Hardware News

“AGI has already been created”: Huang praises the capabilities of the GPT-6 Astra Presented by OpenAI last week The GPT-6 Astra AI model received the highest ratings in the professional community, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang did not remain aloof from the situation, generously announcing the creation of strong artificial intelligence following the release of this product from an American startup. Noting in passing that Astra was trained on Nvidia chips, the head of the company succinctly reported on the pages of the social network X: em “AGI has already been created.”This term refers to “strong artificial intelligence”, which in its capabilities is either comparable to or superior to human ones.Congratulating the OpenAI team on such success, he noted that only four years had passed between the release of the o1 and Astra AI models. Similar assessments were heard from representatives of OpenAI itself, as the startup’s president, Greg Brockman, told reporters last week: “Welcome to the era of AGI.”The developers of Astra define AGI as “highly autonomous systems that are superior to humans in most activities of economic value.”OpenAI clients will begin receiving access to Astra this week.According to Brockman, in the future, people will begin to remember the moment of the creation of AGI, tying it to approximately the present period, and quite possibly to this specific model (Astra).At the same time, the president of OpenAI himself is not inclined to believe that AGI has already been created. Some critics have said that Jensen Huang's claims of creating strong AI are simply muddying the waters and "running ahead of the locomotive" because he does not provide evidence or rigorous definitions to ensure the creation of strong AI.Well-known researcher in certain circles Gary Marcus, for example, is convinced that Astra meets only one or two of the ten criteria that allow us to talk about the creation of AGI. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called AGI a marketing term that has a very vague definition.Jensen Huang, noting the progress of the AI ​​industry as a whole, said last Sunday that the next phase will include 400,000 GPUs as part of computing accelerators. If you value what we do, you can support our projects on Boosty. With love, NSWTL.

Researchers find vulnerabilities in LG TVs that enable covert audio recording Smart TVs are joining smartphones as devices capable of monitoring their owners, equipped with a similar arsenal of information-gathering channels—from webcams to microphones. An investigation by Gamer Nexus found that LG smart TVs record audio even when the screen is turned off and actively scan the local network. The creators of the more-than-two-hour feature on the eponymous channel enlisted independent cybersecurity experts for their investigation, conducting specialized testing of several LG smart TV models, including the G5. Analysis of network traffic and examination of the firmware showed that the TVs actively scan the local wireless network, identifying devices—including smartphones, smartwatches, computers, and other equipment—that are not necessarily connected to the TV’s operation. The researchers reported the collection of internal IP and MAC addresses, the names of individual devices, signal parameters, and information about nearby Wi‑Fi networks—including their names, signal strengths, and channels. This data set could be used to identify devices and determine their locations. At the same time, the creators of the video noted that they were unable to decrypt all of the traffic and therefore could not determine the contents of every transmitted packet. The investigation also examines the operation of ACR, or automatic content recognition. This technology takes audio and video data—including screenshots or audio fragments—converts them into digital fingerprints, and compares them with media databases to identify the content being viewed. The authors claim that this telemetry can also operate when an external source is connected via HDMI. The video on YouTube This information is then transmitted for processing by LG Ad Solutions, the division responsible for targeted advertising. Approximately 216 million LG smart TVs are in use worldwide, allowing the company to collect extensive and representative statistics. Taking into account the secondary devices scanned by LG TVs, the company effectively has access to approximately 363 million devices in the United States alone, displaying advertising in proportion to the number of users. LG smart TVs also analyze exactly what their users watch in order to select advertising offers more accurately; to do so, they selectively capture video and audio played on the device. The investigation’s most serious conclusion concerns not the standard ACR function, but vulnerabilities in webOS. According to the authors, these vulnerabilities can be used to record audio from a connected microphone even when the screen appears to be turned off. When the network connection was disabled, the recording was stored locally, and after the connection was restored, the researchers were able to access it by exploiting the vulnerabilities. This does not prove that LG automatically records conversations and sends them to the company’s servers under normal operating conditions, but it does demonstrate a serious vulnerability in webOS. Some of the vulnerabilities, including those involving remote code execution, are undergoing responsible disclosure procedures, so the technical details have not yet been made public. The investigators advise disconnecting LG TVs from the network and using separate devices for online services. If you value what we do, you can support our projects on Boosty. With love, NSWTL.

Doogee brought an AI-powered thermal-imaging rugged smartphone, a flagship with a huge battery, and other gadgets to IFA 2026 Doogee showcased new devices at IFA 2026 for outdoor enthusiasts and people working in challenging conditions. The main new products include the rugged V Max 2 Pro and S300 Plus Thermal smartphones, as well as the Anymoving M1 Pro sports smartwatch and BoneBeat Swim Ray swimming headphones. At IFA 2025, Doogee introduced the V Max 2 Pro as its new flagship among classic rugged smartphones. Its main feature is a 22,000 mAh battery. It supports 120 W fast charging, while the smartphone itself can supply power to other devices via USB-C at up to 33 W. The rear panel also houses a small display for showing charging information, along with two camping lights offering a combined brightness of up to 1,000 lumens. The smartphone is powered by a 4 nm MediaTek Dimensity 8300 chip and features a 6.78-inch display with a 120 Hz refresh rate, a 200 MP camera, and a 64 MP night-vision module. The body complies with IP68, IP69K, and MIL-STD-810H standards. The top configuration includes 16 GB of RAM, expandable virtually to 32 GB, as well as 1 TB of storage. In addition to the V Max 2 Pro, Doogee also showed the V Max Play, which has a built-in projector capable of producing an image up to 52 inches in size. The Doogee S300 Plus Thermal, meanwhile, is primarily aimed at users who need a smartphone for more than just communication. Its key distinguishing feature is a built-in thermal imager with a resolution of 256 × 192 pixels and a refresh rate of 25 Hz. The system uses AI algorithms to enhance the detail of thermal images and is intended, among other things, for locating heat sources, diagnosing equipment, and working in low-visibility conditions. In other respects, this is also a fairly powerful rugged device: it features a Dimensity 8300 chip, a 6.78-inch display with a 120 Hz refresh rate, an 11,000 mAh battery, 66 W charging, a 200 MP main camera, and a night-vision camera. It supports 5G and offers 1 TB of built-in storage, expandable by an additional 2 TB, as well as protection compliant with IP68, IP69K, and MIL-STD-810H standards. The Anymoving M1 Pro sports watch features a bright 1.5-inch AMOLED display and dual-band GPS navigation. The watch can plot routes and track movement even in areas without mobile coverage. To enable this, it offers offline maps and navigation with the ability to retrace a completed route. The claimed battery life reaches 30 days, while intelligent sports algorithms are designed to analyze training load. In this way, Doogee is focusing on battery life and navigation capabilities that are especially useful during hikes, mountain routes, and other trips far from civilization. The BoneBeat Swim Ray are sports headphones with an open design and bone conduction, intended for use both on land and while swimming. They are IP68-rated, equipped with 32 GB of built-in storage for playing music without a smartphone—a useful feature when used in water—and support Bluetooth. The flagship version also features LED lighting to improve visibility during nighttime runs. If you value what we do, you can support our projects on Boosty. With love, NSWTL.

The ramp-up of Nvidia Rubin shipments will allow TSMC’s 3 nm process to become the largest in monetary terms as early as the second half of this year In the previous quarter, the 5 nm process accounted for 33% of TSMC’s total revenue, while the share of its 3 nm technology remained at 30%, although it had increased from the 25% recorded in the first quarter. According to some estimates, the 3 nm process will become the company’s leading source of revenue in the second half of the year, overtaking 5 nm. To achieve this, TSMC’s newest technology—leaving aside the still more modest 2 nm process—will have to surpass the 30% mark of total revenue and reach a record $12.7 billion in absolute terms. Such trends will have a favorable effect on the company’s profit margin. TSMC will supply 3 nm chips not only to Nvidia, but also to AMD and Broadcom; however, the former is the Taiwanese contractor’s largest customer in this area. According to Wedbush analysts, if TSMC processed approximately 150,000 wafers per month using its 3 nm technology in the first half of the year, that figure will rise to 180,000 wafers per month by the next quarter. At the same time, 2 nm production volumes are also increasing. By 2028, combined 2 nm and 3 nm production is expected to reach 400,000 wafers per month. New facilities are planned for the 3 nm process. One of them will begin operations in the first half of next year at the Tainan technology park in Taiwan. TSMC’s second facility in the US state of Arizona will also specialize in 3 nm products, with production scheduled to begin in the second half of next year. In Japan, TSMC’s second facility, JASM, will start producing 3 nm products by 2028. At the same time, angstrom-level processes, which are “thinner” than 2 nm, are also being developed. During the current half of the year, work to adapt the A16 process for mass production will be completed. In addition to Apple and Nvidia, OpenAI will also be ready to use this technology. The latter has ordered its own Jalapeno chips to be manufactured using the 3 nm process, but their second generation will be able to combine A16 with CoWoS packaging technology. In Nvidia’s case, the TSMC version of the A16 process may be needed to produce graphics processors based on the Feynman architecture and Rosa central processing units. If you value what we do, you can support our projects on Boosty. With love, NSWTL.

HP Introduced the OmniBook Ultra 16 and X 14 Laptops with an Nvidia RTX Spark Processor HP has introduced the OmniBook Ultra 16 and OmniBook X 14 portable computers, which are built on the Nvidia RTX Spark processor platform. The vendor is also preparing to launch a desktop based on the same platform, but its detailed specifications have not yet been disclosed. The more powerful OmniBook Ultra 16, with up to 128 GB of unified memory and Blackwell graphics architecture, is suitable for running AI agents locally and handling resource-intensive tasks. The device delivers up to 1 petaflop of performance in FP4 computations. The OmniBook Ultra 16 is equipped with an OLED display supporting a 3K resolution and certified to meet the VESA DisplayHDR True Black 1000 standard. The new laptop features a redesigned hinge mechanism and a cooling system with larger heat pipes and a pair of slim fans. Power is supplied by a 99 Wh battery. HP claims that the new laptop can operate for up to 17 hours on a single charge, while charging the battery to 50% takes approximately 30 minutes. The more compact OmniBook X 14 is built on the same RTX Spark platform but comes in a thinner and lighter chassis. HP confirmed that it features an OLED display with support for DisplayHDR True Black 1000, although its other specifications have not yet been announced. Information about the RAM configuration and storage capacity is currently unavailable. As for battery life, HP promises up to 15 hours of operation without recharging. The laptop comes with a 140 W charger, which connects via a USB Type-C port. The OmniBook X 14 can be charged from 0% to 50% in approximately 30 minutes. Both new products will go on sale this fall. Their retail prices have not yet been disclosed. Around the same time, the OmniDesk desktop based on the RTX Spark platform will also enter the market, but its specifications are still unknown. If you value what we do, you can support our projects on Boosty. With love, NSWTL.

CDs Are Experiencing a Revival — Compact Disc Sales in the US Soared by Nearly 46% The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has published a report stating that compact disc sales skyrocketed in the first half of 2026. According to the organization, 17.7 million CDs were sold during the first six months of this year, significantly more than the 12 million discs sold during the same period last year. RIAA data indicates that compact disc sales grew by 45.7% year over year in unit terms and by 58.6% in monetary terms. What makes the situation even more surprising is that CD sales fell by 22% between 2024 and 2025. Interestingly, RIAA was not the only organization to take notice of the significant increase in the popularity of CDs. In July, research firm Luminate published a report stating that 16.3 million discs were sold in the first half of 2026. The company believes that the growth in demand is linked to the release of special editions by K-pop artists such as BTS. The report noted that the growing popularity of CDs was driven by members of Generation Z and millennials viewing physical media as collectible items. According to Luminate’s estimates, only about half of all disc buyers own CD players and use them for their intended purpose. At the same time, vinyl records are continuing their revival. During the first six months of the year, 26.5 million records were sold, nearly 21% more than during the same period in 2025. Sales of audio on other physical media also increased by more than 73%, reaching 1.6 million units. If you value what we do, you can support our projects on Boosty. With love, NSWTL.

China Develops a Four-Legged Guide Robot for Blind People People succeeded in creating robotic dogs long before they learned how to develop androids with adequately functional motor skills, but the main applications for the former have so far seemed somewhat frivolous. The Zhiyuan Research Institute in Hangzhou, China, has demonstrated the use of a robotic dog as a guide for blind people, thereby opening up another useful field of application for such robots. The development, designated Xiaoyuan, was first demonstrated at an exhibition in Beijing dedicated to rehabilitation and care equipment for people with disabilities. Wheels installed on all four legs make the robot’s movement smoother, but it can also fully use its legs to climb and descend stairs and slopes smoothly enough not to cause discomfort to the blind person it is accompanying. In addition, wheeled movement reduces the noise generated by the robot’s actuators, thus avoiding additional interference for a person accustomed to navigating their surroundings by sound. Among other capabilities, the robot can detect obstacles located above waist level, such as low-hanging tree branches, which cannot be identified using a cane or other traditional methods. Its positioning accuracy when plotting routes with the guide robot’s built-in navigation system is measured at 30 centimeters. Indoors, the robot successfully detects 99% of obstacles; in open spaces, this figure falls slightly to 96%. In addition to accessing digital maps of the surrounding area, the robot has information about the presence of ramps and other structural features in specific buildings that facilitate access for people with disabilities. It can also request help from one of the volunteers nearby who have left their contact information in the relevant database. This development is highly relevant for China, as the country is currently home to more than 17 million people with visual impairments, while the number of trained guide dogs is limited to around 400. Training a single dog takes about a year, and obtaining one for use costs $29,776. In this situation, a robotic guide dog could become a good alternative. Trials involving blind volunteers have already begun in several regions of the People’s Republic of China. If you value what we do, you can support our projects on Boosty. With love, NSWTL.

Xiaomi is so confident in its traction battery that it is willing to replace a car destroyed by a battery fire with a new one For a long time, in addition to their high cost, limited range, and lengthy charging process, electric vehicles were plagued by incidents of spontaneous fires that damaged their reputation. In recent years, battery manufacturing and safety technologies have advanced significantly, and Xiaomi now offers buyers of its hybrids highly attractive warranty terms, including the replacement of a burned-out vehicle with a new one. However, this applies only to vehicle models equipped with traction batteries from the new Dragonscale (Longjia) family, as CarNewsChina explains. These include the recently introduced hybrids in the Skynomad family. Xiaomi developed their traction batteries in close cooperation with specialized manufacturers CALB and Sunwoda. The first owner of a vehicle equipped with such a battery receives a lifetime warranty from Xiaomi. However, to qualify, the owner must connect to the company’s cloud service, which enables telemetry monitoring of operating parameters, and must also undergo regular maintenance at authorized service centers. The manufacturer’s warranty also covers losses related to spontaneous ignition of the traction battery caused by manufacturing defects. In this case, the automaker is prepared to replace the burned-out vehicle with a new one identical in specifications and equipment. The warranty terms for fires resulting from collisions or damage to the underbody, where the battery is located, are somewhat less generous but still attractive. In this case, Xiaomi undertakes to pay the vehicle owner the difference between the insurance payout and the cost of a new car. Vehicles used for commercial purposes, whether as taxis or car-sharing vehicles, are not covered by these terms. If the vehicle is resold, the second owner also loses this type of warranty coverage for the traction battery. Xiaomi claims that the durability and safety of the Dragonscale family of traction batteries exceed the requirements of China’s national standards. Additional insulators and an emergency mechanism for disconnecting defective cells from the power supply prevent fire from spreading within the battery structure. The battery management system remains constantly connected to the company’s “cloud,” enabling battery-cell condition monitoring ten times more frequently than required by China’s national standards. The Skynomad N90 and N70 hybrids, whose official sales Xiaomi will begin tomorrow, will receive batteries from this series along with the associated warranty coverage. If you value what we do, you can support our projects on Boosty. With love, NSWTL.

Foxconn’s revenue soared 52% in August on the back of the AI boom, and the company believes this is just the beginning The sustained growth in financial metrics demonstrated by companies associated with the AI sector amid the boom in related technologies has long concerned the more skeptical segment of investors, who are convinced that the bubble will eventually burst. Foxconn’s August figures indicate 52% revenue growth and continued conditions for further positive momentum. The company has become the primary contract manufacturer of server equipment for Nvidia and its customers, so Foxconn’s financial reports directly reflect the state of the industry. Analysts, on average, expect Foxconn’s revenue to increase by 37% for the current quarter, which ends in September. On the other hand, Foxconn remains heavily dependent on contract manufacturing services for Apple devices, particularly the iPhone, meaning that a potential downturn in the consumer electronics segment could harm the financial position of this Taiwanese giant. August revenue of more than $29 billion was a seasonal record for Foxconn. Foxconn’s profit for August rose 35%, also exceeding analysts’ expectations. According to the company’s own forecasts, the second half of the year will be even stronger in terms of server-segment sales, so the growth rate of its financial metrics could improve further. At this stage, the company has a fairly positive view of its near-term prospects, enabling it to discuss them with a greater degree of confidence. The only factors that could negatively affect the business are global political and economic conditions, which remain unstable. If you value what we do, you can support our projects on Boosty. With love, NSWTL.

In 2027, Apple will release a smart camera that records only the events that matter In 2027, Apple plans to release a comprehensive home security system with support for smart video recording and image analysis powered by artificial intelligence algorithms, Bloomberg reports. Apple’s new security system is focused on privacy. Using AI, it will analyze footage from surveillance cameras, making it unnecessary to record continuously. The system will activate video recording only when it detects something important, such as movement in the frame. The manufacturer previously added a feature for displaying video streams from compatible security cameras through the Apple TV 4K set-top box. For now, it serves as the hub of such a system, but the company is expected to release a dedicated device in the future. Instead of saving all unprocessed video, the system will be able to notify the owner about things that may interest them—for example, informing them when a person appeared in the frame. This will help eliminate unnecessary bandwidth consumption and make it possible to track events preceding an alert more quickly. It was previously reported that Apple might release a smart security camera by the end of 2026; there was also speculation that the company intends to launch a smart video doorbell. Other brands produce similar devices as well—the challenge for Apple will be integrating them into its product ecosystem. If you value what we do, you can support our projects on Boosty. With love, NSWTL.