

News
PlasticArm – flexible amorphous silicon microprocessor
Modern flexible electronic devices are so named primarily because of flexible screens. What about flexible electronics?
Arm announced PlasticArm, the first flexible microprocessor. It was created by Arm Research together with PragmatIC, and the project started back in 2013, and already in 2015 the first prototype was created.
The fully functional PlasticArm chip in question was created on October 27, 2020. The solution is a simple microprocessor based on the Cortrex-M0 core with 128 bytes of RAM and 456 bytes of flash memory. The operating frequency is only 29 kHz with a consumption of about 20 mW. But at the same time, as stated in the press release, it is 12 times more complex than the previous flexible solution of this kind.
PlasticArm is made of amorphous silicon, which, due to its non-crystalline structure, can bend. The material itself is not new at all – it is used to create solar panels and LCDs. Plus, it’s quite cheap. The catch is that, at the moment, high-performance and energy-efficient chips cannot be made from amorphous silicon. However, if we talk about wearable electronics, then the available capabilities may be enough, and the flexibility allows you to create previously impossible products.

News
MSI Introduces the World’s First Power Supply Supporting the New ATX 3.0 Standard

The world’s first power supply that fully supports ATX 3.0 specifications has been announced. We are talking about the model MSI MEG Ai1300P, which is designed for top-end next-generation graphics processors. It withstands power surges up to 2600W and includes high quality components.
The novelty supports a 16-pin 12VHPWR power connector, which can transfer up to 600W of power. At the same time, it is claimed that the block is very reliable and provides higher efficiency compared to blocks of the ATX 2.0 standard.
Note that other power supplies do not yet fully support ATX 3.0, so they require a special adapter. It allows you to combine multiple regular 8-pin PCIe power cables into one. The MSI MEG Ai1300P does not have this problem; along with 8-pin PCIe connectors, it has a 12+4 PCIe 5.0 12VHPWR connector.
The cost of the new proc block has not been named, it is also unknown when it will go on sale and in which countries. But at the same time, as expected, the new Nvidia graphics cards will not be too voracious.
News
240 Hz, 65 inches, 4K and HDMI 2.1 for $445. TCL Thunderbird Peng 6 PRO TVs are presented in China

TCL, under its own Thunderbird sub-brand, has introduced the Peng 6 PRO TV line in China. The devices have interesting characteristics at a low price: for example, the younger 55-inch model is priced at $355. The 65-inch is $445, the 75-inch is $670.
TVs are equipped with 4K panels covering 93% of the DCI-P3 color space and a frame rate of 120 Hz (240 Hz with overclocking). The audio subsystem is represented by four loudspeakers: two broadband and two high-frequency ones. The hardware platform is based on the SoC MediaTek MTK 9652 with a CPU represented by four Arm Cortex-A73 cores. The amount of RAM was 3 GB, flash memory – 64 GB. There are also Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.2 adapters. Of course, not without HDMI 2.1 ports. New items are available for pre-order, real sales will start on August 14.
News
LG Unveils Huge 97-inch OLED Screen That Delivers 5.1 Sound Without Speakers

LG today unveiled a huge 97-inch OLED panel and called it its largest OLED screen ever – even though LG already has an OLED TV with that size. What is the peculiarity of the novelty? In the application of Cinematic Sound OLED (CSO) technology. Here the screen acts as a membrane: vibrating over all surfaces (and it is considerable here), sound is created. The creators assure that the sound corresponds to the 5.1 format – and no usual speakers are needed.
In fact, CSO technology is not new – it was used in the LG G8 smartphone. True, that model failed just in sound tests – DxOMark experts noted the absence of low frequencies and numerous artifacts. But, probably, in a few years, LG was able to refine the technology, and now the sound output is much better in quality. In addition, the screen sizes of a smartphone and TV are incomparable.
The new panel uses OLED EX technology, as in the latest flagship LG TVs, so the picture on the screen should be bright and saturated. A commercial TV based on the new 97-inch panel is expected this year, with an estimated price of $25,000.
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