Add two super fast NVMe SSDs to your Raspberry Pi 5. Ideal if you need redundancy or just a load more storage on your RPi. NVMe Base Duo is a PCIe Gen 2 extension board for Raspberry Pi 5. Simply populate it with one or two M-key NVMe SSDs (2230 to 2280 sizes supported) and mount it under (or over) your Pi for a compact and fast storage solution. It even comes with rubber feet!

It's the perfect solution for turning your Raspberry Pi 5 into a file server, media center, reverse proxy, etc.—really any task that benefits from large amounts of fast storage, redundancy, or just to make use of a couple of spare disk—especially with random high operations per second (IOPS) workloads. In short, it's a game changer! NVMe Base Duo is now available for pre-order with the first batch of units shipping in mid-April. For a lot more detail about NVMe Base Duo and to reserve your unit click here.

This announcement was shared with EA Entertainment employees by Laura Miele, President of EA Entertainment and Technology: "Hi Everyone, over the past six months, you've heard me talk about aligning our portfolio and organization to deliver on our ambitious growth strategy. One of the essential parts of delivering on our plans is making sure we are listening to our players and investing in the games they want to play. As Andrew noted in his EA Action, the reality of a creative business is that market conditions and players' needs are always changing. We're seeing a rapid player shift toward large open-world games, massive communities, and live services. With that in mind, we have shared the following updates with our teams:"

Respawn:
Respawn's unique ability to connect with players and create exceptional game experiences is unrivaled in entertainment. As we've looked at Respawn's portfolio over the last few months, what's clear is the games our players are most excited about are Jedi and Respawn's rich library of owned brands. Knowing this, we have decided to pivot away from early development on a Star Wars FPS Action game to focus our efforts on new projects based on our owned brands while providing support for existing games. It's always hard to walk away from a project, and this decision is not a reflection of the team's talent, tenacity, or passion they have for the game. Giving fans the next installments of the iconic franchises they want is the definition of blockbuster storytelling and the right place to focus.

Box Limited, a popular PC and electronic retailer in the United Kingdom, has ceased doing business—this follows insider reports of Box Ltd. filing for administration last week. A few days ago, the company's web store was updated with a front page announcement that confirmed a total cessation of operations. The online store is still semi-functional (at the time of writing)—you can add items to your basket, but the checkout process automatically kicks you back to the site's main page. UK publication, eTeknix, had the inside track on Box's troubles—despite a very buoyant 2023: "Box Limited is one of the biggest PC and tech retailers in the UK, or at least… we thought they were. When Tactus bought them out last year for £100 million, it seemed like things were only on the up for Box, but according to our sources, things are looking pretty bleak for the UK retailer."

Last week's article elaborated further on problems behind-the-scenes: "Firstly, Box may be owned by Tactus, but are currently being sued by their new owner for £18 million because they had allegedly over-inflated their value before they were bought out. That's a big no-no in the business world, obviously, and while I cannot confirm if that is true or not, as that's a matter for the courts to decide, it's fairly safe to assume that it has some bearing on their more recent predicament...Sources close to us, whom we cannot disclose, have informed us that Box Limited has submitted an administration application. Further sources have indicated to distributors of various hardware that "box is end of life" and that their insurance companies are recommending they do not send products to Box Limited. No point sending hardware to them if they're going into administration, as you would just be throwing money away… not a good business move." The Tactus Group has a pretty large portfolio of UK retail presences, including: Chillblast, Horizon, Geo, and CCL Computers. The loss of Box.co.uk is certainly going to sting (following last year's £100 million investment) since their acquisition also covered several brick and mortar shops located in the UK Midlands.

Hi Everyone, today I'd like to share that the talented team at Criterion Games will be joining EA Entertainment. Criterion has a rich history in gaming, having worked on Battlefield, Battlefront, Burnout, and of course, Need for Speed. I'm thrilled to have a studio with such pedigree join the studios I oversee. As we've said before, we're all-in on Battlefield. Today, Criterion is added to our world-class Battlefield studios dedicated to ushering in a new era for the franchise.

The majority of the team will be working alongside DICE, Ripple Effect, and Ridgeline that are led by Byron Beede, GM of Battlefield. Criterion's experience with Battlefield, our technology and building engaging experiences will have an immediate positive impact as we continue to work on Battlefield 2042, and as we continue pre-production on a connected Battlefield Universe. There is no better studio to join us on this journey and I couldn't be more excited.

JLab, a leading innovator in audio and technology, is thrilled to announce the highly anticipated launch of its Epic Wireless Keyboard in the United Kingdom. Combining exceptional performance with an array of features, this keyboard is set to revolutionize the way users work, create, and play. The Epic Wireless Keyboard is now available for purchase at Amazon and on JLab's official website for £69.99.

The Epic Wireless Keyboard is designed to seamlessly connect with devices through Bluetooth or a USB wireless dongle, providing users with flexibility and convenience. With the ability to switch between three saved devices, including laptops, phones, tablets, and more, users can effortlessly transition between these, eliminating the need for multiple keyboards and saving time.

The United Kingdom Competition and Markets Authority (UK-CMA) on Wednesday blocked the proposed $68.7 billion merger of Microsoft and Activision-Blizzard. In its press-releasing announcing its final decision into an investigation on the question of how the merger will affect consumer-choice and innovation in the market, the CMA says that the merger would alter the future of cloud gaming, and lead to "reduced innovation and less choice for United Kingdom gamers over the years to come." Cloud gaming in this context would be games rendered on the cloud, and consumed on the edge by gamers. NVIDIA's GeForce NOW is one such service.

Microsoft Azure is one of the big-three cloud computing providers (besides AWS and Google Cloud), and the CMA fears that Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard IP (besides its control over the Xbox and Windows PC ecosystems), would "strengthen that advantage giving it the ability to undermine new and innovative competitors." The CMA report continues: "Cloud gaming needs a free, competitive market to drive innovation and choice. That is best achieved by allowing the current competitive dynamics in cloud gaming to continue to do their job." Microsoft and Activision-Blizzard are unsurprisingly unhappy with the verdict.

Smartphone specialists Oppo and OnePlus have responded to the rumors of both companies exiting several European markets, as well as the UK. In a joint statement provided to Android Authority the message was a promise to stay put in 2023: "OPPO and OnePlus are committed to all the existing European markets. We had a great start in 2023 with the successful launches of several products in Europe and have a line-up of upcoming products for the rest of the year. As always, OPPO and OnePlus will continue to provide more innovative products and the best-in-class service for users moving forward."

Starting yesterday, industry tipsters issued posts about Oppo and OnePlus withdrawing from markets in Europe, with more immediate exits from key territories - France, Germany, Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The cited reasons for exiting the aforementioned markets include a massive slowdown in regional sales and legal cases levied by competitors in regard to patent infringements on Oppo's part. The lawsuits that were levied by Nokia have resulted in a number of Oppo and OnePlus devices being banned from sale in Germany.

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regulatory body has today delivered its provisional approval of Microsoft's proposed purchase of the Activision Blizzard group, but has added that it will conduct further reviews into the topic of whether the buyout will have any detrimental effect on competition in the area of cloud gaming services: "where the CMA is continuing to carefully consider the responses provided in relation to the original provisional findings. The CMA's merger investigation continues, and it remains due to issue its final report by 26 April 2023."

The antitrust watchdog's stance looks to have changed in a significant way since February, when it declared that Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard had the potential to "harm U.K. gamers". New evidence has been presented to the CMA in recent weeks, and its members have moved to provisionally conclude that: "overall, the transaction will not result in a substantial lessening of competition in relation to console gaming in the UK."

The UK Treasury has set aside a budget of £900 million to invest in the development of a supercomputer that would be powerful enough to chew through more than one billion billion simple calculations a second. A new exascale computer would fit the bill, for utilization by newly established advanced AI research bodies. It is speculated that one key goal is to establish a "BritGPT" system. The British government has been keeping tabs on recent breakthroughs in large language models, the most notable example being OpenAI's ChatGPT. Ambitions to match such efforts were revealed in a statement, with the emphasis: "to advance UK sovereign capability in foundation models, including large language models."

The current roster of United Kingdom-based supercomputers looks to be unfit for the task of training complex AI models. In light of being outpaced by drives in other countries to ramp up supercomputer budgets, the UK Government outlined its own future investments: "Because AI needs computing horsepower, I today commit around £900 million of funding, for an exascale supercomputer," said the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt. The government has declared that quantum technologies will receive an investment of £2.5 billion over the next decade. Proponents of the technology have declared that it will supercharge machine learning.

Microsoft's USD $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision-Blizzard is running into hurdles with competition regulators in both the UK and the EU, with both Brussels and London hinting at a thorough investigation into the impact the acquisition will have on competition in their respective markets. Microsoft is already a game publisher under Microsoft Games Studio, and makes at least two leading gaming platforms—the Xbox and Windows PC; whereas Activision-Blizzard own a constellation of dozens of game developers, and a mountain of IP over some of the most valuable game franchises of all time.

Britain's Competition and Markets Authority has hinted that the acquisition warrants a "second-phase investigation" since it has concerns that the deal would "result in a substantial lessening of competition within a market or markets in the United Kingdom." Over in Brussels, the EU market regulators, too, are taking a closer look at what the deal could entail for European consumers. Sony Computer Entertainment is particularly unhappy with the acquisition, and is the primary source of opposition to the deal that's invoked by regulators. Sony fears that with this acquisition, Microsoft will be in a position to deny popular game franchises such as "Call of Duty" to the PlayStation platform, and will have too much control over whether Sony can deliver an experience comparable or better than that of the Xbox.Many Thanks to DeathtoGnomes for the tip.

NZXT today announces the expansion of its direct-to-consumer business into new territories worldwide, including Spain, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand. This is a continuation of NZXT's global expansion allowing gamers worldwide a seamless and accessible step into PC Gaming through NZXT's custom-built gaming PCs, components, and peripherals. Access for customers in Spain and New Zealand launches today and the United Kingdom coming later this summer.

In addition to being able to purchase directly from NZXT, this launch also brings gaming communities in Spain, the UK, and New Zealand BLD, NZXT's easy-to-use service that allows players to choose their ideal gaming PC based on the games they play. Gamers at all technical levels can begin or evolve their PC gaming experience and spend more time playing and less time researching, acquiring parts, and assembling their setup. The launch of the site also includes access to the Function keyboard and Lift mouse and the customizable options for that, in addition to the barebones board for enthusiasts who want to build out their own mechanical keyboard.

The Federal Trade Commission today sued to block U.S. chip supplier Nvidia Corp.'s $40 billion acquisition of U.K. chip design provider Arm Ltd. Semiconductor chips power the computers and technologies that are essential to our modern economy and society. The proposed vertical deal would give one of the largest chip companies control over the computing technology and designs that rival firms rely on to develop their own competing chips. The FTC's complaint alleges that the combined firm would have the means and incentive to stifle innovative next-generation technologies, including those used to run datacenters and driver-assistance systems in cars.

"The FTC is suing to block the largest semiconductor chip merger in history to prevent a chip conglomerate from stifling the innovation pipeline for next-generation technologies," said FTC Bureau of Competition Director Holly Vedova. "Tomorrow's technologies depend on preserving today's competitive, cutting-edge chip markets. This proposed deal would distort Arm's incentives in chip markets and allow the combined firm to unfairly undermine Nvidia's rivals. The FTC's lawsuit should send a strong signal that we will act aggressively to protect our critical infrastructure markets from illegal vertical mergers that have far-reaching and damaging effects on future innovations."

The two leading companies in the quantum computing industry have combined to create Quantinuum, thereby accelerating the development of quantum computing and innovation of quantum technologies in a platform agnostic manner to deliver real-world quantum-enabled solutions for some of the most intractable problems that classical computers have not been able to solve.

Cambridge Quantum, the pioneer in quantum software, operating systems, and cybersecurity, and Honeywell Quantum Solutions, which has built the highest-performing quantum hardware, based on trapped-ion technologies, today announced they have satisfied all of the conditions required to close the business combination and formed the new company, now called Quantinuum.

NVIDIA today officially launched Cambridge-1, the United Kingdom's most powerful supercomputer, which will enable top scientists and healthcare experts to use the powerful combination of AI and simulation to accelerate the digital biology revolution and bolster the country's world-leading life sciences industry. Dedicated to advancing healthcare, Cambridge-1 represents a $100 million investment by NVIDIA. Its first projects with AstraZeneca, GSK, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, King's College London and Oxford Nanopore Technologies include developing a deeper understanding of brain diseases like dementia, using AI to design new drugs and improving the accuracy of finding disease-causing variations in human genomes.

Cambridge-1 brings together decades of NVIDIA's work in accelerated computing, AI and life sciences, where NVIDIA Clara and AI frameworks are optimized to take advantage of the entire system for large-scale research. An NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD supercomputing cluster, it ranks among the world's top 50 fastest computers and is powered by 100 percent renewable energy.

NVIDIA today announced that it is building the United Kingdom's most powerful supercomputer, which it will make available to U.K. healthcare researchers using AI to solve pressing medical challenges, including those presented by COVID-19.

Expected to come online by year end, the "Cambridge-1" supercomputer will be an NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD system capable of delivering more than 400 petaflops of AI performance and 8 petaflops of Linpack performance, which would rank it No. 29 on the latest TOP500 list of the world's most powerful supercomputers. It will also rank among the world's top 3 most energy-efficient supercomputers on the current Green500 list.

One of the world's leading PC components and peripheral manufacturers, is pleased to announce that they have entered a partnership with Exertis, CCL Computers, Ebuer.com, Novatech, and Box.co to expand the GeIL brand across the United Kingdom. There are more channels to purchase GeIL's first-class product in the United Kingdom and better overall customer experience. A total win-win for PC enthusiasts.

"We are excited to have this opportunity to bring our line of popular memory products to even more customers across the United Kingdom, commented Jennifer Huang, Vice President at GeIL Memory. "We put a great deal of thought and consideration into whom we would work with, and these are all well-established and highly respected companies collaborating with us. Through this new partnership, our customers are going to get amazing access to our memory, as well as exceptional price points."

This is still a developing story, however it has matured enough to where we feel confident about discussing it. It kicked off last week when the proprietor of Mayhem Solutions Ltd, better known simply as Mayhems, shared information regarding Thermaltake introducing their own Pastel-branded coolants to be used in the PC DIY water cooling sector. Mayhems has had a trademark registered for this in the UK since 2015, and let Thermaltake know via email to try to reach an amenable solution. Indeed, EKWB and Alphacool had both used the Pastel trademark with Mayhems' permission in the past, some of which also came via using the Mayhems Pastel base under their respective brand names. After word from Thermaltake's legal team, first trying to defend the use of Pastel as a generic term, and then saying that they would work on a compromise, Mayhems told us they have not heard back from the company in over a week since the last correspondence, and are forced to take legal action to prevent Thermaltake P1000 pastel coolants to be sold in the UK.

We wanted to have due diligence in our reporting, and contacted Thermaltake ourselves for a statement. After receiving word that they will send us one, we too have not heard back from the company since. We respect Thermaltake's decision, and are always willing to update this post if they do send us one, but in the meantime we went further. Indeed, a careful look at the trademark (screenshots seen below) confirms Mayhem's legal stance on this matter. However, it is not easy to enforce a trademark in the court. It would be all the more harder to do so when there can be an argument made about the use of the term pastel, which no doubt Thermaltake would argue is not necessarily tied to the coolant, but more as the general term to showcase the various colors and the opaque-nature of said coolants. More on this story past the break, including quotes from retailers we spoke to.

Potentially thousands of websites operated by various government ministries, departments, and statutory agencies, of the United States and the United Kingdom, could be infected with crypto-currency mining malware. The already infamously slow government websites, often crippled with bandwidth and hosting deficiencies, not to mention webpage design that's often behind web standards, are now embedded with crypto-miners thanks to outdated accessibility software.

Most government websites implement a web-based text-to-speech software called Browsealoud. Outdated versions of the software can be surreptitiously infected with crypto-mining scripts, by exploiting a vulnerability in the way the software dials home to the text-to-speech server. The scripts slow down computers by forcing them to mine crypto-currency for unauthorized people. Browsealoud has been developed by British software company Texthelp, which is reaching out to all its customers to update to the latest version of their software. It's always handy to have mining script blocking browser extensions.

The Government has confirmed that universal high speed broadband will be delivered by a regulatory Universal Service Obligation (USO), giving everyone in the UK access to speeds of at least 10 Mbps by 2020. This is the speed that Ofcom, the independent regulator, says is needed to meet the requirements of an average family. After careful consideration the government has decided that regulation is the best way of making sure everyone in the UK can get a decent broadband connection of at least 10 Mbps as soon as possible.

Following the creation of new powers when the Government passed the Digital Economy Act 2017, we launched our consultation on the design of the regulatory USO in the summer. The Government will now set out the design for a legal right to high speed broadband in secondary legislation early next year, alongside our detailed response to the consultation.