Best TV Sales: Score a Sony, Samsung, LG TV for Way Less - CNET

If you're looking for a new TV or upgrade, now's a great time to take a peek at these deals. There's something here every budget.

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Best Credit Cards With Virtual Card Numbers for June 2024 - CNET

Virtual card numbers are an extra level of security you can use when shopping online or in person through a phone's digital wallet.

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Businesses are finding it increasingly difficult to back up and manage the growing volumes of data they produce. The introduction of generative AI has further complicated matters, significantly challenging traditional storage methods.

128TB SSDs have been teased for some time, with a number of companies talking up their future plans. Huawei, for example, announced it was working on a 128TB SSD, but that product will only be available as part of its Exabyte-capable OceanStor A800 range and isn’t expected to be made available until 2025.

At CES 2024, Phison showcased a variety of SSDs and portable SSD controllers, including its X2 enterprise SSD platform. Although capacities for this “world’s best-in-class Enterprise SSD” topped out at 61.44TB, the version displayed at CES suggested a future capacity of up to 128TB.

128TB coming "soon"

Phison revealed a little more of its plans at the end of May 2024 when it took the wraps off its Pascari X200 PCIe Gen5 Enterprise SSD range. 

Featuring the CoXProcessor CPU architecture, these drives are specifically designed for high-performance computing (HPC) AI, hyperscale, and data centers, and although the first models were only available in up to 32TB sizes, we now know significantly larger models are on the way, and will arrive sooner than expected.

In a casual conversation with a Pascari representative, we were told that the brand plans to launch 64TB and 128TB X200 models “in the coming months”. Although they couldn't tell us much more than that for obvious reasons, we expect an official announcement on Pascari’s 128TB X200 at (if not before) this year’s Flash Memory Storage (FMS) event being held at the Santa Clara Convention Center, August 6-8.

Pascari’s representative told us to “expect to see some PCIe Gen6 stuff at FMS” and hinted that current speeds will change too.

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Best MicroSD Card Deals: Get Amazing MicroSD Cards for Less - CNET

Nab yourself a new MicroSD card and save some big money on the way.

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Western Digital (WD) is one of the top makers of SSDs right now, and its range is now expanding with the introduction of the WD Blue SN5000, available in 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB options – at a very reasonable price. 

Anyone who has undertaken the task of building a PC will be familiar with WD and the sheer range of SSDs it offers is a little dizzying. 

The new WD Blue SN5000 range offers twice as much storage on offer here over the previous-generation SSDs, and the starting price of $79.99 on the Western Digital website for the 500GB model, currently reduced by $10, is very tempting. 

WD Blue SN5000

In comparison to the previous SN850X NVMe and SN700 NVMe SSDs (which comes in a striking red), the SN5000 is cheaper but lacks some of the more high-end features of those two, like an optional heatsink.  

As you might expect, WD is hyping up the AI applications of the SN5000 SSDs, thanks to NVMe, PCIe Gen 4, and Western Digital's nCache 4.0 tech making things really sing.

The company says users can expect read speeds of up to 5,500MB/s2 on the 4TB model, and up to 1,200T BW endurance for creating ideas and everything else.

One thing to note: to make the most of the SSD's NVME PCIe Gen 4, you're going to need a M.2 2280 slot on your computer, so be wary of that when making your decision on the SN5000.

To be sure, these the SN5000s are not exciting, but then do you want your SSD to do the job and perform, or offer bells and whistles? We mentioned that the entry-level 500GB model is $80, and the top-end 4TB model is priced at a reasonable $279.99 with a $10 discount right now.

(Image credit: Future)

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Best Wireless Bluetooth Boom Boxes for 2024 - CNET

Looking for a wireless Bluetooth speaker that packs some serious punch? Check out CNET's favorite boomboxes to pump up your summer parties.

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Market intelligence firm Liftr Insights spotted a new Amazon Web Services cloud provider instance with a mammoth 896-core count, putting it far above rival offerings from Azure and Tencent.

What’s important to note, and as spotted by a Tom’s Hardware reader, these cores are likely derived from 8-CPU, 56-core Intel Sapphire Rapids configurations, effectively utilizing hyperthreading to achieve 2 vCPUs per physical core.

The use of vCPUs allows cloud providers like AWS to offer scalable, flexible, and powerful computing resources to handle applications that require significant computational power, such as intensive database operations or data analytics, but the new instance still only offers 448 physical cores, which is the same as AWS has offered since May 2021.

Showing demand

The cost for renting this server is more affordable than might be expected, with Liftr suggesting prices will range from around $150 to over $400 per hour, averaging at $263.10. These instances are especially suited for demanding database applications such as SAP Hana and Oracle, justifying their higher pricing tiers due to the performance enhancements they offer.

Tab Schadt, CEO of Liftr , notes, "It's not advantageous for AWS to deploy solutions that won't sell, especially at these price points. They spend significant time and money on their market intelligence. Other companies can benefit from their research about what they are offering and where they offer them at a fraction of that cost."

Initially launched in the East and West coasts of the USA, as well as internationally in Seoul and Sydney, the fast global rollout of this new instance indicates a strong global demand.

Intel's Sapphire Rapids Xeon certainly dominates for now. AMD's top offering achieves a maximum of 512 vCPUs with its 128-core CPUs, limited to dual-socket configurations. However, the upcoming AMD Zen 5C EPYC processors are expected to support up to 768 threads, potentially narrowing the gap with Intel.

Schadt anticipates future growth in this high-performance sector, stating, "Perhaps we'll see larger instances in the near future, showing even more demand for high performance workloads. At the least, we'll keep an eye out to see if and when Azure or other cloud providers respond in kind."

(Image credit: Liftr Insights )

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Sharp has announced a new pair of 4K projectors, the XP-P601Q and XP-P721Q, that offer extremely high level projection in 4K UHD, ideal for both usage at home for pleasure but also in work environments such as in museums or classrooms. 

The higher-end XP-P721Q model can hit a staggering 7,200 lumens, and the XP-P601Q reaches a respectable 6,000 lumens - but one of the best features is what isn't there: Sharp says the lack of lamp or filter can provide years of worry-free usage. 

Sharp built both the P721Q and P601Q with a 1.6 times motorized zoom lens, coupled with motorized vertical and horizontal lens shift, which can help you set up the projector in more spaces. This means that, even with obstacles in the way, the projector will offer a square image that is aligned with the wall or surface.

Projectors that last 

The company is also utilising HDBaseT inputs, instead of HDMI, so that users can run cable that covers all three of sound, video, and control, further reducing the amount of hassle needed to instal the P721Q or P601Q. There are also Tilt-free and Roll-free capabilities to support mounting on the wall, floor, or in portrait.

“Bringing a high quality 4K UHD resolution projector to market as our first Sharp projector since our [NEC] joint venture further demonstrates our leadership role in the higher resolution projector market,” says Sharp executive Ryan Pitterle.

“The new Sharp P Series projectors, with their maintenance free design are going to be the new industry standard for 4K UHD projectors thanks to the more than 35 years of projector heritage and expertise gained from our joint venture with NEC.”

According to B&H, the XP-P601Q costs $5,199, and the XP-P721Q costs $6,499. Both come with a five-year warranty. 

Don't count out Optoma

(Image credit: Sharp)

Sharp isn't operating in a vacuum for the best business projectors, and there is serious competition from Optoma, which has its own 4K monitor, the ZK708T. (Yes, all high-end projector names are like this.) 

According to Optoma, the ZK708T can work for up to 30,000 hours, and is even certified for 24/7 usage, making it attractive to venues and other spaces that want to project continuously for a long time. Sharp says the P Series projectors are good for at least 20,000 hours. 

Optoma also includes HDBaseT 3.0, a dust resistant body, built-in 15W speakers, 360° projection, Telnet, 3D content support, and tops out at 7,000 lumens, so slightly below the top-end P721Q, but only just. The ZK708T costs $4,999. 

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Motorola Teases Razr Flip-Phone Reveal for June 25 - CNET

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The Samsung Galaxy Ring is popping up everywhere as it gears up for launch. We’re learning more about Samsung’s latest wellness device every day, and now, thanks to a notable leaker, we know what its charging case (allegedly) looks like. 

The Samsung Galaxy Ring will likely officially debut at Samsung's next Galaxy Unpacked, which historically occurs between June and August, but it’s already been teased, and we even tried on a very early version back in February.

Since then, details have been dropping left and right, and this latest leak gives us our best look yet at the ring’s charging case. 

Notable leaker Ice Universe posted this render on Chinese social media site Weibo, revealing an engagement-ring-style box with a hinge mechanic. You can check it out in full in this link here.

(Image credit: Samsung)

It looks similar to the case used by Samsung for the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, except instead of depressed wells for the earbuds to magnetically sit in, we’ve got an internal nodule for the Ring to sit on, much like the charging unit for the Oura Ring Generation 3.

Round that out with a light to indicate charging status, and that’s about everything notable on the image so far. We’re assuming the charging case has a USB-C port on the back, and it’ll come in multiple colors and finishes, just like the early rings we tried.

 Analysis: Opting for an enclosed case is a smart move 

While it’s unlikely (but not impossible) that Samsung superfans are going to be proposing with smart rings anytime soon, an earbuds-style case rather than Oura’s exposed nodule is a smart choice. If you’re charging the ring while in transit, keeping it safe in an enclosed case is much easier. 

However, does Samsung really expect people to take off and charge the Ring often enough for this to be warranted? Although we hope it’ll rival Oura and come with an up-to-seven-day battery life, we don’t yet know what the Galaxy Ring will be capable of. 

It’ll need to last at least five days of constant wear to compete with the best smart rings, but we’ll know more for sure when Samsung decides to formally debut the Galaxy Ring. 

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It's Your Last Day to Score Major Deals During Best Buy's Sale - CNET

Best Buy's 3-day sale ends today. You have plenty of time to save on Apple, Google, Samsung and more products.

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In 2016, Microsoft granted Qualcomm the exclusive rights to develop and produce Arm chips for Windows. With that deal set to expire, and with a big push on for Arm-based laptops capable of running AI apps, other firms are developing their own chips.

According to an exclusive report from Reuters, which spoke to three sources familiar with the plans, Taiwanese chip design giant MediaTek will begin making its own Arm-based CPUs for release in 2025.

MediaTek has a long history of designing and developing a wide range of system-on-chip solutions for various electronic devices and is an obvious fit. Rather than creating its own CPU architecture based on the Arm instruction set, the chip will reportedly use Arm's ready-made designs.

Taking on Apple

This approach can significantly speed up development, Reuters explained.

“Executives at Arm have said one of its customers used the ready-made components to build a chip in roughly nine months for a design that is already complete, which MediaTek's is not. For experienced chip design businesses, advanced chips typically take considerably more than a year to construct and test, depending on the complexity.”

Microsoft's latest push to use Arm designs is no surprise as Apple has been making its own Arm-based chips for Mac computers with great success. The move towards Arm could, however, threaten Intel’s dominance in the PC market. 

Reuters previously reported that both Nvidia and AMD are working on making Arm chips for Windows, and although this new MediaTek chip is separate from those endeavors, the Taiwanese firm is reportedly collaborating with Nvidia on its product, although details remain under wraps for now.

While it could be that MediaTek’s new chips will be used in the next generation of AI PCs, Reuters says it is “not immediately clear whether Microsoft has approved MediaTek's PC chip for the Copilot+ Windows program.”

MediaTek and Microsoft declined to comment on the report.

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Best Pillows for 2024 - CNET

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By now you’ll be very familiar with most, if not all, of the artificial intelligence, sorry “Apple Intelligence,” features it announced at its WWDC 2024 - but during the reveal, the company went to great lengths to talk about the steps it was taking to safeguard user privacy.

To back up Apple Intelligence, Apple introduced Private Cloud Compute (PCC). This cloud intelligence system extends Apple's security and privacy standards to cloud-based AI processing. PCC makes sure that personal user data sent to PCC remains inaccessible to anyone other than the user, including Apple.

In a blog post discussing Private Cloud Compute and how it works to keep user data safe, Apple said, “Built with custom Apple silicon and a hardened operating system designed for privacy, we believe PCC is the most advanced security architecture ever deployed for cloud AI compute at scale.”

Tailored to support LLM inference workloads

Yes, Apple says it has written a hardened operating system. The company isn’t talking about the latest versions of macOS or iOS announced at WWDC, but rather something entirely different. 

There were no details given about this OS, not even its name, but Apple did mention it further on in the blog post.

After stating, “The root of trust for Private Cloud Compute is our compute node: custom-built server hardware that brings the power and security of Apple silicon to the data center, with the same hardware security technologies used in iPhone, including the Secure Enclave and Secure Boot,” the company added, “We paired this hardware with a new operating system: a hardened subset of the foundations of iOS and macOS tailored to support Large Language Model (LLM) inference workloads while presenting an extremely narrow attack surface.”

While we don’t know too much about the new OS that Apple designed for PCC, we soon will. The company says, “When we launch Private Cloud Compute, we’ll take the extraordinary step of making software images of every production build of PCC publicly available for security research.” That includes every application and relevant executable, and the OS itself. Apple adds, “Software will be published within 90 days of inclusion in the log, or after relevant software updates are available, whichever is sooner.”

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