The maker of the ZimaBoard and ZimaBlade single-board computers, Icewhale Technology, is set to launch a new product called the ZimaCube. The ZimaCube is a “personal cloud” computer that functions as a network-attached storage (NAS) device, offering users a choice between two processor options: N100 or Core i5-1235U.

The ZimaCube boasts several special features that make it more than just a NAS device. It supports up to six hard drives, up to four 2.5 GbE Ethernet ports, and up to 64GB of RAM. The retail prices for the ZimaCube are expected to start at $699, but Icewhale Technology will be launching a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign on November 3, with Early Bird rewards starting at $499 for an entry-level model.

The starting price of $499 is for a model equipped with an energy-efficient 6-watt N100 chip based on Alder Lake N architecture. Customers who want a higher-performance version, the ZimaCube Pro, with a 15-watt Core i5 chip will have to pay $899 or more during the crowdfunding campaign, or $1,199 at retail.

The ZimaCube Pro not only features a more powerful processor but also supports up to twice as much RAM, has twice as many Ethernet ports, supports PCIe Gen 4, and includes two Thunderbolt 4 ports, among other things.

The ZimaCube is more expensive than entry-level QNAP or Synology NAS devices, but it offers a high level of flexibility in terms of storage, expansion options, and software support.

Here are the specifications for the ZimaCube and ZimaCube Pro:

ZimaCube:

• Processor: N100 (4-cores / 4-threads, up to 3.4 GHz, 6W TDP)
• RAM: 8GB DDR4 (included), 32GB max (16GB x 2)
• Storage: 256GB SSD (included), 6 x SATA III bays (2.5" or 3.5" drives), 2 x M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe slots
• PCIe: 1 x PCIe Gen 3 x4
• USB: 1 x USB 3.0 Gen 1 Type-C, 4 x USB 3.0 Gen 1 Type-A, 2 x USB 2.0 Type-A
• Ethernet: 2 x 2.5 GbE Ethernet
• Video out: HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4
• Power: 220W (100V - 240V)
• OS: TrueNAS, ZimaOS
• Cooling: Active cooling, 2 x 80 x 80mm fans
• Dimensions: 240 x 221 x 220mm, 9.45" x 8.7" x 8.7"
• Weight: 5.4 kg, 11.9 pounds

ZimaCube Pro:

• Processor: Core i5-1235U (10-cores / 12-threads, up to 4.4 GHz, 15W TDP)
• RAM: 16GB DDR5 (included), 64GB max (32GB x 2)
• Storage: 256GB SSD (included), 6 x SATA III bays (2.5" or 3.5" drives), 2 x PCIe NVMe SSD slots, 4 x additional NVMe slots
• PCIe: 1 x PCIe Gen 4 x16, 1 x PCIe Gen 4 x4
• USB: 2 x Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C, 6 x USB 3.0 Gen 1 Type-A
• Ethernet: 4 x 2.5 GbE Ethernet
• Video out: HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4
• Power: 220W (100V - 240V)
• OS: TrueNAS, ZimaOS
• Cooling: Active cooling, 2 x 80 x 80mm fans
• Dimensions: 240 x 221 x 220mm, 9.45" x 8.7" x 8.7"
• Weight: 5.4 kg, 11.9 pounds

The ZimaCube offers a compelling option for users interested in servers, Linux, DevOps, and home labs. With its range of features and storage options, it provides a versatile solution for personal cloud computing and networking needs.

Source: Liliputing.

Cloud Hypervisor, an open source Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM), has announced the release of version v36.0. This VMM runs on top of the KVM hypervisor and the Microsoft Hypervisor (MSHV) and is designed to run modern cloud workloads on common hardware architectures.

The project focuses on enabling customers to run cloud workloads inside a Cloud Service Provider, utilizing modern operating systems with paravirtualized devices (such as virtio) for efficient I/O, 64-bit CPUs, and no requirement for legacy devices.

Cloud Hypervisor is implemented in Rust and is based on the Rust VMM crates. The v36.0 release includes several user-visible changes and improvements:

Command Line Changes

The project has switched back to using the clap crate to create the command line interface, as the previous argh crate was not being actively maintained. This switch has resulted in syntax changes, such as using --option=value instead of --option value.

Enabled Features Reported via API Endpoint and CLI

Users can now query the enabled features of the running Cloud Hypervisor instance through the API endpoint (/vmm.ping) and the CLI (--version -v).

NUMA Support for PCI Segments

The --numa command has been updated with a new option pci_segment=, allowing users to define the relationship between PCI segments and NUMA nodes. Examples of usage can be found in the memory documentation.

CPU Topology Support on AMD Platforms

The CPU topology on x86_64 platforms now supports multiple vendors, providing improved flexibility and compatibility.

Unix Socket Backend for Serial Port

The --serial command has been enhanced with a new option socket=, enabling users to access the serial port using a Unix socket.

AIO Backend for Block Devices

An AIO (Asynchronous Input/Output) backend has been added for virtio-block devices, improving block device performance when the io_uring feature is not supported by the host operating system.

Documentation Improvements

The release includes various documentation improvements, including a new document for collecting coverage data and various typo fixes.

Notable Bug Fixes

Several notable bug fixes have been included in this release, including a fix for a deadlock issue when TDX (Intel Total Memory Encryption Extension) is enabled, a correction of the default value for vCPU topology on AArch64, and ensuring that AMX (Advanced Matrix Extensions) feature bits are only advertised to guests when the AMX CPU feature is enabled.

AMD has released its latest mobile chips, the Ryzen 5 7545U and Ryzen 3 7440U, which are the first laptop processors to feature AMD’s new Zen 4c CPU cores. These cores were previously seen in the EPYC server chips and the entry-level AMD Ryzen Z1 chip for handheld gaming PCs. The Zen 4c cores offer most of the same features as Zen 4 cores but take up less space and run at lower speeds. AMD claims that the Zen 4c cores take up 35% less physical space than Zen 4, allowing for more cores in the same amount of space or the same number of cores in a smaller space.

The Ryzen 5 7545U and Ryzen 3 7440U chips replace the previous Ryzen 5 7540U and Ryzen 3 7440U Phoenix chips. The new chips still have the same number of CPU cores (6 for Ryzen 5 and 4 for Ryzen 3), but now some of those cores are Zen 4c chips, which should bring efficiency improvements and similar performance at lower power levels. The top speeds for the Zen 4c cores are not known, but they are estimated to be about 30% slower than Zen 4 cores.

The updated Ryzen 7040U lineup includes the following chips:

• Ryzen 7 7840U: 8 x Zen 4 cores, 8 / 16 cores / threads, 3.3 GHz / 5.1 GHz base / boost CPU frequency, 24MB cache, Radeon 780M graphics, DDR5 / LPDDR5 RAM, USB4 support, 15-30W TDP.
• Ryzen 5 7640U: 6 x Zen 4 cores, 6 / 12 cores / threads, 3.5 GHz / 4.9 GHz base / boost CPU frequency, 22MB cache, Radeon 760M graphics, DDR5 / LPDDR5 RAM, USB4 support, 15-30W TDP.
• Ryzen 5 7540U: 6 x Zen 4 cores, 6 / 12 cores / threads, 3.2 GHz / 4.9 GHz base / boost CPU frequency, 22MB cache, Radeon 740M graphics, DDR5 / LPDDR5 RAM, USB4 support, 15-30W TDP.
• Ryzen 5 7545U: 2 x Zen 4 cores, 4 x Zen 4c cores, 6 / 12 cores / threads, 3.2 GHz / 4.9 GHz base / boost CPU frequency, 22MB cache, Radeon 740M graphics, DDR5 / LPDDR5 RAM, USB4 support, 15-30W TDP.
• Ryzen 3 7440U (old): 4 x Zen 4 cores, 4 / 8 cores / threads, 3 GHz / 4.7 GHz base / boost CPU frequency, 12MB cache, Radeon 740M graphics, DDR5 / LPDDR5 RAM, USB4 support, 15-30W TDP.
• Ryzen 3 7440U (new): 1 x Zen 4 core, 3 x Zen 4c cores, 4 / 8 cores / threads, 3 GHz / 4.7 GHz base / boost CPU frequency, 12MB cache, Radeon 740M graphics, DDR5 / LPDDR5 RAM, USB4 support, 15-30W TDP.

Source: Liliputing.

Home Assistant has released its latest version, 2023.11, packed with new features and improvements. Here’s what you need to know:

• To-do list entities: Home Assistant now introduces a new entity type called “To-do list entities.” These entities represent a list of tasks, and you can create multiple to-do lists and manage them through the new “To-do lists” item in the sidebar.
• Shopping lists are now to-do’s: The shopping list feature has been converted into a to-do list. Existing shopping lists will be automatically converted upon upgrading to this release.
• Integrations providing your to-dos: Automations can now be created to create, complete, or clean up tasks on your to-do lists.
• Matter 1.2: Home Assistant has upgraded its Matter implementation to version 1.2, benefiting from stability improvements and preparing for new device types.
• Customize information in Tile cards: The Tile card now displays entity state information, and you can now customize the information shown on the card by adding attributes to the state content.
• Select any date range in the energy dashboard: The energy dashboard now allows you to select a custom date range to view the energy usage of your home over a specific period.
• New conditions for the conditional card: The conditional card now includes new conditions such as user condition, numeric state condition, and screen condition, allowing you to show or hide cards based on specific criteria.
• Restarting into safe mode: You can now restart Home Assistant in safe mode, which disables all custom integrations and custom frontend resources.
• Set up Improv Wi-Fi devices directly from Home Assistant: If you have a device that supports Improv Wi-Fi over Bluetooth and you are using Bluetooth in Home Assistant, you can set up the device directly from Home Assistant.
• Configuring script fields in the UI: Script fields can now be configured in the UI, allowing you to define variables in your script and provide a UI for your script fields.

The release also includes several other noteworthy changes, new integrations, integrations available to set up from the UI, and bug fixes. For a full list of changes, you can refer to the changelog.

This release showcases Home Assistant’s commitment to providing a comprehensive and customizable home automation experience. Whether you’re managing tasks, customizing your dashboards, or integrating new devices, Home Assistant 2023.11 has you covered.

For more information, visit the Home Assistant website.

Libre Computer has announced their latest single-board computer called the AML-A311D-CC Alta. This board is powered by an Amlogic A311D hexa-core processor, which includes an integrated neural processing unit (NPU) for hardware-accelerated AI tasks. The AML-A311D-CC Alta also features Raspberry Pi-compatible connectors, including a 40-pin GPIO header, and 22-pin MIPI-DSI and MIPI-CSI display and camera connectors.

The heart of this single-board PC is the Amlogic A311D processor, which consists of 4 ARM Cortex-A72 cores clocked at up to 2.2 GHz, and 2 Cortex-A53 cores clocked at up to 1.8 GHz. The GPU is a Mali-G52 quad-core, and the NPU offers 5 TOPS (tera operations per second) of AI performance.

In terms of memory and storage, the board features LPDDR4X memory, 16MB of SPI NOR Flash storage, an eMMC 5 connector for optional onboard storage, and a microSD card reader for removable storage.

The AML-A311D-CC Alta also offers a range of ports, including 4 USB 3.0 Type-A ports, 1 USB Type-C port, 1 HDMI 2.1 port, 1 3.5mm audio jack, and 1 Gigabit Ethernet port. The USB Type-C port can be used for power and data, and the board also supports Power Over Ethernet (PoE). Additionally, there is an IR receiver for using a remote control with the board.

Libre Computer claims that the performance of the AML-A311D-CC Alta should be similar to their ROC-RK3328-CC Renegade system, which is powered by a Rockchip RK33288 processor. However, the AML-A311D-CC Alta offers additional features such as more USB 3.0 ports and an integrated NPU.

Source: Liliputing.

The Official Raspberry Pi Beginner’s Guide, 5th Edition is now available, according to an announcement from Raspberry Pi. This fifth edition of the flagship book about the Raspberry Pi offers new coverage of the Raspberry Pi 5, Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, and the most recent version of Raspberry Pi OS. In addition, the author, Gareth Halfacree, has included a bonus chapter that covers Raspberry Pi Pico and Pico W.

The book features a new look, with an interior design from Sara Parodi. Nellie McKesson developed an HTML- and CSS-based layout engine to bring the design to life. The book also includes new graphics, including photography from Brian O Halloran, diagrams from Natalie Turner, and illustrations from Sam Alder. The process was overseen by Liz Upton, Jack Willis, and Brian Jepson.

The Official Raspberry Pi Beginner’s Guide, 5th Edition can be ordered from the Raspberry Pi Press Store. Raspberry Pi users running Raspberry Pi OS can expect it to appear in the Raspberry Pi Bookshelf application in a few days.