Tag Archives: Computing

CES 2024: AI everything, what we expect in Las Vegas and all the announcements so far

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I know we say this every year, but it feels like just yesterday we were all crammed in a single room in Las Vegas eating mediocre takeout and voting for best in show in Engadget's annual Best of CES Awards. But CES 2024 is, in fact, just around the corner. The show officially runs from January 9 to January 12, though we'll be on the ground well before that, with the first CES-related events expected to kick off on January 7. 

Last year we saw a focus on accessibility and a rather disturbing amount of stuff that you were supposed to pee on or into. While we'll probably see a good amount devices designed to help those with hearing impairments and mobility restrictions again this year, we anticipate some new trends to steal some headlines. Here's a few predictions from our staff about what to expect from CES 2024 in Las Vegas — plus a digest of what's been announced in the run-up to the show.

User-friendly solar 

Jackery solar panels and power station
Jackery

I suspect CES 2024 will be full of clean energy technology, packaged in the form of consumer hardware. Solar panels have traditionally been the purview of professional contractors but standalone setups are gaining in popularity. Two or three years ago, this gear would have been targeted at RV users but now it’s cresting into the mainstream. Pop-up panels, coupled with inverters and batteries that look like air conditioning units, sitting unobtrusively in the corner, are all the rage. It’s a plus that most of these setups are plug and play, removing the need for a professional to get involved.

There are a couple of drivers for this beyond the niche audience of folks looking to get off of the electricity grid. In many places outside the US, the cost of energy has spiked dramatically and it’s folly to think the same won’t happen here. Not to mention that, in places like Texas, people have seen the power grid fail with devastating consequences. It’s going to be a big market in the next few years and I’d expect to see more and more consumer brands follow Anker and Jackery into the home battery world. — Dan Cooper, Senior Reporter UK

MEMS earbuds

Exploded view of an xMEMS headphone.
xMEMS

If Engadget’s audience stats are any indication, audio nerds are extremely excited about MEMS earbud drivers. As my colleague James Trew has detailed in his reporting, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) may very well be the next big thing in headphones. A California-based company called xMEMS is the first to bring the solid state components to market, and the first true wireless earbuds that use them have recently gone on sale.

Some of the benefits of MEMS drivers are said to be improved response, better durability and more consistent fidelity. They also don’t require the calibration or matching that balanced-armature or dynamic drivers need on a production line. The only downside is that in their current state, they still need a hybrid setup with a secondary driver for bass. In its next-gen MEMS speaker, though, xMEMS is promising 40 times louder bass response.

The new model is called Cypress and the company will be demoing it for attendees at CES. xMEMS says its performance is consistent with the bass performance of “the best” 10-12 coil speakers currently being used in earbuds. What’s more, Cypress can improve ANC performance, which xMEMs says will cover higher frequencies – including crying babies. The company has already said the components won’t go into mass production until the end of 2024, so consumer products are over a year away. But the promise is too good not to be excited about a very early preview in Las Vegas. — Billy Steele, Senior Reporter

Wi-Fi 7 in everything

Wi-Fi 7
Netgear

While it may not be the most exciting development, I’m expecting to see a number of new devices with support for Wi-Fi 7 at CES 2024 — from laptops to TVs and everything in between. Currently, it’s still a work in progress, but with the official Wi-Fi 7 spec expected to be finalized sometime in early 2024, gadget makers are looking to get an early jump. Some benefits of Wi-Fi 7 include maximum speeds of up to 46 Gbps — more than twice as fast as what’s available using Wi-Fi 6/6E — along with a 320Mhz channel width that offers double the capacity compared to previous generations.

Another important feature is MLO (multi-link operation) which allows Wi-Fi 7 devices to use two bands at the same time, essentially turning a single wireless connection into a two-lane highway. For people with larger homes, this should improve the performance of mesh networks by allowing devices to switch bands without losing speed or connection. QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) is also getting a significant boost from 1024-QAM on Wi-Fi 6/6E to 4096-QAM with Wi-Fi 7 which allows devices to pack more information into the same carrier signal.

The downside is that while there are some gadgets on sale today like the Samsung Galaxy S23 that already support Wi-Fi 7, you’ll need both a compatible device and router (not to mention a sufficiently fast internet connection) to take advantage of the spec’s full capabilities. In short, you should keep an eye out for new devices that work with Wi-Fi 7, but don’t rush out and upgrade everything in your home until prices stabilize and they become more widespread. — Sam Rutherford, Senior Reporter

The year of the AI PC

Intel Core Ultra
Intel

If there’s one buzzy term you’re guaranteed to hear a ton throughout 2024, it’s “AI PC.” It’s a phrase both Intel and AMD are using to describe computers equipped with chips featuring NPUs, or neural processing units. Similar to the way GPUs speed up graphics processing for gaming, an NPU offloads AI tasks to handle them more efficiently. For Windows 11, that’s mainly limited to Microsoft’s Studio Effects, which can blur your video chat backgrounds or punch up your lighting. But more Windows AI features are rumored to be on the way (Microsoft’s push to bring its Copilot AI everywhere is a big sign), and companies like Adobe and Audacity are also developing NPU-powered features for their apps.

For years chipmakers have been chasing higher clock rates, smaller process designs and a wealth of other architectural upgrades like 3D transistors to make their hardware faster and more efficient. The move towards mobile chip designs, like Apple’s Silicon, is yet another way to reduce power consumption while also speeding up computational possibilities. Intel, AMD and other companies are also focusing more on GPUs to beef up basic gaming performance, while also offloading some creative tasks like media encoding. NPUs are the latest tool chip designers can rely on, and they also have the potential to change the way we use our computers entirely (or at least, deliver a bit more power and battery life for ultraportables).

While it’s easy to be skeptical of marketing terms, the phrase “AI PC” is at least functional. There are still plenty of laptops on the market without NPUs — Intel only got into the AI game with its new Core Ultra chips — so consumers will need an easy way to differentiate between different types of systems. After all, if you’re upgrading your laptop to take advantage of Windows Studio effects and AI powered software, you don’t want to be stuck with a non-NPU system for several years. — Devindra Hardawar, Senior Reporter

Truly wireless TV

A Displace TV unit attached to large windows.
Cherlynn Low / Engadget

Displace made a splash at CES 2023 with its truly wireless TV that could be mounted anywhere, even suction-cupped to a window. The company’s demo left us with a lot of questions as it wasn’t yet ready to discuss key details of the product since what it showed off were CES-specific prototypes. The company is returning to Vegas this year and it’s already announced what it plans to have on display.

First, Displace says two sizes of TVs will be demoed: the 27-inch Displace Mini and the 55-inch Displace Flex. The display we saw earlier this year was also 55 inches, but a key difference between it and the Flex is that this new version attaches to an optional magnetic wireless charging stand. Both the Flex and the Mini pack enough battery life to last a month if you watch six hours of content per day, according to the company. There’s no pricing available for these yet, but they go up for pre-order on January 9, so we’re bound to find out soon. Displace said it will also show off a 110-inch model at CES, although details are scarce.

The original version has gone up in price since last CES: it’s now $4,499 and orders won’t ship until mid-2024. The new Mini and Flex aren’t expected to ship until late next year either. The main thing we’ll be looking for at CES is a status update. Are the units any more polished? Have there been any notable upgrades since that first prototype? How much will the extra swappable batteries cost? Does it look like the company will actually be able to ship in the next 6-12 months?

Displace has also announced an AI-based shopping platform for its TVs. Using the same gestures that control TV viewing, the tech can analyze a paused scene for products that might be available for sale. The system also allows you to quickly make a purchase by either bringing a phone or watch near the NFC-enabled TVs or by using a mobile app. Displace says the goal for its products has always been ambient computing, and the first step towards that is this shopping platform. It’s also a way for the company to make money off the TVs after the initial sale. — Billy Steele

Announcements so far

Although CES 2024 officially kicks off on January 9, that hasn't stopped some companies from making their announcements a few days early. Here's some of the bigger news items we've reported on so far:

Early CES 2024 hands-on posts

How to watch the first CES 2024 press conferences

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ces-2024-what-we-expect-in-las-vegas-this-year-140040145.html?src=rss

LG’s latest Gram laptops are predictably stuffed with AI features

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LG just announced new entries in its gram series of laptops as part of an early CES 2024 reveal. These include two new LG Gram Pro laptops and standard refreshes of the pre-existing gram line.

The LG Gram Pro boasts impressive specs, with an Intel Core Ultra processor and a GeForce RTX 3050 GPU. These computers also ship with Intel’s AI Boost technology. LG says this upgrade allows the laptop to “handle AI workloads even without a network connection.”

This AI tomfoolery also extends to the company’s proprietary Link app, which now automatically shares files and photos between devices. Finally, this is the first gram laptop to feature a dual-fan cooling system. AI tools are notoriously power-hungry and this will help stave off excess heat. You can choose between 16-inch and 17-inch models here.

A white laptop floating.
LG

The LG Gram Pro 2-in-1 offers similar specs to the standard Pro, but with a convertible form factor and a one-size-fits-all 16-inch OLED display. There’s a touchscreen, a 360-degree adjustable hinge and a “super-slim bezel design.” This hybrid laptop comes with Intel’s AI Boost tech and LG’s Link app. It’s also lightweight, at around three pounds, with the company boasting that it recently won the Guiness World Record for “lightest 16-inch 2-in-1 laptop.” Geeze. These records sure are getting highly specific. 

The standard LG Gram line’s also getting a nice refresh, with new iterations of gram 17, 16, 15 and 14 models. Each of these comes with Intel Core Ultra processors and IPS panels with anti-glare coating. The 17 and 16 models boast WQXGA resolution displays, while the smaller SKUs get FHD or WUXGA resolution displays. These laptops are intended for regular business and school use, so they come with FHD webcams and a “variety of user-friendly software.” They also boast the same Mirametrix privacy tech as previous generations.

If you find yourself in Las Vegas in two weeks, all of these laptops will be on display as part of LG’s presence at CES 2024. The company hasn’t announced pricing or availability yet, but has stated that each will show up on store shelves at some point during 2024.

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lgs-latest-gram-laptops-are-predictably-stuffed-with-ai-features-163910204.html?src=rss

SanDisk’s 1TB microSD is just $90 in Amazon’s storage sale

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The holidays are over and all those great digital Nintendo Switch games you got aren't going to store themselves, especially if you’ve maxed out your Switch storage. Fortunately, a well-timed sale has you covered, with SanDisk's 1TB microSD currently on sale for $90 from $150 — a solid 40 percent discount. It's designed specifically for the Nintendo Switch and features a Legend of Zelda design. 

SanDisk's 1TB microSD is Nintendo Switch system's official licensed microSD card, meaning you don't have to worry about any issues with compatibility. It offers write speeds of up to 90MB per second and read speeds up to 100MB per second. The Nintendo Switch only comes with 32GB of storage (part of which the system uses), so an extra 1TB can go a long way toward saving all your gaming data. 

If you're in need of a whole lot more storage, Western Digital's 4TB SN850X NVMe Internal Gaming SSD is also on sale. The Windows computer drive is currently down to $230 from $286 — a 19 percent discount. The WD_Black SSD offers speeds up to 7,300MB per second while regularly monitoring the drive's health. It also controls your RGB style and uses tools like predictive loading. Keep in mind this deal is available on the model without heatsink. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sandisks-1tb-microsd-is-just-90-in-amazons-storage-sale-103521798.html?src=rss

The Morning After: Intel unveils its first chips built for AI work

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Just a week after AMD revealed its own Ryzen 8040 hardware, Intel has entered its own AI PC era. The company’s new Core Ultra notebook chips, codenamed Meteor Lake, are Intel’s first processors to include an NPU, or neural processing unit, for accelerating AI tasks.

Intel claims the Core Ultra chips use up to 79 percent less power than AMD’s last-gen Ryzen 7840U while idling in Windows, and they’re also up to 11 percent faster than AMD’s hardware for multithreaded tasks. Intel, however, didn’t have the upcoming Ryzen 8040 chips to test against. They use the company’s new Intel 4 (7nm) process and should be “the most efficient x86 processor for ultrathin systems.”

As for AI workloads, Intel says Core Ultra chips can reach up to 34 TeraOPS when combining performance across the NPU, GPU and CPU. The big difference is the NPU: It’ll enable features like Windows 11’s Studio Effects, which can blur backgrounds and improve video lighting without hurting your battery life much. With more creative AI workloads, Intel says the Ultra 7 165H is 70 percent faster than the rival Ryzen 7 7840U in Adobe Premiere Pro.

Check out the rest of the specs and benchmark tests from Intel over here, and expect to hear more “AI PC” bluster in 2024.

Oh, and nothing to do with Intel’s chips, but be ready for everyone to be playing with AI-generated backgrounds on Instagram this week.

— Mat Smith

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Threads’ new hashless tags are good for pranks

Meta probably should have seen this coming.

TMA
Engadget

Meta finally rolled out searchable tags for all users on Threads, its microblogging Instagram offshoot, and users are taking advantage of a design quirk for a bit of dumb fun. Threads’ “topic tags” are a lot like hashtags, but not entirely the same. For one, there’s no hash (#). It’s pretty basic stuff… which makes the effectiveness of a new prank feel all the more absurd.

Someone can create a Threads post, ideally with a lot of text, then slap a “Show more” tag at the end, seemingly in the middle of a word or sentence. You, the unwitting victim, will then click “Show more” expecting to see the rest of the post, but — surprise! — it’ll direct you to the page for that tag instead.

Ah, pranks. Just in time for Thread’s awaited Europe launch…

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Spider-Man 2’s New Game+ mode pushed back to 2024

Other features, such as audio descriptions, are also delayed.

When Insomniac Games launched Spider-Man 2, it didn’t yet have features like New Game+ and audio descriptions. Community and marketing director, James Stevenson, shared that New Game+ “should” arrive before the end of 2023. But Insomniac has now released a statement explaining it’s targeting the next Spider-Man 2 update for early 2024. Insomniac went on to explain it’s adding more “highly requested features” to the game, such as replaying missions and changing the time of day.

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Engadget’s best gaming laptops

These are our favorites.

TMA
Engadget

Gaming laptops have been some of the most intriguing portable PCs for the past few years. They’ve gotten thinner and lighter, but also vastly more powerful and efficient, thanks to advanced CPUs and GPUs. Gaming laptops are where PC makers can get adventurous, with things like rotating hinges and near desktop-like customizability. We lay out the specs that matter, the price you can expect to pay and some of our standout favorites.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-intel-unveils-its-first-chips-built-for-ai-work-121504827.html?src=rss

Lenovo’s latest ThinkPad and IdeaPad laptops include new Intel Core Ultra chips

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Lenovo has unveiled its latest productivity-focused ThinkPad and IdeaPad laptops ahead of CES. The systems are equipped with Intel's new Core Ultra chipsets, which include three compute engines — a central processing unit, graphics processing unit and neural processing unit. Those are designed to work together for greater efficiency. Lenovo notes that some compute tasks can be offloaded to the GPU or NPU for better performance and power management. Since they run on Windows 11, all three laptops will support Copilot AI features.

The IdeaPad Pro 5i is the first consumer Intel Evo Edition laptop that runs on an Intel Core Ultra chipset. Lenovo claims this will power faster AI-driven features, such as image and text generation, as well as photo editing. There are also claims of improved performance for traditionally demanding tasks like video editing and exporting, along with multitasking.

You can equip the IdeaPad Pro 5i with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, up to 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to a 1TB SSD. An expandable SSD slot and SD card reader can help bump up the storage as well.

The laptop is available in 14-inch and 16-inch formats with several display options, including an 16:10 OLED panel with a 100 percent DCI-P3 color gamut and 120Hz refresh rate. The IR Full HD camera has a time-of-flight sensor and privacy shutter along with Windows Hello support.

No matter which size of the laptop you opt for, you'll get an 84WHr polymer battery with quick charging support via Thunderbolt 4. You'll get an HDMI 2.1 port, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A slots and a 3.5mm audio jack. There's also Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 support. The 14-inch model weighs 3.22 lbs and the larger variant is 4.3 lbs.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i is available now. The laptop starts at $1,150.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12
Lenovo

You'll need to wait slightly longer for the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12. Some configurations will be available later this month (starting at $2,989) and the full swathe of options to follow in March. The ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 9 will become available in March too. That laptop is expected to start at $2,639.

Lenovo has integrated a major accessibility-focused feature into the new ThinkPads in the form of additional tactile cues on the keyboard to help folks with visual impairments. The company says it worked with Microsoft’s Accessibility Team to help develop new industry standards in keyboard design. For instance, the F2 and F3 keys (often used for volume control) have tactile markings, as does the Insert key to help people tell it apart from the Delete key. Meanwhile, the ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 has a larger magnetic pen, which is said to deliver a better experience for those who prefer to use a stylus.

The ThinkPad X1 models include a self-explanatory Low Light Enhancer feature for the webcam. Lenovo says this tool runs on the NPU for greater system efficiency when you have video conferencing software such as Zoom running.

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 can be configured with up to 64GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 2TB of SSD storage. There's no dedicated GPU option as the laptop will support Intel Arc graphics. The 14-inch display can have a resolution of up to 2.8K with a refresh rate of 120Hz on an OLED panel.

As for ports, you'll get two USB-C Thunderbolt 4, two USB-C, an HDMI 2.1 and a 3.5mm audio jack. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 can be equipped with Wi-Fi 6E or 7 and Bluetooth 5.3. There are several webcam options too, up to an 8MP MIPI Computer Vision camera with privacy shutter. The laptop's weight starts at 2.42 lbs.

The ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 9 has similar specs though it, of course, is a 2-in-1. The other key difference is that the weight starts at 2.92 lbs.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 9
Lenovo

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lenovos-latest-thinkpad-and-ideapad-laptops-include-new-intel-core-ultra-chips-150037731.html?src=rss

Intel unveils Core Ultra, its first chips with NPUs for AI work

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Intel today is entering the "AI PC" era with the launch of its new Core Ultra notebook chips. Originally codenamed "Meteor Lake," these are Intel's first processors to include an NPU, or neural processing unit, for accelerating AI tasks. The launch comes a week after AMD revealed its upcoming Ryzen 8040 hardware, its second batch of chips to include NPUs. While Intel is playing a bit of AI catch-up, the Core Ultra chips still sound like a solid step forward — at least according to the company's benchmarks.

Intel claims the Core Ultra chips use up to 79 percent less power than AMD's last-gen Ryzen 7840U while idling in Windows, and they're also up to 11 percent faster than AMD's hardware for multithreaded tasks. Intel didn't have the upcoming Ryzen 8040 chips to test, but it'll be interesting to see how they both compare next year.

Efficiency is a key component of the Core Ultra chips: They're built on the company's new Intel 4 (7nm) process, and they feature its FOVEROS 3D packaging. According to Intel, these are are also "the most efficient x86 processor for ultrathin systems." There are refined P (Performance) and E (Efficiency) cores, as well as Intel Arc graphics, which is up to twice as fast as the last generation (and also offer double the performance per watt).

Intel Core Ultra
Intel

The Core Ultra family launches with the Ultra 7 165H at the high end, offering 16 cores/22 threads (6P cores, 8 E cores and 2 low-power E cores and a 5GHz Max Turbo frequency. A beefier Ultra 9 185H will arrive in the first quarter of 2024 with a 5.1GHz Max Turbo speed, slightly faster GPU and higher power draw (45 watts, compared to the Ultra 7's 28 watts). As usual, there's also a lower-power "U" series of chips for the thinnest machines.

While you won't find the Core Ultra chips in the most powerful gaming laptops, the addition of Intel Arc graphics should make them slightly more viable for less demanding gaming (or at least more on par with AMD's 7000 series chips). Intel says the Ultra 7 165H can play Baldur's Gate 3 twice as fast as the Core i7 1370P in 1080p with medium graphics settings, and it can handle Resident Evil Village 95 percent faster than that older Intel chip. 

Across an average of 18 games, including Apex Legends, Overwatch 2 and Final Fantasy XIV, Intel says the Ultra 7 165H is 5 percent faster than AMD's Ryzen 7 7840U in the Thinkpad T16. Sure, that's just a nominal improvement over last-gen hardware, but at least Intel finally appears to be competitive with AMD's solid graphics. The company's XeSS AI upscaling can also improve performance around 39 percent on average in 1080p. In some titles, including Like A Dragon: Gaiden, Intel's upscaling can bump a game up from a middling 30fps range to a far smoother 69 fps.

Intel Core Ultra family

As for AI workloads, Intel says Core Ultra chips can reach up to 34 TeraOPS when combining performance across the NPU, GPU and CPU. But the big change this time is the NPU: It'll enable features like Windows 11's Studio Effects, which can blur backgrounds and improve video lighting without hurting your battery life much. For creative AI workloads, Intel says the Ultra 7 165H is 70 percent faster than the Ryzen 7 7840U in Adobe Premiere Pro and a whopping 5.4 times faster running GIMP Stable Diffusion.

What's truly exciting about the Core Ultra hardware, as well as AMD's upcoming Ryzen 8040 series, is the potential for NPUs to make our computing lives slightly easier. They could help eke out more battery life while editing audio in Audacity on the go, or give you a slightly sleeker background blur during Zoom calls. Both Intel and AMD also say they're also pushing developers to help create more AI-enabled features in their apps. Basically, get used to the term "AI PC" — you'll be hearing it quite a bit throughout the next year.  

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/intel-unveils-core-ultra-its-first-chips-with-npus-for-ai-work-150021289.html?src=rss

Acer’s Predator Triton Neo 16 gaming laptop has Intel Core Ultra processors

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Acer just unveiled the Predator Triton Neo 16 gaming laptop which features Intel’s long-awaited Core Ultra processors, formerly referred to internally as Meteor Lake. These CPUs boast a dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for advanced AI performance. The chips prioritize efficiency and speed, with Intel promising that graphics will be twice as fast when it comes to performance per watt, among other intriguing metrics.

As for the actual laptop, Acer’s Predator Triton Neo 16 is a beast. There’s the Core Ultra processor, with availability up to i9, but you can also outfit it with a powerful GPU, up to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070. This combination allows for AI-optimized visuals when playing games with advanced ray tracing, thanks to NVIDIA’s DLSS 3.5 technology.

There are several 16-inch display options here, offering up to a 3.2K resolution with a 165Hz refresh rate and a 16:10 aspect ratio. These screens take advantage of a DCI-P3 100% color gamut and offer support for NVIDIA G-Sync and Optimus, for sharper colors and tear-free frames.

You can spec this laptop out with up to 32GB of LPDDR5X system memory and up to 2TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage. These computers also offer access to Acer’s proprietary Purifier Voice 2.0 technology, which combines AI-driven noise reduction and beam-forming to keep communications clear during fast-paced multiplayer sessions. The Predator Triton Neo 16 will be available in March, starting at $1,500.

A laptop on a white background.
Acer

Looking for a laptop outfitted with a new Intel Core Ultra chip but don’t want to wait until March? Acer also updated the Swift Go 14 line. These laptops aren’t as powerful, maxing out with an i7 chip, but feature a gorgeous OLED display. You can actually pick one of these up today from retailers like Amazon, Costco and Sam’s Club, among others. The Swift Go 14 starts at $800 for the bare-bones model.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/acers-predator-triton-neo-16-gaming-laptop-has-intel-core-ultra-processors-150009793.html?src=rss

AMD’s Ryzen 8040 chips remind Intel it’s falling behind in AI PCs

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Last January, AMD beat out Intel by launching its Ryzen 7040 chips, the first x86 processors to integrate a neural processing unit (NPU) for AI workloads. Intel's long-delayed Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" chips, its first to integrate an NPU, are set to arrive on December 14th. But it seems AMD can't help but remind Intel it's lagging behind: Today, AMD is announcing the Ryzen 8040 series chips, its next batch of AI-equipped laptop hardware, and it's also giving us a peak into its future AI roadmap.

The Ryzen 8040 chips, spearheaded by the 8-core Ryzen 9 8945HS, are up to 1.4 times faster than its predecessors when its comes to Llama 2 and AI vision model performance, according to AMD. They're also reportedly up to 1.8 times faster than Intel's high-end 13900H chip when it comes to gaming, and 1.4 times faster for content creation. Of course, the real test will be comparing them to Intel's new Core Ultra chips, which weren't available for AMD to benchmark.

AMD Ryzen 8040 series
AMD

AMD's NPU will be available on all of the Ryzen 8040 chips except for the two low-end models, the six-core Ryzen 5 8540U and the quad-core Ryzen 3 8440U. The company says the Ryzen 7040's NPU, AMD XDNA, is capable of reaching 10 TOPS (tera operations per second), while the 8040's NPU can hit 16 TOPS. Looking further into 2024, AMD also teased its next NPU architecture, codenamed "Strix Point," which will offer "more than 3x generative AI NPU performance." Basically, don't expect AMD to slow down its AI ambitions anytime soon.

It's worth remembering that both AMD and Intel are lagging behind Qualcomm when it comes to bringing NPUs to Windows PCs. Its SQ3 powered the ill-fated Surface Pro 9 5G. That was just a minor win for the Snapdragon maker, though: the Windows-on-Arm experience is still a mess, especially when it comes to running older apps that require x86 emulation.

The far more compelling competitor for Intel and AMD is Apple, which has been integrating Neural Engines in its hardware since the A11 Bionic debuted in 2017, and has made them a core component in the Apple Silicon chips for Macs. Apple's Neural Engine speeds up AI tasks, just like AMD and Intel's NPUs, and it helps tackle things like Face ID and photo processing. On PCs, NPUs enable features like Windows 11's Studio Effects in video chats, which can blur your background or help maintain eye contact.

Just like Intel, AMD is also pushing developers to build NPU features into their apps. Today, it's also unveiling the Ryzen AI Software platform, which will allow developers to take pre-trained AI models and optimize them to run on Ryzen AI hardware. AMD's platform will also help those models run on Intel's NPUs, similar to how Intel's AI development tools will ultimately help Ryzen systems. We're still in the early days of seeing how devs will take advantage of NPUs, but hopefully AMD and Intel's competitive streak will help deliver genuinely helpful AI-powered apps soon.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amds-ryzen-8040-chips-remind-intel-its-falling-behind-in-ai-pcs-200043544.html?src=rss

Acer’s Nitro V16 gaming laptop is powered by new AMD Ryzen 8040 processors

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Acer just announced a new gaming laptop, the Nitro V 16. This computer has some serious bells and whistles, with the key takeaway being the inclusion of the just-announced AMD Ryzen 8040 Series processor. The processor has plenty of oomph for modern gaming applications, with the addition of AI technology to enable enhanced ray-traced visuals.

You can spec out the laptop how you see fit, with GPU options up to the respectable NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060. This GPU features DLSS 3.5 tech and its own AI-powered ray-tracing, called Ray Reconstruction. You have your pick of two display options, with availability of WQXGA or WUXGA screens. Both options boast 165 Hz refresh rates and 3ms response times. Acer promises that the displays offer “fluid visuals with minimal ghosting and screen tearing.”

As for other specs, you can beef up the laptop with up to 32GB of DRR55600 RAM and 2TB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage. Acer also touts a new cooling system that features a pair of high-powered fans that make it “well-equipped to take on heavy gameplay.” To that end, you can monitor performance and temperature via the company’s proprietary NitroSense utility app.

There are three microphones outfitted with AI-enhanced noise reduction tech, for online tomfoolery, and the speakers incorporate DTS:X Ultra sound optimization algorithms for immersive audio. Finally, you get a USB-4 Type C port, two USB 3 ports, an HDMI port, a microSD card reader and WiFi 6E compatibility.

If the name of the processor seems a bit confusing, that's because AMD recently changed up its naming conventions. Here's a simple breakdown. The "8" relates to 2024 and the second number refers to the product line or relevant market segment, so that doesn't mean much to consumers. The third number, however, is all about performance. The "4" indicates that the chip uses the advanced Zen 4 architecture. Finally, the fourth number illustrates what type of Zen 3 architecture the chip uses. The "0" denotes a lower-tier Zen 3 experience when compared to Zen 3+, which would be marked as "5". 

The Windows 11 gaming laptop will be available in March, with a starting price of $1,000 for the base model. It also comes with one month of Xbox Game Pass, so you can run it through its paces.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/acers-nitro-v16-gaming-laptop-is-powered-by-new-amd-ryzen-8040-processors-200031118.html?src=rss

Vintage Macintosh Inspired Mini PC Packs a Retro Punch

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With styling pulled almost directly from the beige Macintosh Plus of yesterday, the AYANEO Retro Mini PC is a modern mini-computer packed with enough power and storage for retro gaming and typical computing. At prices starting at just $149, that’s like three trips to Taco Bell!

Available in a number of configurations, the most basic $149 model features an AMD Ryzen 3 3200U, 8GB of RAM, and 256 GB of storage, while the top-of-the-line $379 model includes a Ryzen 7 5700U APU, up to 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. There are also five other models between those two with varying amounts of RAM and SSD storage, depending on your needs. Me? I need a computer that will stop getting viruses and trying to steal my identity all the time. What do you mean that’s a “user error?”

The computer measures approximately 5″ x 5″ x 2.5″, making it ultra-portable, and includes every time of common connection interface to attach monitors, controllers, and other peripherals. It also comes pre-installed with Windows 11 Home Edition, so you have an operating system. Maybe not might not be as good as Windows XP, but like my own questionable mind and body, you work with what you’re given.

[via bgr]