Edifier International, the award-winning audio electronics designer, announces the addition of the SPIRIT S10 to its STAX product range. The STAX SPIRIT S10 is the world's first True Wireless Planar Magnetic Earbuds with Active Noise Cancellation with Qualcomm QCC5181 Chipset, providing an excellent sound quality and wonderful, immersive, music listening experience.

The STAX SPIRIT S10 features 12 mm modularized planar magnetic drivers that guarantee a uniform, consistent audio performance and the possibility to be used for active noise cancellation. The Planar diaphragm is built on a 2μm polymer substrate with a total thickness of only 10μm - this ensures a good transient response for detailed sound reproduction.

Samsung is implementing a major workforce realignment to improve operations and increase efficiency. According to a report from Reuters, Samsung has instructed its global subsidiaries to reduce marketing and sales staff by 15% and management personnel by 30% by the end of this year. Of its 267,800 employees worldwide, 147,000 are based overseas, and Samsung's global layoff plan is expected to impact all regions, including Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Africa. The exact motivation behind the layoffs is unclear; one source cites the slowdown in global demand for tech products as a factor, while another suggests Samsung is aiming to increase profits by cutting costs.

Dell is also implementing significant measures, with plans to lay off at least 12,500 employees, approximately 10% of its total workforce. Dell is striving to become "leaner" by overhauling its sales divisions and adopting paperless operations with the help of AI. Job cuts are expected to continue overseas, with U.S. staff members expecting their turn soon. Dell has declined to confirm any numbers regarding the layoffs, particularly those concerning their employees.

NETGEAR, Inc., the leading provider of innovative and secure solutions for people to connect and manage their digital lives, today expanded its portfolio of high-performance WiFi 7 devices with the introduction of the Nighthawk M7 Pro Mobile Hotspot (MR7400). Based on NETGEAR's nearly 30 years of pioneering network expertise, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon SDX75 chipset and running on AT&T's reliable 5G network, the M7 Pro provides flexible, high-speed connectivity for consumers and businesses anywhere, anytime.

Whether it's working remotely, staying in touch with family and friends, or enjoying entertainment on the go, having a reliable, secure and fast internet connection anywhere can make a huge difference in productivity, convenience, and satisfaction. The Nighthawk M7 Pro Mobile Hotspot conveys the benefits of WiFi 7 and 5G technology, which offer faster speeds, lower latency, and better coverage than ever before. The M7 Pro provides a strong, reliable connection with 5G speeds of up to 6 Gbps. With tri-band WiFi 7 and dual-band concurrent operation, it unleashes aggregated WiFi speeds of up to 5.8 Gbps.

ASUS, a global leader in innovative and user-centric computing solutions, is excited to announce the launch of its latest ASUS Vivobook S 15 and ProArt PZ13 Copilot+ PCs, powered by the newly-announced Snapdragon X Plus eight-core processor. These new devices mark a significant expansion of the ASUS Copilot+ PC series, bringing a breakthrough platform that unleashes multiday battery life, unprecedented performance and AI-powered Copilot+ PC experiences to a broader audience, with immediate availability worldwide.

These new models are the first laptops to leverage the latest Snapdragon X Plus platform from Qualcomm Technologies, making advanced AI features more accessible than ever before. By integrating this powerful new silicon, ASUS continues to demonstrate its commitment to delivering user-centric design products that enhance daily life and productivity. The eight-core Qualcomm Oryon CPU powering the Snapdragon X Plus platform delivers lightning-fast responsiveness and efficiency. An integrated GPU and support for up to three external monitors ensures exceptional graphics and immersive visual experiences. At the heart of the Snapdragon X Plus eight-core processor is a staggering 45 TOPS NPU of AI processing power and leading performance-per-watt, which paired with the platform's significant advancements in connectivity, will push productivity to new heights in ultraportable designs with incredible battery life. Whether creating presentations on-the-go or video streaming, the versatile functionality of this platform will enable transformative experiences.

Acer today expanded its Copilot+ PC lineup with the new Swift Go 14 AI and Swift 14 AI laptops, delivering versatile performance and elevated productivity with incredible battery life.

The Swift Go 14 AI features the latest Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processor in an ultra-portable design. Acer also announced the Swift 14 AI featuring the new AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series processors which leverage the advanced AMD XDNA 2 architecture to utilize greater AI processing power and performance without compromise. Whether creating, working, or streaming on-the-go, these Copilot+ PCs streamline daily tasks and workloads more efficiently and enable Acer's on-device AI applications to help elevate users' digital experiences.

Samsung Electronics today announced the Galaxy Book4 Edge (15-inch), the latest addition to Samsung's Galaxy Book lineup, now powered by Qualcomm's cutting-edge Snapdragon X Plus 8-core platform. This new Copilot+ PC seamlessly integrates advanced AI capabilities, which elevate productivity and creativity to new heights.

Enhanced connectivity with the Samsung Galaxy ecosystem allows for one easy and efficient workflow across multiple devices, and further improves access to trailblazing Galaxy AI tools. All of these innovations are housed in a slim design featuring a 15.6-inch FHD display, a long-lasting battery with Super-Fast Charging and Samsung's multi-layer Samsung Knox security. The Galaxy Book4 Edge (15-inch) is available in select markets starting October in an iconic Sapphire Blue finish.

Ahead of IFA 2024, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. announced the expansion of its Snapdragon X Series portfolio with the introduction of Snapdragon X Plus 8-core, a breakthrough platform that unleashes multiday battery life, unprecedented performance and AI-powered Copilot+ experiences to even more people.

The 8-core Qualcomm Oryon CPU powering this Snapdragon X Plus platform enables lightning-fast responsiveness and efficiency, delivering 61% faster CPU performance while competitor peak performance requires 179% more power. An integrated GPU and support for up to three external monitors ensures exceptional graphics and immersive visual experiences. At the heart of the Snapdragon X Plus 8-core is a powerful 45 TOPS NPU of AI processing power and leading performance per watt which, paired with the platform's significant advancements in connectivity, will push productivity to new heights in ultra-portable designs with incredible battery life. Whether creating presentations on-the-go or videoconferencing, the versatile functionality of this platform will enable transformative experiences.

GIGABYTE today debuted its AMD 800-series motherboards with the launch of the premium X870E AORUS Master. This will go on to be the company's second most premium product on this chipset, as the company is also planning the X870E AORUS Xtreme. The AORUS Master is still packed to the gills with everything this chipset has to offer, along with high-end onboard devices. The board is built in the ATX form-factor, and draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and two 8-pin EPS power connectors. It offers a 16+2+2 phase digital VRM featuring 110 A power stages. The board is laid out on a premium 8-layer PCB. You get tall extruded aluminium heatsinks for the CPU VRM, and the topmost M.2 NVMe Gen 5 slot.

The AMD Socket AM5 is wired to four DDR5 DIMM slots that support up to 192 GB of dual-channel DDR5, at speeds of over DDR5-8000. It also puts out no less than three M.2 NVMe Gen 5 slots. Two of these are wired to the dedicated x4 interfaces from the AMD "Raphael" or "Granite Ridge" processor, while one of them subtracts 4 lanes from the board's PCI-Express 5.0 x16 PEG slot. The board's fourth M.2 NVMe slot is Gen 4, and wired to the chipset. The only other expansion slots are a couple of PCI-Express 4.0 x16 (electrical Gen 4 x1). Besides the M.2 slots, you get four SATA 6 Gbps ports completing the board's storage connectivity.

According to a recent report from Globes, Arm, the chip design giant and maker of the Arm ISA, is reportedly developing a new discrete GPU at its Ra'anana development center in Israel. This development signals Arm's intention to compete directly with industry leaders like Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA in the massive discrete GPU market. Sources close to the matter reveal that Arm has assembled a team of approximately 100 skilled chip and software development engineers at its Israeli facility. The team is focused on creating GPUs primarily aimed at the video game market. However, industry insiders speculate that this technology could potentially be adapted for AI processing in the future, mirroring the trajectory of NVIDIA, which slowly integrated AI hardware accelerators into its lineup.

The Israeli development center is playing a crucial role in this initiative. The hardware teams are overseeing the development of key components for these GPUs, including the flagship Immortalis and Mali GPU. Meanwhile, the software teams are creating interfaces for external graphics engine developers, working with both established game developers and startups. Arm is already entering the PC market through its partners like Qualcomm with Snapdragon X chips. However, these chips run an integrated GPU, and Arm wants to provide discrete GPUs and compete there. While details are still scarce, Arm could make GPUs to accompany Arm-based Copilot+ PCs and some desktop builds. The final execution plan still needs to be discovered, and we are still waiting to see which stage Arm's discrete GPU project is in.

Primate Labs, the developer behind the popular Geekbench benchmarking suite, has launched Geekbench AI—a comprehensive benchmark tool designed to measure the artificial intelligence capabilities of various devices. Geekbench AI, previously known as Geekbench ML during its preview phase, has now reached version 1.0. The benchmark is available on multiple operating systems, including Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, and iOS, making it accessible to many users and developers. One of Geekbench AI's key features is its multifaceted approach to scoring. The benchmark utilizes three distinct precision levels: single-precision, half-precision, and quantized data. This evaluation aims to provide a more accurate representation of AI performance across different hardware designs.

In addition to speed, Geekbench AI places a strong emphasis on accuracy. The benchmark assesses how closely each test's output matches the expected results, offering insights into the trade-offs between performance and precision. The release of Geekbench AI 1.0 brings support for new frameworks, including OpenVINO, ONNX, and Qualcomm QNN, expanding its compatibility across various platforms. Primate Labs has also implemented measures to ensure fair comparisons, such as enforcing minimum runtime durations for each workload. The company noted that Samsung and NVIDIA are already utilizing the software to measure their chip performance in-house, showing that adoption is already strong. While the benchmark provides valuable insights, real-world AI applications are still limited, and reliance on a few benchmarks may paint a partial picture. Nevertheless, Geekbench AI represents a significant step forward in standardizing AI performance measurement, potentially influencing future consumer choices in the AI-driven tech market. Results from the benchmark runs can be seen here.

The Air Pro 4 will be EarFun's next-gen flagship from their highly esteemed Air Pro series. Featuring a deep slate of upgrades and fresh tech, the sound and noise cancelation experience is expected to be an unparalleled value. In step with the successful model lineup, EarFun's Air Pro 4 intends to deliver the very best in sound, connectivity, ergonomics, and customization for under $100.

A very first for the price segment, EarFun integrates the all-new Auracast wireless technology to allow listeners to tune in and out of local broadcasts and to connect and share audio between personal devices. Whereas wireless earbuds are usually confined to an individual experience, the Air Pro 4 becomes a shared experience, allowing others nearby to share music or streams. As far as wireless features go, Auracast is just the beginning. LE Audio and LC3 codec are featured to bring efficiency and greater versatility when using the Air Pro 4. With the implementation of the battery-saving LE Bluetooth Audio, EarFun's latest TWS earbud flagship brings the latest Bluetooth 5.4 standard for the fastest and most secure wireless connection. Not only are connection times instantaneous, but the utilization of the superior LC3 codec, over the widely used SBC, allows the Air Pro 4's dynamic drivers to take advantage of higher resolution formats thanks to greater preservation of file integrity.

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. today announces the Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 Mobile Platform - designed to make 5G more accessible and reliable. This new platform is another example of how Qualcomm is committed to engineering human progress, pioneering the global transition from 4G to 5G to empower communities and industries alike. Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 is also packed with feature-rich enhancements, including robust CPU performance for seamless multitasking and productivity, dual band navIC for better position accuracy, AI-enhanced audio, and entertainment experiences like smooth gameplay and powerful video streaming.


"The Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 Mobile Platform is a significant leap forward in making 5G technology more accessible, so more people can navigate the world at 5G speeds," said Chris Patrick, senior vice president and general manager of mobile handsets, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "Thanks to cutting-edge engineering, we balanced affordability with strong performance and all-day battery life, as well as widespread access to 5G for more enhanced mobile experiences."

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon has announced plans to introduce Snapdragon X-powered PCs at a groundbreaking price point of $700 by next year. This revelation, made during the company's recent third-quarter earnings call, signals a significant shift in the accessibility of high-performance Arm-based computers. Currently, the most affordable Snapdragon X laptops on the market, such as the Microsoft Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, retail for $999. The $700 price tag prospect represents a substantial reduction, potentially opening up the technology to a broader consumer base. The only "affordable" Snapdragon X-based PC is the Snapdragon Dev Kit, with a price point of $899. However, the entire laptop solution is still more expensive. Mr. Amon emphasized that despite the lower cost of the potential $700 units, these upcoming devices will maintain neural processing unit (NPU) performance. This commitment suggests that Qualcomm is confident in its ability to optimize costs without sacrificing the advanced capabilities that have made Snapdragon X chips appealing to power users and developers alike.

While specific details about the hardware configurations remain undisclosed, it is interesting to see what steps Qualcomm will take to deliver on this promise. If the company can provide 8-core chips with 16 GB of RAM to the masses for $700, the industry would likely react very well, especially students who require decent computing capabilities on the go, if the $700 PC ends up being a laptop. The announcement also hinted at an expansion of Qualcomm-powered computers, with new models expected to debut at the upcoming IFA tech conference. These additions will likely bolster the selection of Microsoft Copilot+ PCs, further integrating AI capabilities into everyday computing experiences. The CEO also noted, "We expect PC to be the next biggest driver of diversification for the company," with some Snapdragon X PC already being sold out. The demand appears to be strong, and undercutting competition on pricing is an ideal way to get as many customers on board as possible.

Qualcomm has started accepting preorders for its Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows, based on the Snapdragon X Elite processor. Initially announced in May, the device is now available for preorder through Arrow at a competitive price point of $899. Despite its relatively high cost compared to typical mini PCs, it undercuts most recent laptops equipped with Snapdragon X processors, making it an attractive option for both developers and power users alike. Measuring a mere 199 x 175 x 35 mm, it comes equipped with 32 GB of LPDDR5x RAM, a 512 GB NVMe SSD, and support for the latest Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5 technologies. The connectivity options are equally robust, featuring three USB4 Type-C ports, two USB 3.2 Type-A ports, an HDMI output, and an Ethernet port.

This mini PC's heart lies the Snapdragon X Elite (X1E-00-1DE) processor. This chip houses 12 Oryon CPU cores capable of reaching speeds up to 3.8 GHz, with a dual-core boost potential of 4.3 GHz. The processor also integrates Adreno graphics, delivering up to 4.6 TFLOPS of performance, and a Hexagon NPU capable of up to 45 TOPS for AI tasks. While similar to its laptop counterpart, the X1E-84-100, this version is optimized for desktop use. It can consume up to 80 watts of power, enabling superior sustained performance without the constraints of battery life or heat dissipation typically associated with mobile devices. This dev kit is made primarily to optimize x86-64 software to run on the Arm platform; hence, removing the power limit is beneficial for translating the code to Windows on Arm. The Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows ships with a 180 W power adapter and comes pre-installed with Windows 11, making it ready for immediate use upon arrival.

Particle, a leading IoT edge-to-cloud platform provider, has launched Tachyon, its first Qualcomm Snapdragon powered single-board computer (SBC) designed to make cutting-edge chipsets and AI tooling widely accessible to consumers and businesses.

Tachyon brings the power of a modern smartphone to the far corners of the world with speedy hardware, a powerful AI accelerator, built-in high-bandwidth 5G and Wi-Fi 6E connectivity, and a Linux-powered Ubuntu operating system. By providing a complete edge-to-cloud infrastructure, Particle enables customers to focus on what matters most: their application.

The much-anticipated revolution in AI-powered personal computing seems to be off to a slower start than expected. Qualcomm's Snapdragon X CPUs, touted as game-changers in the AI PC market, have struggled to gain significant traction since their launch. Recent data from PassMark, a popular benchmarking software, reveals that Snapdragon X CPUs account for a mere 0.3% of submissions in the past 30 days. This is a massive contrast to the 99.7% share held by traditional x86 processors from Intel and AMD, which raises questions about the immediate future of ARM-based PCs. The underwhelming adoption comes despite bold predictions from industry leaders. Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon had projected that ARM-based CPUs could capture up to 50% of the Windows PC market by 2029. Similarly, ARM's CEO anticipated a shift away from x86's long-standing dominance.

However, it turns out that these PCs are primarily bought for the battery life, not their AI capabilities. Of course, it's premature to declare Arm's Windows venture a failure. The AI PC market is still in its infancy, and upcoming mid-tier laptops featuring Snapdragon X Elite CPUs could boost adoption rates. A lot of time still needs to pass before the volume of these PCs reaches millions of units shipped by x86 makers. The true test will come with the launch of AMD's Ryzen AI 300 and Intel's Lunar Lake CPUs, providing a clearer picture of how ARM-based options compare in AI performance. As the AI PC landscape evolves, Qualcomm faces mounting pressure. NVIDIA's anticipated entry into the market and significant performance improvements in next-generation x86 processors from Intel and AMD pose a massive challenge. The coming months will be crucial in determining whether Snapdragon X CPUs can live up to their initial hype and carve out a significant place in the AI PC ecosystem.

In a community blog post, Arm has announced its new Accuracy Super Resolution (ASR) upscaling technology. This open-source solution aims to transform mobile gaming by offering best-in-class upscaling capabilities for smartphones and tablets. Arm ASR addresses a critical challenge in mobile gaming: delivering high-quality graphics while managing power consumption and heat generation. By rendering games at lower resolutions and then intelligently upscaling them, Arm ASR promises to significantly boost performance without sacrificing visual quality. The technology builds upon AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 (FSR 2) and adapts it specifically for mobile devices. Arm ASR utilizes temporal upscaling, which combines information from multiple frames to produce higher-quality images from lower-resolution inputs. Even though temporal upscaling is more complicated to implement than spatial frame-by-frame upscaling, it delivers better results and gives developers more freedom.

This approach allows for more ambitious graphics while maintaining smooth gameplay. In benchmark tests using a complex scene, Arm demonstrated impressive results. Devices featuring the Arm Immortalis-G720 GPU showed substantial framerate improvements when using Arm ASR compared to native resolution rendering and Qualcomm's Game Super Resolution (GSR). Moreover, the technology helped maintain stable temperatures, preventing thermal throttling that can compromise user experience. Collaboration with MediaTek revealed significant power savings when using Arm ASR on a Dimensity 9300 handset. This translates to extended battery life for mobile gamers, addressing key concerns. Arm is releasing ASR under an MIT open-source license, encouraging widespread adoption and experimentation among developers. Below you can see the comparison of various upscalers.

Samsung Electronics today announced its all-new Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip6, along with Galaxy Buds3 and Galaxy Buds3 Pro at Galaxy Unpacked in Paris.

Earlier this year, Samsung ushered in the era of mobile AI through the power of Galaxy AI. With the introduction of the new Galaxy Z series, Samsung is opening the next chapter of Galaxy AI by leveraging its most versatile and flexible form factor perfectly designed to enable a range of unique mobile experiences. Whether using Galaxy Z Fold's large screen, Galaxy Z Flip's FlexWindow or making the most of the iconic FlexMode, Galaxy Z Fold6 and Flip6 will provide more opportunities to maximize AI capabilities. Built on the foundation of Samsung's history of form factor innovation, Galaxy AI uses powerful, intelligent, and durable foldable experience to accelerate a new era of communication, productivity, and creativity.

The recent launch of Copilot+ PCs, a collaboration between Microsoft and Qualcomm, has taken an unexpected turn in the market. While these devices were promoted for their artificial intelligence capabilities, a Bloomberg report reveals that consumers are primarily drawn to them for their impressive battery life. The Snapdragon X-powered Copilot+ PCs have made a significant impact, securing 20% of global PC sales during their launch week. However, industry analyst Avi Greengart points out that the extended battery life, not the AI features, is driving these sales. Microsoft introduced three AI-powered features exclusive to these PCs: Cocreator, Windows Studio Effects, and Live Captions with Translation. Despite these innovations, many users find these features non-essential for daily use. The delay of the anticipated Recall feature due to privacy concerns has further dampened enthusiasm for the AI aspects of these devices.

The slow reception of on-device AI capabilities extends beyond consumer preferences to the software industry. Major companies like Adobe, Salesforce, and SentinelOne declined Microsoft's request to optimize their apps for the new hardware, citing resource constraints and the limited market share of AI-capable PCs. Gregor Steward, SentinelOne's VP for AI, suggests it could take years before AI PCs are widespread enough to justify app optimization. Analysts project that by 2028, only 40% of new computers will be AI-capable. Despite these challenges, Qualcomm remains optimistic about the future of AI PCs. While the concept may currently be more on the marketing side, the introduction of Arm-based Windows laptops offers a welcome alternative to the Intel-AMD duopoly. As the technology evolves and adoption increases, on-device AI features may become more prevalent and useful. The imminent arrival of AMD Ryzen AI 300 series and Intel Lunar Lake chips promises to expand the Copilot+ PC space further. For now, however, it appears that superior battery life remains the primary selling point for consumers.

Cambridge is excited to launch the first over-ear model in the award-winning Melomania wireless headphones series - Melomania P100. Melomania P100 builds on over 50 years of audio expertise and an unashamed passion for music to deliver truly emotive sound from meticulously tuned premium drivers and Hi-fi-grade Class AB amplification.

World-class 60-hour battery life (extending to 100 hours with noise-cancelling turned off) ensures that the effortlessly engaging listening experience could easily last a working week or a lengthy holiday. P100 joins the recently launched M100 true wireless earphones to form the new Melomania range for 2024.

In 2016, TSMC developed and named its InFO FOWLP technology, and applied it to the A10 processor used in the iPhone 7. TrendForce points out that since then, OSAT providers have been striving to develop FOWLP and FOPLP technologies to offer more cost-effective packaging solutions.

Starting in the second quarter, chip companies like AMD have actively engaged with TSMC and OSAT providers to explore the use of FOPLP technology for chip packaging and helping drive industry interest in FOPLP. TrendForce observes that there are three main models for introducing FOPLP packaging technology: Firstly, OSAT providers transitioning from traditional methods of consumer IC packaging to FOPLP. Secondly, foundries and OSAT providers packaging AI GPUs that are transitioning 2.5D packaging from wafer level to panel level. Thirdly, panel makers who are packaging consumer ICs.

TrendForce has observed that in 2024, major CSPs such as Microsoft, Google, Meta, and AWS will continue to be the primary buyers of high-end AI servers, which are crucial for LLM and AI modeling. Following establishing a significant AI training server infrastructure in 2024, these CSPs are expected to actively expand into edge AI in 2025. This expansion will include the development of smaller LLM models and setting up edge AI servers to facilitate AI applications across various sectors, such as manufacturing, finance, healthcare, and business.

Moreover, AI PCs or notebooks share a similar architecture to AI servers, offering substantial computational power and the ability to run smaller LLM and generative AI applications. These devices are anticipated to serve as the final bridge between cloud AI infrastructure and edge AI for small-scale training or inference applications.

The first reviews of a notebook with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite SoC have appeared today, and it looks like the promised performance isn't quite there. And yes, all the reviews that went live today are all based on Asus' Vivobook S 15 OLED, so it might be a bit too early to state that Qualcomm isn't delivering on its claimed performance, as other manufacturers might deliver better performance. Let's start with the battery life. The Vivobook S 15 OLED comes with a 70 Wh battery pack which enables it to deliver better battery life than many AMD or Intel notebooks, but Apple's MacBook Air 15 M3 delivers on average a 40 percent better battery life, with a smaller 66.5 Wh battery pack. Browsing the web or watching movies aren't really too taxing for the Snapdragon X Elite, but under heavier loads the battery life drops off a cliff.

When it comes to application performance, the Snapdragon X Elite offers good multicore performance in benchmarks like Cinebench 2024 and PCMark 10, but it falls way behind in most other tests, ranging from video encoding to file extraction and document conversion, with Intel Core Ultra 7 155H based notebooks often pulling ahead by 50 percent or more. Despite being equipped with LPDDR5X-8448 memory, the Snapdragon X Elite falls behind in both the memory copy and write tests in AIDA64 compared to the Intel powered laptops. However, it's not all doom and gloom, as the Qualcomm chip delivers an impressive memory latency of a mere 8.1 ns, compared to 100+ for the Intel based laptops. It also outclasses the Intel laptops when it comes to memory read performance.

Qualcomm has provided new details about the Adreno X1 GPU integrated into their latest series of processors, Snapdragon X Elite/Plus. The Adreno X1 is the first custom-designed GPU from Qualcomm for Windows on ARM systems. The highest configuration of this GPU, known as the "X1-85," features "8" indicating the GPU level and "5" denoting the SKU.

The Adreno X1 boasts up to 6 shaders, 1536 FP32 ALUs, and can handle 96 texels per cycle. It delivers up to 4.6 TFLOPS of peak performance and processes 72 million pixels per second. It supports major graphics APIs, including DirectX 12.1 (Shader Model 6.7), DirectX 11, Vulkan 1.3, and OpenCL 3.0.

At Computex last week, we got a first look at Gigabyte's new TRX50 AI TOP motherboard—where TOP stands for trillions of operations per second—designed for AMD's Threadripper and Threadripper Pro CPUs. Now the company has released the full specifications of the TRX50 AI TOP and the board is packed to the brim with features. The E-ATX board is home to four PCIe x16 slots, all of which can operate in PCIe 5.0, but one can be limited to PCIe 4.0, depending on your choice of CPU. There's also four NVMe M.2 slots, with CPU dependent functionality. Other features include eight DIMM slots, but these are again CPU dependent, two 10 Gbps Ethernet interfaces via a pair of Marvell AQtion AQC113C controllers, WiFi 7 via a Qualcomm QCNCM865 module and dual audio chips, one for the rear ports and one for the front panel audio.

As this is a 2024 model, USB4 is of course also part of the package, but only one of the two USB4 supports DP Alt-mode, due to there only being one DP input. The board also has an internal USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps) header for a case mounted USB-C port, a further six rear 5 Gbps USB Type-A ports, plus a pair of internal headers for a further four 5 Gbps USB Type-A ports. The board also has four SATA ports, a 16+8+4 power phase design, a 14-layer PCB, a debug display and the now common easy release features for the M.2 drive heatsinks and the graphics card. The TRX50 AI TOP also sports what Gigabyte calls "UC BIOS" which has a "User-Centred intuitive UX with Quick Access function", but there's currently no details of how this differs from previous UEFI releases from Gigabyte. There was no word on pricing.