Business Articles

EVGA has reportedly outed a firmware update for GeForce RTX 3080 Ti LHR models that addresses the "power lock" issue on these cards while mining. With the new firmware installed, miners found that their 3080 Ti LHR cards delivered up to 91 MH/s in Ethereum workloads.

Microsoft is offering pirates in certain countries a special discount to purchase an Office 365 subscription, instead of continuing to pirate Office software. The "limited time" offer delivers substantial savings, up to 50 percent off.

The 2021 Chinese International Public Security Expo will take place in late December. Huawei's HiSilicon division is slated to be headed to the event with its latest development: a new image-signalling processor (ISP). This new dedicated chipset is now said to stand out in its category with a new architecture.

XFX recently launched the BC-160, a cryptocurrency mining-oriented card built around the Navi 12 GPU. The BC-160 is currently available exclusively in China and delivers a hashrate of over 70 MH/s in Ethereum, thanks to its fast HBM2 memory.

Samsung and IBM have come to the ongoing IEDM 2021 International Electronic Components Conference to unveil the vertical transport field effect transistor (VTFET). It is a new property of potential next-gen chipsets that, as the two OEMs assert, might one day help build a smartphone that can last up to seven days on one charge.

While its long-term momentum remains weak, Shiba Inu continues to climb in popularity thanks to its adoption as a payment option by Flexa. The services of this crypto payment company are supported by merchants like GameStop, Lowe's, Nordstrom, and more, with a total of over 40,000 stores across the US.

A mining farm was recently spotted on Flexpool that appears to incorporate GeForce RTX 4090 Ti and AMD Radeon RX 7000 GPUs. While there's no way to verify if the parts are indeed next-gen AMD and NVIDIA hardware, the farm's 4.3 TH/s hash rate suggests that high-performance parts are at work.

Realme has emerged as India's second-largest smartphone brand, capturing 17 percent market share in October 2021, according to a Counterpoint Research report. The budget smartphone maker overtook Samsung for second place, with over 9 million phones sold, just in October 2021.

According to a report in The Elec, Samsung is planning on launching a raft of MiniLED 8K TVs in 2022, using its "Neo QLED" technology. Samsung's 2022 flagship lineup will also feature new 4K OLED TVs, including some with panels sourced from LG.

AMD's next generation of EPYC processors, currently referred to as "Genoa", are tipped to support 12-channel memory. Now, it is also slated to support 1TB of DDR5 RAM via each of these channels, for a grand total of 12TB. Then again, it may be capable of doing so under certain server-grade conditions only.

Anker now reports that it became the "world's No.1 mobile charging brand" in 2020. It also marked its 10th anniversary as such a company in 2021, and attributes much of its success to becoming a leader in USB Power Delivery- (USB-PD) compatible accessories. It also now has a line in MagSafe-compatible products, as well as new type-C devices.

Amazon was penalized by Italy's antitrust authority (AGCM) for misusing its market dominance. The AGCM fined the company €1.1 billion and stated that Amazon coaxed Italian shops to use its shipping service by promising perks such as Prime label and participation in sale events such as Black Friday. Amazon stated that the company will appeal the ruling.

After releasing the Redmi Note 11 series in China, Xiaomi looks set to bring the phones to the global market. Thankfully, though, it appears the vanilla Redmi Note 11, at least, will make the trip without a MediaTek processor, with Xiaomi seemingly geared to exchange replace the Dimensity 810 on Chinese models with Qualcomm's 4G chipset, the Snapdragon 680.

Thanks to a strong Alder Lake launch, Intel's market share in terms of CPUs sold has climbed to around 30 percent, its highest ever for the year 2021. AMD still maintains a commanding lead, however, thanks to strong demand for midrange price-performance champs like the Ryzen 5 5600X.

Xiaomi has now announced the debut of its new battery technology. The company promises that the new high-silicon lithium batteries will deliver 10% more capacity at the same volumes as current lith-ion units. Mass production isn't that far off either.

Alesia Haas, the CEO of Coinbase Inc., is testifying before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services alongside five other crypto exchange representatives for the first time. In prepared testimonies, the cryptocurrency platform execs urged Congress to be careful while regulating and taxing digital currency like any other asset, as they risk creating "unnecessarily onerous and chilling laws and regulations." The first Congressional hearing of crypto exchange execs is still ongoing, and you can watch the live stream here.

A major chunk of the Amazon Web Service (AWS) network is down, resulting in global internet issues. The issues are affecting Amazon’s in-house services like Alexa, as well as other sites like Facebook. Amazon says that it is working to get all the services back online.

An ex-SolarCity quality assurance employee has filed a lawsuit against Tesla Energy arguing criminal negligence regarding faulty solar roof installations that caused residential and commercial fires. In complaints filed before the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, he claims that Tesla management didn't take his fire hazard warnings seriously. The SEC probe into the reported Tesla Energy wrongdoing will determine if it communicated the fire risks from the faulty solar panel installations to shareholders or the public.

The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization recently downgraded its prediction for global semiconductor revenue growth in 2022. This year, WSTS expects revenue to grow by just 8.8 percent, a far cry from 2021's 25 percent growth rate.

Sony has announced availability and pricing for the inaugural Airpeak drone. The S1 is rated as the "world's smallest" drone that can still carry a full-sized mirrorless Alpha-series camera. It is up for pre-order from now, to be shipped later in December 2021.

When is a monitor with a screen measuring less than 20 inches diagonally valued at just under US$15,000? According to Canon, it's when it is the first professional reference display from the brand to feature its exact dimensions at a 4K/UHD resolution. The DP-V1830 can also support a 4-way split-screen, enhanced blacks and improved viewing angles.

Asus has emerged victorious as a result of 2021's Interbrand Best Taiwan Global Brands survey, making it the country's "most valuable" brand that operates worldwide - and for the eighth year running, too. The OEM has attained this accolade due to its fame, resilience to the pandemic and ability to forge partnerships with other groups.

Fans of Samsung's Galaxy S series in India have strongly opined that getting the Exynos variants of the phones put them at a disadvantage. It appears, however, that there'll be no cause for such complaints next year, as a new leak indicates that the Indian models of the Galaxy S22 series will be equipped with Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.

Ubisoft will be making Anno 1404 History Edition free to download and keep forever, but only for a short time. The giveaway falls within Ubisoft's 35th anniversary and includes the Anno 1404: Venice expansion pack.

Sony is working on "Spartacus," a competitor to Xbox Game Pass, that will reportedly combine its PlayStation Now and PlayStation Plus services. "Spartacus" will feature a three-tier subscription plan, bundling in PS Plus benefits, free PS4 and PS5 games, and game streaming.

Members of Congress recently introduced the Stopping Grinch Bots Act. If it passes through, this piece of legislation could make it illegal for scalpers to use bots and scripts to hoard electronics for resale.

The new "visual update" of Office is now becoming official. This cosmetic adjustment makes the productivity suite match the new Windows 11 look, although some users still on 10 might also see the update. It mostly functions to add the new rounded corners and dark themes to 4 of Microsoft's classic work-focused apps.

A new report from Digitimes tells us that Intel and TSMC are close to negotiating a deal for the latter's 3nm capacity. Pilot production for the node has already kicked off, and it is expected to churn out 40,000 wafers per month starting in H2, 2022.

Nvidia’s plans to acquire fabless chip designer Arm look to be on increasingly shaky ground. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing to block the deal on concerns that it will undermine competition and innovation following complaints raised by Google, Microsoft and Qualcomm.

Pininfarina has exhibited the Foxconn Model E at the Hong Kong MotorXpo. The 750 hp saloon also has up to a 750 km range and is being showcased under Foxconn's vehicle division, Foxtron.

Maxine Waters (D-CA), the Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, has scheduled a December 8 Congressional hearing titled the "Digital Assets and the Future of Finance: Understanding the Challenges and Benefits of Financial Innovation in the United States." The hearing will see crypto platform execs testify before Congress for the first time. Witnessed include the Coinbase CFO and five others who will appear amidst a regulatory oversight push by SEC's Chair Gensler. He again demands that cryptocurrency exchanges register with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Thanksgiving weekend has been transformed into a full-blown crisis over at SpaceX by an Elon Musk "all hands on deck" email. The production snags for the new Starship Raptor engines turned out to be more severe than previously thought, putting the launch of the new Starlink satellites in jeopardy. These are the ones that are supposed to make Starlink profitable, and Elon Musk warns that the Starship has to fly at least twice a month next year to keep SpaceX afloat.

Q421 transaction volume for BTC is projected to be the highest ever, but it would still be 260% lower than Mastercard's and 560% lower than Visa's. Reports are estimating that the BTC network could grow to support 800 million users by 2030.

Increasing component prices could mean that laptops in 2022 may retail for higher prices. While other OEMs are yet to comment on the same, Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan confirmed on Twitter that all Razer gaming laptops across the board, including the Razer Blade series, will see price hikes.

Samsung has launched the Exynos Auto V7 SoC, a new processor specifically for cars, alongside the Exynos Auto T5123, which might ensure the same vehicles are connected. This is because it is the OEM's first 5G-capable modem made for the automotive industry. They have been joined in their debut by the S2VPS01, an extra-safe PMIC for cars.

Spanish outlet El Chapuzas Informaticos recently discovered that Sapphire was selling RDNA2-based GPUs under its GPRO brand off retail channels. These are sold exclusively to high-volume crypto mining clients at a time when consumer GPU prices remain sky.

A new report has claimed that the English Premier League (EPL) is investigating connections between its member clubs and crypto businesses. In addition, it seems the Premier League is forging ahead with a potential partnership with an NFT platform that would provide extra income by producing digital player cards for fans to collect.

PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X availability may still be poor globally, but Microsoft has produced an abundance of Xbox Series S consoles. As a result, the budget and compact console has outsold all its contemporaries, including the Nintendo Switch.

Nissan announced an electrification program of its own called "Ambition 2030" that will see it introduce 23 new EV models across the Nissan and Infinity brands this decade alone. The company already takes reservations for its first electric SUV, the Ariya, but it introduced more EV concepts, including a MAX-OUT convertible and a Tesla Cybertruck competitor. Besides electric car production, Ambition 2030 includes a plan to develop a proprietary solid-state battery and expand its 4R Energy battery recycling and repurposing program.

The value of the Turkish Lira continues to slide, but Apple has resumed selling AirPods, iPads, iPhones, Macs and Watch Series smartwatches in Turkey. Unsurprisingly, Apple has increased prices across the board, with many now costing over 23% more than they did previously.

After months of delay and red tape compliance, the first Tesla Gigafactory in Europe may begin Model Y production in a matter of days. The Brandenburg State Environment Office will reportedly be signing off on the Berlin Gigafactory opening, allowing up to 30,000 units to be built there in the first half of 2022. That's in addition to the large capacity for Tesla 4680 battery cells production, for which CEO Elon Musk just declined a billion worth of EU subsidies.

An obscure cryptocurrency named Omicron is now surging for obvious reasons, all the while Bitcoin and Ethereum experienced a Black Friday market crash. The Omicron crypto is gaining attention for the simple fact that it shares a name with the latest World Health Organization COVID-19 "variant of concern" designation for the B.1.1.529 mutation first found in Africa. The aptly named OMIC coin price has surged 700% on historically high volume ever since B.1.1.529 became Omicron.

Macy’s is auctioning off NFTs to commemorate its 95th Thanksgiving Day Parade. The art pieces in the collection represent parade balloons from previous decades, going back to the 1920s. A portion of the proceeds from the auction will go to Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Dyson has released an Oculus app to allow customers to experience its products in virtual reality. The VR experience gives you the chance to understand how the products work and try them out in a virtual environment. Dyson's virtual store currently contains beauty tools such as the Supersonic hairdryer and the Airwrap, plus the Dyson cordless V15 Detect vacuum cleaner.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 2 is the first ThinkPad laptop with AMD CPUs and a 16:10 monitor. This makes it one of the most interesting business ThinkPads of this year.