Week in Review: Indiana Jones, Copper Age toys, and other ancient relics

Plus: Bigger is not necessarily better, Nvidia | Nvidia is making it trickier to upgrade your PC | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 is great news for clumsy oafs like me Created for {EMAIL} | [Web Version]( December 2, 2022 CONNECT WITH TECH RADAR  [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [Youtube]( [Tech Radar]( [SIGN UP]( ⋅ [WEBSITE]( ADVERTISEMENT Welcome to the Week in Review [] Plus: Bigger is not necessarily better, Nvidia Phew! What a couple of weeks! You may have noticed that there was a bit of a shopathon recently, culminating in Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which has been taking up a lot of my, and the rest of the team’s, time. I’d like to thank Lance, my newsletter partner in crime, for handling the Black Friday edition last week, while I was busy scouring the internet to find the best deals for our readers. However, things are now getting back to normal (but please don’t bring up how close Christmas is…. I think I’m in denial), so I’ll be taking a look back over the past week to highlight all the big stories you need to know about. There’s the usual mix of the exciting and the off-beat, and I’d like to give a shout out to Kraftwerk, and copious amounts of coffee, for helping me to get this finished in time. Enjoy, and, as always, please let me know what you think by [emailing me](mailto:matthew.hanson@futurenet.com), remembering to include 'NEWSLETTER' in the subject line – I’d love to hear from you! Matt Hanson, Managing Editor, Core Tech [Wondershare's best software at its lowest price ever]( To share your unique stories, you need feature rich yet easy-to-use tools. Wondershare's software offers the power and versatility to create professional-grade content in the palm of your hand, and now is the perfect time to buy for yourself or the budding content creator in your life. [Shop Now]( ADVERTISEMENT [] Start with This [] [Nvidia is making it trickier to upgrade your PC]( [Nvidia is making it trickier to upgrade your PC]( My gaming PC is due for an upgrade – if I can find a graphics card that fits inside (Future) Someone should tell Nvidia that bigger doesn’t always mean better. While its recent GPUs, the RTX 4090 and the RTX 4080, have brought the goods when it comes to performance, they’re both physically huge GPUs. While that means there’s room for fans and heatsinks to keep everything cool, their large sizes can make them difficult to install – and some third-party versions of the cards, made by the likes of MSI, Gigabyte and Asus, even come with metal braces and stands to help hold up the GPUs. I don’t know about you, but having to install scaffolding inside your PC to support your GPU suggests to me that graphics card sizes may be getting a bit ridiculous. A while back [I built a compact gaming PC]( for my lounge, as I couldn’t get hold of a PS5. I’ve been thinking about upgrading this machine with a new Nvidia GPU, and while I knew the RTX 4090 would be out of the question, I’d assumed that an RTX 4080 would be fine; the PC currently houses an RTX 3080 Ti without any issue, after all. However, when the RTX 4080 specs dropped, so did my spirits. It seemed the RTX 4080 would barely be able to fit. I got hold of one to test it, and opened up the PC to have a look. As I feared, there was no way I was going to be able to fit the RTX 4080 in there, even if I removed most of the case fans (which I was loath to do, as the more compact the PC is, the more important good airflow is to keep everything cool). The Razer Tomahawk Mini-ITX case I used for the PC isn’t even the smallest case out there, so there must be a fair number of people who were feeling a bit left out when Nvidia released its latest GPUs. There’s a glimmer of hope on the horizon though, with rumors suggesting that Nvidia will be launching a new RTX 4070 Ti GPU soon – [and it could actually fit inside people’s PCs](! The chip is half the size of the RTX 4090’s, which should mean the card’s overall size will be substantially smaller. Hopefully the more compact chip will also be more efficient, leading to better performance, so going for an RTX 4070 Ti instead of a 4080 won’t be too much of a compromise. It’s all rumor and speculation at this point, but I’m hopeful I’ll be able to upgrade my gaming rig without having to get the builders in. [Wondershare's best software at its lowest price ever]( To share your unique stories, you need feature rich yet easy-to-use tools. Wondershare's software offers the power and versatility to create professional-grade content in the palm of your hand, and now is the perfect time to buy for yourself or the budding content creator in your life. [Shop Now]( ADVERTISEMENT [] This is Big [] [Gorilla Glass Victus 2 is great news for clumsy oafs like me]( [Gorilla Glass Victus 2 is great news for clumsy oafs like me]( Corning claims its Gorilla Glass Victus 2 is its toughest glass yet (Corning) The above notwithstanding, I probably shouldn’t be let anywhere near technology. Thanks to my lanky arms and lack of spatial awareness, I often have the grace and poise of a drunken octopus trying to swat a fly, and this means that pricey and fragile gadgets often find themselves crashing to earth. It can get expensive. Luckily, Gorilla Glass Victus 2 could make clumsiness less costly for people like me. In an exclusive chat with Lance earlier this week, Corning’s VP and General Manager for Gorilla Glass, David R. Velasquez, talked about the company’s [new Victus 2 glass](, which is stronger and more scratch-resistant than ever. With phones getting larger and heavier, the demands on protective glass are increasing, and with Gorilla Glass Victus 2, Corning claims it’s found a way to protect smartphone screens from breaking even on concrete and other rough (and tough) surfaces. The company is so confident in Victus 2 that it even sent some test sheets to Lance, along with some sandpaper, with which Lance was invited to go to town on said glass. So, if you wonder what Lance gets up to between writing issues of this newsletter, now you know: rubbing sandpaper on glass. It keeps him off the streets at least. Featured Content Sponsored Content from Bitdefender [Bitdefender Premium VPN]( Ultra-fast VPN, so you can safely access multiple streaming platforms anywhere in the world. [Learn More]( [] Read This [] [This is a headline you can't help but click on]( [This is a headline you can't help but click on]( The latest Minecraft update brings a host of new elements to the game (Mojang) Sometimes you come across a headline that you just have to click, and Elie Gould, one of our younger and newer writers on TechRadar Gaming, has developed a reputation for some truly superb headlines. Her latest, [I won't have to drown any more horses, thanks to the new Minecraft update](, is possibly her finest work yet. I know very little about Minecraft, and care about it even less, but when I saw that headline on our homepage, I had to know more. It’s got that perfect mix of wit and darkness that means you’re in for a treat, and Elie doesn’t disappoint with the feature itself. In it she explains how a new update for the iconic game introduces camels that players can ride on to travel the world quickly. Unlike in-game horses (and maybe real life horses as well, I’m not a horse expert), Minecraft camels can swim, which makes it easier to traverse the world of Minecraft. There’s lots more in the latest update, and Elie goes into some great detail about the impact themed updates have had on the game’s community. [] What About This? [] [I'm a convert to 5G – when I can get it]( [I'm a convert to 5G – when I can get it]( More of us are signing up for 5G – but coverage needs to improve (Future) A new report suggests that 5G subscriptions will hit one billion by the end of 2022, with more of us than ever switching to the new, faster, mobile data technology – and I’m a recent convert myself. Up until a few months ago I was still using 4G, which I found fine for most things I do on my phone – namely browsing the web and streaming music (okay, maybe I make the odd phone call as well). But when my contract expired, I changed to one that offers 5G. My existing phone supports 5G, so almost instantly I got the benefits – while I was at work, anyway; where I live, I can barely get 4G. When using 5G I’ve noticed that web pages load a lot faster – and I’m getting faster download speeds than when using my home broadband (although not, as I’ve mentioned, at home unfortunately). I even gave game-streaming a go, using Nvidia GeForce Now to play Cyberpunk 2077 on my phone, and I was thoroughly impressed. [According to the same report](, by 2028 there will be five billion 5G mobile contracts, and that could revolutionize the kind of things we’re able to do with our phones and other devices. Mobile networks will need to make sure that 5G coverage drastically improves, though – in many countries, the only places where you can get 5G is in cities, and that needs to change. [] Watch This [] [The Indiana Jones 5 trailer has my nostalgia juices flowing]( [The Indiana Jones 5 trailer has my nostalgia juices flowing]( Harrison Ford is back, whip in hand, as Indiana Jones (Lucasfilm) There’s a new Indiana Jones film coming out, and to be honest, when it was first announced, I wasn’t that interested. Don’t get me wrong: I adore the early Indiana Jones movies. They were a big part of my childhood, and even now, when I watch any of those films I get swept up with the excitement of it all. However, the last movie in the series, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, was released back in (checks notes)… 2008?! How the heck is that movie 14 years old? Anyway, it was a bit of a mess, and certainly failed to live up to its 1980s forebears. Given the film’s lukewarm critical reception, and an increasingly old (and grumpy) Harrison Ford, I’d assumed that would have been the last one. So Tom Power’s report on the trailer for a new installment, [Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny](, piqued my interest, with Tom enthusing that the film looks like a return to the series’ roots. Having checked it out for myself, my hopes for this next entry have certainly risen. There are the quintessential Indiana Jones ingredients, such as cursed artifacts and ancient boobytraps, while the sight of a digitally de-aged Ford, who’s been made to look like the Indy we know and love from the 80s movies for flashback sequences, can’t help but scratch my nostalgia itch. I’m not fully on board yet, however. There’s some incongruous use of CGI that stands out like a sore thumb, and reminds me a bit too much of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull for my liking. Still, I’ll be paying more attention to this movie, which comes out next year, than I otherwise would have. [] POLL QUESTION: Which other classic 1980s action film should get a belated sequel? [Vote]( [The Running Man - we now live in a dystopian future anyway]( [Vote]( [Romancing the Stone - why not copy Indiana Jones again?]( [Vote]( [48 Hrs - not that mismatched cop-buddy films are a dying genre]( [Vote]( [Above the Law - Steven Seagal is probably free]( [] This is Good [] [Valve is giving away free Steam Decks]( [Valve is giving away free Steam Decks]( Valve is giving away Steam Decks at the Game Awards 2022 (Valve Corporation) The Steam Deck is one of my favorite gadgets of the past few years – it’s essentially a handheld gaming PC that can play some of the latest and greatest games, including Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Elden Ring. It’s an expensive bit of kit though, which is why I’m excited to see that Valve will be [giving away Steam Decks]( every minute during The Game Awards 2022. All you have to do is register for the competition and watch the show, which starts at 4.30pm PT / 7:30pm ET on December 8, which is 12:30am GMT on December 9. While I don’t need another Steam Deck, I will be watching The Game Awards 2022, as the event will be showcasing upcoming games such as Starfield, and I’m always looking for new games to play on my Steam Deck (and on my regular gaming PC as well, of course). [] The Science Bit [] [Ancient toy discovery shows how little we've changed]( [Ancient toy discovery shows how little we've changed]( A replica of one of the carved stone owls with two feathers inserted in its head, and a photo of a long-eared owl (Asio otus). (Juan J. Negro) Okay, I think I’d better end this state of denial and come to terms with the fact that Christmas is coming – and it’s coming fast. This means I need to start rushing around shops to buy toys… sorry, ask Santa for toys for my daughter. And it appears that parents were in a similar predicament even thousands of years ago, as archaeologists have unearthed [ancient slate owls]( dating from the Copper Age (3500 B.C. to 2750 B.C.) which appear to be children’s toys. There are holes above the eyes, which suggests that enterprising parents looking to entertain their children could even stick real feathers into them. Instead of modern fathers having to make a mad dash to a gas station for batteries on Christmas morning, it seems Copper Age dads may have been involved in a frantic search for owl nests to get their children’s toys working properly. Michelle C. Langley, who’s an Associate Professor of Archaeology at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, told our sister website Live Science that “Cross-cultural analysis of recent peoples across the globe all find that children – everywhere – will create their own toys”, and that “Dolls and figurines are universal, and the form that [they] take will likely be of common or important animals to the community”, hence the owls. I love seeing evidence of common threads running through human history, and this is another discovery that shows we’re really not that different to our ancestors. [] The Sign Off [] RIght – I’m off to find some slate and carve Paw Patrol characters into it – I’m sure my daughter will appreciate the cultural significance of the gift. I hope you enjoyed this newsletter – make sure to check out the new Indiana Jones trailer and let me know what you think! I’m trying not to get my hopes up too much… Have a great weekend, keep those [emails](mailto:matthew.hanson@futurenet.com) coming, and see you next time! Sharing TechRadar with your network keeps the quality of content high and these newsletters free. Help Spread the Word [SHARE]( Or copy and share your personalized link: smartbrief.com/techradar/?referrerId=mvfLmxwvzC   [Sign Up]( | [Update Profile]( | [Unsubscribe]( [Privacy Policy]( | [Cookies Policy]( | [Terms and Conditions]( CONTACT US: [FEEDBACK](mailto:techradar@smartbrief.com) | [ADVERTISE]( © Future Publishing Limited. Reg No. 2008885 England. Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA.