Nvidia's nearly two-year-long quest to take over mobile chip giant Arm may be over sooner than expected.
Bloomberg is reporting that Nvidia may be winding down efforts to close the $40 billion deal for the British semiconductor company after facing opposition in the U.S., in Europe from the European Union, and from China. Essentially, no one outside of Nvidia, Arm, and Softbank, Arm's current owner, approved the deal.
Softbank, according to the report, might soon prep Arm Holdings for an IPO. TechRadar Pro has reached out to Nvidia for comment and will update this post with its reply.
While Nvidia is primarily known as a graphics company, and Arm produces the underpinning for most of the leading mobile CPUs, the acquisition was tied primarily to Nvidia's Artificial Intelligence aspirations.
“AI is the most powerful technology force of our time and has launched a new wave of computing,” said Nvidia CEO and Founder Jensen Huang in a release when the company's announced the deal in 2020. He added, “In the years ahead, trillions of computers running AI will create a new internet-of-things that is thousands of times larger than today’s internet-of-people. Our combination will create a company fabulously positioned for the age of AI."
Now Nvidia might have to realize that AI dream on its own.
Nvidia might've considered fighting on, but it potentially faces even more pushback if the US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission successfully alter the ground rules for mergers and acquisitions .
Nvidia abandoning its pursuit of Arm was really the only way this could have ended
Those who've been following the Nvidia / Arm news for some time aren't surprised by the latest developments.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Nvidia pulled the plug given all the regulatory hurdles it needs to overcome," CEO & Chief Analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy Patrick Moorhead told TechRadar Pro .
The deal's potential collapse also changes the mobile chip playing field where Arm is confronting fresh competition from companies it could once rely on as customers. Samsung, Microsoft, and Apple have all been developing their own silicon.
"I believe as a standalone company, Apple will have less competition from Arm as I don't think it will be able to invest as much being a public company," said Moorhead.
While Softbank might be preparing an IPO, there is the potential of another suitor, one that might realize similar synergies. However, Moorehead doesn't see things playing out that way. Samsung, for instance, would receive similar pushback from regulatory bodies, Moorhead told us.
Ultimately, the deal's potential demise might be a lost opportunity for fresh competition in the desktop space, where right now Intel's x86 platform still rules the roost. Moorehead told us that he sees Arm surviving but, "I think [Arm] could have done more integrated with Nvidia, especially in the desktop and server market. Where's the competition in those markets? NVIDIA would have brought that competition."
Xiaomi Mi Note 11: here's everything we know so far
Sorry folks: at this point, a Xiaomi Mi Note 11 seems very unlikely.
When the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 launched in late 2019, it shot right up on our list of the best smartphones , but since then we haven't heard a peep from the sporadically-dusted-off Note line of Xiaomi Mi phones.
So we've lost hope that a Mi Note 11 is coming out, especially because with the Xiaomi 12 , it's clear the company has moved on from its 11th generation (and the Mi in its names too).
That's not to say we'll never see a new Xiaomi Note phone, as the company doesn't put them out every year, and the Note 10 was a big surprise. So maybe we'll see a Note 12 or 13, but that's just speculation.
We used to use this Xiaomi Mi Note 11 page to list the rumors and speculation we heard about the device - there were a few details leaked in 2020 and 2021 - but, since the phone almost definitely won't show up at this point, we won't be adding anything else.
So for a historical view on leaks, rumors and our wish-list on the Xiaomi Mi Note 11, scroll down. But if you want a view of contemporary mobiles from the brand, check out our ranking of the best Xiaomi phones .
Cut to the chase:
Xiaomi Mi Note 11 release date and price
The Xiaomi Mi Note 10 was launched in November 2019 - 2020 and 2021 came and went without a Mi Note 11. There's no indication of when it'll come out, or even if it will at all.
Regarding price, the Mi Note 10 cost £459 / AU$888 (about $590) for its most affordable variant, so it's possible the Mi Note 11 will cost that much or perhaps a small amount more.
Saying that, the Xiaomi Mi 10 was quite a bit pricier than the Mi 9. It's possible the company will replicate this leap in the Mi Note line, but we'd hope not as the low price was the Mi Note 10's real strength.
Xiaomi Mi Note 11 leaks and rumors
We've heard one big rumor about the Xiaomi Mi CC11 , which will probably come out as the Mi Note 11 outside China. Apparently it will have a 90Hz screen, 64MP main camera, 67W charging and Snapdragon 778 or 780 chipset.
In addition, there's said to be a Pro model, with the Snapdragon 870 chipset and a 5x zoom periscope sensor.
Other than that we haven't heard a single rumor or leak surrounding the Xiaomi Mi Note 11 right now. However we have heard about various new Xiaomi tech that wasn't attached to a named smartphone, so it could debut in the Mi Note 11 - this is just speculation, though.
For example, Xiaomi has patented an under-display camera for the front-facing snapper, tech that would allow a phone to have an all-screen front without any moving parts or novelty gimmicks to ensure there was still a front-facing camera. Gimmicks like, for example, this other Xiaomi patent which shows a phone which twists in half to take selfies.
We'd expect a mid-range chipset in the Xiaomi Mi Note 11, and the company is said to be working on a smartphone with a Dimensity 1000 Plus processor from MediaTek. This would make the phone 5G-compatible, and would also allow for a 144Hz refresh rate display. Saying that, Xiaomi has also seemingly considered using Samsung's Exynos chipsets in its phones too.
In terms of camera capabilities, it seems Xiaomi is working on a phone with a 108MP camera and a whopping 120x digital zoom , presumably through a separate telephoto lens, which would blow all competitors out of the water in terms of numbers.
We've heard Xiaomi is working on a new cheap phone with 108MP main sensor , which could be a Redmi phone (maybe the Redmi Note 10) but also could be the Mi Note 11.
Since this super-powerful camera phone is said to be a Mi CC phone, it could be the Mi Note 11 too (as the Mi Note 10 was known as the Mi CC 9 Pro in China).
Finally, we've heard Xiaomi is working on a 120W charger which would power up a phone to full in minutes. The Xiaomi Mi Note 11 might not be the phone this debuts in, since this phone is set to be a mid-ranger and that's a decidedly premium feature, but the Mi Note 10 was the first Xiaomi phone with a 108MP camera so it's possible.
Xiaomi Mi Note 11: what we want to see
These are all the features and specs we want the Xiaomi Mi Note 11 to come with.
1. An improved 'main' telephoto camera
The Xiaomi Mi Note 10 had five rear cameras, but only three were really impressive or useful. One in the bad pile was the 8MP telephoto snapper. In theory it was useful, with 5x optical zoom, but because of the low-res sensor, pictures looked a little fuzzy, and you could get better pictures by taking 108MP snaps and cropping down manually.
We'd like to see the Mi Note 11 pack a better sensor with its telephoto or periscope lens for zoomed shots, so there was a reason to close the distance with the camera.
2. A longer-lasting battery
Xiaomi Mi phones typically have fine battery lives, but we're rarely as impressed by how long they last as we are handsets from another Xiaomi brand, Redmi. Mi phones will last a day, fine, but you'll be hard pressed to get them to run for a second day - or even one full day if you're pushing the camera to its limits.
We'd like the Xiaomi Mi Note 11 to last longer without needing a charge, either with a better battery or - possibly a better option - with some software optimizations that means it drains power slower.
3. An improved chipset
The Xiaomi Mi Note 10 didn't have a top-end processor - instead, it used a mid-range Snapdragon 730. This was a decision we initially found rather curious, but after using the phone we didn't notice the lack of processing power too much.
The Mi Note 11 needs an improved processor though in one key regard - the 730 had quite a bit of trouble taking and processing 108MP pictures, and if the newer phone is set to keep or improve on this snapper, it needs to handle pictures better.
Qualcomm (which makes Snapdragon chipsets) has since launched the 765G, which is a great processor for gaming and long battery life, and is also 5G-enabled, so that would be an obvious choice, but there are others which would work too.
4. A low price
The Xiaomi Mi Note 10 had impressive specs, but it also had one thing handsets with similar features didn't have - a low price.
Xiaomi is known for putting out affordable phones, and the Mi Note 10 certainly was one, but the Mi 10 series that launched afterwards arguably wasn't, as the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro cost twice what the Mi Note 10 did. Evidently Xiaomi realized it could put out pricey phones as well.
We'd like to see the Mi Note 11 stay affordable though, not have an inflated price like the Mi 10, as that would keep it hugely competitive against plenty of rivals and give more people the chance to check out what's likely to be an impressive phone.
5. Faster charging capabilities
Xiaomi phones typically have fast charging speeds, some of the best available perhaps, but each year the top available charging tech gets quicker and quicker. We'd like to see the Xiaomi Mi Note 11 stay ahead of the curve.
While the Mi Note 10 had 30W charging, which is faster than lots of the competition already, possibly Xiaomi could bump the Note 11 up to 50W or even 65W to really trump its rivals. Xiaomi has shown off 100W fast charging tech before, so it's not that unreasonable either.
PS5 is ready for a new Uncharted game – and the Legacy of Thieves collection proves it
I’ve got a confession to make: I never played Uncharted: The Lost Legacy when it was released on PS4.
I’ve always been a bit skeptical about spin-off titles in any medium – be that the Marvel TV shows or the never-ending line of Pokémon games that don’t explicitly involve lobbing Pokéballs at pocketable monsters. Having just wrapped up the fourth, seemingly-final Uncharted game, A Thief’s End, I felt like I’d done my time not only with the grave-robbing treasure hunters, but with the franchise as a whole.
And so the PS5 remastering of both titles, together under the banner “Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves”, naturally serves to not only challenge that stance, but bowl it over. Playing Legacy of Thieves taught me two things: that Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is ace, and that the PS5 is ready for a brand-new Uncharted game.
But let’s get the pleasantries out of the way first then – you’re probably wondering how these games run on Sony’s latest and greatest hardware. Uncharted 4 was, is, and remains an absolute high-water mark in interactive entertainment. The concluding act in the story of treasure-chasing Nathan Drake’s career deftly wields Hollywood-grade set pieces with a quippy, heartfelt script that would make Marvel’s Russo brothers proud. Developers Naughty Dog had long peddled games that were every bit the equal of their movie inspiration, but the polish and visual fidelity of A Thief’s End made it truly something special.
If it’s possible to elevate those plaudits further, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves does so. Everything about Uncharted 4 is just as good as you remember, but now buoyed by the power of PS5. You’ve got a 4K / 30fps fidelity mode that ups the resolution for pin-sharp detail, but the real significant change comes with the higher frame rate options.
I thought these might run counter to Uncharted’s core-appeal – aping the likes of Indiana Jones, a more filmic 30fps may have been the most suitable approach.
But the smoothness of the “Performance” and “Performance Plus” visual options of the Legacy of Thieves package are a revelation. With improved responsiveness, the 1440p / 60fps option does little to dull the game’s presentation, and yet is buttery smooth with barely the sign of a dropped frame anywhere. For those with access to a 120Hz HDMI 2.1 TV though, the Performance Plus option’s 120fps play is even more impressive. Even though the 1080p resolution results in a softer overall presentation, it’s still a great-looking game, and the liquid-like movement means that more precise actions, like lining up a headshot, become surprisingly easier.
The game’s Performance Plus mode isn’t a locked 120fps, however, even though it drops to a reduced resolution. But frame rate dips are rare and almost imperceptible. It’s a fantastic achievement, and while the 60fps mode was my preferred middle ground, it’s a dazzling option.
A PS5 Uncharted game
What Legacy of Thieves does excellently, though, is put Lost Legacy on an equal footing with A Thief’s End. It gets the same upgrade treatment and, by virtue of being part of the same package, makes it clear it’s every bit the equal of its stablemate.
In a post-Nate Drake world, Chloe Frasier is a worthy replacement and, much to the shame of my 2017 self’s assumption, Naughty Dog wraps a worthy narrative around her jungle exploring adventures. Yes, it’s much more of the same: wall climbing, grunt sniping, grave-robbing action. But it goes to accentuate that the core gameplay loop Naughty Dog landed upon with its action-adventure titles is greater than the sum of parts that include its franchises’ leading hero – I’d play a game with the Uncharted mechanics with or without this ragtag cast.
As such, the Lost Legacy collection to me proves it’s high time that Naughty Dog get to work on a new “Uncharted” game. I put Uncharted in quotation marks there to highlight that I mean not necessarily a direct sequel, but a spiritual successor with the Uncharted building blocks at its core.
There is power to be mined from the PS5, and as these PS4 upgrades show, there’s mind-bending potential in a game using the Uncharted blueprint built from the ground up for PlayStation 5. The Last of Us may have become Naughty Dog’s most beloved franchise, but the lighter, swashbuckling tone established here is one I desperately want to see revived and super-charged on this new console generation.
Worth the upgrade?
The Lost Legacy is not without fault though – Uncharted 4’s multiplayer mode is missing for starters. It wasn’t the most inspired addition in the first place, but for those that measure the worth of a game by how much it throws at you, that’s a big chunk of gameplay chucked to the scrap heap.
The removal also doesn’t help those uncertain as to whether the remaster is worth the full-price release treatment. These were already great looking games, and with Microsoft letting its greatest Xbox hits run at 60fps with FPS Boost , and some PS4 titles getting free 60fps upgrades (God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Days Gone) too, the value here is best measured against the quality of the games themselves which is, thankfully, top notch. Could a 1440p/60fps patch not have been afforded the original PS4 titles, as was the case with The Last of Us 2 ? We may never know the answer, though a patch certainly wouldn’t have set the cash registers ringing again.
With no new content, and the most progressive 120fps mode addition reserved only for those with the latest television tech, it’s mostly down to the new features to justify the expense. Adaptive triggers and haptic feedback don’t feel hugely additive here, while the surround sound audio of the originals was already impressive with a decent headset, to the point where 3D spatial audio (while excellent) doesn’t feel miles removed from the originals.
As for speedy SSD loading times, from boot it’s massively impressive, but in-game the Uncharted series has always done well to hide its loading screens behind rock slides, crumbling ruins and character blackouts anyway – there’s no fast travel mechanism, for instance, that benefits.
Legacy of Thieves could also have done with a recap option of some sort for those that, like me, hadn’t played the PS3 entries in the series in some ten years or so now. Outside of the games themselves, the bonus content – the kind of which bolsters a classic movie deluxe reissue – is essentially absent. And so you have a package that ticks all the boxes required for a PS5 remaster – spatial audio, DualSense support, improved frame rates – but the extras are pretty barebones. The quality of the games themselves is the essential magnetizing draw again, particularly if you missed them first time around
And so, more than anything else, you are left wanting more. More Drake? More Chloe? Not necessarily – just more Uncharted, with more horsepower behind it.
The Uncharted series is one whose cinematic ambitions have only ever been constrained by the power of the console it’s been presented on. With the PS5, it’s hard to fathom what the series would be capable of, given the impressive display even the original PS3 outing achieved. The franchise’s Latin motto, “Sic Parvis Magna” (thus great things from small things come), may not apply anymore – it’s hard to think of many game series bigger. But with the power of the PS5 behind it, what great things from big things could come?