The top-tier Alienware Area-51 gaming desktop, which first launched at CES last year, has seen its first price reduction. This specific configuration pairs AMD’s best gaming CPU with Nvidia’s most powerful consumer GPU.
MSI is launching a redesigned Stealth 16 AI Plus laptop in March 2026. It promises a sleeker design and a 240Hz OLED display, but performance may be capped for portability. Can it compete with thin-and-light gaming favorites?
MSI is tackling a major pain point for high-end PC builders with new power supplies featuring GPU Safeguard+ technology. The company also showed off flashy CPU coolers with built-in displays and a new panoramic case.
MSI is moving beyond individual components for 2026, focusing on complete, integrated systems. The strategy hinges on new MEG chassis and coolers, redesigned AMD X870E MAX motherboards, and power supplies with Safeguard+ protection. It’s all about stability for next-gen, power-hungry CPUs and GPUs.
Amazon is kicking off 2026 with a significant redesign of its Fire TV user interface. The update features a rounder, more spacious look and promises speed improvements of up to 20-30%. The new UI and an enhanced mobile app will start rolling out in February.
The latest Mesa graphics driver release shows a major shift in who’s doing the heavy lifting for open-source Linux graphics. Valve and AMD are now the dominant forces, with Intel’s contributions falling off a cliff. This has huge implications for the future of gaming on Linux.
Intel is prepping a major performance upgrade for its Xe graphics driver. New kernel patches enable Transparent Huge Pages for shared virtual memory, slashing page fault handling time from 966 microseconds to just 132.
It was a quieter week in tech, but still packed with news. The stylish Pebble Round smartwatch is back for a second generation, and managing a Plex library just got a whole lot more like swiping for dates.
Eric Schmidt is diving into the AI infrastructure race with a new startup, Bolt Data & Energy. He’s partnering with Texas Pacific Land, which controls 882,000 acres, to build massive data center campuses powered by natural gas and eventually renewables.
CES 2026 is shaping up to be a major battleground for next-gen PC processors. While Intel and Qualcomm have already tipped their hands, AMD’s mobile plans and Nvidia’s potential surprises remain the big unknowns.
