Topps Blog

Thursday, 27 October 2022

Microsoft to Add Android 13 and New Features to Windows 11

Windows 11 brought a raft of new features like a revamped start menu, more control over snap layouts, and integration with more Microsoft apps and services. One of the biggest additions was the Windows Subsystem for Android, which allows your PC to run Android apps. The subsystem rolled out as a preview, but it’s already left that caveat behind in the big Windows 11 2022 update. Microsoft isn’t resting on its laurels, either. It already plans to improve the subsystem with a move to the latest Android 13 OS.

The Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) is a virtual machine built into Windows, and it’s currently based on Android 12L (an upgrade over the original Android 12 distribution). Android is open source, so we have more insight into what Microsoft is doing with this feature than we do with other aspects of Windows 11. Over on the WSA GitHub page, Microsoft has posted a roadmap detailing the features it has added so far, along with the ones it plans to implement in the future. And right at the top of the list is Android 13.

Android 13 launched just a few weeks ago on Pixel phones, and Samsung only started rolling out the update to some versions of the Galaxy S22 in late October. It’s not the biggest update — most of the user-facing changes come in the form of enhanced theme support, which won’t matter on Windows, but the system optimizations and API updates are essential to future functionality. Microsoft’s apparent drive to keep the WSA updated is refreshing. Many Android-on-Windows projects have fallen behind, making it frustrating to run Android apps on a PC.

In addition to updating the WSA to Android 13, Microsoft plans to implement file transfer support, making it mercifully easier to move files between the Windows and Android parts of the system. Microsoft will also add default access to the local network, another way to make the Windows Subsystem for Android less compartmentalized.

Another planned addition is shortcuts, an Android feature that lets apps link to specific functionality. For example, a messaging app can provide a shortcut to a frequent contact that saves you from navigating to the conversation manually every time. There’s one more convenience feature on the way: picture-in-picture mode. That means Android media apps on Windows will be able to draw over the top of the Windows UI.

The roadmap doesn’t include any proposed dates or even a general timeline for these improvements. Microsoft was only a few months behind implementing Android 12L, and it recently opted to change the way it releases updates for Windows. No more will we have to wait for major semi-annual releases to get new features. So, we can expect the WSA enhancements to arrive whenever they’re ready.

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Apple Will Begrudgingly Switch iPhone to USB-C, Exec Confirms

(Photo: Mishaal Zahed/Unsplash) At long last, Apple is bringing USB-C to the iPhone—it’s just not exactly thrilled about it. During a media interview Tuesday, an Apple marketing executive confirmed the company would be complying with the European Union’s new law requiring all mobile devices to charge via USB-C.

The confirmation came during The Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live conference this week. Reporter Joanna Stern sat onstage with senior VP of global marketing Greg Joswiak and software VP Craig Federighi to discuss Apple’s overarching product innovation philosophy. Stern asked the duo how Apple planned to approach the EU’s USB-C requirement, which was solidified this month after a year of legislative work.

“Obviously we’ll have to comply, we have no choice,” Joswiak said. “We think the approach would’ve been better environmentally, and better for our customers, to not have the government be that prescriptive.”

From an environmental standpoint, Joswiak worries the EU’s new requirement (which will take effect in 2024) will result in the same amount of e-waste it aims to prevent. iPhone users who already own Lightning cables will have to dispose of those cables as soon as they upgrade their phones. Considering Joswiak’s point that over a billion people own iPhones—and that many iPhone users have more than one charger—it’s possible that 2024 will see a drastic uptick in cable disposal.

Software VP Craig Federighi (left) and senior VP of global marketing Greg Joswiak (right) onstage at WSJ’s Tech Live conference.

But will all of us be forced to ditch our Lightning cables, or just those upgrading within the EU? Joswiak refused to say whether Apple would be switching to USB-C on all of its future mobile devices or only those it would sell across the pond. There are some customers outside the EU who’d prefer that all iPhones charge via USB-C; after all, iPads now use USB-C, so why not go all in? On the other hand, some likely share Joswiak’s sentiment that a port change would be inconvenient and wasteful.

“I don’t mind governments telling us what they want to accomplish,” Joswiak said during the interview. He pointed to times in which mobile phone manufacturers have been forced to adopt specific hearing aid compatibilities that ended up failing more often than not. Joswiak expressed that he’d rather government entities allow tech companies to find their own ways of meeting collective goals rather than prescribing restrictive methods.

Joswiak’s concerns might stem from design autonomy, but they also might be the result of Apple’s desire to enforce brand loyalty. Lightning cables are only compatible with Apple products—they can’t be used with any other manufacturer’s devices. Once a person has invested in Apple infrastructure, they might find it too inconvenient to switch to, say, a Samsung or Google smartphone. (The same concept can be seen in Apple’s commitment to keeping Android users out of iMessage.) By switching to USB-C, iPhone users within the EU are one step closer to potentially abandoning their brand loyalty and dumping Apple for good…and from a monetary standpoint, why would Apple want that?

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Windows 11 Is Causing Issues for AMD Ryzen 9 CPUs, Nvidia GPUs

Gamer adoption of Windows 11 has been an ongoing topic of interest lately. Many are still happy with Windows 10, but Windows 11 has also begun to gain popularity. People are slowly starting to come around to Microsoft’s newest OS. However, all is not rosy for those who have high-end components. New reports have surfaced that Windows 11 is causing issues with AMD’s newest CPUs with dual chiplets. There’s also a bug in the latest 22H2 update that’s affecting Nvidia GPU owners as well. No, not that bug—this is new. The Nvidia bug is simply a visual anomaly, but the AMD flaw can affect performance.

Let’s start with the good news: If you have an Nvidia GPU, and Windows 11 22H2, open Task Manager. Once there, check out your GPU usage with the system idle. You might be shocked to find it sitting at close to 100 percent for no discernible reason. This is a bug, according to Neowin. Even worse, this is a different bug from the previous one that was causing BSODs and sluggish performance.

That one has been patched, and thankfully this new one doesn’t seem to affect performance at all. But it’s reportedly affecting a wider range of Nvidia GPUs. It flips the reading for “3D” activity on its head, inverting it. So when the card is doing nothing, it shows almost 100 percent utilization. A screenshot of it was posted to Reddit by /u/washed_king_jos. Note the card is running at 39C, so this seems like a clear bug in the utilization reading.

The next bug is more serious but will affect fewer people. The Windows thread scheduler included in Windows “intelligently” assigns tasks to the CPU cores. It’s apparently having trouble with the dual chiplets in the new high-end Ryzen CPUs, including the Ryzen 9 7900X and 7950X. This was confirmed by a Twitter user named CapFrameX via TechRadar. They were able to boost gaming performance by turning off the second CCD (core compute die), and/or disabling multi-threading. Doing so improved gaming performance by 30 percent in some scenarios. For example, in Metro: Exodus the 7950X hit 151fps in stock trim, and 176fps with only one CCD.

The Ryzen 9 7950X’s dual chiplets. (Image: AMD)

This bug reportedly does not affect the Ryzen 5 7600X and Ryzen 7 7700X. That’s because those CPUs only have one CCD, adding evidence to the theory that Windows’ thread director is confused by dual chiplets. This is obviously a big problem for folks who just dropped a wad of cash on a new, high-end CPU. They will have to disable half their CPU cores just to experience the full power of their swanky Zen 4 chips.

It has not been an easy upgrade path for AMD CPU owners with Windows 11, to say the least. Last year when the OS launched it delivered a sizable L3 cache latency penalty for Ryzen CPU owners. That bug was eventually patched by both companies in an OS and chipset update. Also, “incorrect thread scheduling” was a suspected issue with Ryzen users back in the Windows 10 days as well. That was due to games running faster on Windows 7 compared with 10. In the end, AMD announced it was not a problem. Still, there’s some history here. Hopefully, AMD and Microsoft will get this new issue patched ASAP before buyers look down the stack—or across the fence at Raptor Lake.

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NASA Forced to Fire ISS Thrusters to Dodge Russian Space Debris

NASA has announced that the International Space Station (ISS) executed an orbital course correction on Monday. The ISS rarely needs to adjust its orbit, but it was necessary in this case to avoid a piece of Russian space debris. The agency says the dangerous bit of junk came from the Cosmos 1408 satellite, which Russia destroyed in an anti-satellite-weapons test in late 2021.

The crew fired the engines on Progress 81 (fittingly, a Russian cargo vessel) docked at the station for about five minutes (305 seconds). Following the maneuver, the station’s apogee (highest point in its orbit) was raised by 0.2 miles. Its perigee (the lowest point) was elevated by 0.8 miles. That was enough to steer well clear of the debris, which was projected to pass within three miles of the station. Even a small piece of space junk could seriously damage the station and risk the lives of astronauts due to its high speed relative to the ISS.

NASA says the Pre-Determined Debris Avoidance Maneuver (PDAM) on Monday evening did not impact space station operations. However, this may become a more common operation as the orbit around Earth becomes increasingly crowded. The testing of anti-satellite weapons certainly isn’t improving matters either. Russia’s decision in November 2021 to test its anti-satellite weaponry on its own satellite produced over 1,500 pieces of trackable debris, all of them potentially dangerous to space operations.

The station raised its orbit today maneuvering to avoid orbital debris that could have passed within about three miles of the orbiting lab. https://t.co/e4lUZzPvtr

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) October 25, 2022

NASA played it straight when announcing the course correction, leaving its probable frustration with the Russians unsaid. The agency got about as spicy as it could when commenting on the destruction of Cosmos 1408. After the test, Russia was roundly criticized by the world’s space agencies, including NASA, which called the test “dangerous and irresponsible.” More recently, Russia has threatened to use similar weapons against SpaceX Starlink Satellites, which are providing connectivity to Ukrainian military forces in their war with Russia.

As illustrated by this maneuver, an escalation of space warfare that involves picking off satellites could put the ISS and other missions at grave risk. That’s one of the reasons the US proposed an end to orbital weapons tests several weeks ago. It’s unlikely Russia would agree to such a ban — it’s already leaning away from working with other space agencies. Earlier this year, Russia’s Roscosmos announced that it would pull out of the International Space Station after 2024 so it could focus on building its own station.

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Wednesday, 26 October 2022

San Jose Earthquake Proves ShakeAlert Works as Designed

(Photo: Library of Congress/Unsplash) Though we haven’t yet figured out how to actually predict earthquakes, a system based in California aims at giving people in earthquake-prone regions a few extra seconds to take cover. ShakeAlert is an earthquake early warning (EEW) system that initiates urgent mobile phone alerts at the start of a quake—and yesterday’s 5.1 magnitude event near San Jose proved it works as intended.

ShakeAlert first came on the scene in 2019. The US Geological Survey (USGS), California Geological Survey, California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, and several California universities had been working together for over a decade to create an EEW system that could alert people on the west coast to impending earthquakes. When ShakeAlert first launched, it only covered California; two years later, it expanded to include Oregon and then Washington.

The system works by using geographically distributed seismic sensors to detect two types of waves: fast-moving compressional waves and slower-moving shear waves. The sensors send these signals to ShakeAlert’s data processing center. Once the processing center receives signals from four separate sensors, it prompts the USGS to initiate an alert. If the sensors receive stronger signals as the earthquake continues, the USGS will update the quake’s magnitude accordingly. Though ShakeAlert is best known for its mobile notifications, its alerts can also be distributed via radio, television, public siren, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) wireless emergency alert system (most recognizable for its dissemination of amber alerts).

Around the same time that it started serving Oregon and Washington, ShakeAlert sought to enhance its offering by looking at the way people respond to earthquakes on their smartphones. The service partnered with Google. During the partnership’s initial stage, ShakeAlert and Google improved their delivery of earthquake notifications on Android phones. Then they moved on to sourcing data from mid- or post-quake Google searches. The idea is that when several people search for things like “earthquake Los Angeles,” Google can use those search locations to help determine the earthquake’s spread.

Had almost 10 seconds of warning from @USGS_ShakeAlert, which was very exciting. #earthquake pic.twitter.com/oudHLKE9vl

— Tim Dawson (@timblor) October 25, 2022

It isn’t clear exactly how much progress ShakeAlert and Google have made on that front, but when a 5.1 M earthquake started in Santa Clara County, California on Tuesday, many smartphone users received notifications on their phones before beginning to feel the ground shake. “Got earthquake early warning in Daly City just before I felt the shaking. Earthquake early warning says it was magnitude 5.1 in Santa Clara County,” tweeted LA Times reporter Ron Lin shortly after the event ended. “Looks like I was 52 miles northwest of the epicenter. I thought the MyShake ShakeAlert warning was a false alarm lol, and then I felt the shaking!” Another Twitter user said they received a ShakeAlert notification seven seconds before they started feeling the quake itself.

Though a seven-second headstart might not sound significant, it can make all the difference to those in an earthquake’s radius. The gap allows people to duck under desks, steer clear of large trees, and otherwise seek cover, hopefully preventing serious injuries. The notifications are also an important facet of infrastructure protection. A well-timed alert can help trains slow down and avoid derailment, close water and gas valves to prevent utility disasters, and even inform firefighters to open firehouse doors before they can jam shut.

ShakeAlert is still under development, meaning not all smartphone users will receive earthquake notifications without taking additional action. Android users appear to be receiving warnings automatically, but ShakeAlert recommends that iPhone users download the MyShake app if they live on the west coast and would like to receive urgent notifications.

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Analyst: Most Metaverse Projects Will Go Out of Business by 2025

(Photo: JESHOOTS/Unsplash) Given the recent prevalence of metaverse chatter, you’d think the new online space has a long, healthy road ahead. According to one analyst, this might not be the case. Matthew Ball, chief analyst at tech market research firm Canalys, recently shared that he believes most metaverse projects will shutter over the next couple of years.

Ball shared his thought process at Canalys’ 2022 Channels Forum in Barcelona, according to a new report from The Register. Addressing whether the metaverse could be considered “the next digital frontier” or “an overhyped money pit,” Ball said Meta’s convoluted project—and all its somewhat pitiful snags—can be considered a barometer for the metaverse’s success as a whole. He went on to say he believes most metaverse projects will have closed by 2025.

Ball’s analysis is in direct contrast with a prediction recently cited by Interpol, in which market research firm Gartner said a quarter of Americans will spend at least one hour in the metaverse per day by 2026. Meta itself has an even loftier hunch: Zuckerberg said earlier this year that he expects one billion people to be in the metaverse by 2030.

But from outside of the metaverse development space, it’s far easier to understand Ball’s gloomy prediction. Despite investing billions in the platform, Meta (by and large the biggest player in the metaverse space) has had a tough time getting its version of the metaverse onto its feet. Most have heard by now that Meta has to force its own employees to use its flagship metaverse product, Horizon Worlds. Meta employees’ hesitance to use Horizon Worlds at work makes sense, given recent confirmation that working in the metaverse totally sucks.

(Image: Meta)

Some big-name tech founders have rather explicitly (in more ways than one) dismissed the metaverse, saying it’s a disappointing product that eats up resources that could be used to fix real, existing problems—not just gratuitously create new ones. That aligns with Ball’s point regarding accessibility: In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, few people are interested in or able to invest hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars in virtual spaces like the metaverse. “People are struggling in the real world, let alone in the virtual world, to be able to invest in property and items and other NFTs,” Ball said.

An undertaking as large and convoluted as the metaverse takes a lot of faith to pursue. Meta, along with tech giants like Microsoft, Apple, and Google, appear to be capable of sustaining that faith for now, even if it’s just to prove their recent investments have been worth it. If Ball is on the right track, it’ll only be a few more years before we find out whether that’s actually the case.

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AMD to Ditch 12-Pin GPU Power Cable as Photos Appear of Melted RTX 4090 Adapters

GPU “Cable Gate” is an official thing now. This week a Redditor posted images of a melted 12-pin adapter cable on their Nvidia RTX 4090. The power plug on the PCB was also irreversibly damaged as well. Naturally, the Internet was outraged as this was predicted to happen before the GPUs launched. Back in September PCI-SIG issued a warning about using 12-pin power cable adapters, saying it could cause problems. Now, that has apparently happened. In the wake of this event, it’s been confirmed that AMD will not be using the new cable on its upcoming RDNA3 GPUs. This has led to a lot of questions about Nvidia’s 12-pin cable design. Now Nvidia says it’s investigating the incident.

Backing up a tiny bit, the 12-pin power connector is not a new thing. Back when Nvidia launched its Ampere architecture, it also introduced a new 12-pin power connector. This change allowed for more room on the PCB, as it went from dual 8-pin connectors on high-end cards to a single 12-pin, mounted vertically. Nvidia used that extra space to improve cooling performance. The GPUs included 8-to-12-pin adapters, and all was well. However, things have changed with the introduction of the RTX 4090.

A new ATX 3.0 and PCIe 5.0 spec provides a single 12-pin cable (above) from the power supply to the GPU. This connector, dubbed 12VHPWR, differs from the Ampere cable; it has four additional signaling pins that communicate with the GPU. However, PSUs with the new cable aren’t readily available yet, so you have to use an adapter. For the RTX 4090, it’s typically a four-into-one adapter using 8-pin cables.

Previous reports suggested these adapters could cause issues with new, high-power GPUs when using ATX 2.0 power supplies and adapters. PCI-SIG sent a letter to its members warning them about this scenario. According to Wccftech, it stated, “Please be advised that PCI-SIG has become aware that some implementations of the 12VHPWR connectors and assemblies have demonstrated thermal variance, which could result in safety issues under certain conditions.” Thermal variance seems to be the key phrase here.

Redditor /u/reggie_gakill posted this photo of his melted cable and connector in /r/Nvidia.

Now a Redditor has posted photos of a melted cable and connector on an RTX 4090. In the same thread, someone posted a second image of a melted connector as well. Additionally, when YouTuber Jayztwocents made a video about this controversy a while back, Nvidia told him there was nothing to worry about. It said it’s done its testing and there were no issues.

As far as Reddit goes, a rep for Nvidia has apparently reached out to the Reddit user. Now its PR chief says the company is investigating. In a statement to The Verge, Bryan Del Rizzo said, “We are investigating the reports,” adding they are collecting information from Reddit users.

Following this imbroglio, it’s being reported AMD will not be using that cable at all for its upcoming RDNA3 GPUs. Instead, it’ll use a traditional dual 8-pin configuration, at least on the high end. That’s what sources have told Kyle Bennet, formerly of [H]ardOCP notoriety. This was then confirmed by an AMD SVP. This applies to AMD reference cards only. It’s unclear if partner boards from MSI and others will also jettison the controversial connector. It’s also unknown if a cable capable of pulling 600W will even be necessary for AMD’s next-gen.

After all, if AMD’s high-end card only requires two 8-pin connectors, that’s a 300W budget. Add in 75W from the PCIe slot and you’re looking at a sub-400W GPU, compared with Nvidia’s 450W card. It’s possible that AMD’s solution is much more efficient than Nvidia’s as well. That’s simply because it will be the first consumer GPU with a chiplet architecture. This stands in contrast to Nvidia’s enormous monolithic die for Ada Lovelace.

Still, it’s a stumble for Nvidia’s newest GPUs. It remains to be seen what is the exact culprit for the melting behavior. When the GPUs launched some reviewers called out the scary amount of bending required to tuck the cables away. When you bend the adapter down to hide the cables, it puts a lot of pressure on the connector attached to the PCB. This could pry its connections loose from the PCB over time, some predict. The issue is exacerbated by how large the GPUs are too, as it can place the connector close to the side panel. As an alternative, CableMod sells a 90-degree adapter to prevent flex at the connector. The other alternative is to buy an ATX 3.0 PSU, but they are still not as prevalent as ATX 2.0 models, which are ubiquitous.

(Image: CableMod)

For now, we will have to wait and see what Nvidia has to say when its investigation is completed. People spending $1,600 on a GPU don’t necessarily want to drop another $200+ on a new ATX 3.0 power supply, so the adapters are necessary. But if those adapters are causing issues, they might not have a choice.

Nvidia and its partners have surely shipped thousands of GPUs to customers, if not more, and so far there are only two published reports of melting occurring. Still, it’s concerning it has even happened once.

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