Daily Tech News 16 June 2024

• Voyager 1 is communicating again. (The Register)
  
  The probe launched in 1977 and completed its primary mission - flybys of Jupiter and Saturn - in 1980, and since then it has been travelling deeper into space just chilling (literally) and enjoying the view.
  
  Only four of the original eleven instruments on board are still operational, but that's enough for it to return interesting data for a little longer.
  
  Both Voyager probes are powered by short-lived radioisotope generators, and within the next decade the power output will have been reduced to a point where none of the instruments will work. Shortly after that they will pass beyond the range of the Deep Space Network and we will lose contact until 2270.

• Tuxedo Computers has shown off a prototype of its new laptop based on the Qualcomm X Elite chip that powers Microsoft's new Copilot Plus laptops. (Beta News)
  
  Tuxedo's version comes without Copilot Plus, though, because it runs Linux by default rather than Windows.
  
  It includes 32GB of RAM, a 2560x1600 14" display covering 100% sRGB colour, USB4, and one M.2 slot.
  
  And also the Four Essential Keys, which I didn't see on any of the Copilot Plus laptops being launched.
  
  I'm not sure of the exact state of Linux on this chip, but it is officially supported by Qualcomm so this might be a good option if you don't absolutely require Windows.
  
  
  
• The integrated graphics on AMD's latest laptop chips are about as fast as an RTX 2050. (WCCFTech)
  
  I have little idea how fast an RTX 2050 is, so I looked it up.
  
  It's only a little slower than the RX 580 I was running up until a couple of years ago, and about eight times faster than the Radeon 4850 I used to play Dragon Age and Mass Effect back when computer games were still good.
  
  For integrated graphics that's pretty impressive.
  
  This is from AMD's Strix Point chips. They have another model called Strix Point Halo on the way, with twice the memory bandwidth and two and a half times the graphics hardware, which should put it roughly in line with a current-generation RTX 4060.
  
  
  
• Western Digital has announced its 2 terabit flash memory chips, the world's first chips at that capacity. (WCCFTech)
  
  These stack the memory cells 218 layers deep. We take this for granted now, but not so long ago flash memory was facing disaster: Manufacturers couldn't make memory cells any smaller without making them too unreliable for use.
  
  The solution was to build higher rather than smaller, and flash memory cells now are actually larger (and hence more reliable) than they were at that turning point.
  
  
  
• Asus has announced its new line of compact Nvidia GPUs for small form factor PCs. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  Someone's been editing the dictionary again because these are full-height full-length cards that take up two and a half slots. They are small compared to, say, NASA's Vertical Assembly Building, but many things are.
  
  
  
• The iPad should fold in half. (The Verge)
  
  It does. You just need to make the effort.
  
  

posted by Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM

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