WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:06.160 The name's news, tech news, and just like Bond's new video game, today's 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:10.080 stories require hardware that doesn't exist. Let's get into it. In a 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:15.440 refreshing bout of corporate honesty, Dell showed up to CES 2026 and basically 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:20.320 said, "Our bad." First, head of product Kevin Turwigle 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:24.320 Kevin admitted that people don't actually care about AI PCs, stating that 00:00:22.560 --> 00:00:29.599 it's become clear that consumers are not buying based on AI. After a solid year 00:00:26.720 --> 00:00:32.800 of every tech company screaming AIP PC at us like a pack of seagulls fighting 00:00:31.439 --> 00:00:37.280 over French fries in a McDonald's dumpster, Dell just stopped. Their CES 00:00:36.160 --> 00:00:44.640 briefing was described [music] as the most pleasingly unai presentation in 5 00:00:41.360 --> 00:00:47.039 years. Imagine that. A hardware company 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:51.520 talking about actual hardware instead of chat bots. Second, remember when Dell 00:00:49.680 --> 00:00:56.079 killed the XPS brand last year and renamed everything Dell Premium? Well, 00:00:54.079 --> 00:01:01.199 everyone hated that. Sales tanked and the COO openly admitted the rebrand was 00:00:58.480 --> 00:01:08.240 a mistake. So now XPS is back with a full redesign. The new XPS 14 and 16 are 00:01:04.960 --> 00:01:10.640 Dell's thinnest laptops to date at 14.6 00:01:08.240 --> 00:01:15.439 mm, [music] sporting the Intel Panther Lake chips, and they've gone allin on 00:01:12.960 --> 00:01:20.960 Intel Arc integrated [music] graphics. No discrete GPU options at all. The 00:01:18.479 --> 00:01:25.439 displays can drop to 1 hertz during static [music] content, which lets them 00:01:22.320 --> 00:01:28.240 achieve a reported 27 hours of battery 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:33.360 life, and they've shaved almost a full pound off the XPS 16. Prices for these 00:01:30.720 --> 00:01:38.320 new laptops are starting at $2,49 with the XPS 13 returning later this year at 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:44.240 a lower price point. They also dropped a huge 52-in 6K ultrawide monitor for 00:01:42.320 --> 00:01:47.600 $2,900 for when you need to look at every 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:52.240 single spreadsheet. all the spreadsheets. Wi-Fi 8 is apparently 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:56.880 already here. While it won't technically be fully released until 2028, companies 00:01:55.119 --> 00:02:01.360 are already showing off products using the new standard before everyone has 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:05.920 even had the chance to adopt Wi-Fi 7. Leading the charge is ASUS with their 00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:10.000 new ROG Neoore router concept. This weird D20-shaped AI router will 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:13.760 apparently improve range and latency for gamers using Wi-Fi on their battle 00:02:11.760 --> 00:02:17.760 stations, and it boasts twice the data throughput recorded with Wi-Fi 7. Can 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:22.720 the AI part help me hit a NAT 20 on a fumble rule? Let's hope. Meanwhile, 00:02:20.480 --> 00:02:27.440 Zixel is already pitching Wi-Fi 8 to carriers and enterprise customers with 00:02:24.480 --> 00:02:31.520 its AI ready connectivity gear with the goal of future proofing clients years 00:02:29.440 --> 00:02:35.760 ahead of the new rollout. Even the silicon makers are getting on the train 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:40.720 early with MediaTek revealing its new Flogic Wi-Fi 8 chips that likely will be 00:02:38.720 --> 00:02:44.000 seen in most of the network equipment that comes out in the next few years. 00:02:42.560 --> 00:02:48.800 While the full benchmarks for these new standards haven't been fully released yet, the big thing all these companies 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:53.200 seem to be pushing is that the new generation is not going to show a 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:57.440 massive jump in network speeds. Instead, the focus is on the reliability benefits 00:02:55.440 --> 00:03:01.120 of the new spec. And honestly, if you're your family's resident tech expert this 00:02:59.200 --> 00:03:05.440 holiday season, you might even trade some speed for increased reliability. At 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:10.959 this point, CES Storage News wasted zero time getting weird. Goner, sorry, 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:14.159 Connor, the long-forgotten '9s hard drive manufacturer, showed up with 00:03:12.480 --> 00:03:19.360 products that look nothing like traditional hard drives, including a 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:24.400 phone backup drive and a bizarre hybrid gadget that's part external drive and 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:28.959 part 65 watt charger. It's kind of like a second computer that plugs into your 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:34.000 computer to make it compute better, but it's a cube and, you know, not a 00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:37.920 computer. Kind of weird. Right next to that, we get a glimpse of where modern 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:42.400 SSD design is heading, and it's surprisingly minimal. Micron unveiled 00:03:39.920 --> 00:03:49.360 the 3610, making the industry's first PCIe 5.0 QLC SSD, 00:03:46.720 --> 00:03:56.159 packing up to 4 TB of storage into a tiny single-sided DRAMless M.2 drive 00:03:53.280 --> 00:04:00.799 that can still somehow push about 11 gigabytes per second. It's an OEM only 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:04.480 model for now, but hey, if it's cheaper, then that's a win-win in my books. That 00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:09.439 announcement pairs nicely with Fizen's new DRAMless Gen 5 storage controllers, 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:14.319 which reportedly offer big savings in power draw along with an 8 terbte 00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:18.239 capacity. And then there's Hoe, the company best known for professional 00:04:15.920 --> 00:04:22.560 camera gimbals. Casually dropping one of the most creator focused drives at the 00:04:20.239 --> 00:04:26.880 show. Their new SSD 1 offers all the regular things a USB drive normally 00:04:24.479 --> 00:04:31.199 would, but comes with an expandability option that the company says marks the 00:04:28.960 --> 00:04:35.919 first time you can actually upgrade the storage on an external SSD. Another neat 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:39.919 feature is the dedicated microphone input, allowing for direct audio 00:04:38.080 --> 00:04:43.600 recording. Clearly, this thing is designed for people on the go. You know 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:46.880 what? Kind of like our sponsor. This holiday season, I was stuck in a home 00:04:45.280 --> 00:04:50.639 alone style situation, trying to get home with my kid while juggling flights. 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:55.440 And one thing I didn't need was a disconnected phone, which is why I use 00:04:52.880 --> 00:04:59.360 SY. You download the eSIM once. It works in every country you pass through. No 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:03.600 swapping SIMs. With global and regional plans, you stay connected in tons of 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:08.080 places without racking up roaming fees. It's great for taking irresponsible 00:05:05.280 --> 00:05:11.600 detours to visit CES 2026 in Las Vegas instead of rushing home to your 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:17.280 abandoned child. There's no dealing with SIM sellers who can be as shady as the 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:19.520 wet bandits and no wandering for Wi-Fi, 00:05:17.280 --> 00:05:23.919 just reliable connections on iOS or Android. With Kaye, I can focus on 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:28.800 getting home safely instead of worrying about staying online. I should worry 00:05:26.320 --> 00:05:33.919 about booby traps when I get home though to get an exclus micro machines, you 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:38.720 know, to get an exclusive 50% discount on sale eum data plans. Download the SY 00:05:36.400 --> 00:05:43.440 app and use TechLinked. I mean the code TechLinked I check check check check 00:05:40.400 --> 00:05:44.960 LINKED THE CHECKOUT KEVIN THE FIRST RULE 00:05:43.440 --> 00:05:49.039 OF QUICK BITS is that you're not allowed to talk about quick bits the second rule 00:05:46.960 --> 00:05:53.440 of quick BITS IS DO NOT TALK ABOUT QUICK bits but here's the quick bits new 00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:59.280 rumors suggest NVIDIA is prepping to bring the RTX 3060 back into production 00:05:56.240 --> 00:06:01.840 in Q1 of 2026 as memory shortages and 00:05:59.280 --> 00:06:05.039 sky-high prices refuse to calm down adding credence to earlier board 00:06:03.520 --> 00:06:09.520 channels claims that the company's supply of factory new 3060s were running 00:06:07.520 --> 00:06:14.000 below. Funnily enough, this lines up nicely with what NVIDIA CEO Jensen Wong 00:06:12.080 --> 00:06:18.800 said when asked by analysts about pricing pressure, floating the idea of 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:23.199 resurrecting older GPUs and maybe even backporting newer AI features to them 00:06:21.520 --> 00:06:28.639 instead of waiting on bleeding edge silicon. AMD isn't immune either. During 00:06:25.440 --> 00:06:31.039 a CES Q&A, Ryzen chief David McCaffy was 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:36.000 asked directly about soaring RAM costs and replied that reintroducing products 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:41.120 back into the AM4 ecosystem is something AMD is very actively working on. So, if 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:46.639 you missed buying those parts during the 2021 chip shortage, now's your chance. 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:51.199 IO Interactive has unveiled the PC system requirements for their upcoming 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:55.280 James Bond game 007 First Light. The intro makes sense now. and fans were 00:06:52.720 --> 00:07:00.960 shaken, not stirred, to discover some of the listed hardware just doesn't exist. 00:06:58.479 --> 00:07:07.599 The minimum specs called for an Intel Core i5 9500 K, which Intel just never 00:07:04.400 --> 00:07:09.680 made. There is an i59500, 00:07:07.599 --> 00:07:16.960 sure, but there's no K variant. Meanwhile, the recommended spec demanded 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:19.919 a RTX 3060Ti with 12 GB of VRAM. Except 00:07:16.960 --> 00:07:25.120 that card only came with 8 gigs. Even setting aside the phantom parts, these 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:31.599 specs are pretty brutal. 32 GB of RAM and 12 GB of VRAM just to hit 1080p 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:35.280 60fps. But at this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if you need to get one of 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:38.720 NVIDIA's new Reuben supercomputers with some of those gooods from the Matrix as 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:42.960 a power supply. Luckily, the game doesn't launch until May 27th. And at 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:46.800 the rate that Tesla, Unitary, and NVIDIA are hurdling us towards Matrix dystopia 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:51.919 territory, we might be getting those pods sooner than you think. Elon Musk's 00:07:49.280 --> 00:07:56.960 XAI is having a bit of a week. Governments across the UK, EU, France, 00:07:54.639 --> 00:08:00.479 India, Brazil, and Malaysia have all launched investigations after 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:04.800 researchers found Grock was generating thousands of deep fakes an hour, 00:08:02.479 --> 00:08:08.960 including images of minors. These governments stated that it was illegal, 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:13.360 appalling, and disgusting, calling for immediate action with regards to 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:17.360 improving safeguards on the chatbot. X's response, it was to threaten their 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:21.680 users. The company released a statement saying that anyone prompting illegal 00:08:19.280 --> 00:08:25.360 content will face consequences without giving any details on how they plan to 00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:29.520 improve safeguards. As this rolling train wreck continues, Musk announced 00:08:27.199 --> 00:08:32.640 that Tesla will build its own 2nm chip fab, claiming that [music] wafer 00:08:30.960 --> 00:08:37.519 isolation meant traditional clean rooms were unnecessary and promising to eat a 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:41.279 cheeseburger and smoke a cigar inside of their new facility. We here at Techlink 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:46.160 look forward to witnessing him destroy a $60 billion machine the same way I 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:51.040 destroyed my 1997 Honda Civic back in high school by hotboxing it and dropping 00:08:48.160 --> 00:08:54.720 a Big Mac into the transmission. Samsung is in hot water after a Texas court 00:08:52.959 --> 00:08:58.800 issued a restraining order blocking the company from allegedly using automated 00:08:56.959 --> 00:09:03.519 content recognition to capture screenshots from smart TVs without 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:08.160 proper consent. The lawsuit claims Samsung TVs could grab screenshots 00:09:05.760 --> 00:09:12.080 multiple times per second and monetize viewing habits through ads. This comes 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:17.279 after a string of lawsuits towards other major TV brands for spying on Texans. 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:21.279 Although those lawsuits didn't end up with restraining orders, except for 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:25.279 Highense, they got one. Samsung hearing is on the 9th with the actual order 00:09:23.040 --> 00:09:29.839 expiring on the 19th, meaning that the company has only 2 days to get on up 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:34.399 over to Texas and lawyer up to explain why their TVs are seemingly watching 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:40.000 themselves. It's the year of the keyboard turducken at CES because these 00:09:37.040 --> 00:09:45.760 cubes are stuffed. Corsair unveiled the Gallion 100 SD edition, a mechanical 00:09:42.880 --> 00:09:51.600 keyboard with a full 5 in Stream Deck LCD built right in, plus 8K pulling and 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:57.839 dual rotary dials. Keyron also dropped their Q Ultra series with 660 hours of 00:09:54.800 --> 00:09:59.279 battery life and also 8K pulling, cuz 00:09:57.839 --> 00:10:03.360 you know, you need a keyboard to be able to play your 9 or 10 consecutive 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:08.240 playthroughs of Balders's Gate 3. HP responded with the Elite board G1A, a 00:10:05.680 --> 00:10:13.680 full Windows 11 PC crammed into a keyboard. It's got an AMD Ryzen AI 300 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:18.720 chip, 50 plus tops of MPU performance, upgradeable RAM and storage, and Wi-Fi 00:10:15.920 --> 00:10:24.000 7. CES gave it an innovation award for finally making computers portable. Let's 00:10:21.760 --> 00:10:27.120 ignore the laptops, of course, and mini PCs. And you know what? Ignore the 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:31.040 Raspberry Pies, too. And that's the tech news. If you need me, I'm going to be 00:10:28.560 --> 00:10:34.880 hunting down an RTX 3060 Ti with 12 gigs of VRAM. Dr. No. and Goldfinger must 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:42.160 have teamed up to steal the world supply. Money penny, start my 1997 Honda 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:42.160 Civic and get me my Big Mac.