Hasta La Gadget!

Samsung has unveiled its latest lineup of NVMe solid state drives, the 990 Pro series. The company claims the SSD will reach almost the highest speeds that are theoretically possible from the PCIe 4.0 interface (PCI 5.0 SSDs will be much faster). Samsung hopes to deliver better performance for PC and console games, 4K and 8K content and other heavy data use cases.

The 990 Pro boasts sequential read and write speeds of up to 7,450 MB/s and 6,900 MB/s. The 980 Pro offers up to 7,000 MB/s and 5,100 MB/s read and write speeds. The 990 Pro’s random read and write speeds are up to 1,400K and 1,550K input/output operations per second, according to Samsung. The company says that marks up to a 55 percent improvement over the 980 Pro’s performance.

Moreover, the company says the 990 Pro will be more power efficient than the previous lineup by up to 50 percent. The latest SSDs have a newly designed controller with a nickel coating, as well as a heat spreader label for reliable thermal management. The 990 Pro also employs Samsung’s Dynamic Thermal Guard tech to help keep the drive’s temperature in the optimal range. There’s a version with a heatsink that offers extra thermal control, as well as RGB lights for some reason, which will be super necessary if you plan to plug the 990 Pro into a PlayStation 5.

The 980 Pro is one of our favorite SSDs (I’ve had zero complaints with the one in my PS5). So, here’s hoping the 990 Pro is even better thanks to the zippier speeds and greater power efficiency. Samsung will start selling the 990 Pro series in October. The SSDs start at $179 for a 1TB model and $309 for a 2TB version. The company plans to offer a 4TB variant next year too.

A New York state senator has proposed legislation that would require automakers to fit speed limiting tech to new cars. If the bill passes, any passenger vehicle built after January 1st, 2024 that’s registered in the state will need to have “advanced safety technology.”

“Studies have shown that Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) alone can reduce traffic fatalities by 20 percent,” reads the legislation, which was submitted by State Sen. Brad Hoylman. “This, in addition to Advanced Emergency Braking (AEB), Emergency Lane Keeping Systems (ELKS), drowsiness and distraction recognition technology and rear-view cameras, would help prevent crashes from occurring in the first place.”

The bill notes that there were 270 traffic-related deaths in New York City’s streets in 2021, up from 243 the previous year. NYC is now testing an ISA system in 50 city fleet vehicles.

As Autoblog points out, ISA tech is widely used in Europe. Ford’s version lets drivers set a maximum speed. It can also limit the speed to within five miles per hour of a posted limit. However, the tech is optional and drivers can disable it. All new cars in the European Union will need to have ISA tech by 2024.

The NY bill also seeks to bring in new rules for vehicles weighing over 3,000 pounds. It would “limit blind spots and establish standards regarding direct visibility of pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users from the driver’s position, by reducing to the greatest possible extent the blind spots in front and to the side of the driver.”

Should Hoylman’s legislation pass, it could have a broader impact across the US. With automakers having to contend with regulations across 50 states, they often tend to abide by the strictest rule to avoid having to adjust their vehicles for different jurisdictions. We’ve seen that happen with emissions, with manufacturers opting to abide by California’s strict standards across the US.

Android Auto has received its 8.0 designation, and that round number may have you convinced this is a major upgrade. Sadly, that’s not the case.

The ocean is home to a number of superyachts from the world’s wealthiest people. Which yachts do most want to see in person? The winner may surprise you.

The Fox News host said “I didn’t have to take out loans” and called debt relief for people who did “disgusting.”