Tech News Digest Week 21: Top Biggest Tech News

Technology landscape is move faster than ever - we bring to you the latest in the world of technology from this week.

USB’s power upgrade

Since its market debut in 2015, USB-C has been found in notebook computers and smartphones. In 2020, more than 70% of new personal computers and more than 50% of new smartphones were shipped with USB-C. The first big news is that there is an update to the power of USB Type-C i.e., USB C will now come in a 240-watt option - called Extended Power Range, or EPR. This is more than double the improvement over the current power capacity of 100 watts. So what does this increase in power even mean? With the new higher power version, you could plug it into devices like gaming laptops, 4K monitors such as Dell's UltraSharp 32-inch 4K monitor that has a peak power usage of 230 watts, HP's 17-inch Omen gaming laptop would use similar power levels as well. USB C EPR cables are set to hit the market in the second half of 2021.

Armv9 architecture

ARM (Advanced RISC Machines) where RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) makes 32-bit and 64-bit multiple core processors. These processors perform a smaller number and various types of computer instructions which means that that they can operate at a higher speed with lower power. Therefore, ARM processors are extensively used in smartphones, tablets and wearables. The second big news for the week is that Arm has introduced its latest CPU and GPU designs, utilising its new Armv9 architecture, its first in a decade, which means big jumps in performance, along with new security and AI features. Phones with the latest ARM CPU and GPU will get a boost in performance by up to 30 percent and increase power efficiency by 20 peecent.

So it will likely be the beginning of 2022 when the new Arm CPU and GPU designs will begin to appear in new phones — and that’s assuming the global semiconductor shortage doesn’t push out next year’s products even further out. But it’s still an exciting sneak peek at the potential of what might be coming next in the future of smartphones.

Analog to Digital Chips

Analog to Digital microchips are an essential component of a vast array of everyday technology, such as mobile phones and tablets, where they convert analogue signals into digital signals.

The third big news for this week is that - A team, comprising of Brigham Young University scientists, have developed a record-breaking analog to digital microchip that far exceeds previous technology in both speed and efficiency. From an efficiency perspective, this newly developed ADC consumes only 21 milli-Watts of power at 10GHz for ultra-wideband wireless communications; current ADCs consume hundreds of milli-Watts or even Watts of power at comparable speeds. To accomplish this feat, the researchers enhanced a specific component of the ADC circuit called the DAC – which stands for the exact reverse of ADC – digital-to-analogue converter. By doing this, they could achieve higher bandwidths without requiring additional power consumption, therefore boosting efficiency. The team of scientists are optimistic that their ACD microchip technology can help to further advance autonomous vehicles which use a ton of wireless bandwidth, wearables like smart glasses or smart contact lenses, and even things such as implantable devices.

Amazon adds MGM to cart

Amazon Prime has made some big swings when it comes to originals, creating popular series like The Boys and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel that show it is a major player in streaming, until now it did not have the scale of content library that it needed to compete with Netflix.

The fourth big news for this week is that Amazon has confirmed its acquisition of MGM for $8.45 billion. The studio, which has a long and storied history in the world of cinema, also owns franchises including the Rocky movies. MGM has a library of more than 4,000 movies and 17,000 hours of TV, so the acquisition should offer a massive boost to Amazon Prime's library of content.

Amazon Prime Video is already a decent-value service considering that it's combined with a number of other benefits for members – this acquisition should only result in more and better content on the platform, and perhaps a faster turnaround for movies from their theatrical releases to their streaming debut.

iOS 14.6

The final big news for week 21 of 2021 is Apples latest iOS update. Almost exactly a month after iOS 14.5 rolled out to iPhones, iOS 14.6 is now available to download for iPhone 6S and newer phones. While this isn’t a huge update, it does include some significant new features.

The biggest is perhaps Apple Podcasts Subscriptions, which allows you to access paid subscriptions for specific podcasts, unlocking things like ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to content.

Another new feature that is unfortunately limited the US is the Apple Card Family, which allows two people to share an Apple Card, and also allows parents to share their Apple Card with their children, complete with spending limits and parental controls. In terms of smaller features, the Lost Mode option in the Find My app now lets you leave a phone number (rather than just an email address) that you can be contacted on if someone finds your missing item, and Voice Control users can unlock their iPhone after a restart using just their voice. iOS 14.6 also paves the way for lossless audio from Apple Music; however this feature isn’t being switched on until sometime in June. Less excitingly but perhaps most importantly, iOS 14.6 also includes fixes for 43 security vulnerabilities, so it’s worth downloading immediately even if you're not excited about the new features.

These were our top 5 for week 21. Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below. Thanks for reading. Cheers.