The epic (ahem) battle between Epic Games and Apple is becoming increasingly nastier, as Apple has communicated to the game and game engine developers that it plans on terminating all of Epic developer accounts on its ecosystem (both on iOS or MacOS) by August 28th. If done, this would impede not only Epic from developing for these systems, but also would impact any and all companies that actually employ the Unreal Engine in their development process, be it final or merely as a toolbox. It's case to say that Apple has its finger firmly set on the big, red button.



This move from Apple comes in wake of the calculated feud initiated by Epic Games last week with both Google and Apple. What some may have failed to see is that the Epic Games move was a coordinated, well-thought-out one, in that the company knew - or thought they knew - the full ramifications of what they were setting in motion. Epic Games, with its newfound budget and clout, is looking to become a banner for developers, spearheading a charge that is looking to brunt the walled garden approach. In fact, the company is even looking to form a "coalition of Apple critics", and is looking for companies to join its bandwagon in fighting against the Apple walled-garden and middle-man approach to software distribution.
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ASUS Confirms A520 Support for AMD Zen 3 CPUs; X470, B450 Support in Doubt?
ASUS today has seemingly confirmed platform support of AMD's A520 chipset for the upcoming Zen 3-based CPUs. An official ASUS slide showcases the A 520 covering the latest Renoir-based CPUs (Ryzen 4000G, based on Zen 2), alongside upcoming Cezanne (Ryzen 5000G, based on Zen 3), and Vermeer (Ryzen 4000 or 5000 series, based on Zen 3 with actual series nomenclature being up in the air).



The good news end there, as the same ASUS slide may have just dropped a bomb on consumer expectations for their current platform support. Initially, the AMD B450 and X470 chipsets weren't going to support Zen 3-based CPU solutions; however, following considerable community backlash, AMD made the decision to offer support for these platforms via a vendor-specific BIOS update. This update might entail curbed support for older AMD Zen architectures, but would at least allow for an upgrade path for users interested in keeping their AM4, current-gen motherboards. ASUS doesn't seem to be offering such Zen 3 support for its X470 and B450 motherboards, though. We will have to see if this is an ASUS-specific decision or if something is indeed afoot in the world of AMD future proofing.

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(PR) SK hynix to Expand United States Market Presence with the Launch of the World's First 128-Layer NAND Consumer PCIe NVMe SSD
SK hynix Inc., a global semiconductor supplier based in Korea, announced today the release of its newest PCIe SSD: the SK hynix Gold P31. The latest edition is the world's first 128-layer NAND flash-based consumer SSD and the company's first consumer-facing PCIe SSD launched in the United States under the SK hynix brand.



The Gold P31 is intended for all PC users with a particular focus on gamers, designers, and content creators. The drive supports the PCIe NVMe interface based on 4D NAND flash technology and is now available for purchase in 1 TB and 500 GB capacities on Amazon U.S. The Gold P31 offers best-in-class read speeds of up to 3,500 MB/s and write speeds of up to 3,200 MB/s. The drive is a reliable choice for gamers whose PCs must support long hours of play, as well as professional creators and designers for whom performance and stability is essential. The Gold P31's reliability has been tested and validated through 1,000 hours of high-temperature operating life tests (HTOL) with mean time between failures (MTBF) reaching 1.5 million hours. The SSD also comes with a five-year warranty.
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(PR) BIOSTAR Announces A520MH V6.0 Micro-ATX Motherboard
BIOSTAR, a leading brand of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices, today proudly announces the all new A520MH V6.0 Micro-ATX motherboard built around AMD's A520 single chip architecture. Stylishly designed in the signature black colored PCB that will please many of their users the new A520MH V6.0 motherboard from BIOSTAR is made to be robust and durable, with form and functionality engineered to provide users with ultimate, performance and everlasting durability complemented by the latest and greatest AMD Ryzen processors in the market.



Perfect for business and casual use, the A520MH V6.0 motherboard comes with functionality designed to help the users excel at their daily tasks with features such as the ability to support up to 64 GB of DDR4 RAM across 2 DIMM lanes, with the capability to overclock it up to 3200+ boost clock speeds.
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NVIDIA Announces GTC 2020 Keynote to be Held on October 5-9
NVIDIA today announced that it will be hosting another GTC keynote for the coming month of October. To be held between October 5th and October 9th, the now announced keynote will bring updates to NVIDIA's products and technologies, as well as provide an opportunity for numerous computer science companies and individuals to take center stage on discussing new and upcoming technologies. More than 500 sessions will form the backbone of GTC, with seven separate programming streams running across North America, Europe, Israel, India, Taiwan, Japan and Korea - each with access to live demos, specialized content, local startups and sponsors.



This GTC keynote follows the May 2020 keynote where the world was presented to NVIDIA's Ampere-based GA100 accelerator. A gaming and consumer-oriented event is also taking place on September 1st, with expectations being set high for NVIDIA's next-generation of consumer graphics products. Although if recent rumors of a $2,000 RTX 3090 graphics card are anything to go by, not only expectations will be soaring by then.
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(PR) QNAP Officially Launches Hyper Data Protector, a License-free VMware and Hyper-V Backup Solution
QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading computing, networking and storage solution innovator, today officially released Hyper Data Protector, allowing users to back up unlimited VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V environments to a QNAP NAS. With no license requirements, Hyper Data Protector helps users create a cost-effective and reliable disaster recovery plan to ensure 24/7 service operations.



"Server downtime leads to more than just service interruptions and data loss, with some companies suffering a significant financial impact and potentially irreparable damage to their brand. By adopting QNAP's license-free Hyper Data Protector VM backup solution, users only need one QNAP NAS to securely backup their VM environments. Coupled with snapshots and other protective features of QNAP NAS, users can build a high-performance VM backup and recovery plan within a maintainable budget," said Wayne Hsiao, Product Manager of QNAP.
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