Latest News - Page 408

When Microsoft first unveiled Windows Recall, it was met with heavy criticism for its intrusive nature on a PC, along with the potential security risk as a result of the feature working as intended.

For those that don't know, Windows Recall works by indiscriminately taking screenshots of a user's desktop and then storing those images within a folder. Users are able to "recall" what they were doing on a PC earlier in the day by simply asking via natural language or scrubbing through the time. While at face value, that seems like an interesting tool, but the word "indiscriminately" should be emphasized here, as Recall will capture everything on the desktop, meaning passwords, sensitive data, confidential information, and any other personal digitized information. A hacker gaining access to the folder containing screenshots of a session could prove a catastrophic security risk for that individual.

Microsoft has since added more layers of security to Recall in its re-release of the new app, which has also seen Recall become available on Copilot+ PC hardware. Since the re-release, Windows Insiders with Copilot+ PC hardware have been reporting issues with Recall, some of which have been officially recognized by Microsoft, who will address them in future updates. The expansion of Recall continues with Redmond announcing via its Windows Blog that Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2510 (KB5048780) to the Dev Channel contains support for AMD and Intel-powered Copilot PCs.

Quantum computing, much like the acronym AI (artificial intelligence), has been caught in the lexicon as a piece of technology we will much more widely integrate into society sometime in the future. Today, that future just took a much bigger than anticipated step closer to the present, as Google has unveiled "Willow," the company's most advanced quantum processor.

Quantum computing has been around since the 1990s, and engineers, physicists, and scientists alike have been battling one big but tiny problem with implementing the technology: the number of errors it generates. Firstly, quantum computing is completely different than classical computers, which conduct calculations based on whether a bit is a 0 or a 1. However, quantum computing changes things, as it uses tiny pieces of information called qubits, or quantum bits, which can be on, off, or both.

Moreover, quantum computing also introduces quantum entanglement, an observable phenomenon that connects two particles together, synchronizing their states. The quantum entangled particles aren't restricted in distance, as their connection can stretch as far as the other side of the universe. But what does that all have to do with computing? Quantum computers are designed to exploit the mysteries of quantum mechanics, the study of how physical matter exhibits the properties of both particles and waves, but there are a few problems that need to be worked out first.

It was only last week Microsoft clamped down on the hardware restrictions of Windows 11 by requiring systems to have TMP 2.0 for Redmond's latest operating system. Now, the company has seemingly changed its mind with a new blog post detailing the process of how to get Windows 11 onto a machine with hardware that doesn't meet Windows 11's hardware requirements.

Microsoft explained in its recent blog post that it doesn't recommend running Windows 11 on hardware that doesn't meet its specifications, as it means the machine won't receive critical security updates, making the system exponentially more vulnerable to progressively sophisticated cyber attacks. However, Microsoft writes that if the OS needs to be installed on an older machine, it can be, but a watermark is added to the Windows 11 desktop, along with a notification displayed in Settings to notify the user the hardware requirements haven't been met.

For those wondering if getting Windows 11 running on an outdated machine will cause more headaches than leaving it on Windows 10, don't worry, there is always the option of rolling back the machine to the older generation OS. Microsoft writes users can do this by going through the system recovery process. Right-click on the Start menu and select Settings > System > Recovery.

Microsoft recently took to its blog to announce that Copilot has become available for Windows Insiders and that the new software is "native" to Windows 11. However, that doesn't seem to be the case.

According to recent reports, Microsoft appears to have mistakenly labeled Copilot's new app as "native" to Windows 11, as the new Copilot loads copilot.microsoft.com. The difference between the new and old versions of Copilot is Microsoft's new AI companion no longer uses Microsoft Edge's Progressive Webb System (PWA) but still uses the rendering engine that powers Edge, WebView 2. Notably, WindowsCentral reports that the only part of Copilot that is "native" to Windows is the menu in the title bar and the About screen.

It's likely that Microsoft is referring to the new hotkey functionality as being "native" to Windows, as Windows Insiders are able to press Alt+Spacebar keys to bring up a new quick view interface for Copilot. However, this is still the Copilot website, just in a smaller window. Additionally, this new feature adds Copilot to Windows' System Tray. It should be noted that Copilot is still in preview, meaning many of these problems or lack of features will be added to or fixed before Copilot becomes available to the wider public.

Marvell has just unveiled its new custom HBM compute architecture, enabling XPUs to have even higher levels of compute performance and memory density.

The new HBM compute architecture is available on all of its custom silicon partners, with Marvell collaborating with its cloud customers and leading HBM manufacturers SK hynix, Samsung, and Micron to develop custom HBM solutions for next-generation XPUs.

Will Chu, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Custom, Compute and Storage Group at Marvell, said: "The leading cloud data center operators have scaled with custom infrastructure. Enhancing XPUs by tailoring HBM for specific performance, power, and total cost of ownership is the latest step in a new paradigm in the way AI accelerators are designed and delivered. We're very grateful to work with leading memory designers to accelerate this revolution and, help cloud data center operators continue to scale their XPUs and infrastructure for the AI era".

NVIDIA's vision of the future of AI compute has been teased: the AI GPU leader sees the use of a silicon photonics interposer, 3D stacked DRAM, and GPU 'tiers' that tease GPU on GPU tech in the future.

In a new post on X from Ian Cutress, NVIDIA's vision of the future of AI compute has many different layers: module level cooling with a cold plate, die-to-die and tier-to-tier electrical connect, 3D stacked fine-grained DRAM, vertical power delivery, integrated silicon photonics, and an advanced package substrate.

Cutress reports that NVIDIA teased the silicon photonics interposer, SiPh intrachip and interchip, 12 SiPh connects wth 3 per GPU tile, 4 GPU tiles per tier, GPU 'tiers' as the image above shows, and 3D stacked DRAM with 6 per tile, fine-grained.

Steam set a new record for concurrent players on December 8, with 39,205,447 people logging in and playing games. This broke the previous record of around 38 million set in September 2024, which probably means it's only a matter of time before Valve's PC gaming platform hits 40 million concurrent players. Will it be another three months before the record is broken again? Time will tell.

The new record was set because some major PC releases dropped simultaneously, including Path of Exile 2, Marvel Rivals, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Path of Exile 2, the highly anticipated action-RPG sequel launched into Early Access, hit an impressive 578,569 peak concurrent player count on December 8, while Marvel Rivals' big free-to-play 1.0 launch hit 480,990 concurrent players. Both games are proving to be popular on the streaming platform Twitch, where they are climbing up the charts.

In addition to new titles, existing PC powerhouses like Counter-Strike 2, PUBG: Battlegrounds, and DOTA 2 saw massive player counts on December 8. Valve's games continue to be popular on the platform, including classics like Team Fortress 2. Here's a look at the current top 25 most-played games on Steam as of December 11, 2024.

FIPS 140-3 Level 2 Validation, or the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS), refers to the cryptographic module found in enterprise SSDs. These standards and security requirements laid out by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are used as a metric for companies and federal agencies to obtain hardware that meets stringent and specific government requirements.

KIOXIA's CM7 Series NVMe SSD brings PCIe 5.0 speed and performance to servers and storage applications, covering everything from AI to high-performance computing and transaction processing databases. Meeting the latest FIPS 140-3 standard makes them an excellent choice for all industries and federal agencies.

Compared to the FIPS 140-2 requirements, FIPS 140-3 includes stronger authentication and higher security standards for SSDs.

AMD's upcoming flagship Strix Halo APU has been spotted, with the new Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor getting churned through Geekbench, ahead of its CES 2025 reveal.

The new AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 "Strix Halo" APU was spotted on Geekbench with the full name of "AMD RYZEN AI MAX+ 395 w/ Radeon 8060S" confirming that the flagship Strix Halo includes the "Max+" naming scheme, dropping the "9" that we saw with Strix Point APUs.

AMD's new Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor will feature 16 cores and 32 threads of Zen 5 CPU power, with the largest amount of integrated GPU cores with 40 RDNA 3.5-based Compute Units. We should also see 32MB of L3 cache per CCD, for a total of 64MB of MALL cache. We'll see up to 96GB of RAM supported on the flagship Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor, too.

AMD Ryzen 9 9800X3D is the undisputed gaming champion - you can read about it in our in-depth review of Team Red's first Zen 5 X3D chip. After a string of somewhat lackluster CPU launches from both AMD and Intel this year, at least when viewed from the perspective of a PC gamer, the 9800X3D arrived on the scene like Duke Nukem 3D - ready to kick butt and chew some bubblegum.

With AMD's 3D V-cache technology, it's a CPU designed for gaming performance. However, its 8-core and 16-thread design also brought non-gaming performance improvements to the X3D line-up. This presents a best-of-both-worlds option to consumers, which has led to the AMD Ryzen 9 9800X3D CPU selling out in several locations.

Currently, demand for the 9800X3D exceeds supply, and AMD is working to alleviate this. However, even though new CPUs are being sent to retailers every week, you might have to wait until 2025.

Dell's next-gen Pro Max 18 and 16 Pro Max workstation laptops have been leaked, powered by Intel's new Core Ultra 200HX "Arrow Lake-HX" processor, and NVIDIA's current-gen Ada-based workstation RTX 5000 series GPU, and Thunderbolt 5 connectivity.

In some new leaks, we're learning that the new Dell Pro Max 18 and Pro Max 16 workstation laptops will feature 170W to 200W for the CPU + GPU combo for the 18-inch and 16-inch laptops, respectively. Dell's new laptops will feature the industry's first 3-fan mobile workstation setup, with up to 256GB of CAMM2 memory, and up to 16TB of SSD storage on the 18-inch model, up to 12TB of SSD storage on the 16-inch model.

Dell will have the ultra-fast Thunderbolt 5 standard offering 80-120Gbps of bandwidth, with a Tandem OLED display option up for grabs, built-in Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 5.4 5G WWAN for connectivity.

PNY has just unveiled its new CS2150 M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen5 SSD, in both 1TB and 2TB capacities with read speeds of up to 10.3GB/sec (10,300MB/sec) and pricing that starts at just $99. Check it out:

The new PNY CS2150 Gen5 SSDs feature sequential reads of up to 10,300MB/sec and write speeds of up to 8600MB/sec, offering blistering performance that won't break the bank. The company says that its groundbreaking solution "elevates computing performance to new heights".

PNY talks about its new CS2150 Gen5 SSD, saying it's: "perfect for professionals, tech enthusiasts, content creators, and anyone demanding top-tier storage performance, the CS2150 sets a new standard for speed and efficiency".

Those of you thinking about buying a new car might be a bit shocked to know that you can grab the latest model simply by heading to Amazon - if you're after a Hyundai, that is.

Amazon Autos is the retail giant's play to get into the car sales game, and it's available right now to customers across 48 cities in the US.

People can head to Amazon and browse through Hyundai's range, then order a new car from a participating local dealer, including arranging finance if necessary, and scheduling a pick-up time at said dealership.

It was only early last month Elon Musk appeared on the Joe Rogan Podcast, where he opened the show by discussing what he believes are the benefits of playing video games and also briefly touching on how he is one of the best Diablo IV players on Earth.

These claims aren't anything unusual from Musk, as the Tesla and SpaceX CEO discussed previously in interviews the time he spent playing several video games. As for the claims with Diablo IV specifically, Musk, at the time of the Rogan interview, held the 20th position for the fastest clear of The Pit, an end-game level piece of content that puts the player up against hordes of monsters. The goal is to beat The Pit in the fastest time possible, and according to Helltides.com, Musk's time of 2 minutes and 45 seconds earned him the 20th position on the website's leaderboards.

However, there are some caveats to this claim. Diablo IV doesn't have official leaderboard rankings, meaning Helltides' rankings consist of players who manually submit their clear times. Helltides is renowned as the go-to place for leaderboard rankings in Diablo IV. But that isn't the worst of the caveats. According to Pirate Software, or Jason Thor Hall, a previous engineer at Blizzard who worked on banning more than two million World of Warcraft accounts for in-game exploits, hacking, and other violations against ToS, Elon Musk is using an exploit within Diablo IV to achieve his world-renowned clear time of The Pit.

Samsung is making advancements on its next-gen HBM4 memory, reportedly gearing up for new 1c DRAM mass production, which is a critical component of the competitiveness of its next-gen HBM4 memory chips.

In a new report from South Korean media outlet ZDNet, Samsung has started ordering equipment from its partners to start a 1c DRAM production line at its Pyeong Plant 4 (P4) with the installation expected to begin in Q1 2025. The introduction of Samsung's production equipment for its new 1c DRAM is expected to begin in February 2025, with more investments into the technology once yield rates stabilize.

ZDNet reports that Samsung had "good dies" from its 1c DRAM production, as it was in pilot line testing for the first time in Q3 2024. The new 1c DRAM represents the 6th generation 10nm-class DRAM, with a circuit line that is around 11-12nm, with it being one generation ahead of the currently commercialized 1b DRAM (5th generation) and is expected to reach full commercialization in 2025.

Tesla is preparing to launch a new Model Q hatchback EV that will cost under $30,000 and launch in the first half of 2025.

In a new report from The Wall Street Journal, which has a copy of Deutsche Bank's report, we can expect the new Tesla Model Q in 1H 2025 at under $30,000. WSJ reporter Becky Peterson writes: "I got a copy of the Deutsche Bank report. Here's what it does say: 1. Travis Axelrod met with DB for its Autonomous Driving Day on December 5 in NYC. 2".

"DB describes"the new Tesla model"which it calls"Model Q". 3. DB says it will launch in the first half of 2025, and will cost less than $30k with subsidies, or $37,499 if Trump cancels the IRA tax credit. 4. DB says it will be built on Tesla's existing lines".

Grand Theft Auto 6 will have a "significant online mode" that Rockstar will continue to make millions of dollars from not just in the months post-launch, but years into the future according to the latest leaks.

In a new report from Bloomberg, we're learning more information on GTA 6 from writer Jason Schreier, who reports that Rockstar has not only missed multiple deadlines for the game, but publisher Take-Two says that Rockstar and Grand Theft Auto 6 are "now on track".

Schreier said that GTA 6 has "already missed multiple deadlines, a common practice at Rockstar, but Take-Two says it's now on track. Sales of the game, while likely to be astronomical, won't tell the whole story. The title will feature a significant online mode, selling in-game content designed to generate revenue for years into the future. That's how Take-Two kept GTA 5 going for more than a decade".

Samsung Electronics has successfully completed the development of its groundbreaking 400-layer NAND technology, announcing the news at its Semiconductor Research Institute.

The South Korean giant has started transferring its new advanced technology to the mass production line of its Plant 1 at its Pyeongtaek campus, which started last month. In a new report from Business Korea, we're learning that this significant milestone positions Samsung at the forefront of the NAND flash technology business.

SK hynix recently unveiled that it has started mass production of its 321-layer NAND, but Samsung is a larger step ahead of their South Korean rival with its new 400-layer NAND. Samsung plans to provide details on its new 1Tb 400-layer triple-level cell (TLC) NAND at the International Solid-State Conference (ISSCC) 2025 which will be held in the US in February 2025.

ASRock has just unveiled its new flagship OLED gaming monitor with the introduction of the new Phantom Gaming PG32UFS, rocking a 4K resolution on a WOLED panel, with a super-smooth 240Hz refresh rate.

The new ASRock Phantom Gaming PG32UFS monitor uses a WOLED panel with a 32-inch 4K 240Hz combo of goodness, with a Dual-Mode feature that goes from 4K 240Hz to 1080p 480Hz.

The WOLED panel that ASRock uses features DisplayHDR True Black 400 certification, with the older DisplayPort 1.4 standard over some competing high-end gaming monitors using DisplayPort 2.1a.

Russia seems to still very easily get US-made tech after the US government (and its allies) imposed sanctions on the country, but weapons recovered from the special military operation in Ukraine have been found with US-made tech and semiconductors from the likes of Intel, Texas Instruments, and more.

In a new report from Bloomberg, we're learning that Russian weapons recovered from the battlefields in the region are "chock full of gear" from companies like Intel, Analog Devices, and more, adding "much to the frustration of officials in Washington, Brussels, and Kyiv".

The outlet got its hands on a "cache of records" that revealed new data showing just how easy-flowing the supply chain between Silicon Valley and Russia really is. The records show that many of the steps that suppliers to Russia's military take to get components from US chipmaker Texas Instruments, unbeknownst to the company itself. The data also reveals that identify Russian distributors handing out thousands of shipments on their way to Russia's military contractors, including multiple of them being under US sanctions.