News
- RAM pricing in Germany has suddenly gotten a lot steeper
- The price of DDR5 memory is now 448% more costly than a year ago
- On top of that, TSMC is reportedly set to increase its chip production prices by up to 10% next year, which will mean more expensive CPUs
The RAM crisis appears to be getting considerably worse right now, based on memory pricing in one country anyway — and we've also had some bad news from a big chip maker.
First off, RAM pricing in Germany is what's been under the microscope courtesy of 3D Center (via Wccftech), which regularly takes the temperature of the market in the country, finding that July has seen a notable price hike.
This is for DDR5 RAM at retailers in Germany, and prices are now at an incredible 448% more costly than a year ago (before the memory crisis kicked off). Pricing had been at 440% at the start of 2026, but then dropped to 408% in March, and stayed at that level in April, before climbing back to 419% in June.
However, this latest move to 448% represents a bigger leap, and an all-time high for the German market.
As for the bleak news from the chip maker, that's TSMC which is going to raise the cost of its chip production by up to 10% next year, according to a report by Nikkei Asia (as flagged by PC Gamer).
The reason for TSMC having to hike prices is said to be the rising cost of materials and the equipment for manufacturing chips, as well as the need to fund expansion plans for more fabrication facilities (or fabs, as they're known).
Bigger premiums will be lumped onto those ordering high-end chips (high-performance computing or HPC silicon) from TSMC off the cuff (on top of existing orders), and in these cases there could be up to a 15% hike.
Analysis: hiking misery(Image credit: Shutterstock)The good news here, such as it is, is that TSMC is reportedly waiting until 2027 before implementing these price hikes. They could have come in sooner given the climate we're currently facing, although we should remember, this isn't official, and it's just based on what Nikkei Asia has heard from its sources. But it's all too believable, and indeed arguably inevitable that further chip price hikes are coming.
What this means is that the likes of processors – or anything with a CPU in it – are likely to get pricier next year, because manufacturers who are getting their chips from TSMC will, naturally enough, pass any cost increase (or most of it) on to the consumer. And TSMC supplies a lot of the tech industry's needs, Apple and Nvidia included (as well as AMD and Qualcomm).
Regarding the RAM situation in Germany, this is just one country, of course, but it's generally reflective of what a lot of chatter is saying – that the second half of 2026 is going to bring further price rises, and that next year is likely to be even worse. That's the broad theory floated by analysts and chip makers themselves in many cases, and the German market is simply backing this notion up.
Of course, there's not much that can be done about this, except perhaps to consider buying now rather than next year. Or at this point, you may want to look at Black Friday as a good upcoming opportunity to pounce on a hardware purchase like a PC or laptop, and that's the other thing to bear in mind here: how you proceed depends on what hardware you're looking at purchasing. I've discussed this recently in some depth, after Nvidia's CEO commented on the RAM crisis and how it's not going to be over until perhaps 2030.
- An amateur astronomer has discovered a meteorite crater on Google Maps
- The crater is thought to be 390 million years old
- The finding was verified when a scientists visited the site and found telltale rock formations
Sometimes, I find myself idly browsing Google Maps, marveling at the wondrous locations I can spy from a satellite’s vantage point. Sadly, though, I’ve never discovered a 390-million-year-old meteorite crater while enjoying my nerdy pastime — but one clever Canadian has just managed to do exactly that.
Speaking to The Canadian Press, amateur astronomer Joël Lapointe said he was plotting a summer hiking trip in Québec when he spied a strange ring-shaped indentation in the ground spanning some 15.5 miles across.
The circular pit fired up Lapointe’s Spidey-Senses, but he kept telling himself that it was unlikely to be an actual meteorite crater: “I told myself, ‘You haven’t discovered anything, Joël, it’s not possible, they must already know about this.’” Yet, when the formation did not appear in any of the crater databases Lapointe searched, he decided to submit his finding to the experts.
Although Lapointe spotted the geological anomaly back in 2023, his hunch wasn’t confirmed to be correct until October 2025. That’s when planetary geologist Gordon Osinski of Canada’s Western University conducted a field survey at the location, and discovered impact melt-rock and shatter cones, both rock formations caused by a meteorite impact. The findings — which dated the crater as around 390 million years old — are due to be presented at the 88th Annual Meteoritical Society Meeting in Germany in August this year.
How to find this ancient impact siteThe meteorite impact crater can be seen from Google Maps. (Image credit: Google / Future)If you want to view the impact crater for yourself, it can be found at the following coordinates: 51°13'57.3"N, 64°39'53.0"W. Zoom out a little and the circular nature of the crater is clearly visible, with Lake Marsal located at its center.
Lapointe was delighted with his discovery, telling Radio Canada that: “It’s not every day that an ordinary citizen finds a 390-million-year-old crater. I encourage everyone to not ignore intuition or an observation, even if it isn’t part of your field of expertise.”
He’s not the first person to notice something strange depicted within Google Maps’ extensive imagery. Past explorers have found shipwrecks in shallow waters, and discerned commercial aircraft mid-flight, and even what appeared to be a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, although neither of those aircraft can be viewed today, as Google has updated its satellite imagery.
Still, Lapointe’s story shows that sometimes, idly scrolling around Google Maps can lead to impressive discoveries. As Osinski — who often gets erroneous reports of possible craters — put it, “It just goes to show, while 9 out of 10 or 99 out of 100 might not be [impact craters], there could always still be that one that will surprise you.”
If you're looking for a cheap portable monitor for travel, then I definitely recommend the AOC 16T35 for $60 (was $90) at Best Buy. This is a very limited-time deal though, which runs out soon.
We tested the AOC 16T3EA, which is identical in size, weight, and screen, awarding it 4.5 stars and a Highly Recommended badge in our review.
Now, the AOC 16T35 is a significant upgrade that's actually cheaper to buy. Notably, it boasts two USB-C ports rather than one, an additional mini HDMI port and, addressing one of our issues with the stripped back version, it has built-in speakers. They're not ultra loud, but I always find it's better to have them if you're just jumping on a quick video call.
Should you buy it?✅ Buy the AOC 16T35 if...
You're looking for a budget portable monitor that delivers a good display for office tasks. In our tests, we found it made viewing and editing business documents "absolutely superb."
❌ Skip the AOC 16T35 if...
You're a creator. While the FHD display makes it a great business companion, we found the limited color accuracy holds it back from being a recommended pick for creative professionals.
A 15.6in display with a slim and lightweight design. This 3.3lb portable monitor has a built-in kickstand for portrait and landscape viewing, features a 1920x1080 resolution, two 1W speakers, two USB-C ports, a single 3.5mm audio jack, and one mini HDMI port. View Deal
Why we recommend itIn our review, we called AOC's portable screen "a solid, lightweight option for working on the move." And that was for the pared back AOC 16T3EA.
This is a much better offer at a much better price. The AOC 16T35 increases USB-C ports from one to two, adds a mini HDMI, and includes built-in speakers. If you were choosing between the two, I wholeheartedly recommend the 16T35 model.
The portable monitor performed well in our tests particularly for business-oriented tasks like viewing PDFs, browsing, checking emails, and running office software.
We found it very easy to set up, and we appreciated the amount of control you have over the display in the OSD.
It's not suitable for professional creative tasks, given the color accuracy - although, if you're just using it to expand screen real estate while editing photos for your social media page, it's more than suitable for that. Just don't go using it for editing features or print-ready marketing materials.
In fact, in our testing, we specifically highlighted that: "Overall, the monitor performed well, with a clear display and a beautiful matte finish that made it ideal for office work and browsing the internet. In creative use, it was also a good option for palettes, as well as email, documents, and anything else that didn't require absolute colour accuracy."
Price Context & Historical ValueAt $60, this sits firmly at the budget end of the best portable monitors we've tested. Considering what you get here - a second screen with three actually useful ports, a clever kickstand, and built-in speakers, this is an easy recommendation. A lot of cheap portable displays that hover around the $50-60 mark - particularly the non-branded ones - lack all of these features.
The Catch: What to know before you buyObviously I've mentioned the color accuracy issue already. But if that forms any part of your workflow, avoid this monitor. And look for one with a higher resolution, too - 2K should do nicely.
The other issue is the speakers. While I always appreciate them, it's fair to say the ones equipped to the AOC 16T35 aren't especially powerful. They're fine for video calls or checking videos, but I'd recommend investing in a proper external speaker if you're relying on audio in your job.
- US data center electricity usage is expected to quadruple by 2035
- There has been a surge in signups for Trump's Ratepayer Protection Act
- Residential electricity rates have risen by 25% over the past four years
US data centers are expected to use four times more electricity by 2035 than they currently use, bringing the total consumption to one fifth of the country's electricity production.
In an attempt to quell the national dissatisfaction with AI and the data centers needed to support capacity, over 200 entities have joined President Trump’s pledge to not pass on rising electricity costs to consumers.
But Trump’s pledge is entirely voluntary, and has little control over electricity pricing which is decided by state regulators and electricity buyers and sellers - and in some states with huge data center buildouts electricity pricing has already risen significantly.
Electricity consumption set to quadrupleA new report by BloombergNEF seen by TechCrunch predicts that global AI compute will rise to as much as 200 gigawatts over the next decade, with most of it concentrated in the US. Additionally, many already strained power grids across the US will struggle to handle new data center connections without huge infrastructure buildouts. Current infrastructure buildouts have seen the US government seize private property from landowners using eminent domain.
The PJM Interconnection across Virginia and Illinois is expected to see 34% of its electricity go to data centers over the next decade. In the same timespan, Texas’ ERCOT will have to divert 22% of its electricity to data centers.
There is one caveat, however. The BloombergNEF report is likely a conservative estimate. Compared to a report released in December, BloombergNEF’s new electricity usage estimates are 83% higher than the previous prediction.
The strain caused by the buildout of AI data centers is even causing a rift between utility companies and grid operators. American Electric Power threatened to pull out of the PJM interconnection due to the supply-demand imbalance causing prices to rise by as much as 76% in the last year.
Trump pledges to stop electricity price rises caused by big techAccording to exclusive WSJ reporting, there has been a huge surge in signups to Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which is a voluntary commitment to not pass on the rise in electricity prices caused by AI data center buildouts to consumers. The pledge encourages private companies to “build, bring, or buy” new electricity sources.
Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI were among the first to sign up back in March 2026, but since then the nation’s biggest utilities and data centers developers have also joined the pledge, including NextEra Energy, Duke Energy, Equinix and Digital Realty.
New commitments for the Ratepayer Protection Pledge are expected to be announced by Trump at an event by the Environmental Protection Agency, but Trump’s track record on environmental protection has been less than stellar. New fossil fuel energy production facilities can now expedite their application process, and Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” policy has significantly reduced funding and support for clean and renewable energy sources, which are far cheaper than their fossil fuel counterparts.
Despite the pledge not to pass on the rising costs of electricity to consumers, there have already been significant consumer electricity price increases across the US.
According to ElectricChoice statistics, average US residential electricity rates are up 7.4% year-over-year, with Ohio alone seeing a 19.4% increase in the same period. 13 US states have seen double digit increases in year-over-year electricity pricing, while only 5 states have seen pricing stay the same or decrease.
(Image credit: Electric Choice)In the past four years, residential electricity rates have risen by 25%, with grid modernization investments and record data center construction cited as two of the main reasons for the rapid growth in pricing.
According to Cleanview, the US currently has 1,214 operating data centers with a further 1,714 planned or in construction.
(Image credit: Cleanview)A bill that seeks to actually hold tech companies responsible for their contributions to the increase in consumer electricity prices has been introduced to congress, called the Ratepayer Protection Act. The bipatisan bill looks to introduce a “large load standard” requiring tech companies to bear the cost of the energy they use, alongside upgrades to the local grids they connect to.
'Intelligent Eyewear' is the fresh term Samsung is using to perhaps give its new wearable technology a fresh start in a market that's showing signs of smart glasses fatigue. With a focus on style and design, the company has unveiled a series of Warby Parker- and Gentle Monster-designed glasses that put fashion and Gemini at the center of the experience.
Samsung unveiled the long-promised collaboration between it, Google, and these premier eyewear brands alongside its new suite of Galaxy foldables at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked on July 22. Its Intelligent Eyewear is finally challenging chief competitor Meta, whose own Ray-Ban and EssilorLuxottica smartglasses have become the dominant products in this space.
In a preview just before the big launch, I got an up-close look at the new smart frames, though Samsung was insistent that I not try them on or actually use them, which was disappointing.
Samsung's Intelligent Eyewear consists of designs ranging from classic square and round-style frames to cat-eye-style silhouettes, and in colors ranging from amber to green and black. Lenses are available in clear and transition. There's no pricing, and the ship date is described as "this Fall".
Lance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureAs I picked up multiple frames (but never donned them, mind you), I quickly noticed that the frames, which are filled with, among other things, Qualcomm Snapdragon wearable silicon, are quite lightweight. Also, aside from somewhat larger stems than you'd find on standard glasses, they're pleasingly thin, so that someone looking at you head-on might not initially realize you're wearing smart...er...intelligent eyewear.
There are, however, tells.
On the front of the frames are a pair of what look like cameras, but only the one on the right is a shooter of indeterminate megapixels (more info Samsung chose not to share), and the one on the left is the critical LED to let people know you're taking photos or videos.
Lance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureWhen I flipped the lenses around and looked at the left stem very near the frames, I noticed a large meta switch. Yes, this Intelligent Eyewear appears to feature a large power button, something I have not seen on previous smart frames.
I then flipped the frames over to look at the bottom of the stems where I spotted the stereo speakers (one for each stem) and what appear to be a pair of far-field microphone holes.
There's a single button on the top of one stem that you can use to trigger a photo or video capture or to summon one of the personal assistants. Though I asked multiple times, I was told that there's no gesture recognition for the frames that you could use, say, to lower or raise the audio volume.
Lance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureAs with other intelligent wearables Samsung has produced with partner Google (see the much more powerful, reality-mixing Samsung Galaxy XR headset), the new Warby Parker and Gentle Monster Intelligent Eyewear put AI access at the center. The notion is that you will use your voice to summon Gemini and have it assist you in a variety of ways. Think having it identify what you're looking at, translate signs and menus in a foreign language, answer general prompts, help you ideate while on the go, give you email summaries, guide you through a recipe, and maybe access your email.
Nestled alongside Gemini is Samsung's Bixby assistant. It has the less-exciting job of, say, accessing phone apps and controlling eyewear features like volume.
I also got a chance to look at both the Warby Parker and Gentle Monster charge cases, nice white containers that were a bit lighter than the Meta Glasses case I didn't bring with me to the UK because (with the glasses inside) I thought it was too heavy.
@techradar ♬ original sound - TechRadar Samsung on design choices, limitations, and looming privacy concerns(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)I can't tell you much about how these frames work, but we did get some useful insight about Samsung's strategy from James Choi, Samsung's Head of XR R&D Team EVP.
One thing Choi made clear is that, for now, these glasses are in no way a replacement for the phone. Part of the issue is the demands of AI processing, which for now are too high to place solely on the Intelligent Eyewear, but, he noted, "We want to extend heavy use of AI on phone to here."
He was also fairly transparent about things they have yet to solve with the frames, like adjustable nose bridge and stems. On the latter, Choi admitted that with regular glasses the stems are highly adjustable, but that's not the case with Samsung Intelligent Eyewear because there's technology and sensors in there.
In fact, when I examined some of the new frames, I noticed I could see through the housing to view some of that stem-based technology. What Choi seemed unaware of, though, is that with the just-released Meta Glasses from Essilor Luxottica, both the stems and nose bridge are adjustable.
Choi also discussed at some length the growing privacy concerns being raised with the entire smart glasses category.
He explained that some of the negative response to the technology is rooted in particular societies and cultures, noting that, in South Korea, with all the public transportation, people are closer and the concerns can be greater.
"Regarding public acceptance, it takes time," he added.
It's by no means a settled issue for Samsung. Choi explained that the company continues to work on what is an important topic for them and indicated that some future innovations in the shape or form factor could impact acceptance.
These concerns, though, are not a reason to end development or stop trying.
"We cannot stay here without innovating this. Intentional bad uses need to be covered and protected. If, because of that, we stop innovation, we don’t go anywhere."
What's coming in the Display Intelligent Eyewear space(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)Samsung has not forgotten about display lenses, and Choi assured us that they have "something with very good technology better than what’s in the market."
He also acknowledged the challenges and, without mentioning Snap and its recent release of the chunky Specs, the technical challenges of combining displays in a form factor meant to be worn discreetly on the face.
Samsung wants its display glasses to be, as he waved around a pair of the Warby Parker Intelligent Eyewear, “almost near to this form factor.”
It's not just the design that's a challenge. Battery life is a considerable issue (one of the reasons why display lenses still tend to be so thick). "If we publish display glass, we want to promise a certain level of daily use… really tough. We’re working on it."