Webtagr - Technology News Summarizer

Intel's New Laptop Chips Promise Extended Battery Life

2025-01-06

Intel unveiled its new Core Ultra processors at CES, claiming they will significantly extend laptop battery life. Targeted at business PCs and high-end consumer devices, the new chips aim to boost both battery life and AI performance. Tests showed an HP laptop with the new processor running Microsoft Teams for 10.5 hours and Microsoft 365 for 20.3 hours on a single charge, exceeding the battery life of a comparable Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered Dell device. Intel also boasted superior performance in generative AI applications. Processors based on Intel's Arrow Lake and Lunar Lake designs will debut in 2025, initially for business machines before expanding to thin and light laptops, high-performance notebooks, and desktop PCs.

(uk.finance.yahoo.com)

Hardware Processor Battery Life

HDMI 2.2 Arrives: 96Gbps Bandwidth, Ultra96 Cable Required

2025-01-06

At CES 2025, the HDMI Forum announced HDMI 2.2 and its accompanying Ultra96 cable, boasting a groundbreaking 96Gbps bandwidth—double that of HDMI 2.1. This allows for higher resolutions, faster refresh rates, and improved audio-video synchronization. While the connector remains the same, a new Ultra96 cable is necessary to harness the full potential. Targeting demanding applications like AR/VR/MR, large-scale digital signage, and medical imaging, widespread adoption of HDMI 2.2 and Ultra96 cables will take time despite the specification's release.

(www.pcworld.com)

Hardware

Guten: A Revolutionary Pocket-Sized Newspaper Printer

2025-01-05

Guten is a tiny newspaper printer that's changing how we consume news. Imagine printing your favorite news articles on demand, anywhere, anytime, without needing a screen or internet connection. Using thermal printing technology, Guten offers fast, inexpensive, and clear printing. It's not just for news; print recipes, novels, or anything text-based. Guten provides a fresh approach to news consumption and is environmentally friendly by reducing paper waste.

(amanvir.com)

Hardware portable printer news consumption thermal printing

Low-Cost Live Image Description for the Visually Impaired: ESP32-CAM + Phone + Server

2025-01-05

This project details a low-cost, live image description solution for the visually impaired, using an ESP32-CAM, a phone, and a server. The ESP32-CAM captures images at set intervals, which are then sent to an OpenAI API for description. The description is relayed to the user via a webpage on their phone, read aloud via text-to-speech. While the current prototype has limitations—requiring manual camera handling and lacking robust security—it demonstrates the feasibility of the approach and lays groundwork for future development of more sophisticated assistive tools.

(github.com)

Hardware assistive technology

Running a Neural Network on a Calculator: A 56-Hour Train Journey

2025-01-04

A computer science PhD challenged himself to port a convolutional neural network (CNN) to a TI-84 Plus CE graphing calculator during a 56-hour train ride. Overcoming significant hardware limitations, including scarce memory and the lack of native floating-point operations, he successfully trained and ran the network to identify handwritten digits. While slow, the accomplishment demonstrates the feasibility of running AI on severely resource-constrained devices, showcasing ingenious memory management and algorithmic optimizations.

(z80.me)

Hardware neural network

Self-Driving a 1993 Volvo 940 (Part 1: Actuators)

2025-01-04

The author and friends are participating in the 2025 Carbage Run winter edition, a 6-day winter journey across Sweden to the Arctic Circle and back to Helsinki. Their car: a 1993 Volvo 940, almost devoid of electronics. To make it self-driving, they're retrofitting actuators: steering motor, brake booster, and accelerator servo. This post details the process of adapting an electric power steering system from a 2020 Toyota Corolla, replacing the vacuum-assisted braking system with a Bosch iBooster, and using an off-the-shelf RC servo for the accelerator. A Tesla radar sensor was also added. It's a challenging project, with future posts covering wiring and a custom ECU.

(practicapp.com)

Hardware self-driving car modification retrofitting

System76's Thelio Astra: A 128-Core Arm Beast

2025-01-03

System76 unleashed its first workstation-class Arm PC, the Thelio Astra, featuring a monstrous 128-core Ampere Altra Max CPU. Jeff Geerling's extensive review covers benchmarks on both Ubuntu and Windows 11, revealing the Astra's dominance in multi-core performance, even achieving an unofficial world record in Cinebench 2024. While Windows 11 GPU support lags, Linux gaming shines. The high price tag is offset by impressive performance and System76's renowned support, making it a compelling option for professionals, particularly in automotive development.

(www.jeffgeerling.com)

Hardware

Open-Source Ergonomic Keyboard: Ergo S-1 - Build Your Own Comfort

2025-01-03

The Ergo S-1 is an open-source, wireless, split ergonomic keyboard compatible with Cherry/Gateron switches and Cherry/OEM/DCS keycaps, powered by the ZMK firmware. Designed during a period of unemployment, this keyboard prioritizes ease of DIY assembly, making it accessible to a wider audience. The project provides comprehensive assembly instructions, a bill of materials, and Fusion 360 design files, along with support for custom keymaps. While complete kits aren't yet available, pre-built keyboards are sold on Etsy, and the creator is actively working towards easier-to-assemble kits.

(github.com)

Hardware ergonomic keyboard

Party Squasher: Smart Sensor Prevents Airbnb Parties Before They Start

2025-01-03

Party Squasher is a smart sensor designed for short-term rental managers to prevent disruptive parties. Unlike noisy and unreliable noise monitors, Party Squasher discreetly counts the number of mobile phones in a property, alerting users via text or email when occupancy exceeds a set threshold. This prevents parties before they even begin, protecting property and neighborly relations. Easy to install and maintain, Party Squasher offers both standard and pro versions for individual and large-scale property managers.

(www.partysquasher.com)

Hardware short-term rental

Samsung's Odyssey 3D: Glasses-Free 3D Gaming Monitor Unveiled

2025-01-03

Samsung is launching the Odyssey 3D monitor, a glasses-free 27-inch 4K display utilizing a lenticular lens and AI to convert 2D content into 3D. Eye-tracking technology enhances the experience by optimizing the 3D effect. This represents another attempt by Samsung to popularize 3D displays, building on previous prototypes. While a larger 37-inch version was teased, only the 27-inch model has been released so far, potentially due to cost and market demand considerations. The monitor will be further showcased at CES 2025.

(arstechnica.com)

Hardware 3D display Samsung

Shmøergh Hog: A Two-Year Journey Building a Simple Analog Synth

2025-01-03

The Shmøergh Hog is a meticulously crafted analog synthesizer, a weekend project spanning two years, built by two designers from tech companies. Designed for simplicity and ease of use, it employs a classic subtractive synthesis architecture. The authors detail their journey from initial concept and circuit simulation through PCB manufacturing and custom stainless steel enclosure creation. While mass production isn't the goal, they hope to share this unique instrument with fellow music enthusiasts. The build guide is open source.

(www.peterzimon.com)

Hardware analog synthesizer electronic music

Alder Lake SHLX Instruction Anomaly: A 3x Performance Mystery

2025-01-02

Blogger Tavian Barnes uncovered a strange performance quirk in Intel's Alder Lake processors concerning the SHLX instruction. Under certain conditions, this instruction runs significantly slower—three times slower than expected. Benchmarking revealed that initializing the shift count register using a 64-bit immediate value causes the slowdown, while 32-bit instructions or other initialization methods do not. This discrepancy is puzzling since SHLX only uses the lower 6 bits of the shift count register. The root cause remains a mystery, but this finding highlights a potential optimization oversight in the Alder Lake microarchitecture.

(tavianator.com)

Hardware instruction latency

XiangShan: An Open-Source High-Performance RISC-V Processor

2025-01-02

XiangShan is an open-source, high-performance RISC-V processor project jointly developed by the Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Peng Cheng Laboratory. Multiple stable versions have been released, along with comprehensive documentation, tutorials, and micro-architecture overviews. The latest Kunminghu version is under development and supports various simulation tools and IDEs. XiangShan aims to advance RISC-V processor technology, employing an agile development methodology, and its work has been published in peer-reviewed papers, receiving international recognition.

(github.com)

Hardware Open-Source Processor

Asus, Samsung, and MSI Announce World's First 27-inch 4K OLED 240Hz Monitors

2025-01-02

Asus, Samsung, and MSI have jointly unveiled the world's first 27-inch 4K OLED 240Hz gaming monitors. All three utilize Samsung Display's fourth-generation QD-OLED panel, promising a longer lifespan and leveraging DisplayPort 2.1a for 4K 240Hz refresh rates without Display Stream Compression (DSC). While largely similar in specs, minor differences exist in size (Asus' is 26.5-inches), HDR support (Asus includes Dolby Vision), and warranty details. Release dates and pricing remain unannounced, but the combination of high refresh rate, high resolution, and OLED technology positions these monitors as top-tier gaming displays.

(www.theverge.com)

Hardware OLED monitor gaming monitor

Powering Up and Disassembling a Rohde & Schwarz SKTU BN 4151/2/5 Noise Generator

2025-01-02

A video on MakerTube PeerTube demonstrates powering up and disassembling a Rohde & Schwarz SKTU BN 4151/2/5 noise generator. JavaScript is required to view the video. If JavaScript is disabled, users need to enable it, use a third-party application, or review the source code on GitHub or Framasoft's GitLab. The video also notes that PeerTube may be incompatible with some browsers; Mozilla Firefox's latest version is recommended.

(makertube.net)

Hardware Rohde & Schwarz Noise Generator

SignalSDR Pro: A Raspberry Pi-Sized High-Performance Software-Defined Radio

2025-01-02

Signalens is launching the SignalSDR Pro, a high-performance software-defined radio (SDR) with a Raspberry Pi-like form factor. Based on the Analog Devices AD9361 transceiver and AMD Zynq 7020 FPGA, it boasts a 70MHz to 6GHz frequency range and features Gigabit Ethernet and USB 3.0 connectivity. A 40-pin GPIO header allows for external hardware integration, and compatibility with other SDR platforms like ADALM-PLUTO and USRP B210 is achieved through simple jumper changes and microSD card swaps. The package includes a metal enclosure for passive cooling, multiple antennas (including GPS), cables, and SIM cards.

(www.hackster.io)

Hardware Software Defined Radio

The Beeper: A DIY Solution to Combat Prolonged Sitting

2025-01-01

Tired of the aches and pains from prolonged sitting at the computer? This post details a clever DIY device, "The Beeper," built to combat this. The Beeper consists of an ESP8266 microcontroller, a buzzer, and a simple switch housed in a small enclosure. After a set period of inactivity (screen unlocked), the Beeper emits an annoying sound, forcing the user to get up and silence it. The author provides details on the hardware, Lua firmware, and a macOS script that controls the device, highlighting iterative improvements to minimize interruptions during video calls. A simple yet effective solution to a common problem!

(blog.jacobvosmaer.nl)

Hardware Ergonomics

Reverse Engineering the Duco Connectivity Board: Home Assistant Integration Achieved

2024-12-31

Frustrated with the limited control options of his DucoBox ventilation system (only four modes via a simple button), the author decided to reverse engineer the official, expensive Duco Connectivity Board, which is essentially an ESP32. Using a logic analyzer and information from Duco's website, the author analyzed the communication protocol between the board and the ventilation system. It turned out not to be Modbus, but a custom protocol. After decoding the protocol, the author created an ESPhome component, enabling seamless integration with Home Assistant. This significantly enhances control and allows for reading CO2 sensor data and other information.

(github.com)

Hardware

Reverse Engineering the TI SimpleLink RF MCU Black Box

2024-12-30

Despite the popularity of low-cost RF microcontrollers, their internal RF hardware workings remain largely undocumented. This talk delves into the Texas Instruments SimpleLink family of BLE and Sub-GHz RF MCUs. While the reference manual is comprehensive, the radio section is surprisingly sparse. The presenters reverse-engineered the SimpleLink MCU's RF subsystem, explaining its operation from stack to antenna. They also reverse-engineered TI's proprietary RF patch format and investigated the hidden DSP modem cores, potentially opening the door for a cheap single-chip SDR.

(media.ccc.de)

Hardware RF microcontroller

PolyDye: Full-Color 3D Printing Mod for Marlin Printers

2024-12-30

PolyDye is an open-source project that brings vibrant, full-color printing to Marlin-based 3D printers by integrating inkjet technology. It applies ink layers between white filament layers, controlled precisely by an ESP32-S3. Currently in beta, this exciting mod is constantly evolving and adding features.

(github.com)

Hardware full-color printing

Open-Source 8-Bit DIY Computer, Cody Computer, Released

2024-12-30

The Cody Computer is an 8-bit home computer designed as a DIY project, inspired by (but not compatible with) the Commodore computers of the 1980s. Built around the Western Design Center's 65C02 and 65C22 and the Parallax Propeller microcontroller, it features 3D-printed components, a custom keyboard, and supports both Cody BASIC and assembly language programming. Offering retro-style graphics and sound, the Cody Computer's design files and software are released under the GPLv3 license. Detailed project information is available in the freely downloadable 'Cody Computer Book'. This project aims to provide a simple, fun, and educational DIY computing experience.

(www.codycomputer.org)

Hardware DIY computer

Are PC Hardware Companies Creating Closed Ecosystems?

2024-12-29

A veteran computer hardware engineer observes a concerning trend: PC hardware manufacturers are increasingly restricting user access and control. Dell, for example, has removed the ability to change storage configurations in the BIOS of some laptops and doesn't provide necessary RST drivers on its website, preventing clean OS installations from media. Users are forced to use pre-installed systems or manufacturer recovery tools containing bloatware and data collection. This mirrors Apple's MacOS approach of limiting non-approved software, potentially leading to extremely limited consumer choices in the future.

(www.scottrlarson.com)

Hardware PC hardware closed ecosystem user control

Intel's Pentium FDIV Bug: A $475 Million Mistake

2024-12-28

In 1993, Intel launched the high-performance Pentium processor. A year later, a flaw in its floating-point division algorithm was discovered, causing incorrect results in rare cases. Initially dismissed by Intel, the bug—dubbed the FDIV bug—quickly gained media attention. The error stemmed from 16 missing entries in the processor's lookup table, with 5 entries directly causing incorrect calculations. Intel ultimately recalled and replaced all affected chips at a cost of $475 million. This article delves into the Pentium's division algorithm, pinpoints the bug's location on the chip, and explains the underlying mathematical error that led to this costly mistake.

(www.righto.com)

Hardware Pentium Hardware error

Ars Technica's Guide to Mechanical Keyboards: A Clickety-Clack Adventure

2024-12-28

Confused about buying a mechanical keyboard? Ars Technica's comprehensive guide navigates the complexities. Learn about keyboard sizes (full-size, TKL, 60%, etc.), switch types (linear, tactile, clicky), keycap materials (ABS, PBT), backlighting options, and advanced features like N-key rollover and macro support. The guide clarifies each element with illustrations and examples, catering to both beginners and enthusiasts seeking their perfect keyboard.

(arstechnica.com)

Hardware mechanical keyboards keyboard buying guide mechanical switches

Bizarre PCIe Issue with 4TB Crucial T500 NVMe SSD

2024-12-28

A user encountered a strange problem with a 4TB Crucial T500 NVMe SSD on an MSI PRO X670-P WIFI motherboard: the SSD works flawlessly after each boot but becomes undetectable after shutdown, requiring a physical reseat. Investigations ruled out the SSD and CPU, pointing to a motherboard design flaw. Residual voltage remains after shutdown, causing the SSD controller to malfunction. Disconnecting the HDMI cable resolved the issue, suggesting a power delivery design or BIOS problem on the motherboard.

(forum.level1techs.com)

Hardware Motherboard Issue

38C3 Conference: Reverse Engineering the ESP32's Wi-Fi Stack to Unlock its Potential

2024-12-28

At the 38C3 conference, Frostie314159 and Jasper Devreker presented a talk on reverse engineering the ESP32's Wi-Fi stack. By reverse engineering the closed-source Wi-Fi stack, they built an open-source alternative, unlocking the full potential of the ESP32. This allows the ESP32 to be used as a penetration testing tool, a B.A.T.M.A.N. mesh router, an AirDrop client, and more. The project highlights the versatility of the ESP32 and provides valuable experience for similar reverse engineering endeavors.

(media.ccc.de)

Hardware Open Source Wi-Fi

Reverse Engineering Elgato's Stream Deck Plus: Breaking Free from Proprietary Software

2024-12-26

Den Delimarsky successfully reverse-engineered the Elgato Stream Deck Plus and shared the detailed process. Using tools like Wireshark, he captured and analyzed the USB communication between the Stream Deck Plus and a computer, revealing the workings of buttons, screen, and knobs. This includes the image transfer protocol, button status feedback, and screen touch event coordinate data. He then updated the DeckSurf SDK with a C# example, enabling developers to control the Stream Deck Plus without relying on Elgato's software.

(den.dev)

Hardware hardware hacking

Hardware-Efficient UNORM and SNORM to Float Conversion

2024-12-26

This blog post delves into the efficient hardware implementation of converting UNORM and SNORM integer formats to IEEE 754 binary32 floating-point numbers. The author details handling special values for 8-bit and 16-bit UNORM and SNORM, demonstrating how bit shifts and additions achieve precise conversion without complex division. Normalization and rounding are explained to ensure accuracy. The post concludes by summarizing the hardware cost, highlighting its efficiency.

(fgiesen.wordpress.com)

Hardware float conversion

Nordic Unveils VPR: Its First RISC-V Processor, Ushering in a New Era of Heterogeneous Computing

2024-12-26

Nordic Semiconductor has launched VPR, its first RISC-V processor, integrated into the new nRF54H and nRF54L SoCs. VPR, an RV32EMC processor running at up to 320MHz, is designed for software-defined peripherals. The article details VPR's architecture, initialization process, and collaboration with the Arm Cortex-M33. Zephyr's sysbuild simplifies building and deploying VPR applications, enabling heterogeneous computing for enhanced performance and functionality.

(danielmangum.com)

Hardware Heterogeneous Computing

Thunderbolt 4/5 Docks: Impact on SSD Performance

2024-12-25

This article tests the performance impact of Thunderbolt 4 and Thunderbolt 5 docks on different SSDs (Thunderbolt 3 and USB4). Results show that using a TB5 dock with an Intel Mac nearly doubles the speed of a USB4 SSD, reaching 20Gb/s—unprecedented. However, TB3 SSD read speeds decreased with the TB5 dock. A TB4 hub limited USB4 SSD speeds and reduced TB3 SSD write speeds. The tests demonstrate unpredictable performance variations depending on the Mac, dock, and SSD combination, highlighting the need for careful testing.

(eclecticlight.co)

Hardware Performance Testing

Category: Hardware