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
These Little-Known Chip Stocks Could Be Winners as SpaceX and Amazon Make...
SpaceX and Amazon’s aggressive low‑Earth‑orbit satellite deployments are set to drive a massive increase in semiconductor demand. Analysts at Truist Securities argue that several lesser‑known chip makers, especially those producing radiation‑hard and high‑frequency components, stand to benefit. The article points to a broader investment theme beyond launch‑vehicle stocks, focusing on the supply chain that powers satellite communications and imaging. As the constellation rollout accelerates, these niche fab companies could see revenue spikes and higher margins.
AI’s Context Memory Explosion Hits the Storage Wall as NAND Scarcity Tightens Its Grip
AI inference is hitting a context‑memory wall as multi‑turn models demand petabyte‑scale key‑value caches, outpacing GPU and DRAM capacity. The global NAND shortage now poses a material operational risk for high‑intensity AI workloads. Nvidia responded at GTC 2026 with BlueField‑4 STX,...
CEA-Leti, CEA-List and PSMC Collaborate to Integrate RISC-V and MicroLED Silicon Photonics Into 3D Stacking and Interposer for...
CEA‑Leti, CEA‑List and Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC) announced a strategic partnership to fuse CEA‑List’s RISC‑V design expertise with CEA‑Leti’s silicon‑photonic microLED technology into PSMC’s 3D‑stacking and interposer platforms. The joint effort will embed short‑reach, high‑bandwidth optical links and customizable...
A Tiny Detector for Microwave Photons Could Advance Quantum Tech
Scientists at EPFL have demonstrated a semiconductor‑based detector that can continuously sense single microwave photons with up to 70% efficiency. The device integrates a double quantum dot with a high‑impedance superconducting cavity, converting absorbed photons into a measurable electric current....
Immune-Capable Cervix-on-a-Chip Enables Study of Sexually Transmitted Infections
Researchers at the University of Maryland and partner institutions have unveiled the first immune‑capable cervix‑on‑a‑chip, a microphysiological system that mimics the human cervical environment, including epithelial, stromal, immune cells and a native microbiome. The platform was validated with Chlamydia trachomatis...
Lectric April Showers E-Bike Sale Offers up to $720 Savings, EcoFlow + Anker SOLIX Flash Sales with up to 67%...
Lectric launched its “April Showers” e‑bike promotion, slashing prices by as much as $720, with the XP Lite2 JW model now $1,099 plus $405 in free accessories. At the same time, EcoFlow’s 72‑hour Easter flash sale cuts power stations up...
Keras Kinetic: Decorator‑Based TPU/GPU Jobs Made Simple
Perhaps the craziest thing that was introduced on the Keras community call today: Keras Kinetic, a new library that lets you run jobs on cloud TPU/GPU via a simple decorator -- like Modal but with TPU support. When you call a...
NAB Show: Barix To Showcase Audio Over IP Transport
Barix will demonstrate its latest Instreamer and Exstreamer solutions at the NAB Show in Las Vegas, focusing on the MultiCoder M400 and LX400 FLEXA codecs. The MultiCoder M400 now supports SRT and RIST transport protocols, becoming the first sub‑$500 encoder...
NVIDIA Shows The Witcher 4 Forest Tech at 4K and 80 FPS
NVIDIA unveiled a technical demo built around *The Witcher 4* to showcase its RTX Mega Geometry pipeline, rendering a 5 km × 5 km forest with 60 million plants and over 200 species. The demo pushes geometric fidelity by modeling foliage down to pine needles, with...
Analysis: Mac Grew 16% and iPad Grow 15% in China in the Fourth Quarter of 2025
Apple’s Mac sales in China rose 16% year‑over‑year in Q4 2025, reaching 700,000 units and 6% market share, while iPad shipments grew 15% to 2.3 million units, capturing 25% of the tablet market. Both categories posted growth despite a broader slowdown in...
Intel May Raise CPU Prices Again as AI Demand Tightens Supply
Intel is reportedly preparing a third CPU price increase in May, following hikes in February and March. The adjustment could lift Intel's desktop, mobile Core Ultra, and Xeon server processor prices by roughly 30% compared with 2025 levels. The move...
GMKtec NucBox K17 Mini PC Features Lunar Lake and Dual M.2 Storage
GMKtec unveiled the NucBox K17, a compact mini PC built around Intel’s 3 nm Lunar Lake Core Ultra 5 226V processor. The device ships with 16 GB of LPDDR5X RAM, dual M.2 slots (PCIe 4.0 and PCIe 5.0) supporting up to 16 TB of NVMe storage, and a USB4 port...
Celebrating Apple’s 50th with Retro Apple‑1 Games
With Apple turning 50 this week, I decided there was only one way to celebrate — melt my brain by playing some of the finest games made for the Apple-1. Here's how I got on. https://t.co/d9TGedegfu
Sodola SL510S-4T2XS Review A Cheap Half-Width 6-Port 10G Web Managed Switch
Sodola introduced the SL510S-4T2XS, a six‑port 10 GbE web‑managed switch priced at $169, positioning it as a budget‑friendly upgrade over typical 2.5 GbE solutions. The unit offers four 10GBASE‑T copper ports and two SFP+ fiber ports, all within a half‑width chassis that...
Infineon Launches TLVR Quad-Phase AI Power Module
Infineon Technologies has unveiled the TDM24745T, a quad‑phase power module built on its TLVR (trans‑inductor voltage regulator) architecture for AI‑focused data centers. The 9 × 10 × 5 mm³ device packs four power stages, a TLVR inductor and decoupling capacitors, achieving a current density above...
Intel Linux NPU Driver 1.32 Adds Wildcat Lake Support
Intel has launched Linux NPU Driver 1.32, adding official support for the upcoming Wildcat Lake platform in Core Ultra processors. The new driver mirrors the earlier IVPU kernel driver update, delivering user‑space components that interface with the accelerator hardware. It also drops the...
Nation's Largest Urban Battery Deploys Near San Francisco
Nation's largest urban battery to take center stage near San Francisco #energysky -- via Canary Media: https://t.co/fv1RqbWPt2
I Tested Cheap Monitors for the Office - This $80 MSI Is One of the Few I'd Actually Recommend
MSI’s Pro MP243W is a 24‑inch Full HD monitor priced at $84, offering a 144 Hz refresh rate and built‑in speakers for budget‑conscious users. The unit’s thin bezels, lightweight design, and matte panel make it suitable for home offices, student desks, and...
Zipline Launches Autonomous Charging Stations for Drone Fleet
Zipline Unveils #Autonomous Charging Stations for Its #Drone Delivery Fleet by @tweetciiiim #EmergingTech #Technology #Innovation https://t.co/qGhjC53ysu
Memory Supply Chain Faces Growing Constraints, Market Unaware
The memory point is not the only interesting comment here, but we have had a range of supply chain chats on memory, and I don't think the market fully grasps what's coming. We are stacking constraints at this point. This...
Congress Pushes MATCH Act to Block AI Chip Equipment Sales to China, Tightening Export Controls
A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced the MATCH Act in the House, expanding bans on advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China. The bill follows a surge in Chinese imports of such tools—from $10.7 billion in 2016 to $51.1 billion last year—raising national‑security...
AI Power Surge Triggers RAM Shortages, Delays Nvidia GPUs and Valve's Steam Machine
Nvidia announced that its next‑generation RTX 60 series GPUs are delayed until 2027‑28 as AI training workloads hoard DRAM, and Valve pushed back its Steam Machine console launch to mid‑2026. The shortages have also helped lift Intel shares 9.6% on...
The Downlink Deficit: The Pentagon’s Optical Mesh Network and the Terrestrial Bottleneck
The Pentagon’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture relies on an optical inter‑satellite mesh, but only about 10 % of the required optical ground stations exist today. Roughly 200‑500 diverse stations will be needed by 2030 to achieve the 99.9 % availability demanded for...
Small Quantum System Outperforms Large Classical Networks in Real-World Forecasting
Researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China have demonstrated that a quantum reservoir computer built from just nine interacting atomic spins can outperform classical neural networks containing thousands of nodes in real‑world weather forecasting. By encoding input...
Live Deep Dive: Notch vs DLSS and GPU Hardware
I wanted to use Notch's criticism of DLSS to talk a little bit about GPU hardware, so I did an impromptu livestream last night. VOD is here if you're curious: https://t.co/rqlLnjNvmi
This 16-Inch Stacked, Portable Second Monitor Is on Sale for $280 Right Now
The Mobile Pixels Duex Float 2 Pro 16‑inch portable monitor is now on sale for $279.99, down from $389.99. It delivers a 2560×1600 resolution with a 16:10 aspect ratio and a 120 Hz refresh rate, offering smoother scrolling than typical 60 Hz panels. A...
My Play Watch Brings Mega Man Gaming to Your Watch
Today My Play Watch unveiled Mega Man: My Play Watch, a dedicated gaming watch that lets players experience classic Capcom platforming directly from their wrist. The device is a standalone, collectible unit featuring retro‑styled stages and simple jump‑and‑shoot controls. It aims...
OpenLight Pushes Photonic Integration as AI Networks Drive Optical Scaling
OpenLight unveiled a photonic design platform that lets customers create custom photonic integrated circuits using standard semiconductor design tools, with lasers integrated directly onto the chip. The model mirrors fabless semiconductor companies, aiming to bring silicon‑scale economies to optics and...
Nvidia Unveils Blackwell and Rubin Chips, Targets $1 Trillion in Lifetime Sales
Nvidia introduced its next‑generation Blackwell and Vera Rubin AI processors at the GTC conference, forecasting $1 trillion in cumulative sales through 2027. The launch underscores the company’s confidence in demand from hyperscalers, enterprises and emerging AI workloads, even as competition intensifies...
Peak Nano and Advanced Conversion Partner on DC-Link Capacitors for 800 V+ SiC EV Inverters
Peak Nano and Advanced Conversion have teamed up to co‑develop DC‑link capacitors tailored for 800 V+ silicon‑carbide (SiC) inverter systems in electric vehicles and other e‑mobility platforms. The solution pairs Peak Nano’s NanoPlex LDF film, which holds a dissipation factor below...
Apple Adds Dozens of iPhones, Macs, and Watches to Vintage and Obsolete List
Apple has expanded its vintage and obsolete device list, adding dozens of iPhones, Apple Watches, iPads, MacBooks, AirPods and Apple TV models. Devices older than five but less than seven years are now classified as vintage, while those beyond seven...
Apple Just Showed Me 50 Years of History That Nobody Has Ever Seen
Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook led a rare public tour of the company’s private archives, showcasing fifty years of product prototypes and design artifacts never before seen by the public. The collection spans early Macintosh computers, the first iPod, and...
Semiconductor Industry Faces Tighter DUV Limits and Talent
Latest: Tighter restrictions on DUV litho; Arm-IBM dual-architecture; power device trio; Irish fab; 1.4nm AI chip; heat islands; 2nm & below; 300mm fab equipment; 67k IC jobs unfilled; HBF wins; photonic chip packaging.. https://t.co/hPeWF8CmnV #semiconductor #2nm #1nm #HBF
Calif. FD Tests Sound Wave System to Fight Fires without Water
The San Bernardino County Fire Department is piloting Sonic Fire Tech’s sound‑wave fire‑suppression system, which uses infrared sensors to detect flames and extinguishes them by vibrating oxygen at frequencies the fire cannot consume. Developed by former NASA acoustics engineers, the technology creates...
Everged Replaces Outdated EV Chargers at No Up-Front Cost
Everged has introduced a Zero Cost Swap Program that lets EV‑charging site owners replace outdated or non‑functional chargers with new Level 2 or DC fast chargers at no upfront expense. The company covers removal, installation, activation, 24/7 monitoring, maintenance, and offers...
Anker’s Small, Five-Port Travel Adapter Is Down to Its Best Price Yet
Anker’s Nano Travel Adapter, a five‑port, 20W charger, is now priced at an all‑time low of $19.99 on Amazon and Anker’s site. The compact unit works in more than 200 countries, offering four plug types and three USB ports that...
Modder Gets Intel Core 9 273PQE "Bartlett Lake" To Boot Windows 11 on Z790 Motherboard
A modder has successfully booted Intel’s Core 9 273PQE “Bartlett Lake” processor on a standard Z790 motherboard. The 12‑core, 24‑thread chip, originally sold only to industrial OEMs and lacking official BIOS support, previously stopped at POST. By modifying the motherboard firmware, the...
Acer Predator 21X Still Impresses a Decade Later
Two Nvidia GTX 1080 GPUs, a 21-inch screen, and a $10K price tag - the Acer Predator 21X was a ridiculous device 10 years ago, and I fired it up to see how it fares today. https://t.co/KiQq5MlTEf
Save $240 on Intel's Core Ultra 7 270K Plus with 32GB of DDR5-6000 and Z890 Motherboard — Get Intel's Newest,...
Newegg is offering a $240 discount (23% off) on a bundle that pairs Intel’s Core Ultra 7 270K Plus CPU with an ASRock Z890 Pro RS motherboard and 32 GB of G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB DDR5‑6000 RAM. The Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, priced at $350, delivers gaming performance comparable...
An Integrated Visual Radio and Audio Processing Product Arrives
Orban Labs and Quu Inc. have integrated the Quu360 Visual Radio platform directly into the Orban OPTIMOD 5950 HD processor, creating a single‑chip solution for audio processing, metadata handling, and visual messaging. The embedded option eliminates the need for separate Windows‑based PCs...
AI Boom Fuels Move to Fractional GPU Rentals
MyPOV: Rising AI Demand Drives Shift to Fractional GPU Model https://t.co/HfEp51EPpO @timesofindia @PhadnisShilpa @supriya_speaks @rwang0 @constellationr
Semiconductor Capex Surge Highlights Top Analyst Picks
Semiconductor Capex Rising. Analysts Name Top Stock Picks. https://t.co/gjaKdB4ex2 $AMAT $ASML $LRCX $AEIS $MKSI $ENTG
Intel Reportedly Planning Another CPU Price Increase in May Amid Massive Demand
Intel is preparing a third CPU price increase in May, following 10‑15% hikes in February and a further 15% rise in March. The cumulative adjustment aims for roughly a 30% premium over 2025 pricing and will affect both Core Ultra...
Iskraemeco eMobility’s Next‑generation Modular DC Fast EV Charger
Iskraemeco eMobility has launched the iFC240, a next‑generation modular DC fast charger targeting public networks, commercial fleets, and high‑traffic corridors. The unit delivers between 120 kW and 240 kW and can be upgraded or reconfigured with minimal downtime thanks to its modular...
188: Everything We Know About iPhone 18 Pro
In this episode of the MacRumors Show, hosts Hartley and his co‑host dive into the latest rumors surrounding the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro, focusing on a likely new "maroon‑red" color, a slightly thicker 8.8 mm chassis, and a heavier weight that...
TSMC’s Kumamoto Fab Upgrade: A Security-Driven Reconfiguration of Indo-Pacific Chip Competition
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will upgrade its Kumamoto, Japan fab to a 3‑nanometer process, targeting 15,000 12‑inch wafers per month and mass production by 2028. The $20 billion investment, backed by $4.62 billion in Japanese subsidies and equity from Sony, Denso...
Roku TVs Could Be Banned in The US As A US Trade Panel Probes Them For Patent Violations
The U.S. International Trade Commission has launched a Section 337 investigation into Roku and Hisense display devices after InnoTV Labs claimed the products infringe its streaming‑technology patents. The probe, opened on April 1, 2026, could lead to a limited exclusion order that bars...
UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency Seeks New Data Center
Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has issued a tender for a new data centre to host its Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) system, required under the SOLAS convention. The contract, worth approximately $1.98 million, must be awarded by May 5, 2026,...
China’s Gravity-Detecting SQUID Gets Closer to Spotting US Nuclear Submarines
Chinese researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences unveiled a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) based gravity detector that delivers world‑leading precision, reducing gravity‑gradient noise to 0.02 exavolts (E) – second only to kilometre‑scale gravitational‑wave observatories. The instrument, roughly the size...
The RAN Semiconductor War: Ericsson vs Intel vs NVIDIA vs The Rest
The radio access network (RAN) market, worth roughly $35 billion, underpins a $1.3 trillion telecom ecosystem. A shift from traditional silicon to AI‑enabled chips is turning base stations into micro‑AI factories, influencing power consumption and national network strategy. NVIDIA, Intel, and incumbent...