Intel enters the laptop discrete GPU market with Xe Max

The new part is a content-creation tool, not a gaming accelerator.

gigapixel ai demo

Enlarge / This is Intel's DG1 chipset, the heart of the Xe Max GPU. (credit: Intel)

This weekend, Intel released preliminary information on its newest laptop part—the Xe Max discrete GPU, which functions alongside and in tandem with Tiger Lake's integrated Iris Xe GPU.

We first heard about Xe Max at Acer's Next 2020 launch event, where it was listed as a part of the upcoming Swift 3x laptop—which will only be available in China. The new GPU will also be available in the Asus VivoBook Flip TP470 and the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 2-in-1.

Intel Xe Max vs. Nvidia MX350

  • Xe Max beats MX350 on gaming. What isn't so obvious, if you haven't spent as much time with Iris Xe on Tiger Lake as we have, is that the integrated graphics already did that. [credit: Intel ]

During an extended product briefing, Intel stressed to us that the Xe Max beats Nvidia's entry-level MX 350 chipset in just about every conceivable metric. In another year, this would have been exciting—but the Xe Max is only slated to appear in systems that feature Tiger Lake processors, whose Iris Xe integrated GPUs already handily outperform the Nvidia MX 350 in both Intel's tests and our own.

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Der Rechtspopulist im Weißen Haus agiert wie ein Brandstifter

Überschattet von Betrugsvorwürfen des Präsidenten scheint der enge Kampf ums Weiße Haus vorerst offenzubleiben. Update: weiterhin bleibt der Ausgang offen

Überschattet von Betrugsvorwürfen des Präsidenten scheint der enge Kampf ums Weiße Haus vorerst offenzubleiben. Update: weiterhin bleibt der Ausgang offen

E-Commerce: Justizministerium setzt Recht auf Software-Updates um

Die Verbraucherrechte bei digitalen Diensten und auf digitalen Märkten sollen gestärkt werden. Anbieter sollen transparenter werden und mehr Sicherheit bieten. (E-Commerce, Onlineshop)

Die Verbraucherrechte bei digitalen Diensten und auf digitalen Märkten sollen gestärkt werden. Anbieter sollen transparenter werden und mehr Sicherheit bieten. (E-Commerce, Onlineshop)

RIAA Takedowns Backfire as Pirated MP3s Now Surface on GitHub

Two weeks ago the RIAA asked GitHub to remove the open-source stream-ripper software youtube-dl. This request wasn’t well-received by developers, many of whom retaliated by posting copies of the code. Yesterday, things went from bad to worse when a user with the name ‘F*** T** RIAA’ uploaded three MP3s of the songs the RIAA mentioned in its takedown notice

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

f riaaThe RIAA and other music groups see people who download music from YouTube as a major piracy threat.

To deal with this problem, they have increased their enforcement actions against stream-ripping tools and services.

RIAA Takes Youtube-dl Off GitHub

This has led to lawsuits and takedown notices, where it’s argued that stream-ripping sites and software violate the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions. That was also the case with the open-source software youtube-dl, which was pulled from Github last month.

The RIAA informed GitHub of the alleged copyright violations and the developer platform swiftly complied, taking the software offline.

We have seen similar requests in the past but this one struck a nerve, especially among developers. They believe that the RIAA went too far. As we highlighted earlier, hundreds of new copies of the youtube-dl code appeared online in response, also on GitHub.

While GitHub’s CEO Nat Friedman was annoyed by RIAA takedown efforts, he stressed that the platform legally had to comply, which it did. More recently, the company even said that users who continue to republish the code risk being banned.

Full MP3s Now Appear on GitHub

Thus far this hasn’t stopped the problem. The youtube-dl code continues to be uploaded to GitHub multiple times a day. This obviously frustrated the RIAA, but the music group has a bigger problem too. Full MP3s are being shared on the site as well now.

A few hours ago we spotted a new GitHub user named ‘FuckTheRIAA‘ who uploaded a copy of youtube-dl as well as a ‘FuckTheRIAA’ repository that includes three songs.

f riaa

These songs from Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, and Icona Pop, were not chosen randomly. The same tracks were mentioned in the RIAA’s original takedown request, as the YouTube videos were highlighted in the youtube-dl code.

“We also note that the source code prominently includes as sample uses of the source code the downloading of copies of our members’ copyrighted sound recordings and music videos,” the RIAA wrote.

How Will the RIAA Respond?

This is yet another example that shows how the RIAA’s takedown request has actually made things worse for the music group, at least for now. After nearly a day the three MP3 files are still available on GitHub.

TorrentFreak requested a comment from the RIAA on these unusual uploads but the group didn’t immediately reply. However, it seems likely that it will send another DMCA takedown request to remove the tracks from GitHub.

Whether the RIAA will also file takedown notices to remove all of the new youtube-dl forks has yet to be seen. For now, its takedown efforts have only made things worse, so they may let things cool down for a while first while exploring other options.

Lawful Uses?

Over the past two weeks, a lot of people and organizations have criticized the RIAA’s enforcement efforts, including the EFF, which stressed that “youtube-dl is a legitimate tool with a world of lawful uses.”

EFF believes that the circumvention restrictions in DMCA section 1201, which prevent people from bypassing technological restrictions, are too broad.

“DMCA 1201 is incredibly broad, apparently allowing rightsholders to legally harass any ‘trafficker’ in code that lets users re-take control of their devices from DRM locks,” EFF wrote recently.

That brings us to another issue we highlighted recently. How much circumvention is involved when anyone can bypass YouTube’s ‘restrictions’ in a regular web browser without extra tools?

The RIAA, however, is convinced that it has the law on its side and thus far its takedown efforts have been successful.

With all the controversy, it will be interesting to see how US courts interpret this issue. The legality of YouTube download services has never been properly litigated and the Flvto/2conv and Yout.com lawsuits could bring more clarity.

That said, the GitHub user named FuckTheRIAA appears to have made up their mind already. Meanwhile, youtube-dl remains available via the official website.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Betriebssysteme: Warum Microsoft nie auf Linux umsteigen wird

Die Integration von Linux in Windows fördert Spekulationen um ein zukünftiges Windows nur mit Linux-Kernel. Realistisch ist dieses Szenario aber wohl nicht. Eine Analyse von Boris Mayer (Windows, Microsoft)

Die Integration von Linux in Windows fördert Spekulationen um ein zukünftiges Windows nur mit Linux-Kernel. Realistisch ist dieses Szenario aber wohl nicht. Eine Analyse von Boris Mayer (Windows, Microsoft)