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Thursday, January 9th, 2020

    Time Event
    8:00a
    CES 2020: Lenovo Ducati 5, a Notebook Designed from a Motorbike

    Branded hardware isn’t a new concept, and the latest one out of the gate is Lenovo’s new Ducati 5 laptop. Lenovo has partnered with Ducati to combine the styling of two of Ducati’s two-wheelers into a new notebook to be used by those who want to show off their affiliation. The laptop is going to be limited edition, with only 12,000 units available, while aiming for a reasonable price point.

    We’ve seen these sorts of collaborations before. We know that Porsche Design always  partners with Huawei for its smartphones, and I’ve even seen ASRock sell motherboards with what looks like a Lamborghini on the front (even though there was no official collaboration there). I remember back in 2009, when I purchased an Acer Ferrari One, a $450 dual-core AMD Fusion notebook that should have been about $300, but I used that think like no-other. I still have it. But there are two types of these sorts of collaborations – one where the company involved gets a lot of hardware it can use internally / show off on camera at racing events, and one where the goal is actually to offer an end-user something special.

    With the new Lenovo Ducati 5, I believe it’s the former: expect to see a lot of Ducati notebooks in the new MotoGP season. Lenovo states that the design is inspired by the Ducati Panigale, with notes to match the honeycomb exhausts of the Ducati Monster frames. The BIOS is even MotoGP themed apparently, and you should expect some extra MotoGP background options. The unit will be supplied in a Ducati-branded gift box, with a Ducati laptop sleeve.

    This hardware is fairly middle of the road: a 14-inch 1080p IPS device with 300 nits brightness, featuring up to a Core i5-1035G1 (that’s the low-end graphics model), with 8 GB of memory and up to 1 TB of NVMe storage. Connectivity comes via two USB-A ports, a Type-C, a HDMI 1.4b output, and an SD card reader. WiFi is an 802.11ax solution (Wi-Fi 6), the battery is good ‘up to 12 hours’, and the unit comes with a fingerprint reader as well as a privacy shutter for the camera. Weight is listed at 1.58 kg / 3.48 lbs.

    Pricing for the Lenovo Ducati 5 will start from 900 Euros, and will go on sale in April. As mentioned, this is a 12,000 unit limited edition product, but also will not be sold in the USA.

    9:00a
    CES 2020: ZOTAC ZBOX CA621 Nano With Passive Cooled AMD Ryzen 3 3200U

    One of the more interesting announcements from ZOTAC at CES 2020 comes via the ZBOX CA621 Nano. What makes this stand out from ZOTACs other announcements is that it is powered by an AMD Ryzen 3 3200U dual-core processor, and that it is entirely passively cooled.

    Lying at the heart of the CA621 Nano, AMD's Ryzen 3 3200U processor offers two CPU cores and AMD's Vega 3 integrated graphics. And, with a default operating TDP of just 15 W, this makes it a prime candidate for passively cooled SFF systems such as ZOTAC's latest ZBOX. To that end, ZOTAC is the latest vendor to dip their foot into the market for passively cooled Ryzen systems, and given how well-known the ZBOX brand is, this is perhaps the highest profile SFF passively cooled Ryzen system announced to date.

    Rounding out the CA621, not only does the system boast silent operation, but it includes dual Gigabit Ethernet, four USB 3.1 G1 Type-A ports, 802.11ac Wi-Fi with BT 5.0 support, and a microSD card reader. A Kensington lock means that the system can be secured, which is useful as the system is small enough to fit in the pocket and could be easily stolen if left in a public place, or office setting. 


    ZOTAC ZBOX CA621 Nano rear panel

     

    Alongside the CA621, ZOTAC is also announcing an air-cooled version of this box, the ZBOX MA621 Nano which is identical in specification to the CA621 minus the passive cooling function. The MA621 Nano also omits the Kensington security lock and features an all-black design, whereas the CA621 Nano has a white rear panel with a white surround on the front panel.

    No pricing or availability information has been announced, but the CA621 and MA621 Nano are well setup to serve as low-cost alternatives to the ZBOX Intel-based models.

    10:00a
    DRAMeXchange: Blackout at Samsung’s Fab Will Not Affect Commodity DRAM Prices in Q1

    Following a power outage and consequent disruption of production at Samsung’s Line 13 fab in Hwaseong, South Korea, back on December 31, 2019, there had been some concerns about what the disruption would do to the wider DRAM market. However it seems like the industry as a whole will escape unscathed from the event; according to analysts from DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, the Samsung disruption will not have a tangible effect on prices of commodity DRAM. Though DDR4 prices on the whole are still increasingly primed to trend up as part of cyclical market motions.

    The fire itself and subsequent disruption of production at Samsung’s Line 13 fab did not notably impact global supply of commodity DRAM, so DRAMeXchange is not expecting DRAM makers to increase their quotes because of that. In fact, to evade a potential hit from US tariffs on Chinese imports, PC makers produced more computers than they needed back in the fourth quarter and shipped them to the USA. As a result, their production will be lower than seasonally anticipated in Q1 2020.

    However, because memory makers plan to limit increase of DRAM bit output this year and this could mean a supply-driven price hike, PC makers may be inclined to increase their memory buying in the first quarter to raise DRAM inventories while the prices are low (or at least predictable). Due to a behavior like that, commodity DRAM prices will stay flat or even increase when compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. To some degree, the incident at Samsung’s fab could make PC makers more willing to get DRAMs they need as soon as possible.

    Samsung uses its Line 13 fab in Hwaseong, South Korea, to make specialty DRAM chips using 20 nm and 25 nm process technologies. Specialty memory is procured through quarterly lock-in deals, as opposed to the larger and more fluid trading that goes on for commodity DRAM. Notably, because of these differences, companies that consume specialty DRAM products do not proactively stock such devices, which means they are somewhat more exposed to disruptions and typically have to accept prices that they are offered. To that end, DRAMeXchange expects monthly contract prices on specialty DRAM to start increasing from this month and onwards.

    The analysts also predict average selling prices of server DRAM and graphics DRAM to increase because demand for such memory devices has been growing since mid-December. Meanwhile, the market observers expect prices of mobile DRAMs to stay flat in the first quarter even despite imminent launch of next-generation handsets by various makers in Q1 and Q2.

    Related Reading:

    Source: TrendForce

    11:00a
    ASUS Going Fast: Quad PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD Storage Add-in Card Hyper M.2

    One of the driving features of performance in the high-end desktop space is the creator community: the need for fast CPUs and fast storage is strong, regardless of cost. Rendering video, requiring large 8K datasets, and being able to mix and match the hardware to meet the required performance is in-of-itself an exciting area to delve into. In order to meet the needs of the most demanding creators, ASUS is upgrading its quad M.2 card it put into the market last year to now support PCIe 4.0 SSDs for the latest AMD systems.

    The card is essentially a mounting point to take a full x16 PCIe slot and bifurcate it into four separate PCIe 4.0 x4 links, which is each paired with an M.2 connector. Thus each drive should be able to achieve full speed – in order to ensure this, the drive also comes with a full aluminium heatsink and fan, which operates at a reasonably low RPM. The fan can be enabled or disabled via a switch on the PCIe bracket, and the bracket also has four activity LEDs for each of the drives.

    One of the big issues with the older PCIe 3.0 version was the support of the card on different systems. The card worked well on AMD systems, but had issue with Intel systems, because Intel’s PCIe solution did not support multiple endpoints in the same way. With this new solution, that problem ultimately disappears, because Intel has no PCIe 4.0 solution right now.

    We expect the Hyper M.2 x16 Gen 4 card to be available soon, focused mainly for Threadripper and EPYC systems. Pricing should be equivalent to the PCIe 3.0 version.

    12:00p
    Seeing Is Believing: Intel Teases DG1 Discrete Xe GPU With Laptop & Desktop Dev Cards At CES 2020

    While CES 2020 technically doesn’t wrap up for another couple of days, I’ve already been asked a good dozen or so times what the neatest or most surprising product at the show has been for me. And this year, it looks like that honor is going to Intel. Much to my own surprise, the company has their first Xe discrete client GPU, DG1, at the show. And while the company is being incredibly coy on any actual details for the hardware, it is none the less up and running, in both laptop and desktop form factors.

    1:00p
    CES 2020: Lenovo’s Yoga Slim 7 15-Inch Packs Ice Lake & GeForce GTX

    As part of their CES 2020 offerings, Lenovo has introduced its new ultra-slim 15.6-inch-class laptop aimed at a wide range of performance levels. When equipped with entry-level hardware, the multi-purpose Yoga Slim 7 15 notebook can be used for office and other applications that do not need a lot of horsepower, whereas beefier models can be used for gaming, thanks to the inclusion of NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX GPUs.

    The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 15 laptop is equipped with a 15.6-inch Full-HD IPS display and is based on Intel’s 10th Generation Core ‘Ice Lake’ processor. This is paired with 8 GB or 16 GB of LPDDR4X memory as well as a 256GB/512GB/1TB PCIe SSD. All versions of the Yoga Slim 7 15 come with the usual connectivity and multimedia capabilities for higher-end notebooks, including Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth, Thunderbolt 3, HDMI, a SD card reader, a Windows Hello-compliant webcam, and a 3.5-mm combo audio jack.

    Meanwhile, all versions of the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 15 laptops will come in Slate Grey CNC-machined aluminum chassis. So they will look and feel rather similar (yet not the same!). However, they will be very different under the hood.

    Lower-end versions of the laptop will rely on Intel’s integrated graphics, which as we're talking about Ice Lake, is more than enough for productivity and video playback applications, as well as entry-level gaming with the higher-end Iris Plus CPUs. More advanced Yoga Slim 7 15 notebooks step up to NVIDIA’s GeForce MX graphics processor, while the beefiest configurations feature NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX GPUs to offer solid laptop gaming performance.

    With all of that said, there are some form factor differences depending on the GPU used. Higher-end discrete GPU requires better cooling, so while the typical Yoga Slim 7 15 SKUs with integrated graphics or a GeForce MX GPU are 15.9 mm thick, the versions of the Slim with a GeForce GTX are 17.9 mm thick. Furthermore, while ‘default’ machines weigh 1.6 kg – 1.7 kg, those with a high-performance GPU weigh 1.8 kg – 1.9 kg, a notable difference in size and weight.

    Lenovo’s Yoga Slim 7 15 will hit the market this April at prices starting at $1209.99.

    Related Reading:

    Source: Lenovo

    2:00p
    CES 2020: Samsung’s 8K QLED TVs Use AI Quantum 8K SoC, Add Support For AV1 Video

    Most years CES feels first and foremost like a TV show, and certainly this year's show hasn't disappointed. Among the many vendors making TV announcements for CES 2020 was Samsung, who introduced its upcoming lineup of premium 8K QLED televisions, the Q950-series. Samsung's new Ultra-HD TVs offer a 7680×4320 resolution with quantum dot enhancements, while under the hood Samsung is using its new "AI Quantum 8K" SoC that brings support for the cutting-edge AV1 codec as well as some additional capabilities.

    One of the key features of Samsung’s Q950-series 8K televisions is the so-called ‘Infinity Screen’ design that uses extremely narrows bezel to produce a scree-to-body ratio of 99%. Samsung also went thin on depth, with a thickness of just 15 mm, making the TV look rather small for the big panel within.

    Unfortunately, though not uncommon for CES TV announcements, Samsung is not disclosing much in the way of the general characteristics of the Q950-series televisions; so if nothing else, we'd expect them to be same or better than those of its predecessors, the Q900-series. Which, as a refresher, those TVs featured a quantum dot-enhanced LED backlight that is also capable of FALD-like operation – which Samsung calls Direct Full Array Elite technology – driving a peak brightness of 4000 nits (the maximum luminance at which HDR content is mastered these days). Furthermore, the Q900-series TVs were already hitting 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut.

    Moving on, another important element of the Samsung Q950 Ultra-HD TV family is that they incorporate the company’s latest "Quantum Processor 8K" SoC, which has higher compute and machine learning performance. Along with Samsung's latest generation upscaling technologies – all but required given the lack of 8K native content today – the SoC is also capable of AV1 decoding. This makes the Q950 among the first TVs to get AV1 decoding, and sets it up nicely to be ready for next-generation streaming options using the higher efficiency codec.

    In addition to video-related enhancements, Samsung also improved the audio sub-system of the of its Q950-series TVs both in terms of hardware and in terms of software. On the hardware side of things, the TV has an integrated 5.1 audio subsystem. As for software, the televisions support such capabilities as Active Voice Amplifier that improves voice clarity based on ambient noises; Object Tracking Sound+ to enhance surround sound in response to movements on the screen, and Q-Symphony to align the work of built-in audio subsystem with Samsung’s soundbars. Last but not least, the Q950-series TVs also support various voice assistants, such as Amazon’s Alexa, Samsung’s Bixby, and Google’s Assistant.

    Samsung’s Q950-series televisions will be available later this year.

    Related Reading:

    Source: Samsung

    3:00p
    CES 2020: Lian Li Announces New LANCOOL II Chassis, Now With Mesh

    A regular fixture at CES, revered chassis manufacturer Lian Li is once again at this year's event, showcasing its latest addition to the LANCOOL range of cases, the Lian Li LANCOOL II Mesh. The Mesh builds on the LANCOOL series with an integrated mesh front panel for improved airflow.

    An alternative to the original LANCOOL II chassis, the LANCOOL II Mesh encompasses a mesh front panel and flip shroud panels which are designed to provide better airflow throughout. This allows builders with high-end CPUs and video cards to still receive plenty of cooling, as mesh panels allow more airflow to circulate in comparison to solid panels, as such with the original LANCOOL II model

    The Lian Li LANCOOL II Mesh is a mid-tower chassis constructed from steel and features tempered glass side panels, much like its more solid sibling, the LANCOOL II. It supports PSUs up to 210 mm in length, as well as support for graphics cards up to a maximum length of 384 mm. As for fans, there is space for eight fans overall, with up to three 120 mm or two 140 mm in the front, two 120 mm above the PSU chamber, up to two 140 mm fans in the top, and a single 120 mm fan at the rear.

    While Lian Li informed us that the  LANCOOL II Mesh won't be available until April, it is expected to launch with an MSRP of $89.99.

    4:00p
    CES 2020: Patriot Demonstrates PXD External SSD w/ USB-C

    Among the many storage vendors at this year's CES was Patriot, who was showcasing its upcoming PXD external SSD. The device features a USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C interface and is designed for users seeking for a high-performance ultra-portable storage solution.

    The Patriot PXD drives are based on the Phison PS5013-E13T DRAM-less controller and 3D NAND memory, making it closer to a full-fledged SSD rather than a simple USB flash drive. Because of this, the external drive is well positioned to exceed standard USB flash drives in almost every metric, not the least of which is much high performance, of course, but also higher reliability as well as endurance. Meanwhile, since the PXD is still a mobile storage solution that is intended to be used like a USB flash drive, it will come in a metal enclosure.

    Patriot plans to offer its PXD SSDs in 512 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB configurations. The company rates the drives for up to 1000 MB/s sequential read and write speeds, which is generally a limit for a USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface.

    Patriot is expected to start shipments of its PXD external SSDs sometimes later this year. Pricing has not been announced, as ultimately that will be highly dependent on where NAND prices are once the drive finally ships.

    Related Reading:

    Source: Patriot

    5:00p
    CES 2020: ZOTAC Announces ZBOX Edge MI643 Powered By Intel Comet Lake

    All told, ZOTAC has launched several ZBOX SFF PCs at this year's CES. Typical for the company's wide reach, they're gearing up to release a range of boxes at multiple TDPs, and incorporating CPUs from both x86 vendors. Towards the higher end of their latest product stack is the ZOTAC ZBOX Edge MI643, which like the rest of the Edge series PCs, is non-exclusively focused on the edge computing market. Overall, the MI643 is a compact desktop system based on Intel's Core i5-10210U quad-core processor, and measures just 1.12 inches tall.

    Under the hood, the quad-core Intel processor offers a base frequency of 1.60 GHz, and turbo clocks up to 4.20 GHz. The configurable TDP of between 10 and 25 W makes it ideal for smaller systems which usually sacrifice size for cooling potential. For graphics, the MI643 is utilizing Comet Lake's integrated Intel UHD graphics, which offers a base frequency of 300 MHz and a maximum turbo frequency of 1.10 GHz.

    Elsewhere, some of the main features of the ZOTAC ZBOX Edge MI643 include two SODIMM slots capable of supporting up to 64 GB of DDR4-2400/2666 memory, with two M.2 slots for available for M.2 SSDs. On the rear panel is two Gigabit Ethernet ports, as well as an antenna port for the 802.11ac wireless interface (which also offers BT 5.0 connectivity). In terms of USB options, there are three USB 3.1 G1 Type-A ports and one USB 3.1 G1 Type-C port. The ZOTAC ZBOX Edge MI643 also includes a single 3.5 mm audio jack, a microSD card reader, and a pair of video outputs consisting of an HDMI 2.0 port and a DisplayPort 1.2 output.

    At present, there is no information on the expected pricing or availability of the MI643, but it is expected that they will hit retail shelves in the coming months.

    6:00p
    ARRIS Expands Wi-Fi 6 Portfolio with AX6600 SURFboard mAX Mesh System

    ARRIS announced the SURFboard mAX AX6600 Mesh Wi-Fi 6 System, a Broadcom BCM6755-based design, at CES 2020. In 2019, ARRIS had announced the SURFboard mAX PRO AX11000 for $650 (kit of two) and the SURFboard mAX PLUS AX7800 for $550 (kit of two). The new AX6600-class SURFboard mAX will enter at a lower price point (exact pricing was not announced) to complement the higher-end kits.

    Similar to other AX6600-class Wi-Fi 6 mesh designs, the SURFboard mAX also comes with a tri-band configuration (2x2 2.4 GHz for 600 Mbps, 2x2 5 GHz for 1200 Mbps, and a 4x4 160 MHz-wide 5 GHz radio for 4800 Mbps). The 4x4 is used as a dedicated backhaul in the mesh kit. ARRIS claims that a kit of two can blanket a 5500 sq. ft. area.

    In terms of the internal components, the unit seems similar to the Asus ZenWiFi AX (XT8), but the industrial design and antennae placement (which affects performance) are different. Additionally, the SURFboard mAX AX6600 comes with only two gigabit Ethernet ports per unit (unlike the Asus ZenWiFi which comes with a 2.5 Gbps port). ARRIS also indicated Alexa compatibility for the unit.

    Availability is slated for Q2 2020, and the pricing ought to be under the $550 mark (given that the mAX PLUS AX7800 kit sells for that). Similar to the other members of the mAX family, the AX6600 version will also be available as a standalone router.

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