Occasionally the stars align. It is very rare in the laptop space that we're able to test two devices, with two very different CPU platforms, with the fewest number of variables possible. But those stars have aligned in 2019, and thanks to Microsoft's Surface Laptop 3 family, we have a rare opportunity to compare AMD and Intel's current-generation laptop platforms in a way that wouldn't normally be possible.

To that end, today we're having the ultimate laptop

Microsoft this evening has finally given their long-awaited next generation gaming console a name, announcing the Xbox Series X. The device, formerly known as Project Scarlett, is said to be four times more powerful than the current Xbox One X, and along with its new Xbox Wireless Controller will be available in the Holiday 2020 timeframe.

Microsoft has been drip-feeding information about their forthcoming console for the better part of a year now, so today’s announcement of the name and revealing the final design

While Samsung may have suffered a rather unforgettable snafu with their first attempt to launch their Galaxy Fold smartphone, following its re-launch a few months back, it looks like shipments of the cutting edge folding phone have turned out to be rather decent. Speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin, Young Sohn, the president and chief strategy officer of Samsung Electronics, stated that the company has sold about a million of the Galaxy Fold smartphones since its launch in September, a good start for the ultra-expensive phone.

Samsung formally introduced

Western Digital has been promoting its microwave assisted magnetic recording (MAMR) technology for over a couple of years now, yet surprisingly, its upcoming 18 TB and 20 TB drives are not really using the tech. The reason for this lies in the company's decision to use what they consider to be the right technology at the right time. To that end, Western Digital not only plans to use MAMR in the future, but is open to use heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) technology when time comes

At the annual RISC-V Summit this week, Samsung disclosed the use SiFive’s RISC-V cores for upcoming chips for a variety of applications. The company is joining a growing list of leading high-tech companies that have adopted the RISC-V architecture.

One of the applications that Samsung is using RISC-V cores in is mmWave RF processing by its upcoming 5G RF front-end modules. The latter will be used for Samsung’s flagship 5G smartphones due in 2020.

This week Apple launched its all-new Pro Display XDR monitor that happens to be one of the most advanced LCDs around, but one thing it lacks is a built-in webcam. When Apple releases its all-new products, in many cases it creates opportunities for other companies to capitalize on its devices. To enable owners of the $4,999 display to communicate stylishly, Logitech introduced its 4K Pro Magnetic Webcam, specifically designed for the Pro Display XDR.

On the hardware side of things,

Launching today are AMD’s Radeon RX 5500 XT cards. These cards are aimed at the sub-$200 market for 1080p gaming, effectively (and finally) replacing AMD’s long-lived Radeon RX 580 and RX 570 cards, and going head-to-head with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 and GTX 1660 families. As is typical for AMD in this price range, the company is actually launching two different

Thin-and-light notebooks with a 17-inch display are rather rare, as most 17-inch laptops are intended to be high performance desktop replacement-class machines. LG’s gram 17 has been a stand-out in that respect, targeting users seeking primarily for a sleek and lightweight PC. This week LG has introduced an updated gram 17 that retains its thin-and-light form-factor, but improves on its predecessor in almost every way possible when it comes to performance

Today at the IEEE IEDM Conference, TSMC is presenting a paper giving an overview of the initial results it has achieved on its 5nm process. This process is going to be the next step for any customer currently on the N7 or N7P processes as it shares a number design rules between the two. The new N5 process is set to offer a full node increase over the 7nm variants, and uses EUV technology extensively over 10+ layers, reducing the total steps in production over 7nm

Intel has hired Dr. Gary Patton, the former CTO at GlobalFoundries and an ex-head of IBM Microelectronics business. Dr Patton was leading Global Foundries leading edge processes before that project was cancelled. At Intel, Dr. Patton will be responsible for design enablement, a crucial connection between process technology, yields, performance, and time-to-market of actual products.

Gary Patton most recently served as the CTO of GlobalFoundries, where he was responsible for R&D and strategic decisions associated with upcoming process technologies.