Hardware

RVA23 profile of RISC-V marks a turning point in how mainstream CPUs are expected to scale performance. By making the RISC-V Vector Extension (RVV) mandatory, it elevates structured, explicit parallelism to the same architectural status as scalar execution. Vectors are no longer optional accelerators bolted onto speculation-heavy cores. They are baseline capabilities that software can rely on.

RVA23 doesn’t force scalar execution to become deterministic. It simply makes determinism viable because the scalar side is no longer responsible for throughput. The vector unit handles the parallel work explicitly, and the scalar core becomes a coordinator that can be simple, predictable, and low‑power without sacrificing performance.

To understand why this shift matters, it helps to recall how thoroughly speculative execution came to dominate high-performance CPU design. It delivered speed, but at increasing cost—in power, complexity, verification burden, and security exposure. RVA23 does not reject speculation. Instead, it restores balance. It acknowledges that predictable, vector-driven parallelism is now a credible, mainstream path for performance growth.

Worse than Biden's AI Diffusion Rule?

Hard drives hit an important 44TB capacity milestone.

LILYGO has released two new ESP32-based products: the T-Halow P4, a compact development board built around Espressif’s ESP32-P4 RISC-V SoC with integrated Wi-Fi HaLow support, and the T5 E-Paper S3 Pro Lite, a 4.7-inch ESP32-S3 e-paper device positioned as a simplified version of the Pro model introduced in 2024.

The T-Halow P4 is built around the ESP32-P4, which features a dual-core 32-bit RISC-V processor running at up to 360 MHz alongside a 40 MHz low-power RISC-V coprocessor. The board includes 16MB of external NOR flash and 8MB of PSRAM.

HMD's new phone is purpose-built for military personnel, law enforcement agents, first responders, and infrastructure operators who find themselves in super hot or cold environments on the job. It's all about essential features for tough conditions with this one – starting from how you interact with it.

This could go on for another 10 years.

The biggest winners of the AI race?

Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/semiconductors/memory-makers-are-set-to-earn-usd551-billion-from-the-ai-boom-twice-as-much-as-contract-chip-manufacturers-forecasts-suggest-that-2026-revenue-will-skyrocket-thanks-to-data-center-demand

The Belgian research institute imec opened the NanoIC pilot on Monday. This line, an investment of 2.5 billion euros, is intended to develop

PC makers are getting desperate for memory chips.

CXMT and YMTC are scaling fab capacity as AI demand strains global supply.

Whether you’re a seasoned electronics engineer or just starting out as a hobbyist, it’s a good idea to have a few all-in-one development boards on hand. When inspiration strikes, the last thing you want to do is spend weeks designing a circuit and waiting for the parts to be shipped to your door. You want to strike while the iron is hot and turn that great idea into a reality. By integrating many commonly used components into a single package, all-in-one boards make prototyping fast and easy.

If you could use a new all-in-one board in your toolbox, you should take a look at the ESP32-S3 4.2-inch RLCD Development Board that was just released by Waveshare. It combines a powerful microcontroller with a very unique display technology, along with plenty of options for interfacing. Currently, the device is selling for just $27.

These parts have the least number of failures in Puget System's builds.

PicoIDE is a convenient alternative to worn out old drives and media priced from $69.

Redragon is known for its budget gaming peripherals, and it has recently announced three more additions to the line-up, this time catering to both gamers and productivity users, with two num pad-toting mechanical keyboards and a wireless gaming mouse. Starting with the latter, the Ebony M998 STD is a tri-mode wireless gaming mouse with a mild ergonomic shape and powered by the PixArt PAW 3311 sensor, which means 24,000 DPI, up to 300 IPS speed, and 35 G acceleration tracking capabilities and 1 kHz polling. It weighs in at 61 g, and is powered by a 400 mAh battery. Redragon says it should last 34 hours on a single charge, but does not cite test conditions or connectivity mode, so your mileage may vary. Probably the most interesting part of the Ebony M998 STD is its magnetic charging dock, which charges the mouse with pogo pins, not wireless charging, and doubles as the 2.4 GHz receiver. While it's not using a flagship-tier sensor, it also does not command flagship prices, coming in at only $29.99 from Redragon directly. The mouse can also be customized on Windows with proprietary software, and it supports on-board macros and rebinding. Redragon also doesn't specify which switches are being used in the Ebony mouse.

Norm Jackson and colleagues at Thort Werx are looking to put a low-cost mixed-signal oscilloscope and logic analyzer on every desk, turning to a pair of Raspberry Pi Pico 2 microcontroller boards to power the Picotronix — opening for crowdfunding soon.

"We've built a dual [Raspberry Pi] Pico 2-based mixed-signal capture system (oscilloscope + logic analyzer) using MicroPython and PIO/DMA [Programmable Input-Output/Direct Memory Access] in the RP2350," Jackson tells us via email. "The project highlights many of the amazing features of the RP2350 and advanced techniques to build real time complex designs using MicroPython."

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More information is available on the Picotronix website; a Kickstarter campaign is planned for the near future, with pricing estimated at $99 without or $129 with LCD and $9–49 per picoPod, and interested parties are invited to sign up to be notified when crowdfunding opens.

This might just be the most overengineered desktop gear I've ever come across. The Naya Connect system features four devices built around a modular keyboard to upgrade your setup with all kinds of shortcuts and tactile inputs.