Microsoft is cutting 268 jobs across Halo Studios and other first-party teams as part of its ongoing Xbox restructuring, while also consolidating studios under fewer publishing umbrellas. Activision will now oversee World's Edge and Rare and take charge of developing the next Halo title through a newly formed team separate from Call of Duty, leaving a smaller crew at Halo Studios to support existing games. Other changes include Bethesda absorbing Obsidian, King merging with Microsoft Casual Games, and Playground Games combining with Turn 10 to focus on Forza and Fable.
theverge.com
· 2026-09-22
Tom's Hardware Premium's weekly roundup details extensive benchmarking of the Qwen 3.8 27B language model on consumer-accessible hardware, including an RTX 5090, Mac Mini, DGX Spark and Strix Halo systems, showing it can approach top-tier AI performance without cloud API costs. The issue also covers IFA show reports noting a market split between ultra-light MacBook-style laptops and pricey agentic AI PCs, squeezing out affordable mid-range machines, plus a note on Ajinomoto's role in supplying materials for the chip industry.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-09-12
A review of Coway's new Airmega Halo air purifier found the device operates quietly and effectively clears visible smoke from a room. However, the accompanying air-quality sensor readings did not consistently provide reassurance about actual air cleanliness during testing.
wired.com
· 2026-09-10
Hypershell showed off its Halo exoskeleton at IFA in Berlin, a carbon-fiber wearable that extends support down through the knee and calf in addition to the hip and thigh, unlike earlier models from the company. It uses a four-motor system and a flexible 'fish-spine' joint design intended to preserve natural movement while cutting knee-muscle fatigue by as much as 40% across various terrains.
cnet.com
· 2026-09-07
At IFA 2026, AMD introduced the Threadripper Halo Station, a liquid-cooled workstation combining a 96-core Threadripper PRO 9995WX processor with up to four Instinct MI350P accelerators. A fully configured system would offer 576GB of HBM3E memory, enough to run trillion-parameter AI models locally without cloud access. AMD showed a two-card version at the event but has not disclosed pricing, availability, or full specifications.
techspot.com
· 2026-09-06
Microsoft has launched Project Zenith, a stripped-down version of Windows 11 aimed at AI developers, requiring at least 64GB of unified memory and 250GB/s memory bandwidth. It will debut on AMD's Ryzen AI Halo hardware, a rival to Nvidia's DGX Spark, before expanding to other OEM devices, and ships preloaded with tools like VS Code, GitHub Copilot, Python, WSL, and .NET 10 already configured for coding.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-09-05
Microsoft introduced Project Zenith, a decluttered version of Windows 11 aimed at developers doing local AI work, initially available on AMD's Ryzen AI Halo mini-desktop with 64GB of RAM. The build comes preloaded with developer tools and languages, enables settings like visible file extensions by default, and is designed to let users run large AI models locally without cloud costs.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-04
Lenovo introduced the ThinkCentre X Ultra ahead of IFA, a compact mini workstation built around AMD's previously unannounced Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 495 processor with an integrated Radeon 8065S GPU and up to 128GB of soldered LPDDR5x memory. The machine, measuring roughly 7.2 by 7.2 by 2 inches, supports dual 4TB Gen5 SSDs, Wi-Fi 7, Thunderbolt 4, and an NPU rated at 55 TOPS, and is expected to launch in November 2026 starting around $3,669.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-09-03
An unfinished version of Nvidia's upcoming DLSS 5 feature, already nicknamed 'slop tracing' by critics, leaked online and modders tested it on classic games like Halo: Combat Evolved. The results showed blotchy, over-processed visuals and uncanny hyperrealistic faces that stripped away the games' original look, and one tester reported it also sharply reduced frame rates when tried on Final Fantasy.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-01
Researchers from Texas A&M, Purdue University and NASA's Johnson Space Center have developed a traffic management system for spacecraft sharing the near-rectilinear halo orbit around the moon. The system is meant to coordinate multiple vehicles—including Orion capsules, cargo ships and lunar landers—that will operate simultaneously as NASA builds out its planned moon base.
cnet.com
· 2026-08-26
Microsoft has begun early preorders for select fans of its translucent green 25th anniversary Xbox Series X bundle, priced at $900 and including a matching controller and a digital copy of Halo: Campaign Evolved. Wider preorders open August 27, with shipping set for November 15, close to the original console's 2001 launch date.
engadget.com
· 2026-08-26
Microsoft has set an $899 price for its special-edition translucent green Xbox marking the console's 25th anniversary, with preorders opening August 27th and a November 13th launch. The unit is essentially an Xbox Series X with 1TB storage, individually laser-etched and numbered, bundled with a matching 'OG Green' controller and a full download of Halo: Campaign Evolved. A separate matching controller is also available to preorder now for $79, launching October 20th.
theverge.com
· 2026-08-26
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