WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:08.080 T TECH T CHECK IT OUT. WHOA, WHOA, WHOA. WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT? THEN, WELL, I'm 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:12.160 going to tell you. NVIDIA GPUs could be getting some imminent price hikes with 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:18.000 one report citing claims from industry insiders that some variants of the RTX 00:00:15.280 --> 00:00:24.320 5090 could end up retailing for nearly $5,000 as soon as January 2026, a month 00:00:22.240 --> 00:00:29.920 in which many of you are currently already living. Comment below with how 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:32.480 your 2026 is going so far. This alleged 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:38.239 cost increase is almost certainly thanks to skyrocketing DRAM costs. RAM makes up 00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:43.520 a huge chunk of a graphics card's price. Now, I don't know if the $5,000 number 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:50.239 is accurate, but the RTX 5090 launched at a $2,000 MSRP, and it's already hard 00:00:46.800 --> 00:00:52.800 to find anywhere under 3,000, which is 00:00:50.239 --> 00:00:56.879 so so sad for the people just trying to scrape enough together to buy the most 00:00:54.640 --> 00:01:01.520 powerful gaming GPU on the planet. But it's becoming pretty clear that price 00:00:58.559 --> 00:01:06.720 hikes on PC components outside of just RAM and SSDs are inbound. For example, 00:01:04.479 --> 00:01:11.439 in a leaked letter to their partners, ASUS is saying they'll raise prices on 00:01:09.119 --> 00:01:16.400 at least some products starting on January 5th, 2026. The letter indicates 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:22.799 that memory and storage components are so expensive and scarce scarce scarce 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:25.119 that ASUS can no longer absorb the cost. 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:28.960 They'd like to absorb some more of your money instead. Wait a minute. January 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:33.520 5th, that's the first day of the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas 00:01:31.600 --> 00:01:37.840 where this year all the keynotes are just going to be guys walking on stage 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:42.880 to be like, "Welcome." Same but more 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:47.840 expensive. Woo! Come [laughter] on, please clap. AI. Uh, but actually, I 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:53.200 take it back because some companies are starting to pre-announce some of the fun 00:01:50.479 --> 00:01:58.960 and wacky tech they'll show off at CES. As is tradition, Games is teasing a 00:01:56.079 --> 00:02:03.520 wireless swift drive controller with a tiny steering wheel built right into the 00:02:01.119 --> 00:02:08.399 pad that provides force feedback effects for racing games like the Namco Jogcon 00:02:06.880 --> 00:02:15.200 PlayStation controller from back in 1998. Finally, I can drive virtual cars 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:17.200 in modern games just like I do real cars 00:02:15.200 --> 00:02:23.200 with both my thumbs in the middle of the wheel. Wait, whoa, watch out. You mess 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:28.560 with the nerd, you get the horns. Game also showed off a full-on wireless wheel 00:02:25.760 --> 00:02:33.760 and pedal set with its own turbine fan to simulate air flow and haptic effects 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:39.760 for total and complete immersion. Meanwhile, OneBebook teased the new 1x 00:02:37.040 --> 00:02:45.280 sugar wallet, an 8-in gaming handheld with a folding OLED screen powered by a 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:48.000 Qualcomm gaming platform flagship processor. [music] 00:02:46.239 --> 00:02:52.160 My favorite type of Qualcomm gaming platform processor. Price and launch 00:02:50.160 --> 00:02:55.680 details are still up in the air, but I'm into that thing. It's like the handheld 00:02:54.319 --> 00:03:00.560 that could have been if Sony and Nintendo ended up working together after 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:06.080 all. In the good timeline, utopia. Speaking of Nintendo, Epilog has 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:09.920 shown off the SN Operator, a USB connected dock that lets you plug your 00:03:07.760 --> 00:03:16.080 old Super Nintendo cartridges straight into a PC, Mac, or Steam Deck, and then 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:21.440 play or archive them digitally with save backups and emulator support built in. 00:03:19.040 --> 00:03:26.000 It's 60 bucks US and supposedly ships in April, which is great news for cartridge 00:03:23.519 --> 00:03:31.040 owners who don't want to fiddle with the DIY archiving kits out there. The not so 00:03:28.720 --> 00:03:36.480 great news, Nintendo may still find a way to sue your ass. They are just not 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:39.920 as cool as our sponsor, UG, Green, and their Magflow magnetic power bank. The 00:03:38.720 --> 00:03:44.080 ultimate treasure for modern adventurers. 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UG Green's Magflow magnetic power bank keeps adventurers 00:04:24.880 --> 00:04:30.400 moving. Check it out in the link below. You might know the Quick Bits for their 00:04:28.400 --> 00:04:34.880 contributions to tech news, but they're also amazing battle rappers. Hey, they 00:04:32.960 --> 00:04:40.880 have a show tonight. You should Oh, it's already over because they're so quick. 00:04:37.520 --> 00:04:44.000 Another RX970 XT has suffered a burn 00:04:40.880 --> 00:04:46.240 injury on its 12volt 2x6 power connector 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:52.160 with Redditor Divine Threshold claiming it lasted a year before joining the 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:54.800 extremely exclusive melted 12vt 00:04:52.160 --> 00:04:58.880 connectors club. Ah, I'm jealous. But at least he got a year of gaming out of it, 00:04:56.720 --> 00:05:03.520 unlike the guy who ordered a GPU and got rocks instead. Some good news for him 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:08.320 though. But he finally got his RTX 5080 from Best Buy after he figured out the 00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:14.800 shipping weight somehow mysteriously increased during transit. To celebrate, 00:05:11.520 --> 00:05:17.120 he got a tattoo of the ASUS TU logo on a 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:20.960 pile of rocks. Not sure why you'd want to commemorate a shipping snafu in which 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:25.759 someone stole an expensive item from you, but whatever sinks your boat. Game 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:31.759 store GOG is officially breaking out on its own. if that's what you call parent 00:05:27.840 --> 00:05:34.080 company CD Project Red, selling GOG to 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:38.960 Michael Kasinski, the original co-founder of both GOG and CD Project 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:43.440 Red, who is now an independent entrepreneur despite still holding many 00:05:40.479 --> 00:05:47.199 CD Project Red shares. Anyway, the DRM free storefront says nothing is changing 00:05:45.440 --> 00:05:51.520 for users. That's the important part. Your library is safe, but big changes 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:56.800 are coming. GOG is teasing more ambitious plans to revive classic PC 00:05:54.479 --> 00:06:03.759 games starting next year. Basically, it's the same good old GOG old games, 00:06:01.280 --> 00:06:07.039 just readopted by its biological father, who was only partially absent, but is 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:10.560 now giving this whole full-time parenting thing a shot. I call that 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:16.000 character growth. The US is giving Samsung and SKH temporary permission to 00:06:13.440 --> 00:06:21.199 keep shipping chipmaking tools into their Chinese factories through 2026, 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:25.120 easing pressure after earlier export waiverss were revoked. The goal is to 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:29.759 reportedly keep memory production running in the short term, especially as 00:06:26.960 --> 00:06:33.919 AI demand pushes prices even higher. But at the same time, China is pulling in 00:06:31.840 --> 00:06:38.880 the opposite direction. Beijing is now requiring chipmakers to use at least 50% 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:44.080 domesticallymade equipment when expanding their manufacturing capacity, 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:47.919 forcing fabs to choose local tools even when foreign options could offer a 00:06:45.840 --> 00:06:52.880 cheaper solution. But are the chips still domestic if they're made by 00:06:49.759 --> 00:06:55.919 foreign machines? 00:06:52.880 --> 00:06:59.120 Hey, remember solar freaking roadways? 00:06:55.919 --> 00:07:01.919 No. That's okay, cuz now we have 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:07.120 charging freaking roadways. Florida is building a highway that can wirelessly 00:07:04.080 --> 00:07:09.599 charge EVs while you drive. Yes, 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:15.199 charging freaking roadways. A stretch of State Road 516 will have inductive 00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:20.080 charging coils underneath the asphalt, delivering up to 200 kW to compatible 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:24.160 cars as they roll along. It's meant to extend range, not fully charged 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:27.360 vehicles, but it could definitely be a step in the right direction. Will it 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:31.680 work? Maybe. [music] Will it be wildly expensive and only 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:35.199 support a handful of cars at first? Abso freaking lutul. CHARGING FREAKING 00:07:33.039 --> 00:07:40.319 ROADWAYS, MAN. Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:43.199 tiny flexible under scalp implant that 00:07:40.319 --> 00:07:47.520 could help restore lost senses by shining patterned light directly through 00:07:45.280 --> 00:07:51.280 the skull into the brain, which is something you can do. Apparently, the 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:55.039 wireless device avoids drilling into the brain and has already helped mice 00:07:53.199 --> 00:08:00.240 relearn how to interpret sensory signals. It sounds fantastic as long as 00:07:58.080 --> 00:08:05.440 there's some sort of failsafe to prevent a pickle Rick situation. And Atlas Data 00:08:03.440 --> 00:08:10.879 Storage announced what it called the world's first scalable DNA data storage 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:17.360 offering earlier this month. The system can pack up to 60 pabytes per liter of 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:20.960 gene carrying juice and could last for thousands of years. Sounds like 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:25.440 something Chad GBD just came up with, but okay. Unfortunately, encoding and 00:08:23.440 --> 00:08:31.599 decoding data using the four chemical bases in DNA isn't really cheap or fast. 00:08:29.039 --> 00:08:38.320 Sequencing currently costs around $30 per roughly 250 GB and takes significant 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:42.719 time. So, it won't be replacing tape at scale for years. Still, it's pretty 00:08:40.719 --> 00:08:49.600 cool. Soon, we'll be living in less of a cyberpunk dystopia and more of a bioci 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:52.560 genetically engineered dystopia. That's exciting. You know what else is 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:56.480 exciting? That there's going to be more tech news on Friday. So, you should come 00:08:54.320 --> 00:09:00.240 back then. Happy New Year, everyone. We'll see you in 2026. Heck, depending 00:08:58.800 --> 00:09:04.480 on where you live, we might already be seeing you in 2026. Have they solved the 00:09:02.640 --> 00:09:07.519 RAM crisis yet over there? [laughter] Haha. Let me know.