IBM and Inclusive Brains, a leader in non-invasive neurotechnologies and multimodal artificial intelligence, have entered a joint study agreement to experiment with advanced AI and quantum machine learning techniques. The aim of the joint study is to boost the performance of multi-modal brain-machine interfaces (BMIs).

Innovation with Positive Social Impact
BMIs have the potential to enable individuals with disabilities—particularly those who have lost the ability to use their hands or voice—to leverage connected devices and digital environments to regain control of their surroundings, eliminating the need for vocal commands or physical operation of a keyboard, screen or mouse. Inclusive Brains aims to improve access to education and employment opportunities using the insights generated in the joint study. Beyond better inclusion of people with paralysis, Inclusive Brains aims to broader societal benefits, including improved prevention of both physical and mental health issues among the wider population thanks to enhanced classifications and therefore a better understanding of brain activity patterns.

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and Xiaomi Corporation are celebrating 15 years of collaboration and have executed a multi-year agreement. The relationship between Qualcomm Technologies and Xiaomi has been pivotal in driving innovation across the technology industry and the companies are committed to delivering industry-leading products and solutions across various device categories globally.

"Qualcomm Technologies has always been one of Xiaomi's most trusted and vital partners, supporting our journey from a startup to a global technology leader. We look forward to continuing the next 15 years of our collaboration and leveraging Qualcomm's cutting-edge Snapdragon platforms and technologies to deliver even more innovative and high-quality products to our customers worldwide," said Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi.

Our Stargate project, an unprecedented investment in America's AI infrastructure announced in January with President Trump and our partners Oracle and SoftBank, is now underway with our first supercomputing campus in Abilene, Texas, and more sites to come. We've heard from many countries asking for help in building out similar AI infrastructure—that they want their own Stargates and similar projects. It's clear to everyone now that this kind of infrastructure is going to be the backbone of future economic growth and national development. Technological innovation has always driven growth by helping people do more than they otherwise could—AI will scale human ingenuity itself and drive more prosperity by scaling our freedoms to learn, think, create and produce all at once.

We want to help these countries, and in the process, spread democratic AI, which means the development, use and deployment of AI that protects and incorporates long-standing democratic principles. Examples of this include the freedom for people to choose how they work with and direct AI, the prevention of government use of AI to amass control, and a free market that ensures free competition. All these things contribute to broad distribution of the benefits of AI, discourage the concentration of power, and help advance our mission. Likewise, we believe that partnering closely with the US government is the best way to advance democratic AI.

Arctic Cooling's various thermal paste products have existed as favorite mainstays for PC builders—be it hobbyists, professionals, or influencers. Unfortunately, the disappointing presence of low-grade knock-off units has soured largely good impressions of modern MX-4 and MX-6 lines. Earlier today, Tom's Hardware put a spotlight on the Swiss-founded firm's brand-new "MX Authenticity Check" system. Worried customers can check the provenance of recently purchased Arctic thermal pastes (with updated packaging); via a QR code-based checker—the real deal will ensure "safety with genuine Arctic quality." The company's latest announcement outlined/reiterated the importance of a truly effective solution: "thermal paste plays a central role in any PC build that relies on effective cooling, as it ensures optimal heat transfer from the processor to the heat sink." In further correspondence—beyond an initial introductory email—an Arctic representative disclosed that this fresh anti-piracy strategy was rolled out in response to an uptick in counterfeit products appearing across markets. Their MX Authenticity checking program is easy to use, and authentication takes "just a few seconds." Tom's Hardware summarized this process: "in brief, when you receive your new thermal paste from Arctic or one of the many retailers that carry these compounds, you first check the seal, scratch it to reveal a QR code, scan it with your mobile, and then verify it online."

Agentic AI is redefining the cybersecurity landscape—introducing new opportunities that demand rethinking how to secure AI while offering the keys to addressing those challenges. Unlike standard AI systems, AI agents can take autonomous actions—interacting with tools, environments, other agents and sensitive data. This provides new opportunities for defenders but also introduces new classes of risks. Enterprises must now take a dual approach: defend both with and against agentic AI.

Building Cybersecurity Defense With Agentic AI
Cybersecurity teams are increasingly overwhelmed by talent shortages and growing alert volume. Agentic AI offers new ways to bolster threat detection, response and AI security—and requires a fundamental pivot in the foundations of the cybersecurity ecosystem. Agentic AI systems can perceive, reason and act autonomously to solve complex problems. They can also serve as intelligent collaborators for cyber experts to safeguard digital assets, mitigate risks in enterprise environments and boost efficiency in security operations centers. This frees up cybersecurity teams to focus on high-impact decisions, helping them scale their expertise while potentially reducing workforce burnout. For example, AI agents can cut the time needed to respond to software security vulnerabilities by investigating the risk of a new common vulnerability or exposure in just seconds. They can search external resources, evaluate environments and summarize and prioritize findings so human analysts can take swift, informed action.

Earlier in the year, MSI started to showcase a simple yet innovative safety measure—involving the heavily debated 12V-2x6 connection standard. In a completely serious April 1 social media post, the brand's gaming division refreshed its audience's collective mind: "did you know? MSI graphics cards come with a special dual-color 16-pin PCIe cable! If you see yellow, your connection isn't secure. Make sure to connect it properly, and game on with confidence! Note: this dual-color design applies only to the 1-to-3 and 1-to-4 dongles." TechPowerUp's news section has covered multiple instances of 12V-2x6 cables—and an especially fault-prone predecessor: 12WHPWR—being subject to unfortunate high temperature accidents. Yesterday, an unlucky owner shared details and images of their personal experience—involving their eye-wateringly expensive MSI GeForce RTX 5090 SUPRIM SOC model, the card's bundled cable, and a Super Flower 1300 W ATX 3.1-complaint power supply unit.

This incident was documented via a Quasar Zone BBS thread—circumstances were described as follows: "it's bitter. (My computer) kept turning off with a blue screen, so I checked and found out that the connector was burned. It's a shame... I played a game (Black Desert) that uses about 400 W for about two hours, and it happened yesterday...I need to file an AS complaint." Despite being firmly inserted—i.e. no yellow sections being visible—MSI's "foolproof" design did not prevent the melting and burning of this particular cable's graphics card-bound end connector. Fortunately, the SUPRIM SOC card's power input appears to be unaffected—the owner and several commenters surmised that a defective cable was shipped with this ultra-premium product. As pointed out by Tom's Hardware, the yellow-tipped safety measure is merely a "visual aid"—so underlying faults could still occur. ZOTAC's engineering team explored a more in-depth solution; their "12WHPWR Safety Light" feature debuted during CES 2025.

As enterprises increasingly adopt AI, securing AI factories—where complex, agentic workflows are executed—has never been more critical. NVIDIA is bringing runtime cybersecurity to every AI factory with a new NVIDIA DOCA software framework, part of the NVIDIA cybersecurity AI platform. Running on the NVIDIA BlueField networking platform, NVIDIA DOCA Argus operates on every node to immediately detect and respond to attacks on AI workloads, integrating seamlessly with enterprise security systems to deliver instant threat insights. The DOCA Argus framework provides runtime threat detection by using advanced memory forensics to monitor threats in real time, delivering detection speeds up to 1,000x faster than existing agentless solutions—without impacting system performance.

Unlike conventional tools, Argus runs independently of the host, requiring no agents, integration or reliance on host-based resources. This agentless, zero-overhead design enhances system efficiency and ensures resilient security in any AI compute environment, including containerized and multi-tenant infrastructures. By operating outside the host, Argus remains invisible to attackers—even in the event of a system compromise. Cybersecurity professionals can seamlessly integrate the framework with their SIEM, SOAR and XDR security platforms, enabling continuous monitoring and automated threat mitigation and extending their existing cybersecurity capabilities for AI infrastructure.

NVIDIA is collaborating with Google Cloud to bring agentic AI to enterprises seeking to locally harness the Google Gemini family of AI models using the NVIDIA Blackwell HGX and DGX platforms and NVIDIA Confidential Computing for data safety. With the NVIDIA Blackwell platform on Google Distributed Cloud, on-premises data centers can stay aligned with regulatory requirements and data sovereignty laws by locking down access to sensitive information, such as patient records, financial transactions and classified government information. NVIDIA Confidential Computing also secures sensitive code in the Gemini models from unauthorized access and data leaks.

"By bringing our Gemini models on premises with NVIDIA Blackwell's breakthrough performance and confidential computing capabilities, we're enabling enterprises to unlock the full potential of agentic AI," said Sachin Gupta, vice president and general manager of infrastructure and solutions at Google Cloud. "This collaboration helps ensure customers can innovate securely without compromising on performance or operational ease." Confidential computing with NVIDIA Blackwell provides enterprises with the technical assurance that their user prompts to the Gemini models' application programming interface—as well as the data they used for fine-tuning—remain secure and cannot be viewed or modified. At the same time, model owners can protect against unauthorized access or tampering, providing dual-layer protection that enables enterprises to innovate with Gemini models while maintaining data privacy.

A vertical mouse is an ergonomic choice for your desk setup, because it helps to keep your wrists in their natural, in-line position rather than flattened and twisted.
The Hansker Performance Gaming Vertical Mouse achieves this verticality without compromising on any of the high-performance functions you'll need to keep yourself competitive. The onboard PixArt PAW3395 sensor delivers top-tier precision matched by a 1000 Hz polling rate, so you know that your movements and tracking are right where they need to be.

THE GAMER'S VERTICAL MOUSE
The mouse connects through USB-C, Bluetooth, or high-performance wireless dongle for excellent flexibility—and thanks to Windows, Mac, or Linux customization, you can dial in your settings from virtually any system. There's also Low-Force Huano Switches for speed and comfort, as well as a 51-degree ergonomic angle to keep your hands positioned just right. And of course, the sleek, all-black design will look just as at home in a gamer's setup as it would in a more professional space.

Traditional cybersecurity measures are proving insufficient for addressing emerging cyber threats such as malware, ransomware, phishing and data access attacks. Moreover, future quantum computers pose a security risk to today's data through "harvest now, decrypt later" attack strategies. Cybersecurity technology powered by NVIDIA accelerated computing and high-speed networking is transforming the way organizations protect their data, systems and operations. These advanced technologies not only enhance security but also drive operational efficiency, scalability and business growth.

Accelerated AI-Powered Cybersecurity
Modern cybersecurity relies heavily on AI for predictive analytics and automated threat mitigation. NVIDIA GPUs are essential for training and deploying AI models due to their exceptional computational power.

In nearly every corner of our lives, the buzz about AI is impossible to ignore. It's destined to revolutionize how we work, learn, and play. For those of us immersed in the world of gaming—whether as players or creators—the question isn't just how AI will change the game, but how it will ignite new possibilities.

At Xbox, we're all about using AI to make things better (and more fun!) for players and game creators. We want to bring more games to more people around the world and always stay true to the creative vision and artistry of game developers. We believe generative AI can boost this creativity and open up new possibilities. We're excited to announce a generative AI breakthrough, published today in the journal Nature and announced by Microsoft Research, that shows this potential to open up new possibilities—including the opportunity to make older games accessible to future generations of players across new devices and in new ways.

People are using AI more and more at home, at work, in school, and everywhere in between. According to the most recent Microsoft Global Online Safety Survey, there has been a global increase in active generative AI users. Our findings showed that in 2024, 51% of people are users or experimenters of generative AI compared to 38% in 2023. Generation Z continues to drive this adoption with 64% of young adults reporting ever using the technology. That means it's up to us - especially those of us who work in technology and gaming - to make sure that young people have the support they need to navigate the world of AI safely while also fostering their curiosity and creativity in exploring these new technologies.

That's why, for Safer Internet Day 2025, Minecraft Education is releasing a new installment in the CyberSafe series where players can explore the risks and opportunities of AI use through fun, game-based challenges. In each instance, players are tasked with articulating guidelines for how to use AI safely and responsibly. Welcome to CyberSafe AI: Dig Deeper, available free on the Minecraft Marketplace and in Minecraft Education!

Late last month, NVIDIA claimed that 16-pin power connector issues were a thing of the past. The controversial 12VHPWR connection standard has fueled many online debates—prompting investigations from several prominent press outlets. Following NVIDIA's latest "safety" declaration—likely by coincidence—PCM Hong Kong reported another melting incident, affecting two cables and a power supply unit. The publication's hardware reviewer was recently engaged in the "full-load" testing of GeForce RTX 5090D and RTX 5080 graphics cards. Last week's evaluation session was interrupted by notable test system instabilities—upon downing tools, the PCM staffer discovered that their 1200 W PSU had given up the ghost. Additionally, two 16-pin cables had melted at both ends—initial detective work pointed to a GeForce RTX 4090 sample card being the main culprit.

VideoCardz and UNIKO's Hardware kept close tabs on PCM's next steps—online interactions, over the past weekend, spurred a re-evaluation of circumstances. According to PCM's latest update, they noticed burn marks on the GeForce RTX 4090 test unit—the two GeForce RTX-50-series cards did not exhibit any physical damage. Post-analysis, the reviewer now suspects that an SSD failure could be the root cause. They were happy to report that all involved RTX cards have survived, and that their test platform has been re-equipped with 12V-2x6 cables. An amended VideoCardz article proposes that everything came down to a simple human error.

An academic collaboration—between research departments at Georgia Institute of Technology and Ruhr University Bochum—has produced two white paper studies that disclose details regarding the vulnerable nature of certain generations of Apple Silicon. The documents were made available online earlier in the week; readily accessible through their Predictors.Fail webpage. The "SLAP" attack paper's moniker is derived/abbreviated from its long-form title: "Data Speculation Attacks via Load Address Prediction on Apple" Silicon. A similarly uncatchy acronymization has been generated by the second paper's full title: "Breaking the Apple M3 CPU via False Load Output Predictions"—aka "FLOP" attack. The North American and German security research teams have partnered up in the past—their "iLeakage" speculative execution side-channel attack was documented back in October 2023.

Spectre and Meltdown are the original, and likely most famous/notorious examples of speculative execution CPU vulnerability—owners of particular processor architectures were affected at the start of 2018. The Predictors.Fail bulletin proposes that the latest side-channel attacks affect Apple hardware of 2021 vintage and beyond. The teams introduced SLAP as: "a new speculative execution attack that arises from optimizing data dependencies, as opposed to control flow dependencies." They believe that Apple models: "starting with the M2 and A15 are equipped with a Load Address Predictor (LAP), which improves performance by guessing the next memory address the CPU will retrieve data from based on prior memory access patterns. However, if the LAP guesses wrong, it causes the CPU to perform arbitrary computations on out-of-bounds data, which should never have been accessed to begin with, under speculative execution. Building on this observation, we demonstrate the real-world security risks of the LAP via an end-to-end attack on the Safari web browser, where an unprivileged remote adversary can recover email content and browsing behavior."

In the early hours of Tuesday, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck near a remote mountainous region roughly 24 miles southeast of Chiayi in Taiwan, causing temporary operational halts at multiple TSMC facilities. The tremor occurred at 12:17 AM local time and was felt in Tainan, home to four of TSMC's manufacturing sites. Workers in both Central and Southern Taiwan were evacuated as a precaution, following standard company protocols designed to ensure employee safety. TSMC initiated thorough structural inspections immediately after the quake. According to company representatives, all crucial infrastructure, such as water supply and power systems, remained fully functional. With no significant damage detected during safety assessments, TSMC has gradually restarted its production lines, minimizing any long-term impact on its global client base.

Despite the relatively brief disruption, the incident exposes the fragility of the semiconductor manufacturing process. Taiwan's frequent seismic activity has the potential to affect the complex manufacturing processes crucial for producing silicon. Given the company's massive consumption of chemicals and silicon ingots, any significant production setbacks at TSMC can resonate through global supply chains. To reduce these geographical and nature-inspired risks, TSMC is investing heavily in new manufacturing facilities elsewhere, notably in Arizona. Although these sites are expected to enhance the company's resilience, they will only account for around 10% of TSMC's total production capacity. Additionally, as TSMC doesn't plan to bring state-of-the-art production to other sites, the company must implement safety features against earthquake protection in its Taiwan facilities to continue production. A minor manufacturing hiccup can equate to billions of losses across the supply chain.

MSI is preparing a new selection of yellow-tipped 16-pin power adapters—as reported by VideoCardz earlier today—for inclusion with certain GeForce RX 50 series "Blackwell" GPU-based graphics card models. An official announcement has not been released—regarding the latest color coding for power connectors—but new product photos have appeared on the MSI website. The yellow sections provide a clear "visual guide" when hooking the relevant adapter up to a graphics card—full insertion is achieved when the yellow tip is fully obscured by its surroundings. MSI's latest image uploads indicate that dual 8-pin to single 16-pin adapters will likely be bundled with MSI's GeForce RTX 5070 models. The RTX 5070 Ti and 5080 product tiers will be getting three 8-pin ended adapters. A very busy-looking 4-way splitter is seemingly reserved for flagship GeForce RTX 5090 cards.

The MAG GL PSU series debuted back in 2023, featuring a similarly-tinted "dual color" safety measure—based on customer and community feedback. At the time, MSI stated that it had reacted to: "reported cases of power supply connectors being burnt when paired with high-end graphics cards. We've identified the main reason: the connectors not being plugged in properly and the connector pins suffering from fall outs. With this new cable, we successfully tackle both issues head-on." Manufacturers have continued to release new products that utilize the "problematic" 12VHPWR standard, even years after the introduction of a successor: 12V-2x6. NVIDIA and several of its board partners are reported to be sticking with the first iteration PCIe Gen 5 16-pin connector for upcoming GeForce RTX 50-series graphics cards. The TechPowerUp team inspected ZOTAC's new 12WHPWR "Safety Light" feature at the recently concluded CES trade event—a visual warning will be displayed in the event of a connection problem being detected.

AI agents are poised to transform productivity for the world's billion knowledge workers with "knowledge robots" that can accomplish a variety of tasks. To develop AI agents, enterprises need to address critical concerns like trust, safety, security and compliance. New NVIDIA NIM microservices for AI guardrails—part of the NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails collection of software tools—are portable, optimized inference microservices that help companies improve the safety, precision and scalability of their generative AI applications.

Central to the orchestration of the microservices is NeMo Guardrails, part of the NVIDIA NeMo platform for curating, customizing and guardrailing AI. NeMo Guardrails helps developers integrate and manage AI guardrails in large language model (LLM) applications. Industry leaders Amdocs, Cerence AI and Lowe's are among those using NeMo Guardrails to safeguard AI applications. Developers can use the NIM microservices to build more secure, trustworthy AI agents that provide safe, appropriate responses within context-specific guidelines and are bolstered against jailbreak attempts. Deployed in customer service across industries like automotive, finance, healthcare, manufacturing and retail, the agents can boost customer satisfaction and trust.

IQVIA, the world's leading provider of clinical research services, commercial insights and healthcare intelligence, is working with NVIDIA to build custom foundation models and agentic AI workflows that can accelerate research, clinical development and access to new treatments. AI applications trained on the organization's vast healthcare-specific information and guided by its deep domain expertise will help the industry boost the efficiency of clinical trials and optimize planning for the launch of therapies and medical devices—ultimately improving patient outcomes.

Operating in over 100 countries, IQVIA has built the largest global healthcare network and is uniquely connected to the ecosystem with the most comprehensive and granular set of information, analytics and technologies in the industry. Announced today at the J.P. Morgan Conference in San Francisco, IQVIA's collection of models, AI agents and reference workflows will be developed with the NVIDIA AI Foundry platform for building custom models, allowing IQVIA's thousands of pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device customers to benefit from NVIDIA's agentic AI capabilities and IQVIA's technologies, life sciences information and expertise.

A new security breach is trying to pump the brakes on Path Of Exile 2's overwhelmingly positive late 2024 launch, as a mysterious hack appears to be making the rounds in the new RPG, although the source of the vulnerability is yet to be identified. According to a growing number of posts on the Path of Exile 2 forum, subreddit, and even the game's Steam reviews, players are apparently logging into their PoE 2 accounts only to find that all their loot and gear they've now spent dozens or even hundreds of hours grinding for, has been removed from their accounts. The most alarming thing is that nobody seems to know how these hacks are happening. Some players say they changed their main email address and Steam login passwords days before they were hacked, and most seem to have no Steam 2FA requests, suggesting that there is either a security issue with the Path of Exile 2 game servers or there is some sort of session hijacking happening that is giving bad actors access to player accounts.

Until now, Grinding Gear Games, the developer behind Path of Exile 2, has not openly commented on the hacking incidents, with a single comment from the support team on the forum advising players to email support about it if they encounter such instances. According to the Steam review mentioning an account hacking incident, however, the player managed to track down the hacker on his own, subsequently contacted support and posted about it in the PoE 2 forum, and asked the moderator to assist in preventing the sale of the rest of his goods. This attempt was apparently enough to get the gamer's forum posts removed and put on probation. Meanwhile, the support request was met even more unkindly, with PoE 2 support going so far as to lock him out of his own account. He also isn't alone, with others in the Path of Exile 2 forum reporting that sharing the in-game name of their alleged hacker with support has led to their game account being locked.

Transcend Information Inc. (Transcend ), a leading global manufacturer of memory storage solutions, announces the launch of its new CFX735 and CFX735I CFast cards. These cards feature built-in write protection technology, designed specifically for professional applications that require secure data storage and stable, high-performance write capabilities.

Leveraging 112-layer 3D NAND flash technology and a SATA III 6 Gb/s interface, this series offers exceptional read/write speeds and large storage capacities. Whether you're dealing with data-intensive applications or operating in demanding environments, these cards deliver reliable performance. The CFX735 operates in a temperature range of -5°C to 70°C, while the CFX735I is built for extreme environments, functioning reliably from -40°C to 85°C, perfect for outdoor and temperature fluctuating scenarios.

We previously covered a damning report that levelled some pretty severe allegations at Roblox concerning a mix of child safety and false platform metrics. While nothing seems to have been done about the latter, Roblox looks to be addressing the former, and far more serious, of the allegations. According to a Bloomberg report, Roblox will add child safety measures in November that will give parents more control over what their children can see and interact with in Roblox's various games and communities.

According to Bloomberg, Roblox sent parents of the platform's minor audience an email detailing the new changes coming in November. Seemingly in response to the recent criticism, Roblox is putting more control in the hands of parents. Specifically, children under 13 will need parental approval in order to access certain chat features, although the company declined to clarify on exactly what it means by this. Additionally, children under nine years of age will require parental approval in order to play games known to contain moderate violence or crude humor. For more involved parents, Roblox is also introducing a new account type that will allow parents to supervise their online activities. These new safety measures come after Roblox effectively dismissed the October 9 Hindenburg report's accusations that it wasn't doing enough to protect its minor audience.

To anyone following gaming with any sort of regularity, it's plain to see that Roblox is by far one of the biggest, if not the biggest game among young audiences. Now, a new report from Hindenburg Research claims that Roblox has not only misrepresented its user count but has also failed to protect minors, who make up as much as 60% of the game platform's users. After Hindenburg released the statement, Roblox responded to the claim denying the allegations, citing that it strictly enforces its community standards, although it admits that bots and inflated user counts are an issue the company actively tries to fight.

Hindenburg's report alleges that Roblox has repeatedly inflated its user figure, intentionally using vague language to mislead its investors about how many users it has. The organization also claims to have discovered several cases of sexual abuse and exploitation of minors on the platform, citing incidents involving kidnapping and sexual assault against minors that stemmed from in-game meetings.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), the organization that oversees Bluetooth technology, announced the release of Bluetooth Channel Sounding, a new secure, fine-ranging feature that promises to enhance the convenience, safety, and security of Bluetooth connected devices. By enabling true distance awareness in billions of everyday devices, Bluetooth Channel Sounding opens countless possibilities for developers and users alike.

"Bluetooth technology has become an ingredient of everyday life," said Neville Meijers, CEO, Bluetooth Special Interest Group. "When connected devices are distance-aware, a range of new possibilities emerge. Adding true distance awareness to Bluetooth technology exemplifies the ongoing commitment of the Bluetooth SIG community to continuously enhance our connection with our devices, one another, and the world around us."

ESR, the leading brand for mobile accessories and the #1 brand for MagSafe accessories, proudly announces the launch of its latest innovation: the Cyber FlickLock Case for AirPods. This new product sets a benchmark in AirPod protection, combining ESR's exclusive FlickLock safety lock design with advanced features that enhance both security and usability.

Unmatched Security with FlickLock Lock System
The Cyber FlickLock case showcases ESR's new proprietary FlickLock safety lock, ensuring your AirPods always remain secure. The case lid is designed with a total of 7 strong magnets on the upper and lower sides, providing a powerful magnetic strength of 1480 g. The entire body is crafted from resilient TPU + PC materials, fortified with Air Guard corners that offer dual-layer shock absorption. This design provides robust drop-proof protection, safeguarding your AirPods from everyday impacts.

Seasonic introduced a new 12V-2x6 modular PSU cable model late last year—at the time, interested parties were also invited to Beta test early examples. Finalized versions have been introduced, via a freshly uploaded YouTube video (see below) and a dedicated product page. The "H++" connector standard—part of a new ATX 3.1 specification—is expected to replace the troubled "H+" 12VHWPR design. The PC hardware community has engaged in long-running debates about the development and rollout of a danger/peril-free alternative. PCI-SIG drafted the 12V-2x6 design last summer.

Seasonic's introductory section stated: "with the arrival of the new ATX 3 / PCIe 5.0 specifications, some graphic cards will now be powered by the new 12V-2x6 connector. Offering up to 600 W of power, the Seasonic native 12V-2x6 cable has been crafted with high quality materials, such as high current terminal connectors and 16 AWG wires to ensure the highest performance and safety in usage." The new cables are compatible with Seasonic's current ATX 3.0 power supply unit range—including "PRIME TX, PRIME PX, VERTEX GX, PX, GX White and Sakura, FOCUS GX and GX White" models. Owners of older Seasonic ATX 2.0 PSUs are best served with an optional 2x8-pin to 12V-2x6 adapter cable—although 650 W rated and single PCIe connector-equipped units are not supported at all. Two native cable models, and a non-native variant are advertised in the manufacturer's video.