Month: March 2022

Enlarge / Technicians inspect a semiconductor wafer during testing in the cleanroom at the Tower Semiconductor Ltd. plant in Migdal HaEmek, Israel. (credit: Bloomberg | Getty Images)

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens to pile further pressure on chip manufacturing as a squeeze on the supply of rare gasses critical to the production process adds to pandemic-related disruptions.

Ukraine supplies about 50 percent of the world’s neon gas, analysts have said, a byproduct of Russia’s steel industry that is purified in the former Soviet republic and is indispensable in chip production.

Manufacturers have already been reeling from shortages of components, late deliveries and rising material costs, with companies that rely on chips, such as carmakers, facing production delays as a result.

Produced by Sean Dacanay. Click here for transcript. (video link)

Valve's portable Steam Deck has been released, and if you put in your preorder early enough, you might have one of the devices in your hot little hands this very minute. For the rest of us, though, we're stuck waiting until inventory catches up to demand—and that could take a while. (Valve's official Steam Deck ordering site is currently showing fulfillment for new purchases will probably happen during or after the second quarter of 2022, so that's potentially months away.)

Ars' portable gaming master, Sam Machkovech, was lucky enough to score a pre-release Steam Deck for testing and review, and you can read his comprehensive take—all 9,000-and-change words of it!—right here. However, if you don't have time to wade into a deep-dive article, there's a quicker way: instead of the article, you could peep the 10-minute review video at the top of this piece!