The Pentagon has recently confirmed that they have canceled the JEDI cloud-computing contract with Microsoft which could have been worth $10 billion. The JEDI contract was awarded to Microsoft in October of 2019 which prompted a slew of legal challenges from Amazon who were widely expected to win the contract claiming the decision was tainted by politics. The Pentagon is now planning to pursue a new Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability contract with Amazon and Microsoft with the potential for other large cloud providers such as Google, IBM, and Oracle to join. The new program appears to be an attempt to placate both companies and will last 5 years with an expected cost in the billions.

PentagonWith the shifting technology environment, it has become clear that the JEDI Cloud contract, which has long been delayed, no longer meets the requirements to fill the DoD's capability gaps.

Samsung has been one of the world's biggest foundries and one of three big players still left in the leading-edge semiconductor process development and manufacturing. However, the Korean giant is always seeking ways to improve its offerings, especially for Western customers. Today, it is reported that Samsung has reportedly talked with regulators in Texas, New York, and Arizona about building a $17 billion silicon manufacturing facility in the United States. The supposed factory is going to be located near Austin, Texas, and is supposed to offer around 1800 jobs. If the deal is approved and Samsung manages to complete the project on time, the factory is supposed to start mass production in Q4 of 2023.

What process is Samsung going to manufacture in the new fab? Well, current speculations are pointing out to the 3 nm node, with Samsung's special GAAFET (Gate All Around FET) technology tied to the new node. The fab is also expected to make use of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography for manufacturing. Samsung already has a facility in the US called S2, however, that will not be upgraded as it is still serving a lot of clients. Instead, the company will build new facilities to accommodate the demand for newer nodes. It is important to note that Samsung will not do any R&D work in the new fab, and the company will only manufacture the silicon there.

OWC; a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company and one of the world's most respected providers of Memory, External Drives, SSDs, Mac & PC docking solutions and performance upgrade kits reveals the new OWC Rover Pro - a toolless, patent-pending made in the USA design that allows users to add wheels to the 2019 Mac Pro in under two minutes. Factory-finish, matching stainless-steel housings feature 360-degree articulating wheels with non-marring soft rubber tread install and include stops to keep your Mac Pro in place and offer the freedom of mobility when needed.

The OWC Rover Pro is the innovative mobility solution for the 2019 Mac Pro. The patent-pending design enables your Mac Pro to go "wheels on/wheels off" in under two minutes while saving time and money vs the factory wheel kit. No tools, no hassle, no worry: simply place your Mac Pro's factory feet into the Rover Pro's polished stainless-steel housings and secure with a few hand twists. When you're done moving your Mac Pro around, the Rover Pro allows quick and easy conversion back to the factory feet for stationary use.

MSI is reportedly setting up a build-to-order desktop PC production line in the U.S. With an online storefront taking orders, this unit will assemble gaming desktops from MSI components imported from Taiwan and China. The decision to set up a pre-built unit in the US may have been influenced by U.S. import tariff regimes that favor importing components. MSI will label the finished products "MIA" (short for "Made in America,") a marketing name that isn't strictly intended to convey the "Made in the USA" tagline used by American manufacturers.

The first MIA gaming desktops will be four variants of Aegis, which combines 10th Gen Intel Core processors with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 20-series GPUs. Options include the Core i9-10900K, i7-10700, and i5-10400F; along with GPU options spanning from RTX 2080 Super thru GTX 1660 Super, with prices ranging between USD $799 through $1,699. MSI's component portfolio spans motherboards, graphics cards, coolers, cases, coolers, and gaming peripherals.

With its IMFlash Technology joint-venture with Micron coming to an end, Intel is finding itself with manufacturing challenges for its memory businesses. The company holds IP to both 3D NAND flash and its own invention 3D XPoint memory, which it believes will succeed NAND flash in performance and endurance. The company is now mulling to move manufacturing of 3D XPoint to a foundry in China. Intel currently manufactures this exotic new memory at an IMFlash Technology facility in Utah. Intel's $1.3 billion stake-sale to Micron pushes it out of this facility.

Under the terms of the stake-sale, Micron allows Intel to continue to manufacture 3D XPoint at IMFlash for a year, after which it must manufacture it elsewhere. The transfer of stake is scheduled for October 31st, which means Intel's manufacturing in Utah will continue till October 2020. In the meantime, Intel is planning to move manufacturing to its Fab 68, located in Dalian, China. Intel is now manufacturing 1st and 2nd generation 3D Xpoint, while its 3rd generation is under development, and was earlier slated for initial manufacturing at Intel's Fab 11X in New Mexico, USA. It's not known if Intel has changed these plans. 3rd generation 3D XPoint hits mass-production in 2021.

This is still a developing story, however it has matured enough to where we feel confident about discussing it. It kicked off last week when the proprietor of Mayhem Solutions Ltd, better known simply as Mayhems, shared information regarding Thermaltake introducing their own Pastel-branded coolants to be used in the PC DIY water cooling sector. Mayhems has had a trademark registered for this in the UK since 2015, and let Thermaltake know via email to try to reach an amenable solution. Indeed, EKWB and Alphacool had both used the Pastel trademark with Mayhems' permission in the past, some of which also came via using the Mayhems Pastel base under their respective brand names. After word from Thermaltake's legal team, first trying to defend the use of Pastel as a generic term, and then saying that they would work on a compromise, Mayhems told us they have not heard back from the company in over a week since the last correspondence, and are forced to take legal action to prevent Thermaltake P1000 pastel coolants to be sold in the UK.

We wanted to have due diligence in our reporting, and contacted Thermaltake ourselves for a statement. After receiving word that they will send us one, we too have not heard back from the company since. We respect Thermaltake's decision, and are always willing to update this post if they do send us one, but in the meantime we went further. Indeed, a careful look at the trademark (screenshots seen below) confirms Mayhem's legal stance on this matter. However, it is not easy to enforce a trademark in the court. It would be all the more harder to do so when there can be an argument made about the use of the term pastel, which no doubt Thermaltake would argue is not necessarily tied to the coolant, but more as the general term to showcase the various colors and the opaque-nature of said coolants. More on this story past the break, including quotes from retailers we spoke to.

URCDKeys is a new online store for heavily discounted non-gaming software licenses, based in California, USA. The site is debuting its non-gaming software section with two massively discounted products that will help PC enthusiasts significantly cut costs of new PC builds. Windows 10 Pro is a more preferred variant of Windows 10 among enthusiasts, as it features significantly more management features over the Home variant. URCDKeys is selling globally-valid OEM licenses of Windows 10 Pro (license that is non-transferrable between systems), at USD $14.79, a massive 90% discount from market prices.

In today's world, data breaches, phishing attacks, malware, and exploits are a daily occurrence. We are all familiar with the typical phishing emails that grace our inbox day in day out. You might even get a phone call from a fake Microsoft tech support employee, who attempts to gain access to your system. However, in our always-online world, it is a bit surprising to hear about hackers that would decide to use snail mail. In what will likely elicit a few giggles, U.S. state and local government agencies, along with the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) have issued an alert, in what I can only describe as an attack from the stone age; malware infested CDs.

TechPowerUp and Be Quiet! brought you a chance to pick up either a Dark Base 700 case, or Straight Power 11 750W PSU, or both. Our Giveaway has ended, and we've picked three lucky winners from hundreds of entries. Dark Base 700 is among the quietest mid-towers in the market, and our review has shown that its acoustic dampening can significantly quieten the many noisy components your high-end build may have. The Straight Power 11 750W is its perfect match, with a design focus on low noise, without compromising on safe and clean power for your build. Without further ado, the winners:

• Srdjan from Madison, USA - wins both a Be Quiet! Dark Base 700 case and a Straight Power 11 750W PSU
• Mylous from Las Vegas, USA - wins a Be Quiet! Dark Base 700 case
• Christopher from Highland, USA - wins a Be Quiet! Straight Power 11 750W PSU

A huge congrats to you three! TechPowerUp and Be Quiet! will return with more such interesting giveaways.

In a bid to increase interest and feed the Radeon rebels with hope for their latest high-performance GPU architecture, AMD is beginning a celebration of sorts, a road trip that will span two continents. Now this community tour won't be a non-stop travel and showcase - it's really only going to stop in two places. Still, AMD will be giving those lucky enough to be in attendance a chance to visit their Radeon RX Vega Experience area, where you'll be able to game on the upcoming graphics card and take in the experience, trade-show-style.

The first stop is in the old continent: the Radeon Experience will be setting up shop in the Akvárium Klub in Budapest, Hungary, from 2 to 7 CET. Then, the Radeon team will travel across the pond towards the USA, more specifically, towards PDXLAN in Portland, from July 21st to July 23rd. Finally, the last stop is one we knew about already: SIGGRAPH in the City of Angels. As we knew, they confirm that "Details on the Radeon RX Vega are coming during SIGGRAPH 2017, so you'll want to pay attention to what's happening during this technology summit taking place in the last week of July." So now you know. Are you going to go out of your way to attend?