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SiriusXM adds streaming-style features to its in-car radio service
In-car listening has come a long way in the past decade. Where satellite radio used to be one of the few ways to get live digital shows in your car, it's now trivially easy to bring your phone into the car and stream virtually anything. And SiriusXM knows it -- the company has launched a new platform, 360L, that brings some of the creature comforts of internet streaming to in-car satellite radio. To begin with, there's simply more to listen to -- you can listen to on-demand shows, not to mention channels that were previously online-only.
HyperX memory improves your PC's light show with infrared
Many PC enthusiasts use light-up RAM to add a flair to their systems. But creating a proper, synchronized light show isn't always easy. Even if you have the right motherboard, compatible RAM and the necessary software, there's no guarantee of a harmonious display. HyperX wants to fix that: it's introducing new Predator DDR4 modules that can use infrared light to sync their RGB illumination. There's no guesswork and no external cables -- you can just assume your lights will pulse together using power directly from the motherboard.
Magnetized particles could solve our data storage problems
Scientists have discovered an unusual magnetic behavior that could solve one of the biggest problems faced by our data-hungry world: data storage. In recent decades we've been getting progressively better at storing data but unless we find new and more efficient ways to store the increasing volume of data we're producing every day, it won't be long until data centres reach their capacities and progress grinds to a halt. The new discovery, which has the potential to store data in fast-moving magnetic particles, could remedy that.
Firefox Quantum beta promises to double your browser speeds
After announcing plans for Project Quantum late last year, Mozilla has now launched its overhauled Firefox in beta stage, making it an increasingly imminent challenge to Chrome. And it's a very feasible challenge too, given the browser's improvements. Speed is its main selling point -- Mozilla says Quantum is roughly twice as fast as Firefox was a year ago. This is largely due to a new CSS engine written in Mozilla's programming language, Rust, which operates across cores rather than as a single memory-hungry process on one core. It also priorities tabs, loading up in-use tabs before background ones, which Mozilla says makes Quantum 30 percent more RAM-efficient than Chrome. The team has also tracked down and eliminated 469 bugs that were contributing to slowness.
Xbox exec reveals Scorpio has 9GB of RAM available for games
We're still a couple of days away from seeing Microsoft officially reveal its Project Scorpio Xbox, but details continue to dribble out. Xbox & Windows gaming platform VP Mike Ybarra tweeted that the team "unlocked extra GB of RAM for (game developers), now 9GB of GDDR5." In April, program manager Kevin Gammill told Gamasutra that Scorpio would ditch the Xbox One's 32MB ESRAM / 8GB GDDR3 setup for specs showing 12GB of GDDR5 RAM built in (the devkits that we've seen feature 24GB of RAM), with 8GB available for games. The rest of the resources are reserved to handle system features, multitasking apps and other non-game elements.
You can replace RAM and processors in new iMacs, but there's a catch
Earlier this week, Apple revealed a fleet of new iMacs -- and as usual, the "teardown" experts at iFixit have started taking them apart. The first to go under the knife is the new 4K, 21.5-inch iMac (which we've already taken out for a brief test run), and the iFixit team found a few surprises. The most notable is that the iMac's RAM isn't soldered directly to the motherboard. That means it is technically replaceable down the line, something that hasn't been the case in a 21.5-inch iMac since 2013.
Razer's 2017 Blade Pro boasts a new CPU and THX certifications
If you've been eyeing one of Razer's "professional gaming laptops" since December, you're going to want to wait just a little bit longer. That's because the company announced today that it's releasing a new iteration of its flagship laptop, the Blade Pro. It now features a seventh-gen quad-core Intel i7 CPU and faster RAM than what was offered on last year's model. Additionally, the new model has earned THX certification for both video and audio.
Samsung's vision of the mobile future is 4K-and-VR ready RAM
While Samsung's customers (and stock price) are still reeling from the Galaxy Note 7 immolation debacle, the tech giant is focusing on the future. As such, the company has introduced a new type of memory that should "greatly improve mobile user experiences, especially for those using Ultra HD, large-screen devices," according to a statement. Specifically, it's 8GB LPDDR4 (low power, double data rate 4) that takes advantage of 16Gb LPDDR4 chips working in concert with 10-nanometer class process technology. Now, note that's not 10nm proper, but somewhere between 10-and-20 nanometers. It seems 1-nm is too far in the future for now.
The iPhone 7 Plus packs 3GB of RAM for extreme multitasking
Besides that extra camera lens, the iPhone 7 Plus is packing additional hardware. Specifically, an extra gigabyte of RAM according to 9to5Mac. That brings the total amount up to 3GB if you're keeping track at home. More than that, this is the iPhone with the most RAM yet which should make multitasking with a bunch of resource intensive apps a much smoother experience. It's just 1GB shy of what's available in the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Now all you have to do is wait until midnight tonight to decide if that extra memory is worth the up-charge.
Apple just fixed one of the MacBook Air's biggest problems
Ever since Apple stopped trying to sell it at $1,799, the 13-inch MacBook Air has been one of its most popular computers. The eventual drop down to $999 made it accessible to a far larger crowd, but in recent years there have been two drawbacks: its low-res, 1,440 x 900 display, and its meager 4GB allocation of RAM. Today, one of those issues has been resolved. The 13-inch MacBook Air now comes with 8GB of RAM as standard.
Samsung first to market with 10-nanometer DRAM
Intel may have delayed its 10-nanometer CPUs, but all systems are go for Samsung's 10-nanometer-class DRAM chips. The company is now mass producing the first DDR4 chips using the tech in 8Gb sizes, ahead of competitors SK Hynix and Micron.It will produce SIMM modules this year varying from 4GB for laptops up to 128GB for enterprise servers. Samsung also promised to reveal 10-nanometer mobile DRAM "in the near future."
Samsung is building chips for next-gen gaming graphics
Samsung likes being the first kid on the block with new memory products, and has done it again with a type of DRAM. The so-called HBM2 modules can power through data at the rate of 256GBps (with a capital "B"), making them a whopping seven times faster than the best DDR5 chips on the market. The company said the 20-nanometer chips are mainly aimed at server manufacturers who are willing to spend for the latest toys. However, they will also allow NVIDIA and AMD to accelerate performance (and reduce power consumption) significantly on upcoming graphics cards.
Samsung is building chips that will give smartphones 6GB of memory
Your next smartphone or tablet could have double the memory and run much faster thanks to new chips from Samsung. The company just revealed that it's mass-producing 12Gb (1.5GB) DDR4 RAM modules for mobile devices from its 20nm fab plant. The chips take up the same space as the company's 6Gb modules, meaning that companies can double a device's memory in the same space -- or make smaller phones that still have 3GB of RAM.
Hurry up and patch your Chrysler against this wireless hack
Last week Chrysler quietly released a software update for its optional Uconnect in-car entertainment system. And while the official purpose was "to improve vehicle electronic security", Wired reports that the patch is really aimed at fixing a terrifying flaw in the system's security. One that could allow hackers to remotely shut down your vehicle at slow speeds or hijack its steering, brakes, and transmission.
Ditching RAM may lead to low-cost supercomputers
Many servers, supercomputers and other monster systems thrive on high-speed RAM to keep things running smoothly, but this memory is wildly expensive -- and that limits not just the number of nodes in these clusters, but who can use them. MIT researchers may have a much more affordable approach in the future, though. They've built a server network (not shown here) that drops RAM in favor of cheaper and slower flash storage, yet performs just about as well. The key was to get the flash drives themselves (or specifically, their controllers) to pre-process some of the data, instead of making the CPUs do all the hard work. That doesn't completely close the speed gap, but the differences are virtually negligible. In one test, 20 servers with 20TB of flash were about as fast as 40 servers with 10TB of RAM.
Apple really doesn't want you to upgrade the Mac Mini
After the new-but-not-very-fresh iPad mini 3, the most disappointing part of Apple's recent show-and-tell was the $499 Mac mini -- the RAM is now soldered in, making it impossible to upgrade. iFixit has just revealed that the model has other user-unfriendly features as well. While access to the RAM used to be dead simple, it's now guarded by a metal cover held in place by Torx TR6 Security screws, which require an exotic tool. Adding a second hard drive is also, er, harder, since unlike past models, there's just a single SATA port (though you may be able to install a PCIe SSD). Finally, as mentioned, both the RAM and Intel Core-i5 CPU are soldered in permanently. That's not very cricket on Apple's part, considering that past Mac minis were a breeze to access and update. Still, thanks to a lack of glue and easy disassembly with the right tools, the iMac eked a passing repairability grade of 6 out of 10.
Future phones could house a terabyte of memory
You may think that the 3GB of memory in your new smartphone is hot stuff, but that pales in comparison with what Rice University has in store. Its scientists have detailed a form of resistive RAM (RRAM) that can be made using regular equipment at room temperatures, making it practical for everyday gadgets. The trick is the use of porous silicon oxide where metals (such as gold or platinum) fill the gaps. Using the silicon material doesn't just give manufacturers something familiar to work with; it requires much less power than previous techniques, can last through 100 times as many uses and isn't fazed by heat. It's also far denser than earlier RRAM, storing nine bits per cell where even conventional flash storage stops at three. The result should be an easy-to-make RAM chip with the kind of capacity that you'd normally expect from much larger permanent storage, like an SSD -- as the company Crossbar hinted when it first discussed this approach, you could stuff 1TB into a component the size of a postage stamp.
New Google Glass headsets ship with more memory, everyone gets help with photos
Two years after it was introduced, Google Glass hasn't gotten any cheaper -- although it is a bit more stylish with Diane von Furstenberg frames and international now that it's launched in the UK -- but it is getting better. Not just through one of the many software updates that have reached the headset since its debut either, as its hardware has undergone a mild revision. Google announced that new units are shipping with 2GB of RAM, double the amount previously available, among other tweaks that have improved battery life and made voice search better.
Memory Diag monitors and cleans up your RAM usage on Mac OS X
Memory Diag is a nice free utility app available on the Mac App Store. Like a lot of memory utilities (including the OS X Activity Monitor), it will analyze your RAM usage, tell you what applications are using the most resources, and offer to clean things up by purging unused processes. The app lives on your menu bar, and there are three themes to choose from. The menu bar icon is dynamic and gives you a quick look at how much utilization your RAM is getting. I'm often near the limit, which slows up my Mac and forces OS X to use the hard disk as virtual memory. Memory Diag tells you what things are draining your computer's memory. It's possible to have so much RAM filled that Memory Diag can't optimize, but it will suggest which apps to close. Safari can grab a lot of RAM, along with Photoshop (which I am using almost all day long). The app has nice clear menus, and the developer maintains an FAQ on his website. The only thing I would change is to have an actual numerical display of RAM usage in the menu bar. The graphic thermometer is small, and doesn't draw your attention. There were some complaints from a few users that the app itself was claiming 100% CPU time on their Macs. I could not verify this, and every time I checked Memory Diag it was running smoothly and not bogging down my Mac. Memory Diag is free for a limited time, so grab it if you need some RAM optimization. Memory Diag requires OS X 10.9 or later and a 64 bit processor. Note: Not everyone agrees these apps solve RAM problems. It is certainly true that whatever cleaning you do will be undone by time as mores apps are opened and closed. As I stated, I had no issues with the apps, and user reviews are generally positive.
ZTE's incoming Grand S II could be first smartphone with 4GB RAM
ZTE's Grand S II already looks like a pretty fine handset with its brushed metal back and Snapdragon 800/801 CPU, as we saw at its launch earlier this year. But judging by a leak at Chinese regulator Tenaa, it could take it up another notch with 4GB of RAM -- a first for any smartphone and double the original spec. That's the maximum possible RAM on a 32-bit ARM chip, and 4GB modules were only recently teased by Samsung and SK Hynix. We wouldn't be surprised if it ends up as a high-end option for the Grand S II, in the same way that ZTE's Nubia X6 is available in a 3GB RAM variant. Take all this with a grain of salt for now, but remember that until we see a 64-bit CPU and Android OS, 4GB will be as good as it gets. [Image credit: Tenaa]
