Microsoft has announced a new Surface lineup with five new products coming this holiday and two new dual-screen devices, Surface Neo and Surface Duo, coming in holiday 2020. The five new devices are 13.5- and 15-inch Surface Laptop 3, Surface Pro 7, Surface Pro X and Surface Earbuds. The Surface Laptop 3 is now with a choice of a 13.5- or 15-inch display and new colors and finishes, while the Surface Pro remains the most versatile 2-in-1 device for consumers. Microsoft also brings the productivity of Surface to even smaller and more mobile form factors with Surface Neo and Surface Duo dual-screen devices.

Samsung Electronics has started mass producing 32GB DDR4 memory for gaming laptops in the widely used format of small outline dual in-line memory modules (SoDIMMs). The new SoDIMMs are based on 10nm-class process technology that will allow users to enjoy enriched PC-grade computer games on the go. Using the new memory solution, PC manufacturers can build faster top-of-the-line gaming-oriented laptops with longer battery life at capacities exceeding conventional mobile workstations, while maintaining existing PC configurations, according to Samsung. Compared to Samsung's 16GB SoDIMM based on 20nm-class 8Gb DDR4, which was introduced in 2014, the new 32GB module doubles the capacity while being 11% faster and approximately 39% more energy efficient, said the vendor. With a total of 16 of Samsung's newest 16Gb DDR4 DRAM chips (eight chips each mounted on the front and back), the 32GB SoDIMM allows gaming laptops to reach speeds up to 2,666Mbps. A 64GB laptop configured with two 32GB DDR4 modules consumes less than 4.6W in active mode and less than 1.4W when idle, said Samsung. This reduces power usage by approximately 39% and over 25%, respectively, compared to today's leading gaming-oriented laptops, which are equipped with 16GB modules.

Intel has introduced the new Intel Xeon D-2100 processor, a system-on-chip (SoC) processor architected to address the needs of edge applications and other data center or network applications constrained by space and power. The Intel Xeon D-2100 processor extends the Xeon Scalable platform from the heart of the data center to the network edge and web tier, where network operators and cloud service providers face the need to continuously grow performance and capacity without increasing power consumption, said the vendor. Intel Xeon D-2100 processors will enable greater performance and hardware-enhanced security to the network edge in support of the growing number of workloads that demand more compute, analytics and data protection closer to endpoint devices. For example, the new processors will help communications service providers CoSPs offer multi-access edge computing (MEC), which allows software applications to tap into local content and real-time information about local-access network conditions, reducing mobile core network of network congestion. This can enable uses cases ranging from 5G-connected cars, smart stadiums, and retail and medical solutions, said Intel.