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PCs - PC Components

At the Limit of Moore's Law With the 1 Molecule Transistor

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At the Limit of Moore's Law With the 1 Molecule Transistor

An international team of scientists from the US, Germany and Japan create what is possibly the smallest transistor ever-- one consisting of a single molecule and 12 atoms, reaching the very limit of Moore's law.

For the curious, the team used a highly stable scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to build the transistor out of a single molecule of phthalcocyanine and 12 positively charged indium atoms on an indium arsenide (InAs) crystal. The indium atoms act as electrical gates, allowing single atoms to hop over to change the charge state of the molecule.

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IDC: EMEA PCs "Continue to Suffer"

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IDC: EMEA PCs

IDC reports more declines for the EMEA PC market, as Q2 2015 shipments drop by -21.6% Y-o-Y to reach 17.2 million units due to a combination of unfavourable Y-o-Y comparisons, high inventories and higher price points.

H1 2014 was a particularly strong period for the industry, being the time when Windows XP-related renewals boosted shipments across the region.

"Q2 2015 was, as expected, a transition period between the very popular Microsoft Bing promotion, which supported sales over the past 4 quarters, and the forthcoming launch of Windows 10 at the end of July," the analyst remarks.

All 3 EMEA regions see "strong" contractions-- W. Europe posts a -19.3% Y-o-Y decline, CEE shipments drop by -24.3% and MEA is hit worst at -25.7%. The regions are equally hit by currency fluctuations and inventories, as well as double-digit declines in both consumer (-24%) and commercial (-18.9%) segments.

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Better Device Cooling Through White Graphene?

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Better Device Cooling Through White Graphene?

Graphene might be the wonder material the future, being ideal for both super-fast processors and batteries, and now a team at Rice University finds another application for the stuff-- the cooling of small electronics.

The cooling properties involve a "3D" variant of the material, dubbed "white graphene" (or hexagonal boron nitride, aka h-BN). White graphene appears to be a good heat conductor, and researchers say it can be used to move heat away from devices quickly and efficiently.

So far, the conductive properties have been tested through simulations of 3D white graphene planes connected by boron nitride nanotubes. These structures can move heat in all directions, beating the thermal limitations of regular graphene (where heat can move along the surface, but not through its multiple layers).

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PC Market Returns to Slump

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PC Market Returns to Slump

The PC market's recent return to growth was but a blip in between periods of decline, Gartner suggests, as global Q2 2015 shipments drop by 9.5% Y-o-Y to 68.4 million units, the steepest shipment decline since Q3 2013.

As the Statista chart shows, the PC market has been seeing falling shipments since Q2 2012, with only Q4 2014 showing a brief moment of growth. No wonder Gartner projects 2015 PC shipments will drop by 4.4%, even if it also insists the market will return to "slow and steady" growth come 2016.

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The Lenovo ideacentre Stick 300 Micro PC

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The Lenovo ideacentre Stick 300 Micro PC

Lenovo follows companies such as Intel and Asus to present an HDMI stick-style micro PC-- the ideacentre Stick 300, featuring an Intel Atom Z3735F CPU, 2GB memory and 32GB of storage inside casing 15mm thin.

It is Windows 8.1 powered, but Lenovo says customers will get a free upgrade to Windows 10 once the OS launches on July. Connectivity comes through wifi and Bluetooth, while ports include x1 HDMI, x1 micro USB 2.0 and SD card reader.

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Intel to Debut Skylake at Gamescom?

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Intel to Debut Skylake at Gamescom?

According to DigiTimes Intel plans to launch the first 14nm Skylake processors and 100-series desktop chipsets on August 2015 at the Gamescom gaming trade show, Germany.

Unnamed sources claim the launch involves two 14nm CPUs, the Core i7-6700K and Core i5-6600K. The K suffix indicates processors with unlocked multiplier parts for overclocking and system optimisation, as demanded by enthusiast/gamer customers.

Following Gamescom Intel will reportedly unveil more Skylake-based CPUs-- the Core i7-6700/6700T, Core i5-6600, 6500, 6400, 6600T, 6500T and 6400T, and the H170 and B150 chipsets on August-September 2015. September-October 2015 should see the release of the H110 chipsets, while the Q170 and Q150 are said to appear on October-November.

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AMD presents R9, R7 300 GPUs

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AMD presents R9, R7 300 GPUs

AMD launches its latest graphics cards through a webcast dubbed "A New Era of PC Gaming"-- one featuring the Radeon R7 300  series and "the most advanced and innovative" AMD GPU yet, the R9 Fury X.

Based on the "Fiji" chip, the R9 Fury X has "the highest GPU memory bandwidth ever" through the use of high bandwidth memory (HBM), a GDDR5 RAM replacement consisting of vertical memory stacks. This allows for more memory within less board real estate, as well as for smaller graphics cards.

As such, according to the company the R9 offers x3 the performance per watt of GDDR5 in 94% less board surface area. It should also handle the most demanding of tasks, including 4K resolution gaming and VR applications.

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Asus Takes on Micro PCs with Pen Stick

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Asus Takes on Micro PCs with Pen Stick

Asus reveals a micro PC-on-a-stick at Computex 2015-- the Pen Stick, a compact Windows 10 device featuring a Cherry Trail CPU, 2GB RAM and 32GB of storage.

Similar in size and shape to an oversized USB flash drive, the Pen Stick connects to displays via HDMI connector. It features two USB 2.0 ports, micro USB 2.0 port (handles power duties), microSD reader, combo audio jack and wireless connectivity via 802.11b/g/n wifi and Bluetooth 4.0.

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Intel Intros Quad-Core Broadwells

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Intel Intros Quad-Core Broadwells

Intel uses Computex 2015 to announce the delayed 5th generation of quad-core Broadwell processors for notebook and desktop computer use, all promising power consumption and performance improvements.

The processors also feature boosted integrated graphics via Iris Pro Graphics 6200-- the most powerful client processor graphics and media engine from the company yet. It features a 65W thermal design point (TDP) making it ideal for a broad range of PC form factors, including mini PCs and desktop All-in-Ones (AIOs).

The quad-core Broadwell lineup features 5 desktop and 5 notebook CPUs, as spread across the Core i5 and i7 chip families. The desktop chips are split into two families (the R-series BGA CPUs and the C-series socketed chips), while the notebook chips include 3 quad-core, 8-threaded CPUs featuring the aforementioned Iris Pro 6200 GPU.

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