is pushing further into hardware with its first set of earbuds. The owner’s $170 Ola Friend buds will only be available in China for now. They link to the company’s generative AI assistant, Doubao, which can be activated with a voice command.
According to the , wearers will be able to use the open-ear buds as a tour guide while traveling and to practice English (among other things) after they’re paired with the Doubao mobile app. The publication notes that Doubao is currently the most popular GAI app in China, with more than 47 million monthly active users in September.
The debut of Ola Friend follows ByteDance completing its purchase of Oladance, a maker of wearable audio devices, this year. ByteDance also owns VR headset maker .
The earbuds are available in four colors, purple, silver, black and white. Pre-orders are open today and Ola Friend will ship on October 17.
As US energy companies continue to grapple with the challenge of supplying enough power to meet the growing demand for AI data centers, a report from Bain & Company has revealed power use could soon exceed actual supply.
The report forecasts that by 2028, utility companies will need to increase annual generation by as much as 26% in order to keep up with demand.
The concerning outlook raises questions about the true eco-credentials of the time-saving and productivity-enhancing technology, which could soon need to rely on dirtier energy sources which are more abundant.
Data centers will use more energy than we currently have
Indicative of the scale of the problem, capital expenditure at these data centers is anticipated to rise nearly 30% this year alone. A separate study (via The Register) by Rystad Energy, a research and business intelligence company, found that US data center power consumption could more than double by the end of the decade.
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Typically, historical energy generation has been several hundred terawatt hours higher than historical energy consumption, however over the next four years, even the low-end demand scenario could outpace current generation, with the high-end demand scenario rising by as much as 1,000 TWh, from 4,000 to 5,000 TWh, marking a significant jump.
By 2028, Bain & Company reckons that data centers will account for more than two-fifths (44%) of all US energy consumption, with residential applications standing at around one-quarter (27%). Manufacturing (17%) and commercial (13%) are set to take smaller percentages.
Adding to the complexity, other sectors like electric vehicles and repatriated manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions are also driving up energy demand in coming years.
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Subsequently, the consulting firm warns that failing to act by modernizing business operations and infrastructure could cause companies to lose out on substantial revenues, even forcing datacenter companies to generate their own energy.
And with US utility companies accustomed to flat or even shrinking demand, the fact that global data center energy demands could top $2 trillion represents a significant growth opportunity for those prepared to make the changes.
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The Australian film director said he had worked with a “very talented design team” to create the film’s visuals in a response to someone querying their own originality in a comment on an Instagram post.
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“Elon Musk on the other hand has a not so talented design team who watched a lot of movies, including I, Robot it seems,” he said.
Patrick Tatopoulos, the film’s production designer, later reposted the image comparing the film’s designs and images from Tesla’s event side by side in his own post on Instagram.
“Maybe it is just me, or should I feel honoured that Elon found some inspiration in my I, Robot designs,” Mr Tatopoulos wrote.
“Either way it’s fun to watch,” he added.
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Paranoid Android
The claims made by Proyas have been met with scepticism online, however, with some claiming his own film is derivative.
Several people replied to his post on X with images of the feminised cyborg in Fritz Lang’s German expressionist film, Metropolis, from 1927.
But it is not the first time people have queried whether tech companies look to sci-fi cinema and novels for ideas – especially as firms develop new gadgets and robotics to capitalise on interest in generative artificial intelligence (AI).
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Mr Musk has previously said he was inspired by Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which features humanoid robot Marvin the Paranoid Android.
And he has also called Tesla’s futuristic Cybertruck “an armoured personnel carrier from the future” that “Bladerunner would have driven”.
Meanwhile OpenAI boss Sam Altman appeared to confirm comparisons drawn between a flirty, new voice unveiled for ChatGPT and a virtual assistant played by Scarlett Johansson in the 2013 film Her in a post on X in May.
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The firm removed its “Sky” voice following criticism over its similarity to Ms Johansson’s – saying it was not intended to be an “imitation”.
There are many ways for computers to store numbers
Andrew Ostrovsky/Panther Media GmbH/Alamy
Changing the way numbers are stored in computers could improve the accuracy of calculations without needing to increase energy consumption or computing power, which could prove useful for software that needs to quickly switch between very large and small numbers.
Numbers can be surprisingly difficult for computers to work with. The simplest are integers – a whole number with no decimal point or fraction. As integers grow larger, they require more storage space, which can lead to problems when we attempt to reduce those requirements – the infamous millennium…
A Russian-chartered oil tanker in the sea off Morocco in an area identified by maritime technology company Windward as a hub for smuggling oil.
Europa Press | Getty Images
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Recent data shows the discount on Russian oil narrowing and exports increasing despite the G-7 price cap on Russian petroleum exports and U.S. sanctions.
According to Clearview Energy Partners, Russian crude prices over the last four weeks have averaged about six cents below the Brent crude price. That is far off the trading discount when the cap was first put in place. When the cap was fully phased in, in February 2023, Russian crude was selling at a 30% discount. A year ago, the discount was about 16%.
Ukraine allies, including the U.S., have banned the import of Russian crude, while a price cap imposed on Russian oil by the G7 countries, the European Union and Australia bans the use of Western maritime services such as insurance, flagging and transportation when tankers carry Russian oil priced at or above $60 a barrel to nations where a ban is not enforced.
In a recent report to clients, Clearview Energy Partners characterized the G-7 price cap on Russian petroleum exports to third countries as “increasingly loose.”
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Kevin Book, managing director of research at Clearview Energy Partners, told CNBC that despite the G-7’s June and September calls for improving the price cap, and recent guidance urging parties to Russian petroleum transactions to better scrutinize cargoes, “a U.S. pinch on Russian petroleum seems unlikely until after the election.”
“A cap enforcement crackdown runs the risk of driving up crude prices,” he said. “Plus, using ‘secondary’ sanctions to enforce the cap could push reputable insurers out of the Russian crude game entirely, leaving the market to potentially insolvent stand-ins.”
Book explained that part of the narrowing of the discount is a result of Russian oil finding additional buyers, including India and China.
Record volumes of sanctioned Russian oil were carried by the “dark fleet” and known sanctioned tankers without known insurance over September, according to a recent report from Lloyd’s List.
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The Lloyd’s List Intelligence unit analysis of data from energy cargo tracking firm Vortexa revealed that 69% of all crude shipped in September was carried on dark fleet tankers and 18% was carried on tankers owned by Russian government-controlled Sovcomflot. It is the most volume moved since tracking of the monthly dark fleet data began in mid-2022 (measured by deadweight capacity of vessels.) In May, 54% was recorded, the previous high.
Chinese and Indian oil traders, refiners, and port authorities were the drivers of this growth.
Lloyd’s List determines if a tanker is part of the dark fleet based on factors including if the ship is 15 years or older, is anonymously owned or has a corporate structure designed to conceal ownership, is handling sanctioned oil trade, and is using deceptive shipping practices. Its analysis showed a flurry of flag-hopping, where a vessel changes its country registration, as well as ownership and management changes amongst the vessels in the dark fleet to avoid detection.
The dark fleet data does not include Russia’s Sovcomflot or Iran’s National Iranian Tanker Co.
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Its data revealed that 5% of all Russian oil in September was transported by 11 tankers, with nine of those vessels sanctioned by the UK or EU between July and September and owned by the Russian government-controlled tanker company Sovcomflot. The remaining vessels were sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control for breaching sanctions on Syrian and Iranian oil. Those vessels are the Eternal Peace and Nebulax.
Some of the Sovcomflot tankers that Lloyd’s List identified in its report were sanctioned by the UK or EU between July and September. Some tankers changed vessel names, reflagged the vessel’s origin to Barbados, or redomiciled registered ownership to Seychelles and changed their ship management to a newly incorporated UAE-based ship manager, Avebury Shipmanagement.
Greece-owned tankers have shipped 23% of oil from Russia in September, consistently over the last three months, according to Lloyd’s List. The majority of the UK- and EU-sanctioned tankers have already discharged their oil in China.
Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, said despite the price cap, some ship owners have decided that it was extremely profitable to have their vessels become part of the dark fleet and risk United States and EU sanctions.
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“After all, Russian oil continues to be purchased by Chinese and Indian refiners with little repercussions from the U.S. or EU,” said Lipow.
A Treasury spokesperson told CNBC, “Two years since the price cap was implemented, it is unsurprising that Putin is still sinking money into building and maintaining a shadow fleet to escape the Coalition’s sanctions: that evasion costs the Kremlin, and diverts money that would otherwise be going to the battlefield. The Price Cap Coalition continues to engage with industry to ensure compliance with the price cap and to increase Putin’s costs of going outside it.”
The number of uninsured vessels carrying sanctioned oil also increased, according to Lloyd’s List, with some 201 of the 310 tankers tracked not having insurance with the 12 clubs that form the International Group of P&I Clubs. That represented 68% of the vessels when measured by deadweight, and the lowest number of tankers tracked with IG club insurance, surpassing 67% uninsured recorded in July and August.
Lipow said the oil market is pricing in a greater probability of a war between Iran and Israel that could impact supply.
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“The biggest risk to the oil market is the closure of the Straits of Hormuz, and while unlikely, if it were to happen, oil prices would rise $30 per barrel,” he said. Despite the hostilities, oil prices remain under pressure, he said, as increased production from the U.S., Canada and Guyana adds to the supply picture while OPEC+ delays the restoration of its production cuts.
The increased use of dark fleet vessels comes with greater maritime safety and environmental risks.
Lloyd’s List warned in a recent note that shipping safety has become a “casualty of economic sanctions” with attempts to enhance sanctions policy leading to greater ranks of tankers determined to evade it.
Insurance giant Allianz said in May that dark fleet tankers had been linked to more than 50 accidents.
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Lipow told CNBC if these vessels were to be involved in an accident that resulted in an oil spill, the owners — assuming they could be identified and found — would simply walk away, leaving the mess and subsequently the cleanup for someone else to do.
“Neva may not be the most complex 2D platformer, but it still might make you cry.”
Pros
Incredible music
Gorgeous art
Emotional story
Cons
Dull platforming
Repetitive combat
In Neva, Nomada Studio’s follow-up to Gris, the cycle of life and death starts spinning immediately. An opening battle against land-poisoning sludge monsters turns tragic when my white wolf companion is slain. From that loss, a new relationship is born as I team up with my fallen pal’s orphaned pup. What would be a downer of an opening quickly turns into something hopeful. Even in the darkest moments, we can find reasons to keep fighting. As Swedish director Ingmar Bergman once noted: “Lilies often grow out of carcasses’ arseholes.”
Neva tackles that grand idea in a minimalistic fashion that hits a ceiling. The colorful adventure stuns with gorgeous music and visuals that make its beautiful world feel like something that’s worth protecting. It’s just light on originality outside of that, with simple 2D platforming and combat that never fully capitalize on its evolutionary chapter structure. Like Gris, it’s an effective tone piece that’s more about meditating on a feeling than overcomplicating its statement on life, death, and the beauty on both ends of that spectrum.
Neva tells the story of Alba, a young girl fighting to protect nature from decay at the hands of creepy black monsters. After her trust wolf is slain, she becomes a surrogate mother for her cub, Neva. The two form a bond and travel together for the next year, each chapter taking place during a season. With each season, Neva grows bigger, gains more confidence, and even picks up a few new tricks that aid Alba in her duty.
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The story plays out like a fable, wordlessly told through animated cinematics that deepen Alba and Neva’s bond. There are clear shades of Hayao Miyazaki in its environmentalist themes. It largely plays like a small-scale video game adaptation of Princess Mononoke. There are white wolves, beasts with massive antlers, and critters corrupting a beautiful natural landscape. While there’s not much depth to its message, Nomada Studio drills down on the pure emotional beats of its story. Its deaths are gut-wrenching, but its moments of light are warm and hopeful. It’s an effective portrait of life’s highs and lows in one five-hour adventure.
Neva – Gameplay Trailer | PS5 Games
What really sells that idea is Neva’s breathtaking sound and visuals. The soundtrack is full of sweeping orchestral pieces that feel bigger than those in the grandest big-budget games out there. They’re awe-inspiring compositions that sell the emotional turns of each scene and make every vista feel like a sublime sight.
The soundtrack has the visuals to match; each natural landscape is awe-inspiring. Even something as similar as a forest clearing feels holy, as streaks of light shine through rich green foliage. Any given frame looks like a painting, and that makes matters all the more dire when monsters begin mucking it up with their dark corruption. It’s as if someone spilled a bottle of ink on a masterpiece. This isn’t a case of pretty visuals for pretty’s sake; I truly believe in Alba’s desire to protect such a place from rot. There’s a spiritual connection to the natural world here, and the minimalistic storytelling allows that strong feeling to take center stage.
Though Neva’s sights and sounds communicate, that same sense of wonder is missing from its comparatively run-of-the-mill gameplay. It’s very much cut from the same cloth as 2018’s Gris, with all the same strengths and weaknesses intact. That game stunned with its watercolor art, but delivered thin puzzle platforming that even felt a little behind the times back then. Neva doesn’t move the bar much further, though it does scratch at a creative idea or two.
The platforming itself is fairly standard, with Alba being able to jump, air dash, pound through weak rocks, and scale walls. There’s some light iteration in later chapters, including a section where she needs to dash through portals, but it often feels indistinguishable to something like last year’s Planet of Lana. Even reading my review of that game now, I feel like I’m largely making the exact same critiques here.
If Neva has taught me anything, it’s that growth doesn’t happen all at once.
The main difference is that Neva features a light combat system, which lets me slash enemies with one button or slam down on them. It’s a similarly thin system that’s mostly used to fight the same few monsters over and over with little variation. It’s not terribly complex, but it does keep the platforming from ever getting monotonous on its own.
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While it’s all a little thin, Neva does find the seed of a great idea in its titular wolf. In the first chapter, Neva is helpless. The cub is almost too scared to leap between platforms or make daredevil dives off high heights. I often need to stop and comfort my friend, petting them between enemy encounters. But with each passing season, they grow. They become braver as they fearlessly follow me through platforming gauntlets and even start chasing down enemies automatically to help me fight them. I can even toss my cub toward enemies eventually. The more we grow together, the more physically connected we are.
Devolver Digital
It’s an effective moment in an otherwise pretty, though understated, adventure. Not every game needs to innovate, but considering that Neva is specifically about evolution, I found myself waiting for it to switch gears up through its abrupt ending. Like my pup early in our journey, Nomada Studio still feels like it’s growing as a developer. I can see its potential to create beautiful, heartfelt stories in both this and Gris, but it’s yet to really take a leap and find its voice when it comes to interactivity. But if Neva has taught me anything, it’s that growth doesn’t happen all at once. It’s a slow process that happens naturally. An uncertain whimper from the edge of a cliff can become a brave leap; it just takes a little time and encouragement.
Golden Concept, a brand specializing in luxury accessories for Apple devices, is commemorating its 10th anniversary. As part of the celebration, the company already launched a diamond-studded case for the Apple Watch Ultra. Now, Golden Concept’s latest product is a customizable, 18K gold-plated case for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
This is the customizable iPhone 16 Pro case covered in gold from Golden Concept
The Magnetic Shield Bespoke iPhone Case Edition stands out for its luxurious finish resulting from complex, advanced processes. Of course, it’s compatible with MagSafe technology, so you can take advantage of all the possibilities available on your iPhone 16 Pro. Plus, you can customize the case with any engravings you want. This ensures that your new case not only boasts luxury but is also totally unique. Basically, Golden Concept’s new product ensures that no two cases are the same, making your unit even more exclusive.
The first step to purchasing the Magnetic Shield Bespoke iPhone Case Edition is to share your vision of what the back cover should look like. The Golden Concept team will work with you to bring your desired design to life in the best possible way. Once the final design is ready, Golden Concept will move on to producing your unit.
MagSafe base made of marine grade stainless steel
Your case will be PVD-plated in 18K gold, which will enhance its durability. The process also involves integrating a Magnetic Shield base to enable support for MagSafe technology. The brand uses 316L stainless steel to manufacture the Magnetic Shield base. If you’re not aware, this type of stainless steel is also known as “marine grade” steel thanks to its properties that provide extra resistance to corrosion and high temperatures. Golden Concept uses a combination of high-precision machining and heat treatment to integrate both pieces.
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To bring the back plate design to life, Golden Concept uses advanced ultra-precise laser engraving technology. This ensures the finest, sharpest lines for every curve of the engraving.
Already available for pre-order
If the diamond-encrusted case for the Apple Watch Ultra models seemed a bit pricey, you’re in luck. The Magnetic Shield Bespoke iPhone Case Edition is much more affordable, costing “only” $799. The product is available today for pre-order from the company’s official website.
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