Today's Hardware Pulse
Nvidia driver adds DLSS 5 profile options, hinting at next‑gen AI rendering
Nvidia's GeForce Game Ready driver 610.47 introduces three new profile settings—Enable DLSS NR override, Enable DLSS NR SL override, and Override DLSS NR presets—suggesting continued development of its upcoming DLSS 5 neural‑rendering technology. The earlier DLSS 5 reveal sparked debate over AI‑driven image alteration, after which Nvidia fell silent on the feature.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Cyient Semiconductors raises $30M Series A
I Bought the Wrong "HDMI to USB-C" Cable Three Times Before Learning This One Thing
Consumers often assume any HDMI‑to‑USB‑C cable will work both ways, but most are unidirectional, supporting only USB‑C source to HDMI display. The author’s attempts to connect a portable monitor failed because the cables lacked active conversion and required additional 5 V power. Proper cables must specify HDMI‑to‑USB‑C direction and include power delivery or an external adapter. Recognizing these requirements prevents costly returns and streamlines portable monitor setups.
Stop Treating Your Mini PC Like a Desktop: It's Actually Perfect as a Dedicated Sidekick
The article argues mini PCs should serve as dedicated sidekick machines rather than primary desktops. By offloading background tasks—downloads, backups, media serving, remote access—to a compact unit, users free up their main PC for performance‑critical work. Examples like the Geekom...
CEO Interview with Dr. Tony Atti of Phononics
Phononic, led by CEO Dr. Tony Atti, is scaling solid‑state thermoelectric cooling across major hyperscalers to address the exploding thermal load of AI‑driven data centers. The company’s Thermal Kit combines fast‑acting TEC modules, software analytics and design services to deliver...
What Is MATCH Act and What It Means for ASML?
The U.S. Senate is drafting the MATCH Act, a legislation that would tighten export controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment and extend U.S. jurisdiction to foreign‑made tools if allies do not align. The bill specifically targets deep‑ultraviolet immersion lithography machines and...
GE HealthCare (GEHC) Receives FDA Clearance for Photonova Spectra CT System
GE HealthCare announced FDA 510(k) clearance for its Photonova Spectra photon‑counting CT system. The scanner uses the company’s Deep Silicon detector with 8‑bin energy resolution, delivering higher spatial and spectral detail than conventional CT. Nvidia‑accelerated computing handles data volumes up...
GE HealthCare (GEHC) Receives FDA Clearance for Photonova Spectra CT System
GE HealthCare secured FDA 510(k) clearance for its Photonova Spectra, a next‑generation photon‑counting CT system featuring Deep Silicon 8‑bin energy resolution. The scanner processes data volumes up to 50 times larger than conventional CTs using Nvidia‑accelerated computing and rotates in...
The Gigawatt Delusion (DDCU 2/7)
Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta together pledged $320 billion for data‑center expansion in fiscal 2025, launching the largest coordinated capital deployment in tech history. More than 1,000 U.S. sites are under construction, delivering roughly 75 GW of capacity—about New York City’s peak demand....
Light up Your Life with the Philips Hue Omniglow, the Best Hue Lightstrip Yet
Philips introduced the Hue Omniglow, a premium lightstrip that delivers up to 2,700 lumens and seamless color gradients, eliminating visible LEDs. The 3‑meter version retails for $139.99 in the United States, with longer 5‑ and 10‑meter models unavailable locally. Installation...
From 256KB to 8MB: IBM’s Explosive Growth
Another interesting snippet from the history of IBM System/360. New tech adoption for Bank of America, who were always early in new tech adoption in those days. In this case one of the first IBM System/360 Model 50’s. This model...
Batteries Delivered 8% of California Grid, Costing 0.28¢/kWh
Yes, the sun does't shine at night, but batteries produced electricity every minute last night (4/4) as California set a new discharge record of 57.17 GWh/day. Batteries have met 8.01% of all main-grid demand in 2026 in the 4th-largest economy in...
I Bought a 9070 XT for Redstone, and AMD Betrayed Me
AMD’s new Redstone suite, bundled with its RDNA 4 GPUs, promised AI‑driven upscaling and ray‑tracing enhancements, but early adopters find support painfully thin. The author upgraded to a GIGABYTE RX 9070 XT to unlock Redstone, yet only 46 games enable frame generation and...
Linux 7.1 Expected To Begin Removing I486 CPU Support
A patch targeting the upcoming Linux 7.1 merge window will begin stripping Intel 486 (i486) CPU support from the kernel. The change removes the CONFIG_M486SX, CONFIG_M486 and CONFIG_MELAN Kconfig options, preventing new i486 kernel builds. Linus Torvalds and maintainer Ingo Molnar argue the...
UK Confirms Drone-Killing DragonFire Laser Weapon for Royal Navy Destroyers by 2027 —Laser Downs 400mph High‑speed Drones, Costs $13 per...
The UK Ministry of Defence confirmed that the 50 kW DragonFire high‑energy laser will be fitted to Type 45 destroyers by 2027, five years ahead of schedule. A £316 million (~$414 million) contract with MBDA UK covers two units, making Britain the first European...
Australian Homeowners Accelerate Smart Bathroom Installations Amid Growing Demand
Australian homeowners are increasingly installing smart bathroom technologies, with builders reporting steady growth in demand for features like adjustable showers, multifunctional mirrors and intelligent toilets. The shift reflects rising consumer interest in convenience, sustainability and home value enhancement.
Home Wi‑Fi Boost: Antenna Angles and Outdoor Nodes Extend Backyard Coverage
Homeowners are fine‑tuning router antennas and deploying outdoor mesh nodes to stretch Wi‑Fi into backyards, a trend highlighted in recent Wired and ZDNET guides. Adjusting antenna angles by 30‑45° and using Wi‑Fi 7 outdoor routers can add hundreds of megabits per...
Helmholtz Researchers Boost MXene Conductivity 160‑Fold with Atomic‑Order Technique
Scientists at Helmholtz‑Zentrum Dresden‑Rossendorf unveiled a molten‑salt synthesis (GLS) that creates perfectly ordered MXene surfaces, delivering a 160‑times jump in macroscopic conductivity. The breakthrough promises faster, cleaner components for future electronics and energy devices.
WorldCast Introduces Audemat FM/HD Probe
WorldCast Systems unveiled the Audemat FM/HD Probe at the NAB Show, positioning it as a comprehensive monitoring platform for FM and HD Radio broadcasts. The solution tracks signal presence, audio levels, metadata integrity, and analog‑digital alignment across HD1, HD2, HD3,...
Get a 27" 1440p OLED Monitor with a Blazing-Fast 240 Hz Refresh Rate for Just $499 — LG's 27GS93QE-B Is...
LG is offering its 27‑inch 1440p OLED monitor, the 27GS93QE‑B, for $499 on Amazon, a roughly 45% discount from the $899 list price. The panel features LG’s Micro Lens Array+ technology delivering up to 1,300 nits peak HDR brightness and...
UGREEN 65W 4-Port USB-C Charger Drops to $29.98 for Prime Members
UGREEN’s Nexode 65W GaN USB‑C wall charger is now $29.98 for Prime members, down from $39.99. The compact unit offers three USB‑C ports and one USB‑A port, delivering up to 65 W to laptops, phones, tablets and handheld gaming devices. Its...
Open Apple Neural Engine APIs to Empower Decentralized AI
Dear @tim_cook - make the @Apple neural engine low level APIs fully accessible to developers. Unleash the local and decentralized AI developer ecosystems on your amazing silicon. Return to the days of the Apple II and help rewrite computing history....
Philips Hue Omniglow: The Seamless, Best Lightstrip
Light up your life with the Philips Hue Omniglow, the best Hue lightstrip yet, which appears simply seamless. https://t.co/rQH7X3d8QP
What Happened in Tech While You Weren’t Looking
The Gadgeteer’s latest roundup highlights a surge of innovative consumer tech, from MOVA’s ultra‑thin smart ring that triggers 77‑language translation on its S1 AR glasses, to RayNeo’s Wi‑Fi‑free AR glasses priced at $249. High‑performance laptops like the Razer Blade 16 with...
SiC Devices Power Next‑Gen Medium‑Voltage Solid‑State Transformers
Drew Baglino: "Medium voltage is the next frontier." "The latest SiC devices are more than a better switch. They are the foundation for solid-state transformers, or SSTs." #alwaysbecharging ⚡️⚡️⚡️ https://t.co/6ck5EnX9Sb
70 Years: From 3.75 MB to 1 TB Storage
What a difference 70 years makes: 3.75 MB in 1956 & 1 TB today. v/@JonErlichman https://t.co/2Lvxnyt3GN
Silicon Photonics Market and Technology Report 2026
The Silicon Photonics Market and Technology Report 2026 highlights rapid growth in datacenter optical interconnects driven by AI workloads and the shift toward co‑packaged optics. It outlines a projected market size of roughly $12 billion by 2026, driven by expanding foundry...
Iran Vows to Annihilate OpenAI’s $30B Abu Dhabi Data Center
Iran threatens ‘complete and utter annihilation’ of OpenAI's $30B Stargate AI data center in Abu Dhabi — regime posts video with satellite imagery of ChatGPT-maker's premier 1GW data center https://t.co/wv34v1VIlQ
Tokyo Trials Underground Modular Data Centers Beneath Railways
Tokyo tests modular data centers under railway tracks to address land constraints and evaluate performance under vibration, heat, and noise conditions https://t.co/ACkToZewXo
I Found 7 Windows Apps that Use Your PC's NPU to Improve Efficiency and Performance with AI — You Might...
Microsoft’s push for neural processing units (NPUs) has moved beyond Copilot+ PCs, spreading to Intel and AMD processors and enabling a growing suite of third‑party Windows apps. Seven highlighted applications—Cephable, Adobe Photoshop, Norton, Algoriddim djay Pro, BufferZone NoCloud AI, HP IQ, and...
Razer Huntsman Signature: Premium Keyboard, Pricey Luxury
The Razer Huntsman Signature Edition is a stylish and powerful gaming keyboard - but it's also extremely expensive. https://t.co/RMilNqz927
Sega's SuperH: The CPU Behind 32X, Saturn, Dreamcast
When Sega needed a CPU more powerful than the Zilog Z80 and the Motorola 68000, they chose the Hitachi SuperH. This new CPU powered Sega's 32X, the Saturn, and the Dreamcast. But, what was exactly the SuperH, and what's its history? Let’s find...
4 Hidden iPhone USB-C Features That Go Way Beyond Charging
Apple’s shift to USB‑C on the iPhone unlocks practical capabilities that extend far beyond simple charging. The new port enables device‑to‑device power sharing, allowing an iPhone to act as a portable charger for Android phones, AirPods, Apple Watches and other...
Galaxy S26 Plus: Good, Yet Disappointingly Underwhelming
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus doesn’t stop itself from being a great smartphone, but we should have had more. https://t.co/6mYo8jmcKU
Hisense RGB TV Delivers 4K 180Hz via DisplayPort
4K at 180Hz over DisplayPort, on top of the HDMI 2.1 connections? It's a rarity, but Hisense has done it with its next-gen RGB TV https://t.co/V7oeMrXzWd
Intel Intros New 16-Core Panther Lake CPU with Capable Arc B390 iGPU
Intel announced the Core Ultra X9 378H, a 16‑core Panther Lake processor that mirrors the X7 368H’s architecture but caps its turbo at 5 GHz, slightly below the X9 388H’s 5.1 GHz. It retains the Intel Arc B390 integrated GPU while stripping enterprise‑grade features such as vPro, AMT, and...
Limited Edition Atari Wristwatches Dip Under $500 in 20% Off Sale — Classic Console Inspired Rainbow Designs Available in Five...
Watchmaker Nubeo has launched the Torrent Automatic Atari Rainbow Limited Edition, offering five retro‑inspired colourways—Azure Arcade, Orange Curve, Pine Pixel, Shadow Console and Spectrum—with only 100 pieces per variant. The watches, featuring a Japanese automatic movement, Swiss Newlite illumination and...
Roku Is The Most Popular Streaming Player in The United States, Dominating Fire TVs, Google TV, & Apple TV
A Cord Cutter News survey of over 1,200 U.S. cord‑cutters shows Roku remains the dominant streaming player, with 64.8% of respondents naming it a primary device. Amazon’s Fire TV falls far behind at 27.7%, while Google TV (19.9%) and Apple...
Rebellions Unveils Rack‑Scale AI Inference Systems Claiming 6× Power Savings, 75% Lower Cost
South Korean startup Rebellions introduced two rack‑scale AI inference platforms, RebelRack and RebelPOD, asserting six‑fold power reductions and up to 75% lower acquisition costs versus Nvidia. The launch follows a $400 million pre‑IPO round that lifts the company’s valuation to $2.34 billion.
Rigetti's 99.9% Two‑Qubit Fidelity Raises Hopes, Yet IonQ Still Leads Accuracy Race
Rigetti Computing reported a two‑qubit gate fidelity of up to 99.9%, a key milestone for the quantum‑computing firm. Analysts note the achievement narrows the accuracy gap with rival IonQ, which claims 99.99% fidelity and a 256‑qubit system slated for 2026....
Mikko Hyppönen Demonstrates Live Drone Hacking at Black Hat 2025, Flagging New Threat Vector
Mikko Hyppönen, a 35‑year cybersecurity veteran, hijacked a drone onstage at Black Hat 2025 in Las Vegas, turning the conference into a live showcase of emerging aerial attack techniques. The demonstration highlighted the gap between mature device security and the still‑raw field...
Should You Shut Down Your Laptop or Just Close the Lid?
Closing a laptop lid puts most modern devices into sleep mode, preserving open apps while using only a small amount of power. Sleep mode is convenient for short breaks, but it does not fully reset the system, leading to potential...
How the Amazon Echo Learned to Talk — and Listen
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos long‑standing vision for a voice‑first computer finally materialized with the Echo speaker and Alexa assistant. After years of technical hurdles, the team launched the Echo in 2014 without fanfare, quickly capturing consumer attention. The device’s surprise success...
A Decade Later, Wired Headphones Remain in Demand
It's been a decade since Apple controversially nixed the 3.5mm jack, and wired headphones are still very much in demand. https://t.co/2QZWaUciVp
Valve Steam Machine Update: RAM Supply Stabilizes as Unified Deck Software Expands
Valve’s Steam Machine is gaining traction as the global RAM market steadies, easing component costs that have hampered production. OpenAI’s reduced RAM purchases and Google’s TurboQuant technology are key drivers of this stabilization. Meanwhile, Valve’s Unified Deck software expands the...
MODEX 2026: Datalogic Introduces Mobile Computer, Image Readers and Safety Laser Scanner
At MODEX 2026 Datalogic unveiled a new suite of logistics technologies, including next‑generation mobile computers (Falcon X60/X65 and Skorpio X40/X45), high‑speed Matrix 830/930 image readers, and the world‑first SLS 10m safety laser scanner. The Falcon line returns with enhanced long‑range...
Apple's 50‑Year Impact: 3 Game‑Changers Vs. Misses
Apple at 50: Three products that changed how we live - and three that really didn't https://t.co/hfecQvRg5q https://t.co/YGaXH09DJw
Does Ubuntu Now Require More RAM Than Windows 11?
Canonical has raised Ubuntu 26.04 LTS's minimum system requirements to 6 GB of RAM, a 2 GB increase over the previous 4 GB baseline. The change reflects the growing resource demands of the GNOME desktop, modern browsers, and multitasking workloads rather than a...
Intel's Upcoming 42-Core Nova Lake SKU Allegedly Upgraded to 44 Cores — New Config Frees up 6P+12E Tiles that Could...
Intel’s upcoming Nova Lake‑S desktop processor line has a leaked 44‑core SKU, replacing the previously announced 42‑core model by using two identical 8P+12E compute tiles. The change frees up 6P+12E tiles, which could be sold as lower‑priced, locked non‑K variants...
First Military Strikes Cripple Multiple Cloud Data Centers
Wild - both that it has been the first time ever that multiple cloud data centers were knocked out by military strikes (never happened before thru the history of the cloud) and for a region to seemingly permanently go offline...
Hid-Omg-Detect: Linux Driver In Development To Detect Malicious HID Devices
Zubeyr Almaho is spearheading a new Linux kernel driver called hid‑omg‑detect, designed to passively monitor and flag potentially malicious HID peripherals such as compromised keyboards and mice. The driver evaluates low‑level signals like keystroke‑timing entropy, immediate post‑enumeration typing, and suspicious...
Mesa 26.1 Makes It Easier To "Fake" A GPU Reset Using LLVMpipe
Mesa 26.1 introduces a new feature for the LLVMpipe software driver that lets developers simulate a GPU reset. By setting the LP_CONTEXT_RESET_FILE environment variable and writing to the specified file, LLVMpipe triggers an emulated reset. The change, contributed by Wayland...