Latest Tech News

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• Lonestar plans to offer disaster recovery services from the Moon
• It successfully tested a lunar software-defined data center in 2024
• Its next mission, launching soon, will test a physical data center (kind of)

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We all know how important it is to back up our personal data in case of a disaster - I certainly learned that lesson the hard way years ago when a hard drive malfunctioned and fried my desktop PC. As devastating as that was for me personally, for businesses, the loss of data can be catastrophic, as while files and folders can be backed up in many ways, including to the cloud, offsite data centers, tape storage, and NAS, some solutions take the idea to the extreme.

One such example is the Arctic World Archive (AWA), which stores data-filled containers inside a sealed chamber within a decommissioned coal mine in Svalbard, between mainland Norway and the North Pole. If that isn’t safe and remote enough for you, well, there’s always space.

Florida-based Lonestar Data Holdings was founded by Chris Stott in 2021 to provide data services such as Disaster Recovery and Resilience-as-a-Service from Earth’s ultimate backup location - the Moon.

A RISC-V venture

Lonestar successfully tested the world’s first software-defined data center on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2021 and 2022, then conducted a full data storage test from the Moon's surface last year.

Working with its lunar access provider, Intuitive Machines, Lonestar completed its first mission to the Moon (called "Independence") with a proof-of-concept demonstration after the IM-1 Odysseus Nova-C lander touched down on the lunar south pole last February. It wasn’t a complete success, as the vehicle ended up on its side.

Lonestar’s next mission, again with Intuitive Machines (this one called "Freedom"), will be a test of its first physical “data center” (a RISC-V processor with a Phison SSD running Ubuntu) sent off-planet. That mission is set to launch on February 26.

Writing about Lonestar, Blocks and Files says, “The Freedom IT unit has a 3D-printed casing designed by BiG, an architecture and design group led by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels. The exterior is said to ‘reflect the silhouettes of NASA astronauts Charlie Duke (Apollo Moonwalker) and Nicole Stott (Space Station Space Walker).’

It is somewhat unexpected that a small computer system in a lunar landing vehicle would have resources devoted to a casing that, once enclosed in the Athena vehicle and loaded into the SpaceX launch rocket, will never be seen again. Presumably, Lonestar wants to capture people’s imagination with the idea.” As far as marketing stunts go, it’s a good one.

Assuming everything goes to plan, Lonestar hopes to begin continuous commercial services in 2026.

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Latest Tech News

Amazon's next big Alexa event is imminent, and it's set to be a major one for all things Echo and smart home. The device-focused event, which will take place on February 26 at 10AM ET in New York City, marks the company's first Alexa announcement since September 2023. That was when the Echo Pop Kids smart speaker and its second-gen Echo Show 8 were unveiled. This time, Amazon is likely focused on the Alexa voice and could announce a big change for its smart assistant.

While Amazon hasn't officially revealed what's in store for its Alexa event, it hasn't been afraid to drop little hints here and there in the build-up to the next device launch. So far, we can venture a safe guess that the Alexa voice assistant will be the prime focus of the event, which is said to receive a significant AI upgrade, followed by the announcement of a new Echo smart speaker and possible Fire TV updates.

Therefore, we have a solid idea of what we expect next from the tech giant, but as we've said, nothing has been set in stone. We won't know for sure until Amazon makes it official during its event, so you can bet our eyes will be peeled for all the latest announcements during our live blog, which we'll update regularly throughout the event. Still, before that, these are the announcements we're expecting to see at tomorrow.

A next-gen Alexa

(Image credit: Getty Images)

At Amazon's last device event in September 2023, the company teased us with a brief look at Alexa AI, an AI-powered version of the voice assistant with ChatGPT-style functions. This could include an advanced ability to interpret context and distinguish natural speech, conducting multiple requests in a single voice command, and a possible monthly subscription fee.

There's no doubt that Alexa AI will be the star of the show at Amazon's event. However, as recent leaks have pointed out, the AI revamp may be slightly delayed before access is granted.

We've recently reported that an anonymous source informed The Washington Post ($/£) that the AI-revamped Alexa voice had been experiencing inaccuracies when asked questions. As a result, its release date could now be pushed back to March 31, but it will still be announced at Amazon's Alexa event tomorrow.

New Echo smart speakers

(Image credit: Future)

There's a chance we could see a brand new Echo speaker join Amazon's seemingly never-ending lineup of smart home devices that make up some of the best smart speakers. The last time the company unveiled a new Alexa speaker was the Amazon Echo 4th Gen in 2020.

Despite skipping its Alexa event last year, Amazon didn't starve us of some fresh Echo devices in its other smart home device ranges. Most notably, the Echo Show 21, which reigns as its largest Echo device, and its Echo Spot smart alarm speaker both made their debuts.

Given the near five-year time gap since Amazon's last Echo speaker hardware update, an announcement isn't completely unrealistic. A new smart speaker would also be handy for pairing with the AI-integrated Alexa voice.

Alexa subscription tiers

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

As we know, Alexa AI is likely to appear during Amazon's big Alexa event. However, we believe that the revamped voice assistant will offer limited free use before introducing a monthly subscription fee. Thankfully, though, this will likely not impact the classic Alexa we all know and love.

We've been aware that Amazon has been toying with the idea of implementing a fee for its new Alexa voice which could cost you between $5 to $10 a month. Considering that Amazon has fallen behind its AI competitors ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Apple Intelligence and has yet to ride the AI train, from a business perspective, charging a monthly fee makes sense. However, from a consumer perspective, we're still not entirely convinced that this will be worth splurging on, given its numerous delays and reported inaccurate responses.

Updates for Fire TV, and maybe a new device

(Image credit: Amazon)

While its Alexa voice assistant will be the main focus, it's likely that Amazon speak about its Fire TV device range. Amazon's 2023 device event revealed features for its Fire TV devices, including an improved Alexa voice search function and AI screensavers. Following Amazon's Android TV update, we believe the company could introduce new Fire TV devices alongside updates to the abovementioned features during its event.

Mentions of new Fire TV hardware were spotted on one of Amazon's developer pages, stating the following; “Android 14-based Fire TV is based on API level 34. The following sections explain some of [the] important changes that you should consider when you build apps for Android 14-based Fire TV". This gives a strong indication that new Fire TV devices will be one of the star announcements at tomorrow's event.

This leak has come at an awfully convenient time with the Alexa event due to happen tomorrow, adding to our suspicions that Amazon could expand its Fire TV line. With the lack of mentions of specific hardware models, we're unable to pinpoint what exactly this will entail, but we'd expect it to be the announcement of a new smart TV or streaming stick.

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Latest Tech News

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• Microsoft unveils a quantum chip with a Topological Core for stable and scalable qubits
• Majorana 1 features eight topological qubits, aiming for a million-qubit scale
• Breakthrough is comparable to how semiconductors revolutionized modern computing

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Microsoft has unveiled Majorana 1, a quantum chip built on a Topological Core architecture, marking a huge step forward in its quantum computing efforts.

The company says this new chip, which positions the tech giant alongside rivals Google and IBM in the race for large-scale quantum computing, will lead to devices capable of solving industrial-scale problems in years rather than decades.

The chip is based on a topoconductor, a newly-engineered material that can observe and control Majorana particles - a discovery Microsoft represents no less than a new state of matter, which it has used to create a more stable and scalable qubit in a breakthroughit compares to how semiconductors transformed modern computing.

A clear path for scaling

“We took a step back and said ‘OK, let’s invent the transistor for the quantum age. What properties does it need to have?’” said Chetan Nayak, Microsoft technical fellow. “And that’s really how we got here – it’s the particular combination, the quality and the important details in our new materials stack that have enabled a new kind of qubit and ultimately our entire architecture.”

Microsoft adds Majorana 1 offers a clear path to scaling quantum systems. For now, it has eight topological qubits on a single chip, marking the first step toward its goal of reaching one million qubits. Achieving this scale will be essential if quantum computing is to drive advancements in industries such as healthcare, environmental science, and manufacturing.

“Whatever you’re doing in the quantum space needs to have a path to a million qubits. If it doesn’t, you’re going to hit a wall before you get to the scale at which you can solve the really important problems that motivate us,” Nayak said. “We have actually worked out a path to a million.”

The chip is built using a materials stack made from indium arsenide and aluminum, designed and fabricated atom by atom. The Topological Core architecture resists errors at the hardware level, making it more stable than current approaches.

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Latest Tech News

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• Dell is close to securing a $5 billion AI server deal with Elon Musk’s xAI
• The servers, featuring Nvidia GB200 chips, may support xAI’s supercomputer
• Analysts predict Dell’s AI server revenue could hit $14 billion by 2026

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We recently reported HPE had beaten Supermicro and Dell Technologies to win a $1 billion contract to supply servers optimized for AI work to Elon Musk’s X, potentially to power Grok, the social network’s AI chatbot.

At the end of 2024, X announced it was rolling out Grok-2 to all users for free, and losing out to HPE would have been a big blow to Dell, which, along with Supermicro, did bid to supply the equipment but was ultimately unsuccessful.

However, if a new report from Bloomberg is accurate, the iconic computer maker could be on the verge of winning an even bigger contract from one of Musk’s other ventures, xAI.

Memphis bound?

The report says that Dell is close to finalizing a deal worth over $5 billion to supply AI-focused servers equipped with Nvidia GB200 chips. Some aspects are still being worked out, sources familiar with the discussions told the news site, but if all goes ahead – and it surely will - the servers are set to be delivered later in 2025.

Elon Musk previously said, “The table stakes for being competitive in AI are at least several billion dollars per year at this point,” and he's obviously paying to play.

Quite what the servers are for isn’t reported, but it’s very likely that most, if not all of them, will be for xAI’s supercomputer project, known as "Colossus," which is being built in Memphis using a mix of Dell and Supermicro servers. By all accounts, Dell has been very keen to supply the rest of the servers to finish the job.

This deal with xAI will “firmly establish the company as a leading AI-server provider and boost sales, though the impact on profitability is less clear,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Woo Jin Ho noted.

“Analysts expect Dell will have shipped more than $10 billion of AI servers in the fiscal year ending last month and project that value will jump to $14 billion in the fiscal year ending in January 2026,” Bloomberg added, noting Dell is set to to report its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings on February 27.

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Latest Tech News

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• Western Digital plans to produce 100TB+ HDDs within a decade
• It will do this using HAMR and HDMR heat assisted technologies
• The company is also investigating long-term storage, like ceramics and DNA

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Western Digital and Sandisk have begun the process of splitting into separate companies, with the former focused on HDD and platform development, and the latter now all-in on flash products. Both companies recently held investor days, and while Sandisk teased a 1PB SSD and a flash replacement for HBM at its event, WD’s focus was on how it intends to supercharge hard drive capacity within a decade.

The company’s roadmap to the future of HDD technology shows a clear progression from energy-assisted Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (ePMR) to Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) and ultimately to Heat Dot Magnetic Recording (HDMR), targeting over 100TB capacities.

By 2026, Western Digital says its HDD capacity will reach 36TB-44TB thanks to HAMR technology which uses laser heating to temporarily reduce disk coercivity. This allows for smaller magnetic grains, improving data stability and density while reducing interference, so HDDs can store more data per platter with long-term reliability.

(Image credit: Western Digital)

Enter HDMR technology

Western Digital isn’t the only drive manufacturer banking on HAMR to supercharge the capacities of hard drives.

Its big rival Seagate recently debuted a 36TB drive while revealing a 60TB model is coming, and in especially bad news for WD, it also launched a bid to acquire HAMR specialist Intevac whose sputtering machines are used on over 65% of the world’s hard disks. Although Seagate is Intevac’s main customer, WD also uses the company’s tech.

By the 2030s, Western Digital expects HAMR to be superseded by HDMR (also known as bit-pattern recording), which will lead the push for 100TB+ HDD capacities. The tech, which is reported to be quite costly, uses nano-patterned magnetic media with discrete magnetic "dots" to boost data placement, reduce noise, and improve areal density.

Western Digital isn’t only focusing on traditional hard drives, it’s also exploring new growth opportunities. In AI compute, the company is investigating advanced computational models such as Boltzmann and Ising, as well as neuromorphic computing, which could enable more efficient, brain-like processing architectures for AI workloads.

The company is also looking into long-term DNA and ceramic storage, two emerging technologies that have the potential to offer extremely durable and high-density data preservation for archival needs. In the medtech sector, the company is considering developing magnetic biosensors and nanopore technology, which could have significant applications in biomedical diagnostics and personalized medicine.

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Latest Tech News

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• Intel is currently without a CEO and its future looks unclear
• TSMC and Broadcom are interested in separate areas of the chip maker’s business
• Any deal faces big hurdles - government rules, factory retooling, and political pushback

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Although it debuted some super-fast AI chips in 2024 in a bid to match its rival AMD, Intel isn’t the powerhouse it used to be.

While Nvidia is the second-largest company in the world (behind Apple) by market cap, worth $3.4 trillion, and AMD is in 80th place, worth $183.27 billion, Intel, currently without a CEO following Pat Gelsinger’s departure in December 2024, is languishing in 173rd place at $102.18 billion - placing it between Rio Tinto and Airbnb.

This has led to all sorts of rumors surrounding Intel's future, including speculation it could merge with AMD's former foundry, GlobalFoundries, in a potential multi-billion-dollar deal. But now, perhaps the saddest news of all comes from a new Wall Street Journal report, which says Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and Broadcom are separately considering deals that could split the iconic chipmaker in half.

Big hurdles to overcome

The report claims Broadcom has been "closely examining Intel’s chip-design and marketing business", and, according to people familiar with the matter, has, "informally discussed with its advisers making a bid but would likely only do so if it finds a partner for Intel’s manufacturing business, the people said.”

At the same time, TSMC is considering taking control of Intel’s chip plants (either some or all) - a move that was apparently suggested by the Trump administration. However, the WSJ was told by a White House official that the president is “unlikely to support a deal that involved a foreign entity operating Intel’s factories,” so make of that what you will.

The WSJ stresses Broadcom and TSMC haven’t teamed up to carve Intel in two - these are unrelated possibilities - and all of the talks so far are “preliminary and largely informal.”

There are a couple of hurdles standing in the way of such a deal. The 2022 Chips Act created a $53 billion grant program to boost domestic chip production, with Intel receiving the largest share - up to $7.9 billion. As a condition of the funding, the chipmaker must retain a majority stake in its factories if they are ever spun off into a separate entity. The U.S. government would also have to approve any deal involving TSMC or other investors taking control of Intel’s facilities.

The WSJ also notes that any deal faces operational issues, noting Intel’s factories have largely been set up to produce Intel chips, and the company has only started trying to make chips for external customers in the past few years. "Retooling Intel factories to make advanced chips TSMC’s way would be a significant and costly engineering challenge," it adds.

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Latest Tech News

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• The Bapaco is a portable Windows PC disguised as a mechanical keyboard
• Its 12.3-inch ultrawide touchscreen tilts 90 degrees, and can function as a second display
• Crowdfunding on Kickstarter, it’s powered by a 12th-gen Intel i5 with up to 32GB RAM

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The Bapaco (try saying it three times fast - it’s oddly satisfying) is a portable computer that’s unlike anything else on the market. At first glance, it looks like a compact mechanical keyboard, but it actually packs an entire Windows PC into its slim frame.

The device stands out from traditional laptops or compact PCs because instead of being a clamshell, it’s a flat, board-like device with a 12.3-inch ultrawide touchscreen that tilts up to 90 degrees. Its unusual 16:6 (1920x720) aspect ratio reminds me of Toshiba’s widely mocked Satellite U845W ultrabook from 2012, which featured a 21:9 display meant for widescreen movie viewing. It’s also similar in design to the Maxfree K3, a compact 82-key mechanical keyboard which has an integrated 13-inch touch screen.

Currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter, the Bapaco is designed to function as both a standalone Windows 11 computer and also as an external keyboard and display for Windows, Mac, and Android devices.

(Image credit: Bapaco)

Gorgeous mechanical keyboard

Under the hood, Bapaco runs on a 12th-generation Intel Core i5 processor with 10 cores and 12 threads, paired with up to 32GB DDR4 RAM. Storage options include an M.2 NVMe PCIe X4 SSD and an M.2 SATA 3.0 SSD. The attractive 68-key RGB backlit mechanical keyboard is fully customizable, featuring hot-swappable switches and multiple lighting modes. There’s no touchpad though.

The device also includes dual 3W speakers, Bluetooth 5.2, and a range of ports, including USB 3.0, USB 2.0, Type-C DP 1.4, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Its 5000mAh battery provides up to six hours of video playback, long enough for a The Brutalist and Paddington in Peru double-bill.

If you want a Bapaco, there’s still over two weeks to go on its Kickstarter campaign. At the time of writing, it has received $27,248 of pledges, well above its tiny $642 funding goal. For a super early bird pledge of $624 (27% off the $856 MSRP) you can get a model with no RAM and no SSD. Should you wish to have a full working Bapaco you can pledge an additional $79 for 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, or $249 for 32GB RAM and 2TB SSD.

The creators behind the device say they intend to begin production in March 2025, with the aim to start shipping in May. As always, it’s worth pointing out that crowdfunding comes with risks. While projects like Bapaco can be exciting, backing a campaign is not the same as buying a finished product. Delays, design changes, or even cancellations can happen, so be warned.

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