Hardware

Acer's Predator X32 X2 features a 31.5-inch 4K panel, while the X27U X1 comes with a 26.5-inch WQHD panel

Since the US imposition of sanctions prohibiting the sale of high-performance GPUs to China, indigenous manufacturers have taken it upon themselves to mitigate these limitations by modifying existing solutions. One of the results of these modding endeavors is an RTX 4090 with 48GB of GDDR6X memory, which is now becoming commonplace among local circles. Russian YouTuber Мой Компьютер (My Computer) obtained a blower-style edition RTX 4090 48GB, later taking it apart to examine the PCB among other design features.

A Chinese firm has started to mass produce a 31.2-inch color e-paper display. Local media reports (machine translation) that Guangzhou Aoyi Electronic Technology Co Ltd worked with Shenzhen Jin Yatai Technology Co Ltd to meld display, image processing, and FPGA technologies to realize this new screen which is capable of "smooth video playback" at 18 frames per second.

For years the adoption of e-paper displays has been held back by devices with low refresh rates and slow response times. The new 31.2-inch display purportedly manages to overcome these undesirable traits by implementing a handful of technical tricks. "Its core innovation lies in the unified control of split-screen, optimized image processing algorithms and local display functions," explains Hong Kong News. This means that the monitor can "dynamically refresh only local areas of the picture and control the synchronous display of large-screen split-screen, significantly improving the response speed and refresh efficiency."

A stunning display.

Archive: https://archive.is/2025.03.26-074355/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-25/qualcomm-takes-legal-fight-with-arm-to-global-antitrust-agencies

Qualcomm Inc. has launched a global antitrust campaign against Arm Holdings Plc as the two longtime business partners jockey for advantage in the computing semiconductor market.

In private meetings and confidential filings to regulators on three continents, Qualcomm is arguing that Arm — its biggest supplier — is guilty of anticompetitive behavior, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Qualcomm’s complaints to the European Commission, US Federal Trade Commission and Korea Fair Trade Commission allege that Arm is hurting competition by restricting access to its technology after operating an open network for more than 20 years, said the people.

Intel (INTC, Financial) could shift its immediate strategy toward revitalizing its chip design focus and expanding its foundry business by securing key clients like Nvidia (NVDA, Financial) and Broadcom (AVGO, Financial), according to UBS.

In a note to investors, UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri wrote that the near-term plan under new CEO Lip-Bu Tan is likely to highlight Intel's design and foundry capabilities. Arcuri added that Intel is working to finalize commitments from Nvidia or Broadcom to use its foundry services, while also advancing its 18A manufacturing process.

A new lower-power version of that process, called 18AP, is in development and could be more appealing to prospective customers. Arcuri said Nvidia appears closer than Broadcom to adopting Intel's foundry technology, potentially for gaming applications, although power consumption remains a major concern.

Advances in materials and architecture could lead to silicon-free chip manufacturing thanks to a new type of transistor.