Latest News - Page 434

Broadcom has just announced its new 3.5D eXtreme Dimension System in Package (XDSiP) platform technology, which enables consumer AI customers to develop next-generation custom accelerators (XPUs).

The new 3.55D XDSiP integrates over 6000 mm2 of silicon and up to 12 HBM stacks in a single package, enabling high-efficiency, lower-power computing for AI at scale. Broadcom says that it has achieved this significant milestone by developing and launching the industry's first Face-to-Face (F2F) 3.5D XPU.

Broradcom explains: "The immense computational power required for training generative AI models relies on massive clusters of 100,000 growing to 1 million XPUs. These XPUs demand increasingly sophisticated integration of compute, memory, and I/O capabilities to achieve the necessary performance while minimizing power consumption and cost. Traditional methods like Moore's Law and process scaling are struggling to keep up with these demands. Therefore, advanced system-in-package (SiP) integration is becoming crucial for next-generation XPUs".

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang attended the AI Vision event in Thailand last week, announcing a "sovereign AI" project with local AI company Siam.AI Cloud, the country's first Thai NVIDIA Cloud Partner.

In a new post from the Bangkok Post, we're learning that Siam.AI Cloud also announced comprehensive partnerships with leading institutions to drive the national digital transformation with "sovereign AI". NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang has talked about sovereign AI many times in the past (in the links below) which refers to a nation's ability to provide AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce, and business networks.

Jensen said: "Thailand recognizes the importance of having AI infrastructure and data. Siam AI Cloud is the first AI cloud in Thailand, the first AI language in Thailand, with the OpenThai GPT local large language model, and this is an extraordinary moment. And frankly, there are only 20 countries in the world that have done this".

ASRock has just shown off DDR5 memory overclocking on its Z890 Taichi OCF motherboard, passing 10,000 MT/s with regular ait cooling and at ambient room temperatures.

We've already seen ASRock's new Z890 Taichi OCF motherboard used by professional overclockers reaching speeds of 12,666 MT/s but it required much more cooling, and now we have overclocker Nick Shih at HKEPC hardware achieving a world record for dual-DIMM memory overclocking. This is the first time that dual-rank memory has been used to surpass the 10,000 MT/s barrier.

Room temperature, no dedicated cooling on the DDR5 DIMMs (which were v-color Manta Xfinity RGB DDR5 memory modules) on the ASRock Z890 Taichi OCF motherboard. The 48GB kit of DDR5 (2 x 24GB sticks) were running at 5066MHz each, or 10133MT/s speeds.

TSMC's initial 2nm manufacturing yields have been better than expected during recent trial runs at its fab in north Taiwan, Hsinchu, with mass production of 2nm chips on schedule for 2025.

In a new report from Taiwanese outlet LTN and their supply chain sources, TSMC's 2nm trial production yield rate was "better than expected" and that the world's most advanced process technology will be mass-produced in 2025. TSMC's new 2nm process node will use nanosheet architecture for the very first time in the semiconductor industry, and is currently in trial production at TSMC's fab in Baoshan.

TSMC's new 2nm process node will see the company debut its next-gen nanosheet architecture, and after its 2nm node, we'll see the A16 process node that will combine the Super Power Rail architecture and nanosheet transistors, with TSMC's next-gen A16 node expected to hit mass production in 2026.

ASUS has just unveiled its new 32-inch ProArt Display 6K PA32QCV monitor which features a stunning 6016 x 3384 resolution with 226 pixels per inch (PPI) for unparalleled image clarity, making it ideal for video editors, photographers, and AI artists. Check it out:

The company compares its new 32-inch ProArt Display 6K PA32QCV monitor with another monitor of the same size but with a native 4K resolution, the new ProArt Display 6K PA32QCV features 145% more onscreen workspace which provides a bigger canvas for professionals to work with.

The new ASUS 32-inch ProArt Display 6K PA32QCV features 98% DCI-P3 and 100% sRGB coverage, with VESA DisplayHDR 600 certification, providing true-to-life color reproduction.

Video games industry expert and data analyst Joost van Dreunen has dire predictions for Ubisoft.

After a string of failed games, years of controversy, numerous creative and financial restructurings, and costly mismanagement, Ubisoft isn't in a great place right now. It's to the point where Ubisoft is said to be considering partners in an effort to buy out all remaining company stock and take the games-maker private. The idea is to go private before someone makes a hostile takeover attempt. Tencent is one such partner, and rightly so given the share position in both Ubisoft and Ubisoft's principal shareholder; Ubisoft's majority shares are in the control of the Guillemot family under a company called Guillemot Bros., of which Tencent has 49.9% stake.

New reports say that Ubisoft's shareholders are currently involved, meaning a plan could be executed in the coming months. Some industry experts like Joost van Dreunen, founder of now-absorbed analyst firm SuperData, believe that the French publisher will essentially be made private while it sells pieces of itself off.

PlayStation's new image-upscaling AI tech isn't without its flaws and limitations, and some games actually end up looking worse having utilized it.

The $700 PlayStation 5 Pro owes its high-end performance to two main upgrades: The new beefed-up GPU, and PlayStation Spectral Resolution Scaling, or PSSR. So what is PSSR? It's basically Sony's own proprietary version of NVIDIA's DLSS AI-driven upscaling technology. Sony worked with AMD to engineer custom machine learning hardware onto the PS5 Pro's SoC, and has trained PSSR's AI on its first-party games.

"And finally, we added custom hardware for machine learning, and an AI library called PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution. PSSR analyzes the game's images pixel by pixel, and can add an extraordinary amount of detail which boosts the effect of resolution for the games," PS5 Pro architect Mark Cerny said in the console's technical reveal showcase.

ViewSonic is reportedly preparing to unveil a monster new OLED gaming monitor at CES 2025 with the introduction of a new 27-inch 1440p OLED gaming monitor with a blistering 520Hz refresh rate.

The details on the new ViewSonic 27-inch 1440p 520Hz OLED gaming monitor are coming from German outlet ComputerBase, but outside of the size, panel, resolution and refresh rate, we don't know much else. We should expect some "Dual Mode" functionality like other gaming monitors have been rolling out with lately, probably to 4K but at a lower refresh rate (240/260Hz most likely).

ViewSonic should unveil a suite of new monitors at CES 2025, including a new ColorPro monitor that will be targeted at professionals with a higher-pixel 5K resolution and Thunderbolt 4 connectivity. This is aimed at professionals who are seeking higher color accuracy for their photo and video editing workloads.

Can you imagine Valve stepping into the console market with a SteamOS-powered device? Well, that's what the new "Valve Fremont" could be, and it would compete against PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

In a swirl of rumors over the weekend, the Valve Fremont turned up and it could be a new console that plugs into your TV, found by Redditor "Coolbho3k" who discovered a change in the Steam Deck Kernel by a Valve staffer, who was testing something called "Fremont".

Valve's purported Fremont device appeared to have an AMD "Lilac" chip, but Brad Lynch from EOZ (which makes VR straps) posted on X that Quanta Computer is manufacturing the Valve Fremont device. Brad thinks that the Lilac was the original PCB that Valve used in its first prototype of Fremont, but now has a completely different, fully finished board.

A new Nintendo job listing may give clues on what to expect from the Switch 2's storage speeds.

Nintendo's new Switch successor could use high-end micro SD storage tech to deliver better gameplay experiences. As spotted by YouTuber SuperMetalDave64, Nintendo of America is currently hiring a PCB layout engineer and they'd like the candidate to have experience with SD Express flash storage.

What's SD Express? It's a relatively new spec that allows Micro SD cards to deliver up to 985 MB/sec speeds. That's a much higher rate than the current-gen Switch, and better speeds will be instrumental in delivering the higher-resolution assets in new Switch 2 games. In February of this year, Samsung announced its line of SD Express cards that are capable of up to 800MB/sec speeds.

After a string of sales misses from its recent games lineup, it looks like Square Enix has hit it big with its latest Dragon Quest RPG.

Instead of just re-releasing older games in their original formats ad infinitum, Square Enix had the unique idea to supercharge classic RPGs with a mix of both old-school and new-school graphics. The result is a charming visual style that appeals to anyone who grew up in the 80s and 90s, the kind of warm and magical style found in Octopath Traveller. Square has turned this new reinvigorated lens to one of its best-selling franchises of all time: Dragon Quest.

Fans have showed up for the new Dragon Quest III HD-2D release en masse. The game has sold more than 2 million copies combined across PS5, Xbox Series consoles, and PC, which bodes well for Square Enix. Typically, these HD-2D projects cost less to produce and ship than big AAA projects like Final Fantasy XVI.

iFixit's storefront gets new additions and now sells OEM replacement parts for Xbox consoles.

If your Xbox console goes on the fritz, iFixit has you covered. Well that's typically the case regardless thanks to their amazing tear-down guides. But it goes double now that iFixit's store is starting to sell replacement console hardware components.

The repair gurus have added official genuine Microsoft replacement parts for Xbox Series consoles to their digital store, including the base Xbox Series S and the all-digital and disc-based Xbox Series X models.

Fortnite is expanding with a new dedicated FPS mode aimed at taking on first-person live service giants.

Fortnite, a game that has earned over $20 billion in less than 10 years, regularly tops the charts on both PC and console. It already competes with live service giants like Call of Duty, but now Fortnite is directly taking on the competition with a new FPS mode.

Fortnite's new FPS mode is called Ballistic, and it's a 5v5 team-based tactical shooter launching in early access on December 11. Ballistic is basically Epic's take on its rival's decade-spanning mega-hit, Counter-Strike--gamers are on defense or offense, and one team has to plant a "Rift Point Device" in a designated location while the other tries to stop them. Sound familiar?

The Wiiboy gets updated with a thinner design and will soon be open sourced so DIY enthusiasts can build their own.

Modders have done some amazing things with gaming tech over the years, including cramming an entire Wii console into an on-the-go handheld. We've seen a fe iterations of mini Wii systems, including the G-Boy handheld and ShankMods' PiiWii. Now we have the Wiiboy from YouTube tinkerer Ginger of Oz.

The new Wiiboy 2.0 features some upgrades over the original model, with a 480p IPS panel with bezel and a chassis that's half a millimeter thinner than the original Wiiby Color 1.0, but overall it's just another clear example as to the innovations being made in the modding and custom PCB scenes.

After a string of disappointing games, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot reiterates plans to focus on more profitable projects.

Ubisoft is under a lot of pressure right now. In a bid to stay competitive and capture more of the best-earning segments on the market, the French games-maker has spent multitudes of millions on failed game projects including XDefiant, a live service Call of Duty contender that was recently sunset by the group, who already operates the successful Rainbow Six Siege. Ubisoft has also missed the mark on other high-profile AAA game productions, including Star Wars Outlaws, a game that delivered soft sales and went under a radical re-work in an attempt to appease spurned fans.

Faced with growing costs and fiduciary duty to deliver growth to shareholders, Ubisoft has made all the usual cuts to reduce spending: Division-based layoffs, studio closures, and project cancellations like the ill-fated XDefiant. One reaction to the Outlaws reception, and the current games industry market trends, was to delay Assassin's Creed Shadows outside of the critical holiday season and into February 2025. This delay was a major hit to Ubisoft's projected earnings--the company simply expected to sell a lot of copies of AC Shadows during Christmas.

Path of Exile 2 releases into early access as a verified hit on PC, breaking more than 450,000 peak concurrent players on Steam.

The year of RPGs just keeps on giving as Grinding Gear Games today kicked of Path of Exile 2's long journey into early access. The game has been received well so far, but it's not free-to-play just yet: Users can buy early access to the game starting at $30, giving them a more direct stake in helping shape Path of Exile 2 over time.

Despite the high numbers, the launch hasn't been perfect. Massive popularity means massive strain on the servers. Path of Exile's online infrastructure buckled under the weight of interested gamers and the servers crashed throughout the day.

NetEase's new Marvel game proves there's plenty of room for competition in the hero shooter genre.

Today, Marvel Rivals enjoyed a successful global launch onto consoles and PC. The free-to-play hero shooter has exploded onto the PC market and could be a contender for another top live service game. At launch, Rivals managed to break over 440,000 concurrent users on Steam. The game is currently not loaded into the PS Store best-seller tracker so we don't know how popular the game is on PlayStation. After this major milestone is reached, one big question remains: Can NetEase and Marvel keep up this momentum with seasonal updates?

The F2P PVP hero shooter has gained significant attention for its multiverse character designs and overall monetization strategy. Rivals packs in an eclectic variety of 33 different comic heroes across a wide range of series, all of which are wrapped up in an evolving narrative-driven storyline that will expand with new seasonal updates. If done right, Marvel could have its own Overwatch-Fortnite hybrid.

ASUS has either intentionally covertly teased an impressive upcoming gaming monitor or accidentally revealed what it plans to showcase at CES 2025 in January next year.

Gaming monitor names, while being very unattractive and difficult to remember, do typically reveal some information about the monitor. For example, the ROG Swift OLED PG32UDCM is ASUS's 4K 32-inch OLED gaming monitor. This is a good rule of thumb when shopping for monitors, as the number in the model name typically represents the size of the display. Why is that relevant? Well, reports indicate that ASUS teased the launch of new OLED gaming monitors with a post on Instagram that has since been removed.

The post poked some fun at the company's monitor naming choices and then showcased the following text: "What're we calling our newest monitor?" - "ROG Swift OLED PG27UCDM." Notably, the PG27UCDM doesn't currently exist, and if the naming is anything to go by, it will be a smaller version of the PG32UCDM, which means it will be a 4K OLED gaming monitor with a 240Hz refresh rate and 0.03ms response time. The difference between the two displays will be pixel density, as the PG27UCDM will have a 166 PPI, ushering in incredibly crisp and sharp visual fidelity.

A new report from Reuters has claimed Ubisoft Entertainment SA is currently engaging in close discussions with Tencent on organizing a possible buyout of Ubisoft, the development studio behind popular video game franchise Assassin's Creed.

Reuters cites two people familiar with the matter who spoke to the publication on the condition of anonymity, and according to these sources, Ubisoft is attempting to initiate a buyout but keep the majority of control in the hands of the Guillemot family, currently the largest and founding shareholder. According to Reuters, the Guillemot family has been in talks with Tencent about the buyout, which currently owns a 10% stake in Ubisoft.

Reuters reports Tencent has yet to decide on if it will greenlight the buyout, as Tencent reportedly wants a greater say in future decisions made by Ubisoft's board, along with a cash flow distribution in return for financing the deal. The publication notes that discussions between Ubisoft and Tencent are ongoing as both parties want to prevent Ubisoft from suffering from a hostile takeover by outside investors. One of the sources told Reuters that Tencent's plan is to wait for the Guillemot family to agree to the terms of its current deal.

Microsoft Threat Intelligence has warned that a Chinese government espionage hacking group is targeting critical US infrastructure, such as telecommunications networks, financial and legal services industries, and government and non-government agencies.

Sherrod DeGrippo, the director of threat intelligence strategy at Microsoft, spoke with The Register, saying the new group Microsoft is tracking under the moniker "Storm-0227" began targeting critical US infrastructure as soon as yesterday. DeGrippo says the group has been active since January but didn't say its total number of victims. Notably, DeGrippo said the group's members have some overlap with Silk Typhoon, a notorious Chinese government-affiliated hacking group known for healthcare, law firms, higher education, defense contractors, and non-governmental organizations.

Furthermore, over the past 12 months, Microsoft has seen a significant increase in the frequency of attacks by Chinese hacking groups. As for how the hacking is done, The Register reports Storm-0227 typically infiltrates a system by exploiting security vulnerabilities in public-facing applications and spear-fishing emails that contain contaminated links or attachments. The objective of Storm-0227 is to get a victim to click on a document that automatically downloads SparkRAT, an open-source remote administration tool that enables the controller administrative access to a machine.