Apple M1 Mac Users Report Excessive SSD Wear

Over the past week, some M1 Mac users have been reporting alarming SSD health readings, suggesting that these devices are writing extraordinary amounts of data to their drives. From a report: Across Twitter and the MacRumors forums, users are reporting that M1 Macs are experiencing extremely high drive writes over a short space of time. In what appear to be the…

10 Years After Its Discontinuation, Some Fans Still Love Microsoft’s Zune Mp3 Player

“It was weird to own a Zune in 2005,” remembers a new article in the Verge. “It is even weirder to own a Zune in 2021 — let alone 16 of them. And yet, 27-year-old Conner Woods proudly shows off his lineup on a kitchen table.”
They come in all different colors, shapes, and sizes, and each can be identified by that…

KFC Launches 4K, 240FPS Gaming Console With a Built-In Chicken Warmer

KFC unveiled what they’re calling the KFConsole — a VR-ready high-end gaming PC that comes with a built-in chicken warmer. GamesRadar reports: Back in June, just after the PS5 reveal, KFC released a ridiculous trailer for the KFConsole, but everyone just figured they were joking. Turns out, they were dead serious. KFC, the chicken place, has teamed up with Cooler Master…

Will Tesla Update Bring Remote Access To Car Cameras?

“Tesla’s Sentry Mode is about to bring things to a whole new level by enabling Tesla owners to remotely see what their cars can see through Autopilot cameras,” claims Electrek — citing a Twitter user named green “who has been revealing new Tesla features found in software updates.” “It’s not certain when the live camera update would arrive, provided it’s not…

Western Digital’s Ultrastar DC ZN540 Is the World’s First ZNS SSD

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Tom’s Hardware: Western Digital is one of the most vocal proponents of the Zoned Namespaces (ZNS) storage initiative, so it is not surprising that the company this week became the first SSD maker to start sampling of a ZNS SSD. When used properly, the Ultrastar DC ZN540 drive can replace up to four conventional…

SSDs Are Primed To Get Bigger and Faster With Micron’s New NAND Memory Tech

Micron has announced it’s shipping 176-layer TLC NAND flash memory to customers, a move that portends larger, faster and even cheaper SSD drives for all. From a report: The company said its 5th-gen 3D NAND memory should put its density about 40 percent higher than its nearest competitors, which are using 128-layer NAND. Micron said read and write latencies are reduced…

PS5 Teardown Video Confirms Faster Wi-Fi and USB Ports Than Xbox Series X

Sony’s recently-released PS5 teardown video gives us a closer look at the PS5, and confirms that the speed of the console’s Wi-Fi antenna and USB ports are faster than those available in the Xbox Series X. GamesRadar+ reports: As spotted by VG247, the teardown confirms a few new hardware details about PS5. For starters, we know the console’s Wi-Fi antenna supports…

Microsoft Testing Windows 10 Feature That’ll Detect If Your SSD Is Failing

Microsoft is testing a new feature for Windows 10 that will alert you if your SSD drive is failing. Microsoft is also testing an update to Your Phone that will allow it to work with multiple devices. PCWorld reports: Both features arrived as part of Windows 10 Insider Build 20226 for the Dev Channel, Microsoft’s laboratory for future features. The Dev…

Samsung’s Fast, PCIe 4.0-ready 980 Pro SSD Can Future-Proof Your PC Build

Samsung has unveiled its next high-performance NVMe 2280-sized M.2 drive, the 980 Pro. So far, it comes in three capacities shipping this month: 250GB for $89.99, 500GB for $149.99, and 1TB for $229.99. A 2TB model will arrive later this year, but Samsung didn’t share a price. From a report: The standout feature of this drive is its compatibility with M.2…

The Gateway PC Brand Returns With New Laptops

On Wednesday, Acer and Walmart announced they were reviving the Gateway brand to sell affordable Windows 10 notebooks and laptop convertibles from $179 and up. PCMag reports: Gateway was once a major PC vendor in the US, especially during the 1990s when it famously sold computers packaged in cow spotted boxes. However, the company’s fortunes began to falter in the 2000s,…