Technology

iPhone SE (2022) and iPad Air (2022) are now on sale in India. Both new Apple devices were unveiled at the company’s virtual event last week. The iPhone SE (2022) and iPad Air (2022) come as incremental upgrades to their existing models. The iPhone SE (2022) comes with Apple’s A15 Bionic chip and an improved rear camera. It also offers 5G connectivity. The iPad Air (2022), on the other hand, carries the M1 chip that was earlier available on the MacBook models as well as the last-generation iPad Pro. It also has 5G support as an option. Alongside the new iPhone SE and iPad Air, iPhone 13 series in Green and iPhone 13 Pro models in Alpine Green colours are available for purchase in the Indian market.

iPhone SE (2022), iPad Air (2022) price in India, sale offers

iPhone SE (2022) price in India starts at Rs. 43,900 for the base 64GB model. The new iPhone also comes in a 128GB model at Rs. 48,900 and the top-end 256GB variant at Rs. 58,900. It features Midnight, Starlight, and (PRODUCT) RED colours.

The iPad Air (2022) Wi-Fi model starts at Rs. 54,900 for the 64GB model and goes up to Rs. 68,900 for the 256GB option. In contrast, the iPad Air (2022) Wi-Fi + Cellular variant carries a price tag of Rs. 68,900 for the 64GB model and Rs. 82,900 for the 256GB version. The iPad Air (2022) comes in Blue, Pink, Purple, Space Grey, and Starlight colours.

In terms of availability, both iPhone SE (2022) and iPad Air (2022) are available through online channels including Amazon and Flipkart as well as various offline stores in the country. The Apple India online store also started selling the iPad Air (2022), though it was still taking pre-orders for the iPhone SE (2022) at the time of filing this story.

Sale offers on the iPhone SE (2022) include a Rs. 2,000 instant discount on using ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, and SBI cards. Customers using these bank cards are also eligible to receive a Rs. 4,000 discount on purchasing the iPad Air (2022). There are also no-cost EMI options and additional exchange discounts.

It is important to note that the discounts and offers on the iPhone SE (2022) and iPad Air (2022) may not be the same across all sales channels.

Alongside the iPhone SE (2022) and iPad Air (2022), the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini in Green and the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max in Alpine Green are available for purchase through all leading online and offline channels in the country. The Apple India online store is also selling the Green shades of the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro families.

iPhone SE (2022) specifications

The iPhone SE (2022) comes with a 4.7-inch Retina HD display with a 750×1,334 pixels resolution and 326ppi of pixel density. The display is the same as the one on iPhone SE (2020). However, under the hood, there is an A15 Bionic chip to deliver significantly improved performance. The new iPhone SE model comes with a single 12-megapixel camera sensor at the back with an f/1.8 wide-angle lens that is touted to have improved visual processing. It supports features including Deep Fusion, Smart HDR 4, and Photographic Styles. All of it comes through the A15 Bionic chip that has an advanced Neural Engine to offer software improvements.

For selfies and video chats, the iPhone SE (2022) comes with a 7-megapixel camera sensor at the front with an f/2.2 lens.

iPhone SE (2022) comes in up to 256GB storage. Connectivity options include 5G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth v5, GPS/ A-GPS, NFC, and a Lightning port. There is a fingerprint sensor-equipped Touch ID home button for biometric authentication. The iPhone SE (2022) is claimed to deliver up to 15 hours of video playback or up to 50 hours of audio playback on a single charge.

iPad Air (2022) specifications

Similar to the iPhone SE (2022), the iPad Air (2022) carries the same 10.9-inch LED Liquid Retina display with a 2,360×1,640 pixels resolution as the earlier iPad Air model. It, however, comes with the M1 chip to deliver faster CPU and graphics performance over the last-generation model.

The iPad Air (2022) comes with a new 12-megapixel Ultra Wide front camera that supports Center Stage to help adjust the camera view for moving subjects while using services such as FaceTime. The rear camera of the new iPad Air, though, remains the same 12-megapixel Wide shooter that was available on the last model.

On the storage front, the iPad Air (2022) has up to 256GB of onboard storage. It supports connectivity including 5G (optional), Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth v5, GPS/ A-GPS (in cellular version only), and a USB Type-C port. The new iPad Air is claimed to deliver an “all-day battery life” on a single charge.

Apple recently launched the HomePod (2nd Gen) for Rs. 32,900 in India. We have now spotted that the Cupertino-based company has increased the price of the HomePod mini smart home speaker in the country. In addition to that, the three 24-inch variants of the iMac have also seen their prices increase by Rs. 10,000. The price change has been reflected on the official Apple India store. We have reached out to Apple for a comment on the price increase, however, the company is yet to reply.

The price of HomePod mini in India has been revised from Rs. 9,900 to Rs. 10,900, an increase of Rs. 1,000. Similarly, the 24-inch iMac models have also seen their prices hiked. The 24-inch iMac with a 7-core GPU and 256GB storage has seen its price raised from Rs. 1,19,900 to Rs. 1,29,900.

Meanwhile, the 24-inch iMac with an 8-core GPU and 256GB storage now costs Rs. 1,49,900. This model was previously priced at Rs. 1,39,900. Finally, the 512GB storage version’s price in India has been hiked from Rs. 1,59,900 to Rs. 1,69,900. All of the new prices are live on the Apple India site.

To recall, the HomePod mini debuted in India back in 2020 at Rs. 9,900. It comes equipped with a U1 chip to enable Ultra Wideband support. This smart home speaker can also send out an alert if a device is taken from your home. It is equipped with four far-field microphones and has a 360-degree sound field. It can also support multi-room audio, thanks to its AirPlay feature.

The 24-inch iMac is powered by an Apple M1 Chip, paired with 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. It sports a 24-inch 4.5K Retina display with 500 nits of brightness. It is also equipped with a FaceTime HD camera and four studio-quality microphones.

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OnePlus Nord 4 to Launch Alongside Pad 2, Watch 2R, and Nord Buds 3 Pro on July 16

ZTE’s lawyers at Guangdong Guanghe Law Firm said in a letter dated April 21 that Huawei’s recently released Honor X2 and high-end  Ascend P8 smartphones violated ZTE’s camera-focusing patents.

ZTE published the letter on the Weibo microblog of its Nubia smartphone brand a day later, adding that “given Huawei’s large-scale copying, we feel it’s time to come out and use legal means to protect orderly and fair market competition.”

Huawei denied the allegations in a statement on Thursday.

“Huawei has never used the patent mentioned in our competitor’s lawyers’ letter and therefore we contest the allegations made against us. We stringently respect others’ IPR (intellectual property rights) and protect our own IPR,” the statement said.

Patent battles among Chinese smartphone manufacturers are expected to rise in the wake of Qualcomm Inc’s record settlement with Chinese antitrust regulators.

The settlement dissolved the cross-licensing agreements that had given Qualcomm customers such as ZTE and Huawei free access to each others’ patent portfolios and kept them away from litigation.

ZTE, anticipating the dissolution of the Qualcomm-enforced patent truce, has been quietly seeking patent royalties from its Chinese rivals over the past year, people with knowledge of the situation have previously told Reuters.

Although most industry experts expected the likes of ZTE and Huawei – two leaders in the number of patent filings internationally – to seek royalties from smaller firms, few had anticipated the two Shenzhen-based rivals to go head to head.

Both ZTE and Huawei have been stockpiling patents in the past several years. Huawei was the world’s No. 1 applicant for international patents in 2014, according to a United Nations patent agency, while ZTE took third place.

© Thomson Reuters 2015

Xiaomi Mi Band 7 Pro has launched on Monday. The smart band offers GPS support and includes an always-on display (AOD). It sports a 1.64-inch rectangular AMOLED (280×456 pixels) display along with 326ppi pixel density. The Mi Band 7 Pro also offers independent satellite positioning, which helps in providing precise location-based tracking, without relying on the connected smartphone. The new Mi smart band comes as an upgraded version of the Mi Smart Band 7 which was launched in May.

Xiaomi Mi Band 7 Pro price, availability

The Mi Band 7 Pro from Xiaomi is currently on sale in China and has been priced at an introductory amount of CNY 379 (roughly Rs. 4,500). This offer is going to last for the customers till Thursday, July 7. The Mi Band 7 Pro will be then available at CNY 399 (roughly Rs. 4,700). The smart band is available to purchase in Blue, Green, Orange, Pink, and White colour variants.

Xiaomi Mi Band 7 Pro specifications, features

The Mi Band 7 Pro sports a 1.64-inch rectangular AMOLED display with a resolution of 280×456 pixels and 326ppi pixel density. The company had recently teased that the smart band offers an always-on display (AOD) to let users look at the current time and date, without raising their wrist. With built-in GPS support, the Mi Smart Band 7 Pro is able to offer independent satellite positioning. This helps in providing precise location-based tracking, without relying on the connected smartphone, as mentioned above.

Xiaomi has also confirmed that the Mi Smart Band 7 Pro comes with quick-release wristband support. This is an upgrade over the replaceable bands available with the existing Mi Smart Band models. Users can easily replace the quick-release wristbands of the Mi Smart Band 7 Pro with the ones that match their preferences and style.

Moreover, the wearable supports over 180 watch faces and comes with a 2.5D glass on top. In terms of fitness factors, Mi Smart Band 7 Pro offers 117 exercise modes, including 10 running courses and 14 professional sports modes. It also includes all-day heart rate and blood-oxygen tracking, sleep tracker, step count, calorie count and more.

On the battery front, the Mi Band 7 Pro packs a 235mAh battery and can last up to 12 days on a single charge. It also comes with Bluetooth v5.2 connectivity, with NFC support and has Xiao AI voice assistant. The smart band has a 5ATM water-resistant design.

Xiaomi 12S Ultra, Xiaomi 12S Pro, and Xiaomi 12S launch

Along the launch of Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 7 Pro, the Chinese tech giant also unveiled Xiaomi 12S Ultra, Xiaomi 12S Pro, and Xiaomi 12S as the company’s latest flagship smartphones on Monday. All the three variants of the Xiaomi 12S series come with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC that was unveiled in May. The smartphones also sport Leica optics. The Chinese company also launched the Xiaomi 12 Pro Dimensity Edition as its new MediaTek Dimensity-powered smartphone on July 4.

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who’sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Oppo Reno 11 Confirmed to Run on MediaTek Dimensity 8200 SoC, Camera Performance Teased

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now nearly 1,000 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.

Your Quordle expert

Your Quordle expert

Marc McLaren

Quordle today (game #986) – hint #1 – Vowels

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #986) – hint #2 – repeated letters

Quordle today (game #986) – hint #3 – uncommon letters

Quordle today (game #986) – hint #4 – starting letters (1)

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you’re not ready yet then here’s one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #986) – hint #5 – starting letters (2)

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #986) – the answers

The answers to today’s Quordle, game #986, are…

The key to solving this Quordle, for me at least, was playing my unofficial fourth start word, BEFOG, which gave me the G I needed for FUDGE and BEGAT, and the B for that latter word too. But otherwise this was a straightforward day for the game. That said, both BEGAT and ROUSE are relatively uncommon words. BEGAT in particular is the kind of thing you might read in Shakespeare, but not exactly an everyday term – so well done if you solved it.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Daily Sequence today (game #986) – the answers

The answers to today’s Quordle Daily Sequence, game #986, are…

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #985, Saturday 5 October: ELECT, CROAK, FRISK, JAUNT
• Quordle #984, Friday 4 October: ELFIN, GRAIL, PATIO, RECAP
• Quordle #983, Thursday 3 October: TENTH, REMIT, CURVE, TOAST
• Quordle #982, Wednesday 2 October: ARGUE, CRANE, TOKEN, PRINT
• Quordle #981, Tuesday 1 October: FRILL, MADLY, GRANT, NYLON
• Quordle #980, Monday 30 September: CRUSH, TARDY, TEACH, STUMP
• Quordle #979, Sunday 29 September: SERIF, BORNE, WRITE, SLEEK
• Quordle #978, Saturday 28 September: BUSHY, CIVIC, SNOUT, EQUIP
• Quordle #977, Friday 27 September: GUEST, CHASM, ROOST, BASAL
• Quordle #976, Thursday 26 September: STAGE, VOGUE, CLUMP, HEATH
• Quordle #975, Wednesday 25 September: UMBRA, DADDY, GLAZE, PRANK
• Quordle #974, Tuesday 24 September: SPACE, INNER, SPAWN, BEGAT
• Quordle #973, Monday 23 September: GUILT, STERN, ANNEX, FIELD
• Quordle #972, Sunday 22 September: ZESTY, MEATY, ALIVE, DRAWN
• Quordle #971, Saturday 21 September: VITAL, FRAIL, SPEAR, EERIE
• Quordle #970, Friday 20 September: ELIDE, DITTO, SHAWL, BONUS
• Quordle #969, Thursday 19 September: MARRY, OWING, DICEY, LUCKY
• Quordle #968, Wednesday 18 September: CEDAR, VENOM, MIGHT, MEDIC
• Quordle #967, Tuesday 17 September: ETHOS, COUNT, PRINT, THREE
• Quordle #966, Monday 16 September: ROUGE, SWAMP, FUGUE, UNDUE

Most of the best AMD processors also top our best processors list thanks to the incredible performance of the Ryzen 7000 generation. Our top pick for the best AMD CPU right now is the Ryzen 9 7950X because of its incredible 16 cores, impressive performance in gaming and productivity, and its relative efficiency compared to the Intel competition.

From the best Ryzen CPU for gaming to the best AMD processor on a budget, we have plenty of options for fans of Team Red. If you want to jump camps, make sure to check out our roundup of the best Intel CPUs, as well.

Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X

The best, most powerful AMD Ryzen CPU

Why should you buy this: It’s got the highest specs among AMD Ryzen desktop processors.

Who’s it for: Content creators and professionals looking for core CPU performance.

Why we picked the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X:

Sitting on top is the Ryzen 9 7950X, which is a powerhouse and an overpowered chip for most users. It comes with 16 cores and 32 threads that can boost up to 5.7GHz — a massive increase on its last-generation predecessor. It has a whopping 80MB of combined L2 and L3 cache, which doesn’t quite compete with the X3D variants, but it’s a lot of cache either way, helping to accelerate this chip’s performance in gaming and productivity workloads.

As is the case with most high-end components, the 7950X’s power is clear from the specs, but it takes a little more digging to see its performance benefit in real-world use. Its additional four cores and eight threads doesn’t give it a giant leap in most applications compared to the 12-core 7900X, but the 7950X really shines when it comes to multithreaded performance. In tasks that require a lot of cores, such as hardware encryption and 3D rendering, the 7950X aces the charts and shoots far ahead of the 7900X.

As for gaming, while the 7950X can show slight improvements in certain titles, most games won’t be able to take advantage of the processor’s full horsepower. Even in CPU-intensive titles, the 7950X is overkill. It’s a highly capable gaming CPU, topping benchmarks alongside all of the Ryzen 7000 processors, but its strengths lie more in working and gaming, or just working, rather than pure gaming. For that, look to the X3D options.

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X

The best, most powerful AMD Ryzen CPU

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D

The best AMD processor for gaming

Why should you buy this: It’s the best CPU for gaming, no questions asked.

Who’s it for: Gamers who want flagship gaming performance at a fair price.

Why we picked the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D:

The Ryzen 7800X3D is an eight core, Zen 4 CPU with a 5GHz clock speed, making it, on paper at least, a little slower than its Ryzen 7000 counterparts. However, this is an X3D CPU, with an additional 64MB of L3 cache stacked on top of the processor, and that extra bit adds up to make it the best processor for gaming. It easily competes with the likes of the Intel 14900K, which has three times its cores, and an extra gigahertz of clock speed to work with.

The 7800X3D manages this not just with eight cores but a fraction of the power draw, too. It does have to sacrifice for that gaming power, though. The 7800X3D’s lower clock speed makes it weaker than its non-X3D counterparts in productivity, and eight cores sees it fall well behind higher-end options with more cores for heavily multithreaded workloads.

For a best of both worlds, you could opt for the 7950X3D, which gives you eight high-clocked Zen 4 cores alongside eight Zen 4 cores with 3D V-Cache, giving you a middle ground between the 7800X3D’s gaming performance and the 7950X’s improved productivity performance. But that chip can be hundreds of dollars more expensive for not much more gaming power.

If you want pure gaming performance, the 7800X3D offers much better value for money. If you want something for work too, the 7950X3D may be worth paying for, but consider your budget accordingly.

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D

The best AMD processor for gaming

AMD Ryzen 7600

The best midrange AMD processor

Why should you buy this: It’s a great value-for-money processor for PC gaming.

Who’s it for: Gamers looking to build new or upgrade their PC.

Why we picked the AMD Ryzen 5 7600:

Priced at around $190, the Ryzen 5 7600 is a great alternative to the 7800X3D if you’re on a budget. While it’s one of the cheapest processors out of AMD’s current Ryzen 7000 lineup, the 7600 is squarely targeting the mainstream. For the money, you get six cores and 12 threads, a base clock of 4.7GHz, and a boost clock of 5.3GHz — a big uplift over the last generation. This processor doesn’t have the V-Cache of its X3D counterparts, but it still comes with 38MB of combined L2 and L3 cache, which helps make this chip very competitive at this price.

The CPU uses AMD’s Zen 4 architecture, improving instructions per clock (IPC) and memory management, and when paired with a powerful graphics card, it can work wonders for gaming. It’s also decent enough for productivity if you want to do some photo or video editing when you aren’t gaming. It’s a few dollars less than the Ryzen 5 7600X, too, and offers almost identical performance, while coming with a bundled cooler.

It’s the bang-for-buck king of its generation.

AMD Ryzen 7600

The best midrange AMD processor

AMD Ryzen 5 8600G

The best Ryzen CPU with integrated graphics

Why should you buy this: It has some of the best integrated graphics performance of any desktop CPU.

Who’s it for: Casual gamers who don’t wish to invest in a dedicated graphics card.

Why we picked the AMD Ryzen 5 8600G:

If you don’t have the budget for a graphics card, or want to build the most compact gaming system possible, a powerful accelerated processing unit (APU) like the Ryzen 5 8600G is a great pick. It has more onboard GPU cores than standard Ryzen 7000 CPUs whilst maintaining most of the CPU performance — it’s not as strong as a 7600, but it’s not far off — making it an all-in-one gaming system.

It’s priced very affordably at around $200, and it comes with a Wraith Stealth cooler, too, helping cut down on cost even further. You can always add a dedicated graphics card later for greater GPU performance, too, though note that this CPU isn’t as strong a value proposition when you aren’t using its onboard GPU.

If you want more graphical and processing power, the 8700G has more cores of both and performs better, but it’s 50% more expensive, making it harder to recommend. The 8500G is slightly weaker than this one, but its price is around the same as the 8600G at the time of writing.

AMD Ryzen 5 8600G

The best Ryzen CPU with integrated graphics

AMD Ryzen 5 5700X3D

The best last-gen CPU

Why should you buy this: It’s the best bang-for-buck CPU of its generation.

Who’s it for: Gamers and anyone wanting strong general performance from an AM4 CPU.

Why we picked the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D:

The AMD Ryzen 5000 generation has a lot of great processors, from the high-end 16-core 5950X, to the ultra-affordable 5600, but it’s the 5700X3D that remains the enduring CPU of its generation. It offers comparable gaming performance to the 5800X3D — the previous king — at a much more affordable price.

It lacks the cores and higher clock speeds of the 5900X and 5950X, so grab one of those if you want the ultimate multithreading performance on socket AM4, but for gaming and general use, the 5700X3D is an absolute steal at under $200. Combined with cheaper motherboards and DDR4 memory, and this processor is a killer budget gaming chip that punches well above its weight. Pair it with a strong GPU, and you won’t notice a big difference between this and the latest CPUs at higher resolutions.

AMD Ryzen 5 5700X3D

The best last-gen CPU

Frequently Asked Questions

CodeCommando, a leaker with a relatively short track record, has shared the alleged Cinebench R23 performance for AMD’s Ryzen 9000X3D processors. The individual had previously leaked AMD’s Ryzen 9000 slides, which did turn out to be legitimate, so his information is seemingly good. Nonetheless, as with any leak, we recommend you treat leaked benchmarks cautiously.

The leaker shared the Cinebench R23 results for the 8-core and 16-core Ryzen 9000X3D parts, corresponding to the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Ryzen 9 9950X3D, respectively. The Ryzen 9000X3D’s strong suit lies in the gaming performance, but unfortunately, we only have Cinebench R23 for comparison for now. We used the same benchmark tool in our CPU reviews, so we’ll use our results to contrast the leaked results. It won’t be an apples-to-apples comparison since we don’t know the system specifications and the testing environment for the leaked Ryzen 9000X3D scores.

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D reportedly delivered a single-core score of around 2,145 points and a multi-core score of 23,315. On the other hand, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D purportedly scored 2,245 points in single-core tests and 42,375 in multi-core tests.

The Ryzen 9000X3D’s single-core performance is relatively close to its vanilla counterparts. However, the multi-core performance showed a significant difference. The Ryzen 9000X3D chips delivered 13% to 32% higher multi-core performance.

Many gamers are excited to get their hands on AMD’s latest Ryzen 9000X3D chips. A previous leaker claimed that the Ryzen 7 9800X3D could hit the market as early as this month, although he didn’t provide the exact date. Meanwhile, the more powerful Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Ryzen 9 9950X3D are rumored for an early 2025 release. The alleged reason for the delayed launch was that AMD is reportedly working on adding new features to the Ryzen 9000X3D parts.

Intel is also finally unleashing the chipmaker’s Core Ultra 200 (codenamed Arrow Lake) processors this month. It’ll be interesting to see how much performance Arrow Lake brings and whether it can surpass AMD’s current Ryzen 9000, which has been on the market for a few months. The outcome will likely influence how AMD releases the company’s Ryzen 9000 X3D chips.

While the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Ryzen 9 9950X3D will likely wield tons of firepower, the lower-tier SKUs, such as the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, typically offer consumers the best bang for their buck. So, just having the Ryzen 7 9800X3D on the market will significantly benefit AMD. Whether Ryzen 9000 X3D can retake the king of gaming crown will depend on how well Arrow Lake performs.

Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games, has reportedly enforced its developers to endure 7-day work weeks in a crunch time to meet heavy deadlines for Citizencon that kicks off on October 19.

Tom Henderson from Insider Gaming reports that Cloud Imperium Games sent out an email to its staff yesterday, which said that the developer needs to “double down over the next 18 days to make sure that once again we create an amazing experience for our community“. This includes finalizing patch 3.42.2 for Star Citizen, as well as getting the Squadron 42 demo showcase for Chapter 1.

The email continues: “This means for the next two weekends we will be mandating extra time for all those working on deliverables for Citcon“.

Insider Gaming got its hands on another internal email back in July 2024, where the outlet learred that CIG “pre-approved” 12 hours of “SQ42 TOIL” per week (TOIL = time off in lieu) for developers to meet upcoming Citizencon deadlines. The TOIL would only be made available to Squadron 42 ships, and employees must still be with the company by the game ships, or the TOIL “will be forfeited”.

Star Citizen developers in this huge crunch time leading into Citizencon on October 29 will get free food and extra free days off in the future, with CIG providing breakfast and lunch every working weekend (but not the Mon-Fri???) for those in the office (and not working from home).

The email said that employees “need to be mindful of the hours they work and are asked to have 11 hours outside of work in each 24-hour period“.

Insider Gaming reached out to Cloud Imperium Games, which sent a message thanking its workers: “To show our appreciation, all those who will in the trenches with us over the next couple of weekends, can have Monday 21st October on the company as a free holiday. This hopefully will give a little break for everyone to rest after our long Citizencon weekend and the drive towards it“.

Cloud Imperium Games has mandated the following:

• All staff are to be in the office on Friday, October 4th and Friday, October 11th (typically a work-at-home day)
• All staff are to be in the office on Saturday, October 5th, and Saturday, October 12th (for these days, the company will provide breakfast and lunch, with staff receiving company TOIL (time off in lieu) which can be stored and used for time off at a later date)
• All staff are to work on Sunday, October 6th, and Sunday, October 13th (this can be a work-at-home day, but the company “encourages” people to be in the office. For these days and for those in the office, the company will provide breakfast and lunch, with staff receiving company TOIL, which can be stored and used for time off at a later date)

At the end of the day, there’s nearly $1 billion riding on Star Citizen… Citizencon is going to be huge, and just like any other big corporation or company or developer, there is crunch time. There are times when I’ve had to work 18-hour days for a few weeks in a row to catch up on a next-generation GPU release… it’s just part of the job, and I rather love those crunch times.

CIG developers are putting the final polishes onto the game in its new patch leading into Citizencon, so 7-day work weeks isn’t a strange thing… can’t wait to see what is revealed during the event, and to see Chris Roberts take the stage.