The first screen on the left is the AW3225QF, which includes a curved 4K QD-OLED display including Dolby Vision HDR. It is also capable of going up to 240Hz refresh rate and 0.03ms response time, and also allows for 120Hz performance on certain Xbox Series X and Playstation 5 games thanks to HDMI 2.1 FRL.

The display is designed to reduce reflections while preserving original colours, with true blacks and a peak luminance of up to 1000 nits. Dolby Vision HDR also bolsters this by giving brighter highlights and darker blacks. The display also supports NVIDIA G-SYNC and VESA AdaptiveSync technologies to support variable refresh rate.

The second panel is the AW2725DF which has QHD resolution and supports a native refresh rate of 360Hz and the same 0.03ms gray-to-gray response time to prevent blur and ghosting. It also includes a fully adjustable ergonomic stand and slim base to reduce the desk footprint.

The monitor also supports VESA DisplayHDR True Black to give rich colours throughout and comes with AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and VESA AdaptiveSync technology to prevent choppy gameplay and broken frames.

Both monitors will be available in North America starting from 11th January 2024, and pricing is as follows:

• Alienware 32 4K QD-OLED Gaming Monitor (AW3225QF) will start at $1,199.99 (US) / $1,499.99 (CA).
• Alienware 27 360Hz QD-OLED Gaming Monitor (AW2725DF) will start at $899.99 (US) / $1,199.99 (CA)

Alienware also touts that both displays have an "infinite contrast ratio for incredible colour detail" and also include Dell's ComfortView Plus which can reduce the amount of blue light emitted from the screens without sacrificing colours shown.

Source

In June 2023, Intel announced it would no longer design, make, or sell new NUC (Next Unit of Compute) mini-PCs. In July, Asus announced it would keep the NUC design going under an agreement with Intel.

Today at CES 2024, Asus revealed plans to launch its first NUC mini-PC made for gamers. Of course, it will be sold under its Republic of Gamers (ROG) brand, as the Asus ROG NUC.

Asus states in its press release:

The tool-less chassis design allows integration in under 10 minutes, with dimensions of 270 x 180 x 50 mm for uncompromised gaming in a minimalistic form factor. Beyond performance, the ROG NUC pairs seamlessly with the ROG Raikiri PRO controller for a redefined gaming interaction. ARGB lighting and the ROG Armory Crate app allow users to create stunning light shows.

Buyers will be able to get an Asus ROG NUC with either an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor or a Core Ultra 9 185H chip. The GPU choices are either an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 or 4070. You will get support for putting in up to 32GB of RAM, and there will be three M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4x4 slots for SSD storage.

The ASUS ROG NUC can be set up either horizontally or vertically with an included stand. On the front of the mini-PC there will be a SD card reader, and two USB ports, along with audio jacks. In the back, there will be one Thunderbolt 4 port, four USB ports, an HDMI port, two DisplayPorts, and an Ethernet 2.5Gig port.

Asus claims that the ROG NUC can run up to four 4K displays at once with its Thunderbolt 4 port, its HDMI port, and its two DisplayPorts.

Right now there's no word on when the Asus ROG NUC will be released, nor how much will it cost. There's also no word on if ASUS will sell the NUC with or without RAM or SSD storage. Hopefully, we will get those answers sooner rather than later.

Source

This week, as part of its CES 2024 announcements, NVIDIA revealed a feature that will begin to show up in new G-SYNC monitors this year. It's called G-SYNC Pulsar, and it was designed to increase the visual clarity of PC games while the graphics are in motion.

NVIDIA's press release stated that G-SYNC Pulsar uses what the company calls variable frequency strobing to achieve better clarity while also eliminating graphics stuttering. It combines two technologies: Adaptive Overdrive and Pulse Modulation.

Adaptive Overdrive "dynamically adjusts the rate at which pixels transition from one colour to another," according to NVIDIA. This is combined with Pulse Modulation, which controls the pulses of a display's brightness and duration.

By adaptively tuning backlight pulses in response to the constantly changing game render rate, G-SYNC Pulsar creates a consistent and comfortable viewing experience, effectively accommodating the display's dynamic nature.

 

The final result should allow PC games to no longer require going into a monitor's settings and switching between using VRR (variable refresh rate) or strobing technologies.

The ASUS ROG Swift PG27 Series G-SYNC monitors will be the first to support the new G-SYNC Pulsar tech. They will launch later this year.

NVIDIA also announced that during CES 2024, third-party companies will be showing off a total of 24 new monitors and smart TVs with G-SYNC support. They range from a small 16-inch portable monitor from AOC all the way to LG's new OLED smart TVs that will go up to 97 inches. NVIDIA also revealed that its GeForce NOW cloud game streaming service will soon add G-SYNC Cloud for supported monitors.

Source

CES 2024 has seen an explosion of new and upcoming OLED gaming monitors of all shapes and sizes. That includes a new one from ASUS. Its ROG gaming division revealed the 32-inch ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDM, and packs a lot of features inside its relatively average size.

ASUS' press releasesays that the new ROG Swift monitor will include "second-generation Quantum Dot OLED" technology for even more vibrant colours and deeper blacks. It will also be one of the first gaming PC monitors to support the Dolby Vision HDR standard alongside the HP OMEN Transcend 32-inch display.

The screen on the ASUS ROG Swift monitor has a 4K resolution and a 240Hz refresh rate, with a 0.03 ms response time. It also supports NVIDIA's G-SYNC technology for reduced visual tearing while playing PC games. As for brightness, it can peak at 1,000 nits.

To keep the temperature under control for improved longevity, ASUS has put in a custom heatsink and a graphene film so it can prevent overheating without the need for a fan. Here is how ASUS describes this feature:

A graphene film behind the entire panel keeps it cool and comfortable. The thinnest yet strongest nanomaterial in the world, graphene has a thermal conductivity coefficient of up to 5,300 W/mk — a figure more than a hundred times greater than silver, copper, gold, or aluminum can offer. The lower operating temperatures offered by this cooling solution allow the display to produce and sustain high peak brightness levels.

Finally, the monitor contains a Smart KVM switch, so owners can use one keyboard and mouse to control two devices that are connected to the display.

There's no word yet on a price tag for the 32-inch ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDM. However, ASUS indicated it will launch sometime in early 2024.

Source

ASUS claims computers with BTF components are easier to assemble since all plugs and connectors are located at the back side of the motherboard tray without other components obstructing access to power, SATA, USB, IO, and other connectors. Therefore, "you won't have to reach as far into the depth of your chassis to plug things in." BTF should also make cable management much more elegant, resulting in a tidy, showcase-ready build.

The new standard also includes something called "Advanced BTF," an additional high-power PCIe slot next to the regular PCIe x16 for graphics card (its power output peaks at 75W). That high-power slot can supply up to 600W of juice to your GPU, eliminating the need for 12VHPWR connectors or other power cables in modern graphics cards.

Of course, you will need a compatible GPU and a motherboard to make use of the new standard from ASUS. The company has prepared a few motherboard options with hidden connections, such as the ROG Maximus Z790 Hero BTF and the TUF Gaming Z790-BTF Wi-Fi. On the GPU side, BTF-compatible variants include the ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4090 BTF Edition and the "try to spell that" TUF Gaming RTX 4070 Ti SUPER BTF White Edition. Sadly, no AMD options yet.

Besides offering improved visuals, BTF eliminates the worry of horizontal clearance when connecting power cables to the GPU. Also, the high-power PCIe connector provides an additional secure point to reduce sagging.

Finally, ASUS prepared two BTF-compatible cases, the ROG Hyperion GT701 BTF Edition and the TUF Gaming GT302 ARGB. These two options are unlikely to satisfy everyone's budget and taste, so ASUS partnered with other case manufacturers for more BTF-compatible cases. As for motherboards and graphics cards, there is no information on whether other manufacturers plan to adopt ASUS' new standard.

It is worth noting that the idea is not entirely new. In 2019, Apple unveiled its vision of a desktop modular computer with a cable-less power supply and graphics cards with additional PCIe connectors for power delivery. This concept is now ready to take on the PC gaming audience.

Source

Besides its upcoming Claw portable gaming PC, MSI has a number of other upcoming PC-based products it is showing off at CES 2024. One of them is a 32-inch OLED gaming monitor that has, at least for now, some very . . . interesting AI features.

While the official MSI website does not have a listing or an official announcement for this new monitor, Tom's Hardware got a look at it at CES 2024 in Las Vegas. The MEG 321URX QD-OLED monitor is being promoted in part for fans of the hit MOBA game League of Legends.

The big feature for those specific games is called AI SkySight. The MSI monitor's description at CES 2024 is as follows:

Equipped with mini-map Auto-Scan technology, the monitor scans your game's mini-map to instantly detect enemies and shows its direction as an HUD, giving you the strategic edge you need for total gaming awareness.

Because all of this work is being done on the monitor, other players, and we assume the game's developers at Riot Games, cannot know people with this MSI monitor are using it for this "strategic edge". The big question: Is this actually cheating?

In addition to AI SkySight, this new MSI monitor will display a player's current health in League of Legends via an RGB LED bar located at the bottom of the screen. MSI will also launch a special PC app along with the monitor that it says will train to recognize on-screen features in any PC game. The initial training will be done on your local PC, but once it's finished, the monitor will handle the rest.

Other features of this MSI MEG monitor include a 3,840 x 2,160 resolution and a 240Hz refresh rate. There's no word yet on a price for the monitor, but it's expected to go on sale later this spring.

Source

The RTX 40 series was announced on September 20, 2022, at the GTC 2022 event. The decision to move to the next generation of GPUs comes after a period of slow sales of existing models on the market. As reported by Andreas Schilling of HardwareLuxx, the EOL status of the RTX 4080 and 4070 Ti confirms earlier rumors.

NVIDIA's decision to end the RTX 4080 and 4070 Ti production marks an interesting development in GeForce. The RTX 4070 Ti, in particular, has garnered attention for its short lifespan, effectively replacing a new SKU with a reduced price of $100.

Retailers are expected to maintain the MSRP for the RTX 4080 until late January as they work to clear the remaining stock of these cards. The RTX 4070 Ti is expected to follow a similar path, facing tough competition from the Radeon RX 7900 series.

In case you missed it, NVIDIA officially announced the RTX 4000 Super series at CES 2024. The RTX 4080 SUPER replaces the RTX 4080, offering a significant performance boost and a lower price point. Simultaneously, the 4070 Ti SUPER retains the price of its predecessor while delivering core and memory upgrades for more performance.

The 4080 Super will continue to feature 16GB of VRAM but will have more CUDA cores. The 4070 Ti Super also gets a bump in the memory system, going from 12GB on the vanilla to 16GB on the new GPU.

In terms of price, the 4080 SUPER is priced at an MSRP of $999, which is $200 less than the non-SUPER variant. The 4070 Ti SUPER is priced at $799.

Source: Andreas Schilling (HardwareLuxx) via VideoCardZ

Source

In case you haven't been following, Intel has ditched the "i" from the 15th Gen Meteor Lake chips though, it is expected that the next generation will bring it back again. The 15th Gen will also have NPU (Neural Processing Unit), the dedicated AI accelerator which means the 15W Core Series 1 U processors will also pack the NPUs, just like the Core Ultra SKUs did. On the other hand, the 14th Gen HX lacks NPUs as it belongs to the previous gen Raptor Lake design.

The images below show the platform features and highlights:

Just like in the case of desktops, these mobile CPUs from Intel were also leaked by Microsoft ahead of announcement when the Redmond updated its Windows 11 supported processors lists. So we knew that these chips were coming. In total, there are three Core 1U series parts and five HX SKUs.

The specifications of these can be viewed in the images below:

In terms of performance, Intel says the HX CPUs are designed for "Performance Gaming" and hence they will be going into top-end gaming laptops and similar devices. The company claims 60+ design wins.

Since we are talking about gaming, to show the flagship 14900HX's might, Intel has pitted the chip against the best mobile gaming CPU, the elusive Ryzen 9 7945HX3D. Intel says that its new 55W i9 is faster than the AMD X3D mobile part in most gaming situations. Intel is also promising excellent 1% lows too.

Intel also compared its 14900HX with the non-X3D AMD processor and the provided benchmarks show that Team Blue is confident of victory in this department too.

In both gaming as well as in the all-around performance benchmarks, Intel thinks the 14900HX should easily outpace the AMD 7945HX in the majority of situations.

Source

While Intel has already launched the unlocked K SKUs, namely the Core i9-14900K, the i7-14700K, and the i5-14600K. When we reviewed the i9 and the i5, we remarked that the chips were very power-hungry, despite these processors being pretty good in terms of overall performance. The i9, in particular, drew ~253W and the i5 came in at ~173W.

Now that the K series chips are out of the way, Intel today unveiled its non-K, locked processors. Although you won't be able to overclock these parts, you also won't have to worry all that much about the high power draw and the cooling requirements demanded by the unlocked SKUs. And the performance of these parts should not be too far off from what we had determined.

In total, there are 18 new SKUs with TDPs with between 35 watts and 65 watts. Keep in mind that TDP or thermal design power does not directly indicate the power consumption of the chip and is meant to denote the level of cooling that CPU. Hence, a 35W processor (a T-model) will have lower cooling requirements compared to a 65W one. As you can see in the image above, only the i9-14900 and the 14900F will come with the Intel Laminar RH1 stock cooler while the rest of them will feature the RM1.

You can view the full lineup and the specs as well as prices in the images below. Microsoft, curiously, had already published these SKUs pre-announcement on the Windows 11 supported CPU list, though, it for some reason missed adding the ones AMD had announced.

In terms of performance, Intel is promising good all-round performance as well as excellent gaming and productivity. We already know from our review that Intel isn't lying here since we have already established these chips do well when it comes to raw throughput; it's only the performance per watt metric that needs to improve next-gen.

In the performance charts provided by Intel above, the company has pitted the i9-14900 and the i7-14700 against the last-gen i9-13900 and the Ryzen 7900. In Content Creation and productivity, Intel claims flat-out victory over the AMD CPU in the measured scenarios while in Productivity, the company does not expect to win in every scenario, especially with the 14700.

Source

Unlike all of those portable gaming PCs, which have used AMD CPUs, the MSI Claw is using Intel's new "Meteor Lake" Ultra Core chip, along with Intel Arc GPUs. Specically, the device will have "Up to Intel Core Ultra 7 processor 155H" inside. MSI's press release states:

Intel's revolutionary XeSS technology has transformed the gaming experience for enthusiasts worldwide and continues to do so with Claw. Leveraging advanced AI upscaling algorithms, XeSS significantly boosts FPS for exceptionally smooth and immersive gameplay, allowing gamers to enjoy AAA titles effortlessly on a portable handheld.

The MSI Claw will also have 16GB of RAM. The specs state that it will also use "NVMe M.2 2230 SSD by PCIe Gen 4 x4" for storage, but there's no info on the amount of storage it will have on board. It will also have a microSD card slot for expanding storage.

MSI adds:

Using meticulously polished design details, from the curvature that fits the palm to finger grip positions and trigger force, results in Claw being ergonomically tailored for comfort and precision. It is designed to fit the natural contours of users’ grip, providing an intuitive gaming experience for hands of all sizes.

The MSI Claw will also have a 53Whr battery which it claims will last up to two hours with a full gaming workload. While the device will use Windows 11 as its OS, the company says it will have its MSI APP Player, which will allow the Claw to play both Windows and Android games.

Unfortunately, MSI is still not revealing the price point or the release date for the Claw at this stage. It's likely there could be more than one model launched, each with different hardware specs for different prices.

Source

What you need to know

• The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) takes place this week from Jan. 9 through Jan. 12 in Las Vegas and is a place where many tech companies announce new products and services. 
• Leading into the tech week, today HP announced the new HyperX Pulsefire Haste 2 Mini gaming mouse.
• This is a more compact version of the previously released HyperX Pulsefire Haste 2.

It's once more that special CES (Consumer Electronics Show) time of the year when various tech companies reveal the products and services they will be releasing at the special annual event in Las Vegas. As part of this, today HP announced its new HyperX Pulsefire Haste 2 Mini gaming mouse — a compact wireless accessory with RGB and up to 100 hours of battery life. It's available in black or white and will likely be among the best PC gaming accessories. 

I previously wrote our HyperX Pulsefire Haste 2 review for the original (regular-sized) version of this PC accessory. It proved to be a very reliable gaming mouse that responded quickly and felt good to use, so I expect that this mini version will be of a similar quality. 

Aside from the size, the mini and regular-sized HyperX Pulsefire Haste 2 share similar features. Wireless versions last up to 100 hours and they both have simple RGB lighting effects. Additionally, both offer a sensitivity of up to 26,000 DPI with acceleration of 650 IPS. What's more, there are four DPI presets to choose from which make the mouse work at 400, 800, 1,600, or 3,200 DPI, to match your preferred settings. 

The one big difference between the larger version and the mini is that the compact option only offers a polling rate of up to 1,000Hz while the regular mouse offers up to 8,000Hz. A change like this isn't all that surprising, though, given that when making a mini version of any accessory some sort of tradeoff is usually there to allow for the compact shape.

You might be asking yourself, why get a mini gaming mouse rather than a regular-sized one? There are some helpful use cases where a mini accessory might be a better fit. Literally, in the case of people with smaller hands — they might find the compact shape more conducive to their needs. 

Meanwhile, mini gaming mice also tend to be lighter weight than normal mice, which can make them slightly faster to move around (which might be the edge you need in competitive gaming). On top of that, a smaller mouse might feel more comfortable to people who prefer to hold the accessory with their fingertips in a more claw-like fashion. At any rate, considering that HyperX creates quality gaming accessories, we can expect this new Pulsefire Haste 2 Mini to also be a great product. 

Remember, CES 2024 runs from Jan. 9 through Jan. 12 in Las Vegas and there is still plenty of news yet to come. We're covering CES in-person this year, so check back with us to see what the latest Windows and PC-related tech announcements are from the event. 

Source

Apple's much-awaited mixed reality headset Vision Pro has an official launch date. The company announced today that Vision Pro will go on sale next month. However, the Cupertino giant is giving an added perk to the users: extra battery life.

"The external battery supports up to 2 hours of general use, and up to 2.5 hours of video playback," Apple says on the updated Vision Pro product page (via 9to5Mac). The company goes on to explain in the fine print that you can expect these battery life estimates with "Video playback tested in conjunction with an Environment, using 2D movie content purchased from the Apple TV app."

Apple did the testing back in November 2023 using pre-production Vision Pro units and software. The company also tested Vision Pro for different tasks such as internet browsing, spatial video capture, and FaceTime. Apple previously said that its external battery can power the headset for up to two hours on a single charge.

With an extra 30 minutes of juice, you will be able to watch more episodes of a TV series or movies that are longer than two hours. Of course, you can expect an all-day backup when the headset is directly connected to a power source.

Apple says that the Vision Pro can stream content from "Apple TV+, Disney+, Max, and other services on a screen that feels 100 feet wide with support for HDR content." Users will get access to 150 3D titles through the Apple TV app.

Vision Pro also introduces Apple Immersive Video, a remarkable new entertainment format pioneered by Apple that puts users inside the action with 180-degree, three-dimensional 8K recordings captured with Spatial Audio. Users can also enjoy new interactive experiences like Encounter Dinosaurs.

Priced at $3,499, Vision Pro will be available for pre-order in the US on January 19 at 5 AM Pacific Time and will start shipping on February 2. The headset was first showcased at WWDC 2023 in June last year, however, Apple has offered limited access to the actual hardware since then.

Source

Samsung has announced a range of new displays today ahead of CES 2024 as part of its QLED, MICRO LED, OLED, and Lifestyle ranges, while also going on to say that this will also serve as the introduction point for its next-generation AI processor to "redefine the perception of smart display capabilities." This processor, dubbed the NQ8 AI Gen3 processor, has a neural processing unit (NPU) that is twice as far as that of its predecessor as well as increasing the number of neural networks by eight times from 64 to 512.

The Neo QLED lineup of displays, including the 2024 Neo QLED 8K TV which is at the heart of Samsung's announcement, with many of its upcoming features being lauded as having "unprecedented performance upgrades" such as:

• 8K AI Upscaling Pro: Leverages NQ8 AI Gen3 for enhanced 8K upscaling, sharpening low resolution content so that it is displayed in ultra-high resolution.
• AI Motion Enhancer Pro: Solves common issues in sporting contents — such as ball distortion — by streaming high-resolution sports matches through this feature powered by NQ8 AI Gen3. The feature automatically detects the sport type and uses deep learning to apply the proper ball detection model.
• Real Depth Enhancer Pro: Adds details to fast-moving scenes using AI to precisely control mini LEDs. By detecting the part of a scene that the human eye would naturally focus on and bringing it to the foreground, images appear more lifelike and three dimensional.
• Infinity Air Design: Complements Neo QLED 8K’s impeccable picture quality with a screen only 12.9mm in depth, allowing for an immersive viewing experience that focuses on high resolution and outstanding sound quality. It is also offers a unique mirror effect in which the TV appears to hover in its surroundings.

• 2024 Q-Symphony: Allows users to connect multiple wireless speakers and a soundbar to a TV or projector for perfect audio synchronization across shows, movies, and playlists. It’s a technology that perfectly synchronizes TV with wireless speakers and a soundbar.

   

• Active Voice Amplifier Pro: A proprietary AI dialogue booster that utilizes exclusive deep-learning technology to significantly enhance dialogue and voices on screen. It separates voices from mixed audio, enhancing voice input so users can easily follow the conversation on screen at any volume.

In addition, Samsung is updating its TV operating system, Tizen OS, to the 2024 build which updates the user interface with new home screen and connectivity to user's Samsung accounts to save favourite channels and tailor suggested content. Additionally, there will be a new games controller launched by Performance Designed Products (PDP) at CES 2024, the first to be "Designed for Samsung Gaming Hub" including a dedicated button for launching the app.

In addition to the above, Samsung is updating its TVs with a new app called Samsung Daily+, which provides a variety of new features in one unified interface such as personal training, video consultations with vets, and multi-control with a Bluetooth keyboard or mouse across all compatible screens.

Samsung has also updated its OLED TV range with the new S95D TV, which can offer an ultra-large 77-inch display offering refresh rates up to 144Hz, which is also 20% brighter than previous models. The S90D and S85D will also be introduced with sizes ranging from 42 to 83 inches, and all of these screens will include its new 'OLED Glare Free' technology to reduce reflections while preserving colour accuracy.

Samsung has also updated its Frame television with new enhancements and artworks to display, as well as a variable refresh rate adjustment mode. The Premiere 8K projector is also available with it being the first to offer wireless connectivity, and the Freestyle 2nd Gen projector which includes Smart Edge Blending supporting seamless merging of projections from two devices to make one large screen.

Finally, Samsung has launched a few new soundbars to its lineup, with the Music Frame being compatible with SmartThings and being able to camouflage itself inside modern picture frames. The HW-Q990D includes a 11.1.4 channel configuration with Dolby Atmos and pass through of 4K 120Hz content, using AI to optimise sound. Lastly, the HW-S800D is an ultra-thin soundbar to fit in any space being a third of the depth of conventional soundbars at 1.6 inches.

Source

As such, AMD today has announced its new RX 7600 XT 16GB graphics card. AMD knows the selling point of this GPU is its enormous VRAM buffer and that's what the company mainly talks about in its CES 2024 launch presentation today.

In terms of performance, the 7600 XT shouldn't really be much of an improvement over the 7600 at least in games that aren't VRAM-heavy. That's because, the core clock boosts up to 2755MHz which is only a 100MHz improvement over the 7600. However, the game frequency has been raised by around 9.7% as it is now 2470MHz. This could lead to a 5% improvement in certain situations, and probably more if the performance is being held back by the available memory buffer.

However, as newer titles get more and more memory-hungry, the 16 Gig frame buffer could really come in handy here. The GPU is priced at $329 and so it is taking an aim directly at the Nvidia RTX 4060 which only features 8 GB. The 16GB memory could also allow the 7600 XT to do some decent 1440p gaming with textures turned all the way up while some other GPU-intense settings are turned down.

The new RX 7600 XT 16GB is set to be available from January 24th which means it is just over two weeks away from being on store shelves.

In terms of other announcements, AMD did unveil its new Ryzen 8000 G-series APUs and they are ready for the next-gen AI-heavy Windows with dedicated NPU hardware.

Source

And only a day after that, the alleged specification details of the Ryzen 8000 G-series desktop APUs were also shared online. While all of AMD new Ryzen processors (7000 series and newer) come with some integrated graphics in order to aid with display output and basic video decoding tasks, APUs (Accelerated Processing Units) are different as they come equipped with much more powerful integrated graphics.

For example, while the Ryzen 7000 series chips have just two Compute Units (CUs) of Radeon RDNA 3 graphics; the new 8000 G-series APUs have up to 12 CUs, which is six times more. This is the case with the flagship Ryzen 8000 G-series processor, the 8700G.

AMD compares the 8700G with Core i7-14700K in its CES 2024 presentation and apparently, the UHD 770 graphics on the latter is far behind in gaming. AMD adds the slightly slower 8600G with 6CU 760M is also going to be ahead of the UHD 770.

AMD also included another comparison where an i5-113400F paired up with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 was put up against the 8700G. Here, Team Red shows how the new 8000G series flagship APU is better even than Green and Blue combined, and it comes in cheaper. Both gaming and productivity numbers were provided. Although the system specs aren't available in these leaked presentation slide decks, we assume the company used decently fast memory for the comparison as we know APUs here rely on system memory.

We aren't sure how AMD measured the productivity numbers here and whether hardware (GPU) acceleration was used when available. Regardless, AMD says the 8700G is the better deal.

In our review of the Core i9-14900K and the i5-14600K, we noted that the 2CU Radeon graphics was no match for the Intel UHD 770 as it put up around half the score in the gaming benchmarks. However, the tide is probably set to turn now that AMD is set to unveil its full-fledged APU lineup. Even the lowest-end 4CU Radeon 740M should be able to trade blows or perhaps even surpass the Intel UHD 770. We don't however expect much of an improvement on the media processing block and perhaps Intel UHD will continue to be the slightly superior performer in this department.

Here are the full specifications of the four 8000 G-series APUs: the 8700G, the 8600G, the 8500G and the 8300G. The last one is apparently an OEM-only part.

While it is not apparent in the above image, AMD is seemingly going to adopt a hybrid approach with this 8000G Series (codenamed Phoenix 2). The 8600G and 8500G seem to have same specs in the image above but it appears to be so only because the 8500G also uses the smaller Zen 4c cores. While the 8600G will allegedly have six Zen 4 cores, the 8500G will pack just two Zen 4 and instead have four Zen 4c.

AMD, in fact, has already confirmed that no special optimizations should be required on Windows to get the best out of these hybrid processors. Plus these are also the first chips with Neural Processing Unit (NPU) built-in which should be ideal for the next gen Windows that is heavily focused on AI.

In terms of pricing, AMD says the 8700G is $329 while the 8600G is $229. The Ryzen 8500G on the other hand is $179. These new APUs will be available starting January 31. The company, alongside these new desktop APUs, also announced the new RX 7600 XT with 16 Gigs of VRAM.

Via: VideoCardz

Source

Today's press release from the Wi-Fi Alliance claims that over 233 million devices will get the Wi-Fi 7 certification approval by the end of 2024. Of course, some Wi-Fi router companies like Amazon's Eero, NETGEAR, and others started selling Wi-Fi 7 products without official certification several months ago. If you see the Wi-Fi 7 Certified logo on a product, that's confirmation that it has passed the requirements of the standard from the Wi-Fi Alliance.

The press release added:

New use cases – including multi-user AR/VR/XR, immersive 3-D training, electronic gaming, hybrid work, industrial IoT, and automotive – will advance as a result of the latest Wi-Fi generation. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 represents the culmination of extensive collaboration and innovation within Wi-Fi Alliance, facilitating worldwide product interoperability and a robust, sophisticated device ecosystem.

The biggest new feature in Wi-Fi 7 devices is what's called Multi-link Operation or MLO. This allows those devices to download or upload data using two or more linked wireless bands. This is supposed to offer "increased throughput, reduced latency, and improved reliability" for Wi-Fi 7 connections, according to the Wi-Fi Alliance.

Other features include support for 320 MHz channels (6 GHz band), which is double the highest 160MHz bandwidth available on older Wi-Fi devices, Speaking of which, Wi-Fi 7 products are backward compatible with other devices that use the older Wi-Fi standards. You won't get the fastest speeds with those connections, but they will still work.

You can expect to see Wi-Fi 7 hardware inside a ton of new laptop PCs, along with smartphones, tablets, and VR/AR headsets over the next year. The Wi-Fi Alliance claims that 233 million Wi-Fi 7-based devices will be available by the end of 2024. That number is expected to expand to 2.1 billion devices by 2028.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Source

In June 2023, Apple unveiled its first mixed-reality headset, the Vision Pro. After months of anticipation, the company is finally ready to ship its "revolutionary spatial computer" in the United States to those willing to shell out $3,499.

Tim Cook said the following about the launch of the Apple Vision Pro:

The era of spatial computing has arrived. Apple Vision Pro is the most advanced consumer electronics device ever created. Its revolutionary and magical user interface will redefine how we connect, create, and explorer.

Although the price of $3,499 may look obscenely high to some, Apple Vision Pro packs a lot of high-end tech. For example, it utilizes micro-OLED (Apple claims there are more pixels per eye than a 4K TV offers) and high-performance eye tracking for responsive and intuitive input. The headset also has an external display that projects your eyes when someone approaches you to "give visual cues to others" about what you are focused on. It also makes you look like a rich dork, but that is debatable.

Other tech includes a dual-chip design powered by the Apple M2 processor and a brand-new R1 chip for processing input from twelve cameras, five sensors, and six microphones.

You can use Apple Vision Pro for advanced productivity. Paired with a keyboard, mouse, or trackpad, Vision Pro can place multiple apps around you for the ultimate multitasking. Entertainment scenarios include watching movies with HDR and playing games on virtual displays of any size, watching spatial life-size videos recorded using compatible iPhones, and more. Just do not expect to store much on your Apple helmet since it only has 256GB of onboard storage with no option to expand it.

Apple understands that one size cannot fit all, and a wearable device needs extra customization to ensure comfortable use by everyone. You will be able to personalize your Vision Pro with different bands and prescription lenses if necessary.

Apple Vision Pro will be available for preorders on January 19, 2024. Shipping starts on February 2, 2024.

Source

Lots of PC makers have already announced plans for new OLED gaming PC monitors ahead of CES 2024. That includes new smart monitors from LG, new OLED displays from Samsung, a big 40-inch curved monitor from Dell, and even the promise of a 520Hz monitor coming from ASRock.

Now you can add HP to that list. The company has just revealed the OMEN Transcend 32 Gaming Monitor, which does have a few interesting features beyond just its display.

HP's press release states the OMEN Transcend 32 Gaming Monitor has a 32-inch 4K QD-OLED panel with a 1,500,000:1 contrast ratio, along with a 240Hz refresh rate and a 0.3 ms response time. It's been VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certified and is also the first OMEN monitor that supports Dolby Vision HDR,

Aside from the display, HP claims this is the first gaming monitor with independent switchable USB ports. This will allow users to quickly switch between connected devices. It will also support "smart KVM features to drag and drop files across devices" according to HP.

The product will also be the first gaming monitor to support 140W USB-C power delivery for charging devices,. The onboard speakers have been tuned by HP's HyperX division, and users will be able to access a 10 band EQ via the monitor's OMEN gaming hub for even more audio customization.

The monitor will also include support for the company's OMEN Tempest Monitor Cooling Technology. This is supposed to extend the panel life of the display. HP will also have a three-year warranty on the monitor for some added protection.

HP is not revealing yet just when the OMEN Transcend 32 Gaming Monitor will go on sale, except that it will launch sometime later this year. It is also not revealing the price point of the monitor yet.

Source

HP's press release states the new OMEN Transcend 14 Gaming Laptop weighs 1,637 g (about 3.6 pounds). HP also claims the OMEN Transcend 14 is the first gaming laptop with a "lattice-less sky printed RGB keyboard" and an OLED screen with a 120Hz variable refresh rate.

Some of the other specs include Intel's new Core Ultra processors (up to the Core Ultra 9 185H) and up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPUs inside. The battery in is supposed to last up to 11.5 hours on a single charge.

HP says that the OMEN Transcend 14 is also the "coolest" 14-inch gaming laptop. By "coolest," it means it can handle the heat while you play high-end games:

A redesigned chassis utilizes inbound airflow to create a pressurized zone using a vapor chamber for direct heat dissipation through rear vents. This thermal innovation co-engineered with Intel’s dual channel flow technology produced in the world’s coolest 14-inch gaming laptop, which can achieve 4x higher static pressure with an 80w thermal capability within a 12 mm base.

The OMEN Transcend 14 laptop will go on sale today at HP's website for $1,499.99.

HP has also announced a new version of its OMEN Transcend 16.1 inch gaming laptop with the option to include a 4K OLED display with a 240Hz refresh rate. It goes on sale at HP.com on January 10 with a starting price of $1,899.99.

There is also a bunch of new gaming PC accessories from HP's HyperX division. They include new HyperX Cloud Mini Headsets in wired and wireless versions starting at $49.99, and the HyperX Clutch Tanto Mini Wired Controller, made for Xbox, PC, and Android, for $39.99. They will launch this spring.

The HyperX Alloy Rise Keyboards will include pre-lubed HyperX Linear Switches, enhanced RGB lighting, switchable magnetic top plates, and more. You can get the HyperX Alloy Rise Keyboard for $199.99 and the smaller HyperX Alloy 75 Rise Keyboard for $169.99 later this spring.

The small HyperX Pulsefire Haste 2 Mini wireless gaming mouse will have a 26,000 DPI optical sensor and up to 100 hours of battery life on one charge. It's coming this January for $79.99.

Source

Less than a week ago, NVIDIA began teasing its upcoming RTX 4000 Super series with an update to its Facebook cover photo. While it did not reveal any details and was just a picture change, it became obvious to us that it was meant to signify the upcoming reveal. Our hunch was spot on as soon after that, a few days later, the first performance benchmark of the RTX 4070 Super leaked out. It was a Geekbench score that showed how well the card was performing and fared against the vanilla 4070 as well as the 4070 Ti.

While we did not get to have a look at the potential of the other two GPUs, the 4070 Ti Super and the 4080 Super, those, too, should slot into the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 lineup with the 4080 sandwiched between them. We can say that based on alleged specifications that have now seemingly also been confirmed thanks to a leak courtesy of VideoCardz.

According to leaked presentation slide decks, the 4080 Super will continue to feature 16GB of VRAM but it will have more CUDA cores. In the slide, NVIDIA actually compares the card to the RTX 3080 Ti and the 2080 Super in order to show the impressive performance and efficiency jump. In the cases of the 4070 Ti Super and the 4070 Super as well, NVIDIA has put them up against last gen products.

The interesting thing about these numbers is that NVIDIA seems to have put a lot of focus on efficiency as it has put a separate row to show the average gaming power consumption of the new GPUs compared to the former cards.

Outside of CUDA core count upgrade on the three models, the 4070 Ti Super also gets a bump in the memory system as it goes from 12GB on the vanilla to 16GB on the new GPU. This also means that the memory interface has been increased to 256-bit to accommodate the extra four gigs and as such, the bandwidth has been raised from 504 GB/s to 672 GB/s.

The purported price of the trio of new 4000 Super cards has also leaked and NVIDIA seems to not have raised the prices over what the current chips are. In fact, the 4080 Super is apparently priced at an MSRP of $999 which is $200 less than what the price of the non-Super was. Meanwhile, the 4070 Ti Super is seemingly priced at $799 and the 4070 Super is coming in at $599.

Interestingly, NVIDIA does not mention the RTX 4080 and the 4070 Ti in its slide but seems to have officially confirmed that the price of the RTX 4070 is now $549, which is $50 less than its original MSRP.

It will also be interesting to see how AMD will react to this. The company itself is expected to release the RX 7600 XT 16GB soon at around a price of $329.

Source and images: VideoCardz

Source

I bought an 8GB Raspberry Pi 5 as soon as they went up for preorder, just like I have bought every full-size Pi model since the Pi 3 Model B launched back in 2016, including the Pi 3B+, with its better Wi-Fi and more efficient chip, and the Pi 4, with its substantial performance and RAM boost.

 

The difference is that I didn't really have anything in mind for the Pi 5 when I bought it. But years of Pi shortages made me worried about its scarcity, and I figured I'd buy first and ask questions later rather than want it later and be totally unable to get one. In the end, it will probably knock each of my other Pis down a level in my tech setup: the Pi 5 becomes the retro emulation box, the Pi 4 becomes the multi-use always-on light-duty server (currently running a combo of HomeBridge, WireGuard, and a dynamic DNS IP address updater), the Pi 3B+ joins the Pi 3B as either "test hardware for small one-off projects" or "the retro emulation box I lent to a friend which may or may not have been ruined when their basement flooded."

 

Before I did that, though, I wanted to take another crack at trying to use a Pi as an everyday general-purpose desktop computer. The Raspberry Pi's operating system has always included many of the tools you'd need to take a crack at this, including a lightweight desktop environment and a couple of web browser options, and the Pi 4-based Pi 400 variant has always been pitched specifically as a general-purpose computer.

 

But even with 4GB or 8GB of RAM, the truth is that the Pi 4 was still using the equivalent of a budget smartphone processor. It's plenty of power for the kinds of lightweight single-purpose hobby projects that the Pi was always meant for, but it's not nearly enough to make the kind of browser-heavy office work that I do feel responsive or fluid. It felt close, sometimes. But you always spent a lot more time waiting on things than you would on an entry-level Mac or PC desktop.

 

But maybe the Pi 5 will be better! Looking at the spec sheet, things seem promising: "between two and three times" the CPU and GPU processing power of the Raspberry Pi 4, faster interfaces for storage including the option for an internal PCIe SSD, and support for a pair of 4K displays running at 60 Hz over the board's micro HDMI ports. Considered as a list of high-level technical capabilities, it's at least in the same neighborhood as a Mac mini, though Apple's M2 still has a lot more performance to spare.

 

My journey started out disappointing, which led me to reset my expectations, and after some adjusting, I eventually got around to being pleasantly surprised. Here's what I discovered.

My hardware

The Pi 5 still ships without any kind of cooler on the SoC, and you can use it that way if you want; for short bursts of activity, it won't get hot enough quickly enough to cause big problems. But this is the generation where a small fan and heatsink has gone from "necessary if you want to overclock a bit" to "necessary to get sustained peak performance at stock speeds." There's a real fan header now and everything. To maximize my odds of conducting a successful experiment, active cooling was a must.

 

I bought the official Raspberry Pi 5 case and power supply from my local Micro Center, noting that the case came with its own cooler. I had assumed that this would be the same thing as the Raspberry Pi Active Cooler, a fairly substantial bit of aluminum with a fan mounted directly on top and coverage for most of the important chips on the top of the board. Unfortunately, the case's built-in cooler was less robust-looking—one of those cheap stick-on heatsinks for the main SoC, plus a fan mounted above it integrated into the lid of the case rather than attached to the heatsink directly.

 

The case's built-in cooler is still a heatsink with air moving over it, and it's better than nothing; at stock speeds during regular use, the Pi generally didn't seem to be overheating or throttling. But for the sake of playing with overclocks, I sprung for the Active Cooler, which is not only a much larger heatsink but includes a quieter fan with more fins. I'd only use the Pi 5 with no extra cooling at all if it was mostly being tasked with intermittent light-duty work (and if that's all you're doing, a cheaper Pi 4 may still be a viable option for you).

 

As for the power supply, I've found past Pis to be finicky about running at full speeds with any kind of generic third-party power supply, whether it's micro USB or USB-C. I didn't want to see the little "low voltage" lightning bolt in the corner of my screen, and I knew the Pi 4 power supply didn't supply as much power as the Pi 5 could use, so I played it safe.

 

Otherwise, the Pi 5 was going to plug directly into my existing setup: a pair of 4K monitors (one a Gigabyte M28U, the other an Acer B287K—not matching screens but calibrated to be close enough), one with a USB hub with a keyboard, mouse, webcam, and audio preamp connected to it. For storage, I used a SATA SSD in a USB 3 enclosure—the Pi 5 only supports M.2 storage with a HAT attachment that I didn't want to spring for, and a USB-attached SSD is still a good bit faster than a microSD card. If you haven't tried booting from external media on a Pi in a while, you don't need to jump through the hoops you used to—flash an OS image on USB media and the Pi will happily boot from it if there's no microSD card inserted, no extra configuration required.

Setting up and initial frustrations

With my hardware settled, I had to pick out software. For general-use operating systems, the two most viable choices this early in the Pi 5's lifecycle are the official Raspberry Pi OS and a build of Ubuntu 23.10.

 

For background, I'd say my familiarity level and general comfort with Linux is somewhere in the "advanced beginner" range, at least as long as I stick to Debian-based distros (for example, I know enough to say things like "Debian-based distros"). I am reasonably comfortable installing things via the Terminal, and I'm not put off by interface differences. When there's something basic I want to do, I usually know where to start looking, and as long as the various tutorials and scripts and commands do what they say they're supposed to do, I'm in good shape.

 

I do hit a wall whenever I'm asked to compile anything on my own—and when things break, I'm less comfortable about troubleshooting and fixing than I am in either Windows or macOS. But in this experiment, I knew I would probably hit a thing or two I couldn't get working, not because they wouldn't work but because I don't really know enough about Linux to make them work.

 

I mention this because neither of my two OS options was ideal, and I didn't have a lot of success tweaking either OS to do exactly what I wanted it to do, because all of this software is pretty new, and a lot of the forum posts and tutorials out there are too old to work properly anymore.

 

The main issue with Ubuntu is that neither of its browsers supported video or audio websites that used DRM, which meant that I couldn't listen to Spotify while I worked (there is no app, so using a web app is necessary, which will become a theme of this experiment). The heavier GNOME environment was also clearly taxing the Pi a bit more; the UI was jerkier, and the fan was spinning up more frequently. Trying to install the Widevine DRM software that the Pi OS uses on Ubuntu didn't work for me, so I retreated to the official Pi OS.

 

But the Pi OS's desktop environment is poorly suited to general-purpose computing in a few ways. It lacks handy window management features like window snapping, so the only way to manage windows is by dragging them around and manually resizing, minimizing, or maximizing. Notifications are also handled poorly, with each notification you get generating a pop-up modal notification in the middle of the screen that won't go away until you close it. It's a lot like trying to use Windows XP again (though the interface for alt-tabbing through windows is nice, at least).

 

And as with my attempts to install Widevine on Ubuntu, trying to install a different desktop environment on top of the Pi OS didn't go well, whether I tried to install one over top of the existing environment or install one from scratch on top of the command-line-only "Lite" version of Pi OS. All the information I could dig up via searching or looking at the Pi forums was old, and it wasn't clear whether the older tutorials weren't working because of the switch to Debian Bookworm, the switch from X11 to Wayland, the fact that I was using a 64-bit OS instead of a 32-bit OS, some combination of all three, or something else entirely.

 

A few hours spent trying to make a best-of-both-worlds desktop work had primed me to be frustrated about this project, but by the time I had finally settled on using the standard Pi OS as my desktop (I'd rather have music than window snapping), I had gotten annoyed about a series of monitor-related problems that were the same in both the standard Pi OS and Ubuntu:

 

• One of my monitors (the M28U) could only run at 30 Hz regardless of what cable or HDMI adapter I used or what monitor settings I changed. I'm sure the Pi 5 technically can run two 4K monitors at 60 Hz, but not this one, for some reason.
• Using the M28U at 1440p allowed me to bump its refresh rate all the way up to 144 Hz, but the Acer monitor would only let me set its resolution to 4K or 1080p, resulting in a resolution mismatch either way. I ended up settling on 1080p for the secondary monitor because...
• Things frequently get choppy in a multi-monitor setup, particularly when you're loading a new app or tab. Don't expect a smooth 60 Hz desktop, even if you're not having the hardware problems I did.

 

Many of these problems were unique to my setup, and you may not deal with the same problems. But these two monitors also behave perfectly normally with all kinds of Windows PCs and Macs, so who knows what fun display issues you might end up running into in your own setups!

 

I also tried to use Firefox for a while out of a vague objection to Google and Chromium's browser hegemony; it was clearly slower than Chromium at just about everything, though, and it would regularly lock up the Pi, forcing a hard reboot. The Pi's browsers both come with a uBlock origin ad blocker installed, which I tried to go without for a while. But performance on most sites was so much worse with the ad blocker disabled that I ended up reinstalling it just to try to keep the Pi running tolerably well.

 

And these are just the issues I had with the software that comes with Pi OS. I burned a couple of hours trying to install the lightweight third-party Maestral client for Dropbox, only to encounter constant errors while trying to install both the Python and Docker-based versions. No official builds of the Linux Slack or Discord apps exist for Arm Linux. No Zoom client, no Skype client. As with Spotify, you'll resort to using most apps inside of a browser window. The box86 project allows you to run x86 Linux apps on an Arm chip, but it can only run 32-bit apps on top of the 32-bit version of Pi OS, so it wouldn't have worked for most of the apps I wanted to use, anyway.

 

This isn't the end of the world, especially since a lot of these "apps" are just wrappers for each app's web clients. Chromium's ability to create "shortcuts"—browser windows dedicated to specific sites that can be opened and managed independently of the rest of your Chromium windows—helped out a lot, though it's a bit less elegant.

 

 

Chromium "apps" do a lot to fill the app gap, though unsightly gigantic window borders make them feel less space-efficient than a native app would.

 

But the experience was less of using a regular desktop computer with lots of software available and more of using a Chromebook, where the OS itself is mostly just a layer of UI for a browser to run on top of.

Meeting in the middle

By the time I had been failing for a couple of days to get the Pi working exactly as I wanted it to, I was ready to throw in the towel and trash the draft full of irritated notes that I had been taking for the article you're reading now. Better to waste a few hours than risk all the readers calling me an idiot because of my deficient Linux chops (if you've gotten this far and you're mad at me for being an idiot, hello, I'm thinking about you).

 

But then I opened Chromium and imported my bookmarks (signing into Chromium with a Google account to handle sync was possible once but no longer appears to be) and installed my extensions and signed into all my accounts, and I created shortcuts for Spotify, Slack, Discord, and Dropbox so I could use them as web apps, and I actually started using the Pi instead of handling Firefox-related system crashes or fighting with Linux to make it do what I wanted it to do.

 

To my surprise, the Pi actually did fine! Not great, but fine. I listened to music. I researched and wrote a few articles. I paid some bills. I installed Audacity (a nearly year-old version, but a functioning native app, at least) and edited, exported, and uploaded some podcasts with files with three or four audio tracks in them. I SSH'd into the Pi 4 as I configured it to take the place of my Pi 3 as a general-purpose network-service box. I bought a few things. I took a couple of Zoom calls. I chatted with friends and coworkers.

 

In other words, I did manage to use the Pi as a general-purpose multi-monitor computer, and I got by fine for a few days.

 

That's not to say all of these tasks were accomplished seamlessly or smoothly. Even with my screens set to 1440p and 1080p (respectively), the Pi still frequently dropped frames when I was opening apps or new tabs or even just scooting windows around. Having to wait an extra beat for anything to happen becomes part of your muscle memory as you get accustomed to the system's speed.

 

You'll also notice that "watching a ton of videos" was not on my list. YouTube videos are generally playable but drop frames, especially if you're trying to watch at 1080p and/or do any other kind of work while watching. Hardware-accelerated video decode has always been a bit of a sticking point for the Pi, and the Zoom calls I took completely maxed out the GPU and nearly maxed out the CPU and still couldn't manage anything approaching a smooth frame rate. I got by, but I couldn't do more than that. As far as I can tell, the Pi includes hardware-accelerated decoding for the H.265/HEVC codec but not for the still-common-at-HD-resolutions H.264 codec, which helps explain why things like YouTube and Zoom stress the Pi out so much.

 

Overclocking the Pi 5 did improve the situation slightly; following Jeff Geerling's recommendations, I managed to bump the CPU from 2.4 GHz to 3 GHz and the GPU from 800 MHz to 900 MHz after providing a bit more voltage. These settings do require a heatsink at least as good as the official Pi active cooler to work—performance throttled if I did this using only the sticky heatsink and top-mounted fan that came with the Pi 5 case. These overclocks didn't fully address any of the issues I had, but they did improve system responsiveness by a noticeable (and necessary) amount.

 

Even with the overclocks, doing anything else while playing a non-accelerated video is the fastest way to bring the Pi to its knees, and you'll still notice some jerkiness and hesitation when opening apps, opening tabs, or resizing or moving windows (at least, this was the case on a multi-monitor setup).

Source

Transparent displays are not a new thing and Samsung has been trying to improve it ever since the company first announced it back in 2015. However, with its new Transparent MICRO LED Display, Samsung promises to offer a superior experience to users, when compared to its competitors. The company notes that the technology works by having a thin piece of glass-like screen with "an extremely small MICRO LED chip and precision manufacturing process that eliminates seams and light refraction". Samsung promises to offer a clear, unobstructed picture in all scenarios for both home and commercial needs.

Combining superior craftsmanship with six years of tireless research and development, this new modular MICRO LED wowed attendees with its futuristic design. The Transparent MICRO LED’s crystal-clear, glass-like display has revolutionized the viewing experience and attracted the attention of global consumers.

Furthermore, the company also confirmed that the screen will be available in various sizes, allowing users to customize the shape and size to fit their needs.

Touting a modular design that allows users to personalize the shape, size and ratio of screens to fit any space, MICRO LED is a truly innovative screen technology. Samsung’s years of research and development — stemming from its semiconductor expertise — have led to an extremely effective process, allowing LED chip operation circuits to be directly deposited on the glass and thereby mitigating the loss of brightness that users may experience with conventional displays.

Samsung has shared a short video along with the announcement to demonstrate the new Micro LED display.

There is no word on pricing or availability at the moment but we expect Samsung to share more at CES 2024 as well as through the year. It will be interesting to see how the new display fares against the competition.

Source

Acer's press releaserevealed it will launch the huge 57-inch Predator Z57 curved ultrawide monitor. It will have a 7,680 x 2,160 resolution with a 120Hz refresh rate, along with a curvature of 1000R and a 32:9 aspect ratio. The MiniLED display will have 2,304 dimming zones, a maximum brightness of 1,000 nits, VESA DisplayHDR 1000 certification, and a DCI-P3 98% colour gamut. It will have two HDMI 2.1 ports and a DisplayPort 1.4 port, with support for picture-by-picture and picture-in-picture modes. It will go on sale in the US for $2,499.99 in the second quarter of 2024.

Acer will also release a smaller MiniLED monitor, the 34-inch Predator X34 V3. It will have a 1500R curved 21:9 ultrawide display and a resolution of 3,440 x 1,440 along with a 180Hz refresh rate. It will launch in Q2 2024 in the US for $899.99. Both monitors will also support AMD FreeSync Premium technology to keep screen tearing and stuttering down while playing high-end PC games. Both will also come with a KVM switch so one keyboard and mouse can be used on two connecting video sources.

The two new OLED monitors are the 39-inch Acer Predator X39 and the 34-inch Predator X34 X. Both are 800R curved ultrawide 21:9 monitors with resolutions of 3,440 x1,440, a 240Hz refresh rate and a .01 ms pixel response time. Both also support VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 and DCI-P3 99% colour gamut along with support for AMD FreeSync Premium technology. The monitors will also have a KVM switch.

Both monitors will go on sale in the US in the second quarter of 2024. The Acer Predator X39 will sell for $1,499.99 while the Predator X34 X will be priced at $1,299.99.

Source

Digital Trends got a chance to check out a concept product version of this monitor. It creates the illusion of 3D with two cameras placed on top of the screen. The cameras are made to track your head and eyes, so they can be used to change a flat 2D video into something that looks like 3D.

The story states that Samsung used the recent video game Lies of P to show off the monitor's 3D effect. The author came away mostly impressed with the technology stating that he saw "embers circulating the air in front of the display and decapitated puppet parts shooting out the side of the screen." On the other hand, the author added that he did see some video tearing in the game's background.

The monitor can be switched from 2D to 3D viewpoints instantly, according to Samsung. Unlike Acer's 3D monitor, it doesn't need any special software to help convert 2D games to work on the 3D screen, so that's a positive.

There's not much more info on this Samsung 2D/3D monitor at the moment, including its refresh rate and other hardware specs. Samsung is also not talking about a release date or price for this monitor, saying only that more info will be revealed later in 2024. We would bet that this monitor will be on the pricey side.

The company has already revealed plans to release new OLED Odyssey gaming PC monitors later this year, in 27-inch, 32-inch, and 49-inch sizes. There's also no word on the prices for these new monitors either.

Source

Table of contents:

1. Windows 11 news
2. Windows Insider Program Updates
3. Updates are available
4. Gaming news
5. A blast from Microsoft's past

Windows 11

Here we talk about everything happening around Microsoft's latest operating system in the Stable channel and preview builds: new features, removed features, controversies, bugs, interesting findings, and more. And of course, you may find a word or two about older but still supported versions.

The first Microsoft Weekly of 2024 begins with a fresh drop of stats from Valve and Statcounter. After crossing the 42% mark in November 2023, Windows 11 lost a few users and bounced below 42%. Statcounter reports a similar picture, with Windows 11 going down from 26.63% to 26.54%. As for Microsoft Edge, it reclaimed the previously lost "second most popular browser" title and now holds approximately 11.9% of the desktop browser market.

Did you know that Windows has a new lead? Mikhail Parakhin took the lead after Panos Panay's departure, and he wants to bring some much-needed changes to Windows 11. For starters, it appears that the Start menu is about to get a makeover (again). In a reply to a user on X, Mikhail said the need to click "All apps" just to see all available applications "annoys the hell out of" him, and he wants to "make Start menu great again."

In addition, Mikhail published a poll asking users and developers about which UX framework in Windows Microsoft should invest more.

We do not know when those updates will be available to try (if ever), but details about the upcoming Windows 11 update are already showing up. According to Dell, the next Windows 11 feature update will bring Wi-Fi 7 support somewhere in April 2024.

Windows Insider Program

The Windows development team is back from holidays with a few fresh builds to try:

As mentioned above, build 23612 contains a new weather widget for the lock screen. This experience is rolling out gradually for Windows Insiders with EN-US locale, but you can force-enable it using the ViVeTool app. Check out this article to learn more.

It is worth noting that we may see more lock screen-related changes. Windows' new head replied to a user on X, saying that the lack of date and time on the login screen is something that also nags him.

Another interesting find in the latest preview builds is a code line suggesting that Microsoft might add more Copilot entries across the operating system. Look out for Copilot in File Explorer's context menus in future updates. And if you plan to purchase a new PC later this year, expect it to show up with a new Copilot button on the keyboard. That's right, Microsoft now wants to ship new Windows PCs with a dedicated hardware key for invoking its new AI-powered assistant. It will sit to the right from the spacebar key, right between R Ctrl and R Alt.

Finally, Microsoft also released an update for the Microsoft Store app. It includes improvements for the recently launched Instant Games, new notifications, and performance improvements when installing apps from search or browsing.

Here is an interesting concept to finish the Windows 11 section. Have you ever wondered what Windows XP would look like if it were released in 2024? This creation is here to answer the question no one was asking. Looks interesting, doesn't it?

Updates are available

This section covers software, firmware, and other notable updates (released and coming soon) delivering new features, security fixes, improvements, patches, and more from Microsoft and third parties.

Here is a hardware update that will delight those using Microsoft-branded PC accessories. The company decided to resurrect its recently discontinued keyboards, mice, webcams, headsets, and speakers. Thanks to a partnership with Incase, those accessories will soon show up in stores under a new brand. And since Incase will use the same components and manufacturing, those keyboards, mice, and other devices will work the same as those with a Microsoft logo on them. Besides, Incase is working on new devices co-developed with the software giant.

With Microsoft-branded keyboards rising from their grave, another product is heading six feet under. This week, Microsoft updated its documentation, adding more details about the recent Windows Mixed Reality deprecation. The platform and device support will remain available for almost two more years, with the end of support scheduled for November 2026 for regular users and November 2027 for commercial customers.

Valve has joined the list of developers abandoning Windows 7, 8, and 8.1. As of January 1, 2024, Steam no longer supports pre-Windows 10 versions. From now on, you need a computer with Windows 10 or 11 to run Steam and receive platform updates. That is because Steam relies on Chrome, which ditched Windows 7 in January 2023. Although you can still run Steam on Windows 7, Valve cannot guarantee its continuous reliability. At some point, you will lose access to your games.

Do you remember Microsoft deprecating WordPad in 2023? Here is an update to the story: in the release notes for the latest Canary build, Microsoft said it will soon remove WordPad from the operating system. Moreover, you will not be able to install the app back, at least officially. Those still using this old WYSIWYG text editor should start looking for an alternative.

Microsoft is working on several improvements for PowerToys. Future updates for our favorite app will soon bring a redesigned Keyboard Manager with new features and a new tool to help you use PowerShell.

Other notable updates and releases from this week include the following:

• Microsoft Edge on mobile has a new name. It is now "Microsoft Edge: AI browser," whatever that means.
• Excel on iPad received support for pivot tables.
•  

• 

•  

• MSBob is out, a third-party attempt to recreate the ill-fated "assistant" and arguably one of the worst Microsoft-made apps from 1995. It attempts to give users quick links to the most common Windows settings one may need after clean-installing Windows 11.
• Microsoft Teams will add Intelligent Recap for Copilot in January 2024 and the long-promised Android Auto support in February 2024.
• Visual Studio 2013 will soon be dead. Microsoft issued a reminder that its old IDE is about to reach its end of life. Therefore, it is time to move to something more recent.
• KB5002500 for OneNote 2016 is out to fix sync-related crashes.

Finally, here is a recap of all the new features Microsoft added to Teams in December 2023.

On the gaming side

Learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, freebies, deals, discounts and more.

On the gaming side, Microsoft kicked off 2024 with a fresh drop of games for Xbox and PC Game Pass subscribers. The latest additions include Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Resident Evil 2, Hell Let Loose, We Happy Few, and more.

Speaking of Xbox and PC Game Pass, Microsoft quietly updated quests for Microsoft Reward users, bumping up the amount of points you can earn by completing daily and weekly quests.

Following the release of the Xbox Mini Fridge in 2021, Microsoft is back with another appliance for your gaming kitchen. This time, it is an Xbox Series S-styled toaster. You can get it at Walmart for $39.99.

No week goes past without NVIDIA adding more games to its GeForce NOW streaming service. This week, the company shipped a new batch of titles that includes Dishonored, The Finals, Redmatch 2, Scorn, and Sniper Elite 5. At least sixteen more games will join the party next month.

Deals and freebies

The Epic Games Store is giving away Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. The superhero-themed title is up for grabs until Thursday, January 11.

If you want more, here is the latest edition of the Weekend PC Game Deals with various bundles and big discounts across different stores.

A blast from Microsoft's past

John Callaham's weekly "Look back" series provides throwbacks into the past, detailing the company's products, partnerships, mishaps, and successes from years ago.

This week, an interesting piece of Microsoft history showed up on the surface of the internet. 86-DOS, the foundation for the legendary MS-DOS, has leaked in one of its earliest forms. A build compiled in July 1980 is now available for download from the Internet Archive.

To finish this Weekly, here is a look-back article about the first Microsoft-branded keyboard released in 1994, aimed to give PC users a more comfortable typing experience. In addition, that keyboard introduced the legendary Windows key, which, as some suspect, is now at risk of extinction given Microsoft's aggressive Copilot push.

Source