date, the word is that we could see the new memory standard launch at the end of this year, at its earliest. Moreover, rumours are also suggesting that it could make its appearance alongside Intel’s own 12th generation Alder Lake-S desktop CPU lineup, which is also expected to make its debut within the same timeline.

Corsair Gives A Taste Of DDR5 RAM Running At 6400MHz; Has Nearly Double The Bandwidth Than DDR4

As the DDR4 memory standard begins to enter its sundown years, many of us are patiently awaiting the arrival of the next-generation DDR5 standard. And while there have been reports about the upcoming memory modules being made by Chinese brands, it appears Corsair has beaten them to the punch by giving the world a glimpse of the memory’s performance.

According to Corsair’s official blog post, its DDR5 memory modules were tested while running at considerably higher frequencies of 6400MHz. In addition to the higher speeds, its module also had a maximum bandwidth output of 51GB/s. For comparison’s sake, that’s nearly double the bandwidth output of your average DDR4 memory module, running at 3200MHz.

In addition to achieving nearly double the bandwidth, Corsair says that its DDR5 can achieve that while consuming less power at 1.1V. Further, and unlike DDR4, it is possible for the future memory standard to ship out with as much as 128GB in a single stick, versus 32GB for DDR4.

As to when we can expect DDR5, the answer is more or less the same as before; while there is no definitive launch date, the word is that we could see the new memory standard launch at the end of this year, at its earliest. Moreover, rumours are also suggesting that it could make its appearance alongside Intel’s own 12th generation Alder Lake-S desktop CPU lineup, which is also expected to make its debut within the same timeline.

Microsoft Edge Has Built In Parental Controls With Kids Mode

The internet is both a treasure trove of and a cesspool, especially for kids. To make things easier for parents, Microsoft has added to its Edge browser what it calls Kids Mode. And it’s essentially a built-in parental controls mode for the browser.

Engaging Kids Mode on the Microsoft Edge browser is as simple as switching to its dedicated profile. Following that, you pick from two age ranges, five to eight or nine to 12. The former naturally features stricter controls by default. The higher age range adds a news feed to the browsing experience, curated from MSN for Kids. More serious topics like politics will still be filtered out, but you can expect to find articles on science left in.

Both come with the highest level of tracking prevention and strict Bing SafeSearch. There are also 70 websites in the whitelist, though you have the option to add more. If your child goes to a site that’s not allowed, Microsoft Edge will put up a block page that asks them to get permission from an adult.

To turn off Kids Mode, you’ll have to re-enter your Windows or macOS password to turn it off. On Windows, it goes a step further by disabling a number of Windows keyboard shortcuts. The Verge says that the feature will be out on the Microsoft Edge browser today, but at the time of writing we don’t have access to it yet.

Razer Now Has A Reusable Straw That Costs RM99

Gaming peripheral brand Razer has made some strange things before. These range from its own gaming chair to RGB clear masks. Now the company is taking things further with a reusable straw.

So what’s special about this Razer Reusable Straw? Well, it depends on if you really want to go into the details. So let’s do that. First is that the stainless steel straw uses a telescopic design. When collapsed, it measures 100mm in length, which extends to 230mm when fully extended. This allows for easy storage when not in use.

The Razer Reusable Straw also comes with a distinct neon green silicon tip. Primarily, it prevents the scalding of lips when you leave it in hot drinks for a long time. But of course it also adds to the visual appeal of the thing. There’s a carrying case to hold it and a cleaning brush.

It’s no doubt a fancy straw, much more so than most other reusable straws. But it remains to be seen if it suffers from the same problem of making all your drinks taste like metal. Razer making a reusable straw is another step in the company’s recent environmental push. But for something that costs RM99, you should be allowed to feel disappointed that it doesn’t come with the usual RGB lighting, as impractical as it will be on a straw.

Twitter Considering Special Rules For Politicians; Has A Public Survey Underway

The banning of Donald Trump from Twitter made it evident that its general rules don’t quite apply to politicians in the same way. The social media company says it has been reviewing its policies for politicians. And now, the company is reaching out to the general public for opinions.

In its blog post, Twitter says it wants to hear from its users “whether or not they believe world leaders should be subject to the same rules as others”. Also part of its public survey is if politician rule violators should face the same punishment.

Of course, Twitter will be consulting more than just the general public. The company says that it is currently “consulting human rights experts, civil society organisations and academics”.

But back to the public survey, it looks like Twitter will be taking input from the public for just short of a month. The company says it will be taking responses starting today, 19 March, all the way until 12 April. The questionnaire will be available in 14 languages, which are Arabic, Chinese, English, Farsi, French, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Urdu.

Ultimately, it’s not something that will impact most users directly. Though it may be something you want to take part in if you want to have a say as to what happens to (mostly) US politicians when they tweet.

Sony Has A Patent That Lets You Use Bananas As Controllers

Sony has a lot of patents for its PlayStations, and especially the controllers. But a new one granted to the company may be the wackiest one yet. To put it simply, it allows you to use “an inexpensive, simple and non-electronic device as a video game peripheral”.

The idea behind the patent is simple, wild as it is. You can basically turn any “non-luminous passive object” as a controller. The patent even comes with images of a banana being used in this manner.

For this to work, you’ll need something like a PlayStation Camera. This will be used to recognise the object that you’re using as a controller, and also track what you’re doing with it to serve as inputs. Naturally, there will be an input generator of sorts, allowing you to map buttons to parts of the object.

Other things being mentioned include the fact that you can use motion of your object to map inputs. And finally, there’s the option to use two objects as controllers.

Because this patent is so wild, you’d probably not want to hold your breath for this feature to actually be released. But if it does, then that’s your reason to hold two random objects in front of a TV, rather than a conventional controller.