Computers & the Internet News and Discussions

[weatheriscool]

PC Sales Stagnated at the End of 2024 Despite AI Hype
Moving beyond chatbots is hard.
By Ryan Whitwam January 17, 2025

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/p ... te-ai-hype

After years of stagnation, the PC market enjoyed a boom when the pandemic hit. Computer makers hoped to keep the good times rolling with AI PCs, but this new product category has been a hard sell. The latest numbers from market research firms Gartner and IDC show barely any growth at all during the 2024 holiday season. Despite every OEM cramming AI branding and features into new machines, consumers aren't biting.

Last week, IDC announced its tabulation of computer sales for the fourth quarter of 2024. Despite predictions of an increase, the firm found a total rise of just 1%. Most of the increase is attributable to Apple and Asus, both of which saw double-digit increases versus Q4 2023. Most other PC manufacturers saw small decreases.

Gartner released its data more recently, but it tells a similar story. Its analysis shows a 1.3% boost versus last year, which is still far below the lofty pronouncements that accompanied the release of the first AI PCs. Again, Gartner's numbers show small losses for the bulk of the CP market, but gains for firms like Asus, Apple, and Lenovo. Both Gartner and IDC agree that Lenovo came out on top with about 16.9 million PC shipments in Q4.

[weatheriscool]

Stacking GPUs Like Memory If Heat Problems Are Removed
January 16, 2025 by Brian Wang

Vaire Computing has raised a total of $4.5 million in funding. They aim to produce useful reversible computing chips in 2027.


They ihad a seed round of $4 million, which was announced on July 1, 2024, bringing the total funding to $4.5 million when combined with previous pre-seed funding of $500,000.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2025/01/s ... moved.html

[Tadasuke]

In my opinion, ~500 watts for ~100 fp32 GPU teraflops (4800 fp4 teraflops) is definitely too much. I really hope that company like Vaire Computing is really going to deliver, because serious paradigm change in the 2030s is unequivocally necessary for progress's sake.

Lots of useful, interesting and important use-cases would be enabled if 4000x more energy efficient computers were produced and made widely available. Otherwise our technological capabilities will be substantially limited and computers might stop improving by 2033 if things continue like this.

[weatheriscool]

Analog computing platform based on one-memristor array efficiently processes real-time videos
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-01-ana ... array.html
by Ingrid Fadelli , Tech Xplore

As artificial intelligence models become increasingly advanced, electronics engineers have been trying to develop new hardware that is better suited for running these models, while also limiting power-consumption and boosting the speed at which they process data. Some of the most promising solutions designed to meet the needs of machine learning algorithms are platforms based on memristors.

Memristors, or memory resistors, are electrical components that can retain their resistance even in the absence of electrical power, adjusting their resistance based on the electrical charge passing through them. This means that they can simultaneously support both the storage and processing of information, which could be advantageous for running machine learning algorithms.

[wjfox]

Meta plans globe-spanning sub-sea internet cable

2 hours ago

Meta has announced plans to build a 50,000km (31,000 mile) sub-sea cable across the world.

The tech giant said Project Waterworth - connecting the US, India, South Africa, Brazil and other regions - will be the world's longest underwater cable project when completed.

Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has sought to extend its presence in technology beyond social media, including in artificial intelligence (AI) and the infrastructure that supports it.

It said its new cable project would provide "industry-leading connectivity" to five major continents and help support its AI projects.

"This project will enable greater economic co-operation, facilitate digital inclusion, and open opportunities for technological development in these regions," Meta said in a blog post

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgrgz8271go



Credit: Meta

[wjfox]

Skype to shut down in May, Microsoft announces

Fri, 28 February 2025 at 4:17 pm GMT

Microsoft has said it is “retiring” online messaging and calling service Skype in May.

The US tech giant said the move would allow it to focus on its modern online communications platform, Teams, which offers online meeting tools as well as calling and chat features.

Skype first launched in 2003, before being acquired by eBay in 2005 and then by Microsoft in 2011 for 8.5 billion dollars, which used it to replace its Windows Live Messenger service.

The most recent user numbers, from February 2023, showed Skype was used by 36 million people each day, and at its peak it was one of the most popular tools on the internet, becoming the go-to platform in the early days of online video calls in the 2000s and 2010s.

In recent years, however, it has been superseded by Teams – Microsoft’s latest online collaboration service – which gained huge popularity during the pandemic and the embrace of remote working.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/skype-shut-do ... 07906.html

[weatheriscool]

Google Launches AI-Only Search Mode
Users can access AI Mode by clicking a tab on the search results page next to other choices like Images and Maps.
By Devesh Beri March 6, 2025

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/g ... earch-mode

Google has released a new version of its search engine that replaces the usual 10 blue links with an AI-generated summary. This new option, called "AI Mode," is available to people who subscribe to Google One AI Premium, which costs $19.99 per month.

Users can access AI Mode by clicking a tab on the search results page next to other choices like Images and Maps. Robby Stein, a vice president of products at Google, said this change responds to requests from frequent users who want AI answers for more of their searches, as reported by Reuters.

The AI Mode gives a more detailed summary created by a special version of Google's Gemini 2.0 AI model. This summary includes links to the original web pages it references, similar to what Perplexity does. Instead of the traditional list of links, users see a search bar where they can ask follow-up questions.

[weatheriscool]

Google Maps Gets Gemini: Instant Answers About Any Place
Gemini can give details such as opening hours, services offered, products sold, reviews, menu items, and other relevant information.
By Devesh Beri March 27, 2025
https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/goog ... -any-place

Google Maps is adding a new functionality called "Ask about the place," which lets you access detailed information about businesses on Google Maps through Gemini.

To use this tool, users can open Google Maps and activate Gemini by saying "Hey Google" or pressing the power button long. A card labeled "Ask about place" will appear above the regular input box. Tapping on this card opens a window where users can ask specific questions about the selected location.

Gemini can give details such as opening hours, services offered, products sold, reviews, menu items, and other relevant information. The data comes from the Google Maps listing page but may also include insights from user reviews, such as pricing details.

[wjfox]

Next generation computer chips could process data at the speed of light – new research

Published: April 9, 2025 5.19pm BST

Electronic microchips are at the heart of the modern world. They’re found in our laptops, our smartphones, our cars and our household appliances. For years, manufacturers have been making them more powerful and efficient, which increases the performance of our electronic devices.

But that trend is now faltering because of the increased cost and complexity of manufacturing chips, as well as performance limits set by the laws of physics. This is happening just as there’s a need for increased computing power because of the boom in artificial intelligence (AI).

An alternative to the electronic microchips we currently use are photonic chips. These use light instead of electricity to achieve higher performance. However, photonic chips have not yet taken off due to a number of hurdles. Now, two papers published in Nature address some of these roadblocks, offering essential stepping stones to achieving the computing power required by complex artificial intelligence systems.

By using light (photons) instead of electricity (electrons) for the transport and processing of information, photonic computing promises higher speeds and greater bandwidths with greater efficiency. This is because it does not suffer from the loss of electrical current due to a phenomenon known as resistance, as well as unwanted heat loss from electrical components.

Photonic computing is also particularly suited for performing what are known as matrix multiplications – mathematical operations that are fundamental to AI.

https://theconversation.com/next-genera ... rch-254104

[weatheriscool]

Laser cooling breakthrough could make data centers much greener
https://newatlas.com/physics/laser-cool ... -photonic/

Lasers are great for heating things up, whether you need to do it quickly, hit a precise target, or do it from a distance. Under specific conditions, lasers can also cool things down, and that might be JUST what we need to tackle way-too-toasty data centers.

Sandia Labs, a federally funded US energy and defense tech research outfit, is teaming up with Minneapolis-based startup Maxwell Labs to develop a way to zap hotspots on the chips powering data centers and keep them cool.

We've previously seen laser cooling methods being used to chill antimatter, aid in biological research, and to study quantum phenomena. Together with researchers at the University of New Mexico, this team is working on a completely new technology called laser-based photonic cooling.

The goal is to reduce the massive demand for energy needed to cool data centers. About 30%-40% of the energy these facilities draw goes towards cooling servers and high-performance computers. That makes them expensive to operate, while also stretching local resources thin.

[weatheriscool]

Asus Motherboard Confirms Threadripper 9000 Is Coming Soon
Up to 96 Zen 5 cores should blow away all competition.
By Jon Martindale April 29, 2025

Asus has given us our firmest confirmation yet that a new generation of AMD Ryzen Threadripper CPUs is coming. The long-rumored Zen 5 design should feature up to 96 cores with support for up to 192 simultaneous threads. That should make these chips the most powerful prosumer, high-end desktop (HEDT) processors available, bridging the gap between its mainstream Ryzen CPUs and server-grade Epyc chips.

Although AMD and Intel continue to compete across a range of metrics in the consumer-CPU space, AMD has been far more dominant in the HEDT market. Its Threadripper CPUs have held a commanding lead for several generations. Though Intel is catching up on core counts, AMD's next-generation Threadripper CPUs are likely to steal first again, with the Zen 5 architecture helping to boost efficiency and performance in equal measure.

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/a ... oming-soon

[firestar464]

Scientific American- This Cutting-Edge Encryption Originates in Renaissance Art and Math

https://archive.ph/U729n

[weatheriscool]

Microsoft to Make Passkeys the Default for New Accounts, Phasing Out Passwords
98% of passkey login attempts are successful, compared with only 32% for passwords.
By Devesh Beri May 2, 2025

Microsoft is making a big shift in how users create new accounts by encouraging the use of passkeys instead of passwords. The company says that soon, anyone setting up a new Microsoft account will be guided to use a passkey during the sign-up process, which means passwords will no longer be the default option, as reported by PCMag.
" Today, more than 99% of people who sign into their Windows devices with their Microsoft account do so using Windows Hello. - Microsoft "

Passkeys let users log in using biometrics, such as fingerprints, facial recognition, or device-based PINs, instead of remembering and typing long passwords.

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/m ... -passwords

[caltrek]

It's Official - the Majority of Visitors to Online Shops and Retailers are Now Bots, Not Humans
by Efosa Udinmwen
May 1, 2025

Introduction:

(MSN) The internet has entered a new era where automated traffic now accounts for more web activity than human users, new research says.

Radware's 2025 ecommerce Bot Threat Report claims the majority of traffic to online stores during the 2024 holiday season didn’t come from people. It came from bots.

For the first time, automated programs - ranging from simple scripts to AI-enhanced digital agents - accounted for 57% of all traffic, surpassing human visitors on e-commerce websites.

A smarter generation of bad bots

The report highlights the ongoing evolution of malicious bots, as nearly 60% now use behavioral strategies designed to evade detection, such as rotating IP addresses and identities, using CAPTCHA farms, and mimicking human browsing patterns, making them difficult to identify without advanced tools.

The only effective counter is equally intelligent detection - AI-powered defenses that can learn and adapt. Businesses must reassess their security stack and look beyond basic filters to solutions offering advanced DDoS protection and intelligent traffic monitoring.

Read more here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technol ... 1&ei=40

[weatheriscool]

Google Messages Is Adding a 'Delete for Everyone' Option to Large Group Chats
Google is also working on adding other new group chat options, such as joining via invite links and QR codes.
By Devesh Beri May 9, 2025

Google Messages for Android will soon let users delete a chat message for everyone in an RCS group conversation. This means that users can now remove a message from a group chat so that it disappears for all participants, not just themselves.

This functionality has been available on WhatsApp for quite some time. When deleting a message, users are now shown two options: "Delete for everyone" and "Delete for me."

Google says messages might still be visible to people using older versions of the app. The update is part of Universal Profile 2.7, which also brings editing, recalling, and deleting messages for both the sender and recipient.

https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/goog ... roup-chats

[weatheriscool]

New Microsoft Teams Feature Will Block Screenshots, Recordings
Meeting hosts can turn the feature on and off as needed.
By Adrianna Nine May 13, 2025

A new feature coming to Microsoft Teams will help meeting hosts protect sensitive information from prying eyes. Beginning this summer, a handy Teams toggle will be able to block screenshots and screen recordings during virtual presentations. Instead of the material they intended to capture, foiled staffers will see a plain black screen.

As spotted Saturday by BleepingComputer, Microsoft included the feature in its Microsoft 365 Roadmap, which outlines planned updates for apps in the 365 suite. Dubbed "Enhanced Meeting Protection - Prevent Screen Capture," the toggle aims to "address the issue of unauthorized screen captures during meetings" by automatically hiding potentially sensitive information. While Microsoft Teams Premium (an annual subscription that breaks down to $10 per user per month) currently offers end-to-end encryption, sensitivity labels, and watermarks for video content, meeting attendees can still capture that content on their end.

"If a user attempts to take a screen capture, the meeting window will turn black, thereby protecting sensitive information," Microsoft notes.

https://www.extremetech.com/internet/ne ... recordings

[weatheriscool]

Google Photos Turns 10, Adds New Editing Tools, Smarter Search, and 8 Other Changes
Google Photos now also allows users to generate QR codes for albums, making sharing easier in some cases. The “Places” feature, located under the Collections tab, enables users to view their photos pinned on a map.
By Devesh Beri May 29, 2025

Google Photos is marking its 10th anniversary, and the company says the platform stores more than 9 trillion photos and videos, and that users perform hundreds of millions of searches, shares, and edits every month. To celebrate this, Google is rolling out a new editor that brings all editing tools together.

This new editor uses AI to give quick editing options, such as adjusting tone and color, erasing unwanted elements, and sharpening images. Tools like Reimagine and Auto Frame are being added to more Android devices, with iOS support coming later in the year.

Google Photos now also lets users generate QR codes for albums, making sharing a bit easier in some cases. The “Places” feature under the collections tab allows users to see their photos pinned on a map.

https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/goog ... nd-8-other

[weatheriscool]

Microsoft Edge Is Adding an AI News Feed Similar to Google Discover
At this stage, the news feed defaults to on, with no option in the settings to turn it off; however, Microsoft says this option may be added later.
By Devesh Beri June 5, 2025

Microsoft is bringing something new to Edge users with a Copilot AI-powered news feed on the New Tab Page in Edge Canary. The update changes the way users interact with the New Tab Page, as the traditional MSN news feed is being replaced by a Copilot-focused interface, as reported by Windows Report.

Now, when a user opens a new tab, a Copilot chat box is shown at the top, through which users can interact with Copilot directly. As users scroll down, they see what Microsoft calls the “Ruby feed,” which includes news articles and videos. Occasionally, a “Curated by Copilot” card appears, which says that the content is suggested based on the user’s activity. This feels very much/kind of similar to Google introducing G Discover on its web homepage.

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/m ... e-discover

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

PCI 7.0 Officially Ratified, Brings 512GBps and Efficiency Improvements
It won't hit consumer devices for years, but future PCIe lanes will be extremely broad.
By Jon Martindale June 12, 2025

The official specifications for the next-next-generation PCI Express 7.0 standard have been released, giving us a look at what the future of consumer storage devices and add-in cards could be like. As is traditional, it doubles the bidirectional bandwidth over the previous PCIe Express generation (PCIe 6.0) and is fully backward compatible. But devices that use it aren't likely to be widely available for at least half a decade.

For more than 20 years, the PCI SIG group has been developing new PCI Express standards to increase available bandwidth for add-in cards and, more recently, NVMe storage drives. The latest graphics cards and the absolute fastest SSDs use PCIe 5, though PCIe 6's final specification was released in 2022. There isn't much need for anything faster yet, which means we're many years away from PCIe 7 being relevant to consumer hardware, though it could find earlier use in enterprise settings.

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/p ... provements