26TB drives use SMR technology, while new 22TB disks use faster CMR tech.
Enlarge/ Western Digital's new 26 and 22TB hard drives. (credit: Western Digital)
Western Digital announced a raft of new products yesterday aimed at both regular consumer PCs and big businesses with storage-hungry servers. The headliners are two new hard drives with huge capacities—one 26TB and one 22TB—as well as high-capacity SSDs for servers, internal and external performance-focused WD Black SSDs, and mid-range PCIe 4.0 SSDs that could end up in your next prebuilt laptop or desktop PC.
The 26TB Ultrastar DC HC670 drives use tech called shingled magnetic recording, or SMR, to boost the amount of data that can fit on each platter, at the expense of performance. WD uses SMR technology across its WD Red Pro hard drive lineup, among others, which is targeted at businesses rather than home users. The WD Red Plus drives, introduced after WD was briefly caught using SMR technology in its hard drives without publicizing it, use the more traditional conventional magnetic recording (CMR) instead.
The 22TB drive does use CMR technology, boosting capacity while retaining performance. Current CMR drives mostly top out at 20TB as of this writing. Other 22TB hard drives we've seen from companies like Seagate have had to rely on SMR technology to reach that capacity. This drive will show up in many of Western Digital's product families, including the Ultrastar, WD Purple, WD Red, and WD Gold lineups. All of the new drives are expected to be available sometime this summer.
Apple has announced that it’s discontinuing the iPod touch, although the company notes that you can still pick one up from retailers “while supplies last.” While the move marks an end of an era for Apple, it’s likely more of an acknowledgement that the iPod era was already over, with most folks turning instead phones […]
Apple has announced that it’s discontinuing the iPod touch, although the company notes that you can still pick one up from retailers “while supplies last.”
While the move marks an end of an era for Apple, it’s likely more of an acknowledgement that the iPod era was already over, with most folks turning instead phones or tablets to listen to music, watch movies, or play games on the go.
Apple’s first iPod launched in 2001, and while it wasn’t the first MP3 player to hit the streets, it quickly became one of the most popular thanks to a combination of its iconic design and integration with Apple’s iTunes software.
Over the years Apple updated the design multiple times, eventually expanding the iPod family with models including the screen-less iPod Shuffle and the touchscreen-only iPod Nano before eventually phasing those models out and replacing them with the iPod touch, which first launched in 2007.
The iPod touch is basically a stripped-down iPhone with support for WiFi and Bluetooth, but no mobile data. In addition to acting as a portable media player, you could use an iPod touch to run most iOS apps and games.
But without a data plan or phone calling capabilities, the iPod touch is more like a mini tablet than a phone, making it an option for folks looking for a dedicated media player or mobile device for casual gaming. You could give it to a kid without worrying that they’d run up your phone bill, for instance, or use it to listen to music on the go without worrying about running down your phone’s battery.
Still, now that smartphones are everywhere, it’s likely that the market for standalone media players is shrinking. Apple hasn’t released a new iPod touch since 2019, and with a 4 inch display and Aple A10 Fusion processor, the specs for that 7th-gen model are starting to look pretty dated 3 years later.
So while you can certainly still pick up an iPod touch from Amazon, Best Buy, Apple, or other retailers while supplies last, if you’re looking for a portable media player that will be supported for years to come, you might be better off picking up a phone or tablet and just keeping mobile data disabled. You can often find models that sell for considerably less than an iPod touch.
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 and Slim 7i are gaming laptops with support for up to a 16 inch, 2560 x 1600 pixel 240 Hz display, up to an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX or Intel Core i9-12900HK processor, depending on the model, and discrete graphics. But they’re also Lenovo’s thinnest and lightest gaming laptops with […]
The Lenovo Legion Slim 7 and Slim 7i are gaming laptops with support for up to a 16 inch, 2560 x 1600 pixel 240 Hz display, up to an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX or Intel Core i9-12900HK processor, depending on the model, and discrete graphics.
But they’re also Lenovo’s thinnest and lightest gaming laptops with 16 inch displays, measuring 0.67 inches thin and featuring a starting weight of just 4.5 pounds, despite having fairly large 99.9 Wh batteries.
Lenovo says the new laptops will be available this June with prices starting at $1519 for a model with an AMD Ryzen 6000 H or HX processor and AMD Radeon RX discrete graphics or $1589 for a model with a 12th-gen Intel Core H or HK processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics.
Both version of the laptop feature bodies made from magnesium-aluminum alloy. Both have screens surrounded by slim bezels. And both are available in two shades of grey (storm or onyx).
The Intel-powered Legion Slim 7i has a Thunderbolt 4 port plus a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, while the Legion Slim 7 with AMD inside has two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports instead. Both models also have HDMI 2.1, 3.5mm audio, and USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports plus an SD card reader
The laptops have backlit keyboards with per-key RGB lighting, stereo speakers with Harman Kardon audio, 720p or 1080p webcam options, and support for 135W USB Type-C chargers (although models with higher-power graphics will come with a 170W or 230W DC power supply instead).
Here’s a run-down of key specs for Lenovo’s new Legion Slim 7 series gaming laptops:
170W/230W Slim Adapter for NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU
230W Slim Adapter for NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
Max-P / 3070 Max-Q Laptop GPUs
135W (USB Type-C Power Delivery)
170W Slim Adapter
230W Slim Adapter
135W (USB Type-C Power Delivery)
Ports
1 x Thunderbolt 4 (USB 4, DisplayPort 1.4, up to 135W Power Delivery)
1 x USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen2, DisplayPort 1.4, up to 135W Power Delivery)
1 x 4-in-1 SD Card Reader
1 x Audio Jack
1 x E-Shutter Switch
1 x DC-In
1 x USB Type A 3.2 Gen2 (5V2A)
2 x USB Type A 3.2 Gen2
1 X HDMI 2.1
1 x USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2, DisplayPort 1.4, up to 135W Power Delivery)
1 x USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2, DisplayPort 1.4, up to 135W Power Delivery)
1 x 4-in-1 SD Card Reader
1 x Audio Jack
1 x E-Shutter Switch
1 x DC-In
1 x USB Type A 3.2 Gen2 (5V2A)
1 x USB Type A 3.2 Gen2
1 X HDMI 2.1
Wireless
Intel Killer Wi-Fi 6E AX1690 (with Intel Double Connect Technology)
Intel Killer Wi-Fi 6E AX1650
Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX211
Wi-Fi 6
Wi-Fi 6EAX2*2
Dimensions (W x D x H)
357.7 x 256 x as thin as 16.9mm
(inches): 14.08 x 10.08 x as thin as 0.67in
Color
Storm Grey10
Onyx Grey10
Weight
Starting at 2.05kg (4.5 lbs)
Starting Price
$1589
$1519
Lenovo is also launching a pair of bigger, heavier, higher-performance gaming laptops including one of the first to feature Intel’s new Alder Lake-HX processor options.
The new Lenovo Legion 7i is a 16 inch gaming notebook with support for up to an Intel Core i9-12900HX processor, up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics, and up to 32GB of RAM. It’s set to hit the streets later this month for $2249 and up.
Lenovo’s new Legion 7, meanwhile, is a similar model with up to an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX processor and Radeon RX6850M XT graphics. It’s expected to go on sale in June for $2,059 and up.
Both of those models measures at least 0.75 inches thick and have a starting weight of 5.5 pounds.
Voluntary commitments from Comcast and others did not impress consumer groups.
Enlarge/ US President Joe Biden at an event on broadband discounts for low-income Americans, in the Rose Garden of the White House on May 9, 2022. (credit: Getty Images | Drew Angerer )
Consumer advocates are not impressed by President Biden's announcement that Internet service providers have agreed to provide cheap broadband to low-income Americans.
Biden's announcement on Monday touted voluntary commitments from Comcast, Charter Spectrum, AT&T, Verizon, and 16 other ISPs to offer $30-per-month broadband to households eligible for discounts under the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). Each of the 20 companies "committed to offer all ACP-eligible families at least one high-speed plan [with download speeds of at least 100Mbps] for $30/month or less, with no additional fees and no data caps," the White House said. That effectively makes the broadband plans free for many people because the ACP provides eligible households with discounts of $30 a month.
At a press conference attended by representatives of ISPs, Biden called out Comcast, Charter, AT&T, Frontier, and Verizon. "You're really changing people's lives. You really are," the president said to the big broadband providers. Biden also praised "smaller providers serving rural areas, like Jackson Energy Authority in Tennessee and Ideatek in Kansas."
Das Angebot an guten Programmierjobs wächst rascher als der gesamte IT-Jobmarkt. Onlineseminare der Golem Karrierewelt helfen dabei, von dem Trend zu profitieren. (Golem Akademie, Server-Applikationen)
Das Angebot an guten Programmierjobs wächst rascher als der gesamte IT-Jobmarkt. Onlineseminare der Golem Karrierewelt helfen dabei, von dem Trend zu profitieren. (Golem Akademie, Server-Applikationen)
In Deutschland kommt der Glasfaserausbau voran. Doch es könnte schneller gehen, wenn die Telekom nicht überbauen oder mitverlegen würde, klagen Konkurrenten. (Studie, DSL)
In Deutschland kommt der Glasfaserausbau voran. Doch es könnte schneller gehen, wenn die Telekom nicht überbauen oder mitverlegen würde, klagen Konkurrenten. (Studie, DSL)
Intel’s Alder Lake mobile chips are already among the most powerful laptop processors to date. But, as expected, Intel is kicking things up a notch with the introduction of an even higher performance set of laptop chips based on 12th-gen Intel Core architecture. The new Intel Alder Lake-HX series processors are 55-watt processors with support for up […]
Intel’s Alder Lake mobile chips are already among the most powerful laptop processors to date. But, as expected, Intel is kicking things up a notch with the introduction of an even higher performance set of laptop chips based on 12th-gen Intel Core architecture.
The new Intel Alder Lake-HX series processors are 55-watt processors with support for up to 16 CPU cores, 24 threads, and support for speeds up to 5 GHz.
Like all of Intel’s 12th-gen chips, the new processors are based on a hybrid architecture that combines Performance (P) and Efficient (E) CPU cores. What’s new for the HX series is:
Processor Base Power of 55 watts (up from 45 watts for Alder Lake-H chips)
Max Turbo Power of 157 watts (up from 115 watts for Alder Lake-H)
Support for up to 8 P cores and 8 E cores (up from 6P + 8E for Alder Lake-H)
Intel Xe-LP integrated graphics with 32 execution units (down from 96eu for Alder Lake-H)
Thunderbolt 4 support is no longer integrated with the chip
Support for PCIe Gen 5
In other words, you get more cores and more power directed to CPU performance, but it comes at the expense of integrated graphics. That makes sense though, as you’re unlikely to find a laptop with an Alder Lake-HX chip that doesn’t have discrete graphics, since these chips are designed for high-performance gaming laptops and mobile workstations.
The loss of integrated support for Thunderbolt 4 also means that Thunderbolt will be an optional feature for laptop makers, since they’ll have to add a discrete controller for that functionality. Again, given the target market for these chips, I suspect that we will see Alder Lake-HX laptops with Thunderbolt support, but you can’t take it as a given that if a notebook has one of these new chips that it will also have a Thunderbolt port.
On the bright side, you also get support for PCIe 5.0, although as AnandTech notes, those 16 PCIe Gen 5 lanes are designed for graphics rather than storage. There’s also support for PCIe 4.0 and/or PCIe 3.0 storage though.
Intel says the new Core HX chips will be the final entries in the 12th-gen Intel Core family before the company moves on to 13th-gen processors. For now, there are 7 different chips in the Alder Lake-HX lineup:
If you’re wondering why some of those chips have virtually identical specs, it’s because models that end in 50HX are aimed at enterprise customers and include Intel vPro features.
Intel says we can expect mobile workstations and gaming laptops powered by the new HX series chips from companies including Asus, Dell, Gigabyte, HP, Lenovo, and MSI in the coming months.
If you're a potential PlayStation 5 owner who has been unable to find the console on store shelves over the last 18 months, Sony has good news and bad news for you.
The good news is that the company now expects to produce 18 million PlayStation 5 units worldwide for the current fiscal year, which runs through March 2023. That projection, from the company's latest earnings report, is up over 60 percent from the 11.2 million PS5 units produced and sold in the last fiscal year.
The bad news is that Sony thinks that increase still won't be enough to satisfy the sky-high demand for the PS5 in the coming months. "We feel that there was a little bit higher demand than that [18 million units]," Sony Executive Deputy President and CFO Hiroki Totoki said during an investor Q&A portion of the call. "If the question is whether we can meet the demand, I think [we are] still short somewhat."
Bei der neuen Alpha von Star Citizen wird Windows 8.1 mit Direct3D 11.1 vorausgesetzt, um eine höhere CPU-Performance zu erreichen. (Star Citizen, API)
Bei der neuen Alpha von Star Citizen wird Windows 8.1 mit Direct3D 11.1 vorausgesetzt, um eine höhere CPU-Performance zu erreichen. (Star Citizen, API)
Das Angebot an guten Programmierjobs wächst rascher als der gesamte IT-Jobmarkt. Onlineseminare der Golem Karrierewelt helfen dabei, von dem Trend zu profitieren. (
In Deutschland kommt der Glasfaserausbau voran. Doch es könnte schneller gehen, wenn die Telekom nicht überbauen oder mitverlegen würde, klagen Konkurrenten. (
Bei der neuen Alpha von Star Citizen wird Windows 8.1 mit Direct3D 11.1 vorausgesetzt, um eine höhere CPU-Performance zu erreichen. (
Eine geleakte Version der geplanten Chatkontrolle bestätigt die Befürchtungen von Datenschützern und Netzaktivisten. (
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