torpedo

its new Project Helix is ​​a direct torpedo to Valve’s Steam Machine

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Microsoft has revealed the code name of its next-generation console, a hybrid system between console and PC that will be able to run games from both ecosystems. Project Helix arrives at a turbulent time for the industry: global RAM memory crisis, Valve fighting to launch its own Steam Machine and PlayStation rethinking its presence on PC. Helix Project. Asha Sharma, new CEO of Xboxhas announced that the next Microsoft console receives the internal name of Project Helix. Sharma assured that the device will be a leader in performance and will allow you to play both Xbox and PC titles, thus confirming the rumors that have been circulating for months about hardware that blurs the line between both platforms. The next Game Developers Conference, between March 9 and 13, will be the scene of the first conversations with partners and developers. What does it have? Beyond Sharma’s statements we can scratch some more information: the heart of the system is a semi-custom SoC from AMD whose internal code name is Magnus. According to AMD CEO Lisa Su, during the presentation of fourth quarter results As of 2025, development of the chip is progressing well to support a 2027 launch. Leaks point to a combination of Zen 6 CPU cores and an RDNA 5-based GPU, with up to 48GB of GDDR7 memory. These are specifications that, if the estimates so far are correct, would exceed those of the future. PlayStation 6. How it works. The device will essentially function as a gaming PC whose main interface will be the Xbox Full Screen Experience, already released on the ASUS Xbox Ally laptop. From this interface, designed to replicate the simplicity of a console, the user can choose to jump to the Windows 11 desktop and install Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG, Battle.net or any other software from the Microsoft ecosystem. PCs of a lifetime. That Xbox is a PC at its core is not a new idea. The original 2001 console already had an Intel Pentium III and an Nvidia GPU, a configuration much closer to the computer world than to the proprietary chip that defined Sony or Nintendo consoles at that time. All subsequent generations have maintained the x86 architecture, and both Xbox One as Xbox Series X They use AMD SoC with architecture shared with Ryzen and Radeon. What changes with Helix is ​​the software layer: where before the operating system was a closed environment, now there is a complete Windows under the shell. Listen, Valve. The comparison with this console that immediately comes to mind is Valve’s Steam Machine, announced in November as a compact desktop PC powered by SteamOS, the Linux-based operating system that already powers the Steam Deck. Valve works in the opposite direction than Helix: part of the Steam catalog, it works on Linux and offers the possibility of installing Windows as a secondary option. The destiny of both machines is the same: to dynamite the boundaries between console and desktop PC. Valve suffers. The Steam Machine is going through its own ordeals. Valve announced in February a delay in its release schedule (originally, first quarter of the year) and the need to review the price, citing the global shortage of memory and storage as the cause. The analysts They project a price of between $400 and $500 as the optimal range, although the most recent estimates raise the range above $750, a territory that distances it from direct competition with Sony and Microsoft consoles. Valve, which has ruled out selling hardware at a loss, is at the mercy of the components market. The memory crisis Due to the demands of the AIs, it is the great backdrop of this battle. Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron have turned their production lines towards high-margin HBM memory consumed by artificial intelligence data centers, leaving DRAM and NAND Flash destined for the consumer market in the background. The consequences are already being felt: manufacturers such as Lenovo, Dell, HP and ASUS have warned of increases of between 15% and 20% in the price of their equipment for this year. Exclusive worlds. The franchises that for decades defined Xbox’s identity have begun to come to PlayStation, a decision that Sharma herself has acknowledged wanting to review. Meanwhile, Sony abandons publishing games on PCwith the intention of reinforcing the attractiveness of its exclusives. But Xbox is betting on the opposite. It seems clear that Sharma (who has no experience in the video game industry) does not conceive Helix as a traditional console, but as a platform whose success will depend on alliances with digital stores and the integration of services such as Game Pass. In Xataka | There is brutal competition for our attention. And there is someone losing that battle in a bloody way: the consoles

The US has found a new way to torpedo China. The problem is that it takes ahead to South Korea

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The truce is over. The US does not want integrated circuit manufacturing equipment that resort to US technologies and innovations They arrive in China. Not even chips factories that They do not belong to Chinese companies. In 2022 the US Department of Commerce granted a temporary exemption to several manufacturers of foreign semicondators who have plants in China so that they could equip their facilities with the machines they needed. But this permissive period has expired. From now on any chips manufacturer who has plants in China will have to request a license from the US Commerce Department to be able to install in its factories machines with US components or technologies. Intel has sold Your Dalian plant (China), so this measure no longer affects it. However, there are two South Korean companies of enormous relevance in the semiconductor industry whose business can be deeply conditioned by the restrictions imposed by the US: Samsung and SK Hynix. The Department of Commerce is not reassuring These two South Korean companies need to send new manufacturing machines of integrated circuits to their China plants to protect their competitiveness, and without the approval of the US administration they cannot do so. Lithography equipment that manufactures asml They incorporate American technologies (The ultraviolet light source of UVE and UVP machines is produced by the company of Californian origin Cymer, which is now integrated into ASML). And presumably the lithographic equipment of Tokyo Electron, Nikon and Canon also, which gives the US the power to control which countries can use this technology. The Commerce Department has noticed that it will not grant licenses that pursue expand the production capacity in China or update the existing technology The Department of Commerce has anticipated which will deliver the necessary licenses so that foreign chip manufacturers can continue to operate their China plants. The restrictions will begin in 120 days, so these companies They still have some margin to react. However, in its statement the Department of Commerce He has also warned that will not grant licenses that pursue expand production capacity in China or update existing technology. For Samsung and SK Hynix this limitation represents a serious problem. Samsung produces Nand Flash chips in Xian, and SK Hynix manufactures DRAM integrated circuits in Wuxi and Nand Flash in Dalian. Equipating these plants with avant -garde equipment can make a difference in your business. What the US Government pursues with this measure is to minimize the risk that the vanguard wafer lithography and wafering equipment that manufactures ASML, Apply Materials or Tokyo Electron Caigan in the hands of China. In addition, these restrictions make it difficult for the avant -garde chips to produce Samsung and SK Hynix They arrive at China’s distribution chain. A spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce of China has declared that “Beijing opposes this US measure and will take the necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of companies.” On the other hand, the South Korean government is negotiating with its American counterpart to protect the business of its companies in China. Image | ASML More information | Reuters | Nikkei Asia In Xataka | China is very clear about what you should do to win the Chips War to the US: resort to their technology geniuses

In his obsession to torpedo the Chinese chips industry, the US wants to block an essential to manufacture them: the software, according to FT

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Hard setback for the Trump administration, which dawns this Thursday, May 29 with a clear response from the US International Trade Court to its tariff policy. The organism has declared generalized tariffs illegalafter considering that “they exceed any authority conferred on the president by the IEEPA (Law on Economic Powers in case of international emergency) “. In the middle of the storm, sources of Financial Times They declare that the United States Department of Commerce has begun to urge the main suppliers of electronic design automation software (EDA), in a new attempt to continue trying to knock each of the pillars that sustains the Chinese semiconductor industry. The new order. The Trump administration is starting to inform To the main national companies that offer the necessary software to design semiconductors that they must stop selling their services to Chinese groups. A measure that strengths the commercial war between the United States and China, at a time when the latter country is in full chips national production record and getting closer to develop their own 5 Nm lithography. The big names. There are three big names playing in the American industry: Cadence, Synopsy and Siemens. These three companies They monopolize the bulk of the Global EDA software market And they have been key for China to have been able to develop its current semiconductor industry. Preventing China from accessing this type of solutions is a zancadilla. These tools are essential to achieve advanced lithographic processes and expedite essentials such as design verification, performance simulation, energy consumption, and other key aspects to lead in the manufacture of any chip. Why is EDA software. In the manufacture of a modern semiconductor, tools that make it possible to automate the essential design and verification processes for its manufacture are necessary. Minimizing the margin of error and being especially effective in the refining of your behavior is key to leading this career. EDA software is a fundamental element to ensure that these designs meet the expectations of the manufacturing process, and allows to automate each of the phases of the same. The local industry. SMICthe spearhead in the Chinese semiconductor industry, It has been using Synopsys design suites For more than 20 years. After entering the Entity Listthe company did not lose access to these toolsonly access to them was difficult to be forced to establish license agreements to be able to use them. If Trump’s order is fulfilled, it will not be possible to renew these agreements or access to the software of these companies. Immediately after the intentions of the US administration, local companies such as Empyrean Technology, Primarius Techonologies and Semitonix, have seen the price of the action around 20%. These companies are specialized in the development of software solutions for semiconductors, and are some of the main names that sound after Trump’s threat. Even in the air. Although sources consulted by Financial Times affirm that the United States Industry and Security Office (BIS) is issuing this new directive through letters to companies, some like Synopsys have not taken long to uncheck. “We are aware of the rumors and speculation, but Synopsys has not received any official communication from the Bis. That is why we keep our annual forecasts unchanged, based on our current understanding of the export restrictions of the BIS and in the forecast of an interannual fall of the income from China.” Cadence and Siemens, for the moment, have not made statements about it. In Xataka | China prepares the mate to the US: it will have its own UVE lithography team to make chips in 2025

Apple and Samsung have been fleeing from China for years to save costs. Tariffs just torpedo their strategy

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The Trump administration has announced New tariffs. Some that expand the Commercial War to even more countries and that, inevitably, will have severe consequences in the production and distribution chain of large technological ones. Some of them, such as Apple or Samsung, had been trying to reduce their dependence on Chinese manufacturing, moving part of production to countries like Vietnam. A new tariff of almost 50% for countries like Vietnam has just launched its strategy through the air. The new tariffs. Donald Trump has announced a new set of tariffs for all those products that are imported to the United States. The most affected is the main commercial enemy of the country At the moment: China. Adding previous movements, tariffs to the Asian country amount to 54%. Attending to the rest of the victims on the list, there is a country that is specially injured: Vietnam. The United States has imposed a 46% tariff on one of the barracks of the two technological giants, Apple and Samsung. China’s escape. The production of Apple and Samsung products has been linked to China for years. To reduce this unit, both companies have been trying to diversify the supply chain Moving manufacturing to countries like India or Vietnam. This last country has become one of the most attractive destinations for large technological ones, mainly due to their economic but highly qualified workforce. Its port proximity with China also makes it a strategic point, minimizing friction when importing electronic components. Key products. Apple has been manufacturing the AirPods for years of Vietnam, and the assembly of some key products, such as iPad, has been starting its steps in the country for a few years. Some of its strategic business partners, such as Foxconn, They have been investing for years millions of dollars in the Asian country. More relevant if possible is the case of Samsung, who produces much of its phones in Vietnam. The Korean company has been betting on this country for almost 20 years, having consolidated as one of the main producers of electronic components and devices in the country. Leaving Vietnam, pointing out that India was another strategic points in the supply chain of both manufacturers. One in seven iPhone is already manufactured in Indiaand Samsung carries Since 2018 giving life to Galaxy devices in this country. No one was prepared. Apple and Samsung had been moving production out of China for years not only to minimize costs, but to avoid the consequences of the commercial war between the United States and China. Diversifying the supply chain was key to avoid depending on a single region, as well as to bring production closer to emerging markets with great growth margin. Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, India … Each and every one of the alternative destinations to China will suffer a very high tariff load. After years of strategy focused on running from China, the new tariffs make the foundations they had been building for years staggered. And the question is clear. What consequences will they have? Who will pay the duck. Although it seems unlikely that both companies kindly invite consumers to accept an increase in the cost of between 26 and 46%, which seems inevitable is that the products of both manufacturers rise in price not only in the United States, but globally. The tariff storm will force a complete readjustment of the current margins of the main Big Tech, since they will have a significant impact on the global supply chain. Voices of the sector, like Mark Gurman, point out what is “essentially impossible” That there is no price increase in the United States, and members of the Federal Regulations Code (CFR), they point out that these rates will mean an increase in about $ 150 per device. Image | Xataka In Xataka | In full tariff war, the EU has found a weapon to press the United States: soybeans

The true crown jewel in Apple is not its products, but its credibility. And they just torpedo her

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In the summer of 2008 Apple made a great launch, one colossal and one that was one of the greatest disasters in its history. You probably remember the first two (the iPhone 3G and, above all, the App Store), but perhaps not what was that disaster. It is normal: they got us almost forgotten about that. That disaster was mobilemethe email platform that sought to compete with Exchange or with the Blackberry systems. However, its operation was An absolute disasterwith service drops and unexpected charges to user credit cards. So terrible was what David Pogue, an known editor of The New York Times, changed the name to Mobilemess (playing with “Mess”, “mess” in English “). Two years later Mobileme was kaput. It was something later when we knew how that disaster was managed internally. In 2011 Fortune published an article in which they precisely told how shortly after the launch, Steve Jobs called the Mobileme team to a meeting: “According to a participant in the meeting, Jobs entered dressed with his characteristic black neck jersey and blue jeans, gathered his hands and asked a simple question: “Can anyone tell me what Mobileme is supposed to do?” After receiving a satisfactory response, he continued: “And why don’t you do it?”. During the next half hour, Jobs rebuked the group. “You have stained Apple’s reputation,” he told them. “You should hate them for having disappointed you mutually.” Public humiliation especially enraged Jobs. Walt Mossberg, the influential gadget columnist from the Wall Street Journal, had criticized Mobileme. “Mossberg, our friend, doesn’t write good things about us anymore,” said Jobs. In the act, Jobs appointed a new executive to direct the group. “ History showed how for Jobs that ruling, now practically forgotten, had a capital importance. But that was the Apple before. Something smells in Apple John Gruber, well -known analyst and responsible for the Dary Fireball blog, I published this week A worrying analysis of Apple’s situation. It was titled “Something is rotten in the state of Cupertino”, and in it explained how different this Apple is now to which at that time managed Steve Jobs. This expert focused on what happened with Apple Intelligence in general and with the new version of Siri enhanced by the particular. In Apple they are clear followers in generativeand it does not seem that this will change in the short term. Apple Intelligence functions are limited and very modest, and while the greats of technology and various startups do not stop surprising us with new advances and increasingly striking functions, in Apple they continue with an approach that seemed interesting (very focused on privacy) but that is being disappointing in its exasperating deployment. But the really worrying thing is what happened with Siri. After the wwdc last year They announced that “Siri will be able to offer intelligence adapted to the user and the information of his device. For example, a user can say:” Play that podcast that Jamie recommended you, “and Siri will locate and reproduce the episode, without the user having to remember if he was mentioned in a text or in an email.” But both that and other promising options of Siri were only part of an empty speech, because There was never a public demonstration of those options. The only place where we could see it was in a pre -recorded demo “Not live,” in which Siri did all that Apple said he could do. As Gruber explained: “What Apple showed about the next” personalized Siri “in the WWDC was not a demo. It was a conceptual video. Conceptual videos are shit, and a sign of a company in disorder, if not in crisis.” Not only that: in September They returned To promote that future theoretical with an advertisement in which Siri understood the personal context – in what situation we were – to respond to a request. A few days ago Apple announced without more than that option it would not arrive until at least next year. Apple not only did not demonstrate in public these new Siri options, even in a preliminary version: the only thing we could see were conceptual videos about how the characteristic should work. And that announcement with Bella Ramsey – actress famous for her role in ‘The Last of Us’— has been withdrawn from YouTube this week without more. Are Too bad signsand all point to the same: to a fiasco. One worrying, because Apple did not do these things. He has rarely promised the launch of products and then back. It happened for example With the famous wireless load basebut this was a minor accessory. Siri’s dimension had, which is a theoretically crucial component for Apple to compete in the AI ​​field. And that leads us to ask what is happening in Apple. In the last 30 years the company has managed to build an enormously solid reputation and extraordinary credibility. People choose their products because they “simply work” – with many quotes -, and despite some more or less important slips –Hello, butterfly keyboardhello Throttling-, their products continue to stand out for their reliability. Apple’s credibility begins to make waters But that credibility staggers now and joins other signals that can be worrisome. We have been waiting for years for Apple to throw its new disruptive product, but They have never achieved it. It was not his Apple Watch – despite being a very popular product, such as the airpods – and of course They have not been the vision pro. Supposedly They canceled their ‘Project Titan’ And its intentions – just officers – to develop an ‘Apple Car’, but it is even more striking that the fact that two years have arrived since Chatgpt arrived and the most powerful company on the planet can only boast an assistant who Rewrite the emails or that generates cartoons. It is terrible. Source: Trendline. Apple’s situation also seems to be reflected in sales that remain colossal, but also They seem to have stagnated … Read more

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