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5 Jul 2025

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Minister tells Turing AI institute to focus on defence
Peter Kyle says the Alan Turing Institute should prioritise boosting the UK's AI capabilities.

Anker’s 9-in-1 100W charging station drops to best price ever
Ditch the multiple chargers and opt for an Anker charging station; it offers numerous ports while freeing up desk space. The Anker station is also down to $36 from its $46 MSRP. With a compact design, this station can charge up to nine devices at a time. There are three AC outlets on its sides and six USB ports on the front. The fast-charging 100W Type-C ports are at the very top, followed by another couple of 15W Type-C ports just below, and two USB-A ports with a max 12W output underneath. This means you can plug in your monitors, your laptop, and charge a bunch of gadgets at the same time. Instead of taking up a ton of space on your desk, this Anker charging station has a 3.15×3.15-inch base and it’s just 4 inches tall. Another thing that earns this station extra brownie points is the fact that it comes with a 5-foot cable with a flat plug, which makes it super easy to fit behind furniture. And did we mention it’s only $36 to buy right now? That’s the best price we’ve seen this available for, and you should definitely check it out. Prime Day is starting next week and we already found a bunch of impressive early deals on chargers and power banks that you can check out. Charge everything at once with this 9-in-1 Anker charging stationBuy now at Amazon

Ring’s battery-powered video doorbell drops to best price ahead of Prime Day
There’s a certain peace of mind that comes from being able to see who’s outside your door before you even get up from your seat. If you haven’t yet made the jump, or you want an upgrade, the Ring Battery Doorbell Pro is on sale for its very best price of $150 ahead of Prime Day. The Ring Battery Doorbell Pro is usually available for $230 and, unlike other similar products, it’s not constantly on sale, making this 35% discount even more enticing. The video doorbell captures head-to-toe images in 1536p, which means you’ll get a full view of who’s outside your door, what’s on the porch, and well beyond that. There are many useful features you’ll end up loving. For instance, it doesn’t even matter if there’s very little light outside, because the doorbell comes with sensors that help it enhance the video so everything remains perfectly visible and clear. When friends are picking you up, you can use the two-way audio feature to tell them you’ll be right there. Oh, and you’ll get alerts on your phone when packages are delivered if you get the Ring Protect subscription. Don’t miss out on the chance to get the Ring Battery Doorbell Plus for its best price of $150. This is a Prime deal, so you’ll need to have a subscription to access it. You can start a 30-day free trial at any point or just take the plunge and subscribe for $14.99/month or $139/year. Now’s the perfect time to do it since Prime Day starts July 8th. Make sure to also check out the best early Prime Day deals on video doorbells and our main Prime Day hub. One of the best video doorbell for its best price.Buy now at Amazon

Almost 30,000 homes without electricity in Northland regain connection
Power was interrupted at 11.19pm on Friday.

Don’t underestimate memory bandwidth when buying a graphics card
If you’re on the hunt for a new graphics card, you’re likely looking at clock rates, how many shader cores, and how much VRAM it’s packing. But don’t underestimate memory bandwidth when shopping around as it can result in sneaky performance impacts. There is a data bus connection between the GPU and the graphics memory which is responsible for data transport, this is known as a GPU’s memory bandwidth. If the bandwidth is insufficient, a bottleneck occurs: the GPU cannot work efficiently because data is provided too slowly. great 1440p card, great bandwidth Radeon RX 9070 XT Read our review The memory bandwidth is specified in gigabits or gigabytes per second. It depends on the memory type (such as GDDR6 or GDDR7), the clock rate, and the width of the data bus. A higher bandwidth improves the performance of the card, as data flows faster between the graphics chip and memory. A high bandwidth is particularly important for high resolutions such as 4K, which represent four times more pixels than 1080p. Even at lower resolutions, high-resolution textures or graphics-intensive features such as ray tracing can still make heavy demands on the memory bandwidth. Furthermore, the numerous processors and cores on modern GPUs must be continuously supplied with data. A bottleneck in data transfer therefore affects the overall performance of the graphics card. Limited bandwidth often manifests itself in stuttering and fluctuating frame rates. Data transfer quickly reaches its limits, especially at high frame rates of 120 or 240 frames per second. A frame limiter can help by adapting the frame rate to the available bandwidth though. Virtual reality applications also require a high memory bandwidth because the GPU has to calculate a separate, high-resolution image with at least 90 frames per second for each eye. Ray tracing further increases the bandwidth requirement. In this case, additional brightness data has to be transferred for real-time calculation. Compared to the graphics memory of the GDDR6 generation, the 7 series – here from Micron – is designed for significantly higher memory bandwidths. Micron Graphics cards are often optimized for specific target resolutions and detail levels. For example, models from Nvidia’s XX60 series are aimed at 1080p gamers, while higher-class cards are designed for 1440p or Ultra HD. Within a series, the available bandwidth differs mainly in the width of the memory bus. Entry-level cards often use a 128-bit bus, while high-end models are equipped with 256 or more bits. If you are aiming for higher resolutions or frame rates, you should opt for a graphics card with a high memory bandwidth. The definition of what is considered “high” changes with technological progress. A few years ago, 1080p was still considered the premium standard, whereas it is now usually regarded as the entry level. Benchmark tests provide a valuable guide to compare the performance of different graphics cards at different settings. They help to recognize potential bandwidth bottlenecks and select the right card for your needs. Next time you’re in the market for a new GPU, make sure you pay close attention to the memory bandwidth on top of everything else. It’ll help you avoid potential buyer’s remorse to pay attention to this kind of technical data when buying a graphics card, or test it yourself if possible.