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
Market Reset: India Pulls the Plug on Chinese CCTV Makers
India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will stop certifying Chinese CCTV brands such as Hikvision and Dahua from April 1, effectively barring them from the market. The new essential requirements mandate disclosure of component origins and vulnerability testing, forcing firms to rely on Taiwanese and domestic chipsets. Domestic players like CP Plus have surged, now controlling roughly 45‑50% of sales, while Indian manufacturers collectively hold over 80% of the market. The shift has pushed bill‑of‑materials costs up 15‑20% for mid‑range and premium cameras.
Cambridge Memristor Breakthrough and Huawei Atlas 350 Promise Big Energy Savings for Enterprise AI
Researchers at Cambridge unveiled a hafnium‑oxide memristor that reduces switching currents a million‑fold, while Huawei launched its Atlas 350 accelerator claiming 1.56 PFLOPS FP4 performance and 112 GB of HBM. Both advances target the soaring energy costs of enterprise AI workloads.
Cortical Labs Shows Human Neurons on Chip Playing Doom, Signaling New Era for Enterprise AI
Australian biotech Cortical Labs demonstrated that 200,000 living human neurons cultured on a silicon chip can learn to play the 1993 shooter Doom. The proof‑of‑concept highlights neuromorphic computing’s potential to cut power use in enterprise AI, prompting CIOs to reassess...
Sensors Converge: Where Intelligence Meets the Edge
The Sensors Converge Conference showcased the latest advances in sensor miniaturization, edge AI, power management, and secure connectivity across multiple industries. Attendees highlighted how system‑in‑package designs and heterogeneous integration are delivering compact, low‑cost modules that combine temperature, pressure, inertial and...
Helium Shortage Threatens AI Chip Production and Markets
Helium is a key supply for making semiconductor chips. We just blew up 30% of the world supply. No helium means no AI chips. No AI chips means no AI data centers. Supply shock will be felt in the markets🩸
DIY ESP32-S3 Internet Radio Features Winamp-Styled User Interface
Volos Projects released a DIY internet radio built around Waveshare’s ESP32‑S3‑LCD‑1.54 development board, priced around $15. The project uses an Arduino sketch featuring a retro Winamp‑styled interface and supports up to nine streaming stations. The board’s 1.54‑inch IPS display, ES8311...
Could Solar-Powered Smart Clothes Track Your Health?
University of Georgia researchers reviewed MXene‑based smart textiles that can continuously monitor body temperature, blood pressure and heart rate while also providing antimicrobial protection. The fabrics harvest solar energy, enabling built‑in power banks that could charge phones or laptops. The...
JX Metals Plans to Expand Investment as Chip Demand Surges
JX Advanced Metals Corp. announced a plan to invest roughly ¥100 billion ($623 million) each year, targeting its chip‑related material businesses as semiconductor demand surges. The new annual budget represents an increase from the ¥90 billion average spent over the past three years....
Fiber Frenzy
Comporium has launched fiber internet to over 500 homes and businesses in Transylvania County, North Carolina, delivering 1 Gbps speeds after completing a 64‑mile buildout. Meanwhile, California ISP Race Communications is allocating more than $200 million to extend its fiber network into...
LG Leads OLED for the 13th Straight Year
LG retained its OLED TV leadership for the 13th year, commanding 49.7% of the global market in 2025 with roughly 3.22 million units shipped. Global OLED shipments rose 6.6% year‑over‑year to 6.47 million units, underscoring a steady shift toward premium displays. The...
Gigabyte Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming OC Ice 16GB Review: Excellent Performance From a Standout Graphics Card
Gigabyte’s Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming OC Ice is a premium‑styled AMD GPU that ships with a mild factory overclock, pushing the game clock to 2,520 MHz and boost to 3,060 MHz—about a 5 % performance gain over the reference chip. Its triple‑fan Windforce cooling...
Australia: Quantum Battery Signals Ultra-Fast Energy Storage
Australia’s CSIRO, together with RMIT and the University of Melbourne, unveiled the world’s first quantum‑battery prototype that successfully demonstrated a complete charge‑store‑discharge cycle. The device uses a laser‑excited organic microcavity to store energy in quantum states, achieving theoretically faster charging...
Week 13, 2026
The semiconductor and AI ecosystem is entering a phase defined by efficiency gains, massive infrastructure scaling, and strategic localization. This week’s highlights include Gartner’s forecast of a sharp decline in large‑language‑model inference costs, NVIDIA’s dual‑model AI stack, and Google’s near‑lossless...
Foundryecosystem Report: Capacity Shortages, Fabs, ASE, ATE
The latest Foundryecosystem Report highlights a severe shortage of leading‑edge foundry capacity for AI chips, as AMD, Nvidia and others scramble for wafers. Rising costs are also pressuring mature‑node display driver IC (DDIC) suppliers, prompting potential price hikes. Meanwhile, major...
EPIC Microsystems Raises $21M to Power Next-Gen AI Data Centers
EPIC Microsystems announced an oversubscribed $21 million Series A round, bringing its total capital to $26 million. The funding, led by Seligman Ventures with participation from Intel Capital and other venture firms, will accelerate commercialization of its hybrid switched‑capacitor (HSC) power delivery technology...
Roku TVs Owners Can Now Get a New Larger & Easier to Use Remote At Its Lowest Price Ever of...
A third‑party remote for Roku TVs is now available for $16.99, down from $97.99, targeting users who struggle with the standard remote due to physical limitations or age. The device features oversized buttons, infrared signaling, and a plug‑and‑play setup, but...
Sony Should Debut Open Gate on Consumer Creator Cameras First
The success of this app makes me wonder if it’s smarter for a company like Sony to instead of rolling out “open gate” on pro cameras to release it as a “feature” (similar to this) on consumer level “creator” cameras...
Samsung Has a Massive TV Sale to Celebrate the Final Four — Here Are 9 TVs that I'd Spend My...
Samsung is running a limited‑time TV sale tied to the NCAA Final Four, offering up to $2,000 in savings across its 2025 lineup. Discounts range from 22% to 50% on models that include Crystal UHD, QLED, Neo QLED and OLED...
The Talk Show: ‘You’re Going to Have the Niggles’
Christina Warren returns to The Talk Show to break down Apple’s latest product wave, highlighting the newly announced iPhone 17e and the ultra‑thin MacBook Neo. The iPhone 17e adds a larger sensor, improved 5G bands, and a modest price bump,...
Version History: ‘The Macintosh’
The original Macintosh debuted in 1984 alongside Apple’s now‑legendary Super Bowl commercial, instantly raising public expectations. Early models suffered from limited memory, sparse software support, and minimal customizability, prompting a slow sales start. Over successive generations Apple addressed these flaws,...
Deal Alert: Beats Studio Pro Headphones Are Up to 49% Off for Amazon’s Big Spring Sale
Beats Studio Pro headphones are on Amazon for $179.95, a 49% discount from the regular $349.99 price, marking the lowest price since last Black Friday. The deal is part of Amazon’s spring sale and includes the flagship over‑ear model with...
Every Gaming PC You Can Buy At Costco Ranked By Price
Costco’s 2026 electronics lineup now includes six pre‑built gaming desktops, ranging from entry‑level to premium configurations. Prices span $1,099.99 for the Skytech Crystal up to $2,999 for the OMEN MAX 45L, with each model offering distinct CPU, GPU, and cooling...
TCL Electronics Posts 15% Revenue Rise and 56% Dividend Jump, Showcasing Global B2B Expansion
TCL Electronics announced a 15.4% year‑on‑year revenue increase to HK$114.58 billion and a 56.6% rise in its final dividend, underscoring the success of its globalisation and mid‑to‑high‑end product strategy. The results illustrate how the Chinese TV maker is leveraging B2B channel...
Every Time You Save a Photo to an SD Card, You're Slowly Destroying It From the Inside
SD cards rely on NAND flash that degrades with each program/erase (P/E) cycle, giving them a finite write lifespan measured in terabytes written (TBW). High‑endurance cards use more robust MLC flash and are designed for constant overwriting, while standard value...
The 2026 Mac Gaming Paradox: Power Without Play
Apple’s 2026 M5 Max MacBook Pro boasts an 18‑core CPU, 40‑core GPU and industry‑leading efficiency, eclipsing the M3 Ultra in benchmark tests. Despite this hardware advantage, the Mac ecosystem remains starved of native AAA titles, with only a few games offering macOS...
China Pushes Electric Vehicles Toward the Five-Minute Charge Era
Chinese EV makers are accelerating ultrafast charging, with BYD unveiling 1.5 MW Flash Chargers that can replenish a battery from 10% to 70% in five minutes, promising up to 600 miles of range. The technology relies on a new lithium‑manganese‑iron‑phosphate chemistry...
Introducing a New Energy Metric for Semiconductors
#Technology #Newsletter #Semiconductor #Manufacturing #Metric NLOG-297 | Semiconductor And Beyond Newsletter | The Semiconductor Energy Metric: https://newsletter.chetanpatil.in/p/semiconductor-and-beyond-newsletter-297/
Your Car's OBD-II Port Can Do Way More Than You Think
The article explains that while entry‑level OBD‑II scanners are limited to reading diagnostic trouble codes and mileage, higher‑end, mechanic‑grade tools unlock a wealth of live vehicle data. Advanced devices can display real‑time sensor readings such as turbo boost, pedal positions,...
The Ultimate Guide to Android Keyboards (2026 Edition)
Joe Fedewa’s 2026 guide reviews the top Android keyboard apps, highlighting mainstream choices like Gboard, SwiftKey, and Samsung Keyboard, as well as niche options for privacy, customization, power typing, and voice input. He recommends HeliBoard as an open‑source, offline alternative...
Save up to $300 on This RTX 5070Ti-Powered Gaming PC with 32GB RAM and a Free Copy of Resident Evil...
iBuyPower is offering its RDY Element Pro R08 gaming desktop, equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics and 32 GB of RAM, for $2,399.99 after a $100 clearance code—down from $2,699.99. The bundle also includes a mechanical keyboard,...
From Memory Cards to SSDs: How Long Will Your Digital Media Storage Actually Last?
Physical media remains popular, but its durability pales compared to digital storage solutions. The article outlines typical lifespans for common devices—HDDs (3‑5 years), SSDs (5‑10 years or more), NAS units (3‑5 years), USB flash drives (10+ years when stored well),...
90's Styled Retro Tower Case Hits an All-Time Low — Save $30 on the Silverstone FLP02W PC Case
Silverstone Technology’s FLP02W retro tower case, launched late last year, is now on sale for $229.99—a 12% discount from its original $259.99 price, saving buyers $30. Despite its 1990s beige aesthetic and classic turbo, reset, and rocker switches, the case...
Bumpboxx’s BB-777 Is a Modern Boombox with Meticulous Vintage Design
Bumpboxx launched a Kickstarter for the BB-777, a modern boombox that faithfully recreates the iconic Sharp GF-777 design. The campaign has already raised over $3 million from thousands of backers, with more than 50 days left. The BB-777 blends vintage aesthetics...
Leiden University Unveils Microrobots Ten Times Thinner Than Human Hair
Scientists at Leiden University have built microrobots only a few tens of micrometres long—about ten times thinner than a human hair—that move and adapt without any onboard electronics. The devices, fabricated with a high‑precision 3D microprinter, achieve self‑propelled motion at...
Humanoid Robots Dazzle Audiences at Boao Forum, Wushu Championships and Beijing Expo
Dozens of humanoid and dancing robots performed at the Boao Forum for Asia, the World Junior Wushu Championships and a high‑profile robot exhibition in Beijing, underscoring China's rapid progress in advanced motion‑control and commercial robotics. Industry analysts say the surge...
AI-Powered Micro‑drones Navigate Using Bat‑like Echolocation
Tiny drones are learning to navigate like bats. By combining ultralight sonar with AI, they can move through dark or low-visibility environments using echolocation-style sensing instead of relying only on cameras. It’s another example of how AI is not just improving software,...
Scaling AI Demands a New Infrastructure Playbook
Enterprises moving AI from pilots to production face a fundamentally different infrastructure challenge, requiring tight integration of accelerated compute, high‑performance networking, security and observability. Fragmented stacks cause fragile deployments and costly GPU idle time, especially during intensive training or retrieval‑augmented...
Get a 200Hz Gaming Monitor for Just $85.49 — Get 29% Off as the MSI MAG 242F Hits an All-Time...
MSI’s 24‑inch MAG 242F gaming monitor is now listed on Amazon for $85.49, a 29 % discount that saves roughly $34.50 off its regular price. The display packs a 200 Hz refresh rate, 0.5 ms gray‑to‑gray response time, an IPS panel, and AMD...
Apple Confirms Mac Pro’s Death After Four Years.
Also in Power On: Apple killed the Mac Pro four years ago. It just made it official. Here’s what happened. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2026-03-29/apple-doubles-down-on-hardware-services-with-revamped-ai-strategy-rare-bonuses-mnbpiwon?srnd=undefined
Palm‑Sized Ryzen 5 Mini PC Delivers Full‑Size Performance
The PELADN WO4 AMD Ryzen 5 Mini PC is an amazing little device: It'll fit in the palm of your hand, but offers impressive performance and Windows 11 Pro. I got my hands on one and ran it through...
Cearvol Nano OTC Aids Boost Sound in Any Setting
Wish you could hear everything around you, whether you're at a noisy restaurant or just watching TV at home? I check out the Cearvol Nano OTC Hearing Aids in various locations and find it's a great way to turn up...
From Drunk Operators to Button‑Press
Elevators used to be manually operated and were especially risky if the operator was tired or inebriated. Now, you just get in, press a button and a modern elevator, if inspected regularly, is extremely safe.
Japanese Vehicle Switches From Road to Rail Seamlessly
This Japanese Vehicle Can Drive on Roads and Transform to Run on Train Tracks by @_fluxfeeds #Innovation #TechForGood #EmergingTech #Technology #Tech https://t.co/PhlS5ZwIsK
Even Experts Once Doubted PCs—Now They're Essential
Predicting the future is very hard work. In 1983, most people viewed the home computer as a passing fad. Two @MIT professors debated the future of PCs. Michael Dertouzos tried to convince us that the home computer is here to...
XR Glasses Setup Feels Like 1997 Linux Driver Install
Somebody gifted me a @getVITURE XR glasses and getting them to work with my Android phone gives me a massive "Linux printer driver install in 1997" vibe...
Google Paper Threatens Memory Stocks, Sparks Fear
If he really wants to scare people he’ll talk about that Google paper and the implications for memory stocks.
Switch 2 Boost Mode Transforms Handheld Gaming Experience
I tested the Nintendo Switch 2’s handheld boost mode, and it’s an absolute game-changer — here’s why. https://t.co/nWkNbKjRDL
Open‑Source Laser Engraver Available Fully Assembled for $64
Open source laser engraver sells for just $64 fully assembled — it is small and low power but may be enough for your needs https://t.co/IBv2QUqJOj
Vintage Tech Revived: Community Keeps 30-Year-Old Hardware Alive
This is a REALLY fun one from @PCMag. I love stories about people getting 30-year-old hardware working again and the homebrew communities around them (I do Atari 8-bit and Minidisc myself) https://t.co/xBKhC2ZBeu
A57 Beats A37: Features Worth the Extra Cost
We compare the key features of the Samsung Galaxy A57 and cheaper Galaxy A37. https://t.co/xjWvaylChB