Western Digital to release firmware update for faulty SanDisk SSDs

Photo: Western Digital

Western Digital has announced it'll release a firmware update to fix a reliability issue with its SanDisk Extreme and Extreme Pro SSDs. Some customers have reported that their 4TB and 2TB Extreme V2 and Extreme Pro V2 portable drives erased their data or became unreadable. The issue seems to primarily affect the 4TB drives made since late 2022.

The company said it resolved the issue for the 4TB models and will publish the firmware update on its website soon. It did not mention the 2TB models or offer refunds to customers who lost their data. Western Digital asked customers to contact its customer support team for assistance. SanDisk drives bought before late 2022 are likely not affected by the issue. 

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Meta’s first custom AI chip to launch in 2025

Image: Muhammad Asyfaul / Unsplash

Meta recently announced that it is developing its first custom chip for running artificial intelligence models. The chip—called Meta Training and Inference Accelerator or MTIA—is designed to handle inference workloads more efficiently and faster than CPUs. Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that AI agents are a vital opportunity for the company to serve billions of people. The chip and other infrastructure plans revealed Thursday could help Meta compete with other tech giants in the AI field.

The MTIA chip is expected to offer more compute power and customization for Meta’s internal workloads. It will work with GPUs to deliver better performance, lower latency, and higher efficiency for each workload. However, the chip is not expected to be ready until 2025.

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Samsung halts rumoured plans to switch to Bing on its mobile browser

Samsung has reportedly put on hold its plans to replace Google with Bing as the default search engine on its Internet Browser app. The Wall Street Journal claims that Samsung was considering the switch. But it decided to pause the review due to potential backlash from Google and the market. Samsung’s Internet Browser app, which comes pre-loaded on its phones, has always used Google as its default search engine. And this move could risk the USD 3 billion in annual revenue that the search giant gets out of the deal.

The reason behind Samsung’s interest in Bing is unclear, but it could be related to Microsoft’s advances in AI technology. However, Google has also been investing heavily in AI features for its search engine and has recently launched its Bard chatbot to the public. Samsung may still revisit the idea of using Bing as its default search engine. But for now, it seems to have shelved the proposal. 

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HP's recent software update bricks some OfficeJet printers

Some HP OfficeJet printers are becoming unusable after installing a recent software update from the company. The update causes the printers to show a blue screen error with the code 83C0000B, which prevents users from accessing the touchscreen to reset the device. The only way to fix the problem is to send the printer back to HP for service.

The issue affects OfficeJet 902x models, such as the Pro 9022e, Pro 9025e, Pro 9020e All-in-One, and Pro 9025e All-in-One. HP advises customers who own these printers to disconnect them from the internet to avoid downloading the faulty update. The company says it is aware of the problem and working on a solution. Customers who encounter the error can contact HP support for assistance: https://support.hp.com.

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