Month: January 2018

Enlarge / Ryzen die shot. (credit: AMD)

AMD has used CES to lay out its plans for 2018. Over the first half of the year, the company is going to release the final missing members of the Ryzen product line-up. Starting in April and continuing into the second half of the year, Ryzen will start rolling out a refreshed version of its Zen core. We'll also see a more complete GPU line-up released over the next year—but there aren't plans to release a more mainstream Vega-based GPU range.

The first mobile-oriented Ryzen APUs (CPUs with integrated GPUs) were released last year. On January 9, the company will add Ryzen 3-branded low-end parts to the line-up, and February 12 will see the launch of desktop APUs. In the second quarter, Ryzen Pro Mobile parts—more or less identical to the regular Ryzen Mobile parts but with the lifecycle guarantees that enterprise buyers often demand for their fleets—will be released.

Those desktop parts, in particular, fill a significant gap in the current Ryzen range. Integrated graphics are the mainstay of both mobile and desktop computing. Without a complete range of integrated GPU parts, there are large markets where AMD can't compete with Intel. By the middle of the year, AMD should have an integrated GPU part to compete with almost every one of Intel's processors, opening up the corporate and mainstream desktop market to the company, as well as laptop markets. The only remaining gaps will be high-power mobile processors and server processors for four or more sockets.

Enlarge (credit: HTC)

Nearly two years after the launch of the HTC Vive virtual reality system, its creators have finally revealed a hardware revision for the headset: the HTC Vive Pro. The naming convention hints at what to expect. The refreshed headset, which currently has no price, will arrive in "Q1" of 2018, and it adds one huge upgrade, and a few small ones, to an otherwise familiar-looking Vive.

During a CES 2018 press conference, HTC confirmed details from a leak earlier on Monday, which indicated that the Vive Pro's screen will include a combined resolution of 2880x1600 pixels. That's a 78-percent jump from the original Vive headset's screen resolution of 2160x1200. The new headset also includes built-in headphones, a new strap to "improve balance," a second microphone to assist with noise-cancellation features, a second "stereo" outward-facing camera, and reduced headset weight. HTC hasn't disclosed exactly how much lighter it will be.

Enlarge / The Zuma satellite and Falcon 9 rocket on the launch pad. (credit: SpaceX)

On Sunday night SpaceX launched the Zuma satellite into space. What we know for sure is that the first stage of the rocket behaved nominally enough such that it was able to safely return to Earth and make a land-based landing along the Florida coast.

SpaceX, however, never officially confirmed mission success. On Monday, Ars began to hear discussion from sources that the mysterious Zuma spacecraft—the purpose of which was never specified, nor which US military or spy agency had backed it—may not have survived. According to one source, the payload fell back to Earth along with the spent upper stage of the Falcon 9 rocket.

Later on Monday afternoon another space reporter, Peter B. de Selding, reported on Twitter that he too had been hearing about problems with the satellite. "Zuma satellite from @northropgrumman may be dead in orbit after separation from @SpaceX Falcon 9, sources say," de Selding tweeted. "Info blackout renders any conclusion - launcher issue? Satellite-only issue? — impossible to draw."

Enlarge / US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. (credit: Getty | Tetra Images | Henryk Sadura)

Senate Democrats who are trying to force a vote on reinstating net neutrality rules have hit a key milestone.

A Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that would reverse the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality repeal needed 30 co-sponsors in order to get a Senate vote. Today, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) announced that she has signed on to be the 30th co-sponsor.

30 is the magic number of cosponsors needed to get a #NetNeutrality vote in the full Senate.

Proud to be that 30th cosponsor of @SenMarkey bill to restore free and open internet.

— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) January 8, 2018

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) announced the CRA resolution shortly after the FCC's repeal vote last month. All 30 supporters are members of the Democratic caucus.

Enlarge / The Qi-compatible Nexus 5 on the Nexus Wireless Charger. (credit: Andrew Cunningham)

Wireless charging company Powermat has joined the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) in a move that looks to further unify wireless charging tech behind the popular Qi standard.

Powermat—which has long pushed the PMA wireless charging standard as Qi’s primary competitor—quietly announced the move last week. The company is a leading player in the AirFuel Alliance, a wireless charging standards body that formed in 2015 with the merger of two other organizations, the Alliance for Wireless Power and the Power Matters Association. Powermat has largely stood opposite Qi and the WPC.

Qi has won the lion’s share of the wireless charging market in recent years, though. Its dominance came to a head last fall after Apple threw its weight behind the standard with its new iPhone X and iPhone 8 phones. This more-or-less sealed Powermat’s fate and led stores like Starbucks—which had previously supported Powermat over Qi through its in-store wireless charging pads—to update its chargers to support both formats.

Enlarge / 2017's MacBook is the first I'd truly be happy to use as my everyday notebook. (credit: Andrew Cunningham)

Metldown and Spectre security risks affecting nearly every modern processor came to light last week, and now Apple has released a pair of software updates to address the Spectre vulnerability. iOS 11.2.2 and macOS High Sierra 10.13.2, while sparse in detail, are both now available for free on compatible devices.

iOS 11.2.2 for iPhone and iPad contains security fixes that aren't fully fleshed out, but Apple does say that they affect Safari and Webkit to "mitigate the effects of Spectre." Apple claims the Metldown vulnerability was addressed in iOS 11.2, and since there isn't a hardware fix for Spectre, the company issued this over-the-air update to all compatible devices. iOS 11.2.2 is available for iPhone 5s and later, iPad Air and later, and iPod touch 6th generation. It can be downloaded by navigating to Settings > General > Software Update.

A supplemental update in macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 is available today that uses similar Safari work-arounds to address the Spectre vulnerability. Apple also previously addressed Metldown in the first update of macOS High Sierra 10.13.2. All compatible machines can download the supplemental update for free from the Mac App Store, and a Safari 11.0.2 update is available for Macs running OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 and macOS Sierra 10.12.6. The Safari update also addresses Spectre risks.