Today's Hardware Pulse
Nvidia driver hints at next‑gen DLSS 5 work
Nvidia’s GeForce Game Ready driver 610.47 adds three new profile options—Enable DLSS NR override, Enable DLSS NR SL override, and Override DLSS NR presets—suggesting continued development of DLSS 5 neural‑rendering technology. The earlier DLSS 5 reveal had sparked debate over AI‑driven image alteration, and the new driver hints at a quiet but ongoing effort.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Cyient Semiconductors raises $30M Series A
Samsung and Kingston Trigger New SSD Price Hike Above Ten Percent
Samsung Electronics and Kingston Technology announced SSD price hikes exceeding 10 percent, marking the latest wave of upward pressure in the storage market. Samsung, the world’s largest NAND flash producer, has already applied the new pricing, while Kingston is extending the increase across its entire SSD lineup. The adjustments will first hit wholesale channels, with retailers likely to pass the higher costs to consumers as inventory turns. Analysts view the moves as a signal of tightening supply‑demand dynamics that could reshape pricing across the SSD segment.
SHINING 3D’s FreeScan Omni Receives Red Dot Award 2026 Recognition
SHINING 3D’s FreeScan Omni, a standalone metrology 3D scanner, earned the 2026 Red Dot Award for industrial design. The device delivers 0.02 mm accuracy, validated by VDI/VDE 2634 and ISO 10360 standards, while offering onboard computing and cable‑free operation. Its AI‑driven feature recognition and video...
Custom 3D‑Printed Headphones Showcase at RepRap Festival
3D Printed headphones are pretty cool and you can customize it. Work by @headamame spotted at @rockymountainreprapfestival #headphones #3dprinting #3dprintingcommunity
Elon Outlines Responsibility Split for Terafab Components
Elon was asked which party will be responsible for each aspect of the Terafab: https://t.co/HDvNBPeAqL
STMicroelectronics Targets $3 Billion in LEO Satellite Revenue; Announces Dedicated Investor Call
STMicroelectronics announced a strategic push into the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite market, aiming to generate more than $3 billion in cumulative revenue from 2026 to 2028. The company reported Q1 2026 net revenues of $3.1 billion, up 23% year‑over‑year, helped by...
Achieving Maximum Separation Precision
Doppstadt announced that its new SW6 spiral shaft separator will debut at IFAT 2026, a leading environmental trade show. The SW6 combines a hopper and tracked chassis to tackle challenging, high‑moisture material flows with greater precision. Designed for flexibility, the...
Huawei Launches Watch GT Runner 2 with Multi‑System GNSS for Precision Running
Huawei introduced the Watch GT Runner 2, its most advanced running smartwatch, featuring multi‑system GNSS for precise tracking in urban and trail environments. The launch coincided with the MatePad Mini tablet, priced at roughly $480, underscoring Huawei's push into the...
The Trillion-Dollar AIDC Boom Gets Real: Omdia Maps the Path From Megaclusters to Microgrids
Omdia raised its 2030 data‑center investment forecast beyond $1.6 trillion, driven by AI demand from hyperscalers, tier‑2 cloud providers, and enterprises. AI workloads are additive, pushing rack power density from roughly 20 kW today toward a potential 2 MW by the end of...
Sonnedix, Copec EMOAC Sign PPAs for Chilean BESS Project
Sonnedix has signed three power purchase agreements with Copec EMOAC for the Librillo battery energy storage system, a 117 MW, 643.8 MWh project in Chile’s Antofagasta region. The stand‑alone BESS will operate five hours per day, delivering nighttime renewable power and improving...
Introspect Technology Adds New ATE-on-Bench Solution for LPDDR6, DDR6, and HBM Interfaces
Introspect Technology has begun shipping its M5504 High‑Speed Digital Test System, the latest addition to the M Series. The benchtop instrument combines Bit Error Rate Testing, Automatic Test Equipment and System‑Level testing to validate LPDDR6, DDR6 and HBM interfaces under...
FCC Bans Dozens of Foreign‑Made Wi‑Fi Routers Over National‑Security Risks
The Federal Communications Commission announced a ban on the sale of dozens of foreign‑made Wi‑Fi routers, citing unacceptable national‑security risks. The list targets Chinese manufacturers, a U.S.‑registered firm owned by a Chinese company, and Russia’s Kaspersky Lab, tightening supply‑chain controls...
PureDC Unveils Europe’s First Microgrid-Powered Data Center in Dublin
PureDC has commissioned a 54 MW microgrid‑powered data center on Dublin’s Orion Business Park, delivering five‑nine reliability without reliance on the public grid. The facility blends 9.8 MW Wärtsilä engines, high‑voltage battery storage and 72‑hour HVO reserves, marking a new model for...
Infleqtion Wins $2 Million DARPA Contract to Advance Heterogeneous Quantum Computing
Infleqtion (NYSE: INFQ) has been awarded a $2 million, 24‑month contract by DARPA under the Heterogeneous Architectures for Quantum (HARQ) program. The funding will support the development of Multistaq, a compiler that unifies multiple qubit technologies, positioning the company at the...
Carbon in the Age of AI Chips: What the Semiconductor Industry Needs to Know This Earth Day
TechInsights released its Earth Day sustainability report, "Carbon in the Age of AI Chips," highlighting a surge in semiconductor emissions as AI demand accelerates. Fabrication emissions are projected at 186 million metric tons CO₂e in 2026, climbing to 247 million by 2030,...
Zebra Showcases New Supply Chain Solutions
At MODEX 2026, Zebra Technologies unveiled a suite of new wearable and mobile computers designed to boost supply‑chain visibility and frontline productivity. The flagship WS501‑R wearable merges barcode scanning and voice‑directed picking into a hands‑free device, while the TC501 and...
Power Corner: Ventiva CEO on Data Center’s Thermal Orphan Problem
Ventiva’s CEO Carl Schlachte explained how the company’s solid‑state electrohydrodynamic (EHD) ionic cooling modules address the growing "thermal orphan" problem in AI servers. The rectangular, 4‑5 mm‑high devices generate airflow without moving parts, allowing them to be stacked and positioned in...
AI Now Gobbling up Power and Management Chips for Servers
The chip shortage is now hitting power‑management ICs and Baseboard Management Controllers as AI‑focused servers commandeer capacity. TrendForce cut its 2026 server‑shipment growth forecast from 20% to 13% because lead times for these components have stretched to 35‑40 weeks for...
Seeking Decision‑Makers for Next‑Gen DC Hardware Co‑Design
who is the best person to talk to about hardware - model co-design for new DC architectures that lean more heavily towards CPU, TPU, LPU, ASIC etc for longer context windows? who plans and dictates design + financing for a...
5G Standalone Growing Market Share
The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) reports that 95 operators – a 42% year‑over‑year rise – have launched 5G standalone (SA) networks, though they represent just under a quarter of the 392 operators with any 5G service. SA is now...
Pixel Watch Fall Detection Soon Requires Google Sign‑In
Pixel Watch Fall Detection will soon require a Google account sign-in There should be a multi-day grace period before Google disables access. ✅ Details - https://t.co/5focu4FOIQ https://t.co/pv3h1mNasR
From Simple to Sophisticated: Modern Branch Prediction Explained
Digital Design & Comp. Arch: L17: Branch Prediction (Spring 2026) https://t.co/WMytQ3VuVV We will start with simple branch prediction techniques and build up to the more sophisticated techniques used in almost all modern high-performance processors. @SAFARI_ETH_CMU @CSatETH
DJI Launches New Lito Budget Drones, US Misses Out
DJI unveiled two budget‑friendly camera drones, the Lito 1 and Lito X1, aimed at first‑time pilots and creators. Both models pack 48 MP sensors, omnidirectional obstacle avoidance and up to 36 minutes of flight time, with the X1 adding LiDAR and 10‑bit D‑Log M....
Linearly Variable Two-Wire Loop Current Generator
A new two‑wire loop current generator delivers a linearly adjustable 0.5 mA to 23.5 mA signal, directly proportional to a multiturn potentiometer voltage. The design handles source or sink loads up to 500 Ω without recalibration and includes a 30 mA safety limit. By using an...
These New Smart Glasses From Ex-OnePlus Engineers Have a Hidden Cost
L'Atitude 52°N, founded by ex‑OnePlus engineer Gary Chen, announced the Berlin smart‑glasses will ship on May 26 at $399, with an optional $50 photochromic lens upgrade. The glasses feature a 12‑MP camera, 32 GB storage, and Google Gemini‑powered AI tour‑guide called Goya, but...
Here’s How Our TPUs Power Increasingly Demanding AI Workloads.
Google’s Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) are custom‑designed chips that have evolved over more than a decade to handle massive AI workloads. The newest generation delivers 121 exaflops of compute power and doubles the interconnect bandwidth of its predecessor. By focusing...
EV Sales Are Slowing Down. The U.S. Still Got Over 3,000 New Fast Charging Plugs In Q1
U.S. public EV fast‑charging infrastructure added 3,387 new DC ports and 617 new stations in Q1 2026, matching last year’s growth despite a 27% drop in EV sales. High‑power chargers (>250 kW) now dominate new stalls, and network reliability improved to...
Musk Bets Tesla's AI Future on Intel Node that Isn't Finished Yet
Elon Musk announced that Tesla will build its next‑generation AI chips using Intel’s not‑yet‑finished 14A process as part of a new "Terafab" manufacturing push. The strategy aims to secure a proprietary silicon supply for autonomous‑driving workloads, sidestepping potential shortages from...
PS6 Release Date Rumors Are Spiralling, but It Looks Like Things Could Kick Off in 2028
Rumors about Sony's next‑gen PlayStation (PS6) are divided between a holiday 2027 launch and a possible push to 2028 or even 2029 due to the ongoing memory‑chip shortage. Bloomberg and other outlets cite soaring RAM prices as a key factor...
STL Launches Neuralis Data Center Connectivity Suite
STL Optical Connectivity NA, the U.S. arm of Sterlite Technologies, unveiled its Neuralis data‑center connectivity suite at Data Center World 2026 in Washington, D.C. Neuralis combines ultra‑high‑density MMC and MPO cabling with the Celesta IBR series, which can house up...
AI Model Automates Etch Profile Analysis for Faster MEMS Manufacturing
Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences unveiled VLSet‑AE, a physics‑constrained AI model that automatically extracts geometric features from SEM images of DRIE‑etched MEMS structures. The system achieves 96% recognition accuracy, with an average prediction error of 3.65% across nine...
BharatGen, Two L&T Arms to Build India’s Sovereign AI Compute Platform
Larsen & Toubro’s semiconductor arm, L&T Semiconductor Technologies, L&T Vyoma, and BharatGen have signed a five‑year memorandum of understanding to build India’s sovereign AI compute platform. The collaboration will fuse custom AI ASIC and xPU silicon with a 30 MW data‑centre in Kanchipuram...
The Revamped Spectrum Gets a Special White Version Today, Inspired by a Clive Sinclair Legend
Retro Games Ltd has introduced a limited‑edition white version of its modernized ZX Spectrum, a homage to the legendary computer’s mythic white case given to Clive Sinclair after reaching one million units sold. The hardware mirrors the November 2024 Spectrum release,...
Cadence Expands TSMC Collaboration for AI Chip Design
Cadence announced an expanded partnership with TSMC to deliver AI‑ready IP, signoff‑ready design infrastructure, and certified end‑to‑end EDA flows for the foundry’s N3, N2, A16 and A14 processes. The collaboration adds DDR5, PCIe 6.0, LPDDR6/5X, and HBM4E IP to Cadence’s portfolio...
Why 6.4 Gbps DDR5 Designs Fail and How to Avoid It
Designing DDR5 PHYs that exceed 6.4 Gbps is no longer a simulation exercise; real‑world PCB loss and timing margins make first‑pass silicon success essential. Most failures stem from the physical layer’s inability to handle signal‑integrity and power‑integrity stresses rather than logical...
Vantablack Theme Cuts Dell XPS OLED Idle to 2.2W
With the Vantablack theme tweaked for true blacks in Omarchy 3.6, I've gotten the 16" Dell XPS OLED down to an incredible 2.2w idle. A pixel off is a pixel that doesn't gulp power. Gotta love it! https://t.co/QXMmf3zvyt
DDN Redefines AI and High-Performing Computing at Scale with Google Cloud Managed Lustre Innovations
DDN announced new Google Cloud Managed Lustre capabilities built on its EXAScaler platform, delivering up to 10 TB per second of throughput for AI training, inference, and high‑performance computing. The service introduces a shared KV‑cache for inference that improves total throughput...
Ultrahuman and Les Mills Launch PowerPlug Smart Ring to Sync Workouts with Recovery Data
Ultrahuman and Les Mills announced the PowerPlug, a smart‑ring integration that uses biometric data from the Ultrahuman Ring PRO to recommend studio‑quality, instructor‑led workouts in real time. The launch targets the growing demand for recovery‑focused training and could reshape how wearables...
McGill Formula Electric Deploys AON3D Hylo 3D Printer to Support Formula SAE Electric Competition Efforts
McGill Formula Electric has integrated the AON3D Hylo 3D printer to produce custom, race‑ready components for its Formula SAE Electric car. Using ULTEM 9085 filament, the team printed a battery cell and PCB holder that meets stringent mechanical, thermal, and...
Google to Launch Inference-Focused AI Chip Amid Rising Demand for Faster Deployments
Google announced the launch of its eighth‑generation Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) engineered specifically for inference, the phase where AI models generate outputs. The new chip aims to cut latency and cost for AI agents that handle complex, multi‑step requests. Google...
MetaOptics Lands Design and Evaluation Orders for Metalenses From Top Global Customers
MetaOptics Ltd announced that it has secured design and evaluation orders for its advanced metalenses and modules from leading customers in South Korea, Europe and the broader semiconductor ecosystem. The milestone, disclosed in its FY 2025 annual report, marks a...
Graid Sees Cash Potential in KV Caching
Graid Technology announced its Agentic AI Storage Portfolio, a three‑tier KV‑Cache solution built for Nvidia's STX architecture. The portfolio leverages SupremeRAID, which pools up to 32 NVMe SSDs into a 280 GB/s virtual storage engine delivering KV‑Cache reads in 1.3 ms—77× faster...
85-Year-Old VK Digital Health CEO Prepares Seed Round to Fund 2,500 Smart Clinics
Charlie Nahabedian, the 85‑year‑old founder and CEO of VK Digital Health, is gearing up for a seed‑stage financing round that will finance the rollout of smart clinic chairs and mobile health units to 2,500 sites. The company has already raised...
AMD Unveils Ryzen 9 9950X3D2, Powering Maingear’s $1,999 MG-1 Mk.II
AMD introduced its Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 processor, billed as the most powerful mainstream desktop CPU, alongside Maingear’s redesigned MG-1 Mk.II gaming system starting at $1,999. The launch arrives as Intel reports a $13.3 billion Q3 revenue and rolls out AI‑centric Lunar...
BT, Nscale Join Forces on UK Sovereign AI
BT Group has partnered with AI start‑up Nscale to create up to 14 MW of sovereign AI data‑centre capacity across three existing BT sites in the UK. The facilities will run on Nvidia’s full‑stack AI platform and be supported by BT’s...
Tesla Plans $3 Billion Chip R&D Fab in Texas, Eyes Terafab Project
Tesla will invest about $3 billion to build a semiconductor research fab at its Giga Texas campus, producing a few thousand wafers per month for design testing. The pilot line serves as a stepping stone to a larger “Terafab” effort, with...
Russian Team Unveils Nanolaser with Record‑Narrow 0.15 Nm Emission Line
Researchers from Saint Petersburg State University, Alferov University, HSE, LETI and MIPT announced a semiconductor nanolaser whose emission line width is just 0.15 nm—five to ten times tighter than standard devices. The 60‑nm‑wide active region could accelerate ultrasensitive sensors and next‑generation...
IBM Q1 2026 Earnings Surge, Unveils Roadmap for Fault‑Tolerant Quantum Processor by 2029
IBM reported a 9.5% jump in Q1 2026 revenue to $15.9 billion and free cash flow of $2.2 billion, while reaffirming its goal to deliver a large‑scale fault‑tolerant quantum computer by 2029. The earnings call highlighted AI‑driven growth and a quantum processor...
Seagate Introduces Storage for the Consumer Data Explosion
Seagate announced a refreshed portfolio of consumer and prosumer storage devices across its Seagate, FireCuda and LaCie brands. The lineup adds the One Touch desktop external hard drive, the high‑performance FireCuda X Vault, and the LaCie 8big Pro5 multi‑bay RAID...
Fake Galaxy S26 Ultra Is Uncomfortably Convincing: Signs You’re Being Scammed
A counterfeit Galaxy S26 Ultra has hit the market, masquerading as Samsung’s flagship but revealing glaring flaws upon inspection. The fake device uses an obsolete MediaTek 6753 processor, offers only 2 GB RAM and 16 GB storage despite advertising 12 GB/512 GB, and recycles...
Marvell Acquires Polariton to Bolster AI Data‑Center Optical Portfolio
Marvell Technology announced the acquisition of Polariton Technologies, a developer of plasmonics‑based silicon photonics devices, to expand its optical signaling capabilities for AI‑focused data centers. While the purchase price was not disclosed, the deal adds ultra‑fast, energy‑efficient modulation technology that...