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
Firewalla Orange Review: This Router Gave My Home Network a Meaningful Security Upgrade
The ZDNET review spotlights Firewalla’s new Orange device, a palm‑sized smart router and firewall that bundles Wi‑Fi 7, dual 2.5 G Ethernet ports, a quad‑core ARM CPU, 2 GB RAM and a built‑in VPN server. Priced at $379.20, it offers app‑driven setup, content‑filtering, ad‑blocking and portable USB‑C power, making it usable at home, in offices or on the go. The Orange replaces the earlier Purple model after tariffs and chip shortages forced a redesign, keeping all features while adding faster Wi‑Fi and slightly higher power draw. Reviewer Adrian Kingsley‑Hughes praises its ease of use and lack of subscription fees.
Mesa Driver Developers Discuss Expanding Profiles and Driver Tuning for Specific Apps and Games
Mesa driver developers, led by Valve engineer Natalie Vock, are planning to overhaul app‑specific profiling and driver tuning for the open‑source Mesa stack. The current RADV (AMD Vulkan) system relies on hard‑coded macros and applies options indiscriminately, which creates issues...
IBM and Lam Research Announce Collaboration to Advance Sub-1nm Logic Scaling
IBM and Lam Research have signed a five‑year partnership to push logic scaling below the 1 nm node. The collaboration will co‑develop novel materials, advanced etch and deposition processes, and High‑NA EUV lithography techniques to enable sub‑1 nm transistors. Leveraging IBM’s Albany...
Newcastle Systems Set to Unveil Latest Hybrid Solution at MODEX 2026
Newcastle Systems will unveil its newest hybrid‑automation mobile workstation at MODEX 2026 in Atlanta, April 13‑16. The device combines on‑board scanning, printing and data access with ergonomic design to cut motion waste and fatigue. Positioned as a cost‑effective alternative to...
MacBook Neo Proves $599 Laptop Truly Transformative
Welcome to what’s easily going to be my biggest day at Bloomberg in the 10 months I’ve been here so far. First up: my MacBook Neo review. Yes, a $599 Apple laptop is every bit as transformative as you think it...
Invisible Design Is Key to True Wearables
"How do you make tech that’s truly wearable? For Whoop, whose core product is a performance and recovery tracking band, the answer is to make it invisible." https://t.co/Hy9MbgRL0S
GigaDevice Unveils Edge AI, Robotics Tech at Embedded World 2026
At Embedded World 2026, GigaDevice displayed a suite of system‑level solutions spanning humanoid robotics, industrial automation, automotive electronics, and edge AI. The company highlighted its high‑performance GD32 MCU families, including the Cortex‑M7‑based GD32H75E, GD32A7 automotive series, and the GD32VW553 wireless...
New Mac Mini Intern Needs Safe Setup Assistance
Mac mini arrives today as our new intern. Who can help me *safely* set this thing up? 🦞
AI Boom Could Push Laptop Prices Up 40%
Laptop prices expected to soar by around 40% as AI crunch takes hold — analyst says rising mainstream models priced at $900 could hit more than $1,200 due to rising memory, storage, and CPU costs https://t.co/Jdmghz1dFd
Qualcomm and Wayve Collaborate on Pre-Integrated ADAS/AD System for Auto Makers
Qualcomm Technologies and Wayve announced a joint effort to deliver a pre‑integrated ADAS and autonomous driving (AD) system built on Qualcomm's Snapdragon Ride SoC and Wayve's AI Driver software. The solution bundles high‑performance compute, active safety stack and end‑to‑end AI...
FAULHABER BXI: Made for the Next Generation of Robotics
FAULHABER introduced the BXI, its most powerful integrated drive system yet, delivering up to 20 Nm torque within a 34 mm package. The unit combines an internal‑rotor motor, stepped planetary gearhead, and a 15‑bit absolute encoder, operating up to 50 V. Its flat...
Semtech Intros 5G RedCap IoT Modem with Plug-and-Play Ethernet Functionality
Semtech has begun sampling its FX86E modem, a 5G RedCap solution that also supports LTE Cat‑4. The module offers plug‑and‑play Ethernet connectivity for both public and private 5G networks, aiming to simplify IoT device integration. Measuring just 82 × 60 × 32 mm, it targets...
Embedder v0.3.1 Nominated for Embedded Award 2026 as the AI Firmware Platform Moves Into Production
Embedder’s AI‑powered firmware platform v0.3.1 has been nominated for the Embedded Award 2026 in the Startup category, signaling its shift from experimental to production‑validated. The tool grounds large‑language‑model agents in hardware‑specific documentation, enabling real‑time code generation, compilation, flashing and hardware‑in‑the‑loop...
Western Digital Plans $73 Million Investment in Thailand to Advance HAMR HDD R&D
Western Digital has secured a THB 2.3 billion (~$73.8 million) investment from Thailand’s Board of Investment to launch an on‑site R&D program focused on Heat‑Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) HDD technology. The Thai division will develop laser‑based recording components, working alongside North American and...
Kioxia Sampling Evaluation Samples of UFS 5.0 Embedded Flash Memory Devices for Next-Gen Mobile Applications
Kioxia has begun shipping evaluation samples of UFS 5.0 embedded flash in 512 GB and 1 TB capacities, featuring a newly designed 7.5 × 13 mm package. The devices use an in‑house controller paired with 8th‑Gen BiCS FLASH and support MIPI M‑PHY 6.0 HS‑GEAR6, delivering roughly 10.8 GB/s...
M31 Validates MIPI M-PHY v5.0 IP on 4nm, Advances 3nm Development to Enable UFS 4.1 Applications
M31 Technology announced that its silicon‑proven MIPI M‑PHY v5.0 IP has been validated on a 4 nm process and is now being advanced toward 3 nm. The PHY delivers up to 23.32 Gb/s per lane in HS‑G5 mode, doubling the speed of the prior...
Apple MacBook Neo Review: Can a Mac Get by with an iPhone’s Processor Inside?
Apple introduced the MacBook Neo, a sub‑$600 entry‑level Mac that swaps the traditional M‑series silicon for the iPhone‑derived A18 Pro processor. Priced at $599 (or $499 with education discount), the Neo offers a 13‑inch display, fan‑less design, and Apple’s ecosystem integration...
Lux Aeterna Closes $10M Seed to Build Reusable Sats
Lux Aeterna, a Colorado‑based startup founded by former Starlink engineer Brian Taylor, closed a $10 million seed round led by Konvoy Ventures to develop its reusable satellite platform Delphi. The 200‑kg demo satellite, built with COTS parts and a NASA‑partnered heat...
Kaohsiung Mayor to Visit U.S. to Strengthen Semiconductor Ties
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi‑mai will lead a city delegation to the United States to deepen semiconductor ties, beginning with Arizona and then attending Nvidia’s GPU Technology Conference in San Jose. The mission seeks cooperation on advanced manufacturing, AI applications, and...
Würth Elektronik Presents New Radio Module Variants
Würth Elektronik has introduced two new RF modules, Proteus‑IV and Ophelia‑IV, built around Nordic’s nRF54L15 SoC. Proteus‑IV ships as a ready‑to‑use Bluetooth LE 6.0 module with preinstalled firmware, while Ophelia‑IV is a developer‑focused platform that runs Zephyr RTOS and allows custom...
The Ayaneo Pocket Air Mini X B.Duck Limited Edition Might Be This Year's Cutest Android Gaming Handheld
Ayaneo released a limited‑edition Pocket Air Mini featuring the Chinese B.Duck mascot, priced at $109.99. The handheld retains the standard Pocket Air Mini hardware—a 4.2‑inch LCD, MediaTek Helio G90T, 3 GB RAM, 64 GB storage, and a 4,500 mAh battery. Its bright yellow...
Alstom to Deliver Signalling for Lodz High-Speed Rail Tunnel
Alstom has signed a contract with construction firm PORR to design, install and integrate advanced signalling for the new 4.6‑km high‑speed rail tunnel in Łódź, a cornerstone of Poland’s Y‑rail corridor linking Warsaw, the forthcoming national airport and, eventually, Poznań...
INTERTRAFFIC: Tönnjes Unveils Hybrid Chip for Secure Vehicle Identification
Tönnjes introduced a hybrid Rain RFID/NFC chip at Intertraffic 2026, developed with EM Microelectronic. The dual‑frequency tag combines long‑range UHF identification with smartphone‑based NFC verification and features AES‑128 authentication plus expanded memory. Designed for seamless integration, it works with existing...
Sumo Digital Partners with Arm to Explore AI-Powered "PC-Class" Graphics for Mobile Games
Sumo Digital has partnered with chip designer Arm to evaluate Arm’s new neural technology, which embeds AI‑powered accelerators within its GPUs. The collaboration aims to deliver "PC‑class" graphics on mobile devices by leveraging AI‑driven rendering techniques. Sumo is testing the...
The AI Tariff We Are All Going to Pay (And It’s Not Energy Prices)
The article warns that AI’s explosive compute needs are creating an "AI tariff" by monopolizing memory, storage and wafer capacity. DRAM prices have jumped up to 300% and SSD costs have doubled, pushing laptop prices 20‑30% higher. Hyperscalers have locked...
XTool Honors International Women's Day with "Her Voice, Made Visible" Campaign Featuring Artist Domonique Brown
xTool wrapped its International Women’s Day “Her Voice, Made Visible” campaign with a Los Angeles MakerFest that highlighted women makers. The program, featuring artist Domonique Brown and her work on the F2 Ultra laser cutter, showcased how precision tools can...
Why the Future of Audio May Be Built on a Semiconductor Chip
Danish deep‑tech firm SonicEdge is commercialising MEMS‑based micro‑speakers that generate sound directly from a semiconductor chip, eliminating traditional moving‑coil drivers. The solid‑state design delivers up to 20 kHz bandwidth, higher efficiency and a 100 mg form factor, far lighter than conventional micro‑speakers....
I've Always Wanted This "Excellent" 55in Fire TV – Now It's Cheaper than Ever
Amazon’s 55‑inch Fire TV Omni QLED is now on sale for £449.99, a 40 % discount from its original £749.99 price. The QLED panel supports 4K resolution with Dolby Vision and HDR10+ Adaptive, but only offers a 60 Hz refresh rate and...
Low-End Smartphones Hit Hardest by Memory Price Surge
Counterpoint Research warns that soaring DRAM and NAND prices will lift the bill of materials for entry‑level smartphones by roughly 25% this quarter. Memory components could represent 43% of the cost structure for devices priced under $200, driving an estimated...
Galaxy S26 Ultra Dex Outputs up to 4K on External Displays
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S26 Ultra, a flagship phone that pairs its Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor and up to 16 GB RAM with Samsung Dex capable of 4K output on external monitors. The device delivers desktop‑like multitasking, supporting keyboards, mice and external storage for...
MSI MPG CORELIQUID P13 360 (2026) CPU Cooler Review
MSI’s MPG CORELIQUID P13 360 AIO cooler blends premium aesthetics with engineering tweaks aimed at better thermal contact and streamlined cable management. The unit features a full‑plane screwless copper cold plate, a 27 mm, 12‑channel radiator, and CycloBlade 9 ARGB fans that promise strong airflow...
Hammertech AS Signs Three-Year Frame Agreement for AquaFieldTM Mud Meters
Hammertech AS, a subsidiary of Nordic Technology Group, has secured a three‑year frame agreement with a leading international oil‑and‑gas services company to supply its AquaField™ Mud multiphase meters. The customer projects an outtake of roughly 90 meters across the contract...
Thales Readies Storm 2 Wearable Counter-Drone Jammer
Thales is set to unveil Storm 2, a two‑kilogram soldier‑worn electronic‑warfare node that detects and jams hostile radio signals used by drones and radio‑triggered explosives. The system employs a software‑defined radio covering 20 MHz‑6 GHz and delivers up to 10 watts of reactive jamming...
Quectel Unveils Versatile Pi Series SBCs to Power Developer Innovation
Quectel Wireless Solutions has launched the Pi series of single‑board computers, comprising the Pi M1, L1 and H1 models. The boards target industrial IoT, robotics, and edge‑computing applications, offering LTE, Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth, and Ethernet connectivity. The flagship H1 features a Qualcomm...
ROG Strix G10X Brings Holographic Flair to Flagship Desktop Gaming
ASUS unveiled the ROG Strix G10X, a flagship pre‑built gaming desktop featuring its proprietary AniMe Holo holographic fan display. The system packs up to an AMD Ryzen 9 X3D‑series CPU, an RTX 5090 GPU, 128 GB DDR5 RAM and a 4 TB PCIe 4.0 SSD within a 104‑liter...
Indra Leading GIGaNTE Project to Develop Autonomous Spanish Gallium Nitride and Advanced Packaging Technologies
Indra Group is spearheading the €9 million, four‑year GIGaNTE initiative to create a fully autonomous Spanish gallium‑nitride (GaN) and advanced packaging ecosystem. The project targets high‑reliability radar and communications systems for defence, developing proprietary GaN processes, monolithic microwave integrated circuits and...
The Specialty Device Surge Part 1: Wafer Size Transitions Are Powering The Future Of Specialty Devices And Bringing New Challenges
Specialty devices—including SiC and GaN power transistors, MEMS, photonics, and CIS—are shifting from traditional 150mm and 200mm wafers to larger 200mm and 300mm formats. GaN power is moving to 300mm, while SiC power advances to 200mm, and photonics, MEMS, and...
NVIDIA Investing $2bn in Coherent’s R&D, Capacity Expansion and Operations as It Builds Out US-Based Manufacturing
NVIDIA announced a multi‑year strategic agreement with Coherent Corp, investing $2 billion to fund research, capacity expansion, and US‑based manufacturing. The deal includes a non‑exclusive purchase commitment and future access rights to Coherent’s advanced laser and optical networking products. By scaling...
Enabling Seamless Monitoring, Test, And Repair In Multi-Die Designs
The semiconductor industry is turning to 2.5D/3D multi‑die designs to meet AI‑driven performance and efficiency goals. However, testing, monitoring, and repairing hidden chiplets remain a major hurdle. Synopsys and TSMC showcased a demo vehicle built on TSMC’s N3P process that...
The Petabyte Problem: How AI Is Finally Making Semiconductor Manufacturing Data Actionable
Semiconductor manufacturers are grappling with petabyte‑scale data from probe, assembly and test operations, yet less than 5% is currently used for analytics. PDF Solutions introduced its Exensio platform, combining a parallel data architecture, semantic integration, and agentic LLM capabilities to...
Ensuring AI Reliability: Mitigating OCP’s Silent Data Corruption Risks
An Open Compute Project whitepaper, co‑authored by NVIDIA, Google, Meta and Microsoft, warns that silent data corruption (SDC) is escalating in AI data centers as process geometries shrink and workloads intensify. SDC originates from timing violations, voltage‑frequency scaling, and wear‑out,...
Detecting Chemical Variability At Advanced Nodes
Advanced‑node semiconductor yield is increasingly eroded by subtle chemical variability in thin films, interfaces, and residues rather than obvious particle defects. This molecular variability manifests as parametric drift and margin erosion that only appear under workload or thermal stress, making...
Quintauris and eSOL Partner on RISC-V Automotive Software Integration
Quintauris and eSOL have announced a partnership to embed eSOL’s real‑time operating system into Quintauris’ RISC‑V automotive platforms. The joint effort targets production‑ready solutions for advanced driver assistance systems, vehicle‑control functions and zonal architectures. By offering a consistent software foundation,...
Marelli Targets Brazil, India and EMEA with New Engine Control Units
Marelli has introduced a new generation of port‑fuel‑injection (PFI) engine control units (ECUs) that cater to gasoline, flex‑fuel and CNG powertrains. The product line is offered in three region‑specific variants for Brazil, India and the broader EMEA market, each designed,...
Cambridge Pixel Introduces HPx-700 for Edge-Based Radar Input & Signal Processing
Cambridge Pixel has launched the HPx-700, an ARM‑based radar input and signal processor that moves complex radar processing to the edge. The fanless, low‑SWaP unit converts analogue radar returns into network‑ready data, removing the need for host PCs. It ships...
Broadcom AI Revenue Spikes, Beating Q1 Expectations
.@Broadcom AI revenue surges in fiscal first quarter https://t.co/7805cMiu5B Broadcom reported better-than-expected fiscal first quarter results due to strong demand for AI semiconductors. https://t.co/v8Wqlit2d2
Beamforming for Networks that Sense and Communicate at Once
Researchers propose a hybrid beamforming scheme that lets a single high‑frequency transmission carry both data and environmental sensing information, addressing the dual‑purpose demand of emerging 6G networks. Traditional beamformers become computationally prohibitive when scaling to massive antenna arrays, making real‑time...
How HPC Systems Are Making Things Easier
Moffitt Cancer Center launched the Collaborative Computing Center (CCC), a private, on‑premises HPC environment funded by a $2 million NIH S10 grant. The system features roughly 30 compute nodes, a dedicated internet link, and 1.3 petabytes of high‑speed Hammerspace storage, creating a...
Ugreen Launches Maxidock Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station Range in the UK
Ugreen has opened pre‑orders for its Maxidock Thunderbolt 5 docking station range in the UK, comprising a 17‑in‑1 flagship, a 10‑in‑1 desktop model, and a Mac mini‑specific 10‑in‑1 dock. The Thunderbolt 5 interface delivers up to 120 Gbps bandwidth and supports 8K single‑display...
Analyst Estimates Nintendo Is Losing $160 on Every Japanese Region-Locked Switch 2 Sold
Nintendo released a Japan‑only, region‑locked Switch 2 priced at 49,980 yen (about $343), markedly higher than the global model. Toyo Securities analyst Hideki Yasuda estimates the console loses roughly $160 for every unit sold in Japan, based on a $400 production cost....