Tachyum today announced that new EDA tools, utilized during the physical design phase of the Prodigy Universal Processor, have allowed the company to achieve significantly better results with chip specifications than previously anticipated, after the successful change in physical design tools - including an increase in the number of Prodigy cores to 192.

After RTL design coding, Tachyum began work on completing the physical design (the actual placement of transistors and wires) for Prodigy. After the Prodigy design team had to replace IPs, it also had to replace RTL simulation and physical design tools. Armed with a new set of EDA tools, Tachyum was able to optimize settings and options that increased the number of cores by 50 percent, and SERDES from 64 to 96 on each chip. Die size grew minimally, from 500mm2 to 600mm2 to accommodate improved physical capabilities. While Tachyum could add more of its very efficient cores and still fit into the 858mm2 reticle limit, these cores would be memory bandwidth limited, even with 16 DDR5 controllers running in excess of 7200MT/s. Tachyum cores have much higher performance than any other processor cores.

After the EU lawmakers agreed on making USB Type-C the charging interface standard for the union, it appears US senators are considering something similar. Although it's early days at this point, with just a letter penned by a few democratic senators to the Secretary of Commerce, the route to implementation is likely to be a lot longer. The reasoning is very similar to the one from the EU lawmakers, namely to reduce e-waste and make life easier for consumers. The letter states that "the average consumer owns approximately three mobile phone chargers, and around 40 percent of consumers report that, on at least one occasion, they "could not charge their mobile phone because available chargers were incompatible.""

It goes on to say that innovation should benefit consumers rather than come at their expense, especially as consumers end up with a collection of incompatible chargers and connectivity cables. In reality things are a bit more complex, as so often is the case, but there's really no reason why more standardised chargers can't finally become the norm, with the computer and mobile industries largely pushing for USB Type-C as the common connector, with some exceptions. The extra incentive by regulation should help speed things up, but the USB standard isn't as straightforward as the politicians seem to think, which could cause some consumer complaints during the transition period. However, certified USB PD compliant devices should make everyone's life simpler in the long term. Time will tell if the Secretary of Commerce agrees with the senators and there's obviously no guarantee that USB Type-C will be the chosen standard, regardless of how likely it is.

OWC, a leading customer-focused creator of innovative solutions for over 30 years that have enabled individuals, businesses, content professionals, and educators to get maximum usefulness from their technology investment, today introduced the OWC Envoy Pro mini. The OWC Envoy Pro mini is a pocket-sized SSD with full-sized SSD performance and capacity for audio, photography, graphics, gaming, and general data storage/backup uses. Now, everyday users, students, mobile professionals, IT techs, and content creators can take, access, save, and share their data anywhere. The OWC Envoy Pro mini works with USB and Thunderbolt (USB-C) Macs, PCs, iPads, Chromebooks, Android tablets, and Surface devices made over the last 15 years. Available in 250 GB, 500 GB, and 1 TB capacities and can access and transfer data with everything at up to 946 MB/s real-world speed with Plug and Play ease.

Using the Envoy Pro mini in a mixed Mac and Windows environment is remarkably easy with the addition of OWC's MacDrive (sold separately). This seamless software runs in the background, so there is nothing to launch or learn. Just plug in the Envoy Pro mini, and not only do you have instant-read access, but full write access. MacDrive also includes powerful features that enable you to format and partition drives and repair fundamental disk issues.

Tachyum today announced it has completed validation of its Prodigy Universal Processor and software ecosystem with the operating system FreeBSD, and completed the Prodigy instruction set architecture (ISA) for FreeBSD porting. FreeBSD powers modern servers, desktops, and embedded platforms in environments that value performance, stability, and security. It is the platform of choice for many of the busiest websites and the most pervasive embedded networking and storage devices.

The validation of FreeBSD extends Tachyum's support for open-source operating systems and tools, including Linux, Yocto Project, PHP, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Apache, QEMU, Git, RabbitMQ, and more.

Intel, along with Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. (ASE), AMD, Arm, Google Cloud, Meta, Microsoft Corp., Qualcomm Inc., Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., have announced the establishment of an industry consortium to promote an open die-to-die interconnect standard called Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express (UCIe). Building on its work on the open Advanced Interface Bus (AIB), Intel developed the UCIe standard and donated it to the group of founding members as an open specification that defines the interconnect between chiplets within a package, enabling an open chiplet ecosystem and ubiquitous interconnect at the package level.

"Integrating multiple chiplets in a package to deliver product innovation across market segments is the future of the semiconductor industry and a pillar of Intel's IDM 2.0 strategy," said Sandra Rivera, executive vice president and general manager of the Datacenter and Artificial Intelligence Group at Intel. "Critical to this future is an open chiplet ecosystem with key industry partners working together under the UCIe Consortium toward a common goal of transforming the way the industry delivers new products and continues to deliver on the promise of Moore's Law."

Tachyum Inc. today announced that it has successfully executed the Linux boot process on the field-programmable gate array (FPGA) prototype of its Prodigy Universal Processor, in 2 months after taking delivery of the IO motherboard from manufacturing. This achievement proves the stability of the Prodigy emulation system and allows the company to move forward with additional testing before advancing to tape out.

Tachyum engineers were able to perform the Linux boot, execute a short user-mode program and shutdown the system on the fully functional FPGA emulation system. Not only does this successful test prove that the basic processor is stable, but interrupts, exceptions, timing, and system-mode transitions are, as well. This is a key milestone, which dramatically reduces risk, as booting and running large and complex pieces of software like Linux reliably on the Tachyum FPGA processor prototype shows that verification and hardware stability are past the most difficult turning point, and it is now obvious that verification and testing should successfully complete in the coming months. Designers are now shifting their attention to debug and verification processes, running hundreds of trillions of test cycles over the next few months, and running large scale user mode applications with compatibility testing to get the processor to production quality.

Today owning digital copies of games is a real struggle. There are are many platforms that offer games to be purchased, and some games are platform-specific. Take a look at Fortnite for example. It is only available on the Epic Games platform and launcher, so you have to download and sign-up to that if you wish to play the game. The PC platform is currently struggling with that problem as there is no unified store where you can purchase all of your digital copies of games. That is the main reason why Good Old Games, called GOG shortly, has decided to invite Epic Games and make a universal launcher for all storefronts.

The GOG Galaxy 2.0 is a new storefront that aims to give gamers the ability to "Install and launch any PC game you own, no matter the platform." With Epic Games joining the platform, it is a matter of time before others join. Some are still resistant, however. Steam and Origin are still not okay with that idea and they are keeping it to themselves. It is interesting to see the development of this, and in the meantime, you can check out GOG Galaxy 2.0 here.

JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, the global leader in the development of standards for the microelectronics industry, today announced the publication of Universal Flash Storage (UFS) version 3.1, JESD220E. In addition, an optional new companion standard, JESD220-3: UFS Host Performance Booster (HPB) Extension, has also been published. Developed for mobile applications and computing systems requiring high performance with low power consumption, UFS 3.1 introduces new features intended to help maximize device performance while minimizing power usage. Both JESD220E and JESD220-3 are available for download from the JEDEC website.

ENERMAX, a leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance PC hardware products, announces the launch of a new all-in-one liquid cooler series, LIQTECH II. Responding the market demand of cooling solution for high-end CPUs, LIQTECH II can deliver enthusiast-grade cooling capacity of 500+ watts (TDP) and is compatible with both Intel and AMD sockets (except AMD sTR4).

Furthermore, certified by main motherboard makers (ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte, and MSI), LIQTECH II can support the latest addressable RGB lighting synchronization with advanced motherboards featuring addressable RGB headers (pin assignment: 5V/D/-/G) to create dynamic visual effects. LIQTECH II is perfect for overclocked systems, image editing workstations, and high-end gaming machines.

Well, that didn't take long. Microsoft's Windows 10 S push as a "lite, free" version of its Windows 10 OS that would be available for education environments free of charge has been thoroughly abandoned as a standalone product. instead, Microsoft is now looking to integrate it into existing Windows 10 versions (Home and Pro) as a sort of sleeping, to-be-activated "S Mode" which has access to updates, but only has the same features as Windows 10 S currently does - the most important, limiting of which is that the OS only runs UWP (Universal windows Platform) apps. Thus, this mode will basically limit the Operating System to a version which, according to Microsoft, enables better security and a more friendly environment for the typical usage scenarios of such lite operating systems.

Naturally, Microsoft will still offer users the chance to upgrade to full Windows versions within S Mode - at a price. Moving from Windows 10 Home S to regular Windows Home will be free, but Pro S users who want to switch to the full version of Windows 10 Pro will have to pay $49. There will be Pro S commercial versions for Value, Entry, and Small Tablet models, but not Core+ and Workstations. There has been no official word from Microsoft on these software changes, though these will likely take place on the next partner pricing change announcement hailing form the Redmond company.

Windows store and its Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps have received a lukewarm response from users (to put it mildly). That said, Microsoft has been taking strides so as to lend credibility to its app store and increase awareness towards its apps, looking to garner the public's - and therefore, the developers' - attention. However, it's obvious that there is still a long way to go.

Now, Windows is looking to introduce Playable Ads on the Windows store. These aren't quite like what they sound - they aren't "playable" in the gaming sense of the word. What this is, is a renewed way for Windows users to try out the ads that Microsoft relentlessly pushes on its Windows Store, by allowing users to test apps through the Windows Store interface without having to go through the hassle of downloading them, testing them, being left wanting, and uninstalling them. With Playable Ads, users will be able to try out apps in the Windows Store interface, bypassing the need for downloads.

In a story headline that is sure to ruffle some reader's feathers, Microsoft has done exactly that: Added the ability to block installation of any app using the oldest remaining major API in Windows: Win32.

But hold on to your nerd-battlewagons, brave tech warrior. Microsoft is not enabling this feature by default. It is currently only in an experimental build, and per MS, it will not be on by default in any mainline build ever produced. It's simply there for "added security."

And yet, is this not a sort of admission of Win32's supposed inferiority from Microsoft? The fact that you can block this and not block the Windows Universal apps is in a way saying "here, these are safe. No, win32 is not."

Oh, and yes, if there is any question, this is an editorial in the fullest sense of the word. Enjoy.

CRYORIG announces the H5 Ultimate. Based on the acclaimed H5 Universal, CRYORIG has extended the successful Hive Fin base H series line with the CRYORIG H5 Ultimate. The H5 Ultimate features the same award winning features as the original H5 Universal, but with a larger XF140 140mm fan and new jet black heatsink covers. The larger XF140 increases the H5 Ultimate's TDP from 160 to 180watt, putting the proprietary Hive Fin system to work. Together with the acclaimed MultiSeg mounting system, the H5 Ultimate will be the strongest single tower solution CRYORIG has up to date.

"The CRYORIG H5 Ultimate is the natural evolution of the H5 Universal. It follows our strategy of offering two different styles of products for our models. The Universal line focuses on the best compatibility on the market, and the Ultimate line which is about pure performance. The PC DIY Modding and Overclocking crowd is a smart bunch of people who know what they need and want. We at CRYORIG believe that giving extra options and choices ultimately allows for users to find and chose what they need, instead of having the brands choose for them. Choice of customization is key," said Alex W. Co-Founder of CRYORIG.

Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. announced today the TRITTON Kunai Universal Headset. The new console stereo headset is expected to ship Summer 2013. The TRITTON Kunai Universal is compatible with most popular consoles, Windows PC, and Mac, as well as smart phones and smart devices. The TRITTON Kunai Universal features striking aesthetics, 40mm Neodymium speakers, and an in-line remote offering easy access to volume and chat controls.

Darren Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz Interactive, said, "The TRITTON Kunai range has proven popular thanks to its balance of performance, value and aesthetics and today's announcement will allow us to reach passionate gamers on virtually any platform."

Giada Technology, a world famous manufacturer of compact desktop PCs, has announced the launch of compact barebones-system: The D300. The D300 family is based on the 3rd generation of Intel Core processors. The D300 systems are designed for builders of home assembly or all-purpose, unique compact PCs and multimedia systems with a wide range of applications. In addition, support for the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) which provides extensive security with high levels of data encryption, allows the use of D300-based systems in various applications in IT departments of large enterprises.

The D300 system is also ideal for industrial control applications, smart traffic control systems, security and surveillance systems, commercial terminals and other similar applications which require small size, wide choice of interfaces, simplicity and reliability of use.

JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, the global leader in the development of standards for the microelectronics industry, today announced the publication of key updates to its Universal Flash Storage (UFS) standard. Specifically tailored for mobile applications and computing systems requiring high performance and low power consumption, the new UFS v1.1 standard is an update to the v1.0 standard published in 2011, incorporating feedback from industry UFS technology implementers. JESD220A Universal Flash Storage v1.1 contains important amendments and references to the latest related MIPI Alliance specifications, and may be downloaded free of charge from the JEDEC website here.

JEDEC has also published a complementary standard, JESD223A UFS Host Controller Interface (HCI) v1.1. JESD223A defines a standard host controller interface on which system designers can create a common host controller software driver layer to work with UFS host controller hardware from different manufacturers. The HCI functionality also enables higher performance and power efficiency by minimizing the involvement of the host processor in the operation of the Flash storage subsystem. JESD223A Universal Flash Storage Host Controller Interface v1.1 may also be downloaded free of charge here.

Western Digital, the world's leader in external storage solutions and maker of the popular WD TV media player family, today unveils its first line of wireless home networking products, designed specifically to accelerate movies, video and gaming, delivering a premium high-definition entertainment experience. With the My Net family of powerful and easy-to-use home networking products, WD debuts its exclusive FasTrack technology that instantly detects entertainment traffic on the network and fast-forwards it to gaming consoles, media players, smart TVs, tablets, smartphones, computers and other Wi-Fi connected devices.

Thermaltake, the leader and pioneer in PC thermal solutions, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components to the PC gaming hardware market, with "delivering the perfect user experiences" as our mission and carrying the corporate vision of "building Thermaltake Technology into a cultural brand for the enjoyment of entertainment, e-Sports, technology and lifestyle." This October, featuring the Thermaltake Frio Advanced CPU cooler - a CPU cooler that incorporated some of the most up-to-date CPU cooler technologies and persevered the greatnesses from its predecessors of Frio and Frio OCK which not only creating a new phenomenon for overclockers but also set another signature for the Frio Series.

The Spire all new Kepler universal micro-processor cooler series are direct contact heat-pipe solutions for Core i3/i5 and i7 from Intel and the AMD AM2/3/FM1 micro-processors. There are three (3) different models ranging from two up to four 6mm sinter powder heat-pipes which are in direct contact with the cpu heat-source, dissipating heat effectively and fast.

The high density fins are crowned with a powerful fan for high airflow and great cooling performance. The 92mm dc fan provides ample airflow and silent cooling at 19.0dBA. Compatibility is ensured with the multi-platform mounting clip for Intel 775/1155/1156 sockets and AM2/AM3/FM1 micro-processors. The Kepler series from Spire are build to deliver great cooling for maximum system performance.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. announced today that it began mass production of a 22-inch transparent LCD panel in March this year. The panels come in two types, the black-and-white type and the color type, and they have a contrast ratio of 500:1 with WSXGA+ (1680x1050) resolution.

Compared with the conventional LCD panels that use back light unit (BLU) and have 5% transparency, Samsung's transparent LCD panel boasts the world's best transparency rate of over 20% for the black-and-white type and over 15% for the color type. The transparent LCD panel has a high transparency rate, which enables a person to look right through the panel like glass, and it consumes 90% less electricity compared with a conventional LCD panel using back light unit. It's because a transparent LCD panel utilizes ambient light such as sun light, which consequently reduces the dependency on electricity for generating power.

The Japanese cooler manufacturer Scythe presents a new graphics card cooler called Setsugen 2. The successor of the popular and award-winning Setsugen 1, improving the well-known basic design and is highly compatible with current graphics cards. Four copper-heatpipes distribute heat generated by the graphics card over the entire surface of the cooler. The direct heat dissipation is achieved by a fanned arrangment of the heatpipes. Thanks to this well-balanced heat distribution, the air flow of the built-in 120 mm Slip Stream Slim fan is used with maximum efficiency despite the small dimensions of the heat sink. Low height of only 33 mm allows easy trouble-free SLI / Crossfire mode.

For the active cooling a Slip Stream 120 mm Slim fan with only 12 mm height is used, which allows a speed control range of 800 (± 20%) to 2,000 rpm (± 10%). Thus an air flow of 19.40 to 45.47 CFM / 32-76 m³/hr is generated. Fan speed is controlled by a rotary potentiometer which is easily accessible via a PCI slot bracket on the back of the PC. This allows the user to find the ideal compromise between performance and noise level (from 19.53 to 33.67 dBA) for his system.

Sharkoon has optimized their Dolby-certified 5.1 headset "X-Tatic Digital" and in the process simplified its particular operation. Instead of previously utilizing two power supply units, the X-Tatic Digital requires only one power supply to provide power to the headset and the Sound Control Unit. The compact power supply is also accompanied with a travel adapter for use in the U.S. and UK. Owners of the X-Tatic Digital Revision III, which was shipped with two power supplies, can purchase the newly designed power supply separately and refrain from having to use two bulky power adapters in the future. In addition, Sharkoon has also simplified the headset connection to the X-box controller and no longer comes in its former heat-sealed Blister, but rather in a quick and easy to open re-sealable package.

Whether a PC, Mac, Home-theater System, DVD player, X-box, or Playstation: The Sharkoon X-Tatic Digital can be connected to virtually all analog and digital audio sources. The headset cable ends in a nine-pin analog connector, which is then connected into the enclosed cable adapter to the Sound Control Unit and other digital audio devices. In addition to the optical digital input, the control unit has a USB port that connects to a PC or Playstation. The X-box is connected to the microphone via a 2.5mm headset jack located on the cable port.

Akasa is readying a new graphics card cooler for the consumer segment, this time touting support for almost all current single-GPU graphics cards. The Akasa Freedom Force was first pictured at the CeBIT event. It measures 190(L) x 107.5(W) x 55(H), and weighs in at 440 g. Its design consists of a GPU contact block that doubles up as a heatsink, from which four aluminum heatpipes convey heat to two aluminum fin blocks on either side of the GPU block. Each block is subject to air-flow by its own white LED-lit fan that spins at 2200 rpm. The GPU block has mount holes for 43.2 mm, 53.2 mm, and 61.5 mm cooler mounts. Also bundled are nine memory chip heatsinks. The cooler supports one of the broadest range of GPUs, including NVIDIA GeForce GTX 200 (GTX 260, 275, 280, 285), ATI Radeon HD 4000/3000/2000, GeForce 9/8/7 series, etc. A word of caution however, would be that the cooler doesn't pack VRM heatsinks, or heatsinks for NVIO display processors featured on G200(b) and G80 based graphics cards. It will reach retail in about a month's time, and is expected to be priced at 30 EUR (US $40.5).

Spire introduces PacificBreeze II universal notebook cooler. The universally compatible PacificBreeze II is designed for multiple application and comfort. The top aluminum surface works like a heat sink and enables fast heat dissipation, it also provides a sophisticated look. The gentle slope improves typing comfort, raises the laptop screen and reduces neck strain. The PacificBreeze accommodates laptop performance, comfort and is affordable. Trust the brand with the industry experience and 3-year warranty, Spire - Powered by Innovation.

Spire Cooling is thrilled to inform you about their soon to market new TherMax cooling solutions. The SP676S1 TherMax and SP679S1 TherMax II cpu coolers are ready to cool all processors built on the new Intel 1366 Core i7 platform in combination with the Intel LGA775 and AMD AM2 platforms giving the consumers huge scope to use these coolers. Another welcome feature to build a completely silent system are the Anti-vibe rubber fan corners, these will absorb any vibration from the fan motor. The two models look similar but the specs in sizes of the fan and the materials used say it all: