Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. today announced its Wi-Fi 7 capable Qualcomm Networking Pro Series Gen 3 family of platforms. Now sampling and available to global development partners, the Qualcomm Networking Pro Series, Gen3 is the world's highest performance Wi-Fi 7 network infrastructure platform portfolio commercially available. Building upon the multi-generation legacy of the Qualcomm Networking Pro Series platforms, the products combine Wi-Fi 7 features with Qualcomm Technologies' intelligent multi-channel management technologies to improve speeds, lower latency, and enhance network utilization for users of Wi-Fi 6/6E devices while offering game-changing throughput and incredibly low latency for the next generation of Wi-Fi 7 client devices.

"Qualcomm Technologies has enabled the era of 10 Gbps Wi-Fi with our first customer deliveries of the Wi-Fi 7 Networking Pro Series," said Nick Kucharewski, senior vice president and general manager, Wireless Infrastructure and Networking, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "Combining support for the latest Wi-Fi 7 innovations with our unique product architecture, the platform enables solutions ranging from whole-home mesh to connectivity networks for large public venues. With this product line, we anticipate a new class of customer systems for both today's applications and the emerging Wi-Fi 7 ecosystem."

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., today announced the world's most advanced Wi-Fi + Bluetooth connectivity system in the industry: FastConnect 7800. This advanced client connectivity solution marries the power of high-speed, ultra-low latency Wi-Fi with the latest Wi-Fi 7 specification and deploys an array of Bluetooth audio advancements that raise the bar on consumer expectations for sound quality. FastConnect 7800 leads the industry with the introduction of High Band Simultaneous (HBS) Multi-Link technology - the premium capability for Wi-Fi 7 networks that unlocks the vast potential of multiple 5 GHz and 6 GHz connections to deliver the highest throughput and lowest sustained latency, while reserving high-traffic 2.4 GHz spectrum for Bluetooth and lower-bandwidth Wi-Fi.

"With FastConnect 7800, Qualcomm Technologies reasserts its leadership by defining the future of wireless connectivity. Introducing the first Wi-Fi 7 solution to the industry might be enough for some, but with the introduction of HBS Multi-Link we take performance to the next level, shattering expectations for speed and latency," said Dino Bekis, vice president and general manager, Mobile Compute and Connectivity, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "Coupled with up to 50% lower power consumption and Intelligent Dual Bluetooth with advanced Snapdragon Sound capabilities, FastConnect 7800 is simply the best client connectivity offering in the industry."

When it comes to routers, Synology might not be the first brand that springs to mind, but the company has produced some interesting routers, especially when you take into account its custom OS, the Synology Router Manager, or SRM for short. The company has teased a new addition to its small family of routers, which should launch at some point in the first quarter of next year, that brings with it a few interesting features.

The RT6600ax as it's called, will be one of the first routers to support the UNII-4 WiFi band, also known as the 5.9 GHz band. This is an extension of the 802.11ax/WiFi 6 band and it's not related to WiFi 6E which uses the 6 GHz band. UNII-4 only adds a total of four 20 MHz WiFi channels, but the key here is that it allows for a third 160 MHz wide channel, something that could be handy in congested locations. For now, UNII-4 is only going to be usable in the US, although more countries are likely to be considering opening up the extra frequencies for WiFi usage. That said, it's unlikely that Europe and Japan will allow it, since neither region supports the UNII-3 frequency band.

A few years ago, MediaTek decided to leave the high-end mobile device SoC space as it decided to focus on the mid-range and entry level market, but as of today, that is no longer the case. The company has announced its new flagship Dimensity 9000 SoC and it packs all the latest cutting edge mobile SoC features you'd expect to see.

The Dimensity 9000 is based entirely on the new Arm v9 architecture and the chip itself is built in TSMC's 4 nm node, which gives MediaTek a lead on all its competitors, but Apple. As for the Arm cores in question, the main core is a Cortex-X2 at 3.05 GHz, which is accompanied by three Cortex-A710 cores at 2.85 GHz and four power efficient Cortex-A510 cores at 1.8 GHz. All of these new Arm cores were only announced at the end of May this year, so MediaTek has clearly been burning the midnight oil to get the Dimensity 9000 out before its competitors' new chips based on the Arm v9 architecture.

MediaTek today unveiled its new Filogic connectivity family with the introduction of the Filogic 830 Wi-Fi 6/6E system-on-chip (SoC) and Filogic 630 Wi-Fi 6E network interface card (NIC) solutions. MediaTek's new Filogic series of high-performance Wi-Fi 6/6E chipsets provide reliable connectivity, high computation capabilities and a rich set of features in highly integrated, power-efficient designs.

"The MediaTek Filogic series ushers in a new era of smart Wi-Fi solutions with extreme speeds, low latency and superb power efficiency for seamless, always connected experiences," said Alan Hsu, Corporate Vice President & General Manager, Intelligent Connectivity at MediaTek. "These new chipsets provide best-in-class features with highly integrated designs for the next generation of premium broadband, enterprise and retail Wi-Fi solutions."

HyperX, the gaming peripherals team at HP Inc. and brand leader in gaming and esports, today announced the availability of its latest gaming headset officially licensed by Xbox - the CloudX Stinger Core wireless gaming headset. Powered by 40 mm drivers, the CloudX Stinger Core wireless is designed to deliver immersive Windows Sonic spatial sound optimized for gaming on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.

CloudX Stinger Core wireless version features a direct Xbox Wireless connection for high-quality wireless audio with just one button. CloudX Stinger Core utilizes 40 mm drivers to provide immersive audio with Windows Sonic, offering clear audio and enhanced bass to elevate gaming experiences. "We are thrilled to expand our licensed Xbox gear lineup with CloudX Stinger Core wireless gaming headset," said Andrew Ewing, senior manager console business, HyperX. "The CloudX Stinger Core wireless gives gamers and HyperX fans complete wireless freedom with the comfort and sound they expect from HyperX."

If you're a fan of the spider/octopus router design that we've seen from several companies since 802.11ax/Wi-Fi 6 was introduced, then the new TP-Link Archer GX90 might be for you. Jokes aside, this router takes a different approach to the usual tri-band routers, by dedicating the 4x4 5 GHz radio for gaming, while leaving the other 5 GHz radio for your family to share.

The Archer GX90 is sold as an AX6600 router and it appears to be based on the same hardware as TP-Link's Archer AX90, just in a more gamer focused package. TP-Link has incorporated what they call a Game Accelerator, Game Statistics and Game Protector, with the Game Accelerator being limited to less than 50 games at the moment, of which some appear to be specific to the Chinese market. The Game Statistics feature is actually a real time latency monitor, that also shows how long you've been playing a specific game for and the router load, whereas Game Protector appears to simply be some router based antivirus and parental control software.

At the annual Hot Chips conference, IBM (NYSE: IBM) today unveiled details of the upcoming new IBM Telum Processor, designed to bring deep learning inference to enterprise workloads to help address fraud in real-time. Telum is IBM's first processor that contains on-chip acceleration for AI inferencing while a transaction is taking place. Three years in development, the breakthrough of this new on-chip hardware acceleration is designed to help customers achieve business insights at scale across banking, finance, trading, insurance applications and customer interactions. A Telum-based system is planned for the first half of 2022.

Today, businesses typically apply detection techniques to catch fraud after it occurs, a process that can be time consuming and compute-intensive due to the limitations of today's technology, particularly when fraud analysis and detection is conducted far away from mission critical transactions and data. Due to latency requirements, complex fraud detection often cannot be completed in real-time - meaning a bad actor could have already successfully purchased goods with a stolen credit card before the retailer is aware fraud has taken place.

D-Link, has today unveiled the world's first Wi-Fi 6 USB adapter. The all-new AX1800 Wi-Fi 6 USB Adapter (DWA-X1850) is a high-speed, easy to install, highly portable upgrade for desktop and laptop computers to bolster wireless connectivity and security in the home or office. The DWA-X1850 is perfect for people looking to update to the latest Wi-Fi 6 technology and experience lag-free gaming, fast downloading of large files, and buffer-free video calls and 4K/8K video streaming.

Featuring the latest Wi-Fi 6 technology, the DWA-X1850 can connect with wireless speeds of up to 1,200 Mbps while helping to optimize overall network efficiency and performance. Fully equipped with MU-MIMO and OFDMA technology, the DWA-X1850 allows Wi-Fi 6 networks to reach their true potential - delivering a faster and more stable connection even when multiple devices are transmitting data simultaneously in a busy home or office environment. What's more, it supports the latest WPA3 authentication and encryption, ensuring more secure connections to wireless networks.

QNAP Systems, Inc. (QNAP), a leading computing, networking, and storage solution innovator, today released the QMiro-201W and the QMiroPlus-201W. Both routers provide a Home Cloud and Tri-band Mesh Wi-Fi SD-WAN solution to empower high-coverage Mesh Wi-Fi and storage applications. With QuWAN SD-WAN cloud deployment, Zero Trust security, and a home cloud solution, the QMiro Series enables simple and secure home Wi-Fi, cloud storage with remote networking applications.

"As QNAP's first Mesh Wi-Fi router series, the QMiro-201W and QMiroPlus-201W provide both stable Mesh Wi-Fi in homes and an SD-WAN VPN connection for remote workers", said Frank Liao, Product Manager of QNAP, adding "With the Home Cloud 2.0 solution, QMiroPlus-201W both greatly simplifies home private cloud deployment to offer a user-friendly experience for home users and also provides remote workers with efficient access between company, home and public clouds."

AMD is reportedly preparing to launch a B2 stepping of their Ryzen 5000 series of processors, codenamed Vermeer. Thanks to the findings of Patrick Schur, who was lucky to get ahold of AMD's processor codes, we have information that AMD is slowly preparing a B2 stepping of Vermeer processors, to come as a refresh. First off is the alleged Ryzen 9 5950XT 16 core, 32 threaded models which are supposed to feature a base speed of 3.4 GHz, and a boost frequency of 5.0 GHz, entering the 5 GHz world. Another B2 stepping that we know about is an alleged Ryzen 5 5600XT 6 core, 12 threaded design. This one features the same frequencies as its Ryzen 5 5600X variant, meaning 3.7 GHz base, and 4.6 GHz boost frequencies.

Of course, all this information should be taken with a big grain of salt, as we don't know what AMD is planning to do, or how the company plans to manifest any new product launch.

NETGEAR, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTGR), the worldwide leading provider of award-winning advanced networking products for home and office has today announced, during the historic virtually-hosted CES 2021, the introduction of the world's first all-purpose WiFi 6E router, the Nighthawk RAXE500 Tri-band WiFi router. Promised to elevate the WiFi experience by providing speeds up to 10.8Gbps, this latest addition to the Nighthawk line of performance routers ushers in a new era of fast connectivity on the new 6Ghz band, free of interference and congestion.

Working, learning, and video streaming from home has placed greater demands on home WiFi networks. Devices in these ultra-connected households have been in a constant contest for bandwidth on crowded WiFi networks. WiFi 6E resolves these congestion issues by adding previously unavailable 6GHz WiFi spectrum that can be used to broadcast WiFi signals and connect to more devices with faster speeds and reliability. Up until the introduction of WiFi 6E, WiFi routers have been limited to the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. The new third 6GHz band will dramatically increase the capacity of networks to support more devices.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley in 2010 have started an interesting project. They created a goal to develop a new RISC-like Instruction Set Architecture that is simple and efficient while being open-source and royalty-free. Born out of that research was RISC-V ISA, the fifth iteration of Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) ideology. Over the years, the RISC-V ISA has become more common, and today, many companies are using it to design their processors and release new designs every day. One of those companies is Micro Magic Inc., a provider of silicon design tools, IP, and design services. The company has developed a RISC-V processor that is rather interesting.

Apart from the RISC-V ISA, the processor has an interesting feature. It runs at the whopping 5 GHz frequency, a clock speed unseen on the RISC-V chips before, at the power consumption of a mere one (yes that is 1) Watt. The chip ran at just 1.1 Volts, which means that a very low current needs to be supplied to the chip so it can achieve the 5 GHz mark. If you are wondering about performance, well the numbers show that at 5 GHz, the CPU can produce a score of 13000 CoreMarks. However, that is not the company's highest-performance RISC-V core. In yesterday's PR, Micro Magic published that their top-end design can achieve 110000 CoreMarks/Watt, so we are waiting to hear more details about it.

Stepping into the Wi-Fi 6 era, QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading computing, networking and storage solution innovator, today released the QXP-W6-AX200 dual band Wi-Fi 6 PCIe network card for NAS and PC. The QXP-W6-AX200 supports the IEEE 802.11ax standard (backward compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n/ac), MIMO 2Tx2R, MU-MIMO TX/RX, and can be installed in a QNAP NAS, or Windows /Linux PC to provide fast Wi-Fi 6 connectivity. When installed in a Windows PC, the QXP-W6-AX200 also provides Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity.

The QXP-W6-AX200 is a PCIe Gen 2x1 Wi-Fi 6 adapter with an Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 module, providing speeds of up to 2400 Mbps - significantly faster than Wi-Fi 5. The new antenna design supports dual band 802.11ax 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, and the multiple angle tilt and magnetic base provides the best signal strength direction and location.

NETGEAR, Inc., the leading provider of networking products that power businesses both large and small, today announces the addition of WiFi 6 to the Orbi Pro portfolio. The Orbi Pro WiFi 6 (SXK80) Tri-band Mesh System is an industry leading tri-band WiFi 6 (802.11ax) multi-node mesh system designed to grow with small businesses and home offices as the need to expand their area of network coverage increases. It is comprised of a single router and a single satellite, and can expand to support up to 6 satellites (wireless nodes).

The Orbi Pro WiFi 6 Tri-band Mesh System provides the latest generation of WiFi technology to deliver increased capacity, advanced security and enhanced speed for employees, customers and guests of small businesses and small office environments. In an era where business is widely being conducted remotely while other members of the household are also dependent on connectivity, this new addition to the Orbi Pro family can also address the demand for separate and secure WiFi networks when working from home. Featuring the latest WiFi data security standard, WPA3, along with 4 SSIDs and VLAN support, the Orbi Pro WiFi 6 Mesh System provides a secure network while also isolating connections for separate activities, making it the ideal solution for today's work from home paradigm.

Intel is struggling with its node development and it looks like next-generation consumer systems are going to be stuck on 14 nm for a bit more. Preparing for that, Intel will finally break free from Skylake-based architectures and launch something new. The replacement for the current Comet Lake generation is set to be called Rocket Lake and today we have obtained some more information about it. Thanks to popular hardware leaker rogame (_rogame), we know a few stuff about Rocket Lake. Starting off, it is known that Rocket Lake features the backport of 10 nm Willow Cove core, called Cypress Cove. That Cypress Cove is supposed to bring only 10% IPC improvements, according to the latest rumors.

With 10% IPC improvement the company will at least offer some more competitive product than it currently does, however, that should be much slower than 10 nm Tiger Lake processors which feature the original Willow Cove design. It shows that backporting of the design doesn't just bring loses of the node benefits like smaller design and less heat, but rather means that only a fraction of the performance can be extracted. Another point that rogame made is that Rocket Lake will run up to 5 GHz in boost, and it will run hot, which is expected.

Intel is preparing to launch its next-generation Tiger Lake lineup of processors for the middle of 2020. The processors are based on the new "Willow Cove" CPU core, which supposedly brings even more IPC gains compared to previous "Golden Cove" CPU cores found in Ice Lake processors. The Tiger Lake lineup will use Intel's advanced 10 nm+ manufacturing process. This alone should bring some gains in frequency compared to the 10 nm Ice Lake processor generation, which was spotting a maximum of 4.1 GHz boost frequency on 28 W TDP model named Core i7-1068NG7. This processor is labeled as the highest-performing Ice Lake parts available today and the best 10 nm products available so far from Intel.

Thanks to the popular hardware leaker Rogame, we have evidence that the gains from 10 nm+ manufacturing process are real and that Tiger Lake will show us an amazing boost frequency of 5 GHz. In the benchmark, an unknown OEM laptop was spotted running the benchmark with a Tiger Lake CPU. This CPU is a 4 core, 8 threaded model with a base frequency of 2.3 GHz and a surprising boost frequency of 5 GHz. This information should, of course, be taken with a grain of salt until we get more information about the Tiger Lake lineup and their specifications.

ASUS today introduced the RT-AX86U, it's latest performance-segment dual-band Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) router. Armed with a triple-antenna setup (excluding a 4th discrete antenna on the PCB), the router offers dual-band speeds of up to 5700 Mbps (861 Mbps 2.4 GHz + 4804 Mbps 5 GHz), along with support for the latest WPA3 security standards. The router is NVIDIA GeForce NOW-recommended for the best possible latencies and bandwidth needed by the cloud gaming service.

The wired connections setup on this router is interesting: there are two WAN ports, one of which is 1 GbE, and the other 2.5 GbE. On the LAN-side, you get four 1 GbE connections. Besides the single 2.5 GbE connection, ASUS claims the router can aggregate bandwidth from two 1 GbE upstream connections (there aren't too many gigabit-fiber ISPs that provide fiber cable switches with 2.5 GbE ports). The router uses a 1.80 GHz quad-core Arm processor with 1 GB RAM and 256 MB flash memory size. The router also features a 5 Gbps USB 3.2 gen 1 port, to which you can plug in any USB mass-storage class device that can be shared across the network. The company didn't reveal pricing.

Acer today announced its new Predator Triton 500 and Acer Nitro 5 gaming notebooks. Alongside significant developments in thermal performance, both devices come with the latest 10th Gen Intel Core processors and newly announced NVIDIA GeForce RTX SUPER and GTX GPUs.

"In addition to the latest processors and GPUs, we've made exciting across-the-board updates to the Predator Triton 500 and Acer Nitro 5 this year," said James Lin, General Manager, Notebooks, IT Products Business, Acer. "Most importantly we've applied new thermal technology which keeps the devices cool so gamers can enjoy the performance improvements from the latest silicon technology."

Intel's desktop Comet Lake-S lineup is close to being released and we are getting more leaks about the CPU models contained inside it. Perhaps one of the most interesting points for Comet Lake-S series is that it brings a boost in frequency and boost in core count, with the highest-end Core i9 processors going up to 10 cores. Thanks to Xfastest, a Hong Kong-based media outlet, we have first pictures of what appears to be an engineering sample of the upcoming Core i9-10900 processor.

Being a non-K version, this CPU is not capable of overclocking and has a fixed TDP rating of 65 Watts. Compared to 125 W of the K models like the upcoming Core i9-10900K, this CPU will output almost half the heat, thus requiring a less capable cooling solution. The CPU is installed in LGA1200 socket, which is a new home for Comet Lake-S CPUs and provides backward compatibility for coolers supporting LGA1151. In the sample processor pictured below, we can see a marking on the CPU that implies 2.5 GHz base clock. Previously rumors were suggesting that this CPU version has 2.8 GHz base clock, however, it can be an early engineering sample given that no official imprints are found on the CPU heat spreader.

TP-LINK has made available through retailers a budget Wi-Fi router that promises to slightly democratize the ax protocol for the masses. The new Archer AX10 seems to be no slouch in terms of bang for the buck: it's a Wi-Fi 6-enabled router that packs most technologies you'd be looking for from a standard user point of view. There's support for beamforming technology so that the signal is focused towards the devices that are actually connected to the router (which are balanced via OFDMA tech, meaning the router can better handle simultaneous connections), improving signal strength and reducing interference. Thanks to that and the pure speeds of the ax protocol, the AX10 can provide signal speeds of up to 1201 Mb/s on the 5 GHz band. A quad antenna design serves to ensure ample coverage and signal integrity.

The AX10 has a triple core ARM processor operating at 1.5 GHz, aided by 256 MB of RAM and 16 MB of flash memory for the firmware. 4x Gigabit Ethernet ports and 1x WAN connection that also delivers a maximum speed of 1 Gigabit should enable most of the wired connections you need. And best of all: the router will be available for less than €100.

Intel's upcoming 5 GHz-on-all-cores Core i9-9900KS will certainly be a beast of a processor for the company - in more ways than one. The 8-core, 16-thread 5 5 GHz all-core turbo CPU will be Intel's best-performing consumer CPU for a while. The steps taken to ensure that have been the only ones Intel could do with their current CPU design and fabrication process - increase the TDP and improve all-core boost frequency, which should allow the CPU to perform incredibly well in peak performance.

The question that remains, of course, is how long the CPU will actually be able to keep its 5.0 GHz all-core frequency when it's engaged. The 127 W TDP as outed by an ASUS BIOS is a monstrous amount for an 8-core CPU, and I don't envy the heatsinks that will have to keep it in check. All in all, this seems to be nothing more than a CPU binned for Intel's purposes of becoming the best CPU for gaming and "home user relevant applications".

Intel's panic response to the 3rd generation Ryzen processor series, the Core i9-9900KS, will be generally available in October. The company will extensively market it as the best processor money can buy for gaming, and the specs to support that claim are formidable - 8-core/16-thread, with an all-core Turbo Boost frequency of 5.00 GHz. Intel will also actively publicize the growing clamor against real-world boost frequencies of 3rd gen Ryzen processors falling short of what's advertised, as detailed in the slide below. "5 GHz means 5 GHz" could be a prominent catchphrase of the chip's marketing, highlighting the all-core boost clocks. This chip is based on the existing 14 nm++ "Coffee Lake Refresh" silicon, but is likely its topmost bin.

Intel didn't, however, specify the TDP or pricing of the processor. The TDP is bound to be higher than that of the i9-9900K, as it would take a lot more power to sustain 5.00 GHz across all 8 cores. Intel may also try to retake the $499 price-point. The company may time the launch of this chip to closely follow AMD's flagship Ryzen 9 3950X 16-core/32-thread processor launch, which is due later this month. Intel's performance numbers for the i9-9900KS focus squarely on gaming and applications relevant to home users or PC enthusiasts. The i9-9900KS ships in a similar-looking acrylic case as the i9-9900K, with "Special Edition" branding on the front face. The retail package continues to lack a cooling solution.

ORIGIN PC is celebrating its 10th anniversary of building world class high-performance custom PCs for gamers, enthusiasts, and professionals with a one-of-a-kind gaming system showcasing the best of PC gaming and console gaming. The system is called Big O, which combines a high-powered gaming PC with an Xbox One X, PlayStation 4 Pro, and Nintendo Switch inside a modified ORIGIN PC GENESIS chassis. This build is a throwback to the original award-winning Big O system built in the early years of ORIGIN PC's history that at the time combined a powerful gaming PC with an Xbox 360.

By using their case modding and PC building expertise, the ORIGIN PC team spent countless hours testing, designing, and building the modern Big O as a stunning technical showpiece. With inspiration from previous custom builds, the Big O offers an incredible hardline liquid cooling solution for the Intel Core i9-9900K CPU and NVIDIA TITAN RTX GPU, which also extends to the Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro. As for the Nintendo Switch, the team built a custom dock in the front panel of the Big O using the original hardware in order to retain the complete "docking" capabilities of the system. Thus the Nintendo Switch can be docked for full screen gameplay or removed to take gaming on the go.

Intel formally launched the Wi-Fi 6 AX200 client-segment WLAN card for notebooks and PC motherboards in the M.2-2230 and M.2-1216 form-factors, based on the "Cyclone Peak" PHY powering the Wireless AX-22260 NIC family. The card interfaces with its host over PCI-Express 3.0 x1 and USB 2.0, for the Wi-Fi and integrated Bluetooth interfaces, respectively. As a Wi-Fi 6 adapter, it supports 802.11ax over 2x2 MU-MIMO antennae, and peak bandwidth of 2.4 Gbps, with support for both the 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz bands. The Bluetooth interface is version 5.0.