This year CES 2021 was a digital venue showed newest innovation in consumer electronics. It had some 1900 virtual booths, several peripheral product showcase.
Here are some links to reports on the event.
CES 2021 products you can actually buy this year
CES 2021: My Top 3 Gadgets of the Show—and 3 of the Weirdest
CES 2021: What Is Mini-LED TV?
CES 2021: A Countertop Chocolate Factory Could Be This Year’s Best Kitchen Gadget
Intel has to be better than ‘lifestyle company’ Apple at making CPUs, says new CEO
AMD Opens Up Threadripper Pro: Three New WRX80 Motherboards
CES 2021: Consumer Electronics Makers Pivot to Everything Covid
322 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rocket’s power consumption explodes, just like Coffee Lake boiled.
Intel’s Rocket Lake Core i9 Hits 98C and Gulps 250W, Just Like Comet Lake
By Anton Shilov a day ago
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intels-rocket-lake-core-i9-hits-98c-and-gulps-250w-just-like-comet-lake?utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com
Intel’s upcoming CPUs will require powerful cooling systems
loads, just like their Comet Lake ancestors. Intel’s upcoming eight-core Core i9-11900KF ‘Rocket Lake-S’ processors can purportedly heat up to 98C and pull 250W of power during stress tests. That means the chips should place well in our CPU Benchmarks Hierarchy, at least one would hope given all that power consumption, but they’ll run hot just like the previous-gen Intel chips.
Although Intel’s latest 10th Generation Core ‘Comet Lake-S’ processors are rated for a 125W TDP, they can actually suck up to 250W ~ 330W of power when they boost on all cores for up to 56 seconds, allowing them to provide their maximum potential in situations where it is actually needed.
Intel’s public-facing specs list power consumption based on the default power level (PL1). There’s a big difference between the default power level and an all-core turbo power level (PL2), so you’ll need an advanced motherboard, a quality PSU, and a capable cooling system to tame the Comet Lake beast. That’s because Intel had to increase the PL2 level on its Comet Lake CPUs in a bid to make them more competitive against AMD’s Ryzen lineup.
Being manufactured using a mature 14nm process, Intel’s latest enthusiast-grade processors with eight or ten cores are not exactly energy efficiency champions, which isn’t surprising because this node was not developed for CPUs that combine a high frequency and a high core count.
As Intel is getting ready to release its 11th Generation ‘Rocket Lake’ CPUs this April, it has already begun to send its samples to a broad audience of its clients so they could prepare for the launch. As a result, certain test results will inevitably emerge well before full-fledged final hardware reviews show up. That said, the unreleased processors’ current test results should be taken with a grain of salt.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Paul Alcorn / Tom’s Hardware:
Report: in Q4 2020, Intel clawed back QoQ desktop PC and notebook CPU market share from AMD for the first time in 3 years amid AMD’s ongoing supply chain issues — The Mercury Research CPU market share results are in for the fourth quarter of 2020, with the headline news being that Intel …
Intel Claws Back Desktop PC and Notebook Market Share From AMD, First Time in Three Years
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-claws-back-desktop-pc-market-share-from-amd-for-the-first-time-in-three-years
Tomi Engdahl says:
2021 will see a big wave of USB4 devices. Here’s what will be different about them:
What Is USB4? How the New Interface Boosts Speeds, Supports Screens, and More
https://uk.pcmag.com/components/131470/what-is-usb4-how-the-new-interface-boosts-speeds-supports-screens-and-more
USB4, the next generation of USB, is in equal parts a reboot, a speedup, and a simplification of the everywhere-you-look connection spec. Here’s what you need to know.
Just call it USB4 on the floor: 2021 will see a big wave of devices featuring a new USB standard that goes beyond the usual speed boosts. USB4, the newest version of USB, nixes the space (it’s not “USB 4″—more on that in a moment) and papers over some of the wooly confusion that is USB 3. Plus, beyond the new speeds, it adds new nuances to device compatibility and charging over the port.
Where does USB4 come from? In part, from earlier USB specs; in part, from another interface. USB4 leverages the Thunderbolt 3 protocol to deliver speeds up to twice as fast as the USB version it replaces. In addition to its greater bandwidth, USB4 can more deftly shuttle and prioritize file and video data through its pipes than previous USB iterations could. And USB4 offers backward compatibility with all the old PC-connectivity crowd on its physical ports: Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.2, and USB 2.0 devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Piiripula leviää älypuhelimiin:
“Qualcomm Inc, the world’s largest smartphone chip maker, warned it is struggling to meet demand, signalling that a global semiconductor shortage is spreading.
“The shortage in the semiconductor industry is across the board,” said incoming Chief Executive Officer Cristiano Amon.
Like most chip makers, Qualcomm outsources production to companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Samsung Electronics Co. These suppliers are trying and so far failing to adjust to a vigorous rebound in demand. The auto sector has complained about this recently, but Qualcomm’s comments show the problems are broader.”
https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3120449/semiconductor-shortages-are-spreading-warns-smartphone-chip-giant
Tomi Engdahl says:
Chip Shortage Spirals Beyond Cars to Phones and Game Consoles
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-05/chip-shortage-spirals-beyond-cars-to-phones-and-game-consoles
The first hints of trouble emerged in the spring of 2020. The world was in the early throes of a mysterious pandemic, which first obliterated demand then super-charged internet and mobile computing when economies regained their footing. That about-face — in a span of months — laid the seeds for potentially the most serious shortage in years of the semiconductors that lie at the heart of everything from smartphones to cars and TVs.
Auto and electronics makers that cut back drastically in the early days of the outbreak are now rushing to re-up orders, only to get turned away because chipmakers are stretched to the max supplying smartphone giants like Apple Inc. This week, Qualcomm Inc.’s Cristiano Amon, head of the world’s largest mobile chipmaker, flagged shortages “across the board,” citing the industry’s reliance on just a handful of players in Asia.
Chip shortages are expected to wipe out $61 billion of sales for automakers alone, but the hit to the much larger electronics industry — while tough to quantify at this early stage — could be far larger.
Apple, a major Qualcomm customer, said recently that sales of some new high-end iPhones were hemmed in by a shortage of components. Europe’s NXP Semiconductors NV and Infineon Technologies AG — whose roles near the top of the supply chain grant them visibility over global chip flows — have both indicated the constraints are no longer confined to autos. And Sony Corp. said Wednesday it might be unable to fully sate demand for its new gaming console in 2021 because of production bottlenecks.
“The virus pandemic, social distancing in factories, and soaring competition from tablets, laptops and electric cars are causing some of the toughest conditions for smartphone component supply in many years,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
The global chip shortage is hurting businesses and could be a national security issue. Here are 9 quotes that help explain what that means for the market.
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/global-chip-shortage-quotes-explain-means-stocks-semiconductors-national-security-2021-2-1030051469
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sony unleashes new TVs at CES 2021 | Sony has some exciting surprises you need to see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMgbpnmBUvs
Sony typically is the last TV brand to unleash its TV plans at CES, but CES 2021 is different and we now know what Sony’s full slate of TVs for 2021 looks like.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2021/02/11/laskenut-komponenttikauppa-hakee-uutta-nousua/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/11749-seuraava-laturisi-on-erilainen
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/11729-takaisin-kasvuun-farnell-uskoo-alkaneeseen-vuoteen
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.eetimes.com/cloudy-with-a-chance-of-semiconductors/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.eetimes.com/the-rise-of-open-hardware/
Tomi Engdahl says:
2021 Perspectives: What BEVs, Connected Cars & Software Will Become
https://www.eetimes.com/2021-perspectives-what-bevs-connected-cars-software-will-become/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/opinion/11728-farnell-haastattelu-back-to-growth
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2021/02/04/teknologiateollisuudessa-selkea-kaanne-tilaukset-kasvuun/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/11723-tsmc-n-3-nanometrin-kapasiteetti-on-jo-vuosiksi-loppuunmyyty
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2021/02/03/prosessorikauppa-yllatti-isompi-osuus/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Four Companies Control 67% of the World’s Cloud Infrastructure
https://uk.pcmag.com/old-cloud-infrastructure/131713/four-companies-control-67-of-the-worlds-cloud-infrastructure
Even in the middle of a pandemic, companies including Amazon, Microsoft, and Google continue to thrive thanks to their control over the cloud infrastructure market.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Holy crap, a new SATA SSD that’s actually interesting
https://www.pcgamer.com/colorful-sl500-mini-ssd/
Colorful’s new SL500 Mini is an SSD the size of a USB thumb drive.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Either Intel’s new Alder Lake CPU runs at over 27GHz or the latest benchmark leak is a little off
https://www.pcgamer.com/intel-alder-lake-27ghz-cpu/
Looks like AMD could be in trouble… unless Geekbench is being flaky. Yeah, Geekbench is probably being flaky.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This could be incredible for streaming video.
H.266 Codec Promises to Reduce Video File Sizes by Half
The H.266/VVC codec will deliver the same visual quality from SD right up to 8K, but with only 50 percent of the data requirements, making it an instant hit with video streaming services.
https://uk.pcmag.com/video/127664/h266-codec-promises-to-reduce-video-file-sizes-by-half
Tomi Engdahl says:
ISSCC Plenary: A Bright Foundry Future
https://www.eetimes.com/isscc-plenary-a-bright-foundry-future/
Each successive step in semiconductor integration has taken an increasing amount of effort to achieve, but the next node — 3nm — should still arrive right on schedule, according to TSMC chairman Mark Liu. Liu made his remarks during his keynote which kicked off the (virtual) 2021 International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC).
The virtual format did not affect timing of the tutorials and short course which wrapped up over the weekend.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Standards as a Circularity Checklist Starting Point
https://www.eetimes.com/standards-as-a-circularity-checklist-starting-point/
Most of the time we don’t even know or care what those substances are that produce working components and systems; the focus is on producing designs and products that work and meet the defined requirements.
But this (not willful) ignorance can backfire. For example, with little notice, the very front end of the lifecycle of seemingly innocuous substances like tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold (3TGs) grabbed the headlines in 2009 and soon, section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act, the US Conflict Minerals law, was born (and 2 years later the implementing regulation, or “final rule,” was issued). Now we track where every milligram of these substances comes from and under what circumstance it was mined or sourced: child or forced labor? Legitimate or “artisanal” mine? What country? What region? Which smelter or refiner? How did they get it and from whom? Is it from recycled material or not?
But what do we do with that information? In most cases, nothing; we report a summary of it to the government and go on with our lives.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/tekniset-artikkelit/11664-11-hyvaa-syyta-valita-11-sukupolven-core-prosessori
Tomi Engdahl says:
Remember when overclocking actually meant something?
Meaningful overclocking in PC gaming is no longer A Thing.
https://www.pcgamer.com/pc-overclocking-for-gaming-is-over/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=facebook.com
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.techpowerup.com/278524/sony-playstation-5-soc-die-has-been-pictured
Tomi Engdahl says:
Android 12 developer preview is available now with many under-the-hood updates
https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/18/22288084/android-12-developer-preview-available-google-pixel?scrolla=5eb6d68b7fedc32c19ef33b4
The big, consumer-facing changes will come later this year
Tomi Engdahl says:
NVIDIA pretends to care about gamers.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XfIibTBaoMM&feature=youtu.be
Nvidia thinks they can pull a fast one on gamers looking to grab an RTX 3060, but we know you’re smarter than that – Let’s dig deeper and see if we can figure out why they’re launching cryptocurrency mining cards…
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smartphones are becoming like white goods, says analyst, with users only upgrading when their handsets break
Upgrades? It’s a bit of a Hotpoint
https://www.theregister.com/2021/01/25/smartphones_are_becoming_like_white/
The smartphone trade is beginning to resemble the market for white goods with punters increasingly likely to wait until their device is broken before seeking a replacement.
In a survey of around 1,000 UK consumers, CCS Insight found that nearly 34 per cent believe they’ll hang on to their current phones longer than previous models. This is more than double the amount of respondents who expected a swifter upgrade cycle. Refesh is not driven by a desire for the latest tech, but rather to replace an already broken phone.
“The phone market is evolving from routine two-yearly upgrades to one more closely resembling the market for white goods, which are often only changed when they stop working,” said the analyst.
Tomi Engdahl says:
64 Cores of Rendering Madness: The AMD Threadripper Pro 3995WX Review
https://www.anandtech.com/show/16478/64-cores-of-rendering-madness-the-amd-threadripper-pro-3995wx-review
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to Add More RAM to Your Android Device with a MicroSD Card
BY CHRISTIAN CAWLEY
UPDATED FEB 05, 2021
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/add-ram-android-device-microsd-card/
Running out of memory on Android? Here’s how to increase RAM on any Android phone or tablet.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This software is the kick your AMD Ryzen CPU needs to reach 5GHz
By Jacob Ridley 5 days ago
ClockTuner for Ryzen says 5GHz is possible after all, and only a couple of clicks away.
https://www.pcgamer.com/amd-ryzen-cpu-5ghz-clocktuner-software-overclock/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft’s next major Windows 10 update focuses on improving remote work
https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/18/22288937/microsoft-windows-10-next-version-21h1-update-remote-work-features
Microsoft breaks from tradition to deliver a different kind of Windows update
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/18/22288959/microsoft-office-2021-windows-mac-features-release-date-price
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple beats Samsung in phone sales for first time since 2016
Apple sold almost 80 million phones in Q4 2020.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/apple-beats-samsung-in-phone-sales-for-first-time-since-2016/
Apple beat out Samsung to become the world’s leading seller of smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to a new data report by research firm Gartner. Samsung had outsold Apple since the same quarter in 2016.
Gartner estimates that Apple sold 79.94 million during the quarter, while Samsung managed to sell 62.17 million. Samsung did not release new flagship phones that quarter. Apple’s sales were driven by the introduction of the new iPhone 12 lineup, which generally sold better than the previous year’s iPhone updates. Apple sold 69.6 million iPhones in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel 12th-Gen Alder Lake Release Date, Benchmarks, Specifications, and All We Know
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-alder-lake-specifications-price-benchmarks-release-date
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cryptocurrency Miners Are Reportedly Ruining the Laptop Market, Too https://trib.al/05zV0Cz
According to a new report, cryptocurrency miners aren’t just buying up desktop PC GPUs — they’ve started hoovering up gaming laptops as well. This has kept gaming laptop sales high through Q1 when normally the market would have cooled off by now.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel Discontinues Overclocking Warranties as Hobby Continues to Die
https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/320442-intel-discontinues-overclocking-warranties-as-hobby-continues-to-die
Intel has announced the end of its Performance Tuning Protection Plan (PTPP). An end-user who previously bought a PTPP from Intel was guaranteed a one-time replacement CPU if they fried their chip by overclocking it, provided the chip was still within warranty.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Some dude is selling an AMD Ryzen 5000 APU before it’s launched
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3611349/some-dude-is-selling-an-amd-ryzen-5000-apu-before-its-launched.html
It’s been a crazy month for CPU leaks. First, a retailer put Intel’s upcoming 11th-gen Rocket Lake S up for sale a month ahead of its official release (leading to a wave of early reviews). And now some dude might actually have topped that by selling AMD’s upcoming Ryzen 5000 APU on eBay well before its launch.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.anandtech.com/show/16535/intel-core-i7-11700k-review-blasting-off-with-rocket-lake
Tomi Engdahl says:
Buy AMD instead.
Intel Core i9-10900K
https://uk.pcmag.com/chipsets-processors/127047/intel-core-i9-10900k
Bottom Line
Intel’s 10th Generation Core i9-10900K mainstream flagship CPU excels in elite gaming scenarios, but its aging architecture can’t quite keep pace with AMD’s newer, nimbler 7nm designs on value and multi-threaded performance.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why You Can’t Future-Proof Your Gaming PC
https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/275890-why-you-cant-future-proof-your-gaming-pc?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Manual&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook
Talk to anyone about building a new PC, and the question of longevity is going to pop up sooner rather than later. Any time someone is dropping serious cash for a hardware upgrade they’re going to have questions about how long it will last them, especially if they’ve been burned before. But how much additional value is it actually possible to squeeze out of the market by doing so — and does it actually benefit the end-user?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Intel’s 11th Gen desktop chips launch, with the flagship Core i9-11900K sporting eight cores, two less than last gen, and boosted clock speeds of up to 5.3GHz — Rocket Lake-S looks to combine the best parts of Intel’s 14nm process with its 10nm designs — Intel’s next-generation desktop chips …
Intel’s 11th Gen desktop chips are here with faster speeds but fewer cores
https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/16/22325460/intel-11th-gen-desktop-chips-rocket-lake-s-faster-speeds-cores-gaming?scrolla=5eb6d68b7fedc32c19ef33b4
Rocket Lake-S looks to combine the best parts of Intel’s 14nm process with its 10nm designs
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/11899-amd-toi-kahdeksan-ydinta-bisneslappariin
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/11901-pc-pelaajien-kannattaa-nyt-odottaa
Tomi Engdahl says:
GPU restock fail: what’s the point of releasing new graphics cards if nobody can actually buy them?
By Jess Weatherbed a day ago
Opinion: more salt for the salt god
https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/whats-the-point-of-releasing-new-gpus-if-nobody-can-actually-buy-them?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=techradar&utm_medium=social
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel’s New Adaptive Boost Technology: Floating Turbo Comes to Rocket Lake
https://www.anandtech.com/show/16564/intels-new-adaptive-boost-technology-floating-turbo-comes-to-rocket-lake
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel declares war on AMD with demo of Tiger Lake 8-core laptop CPU gaming at 5GHz
By Darren Allan 4 days ago
https://www.techradar.com/news/intel-declares-war-on-amd-with-demo-of-tiger-lake-8-core-laptop-cpu-gaming-at-5ghz
Total War declared, in fact, with demo showing the strategy battler running smoothly
Tomi Engdahl says:
Your 8TB HDD might seem big now, but 120TB drives are on the way
By Paul Lilly 8 days ago
https://www.pcgamer.com/your-8tb-hdd-might-seem-big-now-but-120tb-drives-are-on-the-way/
Seagate’s roadmap points to much more capacious HDDs in the coming years.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The street prices of Nvidia and AMD GPUs are utterly out of control
Would you pay double? Triple?
https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/23/22345891/nvidia-amd-rtx-gpus-price-scalpers-ebay-graphics-cards
You might have heard there’s a global semiconductor shortage going on, and that PC graphics cards in particular are nearly impossible to find. What you probably haven’t heard is that the situation has steadily been growing worse — to the point some GPUs are worth triple their MSRP.
It doesn’t help that the actual retail prices of these graphics cards have been edging northward, too. Whether it’s a reaction to the Trump tariffs or a blatant attempt to get a piece of the action, the GPUs that I actually do briefly see for sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and the Neweggs of the world are often far, far above the prices that AMD and Nvidia suggest, like an $840 RTX 3070 or a $900 RX 6800. The average list price for a $329.99 RTX 3060 was $471 on launch day.