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HP has introduced the HP Omen Transcend 14 laptop, alongside a lineup of notebooks, at the ongoing Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The latest 14-inch Omen series gaming laptop from HP has been launched alongside HP Omen Transcend 16, Omen 16, and Victus 16.1. HP claims that the Omen Transcend 14 is the world’s coolest and lightest 14-inch laptop. The gaming laptop features an OLED display, local AI capabilities, and an RGB backlit keyboard. The Omen Transcend 14 laptop runs on the latest Intel Core Ultra chipsets and comes in two different colour options.

HP Omen Transcend 14 price, availability

The HP Omen Transcend 14 is currently available for pre-order on the HP website at a starting price of $1,499.99 (roughly Rs. 1,24,510) for the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H variant. The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H model, on the other hand, comes in at $2,249.99 (roughly Rs. 1,86,772). The gaming laptop will also be available to purchase on BestBuy.com in the US. HP has not yet announced a launch timeline for the Indian market. The Omen Transcend 14 is available in Shadow Black and Ceramic White colourways.

HP Omen Transcend 14 specifications

HP Omen Transcend 14 gaming laptop runs Windows 11 Home operating system and is powered by up to 5.1GHz Intel Core Ultra 9 185H CPU with 16 cores and 22 threads, paired with up to 32GB LPDDR5x RAM, and up to 2TB SSD storage.

The laptop sports a 14-inch 2.8K (2880 x 1800) OLED display with up to 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 400 nits. In the graphics department, the laptop comes with integrated Intel Arc graphics and up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 discrete GPU. The Core Ultra 7 variant, on the other hand, features Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 series GPU in its default configuration, alongside 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD storage.

HP’s Omen-series laptop comes with a 6-cell, 71Wh battery and charges using a 140W USB Type-C power adapter. HP claims that the laptop can charge up to 50 percent in 30 minutes with fast charge technology. The laptop is claimed to provide up to 8+ hours of battery life on full charge.

Connectivity options on the laptop include Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. The Omen Transcend 14 also comes with one Thunderbolt 4 USB Type-C port that supports power delivery, one USB Type-C port, two USB Type-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a 3.5mm headphone/microphone combo jack. The laptop also sports HP True Vision 1080p webcam with integrated dual array digital microphones, dual speakers, and an IR thermal sensor. Additionally, buyers will also get a one-month free trial for Xbox Game Pass.

The Omen Transcend 14 laptop measures 12.32 x 9.19 x 0.67 inches in size and weighs approximately 1.75kg.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is prepared to receive its massive third patch, which will finally allow players to change their in-game character’s appearance. Fans have been desperately requesting this feature since launch, and it’s scheduled to go live later tonight, September 22, alongside fixes for the performance issues in the densely-populated Act 3 segment. When the update goes live, the game will add a Magic Mirror to our camp, a stationary tool that can be interacted with to presumably open up a limited version of the creation menu. Patch 3 was originally due on Thursday, but developer Larian Studios decided to take an extra day for ‘thorough testing.’

The Magic Mirror won’t let you entirely change your Tav, preventing you from altering their race and body type, which makes sense given how much it affects relationships with other NPCs and general world interactions. That said, anything that’s appearance-based — hair, makeup, voice, pronouns, and such — can be changed whenever you like. Previously, you were stuck using whatever looks you picked at the start, with no way of fixing it once your Baldur’s Gate 3 journey began. This also means that if you created a short character, you will continue to remain as such till the end — or unless you start a new run. It doesn’t seem like using the mirror requires that you exchange some form of currency either, which is nice.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Review

Larian added that one cannot alter Origin characters such as Karlach, Shadowheart, Gael, and the ilk. “…they’re all very particular about their hair,” the tweet reads, as a joking remark for Astarion the vampire spawn. Patch #3 is also supposed to bring Mac support for Baldur’s Gate 3. Up until now, it’s been accessible via early access, which lacks a ton of content and changes that were present in the final/ main build released on PC, in August. Meanwhile, Larian has been fixing some quest-related issues, specifically of the murderous drow Minthara, whose 1,500+ lines of dialogue were disabled due to a bug. The team also added an alternate ending to the cheerful Tiefling Karlach’s arc, and there are also plans to expand the ending eventually.

As the PS5 version rolled out earlier this month, Larian enabled cross-saves across platforms, letting players carry over their progression from PC to console and vice versa — albeit only the last five save files would be synced. We can assume that Baldur’s Gate 3’s Mac version will be getting the same treatment. Plans for cross-play are also in the pipeline which should help players on different systems be able to engage in online co-op adventures together.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is out now on PC and PS5, while the Xbox Series S/X launch is slated for sometime later this year.

SAG-AFTRA members have voted to authorise a new strike against the video game industry, with an overwhelming 98.32 percent in favour. The union claims that 34,687 members cast ballots, representing 24.49 percent of eligible voters. Bear in mind that this authorisation does not guarantee the strike will happen, but that the union members are serious about stopping work if the unions fail to reach a fair agreement with the companies. The voting period began on September 5 and ended on Monday, September 25, ahead of new negotiations that kickstart on September 26 (PT). If it goes through, this would mark the second video game strike since a similar action took place in 2016 — lasting nearly a year.

“It’s time for the video game companies to stop playing games and get serious about reaching an agreement on this contract,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in a prepared statement. “The result of this vote shows our membership understands the existential nature of these negotiations, and that the time is now for these companies — which are making billions of dollars and paying their CEOs lavishly — to give our performers an agreement that keeps performing in video games as a viable career.” The union is gunning for a new Interactive Media Agreement that ensures video game performers who do voice acting, motion capture, singing, stunt work, and the ilk are compensated fairly.

The 2016 video game strike marked the longest in the union’s history, with a three-year contract being drawn in November 2017 which lasted until 2020. The same deal was then extended to 2022 and 2023, and now SAG-AFTRA is heading back to negotiate with at least 10 major companies. These include a mix of publishers and production studios: Activision Blizzard (Call of Duty), Blindlight, Disney, Electronic Arts (Star Wars Jedi: Survivor), Formosa, Insomniac Games (Marvel’s Spider-Man), Epic Games (Fortnite), Take-Two (Red Dead Redemption 2), VoiceWorks Productions, and WB Games (Hogwarts Legacy). However, it appears as though SAG-AFTRA has been trying to negotiate a new agreement since October 2022 to no avail, and therefore the strike authorisation shows how serious the workforce is when the need arrives.

In addition to demanding higher pay to compensate for rising inflation, SAG-AFTRA is trying to fight back against the ‘unregulated’ use of artificial intelligence, which would replace and strip away work from performers. There’s also the matter of companies being able to use an actor’s digital likeness for projects without consent and proper payout. This was also a sticking point for the ongoing Hollywood actor’s strike. Similar to film and TV actors, video game performers work on a contractual basis for multiple developers or publishers. As mentioned before, if the negotiations are met, a strike might not happen after all, and the development of games will continue as planned.

Earlier this week, the WGA (Writers Guild of America) and the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) reached a ‘tentative agreement’ to end the strike after roughly five months — the strike action started on May 2. The deal still needs to be finalised and further details on the met conditions will be revealed in time. For the time being, picketing outside studios has been suspended but the union added that nobody is supposed to resume work until an official announcement is made (via The Hollywood Reporter).