Capcom might as well remove Denuvo from Biohazard now. Resident Evil 7 adopted the latest and greatest version of the anti-piracy “solution,” but it was owned in just a couple of days. How will the Denuvo guys downplay this one? The last time they were in the news, they claimed their software still “did its job” because it wasn’t cracked until later—but I don’t see how that excuse will fly here.



Denuvo seemed like the perfect tool for developers to protect their games. And to be honest, Denuvo actually worked as the first games that were powered by it remained uncracked for several months. However, things have changed. The latest version of Denuvo that was used in Resident Evil 7 has been cracked in less than five days. This basically means that all Denuvo games may be cracked (in the coming months), and that future games protected by it may be cracked in a matter of days. This is big blow to all publishers who invested in this anti-tamper tech. On the other hand, this will please a number of PC gamers who boycotted games that were protected by Denuvo.

Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – Resident Evil 7: Denuvo Anti-Tamper Tech Cracked In Less Than Five Days

It sounds like anyone who actually wants Office 365 already has it. While Nadella mentioned subscribers are still rising, the subscription version of Office hasn’t been seeing the same rate of increase as it did in previous years. Speaking as someone who has a subscription, I like the idea of making smaller monthly payments and getting the newest version and latest updates the second they hit—even though the math may not be working in my favor.



Four years after the introduction of Office 365 for consumers, Microsoft last week said subscriptions to the productivity software had reached nearly 25 million. Subscribers, however, were harder to find last year than in 2015, according to the numbers Microsoft reported: Additions to Office 365’s rolls were down 62% in 2016 compared to the year before. During an earnings call with Wall Street analysts last week, CEO Satya Nadella touted revenue increases for the Office products aimed at consumers — which include Office 365 — and of the latter said that the company had, “continued to see an increase in … subscriber base.”

Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – Consumer Office 365 Subscriptions Plunged 62% In 2016

There seems to be a lot of commotion whenever a company reveals that their latest smartphone is waterproof—am I the only one who doesn’t get their phone wet? From an engineering standpoint, it’s impressive, but how many of you guys are regularly dropping your phones in swimming pools or operating them around water?



Kyocera announced the Rafre, its second take on a soap-proof, washable handset. The first DIGNO Rafre washable smartphone was launched back in December 2015 with mid-range specs. The second one doesn’t stand out through specs either, but it’s its other unusual features that makes this smartphone unique. According to Kyocera, the Rafre is washable with foaming soap and can be used even when it’s wet (touchscreen included). It’s also resistant to hot water, so it doesn’t matter if you drop it when your bathtub. Oddly enough, the phone pre-loaded with a cooking app that can be operated with hand gestures, so you don’t have to touch the display while actually cooking.

Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – Kyocera Launches Another Washable Smartphone

I was dead set on getting the original TabPro S but never actually did, even though it got good reviews and seemed like a great (albeit less powerful) alternative to the Surface Pro. Now that the second iteration is on the way, I will definitely give the line another thought, especially since this version should perform better—one of the complaints about the original device, if I remember correctly, is that the Core M felt sluggish. But to be honest, the TabPro S line is less about performance and all about the AMOLED panel for me. Laptops with OLED displays kind of fizzled out (I don’t think Lenovo ever restocked those ThinkPad X1 models), so this seems like one of the few options left to see Windows 10 with inky blacks.



Our report mentioned that Samsung is going to offer four models of the new Galaxy TabPro: SM-W728, SM-W727, SM-W723, and SM-W720. It’s possible that some of these variants might offer LTE support. We’ve spotted the Wi-Fi certification for the SM-W727V and it’s only a matter of time before the others go through this process as well. Details about the specifications of this tablet are slim at this point in time but it’s likely going to tout a 12-inch Super AMOLED display with 2160×1440 pixel resolution and the latest Intel Core M series processors. It’s possible that Samsung might launch this new Windows 10-powered tablet at the Mobile World Congress 2017 next month. The company is also expected to launch the Galaxy Tab S3 at this event.

Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – Samsung’s Galaxy TabPro S2 Windows 10 Tablet One Step Closer To Launch

The Guardian is giving their (lengthy) thoughts about computing’s current hurdles and how to rise above them, as it is getting harder than ever to make smaller and smaller devices that are more and more powerful. While there is your typical “Moore’s law is dead” rant, it does point out some competent solutions ranging from, at the simplest level, better programming, to more exotic musings, such as quantum computing. I’m just going to sit back and let the engineers do their thing, as I dream of planet-sized computers and transferring my conscious into a PC, Transcendence style.



Shrinking a chip’s components gets harder each time you do it, and with modern transistors having features measured in mere dozens of atoms, engineers are simply running out of room. There have been roughly 22 ticks of Moore’s law since the launch of the 4004 in 1971 through to mid-2016. For the law to hold until 2050 means there will have to be 17 more, in which case those engineers would have to figure out how to build computers from components smaller than an atom of hydrogen, the smallest element there is. That, as far as anyone knows, is impossible.

Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – Vanishing Point: The Rise Of The Invisible Computer

Fifty. Six. Now that is funny. I am not going to count them all to ascertain the headline’s authenticity, but I do see a very long list of movies that are probably destined to fail based on prior efforts such as Mario Bros. and Assassin’s Creed. I guess Hollywood would rather take financial losses than come up with something more original. Actually, making flicks based on existing properties is a sensible idea, as they already have an established group of fans—it’s just that they always manage to hire screenwriters who couldn’t care less about the source material.



Out of the hundreds of thousands of films in the world currently in development, a large number of them serve as adaptations for (mostly) successful video games and video game franchises. Some have been seen on our screens before either via a previous adaptation or television series, while some are just getting their first shot on the big screen. Whichever category they fall into, they still have to navigate their way through the difficult world of filmmaking, with many of them inevitably forever damned to development hell.

Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – 56 Video Game Movies Are Currently In Development