Chinese company Sipeed has introduced the Lichee Pocket 4A, one of the first handheld gaming devices based on the RISC-V open-source instruction set architecture (ISA). Sipeed positions the device as a retro gaming platform capable of running simple titles via software rendering or GPU acceleration. At its core is Alibaba's T-Head TH1520 processor featuring four 2.50 GHz Xuantie C910 RISC-V general-purpose CPU cores and an unnamed Imagination GPU. The chip was originally aimed at laptop designs. Memory options include 8 GB or 16 GB LPDDR4X RAM and 32 GB or 128 GB of storage. The Lichee Pocket 4A has a 7-inch 1280x800 LCD touchscreen, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth connectivity, and an array of wired ports like USB and Ethernet. It weighs under 500 grams. The device can run Android or Linux distributions like Debian, Ubuntu, and others.

As an early RISC-V gaming entrant, performance expectations should be modest—the focus is retro gaming and small indie titles, not modern AAA games. Specific gaming capabilities remain to be fully tested. However, the release helps showcase RISC-V's potential for consumer electronics and competitive positioning against proprietary ISAs like ARM. Pricing is still undefined, but another Sipeed handheld console retails for around $250 currently. Reception from enthusiasts and developers will demonstrate whether there's a viable market for RISC-V gaming devices. Success could encourage additional hardware experimentation efforts across emerging open architectures. With a 6000 mAh battery, battery life should be decent. Other specifications can be seen in the table below, and the pre-order link is here.

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KIOXIA Puts a Mammoth 2TB Inside a microSDXC Card
KIOXIA today released the maximum possible storage capacity for the microSDXC standard of 2 TB, with the release of the Exceria Plus G2 microSDXC 2 TB model. It is also the highest data storage density among any storage device by physical volume. To pull this off, KIOXIA innovated a NAND flash device that stacks sixteen 1 terabit (128 GB) layers, with a Z-height for the package being just 0.8 mm. The card meets UHS Class 3. application class A1, and video class V30, which means an assured write speed of at least 30 MB/s. The company claims maximum sequential read speeds of 100 MB/s, with 90 MB/s maximum write speeds. KIOXIA has initially released the card in its home market of Japan, and hopes to release it in other markets soon.

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(PR) Top Ten IC Design Houses Ride Wave of Seasonal Consumer Demand and Continued AI Boom to See 17.8% Increase in Quarterly Revenue in 3Q23
TrendForce reports that 3Q23 has been a historic quarter for the world's leading IC design houses as total revenue soared 17.8% to reach a record-breaking US$44.7 billion. This remarkable growth is fueled by a robust season of stockpiling for smartphones and laptops, combined with a rapid acceleration in the shipment of generative AI chips and components. NVIDIA, capitalizing on the AI boom, emerged as the top performer in revenue and market share. Notably, analog IC supplier Cirrus Logic overtook US PMIC manufacturer MPS to snatch the tenth spot, driven by strong demand for smartphone stockpiling.

NVIDIA's revenue soared 45.7% to US$16.5 billion in the third quarter, bolstered by sustained demand for generative AI and LLMs. Its data center business—accounting for nearly 80% of its revenue—was a key driver in this exceptional growth.
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(PR) ASRock Industrial Unveils the NUC Ultra 100 Motherboard Series with Intel Core Ultra Processors to Go Beyond
ASRock Industrial releases the NUC Ultra 100 Motherboard Series with breakthrough powered by Intel Core Ultra processors (Meteor Lake-H). Presenting a 3D performance hybrid architecture that supports up to 14 cores and 20 threads, complemented by the latest integrated Intel ARC Graphics and the pioneering Intel NPU AI engine. The NUC Ultra 100 Motherboard Series are designed in NUC form factor, providing two DDR5-5600 MHz memory up to 96 GB, triple storages, 4K quad displays, 2.5G dual LAN, one USB4/Thunderbolt, and four USB 3.2 Gen 2. This advancement expands into enhanced creativity, efficiency, and collaboration using AI across diverse areas such as entertainment, corporate functions, smart retail, kiosks, digital signage, smart cities, embedded industries, Edge AIoT applications, and more.

The NUC Ultra 100 Motherboard Series encompass NUC-155H and NUC-125H models, powered by Intel Core Ultra 7/5 processors 155H/125H (Meteor Lake-H). The Series feature the upgraded dual-channel SO-DIMM DDR5 5600 MHz up to 96 GB memory, plus support for up to 4K quad displays with one DP 2.1 (from USB4), one DP 1.4a (from Type-C), and two HDMI 2.0b with Intel ARC Graphics, providing immersive experience. Notable upgrades extend to the triple storages of one M.2 Key M (2242/2280), one M.2 Key M (2242) with PCIe Gen4x4 for SSD, and one SATA 3.0. Moreover, rich I/O connectivity and expansion include one USB4/Thunderbolt 4, four USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Type-C/Type-A), 2.5G dual LAN, and one M.2 Key E (2230) with PCIe x1, USB 2.0 and CNVi for wireless. The Series also provide 12-24 V DC-in jack for flexible power input, -20°C ~ 70°C wide operating temperature, plus TPM support with Intel Platform Trust Technology (PTT) for enhanced security.
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(PR) Boost Your DDR5 Single DIMM Capacity to 64GB with GIGABYTE DDR5 Motherboards
GIGABYTE Technology, a leading global powerhouse in motherboards, graphics cards, and cutting-edge hardware solutions, proudly announces that GIGABYTE DDR5 motherboards deliver breakthrough support for a memory capacity of single DIMM 64 GB with the latest Kingston FURY Renegade DDR5 memory. The 4DIMM model boosts the memory capacity up to 256 GB, while the 2DIMM model has a maximum capacity of up to 128 GB.⁠

With innovative layout design and top-notch components, GIGABYTE motherboards have played a leading role in memory performance. From the Intel 700 and 600 series to the AMD 600 series, GIGABYTE DDR5 motherboards will support a memory capacity of single DIMM 64 GB through BIOS update. The updated BIOS and memory support list will be available on the GIGABYTE official website, coinciding with the launch of the latest Kingston FURY Renegade DDR5 memory. Please stay tuned to the GIGABYTE official website for further information.

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Intel Preparing Habana "Gaudi2C" SKU for the Chinese AI Market
Intel's software team has added support in its open-source Linux drivers for an unannounced Habana "Gaudi2C" AI accelerator variant. Little is documented about the mystery Gaudi2C, which shares a core identity with Intel's flagship Gaudi2 data center training and inference chip, otherwise broadly available. The new revision is distinguished only by a PCI ID of "3" in the latest patch set for Linux 6.8. Speculations circulate that Gaudi2C may be a version tailored to meet China-specific demands, similar to Intel's Gaudi2 HL-225B SKU launched in July with reduced interconnect links. With US export bans restricting sales of advanced hardware to China, including Intel's leading Gaudi2 products, creating reduced-capability spinoffs that meet export regulations lets Intel maintain crucial Chinese revenue.

Meanwhile, Intel's upstream Linux contributions remain focused on hardening Gaudi/Gaudi2 support, now considered "very stable" by lead driver developer Oded Gabbay. Minor new additions reflect maturity, not instability. The open-sourced foundations contrast NVIDIA's proprietary driver model, a key Intel competitive argument for service developers using Habana Labs hardware. With the SynapseAI software suite reaching stability, some enterprises could consider Gaudi accelerators as an alternative to NVIDIA. And with Gaudi3 arriving next year, the ecosystem will get a better competitive advantage with increased performance targets.

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Intel Arc "Battlemage" GPUs Confirmed for 2024 Release
Intel, in a company presentation made to its channel partners, confirmed that it is looking to release its next generation Arc Xe² discrete GPU lineup, codenamed "Battlemage." This would be Intel's second rodeo with high performance gaming graphics since its 2022 return to the segment with the Arc "Alchemist" series. The One Intel presentation slide talks about what to look forward to from the company in the client segment, in the coming year. The slide states that PC processor, workstation processor, and discrete GPU segments will each see upcoming products, which can be seen as a confirmation for a 2024 launch of "Battlemage." Older company slides had illustrated that the launch of "Battlemage" would be timed around that of the company's "Meteor Lake" and "Arrow Lake" client processors. The company is expected to launch "Arrow Lake" sometime in 2024. With "Battlemage," Intel is looking to offer a linear increase in performance, along with new hardware capabilities. The discrete GPUs from this family are expected to be built on a 4 nm-class foundry node by TSMC.

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UL Solutions Makes 3DMark Steel Nomad Free to All 3DMark Users
UL Solutions announced that it is making the Steel Nomad benchmark free to all 3DMark users. The benchmark is expected to release in the first quarter of 2024, for Windows and Windows on Arm PCs; through Steam, Epic Games Store, or directly from UL. The company will release Steel Nomad and Steel Nomad Lite for Mac, iOS, and Android devices later in 2024. Steel Nomad is a new graphics benchmark designed to succeed the popular Time Spy series. It is a non ray traced DirectX 12 API based benchmark with extreme levels of geometry and raster lighting. UL is also working on Steel Nomad Lite, a benchmark meant for smartphones, tablets, and lightweight notebooks.

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(PR) Greenliant Introduces Highest Endurance EX Series and Value VX Series SSDs
Greenliant now offers customers a broader range of reliable eMMC solid state drive (SSD) products with its new budget friendly VX Series. Built in a 153-ball package with high quality 3-bit-per-cell (TLC) NAND, the eMMC NANDrive VX Series is available in 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB capacities and supports wide temperature (-25 to +85 degrees Celsius) operations. It reaches up to 318 / 227 MB/s sequential read/write performance and endurance of 3,000 program-erase (P/E) cycles.

"Our wide temperature eMMC NANDrive VX Series SSDs combine affordability with exceptional performance and robust features to meet the diverse needs of industrial, networking, POS and transportation applications," said Arthur Kroyan, vice president, business development and marketing, Greenliant. "The addition of the VX Series gives customers even more options to choose a reliable eMMC SSD that fits their price, performance and endurance specifications."
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(PR) MSI Includes 100GB 3-month Dropbox With its Gaming Hardware
The leading global gaming, creation, and business brand, MSI, has announced a partnership with Dropbox. Customers purchasing specific MSI products can now enjoy a complimentary trial of Dropbox's highly popular secure cloud storage service, offering 100 GB for a duration of three months. Qualifications for redemption can be accessed through registration in the Member Center or MSI Center. The details of this promotion will soon be available on the official website, providing both loyal members and new customers an opportunity to experience the ease of accessing data from any location with Dropbox.

The trend of storing crucial data online for easy access and synchronization has witnessed a surge in recent years. In line with this, MSI is dedicated to reciprocating the support of its fans through the collaboration with Dropbox, introducing this promotion for their cloud storage service. The synergy of MSI's high-performance hardware and Dropbox's robust cloud storage infrastructure ensures that enthusiasts can seamlessly sync with their profiles, gaming progress, creative endeavors, multimedia content, or personal data anytime and anywhere.
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