Italian artist, designer, and inventor Bruno Munari is often quoted as saying “If I listen, I forget; if I see, I remember; if I do, I understand.” We couldn’t agree more, and that is one of the reasons why we believe in the power of our Project Hub to help everyone truly learn, grow, and innovate. The tutorials our community shares are not only “recipes” you can replicate, but opportunities to go deeper and test different skills in real life. Don’t believe us? Check out this month’s top three picks!
Perplexed about the best way to safely multiplex a seven-digit LED display? Adrian Smith’s write-up offers a wonderful deep dive into electronics design best practices, suggesting shift registers as an alternative to directly connecting display segments and digit commons to microcontroller pins. The example, based on an Arduino UNO Rev3, will spur you to reflect on the interrelations between cost, complexity, and the crucial need to avoid overloads.
Your favorite Arduino module – Portenta H7 or H8, GIGA R1 WiFi, or Nano ESP32 will work great! – can inject a precious dose of flexibility into a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) to complete extreme tasks. Find out more about the general architecture and software drivers that can help you appropriately balance components’ performance, speed and costs: Dave Nardella’s Project Hub upload is not so much a step-by-step tutorial, but a springboard for infinite ideas!
Biking is an eco-friendly and healthy way of moving around the city! But traffic can be chaotic and safety should always be the priority: that’s why we love Luis Castillo’s idea to add direction indicators to the back of a bicycle. Activated via buttons installed directly on the handlebars, two LED arrows not only communicate clearly when you are ready to turn left or right, but also increase visibility and, of course, are a great excuse to try 3D printing, laser cutting, wiring, programming, and more!
These three Project Hub entries were selected for a $100, $300, and $500 gift card to spend on the Arduino Store, according to the terms and conditions of the Project Hub Competition we ran in 2023. Thank you all, for your contributions to open-source resources!
“Computational thinking is really about thinking, and sometimes about computing.” – Aman Yadav, Michigan State University
Computational thinking is a vital skill if you want to use a computer to solve problems that matter to you. That’s why we consider computational thinking (CT) carefully when creating learning resources here at the Raspberry Pi Foundation. However, educators are increasingly realising that CT skills don’t just apply to writing computer programs, and that CT is a fundamental approach to problem-solving that can be extended into other subject areas. To discuss how CT can be integrated beyond the computing classroom and help introduce the fundamentals of computing to primary school learners, we invited Dr Aman Yadav from Michigan State University to deliver the penultimate presentation in our seminar series on computing education for primary-aged children.
In his presentation, Aman gave a concise tour of CT practices for teachers, and shared his findings from recent projects around how teachers perceive and integrate CT into their lessons.
Research in context
Aman began his talk by placing his team’s work within the wider context of computing education in the US. The computing education landscape Aman described is dominated by the National Science Foundation’s ambitious goal, set in 2008, to train 10,000 computer science teachers. This objective has led to various initiatives designed to support computer science education at the K–12 level. However, despite some progress, only 57% of US high schools offer foundational computer science courses, only 5.8% of students enrol in these courses, and just 31% of the enrolled students are female. As a result, Aman and his team have worked in close partnership with teachers to address questions that explore ways to more meaningfully integrate CT ideas and practices into formal education, such as:
What kinds of experiences do students need to learn computing concepts, to be confident to pursue computing?
What kinds of knowledge do teachers need to have to facilitate these learning experiences?
What kinds of experiences do teachers need to develop these kinds of knowledge?
The CT4EDU project
At the primary education level, the CT4EDU project posed the question “What does computational thinking actually look like in elementary classrooms, especially in the context of maths and science classes?” This project involved collaboration with teachers, curriculum designers, and coaches to help them conceptualise and implement CT in their core instruction.
During professional development workshops using both plugged and unplugged tasks, the researchers supported educators to connect their day-to-day teaching practice to four foundational CT constructs:
Debugging
Abstraction
Decomposition
Patterns
An emerging aspect of the research team’s work has been the important relationship between vocabulary, belonging, and identity-building, with implications for equity. Actively incorporating CT vocabulary in lesson planning and classroom implementation helps students familiarise themselves with CT ideas: “If young people are using the language, they see themselves belonging in computing spaces”.
A main finding from the study is that teachers used CT ideas to explicitly engage students in metacognitive thinking processes, and to help them be aware of their thinking as they solve problems. Rather than teachers using CT solely to introduce their students to computing, they used CT as a way to support their students in whatever they were learning. This constituted a fundamental shift in the research team’s thinking and future work, which is detailed further in a conceptual article.
The Smithsonian Science for Computational Thinking project
The work conducted for the CT4EDU project guided the approach taken in the Smithsonian Science for Computational Thinking project. This project entailed the development of a curriculum for grades 3 and 5 that integrates CT into science lessons.
Part of the project included surveying teachers about the value they place on CT, both before and after participating in professional development workshops focused on CT. The researchers found that even before the workshops, teachers make connections between CT and the rest of the curriculum. After the workshops, an overwhelming majority agreed that CT has value (see image below). From this survey, it seems that CT ties things together for teachers in ways not possible or not achieved with other methods they’ve tried previously.
Despite teachers valuing the CT approach, asking them to integrate coding into their practices from the start remains a big ask (see image below). Many teachers lack knowledge or experience of coding, and they may not be curriculum designers, which means that we need to develop resources that allow teachers to integrate CT and coding in natural ways. Aman proposes that this requires a longitudinal approach, working with teachers over several years, using plugged and unplugged activities, and working closely with schools’ STEAM or specialist technology teachers where applicable to facilitate more computationally rich learning experiences in classrooms.
Integrated computational thinking
Aman’s team is also engaged in a research project to integrate CT at middle school level for students aged 11 to 14. This project focuses on the question “What does CT look like in the context of social studies, English language, and art classrooms?”
For this project, the team conducted three Delphi studies, and consequently created learning pathways for each subject, which teachers can use to bring CT into their classrooms. The pathways specify practices and sub-practices to engage students with CT, and are available on the project website. The image below exemplifies the CT integration pathways developed for the arts subject, where the relationship between art and data is explored from both directions: by using CT and data to understand and create art, and using art and artistic principles to represent and communicate data.
Computational thinking in the primary classroom
Aman’s work highlights the broad value of CT in education. However, to meaningfully integrate CT into the classroom, Aman suggests that we have to take a longitudinal view of the time and methods required to build teachers’ understanding and confidence with the fundamentals of CT, in a way that is aligned with their values and objectives. Aman argues that CT is really about thinking, and sometimes about computing, to support disciplinary learning in primary classrooms. Therefore, rather than focusing on integrating coding into the classroom, he proposes that we should instead talk about using CT practices as the building blocks that provide the foundation for incorporating computationally rich experiences in the classroom.
Our 2024 seminar series is on the theme of teaching programming, with or without AI. In this series, we explore the latest research on how teachers can best support school-age learners to develop their programming skills.
With a new partnership between Google Cloud and Samsung, Galaxy S24 users will be able to access our most capable AI model, Gemini, through apps and services built by Samsung.
With Gemini Pro, our best model for scaling across a wide range of tasks, you can interact with familiar Samsung apps in more helpful ways than ever before. On the new Galaxy S24 series, Samsung’s Notes, Voice Recorder and Keyboard apps will use Gemini Pro to deliver better summarization features. For example, you can record a lecture using Voice Recorder and quickly get a summary of the most important parts of the lesson. And with Imagen 2, Google’s advanced text-to-image diffusion technology, you will be able to access helpful photo editing capabilities using Generative Edit within the Galaxy S24 Gallery app.
Galaxy S24 series will also come built-in with Gemini Nano, the most efficient model for on-device tasks, to enable a new feature in Google Messages and ensure your data doesn’t leave your smartphone. Additionally, Samsung will be one of the first partners to test Gemini Ultra, our largest model for highly complex tasks, before it is available broadly to developers and enterprise customers later this year.
We look forward to working with Samsung to bring Gemini into even more product experiences for Galaxy users around the world. Learn more about Google Cloud and Samsung’s partnership here.
Welcome to the next chapter in our ‘Better, with You’ journey! In recent blog posts, we’ve explored the refreshed look of Arduino Cloud and introduced the latest features of the renewed Arduino IoT Remote app. Today, we’re thrilled to unveil another game-changer, the new Arduino Cloud Editor, which brings the classic Arduino IDE experience to your browser.
The new Cloud Editor
Imagine that you can start your project without having to deal with any annoying setups or maintenance headaches. Imagine that you’re free to work from wherever you want. Well, that’s the vibe of our new Cloud Editor. We’ve made the whole development experience way smoother, so you can forget about the boring techy stuff and just focus on bringing your ideas to life. Let’s dive in!
A unified and more powerful editor
Traditionally, Arduino Cloud had two separate editors: an embedded simple one and the full editor. Users have long awaited a unified editor that gets the best of each one. The new Cloud Editor achieves just that, completely revamping its implementation and setting the stage for exciting new upcoming features.
Tip: To facilitate a smooth transition, the new Cloud Editor will coexist with the current one over the next two months. During this period, you can choose to opt in for the new editor or keep the existing version. It’s your call! Scroll down to the “Try it now” section to find out how to activate the new Cloud Editor on your account.
Better library and example management
The new Cloud Editor provides a library manager that helps you explore and organize libraries as well as easily use their examples.
Screenshot of the revamped library manager in the new Arduino Cloud Editor
Improved serial monitor
The serial monitor has been improved with the ability to download logs and the inclusion of timestamps per line. This is a long-time requested feature by users to improve debugging.
Screenshot of the improved serial monitor with timestamps in the new Arduino Cloud Editor
Support for any Arduino IDE-compatible device
The Arduino Cloud Editor supports any device compatible with the Arduino IDE, thus extending your Arduino development experience to your browser.
A single sketch repository
Whether you’re programming IoT sketches or traditional ones, the new Arduino Cloud provides a unified place to store and organize your sketches with a single editor for all of them.
Screenshot of the new Arduino Cloud sketchbook with the Sketches and IoT Sketches tabs
Keep your sketches organized
The sketchbook allows you to create folders so that you can keep your sketches organized in a more efficient way.
How to use the Cloud Editor
In the new Arduino Cloud, sketches are organized as “Sketches” and “IoT Sketches”, where “IoT Sketches” are the ones that have been created to connect the application with Arduino Cloud so that it can be monitored and controlled using the dashboards.
Your standalone sketch development starts from the “Sketch” section of your sketchbook. Just click on “CREATE SKETCH” or select the sketch you want to edit.
IoT Sketches are automatically created when you create an Arduino Cloud Thing. Once they are created, you can access the sketch either from the Thing or the “IoT Sketch” section of your sketchbook.
Try it now
Click on “TRY NOW” as shown in the screenshot below to start using the new Cloud Editor. If you need a bit more time before moving to the new version, you can still use the existing version until March 31st by clicking on “MAYBE LATER.”
You can now have the option to try the new Cloud Editor from the notification at the bottom right hand corner of your screen.
Please note that Chromebook support will not be available initially. Stay tuned for updates as we will announce Chromebook support as soon as it is ready.
The new editor is part of the new Arduino Cloud
If you’re just getting into the Arduino Cloud, don’t worry, we’ve got the lowdown for you right here. Arduino Cloud is the next exciting step in the Arduino journey for IoT enthusiasts. Here is a quick intro video that will give you a summary in 2 minutes.
Basically, if you’ve got an IoT project idea, you can easily turn it into a real project using this all-in-one, easy Cloud platform. It helps you create applications that can be monitored and controlled from custom dashboards accessible from your browser or your mobile phone. It not only supports Arduino and ESP-based devices, but also any device programmed using Python, MicroPython, Javascript or Node-RED. Which is why the Arduino community is talking a lot about it at the moment! Forget about dealing with complicated stuff – the Arduino Cloud lets anyone, no matter their skill level, create stuff from wherever.
Want a sneak peek? Here’s Karl giving you a tour of Arduino Cloud with the latest new UI.
Get started with the Arduino Cloud
Are you ready to dive in? Learn more about the new Cloud Editor through our detailed documentation. And to sweeten the deal, don’t forget to grab your first month free on the Maker plan with the code ‘MAKER2024 at checkout. But hurry, this offer is only valid until January 31st (You can cancel anytime). Join us in unlocking the full potential of your creative projects!
It’s like a Rube Goldberg machine from Looney Tunes or Wallace and Gromit, and we think it also crosses the boundary into modern art too. Nick says he hates to throw away electronics, and likes to repurpose them if he can’t fix them, which has resulted in this interesting fix.
What a fix
“After gutting the arcade cabinet, I installed a new 320×240 LCD display of the same size as the original,” Nick reveals. “The display, along with the joystick and buttons, are wired to a Raspberry Pi 4 computer that fits inside the casing. Raspberry Pi runs fbcp-ili9341 to use the LCD as its main display. It also runs a custom Python script which handles input from the joystick and buttons.
“The arcade operates in two modes – ‘drive’ and ‘game’, which are toggled by the ‘Start’ button. In drive mode, the script sends HTTP requests to a laptop that issues ROS 2 commands over Wi-Fi that control the movements of the robot. In game mode, HTTP requests are sent to an Arduino Nano 33 IoT attached to a Raspberry Pi 3, running RetroPie and emulating Galaga, that acts as a keyboard emulator. This allows remote key-strokes to be sent to control the action in the game.”
The robot has an Espressif ESP-EYE camera board connected to ESP32 MJPEG streaming server which allows for sub-second video streaming delays – very impressive and also fairly necessary for the experience to feel as organic as possible.
Remote control
With all this tech, was Nick able to fix his Galaga machine? Yes, as he explains.
“It works surprisingly well in some respects. The game is clearly visible on the display screen, and the lag is only about 200 milliseconds, which is acceptable for most retro games — nothing happens much faster than that in games of that era,” Nick says. “As for the robot, the controls are smooth and it is easy to get around without bumping into obstacles.”
We look forward to the explosion of arcade cabinet repair kits with streaming robot cameras at their core.
Weather stations are very popular projects for people new to Arduino. They’re complex enough to help a person learn new skills, but they’re simple enough to be approachable. However, that popularity has led to something of an arms race, with many makers attempting to design the most impressive weather stations on the internet. If you want to go back to the basics to dip your toes into the water, Mirko Pavleski explains how to build a classic weather station that prioritizes the essentials.
Inspired by older devices that displayed information like temperature, barometric pressure, and humidity on analog gauges, Pavleski chose a design with three screens in a vertical stack. Each screen can display whatever data the user can access through a sensor. In this case, his station utilizes the popular BME280 module that monitors the same three parameters as the vintage inspiration: temperature, pressure, and humidity.
This weather station shows each reading on a small two-tone OLED screen. Those screens have yellow pixels on the top and blue pixels on the bottom, which is handy for distinguishing the title from the data without the expense or complexity of a full-color screen.
An Arduino Nano board reads the data from the BME280 sensor and writes to the displays. But those displays and the BME280 all connect through I2C. To interface with all of them through the single pair of SCL/SDA pins, Pavleski included a TCA9548a multiplexer module.
Those components all mount in a minimalist enclosure made from foam board. And while we certainly enjoy complex weather stations, we appreciate the simplicity and approachability of this design.
Over the past few years, Android has been redesigning its software experience for larger screens, like tablets and foldable phones. This includes working with developers to make sure apps — whether they’re for productivity, creativity or gaming — look great and make the most of the larger screen space.
Personally, I’m a huge fan of the expansive, cinematic experience that foldable phones and tablets deliver. My favorite mobile games are able to come to life on a whole new stage, where every vibrant detail and sweeping landscape can truly shine. From heart-pounding action games to intricate puzzles, every genre feels amplified on these immersive displays.
To see for yourself, here are five games that are great to play on Android’s larger screens.
Be it a big fancy car, a Brotato, a big ole boss, or a turnip (I couldn’t find a way to make that one start with a “B”) we’ve got characters for you to check out. Let’s get ready to nail that pre-install button and get to the games!
Available Today
Those Who Remain (Cloud, Console, and PC) As the lights go out, the embers of darkness are stoked in the sleepy town of Dormont. Confront uncomfortable horrors, keep your sanity in check, and survive the night in this story-driven, first-person psychological-thriller.
Coming Soon
Turnip Boy Robs a Bank (Cloud, Console, and PC) – January 18 Available on day one with Game Pass: Turnip Boy is back! This time he’s teaming up with the Pickled Gang to plan and execute the weirdest heist of all time. Shake down hostages, steal valuables, battle the fuzz, and use wacky tools bought off the dark web to move further into the vaults of the Botanical Bank.
F1 23 (Console and PC) EA Play – January 18 EA Sports’ F1 23 is coming soon to PC Game Pass and Ultimate via EA Play. Test your driving talents, create your dream team, and be the last to brake in the official video game of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship.
Palworld (Cloud, Console, PC) – January 19 Available on day one with Game Pass: Embark on an open-world adventure through Palworld, where you can discover and capture over 100 Pals! Unveil the secrets of this mysterious land, overcome formidable bosses, and build powerful bases. Use your Pals to do tasks for you and automate entire production lines.
Go Mecha Ball (Cloud, Console, and PC) – January 25 Available on day one with Game Pass: Load up and roll out in this twin stick shooter with roguelike progression! Blast your way through arcade-style levels, using pinball-style physics mixed with an arsenal of devastating weapons. Defeat waves of enemy bots, battle big bosses, and upgrade your mech between runs.
Brotato (Cloud, Console, and PC) – January 30 A top-down roguelite arena shooter where you play a potato wielding up to 6 weapons at a time to fight off hordes of aliens. Choose from a variety of traits and items to create unique builds and survive until help arrives.
Persona 3 Reload (Cloud, Console, and PC) – February 2 Available on day one with Game Pass: If I told you there was an hour “hidden” between one day and the next, would you believe me? Walk the delicate line between life and death and unravel the mysteries of the Dark Hour in Persona 3 Reload, a captivating reimagining of the genre-defining RPG, reborn for the modern era.
Anuchard (Cloud, Console, and PC) – February 6 The kingdom of Anuchard has fallen. Generations after the collapse, its surviving descendants have chosen you to become The Bellwielder of the magical Audros Bell. Go forth, battle monsters, solve puzzles, and restore Anuchard to its former skyward glory!
DLC / Game Updates
Dead By Daylight: Alan Wake – January 30
Game Pass members save 10% off Alan Wake in Dead by Daylight. From one Dark Place to another. Dead by Daylight: Alan Wake brings bestselling author Alan Wake into The Fog.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perks
Naraka: Bladepoint Season 11 Bundle – Available now Boost your wardrobe with Xbox headgear, rare cosmetics from new season treasures, and three legendary skins with free trials! Get a head start in Season 11 with experience boost cards!
Turbo Golf Racing Pet Pack – Available now Drive off in the Pupps Car Body, Goldie Ball, Guzzle Shield, Knots Spoiler, Treats Wheels, Paws Decal, Fur Finish, and Kibble Boost. This Perk content requires Turbo Golf Racing to use.
Leaving January 31
The following game is leaving soon, so make sure you knock out some contracts or grab a few more achievements before it goes. You can even save up to 20% on your purchase to keep it in your library to keep the good times going.
Hitman: World of Assassination (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Hope your new year has brought you lots of games, high scores, and lots of new achievements! We’ll be back soon with more announcements – but you can always keep up with us here, or @Xbox on Whatsapp, @XboxGamePassPC on X, or @XboxGamePass on Instagram. Talk to you again soon!
“We’ve done a lot of surveys with users and fans, and whenever we did a survey on what people wanted to see as a remake for the Persona series, the number one answer was always Persona 3,” P3R Producer Ryota Niitsuma told me. “After Persona 5 Royal came out, the Persona team was ready for another project and we were trying to think about what to do. We were saying, ‘Hey, a remake could be pretty good. Everybody wants to see Persona 3, so this is the right time.’ The stars have aligned.”
Respecting the impact that the original had on players, the team wanted to preserve the core of Persona 3, while also bridging the 15 year plus gap since it released, and all of the technological advances in that timeframe.
“When [the original Persona 3] first came out, I really thought that both then and now that this game is just incredible, something that, even though many years have passed in the interval, the colors of them haven’t faded,” shared Game Director Takuya Yamaguchi.
“I wanted to leave all of the parts that made Persona 3 what it was, all the parts that made up the core of how beautiful it was, as-is, but then try to address the things that have changed in the interim… I wanted users to think that when they played this game. ‘I’m playing, not a remake of something old, but I’m playing something that is the newest entry to the Persona series.’”
At the heart of our work as a charity is the aim to democratise access to digital skills and technologies. Since 2020, we have partnered with over 100 youth and community organisations in the UK to develop programmes that increase opportunities for young people experiencing educational disadvantage to engage and create with digital technology in underserved communities.
Youth organisations attempting to start a coding club can face a range of practical and logistical challenges, from a lack of space, to funding restrictions, and staff shortages. However, the three issues that we hear about most often are a lack of access to hardware, lack of technical expertise among staff, and low confidence to deliver activities on an ongoing basis.
In 2023, we worked to help youth organisations overcome these barriers by designing and delivering a new hybrid training programme, supported by Amazon Future Engineer. With the programme, we aimed to help youth leaders and educators successfully incorporate coding and digital making activities as part of their provision to young people.
“Really useful, I have never used Scratch so going [through] the project made it clear to understand and how I would facilitate this for the children[.]” – Heather Coulthard, Doncaster Children’s University
Participating organisations
We invited 14 organisations from across the UK to participate in the training, based on:
The range of frontline services they already provide to young people in underresourced areas (everything from employability skills workshops to literacy classes, food banks, and knife crime awareness schemes)
Previous participation in Raspberry Pi Foundation programmes
Their commitment to upskill their staff and volunteers and to run sessions with young people on a regular basis following the training
Attendees included a number of previous Learn at Home partners, including Breadline London, Manchester Youth Zone, and Youth Action. They all told us that the additional support they had received from the Foundation and organisations such as The Bloomfield Trust during the coronavirus pandemic had directly inspired them to participate in the training and begin their own coding clubs.
Online sessions to increase skills and confidence
We started with four online training sessions where we introduced the youth leaders to digital making concepts, programming languages, and recommended activities to run with their young people. This included everything from making their own block-based Scratch games, to running Python programs on our Code Editor and trying out physical computing via our new micro:bit project path.
Alongside digital skills and interactive codealongs, the training also focused on how to be an effective CoderDojo mentor, including classroom management best practice, an explanation of the thinking behind our 3…2…1…Make! project paths, and an overview of culturally relevant pedagogy.
This last part explored how youth leaders can adapt and tailor digital making resources designed for a wide, general audience for their specific groups of young people to aid their understanding, boost their learning outcomes, and increase their sense of belonging within a coding club environment — a common blocker for organisations trying to appeal to marginalised youth.
In-person training to excite and inspire
The training culminated in a day-long, in-person session at our head office in Cambridge, so that youth leaders and educators from each organisation could get hands-on experience. They experimented with physical computing components such as the Raspberry Pi Pico, trained their own artificial intelligence (AI) models using our Experience AI resources, and learned more about how their young people can get involved with Coolest Projects and Astro Pi Mission Zero.
The in-person session also gave everyone the chance to get excited about running digital making activities at their centres: the youth leaders got to ask our team questions, and had the invaluable opportunity to meet each other, share their stories, swap advice, and discuss the challenges they face with their peers.
“Having the in-person immensely improved my skills and knowledge. The instructors were all brilliant and very passionate.” – Awale Elmi, RISE Projects
Continuing support
Finally, thanks to the generous support from Amazon Future Engineer, we were able to equip each participating organisation with Raspberry Pi 400 kits so that the youth leaders can practise and share the skills and knowledge they gained on the course at their centres and the organisations can offer computing activities in-house.
Over the next 12 months, we will continue to work with each of these youth and community organisations, supporting them to establish their coding clubs, and helping to ensure that young people in their communities get a fair and equal opportunity to engage and create with technology, no matter their background or challenges they are facing.
“It was really great. The online courses are excellent and being in-person to get answers to questions really helped. The tinkering was really useful and having people on hand to answer questions [was] massively useful.” – Liam Garnett, Leeds Libraries
For more information about how we can support youth and community organisations in the UK to start their own coding clubs, please send us a message with the subject ‘Partnerships’.
Get ready for race weekend with Daytona, new Spotlight cars and the Italian Challengers Tour.
Forza Motorsport Update 4 introduces the prestigious Daytona International Speedway – a truly iconic racetrack renowned for its marvels in engineering. Meanwhile, a new Italian Challengers Featured Tour invites you to build four staples of Italy’s automotive heritage! Let’s dive into the details.
Update 4 will be available to download on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PCs and Steam beginning on Tuesday, January 16. New events across the Career, Featured Multiplayer and Rivals will start on Thursday, January 18.
On Tuesday we’ll share details about the fixes contained in Update 4. This version is focused on new content and events, and contains only minor fixes for car and track content compared to our previous updates. Work on game fixes to address top community issues is ongoing – look out for additional improvements in Update 5 and beyond.
New Track – Daytona
Daytona International Speedway is a historic, world-famous track with banked, high-speed corners and in Forza Motorsport, it features two distinct layouts. Master the high-velocity 2.5-mile Tri-oval Circuit and the technical, more challenging 3.59-mile Sports Car Circuit.
Compete on both layouts in Career Mode and Featured Multiplayer, set your fastest lap times in any car class in Time Attack, or enjoy a Daytona race day either solo or with your friends in Free Play and Private Multiplayer. We’ll also have a special Daytona Sports Car Series in Featured Multiplayer to replicate the excitement of the iconic race weekend.
Daytona International Speedway was built in 1959 by NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., who wanted to create a track that was faster than any other in the world. Since then, it has hosted several races including the annual Daytona 500, as well as IndyCar and IMSA. The track was renovated in 2016 with the installation of 101,500 seats, making it one of the largest stadiums in the United States!
With the release of Update 4, select existing Builders Cup series will be updated to integrate Daytona, Hockenheim, and Yas Marina.
Spotlight Cars – Update 4
Spotlight cars are featured in the Showroom every week, available for you to acquire with a 30% discount using in-game credits. These cars can be used in the new Italian Challengers Tour, as well as Spotlight Series events in Featured Multiplayer and Rivals.
Forza Motorsport VIP Members will also get an exclusive 15% discount on the 1988 Lamborghini Countach LP5000 QV in the Showroom for a limited time.
Car Pass – Update 4
Here is your Forza Motorsport Car Pass calendar for the next 4 weeks:
Car Pass includes 30 new-to-Motorsport cars with one released every week until Car Pass is complete. Get Car Pass today in the Forza Motorsport Deluxe and Premium Editions.
New Career Tour – Italian Challengers
Discover how Italian cars became an unquestionable staple of the automotive industry in Italian Challengers, the new Featured Tour in Career Mode.
It starts with All-Wheel Driven, where Lancia stands ready to take on its historic adversaries on the track as you race iconic rally machines. Then in Roadster Renaissance, step behind the wheel of the Abarth 124 Spider and battle the iconic Mazda MX-5 to discover the shared origins of these unique siblings.
Tour the world of luxury sports sedans – a class once dominated by Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz – and experience a fierce contender in Alfa Performance. Conclude this Featured Tour with Italian beauty, craftsmanship, and speed by racing with track-focused, high-performance Ferrari cars in Prancing Power.
Italian Challengers series do not have to be completed in a particular week – you have until February 29, 2024, to finish this latest Featured Tour. Spotlight cars are available at a discount for the week during which they are featured. Complete all 4 series to unlock the 2010 Lamborghini Murciélago LP 670-4 SV!
New Career Series – Classic Open Class
With each update to Forza Motorsport, the Open Tour gets refreshed with new events and a new reward car.
Open Tour is where you can continue the journey of your favorite cars. Cars that you’ve already built in a different Builders Cup series can be further levelled up and upgraded in the Open Tour.
In Update 4, the Open Tour is all about racing the classics. Build your favorite cars and bring them to the track to race models of automotive history.
All 4 refreshed Open Tour series (C, B, A, S) will be available on January 18. Complete all 4 series before February 15, 2024, to add the 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA Stradale to your collection.
New Featured Multiplayer Series – Spec and Open Events
Here’s a look at your Featured Multiplayer calendar of upcoming events for Update 4:
Formula Mazda Series – January 18 – February 15
With their smooth power delivery and brilliant handling, open-wheel Mazda formula cars are an ideal entry-level series to develop a driver’s skills for racing’s top classes.
Forza P1 Series – January 18-24
Experience cutting-edge racecars with massive aerodynamic downforce, super-efficient engines and performance-boosting hybrid systems.
Daytona Sports Car Series – January 25-31
Experience the thrill of Daytona race weekend in Forza Motorsport! Every few hours, the car class cycles between Forza GT, Forza P2, and Forza Proto-H with natural time-of-day progression like the real 24-hour race.
VW Golf GTI Spec Series – February 1-7
Get behind the wheel of the car that gave birth to the Hot Hatch revolution more than four decades ago.
Modern Factory Racecar Series – February 8-15
Race through a field of ultimate track day specials in the Modern Factory Racecar series. These mid-engine production cars feature unique upgrades designed to achieve the highest performance metrics and ensure victory on the track.
Featured Rivals – Update 4
Set your fastest lap times across new Rivals events in Forza Motorsport Update 4. Look out for a special new event featuring the classic 1990 Mercury #15 Whistler Radar Cougar XR-7 at Daytona Tri-oval Circuit.
Meanwhile if you have VIP Membership, check out the Titanic Tuner VIP Rivals on Road America – East Route where you can drive the 2019 Subaru WRX STI S209 Forza Edition.
Update 4 also means the beginning of Stage 3 of the Logitech McLaren G Challenge. Sign up at Discord.gg/LogitechG to qualify for prizes, including a chance to win a VIP racing experience with McLaren!
Once registered, set your fastest laps at Grand Oak – National Circuit in the 2015 McLaren P1 GTR. The top drivers per region advance to the semifinals in February 2024.
Here’s the Forza Motorsport Rivals calendar for Update 4:
Discover the future of K-12 & HE at Bett 2024 with Arduino Education
Arduino Education will be back at Bett 2024, the global stage for education innovation, from January 24th-26th at ExCel London.
Our booth (which you’ll find in Bett Hall, Stand NJ12) will be a hub of creativity and excitement, where you can immerse yourself in the world of STEAM education and discover how Arduino empowers students to become inventors, innovators, and problem-solvers.
Meet our new educational solutions
At Bett, you’ll be the first to meet the new Arduino robot and have an interactive demo of our new Programmable Logic Controller, the Arduino PLC Starter Kit. Get hands-on with both of these new kits to explore their unique features and see how they can enhance your classroom for both K-12 and higher education.
You’ll also have the opportunity to try out the Arduino Cloud for Schools and all its new features, as well as seeing our collaboration with IED Rome and Sapienza Schools, which offers secondary age teaching tools designed to improve physics learning with the Arduino Science Kit R3.
Connect with our thriving teacher community
Create connections with fellow Arduino teachers and exchange ideas, strategies, and resources that will fuel your STEAM teaching journey.
Come and meet our team
Join our team of passionate educators and STEAM enthusiasts who are eager to share their expertise and guide you through our solutions. You’ll get practical tips and strategies for incorporating Arduino into your classroom, ensuring that every student has the opportunity to experience the transformative power of STEAM education.
Will we be award winners?
Arduino Education has been recognized as a finalist in not one, but THREE categories for the Bett Awards 2024!
COMPANY OF THE YEAR: We’re incredibly proud of the work our team has done to bring us this far.
COLLABORATION WITH A SCHOOL: Our partnership with Colegio San Jose de Las Vegas in Colombia for the Medellin Challenge.
BETT INNOVATION AWARD: Our work in IoT education, specifically with the Arduino Cloud for Schools, the Explore IoT Kit, and the Greenhouse Kit, is being acknowledged as a leading force in educational innovation.
Will we win? We’ll find out at Bett!
We look forward to seeing you at stand NJ12 in the Bett Hall.
Csaba says that CinePI was always intended to push the possibilities of Raspberry Pi as a video camera with features found in cinema cameras, but in an open-source device so developers could integrate it into their own designs. CinePI V2 can record 2K RAW Cinema DNG video at frame rates up to 50 fps with 12-bit colour depth that far surpasses the 8-bit or 10-bit usual video fare. Csaba showcased its abilities, using CinePI V2 to film more than half of his Timekeeper short film this summer.
Having completed CinePI V2 in early 2023, it wasn’t long before Csaba began work on developing this latest version, with a Compute Module. He has been inspired all along by the cameras made by Blackmagic Design. “They were one of the very first manufacturers to offer RAW video capabilities at affordable prices; democratising tools used for filmmaking.” This means cameras cost a couple of thousand dollars rather than many thousands. If, as Csaba intends, you were to build your own CinePI camera, it would cost far less again, and can largely be built with off-the-shelf components and sensors from the likes of Adafruit. He estimates CinePI V2 costs $250–$300 while CinePI XL in the same or similar configuration would be closer to $400–$600. “A steeper cost, but still very affordable in comparison to the types of camera it would aim to compete with on the market.”
Whereas CinePI V2 was a compact form factor handheld camera, the XL model is noticeably larger. That’s because it features a specially developed sensor, OneInchEye, designed by Will Whang. This larger sensor enables greater image quality and higher frame rates than the Raspberry Pi HQ Camera and also necessitated a switch to Compute Module because it required a MIPI CSI-2 link with four data lanes. Csaba decided to embrace the possibilities this offered in terms of additional sensors and design a camera that mimicked the feature set and capabilities of real professional cinema cameras. Advantages included a larger battery, bigger display, more mounting points for accessories, and a larger physical lens mount.
Community spirit
This summer Csaba saw membership of his Discord server grow from 300 to 1000 members, “It’s been amazing to see the ways people have been using CinePI, modifying and customising it for their unique needs. Exactly what I was hoping for when I started the project.” With the launch of Raspberry Pi 5, Csaba expects to see even more interest. “Perhaps in the future, with the efforts of talented individuals from the community or established companies already in this space, we can see the production of larger sensor modules that will work on the Raspberry Pi platform,” he suggested to CineD.
You’ve seen movies and TV shows with Geigers counters: handheld devices that click when they detect radiation — the faster the clicks, the stronger the radiation. Those clicks are actually the result of inert gas briefly made conductive by bursts of energy released by ionizing radiation particles entering the sealed Geiger–Müller tube. YouTuber The Edison Union had the clever idea to use those clicks as triggers for generative music and turned to Arduino to make it happen.
This is part of a larger project called The Cherenkov Effect, which seeks to explore Cold War-era anxieties related to nuclear power and nuclear weapons. The Cherenkov Effect does that through a combination of performance art and generative music. And what better way to generate that music than with radiation?
In this case, that radiation comes from Strontium-90 and Polonium-210. While those are less dangerous to handle than many other radioactive materials, they still aren’t safe and you shouldn’t replicate this project if you don’t know the proper procedures.
The Edison Union uses Ableton Live to produce the music for The Cherenkov Effect, but needed “seeds” for the generative processes that turn into audible notes. Those seeds come from five Geiger counter modules that connect to an Arduino GIGA R1 WiFi board through a Seeed Studio Grove Shield. The Arduino sketch counts radioactive pulses, then passes that data on to a Processing sketch that performs the generative music functions. The latter is where The Edison Union is able to get creative regarding the sound produced. Finally, Processing sends notes to Ableton Live to synthesize.
Now when The Edison Union moves Strontium-90 or Polonium-210 around the array of Geiger counters, the device will generate and play music based on the radiation it receives.
“The inspiration came from the need to address the challenges in traditional farming and leverage technology for efficient crop management,” Tanay explains. “It’s a forward-thinking approach to agriculture and my project was born out of a passion for sustainable agriculture. The aim was to explore innovative solutions, driven by a desire to contribute to a greener future.”
Making sense
Although Tanay has not had first-hand experience of vertical farming, he says he has read lots about it. “It’s a fascinating concept,” he adds. His research meant he had a good idea of what was needed to create his own system. “Raspberry Pi was chosen for its versatility, affordability, and the vast community support it offers,” Tanay says. “It’s a robust choice for managing and controlling various components in a system like this.”
These components include ambient light, soil moisture, and water level depth detection sensors. “The project was planned by first identifying the key requirements, such as real-time monitoring, efficient water supply, secure communication, and a user-friendly interface,” Tanay continues. “Components were selected based on their compatibility and functionality within the system.”
The sensors gather data about the plants. This data is then processed by a peripheral control unit (in this case an Arduino Nano 33 IoT) and sent to the central unit (Raspberry Pi 4) via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication. “The central unit makes decisions on actions such as activating actuators to adjust environmental parameters,” Tanay says. “This continuous loop ensures optimal conditions for crop growth.”
Friendly farming
A thermoelectric Peltier refrigeration cooling system kit has also been used. “A humidity-to-water conversion, with the help of the Peltier module device working on the principle of condensation, ensures a continuous supply of water,” Tanay explains. It ensures plants are kept alive and are able to thrive but there’s also a user-friendly GUI for remote manual control.
“The software was crafted with modularity and user-friendliness in mind,” says Tanay, who used the IoT platform ThingSpeak. “ThingSpeak is useful for visualising data from sensors in real-time which provides valuable insights to farmers,” he continues. “A user-friendly interface makes it accessible to those without extensive technical knowledge and providing a fault tolerance to the system.”
Tanay hopes the project will show that vertical farming doesn’t have to be expensive. “The project’s cost-effectiveness is a standout feature,” he says. It’s also scalable. “The project is aimed at small and large-scale farmers,” Tanay adds. “The modularity and scalability design principles suggest it’s adaptable to various farm sizes, making it accessible to a broad audience.”
New year, new Open Source Report! Lots has happened in 2023 in terms of open-source development, and we’re excited to share our yearly recap of the various contributions from the Arduino team and the community. Together, we have released new, important open-source projects – both hardware and software – as well as published and maintained a staggering number of libraries, growing our shared resources at a record-breaking pace.
Apparently, we have a history of surpassing our own expectations – and 2023 was no exception. We joined the Zephyr® Project, released five new open-source hardware products, five new versions of the Arduino IDE 2.x, 13 new versions of our command line tools, 12 new official libraries, and 13 versions of the official board packages. We also worked to significantly support MicroPython – releasing a new installer tool and creating a package index.
The Arduino community has clearly shown its love for open source too. During 2023, 1,068 new libraries were added (+20% in one year!) and 101 new versions of community board packages were released. On the content side, 205 new open-source tutorials were published on our new Project Hub.
The 2023 Report also includes a ranking of the most active library authors and maintainers, who provide an incredible service to the whole community with their hard work in the name of open source.
Finally, the achievements we are proud to recap in the Arduino Open Source Report would not be possible without you. To all the people who buy original Arduino products, subscribe to Arduino Cloud, or make donations: THANK YOU for supporting us and our efforts in open-source development.
In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, students are increasingly interacting with AI-powered applications when listening to music, writing assignments, and shopping online. As educators, it’s our responsibility to equip them with the skills to critically evaluate these technologies.
A key aspect of this is understanding ‘explainability’ in AI and machine learning (ML) systems. The explainability of a model is how easy it is to ‘explain’ how a particular output was generated. Imagine having a job application rejected by an AI model, or facial recognition technology failing to recognise you — you would want to know why.
Establishing standards for explainability is crucial. Otherwise we risk creating a world where decisions impacting our lives are made by opaque systems we don’t understand. Learning about explainability is key for students to develop digital literacy, enabling them to navigate the digital world with informed awareness and critical thinking.
Why AI explainability is important
AI models can have a significant impact on people’s lives in various ways. For instance, if a model determines a child’s exam results, parents and teachers would want to understand the reasoning behind it.
Artists might want to know if their creative works have been used to train a model and could be at risk of plagiarism. Likewise, coders will want to know if their code is being generated and used by others without their knowledge or consent. If you came across an AI-generated artwork that features a face resembling yours, it’s natural to want to understand how a photo of you was incorporated into the training data.
Explainability is about accountability, transparency, and fairness, which are vital lessons for children as they grow up in an increasingly digital world.
There will also be instances where a model seems to be working for some people but is inaccurate for a certain demographic of users. This happened with Twitter’s (now X’s) face detection model in photos; the model didn’t work as well for people with darker skin tones, who found that it could not detect their faces as effectively as their lighter-skinned friends and family. Explainability allows us not only to understand but also to challenge the outputs of a model if they are found to be unfair.
In essence, explainability is about accountability, transparency, and fairness, which are vital lessons for children as they grow up in an increasingly digital world.
Routes to AI explainability
Some models, like decision trees, regression curves, and clustering, have an in-built level of explainability. There is a visual way to represent these models, so we can pretty accurately follow the logic implemented by the model to arrive at a particular output.
By teaching students about AI explainability, we are not only educating them about the workings of these technologies, but also teaching them to expect transparency as they grow to be future consumers or even developers of AI technology.
A decision tree works like a flowchart, and you can follow the conditions used to arrive at a prediction. Regression curves can be shown on a graph to understand why a particular piece of data was treated the way it was, although this wouldn’t give us insight into exactly why the curve was placed at that point. Clustering is a way of collecting similar pieces of data together to create groups (or clusters) with which we can interrogate the model to determine which characteristics were used to create the groupings.
A decision tree that classifies animals based on their characteristics; you can follow these models like a flowchart
However, the more powerful the model, the less explainable it tends to be. Neural networks, for instance, are notoriously hard to understand — even for their developers. The networks used to generate images or text can contain millions of nodes spread across thousands of layers. Trying to work out what any individual node or layer is doing to the data is extremely difficult.
Regardless of the complexity, it is still vital that developers find a way of providing essential information to anyone looking to use their models in an application or to a consumer who might be negatively impacted by the use of their model.
Model cards for AI models
One suggested strategy to add transparency to these models is using model cards. When you buy an item of food in a supermarket, you can look at the packaging and find all sorts of nutritional information, such as the ingredients, macronutrients, allergens they may contain, and recommended serving sizes. This information is there to help inform consumers about the choices they are making.
Model cards attempt to do the same thing for ML models, providing essential information to developers and users of a model so they can make informed choices about whether or not they want to use it.
Model cards include details such as the developer of the model, the training data used, the accuracy across diverse groups of people, and any limitations the developers uncovered in testing.
Model cards should be accessible to as many people as possible.
A real-world example of a model card is Google’s Face Detection model card. This details the model’s purpose, architecture, performance across various demographics, and any known limitations of their model. This information helps developers who might want to use the model to assess whether it is fit for their purpose.
Transparency and accountability in AI
As the world settles into the new reality of having the amazing power of AI models at our disposal for almost any task, we must teach young people about the importance of transparency and responsibility.
As a society, we need to have hard discussions about where and when we are comfortable implementing models and the consequences they might have for different groups of people. By teaching students about explainability, we are not only educating them about the workings of these technologies, but also teaching them to expect transparency as they grow to be future consumers or even developers of AI technology.
Most importantly, model cards should be accessible to as many people as possible — taking this information and presenting it in a clear and understandable way. Model cards are a great way for you to show your students what information is important for people to know about an AI model and why they might want to know it. Model cards can help students understand the importance of transparency and accountability in AI.
CES always gives us an exciting look at what’s next for hardware, and with gaming at the forefront of technological innovation, it’s no surprise that CES 2024 has revealed some truly next-generation Windows 11 gaming PCs. Microsoft and our partners are leading the way in combining traditional power with advancements in AI, and this selection of new announcements are a perfect way to future-proof your gaming experience on PC.
Every PC on this list is designed to run the latest games – including those on PC Game Pass, which will help you to jump into some of the greatest games on the platform the moment you switch on your new machine. Even better, every single computer listed below comes with at least one free month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, giving players access to hundreds of high-quality PC, console and cloud games.
Acer
Acer announced the new Predator Helios 18 gaming laptop, outfitted with Nvidia GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs with DLSS 3.5 technology and Nvidia Advanced Optimus, delivering a massive boost in performance features and AI-powered graphic capabilities. It also comes with one month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Gamers seeking a competitive edge will appreciate the MagKey 3.0 swappable mechanical switch for shorter key travel and response time and lightning-fast network speeds with Wi-Fi 7 compatibility.
Video game realms appear as realistic as ever, powered by up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU(MGP up to 175 W) designed with the ultra-efficient Nvidia ADA Lovelace architecture to deliver breakthrough performance and AI-enhanced graphics thanks to DLSS 3.5 technology’s full ray tracing capabilities. Acer’s advanced thermal solutions keep the devices and internals running cool but at full steam, driven by dual 5th Gen AeroBlade fans combined with liquid metal thermal grease on the CPU and vector heat pipes.
Asus ROG
Asus ROG introduced the new ROG Zephyrus G16 as one of the first Republic of Gaming laptops to feature a Nebula Display with an OLED panel. ROG collaborated with Nvidia and Samsung Display to refine the refresh rate and sync the processes of this panel. This is the first OLED panel supporting G-sync, which means it meets the ROG Nebula standard.
Thinner and lighter than ever thanks to a complete redesign, it gives players customizable lighting patterns. It also comes with an Aura Sync keyboard, an extra-large touchpad and 90Wh long-lasting battery life. It’s also bundled with three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Find out more about these and other Asus products announced at CES 2024.
Dell
Dell’s gaming brand, Alienware, redesigned its popular m16 R2 laptop to prioritize performance, flexibility and portability. Its goal was to create a powerful notebook that could run the most demanding games yet be portable and discreet enough to take from place to place with ease. Now the 16-inch gaming notebook sports a new thermal solution that allows it to be 43% more efficient in its airflow in a footprint that is 15% smaller. Notwithstanding its smaller size, it comes with a larger palm rest and touchpad.
Another change with this newer model is Stealth Mode, a hotkey that cloaks the m16 R2, allowing it to blend into its surroundings. This handy feature was inspired by people who found RGB lighting effects to be distracting in public spaces – such as libraries, classrooms and coffee shops. Now a quick tap of the F2 shortcut key turns the keyboard backlighting white, switches off all other AlienFX lighting zones, and shifts performance mode to Quiet to reduce fan noise.
The m16 R2 also comes with one month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, giving players access to hundreds of high-quality games on PC, console and cloud.
When it’s time to game, the laptop’s Intel Core Ultra H Series processors and Nvidia GeForce RTX 40 Series mobile graphics (up to an RTX 4070) pack enough power to run the latest titles at high frame rates. Competitive gamers can also utilize Nvidia’s DLSS 3.5 AI upscaling technology and Nvidia Reflex latency reduction, which deliver faster frame rates, better image quality and the lowest latency – without demanding more power.
HP
Gamers who are looking for versatile machines that can handle the rigor of top-tier AAA games, as well as visually demanding creative endeavors, can turn to the Windows 11-powered Omen Transcend 14 and Omen Transcend 16 Gaming Laptop. The 14-inch version comes with up to an IMAX Enhanced Certified 2.8K 120Hz VRR OLED display, up to 11.5 hours of battery life and up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processorand up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPUs. HP has updated the 16-inch version with up to 4K 240Hz OLED display option as well as up to the latest Intel CPUs.
The Omen Transcend 14 is available for pre-order at HP.com for a starting price of $1,599.99. The Omen Transcend 16, which can be purchased with the latest Intel processors and an OLED display, is available for pre-order on HP.com for a starting price of $1,899.99. Both include one month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Lenovo
Lenovo’s Legion series of laptops are made for gaming. Players will find the latest Intel Core 14th Gen i9 14900HX processors on the Lenovo Legion 7i. All Lenovo Legion Series laptops are available with up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics that feature Nvidia’s RTX AI upscaling for faster framerates, AI-powered Max-Q technology to optimize performance and efficiency, supercharging gaming as well as creative and productivity tasks.
New for this year is the Lenovo Legion Coldfront: Hyper thermal solution. The fans in the thermal solution spin in opposite directions, pushing hot air out of the rear of the chassis while pulling cold air in from the back middle. The Hyperchamber in the middle, which is hermetically sealed from open air, keeps cold and hot air separate, increasing heat exchange and keeping the laptops’ hardware cooler and the framerates higher. This results in a net increase of up to 25W TDP in Extreme Mode for a max output of 175W TDP on the Lenovo Legion 7i, while keeping the keyboard cooler and more comfortable even under heavy processor loads. All Lenovo gaming PCs come with three free months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
MSI
MSI introduced its Windows 11 handheld device, Claw. The Intel Core Ultra processors power this portable gaming powerhouse, which also features Intel XeSS technology that significantly enhances FPS, ensuring a smooth and immersive gameplay experience on AAA titles, while providing exceptional battery life. MSI Cooler Boost HyperFlow thermal technology redirects the airflow to cool the internal components, ensuring optimal performance even in the palm of your hand.
MSI also debuted an 18-inch gaming laptop family, led by the Titan 18 HX, equipped with Intel 14th Gen Core i9 processors and Nvidia GeForce RTX 40 Series graphics that are capable of running at total 270W simultaneous combined load. With four sets of expansion memory slots, it can be extended to 128 GB. If that isn’t enough, it includes three M.2 SSD slots, providing a storage capacity of up to 12TB. The 18-inch family also includes the latest gaming flagship Raider 18 HX and portable Stealth 18 AI Studio. Find out more about these and other devices MSI rolled out at CES 2024. MSI’s gaming devices come with one month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Razer
The latest line-up of Razer Blade gaming laptops powered by Microsoft Windows 11 leads off with the new Razer Blade 16, equipped with an Intel Core i9 processor. Tackle the most demanding gaming and creative tasks with 24 Cores and the ability to unlock overclocking through Razer Synapse. Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 graphics and AI-powered DLSS 3 deliver faster framerates and real-time ray tracing.
The next generation of Blade 14 is the most portable chassis in the Razer Blade line. Updated with the new AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS processor, this four-pound and .71-inches thin laptop features enhanced Ryzen AI performance to boost AI workloads such as Microsoft Windows Studio effects and Microsoft Copilot in Windows 11. These laptops also come with one month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Find out more about these and other Razer announcements at CES.
The project began with disconnecting the fan wires from the GPIO on Raspberry Pi 5 and unscrewing the standoffs. The Ethernet and USB 3.0 cables inside the RasPad are quite short, so they were a little more stretched than is ideal in order to reach the ports on Raspberry Pi 5. The slightly different layout of Raspberry Pi 5 also meant they had to cross over each other.
Once it was all connected, everything worked as normal in the Chromium browser. And the touchscreen was “nice and responsive” under the control of the super-speedy Raspberry Pi 5. RasPad 3 is a touchscreen device, but there are plenty of ports for you to plug in wireless keyboard and mouse dongles, which Lee did to test out accessing his YouTube channel. We were pleased to see that everything loaded nice and quickly, and of course, our Raspberry Pi 5 handled full-screen, high-resolution video with ease.
We’re officially crowning Lee as the creator of the first-ever Raspberry Pi 5-powered tablet. A special prize goes to the creators of RasPad 3, SunFounder, of course.
Retrofit dreams with Raspberry Pi 5
We cannot wait to see what weird and wonderful objects our newest board ends up inside. Eben is particularly keen to see someone using a 1950s TV as a display for Raspberry Pi 5, since, as he and James keep telling everyone, it can output an ancient TV standard [Editor’s note: please be careful working with old CRT TVs as they can be extremely dangerous]. Of course, an old Pye would be the dream for this, both for our nearly-shared name and for our shared Cambridge heritage. We spent a happy interlude on eBay, and someone dug up this informative and also daunting page about restoring old 405-line TV receivers, before sighing wistfully, closing about a dozen tabs, and going back to what we were all supposed to be doing. So, if you are pals with a retro TV enthusiast who’d relish the challenge, make sure you tip them the wink.
If you only care about showing content as clearly as possible at the lowest cost, then you’ll want to turn to LCD or OLED technology. But a project’s display gives you an opportunity to get creative with the aesthetic, which opens up a whole world of different display types. If you want a retro feel, then you can inspiration in DIY GUY Chris’ gorgeous LED matrix.
This is a dot-matrix LED display with an overall resolution of 32×8. But that description alone doesn’t do the project justice. Chris used tiny 0603 SMD LEDs, which allowed for very high “pixel” density and that results in better clarity than a typical LED matrix display. To enable future expansion, Chris set this up as a host board that accepts four LED boards — each of which contains an 8×8 matrix. A MAX7219 IC drives the LEDs on each of those boards.
The LED boards connect to the host board through nifty mezzanine connectors. The host board contains an Arduino Nano that sends control signals to the MAX7219 chips. The Arduino can supply USB power to the LEDs, but there is also a DC jack for power when USB isn’t connected. Chris’ Arduino sketch lets the user “print” alphanumeric characters to scroll across the four LED matrices.
The best part about this design (other than the great style) is that Chris can scale it up in the future with larger host boards that accept more than four LED boards.
Watch out for The Bot’s cameo on Sphere today — it’s taller than the Statue of Liberty! You might even spot The Bot all around Las Vegas — look for it adorning the billboards or hitching a ride on the monorail. You can even get a closer look at Sphere in our AR experience mentioned above.
We’ve also tucked 10 unique collectable pins around the Android space for you to find and pop on your backpack or wherever you’d like. Each pin represents a bit of Android’s personality and the future of AI, creativity, discovery and more. Collect them all before you leave!
We hope you enjoy the event as much as we’ve enjoyed creating it for you. Let us know what you think on social and use the hashtags #CES2024 and #Android.
Want to learn more about what we announced? Check out our full roundup in this post.
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