One of the biggest stories of the year in gaming is growing, as Bethesda Game Studios shared on Friday via Bluesky that The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered has already reached 4 million players.

"We are so grateful to the over 4 million of you that have already ventured into Cyrodiil with Oblivion Remastered. Thank you!" the studio's social media message reads.

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered was officially unveiled on Tuesday after almost two years of leaks and rumors. The game was then made available on storefronts the same day as part of "shadow drop," letting players instantly jump in.

Developed primarily by Virtuos with support from Bethesda Game Studios, the game features new visuals rendered in Unreal Engine 5 as well as some new voice recordings, while the underlying Gamebryo engine has been adjusted but left relatively the same as the original 2006 release.

Now, obviously, 4 million players is not 4 million copies sold. All Xbox first-party games are available at launch through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, meaning subscribers can check a game out without paying anything extra.

Even so, it's still a noteworthy milestone, and it'll be interesting how much further it grows over time. Another Bethesda Softworks-published title, MachineGames' Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, reached 4 million players after launching on Xbox and PC in December 2024.

Right now, the majority of players seem to be enjoying their time with the game, though PC Game Pass users are currently waiting on an official fix after an update disabled DLSS upscaling in that version of the game.

Speaking of details, Nvidia allegedly set the embargo date to the same day, May 19, which means potential buyers will have to decide without checking reviews first. This might not be a good sign for the cheapest RTX 50 Series graphics card (Nvidia's performance charts below).

The RTX 5060 with 8GB of video memory is launching at $299 MSRP, which is the same price as the previous-gen RTX 4060. While the price is unchanged, the RTX 5060 offers more CUDA cores (3,840 over 3,072), faster memory (28 Gbps over 17 Gbps), and higher memory bandwidth (448 GBps over 272 GBps). It also has a slightly higher TDP of 145W.

The RTX 5060 could be the most affordable RTX 50 Series graphics card for some time, as there are no confirmed rumors on lower-end tiers, such as the RTX 5050 (RTX 4050 never materialized outside its laptop variant). It will be interesting to see how the market reacts to the launch and prices in light of the overall discontent with the RTX 5060 Ti models having only 8GB of memory in the lower-spec variant and generally poor quality of Nvidia's recent drivers.

AMD plans to take on Nvidia's more affordable graphics cards with the RX 9060 XT, and the company has already confirmed plans for product announcements on May 21, 2025, at the Computex 2025 stage in Taiwan. Cheaper Radeon GPUs could be revealed there alongside new Ryzen processors for AI PCs.

Source: VideoCardz

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1/ One quarter down, and 2025 already feels like a breakthrough year.

Here’s a quick Q1 update from our earnings call🧵

 

— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) April 24, 2025

Despite the growing competition from OpenAI and other AI startups, Google Search continues to grow. Google Search and Services revenue increased 10% year over year to $77.3 billion. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai mentioned that Search saw continued strong growth and new features like AI Overviews now has 1.5 billion users per month.

YouTube also posted a strong performance with revenue of $8.93 billion, up 10.3% YoY. With YouTube Premium and Google One, Google now has 270 million paid subscriptions.

Google Cloud, Google's cloud business that competes with Microsoft Azure and AWS, posted revenue of $12.3 billion, a 28% YoY growth. This was led by growth in Google Cloud Platform (GCP), which includes AI Infrastructure and Generative AI Solutions (Gemini APIs).

Sundar Pichai, CEO, said the following regarding the quarterly results:

“We’re pleased with our strong Q1 results, which reflect healthy growth and momentum across the business. Underpinning this growth is our unique full stack approach to AI. This quarter was exciting as we rolled out Gemini 2.5, our most intelligent AI model, which is achieving breakthroughs in performance and is an extraordinary foundation for our future innovation.”

Alphabet’s Board announced a decision to repurchase up to an additional $70.0 billion of stock. The board also announced a 5% increase to the dividend, resulting in a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share.

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Kicking the event off will be the main keynote, which is due to start at 10 AM PST on May 20 and will run for two hours until 12 PM. At this event, expect to hear lots about artificial intelligence, Android, and Chrome. Following this, at 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM PST will be the Developer keynote, where Google will get more into the gritty technical details.

Speaking for 30 minutes between 3:30 PM and 4 PM PST is Demis Hassabis, Google’s artificial intelligence head. He will be discussing the frontiers of artificial intelligence. This chat will definitely be something to watch for everyone out there who is deeply interested in AI.

The other events are as follows:

May 20, 2025
3:30 PM – 4:30 PM PST

What’s new in Android
Category: Android | Type: Keynote | Livestream available

What’s new in Chrome
Category: Web | Type: Keynote | Livestream available

What’s new in Google Cloud
Category: Cloud | Type: Keynote | Livestream available

4:30 PM – 5:30 PM PST

Google’s AI stack for developers
Category: AI | Type: Keynote | Livestream available

What’s new in Google Play
Category: Android | Type: Keynote | Livestream available

What’s new in web
Category: Web | Type: Keynote | Livestream available

What’s new in Firebase
Category: Cloud | Type: Keynote | Livestream available

May 21, 2025
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM PST

Accelerate your development with the Gemini API
Category: AI | Type: Keynote | Livestream available

What’s new in Android development tools
Category: Android | Type: Keynote | Livestream available

What’s new in web UI
Category: Web | Type: Keynote | Livestream available

Automate your work and integrate with Google Workspace
Category: Cloud | Type: Keynote | Livestream available

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM PST

What’s new in the Gemmaverse
Category: AI | Type: Keynote | Livestream available

Adaptive Android development makes your app shine across devices
Category: Android | Type: Keynote | Livestream available

What’s new in Angular
Category: Web | Type: Keynote | Livestream available

What’s new in Flutter
Category: Cloud | Type: Keynote | Livestream available

You can find out more about all these events from the Explore Google I/O 2025 webpage. On the days of the event, just head over to the Google I/O website and you’ll be able to tune in.

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Jack Huynh, AMD's Senior Vice President and General Manager of Computing and Graphics, announced the keynote on his X:

AMD's official website confirms product announcements on May 21 (it also plans a separate event on June 12 with Lisa Su), including AMD Ryzen AI-powered AI Pcs, "latest gaming experiences" for desktop PCs, mobile, and handheld devices, AI workstations, and EPYC and Instinct solutions for AI data centers.

Join AMD as Jack Huynh, SVP and GM of the Computing and Graphics Group, along with industry leaders and partners, announce key products and technology advancements across gaming, AI PC, and enterprise – showcasing what’s possible through the AMD vision on AI-powered devices.

AMD could use the Computex 2025 stage to unveil its lower-end graphics cards from the Radeon RX 9000 series, namely the RX 9060 XT. As for the AI part, it could be about AMD's upcoming Gordon Point processors.

Nvidia will also have its keynote on Computex 2025. The company's CEO, Huang Jensen, will host a keynote on May 19 where it plans to "dive deeper into the breakthroughs shaping the future of AI."

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The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered launched on April 22, 2025, and it has already skyrocketed to the top of Steam's Top Sellers list with more than 100,000 players on the first day.

As players dive back into the world of Cyrodiil, it's becoming clear that the remake's move to Unreal Engine 5 puts a lot of stress on gaming PCs.

I have some good news. NVIDIA owners, especially those with an RTX 50-series GPU, can make some changes via the NVIDIA App to significantly boost performance.

All it requires is a few clicks in NVIDIA's software. Here's how it's done.

How to enable DLSS 4 overrides in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered

AMD did not reveal the 9070 series and RDNA 4 architecture details until much later, when it finally shared the elements of its latest GPU microarchitecture. We covered it in this dedicated article.

To AMD's credit, though, the delay actually turned out to be a good move as the Radeon team got time to review pricing and other factors before making the move on take on Nvidia's 5070 series. As such, the company's 9070 XT went on to receive a 10 out of 10 in our gaming test and a 9 out of 10 in AI as we felt the 9070 XT was providing excellent value for money.

AMD could be planning for a similar strategy this time around as well. A new report from Board Channels forum suggests that the RX 9060 XT may not be landing before May 18, though it is unclear whether this would be the actual availability date or just the announcement date.

However, that is not the worrying thing as the report also alleges that Nvidia has also delayed its RX 9070 GRE to Q4 2025. If the report is indeed accurate, then Nvidia will once again have no direct competition for the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB for at least several months.

To be fair, the 9070 GRE was supposed to land in China first anyway, with the chances of it hitting the other markets later. However, if China itself sees 9070 GRE initial shipments in Q4 2025, then the US arrival may be pushed into 2026.

From our previous informed performance guesstimation, we already know that the RX 9060 XT will not be able to compete with the Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti; however, we did find that the 9070 GRE could have done a phenomenal job completely stomping the 5060 Ti, given GRE's alleged specs.

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Mastering your laptop means mastering its inputs, and having a good touchpad (also known as a trackpad) can truly make or break your experience.

Touchpads haven't always had a great reputation for being enjoyable to use, especially on Windows PCs, but that's changing.

Haptic touchpads are more reliable, engaging, and capable than the traditional mechanical touchpads with which you're likely familiar, and they're starting to become more common. What are haptic touchpads, though, and why should you care?

Here's everything you need to know about haptic touchpads.

What are haptic touchpads?

Bethesda fans are understandably excited about the opportunity to revisit the world of Cyrodiil with yesterday's heavily telegraphed release of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered. But that excitement may have been tinged with at least a little bit of trepidation for the team behind Skyblivion, a volunteer-run project that has spent years trying to "port and rebuild" 2007's Oblivion into the updated engine from 2016's remastered Skyrim: Special Edition.

Fortunately for the Skyblivion team, Bethesda has apparently decided there's room enough in this world for both official and unofficial remakes of Oblivion. The team took to social media Tuesday to thank Bethesda for "their continued support" and for "the generous gift of Oblivion Remastered game keys for our entire modding team."

"To clear up any confusion Bethesda made it clear that they have no intention of shutting down our project," the team added in a social media reply.

Not everyone is so supportive

Earlier this month, when credible rumors of the official Oblivion remaster were running rampant, the Skyblivion team posted that it was "eagerly aniticipating" the official release and that there was "no need for comparisons or a sense of competition between Skyblivion and a potential official remaster." That's particularly true, the team wrote, because Skyblivion's PC mod won't be available for console players, who will be able to enjoy Bethesda's official version instead

"Bethesda has always been supportive of community projects like ours, and we don't see that changing anytime soon," the team wrote at the time.

The latest "making of" trailer for the ambitious Skyblivion modding project.

Other publishers aren't always similarly open to competition from fans, though. Nintendo has long taken a legal scorched earth approach to a wide variety of fan games that use its licensed characters or trademarks. And last year, Valve also took steps to shut down a number of fan remakes of its legacy games.

In 2016, Blizzard shut down a couple of fan-run "classic" World of Warcraft servers in the run-up to its announcement of official World of Warcraft Classic servers. Activision and EA have similarly shut down modded servers for legacy online titles.

Some publishers have mirrored Bethesda's more open approach to modders, though. Sega actively encouraged official Steamworks modding for some Sega Genesis classics released as PC downloads in 2016. And the heavily Halo-inspired Installation 01 continues to thrive with something close to official support from Microsoft and developer 343 Industries, as long as it remains a non-commercial project.

As for Skyblivion, while the project's last public road map update is months old at this point, the team is still confident it will be able to release a version of its ambitious mod later this year. "We are confident that players will be the true winners, having the opportunity to experience both a community-driven reimagining and a professional, modern version of this beloved game."

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Intel will soon lay off more than 20 percent of its workforce, according to a report by Bloomberg. The move is reportedly aimed at reducing middle management at the chipmaker. Intel had 108,900 employees as of the end of 2024, so the upcoming cuts would likely see over 20,000 fired.

The job cuts would be one of the first major moves made by Intel since the company appointed Lip-Bu Tan as CEO. Tan also announced an agreement to sell 51 percent of Intel's stake in Altera, an FPGA (programmable) semiconductor manufacturer, indicating that Intel's new CEO is willing to make drastic changes to restore the company.

Intel cut 15,000 jobs last August, though that move occurred under previous leadership.

Tan entered the CEO role during a time of turmoil at Intel. The company's stock dropped 60 percent in 2024, and Intel saw a net loss of $1.6 billion in a single quarter.

Intel revenue dropped 7 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Tan did not dance around the issues facing Intel in remarks he made to employees in an email following his appointment:

"Together, we will work hard to restore Intel's position as a world-class products company, establish ourselves as a world-class foundry and delight our customers like never before."

The European Commission issued a €500 million fine to Apple and a €200 million fine to Meta yesterday, saying that both companies violated the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The companies are required to bring their platforms into compliance within 60 days or face "periodic penalty payments," the EC said.

These are the first two non-compliance decisions adopted by the commission under the DMA. The EC said it determined that Apple breached its anti-steering obligation and that "Meta breached the DMA obligation to give consumers the choice of a service that uses less of their personal data."

"Apple and Meta have fallen short of compliance with the DMA by implementing measures that reinforce the dependence of business users and consumers on their platforms," said European Commissioner for Competition Teresa Ribera.

Both companies criticized the fines. Meta alleged that the EC is "unfairly restricting personalized advertising" and that "forcing us to change our business model effectively imposes a multi-billion-dollar tariff on Meta while requiring us to offer an inferior service."

"The European Commission is attempting to handicap successful American businesses while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards," Meta Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan said.

Apple said in a statement provided to Ars that it "will appeal and continue engaging with the Commission in service of our European customers."

"Today's announcements are yet another example of the European Commission unfairly targeting Apple in a series of decisions that are bad for the privacy and security of our users, bad for products, and force us to give away our technology for free," Apple said. "We have spent hundreds of thousands of engineering hours and made dozens of changes to comply with this law, none of which our users have asked for. Despite countless meetings, the Commission continues to move the goal posts every step of the way."

Apple App Store restrictions

The EC can fine companies up to 10 percent of their global annual turnover, which would amount to many billions for Apple and Meta. Reuters reported that the relatively modest fines are "due to the short period of the breaches, a focus on compliance rather than sanctions, and a desire to avoid possible retaliation from [President Donald] Trump."

Ribera said the EC took "firm but balanced enforcement action against both companies, based on clear and predictable rules."

The EC said Apple is required to let app developers "inform customers, free of charge, of alternative offers outside the App Store, steer them to those offers and allow them to make purchases." But because of "a number of restrictions imposed by Apple, app developers cannot fully benefit from the advantages of alternative distribution channels outside the App Store," the European regulator said. "Similarly, consumers cannot fully benefit from alternative and cheaper offers as Apple prevents app developers from directly informing consumers of such offers."

Apple "failed to demonstrate that these restrictions are objectively necessary and proportionate," the EC said. The regulator "ordered Apple to remove the technical and commercial restrictions on steering and to refrain from perpetuating the non-compliant conduct in the future."

EC: Meta ad model falls short

The DMA requires Meta to "seek users' consent for combining their personal data between services," the EC said. "Those users who do not consent must have access to a less personalized but equivalent alternative."

With Meta's "Consent or Pay" advertising model introduced in November 2023, "EU users of Facebook and Instagram had a choice between consenting to personal data combination for personalized advertising or paying a monthly subscription for an ad-free service," the EC said.

The EC found that this model violated the DMA because it didn't give users "the required specific choice to opt for a service that uses less of their personal data but is otherwise equivalent to the 'personalized ads' service" and "did not allow users to exercise their right to freely consent to the combination of their personal data."

Meta changed the model in November 2024 after discussions with the commission, the announcement said. "Meta introduced another version of the free personalized ads model, offering a new option that allegedly uses less personal data to display advertisements," the EC said. "The Commission is currently assessing this new option and continues its dialogue with Meta, requesting the company to provide evidence of the impact that this new ads model has in practice."

The €200 million fine is only for the period between March 2024, when the DMA obligations took effect, and November 2024. Meta could face another penalty if its new system is also found to be non-compliant.

The EC separately gave Meta some good news as it determined that Facebook Marketplace should no longer be designated as a gatekeeper under the DMA because it had fewer than 10,000 business users in 2024. Meta appealed the gatekeeper designation in March 2024.

Because of the service's low usage, "Meta therefore no longer meets the relevant threshold giving rise to a presumption that Marketplace is an important gateway for business users to reach end users," the EC said.

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This court proceeding is a pretty big deal. It follows a federal judge’s ruling back in August 2024 that Google illegally held onto a monopoly in the online search market. Now, the court is trying to figure out how to fix things and bring more competition back. Many see this specific lawsuit as posing a real threat to Google, potentially forcing it to break up or sell off major parts of its business.

Nick Turley, who runs the ChatGPT team at OpenAI, took the stand as a witness for the Justice Department. When asked if OpenAI would want to buy Chrome if the court forced Google to sell it, Turley did not hesitate.

"Yes, we would, as would many other parties," he told the court.

OpenAI thinks owning a browser like Chrome could give it an edge with users, with Turley adding the following:

You could offer a really incredible experience if ChatGPT was integrated into Chrome. We would have the ability to introduce users into what an AI first experience looks looks like.

This move would put OpenAI in even more direct competition with Google. OpenAI's launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 was a massive event that arguably kicked off the current AI frenzy and reportedly caused Google some panic, triggering a "code red." It comes in just days after we learned that OpenAI is reportedly working on a social networking platform similar to X.

ChatGPT’s ability to give users direct, conversational answers bypasses the traditional search results page that Google’s massive advertising business relies on. Google has since raced to integrate its own generative AI features, like its Gemini models, more deeply into its search and other services to keep pace.

Turley also pointed out that one of OpenAI’s toughest hurdles is getting its products out there to users. While OpenAI has landed a deal to put ChatGPT on Apple's iPhone, getting traction with manufacturers of Android smartphones has been much harder.

This touches on a sensitive spot for Google, as its control over the Android operating system has led to extensive antitrust battles and huge fines in places like the European Union, where regulators claim Google uses its dominance to unfairly push its apps.

He specifically brought up struggles trying to get a deal done with Samsung, suggesting Google’s deep pockets allowed it to simply outspend OpenAI. A Google executive reportedly even admitted that Google started paying Samsung in January to pre-install its Gemini AI app on their phones.

Turley sounded a bit frustrated about the Samsung talks, stating, "It was not a lack of trying. We never got to a point where we could discuss concrete terms."

The Justice Department, backed by several state attorneys general, has proposed some hefty measures to address Google’s search monopoly. These include forcing Google to sell off Chrome, making Google license its valuable search data to rivals, and stopping Google from making paid deals that ensure its services are the default option on devices and platforms.

The idea of Google being forced to sell its widely used Chrome browser is a key part of the government’s plan to chip away at Google’s power in how users access the web and search. If the court orders this, it would be a historic moment, marking the first time a major US company has been broken up by court order since the breakup of AT&T back in the 1980s.

Source: Bloomberg

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While the streaming device market is crowded, Roku pitches its latest offerings by claiming they are the smallest on the market. The company said in a blog post that the new Roku Streaming Stick players are "over 35% smaller than other brands—all without compromising performance or speed."

The small size of a dongle allows it to be carried in a backpack during vacations without having to log into someone else's device. Roku added that both stick players are power-efficient to the point that they can be powered using the TV's built-in USB port, offering a cleaner setup.

Priced at $29.99, Roku Streaming Stick (3840R) is the cheaper of the two and Roku's most affordable player. It supports streaming up to 1080p (with upscaling from 720p), dual-band Wi-Fi 4, and weighs 26g. Its built-in USB-C port draws about 2.2W of power when streaming content.

The cheaper streaming stick is also getting support for voice remote, letting users change the volume, power on their TV, or search for content just by using their voice.

Meanwhile, the extra dollars for the $39.99 Roku Streaming Stick Plus (3830R) add support for 4K UHD streaming, HDR/HDR10+, HLG, and Wi-Fi 5 among various features. The device also weighs 26g and consumes about 2.5W of power when streaming 4K videos.

Roku said that both streaming sticks are available for pre-order in the US starting today. The devices will be up for purchase on Roku's website and elsewhere on May 6. Meanwhile, users can buy the older Roku Express and Express 4K+ while supplies last.

In the coming months, the streaming sticks will be available in more regions, including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and the United Kingdom.

While Roku is still refreshing its streaming sticks, its popular rival Google stepped away from selling Chromecast line of dongle-style devices. The search giant jumped ship last year and launched the Google TV Streamer with a bigger form factor.

On the software front, Roku will bring a new "Coming Soon to Theaters" row to improve content discovery on its platform. A common problem many users face is that they often give up after searching for something to watch and do something else instead, the company notes.

Users will be able to add upcoming movies to their Save List and find out when they'll be up for streaming. The Backdrops feature, already available in the US, is expanding to all Roku TV models streaming players in Canada.

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Last month, Roku ensnared itself in controversy after customers quickly complained about a limited test where an advertisement for Moana 2 started playing as soon as the company’s products were powered on. Across Reddit and other social media channels, people threatened to ditch their devices if Roku repeated such an experiment. The message, at least from some customers, was clear: dial it back.

Roku users have come to accept ad banners on the homescreen and in other areas of the OS in exchange for inexpensive hardware. There are sponsored items scattered throughout the company’s signature Roku City screensaver. If you want a $30 or $40 streaming player, ads are just part of the deal, and they’re vital to Roku’s business. Ad revenue will grow even more important as tariffs threaten to disrupt Roku’s hardware costs. But a full-screen takeover stirred an angrier, more powerful reaction.

Roku announced the latest Streaming Stick and Streaming Stick Plus at Wednesday’s event.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

 

The company also announced two battery-powered smart home cameras. The larger of the two can supposedly keep running for two years.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

 

So after today’s product event concluded, I briefly chatted with Jordan Rost, who leads ad marketing at Roku, about the kerfuffle. Ads weren’t mentioned at any point in the presentation, which focused on Roku’s latest streaming sticks, 2025 TV lineup, new battery-powered smart home cameras, and software improvements. The company brought in chef Masaharu Morimoto to carve up and serve sushi to attending media. Roku even had adoptable puppies on hand at the event. That’s a first, though I support the concept.

Chef Masaharu Morimoto was on hand to serve sushi (and promote his Roku Channel show).

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

 

Rost didn’t say as much directly, but it’s apparent that Roku was keenly aware of the bubbling up of complaints. “Advertisers want to be part of a good experience. They don’t want to be interruptive,” he told me. “We’re always testing. We listen to consumer feedback, we do all of our own A/B testing on the platform. We’re constantly tweaking and trying to figure out what’s going to be helpful for the user experience.”

Rost said “all the advertising we employ is meant to be additive to the consumer experience — everything from brands showing up in Roku City to ads on our home screen that help guide people towards content they love.” The Moana 2 test, in theory, was meant to cover that second point. But based on the customer outcry, Roku’s execution was more bothersome than helpful, even if it was possible to exit out of the ad.

I also asked Rost about some Roku patents that hint at the company possibly injecting ads onto the video feed from other devices plugged into a Roku TV over HDMI. He said Roku’s own platform is the “primary” focus of its ads strategy. But last month’s misstep isn’t going to stop the bigger plan to keep pushing to make ads more shoppable, interactive, relevant, and “delightful.”

And if any of that makes you shudder, there’s always the Apple TV 4K.

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City Update 10: United States I brings more detail to five more cities, adding to previous upgrades the development team has delivered to the region. This time, Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, Denver, Colorado, San Francisco, California, and Honolulu, Hawaii have been upgraded to display more detail.

"Each city has been crafted using the latest aerial and satellite imagery, digital elevation models (DEMs), and TIN (triangulated irregular network) surface texturing," says the announcement blog post today. "The exquisite detail offered in this latest release will inspire aviators to explore these storied cities and admire their landmarks throughout every season, at any time of the day or night."

Microsoft Flight Simulator City Update 10: United States I is now available in Microsoft Flight Simulator as well as the newer Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 as an optional download. Judging by the name, this is only the start of a new series of city updates focused on the United States. Check out some sights from the latest update's upgrades below:

The update is available across Steam and the Microsoft Store for PC, Xbox Series X|S, as well as Xbox and PC Game Pass subscriptions. Xbox One, mobile, and PC players can also jump into the new content using Xbox Cloud Gaming if they have a Game Pass Ultimate membership. The game must be updated to the latest version to download this free update from the in-game marketplace.

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Testimony this week from Google’s antitrust trial shows that Google gives Samsung an “enormous sum of money” each month to preinstall the Gemini AI app on Samsung devices, reports Bloomberg. Now that Judge Amit Mehta has ruled Google’s search engine is an illegal monopoly, its lawyers are sparring with the DOJ over how severe a potential penalty should be.

Peter Fitzgerald, Google’s vice president of platforms and device partnerships, testified on Monday that Google’s payments to Samsung started in January. That’s after Google was found to have violated antitrust law, partially due to similar arrangements with Apple, Samsung, and other companies for search. When Samsung launched the Galaxy S25 series in January, it also added Gemini as the default AI assistant when long-pressing the power button, with its own Bixby assistant taking a back seat.

The Information reports that today Fitzgerald testified that other companies had pitched Samsung on deals to preinstall their AI assistant apps, including Perplexity and Microsoft. But a DOJ lawyer pointed out that Google’s letters attempting to amend its deal with phone makers, which the company presented at the hearing, were only sent last week, just ahead of the trial. Also, internal slides presented today apparently showed that Google “was considering more restrictive distribution agreements that would have required partners to preinstall Gemini alongside Search and Chrome,” The Information writes.

According to Bloomberg, Fitzgerald said the Gemini deal is a two-year agreement that, along with fixed monthly payments, sees Google giving Samsung a percentage of its ad revenue from the Gemini app. Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyer David Dahlquist called the fixed monthly payment an “enormous sum,” Bloomberg says. Exactly how enormous isn’t known.

If the DOJ has its way, the results of these hearings could mean Google is forbidden from striking default placement deals in the future, would sell Chrome, and would be forced to license the vast majority of the data that powers Google Search. Google has argued that it should only have to give up the default placement deals.

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During the special livestream Bethesda held today, the company finally took the wrappings off of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered. The 2006-released classic is coming with a horde of new features and updated elements, and as a surprise, the experience has already released as a shadowdrop. Watch the official trailer above.

The project has been developed by Virtuos in collaboration with Bethesda Game Studios. It's a special project too, where the original Gamebryo engine is still alive and kicking within the game, but it's the Unreal Engine 5 that's powering the visuals and modern upgrades.

The remaster has overhauled visuals, modernized combat, new character customization options, combat animations, leveling, and many more upgrades.

"Since its initial launch in 2006, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion has helped shape and define the RPG genre," says the studio. "Now, nearly 20 years later, it has been remastered from the ground up for fans both new and old. Experience – or reexperience – one of the most pivotal titles from Bethesda Game Studios with refreshed visuals as well as refined gameplay, updated for modern hardware."

Here are some of the quality-of-life improvements coming in the remaster:

• HUD, menu and map reworks
• Improved UI for systems like Persuasion, Clairvoyance, and more
• Modifications to levelling, encumbrance, non-combat perks, and other mechanics
• Improved enemy scaling
• Enhanced accessibility features
• Additional autosaves
• Revised first-person and third-person camera
• Much more

Alongside the base campaign, the remaster comes with the Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine story expansions as well. Bethesda and Virtuos have included Fighter’s Stronghold, Spell Tomes, Vile Lair, Mehrune’s Razor, The Thieves Den, Wizard’s Tower, The Orrery, and Horse Pack Armor in the package too.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is now available for $49.99 on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5. It's also available on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass for no extra cost.

Meanwhile, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Deluxe Edition comes with some additional goodies. This includes bonus quests, unique armor and weapon sets, a digital soundtrack and artbook, and even more horse armor.

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According to that report, legendary chip architect Jim Keller, who had also helped shape Zen and K12 (ARM-based), was at the helm of Intel when designing this purported Zen 5 killer known as the "Royal Core." The report also added that Royal Core would debut inside the Nova Lake lineup of processors in its "full" glory.

While the initial plan for Nova Lake was a 2025 debut, the company confirmed earlier this year that this was not happening and that Nova Lake is a year late, as it is expected to land in 2026. During its Q4 2024 earnings call, Michelle Johnston Holthaus, the interim co-chief executive officer of Intel and CEO of Intel Products, said (PDF😞

Looking ahead to the rest of the year, we will strengthen our client roadmap with the launch of Panther Lake, our lead product on Intel 18A, in the second half of 2025.

 

2026 is even more exciting from a client perspective as Panther Lake achieves meaningful volumes and we introduce our next-generation client family code-named Nova Lake. Both will provide strong performance across the entire PC stack with significantly better cost and margin for us, enhancing our competitive position and reinforcing our value proposition to our partners and customers.

Thus, in order to be competitive, Nova Lake must be significantly better than AMD's Zen 5 which is already available in Ryzen 9000 series parts.

Nova Lake-S, the desktop variant of Nova Lake, will apparently require a new socket dubbed LGA1954. This will succeed Intel's current LGA1851 socket (compatible with Ultra Series 2 desktop CPUs like the 285K, 265K, among others). X user Everest noticed the presence of an Interposer for Gen 5 VR (voltage regulator) test tool.

For those wondering, this tool is meant for testing and validating of the new LGA1954 socket that's meant to be paired up with the Intel Nova Lake-S desktop chips. VR test tools help assess CPU power delivery and load line before actual CPU samples are placed in sockets. It is essentially a safety measure such that healthy working chips aren't burned up due to excess voltage or current.

If you recall, we had also learned about LGA1700 from a leak of a similar nature. That was back in 2020.

In terms of core specs of Nova Lake-S, rumor has it that there could be up to 52 cores with the following configuration: 16 P-cores, 32 E-cores, and 4 LP E-cores (via Jaykihn on X), which equates to a 52-core 52-thread flagship Nova Lake-S SKU (remember that Intel no longer uses hyperthreading or SMT).

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The remedy phase of Google's search antitrust trial is getting underway, and the government is seeking to force major changes. The next few weeks could reshape Google as a company and significantly alter the balance of power on the Internet, and both sides have a plan to get their way.

With opening arguments beginning today, the US Justice Department will seek to convince the court that Google should be forced to divest Chrome, unbundle Android, and make other foundational changes. But Google will attempt to paint the government's position as too extreme and rooted in past grievances. No matter what happens at this trial, Google hasn't given up hope it can turn back time.

Advantage for Justice Dept.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has a major advantage here: Google is guilty. It lost the liability phase of this trial resoundingly, with the court finding Google violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by "willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power." As far as the court is concerned, Google has an illegal monopoly in search services and general search advertising. The purpose of this trial is to determine what to do about it, and the DOJ has some ideas.

This case, overseen by United States District Judge Amit Mehta, is taking place against a backdrop that is particularly unflattering for Google. It has been rocked by loss after loss in its antitrust cases, including the Epic-backed Google Play case, plus the search case that is at issue here. And just last week, a court ruled that Google abused its monopoly in advertising tech. The remedies in Google's app store case are currently on hold pending appeal, but that problem is not going away. Meanwhile, Google is facing even more serious threats in the remedy phase of this trial.

The DOJ will come out guns blazing—it sees this as the most consequential antitrust case in the US since the Microsoft trial of the 1990s. The effects of breaking up Google could even rival the impact of antitrust actions against AT&T and Standard Oil decades earlier. We also expect to be reminded repeatedly that virtually every state has joined the government's case against Google, indicating wide understanding that the market is not operating fairly.

It's no secret that incentives at the federal level are shifting as the second Trump administration politicizes the Justice Department to an unprecedented degree. Despite the new divisions, opinions are remarkably unified on the Google search case. The DOJ team has successfully made the case that Google is a monopolist, and now they have to enforce the law. The new conservative leadership sees Google as a principal source of the "censorship" of right-wing ideology, which they largely interpret as a downstream effect of Google's undue market power.

This phase of the case is not about whether or not Google did it; the goal is to decide how to change Google. The DOJ tells Ars that it believes Google's proposed remedies are anemic and won't move the needle at all. In this case, government lawyers will argue that the playing field cannot be leveled unless Google gives something up, and that something ought to be Chrome. The government will attempt to show that Google's handling of Chrome creates a barrier to competition, preferencing Google's services over the competition.

The DOJ has suggested there are numerous entities that could acquire Chrome and instantly realign online markets, but Google is going to push back hard on that. The government will counter by producing multiple witnesses from Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Microsoft, and others to explain how their search businesses were stymied by Google and how hacking off Chrome could rectify that.

The DOJ is also interested in Google's search placement deals—for example, paying Apple and Mozilla billions of dollars to make Google their default search engine. In the government's view, this forced rivals to nibble around the edges after being locked out by Google's contracts. The DOJ will try to have these contracts banned in addition to forcing the sale of Chrome.

Not done fighting

Google has already announced its preferred remedies in this case, which amount to less exclusivity in search contracts and more freedom for Android OEMs to choose app preloads. Google says it would also accept additional government oversight to ensure it abides by these remedies.

In the remedy phase, Google will try to portray the Justice Department's proposal as heavy-handed and emblematic of the agency's "interventionist agenda." We expect to see Google looking for any opportunity to make the DOJ look out of touch with the realities of technology today.

Google says it will spend a lot of time arguing against the DOJ's attempt to end search placement deals, and it will have some backup here in the form of representatives from Mozilla and Apple, both of which are paid billions of dollars per year to make Google their default search engine. These firms will explain Google's services are the best available, and that's why they use them. In the case of Mozilla, almost all the foundation's revenue comes from Google, and Google doesn't dispute that. In fact, it has noted in the past (and surely will again at the trial) that Mozilla would fold without all that Google money, and that's bad for user choice. However, the DOJ will probably point out that the massive revenue Apple and Mozilla get from these deals makes their testimony less reliable.

Another pillar of Google's opposition will be the privacy and security implications of the DOJ's demand for data sharing. The DOJ will claim this is essential to help other search providers to compete, but Google will paint this as a threat to the privacy of user data. And then there's the national security angle, which Google has been pushing harder since the start of the year.

More than anything else, Google doesn't want to lose Chrome. We expect to see Google's established opposition to Chrome divestiture cranked up to 11 in the remedy phase. The company will no doubt be able to point to many instances where it acted as a benevolent steward of the open web through the dominance of Chrome. It chose to make Chromium open source and has kept it that way, even though it could have made more money keeping the code to itself.

There is uncertainty about the future of Chrome if it's sold off, and a Google spokesperson suggests the company will capitalize on that. Google's legal team will forecast a world in which Chrome has become less secure without Google's involvement, the Chromium project has crumbled, and browser choice has cratered. Google says its goal of providing easy access to its products and services gives it a strong incentive to keep Chrome free and open, which may not be the case for its new owner. The DOJ would call that self-dealing, of course.

While the government has backed away from the stringent AI investment limits in its original remedy request, Google still worries its AI efforts could be hampered by limits on self-dealing. We expect Google to talk about the rapid pace of changes in AI today, portraying this case as too focused on how the search market worked a decade ago. The company may even go so far as to admit it's losing ground to the likes of OpenAI as more people use AI to get answers to their questions instead of traditional web search. But can a company worth $2 trillion count on anyone feeling sorry for it?

A time of consequence

The trial will run for a few weeks, and later on, we'll learn what remedies the court has decided to impose. That doesn't mean anything will change for Google in the short- or medium-term, though. All the lawyering should be done by early May, and then it's up to Judge Mehta to decide on the final remedies, which could come as late as August 2025.

That won't be the end of things. Google is adamant that it plans to appeal the case, but it has to go through the remedy phase first. Google may be able to get the remedies paused while it pursues a new verdict, similar to the current state of the app store case. Much of what the DOJ wants would fundamentally alter the nature of Google's business, making it difficult to undo the changes if Google does prevail on appeal.

Even if Google can maintain the status quo for the foreseeable future, the company could be headed into Google I/O in late May with a sword of Damocles dangling over its metaphorical head. Google has enjoyed years of growth so stupendous and unprecedented that it reshaped media and commerce. If Google is forced to give up a key product like Chrome or lose its default status in popular products, there's no telling how the Internet could change. One thing is certain, though. The next few weeks will be the most consequential for Google since it went public more than 20 years ago.

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SD Express is the next-gen standard for convenient removable storage, and ADATA has just launched what it claims to be the "industry's first" SD 8.0 Express memory card.

The new SD 8.0 Express standard takes over for SD 7.0 Express, and in the process adds some major performance improvements. SD 7.0 Express, introduced in 2018, tops out at about 985MB/s.

ADATA says its new Premier Extreme SD 8.0 Express memory card can read maximum speeds of up to 1,600MB/s on the read side and 1,200MB/s on the write side.

The newfound performance is thanks to the card's ability to leverage the PCIe (Gen 3 x2) interface and NVMe transfer protocol, similar to what modern SSDs use.

ADATA says its new SD 8.0 Express card is about "12 times faster than UHS-I" and "4 times faster than UHS-II."

Considering that a vast majority of external SSDs are still using USB to connect (which caps the transfer rate around 1GB/s), SD Express 8.0 is looking quite good as a more portable and powerful storage solution.

You can expect the usual high-end SD card features, with a U3 speed class and V30 video speed class. That's enough to handle 4K video capture and RAW images.

Xbox has confirmed the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion remaster. After years worth of rumors, Bethesda has finally acknowledged that the Oblivion remaster is real. In a post on social media, Bethesda revealed a simple image featuring the roman number IV — alluding to the fact that Oblivion is the fourth in the Elder Scrolls series — and the date and time of April 22nd at 8AM PT. Of course this all means that tomorrow morning, Bethesda will reveal more about the remaster including, hopefully, a release date.

Rumors have been circulating about an Oblivion remaster since 2023. The first hints were revealed in documents related to the Federal Trade Commissions case against Microsoft where an Oblivion remaster was mentioned alongside several other planned games including what became Doom: The Dark Ages. Then, last week, images from the alleged remaster leaked on a developer’s website before being swiftly taken down which all but confirmed the game’s existence.

Unless you count Elder Scrolls Online which released its eighth expansion just last year, there hasn’t been a new mainline entry in the Elder Scrolls series since Skyrim in 2011. (Unless you also count Skyrim’s many, many ports for each new console generation since its launch.) Elder Scrolls VI was announced in 2018 but since then, no word on its development. An Oblivion remaster then is perfectly timed to tide fans over while they wait for Todd Howard and the development gang to give them something, anything, on the new game.

You can watch the Oblivion remaster livestream tomorrow April 22nd at 8AM PT/ 11 AM ET on Bethesda’s Twitch and YouTube channel.

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Quick links:

1. Windows 10 and 11
2. Windows Insider Program
3. Updates are available
4. Reviews are in
5. Gaming news

Windows 11 and Windows 10

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 versions.

If you use Windows 10, you might have noticed error 0x80070643 "ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE" in Windows Update. Microsoft knows about it, and the company says users should not worry. The solution is simple: just ignore the error, and it will go away. If only all Windows problems were that easy to resolve.

Another issue that the company resolved quite easily (Microsoft has a few tools to do that) is about the recent Windows 11 updates causing blue screens of death with error code 0x18B "SECURE_KERNEL_ERROR." Microsoft patched the problem with Known Issue Rollback, a special mechanism that lets the company undo problematic updates without any action required from users.

Problems do not stop there, unfortunately. Microsoft acknowledged a hiccup with Windows 11 being offered to ineligible Intune devices that were configured to stay on Windows 10. Microsoft said the issue was caused by a "latent code issue," and those who migrated to Windows 11 should go back to Windows 10 manually. Oops.

There is even more. Microsoft notified users that it is aware of Windows Hello issues in certain scenarios. In a support document, Microsoft confirmed that Windows Hello face sign-in or PIN stops working after resetting Windows PCs while keeping files. Fortunately, the damage is not permanent, and fixing the bug is as easy as setting up Windows Hello again.

Microsoft also updated the list of deprecated Windows features with VBS enclaves. They are being deprecated on Windows 11 version 23H2 and earlier versions. However, VBS enclaves will remain supported and developed in Windows 11 version 24H2 and newer and Windows Server 2025 and newer.

Finally, Microsoft released new updates for WinRE for Windows 10.

Windows Insider Program

Here is what Microsoft released for Windows Insiders this week:

Probably the biggest change in the latest Windows 11 preview builds is the ability to turn on or off the calendar clock. Many users have been asking Microsoft to bring that feature from Windows 10 to Windows 11, and the company is finally delivering their request. Unlike Windows 10, which does not allow turning off the calendar clock, Windows 11 lets you customize this feature in the Settings app. Very nice.

In addition, we have a new update for Snipping Tool. Version 11.2503.27.0 is now available to insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels, giving them an easier way to extract text from captured screenshots.

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.

This week's browser updates include a small patch for Microsoft Edge 135 in the Stable Channel. It fixed two security issues and addressed problems with the initial setup and the Copilot button bugs. In the Dev Channel, users received Edge 137 with WebUI improvements and a handful of various fixes.

Finally, Microsoft launched Copilot Vision for free for all Edge users, allowing them to have Copilot watch what they browse and offer useful help and additional information on the go, and revealed more details about the replacement of the built-in PDF reader with one from Adobe.

Mozilla also dropped an update for Firefox 137. Version 137.0.2 arrived with a pretty big list of patches for various issues, such as frequent restarts when applying updates, DRM issues due to the rollout of Microsoft PlayReady, Firefox not responding to clicks in some HTML5-based video players, and more.

There is also an update for Opera Mini, a lightweight version of the browser with a focus on data-saving and a small footprint. The browser now supports Aria AI, Opera's AI assistant that can help you in researching material, learning new skills, summarizing pages, generating images, and more.

Those who use Word on iOS will be glad to know that it is now easier to transcribe voice notes. Microsoft announced a new Copilot feature on iOS that transcribes and formats all your voice notes to create well-made documents, emails, notes, or custom files with personal templates. Just keep in mind that this feature requires a Copilot license (Copilot Pro or Microsoft 365 with Copilot).

Speaking of Office updates, Microsoft is making it harder to enable ActiveX elements in Office apps. ActiveX elements are often used to spread malware, and Microsoft is changing how applications communicate ActiveX behavior, leaving users no easy option to enable them.

Finally, Microsoft shared a workaround for high CPU usage in the classic Outlook.

Here are other updates and releases you may find interesting:

• Oracle released VirtualBox 7.1.8 with fixes for 100% CPU usage in certain scenarios and more
• OpenAI o3 and o4-mini are now available on Azure and GitHub. GPT-4.1 are also available.
• Copilot Studio received a new "Compute use" tool that lets it interact with any website or app.

• Microsoft brought Windows on Arm runner support to GitHub Actions for all public repositories

   

Here are the latest drivers and firmware updates released this week:

• Nvidia 576.02 WHQL with RTX 5060 Ti support and a massive list of fixes for various crashes.
• A bunch of Surface devices received stability, security, and other fixes in new firmware.

Reviews are in

Here is the hardware and software we reviewed this week

Steven Parker reviewed the GEEKOM IT13, its refreshed 2025 version with a Core i9 processor. This powerful mini-PC can drive up to four monitors and has a great build quality, just look out for the lack of HDMI 2.1, no DDR5 memory, and no front-facing USB-C ports. Otherwise, it is a great mini PC.

On the gaming side

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

Nintendo Switch 2 will be available for preorder in the United States on April 24. The price remains unchanged, but the console's accessories are going to be more expensive due to the ongoing trade war.

Moving to Microsoft hardware, we have some sick limited editions of the Xbox Wireless Controller, Xbox Elite Series 2, and Xbox Series X Wrap, all DOOM: The Dark Ages-themed. If you are a fan of the franchise and you want to celebrate the upcoming launch, pre-order these as soon as possible. They are limited editions so the stock may deplete fast.

Microsoft also dropped an important update for the Xbox app on mobile. It now lets you buy games, subscribe to Game Pass, and do a lot more. Microsoft says these features have been one of the most requested by the community, and Microsoft is finally ready to deliver them.

Electronic Arts announced Star Wars Zero Company, a new XCOM-style tactics game set in the popular franchise. The game is being developed by Bit Reactor, and it is scheduled to arrive somewhere in 2026 on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation.

Finally, Microsoft announced a big drop of new games for Game Pass subscribers. They include GTA V, EA Sports HNL 25, Neon White, Tempopo, Far Cry 4, Anno 1800, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Dredge, and more.

Deals and freebies

The Epic Games Store is still giving away Botanicula, a cute point-and-click adventure developed by Amanita Design in 2012. Set in a richly detailed tree environment, the story follows the tale of five creators—Mr. Lantern, Mr. Twig, Mr. Poppy Head, Mr. Feather, and Mrs. Mushroom—who are on a quest to save the last seed from their home from invading parasites.

As usual, we have plenty of other deals in our weekly Weekend PC Game Deals series, which you can check out here.

Other gaming news includes the following:

• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2's new roadmap revealed incoming modding tools, AI upgrades, and more.

• Sea of Thieves is coming to Battle.net with Play Anywhere support.

• Baldur's Gate 3's final major update is out with cross-play, 12 subclasses, photo mode, and more.

• Skull and Bones is finally getting land combat, a kraken boss, and more.

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Paul's Hardware (1.51M subscribers)

April 20, 2025

Video length: 9m 36s

0:00 Welcome to Paul’s Tech News - April 20, 2025 

1:33 RTX 5060 Ti 16GB Launches to Middling Reviews 

5:12 RX 9060 XT Rumored for Computex Debut; RX 9070 GRE Specs leak 

TECH BRIEFS

6:48 World's fastest Flash memory developed: writes in just 400 picoseconds 

7:32 Nvidia starts producing its Blackwell AI chip at TSMC’s Arizona plant 

8:08 Advanced Japanese AI quietly tried to rewrite its own code 

8:31 Scientists find "strongest evidence yet" of life on distant planet K2-18b

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Synology is preparing to roll out new restrictions on third-party hard drives in its future network attached storage (NAS) devices later this year, the company confirmed to Ars Technica. The changes could make it much harder to use third-party drives in Synology’s devices for typical use cases, like backing up household computers or as local media servers. The good news is that if you already own a Synology NAS, the company says the change won’t affect you.

Synology says in an EU press release that “starting with Plus Series models released in 2025,” only Synology-branded drives and those the company has certified to meet its specifications will “offer the full range of features and support.” According to Ars, Synology plans to update its compatibility lists to reflect which third-party drives that it has certified.

The new restrictions mean that without Synology-approved drives, you might not be able to do things like pool storage between disks or take advantage of drive lifespan analysis offered by the company’s software. The change doesn’t apply to Synology J- and- Value-series devices, and won’t affect consumer-grade Synology Plus devices that were released in 2024 and earlier. Nor will it affect hard drives that are migrated to this year’s devices from its existing NAS systems, according to Synology’s press release.

As for why it’s making this change, a Synology spokesperson told Ars, “Extensive internal testing has shown that drives that follow a rigorous validation process when paired with Synology systems are at less risk of drive failure and ongoing compatibility issues.” The company says similar things in its press release, writing that the restrictions will “reduce compatibility issues and increase system reliability and performance.” Synology did not immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.

Restrictions like this are irritating. To Synology’s credit, it’s introducing them in a way that’s less egregious than something like a printer company blocking third-party ink with a software update. But that doesn’t fix the fact that owners of its future NAS devices will have fewer choices — and therefore fewer chances to save money — when it comes to buying the drives to stick into them.

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The findings were published in the journal Nature on Wednesday. According to Zhou Peng, a leading scientist on the project and researcher at the State Key Laboratory of Integrated Chips and Systems, "This is like the device working 1 billion times in the blink of an eye, while a U disk (a USB flash drive) can only work 1,000 times. The previous world record for similar technology was 2 million." The version of USB, though, that the comparison is made against, has not been mentioned.

Existing non-volatile memories, such as flash memory, retain data even without power and consume minimal energy. However, their data access speeds are slower than volatile memory types like static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM). Unlike non-volatile memory, SRAM and DRAM lose data when power is interrupted, making them unsuitable for low-power scenarios.

The Fudan team addressed this gap by developing a novel approach to non-volatile memory technology. It implemented a device physics mechanism that leverages a two-dimensional Dirac band structure and ballistic transport properties. By modulating the Gaussian length of the two-dimensional channel, researchers achieved what they described as "super-injection" of channel charge into the memory's storage layer.

Liu Chunsen, a researcher on the project, explained, "The traditional injection behavior has a speed limit, while super-injection has no such cap. The two-dimensional super-injection mechanism pushed non-volatile memory speed to its theoretical limit, redefining the boundaries of current storage technologies."

The breakthrough is expected to have significant implications in multiple domains, particularly in supporting the ultra-fast computational demands of large AI models. Additionally, the cost-effectiveness and scalability of flash memory make it a cornerstone for technological advancements and industrial applications globally.

Zhou Peng noted, "Our technology breakthrough is expected to not only reshape the global storage technology landscape, drive industrial upgrades, and foster new application scenarios, but also provide robust support for China to lead in relevant fields."

Source: China Daily (link1, link2) via Fudan University | Image via Depositphotos

This article was generated with some help from AI and reviewed by an editor.

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