ASRock has recently released two new products to upgrade the network connectivity on compatible AMD & Intel motherboards with the latest Wi-FI 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 standards. The AMD upgrade kit includes a M.2 2230 PCIe module most likely featuring the MediaTek MT7921K chipset which debuted in the AYANEO handheld last year. The Intel version also includes a M.2 2230 module but featuring the CNVIo2 interface with either a AX211 or AX411 chipset limiting support to ASRock 600-Series motherboards.

These modules both support Dual Band 2x2 Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity with the AMD version certified for AM4 motherboards going back to the ASRock A320TM-ITX. The upgrade kits each feature a set of two antennas and extension cables along with a plastic cover and mounting screw for the modules. The listings don't contain any pricing information and retailers haven't listed either kit for purchase yet.

ProScreenCast has announced their newest 4K 60 Hz with HDR screen casting adaptor, the SC01, is now available worldwide. SC01 build with HDMI 2.0b and is capable of streaming true 4K resolution up to 60 Hz refresh rate with HDR color, it is designed to stream video wirelessly to TV, projector or any display with HDMI. This allows you to experience 4K image quality on a big screen from your mobile phone or PC, without having to run cables across the room.

SC01 allows you to stream video from your mobile phone, Pad or PC to a big screen without using any cables. The plug-and-play installation is simple and you do not need to install additional APP to do the setup, everything can be done in the web browser. SC01 supports both 2.4G & 5G Wi-Fi to give you stable connection and is very compact in size and have internal Wi-Fi antenna, which allows you to carry around easily.

ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of visual solutions, launches its new X1 and X2 high brightness LED projectors for home cinema enthusiasts. The projectors offer an immediate entertainment experience and flexible options for installation. Featuring 3rd generation LED technology, these projectors deliver brighter and more vivid visuals with 30,000-hour long lifespans. With built-in Harman Kardon speakers, they are perfect for home screenings of movies, live sports, and for playing video games.

"As an innovator and leader in LED technology, we are elevating the home entertainment experience with our new LED projector solutions. With enhanced brightness of 3,100 LED Lumens, the X1 and X2 not only deliver brighter and clearer images in any environment but offer more eco-friendliness compared to lamp-based projectors," said Dean Tsai, General Manager of Projector & LED Display Business Unit at ViewSonic. "Without complicated installation and setup required, these projectors offer immersive audiovisuals on a big screen at any time."

Sony Electronics Inc. today introduced two new premium music players, the NW-WM1ZM2 and NW-WM1AM2, raising the bar to new heights in high-resolution audio listening, to satisfy the most demanding audiophiles. Designed to immerse the listener in sublime, nuanced sound, the NW-WM1ZM2 has been fine-tuned from years of audio mastery and crafted from the very best materials. This new addition sets a new benchmark for Sony's award-winning signature series, offering an exquisite listening experience in an ultra-premium design.

The NW-WM1AM2 allows music lovers to completely lose themselves in high-quality audio with a richer, smoother and more expansive sound field compared to its predecessor. Both music players let the user download and stream from endless catalogues of music with Wi-Fi compatibility, taking the listening enjoyment to the next level.

AAEON continues to innovate and improve with the introduction of their UP Squared 6000 Edge Computing Kit, which offers customers elite, exclusive features in a plug-and-play industrial turnkey solution powered by the Intel Atom x6425RE SoC (formerly Elkhart Lake).

An upgrade from the UP Squared 6000 Edge, the UP Squared 6000 Edge Computing Kit provides a wealth of additional features while only outgrowing its predecessor's form factor by 1 centimeter in height. This centimeter houses an integrated carrier board containing a HAT2-compatible 40-pin PSE header, doubling the expansion options available compared to previous iterations of the UP Board series. This is in addition to an already impressive I/O, which features four Gigabit Ethernet ports, two COM ports, three USB 3.2 ports, along with three M.2 sockets to incorporate AI, SSD, 5G, and Wi-Fi5/6 modules.

MediaTek today announced the Filogic 880 and Filogic 380 Wi-Fi 7 platform solutions for high-bandwidth applications in the operator, retail, enterprise and consumer electronics markets. This pair of chips will be among the first Wi-Fi 7 solutions to hit the market, allowing device makers to deliver cutting-edge products with the latest connectivity technology. Filogic 880 is a complete platform that combines a Wi-Fi 7 access point with a new advanced host processor solution to provide the industry's best router and gateway solution for operator, retail and enterprise markets. It offers a scalable architecture that can support up to penta-band 4x4 with a maximum speed of 36 Gbps. Filogic 380 is designed to bring Wi-Fi 7 connectivity to all client devices, including smartphone, tablet, TVs, notebooks, set-top boxes and OTT streaming devices. The chip's dual concurrent 2x2 capability will be optimized "out-of-the-box" for these devices as MediaTek also supplies the corresponding platform solutions. This helps to streamline the design process, maximize performance and accelerate time-to-market.

"Our wireless connectivity solutions are designed to deliver the fastest performance using the most advanced technologies, and represent MediaTek's commitment to drive Wi-Fi 7 adoption in a large number of new markets," said Alan Hsu, corporate vice president and general manager of the Intelligent Connectivity business at MediaTek. "With Filogic 880 and Filogic 380, our customers can deliver fast, reliable and always-on connected experiences to meet the industry's growing connectivity demands." MediaTek's Filogic 880 combines a Wi-Fi 7 access point with a powerful application processor and network processing unit (NPU) to support maximum Wi-Fi, Ethernet and packet processing performance. The chip offers a wide range of interfaces and peripherals, making it easy to customize designs for various end products and applications.

AMD and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, today announced a collaboration to optimize the Qualcomm FastConnect connectivity system for AMD Ryzen processor-based computing platforms, starting with AMD Ryzen PRO 6000 Series processors and the Qualcomm FastConnect 6900. With the FastConnect 6900 system, the latest AMD Ryzen processor-powered business laptops feature Wi-Fi 6 and 6E connectivity, including advanced wireless capabilities enabled with Windows 11.

In collaboration with Microsoft, next-generation Windows 11 PCs, such as the Lenovo ThinkPad Z Series and HP EliteBook 805 Series, can harness the full potential of Windows 11 Wi-Fi Dual Station through Qualcomm 4-Stream Dual Band Simultaneous. Multiple Wi-Fi bands outperform traditional single band connections for improved video conferencing experiences, reduced latency, and enhanced connection robustness. Leveraging the 6 GHz band, next-gen laptop users can take full advantage of its bandwidth and speed improvements without competing with any non-6E devices.

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."

With hybrid working environments now the new norm for many companies, remote employees need every tool available to help keep them productive at home, while businesses also need intuitive equipment for when staff does come to the office. To help bridge the gap between home and office, Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, is pleased to introduce six new printers designed to enhance productivity for hybrid workers and small businesses. These models include new features to help meet the latest market needs for convenience, workflow efficiency, and security. "Canon is proud to deliver solutions designed to meet new customer needs through the continued expansion of the MAXIFY and imageCLASS printer lines," says Isao "Sammy" Kobayashi, senior vice president and general manager of Canon U.S.A., Inc. "These new printers are designed to improve efficiency for small and home offices, while being versatile, eco-friendly, and time-saving tools."

The new MAXIFY GX5020 printer is an extension of the Canon MegaTank Printer lineup utilizing a high-volume continuous ink supply system, which can significantly reduce ink costs by utilizing high-volume ink bottles. This technology also allows users to focus on their work and not get distracted by frequently replacing ink cartridges; and when bottles do need refilling, it is an easy-to-fill, "no mess" process. The MAXIFY GX5020 printer can hold up to 350 sheets of paper.

For decades, Intel has been a champion for PC platform innovation. We have delivered generations of CPUs that provide the computing horsepower for billions of people. We advanced connectivity through features like USB, Thunderbolt and Wi-Fi. And in partnership with the PC ecosystem, we developed the ground-breaking PCI architecture and the Intel Evo platform, pushing the boundary for what mobile products can do. Intel is uniquely positioned to deliver PC platform innovations that meet the ever-increasing computing demands of professionals, consumers, gamers and creators around the world. Now, we take the next big step.

Today, we are officially launching our Intel Arc graphics family for laptops, completing the Intel platform. These are the first discrete GPUs from our Intel Arc A-Series graphics portfolio for laptops, with our desktop and workstation products coming later this year. You can visit our Newsroom for our launch video, product details and technical demos, but I will summarize the highlights of how our Intel Arc platform and A-Series mobile GPU family will deliver hardware, software, services and - ultimately - high-performance graphics experiences.

eero, an Amazon company, today introduced eero Pro 6E and eero 6+—the newest additions to the eero 6 series of mesh wifi systems. eero Pro 6E, the first Wi-Fi 6E-enabled eero mesh wifi system, supports network speeds up to 2.3 Gbps, provides coverage for over 100 devices simultaneously, and offers access to the newly-authorized 6 GHz band, all of which ensures more devices can get gigabit+ speeds across your home. eero 6+ is the most affordable gigabit-capable eero system, with access to 160 MHz radio channels for fast connectivity for activities like AR, VR, and 8K streaming; plus, it supports over 75 simultaneously-connected devices. For customers looking for Wi-Fi 6 performance at an affordable price, eero 6 is now available at a starting price of $89.

"Since eero's beginning a little over eight years ago, we have had a vision to provide every home around the world with wifi that just works," said Nick Weaver, Co-Founder and CEO of eero. "Wifi has changed a lot since then, and we've worked hard to expand our portfolio and make our easy-to-use, fast, secure, and reliable whole-home wifi systems more accessible and affordable for everyone. With the introduction of eero Pro 6E and eero 6+ alongside our existing eero 6 series devices, we're taking a big step in delivering our highest performing and most affordable wifi systems for everyone."

In celebration of Pi Day, OnLogic, a global industrial computing manufacturer and solution provider known for their reliable, orange industrial PCs, has announced that their new Factor 201 Raspberry Pi-powered device is available for pre-order. In addition, they've released more details about the next model in the Factor 200 Series, the Factor 202. Both devices are powered by the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4, which was developed specifically for industrial products.

"We're delighted that OnLogic has chosen to develop the Factor 201 around Raspberry Pi. Using Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 with their custom-designed carrier boards and industrial enclosure has allowed OnLogic to offer their customers flexible and reliable solutions, and we see Raspberry Pi hardware being increasingly widely adopted in industry with products like this one," said Gordon Hollingworth, Chief Product Officer at Raspberry Pi Ltd.

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, has expanded its range of streaming products with the new Razer Seiren BT microphone, Razer Audio Mixer and Razer Key Light Chroma. These new streaming peripherals bring more creativity and flexibility to content creators and mobile streamers, with professional quality wireless audio, live on-stream audio mixing, and infinitely flexible, adaptive lighting for more engaging, creative stream set-ups.

While the Audio Mixer and Key Light Chroma are aimed at desktop streamers, the wireless Seiren BT microphone is specially designed for smartphone streamers for IRL (In Real Life) mobile streaming. With its small form factor and superior audio pick-up, the Seiren BT elevates mobile streams with rich, clear voice audio, bringing a new dimension of freedom to IRL streaming.

AAEON, experts in white box solution and network appliance manufacturing, have once again partnered with flexiWAN, a leading provider of open-source SASE and SD-WAN software. Part of this partnership has prompted the certification of the FWS-2280, allowing customers access to a wider range of deployment options.

Powered by the latest Intel Atom x6000E Processor (formerly Elkhart Lake), the FWS-2280 was designed to give the option of fast, accurate connections across SD-WAN and SASE networks, while also powering an entry-level firewall, making it an excellent companion for SMEs hoping to protect their networks. This solid base also allows the FWS-2280 to run applications such as uCPE; SD-WAN, VPN, SMB, UTM, and Firewall.

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."

VIA Technologies, Inc. today announced the launch of the VIA SOM-9X35 Starter Kit to accelerate time-to-market for retail, commercial, and industrial Edge AI devices. Featuring a flexible high-performance platform powered by the quad-core MediaTek i350 processor, the starter kit comes with a 7" LCD panel and touch panel display, a 13MP HD camera module, and dual speakers and microphone to provide a tightly integrated package for jumpstarting device development. Dual-band 802.11 ac Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth 5.0, and optional 4G support provide the seamless connectivity required for myriad use cases.

"As AI moves increasingly to the edge, the demand for powerful and affordable edge devices with the power and flexibility to run intelligent vision applications such as facial, object, gesture, and motion recognition is rising at an exponential rate," commented Richard Brown, VP of International Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. "By combining the core compute, video, and display components in a single package, the VIA SOM-9X35 Starter Kit enables our customers to jumpstart the development of innovative devices to take advantage of these burgeoning market opportunities."

Exponential demand growth for remote and unmanned terminals in smart home, logistics, manufacturing and other end-user applications has driven iterative updates in Wi-Fi technology. Among the current generations of technologies, Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) is mainstream while Wi-Fi 6 and 6E (802.11ax) are at promotional stages, according to TrendForce's investigations. In order to meet the connection requirements of industry concepts such as the Metaverse, many major manufacturers have trained their focus on the faster and more stable next generation 802.11be Wi-Fi standard amendment, commonly known as Wi-Fi 7. Considering technical characteristics, maturity, and product certification status, Wi-Fi 6 and 6E are expected to surpass Wi-Fi 5 to become mainstream technology in 2022, with global market share expected to reach 58%.

With adoption of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 growing steadily, Wi-Fi Alliance is evolving Wi-Fi 6 certification to meet increasing demands from today's Wi-Fi use cases. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 Release 2 is now available, bringing new features that support increasing device and traffic density to deliver greater performance and power management with Wi-Fi devices and applications. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 Release 2 adds support for uplink multi-user multiple input, multiple output (multi-user MIMO) to deliver smoother streaming services and video conferencing, faster uploads, and more reliable gaming. Additionally, three power management features improve Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 power efficiency, benefitting enterprise, industrial, and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. New features apply across all bands supported by Wi-Fi 6 - 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz - bringing capacity, efficiency, coverage and performance benefits to residential, enterprise, and large public networks. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 delivers the best experience with advanced applications, while providing strong WPA3 security and promoting interoperability between Wi-Fi CERTIFIED devices.

"Wi-Fi delivers advanced capabilities that have driven tremendous global innovation, paving the way for massive growth in Wi-Fi applications that users rely on every day," said Edgar Figueroa, president and CEO, Wi-Fi Alliance. "Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 Release 2 furthers Wi-Fi's evolution to address today's market needs, and supports more high-performance Wi-Fi scenarios with greater capacity, efficiency, and reliability."

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers (Hong Kong Stock Code: 1337), announced its collaboration with leading watch manufacturer, Fossil, to launch a limited-edition smartwatch: the Razer X Fossil Gen 6 Smartwatch. The co-branded wearable leverages Fossil's most innovative smartwatch platform to date, the highly anticipated Fossil Gen 6. It also features three exclusive Razer watch faces including Analog, Text, and Chroma, as well as two stylish interchangeable straps. The Razer X Fossil Gen 6 will be launching globally this month for $329 USD in a limited quantity of just 1,337 units.

The Gen 6 is the first smartwatch powered by the Snapdragon Wear 4100+ Platform—providing users upgrades in speed and performance, including faster application load time, highly responsive user experiences, and more efficient power consumption. With an overall 30% increased performance* and running Wear OS by Google, the smartwatch does way more, way faster to give gamers a fashionable cutting edge. The Razer X Fossil Gen 6 Smartwatch also boasts top wellness features as a nod to both brands' commitments to wellness and comes only a few months after the launch of Razer's dedicated wellness initiative for gamers, Champions Start From Within.

Factors such as the rising popularity of topics related to the metaverse and UGC (user-generated content), as well as the rapid increase in AR/VR device shipment, will likely result in the creation of a growing body of virtual reality content in the market, according to TrendForce's latest investigations. TrendForce expects annual global virtual reality content revenue to grow at a 40% CAGR from US$2.16 billion in 2021 to US$8.31 billion in 2025.

TrendForce further indicates that gaming/entertainment, videos, and social interactions comprise the primary categories of virtual reality content. Incidentally, as the construction of the virtual world and the development of virtual reality content are unlikely to be accomplished by only a handful of companies alone, companies in this space will therefore place an increasing emphasis on UGC instead. Leading companies will likely leverage the build-out of virtual reality platforms/environments and the provisioning of developmental tools/interfaces in order to not only lower the barrier to entry for content creation, but also raise user participation, thereby driving up the content market for virtual reality applications.

China's technology reliance on 3rd party companies seems to be getting smaller. One of the leading technology companies in China, Huawei, has designed a laptop powered by a custom 5 nm Kirin SoC with DDR5 memory. Called the Dyna Cloud L420, Huawei has prepared this model for the Chinese market to provide a fully functional laptop that will get the job done, with no risk of the potential security backdoors implemented in the processor. Powered by a brand new Kirin 9006C SoC manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process, it features eight unknown cores running at 3.1 GHz frequency. We assume that those are custom cores designed by Huawei. This SoC is accompanied by 8 GB of LPDDR5 memory, with 256 GB and 512 GB UFS 3.1 configurations storage options.

When it comes to the rest of the laptop, it rocks a 14-inch 2160x1440 display. I/O options are solid as well, as this machine has an HDMI video output, two USB-A, one USB-C, and Gigabit Ethernet using a mini-RJ45 port. Connectivity is provided by Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 4.2. There is a 56 W/h battery that provides the juice to keep it running when it comes to the battery. And to complete all of that, this laptop officially only supports Huawei's proprietary Kirin OS (KOS) and Unity OS (UOS), with expected support for HarmonyOS in the future. Pricing and availability information is a mistery at the present date.

MediaTek and AMD announced a collaboration to co-engineer industry leading Wi-Fi solutions, starting with the AMD RZ600 Series Wi-Fi 6E modules containing MediaTek's new Filogic 330P chipset. The Filogic 330P chipset will power next-generation AMD Ryzen-series laptop and desktop PCs in 2022 and beyond, delivering fast Wi-Fi speeds with low latency and less interference from other signals.

To optimize the AMD RZ600 Series Wi-Fi 6E modules with a focus on delivering seamless connectivity experiences for customers, AMD and MediaTek developed and certified PCIe and USB interfaces for modern sleep states and power management, which are vital elements of modern customer experiences. Further, the optimization process included stress testing and ensuring compatibility standards, which may ultimately reduce development time for OEM customers.

Intel has dominated the client Wi-Fi + Bluetooth network adapter market in the PC space for some time now, particularly with WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E interfaces integrated with motherboards. Even on the AMD platform, motherboard vendors have extensively packaged not just Intel-branded WiFi + Bluetooth modules, but also their wired LAN controllers. In the commercial desktop and commercial notebook markets, Intel leverages this position to push its vPro management suite, with Intel WLAN controllers featuring vPro support. This is something felt lacking in the rival AMD PRO ecosystem, and something the company is looking to change with its collaboration with MediaTek.

AMD RZ660 will be the first controller based on this partnership. Based on the MediaTek Filogic 330P chipset, the controller combines WiFi 6E (6 GHz), with the latest generation Bluetooth (at least Bluetooth 5.2). Driver software and support for this solution will be handled by AMD, as would distribution. MediaTek stated that the first notebooks and desktop PCs (includes DIY motherboards) featuring the AMD RZ660 will debut in 2022. The AMD-supplied driver software would also enable the company to create special "PRO" variants of the RZ660 to bundle with its Ryzen PRO SoCs for the commercial PC and workstation markets. There doesn't appear to be any such collaboration with wired Ethernet, as there is an even competition between Intel and Realtek over the 2.5 GbE PHY market, with both companies offering gaming-specific variants—Intel Killer and Realtek DragonLAN.

While the global electronics supply chain experienced a chip shortage, the corresponding shortage of foundry capacities also led various foundries to raise their quotes, resulting in an over 20% YoY increase in the total annual revenues of the top 10 foundries for both 2020 and 2021, according to TrendForce's latest investigations. The top 10 foundries' annual revenue for 2021 is now expected to surpass US$100 billion. As TSMC leads yet another round of price hikes across the industry, annual foundry revenue for 2022 will likely reach US$117.69 billion, a 13.3% YoY increase.

TrendForce indicates that the combined CAPEX of the top 10 foundries surpassed US$50 billion in 2021, a 43% YoY increase. As new fab constructions and equipment move-ins gradually conclude next year, their combined CAPEX for 2022 is expected to undergo a 15% YoY increase and fall within the US$50-60 billion range. In addition, now that TSMC has officially announced the establishment of a new fab in Japan, total foundry CAPEX will likely increase further next year. TrendForce expects the foundry industry's total 8-inch and 12-inch wafer capacities to increase by 6% YoY and 14% YoY next year, respectively.

Canon Europe today introduces the PowerShot PX, a small, smart and friendly camera, which automatically captures high-quality 11.7MP images and 60p Full HD video. Part of Canon's continued commitment to redefining imaging technology, the PowerShot PX's smart features such as automatic capture of still imagery and video are set to reimagine how families capture memories. With this clever camera, families can enjoy the moment and still capture it, without having to stay behind the lens.

From family photographers to gadget-lovers, this new intuitive camera incorporates smart functionality to document social events and everyday memories. With automatic capture and priority shooting, the PowerShot PX is an innovative addition to the home that complements photographers' existing cameras, and a shining example of Canon's technology algorithm and the forward-thinking features constantly being added to its product line-up.