TechPowerUP NEWS

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The recent launch of Copilot+ PCs, a collaboration between Microsoft and Qualcomm, has taken an unexpected turn in the market. While these devices were promoted for their artificial intelligence capabilities, a Bloomberg report reveals that consumers are primarily drawn to them for their impressive battery life. The Snapdragon X-powered Copilot+ PCs have made a significant impact, securing 20% of global PC sales during their launch week. However, industry analyst Avi Greengart points out that the extended battery life, not the AI features, is driving these sales. Microsoft introduced three AI-powered features exclusive to these PCs: Cocreator, Windows Studio Effects, and Live Captions with Translation. Despite these innovations, many users find these features non-essential for daily use. The delay of the anticipated Recall feature due to privacy concerns has further dampened enthusiasm for the AI aspects of these devices.

The slow reception of on-device AI capabilities extends beyond consumer preferences to the software industry. Major companies like Adobe, Salesforce, and SentinelOne declined Microsoft's request to optimize their apps for the new hardware, citing resource constraints and the limited market share of AI-capable PCs. Gregor Steward, SentinelOne's VP for AI, suggests it could take years before AI PCs are widespread enough to justify app optimization. Analysts project that by 2028, only 40% of new computers will be AI-capable. Despite these challenges, Qualcomm remains optimistic about the future of AI PCs. While the concept may currently be more on the marketing side, the introduction of Arm-based Windows laptops offers a welcome alternative to the Intel-AMD duopoly. As the technology evolves and adoption increases, on-device AI features may become more prevalent and useful. The imminent arrival of AMD Ryzen AI 300 series and Intel Lunar Lake chips promises to expand the Copilot+ PC space further. For now, however, it appears that superior battery life remains the primary selling point for consumers.

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AMD today released the FidelityFX SDK 1.1 to the public through its GPUOpen initiative. This update includes the source code to FSR 3.1, which should make it easier for game developers to understand the technology, and integrate it with their games. FSR 3.1 requires an AMD Radeon RX 5000 series (or later) GPU, or an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 20-series (or later) GPU, although the company recommends at least an RX 6000 series or RTX 30-series GPU, regardless of model. You get the full upscaling and frame-generation capabilities of FSR 3.1 on all supported GPUs, across AMD and NVIDIA, which is the main pull for the tech, as the rival DLSS 3 Frame Generation technology only works on RTX 40-series (or later) GPUs.

AMD FSR 3.1 builds on top of FSR 3 by introducing updates to the upscaler. If you recall, the star attraction with FSR 3 has been frame-generation, but the underlying upscaling tech had been carried over from FSR 2.2. FSR 3.1 introduces some much-needed updates to the quality of upscaling, and introduces new upscaler quality presets, including a native AA mode analogous to NVIDIA's DLAA. These increases in upscaler quality lets you trade in quality for performance better. You can find all the resources you need on FSR 3.1 here.

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[NextPowerUP]

After several slow weeks of new game releases, we now have a week that's overflowing with new game releases. The most anticipated release this week is an online PvPvE dungeon crawler, built on Unreal Engine 5. This is followed by a crusty space game, an evil game, a game that involves attracting birds to you, a dystopian New York of the future, a bit of Japanese folklore, some more dungeons, fighting some gods and finally being a Japanese goddess. Yes, we threw in a bunch of extra games this week, yet we're not able to cover all the new releases that are coming out.

Dungeonborne / This week's major release / Friday 19 July / Early Access
Dungeonborne is an immersive first-person PvPvE dungeon crawler. Venture solo or join forces with trusted companions to hunt for treasure, explore ominous dungeons, and battle terrifying monsters and cunning adversaries. Escape before succumbing to darkness and greed. Embrace your role as a Fighter, Priest, Rogue, Swordmaster, Pyromancer, Cryomancer, Death Knight, or Druid. With first-person clarity, feel the power of each spell, the weight of your weapons, and the strategic impact of every decision. Charge into battle, unleash devastating skills to disrupt enemy formations, cast life-saving buffs on allies, or use tactical throwables to turn the tide. Steam link
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The city of Las Vegas late last year added another attraction to its town: the Sphere. The Sphere is a 1.2 million pixel outdoor display venue famous for its massive size and inner 18,600-seat auditorium. The auditorium space is a feat of its own with features like a 16x16 resolution wraparound interior LED screen, speakers with beamforming and wave field synthesis technologies, and 4D physical effects. However, we have recently found out that NVIDIA GPUs power the Sphere. And not only a handful of them, as 150 NVIDIA RTX A6000 power the Sphere and its 1.2 million outside pixels spread on 54,000 m², as well as 16 of 16K inner displays with a total output of 2.1 billion pixels. Interestingly, the 150 NVIDIA RTX A6000 have a combined output cable number of 600 DisplayPort 1.4a ports.

With each card having 48 GB of memory, that equals to 7.2 TB of GDDR6 ECC memory in the total system. With the Sphere being a $2.3 billion project, it is expected to have an infotainment system capable of driving the massive venue. And it certainly delivers on that. Only a handful of cards powers most massive media projects, but this scale is something we see for the first time in non-AI processing systems. The only scale we are used to today is massive thousand-GPU clusters used for AI processing, so seeing a different and interesting application is refreshing.

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Ampace, a leading provider of advanced lithium-ion battery solutions, today announced the launch of the Andes 1500, a revolutionary portable power station that delivers unparalleled charging speeds and unmatched performance. Leveraging Ampace's proprietary A-Boost technology, the Andes 1500 achieves a full charge in just 55 minutes while setting a groundbreaking industry benchmark for portable power solutions with its remarkable longevity of up to 6,000 cycles.

"At Ampace, we are committed to pushing the boundaries of what's possible in portable power," said Alfonso Chen, Chief Marketing Officer at Ampace. "The Andes 1500 is a game-changer that will transform the way people experience power on-the-go. With our cutting-edge expertise in battery cell and energy storage system solutions, users can say goodbye to long charging times and enjoy an extended duration of unparalleled performance with the Andes 1500."
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[NextPowerUP]

In a community blog post, Arm has announced its new Accuracy Super Resolution (ASR) upscaling technology. This open-source solution aims to transform mobile gaming by offering best-in-class upscaling capabilities for smartphones and tablets. Arm ASR addresses a critical challenge in mobile gaming: delivering high-quality graphics while managing power consumption and heat generation. By rendering games at lower resolutions and then intelligently upscaling them, Arm ASR promises to significantly boost performance without sacrificing visual quality. The technology builds upon AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 (FSR 2) and adapts it specifically for mobile devices. Arm ASR utilizes temporal upscaling, which combines information from multiple frames to produce higher-quality images from lower-resolution inputs. Even though temporal upscaling is more complicated to implement than spatial frame-by-frame upscaling, it delivers better results and gives developers more freedom.

This approach allows for more ambitious graphics while maintaining smooth gameplay. In benchmark tests using a complex scene, Arm demonstrated impressive results. Devices featuring the Arm Immortalis-G720 GPU showed substantial framerate improvements when using Arm ASR compared to native resolution rendering and Qualcomm's Game Super Resolution (GSR). Moreover, the technology helped maintain stable temperatures, preventing thermal throttling that can compromise user experience. Collaboration with MediaTek revealed significant power savings when using Arm ASR on a Dimensity 9300 handset. This translates to extended battery life for mobile gamers, addressing key concerns. Arm is releasing ASR under an MIT open-source license, encouraging widespread adoption and experimentation among developers. Below you can see the comparison of various upscalers.

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[NextPowerUP]

Graphcore today announced that the company has been acquired by SoftBank Group Corp. Under the deal, Graphcore becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of SoftBank and will continue to operate under the Graphcore name.

"This is a tremendous endorsement of our team and their ability to build truly transformative AI technologies at scale, as well as a great outcome for our company," said Graphcore co-founder and CEO Nigel Toon. "Demand for AI compute is vast and continues to grow. There remains much to do to improve efficiency, resilience, and computational power to unlock the full potential of AI. In SoftBank, we have a partner that can enable the Graphcore team to redefine the landscape for AI technology."
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[NextPowerUP]

The new Dangbei Atom Google TV mini laser projector is barely the size of a paperback book, and weighs as much as a laptop, but lets you enjoy rich content on a screen as large as 180-inch, anywhere you want. Its companion 360° Gimbal lets you project from practically any surface or roof-mount, with the Gimbal and the projector's automatic keystone correction working their magic.

The Dangbei Atom is only 1.87 inches (4.75 cm) thick, weighing just 2.82 lbs (1.28 kg). The projector uses an ALPD laser technology, and a brilliant 1,200 ANSI Lumens of brightness. The projector offers Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) resolution, along with support for HDR10. Its various smart optics features include autofocus, keystone correction, screen fit, and obstacle avoidance. It packs Google TV, which puts practically every streaming content service in your hands. Priced regularly at $899, the Dangbei Atom can be yours for $699 as part of a special promotion. What's more, the Gimbal can be had at a discount. The $699 promotion price includes a pair of 3D glasses worth $40!

Customers can save $200 on Dangbei Atom, now available for $699 This offer includes a pair of 3D glasses (worth $40)—first come, first served.

Buy Dangbei Atom Google TV mini laser projector at $699

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[NextPowerUP]

Unlock new experiences every GFN Thursday. Whether post-apocalyptic survival adventures, narrative-driven games or vast, open worlds, GeForce NOW always has something fresh for members to explore. This week, GeForce NOW brings the survival game Once Human from Starry Studio to the cloud, part of three new titles.

Survive the Stardust
Step into a post-apocalyptic world where cosmic energy has transformed humanity in Once Human. As a Meta-Human, survive the contamination and use the powers of Stardust to navigate a new and bizarre open-world universe. Experience elements of survival, crafting and combat while challenging players to gather resources, build shelters and fend off human and monstrous threats. Uncover the rich lore through interactions with various characters and artifacts scattered throughout the world. Delve into the truth of Stardust - discover where it came from and what it wants. Play alone or grab a squad to fight, build and explore together. Level up with an Ultimate or Priority membership to stream across devices at higher resolutions and frame rates over free members. Gaming sessions are up to six hours for Priority members and eight hours for Ultimate members, plenty of time to unravel the cosmic mysteries of Once Human.
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[NextPowerUP]

Creative Technology today announced the release of the Creative Outlier Go, the latest wireless open-ear headphones designed for personalized comfort and rich audio, perfect for those who are always on the move. Featuring custom-tuned 14.2 mm Neodymium drivers and an adjustable fit that suits all ear shapes, these headphones are a must-have for adventurers and daily commuters looking to enjoy superior sound quality while staying connected to their surroundings.

Boasting up to 26 hours of total playtime, the Creative Outlier Go keeps the beats going all day long. These headphones are also all about comfort, featuring an adjustable fit with soft silicone ear hooks that keep users comfortable even during marathon music sessions. Plus, users get to enjoy seamless connectivity with Bluetooth 5.4 and low latency mode, offering minimal audio delay for a smooth and lag-free listening experience.
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[NextPowerUP]

At Razer, we're continually pushing the boundaries of what's possible with gaming technology, and our latest software updates for Razer mice are set to redefine precision and adaptability for gamers everywhere. The new Mouse Rotation and Dynamic Sensitivity features are now available on Razer's latest esports mice - the Razer Viper V3 Pro, and Razer DeathAdder V3 HyperSpeed.

Mouse Rotation: Aligning Movement with Natural Motion
Mouse Rotation customizes the output angle from your mouse sensor to perfectly match your unique setup and grip style. This is especially beneficial for gamers who have a naturally angled swipe or an unconventional setup. By adjusting the angle in Synapse, users ensure that a left-to-right swipe on their desk corresponds directly to a horizontal movement in-game, enhancing both comfort and control.
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AMD reportedly plans to incorporate glass substrates into its high-performance system-in-packages (SiPs) sometimes between 2025 and 2026. Glass substrates offer several advantages over traditional organic substrates, including superior flatness, thermal properties, and mechanical strength. These characteristics make them well-suited for advanced SiPs containing multiple chiplets, especially in data center applications where performance and durability are critical. The adoption of glass substrates aligns with the industry's broader trend towards more complex chip designs. As leading-edge process technologies become increasingly expensive and yield gains diminish, manufacturers turn to multi-chiplet designs to improve performance. AMD's current EPYC server processors already incorporate up to 13 chiplets, while its Instinct AI accelerators feature 22 pieces of silicon. A more extreme testament is Intel's Ponte Vecchio, which utilized 63 tiles in a single package.

Glass substrates could enable AMD to create even more complex designs without relying on costly interposers, potentially reducing overall production expenses. This technology could further boost the performance of AI and HPC accelerators, which are a growing market and require constant innovation. The glass substrate market is heating up, with major players like Intel, Samsung, and LG Innotek also investing heavily in this technology. Market projections suggest explosive growth, from $23 million in 2024 to $4.2 billion by 2034. Last year, Intel committed to investing up to 1.3 trillion Won (almost one billion USD) to start applying glass substrates to its processors by 2028. Everything suggests that glass substrates are the future of chip design, and we await to see first high-volume production designs.

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NACON and Spiders studio are pleased to announce the early access release date of the narrative RPG GreedFall II: The Dying World with a new trailer. The title offers an all-new adventure in the world of GreedFall, which has already drawn in a player community over 2 million strong, and will be released under early access on Steam on 24 September 2024.

Players will then be able to discover the first chapters of the main quest, explore the regions of Teer Fradee, Thynia and Uxantis, and also get to know some of the characters that will accompany them in the course of their adventure. Of course, the game content will be enriched throughout the early access phase, with plenty of new features and improvements: zones, companions, quests, skills and many more!
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Microsoft has agreed to pay €20 million to settle an antitrust complaint filed by Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE), a European cloud providers association. The deal aims to address concerns about Microsoft's cloud product licensing practices, also, Microsoft will develop Azure Stack HCI for European cloud providers and compensate CISPE members for recent licensing costs. On the other side, CISPE will withdraw its EU complaint, cease supporting similar global complaints, and establish an independent European Cloud Observatory to monitor the product's development.

The settlement excludes major providers like AWS, Google Cloud, and AliCloud. While CISPE hails this as a victory, critics argue it's insufficient. AWS spokesperson Alia Ilyas said that Microsoft was only making "limited concessions for some CISPE members that demonstrate there are no technical barriers preventing it from doing what's right for every cloud customer". Google Cloud suggests more action is needed against anti-competitive behavior, and UK-based cloud company Civo's CEO Mark Boost questions the deal's long-term impact on the industry. Boost stated, "However they position it, we cannot shy away from what this deal appears to be: a global powerful company paying for the silence of a trade body, and avoiding having to make fundamental changes to their software licensing practices on a global basis". Despite resolving the CISPE complaint, Microsoft faces ongoing regulatory scrutiny worldwide. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority launched a cloud computing market investigation in October 2023 while the US Federal Trade Commission is conducting two separate probes involving Microsoft. The first FTC investigation, initiated in January 2024, examines AI services and partnerships of major tech companies, including Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Anthropic, and OpenAI. The second focuses specifically on Microsoft, OpenAI, and Nvidia, assessing their impact and behavior in the AI sector.

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Sharp NEC Display Solutions Europe introduces the first desktop displays launched under the Sharp brand to evidence its ongoing commitment to Quality, Service and Sustainability. Rooted in the MultiSync legacy of quality and reliability, the two new 27" monitor models, Sharp MultiSync EA272Q and Sharp MultiSync EA272U, are ideally suited for use in corporate offices, home-office scenarios as well as for control room applications.

For detail-rich applications, the high pixel density resolution of the Sharp MultiSync EA272Q (QuadHD) and the Sharp MultiSync EA272U (UltraUHD), coupled with 27-inch active screen area result in expansive digital canvases for the most productive personal workspaces. Users can extend their visual command even further with a near uninterrupted multi-screen configuration with ultra-narrow bezel and DisplayPort OUT daisy-chain. Featuring powerful 90 W USB Type-C connectivity and embedded LAN, the desktop models become fully functioning Docking Hub solutions. With just a single cable to connect notebook/PC to the display whilst powering the device, the workspace remains clear of cable clutter and e-waste is minimised. The displays' sustainable functionalities continue, achieving energy savings of up to 30% by enabling sensor technology to automatically reduce brightness or power down as appropriate to usage scenarios.
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