Latest News - Page 421

Microsoft is celebrating the New Year, President Trump returning to the White House, and a new "golden opportunity" for American technology and economic competitiveness with the announcement of $80 billion of funds at the ready to create new AI data centers.

The company has marked $80 billion to build AI data centers ready for AI workloads of the future, in order to "train AI models and deploy AI and cloud-based applications around the world".

Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith explained in a blog post: "As we look into the future, it's clear that artificial intelligence is poised to become a world-changing GPT. AI promises to drive innovation and boost productivity in every sector of the economy. The United States is poised to stand at the forefront of this new technology wave, especially if it doubles down on its strengths and effectively partners internationally".

TSMC will reportedly begin equipment move-in at its biggest CoWoS advanced packaging and testing plant -- AP8 -- in the Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP) in April 2025, according to the latest reports.

The company will have 2000 production line machines installed by the end of 2025, providing a huge boost to equipment makers, with TSMC's single largest advanced packaging plant and its production capacity being "very urgent" in the face of all this high-end chip demand.

TSMC's new CoWoS advanced packaging is in short supply, with production capacity doubled this year at its current factories in Nanke, Zhongke, and Zhunan. This year, TSMC is expected to double the production capacity of CoWoS again, with recent reports that the company is increasing prices of CoWoS advanced packaging by 15-20% this year.

ECS has just announced its new UP42KP laptop featuring an unreleased AMD Krackan Point APU, featuring Zen 5c CPU corers, RDNA 3.5 GPU cores, and an NPU with over 40 TOPS for AI workloads.

The new ECS UP42KP is based on AMD's upcoming Krackan Point APU, with 8 cores (4 x Zen 5 + 4 x Zen 5c) and Hyper-Threading enabled, which should be unveiled officially as the Ryzen AI 7 350 processor. The integrated GPU is based on the RDNA 3.5 GPU architecture, which is similar to the RDNA 3.5-based CPU inside of Strix Point and the upcoming Strix Halo APU, just nowhere near as powerful with fewer GPU cores.

The new 14-inch laptop will feature DDR5-5600 memory, Wi-Fi 6, and USB4 connectivity, with the Krackan Point APU running at between 15W and 54W TDP, similar to Strix Point APUs. We should expect the full unveiling of both AMD's new Krackan Point APUs and ECS's new UP42KP laptop at CES 2025 next week.

HDMI 2.2 is set to debut at CES 2025 alongside AMD's new Radeon RX 9000 series "RDNA 4" GPUs and NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 50 series "Blackwell" GPUs.

In a new press release issued by the HDMI Licensing Administrator (HDMI LA) to CES 2025 attendees, we'll see "license Version 2.2 HDMI Specifications" at CES 2025, hours before AMD announces its new RDNA 4 gaming GPUs. We can expect "new specifications" and "higher bandwidth" from HDMI 2.2, but there are no concrete details just yet.

As it stands, HDMI 2.1b supports bandwidths of up to 48Gbps, which can drive 4K 120Hz and 8K 60Hz, so we should expect HDMI 2.2 to be driving 8K 120Hz and beyond. We do have some new TVs on the way with 4K 165Hz (LG's new G5 series OLED TVs) so expect to see HDMI 2.2 -- at the very least -- to do 4K 165Hz (and I'd say 8K 120Hz and much higher).

AMD's processor sales have gone up quite considerably over the past two months according to the Steam survey, news that should get CPU rival Intel sitting up and taking notice.

AMD CPUs are now in 38.73% of the PCs owned by Steam gamers in the latest of Valve's hardware surveys which is for last month, December 2024.

That's up just a smidge over 3% compared to November, and in October, AMD only held 33.77% of the CPU share for Steam PCs, so Team Red is up almost 5% in the past two months. Intel is, of course, down by the same amount, as this is a two-horse race in the realm of PCs.

AMD's new Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor is doing extremely well in Germany, so much so that the X3D-powered Zen 5 chip is the most popular Zen 5 processor of them all in the country.

The company unleashed its new Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor nearly two months ago now, and since its launch the $479 processor has been selling extremely well in retailers worldwide, as well as e-tailers across the planet. Mindfactory is one of the biggest retailers in Germany, with the outlet saying it has sold around 8650 units of the 9800X3D... more units than every other Zen 5 processor... combined. Impressive.

In second place at Mindfactory, the AMD Ryzen 9 9700X processor had 2560 units sold, followed by the Ryzen 5 9600X which sold 920 units, the Ryzen 9 9900X with 820 units, and finally the Ryzen 9 9950X with 790 units. The total number of units from the rest of the Zen 5 chips comes to 5090 units, which means the 9800X3D has sold 3560 more units than every other Zen 5 chip combined at Mindfactory.

Samsung Electronics has just announced the integration of Eclipsa Audio, a groundbreaking new 3D audio technology developed in partnership with Google, and will debut inside of its 2025 TV and soundbar lineup.

The new Eclipsa Audio-powered TVs and soundbars will pump out dynamic, immersive audio content and enable seamless playback on Samsung TVs, with Eclipsa Audio delivering captivating audio and visual experiences for users like they've never seen before... or at least Samsung's press release says.

Eclipsa Audio allows creators to adjust audio data including the location and intensity of sounds, alongside spatial reflections, in order to create an immersive 3D sound experience. Samsung is the first in the industry to adopt the new Eclipsa Audio technology, integrating it into its entire 2025 TV lineup from the Crystal UHD series to the premium flagship Neo QLED 8K TVs.

NVIDIA and Qualcomm are reportedly considering switching over production of their next-gen 2nm chips to Samsung Foundry, as the costs of TSMC making new 2nm chips is too high.

Samsung Foundry needs all the semiconductor customers it can get, and if it can poach two of the biggest in NVIDIA and Qualcomm for its next-gen 2nm (SF2) process node, then that's a huge win for the South Korean semiconductor industry against TSMC.

TSMC is currently in the lead with 2nm node production with a yield rate of approximately 60% and is conducting process testing with customers including Apple, NVIDIA, and Qualcomm, which are all major customers of TSMC. However, in new reports from Koreran media, the high price of TSMC's new 2nm chips and limited production capacity, Apple has moved away from using 2nm for its new chips until 2026, while NVIDIA and Qualcomm are now considering moving to Samsung Foundry.

Samsung Electronics has announced a new multi-year partnership with Instacart, which will find its way inside of the new wave of Samsung Bespoke refrigerators, using AI to let you order new groceries directly in front of your fridge.

Samsung will use its in-house food recognition technology -- AI Vision Inside -- together with Instacart's advanced product-matching API, to enable simple, convenient, and tech-focused grocery shopping experiences for Samsung customers. The new 2025 Bespoke refrigerator models will have different types of screens, including the 32-inch AI Family Hub and a new 9-inch AI Home, with AI Vision inside.

With this combo, it'll enable consumers to replenish their favorite grocery items through Instacart by using Vision AI food recognition technology. Samsung says that with AI Vision Inside, consumers can not only manage their food inventory, but in the future, the experience will be amplified by enabling replenishment through Instacart, directly from your new refrigerator.

Let's face it: we all know NVIDIA will unleash DLSS 4 upscaling technology with its next-generation GeForce RTX 50 series "Blackwell" gaming GPUs, and now we have some 'proof' from some new leaks posted on X. Check it out:

NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs will be announced at CES 2025 and released in the weeks and months later, with the GeForce RTX 5080 launching first, and the new ultra-enthusiast and mega-expensive GeForce RTX 5090 launching in the weeks after. Now we're getting early retailer listings for an ASUS RTX 5080 graphics card which mentions DLSS 4 technology.

In a new post on X, leaker "kopite7kimi" confirmed DLSS 4 is coming by saying "DLSS 4 is true" and that we should expect those monster new 1080p 750Hz, 600Hz, and ultra-high-end 4K 240Hz QD-OLED gaming monitors have enough performance out of the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 with DLSS 4 enabled to hit those lofty high-performance mega frames.

SK hynix has teased that it will be showcasing its innovative AI memory technologies at CES 2025, with a bunch of C-level executives including the CEO will be in attendance.

SK hynix Chief Marketing Officer, Justin Kim, said: "We will broadly introduce solutions optimized for on-device AI and next-generation AI memories, as well as representative AI memory products such as HBM and eSSD at this CES. Through this, we will publicize our technological competitiveness to prepare for the future as a Full Stack AI Memory Provider".

Ahn Hyun, Chief Development Officer at SK hynix, said: "As SK hynix succeeded in developing QLC (Quadruple Level Cell)-based 61 TB products in December, we expect to maximize synergy based on a balanced portfolio between the two companies in the high-capacity eSSD market. The company will also showcase on-device AI products such as LPCAMM2 and"ZUFS 4.04, which improve data processing speed and power efficiency to implement AI in edge devices like PCs and smartphones. The company will also present CXL and PIM (Processing in Memory) technologies, along with modularized versions, CMM (CXL Memory Module)-Ax and AiMX, designed to be core infrastructures for next-generation data centers".

NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce RTX 50 series Laptop GPUs have been leaked, with the mobile Blackwell GPUs spotted inside of the PCI ID repository: the new RTX 5090, RTX 5080, RTX 5070 Ti, RTX 5070, RTX 5060, and RTX 5050 Max-Q laptop GPUs have been teased.

In the PCI ID repository files we can see "AD108M" listed against multiple RTX 50 Max-Q GPUs, suggesting that NVIDIA could replace the Blackwell GPU dies with Ada Lovelace GPU dies. AD108M doesn't really exist in the ADa family, and can only be found up to the AD107 for the RTX 50 series GPUs.

NVIDIA's Max-Q chips are usually destined for thin-and-light, power-efficiency gaming laptops versus regular Laptop GPUs for high-performance gaming laptops. AD108M seems like a strange choice, acting as an entry-level GPU for rRTX 5070 and other lower-class mobile GPUs.

MSI announces its new MPG 272URX QD-OLED gaming monitor: featuring a 27-inch 4K 240Hz panel and the latest DisplayPort 2.1a connectivity with 80Gbps of bandwidth.

The new MSI MPG 272URX QD-OLED gaming monitor is one of the first in the world to feature a 27-inch 4K 240Hz QD-OLED panel, further increasing the pixel density of 27-inch 4K OLED monitors. The current fleet of 27-inch 1440p QD-OLED gaming monitors have around 111 PPI of pixel density, while the new MPG 272URX QD-OLED gaming monitor features a much denser 166 PPI, which should look utterly gorgeous in the flesh.

MSI is using a new Samsung Display QD-OLED panel, with the company saying it's a "5-layer Tandom OLED panel with EL Gen 3" technology, but expect more concrete details on the panel at CES 2025 next week. We have the 27-inch QD-OLED panel rocking 4K at 240Hz with a 0.03ms response time, and a 3-year QD-OLED warranty for any burn-in worries.

MSI has just teased its new ultra-high-end MPG 272QR QD-OLED X50: the world's first 500Hz QD-OLED gaming monitor, featuring full DisplayPort 2.1a connectivity with up to 80Gbps of speeds through UHBR20.

The new MSI MPG 272QR QD-OLED gaming monitor is not just the first 500Hz QD-OLED gaming monitor, but it seems to be the very first to have VESA ClearMR21000 certification, so you can expect some bloody good image quality out of MSI's new flagship panel.

MSI's new MPG 272QR QD-OLED X50 gaming monitor also features VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification, a 3-year OLED warranty, and NVIDIA G-SYNC compatible. MSI also includes its in-house OLED Care 2.0 technology, minimizing the worries of OLED burn-in over the years.

MSI has just revealed its new MPG 242R X60N gaming monitor, rocking a 24.1-inch "Rapid TN" panel at 1080p and an ultra-fast 600Hz refresh rate and 0.5ms response time.

The new MSI MPG 242R X60N gaming monitor will have a native 1920 x 1080 resolution joined by its 600Hz refresh rate, supporting adaptive sync for VRR, and will fall under the AMD "FreeSync Premium Pro" certification. MSI will include its in-house Gaming Intelligence app, and support for AI Vision and AI Crosshair, because it wouldn't be an MSI gaming monitor release in 2025 without something AI included.

We have a USB Type-C connector on the MPG 242R X60N gaming monitor rated at up to 98W Power Delivery, with DP Alt mode and data delivery expected. We should see DisplayPort 1.4a (DP2.1a would be nice to see) and most likely HDMI (let's hope for HDMI 2.1 but to keep costs down, we'll see HDMI 2.0 used). We can also expect a KVM switch function for the new MPG 242R X60N gaming monitor, with the panel also supporting user-upgradeable firmware.

NVIDIA's next-gen GeForce RTX 5090 was expected to feature a 600W TDP, but new leaks suggest we'll see a 575W TDP on the company's new ultra-enthusiast graphics card.

In a new post on X, leaker "hongxing202" said "next-gen 90 > 575W" to which reputable leaker "kopite7kimi" replied with "and RTX 5080 360W". NVIDIA's current-gen flagship GeForce RTX 4090 has a 450W TDP, which means the new RTX 5090 has 125W more power at 575W TDP, making for some considerable power draw (and performance).

NVIDIA's flagship ultra-enthusiast GeForce RTX 5090 will feature the GB202 GPU with the full 21,760 CUDA cores (and the first GeForce GPU to sport over 20,000 CUDA cores). We'll have 32GB of ultra-fast GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit memory bus and 1.79TB/sec of memory bandwidth, at a 575W TDP.

Elon Musk has just posted on X that you can now watch live sports in the glorious 8K resolution in Antarctica using Starlink.

A research team used Starlink running from the laptop compartment of a backpack, with the satellite connectivity boasting 173Mbps speeds with 92ms latency. That's an impressive feat considering Antarctica is all the way at the South Pole, where there are... well... no ISP options at all apart from competing satellite internet providers that aren't as good as SpaceX's Starlink tech.

Streaming 8K video isn't easy either, requiring 100Mbps or more in my personal testing over the years streaming full 7680 x 4320 video over YouTube. A regular 100Mbps fiber connection would require buffering, but when I upgraded to a 250Mbps connection there was no buffering when streaming 8K video.

MSI's new GeForce RTX 5080 GAMING TRIO graphics card has just been leaked ahead of its CES 2025 reveal, confirming some specifications along the way.

The new MSI GeForce RTX 5080 GAMING TRIO was spotted on Chiphell before the post was removed, confirming that this is the OC Edition, and that the GeForce RTX 5080 does indeed feature 16GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit memory bus.

We will have 3 x DisplayPort connectors and 1 x HDMI port (these should be DisplayPort 2.1 connectors, and a HDMI 2.1 port) but full confirmation of that will happen when the unveiling takes place next week at CES 2025.

NVIDIA has just filed a patent for AR glasses, which would use an innovative augmented reality display system that transforms optical occlusion through digital holography.

The patent was picked up by "seti_park" on X tagging tech evangelist and XR enthusiast Robert Scoble, with NVIDIA's new AR glasses patent being one of the things that were NOT on my bingo card for 2025.

The patent explains that the backlight-free augmented reality glasses using digital holography would be "implementing sophisticated self-interference techniques with incoherent light, the system achieves superior occlusion performance while significantly reducing power consumption and form factor compared to conventional backlit AR displays. This subtractive display approach marks a fundamental shift from traditional additive AR display methods"

KOORUI is set to announce a suite of new products at CES 2025 next week, with one of them being the world's first monitor with a blistering 750Hz refresh rate.

The new KOORUI G7 gaming monitor will roll out with a 24.5-inch "Rapid TN" panel with a native 1080p resolution (1920 x 1080) and blistering 750Hz refresh rate, with a 0.5ms response time.

In a world where 144Hz, 240Hz and even 480Hz are "no longer sufficient to meet the expectations of top-tier gamers", in swoops KOORUI with its incredible G7 gaming monitor and its insane 750Hz refresh rate that the company says "brings next-level visual fluidity".