Business Articles

Fears of a delay in the launch of the PS5 have been allayed by a report stating that there is a sufficient supply of the key AMD chips to ensure a holiday 2020 release. A recent change on the official PS5 website had made fans jittery about a potential delay. An Epic executive has revealed that Unreal Engine rewrites were made to keep up with the superfast PlayStation 5 SSD.

Xiaomi fans may have had a rude awakening when purchasing the Poco F2 Pro on Mi.com. Proudly announced for the "flagship killer price" of €499, it turns out that Xiaomi never intended to sell the Poco F2 Pro for that price at all.

Xiaomi has started offering the Mi Band 4 NFC version outside of its domestic market. The wearable is currently listed on the Mi store for Russia and is priced at 3,990 Russian rubles (US$58). The Chinese company is expected to roll-out the Xiaomi Mi Band 4 NFC in other parts of Europe soon.

Intel has announced that a raft of processors based on the Coffee Lake architecture have reached the end of their life. This new notice encompasses Core i3-, i5- and i7-8xxx CPUs. It also extends to certain Pentium Gold and Celeron desktop chipsets.

The security group Lookout has released the results of its latest study of fraud that targets phones or tablets owned by enterprises. It found that the number of such incidents grew by 37.1% between the last quarter of 2019 and the first of 2020. Even just one of these attacks can cost businesses millions of dollars.

Sales of PC hardware have seen a sudden surge during the COVID-19 pandemic, but OEMs fear that this upward trend may reverse as the situation returns to normalcy, according to a recent Digitimes report. However, gaming laptops may be an exception as they have been witnessing good growth and are expected to continue as such with MSI leading the way with record Q1 revenues.

Based on a new report released by the International Data Corporation (IDC), Vivo now claims it is the #5 smartphone OEM in terms of market share and shipment volumes. It attributes this success to recent launches such as the S1 Pro and to providing customers with contactless delivery options.

Sony has made the right decision by postponing the upcoming PS5 event that was originally scheduled for June 4, because “more important voices” do need to be heard at the moment. PlayStation 5 fans should support the company’s move rather than complain about having to wait longer for the eagerly anticipated reveal event.

The planned PS5 event for June 4 has now been postponed. The official PlayStation Twitter account recently posted a message to inform fans that now is not the time to celebrate the PlayStation 5, due to the global protests that have been occurring since the controversial death of George Floyd. Fans have reacted with highly mixed responses.

Earlier this year, it emerged that certain OEMs had been misrepresenting some of the hard drives they sold in terms of the storage technology they used. One of these companies was Western Digital (WD), who subsequently admitted to doing so with some SKUs of its Red, Black and Blue HDD series. Now, a law firm has filed a suit in order to procure redress for their owners.

Apple is considering a large US$330 million investment in a microLED manufacturing plant in Taiwan. The investment would be a joint venture with Epistar and AU Optronics. This investment could lead to the use of microLED displays in future iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and MacBook Pros.

It now costs twice as much to upgrade the entry-level MacBook Pro 13 from 8 GB to 16 GB of RAM. RAM prices remain unchanged on other Apple products though, and the increase makes the Ice Lake MacBook Pro 13 just US$100 more expensive than a comparably-equipped Coffee Lake model.

A French online retailer appears to have unintentionally leaked pricing information for AMD's upcoming Matisse Refresh Ryzen 9 3900XT, Ryzen 7 3800XT, and Ryzen 5 3600XT. The rumored CPUs will sell for more than their vanilla counterparts but are expected to offer better performance.

The PS5 will supposedly be almost twice the thickness of a PlayStation 4 Pro and has a design that is completely different to everything that has been predicted so far according to a Sony “insider”. Sega may be planning a new console release or might team up with Microsoft in Japan for a “Sega Series X”.

The GPD Win Max handheld game console has already managed to attract over US$2 million in funding on Indiegogo and there is still 32 days of its crowdfunding campaign left. But when you see how well games like GTA 5 run on the mini laptop, it’s easy to understand why the Win Max has received so much attention.

Samsung Money is a new partnership between this OEM and SoFi that offers a new type of Mastercard-issued debit card. It also extends benefits such as a fee-free account and potentially increased interest on savings. This new arm of Samsung Pay will be available to US customers in the summer of 2020.

Energy Star and Geekbench have confirmed that a ThinkBook 14s refresh is on its away. Possibly launching imminently, the ThinkBook 14s will come with 8 core AMD Ryzen 4000 Renoir APUs and up to 16 GB of RAM.

The PS5 remains on track for a global launch this holiday season, according to Sony's Jim Ryan. Do not expect PS5 games to work on the PS4 though, nor for the PS5 to be the cheapest console either.

A highly dubious PS5 leak has appeared on an imageboard website with a series of claims made about the next-gen console. Apparently, the CPU and GPU clocks are unstable and the PS5 design is “ugly”. However, these cons are countered by pros such as silent and efficient cooling, an incredible dashboard, and a price of US$499 for the PlayStation 5.

Motorola may launch a phone called the One Fusion Plus soon. Its existing leak appears to show that it will, unlike its immediate predecessor, have a display with a waterdrop-style notch. Now, it seems to have surfaced on Geekbench 5 with a different SoC too.

Using "proprietary holographic nano-layer" and "quantum biological shielding" technologies, 5GBioShield claims that its USB key will protect you against harmful 5G radiation. Its "life force frequencies" are available for almost US$450. No, we are not joking.

PlayStation Official Magazine UK seems to believe that Dirt 5, Godfall and Rainbow Six Siege are among 11 launch titles for Sony's next-gen console. Assassin's Creed Valhalla will apparently be a launch title for the PS5 too, but there is no mention of Gran Turismo 7 arriving anytime soon.

Fujitsu has announced new additions to its business-class Lifebook line of notebooks. They are led by the U9310 and its 2-in-1 variant, the U9310X. This 13.3-inch convertible has up to 10th-gen core i7 Intel processors and weighs only about 1 kilogram (kg).

It has been reported that mass production of the PlayStation 5 console is starting, leading to the strong possibility that a PS5 design reveal could be imminent. In the meantime, Microsoft has been firing some of the first shots of the upcoming next-gen console battle by reminding people that the Xbox Series X is the “most compatible console ever”.

The Blade 15 Advanced Model in disguise costs a hefty $4299 USD but it will be packed to the brim with a 4K OLED touchscreen, 1 TB PCIe SSD, Core i7-10875H CPU, and a Quadro RTX 5000 Max-Q GPU.

The XPS 15 naming scheme continues to cause confusion among fans of the series. With the XPS 15 9500 replacing the XPS 15 7590, which in turn replaced the XPS 15 9570, where does Dell go from 2021 onwards?

Escobar Inc has announced another scam. Having ditched its attempts to sell skinned foldable smartphones, the company is now claiming to be selling a "24KT Gold Luxury Edition" of the iPhone 11 Pro. Priced at US$499, Escobar Inc claims that it is "the real APPLE KILLER phone."

A new market research report states that the gaming headset sector broke records in terms of US retail sales in April 2020. This study also found that 8 of the 10 best-selling devices in this category were from the brand Turtle Beach. Of these, its Stealth 600 has accrued the most revenue in 2020 so far.

In a move that will almost certainly have an impact on global consumer tech supply chains, US President Donald Trump's administration dramatically escalated simmering tensions with China by revoking Hong Kong's special trade status.

Apple is finally allowing Indian customers to purchase customized, configure-to-build Mac and MacBook variants. This move gives Indian Mac buyers much-needed flexibility in terms of RAM, storage, and CPU/GPU configurations.

HP is offering its EliteBook 800 G6 desktop series in Mini PC, small form factor (SFF), and tower PC variants tailored towards businesses with varying requirements. The new desktops focus on offering Intel Comet Lake CPUs with optional vPro, a slew of GPU options based on the required display I/O, and a multitude of storage expansion options.

The Samsung Galaxy S20 series was launched back in February, and it's now been about three months since the phones hit shelves. Sales numbers are out, and it would seem that the S20 phones have sold considerably less than the S10 series did over the same period last year.

HP has refreshed its Elitebook x360 convertible lineup with 10th gen Intel Comet Lake-U CPUs, 5G networking, and optional OLED panels for the x360 1030 G7 variant. The new Elitebook x360 models also feature a redesigned keyboard, slimmer chassis, and offer both vPro and non-vPro CPU options.

HP's new PC G6 is an all-in-one (AiO) so directed at interprofessional use-cases it even has a relevant term in its official product name. It is also accordingly equipped with Rooms, a feature of the Zoom service intended to remove the need to configure it to the AV system in question prior to starting a first meeting.

HP claims that its Device Provisioning Services can streamline and enhance the process of buying new hardware within a business, while also conserving the costs of doing so. It covers many typical stages of the same, from selection to update regulation. This suite has a range of "modules" aimed at facilitating hardware and software management for target clients.

The refreshed HP EliteOne 800 G6, available in 23.8-inch and 27-inch models, features an Intel 10th gen i9 processor and Nvidia RTX graphics making it a very capable All-in-One rolled into an attractive package. Although the EliteOne 800 G6 is aimed at business use, it could make a suitable family PC for gaming in the living area.

HP's latest launch includes a range of new enterprise-focused monitors. The traditional wired versions of this E series are the world’s first fully-adjustable displays TUV-certified for blue light reduction. There is also the E14 G4, a high-brightnes portable device with a high-end chassis and USB type C passthrough power.

HP has announced its 2020 commercial desktop lines. It consists of 400- and 600 G6-series mini-PCs, small form-factors, microtowers and all-in-ones (AiO). They boast advantages such as military-grade durability, up to 10th generation Intel Core i7 processors and user-upgradable memory.

As the last of the "big three", HP has announced its new 2020 business laptop lineup. The new Elitebook 800 G7 series brings a fresh design as well as new Intel Comet Lake processors - and AMD Ryzen 4000.

Microsoft has confirmed that Minecraft has been sold over 200 million times, almost six years after purchasing the rights to the game. The studio behind the game, Mojang AB, has been given a rebrand too and has announced work on new projects.

The International Chamber of Commerce recently presented its AOKpass declaration to safeguard health data in the context of privacy and data security issues with the current crop of COVID-19 tracking apps.

The LG Velvet is coming to North America, according to South Korean media. Possibly costing upwards of US$735, the device features a 6.8-inch OLED display, a Sony IMX586 primary camera and a Snapdragon 765G processor. The newly announced LG Q61 appears to be getting an international release, too.

HP has released a new affordable office laptop, the ProBook 430 G7. However, there is not a whole lot new in this device. One new feature is the processor, but it disappoints in our review.

After months of rumors, the Sony Xperia 1 II has now gotten an official release date. The phone will go on sale in the US on July 24, five whole months after it was announced. It will carry an MSRP of US$1200, although early takers also get a free pair of Sony's WF-1000XM3 earbuds worth US$200.

The Galaxy Note 20 phones are just a couple months away from launch at this point, and a new leak has now revealed even more information on the phone. It's hardly good news either, although there may be good reason for the choice.

Intel has announced that it has acquired Rivet Networks, a company best known for its Killer brand of connectivity modules. The silicon giant asserts that this move will enhance its standing as a proponent of Wi-Fi standardization. It may also simply help the company stay ahead of the competition in terms of this area of specs.

Dell recently updated the 15-inch XPS variant with the 9500 for 2020. It incorporates some changes that may be welcome, although its battery capacity is reduced compared to its predecessors. A consumer has noticed that it is also rated for 300 charging cycles, whereas Apple, for one, provide more in its competitors.

The Honor Play offered some much-needed competition to the Poco F1 back in 2018, and Huawei is set to debut a spiritual successor to the phone—an Honor Play 4 Pro featuring the flagship Kirin 990 5G. That's all fine and dandy but the original Honor Play remains stuck on EMUI 9.1 without any prospects for an EMUI 10 update.

Lenovo's mainstream 2020 ThinkPads are available for purchase in the US now. This includes the T, X and L series with models like the ThinkPad T14, ThinkPad X13 and ThinkPad L14. However, only the Intel models are available as of now. The ThinkPads with AMD Ryzen 4000 will follow in June.