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Gizmodo
19-05-2025
- Gizmodo
Razer Thins Out the Blade 14 and Fattens the Price Tag
The newly announced Razer Blade 14 isn't quite stiletto-thin, but it's becoming far more knife-like over time. Compared to past iterations, the shell is now as tall as 10 pennies stacked on top of each other, which means the new blade might be as thin as your wallet after buying one. On top of being the thinnest Blade 14 Razer has ever made, it's also the most expensive, starting at $2,300 for a version with Nvidia's new GeForce RTX 5060 laptop GPU. Razer's always tried to offer quality for its high price, but with tariffs in effect, the new Blade 14 is pushing what consumers can expect from gaming laptops. The Blade 14's base price is $100 more than you would have paid for the 2024 Blade 14 with an RTX 4060. If you upgrade the new Blade to the version with the RTX 5070, Razer told us you could spend $2,700 for the sake of a laptop that's 'not a big brick,' as the company put it. Razer is always an enticing buy because of its generally strong build quality, but even a frisbee-light frame doesn't take the sting out of today's tariff-inflated product prices. Razer's new ultra-thin design houses an AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 and up to 64GB of 8,000MHz LPDDR5X RAM. It's the first time Razer is pairing a Copilot+ CPU made for lightweight laptops with an Nvidia GPU in a thoroughbred gaming machine, which means it's compatible with Windows 11 AI features like Recall (which you should probably remember to turn off during setup). The laptop sports a bevy of ports, including HDMI and a microSD card slot. As per usual, Razer promotes its hardy aluminum with an anodized black finish that will manage to stave off bumps or blemishes. We don't doubt that all that combined will offer enough juice to showcase the Blade 14's 3K, 120Hz OLED display. We do wonder what kind of CPU performance it might provide compared to a similarly sized laptop like the Asus TUF Gaming A14 and its top-end AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. Asus' older model also costs hundreds of dollars less than Razer's latest. Razer promised you'll get 2 to 3 hours while gaming on the 72WHr battery. That doesn't sound like much, but it's technically better than what you already get on the Razer Blade 16 from this year. We've yet to find a gaming laptop with a battery life that will keep up for extended periods. The Blade 14 powers the RTX 5070 up to the max 115W TGP, which may give you enough juice for most modern games at the max 2,880 x 1,800 resolution. The RTX 5060 laptop GPU is still so new, we don't yet know how it performs compared to Nvidia's mid-range graphics options. No matter which GPU you choose, the machine will still support a six-speaker system through upward-firing speakers. That may offer better sound quality than you may be used to on such small systems, especially with support for THX Spatial Audio. There has been a rash of relatively light gaming laptops from 2024 stretching into this year. Razer seemingly knew it needed to step up its game with the 2025 edition of the Blade 14. At 0.62-inch thickness and weighing in at 3.59 pounds, it's 11% thinner and lighter than the 2024 edition. It takes the same thermal hood design from this year's rendition of the Blade 16. That laptop also went on a diet for the sake of customers who want a less hefty device to fit a little bit better in their backpacks. We found it also tended to get rather hot when playing intensive games, so we hope that's less of a problem with a smaller battery and less demanding GPU. The one thing that hasn't been brought over from the Blade 16 is the improved keyboard. It's a Razer device, so of course it's packed to the gills with gamer lights, including per-key RGB. Those keys still only have 1 mm of key travel compared to the deeper, more impactful 1.5mm on the redesigned 16-incher. There are no color options save for black and white, as much as we might beg Razer to bring back the 'coral' pink color from the 2019 Razer Blade Stealth. There's nothing wrong with a thin system, but perhaps a pink blade would help take away the sting of price hikes.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UPS Explores Humanoid Robots As Figure AI Secures $675M From Jeff Bezos, OpenAI, And Intel, Targeting $9B Revenue By 2029
, the robotics company aiming to build the first commercially viable humanoid worker, recently announced it secured a staggering $675 million in funding from some of the biggest names in tech and venture capital, including Jeff Bezos, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), OpenAI, and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC). Now valued at $2.6 billion, the San Jose, California-based startup is in talks with United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) to integrate its humanoid robots into the global shipping giant's logistics infrastructure, according to Bloomberg. Don't Miss: 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — Figure AI was founded in 2022 by serial entrepreneur Brett Adcock, who previously launched Vettery and Archer Aviation (NYSE:ACHR). Adcock's bio says that his goal is to create a fully autonomous humanoid robot that can safely, efficiently, and intelligently perform a wide range of physical tasks that are currently repetitive, physically draining, or simply undesirable for human workers. According to Bloomberg, the company's latest model, Figure 02, features integrated cabling, a torso battery, and real-time computing power using Nvidia RTX GPU-based modules. It's outfitted with 6 RGB cameras, directional microphones, speakers, and a custom-built conversational AI developed in collaboration with OpenAI. Figure 02 also boasts 16 degrees of freedom in its redesigned hands, which allow it to lift and maneuver up to 55 pounds. These capabilities are being actively tested in real-world settings, including on the factory floor at BMW. Trending: Donald Trump just announced a $500 billion AI infrastructure deal — . While both UPS and rival FedEx (NYSE:FDX) have incorporated autonomous systems like sorting and ground robots into their operations, neither has implemented humanoid robots until now. Bloomberg reported last year that UPS and Figure AI began discussions in 2023 and resumed them in early 2025 as Figure's latest model reached new performance milestones. If an agreement is finalized, UPS will become one of the first global logistics companies to pilot humanoid labor at an industrial scale. This move comes as UPS is undergoing a significant restructuring in response to declining package volumes, particularly from major clients like Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), and economic pressures stemming from international tariffs. According to Reuters, UPS plans to cut 20,000 jobs and close 73 facilities by June, aiming to save $3.5 billion through workforce reductions, automation, and asset sales. These measures are part of UPS's strategy to adapt to shifting market dynamics and enhance operational believes humanoid robots are the next frontier in workforce transformation. He said in a statement that Figure's vision is 'to bring humanoid robots into commercial operations as soon as possible. AI and robotics are the future, and I am grateful to have the support of investors and partners who believe in being at the forefront." Figure's mission has always been about filling the gap where human labor is in short supply or at risk. The startup says it is building toward a future where robots can work side-by-side with humans, or even independently, across warehouses, manufacturing floors, and homes. Figure AI is not alone in the humanoid race since competitors like Optimus, created by Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), and Agility Robotics' Digit are also vying to dominate this emerging sector. However, with backing from the world's top AI labs, chipmakers, and billionaires, Figure AI is showing that humanoid labor is no longer a sci-fi dream but a near-future solution to real-world industrial problems. Read Next:Deloitte's fastest-growing software company partners with Amazon, Walmart & Target – Image: Shutterstock UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article UPS Explores Humanoid Robots As Figure AI Secures $675M From Jeff Bezos, OpenAI, And Intel, Targeting $9B Revenue By 2029 originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Chipmaker TSMC's new A14 process will apparently offer a '15% speed improvement' but our GPUs won't be made on it for a while
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. TSMC, the world's biggest chipmaker, has just announced another process node which will almost certainly, amongst an undoubted slew of AI chips, be used to make some of our gaming GPUs and CPUs in the future. This next-gen process is 'A14', meaning 14 angstroms or 1.4 nanometres or really, really small. This was announced yesterday at TSMC's North America Technology Symposium, and the company says the process "is designed to drive AI transformation forward by delivering faster computing and greater power efficiency." TSMC was already the world's biggest chipmaker even before all this AI business started to really kick off, but ever since then, it's a company name, alongside Nvidia, that's on a ton of people's lips. Naturally, then, talk of its upcoming process nodes will be of interest to many people, but we PC gamers can throw our hats into that pool of interested onlookers, too. That's because TSMC makes lots of the chips that end up in some of the best gaming CPUs and best graphics cards, whether from AMD, Nvidia, or even Intel. Currently, for instance, Nvidia RTX 50-series GPUs are made predominantly on TSMC's 4 nm node, and the same goes for AMD's Ryzen 9000-series processors. Intel's Arrow Lake chips look to now be made exclusively by TSMC, too, ever since Intel killed its 20A process last year. The newly announced A14 node is planned for 2028. Compared with its upcoming N2 process (set for later this year), TSMC says "A14 will offer up to 15% speed improvement at the same power, or up to 30% power reduction at the same speed, along with more than 20% increase in logic density." Although it's a few years away, I can't help but get a little excited about new processes. That's primarily because we've seen with the RTX 50-series GPUS just how unexciting a new GPU generation can be if it doesn't come off the back of a new process node (the RTX 50 series is on the same process as the RTX 40 series). That being said, Nvidia doesn't usually use bleeding-edge nodes for its GPUs, and we'll be more likely to see AMD and Apple chips made using A14 to begin with. A14 won't have backside power delivery until 2029, either, according to our colleagues at Tom's Hardware. Backside power delivery essentially moves power interconnects to the underside of the chip, reducing inference and the distance that power has to travel, thereby increasing efficiency and performance. Your next upgrade Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and gaming motherboard: The right graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the rest. We expect to see backside power delivery (AKA 'Super Power Rail') from TSMC first with A16 in 2026. Intel's ahead in this game, however, as its 18A process already has backside power delivery and is ready to go as of two months ago. As for whether this A14 production will also make an appearance in the US, as well as from TSMC's Taiwan fabs, it seems like it might. I'm basing this on the company's recent earnings call, in which the company claimed that six fabs are planned in Arizona: "In that six fab, the 2-nanometer will be a major node, and that's what I say, 30% will be there. As time goes by, after the 2-nanometer will be 1.4 and 1.0, that has not been discussed yet." This was in response to a question about what percentage of future leading nodes will come from the US vs from Taiwan, and to my ears it seems like TSMC is saying 1.4 and 1.0 will come from the US, but the percentage hasn't been discussed yet. Whatever the case, here's to some healthy progress in process nodes across the board, whether from TSMC, Intel, or anyone else. Architectural and AI changes aside, raw performance increases are a direct result of transistor density, and we can all get behind that.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Yahoo
Samsung has a crack at ye olde glasses-free 3D monitor thing but its new cheaper 49-inch ultrawide OLED is far more interesting
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Samsung has announced a slew of new gaming monitors and on paper, the big news is a glasses-free 3D model. However, it's a new lower-cost version of Samsung's 49-inch ultrawide OLED that could be most interesting in the real world. The Odyssey 3D G90XF is a 27-inch 4K model with, "advanced eye-tracking technology and a proprietary lenticular lens deliver a natural-looking high-definition 3D image." The combination of eye-tracking and lenticular lenses to enable glasses-free 3D is not entirely new. Lenovo announced something essentially identical back in 2023. Indeed, our own Jacob experienced a Samsung prototype over a year ago and came away impressed. And yet, 3D displays never seem to take off. Admittedly, most attempts in the past, including Nvidia's 3D Vision, involved glasses which typically prove quite the impediment to adoption. So, could this glasses-free version take off? Jacob only had five minutes with the concept display, but said, "It delivers a genuinely decent 3D image." One catch is that it requires an Nvidia RTX GPU with Samsung recommending RTX 3080 at minimum. But then this is not a cheap monitor. For the record, this is an LCD monitor, not OLED, and thus has claimed 1 ms response. The refresh rate is 165 Hz. Samsung hasn't released an official price. But it is listed on Samsung's South Korean pre-order page at a price that converts to around $1,575. Ouch. With that in mind, it could be the new Odyssey G9 G91F that's more interesting. In most regards it's familiar and similar to the Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 G93SC we reviewed way back in 2023. So, it's a huge 49-inch 5,120 by 1,440 OLED. Except instead of 240 Hz refresh, it's 144 Hz and designed to allow, "more gamers to experience curved ultrawide gaming." In other words, it's cheaper. Again, Samsung hasn't listed a price. But it's on that South Korean pre-order website for a price that converts to $850. That's about half the original launch price of the G93SC. What's more, Samsung monitors tend to slip under their MSRPs pretty quickly. So the G91F could dip below $800 in fairly short order. Fingers crossed. Samsung also announced refreshed versions of its 4K OLEDs in 27-inch and 32-inch variants, rather oddly claiming "industry first" implementation of 240 Hz 4K technology, something that's been widely available for years. Anyway, the 32-inch version seems to be priced at around $1,100, with the 27-inch option not yet listed. We'll keep an eye out for US and UK availability of all of those new monitors. Best gaming monitor: Pixel-perfect high refresh rate monitor: Screaming 4K monitor for gaming: High-res 4K TV for gaming: Big-screen 4K PC gaming.
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Yahoo
TSMC takes 'chip binning' to a whole new level as entire wafer 'found in a dumpster'
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Found this in a dumpster near TSMC fab, how to cut this into usable GPU? from r/pcmasterrace 'Chip binning' is supposed to be the process of testing newly manufactured silicon to see how many of the important bits work and how high the thing will clock. But TSMC seems to be taking the notion a little too literally, as one Redditor found when they apparently discovered an entire TSMC wafer in dumpster. The aptly monikered Redditor, AVX512-VNNI, says the wafer, which appears to be fully intact, was found discarded at TSMC's Fab 16 chip factory or fab in Nanjing, China. While it's not the most advanced fab in the world, it is still producing 12nm silicon, which is fairly high tech. On Reddit, AVX512-VNNI pondered how the wafer, which visibly contains scores of chip dies, might be cut up into usable GPUs. But it wasn't a serious query. As AVX512-VNNI points out, the wafer doesn't contain any customer chip designs. Instead it's a test wafer containing dummy circuitry layouts used to evaluate the performance and calibration of the hyper-complex lithography machines that etch the patterns onto the wafer that are then cut up into chips. Still, it's a good opportunity to speculate over the best way a keen enthusiast might try to cut the wafer into individual chips. Diamond tipped pizza slicers are the obvious choice. That said, the mere 0.5mm gaps between the chips would call for a very steady hand. Actually, you'd need a bit more than that. Over to another Redditor for a précis of what's really required. "You just need to have a clean room. And by that I mean a room with absolute zero dust. Then you will need a special wire cutter. Not wirecutter - a wire cutter, that is a machine with a thin wire that cuts wafer into chips and minimizes dust. After that, you need an assembly machine that will place your chips onto a substrate with submicron precision. And, of course, you'd need a working PCBs with all components. Easy-peasy." And, you might say, lemon squeezy. Of course, an easier solution might just be to wire up the whole wafer as a single chip and side step the whole slicing malarkey. That's actually a thing and it's called 'wafer-scale' computing. You'd need a lot of thermal paste, of course, and the power requirements would put even melting Nvidia RTX GPUs to shame. Overall, Redditor AVX512-VNNI does seem to be suspiciously well informed on the subject of chip production, which does rather beg the question of exactly how serendipitous the discovery of the wafer really was... But it's a fun discovery all the same. Best CPU for gaming: Top chips from Intel and gaming motherboard: The right graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher SSD for gaming: Get into the game first.
