DRY STUDIO, a startup consumer technology brand that aims to bring advanced niche designs to global users at an approachable price, is releasing its first product with the Indiegogo launch of the new Black Diamond 75. As the world's first mechanical gaming keyboard with leaf spring mount, the Black Diamond 75 will bring a striking balance between esports capability and typing experience to the masses, with features such as low-latency 2.4G and an ID design inspired by the Lamborghini Aventador "Black Diamond". The Base Bundle is priced at 240 USD, and the Advance Bundle is priced at 295 USD. Early customers can get 15% off by taking advantage of the 48 hours Indiegogo Early Bird discounts.

Black Diamond 75 design philosophy
Placing emphasis on creating a keyboard with a unique and fierce shape, the Black Diamond 75 takes its inspiration from the modified all-carbon Lamborghini Aventador - the MANSORY Carbonado - also known as the "Black Diamond". A combination of real carbon fiber (Carbon) or anodized silver aluminium (Mithril) and hand-polished PMMA acrylic with increased hardness are used to realize stunning supercar aesthetics while providing durability that users have come to expect from mechanical gaming keyboards.
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(PR) Canalys Predicts Upswing for North American PC Market
The latest Canalys data reveals that PC shipments (desktops, notebooks and workstations) in the US declined just 6% year-on-year to 18.2 million units in Q2 2023, marking a significant improvement compared to earlier quarters this year. Notebook (including mobile workstations) shipments were down 4% to 15.2 million units, bolstered by the return of Chromebook demand in the education sector. Desktops (including desktop workstations) suffered a steeper decline, with shipments falling 12% to 3.0 million units. The US tablet market faced a similarly modest decline, with shipments down 5% to 10.3 million units.

"Despite undergoing another year-on-year decline, the US PC market showed promising signs of improvement in the second quarter," said Ishan Dutt, Principal Analyst at Canalys. "With the buildup of channel inventories now largely cleared, pockets of demand strength are now being reflected in vendors' sell-in shipment performance. A key area that helped drive volumes was the return of demand from education institutions, backed by the latest wave of federal funding, ahead of a licensing cost increase for ChromeOS. This helped propel Chromebook shipments to 4.7 million units, the highest level since peak deployments during the first half of 2021."
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AMD Ryzen 7 7840S Lenovo-Exclusive APU Benchmarked
Lenovo's newly released ultra-thin Yoga Air 14s 2023 Ryzen Edition laptop packs an exclusively tuned variant from AMD's 7040 "Phoenix" APU series—we are seeing a whole bunch of these mobile chipsets finally arriving inside portable computer hardware and in handheld games systems (Ryzen Z1 series), following several delays earlier in the year. AMD and Lenovo have partnered up on a special Ryzen 7 7840S eight-core APU, with a custom 30 W TDP profile—likely implemented to synergize with the Yoga Air's thin and lightweight design. Folks in the west have started to enjoy playing around with Ryzen 7 7840HS-equipped laptops, this particular APU has a 45 W TDP rating—also shared by China-market specific 7840H variants.

The MyDrivers review team has been taking Lenovo's Yoga Air 14s 2023 Ryzen Edition for a spin—PC Mark results suggest 10 to 11 hours of normal operation on battery, while lighter office tasking bumps that up to 14 hours. A snazzy 14.5-inch OLED screen with 10-touch support seemed to be a highlighted feature on this fancy slimline laptop. A 5% overall difference in performance (across a number of benchmark suites) was noted by the reviewer—a flagship Ryzen 9 7940HS (45 W) APU narrowly beat its less greedy 30 W sibling. The Yoga Air was judged to offer "top tier" performance that competes with a larger class of notebook (15.6-inch). The reviewer was suitably impressed by Lenovo's chassis design: "To be honest, there are very few thin and light notebooks on the market priced at 8,000 yuan (~$1095) that can surpass Yoga Air 14s 2023 Ryzen Edition in terms of appearance and craftsmanship."

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Ryan Shrout Announces Departure from Intel
The corporate world of semiconductor companies has seen some restructuring lately, and today, we learn that Ryan Shrout of Intel is leaving the company. Most recently serving as Senior Director of Client Segment Strategy, CCG at Graphics and AI Group, Ryan Shrout joined Intel over four years ago. Mr. Shrout started at the company as Chief Performance Strategist in 2018, and later, in 2020, he changed his role to Senior Director of Technical and Competitive Client Marketing. After that, he made a switch and was Senior Director of Gaming, Graphics, and HPC Marketing (AXG Marketing). His most recent role was relatively short-lived, only lasting for three months.

Many people in the community may know Mr. Shrout from his time at PC Perspective, which he founded and managed as Editor-in-Chief in 1999. However, today, on his Twitter/X profile, we're learning that he is departing Intel to take on another role. "Fall is a season for change! Yesterday was my last day at Intel. I'm going to take a couple weeks with the family then I'm excited to talk about what's next," the post stated. With such extensive experience in the PC industry, we are eager to see where Mr. Shrout lands next.

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(PR) Xbox Design Lab Offers Shift Controller Series Customization
In 2021, we introduced the Shift Special Edition Controller series with the Aqua Shift, followed by the Lunar and Stellar Shift controllers. We have been thrilled by the Xbox community's response to each controller and are delighted to announce that the Shift series is now available through Xbox Design Lab. Alongside the Aqua, Lunar, and Stellar Shift designs making their debut on Xbox Design Lab, we are equally excited to introduce the newest member to the Shift series family - Cosmic Shift. These color-shifting top cases change color with light and motion - including the blue shimmer of Aqua Shift, silver-gold shimmer of Lunar Shift, blue-purple shimmer of Stellar Shift, and white-pink shimmer of Cosmic Shift.

At its core, the Shift series symbolizes the essence of exploring distinct realms, as each controller has a design story tied to traversing from one dimension to another. The blue shimmer of the Aqua Shift symbolizes the sea and its rhythmic tides. The silver-gold shimmer of the Lunar Shift embodies the captivating aura of the moon. The Stellar Shift transports us to the depths of space, where the deep purple and blue shimmer mimic the mysterious themes of the galaxy.
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(PR) Total War: Pharaoh's Early Access Weekend Global Timings Revealed
The Total War: Pharaoh Early Access Weekend is almost upon us! Here are the global times for everyone (see below). ???? If you've pre-ordered your copy, it'll be available in your Steam library from Sept 29th, 13:00 BST to Oct 2nd, 13:00 BST. Prepare to journey back to the late Bronze Age! ???? The Early Access Weekend is an exciting opportunity for you to enjoy a carefully curated presentation of the game that includes two playable factions from two different cultures, a selection of Ancient Legacies, the full campaign map as well as all battle mechanics and most campaign mechanics. The game is playable for up to 60 turns, which can be replayed as often as you like during this time period.

This is the first time we're offering a pre-order bonus like this and we're proud to give you the chance to try part of the game a little earlier! We're currently focusing all available energies on polishing and delivering a smooth and enjoyable launch, so the Early Access Weekend is not a beta test. Of course, if you should happen to encounter a serious bug or issue, please do let us know.
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Capcom Not Open to Potential Microsoft Takeover
Haruhiro Tsujimoto, Capcom's chief operating officer, spoke to Bloomberg during last week's Tokyo Game Show. The discussion touched upon several subject matters, but the key takeaway was his refusal to accept any outside bid for complete ownership of Capcom's development and publishing arms. Sony and Microsoft have been hoovering up studios over the past three years, but the COO stated that any approach or bid for Capcom would be "gracefully declined." Tsujimoto was presented with a hypothetical situation: "How would Capcom respond to an acquisition offer from Microsoft?" A continuation of their existing relationship was his preference going forward: "I believe it would be better if we were equal partners."

He revealed that offers were made in the past: "There was a time (when) we were a target." Capcom desires internal "organic growth," rather than rapid expansion through acquisitions. It will occasionally rely on the third parties to develop games: "I also believe we can utilize external partners...but we have no intention of acquiring companies." Returning to the subject of growth—Capcom has not yet implemented a major price hike for its AAA titles, unlike other (rival) publishers—gamers are now paying up to $70 for (base/standard edition) big-budget interactive experiences on the latest-gen consoles and PCs. The house of Resident Evil and Street Fighter is seemingly ready to follow suit—as reported by Nikkei; Tsujimoto-san stated: "Development costs now are about 100 times more than they were during the Famicom era, but software prices haven't gone up to that extent...There's also a need to raise wages in order to attract talent. Seeing as wages are rising in the industry as a whole, I think raising unit prices is a healthy business model."

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