Vince “K|NGP|N” Lucido, one of the world’s top overclockers who collaborates with EVGA, has managed to overclock Nvidia Corp.’s GM200-310 graphics processing unit to a record-high frequency. Using EVGA’s top-of-the-range GeForce GTX 980 Ti K|NGP|N graphics adapter specifically designed for extreme overclocking, Mr. Lucido managed to set multiple records. The …
Read More »Shipments of Sony PlayStation 4 exceed 25 million units globally
Sony Corp. on Thursday announced that global shipments of its latest PlayStation 4 video game consoles have surpassed 25 million units. Apparently, sales of PS4 are not only good, by they exceed shipments of all competing products from Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo combined. Sony Computer Entertainment managed to sell whopping …
Read More »Sales of Western Digital’s solid-state drives set all-time record
Shipments of solid-state drives by Western Digital Corp. set an all-time record for the company in the Q2 of 2015. The manufacturer only sells solid-state drives for enterprise and such products represent a small portion of the company’s revenue. Moreover, for WD, hard disk drives bring more profits than NAND …
Read More »AMD, Nvidia release new DirectX 12-ready GPU drivers for Windows 10
Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia Corp. have updated their drivers for graphics processing units in time for retail release of Microsoft Windows 10. The new drivers resolve various issues found in beta versions and are designed to provide flawless user experience. The new AMD Catalyst and Nvidia GeForce drivers for …
Read More »Shipments of WD hard disk drives hit a multi-year low
Sales of hard disk drives by Western Digital Corp. dropped to a multi-year low in the second quarter of 2015 as sales of personal computers and consumer electronics dropped. Despite of sharp decline in shipments and revenue, the company remained profitable and even maintained its average selling price. In the …
Read More »MSI unveils ultimate Z170A Xpower Gaming Titanium mainboard
MicroStar International on Wednesday released the first details about its upcoming Z170A Xpower Gaming Titanium Edition mainboard for the upcoming Intel “Skylake” microprocessors. The new motherboard sports ultimate overclocking capabilities, unique silver coating and even all-new solid-state chokes that should improve durability and overclockability. One of the key features of the …
Read More »G.Skill unveils world’s first 4GHz DDR4 memory modules
G.Skill International Enterprise Co., one of the globe’s leading makers of high-end memory modules, on Wednesday introduced its all-new Trident Z and Ripjaws V families of DDR4 memory modules designed for enthusiast-class systems running the latest microprocessors from Intel Corp. The most advanced Trident Z and Ripjaws V modules are …
Read More »Microsoft: Life-to-date sales of Xbox One exceed 11.6 million of units
Despite of growing popularity of mobile platforms, games for smartphones and tablets as well as the rise of PC, video game consoles are selling really well. In fact, the latest systems from Microsoft Corp. and Sony Corp. have so far been more successful than their predecessors. Microsoft is shy to …
Read More »Nokia unveils Ozo: Virtual reality camera for content creators
Nokia Corp. on Wednesday introduced its first virtual reality project, which is not a headset. Instead of targeting consumers with its VR hardware, Nokia targets content creators with its Ozo, a special camera with eight sensors developed specifically to create virtual reality movies. The Nokia Ozo is a spherical device …
Read More »Intel, Micron unveil 3D XPoint: up to hundreds of times faster than NAND
Intel Corp. and Micron Technology on Tuesday introduced a brand new type of memory called 3DXPoint. The new memory technology combines advantages of DRAM and NAND flash and is expected to enable storage solutions with performance that is orders or magnitude higher than today. 3D XPoint will be exclusively manufactured …
Read More »SK Hynix begins to produce 3D NAND flash memory
SK Hynix has begun to produce 3D NAND flash memory, which will be used for solid-state drives later this year. The vertically-stacked NAND flash memory from SK Hynix will improve performance and reliability of the company’s solid-state drives. The 3D NAND memory device that SK Hynix produces in volume features …
Read More »Intel ‘Skylake’ processors to be in short supply initially – report
Intel Corp. will formally introduce its Core i5 and Core i7 “Skylake-S” processors with unlocked multiplier next week and will start to sell such chips to end-users. The new central processing units are expected to become rather popular among enthusiasts, but far not all of them will be able to …
Read More »Apple to start sales of Apple Watch at Best Buy next month
Since demand for Apple Watch exceeded supply in the first months of availability, Apple only sold its popular gadgets via its online and select retail stores. However, everything is going to change next month, when Apple plans to start selling its smartwatch at Best Buy stores in the U.S. Apple …
Read More »Asus to install LGA1151 O.C. socket on new Intel Z170 mainboards
In a bid to enhance overclocking potential of Intel Corp.’s upcoming Core i7-6700K and Core i5-6600K “Skylake-S” central processing units, Asustek Computer plans to install modified LGA1151 sockets on its Intel Z170-based mainboards. Intel’s default LGA1151 socket features exactly 1151 pins, but Asustek will use a different socket with higher …
Read More »SanDisk: SSDs will ‘rapidly replace HDDs in laptops and desktops’
Market analysts believe that 30 per cent of notebooks this year will use solid-state drives instead of hard disk drives. SanDisk, a major maker of SSDs, thinks that eventually NAND flash-based storage devices will replace HDDs in client PCs completely. “We expect SSDs will rapidly replace HDDs in laptops and …
Read More »Asus unveils ultimate micro-ATX Intel X99 mainboard for workstations
Asustek Computer has quietly unveiled what could be the world’s most advanced micro-ATX motherboard. The mainboard features Intel X99 core-logic and supports multi-GPU technologies, M.2 solid-state drives, Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.1 and so on. The platform is designed for workstations. The Asus X99-M WS mainboard supports processors in LGA2011-3 form-factor, …
Read More »SanDisk plans to release 6TB and 8TB SSDs in 2016
SanDisk introduced the world’s first datacentre-class 4TB solid-state drives back in April, 2014. While the SSDs are available, SanDisk ships them to only one major customer today because clients, who require such high-capacity SSDs and can afford them need to qualify drives before deployment. But while 4TB SSDs are yet …
Read More »Sales of Microsoft Xbox consoles begin to rebound
Shipments of Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox game consoles were up 30 per cent year-over-year in the fourth quarter of the company’s fiscal 2015 (calendar Q2 2015) thanks lower price of hardware and improved availability of games for new-generation systems. This helped to increase Xbox hardware revenue to $1.045 billion. But does …
Read More »Nvidia to release GeForce GTX 950 in mid-August
Nvidia Corp. plans to release its next-generation affordable graphics adapter in mid-August, according to a media report. The solution will be powered by the GM206 graphics processing unit featuring second-generation “Maxwell” architecture and its performance will be around 25 per cent lower compared to that of the GeForce GTX 960. …
Read More »Allwinner could merge with Rockchip to create another major Chinese chip designer
Allwinner Technology, the company primarily known for its ultra-cheap application processors for entry-level smartphones and tablets, may become a major chip design house in China, if it acquires Rockchip Electronics using money provided by the Chinese government. Last year the government of China announced intention to invest about a trillion …
Read More »Intel: ‘Skylake’ to have 10–20% higher performance than ‘Broadwell’
It is not a secret that Intel Corp.’s upcoming “Skylake” processors will have a number of micro-architecture-related advantages over predecessors. Various leaks point to different kind of performance gains, but Intel itself, apparently, expects its new central processing units to be 10 – 20% faster than “Broadwell” products depending on …
Read More »Samsung adds 10nm FinFET tech to roadmap, mass production in 2016
Samsung Foundry this week said that it had officially added its 10nm FinFET fabrication technology into its foundry roadmap. The company also clarified that it will start mass production of chips using its third-generation manufacturing process with FinFET transistors in late 2016, which means that the first 16nm commercial chips …
Read More »Nvidia reportedly slashes price of GeForce GTX 750 Ti
In a bid to prepare for the launch of its upcoming GeForce GTX 950-series products, Nvidia Corp. is reportedly slashing the price of its GeForce GTX 750 Ti products. The price-cuts are not really significant, but they should help the company and its partners to clear the road for the …
Read More »Notebook makers need to adjust inventory before releasing ‘Skylake’ laptops – report
It is not a secret that Intel Corp. plans to formally introduce its code-named “Skylake” processors for mobile computers in late September or early October, 2015. Apparently, notebook makers are ready to mass produce new generation of laptops based on the next-gen central processing units, according to a media report. …
Read More »Apple now dominates market of smartwatches with 75% share
Thanks to release of Apple Watch in the second calendar quarter of 2015, the market of smartwatch devices more than quadrupled in the period. Apple’s Watch was so successful that it not only outsold all of its rivals, but it outsold all of its competitors combined. At present Apple controls …
Read More »ARM develops ‘Kite’ processor core for embedded real-time applications
ARM Holdings, the company whose microprocessor IP powers the vast majority of smartphones, consumer electronics products, printers, cameras, hard drives and a lot of other applications, this week announced development of its first ARMv8-R processor core for real-time embedded apps. The new core will belong to the ARM Cortex-R family …
Read More »Qualcomm to cut jobs and costs, mulls to split itself
Qualcomm, the world’s largest supplier of application processors for smartphones and other portable electronics, on Wednesday announced a strategic realignment plan, under which the company plans to cut-down its costs, reduce headcount and consider spinning off its technology licensing business. Qualcomm plans to implement a cost reduction action to reduce …
Read More »AMD begins to ship Radeon R9 Nano to partners, images hit the web
A web-site has published the first images of AMD’s third graphics card based on the code-named “Fiji” graphics processing unit – the AMD Radeon R9 Nano. The publication of the picture indicates that AMD had already finalized specifications of the product and recently started to ship it to select partners. …
Read More »Microsoft Xbox One set to get mouse and keyboard support
It is not a secret that Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox One game console will get its own version of Windows 10 operating system, but it is not completely clear what that OS will support and what it will not. Apparently, according to the head of Microsoft’s Xbox division, the upcoming OS …
Read More »Nokia preps its own virtual reality device, plans to debut it next week
Nokia Corp. has developed thousands of various technologies useful for portable consumer electronics gadgets, but at present it cannot use them to build its own mobile devices due to agreement with Microsoft. However, the company, which used to be the world’s largest maker of mobile phones, plans to introduce its …
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