Acer UK is cutting prices across its Predator and Nitro gaming laptop ranges this Black Friday, with discounts of up to £400 on selected models.

Amazon lists the Predator Helios Neo 16 AI at £1,599, down from £1,899.99. It combines an RTX 5070 Ti GPU with an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU and a 240Hz WQXGA display, delivering smooth performance for AAA gaming. The Predator Helios Neo 14 is also reduced at Amazon, priced at £1,499.99 down from £1,799.99. This compact 14-inch model houses an Intel Core Ultra 7 255H, an RTX 5070 and a 120Hz OLED display.

If you want a larger model, then the Nitro 18 AI can be found at Currys for £1,499, down from £1,899.99. This model swaps out the Intel CPU for an AMD Ryzen AI 9 processor, paired with an RTX 5070 Ti GPU and a 165Hz QHD display.

The Nitro V 15 is the most affordable of the group, dropping from £999 to £849 at Currys. Pairing an Intel Core i7 with RTX 5060 graphics, along with a 1080p 165Hz display. This particular unit is capable of up to 150FPS in games like Call of Duty, so you will be able to make good use of that refresh rate.

KitGuru Says: Are you planning on picking up a new laptop during the Black Friday sales this week?

Thermal Grizzly has introduced a new specialised tool for PC builders – the TG Caliper, designed to make measurement tasks easier when planning out a custom liquid cooling loop. 

The TG Caliper is constructed from high-hardness, rust-resistant ABS plastic, making it lightweight and dust- and splash-resistant (IP54). It features an ergonomic thumbwheel and an LCD readout that displays values in both metric (0.1 mm resolution) and imperial (0.01 inch resolution) units. The measuring range is up to 150 mm (6 inches), and a zero function makes comparative measurements easy.

This device is particularly useful for a few applications. For water cooling, it allows builders to accurately verify the inner and outer diameters, as well as the wall thickness, of soft and hard tubes. This is critical for custom loops where imperial-to-metric conversions often lead to frustrating rounding errors.

It's also useful for thermal Pads, as it allows measuring used thermal pads for replacement. The device must be used carefully to avoid compression. Thermal Grizzly advises users to use the flat backs of the jaws over a wide area and apply only light pressure, averaging the results from multiple points to ensure accuracy. Another example is for screws and components, where the caliper can be used to measure lengths, distinguishing between countersunk screws (measured total length with the outside jaws) and cylindrical-head screws (measured depth with the depth gauge).

The Thermal Grizzly TG Caliper is now available for $11.58/€9.90.

KitGuru says: Would you eventually like to see a complete Thermal Grizzly toolkit? 

Les exportateurs chinois ont nettement augmenté les prix des biens essentiels qu’ils vendent au secteur militaro-industriel russe, profitant de la dépendance accrue du Kremlin face aux sanctions occidentales. C’est la conclusion d’une étude récente de l’Institut des économies émergentes de la Banque de Finlande (Bofit), citée notamment par le Financial Times.

Selon celle-ci, les prix des produits soumis au contrôle des exportations expédiés depuis la Chine vers la Russie ont augmenté de 87 % en moyenne entre 2021 et 2024. À titre de comparaison, le prix de produits similaires expédiés ailleurs n’a augmenté que de 9 % sur la même période.

Par conséquent, ces hausses de prix restreindraient la capacité de Moscou à acquérir des technologies sensibles, alors même que la Russie parvient à contourner une partie des sanctions en s’appuyant sur des fournisseurs chinois. Un haut responsable occidental chargé des sanctions a confirmé cette dynamique au Financial Times. Il estime que le fait que des entreprises chinoises "exploitent" les acheteurs russes peut être considéré comme "un résultat plutôt positif". Selon lui, "augmenter le prix d’un bien de 80 % revient à presque diviser par deux ce que les clients peuvent réellement acheter".

"Parfois il s’agit tout simplement de vol"

Alors que les échanges bilatéraux entre les deux pays sont passés de 146,9 milliards de dollars en 2021 à un niveau record de 254 milliards de dollars en 2024, le Bofit indique que cette hausse est principalement due à l’augmentation des prix plutôt qu’à une hausse des volumes. "Les importations de roulements à billes chinois ont progressé de 76 % en valeur, mais ont reculé de 13 % en volume", reprend ainsi le Moscow Times.

De quoi donner raison à cette source proche du gouvernement russe, qui constatait cet été auprès de Reuters que Pékin agit avant tout dans son propre intérêt : "La Chine ne se comporte pas comme une alliée […] Parfois, elle profite de la situation, parfois il s’agit tout simplement de vol." Une autre source anonyme, toujours auprès de Reuters, souligne que la Russie demeure fortement dépendante de la technologie chinoise. "Sans eux, nous n’aurions pas pu fabriquer un seul missile, encore moins un drone […]. S’ils avaient voulu, la guerre serait terminée depuis longtemps."

Des sanctions qui ont "limité les capacités technologiques de la Russie"

Les auteurs de l’étude du Bofit, Iikka Korhonen et Heli Simola, se sont concentrés sur le commerce des "machines et appareils mécaniques", une catégorie clé pour l’industrie de défense russe. Ils concluent que les sanctions ont "limité les capacités technologiques de la Russie en faisant grimper le prix des importations de biens essentiels", rapporte le Financial Times.

Moscou cherche activement à faire lever les sanctions occidentales - un sujet présent dans le plan de paix en 28 points récemment discuté entre les États-Unis et la Russie — présenté à l’Ukraine. De son côté, Pékin nie fournir des armes létales à Moscou et affirme s’opposer aux sanctions "unilatérales" freinant le commerce entre entreprises chinoises et russes. Reste à savoir si cette alliance russo-chinoise résistera à cet aléa économique.

As we close in on the first couple post-launch weeks for Call of Duty Black Ops 7, the team at Treyarch have been slowly but surely teasing their plans for Season 1. Described as “biggest Season 01 ever” a full content roadmap has been shared, featuring a ton of new additions across every single mode.

Taking to their blog to detail the upcoming update, Black Ops 7 Season 1 officially arrives on the 4th of December and will bring with it far more than can be listed here. The full roadmap can be found HERE, but some of the most notable additions include:

Endgame

• 4 new world events
• 8 new exotic skills
• New Phantom skill track
• CODmas limited-time event

Multiplayer

• 4 brand new maps
• 3 remastered maps
• 5 returning game modes
• 1 new game mode
• 2 limited-time game modes
• 1 new scorestreak and 8 returning streaks
• Half a dozen returning field upgrades / equipment from BO6

Zombies

•  Astra Malorum main zombies map
  • Featuring new traps, a wonder weapon, main quest and more
• Exit 115 Survival map
• Zarya Cosmodrome Survival map
• Ashes of the Damned Directed mode
• Jingle Hells LTM
• Mule Kick perk with new augments
• 5 returning field upgrades / ammo mods with new augments
• Leaderboard events
• New Gobblegums

Warzone

• Full integration with Black Ops 7
• New Verdansk POIs
• Revamped perks
• Haven’s Hollow Resurgence map
• CODmas LTM

Of course, alongside these mode specific pieces of content, Season 1 also brings with it a bunch of game-wide additions, including but not limited to:

• 7 new weapons
• 6 new attachments for existing weapons
• Weekly challenges
• Limited events
• Seasonal camos
• S01 Battle Pass

As mentioned, the blog post itself is incredibly lengthy and goes into far more depth regarding all aspects of each addition (including changes made to Battle Pass XP earn rates, challenge rewards and more).

Black Ops 7 is in an interesting spot right now. While the game itself represents a strong entry for Call of Duty, years of anti-consumer practices and a lack of listening to fans has tainted the series – with BO7 feeling the brunt of this.

That said, there is no denying that Treyarch seems to be trying their best to address fan complaints, and Season 1 appears to be another solid step in this direction. Whether it will be enough to turn the tides, we will have to wait and see when Season 1 launches on the 4th of December.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the Season 1 roadmap? Are you checked out of Call of Duty for this year? When all is said and done, will fans look back fondly on Black Ops 7? Let us know your thoughts down below.

When you think of video game crossovers, one series which does not come to people’s mind is Assassin’s Creed. Despite this, the Ubisoft-published franchise has collaborated with a number of interesting franchises in the past. That said, in a highly unexpected announcement, the latest Assassin’s Creed Shadows is set to crossover with none other than the popular anime series Attack on Titan.

Making the surprise announcement, the team at Ubisoft officially unveiled their upcoming collab – Assassin’s Creed Shadows x Attack on Titan. Set to go live on the 25th of November (today), this limited-time crossover will be available until the 15th of December and will include a new free quest to complete.

As expected however, if you wanted to get your hands on the Mikasa-themed cosmetic skin for Naoe, you’ll have to pay up (though no price has been provided so far).

As mentioned, this isn’t the first time that Assassin’s Creed has crossed over with another franchise, with the likes of AC Origins offering a Final Fantasy collab back in 2018 and Shadows itself having already crossed over with Dead by Daylight earlier this year.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is an important title for Ubisoft, with the game said to have been a bit of a make or break moment for the publisher prior to its release. Whether an Attack on Titan crossover will make a major difference in this regard, we will have to wait and see, but it is welcome at the very least to see the quest itself being included for free.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this crossover? Would you prefer some more thematically-appropriate collabs? Let us know down below.

The latest addition to LaCie's popular range of Rugged external hard drives is the Rugged SSD4, a drive aimed at photographers, filmmakers and audio professionals. Using a USB4 40 Gbps interface, it offers fast performance while protecting against water, dust, and drops.

Inside the familiar bright orange rubber enclosure (designed by multi-award-winning designer Neil Poulton) sits an NVMe PCIe Gen 4 SSD to make the most of the USB 40 Gbps (USB4) interface. Available in 1TB, 2TB and the flagship 4TB versions, the drive is rated for up to 4,000MB/s reads and up to 3,800MB/s writes.

The official line on the protection afforded by the drive's enclosure is that it is IP54-compliant (if the cover for the USB port is firmly in place) and can withstand a 3m drop and 1 ton of pressure.

LaCie backs the drive with a 3-year warranty, and you also get a very useful three years of Seagate's Data Recovery Service included to recover your data in case of product failure.

Physical Specifications:

• Usable Capacities: 4TB.
• NAND Components: n/s.
• NAND Controller: n/s.
• Interface: USB 40Gbps (USB-C).
• Form Factor: external.
• Dimensions: 17.33 x 66.87 x 105.34mm
• Drive Weight: 108g.

Firmware Version: ULFS91.6

Contre toute attente, l'interdiction stricte du minage de Bitcoin par Pékin en 2021 n'a pas sonné le glas de l'industrie. Elle l'a simplement poussée dans la clandestinité.

OpenAI est sous le coup d'une ordonnance restrictive temporaire lui interdisant d'utiliser le terme cameo pour sa fonctionnalité de génération de personnages dans l'application Sora.