Samsung’s new 9100 PRO Series solid-state drives (SSDs) include the company’s first consumer-grade 8TB NVMe SSD. The latest models use the speedy PCIe 5.0 standard, which — unless you train AI models for a living — is almost certainly overkill for your PC needs.

The Samsung 9100 PRO series offers up to double the storage of its predecessor, the 990 PRO line. It launches in 1TB, 2TB and 4TB models, with the 8TB ones not arriving until later this year. Each tier ships in models with and without a heatsink (whether you need that will depend on whether your motherboard includes one for NVMe drives).

Samsung

The company says the 9100 PRO SSDs have sequential read speeds of up to 14,800 MB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 13,400 MB/s. Their random read speeds are as fast as 2,200K IOPS (input-output per second), with random write speeds up to 2,600K IOPS. The company says the 9100 PRO SSDs are up to 49 percent more power-efficient than the 990 PRO line and have a profile as slim as 0.35 inches (around 8.9mm).

But as Engadget’s Igor Bonifacic wrote in our SSD buying guide, very few real-world use cases demand those speeds. (Think people training large-scale AI models and the like.) As it stands, PCIe 4.0 drives already benchmark far beyond what most gamers and other consumer uses require. They also cost about half as much.

The first 9100 PRO SSDs arrive in March: 1TB ($200), 2TB ($300) and 4TB ($550). Variants with a heatsink tack an extra $20 onto those prices. As for the 8TB tier, which Samsung hasn’t announced pricing for, it doesn’t arrive until the second half of the year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/samsungs-9100-pro-ssd-line-includes-its-first-8tb-nvme-model-for-consumers-205727818.html?src=rss

Warner Bros Discovery made sweeping cuts to its games division today, closing three studios and ending development on its planned Wonder Woman project. Monolith Productions, Player First Games and WB Games San Diego will be shuttered due to a “disappointing 2024” for WB’s gaming business, according to an internal memo from JB Perrette, the company’s CEO and president of global streaming and games. Bloomberg broke the news of the restructuring.

Monolith Productions made two well-regarded Lord of the Rings games, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War. The studio was going to apply its popular Nemesis system from those titles to a Wonder Woman game, which was announced back in 2021.

WB acquired Player First Games last year. The team was responsible for MultiVersus, a platform fighting game that reached 20 million players in its early days before dwindling to a planned shutdown of the online services when its fifth season ends this May.

WB Games San Diego was working on AAA free-to-play gaming. In December, Warner Bros Games also announced that it would lay off employees at WB Games Montreal as well as pulling back on the studio’s game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

According to the internal email from Perrette, WB’s gaming efforts will be focused on four of its properties: Harry Potter (including Hogwarts Legacy), Mortal Kombat, the DC universe and Game of Thrones. “We need to make some substantial changes to our portfolio/team structure if we are to commit the necessary resources to get back to a ‘fewer but bigger franchises’ strategy,” Perette said.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/warner-bros-discovery-slashes-gaming-business-closing-three-studios-204344213.html?src=rss

Razer just announced a refresh to the popular Blade 18 gaming laptop. This model uses those newly-released Intel Core Ultra 200HX series processors and can be purchased with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 GPU.

As the name suggests, it also boasts a ginormous display, which Razer describes as “the world’s first 18-inch dual mode display.” This means that users can instantly switch between UHD+ at 240Hz for appreciating the finer details of AAA games and FHD+ at 440Hz for absolute speed.

The keyboard has been fully redesigned, with a new scissor switch that allows for 35 percent more travel distance versus the previous generation, along with a 63g actuation force. There’s a 10-key numeric keypad and dual-LED backlighting per key. Otherwise, the design remains mostly unchanged since the first Razer Blade 18 hit store shelves back in 2023.

Razer

Razer also promises “desktop levels of connectivity.” To that end, there are a pair of Thunderbolt ports, including a Thunderbolt 5 port. It supports Wi-Fi 7, HDMI 2.1, Bluetooth 5.4 and Gigabit LAN. Each Blade 18 includes a six-speaker virtual surround sound system that supports THX Spatial Audio and a 5MP camera with a privacy shutter.

The good news? Pre-orders are open right now. The bad news? This is a Razer Blade 18, so it’s a real wallet-buster. Pricing starts at $3,200, but can shoot all the way up to $4,900 depending on RAM and storage configurations. Early adopters do get a free skin and a laptop stand.

The company has also opened up pre-orders for the slightly smaller Razer Blade 16. This ultra-thin laptop starts at $2,800, which is a $100 bump over its predecessor.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/razer-announced-a-refreshed-blade-18-laptop-with-a-dual-mode-display-200943604.html?src=rss

When OpenAI announced Deep Research at start of February, the company promised to bring the tool to Plus users “in about a month,” and now it’s doing exactly that. Starting today, the feature, which you can use to prompt ChatGPT to create in-depth reports on nearly any subject, is rolling out to Plus, Team, Edu and Enterprise users. Previously, you needed a $200 per month Pro plan to try out Deep Research. 

For the time being, Plus users will get 10 Deep Research queries per month included with their plan. For Pro subscribers, OpenAI is increasing the monthly limit to 120, up from 100 previously. Additionally, the company has made a couple of improvements to how the tool works. ChatGPT will now embed images alongside citations to provide “richer insights.” The system also has a better understanding of file types, which should translate to better document analysis. 

OpenAI

If you want to give the new feature a try, write a prompt as you normally would but then tap the Deep Research icon before sending your request through to OpenAI. Depending on the complexity of question, it can take ChatGPT anywhere between five and 30 minutes to compile an answer. OpenAI has said Deep Research is currently “very compute intensive,” so it be a while before Free users get to try the capability out for themselves.   

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-expands-deep-research-to-all-paying-chatgpt-users-200045108.html?src=rss

Upheavals within the US government continued today as a group of technology experts announced their resignations. These federal employees had originally worked for the United States Digital Service, a tech-focused department created under the Obama administration. About 40 people from the original Digital Service staff were fired by the Elon Musk-led team known as DOGE earlier this year, and the remaining 65 employees were incorporated into his unit. Today, 21 of those people resigned.

“We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans’ sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services,” the former employees wrote in a resignation letter obtained by the Associated Press. “We will not lend our expertise to carry out or legitimize DOGE’s actions.”

The Digital Services director, Anne Marshall, also resigned from her post last week, stating in a public letter that “This is not the mission I came to serve.”

Both Marshall and the participants in today’s group resignation raised concerns that people from Musk’s outfit do not have the knowledge or desire to continue Digital Services’ mission of developing and maintaining digital resources for Americans.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/doge-workers-quit-rather-than-help-musk-dismantle-critical-public-services-194237479.html?src=rss

Framework, the company making an ever-wider range of modular, endlessly repairable machines is showing off its next big project. Today, it previewed the Laptop 12, an affordable 12.2-inch touchscreen convertible built with the same ethos as its bigger siblings. Laptop 12 is targeted as an entry-level machine for young people, students and folks on low incomes. But, rather than the usual compromises inherent in such a machine, it will be just as repairable, modular and crucially upgradeable as the rest of the Framework lineup.

Framework

“Few categories are as emblematic of the problems with consumer electronics as entry-level laptops,” explained founder Nirav Patel, “they tend to be janky, locked-down, disposable, underpowered and frankly, boring.” Laptop 12 takes the general design language of the Laptop 13, but trimmed to suit the smaller footprint and screen. It ships in five colors, with an optional color matched stylus, each one clad in TPU with a metal skeleton for rigidity. Patel said if users are able to break it, repairs are even easier than on the Laptop 13.

Framework

The company emphasized the Laptop 12 won’t use the same sort of no-name bargain-bin parts you often find on entry-level machines. It hasn’t released a full spec list yet, but said you will see options for a 13th-generation i3 or i5 Core Processor supporting up to 48GB DDR5 RAM. You can also opt for an NVMe SSD up to 2TB and Wi-Fi 6E, with the usual pick of Windows 11 or Linux. Patel added the 1,920 x 1,200 display has been customized to push out 400 nits of peak brightness with touch and stylus support.

Framework says we’re likely to see all of the gory details arriving at some point in April, which is also when pre-orders will open. Shipments are expected to begin at some point in the summer, and we’re looking forward to seeing how this operates out in the real world.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/framework-teases-a-low-cost-2-in-1-convertible-version-of-its-modular-laptop-191231244.html?src=rss

Framework is today announcing a raft of new products, the most intriguing of which has to be the Framework Desktop. Like the rest of the company’s wares, it’s a modular desktop PC with a focus on modularity, upgradeability and repairability. Naturally, the first question is why, given PCs are already modular, upgradeable and repairable, but the focus here is on making it accessible for the sorts of folks who might see the words “thermal” and “paste” and need an urgent trip to the ER. It’s not the first time something like this has been mooted: In 2014, Razer pitched Project Christine, a gaming PC with standalone components clad in cartridges that could be swapped in and out.

Framework

The second reason for this machine existing was AMD’s new Ryzen AI Max chip, which was shown to the public at CES in January. Ryzen AI Max is an all-in-one APU, packing a CPU and GPU in the same package mirroring how Apple Silicon chips are designed. Ryzen AI Max promises some fairly spectacular performance despite the lack of a discrete GPU, like 1440p gaming and local AI. But there is one downside to all of these gains — the RAM is soldered to the mainboard to enable its staggering 256GB/s memory bandwidth, which Framework says isn’t feasible with standard RAM. To compensate, Framework has pledged to ensure to play fair with memory pricing, making it “more reasonable than you might find with other brands,” i.e. Apple.

Framework knows it’s swimming in different waters with this product, and so has pledged to use as many standard components as possible. Inside that Mini-ITX case you’ll find a custom mainboard with ATX headers, a PCIe x4 slot, two USB4, two DisplayPort, one HDMI and 5G ethernet ports. The PCIe NVME slots will let you spec up to 16TB storage, and the case has two forward-facing expansion card slots that will let you plug in your own Framework Expansion Cards. The case is equipped with a semi-custom 400W power supply that uses standard 120mm CPU fans or, again, you can bring your own fans if you’d prefer. The case has either black or clear sides, and the front is made up with 21 tiles you can design yourself, or 3D-print an alternative if you’d prefer.

Of course, you can also just buy the mainboard and cram it into your own case, should you prefer to roll your own. 

Framework

Pre-orders for the Framework Desktop are opening now, but shipping won’t begin until Q3 of 2025. You can order the mainboard on its own for $799, or get the base model with an AI Max 385 and 32GB RAM for just $1,099. Should you want the flagship AI Max+ 395 with 128GB RAM, you’ll need to fork over $1,999. All of the systems are sold as “DIY Editions” with users able to grab their storage and OS from whatever supplier they prefer, too.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/framework-builds-its-own-modular-desktop-191211936.html?src=rss

It’s a little weird to talk about Framework “launching” a new laptop given it just makes the same machine over and over again. That, of course, is the point, since it’s building a fleet of modular, upgradeable and repairable machines that eliminate unnecessary e-waste. Let’s agree that while launching isn’t the right word, it is how we’ll describe the advent of the updated AMD edition of the Framework 13, which now comes with the Ryzen AI 300 on board.

Naturally, the big news is the fancier AMD unit welded to the mainboard, which boasts dramatically improved AI performance for Microsoft Copilot+. But Framework has made its usual series of nips and tucks, adding Wi-Fi 7, a new thermal system, improved keyboard and new color options. As usual, all of these features can be bolted onto any existing Framework 13 when required.

One of the biggest issues for every Framework 13 so far has been the cooling — the tiny fans have to work overtime whenever the system gets taxed. So the advent of the new mainboard also sees a(nother) attempt at keeping the silicon far cooler than it has been before. Open this up and you’ll find a new single 10mm heat pipe paired with Honeywell’s PTM7958 thermal paste which, it’s hoped, will ensure you can hear yourself think over your laptop.

If you recall from the previous AMD Framework 13, there was an issue with what standards each port supported. The situation is a little clearer here, since the rear ports support USB 4, while the forward ones both have USB 3.2 plus DisplayPort. We explored this in greater detail at the time, but the situation remains mildly annoying if you forget what can go where.

Framework has also very gently tweaked the keyboard to address an issue with rigidity with the wide keys, like shift and the spacebar. If you buy a Windows 11 model, you’ll also have a Copilot key printed on it — but Framework reminds you it’s possible to buy a DIY edition without one, too.

Framework

Rounding out the changes is the advent of injection molded packaging, which enables Framework to sell you transparent hardware. It will now sell you a transparent bezel, as well as translucent purple, green and black options for greater customization. Plus, you’ll be able to pick up many of the expansion cards clad in transparent plastic, too, not just the ethernet expansion card — letting you relive your dream of owning the coolest Game Boy ever made.

The new Framework Laptop 13 with AMD’s Ryzen AI 300 series starts at $800 for the DIY edition and $1,099 for pre-built. Naturally, that price can go all sorts of places depending on how much gear you choose to throw on top of what comes as standard. Pre-orders are open today with shipments due to begin in April. Plus, the company will sell you the older Ryzen 7040 model for $749 — with CEO Nirav Patel saying this isn’t just a while stocks last deal, but as a way to lower the entry price for new buyers.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/framework-updates-its-13-inch-laptop-with-amds-ryzen-300-ai-series-chips-191128145.html?src=rss