Rich On Tech Episode 173 - May 9, 2026
Episode 173 of Rich on Tech features Paul Struhsaker, CEO of the Wireless Power Consortium, who outlines how the upcoming Qi2 standard could become the USB‑C moment for wireless charging—making it simpler, universal, and more reliable. The show also hosts Avneesh Kohli, founder of Savewise, who explains practical methods to stack coupons, cash‑back, and credit‑card offers to maximize everyday savings. The podcast airs live on KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles and rebroadcast on 710 WOR in New York, with nationwide syndication and on‑demand streaming options.
Vertical, Hollow-Shaft Motors Meet Needs of Mexico’s Water Industry
ABB has secured NOM and ANCE certifications for its Vertical Hollow Shaft (VHS) motors, clearing a key regulatory hurdle for deployment across Mexico’s water‑related sectors. The VHS line, engineered for vertical pumping in agriculture, mining, municipal water and wastewater treatment,...
Telefonica Germany Starts Operating 5G Site in Pouch Ahead of Sputnik Spring Break Festival
Telefonica Germany has activated a new 50‑metre mast on the Pouch peninsula, boosting 5G and 4G coverage around the Mulde Reservoir recreation area. The site is timed to support the Sputnik Spring Break festival, which runs from 22 to 25 May...
IPhone Ultra Fold First Look: Apple Finally Went WIDE to Create the Ultimate Hybrid Device
Apple is set to launch its first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Ultra Fold, featuring a short‑wide form factor that unfolds to a 7.8‑inch LTPO OLED display. The device swaps the Lightning port for USB‑C, adds stereo speakers, and packs a...
The Square G-Shock That Outlives Every Smartwatch You Own
The Casio G‑Shock DW‑5600 series is experiencing a surge in U.S. interest, driven by its $99.95 price point and rugged reputation. Variants range from the classic DW‑5600E‑1V to solar‑powered GW‑M5610 and Bluetooth‑enabled GW‑B5600, each catering to different user needs. Aftermarket...
Tech Industry Leaders Form the Ambient IoT Alliance
The Ambient IoT Alliance (AIoTA) was launched by seven leading tech and consumer companies to build an open, multi‑standard ecosystem for battery‑free, low‑cost IoT devices. The coalition includes Intel, Qualcomm, Infineon, PepsiCo, Atmosic, VusionGroup and Wiliot, and focuses on harmonizing...
LLM System Design Interview #45 - The FP32 Hidden Tax
In a Meta senior AI engineer interview, candidates are asked to load a 7‑billion‑parameter model in BF16 on an 80 GB A100. The model’s weights occupy only 14 GB, yet the script crashes with an out‑of‑memory error as soon as the AdamW...
Ai+ Smartphone Unveils India’s First Flip Smartphone Under ₹30,000
Ai+ Smartphone launched the NovaFlip 5G, India’s first flip phone priced under ₹30,000 (≈$360). The device combines a 50 MP rear camera, 32 MP selfie shooter, MediaTek Dimensity 7300X chipset, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB storage and dual AMOLED displays (6.9‑inch inner, 3‑inch cover). Weighing 193 g with...
Who Needs Moore’s Law?
Moore’s Law, which predicted a doubling of transistor density every two years, has effectively stalled since 2016‑2018 as physical limits loom. Chip manufacturers are now turning to alternative architectures—ASICs, GPUs, 3D‑stacked chiplets, on‑chip memory, optical interconnects, and quantum bits—to keep...
How Android Gamers Are Now Getting Desktop-Level Frame Rates
Lossless frame generation, once limited to high‑end PCs, is now available on Android, letting devices generate extra frames for smoother, PC‑quality gameplay. The technology works best on flagship processors such as Snapdragon Elite Gen 5, but mid‑range phones can still see...
Linux Erroneously Thinks Intel Bartlett Lake CPUs Run At 7GHz
Linux’s Intel P‑State driver is erroneously reporting Bartlett Lake P‑core‑only CPUs at over 7 GHz, despite the Core 9 273PE’s documented turbo ceiling of 5.7 GHz. The discrepancy stems from an incorrect scaling factor in the driver, which a QNAP engineer, Henry Tseng, has addressed with...
6.67-inch Flexible AMOLED Display Works with Raspberry Pi, LattePanda, and Other SBCs with HDMI Output
DFRobot has launched a 6.67‑inch flexible AMOLED display that ships with a dedicated MIPI‑to‑HDMI driver board, allowing plug‑and‑play operation on popular single‑board computers such as Raspberry Pi, LattePanda, Banana Pi and Orange Pi. The panel delivers a 2400 × 1080 resolution, 450 cd/m² brightness, 16.7 million colors,...
Leica Swaps Japan for China: A Bold New Sensor Era
Leica announced a strategic pivot from Japanese sensor suppliers, chiefly Sony, to a deep‑tech partnership with Chinese semiconductor specialist Gpixel. The collaboration goes beyond simple procurement, encompassing joint chip design, image‑quality tuning, and shared production preparation for upcoming M‑series models....
Rich Sound for a Small Price - Nothing Headphone (a) Review
Nothing’s Headphones (a) enters the affordable over‑ear market with a design‑forward look, solid build quality and physical button controls that outshine many touch‑based rivals. The sound is lively and balanced, though it falls short of the premium Headphones (1) in depth and...
5 Small EDC Tech Gadgets Earning Their Slot This Week
A roundup of five ultra‑compact EDC tech gadgets highlights how each device trims everyday bulk. The Xteink X4 e‑reader packs a passport‑size screen for $69, while the Planck 2 TB iPhone SSD moves massive video files at 1050 MB/s for $349. The...
The 100-Second Bottleneck Behind NVIDIA CPO: 7 Companies That Own the 4-Stage Test Stack
The testing stage of coherent photonic‑on‑chip (CPO) production has become the primary bottleneck, with a full optical inspection of each photonic integrated circuit taking over 100 seconds. TrendForce data and recent earnings show that seven specialist equipment firms—FormFactor, Teradyne, Keysight,...
Huawei Expands Consumer Device Portfolio with New Tablets, Wearables and Smartphones
Huawei announced a new suite of consumer electronics at a Bangkok event, adding a MatePad Pro Max tablet, several smartwatch models, a children’s wearable, and the nova 15 Max smartphone. The lineup expands the company’s connected‑device ecosystem and signals a...
Intel Arc Celestial at Idle: Leak No Longer Sees Dedicated Xe3P Gaming GPUs
Recent leaks indicate Intel has scrapped plans for a dedicated Xe3P “Celestial” Arc gaming GPU line. While the Xe3P architecture remains alive in integrated graphics, mobile platforms, workstations and the Crescent Island datacenter accelerator, no discrete desktop gaming cards are...
AMDGPU Gets a Power Module: AMD Continues to Bring Radeon Under Linux Closer to Windows
AMD is adding a new DC Power Module to the AMDGPU driver for Linux 7.2, targeting display‑related power‑saving functions such as back‑light control and Panel Self Refresh. The module mirrors mechanisms already used in Windows, aiming to bring Linux’s Radeon power...
SEMIFIVE and ICY Tech Announce 8 Nm eMRAM SoC Tape-Out at Samsung Foundry
SEMIFIVE and ICY Tech announced the successful tape‑out of an 8‑nm eMRAM‑based edge AI system‑on‑chip (SoC) using Samsung Foundry’s 8LPU‑eMRAM process. The design integrates non‑volatile magnetoresistive RAM directly on the chip, targeting low‑power, latency‑critical applications such as industrial controllers, automotive...
Things I Learned Only After Commissioning 20+ PLC Projects
After commissioning more than 20 PLC projects, the author reveals that on‑site realities—incorrect drawings, wiring errors, poor earthing, and unpredictable operator actions—far outweigh textbook logic. Simulated programs often fail once hardware noise and analog signal drift appear, while network glitches...
The Everything Technology and Longevity Thread
Samsung unveiled a smartphone display that can measure blood pressure with a single touch, expanding consumer health monitoring. Atlas emerged from stealth with $14 million funding to launch a behind‑the‑ear brain‑sensing wearable that provides real‑time mental acuity feedback. Google announced the...
These Earbuds Can Outperform Any Creator Kit
Content creators filming on smartphones are turning budget earbuds into primary monitoring and microphone tools. The article evaluates latency, mic fidelity, and battery life, naming the Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 as the overall safe pick at $99.99. It also highlights niche...
Arbor ARES-2100 Wildcat Lake Fanless Box PC Targets Industrial Automation, Machine Vision, and Edge AI Applications
Arbor introduced the ARES‑2100 fanless box PC, built around Intel’s new Core Series 3 “Wildcat Lake” processor aimed at industrial automation, machine‑vision and Edge AI workloads. The compact 1U system supports up to 64 GB DDR5, UFS 3.1 or NVMe storage, three 2.5 GbE...
Tesla Semi and Megachargers Costs Versus Diesel
Tesla unveiled two charging solutions for its Semi: the $40,000 Basecharger for modest fleet needs and the $188,000 Megacharger capable of 1,200 kW output. A hardware‑only cost analysis shows a 4‑truck electric fleet costs $1.23‑$1.35 M versus $760,000 for comparable diesel Cascadias,...
Nvidia Vera Rubin Used by Google Could Next and Thinking Machines Lab
NVIDIA unveiled its Vera Rubin platform, pairing the Rubin GPU with the Vera CPU to deliver a full‑stack AI system that claims ten‑fold better inference performance per watt than the Blackwell generation. At Google Cloud Next, the company announced the...
AMD K5 CPUs The Latest To Be Retired With Linux's Aging & Stagnate Hardware Support
Linux 7.2 will drop support for TSC‑less i586 and i686 CPUs, extending the cleanup begun with i486 removal in 7.1. The change targets vintage processors lacking the Time Stamp Counter, including AMD’s 1996 K5 and several Cyrix models. Kernel developers...
ReMarkable Paper Pure Claimed to Be 50% Faster than Last-Gen Model
ReMarkable announced its new Paper Pure tablet, which it says refreshes up to 50% faster than the previous generation. The device keeps the company’s signature E‑ink display and low‑latency stylus input while adding a higher‑speed refresh engine. The upgrade is intended...
Bluefors Joins Chicago Quantum Exchange to Support Quantum Infrastructure and Workforce Development
Bluefors, a Helsinki‑based leader in cryogenic cooling, has joined the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE) and opened a second U.S. lab in Chicago’s Hyde Park Labs. The new 580‑square‑foot facility, equipped with an LD400He measurement system, expands Bluefors’ hands‑on support for startups,...
Thales Unveils Compact Anti-Jam Military GPS System
Thales announced the TopStar Smart Receiver, a compact positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) system built to survive contested electronic‑warfare environments. The unit combines dual‑constellation GNSS—including military Galileo PRS and civilian GPS—with an adaptive Controlled Radiation Pattern Antenna that mitigates jamming....
Fake Onn, Fire TV, and Xiaomi Streaming Devices Are Becoming More Common and Harder to Spot
Counterfeit streaming sticks and boxes—most notably fake Onn 4K Plus, Fire TV, and 3rd‑gen Xiaomi TV Box S—are now indistinguishable from genuine units and are appearing on major U.S. retailers like Amazon and Walmart. The fakes replicate hardware design, packaging, and even the modern Google TV interface,...
Optus and Ericsson Achieve 180MHz Across 2.3GHz and 3.5GHz Bands Using Carrier Aggregation on a Live 5G SA Network
Optus, together with Ericsson, demonstrated a world‑first 180 MHz carrier aggregation across the 2.3 GHz (n40) and 3.5 GHz (n78) mid‑band spectrum on a live 5G standalone network. The four‑component carrier aggregation (4CC CA) combined 900 MHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.3 GHz and 3.5 GHz bands, delivering up...
Godox Has Some New High-Intensity Lights With Built-In Battery Power and Serious Brightness
Godox has launched two new portable LED fixtures, the RS100Bi bi‑color and RS100R single‑color lights, aimed at run‑and‑gun filmmakers and live‑event crews. Both units deliver a peak output of 28,600 lux at one metre and include a built‑in USB‑C rechargeable battery...
SDSC: Using NSF ACCESS Supercomputers to Improve Tuberculosis Treatment Options
A University of Michigan research team, led by Denise Kirschner, used NSF ACCESS allocations on the Expanse and Anvil supercomputers to simulate 219 tuberculosis drug combinations. By pairing a small set of virtual experiments with a machine‑learning surrogate, they rapidly...
Rackspace and AMD Sign MOU to Establish New Category of Governed Enterprise AI Infrastructure
Rackspace Technology and AMD have signed a multiyear MOU to launch a governed Enterprise AI Cloud that combines AMD Instinct GPUs and EPYC CPUs with Rackspace’s managed operating model. The partnership aims to invert the current pay‑per‑hour GPU rental model...
Thursday May 7, 2026 — Field Note
Johnson & Johnson presented first clinical data for its Ottava robotic surgery system at the ASMBS meeting, reporting that all 30 gastric‑bypass cases were completed robotically without conversion and met 30‑day safety endpoints. The FORTE feasibility study, conducted across six...
RISC-V: From Niche Architecture to Strategic Foundation
At the RISC‑V Now by Andes conference, Aion Silicon’s CEO Oliver Jones declared that RISC‑V has moved from a niche alternative to a strategic foundation for modern silicon. The company’s experience delivering dozens of 7 nm and smaller designs shows the...
Culpan: Apple Goes All in on MacBook Neo Production ↦
Apple is ramping up MacBook Neo output to 10 million units, double its original forecast, after the laptop’s sales outpaced expectations and strained A18 Pro chip supplies. The company has asked TSMC for a hot‑lot of the N3E‑based chips used in...
Linux 7.2 To Support Realtek RTL8159 10GbE USB Ethernet
The Realtek RTL8159 10 Gbps USB Ethernet chipset, currently supported only by Realtek’s out‑of‑tree driver, will be merged into the mainline Linux kernel with the upcoming 7.2 release. Open‑source contributor Birger Koblitz ported the code to the r8152 driver and added...
AMD RadeonSI Code Reorganized To Support Multimedia-Only Driver Builds
Mesa 26.2‑devel now includes a reorganization of AMD’s RadeonSI Gallium3D driver, separating graphics code into a new "gfx" subfolder and multimedia code into an "mm" folder. This structural change enables builds that provide video acceleration via VA‑API without requiring OpenGL...
Google Fitbit Air
Google unveiled the Fitbit Air, a $99 screenless health tracker that mirrors the Whoop band’s minimalist design. The device ships with an optional $10‑per‑month Google Health subscription, contrasting Whoop’s hardware‑free model that requires a $200 annual fee. Priced below Apple’s...
Global Tablet Shipments Flat at 37 Million Units in Q1 - Omdia
Global tablet shipments remained flat at 37 million units in the first quarter of 2026, a marginal 0.1 percent rise from the same period last year. Apple led the market, delivering 14.83 million tablets—a 7.9 percent year‑over‑year increase—and secured a 40.1 percent share. Samsung fell...
SiPearl and Semidynamics Partner to Develop EU-Sovereign Rack-Scale AI Compute Platform
European fabless CPU designer SiPearl and Barcelona‑based AI infrastructure firm Semidynamics announced a strategic partnership to create a rack‑scale AI compute platform built entirely with European‑sourced components. The system will pair SiPearl’s Arm‑based Rhea1 CPU with Semidynamics’ RISC‑V GPU/AI inference...
Stacking 2D Materials on Bulk Semiconductors Yields Smarter, Faster Photodetectors
A new review outlines how stacking atomically thin 2D crystals onto bulk 3D semiconductors creates photodetectors with record‑high responsivity, detectivity and gigahertz‑level speed. Van der Waals bonding eliminates lattice‑mismatch defects, allowing seamless integration of materials like graphene, TMDCs and black phosphorus with...
Bringing Mathematical Rigour in the World of Hardware – a Journey Into Formal Verification
Robert Simpson, a mathematics graduate, joined Axiomise to apply formal verification (FV) to silicon design. He describes how rigorous logical reasoning uncovers bugs that conventional testing misses and how his academic habits translate to real‑world hardware correctness. At Axiomise, he...
IEEE Experts Reveal the Future of RFID Innovation: RFID Journal Interview
The IEEE interview highlights RAIN RFID’s rapid evolution, noting that tag prices have dropped from over a dollar to just a few cents, enabling massive scale in retail and logistics. Inventory accuracy in apparel and footwear has surged to 95‑99%,...
Forget iPhone 18: First iPhone 20 Leaks Reveal Apple’s Most Radical Design Yet
Apple’s rumored iPhone 20, slated as the 20th‑anniversary flagship, could debut a “liquid glass” display, 1.1 mm bezels and convex edges that blur the line between screen and frame. The device is also expected to feature an under‑panel camera, eliminating notches for...
Forget the iPhone: Apple’s Leaked “AI Pin” Is Its Smartest Device Yet
Apple is reportedly developing an AI‑powered wearable dubbed the “AI Pin,” a small pendant that acts as an extension of the iPhone. Slated for a late‑2026 or early‑2027 launch, the device will feature dual cameras, a custom Apple chip, and...
Linux Drivers For The AMD Elan SoCs From The 1990s On Track For Retirement
The Linux 7.1 kernel cycle stripped Kconfig options for i486 platforms, effectively ending compilation for those targets. With that groundwork, a new patch series targets the removal of AMD Elan drivers—32‑bit SoCs from the 1990s built on the Am486 core. If...
Why Valve’s New Steam OS Update Completely Changes How You Use Your Deck
Valve has released a major SteamOS update that adds a Desktop Mode Switch, enhanced battery indicators, integrated chat, remote download management, and improved Steam Controller support. The new desktop toggle lets users shift from gaming to a full PC desktop...