Technology

• Asus RTX 5080 now doubles as AI hardware and a surprisingly cool SSD bay
• PCIe lanes aren’t just for GPUs anymore, thanks to Asus’ hybrid hardware approach
• Asus is developing Multi-LM so AI devs can offload models straight to onboard SSDs

The unusual GeForce RTX 5080 GPU, first spotted a few weeks ago with an SSD slot, is no longer just a hardware oddity.

Asus North America has now confirmed the ProArt RTX 5080 SSD Edition is a real product.

As unusual as it may sound, the decision to pair high-performance graphics processing with solid-state storage is part of a broader plan involving artificial intelligence and local model development.

A hybrid GPU-storage design targeting AI development

Despite Asus remaining tight-lipped on a release date and shipping configuration, some technical details have begun to emerge, alongside a few unanswered questions.

One of the biggest surprises is the 90-degree rotated GPU layout - Asus modified the printed circuit board (PCB) design so that the GPU is mounted perpendicular to the usual orientation.

This is not a configuration found in any other RTX 5080 models, suggesting a custom approach that accommodates the SSD and improves airflow.

Asus claims this layout helps the SSD benefit from, “airflow provided by the card’s fans,” although the SSD is not in direct contact with the main heatsink.

It is instead cooled via a secondary heatsink and passive airflow, reportedly keeping the SSD about 10 degrees Celsius cooler than a typical M.2 drive mounted on a motherboard.

The SSD integration also exploits PCIe bifurcation, meaning unused PCI Express lanes are reassigned to support the drive.

The company has previously applied this approach to RTX 4060 series cards, which did not fully saturate the PCIe interface, leaving enough bandwidth for an M.2 slot.

Now, with the RTX 5080 ProArt edition, the idea is refined to suit high-end AI workflows, although it introduces trade-offs, the GPU may not always have access to all PCIe lanes, potentially limiting peak performance under certain workloads.

Perhaps the most significant revelation lies in Asus’ software ambitions - the company is developing a tool called Multi-LM, intended for developers working with large language models.

Asus says, this tool will “allow AI developers to offload models directly to the storage, potentially enabling local model development without needing constant memory swaps to slower system drives.”

This will be of interest to those looking for the best LLM for coding, and positions the RTX 5080 SSD Edition as more than just a gaming card; it could become one of the best AI tools for local inference and prototyping.

Asus has only released a single render of the card and has not confirmed performance metrics or availability.

The question of whether this concept delivers meaningful real-world gains or just adds complexity remains unanswered.

Via Videocardz

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Look, I get it: there’s not much else more special in the gaming or tech world than the smell of a new console freshly unboxed.

Add in that the new console of the moment is the Nintendo Switch 2, and with it all the promise of new exclusive games and hours, days, nights spent in Mario Kart World, and it’s not surprising that tracking down new stock of the Nintendo Switch 2 isn’t easy.

But I’m not fussed.

Well, okay, I’m a little fussed; I have a decent dose of FOMO tickling my gaming synapse as I see others on social media with their box-fresh Switch 2 consoles, while I remain flopped on my sofa with my aged original Nintendo Switch.

However, I’ve resisted the urge to splurge my hard-earned cash on the Switch 2. In part because I’m probably one of the few people who doesn’t get all giddy at Mario Kart (at least not since Mario Kart 64). On the other hand, there’s not yet a glut of big new first-party exclusive games for the console.

Yet my big reason to wait is all about bundles.

The wating game

(Image credit: Future)

Alongside looking after the phones and tablets vertical at TechRadar, I also manage the site’s deals team, so I spend a good bit of time tracking sales events and chewing over deals from the likes of Amazon, Best Buy, Currys, Argos, Walmart and more.

While I don’t expect the Switch 2 to drop in price in the next couple of years, let alone anytime soon, I think we could see some compelling Switch 2 bundles as the inevitable march towards the winter (at least in the Northern Hemisphere) holiday season.

With said season comes an Amazon October sales spree and Black Friday, which is far less of a day of sales and more like weeks of bargains for the discerning shopper to pursue. And a good suite of those deals falls on games and gaming hardware.

So I’m forecasting that come November time we’ll see more varied Nintendo Switch 2 bundles, specifically from major retailers; I doubt these will add up to a discounted Switch 2, but instead could bundle the console with a new game or two, or a Switch 2 Pro controller, all at a price that's notably cheaper than buying each part separately.

I’m calling it now: there’ll be a Donkey Kong Bananza Switch 2 bundle.

As such, I think I’ll kick my FOMO to the curb for now and hold out for a handful of months before I seek out the new Switch.

I have previous form on this, as I remember holding out for an original Switch bundle, which I snapped up during the Black Friday period of 2017. I think this snagged me the console and Super Mario Odyssey for a decent price, leaving me with some change to snap up Breath of the Wild; don’t ask me for specifics as we’re talking the best part of a decade ago, though.

Now the gaming landscape has changed a little in that time, with the likes of the PS5 and Xbox Series X even increasing in price as they age. So compelling console bundles might be a thing of the past.

Yet I’m willing to cling to hope and wait for a Switch 2 bundle that catches my eye. If nothing else, there should be more exclusive games for the new console as 2025 marches on.

In the meantime, I’ll take the money I could have splurged on the Switch 2 and see if I can get any gaming bargains in the early Prime Day deals; wish me luck, or come and join me.

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• GL.iNet Flint 3 is a powerful Wi-Fi 7 router with 2.5GbE ports at a bargain early bird price
• Supports OpenWrt, VPNs, and mesh with wide plugin compatibility
• It's the follow-up to the Slate 7, the world's first mobile Wi-Fi 7 router

The GL.iNet Flint 3 (GL-BE9300) may be the cheapest Wi-Fi 7 BE9300 router currently available, and with four 2.5GbE LAN ports plus VPN support, it could be a no-brainer for buyers looking to take advantage of Wi-Fi 7 speeds on a budget.

The tri-band router, designed for home users and small offices, is available for pre-order now. Super early bird buyers had the chance to grab it for just $119, but that tier quickly sold out. Early bird pricing is set at $139, while the standard pre-order price is $159. The MSRP is listed at $229.90, with orders expected to ship in mid-July 2025.

The Flint 3 builds on GL.iNet’s more compact, travel-oriented Slate 7, which the company launched a few months ago priced from $120.

Solid VPN performance

The Flint 3 is powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm processor, probably the IPQ5332, and paired with 1GB of DDR4 RAM and 8GB of eMMC storage.

It runs a customized version of OpenWrt 23.05 (Linux 5.4.213) and includes GL.iNet’s Admin Panel v4.7. The OS supports over 5,000 plug-ins, with built-in tools for privacy, tunneling, and ad blocking.

On the networking side, the Flint 3 is fitted with five 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports, one for WAN, one WAN/LAN, and three dedicated LAN ports. These support up to 10Gbps link aggregation.

It supports WiFi 7 across the 2.4GHz (688Mbps), 5GHz (2882Mbps), and 6GHz (5765Mbps) bands, and includes four foldable external antennas. A USB 3.0 port allows for smartphone tethering or use with a cellular dongle.

The router’s VPN performance is rated up to 680Mbps on both WireGuard and OpenVPN-DCO. This is slightly below the 900Mbps seen on the older Flint 2, but still solid for encrypted traffic.

It also includes features like AdGuard Home, failover support, load balancing, and mesh networking. Power is provided via a 12V/4A DC input, and power draw is listed as under 25W under normal load.

Compared to more expensive BE9300 routers on the market, Flint 3’s early pricing and hardware mix make it a standout. Competing with similarly priced routers like the TP-Link Archer BE550 may be tough at full MSRP, but right now, it’s among the best WiFi 7 deals available.

Via CNX Software

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Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 268, for June 18.

• Solidigm’s 122.88TB SSD may not be the fastest, but it wins on density and design
• At $12,400, this SSD isn’t cheap, but it could slash rack space and energy waste
• Solidigm already has rivals with competing 122.88TB SSD products

With a staggering capacity of 122.88TB, the Solidigm D5-P5336 currently holds the title for the world’s largest SSD.

Launched in late 2024, it became available for purchase at $12,400, a figure which may seem steep, until one considers the operational cost savings from reducing physical rack space and energy usage.

As Solidigm aims to lead the market in high-capacity enterprise storage, the company may soon face competition, not just in performance, but in scale.

A 246TB SSD may arrive in 2025

Reports now suggest that a 246TB SSD could be introduced before the end of 2025, potentially doubling today’s storage ceiling.

Solidigm’s drive has been positioned as a density-first product, with read speeds up to 7GB/s and write speeds of 3GB/s via PCIe Gen4.

It is optimized for workloads that benefit from high sequential read performance, such as AI pipelines, CDN services, and object storage.

Solidigm’s D5-P5336 122.88TB SSD packs a decent capacity into a single U.2 drive and sets a new benchmark in SSD storage density.

Yet despite the scale, real-world benchmarks indicate that performance doesn't scale linearly.

It often matches or slightly trails its 61.44TB predecessor in high-concurrency workloads, and lags behind Gen5 drives like Micron’s 61TB 6550, particularly in write-heavy operations.

The 122.88TB model offers modest endurance at 0.6 DWPD, which equates to 134.3 PB written over its five-year warranty period.

That makes it a fit for read-heavy environments, but less ideal for mixed or write-intensive deployments.

Still, Solidigm’s strategy is clear: focus on maximizing storage per watt, per rack unit, and per dollar.

As such, this drive may not be the best SSD in raw performance terms, but it plays a critical role in modern data centers where density and efficiency drive infrastructure design.

The competitive landscape is also shifting, and little-known Chinese brand DapuStor has released its own 122.88TB SSD, joining the race toward high-capacity flash.

While details on its long-term reliability and support remain limited, this signals growing interest in ultra-dense enterprise SSDs beyond established players.

That said, the possibility of a 246TB SSD raises important questions. Can NAND technology and controller efficiency keep up with this growth?

And will such capacity jumps continue to deliver meaningful performance improvements?

As data centers brace for AI-driven demand, the answer may define not only the best external SSD for hyperscalers but the trajectory of the largest SSD and hard drive technologies overall.

Via StorageReview

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• Aura Ultrabook Dual 14" Touch is perfect for presentations and scrolling through documents
• Stunning display setup is held back by an underpowered Intel Celeron processor that just can’t keep up
• A magnetic Bluetooth keyboard and a touch display give you both tactile and futuristic input options

The Aura Ultrabook Dual 14" Touch is an ambitious entry in the compact laptop market, targeting users who value portability and a futuristic dual-screen experience.

It offers an appealing form factor and sleek design with two 14-inch vertically stacked touchscreens that merge into an 18.5-inch workspace, and each screen boasts a 2.2K resolution with factory-calibrated 100% sRGB color accuracy.

The 360° friction hinge on the display allows for various modes of use, from tablet to full workstation, and it also offers a Bluetooth magnetic keyboard for a tactile typing experience when needed, along with a virtual touch keyboard integrated within the display.

Impressive visual and structural design but lackluster power

So on paper, it looks like a serious contender for those in need of flexible screen real estate, especially for professionals juggling multiple tasks - however, a critical shortcoming in its core performance undercuts its broader potential.

The biggest limitation is its use of an Intel Celeron N95 processor. While it’s a quad-core CPU with turbo boosting capabilities, the N95 remains an entry-level chip with relatively low power.

For users who plan to run simulations, data-heavy apps, or multiple demanding programs at once, this CPU will struggle.

Performance is limited not by RAM or storage, both of which are available in generous configurations (16GB RAM and up to 1TB SSD), but by the bottleneck in processing speed.

This issue is made worse by the device’s unconventional architecture. The CPU and battery are housed in one half of the dual-screen setup, meaning the keyboard is entirely optional and not part of the main body.

While that’s clever in terms of modularity, it raises concerns about long-term ergonomics and heat distribution, particularly when used without the keyboard attachment for extended periods.

That said, the laptop’s connectivity is broad, including USB-A and USB-C ports, HDMI, a microSD slot, and a headphone jack. It supports dual-band WiFi and Bluetooth 4.2.

As part of the Father’s Day promotional campaign, the Aura Ultrabook Dual 14" Touch is currently available for $699, a 13% discount off the $799 original price, and delivery will start worldwide on June 20.

While the price and discount are attractive, the underwhelming CPU is a significant flaw and is a deal breaker for power-hungry users.

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• Polar is launching a screenless band, confirmed in a recent press release
• It's a distraction free wearable set to launch on September 3
• Very few details are available, but it will definitely be subscription-free

I first learned about Polar when searching for alternatives to the best Garmin watches, but Polar as a company has been around for a long time: Polar Electro actually developed the world's first wireless heart rate monitor, filing the patent in 1980.

While the company may have slipped behind some of its competitors in the smartwatch popularity stakes since then, Polar does make solid, reliable devices that regularly rank on our best running watches and best heart rate monitor lists.

Now, though, Polar is moving into a new category: eating Whoop's lunch by releasing a screenless wrist band.

However, what excites me isn't just a new challenger in the screenless wearable space; it's the fact that this is a Whoop alternative that's completely subscription-free.

(Image credit: Lee Bell)

I haven't yet published my review for the Whoop MG, the latest high-end wearable to be released by Whoop, but to cut a long story short: there's a lot to love, especially the detailed analytics. While it's not ideal for runners, it's probably the most useful wearable for hybrid athletes and gym bunnies I've tested in a very long time, thanks to its Oura-style tagging system, workout builder, and advanced recovery tools.

However, it's not perfect: the clasp system frequently comes apart when taking the band off, and the subscription cost is very steep: the Whoop MG comes in at a staggering £349 / $359 / AU$629 per year, with the cheapest tier coming in at £169 / $199 / AU$299 per year. For this cost, you get the device along with an annual subscription to the Whoop app.

Polar does have a premium subscription tier in its app, but it's specifically for its Fitness Program feature, an adaptive training plan generation tool. The base analytics collected by Polar devices are free, which makes its devices a pretty good value: once a device has been purchased, it can be used without spending more money.

I'm really excited about the prospect of a budget Whoop alternative without the costly annual subscription. Polar's running watches, such as the Polar Grit X2 Pro, and heart rate monitors, like the Polar H10, are usually very well-reviewed, which bodes well for the wearable.

(Image credit: Whoop)

Although a price point hasn't been released for the screenless band – we don't even know its name – we do have a launch date for it: September 3, as mentioned in a Polar press release.

The release states that: "The upcoming Polar wearable will not only be the brand’s first screen-free wrist device, but it will also be a subscription-free alternative to other health bands and fitness trackers on the market.

"By eliminating the need for a screen, this new category of wearables captures accurate insights and data in the background without intruding on users’ daily lives, blending seamlessly into their routines as they go about their day.

"Users can then check their stats and progress whenever it suits them, staying connected to their sleep, activity, health, and fitness – without it demanding their attention."

It certainly sounds a lot like a cheaper Whoop, but we'll know more for sure closer to the launch date. Expect a detailed comparison when it drops, along with my full Whoop MG review soon.

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• Kia says it will offer Netflix, Disney+ , YouTube and LG Channels
• The entertainment is only available when parked
• It’s not free, as it comes part of a subscription-based package

Kia is the latest in a slew of manufacturers to start offering blockbuster entertainment inside vehicles, with a new subscription-based Entertainment Package unlocking Netflix, Disney+, YouTube and more.

Available only when parked, the optional new packages essentially unlock access to some of the world’s most popular streaming services, but also offer things like Stingray Karaoke, as well as Baby Shark World for Kids.

Coming first to the recently launched Kia EV3, the South Korean marque says that the additional software will soon be introduced to new Sportage, EV4, EV5 and all upcoming models in the future.

That said, it will only run on those newer vehicles powered by LG’s webOS-based Automotive Content Platform, which discounts older EV6, for example.

Currently, it's also only available to European markets, for now with North America and other regions to follow suit. The Entertainment Standard package, which will be offered free for a year, only supports music streaming and YouTube via Obigo.

A more comprehensive (and expensive) Entertainment Plus plan grants access to Netflix, Disney+ (in limited European countries) and YouTube via a native app.

Finally, an Entertainment PlusWiFi package throws in all of the above, as well as a WiFi hotspot function in the car, meaning passengers can tether and browse using the vehicle’s data package.

Analysis: Boredom busting comes at a price

(Image credit: Kia)

Kia joins a growing list of automotive manufacturers that are transforming their infotainment systems into media streaming devices when parked.

Mercedes-Benz, for example, has offered the likes of Disney+ through its MBUX system for some time now, while Tesla’s built-in browser can access streaming apps like Netflix, YouTube and Hulu.

Porsche's passenger-specific display, which is available on Taycan, Panamera and Macan as an optional extra, even allows front seat passengers to enjoy a movie or play games when the vehicle is in motion.

More and more, we are seeing digital displays within the vehicle double-up as entertainment platforms to kill time when parked... something that many EV owners still find themselves doing while waiting to brim batteries.

It's a great distraction and perfect for those times that you forgot to pack iPads or other digital devices for the kids.

There have been numerous times where I have whiled away the minutes playing a pop quiz or watching an episode of Bluey in the passenger seat with the little ones as we wait for a charging session to complete.

That said, the decision to charge just to access streaming services seems like a backwards step, particularly when most folk are already spending a fortune each month on entertainment plans as it is.

Kia will charge £74 a year (around $100/AU$154), or £7 (around $10/AU$15) per month, for its most basic package, with prices rising to £34 (around $46/AU$70) for the first three months for the Entertainment Plus Wi-Fi package .

This is in addition to the £80 (around $108/AU$166) a year required for the Kia Connect data package, which is free for the duration of the warranty (7 years), but runs out when the vehicles enter the used market.

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• World Leaks adds Freedman HealthCare to its data leak site
• The group claims to have exfiltrated tens of thousands of files
• The company is staying silent for now

A cybercrime gang claims to have breached Freedman HealthCare, a US-based consulting firm which helps states and healthcare organizations handle data, and allegedly stole thousands of sensitive files.

A threat actor called World Leaks added Freedman HealthCare to its data leak website. The group is a new entrant in the cybercrime space, with some saying it’s a rebrand of Hunters International, while others report it’s a spin-off of the infamous organization.

In any case, the group added the consulting firm to its site, but hasn’t yet uploaded any files, most likely to try and pressure it into paying the ransom demand.

Extortion as a service

The attackers claim to have stolen 42,204 files, amounting to more than 50GB, but the nature of the stolen files isn’t known, nor is the amount of money requested.

The company handles personal health information of millions of Americans, including sensitive data processed in Medicaid and commercial insurance claims, state health and human services agencies, social determinants of health datasets, and healthcare workforce initiatives.

Freedman HealthCare has not yet addressed these claims, so we don’t even know if they’re legitimate, or not.

However, Hunters International has a relatively good track record, with notable past victims including Toyota Brazil, NanoLumens, Integrated Control, and Frederick Wildman and Sons.

World Leaks apparently operates on an “extortion-as-a-service” model, launched in early 2025. The Register notes Hunters International found their ransomware work too risky, especially with international law enforcement operations actively targeting these groups. This prompted them to switch from the usual double extortion tactics to extortion as a service, resulting in the creation of World Leaks.

The group appears to be Russian in origin, and is rather active, with more than 150 victims in the last year.

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