NVIDIA appears determined to end the oligopolistic control over HBM by the so-called 'Big Three' memory players - Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron - and is apparently using the NVHBM as a cudgel to create a seismic paradigm shift. NVHBM is NVIDIA's power move to capture most of the value residing within a given HBM stack As we detailed recently, NVIDIA has just unveiled its NVHBM DRAM solution: This brings us to the core of today's topic. Earlier today, we received a tidbit that SK hynix was evaluating a potential relocation of the fabrication of its HBM base die from […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/with-the-hbm-base-die-costing-3-4x-as-much-as-the-core-die-nvidias-nvhbm-is-a-master-stroke-for-capturing-most-of-the-hbm-value-while-relegating-the-big-three-to-the-commodity-status/

Pokémon Pokopia has been one of the more welcome surprises of 2026, offering an excellent package that simultaneously delivers both innovation and classic charm. Fans have taken notice, with the game selling over 4 million copies in the short time it's been available, and Nintendo is following up fairly quickly with strong post-launch support. The Pokémon Pokopia Expansion Pass will eventually deliver three waves of new content, with Part 1, entitled Bubbly Basin, recently dropping alongside a free 2.0 update. Does Pokémon Pokopia: Bubbly Basin successfully build on the core game? Or does the DLC lose its way in the […]

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AMD reported what should have been stellar earnings earlier this week, replete with data center revenue growing by 107 percent year-over-year, a 246 percent beat on the consensus EPS estimate, and a 13 percent growth in adjusted gross margin. Combined with AMD's earlier disclosure of now controlling around half of the data center CPU market, the earnings announcement should have precipitated a euphoric reaction in the market. Yet, that did not happen, and there are a couple of reasons behind it. AMD's Accounts Payables metric grew by $2.36 billion in Q2 2026, while the company reported just $1.55 billion in […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/amd-withheld-2-36-billion-in-supplier-payments-last-quarter-masking-a-free-cash-flow-squeeze-behind-record-earnings/

Xenoblade fans are being kept busy this year, as every entry in the Xenoblade Chronicles series will have received a Nintendo Switch 2 update by the time 2026 is through. Sadly, some of these updates have left something to be desired: the Switch 2 version of Xenoblade Chronicles X was the victim of janky AI upscaling that turned some textures into Van Gogh paintings, and the updated Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition was beset by some nagging performance issues. Understandably, some fans have been a bit concerned about how the Switch 2 version of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 might turn out. Does […]

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AMD's Zen 7 architecture might power the last Ryzen family on the AM5 platform, while Zen 8 could be the first on AM6 platforms. AMD Ryzen "Zen 7" CPUs Likely The Last AM5 Desktop Family While Ryzen "Zen 8" Moves to AM6 The AM5 platform, first introduced in 2022, has seen three generations of Ryzen so far. The Ryzen 7000 "Raphael" series was the first, followed by Ryzen 8000G "Hawk Point", and the most recent, Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" series. Next up, AMD will be introducing its Zen 6-based "Olympic Ridge" family, which is going to bring some nice upgrades […]

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NVIDIA's Jensen Huang has just penned his first post on X, advocating for open-weight AI models as the Trump administration mulls steps to thwart China's AI labs from leapfrogging by distilling US frontier models. Huang's advocacy is somewhat self-serving, though, especially as open-weight AI models are only expected to increase the overall demand for compute, including GPUs, while NVIDIA has done all it can over the past few years to maintain and extend its CUDA moat. NVIDIA's Jensen Huang used his inaugural post on X to advocate for open-weight AI models Jensen Huang has just posted a letter that has […]

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Given the very juicy margins in the memory chip business right now, it's not so unthinkable that Intel might soon dip its toes, so to speak, in this red-hot sector, especially as a confluence of anecdotal evidence suggests that the chipmaker is at least thinking along those lines. Intel references its hiring of SK hynix's former CEO when an analyst brings up its Z-Angle Memory plans Two of the biggest takeaways from Intel's just-concluded earnings call relate to the 14A node's risk production now commencing in 2027, and the chipmaker's confidence in hiking its CapEx "significantly" next year, hinting at […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/intel-references-sk-hynixs-ex-ceo-when-discussing-its-memory-plans-fueling-the-28-billion-ohio-fab-jv-rumors/

The ARM-based ecosystem has been graced by another entrant in the form of NVIDIA’s RTX Spark, and with its arrival in laptops this fall, Qualcomm and Apple should feel a little hint of worry, mainly in one category, because they have had years to address a problem existing in these notebook SoCs and have failed to do so. Well, the clock is ticking for these two companies. Gaming continues to be a weakness for both Apple Silicon and Snapdragon, with only a decent experience possible by spending top-tier funds on the M5 Max Before the arrival of RTX Spark, having […]

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Obsidian Entertainment has created a lot of great roleplaying games over its 23-year history (the studio's anniversary was yesterday, by the way), but there is little doubt that its name, in the minds of the gaming mainstream, is synonymous with that of Fallout: New Vegas. The game wasn't actually a unanimous critical darling (it famously "only" got an average Metacritic score of 84, thus narrowly missing the 85 Metacritic score clause that Bethesda had added in the contract for an extra payout), but it certainly became a fan-favorite, owing to its excellent narrative, faction writing, roleplaying choices, memorable companions, and […]

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Summer Game Fest 2026 has come and gone, leaving us with two incredibly busy periods in the game release schedule: September-October 2026 and February-March 2027, which publishers big and small have identified in their not-so-disguised attempt to avoid a collision with Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto VI when it makes its debut on November 19, 2026. To fans of the roleplaying games genre, though, the recent flurry of game announcements has brought the near-certainty that next year will be memorable and perhaps unparalleled even in the future, thanks to the return of several beloved franchises/IPs and studios. Also, unlike recent years, […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/persona-4-fable-ff7-revelation-2027-most-stacked-rpgs/

A massive battery upgrade is the least exciting part of upgrading to a new iPhone, as Apple typically makes negligible increments, with only the “Pro Max” variant receiving preferential treatment in this regard. The iPhone 18 Pro isn’t going to be an exception when it launches later this year, as it’ll sport an embarrassingly low increase in battery capacity, but don’t believe the naysayers who think this is the Cupertino firm being stingy or that the runtimes will be poor. Instead, we’d like to believe that this is just Apple’s way of mocking its competitors as it holds tremendous superiority in […]

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A premium $600 notebook with a metal shell and impressive specifications is something no Apple competitor was prepared for, and in just one day, the entire industry flipped upside down. Given how quickly Qualcomm introduced the Snapdragon C, we can say with a certain degree of confidence that the chipset maker was ready for the MacBook Neo’s arrival. The only problem is that Qualcomm’s rivals still have this air of non-seriousness, and by the time they realize how grave the situation is, they’ll be a few generations behind Apple. Windows 11 notebook manufacturers are making things way too easy for […]

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After almost six generations of Tensor chipset launches, Google still hasn’t figured out that its custom silicon is one of the biggest selling points of a smartphone. We thought that by switching to TSMC, the Tensor G5 could finally be rid of the performance curse that plagued past SoC releases, but we couldn’t have been more wrong. Looking at the company’s Q1 2026 statistics, its U.S. smartphone market share could continue to dwindle if it ignores this specific aspect of its devices. Then again, Google can also capitalize on other areas, assuming it wants the Pixel 11 family to remain one […]

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At the heart of Apple’s physical product range lies its App Store, a repository of millions of programs categorized under productivity, entertainment, gaming, finance, social media, and more. What this platform also serves is a haven for fraudulent activities, and individuals with nefarious intentions have used it as a gold mine to deprive both users and developers of their earnings and efforts. Thankfully, Apple has been hard at work keeping these malicious people at bay, but its benevolence comes at a cost, literally. Foregoing billions in annual revenue from the App Store platform alone means Apple is prioritizing the safety […]

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Apple’s base iPhone 17 has taken the smartphone industry by storm, with its aggressive pricing and stacked features being two key factors behind why it was the best-selling smartphone globally for Q1 2026, at least according to Counterpoint Research. Now, just imagine if it were $100 cheaper, what sort of reception would this handset garner from the public? There would be utter chaos and rightfully so, which is why Apple should keep this model around even after the base iPhone 18 launches in early 2027. While it’s an excellent strategy, there will be a newfound problem that Apple needs to tackle. […]

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Samsung made history by introducing its first 2nm GAA chipset to the masses, Exynos 2600, with the Korean firm’s semiconductor now shifting focus and resources towards the Exynos 2700, its next SoC that’s reported to use the improved iteration of the company’s 2nm node and launch just before the Galaxy S27 series launch in early 2027. For Samsung’s competitors, the Exynos 2600 would be brushed off as a one-time affair, but the Exynos 2700 sends an entirely different signal, one that could make Qualcomm and TSMC extremely nervous. For both Qualcomm and TSMC, the Exynos 2700 represents a potential loss […]

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As advanced as smartphones are, we doubt that companies have even scratched the surface of their capabilities. With sufficient firepower to rival desktop computers, it’s almost as if the hardware continues to evolve, but there are negligible use cases to take advantage of the internals. Fortunately, Apple may have found a way to transform its upcoming iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max into literal life savers, and that too, without placing individuals in awkward and limiting situations. Here’s how the company can accomplish this. Apple’s Emergency SOS via satellite feature is severely underrated, but it’s also limiting - Here’s […]

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Samsung, who was once regarded the pioneer of foldable smartphones, has now been receiving labels as a company that cuts corners with its premium devices, and with consumers getting tired of these trade-offs, Chinese competitors saw the opportunity to capitalize heavily, capturing a sizable gap left behind while bringing their own innovations. With the iPhone Fold scheduled to launch later this year, Apple’s first foldable flagship will undoubtedly be compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 8, but looking at the compromises that Samsung is making, it’s best to assume that there isn’t going to be a competition this year. To hear […]

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It's disappointing to see where we are heading, but it appears that for PC hardware makers, nothing can save the current market except relaunching older hardware. The Relaunch of Ryzen 7 5800X3D and GeForce RTX 3060 is Close, but is it Really Something We Wanted? I think I got a little too excited for the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D when I heard it would relaunch soon, since I have been rocking the AM4 platform for years now. It has hardly been a year since it got discontinued, but AM4 has proved that a platform can last for nearly a decade […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/relaunch-of-amd-ryzen-5800x3d-and-nvidia-rtx-3060-shows-2026-bad-for-pc-gamers/