The Abyss (1989) 4K Blu-ray Review

The Abyss (1989) 4K Blu-ray Review

James Cameron's sci-fi classic The Abyss makes a well overdue but impressive 4K Blu-ray debut 35 years after its initial movie release.

TT Show Episode 36 - Microsoft Copilot+ PCs, Windows Recall, NVIDIA handheld, and RDNA 5

Kosta Andreadis | TweakTown | May 24, 2024 5:23 AM CDT

This week on the TT Show, Jak and Kosta examine Microsoft's new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop devices running on the Arm-based Snapdragon X Elite chipset and the beginning of the Copilot+ AI PC era. Hardware-wise, it all sounds impressive, with Windows on Arm coming along nicely, but the Copilot+ AI side is a different story.

TT Show Episode 36 - Microsoft Copilot+ PCs, Windows Recall, NVIDIA handheld, and RDNA 5

Microsoft's latest AI tool for Windows users is called Recall. It apparently takes screenshots and snapshots of your PC at regular intervals to build up a searchable database of everything you've seen or done. It sounds like the most invasive piece of software ever created, and Jak and Kosta discuss how it might work and whether there's even a use case for such a feature.

This week, the duo also discuss NVIDIA getting in on the Arm-based CPU business and pairing it with GeForce hardware for a potential gaming handheld to rival the ROG Ally and Steam Deck.

Continue reading: TT Show Episode 36 - Microsoft Copilot+ PCs, Windows Recall, NVIDIA handheld, and RDNA 5 (full post)

ASML rumored to have rented office space in Kaohsiung, Taiwan to support TSMC's new 2nm plant

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | May 26, 2024 10:13 PM CDT

ASML is rumored to have signed a contract to lease a commercial office in North Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and has officially entered Kaohsiung, to help the installation of TSMC's new 2nm plant in Kaohsiung.

ASML rumored to have rented office space in Kaohsiung, Taiwan to support TSMC's new 2nm plant

ASML is the world's largest wafer lithography equipment manufacturer, with TSMC being the world's largest contract chip manufacturer, the two powers combined make for a force to be reckoned with... mostly against Samsung and Intel. ASML has four offices spread out in Taiwan right now, located in Hsinchu, Linkou, Taichung, and Tainan.

Linkou has a smart manufacturing center that is responsible for machine refurbishment and measurement equipment protection, while Tainan has an E-beam electron beam inspection equipment manufacturing center, and an EUV Global Training Center.

Continue reading: ASML rumored to have rented office space in Kaohsiung, Taiwan to support TSMC's new 2nm plant (full post)

Windows 11's new Copilot+ AI features like Recall can be enabled without needing an NPU

Anthony Garreffa | Artificial Intelligence | May 26, 2024 9:32 PM CDT

Microsoft unveiled its new Copilot+ PC family last week, with its new Recall feature remembering every single thing you type, and do into your PC... but it required an NPU. Well, a developer has worked it out... without needing an NPU.

Windows 11's new Copilot+ AI features like Recall can be enabled without needing an NPU

A developer posted on X with "great progress" on enabling Copilot+ features like Recall on current Arm64 hardware, with no Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor (which is a hardware requirement of Copilot+ on Windows 11). The developer explained in his post that it "should theoretically work on Intel/AMD" processors, too, and that OEMs only received Arm64-specific ML model bundles, so "there's not much I can do yet" added @thebookisclosed on X.

Continue reading: Windows 11's new Copilot+ AI features like Recall can be enabled without needing an NPU (full post)

Lenovo's new Legion 7000K Mobile on Desktop PC: laptop CPUs used, up to 190W power for CPU

Anthony Garreffa | Computer Systems | May 26, 2024 9:11 PM CDT

Lenovo has just launched their latest Legion desktop gaming PCs with new Mobile on Desktop (MoDT) designs that offer up to an Intel Core i9-14900HX processor.

Lenovo's new Legion 7000K Mobile on Desktop PC: laptop CPUs used, up to 190W power for CPU

Lenovo is the largest PC maker in China, with MoDT platforms used by Chinese companies for years now, Lenovo is the latest one with its new Legion 7000K desktop PC series. Lenovo's new Legion 7000K systems feature Intel's current-gen 14th Gen Core "Raptor Lake Refresh" CPUs.

The company is using two of these CPUs: the Core i9-14900HX (24 cores, 32 threads) at up to 5.8GHz and a 190W TDP (!!!) and the Core i7-14650HX (16 cores, 24 threads) at up to 5.2GHz with a 160W TDP. Lenovo uses a custom desktop motherboard with the CPU pre-installed, which means it's not upgradeable at all. There's no IHS (integrated heat spreader) on the CPU, which Lenovo says is an advantage, as some enthusiasts will delid (remove the IHS) off their processor.

Continue reading: Lenovo's new Legion 7000K Mobile on Desktop PC: laptop CPUs used, up to 190W power for CPU (full post)

GIGABYTE's next-gen Z890 AORUS EXTREME AI TOP motherboard teased, full reveal at Computex 2024

Anthony Garreffa | Motherboards | May 26, 2024 6:54 PM CDT

GIGABYTE will unveil an entire fleet of next-gen Z890 motherboards at Computex 2024, with the flagship Z890 AORUS EXTREME AI TOP motherboard officially teased.

GIGABYTE's next-gen Z890 AORUS EXTREME AI TOP motherboard teased, full reveal at Computex 2024

We knew about 8 of the new Z890 motherboards from recent leaks, but now the official AORUS account on Instagram is teasing their Computex 2024 motherboards. In the post on Instagram, GIGABYTE goes through many years of its different motherboards, asking people what their favorite motherboards were in general, and their favorite motherboards shown off on the Instagram post.

Continue reading: GIGABYTE's next-gen Z890 AORUS EXTREME AI TOP motherboard teased, full reveal at Computex 2024 (full post)

Google teams with TSMC for next-gen Tensor G5 for new Pixel 10 smartphones

Google's custom Tensor processor was developed in collaboration with Samsung's silicon division, but now we're hearing Google has teamed with TSMC for its next-gen Tensor G5 processor for the next-generation Pixel 10 smartphones.

Google teams with TSMC for next-gen Tensor G5 for new Pixel 10 smartphones

In a new report from Android Authority, the site says that Google will have TSMC manufacture its next-gen Tensor G5, which would be the first time Google has moved away from Samsung Foundry for one of its custom processors. Android Authority has some new information regarding the Tensor G5, which you can see in the photo above.

A shipping manifest has listed the Tensor G5 sample chip, something that can be found in publicly available databases. Android Authority breaks this all down, explaining: "First of all, how do we even know this is the chip we think it is? It's simple: "LGA" is the abbreviated codename of the Tensor G5, "Laguna Beach," which has been known for a while now. Similarly, Google used to abbreviate "Whitechapel" (first-generation Tensor) as "WHI" and "Zuma Pro" (Tensor G4) as "ZPR.""

Continue reading: Google teams with TSMC for next-gen Tensor G5 for new Pixel 10 smartphones (full post)

Microsoft Auto SR upscaling tech works on these 12 games, requires Snapdragon X Elite SoC

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | May 26, 2024 6:59 AM CDT

Microsoft has officially launched its Auto SR (Automatic Super Resolution) technology, its new system-level super resolution tech, which is available on new Copilot+ PCs powered by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X Elite processor.

Microsoft Auto SR upscaling tech works on these 12 games, requires Snapdragon X Elite SoC

In order to use Microsoft's new Auto SR technology, you'll need a new Copilot+ PC powered by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X Elite processor, which you can't even buy today. Microsoft has paper launched Auto SR, with Copilot+ PCs required to play it, unavailable to buy today.

You'll also need Windows 11 version 24H2, a 1080p display at a minimum, and automatic updated to be enabled. That is, once you've got your new Copilot+ PC powered by a Snapdragon X Elite processor. The 12 games that will work on the Copilot+ PCs with Auto SR supported out of the box include:

Continue reading: Microsoft Auto SR upscaling tech works on these 12 games, requires Snapdragon X Elite SoC (full post)

NVIDIA's next-gen AI PC processor rumor: Arm CPU, Blackwell RTX GPU, LPDDR6 on single package

Anthony Garreffa | CPU, APU & Chipsets | May 26, 2024 6:02 AM CDT

NVIDIA's next-generation AI PC processor will feature Arm-based Blackhawk CPU cores, Blackwell RTX GPU cores, and next-gen LPDDR6 memory.

NVIDIA's next-gen AI PC processor rumor: Arm CPU, Blackwell RTX GPU, LPDDR6 on single package

The new details on NVIDIA's next-gen Arm-based AI PC processor comes from @XpeaGPU on X, quoting an article that talked about a new handheld and console SoC designed by NVIDIA based on the same architecture. NVIDIA looks to use multiple next-gen IPs on a single package, similar to how AMD and Intel are rolling out their new processors with CPU cores, GPU cores, NPUs, and even on-package memory.

Continue reading: NVIDIA's next-gen AI PC processor rumor: Arm CPU, Blackwell RTX GPU, LPDDR6 on single package (full post)

SpaceX selects date for next Starship launch that has more stakes than ever before

Jak Connor | Science, Space, Health & Robotics | May 24, 2024 11:49 PM CDT

SpaceX, in a significant move, has announced its fourth Starship launch scheduled for June 5, pending regulatory approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This launch marks another milestone in the company's ambitious space exploration journey.

SpaceX selects date for next Starship launch that has more stakes than ever before

Starship has been launched three times, and each of those launches had the main mission objective of reaching orbit. SpaceX managed to reach orbit on its last launch, along with the separation between the Super Heavy booster and Starship. With that goal out of the way, the Elon Musk-led company is switching its focus to arguably the most important part of Starship, getting it back on the ground safely and undamaged to enable reliable reusability.

Given the immersive size of Starship, 400-feet in total, it's not going to be easy to land the world's largest rocket. Before any land-based attempts are made, SpaceX will first gather its bearings over the ocean. Once it's happy there, it will move to rocket launch pads at its facilities.

Continue reading: SpaceX selects date for next Starship launch that has more stakes than ever before (full post)

Next DOOM game 'The Dark Ages' set to be revealed at Xbox Games Showcase

Jak Connor | Science, Space, Health & Robotics | May 24, 2024 11:17 PM CDT

The next installment in the DOOM franchise is purportedly called "DOOM: The Dark Ages," and it will be revealed at the Xbox Games Showcase on June 9, according to a new report from Insider Gaming.

Next DOOM game 'The Dark Ages' set to be revealed at Xbox Games Showcase

The new report comes after previous rumors that ID Software was preparing to reveal its next DOOM project at the Xbox Games Showcase, but at the time of those reports the new DOOM project was under the codename Year Zero. Insider Gaming has now revealed the name for title, writing it has been in development for at least four years and will take players to a "medieval inspired doom world".

The exclusive report mentions the new title could be taking players back to a much younger Doomslayer, perhaps a prequel story about his earlier life before all the blood, dust and glory. Insider Gaming writes that it can independently verify the rumors that the next DOOM game will be unveiled at the upcoming Xbox Showcase.

Continue reading: Next DOOM game 'The Dark Ages' set to be revealed at Xbox Games Showcase (full post)

NVIDIA slashes prices on 'China special' GPUs in local fight against Huawei

Jak Connor | Video Cards & GPUs | May 24, 2024 10:46 PM CDT

NVIDIA is feeling the squeeze by the US government sanctions aimed at stifling China's progression in the AI race, which the chip manufacturer has responded to by slashing prices to beat the local Chinese competition.

NVIDIA slashes prices on 'China special' GPUs in local fight against Huawei

The GPU manufacturer is attempting to make high-end products for the lucrative Chinese market that accounts for approximately 17% to its revenue for fiscal 2024., but it must now work within the strict US restrictions that ban the exportation of powerful chips that will likely be used to train AI models. NVIDIA plans to still release new GPUs in China, but these new models will have to be cutdown versions of new hardware that's limited to a specific performance point.

Reports indicate that NVIDIA found some of its Chinese customers weren't to thrilled about the new performance capped hardware, and would instead opt for domestically manufactured chips that are exponentially growing in presence. Reuters now reports NVIDIA has been forced to slash prices of some of its products to compete with new kits from Chinese technology giant Huawei.

Continue reading: NVIDIA slashes prices on 'China special' GPUs in local fight against Huawei (full post)