TWTW: December 3rd – December 9th, 2017

byRaj Deut
3 minute read
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The week that was (TWTW) takes a look back at the week’s most prominent tech stories from around the world.

Video versions of TWTW appear on our website as well as our YouTube channel and Facebook page.

For those that prefer an audio only version, you can listen to TWTW via the Anchor.fm app or online at http://anchor.fm/reckonerAU

Lastly you can find a full transcript of this week’s episode below.

In the week that was December 3rd – December 9th 2017:

Intro

Hey everyone, Raj Deut here for Reckoner with a look back at the tech news in the week that was December 3rd to December 9th, 2017.

Stories

Facebook launched their “Messenger for Kids” app this week. The new standalone app allows parents with an existing Facebook account to sign up their children to the new service and control whom they can connect with.

The app is full of Snapchat like filters as well as stickers and curated GIFs that kids can use whilst talking to their approved relatives and friends.

Available now in the US on iOS the app will launch on Android later this month.

Qualcomm held their second annual Tech Summit in Hawaii this week making a series of new announcements.

The first; a new line of laptops running on Qualcomm’s ARM based Snapdragon 835 chip. The new laptops from HP & ASUS run an ARM based version of Windows 10 and have a battery life that can last up to 30 days on standby and almost a full 24 hours worth of active use. The first of these, the ASUS NovaGo will be available in early next year for US$599.

A new partnership with AMD was also announced at the summit. AMD is looking to create a new line of always connected ultra thin laptops using its Ryzen mobile processor in conjunction with Qualcomm’s LTE modem as used in their Snapdragon processors. The new laptops are expected to hit mid 2018.

Qualcomm also used the event to take the wraps of its new Snapdragon 845 processor destined to power Android phones and now Windows ARM laptops of the future. The new processor reportedly offers a 30% improvement in processing power and battery life as well as enable 4K HDR video capture.

Gaming’s “Oscars” known as “The Game Awards” was held on Thursday night in the US. Game of the year honours went to “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” as many expected but it was the award’s announcements that offered the most excitement.

A new walking simulator looks to be coming from Firewatch developer Campo Santo. Called “In the Valley of Gods” the game is still under development and isn’t due until 2019.

Hideo Kojima’s eternally obscure “Death Stranding” had an extended trailer confirming how truly bizarre and little we know about the game.

And From Software, makers of Dark Souls and Bloodborne offered the teasers of teasers for an upcoming title.

Finally Nvidia announced a new video card on Friday. The new Titan V is Nvidia’s first GPU to make use of their new Volta architecture and whilst called “consumer” at US$2999 is well beyond the average consumer budget.

Outro

That’s it for another week, I hope you enjoyed it. If you did then please hit that Like, Love, Applause or Thumbs up button on your platform of choice and tell a friend about the show.

This week on the website, we have not 1 but 4 holiday gift guides from the team with ideas ranging in price from $25 to $25,000! You can also catch me playing through the first hour of the Game Awards winning Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus.

Thanks for tuning in, have a great week and bye for now.