Although still focused on the business and professional market, Dell's audio products got an impressive addition last year with the arrival of the Dell Premier Wireless ANC Headset. What made it stand out was that, in addition to being certified for Microsoft Teams and Zoom, it also delivered impressive comfort, audio quality, and ANC that made it double as a great pair of on-the-go headphones.

And now, Dell is planning to enter the wireless earbud market with the Dell Pro Plus Earbuds (EB525), featuring Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and an AI-powered noise-canceling microphone. The company notes that they're the first earbuds to receive Microsoft Teams Open Office Certification for "top-tier audio quality, even in shared or high-noise environments, and ensure the strictest performance standards."

Often, voice chat is a distant second for earbuds; however, the Dell Pro Plus Earbuds are primarily business-focused, so "clear, reliable audio" is a key part of the design. Dell Pro Plus Earbuds are also Zoom-certified and designed to integrate seamlessly with Dell laptops, docks, and software.

A gamer has purchased an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card on Amazon for $1000... but received an actual BRICK instead.

Reddit user "GlassHistorical5303" posted that he ordered a PNY GeForce RTX 5080 from Amazon for around $1000, but got a physical brick instead, safely wrapped in an anti-static bag of course. His Reddit post caused quite the stir, questioning Amazon's retail policies, with the retail giant refunding his order.

There is a particular reason why the user received a brick versus the RTX 5080 he ordered, as it's the aftermath of Amazon's internal FBA logistics. Say you've ordered an RTX 5080 instead of the Redditor, Amazon would search for a totally different seller with the same stock and then ship out the product... all without checking the contents, apart from the weight of the product and the desired packaging.

Apple is set to launch its new cheaper iPhone 17e smartphone in the first half of 2026, but it won't make the same mistake it did with the iPhone 16e, but why? Let's dive in.

The launch of the iPhone 16e was an important step for Apple as it was the first use of its new in-house C1 5G modem at the time, with its new ultra-thin iPhone Air sporting its new second-gen C1X 5G modem. The iPhone 16e was meant to be a cheaper, cut-down version of the iPhone 16 base model, but it was a little too powerful and specced well against the more expensive base iPhone 16.

Apple's iPhone 16e was an iPhone 14-inspired handset with thin bezels, a 6.1-inch OLED Super Retina XDR display, a smaller notch that featured the front-facing camera and Face ID technology, which was a departure from Touch ID that was in previous iPhones.

Apple's new iPhone Air is finally here, shipping in 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB variants but if you purchased a 256GB model and wanted to mod it to 512GB or 1TB... well, it's not going to work, and here's why:

The company is severely limiting storage upgrades to the iPhone Air with modder DirectorFong trying to upgrade his new ultra-thin iPhone Air 256GB smartphone to a larger 1TB of storage using intricate soldering methods. Once he disassembled the iPhone Air and got to the logic board, the modder found the storage chip features a serial number beginning with "2NB", noting he's not noticed this configuration on previous iPhones.

The modder says that the NAND flash modules weren't sourced from the usual suspects in Samsung, SK hynix, Toshiba, or Sandisk, noting that Apple could be using leftover inventory from YMTC since that company isn't a supplier anymore because of US trade restrictions.

Meta is reportedly accelerating the development of its smart glasses project -- codenamed Hypernova -- seeking suppliers throughout South Korea to reduce its heavy dependence on China.

In a new report from Korean outlet MK picked up by @Jukanlosreve on X and their electronics industry source, Meta plans to contract DB HiTek, an SK foundry to manufacture power management integrated circuits (PMICs) for charging its upcoming AR smart glasses.

This source said that Meta representatives visited DB HiTek last month and that discussions were underway for final delivery and if that contract is finalized, production of its next-gen Hypernova AR smart glasses would begin in 2026 with a release window for 2027.

AMD's next-gen Instinct MI450X AI accelerator has reportedly "forced" NVIDIA to make changes to its Rubin VR200 AI GPU, according to the latest reports.

In a new post on X from SemiAnalysis, we're hearing rumors in order for NVIDIA's new Rubin AI GPUs to maintain a lead over AMD's upcoming Instinct MI450X series AI chips, VR200 Rubin had its HBM4 memory bandwidth increased to 20TB/sec per GPU (from 13GB/sec per GPU). Rubin went from 5TB/sec per GPU behind MI450X in memory bandwidth, to just ahead with 0.4GB/sec per GPU more bandwidth.

Not only that, VR200 Rubin was previously an 1800W TGP design, but two months ago it was bumped up to 2300W TGP, closer to Instinct MI450X which has a higher 2500W TGP. These new AI GPUs are thirsty... very, very thirsty.

Steam's latest beta test adds Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 detection, allowing gamers to easily check and see if PCs support the new security mandates.

The Steam client will soon get a new feature that helps gamers prep their PCs for modern games. New titles like Battlefield 6 and Black Ops 7 both require hardware-based security features to be enabled, including TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot. Gamers may have to go through BIOS settings to tick on the settings, and in some cases, may have to buy new systems altogether.

This can be a headache for the common gamer. To help ease the frustration of the process, Valve is baking in native detection tools into Steam that will check and see if these protocols are turned on and show the results in a handy, easy-to-read info pane.

EA has released a live-action trailer for Battlefield 6 ahead of the scheduled launch next month, and the trailer features celebrities such as Zac Efron, Paddy Pimblett, Morgan Wallen, and Jimmy Butler.

Ahead of the scheduled launch for Battlefield 6 on October 10, EA has released a live-action trailer to continue the hype train moving along, leading up to launch. The trailer opens with a full squad stepping out of a vehicle, showing the Assault class as actor Zac Efron, NBA superstar Jimmy Butler as an Engineer, artist Morgan Wallen as Support, and UFC superstar Paddy Pimblett as Recon.

The squad is then abruptly interrupted by a missile, killing them all, which was quickly followed up by a soldier asking, "Who was that?" and then another answers, "Doesn't matter, let's move."

Hades II is the current indie hit on the market, where it looks to become a top-seller on both PC and Nintendo Switch.

Supergiant's roguelike sequel is showing signs of being a big success. The game launched to critical acclaim and high playercounts on PC and Switch, where Hades II is attracting over a hundred thousand players on Steam alone. In its first 24 hours, Hades II had 103,890 players on Steam, and high playercounts are telltale signs of popular game launches.

Hades II likewise did well on Nintendo platforms. The game is currently the #1 best-seller on the Nintendo eShop's digital-only games list, dethroning Hollow Knight Silksong which had previously topped the list. At the time of writing, Hades II Switch 2 edition is #1, and the base Switch version is #2, with the first Hades game rounding out the list at #3. For the time being, Supergiant Games' underworld franchise is dominating the eShop's digital sales charts.

Amazon and Google will give NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang a call before they announce any new in-house AI chip efforts, as Jensen doesn't like being surprised by his competitors.

In a new article from The Information, it's reported that when companies like Amazon and Google have new AI chip announcements, they'll give Jensen a heads-up ahead of time, as he doesn't like being blindsided. These companies can't survive without access to NVIDIA GPUs, so they play ball with Jensen as there is no alternative, he's almost like the AI GPU Godfather.

The Information's report explains: "at the center of it all is Huang, to whom other leaders in the industry show unusual forms of deference. For example, when Amazon and Google have news to announce about their in-house AI chip efforts -- which they're developing to lessen their dependence on NVIDIA -- they've learned it's best to first give a heads up to Huang, say several people involved in these communications".

TSMC's advanced 3nm and 5nm process nodes continue to be in hot demand, as cloud and AI applications push into a full-scale explosion, expected to be "100% booked" into 2026, and it's no surprise.

In a new report from Ctee, we're learning from industry insiders who have said TSMC's new 3nm and 5nm production capacity remains fully utilized, with the capacity utilization rate (UTR) projected to hit 100% in the first half of 2026. Multiple big tech companies like Apple, Qualcomm, and MediaTek have fully soaked up TSMC's new 3nm process node, with NVIDIA's next-gen Rubin AI platform in the HPC field also expected to consume a bunch of its production capacity in 2026.

US tech companies have adopted TSMC's new 3nm process node already, with Apple's new M5 family of processors on TSMC's new 3nm node, as well as Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X2 Elite processors, while on the HPC side of things NVIDIA's next-gen Rubin GPU family and AMD's next-gen Instinct MI355X AI accelerator will debut in 2026 on TSMC's new 3nm process node.

Forza Horizon 6 is indeed coming to PlayStation 5, but not at launch, proving Microsoft still believes in a measure of exclusivity...even if it's temporary.

Years ago during the start of the PS4 generation, I remember writing an article discussing how timed exclusivity was the hottest new trend. Not much has changed since then, and publishers still make these deals. What has changed, though, is Microsoft's radical shift to break platform exclusivity and bring Xbox games to PlayStation. This prompts Microsoft to utilize temporary advantages like timed exclusives.

We're seeing this play out with Forza Horizon 6, which is timed exclusive to Xbox and PC. The racing sim won't come to PlayStation 5 at launch, but instead sometime post-release. This hasn't been the case for all cross-platform games, as Gears of War Reloaded launched day one on PS5. That was a remaster, though, and Forza Horizon 6 is a sequel release in Xbox's highly lucrative tentpole franchise.

New reports indicate that Halo Studios is working on a persistent, always-online Halo game...and Microsoft's business practices fuel speculation that the new game could also launch on PlayStation consoles.

Microsoft's dedicated Halo team is working on two projects right now. While they haven't been announced, rumors say that one of them is a Halo Combat Evolved remake on Unreal Engine 5, and the other is an online game. It's possible that the latter project is a cross-platform game that releases on PC and consoles, including Sony's PlayStation 5.

It's worth noting that the following is speculation based on rumor, but the guesswork is based on Microsoft's current business trends. Sources tell reliable leaker Rebs Gamingthat a "live service, long-term updating multiplayer game" is in the works at Halo Studios. Given Halo Infinite's success, this new multiplayer might also be free-to-play to maximize player reach.

The new Halo CE remake will reportedly take combat evolved literally by making substantial changes to gameplay.

New rumors have surfaced about the upcoming Halo Combat Evolved remake, and it sounds like Halo Studios is retooling the OG shooter for action-oriented play. The latest reports from Rebs Gaming indicate that Halo CER may have sprint built into the game--a move that will fundamentally change the flow of campaign and multiplayer battles.

The information comes from sources who were briefed on the Halo project, who say that the current testing build of Halo CER has a sprint feature. Details on how the mechanic will work were not discussed and we have to wonder how the new animations will affect sight tracking with scoped weapons, especially the game's iconic M6D Magnum pistol or the lethal sniper rifle.

Seasonic has updated its PSU calculator with two unreleased graphics cards: NVIDIA's purported GeForce RTX 5070 Ti SUPER and RTX 5070 SUPER.

In the last few months we've been hearing rumors that NVIDIA was working on its beefed-up RTX 50 SUPER series graphics cards, with the RTX 5080 SUPER, RTX 5070 Ti SUPER, and RTX 5070 SUPER... and now Seasonic is getting ahead of the game with an upgrade to its PSU calculator.

The update to the drop down list on Seasonic's PSU calculator was spotted by VideoCardz, with the RTX 5070 Ti SUPER and RTX 5070 SUPER now included on the list, even though they're not out yet. The PSU calculator lists the RTX 5070 Ti SUPER with a 350W TDP, and the RTX 5070 SUPER with a 275W TDP. This is compared to the RTX 5070 Ti with a 300W TDP and the RTX 5070 with a 250W TDP.

SAPPHIRE is cooking up its new NITRO+ X870EA WiFi PhantomLink motherboard, which features hidden power connectors and even supports ASUS BTF-ready graphics cards. Check it out:

The new SAPPHIRE NITRO+ X870EA WiFi PhantomLink motherboard is an AMD AM5 motherboard that supports Ryzen 7000, Ryzen 8000, and new Ryzen 9000 series CPUs with 4 x DDR5 DIMMs that support up to 256GB of RAM. There's also PCIe 5.0 support for graphics cards, dual Gen5 M.2 SSD slots for lots of mega-fast storage, as well as 5GbE LAN, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.

Now, what's this PhantomLink technology? SAPPHIRE's new PhantomLink technology is the hidden power connector goodness, with the powerful GC-HPWR power connector that means it's ready for ASUS BTF-ready graphics cards. It'll draw all of the power for the GPU from the motherboard, making for much cleaner gaming PC builds.

ASUS ROG and Xbox have officially unveiled the ROG Ally and Ally X, which were sold out worldwide on the Xbox Store within 24 hours.

The release date for the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X is October 16, 2025, and their release marks Xbox's first foray into the extremely competitive handheld market. The release is possibly taking place at midnight worldwide on October 16, as Insider Gaming reports. Since the ROG Ally and Ally X are consoles, they need to be picked up physically or shipped to the buyer's door.

Given how console launches have been in the past, and the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, Insider Gaming suspects retailers such as Best Buy and Walmart will be hosting midnight launch events. While this isn't officially confirmed, it does make the most sense for the launch of the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X, and if true, the below launch times will be correct globally.

OneXPlayer has just teased its new OneXfly Apex gaming handheld, the company's first debut of an AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 "Strix Halo" APU-powered gaming handheld. Check it out:

The new OneXPlayer OneXfly Apex gaming handheld sports the flagship Strix Halo APU which features 16 cores and 32 threads of Zen 5 processing power, an 8-inch 120Hz display (no word on resolution or panel type just yet), adjustable triggers, up to 120W of power with silent liquid cooling, and more.

AMD's flagship Ryzen AI Max+ 395 "Strix Halo" APU ships with 16C/32T of Zen 5 CPU goodness, a beefy RDNA 3.5-powered Radeon 8060S integrated GPU with 40 Compute Units, and support for up to 128GB of RAM.

Intel still has its next-gen Panther Lake CPUs in its semiconductor ovens right now preparing for a release later this year, with new leaks on the laptop CPU which features upgraded Xe3 "Celestial" GPU cores, and more.

In a new video from leaker Moore's Law is Dead, we're hearing that Intel's new Panther Lake-H processors launching later this year will feature up to 4 x Cougar Cove P-Cores, 8 x Darkmont E-Cores, and 4 x Darkmont LPE-Cores for a total of 16C/16T.

The Panther Lake-H sports 3 active tiles which are made up of the CPU/SOC die fabbed on Intel 18A with the 4 P-Cores + 8 E-Cores, a separate 4 x LPE Core IP block, 50+ TOPS of NPU for AI workloads, an LPDDR5X memory controller, media controllers, and display output. This is joined by 1 x PCD (Platform Controller Die) fabbed on TSMC N6 with wireless/LAN, PCIe, the Security Engine, and USB controllers. Lastly, there's the integrated GPU die with 12 x Xe3 "Celestial" EUs fabbed on TSMC's N3E process node.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang says that developing AI infrastructure is "absolutely necessary" for nations to win the AI race, adding that "nobody needs atomic bombs, everyone needs AI".

Throughout the year, we've seen multiple nations either double down or go all-in on creating AI supercomputers and datacenters, with NVIDIA's dominant AI GPUs filling them all, including throughout the Middle East in countries like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Europe.

In a new interview with BG2, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said that building AI infrastructure would become a necessity for nations, and that the importance of AI is so big that it's probably even bigger than building nuclear bombs when you factor in the long-term potential and impact of AI.