Category Archives: Computer Hardware + Systems Articles!
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Google just cancelled their next Pixelbook, and dissolved the team behind it, but don’t worry – the Chromebook lives on!
Google Kills Pixelbook + Dissolves Team
Google just cancelled the next-generation Pixelbook laptop that was supposed to debut next year. They also dissolved the team developing it, and transferred its members to other teams.
This sudden decision came after Google said in May 2022 that it planned to continue its Pixelbook laptop business.
Then in July, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that he wanted to slow down hiring and cut some projects :
In some cases, that means consolidating where investments overlap and streamlining processes. In other cases, that means pausing development and re-deploying resources to higher priority areas.
It looks like Google decided that their next Pixelbook would be a waste of resources, and killed it to shift their resources elsewhere.
Google Pixelbook Is Dead, But Chromebook Lives On!
While there will no longer be a new Pixelbook laptop in 2023, that does not mean Google has given up on ChromeOS or Chromebook laptops.
In fact, Google likely canned their Pixelbook project because their OEM partners are doing a great job of producing a plethora of good or even great Chromebook laptops.
As Google hardware chief Rick Osterloh pointed out at Google I/O 2022 in May, the Chromebook market had matured and would last a long time.
Google have always developed hardware as a way to push the envelope, and to show its partners what can be achieved. It doesn’t benefit Google to directly compete with its partners.
Now that OEM partners like Acer, Lenovo and HP are offering Chromebook laptops in a wide range of price points and configurations, it just doesn’t make sense for Google to muddle the market with a new Pixelbook.
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Japan is being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century – its government has FINALLY decided to kill off floppy disks!
Japan Is Still Using Floppy Disks + CD-ROM!
Most of the world began transitioning from floppy disks to USB flash drives and rewritable CDs (yes, they exist!) in the late 1990s.
By the 2000s, floppy disk sales tanked globally … except in Japan, where they continued to thrive.
That’s partly because government agencies in Japan continue to require data to be submitted using floppy disks or CD-ROM.
So while the world moved to USB flash drives capable of storing gigabytes of data, Japan remained loyal to floppy disk with its storage capacity of 1.44 MB or 2.88 MB.
Today, Japan is arguably the only country in the world where kids do not stare blankly if you mention “floppy disk”.
Japan To FINALLY Kill Off Floppy Disks + CD-ROM!
On 31 August 2022, Taro Kono – the Minister of Digital Transformation of Japan, announced that the government will rewrite rules requiring the use of floppy disks or CD-ROM.
This is part of the Japanese government’s plan to introduce a national identification number for its citizens, called MyNumber.
MyNumber will be the lynchpin for many of the Japanese government’s future digital services, and will require significant amounts of data to be uploaded to its online databases.
That was when Kono’s department found more than 1,900 regulations regulating how data should be shared with the government, and many of them required the use of floppy disks or CD-ROMs. Even worse – uploading data over the Internet was forbidden for security reasons.
So the Ministry of Digital Transformation will have to fix these regulations before both the Japanese government and its citizens can rid themselves of 1970s-era technology once and for all.
Digital Minister declares a war on floppy discs. There are about 1900 government procedures that requires business community to use discs, i. e. floppy disc, CD, MD, etc to submit applications and other forms. Digital Agency is to change those regulations so you can use online.
But updating those old regulations is only part of the solution. Kono still has to deal with poor digital literacy, as well as the bureaucratic and conservative culture in Japan which are obstacles to its digital transformation.
Some Japanese government officials continue to insist that floppy disks offer a degree of security and authenticity that an email just cannot. Yoichi Ono – a Tokyo official – claimed in 2021 that floppy disks “almost never broke or lost data”.
That is not true, as many tech old-timers who had to put up with a corrupt disk or two in a multi-disk installation can attest to. But it speaks to the great reluctance in many Japanese organisations to do away with old tech.
Unbelievably, many Japanese companies and government agencies continue to rely significantly on an even older technology from the past – the fax machine.
“I’m looking to get rid of the fax machine, and I still plan to do that,” Kano told a news conference this week.
He will be fighting against hundreds of government officials who claim that “banishing fax machines would be impossible” because of “security of sensitive information” and “anxiety over the communication environment (email)”.
I wish Minister Kono all the best in his attempt to drag Japan into the 21st century.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Both AMD and NVIDIA have just been banned from selling high-performance AI chips to both China and Russia!
Here is what you need to know…
AMD, NVIDIA Banned From Selling AI Chips To China + Russia!
On Friday, 26 August 2022, NVIDIA and AMD were both ordered by the US government to stop exporting high-performance AI chips to both China and Russia.
In its regulatory filing to the SEC, NVIDIA stated that the US government introduced this ban to prevent them from being used for military purposes, or by the Chinese or Russian military.
The ban uses the A100 Tensor Core GPU as the baseline for NVIDIA, and the 3rd Gen Instinct MI250 accelerator chip for AMD.
Effective immediately, anything equal to, or faster than, the NVIDIA A100 or the AMD Instinct MI250 can no longer be exported to either China or Russia. That includes the upcoming H100 chip.
On August 26, 2022, the U.S. government, or USG, informed NVIDIA Corporation, or the Company, that the USG has imposed a new license requirement, effective immediately, for any future export to China (including Hong Kong) and Russia of the Company’s A100 and forthcoming H100 integrated circuits.
DGX or any other systems which incorporate A100 or H100 integrated circuits and the A100X are also covered by the new license requirement.
The license requirement also includes any future NVIDIA integrated circuit achieving both peak performance and chip-to-chip I/O performance equal to or greater than thresholds that are roughly equivalent to the A100, as well as any system that includes those circuits. A license is required to export technology to support or develop covered products.
The USG indicated that the new license requirement will address the risk that the covered products may be used in, or diverted to, a ‘military end use’ or ‘military end user’ in China and Russia. The Company does not sell products to customers in Russia.
I should point out that the NVIDIA A100 was launched two years ago – on June 22, 2020, while the AMD Instinct MI250 was introduced on November 8, 2021.
So it appears that the US government wants to maintain at least a 1-year advantage in high-performance AI chips.
AMD, NVIDIA Set To Lose Billions From AI Chip Sales To China!
Both AMD and NVIDIA stopped selling chips to Russia, after the invasion of Ukraine, so there is no material loss from such a ban on sales to Russia.
However, they both stand to lose billions of dollars worth of sales to China. NVIDIA alone estimates that the ban will affect US$400 million of sales, just in the third fiscal quarter.
Even more worrying was the likelihood that this ban may delay the H100 chip’s launch, and force NVIDIA to move “certain operations” out of China.
The new license requirement may impact the Company’s ability to complete its development of H100 in a timely manner or support existing customers of A100 and may require the Company to transition certain operations out of China.
AMD however claims that the ban will not have a material impact on its business, because shipments of its less powerful MI100 chips are not affected.
At this time, we do not believe that shipments of MI100 integrated circuits are impacted by the new requirements.
We do not currently believe it is a material impact on our business.
Both AMD and NVIDIA will now have to discuss with their customers in China on using alternative (less powerful) chips, or obtaining special licenses from the US government.
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
HUAWEI CEO Ren Zhengfei just warned of tough times ahead, and called for his company to go into survival mode!
Here is what you need to know…
HUAWEI CEO Ren Zhengfei Warns Of Tough Times!
On 22 August 2022, HUAWEI founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei posted a memo on its internal network, stating that “The entire company’s business policy should shift from the pursuit of expansion to the pursuit of profit and cash flow“.
In Ren’s opinion, the global economy will continue to decline and be in the doldrums for the next ten years, putting HUAWEI under great pressure.
He also said that it is unclear if HUAWEI can survive the 2023-2024 financial year, partially blaming its woes on a “continued blockade” by Western countries.
Therefore, he says HUAWEI must focus on its own survival, and shift from expanding to pursuing profit and improving cash flow over the next 3 years. To that end, the CEO said that HUAWEI will completely abandon its business in certain countries.
The HUAWEI CEO also said that the “chill” in business sentiment to be passed down to HUAWEI employees, linking their bonuses and promotions to business results. In addition, he called for responsibilities to be consolidated, which sounds like euphemism for job cuts.
This alarming memo by its CEO comes after HUAWEI – China’s largest company – saw revenue decline by 14% in the first three months of 2022, with its profit margin narrowing to 4.3% from 11.1% just a year ago.
The HUAWEI CEO appears to believe that China will experience a much longer and persistent economic slowdown spreading far beyond the current collapse of its real estate sector.
It is surprising to note that Chinese censors has not removed the memo, which suggests the HUAWEI CEO has enough clout to speak openly. His memo went viral on Chinese social media, and has been discussed and shared by more than 100 million Chinese netizens.
HUAWEI CEO Ren Zhengfei Tough Times Memo : Key Points
Here are the key points from HUAWEI CEO Ren Zhengfei’s “tough times” memo, machine-translated from NetEase:
Live with quality in the next three years
We have to see the difficulties faced by the company and the difficulties in the future. The next ten years should be a very painful historical period, and the global economy will continue to decline. Now, due to the impact of the war and the continued blockade and suppression by the United States, the world’s economy is unlikely to improve in the next 3 to 5 years. Coupled with the impact of the epidemic, there should be no bright spot in the world. Then the consumption power will be greatly reduced, which will not only put pressure on the supply, but also the pressure on the market.
Under such circumstances, Huawei’s overly optimistic expectations about the future will be lowered. In 2023 and even 2025, we must take survival as the main program to survive, and survive with quality. This slogan is very good. Every business must be carried out carefully.
If we have a little bit of hope in 2025 as planned, then we must first find a way to get through these three difficult years, and the basis of survival must be adjusted to focus on cash flow and real profits, not just sales revenue. The respite period of our life is 2023 and 2024. We are still not sure whether we can break through in these two years, so every mouth should not tell stories, but must talk about realization, especially when conducting business forecasts, do not No more illusions, telling stories to deceive the company, losses will be deducted from your food package, first of all, you must survive, and if you survive, you will have a future.
Blind investment business to shrink
The 2023 budget should maintain a reasonable pace, blind expansion, and blind investment in businesses should shrink or close.
The entire company must use the budget effectively, and cannot blindly close all projects. The manpower saved will go to the front line, continue to optimize the organization’s business, rationally staff the ICT infrastructure, or our black land granary. Competitive complex hardware platforms and complex software platforms, and the projects that hang on to ride on them must be picked out. The legion is to build a basic information platform and sell ICT better. The infrastructure is not for the ecology. The terminal is the foundation for our rise and breakthrough in the future, but it should not be blind. Now we need to narrow the front lines, concentrate our troops to fight the war of annihilation, and increase profits.
Huawei cloud computing should focus on supporting Huawei’s business development in a down-to-earth manner, and take the road of supporting the industrial Internet. Digital energy has increased investment in the strategic opportunity window, created greater value, contracted institutions, and strengthened combat teams. Smart car solutions cannot be rolled out on a complete front. It is necessary to reduce the research budget, strengthen the business closed loop, and take a modular approach to R&D, focusing on a few key components to be competitive, and the rest can be connected to others.
In addition to the main goal of continuous investment for survival and profitability, businesses that cannot generate value and profits in the next few years should be scaled down or closed, and human and material resources should be concentrated on the main channel. We must face the reality and not be too far away. The great ideal is to cut through the mess quickly, and the surplus personnel will be adjusted to the strategic reserve team, and then they will be combined into reasonable positions to grab food.
The peripheral business must be taken out of the strategic core. After the marginal business is taken out, we first evaluate whether it can be done well and how much resources are needed to do it well. If it is not possible to do a business with huge resource consumption, it is better to open it up and let others do it after closing it. We must do it, and if we do not do well enough, we will reorganize the combat team and change cadres. If there are some windows of opportunity, we expand the strategic resource pool of strategic reserve teams and cadres and experts, and form commandos to attack in the window of opportunity.
Adhere to seeking truth from facts, and shrinking in the market must be firm. We used to embrace the ideal of globalization and aspire to serve all mankind. What is our ideal now? Survive and earn a little wherever you have money. From this perspective, we need to adjust the market structure and study what can be done and what should be abandoned.
Give up part of the market
The first focus is on value market value customers, and the main force is used in the middle section of the normal distribution curve. In some countries, we completely give up in the market. We also have a fat meat market, and the people who used to eat bones are transferred to eat fat meat.
Second, for hard-fought countries and regions, as an assessment and training base for new cadres to be promoted in the future, some countries have low output. Although we still have to do it, should we no longer send soldiers to guard the top of the snow, because he will still be a soldier after he comes down? Xueshan Mountain is a test of people, and potential new cadres will have the opportunity to be promoted to army commander. Because it is easy to integrate a small country, he calculates from the estimated budget, contract, tender delivery, working hour quota, and the solution is all done together. When I came back, I passed 5 and 6 on the cadre’s resume and passed the threshold of 11 generals in one day. Of course, some employees have been on the frontier for a long time, and their incomes have decreased when they return to China. There is also the issue of children going to school.
Third, employees returning from overseas should have priority in obtaining skills training and job opportunities. Employees returning from overseas must have a period of protection to protect them from their posts and ensure that they receive certain training. The skills of personnel in difficult countries may be worse than those in China, because they do not have a realistic combat environment. How can they improve? Just like a soldier on the plateau, although he stood very high, he did not absorb any cosmic energy. They paid the price. They could not take the exam as soon as they returned to China, and then they were eliminated. No one wanted to go to such difficult areas, so we have to It is guaranteed that the returning employees have job arrangements and a relaxed study time. As for his ability to catch up during this period, it is another matter.
Financial planning needs to be done for cash flow. In times of crisis, the main purpose is to make blood. Although we say that it will improve in 2025, what if there are no shells by then? So that’s a wonderful plan, we have safe food measures.
The company has two major expenditures to distribute dividends to employees, including wage stability, which is to enhance internal confidence and cohesion, and repayment of loans to banks, which is to enhance the society’s trust in us. For projects that already have obvious potential risks, don’t have any illusions, and surface them as soon as possible, let the audit come to a conclusion, and quantify the risks. At the same time, it is still possible to continue to manage these assets that have been eliminated. Through management, risks can be turned into appropriate returns. We should not have a bubble in our hearts. When we look at the report, we will be very determined, but we will not actually be able to make money. to the money.
Let the chill pass to everyone
Consolidate responsibilities, and link bonuses, promotions and promotions to business results, so that the cold will be passed on to everyone.
First, in this year’s and next year’s assessment, the weight of cash flow and profit should be increased. It is better for sales revenue to decline a bit, but profit and cash flow to increase. The bonus for operating profit growth should be a little more, so as to encourage everyone to compete for profits.
Second, each responsibility center signs the assessment responsibility letter. The company should aim at the KPI-based reciprocal reward mechanism. The normal promotion and upgrading will remain unchanged next year, but the link with the equivalence of responsibility should be strengthened, which makes people feel cold year after year. , but we need to be patient and enthusiastic in our transition. I once told the executive board that the basic salary framework should not be changed. This is a rigid indicator, but if the employees are excellent, they can be promoted and upgraded, and the bonus can be very flexible. Why is it elastic? Encourage everyone to go to the battlefield to grab food, the front line is different from the agency.
Third, the bonuses of various businesses this year must widen the gap, and it is absolutely not allowed to force everyone to achieve the short-term goal of grabbing food. In the past, the company’s policy was basically to settle things down. Everyone didn’t feel the cold in winter. Everyone covered the quilt, but it was a little thicker and thinner. At the end of this year, businesses with more profit and cash flow will have more bonuses, and businesses that cannot create value will have very low bonuses. They don’t even force the business to commit suicide and pass on the cold.
At present, we have to survive, not to fight for our ideals. The legion competition is the year-end bonus, because the bonus is not given by the company, but the profit earned by the legion itself, and part of it is handed over to the company. If we cannot earn food, we must dare to Bonuses are not given because the basic income of the employees covers the necessities of life. Of course, some strategic businesses cannot create value in the short term, which we can determine through evaluation, but many marginal businesses with poor performance must be cut off. This is adjustment, consolidation, enrichment, and improvement.
Invest at all costs at the point of survival crisis
Quality is the primary productive force. We must adhere to this line. R&D must be responsible for the quality and performance of products, and we promise that service experts must have comprehensive capabilities. Poor quality products are a shame for R&D personnel. This sentence should be posted on On the wall of the R&D office area of the R&D office, the rate of network failures around the world is getting higher and higher, and an accident may destroy the trust system of the entire market.
100-1=0, for our research and development, the research and development of single boards, the research and development of single devices, and the research and development of systems must put quality first. Quality is the best support guarantee for R&D and manufacturing personnel to market service personnel. If the quality of the product is not good, it is equivalent to letting the brothers brave the hail of bullets, ice and snow, hot and sweltering heat, and the new crown virus is charging on the front line. Therefore, we need to establish a reverse assessment mechanism. The first-line reverse assessment should not only assess the service organization of the agency, but also extend to the product line. If the quality is not good in the office, then the front line should be narrowed and the competitiveness should be improved.
We need to improve the status of the service system, and service experts must have a comprehensive ability to judge the network experience of accidents. In the past, we paid more attention to R&D than service, but now we also need to pay attention to the service system.
Reasonable, scientific and reasonable control of inventory. We must change from panic-stricken self-rescue in the past to high-quality self-rescue. We must pay attention to reducing inventory reasonably, and do not cause insufficient profits and tight cash flow of the company due to excessive inventory, which constitutes our new crisis. We can invest at all costs on strategic key opportunities and existential crises, but we cannot spend money on non-strategic opportunities.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
The US aims to block the construction of new advanced chip fabs in China and countries of concern like Russia.
Here is what you need to know…
US To Fund Building Of Advanced Chip Fabs!
The US Congress just passed the historic CHIPS and Science Act (HR 4346) – a massive $280 billion bill designed to bolster innovation and tech hubs in the United States.
The legislation passed with a Senate vote of 64-33, and a House vote of 243-187, approving :
$76 billion of funding to revive and boost chip production in the United States
$81 billion for the National Science Foundation over 5 years, for research, equipment and STEM education
Almost $10 billion for the National Institute of Standards and Technology
TSMC, Intel and Samsung are expected to benefit from the billions of dollars of funding, which would subsidise their construction of new advanced chip fabs in the United States.
There is however a big caveat in the legislation that the White House is expected to sign – any company that receives funding will be barred from building new advanced chip fabs in China and other countries of concern, like Russia.
The CHIPS and Sciences Act specifically bars companies that receive federal funding from “materially expanding” production of chips more advanced than 28 nanometres (28 nm) in countries of concern like China and Russia, for 10 years.
28 nm chips are not state-of-art, with production first starting more than 10 years ago – in 2011. However, they are still used in many applications, and China is free to keep producing these chips.
This move though will essentially limit development of advanced chips in China, by blocking foreign chipmakers from investing in more advanced fabs.
Intel had earlier lobbied hard against this move. In late 2021, Intel wanted to expand production in China but was pressured to sell its Dalian wafer plant to South Korea’s SK Hynix. Intel now only has chip packaging and testing facilities in China.
But that changed, and now Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger is a big proponent of the bill, even suggesting that it might forego building its Ohio mega fab and shift it to Europe if the legislation did not pass.
Currently, the only semiconductor companies investing in fabs in China are Samsung and TSMC. So if they choose to accept US funding, both companies will have to stop building fabs that can produce chips that are more advanced than 28 nm.
Of the potential recipients of US funding, TSMC is the only company making relatively advanced chips in China. Its Nanjing fabs currently make 28 nm and more advanced 16 nm chips.
Unless TSMC spurns US funding, it won’t be able to invest in more advanced fabs in China. This will force China to rely on its own SMIC to develop more advanced chipmaking technologies.
US Quietly Expands Chip Equipment Ban To Fabs In China
In addition to the looming CHIPS Act, the US government also expanded its ban on the sale of machines for fabricating advanced chips.
The US government had earlier banned the sale of tools that allow China to manufacture chips at 10 nm or smaller. That ban was just extended to include tools that would allow the manufacture of chips 14 nm or smaller.
American equipment makers like LAM Research and KLA Corp. have received letters about this expanded ban, which appears to be limited to logic chips (like computer processors), but not memory chips.
According to the US Commerce Department, the move was meant to impair China’s ability to manufacture advanced chips :
The Biden Administration is focused on impairing PRC efforts to manufacture advanced semiconductors to address significant national security risks to the United States.
However, this move appears to be merely officiating what is already being practiced – the US Commerce Department had already declined many licences to sell 14nm fab equipment.
The Biden Administration is also pushing the Netherlands and Japan to ban ASML Holdings NV and Nikon Corp from selling advanced chip making equipment to China.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
China just banned food imports over 100 Taiwanese companies right before US Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan, but unsurprisingly not microchips!
Here is what you need to know…
China Bans Taiwan Food Products Over Pelosi!
While US Speaker Nancy Pelosi was flying to Taiwan from Malaysia, the General Administration of Customs for China announced an import ban on food products from over 100 Taiwanese companies.
Of those 100 Taiwanese companies, 35 are exporters of biscuits and pastries, including famous Taiwanese companies like Kuo Yuan Ye Corp (郭元益), Yu Jan Shin (裕珍馨), Kuai Kuai Co (乖乖), Imei Foods Co (義美食品), Chiate Bakery (佳德) and Kuang Ta Hsiang Foodstuffs Co (廣達香).
The other companies exported food products like tea, honey and seafood. Of the 3,200 Taiwanese food products registered for export to China, 2,066 (64.6%) had their imports suspended.
Officially, Beijing says that the blacklisted companies failed to renew their export registration, and can only sell their products until the end of August 2022.
However, the late night announcement, and the fact that only Taiwanese exporters are required to file their registration documents by June 2022, instead of June 2023 like exporters from other countries; strongly suggest that this move was motivated by Pelosi’s visit.
China May Ban Taiwan Food Over Pelosi, But Not Chips!
Despite the dramatic late night announcement, this move was relatively benign as the banned exports only make up 0.1% or US$650 million of Taiwan’s total exports.
Last year, Taiwan exported US$44 million worth of pastries to China, but that fell to only US$10 million during the first half of 2022.
Seafood exports to China were more substantial at US$280 million, but tea exports were just under US$32 million, and honey exports was a minuscule US$35,000.
On the other hand, China does not dare to ban the import of Taiwanese microchips or electronics, because it has grown reliant on them.
After the US imposed sanctions on Chinese chipmakers in 2018, China increased imports of Taiwanese memory chips by a whopping 57% in just 3 years!
In fact, Taiwanese exports to China surged by 24.8% to an all-time high of US$188.9 billion in 2021, largely due to high demand for their computer chips.
No matter what their Wolf Warriors may threaten, China is still too reliant on Taiwan for high-end semiconductors to really threaten its supply, and it is not ready to invade Taiwan with a realistic chance of success.
By targeting only a small portion of relatively inconsequential Taiwanese imports, China is just slapping Taiwan on the wrist.
The Taiwanese should play along and moan like they have been mortally wounded to give China some face, so it can (gracefully) retreat from the uncomfortable corner it back itself into.
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Did China successfully fabricate 7nm chips, despite US sanctions on advanced chip manufacturing technology?
Well, yes, but not quite. Here is what you need to know about China’s mysterious 7nm chips!
China Made 7nm Chips In Spite Of US Sanctions!
A TechInsights report recently concluded that China has successfully created 7nm chips since last year.
This caused quite a ruckus, because it essentially meant that China jumped two generations ahead in chip manufacturing technology!
The TechInsights team bought a MinerVa mining ASIC which used a custom chip that has been manufactured by China’s SMIC since July 2021.
When they examined the chip, they discovered that it was fabricated on a 7nm process that appears to be a “close copy” of a 7nm process used by TSMC – the Taiwanese foundry giant.
The MinerVa chip is small – at just 19.3 mm², with 120 chips populating the MinerVa board. Each mining ASIC has 3 of these boards, for a total of 360 chips and a total power consumption of 3300 watts.
This discovery is deeply concerning to many people, because it meant that China has more advanced chip manufacturing technology than is even available in the United States or EU.
After all, US sanctioned the sale of advanced chip manufacturing technology to China – which was meant to crippled China’s ability to manufacture such chips.
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer used this report to stress the danger of delaying the $50 billion subsidy package for semiconductor manufacturing in the United States.
Members of both sides know that America’s chips crisis is sending shock waves across the economy.
It is endangering our national security. […] China’s top chips maker has now likely advanced its tech by two generations, threatening U.S. competitiveness.
But the situation really isn’t as dire as many people make it out to be…
SMIC / China Barely Made Those 7nm Chips
After the report was released, the Internet fell into two main camps – American politicians and China hawks bemoaning the “loss” of Western chip making advantage, and pro-CCP netizens celebrating it.
First, let me start by congratulating China / SMIC on achieving this feat despite being hobbled by US sanctions on crucial chipmaking technology.
Whether China / SMIC “copied / stole / bought” the technology knowhow from TSMC whose 7nm process it closely resembles, it is still a remarkable achievement.
That said, SMIC / China barely made those 7nm chips, and here are the reasons why…
SMIC manufactured these 7nm chips using older Deep Ultraviolet Lithography (DUV) machines, instead of the state-of-art Extreme Ultraviolet Light (EUV) lithography machines made by Dutch company ASML.
This isn’t extraordinary in itself – TSMC and Samsung had much earlier developed 7nm process nodes using the older DUV machines. However, this comes at the cost of “increased process complexity and design rule restrictions“.
That is likely why the MinerVa chip is not only very small, it actually lacks SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) that is critical in processors that run our computers and smartphones.
The simpler design and small size allow SMIC to obtain sufficient workable chips, even with a poor yield. However, the cost of chip would be much higher than if it was manufactured on a higher-quality process.
So for all intents and purposes – this should be considered as a niche / prototype 7nm process, and not a true 7nm process node.
On top of that, SMIC apparently isn’t capable of producing large quantities of these 7nm chips, suggesting either a yield problem, or difficulty in scaling up.
MinerVa has not been able to deliver the mining ASICs based on these SMIC 7nm chips in large numbers. A Bitcoin mining company – Stronghold Digital Mining, for example, said that it ordered 15,000 miners from MinerVa but only received about 3,200 units as of March 2022.
For China / SMIC to present a true “threat” as far as chipmaking is concerned, it would have to be capable of manufacturing MILLIONS of chips, not thousands.
Regardless of whether the Americans are howling in despair, or the pro-CCP netizens are howling in delight, China really does not have true 7nm chipmaking capability for mass production yet.
And even if they somehow manage to improve and scale up this 7nm DUV process, they cannot make more advanced chips without EUV machines made by ASML.
As long as the Dutch government holds firm on blocking sale of ASML’s EUV machines to China, this is likely as far as they can go… unless they invade Taiwan, which is where TSMC is based and has the world’s most advanced chip manufacturing facilities.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Apple just agreed to pay $50 million to settle a class action lawsuit over the controversial butterfly keyboard used in its MacBook laptops!
Apple Sued For Controversial Butterfly Keyboard!
Apple introduced the controversial butterfly keyboard mechanism to their MacBook laptops from 2015 to 2019, to make them slimmer.
The butterfly mechanism uses mirrored switches that expand like wings, unlike the typical scissor mechanism used in laptop keyboards which uses two interlocking switches that click together when the key is pressed.
While the butterfly mechanism made the keys thinner, they also made the keyboard prone to trapping dust and debris, resulting in sticky and/or easily broken keys.
Apple added a membrane to the butterfly mechanism, in an effort to make it quieter while keeping debris out; but it didn’t help. Small design changes in 2019 also did little to improve the keyboard.
The Wall Street Journal even printed a famous typo-ridden column to demonstrate the butterfly mechanism’s issues in 2019.
Two law firms – Girard Sharp LLP, and Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith LLP – then bought on a class action lawsuit, claiming that Apple was aware of the problem but failed to rectify the problem and do enough in supporting customers who experienced the problem.
Apple Settles Butterfly Keyboard Lawsuit For $50 million!
On July 18, 2022, Apple filed a $50 million settlement in San Jose, California, to settle the class action lawsuit over its butterfly keyboard.
If approved by a judge, the law firms can claim up to $15 million out of the $50 million settlement, for legal fees. Apple denied any wrongdoing, and did not offer any comments.
The rest of the settlement would be used to pay customers who bought a MacBook, MacBook Air, and most MacBook Pro laptops between 2015 and 2019 in seven US states :
California
Florida
Michigan
New Jersey
New York
Washington
Under the proposed settlement, customers who had issues with their butterfly keyboards in those states will receive :
up to $395, for those who had to replace multiple keyboards
$125 for those who had a single keyboard replacement
$50 for those who had to replace key caps
Apple dumped the butterfly keyboard for the more traditional scissor mechanism keyboard in 2019, with the introduction of the 16-inch MacBook Pro and the Magic Keyboard.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
ViewSonic just launched new solutions for the corporate and education segments!
Here’s a quick look at the new ViewSonic LED projectors, and the ViewSonic Studio!
ViewSonic Launches New Corporate + Education Solutions!
Thanks for the COVID-19 pandemic, many of those working in the corporate and education industry are looking for a hybrid approach to combine in-person and online meetings and education.
Capitalising on the increased demand in those market segments, ViewSonic is introducing two new 3rd Generation LED projectors, as well as their Hybrid Ecosystem ViewBoard Interactive Display.
3rd Gen ViewSonic LED Projectors
ViewSonic is offering two new 3rd Generation LED projectors – the LS500WHE and the LS550WHE, both offering a maximum brightness of 3,000 ANSI lumens, as well as greater energy efficiency, and a longer lifespan.
The ViewSonic LS500WHE delivers 125% Rec.709 colour gamut, with 50% lower power consumption, and an LED light source that does not require replacements (thanks to its 30,000 hour lifespan), and is mercury-free.
Its optical engine is sealed against dust, with an IP5X rating, ensuring optimal image quality regardless of the environment. And the LS500WHE offers a 360-degree tilt angle projection to support floor and ceiling projections.
The ViewSonic LS550WHE is a short-throw version that offers all of the LS500WHE’s capabilities, with a 0.49 short throw lens, together with horizontal and vertical keystone correction, as well as 4-corner adjustments to eliminate crooked or distorted images.
ViewSonic LS500WHE (left) and LS550WHE (right)
ViewSonic Studio For Education Tech Solutions
ViewSonic also launched the first ViewSonic studio in Malaysia, which offers educators and policy makers access to their latest edtech solutions, like the ViewBoard Interactive Display, and the myViewBoard visual learning software suite.
The ViewBoard interactive display has made significant inroads in the Malaysian education system, taking up 43.5% of the market share up to Q1 2022.
ViewSonic hopes to expand on this through their myViewBoard software suite, which would allow for Student-Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-down Pedagogies (SCALE-UP).
The integration of the ViewBoard interactive display, with their myViewBoard software suite will allow classrooms to adopt group work, with better engagement through enriched content and an immersive learning system.
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Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Dell just introduced a slew of new S Series monitors, as well as its first 14-inch Portable Monitor!
Dell Introduces 14-inch Portable Monitor + S Series Displays!
Thanks to the pandemic, the workplace has changed globally, with many companies now adopting a hybrid workplace policy.
Dell just introduced a slew of new S Series monitors, as well as its first 14-inch Portable Monitor, to address the need for employees to work between home and the office.
Dell 14 Portable Monitor (C1422H)
Built to be the ultimate laptop companion, the C1422H is Dell’s first ever 14-inch portable monitor, designed to deliver dual-screen productivity to work, present and collaborate anywhere.
Professionals working in the office, at home or on the go will appreciate the Dell Portable Monitor’s lightweight design. It weighs just over half a kilogram, and is less than a quarter-inch thick at its slimmest, making it extremely easy to travel with.
With an IPS panel that offers a Full HD display resolution, with an 16:9 aspect ratio, the Dell C1422H Portable Monitor offers easy plug and play with USB-C connectivity. Simply press the quick access buttons to adjust brightness (up to 300 nits) and the ComfortView feature that reduces harmful blue light emissions.
This sleek yet practical portable monitor complements all workstyles and productivity demands with a small continuous tilt stand that bends from 10 to 90 degrees. It also features Energy Star and EPEAT GOLD certification.
Dell 24 and 27 Video Conferencing Monitor (S2422HZ and S2722DZ)
Hanging out virtually with friends, family and co-workers will be easier with the new 27-inch QHD / 23.8-inch FHD monitors that are specifically designed for video calls.
For an easy out-of-box experience, these monitors come with a built-in 5 MP privacy pop-up camera, noise-cancelling microphones and dual 5 watt speakers. The pop-up camera stays hidden until you’re ready for video chatting, for privacy.
These video conferencing monitors feature Dell’s TÜV-certified ComfortView Plus – an always-on low blue light reduction technology that optimises eye comfort while retaining colour accuracy. Other features include USB-C connectivity, AMD FreeSync technology and a 75 Hz refresh rate for smoother graphics.
These two USB-C monitors offer the convenience of a single cable solution with USB Type Connectivity, to deliver video, audio, and data; while charging your laptop with up to 65 watts of power.
These monitors are great for those who want a clutter-free workspace, with a single-cable monitor to complement their laptops.
Dell 14-inch Portable Monitor + S Series Displays : Price + Availability!
These monitors are available with immediate effect from Dell online and authorised stores, at these starting price points :
Dell 27 Video Conferencing Monitor (S2722DZ) : A$915
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
There will soon be new taxes on small online purchases and delivery in Malaysia! Here is what you need to know…
New Taxes On Small Online Purchases + Delivery In Malaysia!
There will be soon new taxes on low-value purchases from overseas, and delivery services in Malaysia!
These taxes were announced in Budget 2022, but you may not be aware of it.
6% Service Tax On Delivery Services
From 1 July 2022 onwards, delivery services are subject to 6% service tax, for delivering goods other than food and beverages, and logistics delivery services.
This 6% service tax applies to e-commerce platforms as well, so expect the cost to be passed to you – the customer.
10% Sales Tax On Low Value Imports
Currently, goods imported from overseas that are delivered via courier services through specific international airports in Malaysia are not subject to the 10% sales. tax, if the value of each consignment (parcel) does not exceed RM 500.
Budget 2022 removed that exemption, which means all imported goods will be taxed, regardless of value.
From 1 January 2023 onwards, online sellers of low value imported goods delivered by air courier worth less than RM 500 per consignment must charge their customers a 10% sales tax. Otherwise, the purchaser will be subject to an import tax.
This sales tax applies to both local and foreign merchants. But the government has yet to reveal the mechanism by which foreign merchants will register, process and forward the collected sales tax.
Why New Taxes On Small Online Purchases + Delivery?!
Taxing low cost value goods purchased overseas is a way to level the playing field between local and foreign manufacturers.
Malaysian products are already subject to a 5% or 10% sales tax, which places them at a disadvantage when competing with low value imports that are currently tax-free.
That’s why many countries like Australia and New Zealand implement similar taxes, to align with local sales tax.
Even Singapore will be implementing a 7% GST on low value goods (LVG) from 1 January 2023 onwards, increasing it to 9% by 2025.
This sales tax on imported LVG will no doubt raise revenue for the government, but it is inline with what other countries are implementing to level the playing field, and encourage purchases of local products.
The 10% sales tax may seem high, but it does not apply to low value goods imported via sea or land.
This sales tax will not affect the RM1,000 exemption for travellers bringing in goods purchased overseas through the seven designated international airports in Malaysia.
The 6% service tax on delivery services is a new revenue stream for the government, although they have exempted food and beverage deliveries, as well as logistics deliveries.
Whatever the reasons are – expect to pay more for your online purchases!
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Chipmakers worldwide are bracing for a noble gas shortage, after Russia cut supplies! Here is what you need to know…
Chipmakers Brace For Noble Gas Shortage, After Russia Cut Supply!
On June 2, 2022, the Russian government issued a decree stating that export of noble gases will be subject to Moscow’s approval until December 31, based on the recommendations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
This effectively cuts or limits the export of critical noble gases to “unfriendly” countries, and was a direct response to the fifth round of sanctions imposed by the European Union in April.
Russia and Ukraine were leading producers of noble gases since the days of the Soviet Union, and jointly supplied about 30% of the chipmaking industry’s supply of neon gas.
Both countries were closely intertwined in their noble gas supply to the world. Russia produced raw neon gas as a byproduct of its steelworks, and sent it to Ukraine for purification. That ceased with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
How Badly Will Russia Noble Gas Cut Affect Chipmakers?
Noble gases like neon, argon, xenon and helium are critical in the production of microelectronics that power everything from computers to smartphones and cars.
Neon, in particular, plays a critical role in the optical lithographic process used to etch patterns on silicon wafers, creating circuits in semiconductor chips.
The state-of-the-art excimer pulsed laser used to create semiconductors, for example, requires an argon-fluorine-neon mixture, up to 95% of which is made up of exceptionally pure neon gas.
That’s why about 70% of the world’s supply of neon gas (about 540,000 tonnes) is used by the semiconductor industry.
Fortunately, Russia’s decision to cut noble gas supplies may have less impact that they assumed, because chipmakers prepared for such an eventuality.
The semiconductor industry used to rely on Ukraine and Russia for about 80% to 90% of their neon gas supply, but they started diversifying their noble gas supplies after Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014.
Over the last 7-8 years, they managed to cut down their dependence on Ukraine and Russia to about 30%. And the industry generally maintains gas reserves that would last 3-6 months.
China is the main beneficiary of reduced noble gas supply from Russia. Since the war started, Chinese noble gas producers said that their daily order enquiries have jumped 5X to 6X.
For now, the semiconductor industry does not need to reduce production, but the reduced market supply will mean noble gas prices will remain elevated for some time to come.
Needless to say – this will increase the cost of semiconductors, the cost of which will be passed onto consumers.
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
In our in-depth review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, we will share with you everything you need to know about this premium tablet.
Find out why we are so impressed with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra tablet, that we gave it our Editor’s Choice Award!
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra : Flagship Tablet
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is a premium tablet built around the most powerful mobile SoC available for Android devices – the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
It boasts a massive 14.6-inch Super AMOLED display, quad AKG speakers and a large 11,200 mAh battery – all packed into a compact chassis that weighs just 726 grams!
In this review, we will check out its key features, and show you why it is really the best Android tablet you can buy in 2022!
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra Unboxing : A Complete Package
What we really like about the new Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 tablet is that it comes as a complete package.
Unlike competing tablets, it comes with an awesome keyboard cover and S Pen in the package. There is no need to pay extra for either. Everything you need is in the box. Well, almost everything.
Once you fully unbox it, this is what you will find inside the box :
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra tablet
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra Book Cover Keyboard
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra S Pen
Set of Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 documents
USB Type A to Type A data and power cable
microSD tray ejector pin
The only thing missing is the charger. The package does not include the 45 watt power adaptor. Not even a standard 15 watt Samsung charger.
But that’s how most of the brands are rolling these days, in the name of reducing digital waste, so we won’t hold it against them.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is arguably the largest and most powerful tablet you can buy in 2022, so let’s take a closer look at its key features.
14.6-inch Super AMOLED Display
This first thing that you will notice when you see the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra for the first time, is just how large and beautiful its display really is.
That is a 14.6-inch Super AMOLED display you are looking at – larger than the display on most laptops; with a WQXGA+resolution of 2960 x 1848 pixels, and support for two fixed refresh rates :
High : Get smoother animations and scrolling with a 120 Hz screen refresh rate
Standard : Get longer battery life with a 60 Hz screen refresh rate
This large, high-resolution display allows you to fit multiple windows, and open different apps at the same time, for greater productivity.
This display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, and also by the bundled Keyboard Cover when it’s not in use.
Flagship Class Performance
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 runs on the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 mobile platform, which boasts a powerful Adreno 730 GPU, as well as eight processor cores in a triple-tier architecture :
a Cortex-X2 prime core running at up to 3 GHz,
three sustained-performance Cortex-A710 cores running at up to 2.4 GHz, and
four energy-efficient Cortex-A510 cores running at 1.7 GHz.
Those eight processor cores are paired with a powerful Qualcomm Adreno 730 graphics processor.
Performance is not only the key advantage of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. Built on the latest 4 nm process technology, it also offers lower battery consumption.
We will show you just how fast it runs in the benchmarks, and how efficient it is, later in this review.
RAM + Storage Options
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra comes with a variety of RAM and storage options :
8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage
12 GB RAM + 256 GB / 512 GB storage
16 GB RAM + 256 GB / 512 GB storage
You don’t have to worry too much about running out of storage, as it comes with a microSD card slot, allowing you to add up to 1 TB of additional storage.
Two Front Cameras
Catering to the new hybrid workspace reality today, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra comes with two cameras in the front.
Both 12 MP cameras, one has a wider f/2.2 aperture for better low-light performance, while the other supports a wider angle – to fit more people in the same photo / video call.
Two Rear Cameras
This is a really large and hefty tablet, so you wouldn’t expect photography to be a focus. However, it still comes with two cameras at the back.
The main camera has a 12 MP sensor, with a wide f/2.0 aperture for better low-light performance.
It also comes with an ultra-wide camera at the back, but oddly enough, only with a 6 MP sensor.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra : S Pen, Book Cover, Speakers, Battery
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is more than just a tablet, because it comes with both an S Pen stylus, and a Book Cover Keyboard.
Ultra-Low Latency S Pen
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra comes with a new S Pen with ultra-low latency of just 2.8 milliseconds!
This is a full-size stylus that feels like a typical pen or pencil, letting you draw and doodle with up to 4,096 pressure levels!
You can also write naturally with the S Pen, and turn your handwriting into text in Samsung Notes.
The S Pen magnetically locks onto a glass strip at the back, which acts as a recharging dock. The S Pen automatically recharges whenever you place it on this glass strip.
Don’t worry about losing it with the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, because it comes with a Book Cover Keyboard that has a special cover for the S Pen!
Book Cover Keyboard
This year, Samsung included the really awesome Book Cover Keyboard with every Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra tablet.
This cover not only provides really solid protection for the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, it also converts it into a 2-in-1 tablet with a kickstand!
You don’t just get a full-size keyboard with the Book Cover Keyboard, you also get a large touch pad! This really gives you a laptop-like working experience.
In addition, the Book Cover Keyboard has a special S Pen cover that prevents your precious S Pen from falling and getting lost.
As I shared in my Galaxy Tab S7 Book Cover Keyboard review last year, this is a must-have accessory, and I’m really glad Samsung included it as part of the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra package.
Quad AKG-Tuned Speakers
Another premium Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra feature that Samsung does not really speak much of is the quad speaker system tuned by AKG.
They are not only powerful, they deliver really crisp sound from this tablet. They are also positioned to radiate from both sides with the Book Cover Keyboard installed.
Large Battery
To power all that, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra comes with a large 11,200 mAh lithium-ion battery.
It supports 45 watt fast recharging, but as pointed out earlier – it doesn’t come with any charger, so your mileage in this sense really depends on the charger you have.
In the next section, we will show you just how long this battery lasts, and how long it takes to recharge this massive battery!
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra : Battery Life Comparison!
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra comes with a massive 11,200 mAh battery, which is more than the size of the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s battery!
To test its battery life, we turned off Automatic Brightness, and set its display brightness to 50%.
Why 50%? That is actually slightly higher than the average indoor brightness level of 40% during the day, and is what we usually use in all our mobile battery life tests.
It is important to fix the brightness level, to make sure the screen brightness does not change as the ambient brightness changes.
We then ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test until its battery capacity dropped to 20% several times, and this was the best result we obtained with 60 Hz and 120 Hz refresh rates :
Astoundingly, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra only has a battery life of 6.5 hours with High refresh rate enabled, and a more acceptable 8 hours with the Standard refresh rate!
This is a slight improvement over last year’s Galaxy Tab S7 Plus. There is no doubt that its much larger 14.6-inch Super AMOLED display is a significant drain on battery life.
Let’s compare its battery life against the Galaxy Tab S7 Plus, and the Galaxy S22 Ultra smartphone which uses the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 mobile SoC.
Standard Refresh Rate (60 Hz)
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra delivers the best battery life with the Standard refresh rate of 60 Hz.
The Tab S8 Ultra appears to use 9% more power than the Tab S7 Plus, but I have to point out that it has a 39% larger display.
Fortunately, the battery life deficit is “covered” by its 11% larger battery.
Work 3.0
S22 Ultra
(60 Hz)
Tab S7 Plus
(60 Hz)
Tab S8 Ultra
(60 Hz)
Display Size
6.8-inch
12.4-inch
14.6-inch
Battery Capacity
5,000 mAh
10,090 mAh
11,200 mAh
Battery Life
14 hrs 15 mins
7 hrs 55 mins
8 hrs
3 mins
Utilisation
per min.
4.68 mAh
16.99 mAh
18.55 mAh
High Refresh Rate (120 Hz)
Switching on the High refresh rate of 120 Hz cut its battery life by 17.6% – almost 1.5 hours!
But the data shows that its larger 14.6-inch display only used 3.4% more power than the Tab S7 Plus.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra supports up to 45 watts of wired fast charging, but unfortunately, does not come with the charger in-the-box.
So we relied on the standard 15 watt Samsung fast charger than shipped with their previous smartphones and tablets – something we believe most users will end up doing.
Recharging Speed
Tab S8 Ultra
Tab S7 Plus
S22 Ultra
Display Size
14.6-inch
12.4-inch
6.8-inch
Battery Capacity
11,200 mAh
10,090 mAh
5,000 mAh
Charger Output
15 watts
15 watts
15 watts
Battery Life
86.5 mins
86 mins
64.5 mins
Recharging Speed
(per minute)
103.6 mAh
93.9 mAh
62.0 mAh
Interestingly, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra recharged faster with a standard 15 watt charger, than the Tab S7 Plus or even the Galaxy S22 Ultra!
This is really good news. It means that Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra owners need not worry too much about its recharging speed with the older 15 watt chargers.
In fact, you don’t need to splurge on a new 45 watt fast charger. The Tab S8 Ultra fully recharges its massive battery from 20% to 100% in just under 1.5 hours with the standard 15 watt Samsung charger!
We first tested the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browsing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.
Work 3.0
Galaxy
Z Flip 3
Galaxy
S22 Ultra
Galaxy Tab
S8 Ultra
Galaxy
Tab S7+
Galaxy Tab
S7 FE
Mobile Platform
SD 888
SD 8 Gen 1
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 865+
SD
778G
Performance Score
13317
12860
12351
12348
9747
Web Browsing
11637
10442
9696
11864
7355
Video Editing
7762
7444
6194
7664
6028
Writing
15316
15471
14411
12659
10512
Photo Editing
25357
30177
31774
26230
22188
Data Manipulation
11938
9691
10449
9511
8505
Surprisingly, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Get 1 was slightly slower than the Snapdragon 888 used by the Galaxy Z Flip 3, but the difference was just 7%, which means you won’t actually notice the difference.
For certainly, it will easily handle anything you throw at it, whether it’s just posting your latest Instagram pictures or editing a 4K video.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra : Gaming Performance
For gaming, we tested the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra using 3DMark, with these results :
3DMark
Galaxy
Tab
S8 Ultra
Galaxy
S22 Ultra
Galaxy
Z Flip 3
Galaxy
Tab S7+
Galaxy
Tab S7 FE
Device
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 8 Gen 1
SD 888
SD 865+
SD 778G
Sling Shot Unlimited
10728
11094
9248
8793
6688
Wild Life Unlimited
9838
9106
3952
–
–
Wild Life
Extreme
Unlimited
2221
2220
1174
–
–
Look at that! The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 was a head above the competition when it comes to gaming!
It was 16% to 150% faster than the Snapdragon 888, and 22% faster than the Snadragon 865+!
For certain, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 will crush any game you throw at it.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra : Overall Performance
We then tested the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra using AnTuTu, yielding these results :
AnTuTu
Galaxy Tab
S8 Ultra
Galaxy
S22 Ultra
Galaxy
Z Flip 3
Galaxy
Tab S7+
Galaxy
Tab S7 FE
Device
SD 8 Gen 1
SD 8 Gen 1
SD 888
SD 865+
SD 778G
AnTuTu Score
950630
889167
696767
577726
508008
CPU
213689
203090
206228
161243
157465
GPU
417669
402617
242573
230859
155115
Memory
161903
146002
133586
98269
79972
UX
157369
137458
114380
87355
115456
The AnTuTu benchmark confirmed that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is a veritable beast of a performer, beating even the very fast Galaxy Z Flip 3 by 36%.
Its GPU performance was, in particular, spectacular, delivering 72% better performance than the Galaxy Z Flip 3, and 81% better performance than the Galaxy Tab S7+!
Interestingly, it was 7% faster than the Galaxy S22 Ultra, which uses the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor. This is likely due to better cooling – its temperature only increased by 0.3°C, whereas the S22 Ultra’s temperature spiked by over 10°C!
The Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra was meant to be the ultimate Samsung tablet for 2022, and it does not disappoint.
The display is a magnificently large and beautiful 14.6-inch Super AMOLED panel, which offers an expansive amount of space to play and work with.
Built around the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 – the fastest mobile SoC that exists for Android devices – you can count on the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra to easily handle anything and everything you throw at it.
It also has surprisingly good battery life – delivering over 8 hours of non-stop use at 60 Hz, and over 6.5 hours at 120 Hz; despite sporting such a large display.
It also offers very good recharging speed, even using the standard 15 watt fast charger. So you don’t really need to invest in expensive 45 watt chargers.
But beyond those hardware features, what I really like is how the Samsung offer a complete experience by bundling the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra with not just the S Pen, but also the Book Cover Keyboard.
The ultra-low latency S Pen gives you the premium pen-on-paper like experience working on a tablet, while the Book Cover Keyboard gives you a laptop experience. You literally have the best of both worlds in a single box!
If you want the best-possible Android tablet money can buy, you can’t do wrong with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra.
In fact, we like this premium tablet so much, we are giving it our Editor’s Choice Award!
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Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Apple just launched the M2 – their second-generation M-series system-on-a-chip (SoC) for Mac computers!
Let’s compare the new M2 against the last-generation M1 series SoCs!
Apple Silicon M1 vs. M2 Comparison
On 6 June 2022, Apple unveiled their second-generation M-series system-on-a-chip (SoC) for Mac computers – the Apple Silicon M2!
Built on an improved 5 nm process technology, the Apple M2 has 20 billion transistors – 25% more transistors than the M1.
All those transistors allow the Apple M2 to deliver better performance than the last-generation M1 :
Faster Performance cores with a larger cache
18% faster CPU performance
35% more powerful GPU at max. power
40% faster Neural Engine
50% more memory bandwidth
up to 24 GB of unified memory
a new image signal processor (ISP) for better image noise reduction
The new M2 no doubt offers a significant boost in performance and capabilities over the M1.
On top of that, it partially addressed the limited Unified Memory capacity offered by the M1, by offering a 24 MB option.
The new M2 will debut in the 2022 MacBook Air, and the updated 13-inch MacBook Pro 2022 laptops.
To give you a better idea of how they compare, here is our direct comparison b between the Apple M1 and the Apple M2 :
Specifications
M1
M2
Difference
Fab Tech
5nm (N5)
5 nm (N5P)
–
Transistor
Count
16 billion
20 billion
+25%
Die Size
120 mm²
NA
–
CPU Cores
(Performance)
4 x Firestorm
@ 3.2 GHz
4 x Avalanche cores
@ NA GHz
–
CPU Cores
(Efficiency)
4 x Icestorm cores
@ 2.06 GHz
4 Blizzard cores
@ NA GHz
–
L2 Cache
P-core : 12 MB
E-core : 4 MB
P-core : 16 MB
E-core : 4 MB
P-core : +33%
SLC
16 MB
32 MB
+100%
GPU Cores
7 / 8 cores
1278 MHz
8 / 10 cores
NA MHz
+1 / +2 cores
Neural Engine
16 cores
(11 TOPS)
16 cores
(15.8 TOPS)
+44%
Memory Options
8 GB / 16 GB
8 GB / 16 GB / 24 GB
–
Memory Type
LPDDR4X
LPDDR5
–
Memory Speed
2133 MHz
3200 MHz
+50%
Memory Bus
128-bit
128-bit
–
Memory
Bandwidth
68.2 GB/s
102.4 GB/s
50%
Apple Silicon M1 Series vs. M2 Comparison
While the M2 may offer significant improvements over the M1, Apple has been careful in not letting it cannibalise sales of the higher-performing M1 Pro, M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips.
Even without testing the new M2, its specifications show that it slots in between the M1 and the M1 Pro.
M2 has 8 cores like M1, with 2-4 fewer Performance cores than the M1 Pro.
Its Performance cores have L2 cache size of 16 MB, right between M1 (8 MB) and M1 Pro (24 MB).
Its 8-10 GPU core count is right between M1 (7-8 cores) and M1 Pro (14-16 cores).
Its maximum Unified Memory option is 24 GB, right between M1 (16 GB) and M1 Pro (32 GB).
It retains the M1’s narrower 128-bit memory bus, but uses the M1 Pro’s faster LPDDR5 memory.
To show you what I mean, here is a table I created comparing the key specifications of the M1 series against the new M2 :
Specifications
M1
M1 Pro
M1 Max
M1 Ultra
M2
Fab Tech
5nm (N5)
5 nm (N5P)
Transistor Count
16 billion
33.7 billion
57 billion
114 billion
20 billion
Die Size
120 mm²
245 mm²
432 mm²
864 mm²
NA
CPU Cores
(Performance)
4 cores
(Firestorm)
3.2 GHz
6 / 8 cores
(Firestorm)
3.23 GHz
8 cores
(Firestorm)
3.23 GHz
16 cores
(Firestorm)
3.23 GHz
4 cores
(Avalanche)
NA GHz
CPU Cores
(Efficiency)
4 cores
(Icestorm)
2.06 GHz
2 cores
(Icestorm)
2.06 GHz
2 cores
(Icestorm)
2.06 GHz
4 cores
(Icestorm)
2.06 GHz
4 cores
(Blizzard)
NA GHz
L2 Cache
P-core : 12 MB
E-core : 4 MB
P-core : 24 MB
E-core : 4 MB
P-core : 48 MB
E-core : 8 MB
P-core : 16 MB
E-core : 4 MB
SLC
16 MB
32 MB
64 MB
128 MB
32 MB
GPU Cores
7 / 8 cores
1278 MHz
14 / 16 cores
1296 MHz
24 / 32 cores
1296 MHz
48 / 64 cores
1296 MHz
8 / 10 cores
NA MHz
Neural Engine
16 cores
32 cores
16 cores
Memory Options
8 / 16 GB
16 / 32 GB
32 / 64 GB
64 / 128 GB
8 / 16 / 24 GB
Memory Type
LPDDR4X
LPDDR5
Memory Speed
2133 MHz
3200 MHz
Memory Bus
128-bit
256-bit
512-bit
1024-bit
128-bit
Memory
Bandwidth
68.2 GB/s
204.8 GB/s
409.6 GB/s
819.2 GB/s
102.4 GB/s
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Take a look at the performance of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, and find out how well this ultra-premium tablet performs!
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra : Flagship Class Performance!
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra runs on the most powerful mobile SoC available for Android devices – the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
Fabricated on the latest 4nm Samsung process technology, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 boasts a powerful Adreno 730 GPU as well as eight processor cores in a triple-tier architecture :
a Cortex-X2 prime core running at up to 3 GHz,
three sustained-performance Cortex-A710 cores running at up to 2.5 GHz, and
four energy-efficient Cortex-A510 cores running at 1.8 GHz.
On paper, this is about as powerful as it gets in 2022, but let’s take a look at how it actually performs!
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra : Work Performance
We first tested the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browsing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.
Work 3.0
Galaxy
Z Flip 3
Galaxy
S22 Ultra
Galaxy Tab
S8 Ultra
Galaxy
Tab S7+
Galaxy Tab
S7 FE
Mobile Platform
SD 888
SD 8 Gen 1
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 865+
SD
778G
Performance Score
13317
12860
12351
12348
9747
Web Browsing
11637
10442
9696
11864
7355
Video Editing
7762
7444
6194
7664
6028
Writing
15316
15471
14411
12659
10512
Photo Editing
25357
30177
31774
26230
22188
Data Manipulation
11938
9691
10449
9511
8505
Surprisingly, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Get 1 was slightly slower than the Snapdragon 888 used by the Galaxy Z Flip 3, but the difference was just 7%, which means you won’t actually notice the difference.
For certainly, it will easily handle anything you throw at it, whether it’s just posting your latest Instagram pictures or editing a 4K video.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra : Gaming Performance
For gaming, we tested the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra using 3DMark, with these results :
3DMark
Galaxy
Tab
S8 Ultra
Galaxy
S22 Ultra
Galaxy
Z Flip 3
Galaxy
Tab S7+
Galaxy
Tab S7 FE
Device
SD 8
Gen 1
SD 8 Gen 1
SD 888
SD 865+
SD 778G
Sling Shot Unlimited
10728
11094
9248
8793
6688
Wild Life Unlimited
9838
9106
3952
–
–
Wild Life
Extreme
Unlimited
2221
2220
1174
–
–
Look at that! The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 was a head above the competition when it comes to gaming!
It was 16% to 150% faster than the Snapdragon 888, and 22% faster than the Snadragon 865+!
For certain, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 will crush any game you throw at it.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra : Overall Performance
We then tested the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra using AnTuTu, yielding these results :
AnTuTu
Galaxy Tab
S8 Ultra
Galaxy
S22 Ultra
Galaxy
Z Flip 3
Galaxy
Tab S7+
Galaxy
Tab S7 FE
Device
SD 8 Gen 1
SD 8 Gen 1
SD 888
SD 865+
SD 778G
AnTuTu Score
950630
889167
696767
577726
508008
CPU
213689
203090
206228
161243
157465
GPU
417669
402617
242573
230859
155115
Memory
161903
146002
133586
98269
79972
UX
157369
137458
114380
87355
115456
The AnTuTu benchmark confirmed that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is a veritable beast of a performer, beating even the very fast Galaxy Z Flip 3 by 36%.
Its GPU performance was, in particular, spectacular, delivering 72% better performance than the Galaxy Z Flip 3, and 81% better performance than the Galaxy Tab S7+!
Interestingly, it was 7% faster than the Galaxy S22 Ultra, which uses the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor. This is likely due to better cooling – its temperature only increased by 0.3°C, whereas the S22 Ultra’s temperature spiked by over 10°C!
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra : Performance Summary
The Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra was meant to be the ultimate Samsung tablet for 2022, and it does not disappoint.
Built around the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 – the fastest mobile SoC that exists for Android devices – it offers a tremendous boost in GPU performance, which should make gamers and mobile content creators happy.
The benchmark results amply demonstrates, you can count on the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra to easily handle anything and everything you throw at it.
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Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Samsung Display will finally shut down its LCD business in June, closing a chapter in its history!
Here is what we know so far…
Samsung Display To Finally Shut Down LCD Business!
Samsung Display originally sought to close its LCD business in 2020, even selling its LCD plant in Suzhou to CSOT, a Chinese company owned by the TCL conglomerate.
Their original 2020 plan to shut down their LCD business was derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a surge in LCD prices. Samsung decided to continue their business, until end of 2022. However, LCD prices have fallen rapidly recently, with price pressure from Chinese and Taiwanese rivals.
Its parent company, Samsung Electronics, was their largest buyer; but even it has agreed to purchase displays from Chinese and Taiwanese companies like BOE Technology Group and AU Optronics Corps.
Samsung Display To Finally Shut Down LCD Business!
In light of such challenging market conditions, Samsung Display decided to close its LCD business six months earlier.
From June 2022 onwards, Samsung Display will stop producing LCD panels used for large TV screens, and focus instead on manufacturing OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) and Quantum Dot displays.
Employees from its LCD display business are expected to be transferred to its Quantum Dot display business.
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Foxconn just announced that they will be building a 12-inch wafer fab in Malaysia!
Here is what you need to know…
Foxconn To Build New 12-Inch Wafer Fab In Malaysia!
On 17 May 2022, Foxconn announced that their wholly-owned subsidiary, Big Innovation Holdings Limited (BIH) will form a joint venture company with Dagang NeXchange Berhad (DNeX), to build and operate a new 12-inch wafer fabrication plant in Malaysia.
Both DNeX and BIH have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on build and operate the new 12-inch wafer fab.
Under the MOU, DNeX and BIH will work together to “decide the location of the New Fab in Malaysia, financing structure of the project, and initial management structure and key personnel of the New Fab.”
The new fab is expected to produce 40,000 wafers a month, using 28-nanometer and 40-nanometer process technologies developed in 2011 and 2008 respectively.
The 28nm and 40nm process technologies are not new, but they are still in high demand for less complex chips used in industrial, consumer electronics and automotive applications.
New 12-Inch Foxconn Wafer Fab In Malaysia : Not A Done Deal
While this is exciting news for Malaysia, it is not a done deal. Both companies only signed a Memorandum of Understanding, not a contract.
There are no concrete details of where the wafer fab will be located, or how much Foxconn will invest. It is also unknown how many jobs this project would create.
One would do well to remember the $10 billion project that Foxconn announced with the Trump Administration in July 2017.
Foxconn was supposed to build and operate a 20-million square foot manufacturing campus in Wisconsin, that would build flat panel displays, and create 13,000 jobs, in return for $3 billion in subsidies.
In the end, that massive flat panel project was abandoned and downsized into a network operations and storage centre worth about $672 million, creating only 1,454 new jobs.
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Samsung just sent us the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra – their largest and most powerful tablet, with a massive 14.6-inch Super AMOLED display!
As you will see in this video – this is a really large tablet, and it is pretty hefty too at 726 grams. But it is very solidly built, and weighs half as much as a typical laptop.
It also comes with a new full-size S Pen with an ultra-low latency of just 2.8 milliseconds.
The Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra runs on the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 mobile platform boasts a powerful Adreno 730 GPU as well as eight processor cores in a triple-tier architecture :
a Cortex-X2 prime core running at up to 3 GHz,
three sustained-performance Cortex-A710 cores running at up to 2.4 GHz, and
four energy-efficient Cortex-A510 cores running at 1.7 GHz.
Powering all that is a massive 11,200 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery, with 45 watt fast charging capability!
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra Book Cover Keyboard : Hands-On!
This year, Samsung included the really awesome Book Cover Keyboard with every Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra tablet.
This cover not only provides really solid protection for the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, it also converts it into a 2-in-1 tablet with a kickstand!
In addition, the Book Cover Keyboard has a special S Pen cover that prevents your precious S Pen from falling and getting lost.
As I shared in my Galaxy Tab S7 Book Cover Keyboard review last year, this is a must-have accessory, and I’m really glad Samsung included it as part of the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra package.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra : Specifications
Specifications
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra
Display
14.6-inch Super AMOLED Display
– 60 Hz or 120 Hz refresh rate
Protection
Gorilla Glass 5 (Front + Back)
OS
One UI 4.1 (Android 12)
Platform
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
CPU
1 x Arm Cortex-X2 core (3.0 GHz)
3 x Arm Cortex-A710 cores (2.4 GHz) 4 x Arm Cortex-A510 cores (1.7 GHz)
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
IBM just introduced the z16 system, powered by their new Telum processor with an integrated AI accelerator!
Take a look at the z16, and find out why it is the industry’s first quantum-safe system!
IBM z16 : Industry’s First Quantum-Safe System!
On 25 April 2022, IBM officially unveiled their new z16 system in Malaysia – the industry’s first quantum-safe system.
IBM Vice President for Worldwide Sales of IBM Z and LinuxONE, Jose Castano, flew to Kuala Lumpur, to give us an exclusive briefing on the new z16 system, and tell us why it is the industry’s first quantum-safe system.
IBM Z and LinuxONE Security CTO Michael Jordan also briefed us on why quantum-safe computing will be critical for enterprises, as quantum computing improves.
Thanks to its Telum processor, the IBM z16 system delivers low and consistent latency for embedding AI into response time-sensitive transactions. This can enable customers to leverage AI inference to better control the outcome of transactions before they complete.
For example, they can leverage AI inference to mitigate risk in Clearing & Settlement applications, to predict which transactions have high risk exposure, and highlight questionable transactions, to prevent costly consequences.
In a use-case example, one international bank uses AI on IBM Z as part of their credit card authorization process instead of using an off-platform inference solution. As a result, the bank can detect fraud during its credit card transaction authorisation processing.
The IBM z16 will offer better AI inference capacity, thanks to its integrated AI accelerator offering up to 1 ms of latency, expanding use cases that include :
tax fraud and organised retail theft detection
real-time payments and alternative payment methods, including cryptocurrencies
speed up business or consumer loan approvals
As the industry’s first quantum-safe system, the IBM z16 is protected by lattice-based crypto graphs – an approach for constructing security primitives that help protect data and systems against current and future threats.
IBM z16 : Powered By The New Telum Processor!
The IBM z16 is built around the new IBM Telum processor, which is specifically designed for secure processing, and real-time AI inference.
Here are the key features of the IBM Telum processor that powers the new IBM z16 system :
Fabricated on the 7 nm process technology
Has 8 processor cores, clocked at over 5 GHz
Each processor core has a dedicated 32 MB private L2 cache
The eight 32 MB L2 cache can form a virtual 256 MB L3 cache, and a 2 GB L4 cache.
Transparent encryption of main memory, with 8-channel fault tolerant memory interface
Integrated AI accelerator with 6 TFLOPS compute capacity
Centralised AI accelerator architecture, with direct connection to the cache infrastructure
The Telum processor is designed to enable extremely low latency inference for response-time sensitive workloads. With planned system support for up to 200 TFLOPs, the AI acceleration is also designed to scale up to the requirements of the most demanding workloads.
Thanks to the Telum processor, the IBM z16 can process 300 billion inference requests per day, with just one millisecond of latency.
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
The Samsung 980 Pro is still the epitome of a fast gaming SSD that will let you boot up instantly, and load massive games quickly.
Find out why it is still the favourite SSD for discerning gamers all over the world!
Samsung 980 Pro : Super Fast Gaming SSD!
When it was launched back in September 2020, the Samsung 980 Pro was amongst the best and fastest gaming SSD money could buy.
It boasted a brand new 8nm Samsung Elpis controller with a native PCIe 4.0 interface, as well as improved TurboWrite caching.
To keep it running at peak performance, the Elpis controller is nickel coated to improve heat dissipation. It also uses a heat spreader label to keep the NAND chips cool.
The 980 Pro SSD also uses Samsung’s latest V-NAND TLC flash memory, with storage capacities of up to 2 TB in an M.2 2280 form factor.
Each SSD comes with 512 GB to 2 GB of LPDDR4 cache, and uses some of its storage as a fast SLC cache of between 49 GB and 216 GB in size.
Thanks to this combination of both DRAM and SLC caching, the Samsung 980 Pro boasts sequential read speeds of 6.4 GB/s to 7.0 GB/s, and sequential write speeds of 2.7 GB/s to 5.1 GB/s.
Of course, once the write caches ran out, sustained write speed fell to 400 MB/s for the 250 GB model, 900 MB/s for the 500 GB model, and 1.7 GB/s for the 1 TB and 2 TB models. But this was generally not an issue for gaming PCs, where read speed is paramount.
Capacity
Fixed
Intelligent
Total
TurboWrite
Speed
After
TurboWrite
250 GB
4 GB
45 GB
49 GB
2.7 GB/s
0.4 GB/s
500 GB
4 GB
90 GB
94 GB
5.0 GB/s
0.9 GB/s
1 TB
6 GB
108 GB
114 GB
5.0 GB/s
1.7 GB/s
2 TB
6 GB
210 GB
216 GB
5.1 GB/s
1.7 GB/s
But note that TurboWrite requires you keeping approximately 20% of the drive’s storage capacity free or empty. If you fill up the drive beyond that, the Intelligent portion of TurboWrite will be reduced.
Also, to fully utilise the Samsung 980 Pro, your gaming PC should PCIe 4.0. It is backward compatible and will have no issues working with PCIe 3.0, but your drive will be limited to 3.5GB/s for sequential reads.
Samsung 980 Pro : Now A Fast SSD That Won’t Break The Bank!
When it was first released, the Samsung 980 Pro was not only expensive, it was much sought after and were consequently hard to come by.
The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t do us any favour, with computer part prices skyrocketing from a combination of increased demand and reduced production.
18 months later – the Samsung 980 Pro remains one of the better gaming SSDs money can buy, only it’s more affordable these days!
Of particular interest are the smaller 250GB and 500GB models. While they don’t offer that much storage space, they are much cheaper on a per GB basis.
Here is a look at the latest deals on the Samsung 980 Pro SSD globally :
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Let’s unbox the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, and see what we find inside!
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra : Flagship Class Performance!
Samsung just launched the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra – their largest and most powerful tablet, with a massive 14.6-inch Super AMOLED display!
It runs on the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 mobile platform, which boasts a powerful Adreno 730 GPU as well as eight processor cores in a triple-tier architecture :
a Cortex-X2 prime core running at up to 3 GHz,
three sustained-performance Cortex-A710 cores running at up to 2.4 GHz, and
four energy-efficient Cortex-A510 cores running at 1.7 GHz.
Powering all that is a massive 11,200 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery, with 45 watt fast charging capability!
If you want the biggest and most powerful Android tablet, this is the ultimate choice!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Intel joined over 600 other companies in condemning and leaving Russia over its invasion of Ukraine!
Here is what you need to know…
Intel Condemned Russia Over Invasion Of Ukraine!
A week after Russia invaded Ukraine, Intel issued a press release condemning the invasion, and announcing a stop to all shipments to both Russia and Belarus.
While Belarus did not directly participate in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it continues to be a willing partner in the invasion, allowing Russian troops, tanks and aircraft to attack Ukraine from their territory.
This announcement on 3 March 2022 effectively cut off supply of Intel chips to both countries.
Intel condemns the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and we have suspended all shipments to customers in both Russia and Belarus. Our thoughts are with everyone who has been impacted by this war, including the people of Ukraine and the surrounding countries and all those around the world with family, friends and loved ones in the region.
We are working to support all of our employees through this difficult situation, especially those with close ties to this region. We have launched an employee donation and matching campaign through the Intel Foundation that has already raised over $1.2 million for relief efforts, and we are proud of the work our teams in surrounding areas including Poland, Germany and Romania are doing to aid refugees. We will continue to stand with the people of Ukraine and the global community in calling for an immediate end to this war and a swift return to peace.
Intel Leaves Russia Over Invasion Of Ukraine!
After Russia’s initial attempt to seize Kyiv and topple the Ukrainian government failed spectacularly, Russian forces began a wholesale bombardment of Ukrainian cities.
Even worse, it was recently discovered that Russian forces raped and massacred Ukrainian civilians in the town of Bucha.
All those atrocities may have made it untenable for companies like Intel to even maintain a local presence while waiting out the war.
On 5 April 2022, Intel announced that they immediately suspended all business operations in Russia.
It is unknown what will happen to their 1,200 employees in Russia, but Intel says that it is now working to support those employees.
Intel continues to join the global community in condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine and calling for a swift return to peace. Effective immediately, we have suspended all business operations in Russia. This follows our earlier decision to suspend all shipments to customers in Russia and Belarus.
Our thoughts are with everyone who has been impacted by this war, particularly the people of Ukraine and the surrounding countries and all those around the world with family, friends and loved ones in the region.
We are working to support all of our employees through this difficult situation, including our 1,200 employees in Russia. We have also implemented business continuity measures to minimize disruption to our global operations.
Intel joins over 600 companies that have withdrawn from Russia, according to the Yale School of Management.
They include major brands like 3M, Adidas, Amazon, Cisco, Ikea, LVMH, Mastercard, McDonald’s, VMware, Visa, Western Union.
Notably, Chinese companies like Alibaba, Didi, HUAWEI, Tencent and Xiaomi continue to operate in Russia.
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
ASUS Z690 Hero owners are FUMING because their motherboards are MELTING, SMOKING and CATCHING ON FIRE!
Take a look at the SHOCKING REASON why these premium motherboards are literally melting down…
ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero : Potential Fire Hazard?!
ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero owners are complaining on social media, and in the ASUS Support Forum, that their premium motherboards are literally burning up!
In fact, one user, TheMaxXHD, had two of his ASUS Z690 Hero motherboards die in just 3 days, with one actually catching on fire!
Late at night I am merely surfing the web and all of a sudden it hard shuts off again, and this time when I look over there I see a component on the motherboard literally on fire.
Other users reported hearing loud pops, and either smelling or seeing smoke wafting from their ASUS Z690 Hero motherboards, before shutting down.
Even users who were lucky not to experience a fire or melting components, reported that their ASUS Z690 Hero motherboards were unstable, rebooting on and off.
The motherboard’s Q Code display would also show Error Code 53, which refers to a memory error. However, replacing or swapping the memory modules will not solve the problem.
Why ASUS Z690 Hero Motherboards Are Melting / Catching On Fire!
Users who reported problems with their ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboards, have noted that they were melting / smoking / catching on fire in roughly the same area – between the last DIMM slot and the Q Code display.
In that location, you can see two MOSFETs (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors), but they are apparently not the cause.
According to a YouTuber called Buildzoid, the capacitor next to those two MOSFETs are the likely cause of the melting / smoking / catching on fire.
He pointed out that the etched text on the capacitor is upside down, which suggests that they were incorrectly installed in reverse!
In this comparison, the reversed capacitor is seen in the picture on the left, with the positive terminal on the left, instead of to the right, as seen on the picture on the right.
When such a capacitor is installed in reverse polarity, it will not only fail to work, it will actually act as a short circuit.
This quickly creates hydrogen gas (which is flammable!), and eventually destroys the capacity and could even start a fire.
There is no doubt that installing capacitors in reverse polarity is a dangerous mistake.
ASUS Confirms Reversed Capacitor On Z690 Hero Motherboards!
ASUS confirmed Buildzoid’s assessment, stating that they have “preliminarily identified a potential reversed memory capacitor issue in the production process“.
They also confirmed that the reversed capacitor issue affects units manufactured in 2021, with the part number 90MB18E0-MVAAY0 and serial numbers starting with MA, MB, or MC.
They did not, however, reveal how this dangerous mistake happened, or why their quality control (QC) measures failed to pick up the mistake.
To identify whether your ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboard is affected by this reversed memory capacitor mistake, you can check the part and serial numbers in the product packaging label.
ASUS also created a serial number tool, for you to check if your motherboard is affected.
ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero : Is There A Recall?
Unfortunately, there is no general recall of the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero.
While ASUS admitted that there is a reversed memory capacitor issue, they did not recall the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboards.
They only stated that they are going to continue their “thorough inspection” with their suppliers and customers, and “will be working with relevant government agencies on a replacement program“.
It is unknown why ASUS would need to work with government agencies on a replacement program, but for now – there is no recall program.
Neither did ASUS get back to the user whose Z690 Hero motherboard caught on fire after 2 weeks :
I have heard nothing from them. I sent them via reddit dm my second board’s serial number that I had returned to my local microcenter, which was the board that actually caught on fire, so they have a paper trail to follow and maybe retrieve that board from the store, and I explained the issue.
My only hope is they are actually looking into this, because it is a serious concern. However, I have heard nothing, so I don’t know.
One can only hope, but if they just sit there doing nothing, its a pretty big shame, as Asus support is one of the supposed big reasons why people buy Asus
ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero : What Should You Do?
It is unfortunate that ASUS did not recall all affected ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboards. The memory capacitor installed in reverse polarity poses a real danger, and is a fire hazard.
Therefore, it would be advisable to avoid buying the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero until this issue is resolved satisfactorily.
If you are using a Z690 Hero motherboard that is affected by this issue, you should IMMEDIATELY STOP USING IT, and reach out to ASUS.
Until ASUS agrees to fix the affected motherboards, the ROG Maximus Z690 Hero should only be used by “Those Who Dare” to risk damage, or worse, from the reversed memory capacitor…
If possible, return the motherboard for a full refund, or exchange it for alternative motherboards like the GIGABYTE AORUS Z690 Master (US | UK | AU | SG | MY), like TheMaxXHD whose Z690 Hero caught fire :
I have since swapped out the board for a Gigabyte Aorus Z690 Master and has been going just fine for almost a full week. Nothing else was changed other than the motherboard, indicating to me, this is a motherboard issue.
All in all, it appears like some boards have components in flames, some merely just become bricked with code 53. In any case, I would advise avoiding until and if Asus responds.
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
The little loophole is now closed – Apple education discount now requires UNiDAYS verification!
Here is what you need to know…
Apple Education Discount : Formerly Based On Trust + Audit
For many years now, savvy parents and techies have counted on the Apple education discount to get some financial relief on Mac computers and iPad tablets.
Ostensibly limited to teachers and staff of educational facilities, as well as college and university students, the Apple education discount programme was based on trust.
Anyone can go to the Apple Education page, and order a Mac computer or iPad tablet with (usually) a 10% discount. Apple doesn’t even ask you to prove your qualification for the education discount.
Instead, Apple performs random audits. If you cannot prove that you are an educator, or a college/university student, then they have the right to charge your credit card for the education discount you (illegally) received earlier.
Apple Education Discount Now Requires UNiDAYS Verification!
Sadly, it appears that Apple is moving away from the trust system, and is requiring verification through UNiDAYS in certain countries.
France
Germany
India
Italy
South Korea
Spain
Malaysia : Started on 15 December 2021
United Kingdom
Unlike the earlier Apple education discount programme, UNiDAYS verification greatly limits those who qualify for discounted Apple Mac computers and iPad tablets :
Students who are 16 years and above
Must be currently enrolled in the Sixth Form, a college or a university
Must have a personal institution email address (.edu email, for example), or a credit card-style student ID, issued by the school / college / university
The Good
Signing up for UNiDAYS has some advantages. It gives you access to discount programmes for other companies.
And students who sign up for UNiDAYS will get a free Apple Music student subscription in certain countries, which may even include Apple TV+ access!
The Bad
Parents cannot sign up and purchase for their children. Each student must sign up for their own UNiDAYS account.
If UNiDAYS cannot automatically verify your student credentials, it has a manual process but that could mean several days of delay to verify your account.
The Ugly
The UNiDAYS verification process blocks parents of younger students from getting the education discount.
Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, parents are forced to purchase tablets and laptops for their children’s online classes. While not entirely legit, the Apple education discount has helped many parents alleviate the high cost of providing each child with a tablet or computer.
While this verification process will help Apple cut down on fraud, I wish they would take the opportunity to open up the education discount programme to younger students.
That would really be a win-win situation – parents get a small but much appreciated discount, and Apple gets a head start on developing the next-generation of Apple users.
Until then, parents of younger children can “work around” this limitation, by asking a college / university student to help them make the purchase.
Countries Where Apple Education Discount Do Not Require UNiDAYS!
This switch to UNiDAYS verification for the Apple Education Discount programme appears to be a gradual process.
For now, these countries still do not require UNiDAYS verification :
Australia
Brazil
Canada
China
Hong Kong
Ireland
Japan
Mexico
New Zealand
Philippines
Russia
Singapore
Taiwan
Thailand
United States
So parents of younger children in those countries can still get the Apple Education discount, without jumping through the UNiDAYS hoop.
Pro Tip : When purchasing any Mac computer or iPad with the Apple Education discount, make sure you grab all the accessories you need at the same time, to get the discount as well.
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Intel just announced that they are going to build a new $7 billion chip packaging and testing facility in Penang, Malaysia!
Intel To Build New $7 Billion Chip Plant In Malaysia!
On 16 December 2021, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger officially announced a $7 billion (RM30 billion) investment to build a new chip packaging and testing facility in Penang, Malaysia.
The new Intel facility will add advanced chip packaging capabilities, as well as expand their existing assembly test manufacturing and die preparation capability in Malaysia.
This investment continues Intel’s 49-year old presence in Penang, and is expected to create over 4,000 Intel jobs, as well as 5,000 construction jobs for Malaysians.
The new facility will not address the current semiconductor shortage though, as it will only begin production in 2024.
Intel has two new plants in Arizona, United States, that will also become fully-operational in 2024; with further plans to invest up to €80 billion (US$90.5 billion) to build new chip plants in Europe.
Intel’s New $7 Billion Chip Plant In Malaysia : Diversity Is Key!
The new Penang plant appears to be part of Gelsinger’s plans to diversify chip production globally to avoid any production shock from geopolitical troubles (think Taiwan vs China), or natural disasters from earthquakes and climate change.
Gelsinger had earlier warned, “Taiwan is not a stable place. Beijing sent 27 warplanes to Taiwan’s air defence identification zone last week. Does that make you feel more comfortable or less?”
That drew the ire of TSMC Chairman and CEO, Morris Chang, who remarked that Gelsinger does not have “enough time” to take Intel back to the top (of the semiconductor industry).
While Intel did have an earlier retirement age limit of 65 (Gelsinger turns 61 in March 2022), that was since been extended to 75.
So Intel under Gelsinger may have a chance to wrest back significant market share from TSMC, before he retires.
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
macOS Monterey continues to be plagued by an insidious memory leak problem that Apple does not seem able to fix.
So here are a few workarounds that you can try!
macOS Monterey Memory Leak : What’s Going On?
Ever since it was released on 25 October 2021, macOS Monterey has been plaguing users with an insidious memory leak problem.
And even as Christmas approaches, Apple is still unable to fix the problem. Here is what we know so far…
It Gobbles Up Insane Amounts Of Memory
The memory leak quietly eats up insane amounts of memory, creeping up on users without warning.
A single affected app like Firefox can gobble up almost 80 GB of memory. Even a critical macOS process like WindowServer can end up using 24 GB of memory, while the Mail app can use more than 100 GB of memory!
Unless you have been keeping an eye on memory usage, you will only realise this is happening when you get the warning that “Your system has run out of application memory” with a request to Force Quit apps you are not using.
It Appears To Be An OS Issue
This Monterey memory leak affects many different apps with no obvious culprit in sight :
Internet browsers like Firefox and Safari
Apps like Tweetbot and Final Cut Pro
macOS features like Control Center, Mail and Finder
macOS processes like WindowsServer
That strongly suggests that it is an operating system issue, and not a bug in any particular app.
It Affects Intel + Apple Silicon Models
This Monterey memory leak problem is not platform-specific, and affects both Intel and Apple Silicon models.
So you are not going to be able to “escape” this memory leak problem by upgrading to the new M1 Pro / Max-powered MacBook Pro laptops.
macOS Monterey Memory Leak : Possible Solutions
Unfortunately, Apple still does not seem to be able to plug this insidious macOS Monterey memory leak. So here are some solutions that may work for you…
Revert To Standard Mouse Pointer
One of the new features macOS Monterey is the ability to change the mouse pointer’s size, as well as its outline and fill colours.
However, the developers at Mozilla discovered that using a non-standard mouse pointer in macOS Monterey causes a large memory leak!
This memory leak is not limited to Firefox, but occurs anytime the non-standard mouse pointer changes its look, like when you mouse over a button or a text field.
To fix this, you will need to revert to a standard mouse pointer, and here’s how to do that :
Step 1 : Go to Settings and select Accessibility.
Step 2 : Tap on the Display option, and select the Pointer tab.
Step 3 : Move the Pointer size all the way to the left (Normal).
Step 4 : Click on the Reset button to the right of Pointer outline colour and Pointer fill colour.
Step 5 : Restart your Mac, and fingers crossed – this fixes your Monterey memory leak problem!
Relaunch Finder
If you notice Finder using a prodigious amount of memory, that memory leak happens when you use the Find (⌘ F) feature in to search for files.
The easiest way to prevent this memory leak is to avoid using Finder’s Find feature. Try using the Search option on the upper right corner.
But once you get a Finder memory leak, you must relaunch it to release the leaked memory…
Option A : While in the Finder window, click on the Apple menu. Then press and hold the Shift key and click on Force Quit Finder.
Option B : Click on the Apple menu. Click Force Quit (Command + Option + Escape). Then select Finder and click on Relaunch.
Limit Use Of Control Center
Some users have reported that the Control Center can use upwards of 20GB of RAM, but most users fortunately do not encounter such terrible waste of memory.
This memory leak is easily reproducible – every time you use a control, it uses a little more RAM but does not release it.
Unfortunately, there is no way to release the leaked memory short of restarting the computer. So the best way to avoid this memory leak is to limit the use of Control Center.
Restart Apps Whenever Memory Use Is Too Much
Well, this seems obvious, but I have to throw it in anyway.
If any app, whether it’s Safari or Final Cut Pro starts using way too much memory, just close and reopen it. That should quickly recover the leaked memory.
Of course, this is only a stopgap solution until Apple releases a fix for this truly pesky memory problem in macOS Monterey…
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Parents are looking for great but affordable laptops for their kids, and the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 may just hit the sweet spot!
Take a look at my review of this MIL-STD-rated convertible laptop, and find out why it’s great for students!
Acer Chromebook Spin 713 : Fast + Tough
The 2021 Acer Chromebook Spin 713 (CP713-3W) is the world’s first Intel Evo platform-verified Chromebook, guaranteeing snappy performance out-of-the-box.
As an Intel Evo-verified laptop, it comes with an 11th Gen Intel Core processor with Intel Iris Xe Graphics, built-in Wi-Fi 6 and Thunderbolt 4 connectivity, and is designed to wake up in less than a second!
Even though it is a convertible laptop, it is MIL-STD-810H rated for drops of up to 122 cm, and MIL-STD-810F rated against ingress of sand and dust!
So you now have a basic idea of why we think it’s great for students!
Acer Chromebook Spin 713 : Price + Availability
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is available in Malaysia with a retail price of RM3,799.
Here are some online purchase options in Malaysia :
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is a convertible laptop, with a 13.5-inch display with a resolution of 2256 x 1504 pixels.
The display can flip completely around, letting you use it in the laptop mode, tent mode or the tablet mode – very useful for presentations and collaboration in school.
As this is a Chromebook, it runs on Google Chrome OS, but otherwise, appears and works like any other laptop.
It is quite thin at just under 17 mm at its thickest point, and weighs only 1.37 kg. It will have no problem fitting into schoolbags.
13.5-inch Touchscreen Display
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 comes with a 13.5-inch IPS display with a resolution of 2256 x 1504 pixels – much higher than most Chromebook laptops.
This is a touchscreen display, which is the main input method in tent and tablet modes. Even so, you will find it very useful in the laptop mode as well.
You will be glad to know that the display is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass, so it is resistant to scratches.
720p Webcam
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 comes with a 720p webcam at the top of its display, with two microphones to pick up your voice.
It would be be nice if Acer included a 1080p webcam, but hey, even the Dell XPS 13 (9300) came with a 720p webcam!
Available Ports
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 comes with a range of useful ports. On the left side, you will find :
two of the latest USB Type C / Thunderbolt 4 ports!
a full-size HDMI port
a 3.5 mm audio port
On the right side, you will find a physical Volume control button, with a microSD card reader, a USB 3.0 Type A port and the Power button.
Speakers
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 has two downward-firing speakers on the underside (in laptop mode).
They are pretty loud and bright, and seem optimised for voice – which may appear to be what they are targeting.
But they will sound hollow and lack dynamism and bass, so music and movies are less enjoyable.
Keyboard + Touchpad
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 comes with a full-size keyboard, with a large touchpad.
The keys are backlit, which is fantastic in low-light conditions, and have decent key travel.
Our Acer Chromebook Spin 713 laptop was powered by the Intel Core i5-1135G7, which is a 4-core, 8-thread processor that runs at up to 4.2 GHz.
It comes with integrated Intel Iris Xe Graphics, and is paired with 8 GB of RAM and 256 of PCIe NVMe SSD storage.
Battery Life
The Chromebook Spin 713 comes with a 3-cell 56 Whr lithium-ion battery, that Acer says all last up to 10 hours.
To test its battery life, we set its display to 50% and ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test, until its battery capacity dropped to 20%, repeating several times.
Unfortunately, we could not get 10 hours – the best we could do was just under 7.5 hours. But please note that this is a stress test that involves non-stop running work applications.
In real life, you will likely see longer usage times. And it is certainly more than long enough for a full day at school!
Battery Recharging Speed
The Chromebook Spin 713 comes with a 45 watt fast charger, that Acer says will give you 4 hours of battery life in just under 30 minutes.
Look at that! It only took 1 hour 31.5 minutes to fully recharge the Chromebook Spin 713 from 20% to 100%!
That gives it a battery life : recharging ratio of almost 5:1. A general rule of thumb – for one hour of battery life, you will need to charge it for 12 minutes.
Work Performance : PCMark Work 3.0
As this laptop runs on Chrome OS, we can only compare it to mobile SoCs.
Its PCMark Work 3.0 score puts it firmly in between the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ and the Samsung Exynos 990.
As the Chromebook Spin 713 runs on Chrome OS, you can Android apps on it. Yes, that includes games that your kids are already playing on your Android phone. 😉
Its graphics performance is really good, coming in more than TWICE AS FAST as Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ and the Samsung Exynos 990.
In other words, you won’t have to worry about running any mobile games on this laptop. It will have no problem handling them.
Acer Chromebook Spin 713 : Verdict + Award
People often think of Chromebook laptops as cheap throwaway devices that you only resort to when you have “no other choice”.
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 puts paid to that perception, offering a sleek convertible design with high-end features like :
Intel Evo and MIL-STD-810 certifications
2K touch display with Gorilla Glass protection
Powerful Intel Core i5 processor with Intel Xe Graphics
Two USB Type C / Thunderbolt 4 ports
What you get is a truly versatile laptop with snappy work and gaming performance, with an excellent high-resolution display.
If you are a parent looking for a good and sturdy laptop that your child will have a hard time breaking, you really can’t go wrong with the Acer Chromebook Spin 713.
That’s why we have no qualms giving it our Reviewer’s Choice Award! Great job, Acer!
Acer Chromebook Spin 713 : Where To Buy?
The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is available in Malaysia with a retail price of RM3,799.
Here are some online purchase options in Malaysia :
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Known for its sturdy yet lightweight body, HUAWEI MateBook D14 comes in a sleek and stylish design with a 14-inch FullView Display that boasts screen-to-body ratio of 84%.
The HUAWEI MateBook D14 has a large 56Wh battery that can serve you to last throughout the day, and a built-in fingerprint sensor that lets you quickly and securely log in.
Its support for HUAWEI’s Multi-Screen Collaboration feature lets you interact seamlessly between between your laptop and smartphone. It also allows you to take control of your smartphone using your laptop, allowing for greater productivity!
12.12 Offer :RM1,199 (RRP : RM1,399) with FREE Smart Magnetic Keyboard worth RM399
The HUAWEI MatePad is a great option for those who are looking for a tablet at an affordable price. It even comes with a keyboard case that protects it when closed, and turns it into a laptop when open!
It is designed to offer studio-quality audio with its quad-speaker, Histen 6.1 3D stereo and quad-channel Harmon Kardon sound system. And it supports HUAWEI’s Multi-Screen Collaboration feature which lets you transfer, drag and drop files between devices, as well as screen sharing between tablet, smartphone and laptop!
The tablet comes with 64 GB of storage, which can be extended to 512GB storage through an optional microSD card. It also supports 4G LTE connectivity – all you need to do is insert a SIM card!
12.12 Offer :RM1,999with FREE M-Pencil and Smart Magnetic Keyboard worth RM998
Running on HarmonyOS 2, the MatePad 11 is the first HUAWEI tablet to feature a 10.95-inch FullView display with a 120 Hz refresh rate for a silky-smooth visual experience, and a DCI-P3 colour gamut for real-to-life colours!
The MatePad 11 comes with the 2nd Generation M-Pencil stylus, which boasts an almost imperceptible lag as low as 2 ms. It has 4,096 pressure levels and tilt sensitivity, giving you a natural writing and drawing experience.
The MatePad 11 is also a multimedia powerhouse, with quad-channel large amplitude quad-speaker system, tuned by Harman Kardon.
It is further enhanced with Histen 7.0 for greater bass and a new sound field enhancement algorithm, giving you that immersive cinema-like audio experience when you watch movies!
The HUAWEI MatePad T10 comes with an anti-glare screen that is TÜV Rheinland certified Eye Comfort. By reducing the amount of blue light significantly without affecting the screen colour tone with its true tone technology, it ensures that you have greater viewing pleasure while preventing eye strain.
Whether it’s for work, watching movies or social media, this is a highly-affordable tablet that offers better eye comfort for everyday use!
The HUAWEI WATCH GT2e lets you work out anywhere you want, inside and outside the gym with a tracker that supports precise positioning systems and delivers professional sports guidance.
It lets you easily monitor your heart rate with its accurate TruSeen 3.5 and a calorie counter that displays the amount you have burnt after each session.
The HUAWEI WATCH Fit offers you a total of 96 Effective Workout Modes to start your personal fitness training immediately.
It also delivers precise and real-time workout metrics for 11 professional sport modes, inclusive of running, swimming, and cycling. And it comes along with 85 more custom workout modes for a diverse fitness routine throughout the month.
Tthe HUAWEI FreeBuds 4i are active noise cancelling TWS earbuds, that lets you hear only what you want, while its dual-mic system comes with a slit-duct design that works to effectively reduce outdoor wind noise.
It also boasts an exclusive beamforming technology that uses AI noise reduction technology to pick up your voice with extra accuracy, maintaining its quality regardless of the environment you are in.
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Acer introduced SIX new Chromebook models in 2021, offering a wide selection of affordable laptops with long battery life.
Here is what YOU need to know about the six new Acer Chromebook laptops!
2021 Acer Chromebook Laptops : What You Need To Know!
Acer introduced SIX new Chromebook models in 2021, in a variety of sizes and form factors with long battery life.
14-inch Acer Chromebook 314
17.3-inch Acer Chromebook 317
14-inch Acer Chromebook 514
14-inch Acer Chromebook Enterprise 514
13.5-inch Acer Chromebook Spin 713
13.5-inch Acer Chromebook Enterprise Spin 713
In this article, we are going to take a look at the six 2021 Acer Chromebook laptops, to see what they offer, and how they compare with each other!
2021 Acer Chromebook 314
Weighing only 1.5 kg, the 2021 Acer Chromebook 314 (CB314-2H/CB314-2HT) is an ultra-portable laptop designed for students.
Its 14-inch IPS display has a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, and optional touch controls. It supports 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, and comes with a 720p HDR webcam.
Powered by the MediaTek MT8183 octa-core processor, it can provide up to 15 hours of battery life.
2021 Acer Chromebook 317
The 2021 Acer Chromebook 317 (CB317-1H) is targeted at users who want a large display for multitasking and streaming content.
It has a large 17.3-inch display with a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, and anti-glare coating. It also comes with a large keyboard (with optional backlighting) with a numeric keypad and a large touchpad.
There is also space for two full-sized upward-facing speakers to give you a more immersive audio experience.
The 2021 Chromebook 317 is built around the latest Intel Celeron processors with Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, and up to 10 hours of battery life.
2021 Acer Chromebook 514
The 2021 Acer Chromebook 514 (CB514-1W/CB514-1WT) is built around the 11th Gen Intel core processors, with up to 10 hours of battery life.
Thanks to its metal top cover and reinforced design, it is MIL-STD810H rated for military-grade durability. On top of that, its touchpad is protected against scratches and corrosion with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass.
It supports the latest Intel Wi-Fi 6 wireless connectivity, and comes with two full-function USB Type C ports with Thunderbolt 4, and a backlight keyboard with an optional embedded fingerprint reader.
2021 Acer Chromebook Enterprise 514
The 2021 Acer Chromebook 514 (CB514-1W/CB514-1WT) is built around the 11th Gen Intel core processors, and MIL-STD810H rated for military-grade durability. On top of that, its touchpad is protected against scratches and corrosion with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass.
It supports the latest Intel Wi-Fi 6 wireless connectivity, and comes with two full-function USB Type C ports with Thunderbolt 4, a HDMI port and a backlight keyboard with an optional embedded fingerprint reader.
It also features a Full HD MIPI webcam, and speakers powered by a Smart Amplifier, with support for DTS Audio.
Its Chrome Enterprise operating system features integrated manageability features to help your company cut costs, streamline operations and reduce security risks by letting you deploy, update and manage all your devices remotely.
2021 Acer Chromebook Spin 713
The 2021 Acer Chromebook Spin 713 (CP713-3W) is the world’s first Intel Evo platform-verified Chromebook.
It features a premium aluminium chassis that is MIL-STD 810H rated for military-grade durability, in a convertible form factor. Its 13.5-inch VertiView display has a resolution of 2256 x 1504, giving you 18% more vertical screen space.
Built around the 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, it only weighs 1.37 kg and is less than 17 mm thick. Its fast-chargeable battery lasts up to 10 hours, and can get 4 hours of battery life with a quick 30 minute charge!
2021 Acer Chromebook Enterprise Spin 713
The 2021 Acer Chromebook Enterprise Spin 713 (CP713-3W) is the world’s first Intel Evo platform-verified Chromebook with Chrome Enterprise manageability built-in.
It features a premium aluminium chassis that is MIL-STD 810H rated for military-grade durability, in a convertible form factor. Its 13.5-inch VertiView display has a resolution of 2256 x 1504, giving you 18% more vertical screen space.
Built around the 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, it only weighs 1.37 kg and is less than 17 mm thick. Its fast-chargeable battery lasts up to 10 hours, and can get 4 hours of battery life with a quick 30 minute charge!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Acer just launched the Aspire Vero – a new green laptop for environmentally-conscious consumers and companies!
Take a look at the 2021 Acer Aspire Vero, and find out how it differs from other laptops!
2021 Acer Aspire Vero : Green Laptop With 30% PCR Chassis
The 2021 Acer Aspire Vero is a new laptop, designed to meet the discerning requirements of environmentally-conscious consumers and companies.
Its chassis is made from 30% post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic, while its keycaps contain 50% PCR plastic. This allows the Aspire Vero to save about 21% in CO2 emissions.
The Acer Aspire Vero is also designed to eliminate electronic waste by making it easy to disassemble, repair or upgrade – a far cry from some other brands.
https://youtu.be/U_6t8_JyIUQ
The 2021 Acer Aspire Vero also ships in a box made from 80-85% recycled paper pulp, and it swaps plastic bags for paper sleeves instead.
The single piece of plastic in the box – a thin protective sheet between the keyboard and screen – is made from 100% industrial recycled plastic.
All graphics on the box are also printed with soy ink, and Acer did away with any printing on the laptop chassis. On top of that, users can convert the 100% recyclable packaging into a DIY laptop stand!
The laptop comes with a 99% recyclable 15.6-inch Full HD IPS display, and is powered by the 11th Gen Intel Core i7 or Core i5 processor with Intel Iris Xe Graphics.
For greater energy efficiency and longer battery life, you can switch on the Eco+ mode in the Acer VeroSense software.
It features the latest connectivity capabilities – Wi-Fi 6 with Bluetooth 5.1, and even an RJ-45 ethernet port, as well as two USB Type A ports, a USB Type C port, a HDMI port and a 3.5 mm audio jack.
The 2021 Acer Aspire Vero runs on Windows 11, and comes pre-installed with Microsoft Office Home & Student 2021
2021 Acer Aspire Vero : Specifications
Acer is offering two variants of the Aspire Vero laptop in 2021. For your convenience, I prepared this table comparing their key specifications :
Specifications
Acer Aspire Vero
(Core i5)
Acer Aspire Vero
(Core i7)
Model
AV15-51-522W
AV15-51-75SA
Display
15.6-inch IPS display
Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080)
OS
Microsoft Windows 11 Home
Processor
Intel Core i5-1155G7
Intel Core i7-1195G7
Memory
8 GB LPDDR4X
16 GB LPDDR4X
Graphics
Intel Iris Xe Graphics
Storage
512 GB PCIe NVMe SSD
Networking
Intel Wireless Wi-Fi 6 AX201
Bluetooth 5.1 RJ-45 Ethernet Port
Connectivity
1 x HDMI 2.0 port with HDCP
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A (with power-off USB charging)
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1
Type C
1 x 3.5 mm audio jack
Webcam
Acer HD webcam (1280 x 720)
Battery Life
Up to 7 hours
Dimensions
363.4 mm wide
238.5 mm deep
17.9 mm thick
Weight
1.8 kg
Price
RM3,399
RM4,299
2021 Acer Aspire Vero : Price + Availability
The 2021 Acer Aspire Vero is available for purchase with immediate effect, with these official launch prices :
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
