Computer Shopper - UK (2020-05)

ISSUE387|COMPUTER SHOPPER|MAY2020 15

HERE’STHERUBwith game-streaming
services: even if youhaveaservice that can
stream games to all manner of devices with no
lag, you needgames to stream in thefirst place.
Many publishers are keen to keepcontrol
over distribution of their
games. EA, forexample,has
its own online store and
game platform –akinto
Valve’s Steam –but also
offers asubscription service
on its Origin platform.
If it lets those gamesgotoastreaming
service, it needs to ensure it cutsasoliddeal
with the provider to compensatefor allowing
its games on another service it doesn’t control.
Game-streaming services are nothing new,
having popped up around adecade ago in the
form of the now dead OnLive.But as the
technology has improved, it’s onlyreally now
starting to look like aviable alternative to
runninggames locally.
And as game streaminghas yet to properly
establishitself,there’s no real standard setfor

SOWHAT?

Flipped off

Samsung’sGalaxyZFlip

phoneappearstohave

compromisedondurability

inorder to fit in afoldable

display, as gadget botherer

JerryRigEverything found

thatthescreenispronetoscratching

Macattacks

CyberthreatsaimedatMacshave

outpacedthosetargetedatWindows

PCs forthe first time,signalling that

Apple’s computers are not as secure

as theyoncemight have been

Windows woes

Microsoftwas forced to pull the latest

Windows 10 update–labelled

KB4532693 -asitwas found to be

deleting files on some PCs

Malwaremuseum

The National Portrait Gallery received

347,602 emails containing phishing,

scams and malware in 2019,with a

volume so large there’s achance the

malware could have affected thousands

of devices connected to its network

Maps

milestone

GoogleMapshad

its15thbirthday

inFebruary,

whichpre-dates

smartphones,butthe

mappingserviceisstillgoingstrong.

5Gwhizz

ResearchersatEricssonboastedthat

thecompanyhassmashedthemaximum

5G speed record, achieving download

rates of 4.3Gbit/s on the millimetre

wave spectrum

We’rejammin’

University of Chicagoresearchers have

built abracelet that uses ultrasonic

noise to quietly jam smart speakers and

other microphone-equipped devices

that could listen in on the wearer

Cyber punked

Nvidia has teamed up with game

developer CDProjekt Redtocreate

the limited edition GeForce Cyberpunk

2077 RTX2080 Ti graphics card, which

comes clad in astriking yellow livery

YOUMIGHTSHRUGat thenews that Apple’s
profits could be afew lessbillion this year than
last year,and alack of Model 3cars might also
leave you nonplussed, but according to
supply-chain analytics company TrendForce,
the coronavirus outbreak andits effect on the
technology industry could
see smartphone production
decline 12%, meaning if
you’re after thelatest
flagship phone you could find
yourselfout of luck.
If you’vebeen holding off
getting aPlayStation 4Pro or
XboxOne X, youmight find
stocks arelimited, as consolemanufacturing is
also said to have taken ahit. The laptop,smart
speakerand smartwatch segments of thetech
world are also set to see adecline,asChina is
one of the main areas of manufacture,even if
theyare designed in other partsofthe world.
Achipshortageover the past 18 months or
so has already seen the production of laptops

adversely affected, so closedfactories in China,

and thus aknock-on effect to supply chains,

could see companies run out of machines to

sell, or potentially delaythe release of their

next latest-and-greatest notebook.

Foryou, dear reader,all this addsuptoa

potential shortage in tech

and components that might

force you to reconsider a

new PC build or the

replacement of an aging

laptop or smartphone.

But Andrew Bartels,

vice-presidentatanalyst

house Forrester,believes

theimpact of coronavirus should be brief.

“Basedonthe experience of past natural

disasters andepidemics likeSARS, we think

any economic andtech market impacts will be

short-lived andlocalised,”hepredicts.

“For durable goods like computers and

communications equipment, demand will be

delayed but recover quickly.”

SOWHAT?

its business model. Thisisabit of achicken

and egg situation, but one that could either

speed the success of game-streaming services

or doom them.

Microsoft’sProject xCloudstreaming

service has an aceupits

sleeve in that Microsoft

alreadycontrols the Xbox

game ecosystem,

including Xbox Live anda

slew of developerhouses;

it also hasone of the

largest cloud platforms in the world.

But forothers, like GeForce Now,things

might not be so simple.IfActivisionBlizzard

games remain off the game-streaming

service,GeForce Nowcould loseaccess to

some of the most popular games in the

world, such as Overwatch.

While game streaming might have been

heralded as the potential death knellfor gaming

PCs and games consoles, things aren’t looking

so straightforward. As such, we’d not advise

binning your games machine of choicejust yet. F

S

p

c

i

th tth

We think any

economic and

tech marketimpacts

will be short-lived

and localised”

AndrewBartels,Forrester

Recognisingthe

misunderstanding,

weremovedthegames

fromourservice”

Nvidiastatement