The Morning After: Nintendo is reportedly showing off Switch sequel console to developers
With features like ray tracing and DLSS.
There’s no denying Nintendo’s Switch, at 6.5 years, is reaching the end. Nintendo is (finally) gearing up for what’s next and was reportedly showing tech demos of its next-gen system to developers at Gamescom last month.
According to Eurogamer, one of the Switch 2 demos was a beefed-up version of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It was apparently a tech demo, showing the world of Hyrule at a higher frame rate and resolution than the existing game.
VGC says another tech demo was The Matrix Awakens, running on the dev kit. The captivating tech demo was originally designed to highlight what Unreal Engine 5 can do on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, but Nintendo got it working on an early version of its next system. The Switch 2 demo also featured NVIDIA’s DLSS upscaling tech, ray-tracing and visuals comparable to those on the PS5 and Series X. DLSS support is key, as that could help Nintendo run games at higher frame rates and resolution without having to use more powerful components.
Nintendo is expected to release its next console in 2024 – but what will be its unique trick?
– Mat Smith
You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!
The biggest stories you might have missed
Instagram’s Threads finally gets search
Samsung adds a 4TB option to its high-speed 990 Pro SSDs
Sega’s summer showcase delivered exciting updates to some of its most iconic franchises
Google reveals the Pixel 8 design ahead of Apple’s iPhone event
Max may offer live sports at no extra cost for several months
Polaroid I-2 review: A return to high-end instant cameras
Chrome’s 15th birthday present is a new design and safety features
Intel joins Apple, Alphabet and Samsung as an Arm investor
What to expect at Apple’s Wonderlust iPhone 15 event
My quest for the perfect productivity mouse
BMW’s terrible heated seats subscription didn’t make it to a second winter
Drivers will no longer have to deal with hardware paywalls in the brand’s cars.
BMW is one of several automakers that have been nickel and diming customers, with a monthly subscription for heated seats (which already exist in these vehicles) in certain models and territories. The company has dropped that controversial practice to focus on paid software services — it no longer plans to charge drivers extra to use hardware features already in their cars.
Drivers didn’t take to the $18 per month heated seats subscription in the countries where BMW offered that, er, perk. “We thought that we would provide an extra service to the customer by offering the chance to activate that later, but the user acceptance isn’t that high,” Pieter Nota, BMW’s board member for sales and marketing, said.
iOS apps will publish to the Apple Vision Pro store by default
This should give headset owners access to ‘hundreds of thousands’ of applications.
We haven’t heard much about Apple’s mixed-reality headset, the Vision Pro, in recent weeks, but in the runup to Apple’s big event next week, the company has elaborated on the device’s app offerings. It’s announced every iOS app will automatically publish to the Vision Pro store by default, which the company says will give early adopters access to “hundreds of thousands of iPad and iPhone apps.” Most apps can easily run on Vision Pro, but you won’t get a full futuristic experience. Instead, you’ll see what you normally see on your phone or tablet, just blown up on a fake screen before you.
Walgreens agrees to pay $44 million to Theranos blood test customers
The company used to offer Theranos’ faulty blood tests in its stores.
There was a time when Walgreens championed Theranos’ blood tests and offered them at “wellness centers” in its stores. That was before it came to light that Theranos’ tests were faulty. Now, according to Bloomberg, Walgreens has agreed to pay $44 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought by customers who received flawed Theranos blood tests. A court still has to approve the proposal, but based on the court filing by the plaintiffs, those customers will receive around double their out-of-pocket damages if the terms remain unaltered.
