Connectivity & Cloud - Page 2

The Peripheral Component Interconnect Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG) has just announced the release of version 0.7 of the PCIe 7.0 specifications for the approval of PCI-SIG members.

PCI-SIG is the body that sets the standards for the interface that billions of computers use on their motherboards to connect to devices like GPUs, super-fast SSDs, and more. PCI-SIG has plans to finalize the PCIe 7.0 specifications later this year, in order to keep up with its new standards being unleashed every 3 years.

PCIe 7.0 will be an incredible upgrade in bandwidth, offering double what PCIe 6.0 will offer -- which offers double what PCIe 5.0 is capable of -- with 128GT/s raw bit rate, which works out to a bi-directional transfer speed of 512GB/sec on an x16 connection. PCIe 7.0 will also use Pulse Amplitude Modulation with 4 levels (PAM4) signaling, something that was introduced with PCIe 6.0, allowing it to encode two bits of data per clock cycle, effectively doubling the data rate versus the signaling tech inside of PCIe 5.0 and PCIe 4.0 standards.

In a world where every device needs its own charging cord, wireless charging is becoming more and more attractive, especially to those who are sick of tangled cords and a messy look on their desk or nightstands.

CES 2025 just wrapped up, and with every trade show or event, media are required to have all devices charged and ready to go for the next day of coverage. The same principle can be applied to anyone who travels, and when traveling, one doesn't necessarily want to carry numerous cords for each of their devices, which is why it's worth investing in portable chargers and/or a singular device with multiple charging zones.

Journey provided its 3-in-1 fast wireless charging station, which quickly became one of my favorite devices as I was able to get back to the hotel room and place my iPhone 15 Pro Max, Apple Watch, and AirPods onto the dock and know all three will be fully charged and ready to go by the time I woke up. The NOVA 3-in-1 fast charges phones, earbuds, and watches simultaneously and is able to deliver up to 15W for iPhones 12 and above.

Elon Musk is helping California wildfire victims by deploying Tesla Cybertrucks around the area as mobile power stations using Starlink internet terminals to provide Californians with free Wi-Fi, as regular internet and phone services are down.

Elon posted on X explaining: "We are going to position Cybertrucks with Starlinks and free Wi-Fi in a grid pattern in the areas that most need it in the greater LA/Malibu area".

"This was in reply to a previous post on X, where the SpaceX and Tesla boss said: "Apologies to those expecting Cybertruck deliveries in California over the next few days. We need to use those trucks as mobile base stations to provide power to Starlink Internet terminals in areas of LA without connectivity. A new truck will be delivered end of week".

SpaceX and T-Mobile are working to deliver Starlink Direct-to-Cellular (DTC) service over impacted areas of Southern California to deliver wireless emergency alerts, SMS, and 911 texting to those who need it.

T-Mobile announced: "Today T-Mobile and Starlink opened up T-Mobile Starlink Direct-to-Cellular service over impacted areas of Southern California to deliver wireless emergency alerts and SMS and enable 911 texting. While SpaceX's direct-to-cell constellation has not been fully deployed, we are once again temporarily making this early test version available for those who need it most".

The carrrier said that its network "held strong" during the crisis, and that it has "restored roughly half of the sites that were impacted by commercial power loss". T-Mobile continued: "As conditions safely allow, our teams are evaluating impacted sites in Altadena, Duarte, Calabasas, Malibu, Fillmore and Agoura Hills, and continuing to deploy and refuel portable generators to sites until commercial power is restored".

VESA has just announced plans to fix cable problems with updated DisplayPort 2.1b specification, allowing for active cables that are 3x longer at up to 3m long.

VESA is now working with members to introduce new "DP80LL" cables (DisplayPort 80 Low Loss) that are good for enabling up to 4-lane UHBRR20 speeds and a maximum throughput of 80Gbps, all over new active cables that can be as long as 3m. We should expect the new DisplayPort 2.1b-ready DP80LL cables to hit in spring 2025.

VESA has been "actively collaborating" with NVIDIA on the new DisplayPort 2.1b specification, where NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs will support DP2.1b including UHBR20 across new DP80LL cables. NVIDIA is about to announce its GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs at CES 2025 in a few moments (at the time of writing this piece).

The new HDMI 2.2 specification has been unveiled at CES 2025, rocking up to 96Gbps of bandwidth and the introduction of a high-end "Ultra96" HDMI cable that "enables all the HDMI 2.2 specification features". Check it out:

HDMI 2.2 has some wicked high resolution and refresh rate support, with new HDMI 2.2-enabled products supporting 4K at up to 480Hz, 8K at up to 240Hz, and even 10K at up to 120Hz. HDMI 2.1 as it stands (and HDMI 2.1 cables) can only support up to 4K 120Hz, but for future TVs, monitors, graphics cards, and consoles... the ceiling is far higher than it is now (4x higher refresh out of 4K is impressive).

LG just unveiled its new G5 series OLED TVs at CES supporting 4K at up to 165Hz, so the 96Gbps of bandwidth is more than enough for years and years to come. HDMI 2.2 includes a new "Latency Indication Protocol (LIP) for improving audio and video synchronization, especially for multiple-hop system configurations such as those with an audio video receiver or soundbar".

United Airlines has announced it will be accelerating the timeline of bringing SpaceX Starlink satellite connectivity onboard its plans to United travelers across the world.

The airline now expects to be testing Starlink connectivity for on-board Wi-Fi next month, with its first commercial flight anticipated to take off in spring 2025 on the United Embraer E-175 aircraft. United now plans to outfit its entire two-cabin regional fleet before the end of 2025, and have its first mainline Starlink-enabled plane in the air before the year is finished.

In the end, United has plans to add Starlink to its entire fleet. Access to Starlink will be free for all MileagePlus customers, including game-changing in-flight entertainment experiences like streaming content, shopping, gaming, and more.

Ugreen has just unveiled its new Nexode Desktop Charger 500W, with up to 500W of power at your fingertips... enough to charge not one, not two, but 5 laptops at once, and enough power to even juice up your e-bike or e-scooter. Check it out:

The new Ugreen Nexode Desktop Charger 500W is a huge power brick that has boosted the overall power output from 300W to 500W over the previous-generation charger, with up to 240W of power delivery over a single USB-C port. There are 5 x USB-C ports and a single USB-A port on the charger, capable of charging 5 laptops at the same time (so, so handy to have one charger to rule them all).

This isn't just for your PC or laptop, as it can be put anywhere you need USB ports: your desk, the kitchen, your workshop, and other places. Ugreen has said that its new Nexode Desktop Charger 500W can also be used to charge power tools and e-bikes, which is real, real handy.

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.

Other World Computing (OWC) has just unveiled its new Thunderbolt 5 external SSD and cable, ready for Apple's new M4-powered Macs, and Thunderbolt 5-ready PCs and laptops.

OWC is today introducing its Envoy Ultra SSD and OWC Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) cables, ready for Apple's new Mac mini powered by the new M4 Pro processor, and the new MacBook Pro laptops powered by the M4 Pro and M4 Max processors.

Larry O'Connor, CEO and Founder, Other World Computing (OWC) said: "Thunderbolt 5 unlocks a new world of possibilities for users, and OWC is proud to be at the forefront of this exciting evolution. With the Envoy Ultra SSD and our Thunderbolt 5 cables, we're giving Mac Mini and MacBook Pro users the speed, reliability, and power they need to push their workflows further than ever before - whether they're editing 8K video, managing massive data sets, or just staying connected on the go." He continued, "And, don't blink - because OWC is set to roll out even more Thunderbolt 5 innovations, including the powerful OWC Thunderbolt 5 Hub, set for release in November".

ASUS has just joined the Thunderbolt 5 add-in card (AIC) party with the introduction of its new ASUS ThunderboltEX 5 AIC, right after GIGABYTE announced its new Thunderbolts 5 AIC.

The new ASUS ThunderboltEX 5 AIC has a single 6-pin PCIe power connector, with ASUS claiming it has USB-PD support of up to 130W through an in-house feature ASUS calls Flexible FastCharge. A single USB Type-C port is limited to a maximum of 96W, which will handle an Apple MacBook Pro laptop but not other laptops that are 100W+ power.

Inside, ASUS is using the same Intel JHL9580 Thunderbolt 5 controller that powers the GIGABYTE Thunderbolts 5 AIC, as well as using a PCIe 4.0 4 interface with support for up to 3 x DisplayPort 2.1-based 8K monitors at 60Hz refresh rate, but ASUS underlines that this will require DSC (Display Stream Compression) technology.

GIGABYTE has just silently released its first Thunderbolt 5 add-in card (AIC) with the introduction of Thunderbolts 5, yeah... what an original name.

Inside, there's nothing much going on that differentiates Thunderbolts 5 from a regular Thunderbolt 4 card except that we have 3 x Mini DisplayPort inputs, and two USB Type-C outputs with up to 100W USB-PD charging thanks to the 6-pin PCIe power connector giving the GIGABYTE Thunderbolts 5 AIC some more juice.

GIGABYTE is tapping Intel's new JHL9580 "Barlow Ridge" controller, with native support for DisplayPort 2.1 and support of resolutions of up to 8K 60Hz, and data speeds of 80Gbps or a blistering 120Gbps in asymmetric mode. Intel's new JHL9580 controller uses a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface, which matches ASMedia's new ASM4242 USB4 host controller, and a big upgrade from the PCIe 3.0 support on Intel's former Thunderbolt 4 controllers.

The next big jump in USB speeds is about to be here, and while it will take some time before we see or even need these kind of speeds in our everyday devices, the technology is now a reality.

Elecom has become the first company to certify its USB4 2.0 cables, which are slated to provide speeds that are double USB4 1.0 cables. Reports indicate that Elecom is looking to December to release two variants of the USB4 2.0 cable, and as per the specification, the base cable will be able to provide 80 Gbps throughput and 60W of charging, while the other variant is capable of 240W of charging at 48V/5A. Currently, it appears USB4 2.0 cables are limited regionally to Japan, but within the coming months, we can expect an expansion to other regions.

The 240W charging capability is more than enough to charge devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, handheld gaming devices, and power banks. Moreover, these cables will support DisplayPort passthrough of up to 8K at 60Hz, which means they should be capable of 4K at 120Hz. As for devices coming with USB4 2.0 ports, it will still be quite some time before we see widespread adoption.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG) has just released version 6.0 of the Bluetooth standard, and with it, come some upgrades since the last major version -- Bluetooth 5.0 -- launched all the way back in 2016.

The new Bluetooth 6.0 standard has two new features that assist in reducing power consumption: Decision-Based Advertising Filtering and Monitoring Advertisers. These new features help the upgraded Bluetooth 6.0 devices reduce power consumption, and increase efficiency making sure that they're only scanning for data packets when they receive data on their primary channel, relevant to their application.

Bluetooth 6.0 is also capable of telling devices when another device they want wants to connect to, moves out of range, so that they can cancel their attempts of making a connection and conserve energy. Another big feature is Bluetooth Channel Sounding, a new technology that provides two upgrades to Bluetooth devices: enhanced security, and improved accuracy in location finding.

Sabrent wants to provide even more functionality to your lifestyle with a new Thunderbolt 4 Docking Station with Monitor Desk Mount, using a gas-lift arm that supports up to two monitors.

The new Thunderbolt 4 Docking Station with Monitor Desk Mount (DS-T4WA) docking station connects through the ultra-fast Thunderbolt 4 standard, delivering a Thunderbolt 4 downstream port that's joined by 4 USB ports (2 x 10Gbps USB 3.2 Gen2x1, 1 x 10Gbps USB-A, and 1 x 5Gbps USB 3.2 Gen1x1)

Sabrent bakes in a UHS-II (312Mbps) microSD/SD card reader, a 3.5-inch audio in/out port, and gigabit ethernet (1GbE) for fast and reliable wired network connectivity. It's virtually got it all, and don't forget there's a monitor mount there, too.

SpaceX VP for Starlink Engineering Michael Nicolls has posted a juicy new Speedtest run on Starlnk's new mobile community gateway capability, with some mighty impressive 8Gbps download speeds, and 2.8Gbps upload speeds, with "no land in sight" he added.

In the post on X, the Starlink mobile community gateway was tested, which the Elon Musk-led company is preparing the technology for use on naval ships and airplanes, with blistering-fast speeds. SpaceX VP for Starlink Engineering Michael Nicolls performed the speed tested near Jacksonville, Florida, with "no land in sight" which means the test of Starlink's new mobile community gateway was either from the air, or from the sea.

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk replied to the post, adding: "For large commercial and community users, the Starlink Gateway terminal provides over 8Gbps od download and soon over 8Gbps uplink too".

Face it, we all want the fastest internet connection speed possible... downloading games in just milliseconds sounds like it'll never happen. But now, Japanese researchers have done it: hitting 400Tbps internet connectivity speeds, forming a new world record.

In a new report by Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, the team reported that they hit speed of a truly insane 402 Terabits per second (402Tbps). The previous records for internet connectivity speeds were breached in October 2023, with 321Tbps, and then back in March 2022, with 226Tbps. 402Tbps is a damn big leap in speeds, which is why they achieved a new world record.

402Tbps works out to an astonishing 50TB/sec download speeds, which no computer on the planet could handle, period. Most systems feature on-board 1GbE ethernet connectivity, allowing for 110MB/sec speeds, while 10GbE can usher in over 1TB/sec (1000MB/sec+). So even with 10GbE ethernet, you're not going to get anywhere near 50TB/sec, and even the fastest Gen5 SSDs are pushing 14GB/sec.

The world's first Thunderbolt 5 cable has just been unleashed, with Cable Matters unveiling its new Thunderbolt 5 cable that enjoys its full 120Gbps of bandwidth and 240W of charging... starting from just $23.

Cable Matters' new Thunderbolt 5 cable is manufactured by Lintes Technology and is available from Cablle Matters' own Amazon store. The 1ft cable costs $22.99, the 1.6ft cable costs $26.99, and finally, the largest 3.3ft cable costs $32.99.

Thunderbolt 5 has a single standard, so you will enjoy the full specs, bandwidth, and power of Thunderbolt 5 no matter the cable length. This includes 120Gbps of uni-directional bandwidth, up to 80Gbps of bidirectional bandwidth, up to 240W of power delivery, and backward compatibility with Thunderbolt 4 and Thunderbolt 3 Type-C ports (as well as USB4 and USB Type-C).

Cadence stole the show recently at the PCI-SIG DevCon 2024 event, and in honor of the 32nd anniversary of the PCI-SIG Developer's Conference, Cadence announced a complete PCIe 7.0 IP solution for HPC and AI markets of the future.

The AI boom is creating a gigantic demand for faster-than-ever chips, which demand next levels of throughput, low latency, and power efficiency. This is fueling technology enhancements across the board, with Cadence being a close PCI-SIG member, the company says it has "valuable early insights into the evolving specs and the latest compliance standards".

HPC and AI systems of the future will require radically more bandwidth as that train never stops in the technology industry, especially for these important silicon-heavy environments. Direct GPU-to-GPU communication is absolutely critical for these systems, communicating heavy computational tasks across multiple GPUs or AI accelerators inside of a server or AI computing pod.

Dockcase has introduced a combination of a smart hub and an SD card reader, and it's specifically designed for photographers and professional users.

The Dockcase Studio: Smart USB-C Hub 8-in-1 has appeared on Kickstarter and combines gorgeous aesthetics with irreplaceable functionality. In the past, Dockcase has released products designed for photographers and professionals, but the Smart USB-C Hub 8-in-1 is aimed directly at high-end professional users, considering the inclusion of CFexpress Type-A and Type-B support.

A professional or avid photographer will know that CFexpress ports are completely needed, but the Studio offers much more than that, as it comes with normal SD card support up to UHS-II (312mb/s), HDMI ports capable of 8K at 30Hz, 4K at 120Hz, USB-C ports capable of 10Gbps, and USB 3.2 Gen 2. Notably, all of the aforementioned specifications are housed within an aluminum alloy, tempered glass touchscreen enclosure that only weighs 118g.