Acer introduces the desktop PC to the modular concept seen in Google's Project Ara at IFA 2015 with the Revo Build M1-601, a NUC-style Windows 10 PC users can upgrade through stackable blocks.

The Revo Build build is compact, occuping a desk area of just 125mm square. It is powered by low-power Intel Pentium or Celeron processors and 8GB RAM, with blocks initially adding a 500GB HDD, 1TB HDD, wireless charging dock, speaker unit, GPU, projector and microphone. More blocks should follow "gradually" post-launch.

IDC expects global PC shipments to fall by -8.7% in 2015, with further declines taking place during 2016-- making for 5 years of declining PC shipments before growth resumes on 2017.

The analyst expected Q2 2015 to be a transition period for the PC market, with vendors preparing for H2 2015 Windows 10 system shipments-- but a combination of "stubbornly large" notebook inventories and currency devaluations only led to further shrinkage. Other issues hampering near future PC market growth include free Windows 10 upgrades, a short-term dearth of new models and channels reluctant to take stock.

Intel Developer Forum 2015 involved more than RealSense cameras and Optane storage-- the company also presented what it describes as the smallest socketed motherboard standard, dubbed "5x5".

Named after their dimensions (5.5- x 5.8-inch, or 140 x 147mm), 5x5 motherboards have a 29% smaller surface area than the mini-ITX standard. The boards build on Intel's NUC mini-PC concept, and feature a land grid array (LGA) processor socket, two laptop-style SODIMM slots and storage in either 2.5-inch SATA or M.2 SSD form.

The standard puts the CPU in a fixed motherboard position, making it easier for designers to build cases with integrated cooling systems.

Researchers from the University of Bristol and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) announce a light-based breakthrough in quantum computing-- an optical chip able to "process photons in infinite number of ways."

The optical chip brings together a number of quantum experiments, and will even "realise a plethora of future protocols that have not even been conceived yet." It also allows for faster and easier testing of quantum science theories and quantum computing experiments.

How so? Typical quantum science experiments involve working with "notoriously fragile" systems demanding months to build. The optical chip simplifies such work by being easily reprogrammable, allowing scientists to perform nothing less than "a year's worth of experiments in a matter of hours."

PC chassis and cooling vendor NZXT launches an update of the GRID+ digital fan controller-- the GRID+ V2, a refinement on the original version featuring improved CAM software and individual fan control.

The controller features 6 fan ports plus 2 splitters, allowing control for up to 8 fans (max 30W). Users can set custom fan names and use either preset or custom fan profiles, with the GRID+ V2 adjusting fan speeds according to temperature.

The PlayStation Vita-style handheld SteamOS gaming machine concept makes a comeback at Gamescom in the shape of the Smach Zero, an x86-based device promising access to over 1000 games from the Steam catalogue.

Formerly known as the SteamBoy Machine, the Smach Zero features a 5-inch display, 2 touch pads, a control stick, 7 buttons on the front and 6 on the rear, with a control scheme "similar" to the official Steam controller.

Intel uses Gamescom to launch the 6th generation "Skylake" desktop processor family with a pair of enthusiast quad-core models-- the Core i7-6700K and i5-6600K, both featuring the Z170 chipset.

Designed for enthusiast and gamer customers, the Skylake chips are the first 14nm performance CPUs from the company. Both feature relatively high base frequencies (4.0GHz for the Core i7-6700K and 3.5GHz for the i5-6600K) and a full range base-clock, with rumours saying users can overclock the i7-6700K to up to 5GHz.

Taiwanese integrated circuit vendors, including ASMedia Technology, Etron technology and VIA Labs are preparing for widespread adoption of USB 3.1 Type-C solutions in notebooks and smartphones, DigiTimes reports.

Such adoption mainly stems from one company-- Apple, specifically through the inclusion of a USB Type-C port in the latest MacBook series. The supposed upcoming "enterprise iPad" is also said to feature a USB Type-C port.