Notebook, Smartphone, and Tablet News

Standford’s [email protected] project has been running for a number of years using the donated idle hours of computers to help undertake complex calculations for researchers. With the advent of the novel coronavirus, researchers are now putting out a call to help develop potential treatments for COVID-19, the infectious disease it causes in humans.

OnePlus will reportedly launch the OnePlus 8 series of smartphones in April, according to a source familiar with the matter. The company is expected to release three devices this year; the OnePlus 8 Lite, OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro. OnePlus 8 Lite will be the world's first phone to run MediaTek's Dimensity 1000 SoC.

AIB variants of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER and GeForce RTX 2070 top the GPU sales list for Mindfactory this week, with the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti not too far behind. There are several instances of AMD’s Radeon RX 5700 and RX 5700 XT cards making reasonable sales, but the newer RX 5600 XT has not prevented AMD’s overall market share decreasing for this particular retailer.

AMD’s Ryzen 7 4800HS mobile SoC has been spotted on another benchmark, in this case 3DMark’s Fire Strike Extreme. The Renoir APU’s results were compared with those of the high-end Comet Lake Intel Core i7-10750H and the Ryzen 5 4600H. Although the Intel part offered the highest 3DMark score and graphics score, the Ryzen 7 4800HS’s physics score was way beyond the chosen rivals.

Once again AMD has enjoyed healthy sales in regard to information taken from sales data from Mindfactory. Leading the charge for Team Red is the Ryzen 5 3600 and Ryzen 7 3700X, followed by seven more processors from AMD. However, overall share of CPU sales shifted slightly in Intel’s favor, although AMD still commands 84.36%.

Update: Despite an announcement only days prior, GTC is now being moved to an online only format, due to coronavirus concerns.
Original story: NVIDIA has confirmed its annual GPU Technology Conference is on schedule, despite the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus. It has been rumored that this could be the launch place for Ampere. In regard to the virus outbreak, the company says it is taking "precautions" and will monitor the situation closely.

A vetted industry insider has been dishing up some interesting information about the upcoming next-gen consoles. It appears there will be Pro versions of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X after all. Apparently, the base PS5 can boast of 9 teraflops of GPU power, while the Pro model will be closer to the 12 TFLOPS of the Pro variant of the XSX.

Xiaomi's current highest rate of commercial-grade wireless charging is found in the Mi 10 series. It can power a phone at 30 watts (W). However, the OEM has also just demonstrated its next generation, a 40W system, that can charge a phone in as little as 40 minutes.

Two possible NVIDA Ampere GPUs with high CUDA Cores and memory capacities were spotted on the Geekbench 5 OpenCL benchmarking site. One of the GPUs with 7,552 CUDA Cores and 24 GB RAM scored 184,096 points in OpenCL beating the Titan RTX by nearly 39%. These GPUs are likely to be datacenter parts and are specced lower than the full GA100 Ampere chip.

The Black Shark 3 series is thought to be the next upcoming generation of Xiaomi's gaming phones. New tips spilled onto Weibo indicate how the rumored Pro variant may differ from the base model. Apparently, these variations will mainly concern screen size and resolution.

The Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro have proven immensely popular for Xiaomi, but so has the Redmi K30 series. The Redmi K30 4G and Redmi K30 5G have only been available for a month and two months respectively, but the series has already exceeded 1 million sales. With the Redmi K30 starting at CNY 1,599, that equates to at least US$230 million in sales. These figures do not include the POCO X2, either.

The Android 10 rollout for the Mi A3 has been catastrophic, with Xiaomi pulling the initial build just a few days after unexpectedly releasing it over the weekend. If you are one of the unlucky few to have upgraded your Mi A3 to Android 10, then you are probably encountering plenty of bugs. There is a workaround for getting a functional fingerprint scanner back though, if that is any help.

The Pimoroni Picade Console turns the Raspberry Pi into a particularly convincing retro console. The assembly should be particularly easy and is pretty inexpensive, too.

While the Redmi Note 7 is yet to receive Android 10 builds of MIUI 11, someone may have been trying out MIUI 12 on one unit. Spotted on Geekbench, the rogue Redmi Note 7 claims to be running Android 11, currently known as Android R. While it is not unheard of for devices running pre-release software to appear on popular benchmarking tools, we have our doubts about this.

Base stations are crucial pieces of hardware for mobile networks, particularly 5G ones. Huawei is now reportedly in a position to sell versions of these devices based on their own proprietary chipsets, rather than those made by US companies as before. Therefore, this country's administration's efforts to lock this OEM out of the 5G market appear to have been thwarted, at least in part.

The Redmi K30 has already proven hugely successful, but Xiaomi is not done with the series yet. While the Redmi K30 Pro may be one of the worst kept secrets in smartphone tech at the moment, XDA Developers has uncovered that a third model is on its way, too. While both are expected to be 5G handsets, only one is likely to feature a dedicated telephoto camera.

Google has released a blog post explaining why nearly 600 apps have just been removed from Android's Play Store. These apps were deemed guilty of "mobile ad fraud", which contravenes the Mountain View giant's policies. The apps in question include all those associated with the company Cheetah Mobile.

The Redmi Note 8 Pro may have only just received Android 10, but Xiaomi is already teasing its successor. Set to launch on March 12, the Redmi Note 9 Pro will be joined by the Redmi Note 9. Seemingly paired with four rear-facing cameras, the Redmi Note 9 series is being teased as offering "Pro Cameras" and "Max Performance".

The TV and mobile-device OEM OnePlus has hinted at a "special project" with an intriguing trailer via its UK division's Twitter account. However, like the Concept One, it is not a product that will go on sale soon, although the company still wants public feedback for it. It is to be revealed on March 3, 2020 (or tomorrow, in other words).

Xiaomi released Android 10 for the Mi A3 yesterday. As is becoming a theme with Xiaomi's Android One OS updates, however, the build was extremely buggy, and the company has now chosen to pull the update entirely.

The new software for the Galaxy S10 Lite has just reached Samsung's handsets in India. Labeled G770FXXU2ATB2 and with a size of around 416 MB, the firmware update includes the security patch dated February 1, a new video recording mode (16:9 UHD 60 fps), improved picture quality and a more stable camera app.

There will be many console fans excited about the various features that the PS5 will offer: Backwards compatibility is already being feted as particularly enticing. However, there seems to be a growing movement of potential future PS5 owners who want Sony to implement a better web browser on the next-gen device, with the enhanced enjoyment of adult entertainment sites being a motivating factor.

IDC India has released its report on the wearables market in this country for the last quarter of 2019 (4Q2019). It reveals that the 'audio' category of these electronics had the highest share for that period, overtaking band-type devices compared to 4Q2018. Xiaomi had the greatest share in the latter sector, whereas Apple's AirPods clearly dominated their own sub-segment.

Carbon Mobiles makes what it might sound like on the tin: a phone made of carbon fiber rather than a typical metal frame and glass rear panel. This build makes this device (the 1 Mark II) exceptionally light and thin. It has a MediaTek Helio P90 SoC, but not the price you might expect for that spec.

Cars that are capable of autonomous driving are often touted as the future. However, their actual ability to do so through perceiving the real world in 3D with sufficient accuracy is still in development. A new research paper published by a group from a South Korean university purports to detail the most sophisticated method to deliver these camera functions yet.

The Realme 6 and 6 Pro are upcoming phones with the potential to bring new quad cameras and 30W charging to the cost-effective end of the Indian market. They are currently rumored to be powered by the MediaTek Helio G90 and Snapdragon 720G processors respectively. New Geekbench listings appear to bear these specs out.

The Z6 is the OEM Vivo's new Snapdragon 765G-powered phone. As such, it comes with dual-mode 5G in addition to 6-8GB of RAM, 44W charging and a headphone jack. It has been released onto the Chinese market via its maker's own website.

The Nokia 9.2 is expected to be the next Nokia-branded flagship smartphone, and a new image has surfaced online, giving a creative, conceptual look at the phone. The phone is shown sporting a quad-rear camera setup, with a completely bezel-less display housing the selfie camera underneath.

After months of promises and rumors, the Mi A3 is finally receiving the much-awaited Android 10 update. The OTA weighs in as a 1.3 GB download and brings all the typical Android 10 features. The update, however, appears to be a rather buggy one, as has become typical of Xiaomi's Android One OS updates.

Ming-Chi Kuo got tongues wagging this week with an investor note tipping the first ARM-based Mac will arrive in early 2021. While most people expect Apple to dip their toes in the water with a MacBook Air-like model, a wholesale transition from Intel x86 to to ARM in quick time is feasible.

AMD’s Ryzen 7 4800H has been spotted being tested on Geekbench again, with some new scores being recorded on version 5 of the well-known benchmark. The Ryzen 4000 series APU scored surprisingly well in the single-core test but really excelled in the multi-core test, where it managed to outmuscle Intel rivals such as the Comet Lake i7-10750H and the Coffee Lake i9-9980HK.

Size matters when it comes to processor performance. The thicker, heavier, and louder Alienware chassis doesn't go to waste as it is able to squeeze out more from the Core i9-9980HK than the smaller and lighter XPS 15 or MacBook Pro 15.
Intel Core i9-9980HK | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q | 17.3" | 2.6 kg

A Verizon press release about their 5G network achieving 4.2 Gbps using carrier agregation contains information and specs confirming the existance of an upcomming Motorola flagship. We expect this to be the previously leaked Motorola Edge Plus (Edge+) with a stylus, a competitor to the Samsung Galaxy Note10.

A popular leaker has divulged what he asserts are the specs for the Samsung Galaxy A11 in full. They include the previously-revealed detail of a 4000mAh battery. Otherwise, the upcoming device may be headed for a 6.4-inch LCD display. Another leak claims that the same screen will have an in-display selfie camera.

Had the CoViD-19 outbreak not occurred, OPPO would have revealed its 2020 flagship X2 series already. However, it was obliged to reschedule this event, as did many smartphone OEMs planning shows for MWC 2020. However, the company has now decided to go for an online-only event, which will take place soon.

Casio has announced the release of titanium-cased versions of its PRO TREK outdoor watch line-up. They are also Bluetooth devices that feature Smartphone Link, which allows them to connect to the wearer's mobile device. This allows the user to view information such as steps taken, route logs or altitude.

Realme has been connected with an inaugural wearable for a while. This product is, as it turns out, of the fitness-tracker variety. It is set to launch on March 5, 2020 in the Indian market. Accordingly, this smart device has 9 "sports modes", one of which is for cricket.

OnLeaks has just released a new set of renders for the (probably) upcoming Samsung Galaxy A41. They suggest that it may have a front panel much like that of its predecessor. However, with its triple cameras in a rectangular module, its other side is more up to date. This leak also hints at the retention of a 3.5mm jack in the A40's successor.

While Xiaomi is still yet to announce when the Mi A3 will receive Android 10, a build containing the OS upgrade has gone live. The update, which can be downloaded now, brings other optimisations besides Android 10 to the Mi A3 too.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has decided to permanently drop the price of the 2 GB RAM version of the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B single-board computer to US$35. This means the board is now the same price as the 1 GB RAM variant, while the Raspberry Pi with 4 GB RAM costs US$55. The permanent price cut is apparently part of a birthday celebration.

Rejoice, Redmi Note 8 Pro owners around the world; Android 10 is here for you! The global Android 10-based MIUI 11 update is now rolling out to the Redmi Note 8 Pro. It doubles up as the February security patch and introduces Widevine DRM L1 certification for HD streaming.

Whether you like it or not, think it’s necessary or not, the Samsung Galaxy Fold is a revolutionary device. Similarly, the Samsung Galaxy Book S also heralds a revolution as well in offering up to 25 hours of battery life in a thin and light ultrabook. Read on to find out why they have become my indispensable mobile companions.

If you are looking for a highly customizable 17-inch high-end laptop, the Schenker XMG Pro 17 is a good choice. However, be prepared for noise during 3D usage.
Intel Core i7-9750H | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile | 17.3" | 2.8 kg

Wireless charging is mainly relevant to smartphones and other similar portable electronics at present. However, a new analysis indicates that its market will benefit more and more from its application to electric vehicles. This may drive its value up to as much as US$71.21 billion by 2025.

The Mi 10 was released last week and fans may have been put off by its nigh-US$600 starting price tag. Here, we have a closer look at how much it may have cost Xiaomi to build the Mi 10, with the goal of ascertaining just how fair the phone's price tag actually is.

Slowly but surely, Huawei is now rolling out the Android 10-based EMUI 10 update to Honor 8X owners around the globe, with users of the phone across Europe and Asia confirming receipt of the update. This will also be the last OS update the phone gets, making for a total of two.

While it has been almost two months since Xiaomi brought Android 10 to the Redmi Note 8 Pro, most handsets remain on Android 9.0 Pie. Now, the device that DxOMark described as having a limited dynamic range, has received another Android 10 update. The latest update is only available for select handsets again, though.

When the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 was announced this week, people were astounded that the Intel version of this ThinkPad laptop was said to feature RJ45 Ethernet and upgradable RAM, while the datasheet of the AMD version featured neither. We asked Lenovo if this was true - and it turns out that the spec-sheet released by Lenovo was wrong.

Originally sold by Google as providing "faster access to the latest Android OS updates", the Android One program is proving just as fragmented as the rest of the Android ecosystem. With multiple eligible devices still waiting for Android 10 and others having received Google's latest OS later than their custom-Android siblings, has the Android One program failed to live up to Google's ambitions?

Samsung has launched its latest high-end smartphone display panel. So far, it has been tested by the eye-safety authority SGS and validation specialists UL, and found to have reduced blue-light emissions and energy-consumption values respectively compared to its predecessor. Therefore, the OEM asserts that this new product is ready to take the 5G era on.