Notebook, Smartphone, and Tablet News

A couple of more Google Pixel 4-related leaks have surfaced, one concerning the apparently official names for the colors the smartphones will come in and another about the not inconsiderable price tags. According to one specific retailer, potential Pixel 4 buyers in Ireland will have to cough up just under €820 (~US$903/£723) for the 64 GB variant of the regular-sized model.

The Redmi K20 Pro is going to gain new variants powered by the Snapdragon 855 Plus processor soon. These refreshed units will also have up to 12GB of RAM, 512GB of internal storage and a new rear panel. They will be released in China on September 23, 2019.

The online device valuer Flipsy.com has released the results of a new study on the best way to sell a phone in 2019. Marketplaces - both in a user's vicinity and online - emerged as those associated with the greatest payouts, albeit with some caveats. However, other "buyback" options such as online stores were found to be the most convenient, although the seller might sacrifice the best deal this way.

Apple's iPhones have consistently been some of the best camera phones on the market. There seems to be a recurring issue over the past few generations, though: messy portraits. The new iPhones still manage to have that niggling fault, with portrait shots taken by the phones showing poor edge detection.

Dark times ahead. We have been using the latest OxygenOS release based on Android 10 ever since OnePlus dropped the first open beta earlier this month. In this article, we will take a look at some of the new features coming to OxygenOS including system-wide dark mode, new privacy features, notification updates, and more including some not-so-pleasant surprises as well.

LG launched the V40 about a year ago as a Galaxy Note 9 competitor. That sounds good on paper and the hardware does compete, but all of that falls apart when one realizes that a host of V40 users are still on Android Oreo, the same version of Android the device was released with.

Google has the best software update policy of all the Android OEMs right now, as it provides three major OS updates to its devices. OnePlus is catching up, however. The Chinese company is promising to deliver Android Q to the OnePlus 5 and 5T, the third major update the devices will receive.

An XDA contributor has observed that it is now possible to control media on their Chrome OS device even though the screen is locked. The feature has not been part of this system by default in the past, but is reportedly there in its 79 Canary (or 'advance') version. It has been shown working for YouTube content.

A new phone has been certified by TENAA with much the same specs as the OPPO Reno2 - except that it clearly has a more powerful processor. This new device, known only as the PCLM10 for now, also has 12GB in RAM terms. It retains the same rear camera counts as the rest of its probable series.

The Japanese lens-maker Tamron already makes 17-28mm and 8-75mm f/2.8 products for Sony full-frame cameras. Now, it has released a video teaser hinting at 4 more of the same to be launched soon. Their specs are left to the imagination, but a photography blog claims to have worked them out.

The Wi-Fi Alliance has certified a device called the Samsung SM-W2020. As the SM-W2019 is a high-end flip phone released last year, it appears that this new model number will conforn to the same form-factor. If so, it may have a new product name on its release as well .

Google only just released Android Q eighteen days ago and OnePlus is already sending out the update to its current devices, the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro. The update introduces OxygenOS 10 and will be a staged rollout over the next couple of days.

AMD has officially stated that the Ryzen 9 3950X desktop processor and the next generation of Ryzen Threadripper chips will be launched in November. Although some will be disappointed about the delay of the 16-core Matisse CPU, others will be excited about the confirmation of the HEDT chips, which start with 24-core SKUs.

An interesting tip from a well-known leaker has seemingly revealed which AMD processors could find their way into Microsoft Surface devices in the not too distant future. It’s expected the new Surface Laptop 3 will be configured with an AMD-based option, and it appears buyers will be able to choose between the mysterious Ryzen 5 3550U and Ryzen 7 3750U.

The Black Shark is the OEM's first attempt at a gaming smartphone. It was released with Android 8.0 (Oreo) out of the box, and had not had a major update since. However, it now has access to an OTA upgrade to Pie (9.0).

Pete Lau, OnePlus' CEO, teased a new feature of the upcoming 7T series in a new interview. It will be called Warp Charge 30T, as opposed to the Warp Charge 30 found in the existing 7 Pro device. Lau claimed that the new standard will power a compatible phone 23% faster compared to its predecessor.

We have already seen the 10 core Core i9-10900X achieving a Geekbench multi-core score close to 40,000 points, and now the Core i9-10980XE is flexing its muscles. The 18 core Cascade Lake-X processor breezes past all before it, except for upcoming Zen 2 Ryzen Threadripper 3000 chips and? Well, its predecessor too.

Puro Sound Labs describes itself as "the world's leading manufacturer of premium, safe-listening headphones". It has developed the PuroGamer, a "studio-grade" headset with 50-millimeter (mm) graphene drivers for better audio at lower volumes. This product also has a noise-canceling, detachable boom mic.

Most feature phones (simple phones with physical buttons) typically run on alternative software such as KaiOS. However, a blogger has posted a video of what appears to be one of these devices running Android. This phone, linked to the brand Nokia, may be released with a ROM based on an older version of this OS: Oreo (8.1).

Smart materials may prove to be the basis of the electronic components of the future. Their market's value was estimated at US$36 billion in 2017. That figure is now thought to grow until it hits $127 billion in 7 years from now.

Curve Digital & Kuju have announced that they are bringing a title based on the Netflix show Narcos to PCs and consoles. It will allow a user to play either for the Cartel in question or against it a DEA agent. This original content will be set in the 1980s El Patron era, and is available as a digital download from now.

Chinese retailer JD.com has jumped the gun and listed the Ryzen 5 3500X on its website before AMD has even formally announced it. The listing confirms the tip that prolific leaker @TUM_APISAK posted last month, with AMD marketing material pitting its upcoming Zen 2 processor against the Intel Core i5-9400F. The listing reports that the Ryzen 5 3500X will clock between 3.6 and 4.1 GHz, but that its 6 cores will not support Simultaneous multithreading (SMT).

The non-5G Kirin 990 SoC powering the Mate 30 Pro holds its own against all Snapdragon-855-powered handhelds and is almost on par with Apple's iPhone 11 models, but it is slightly slower than the Snapdragon 855+ flagships. With higher clocks and a more powerful NPU, the 5G variant of the Kirin 990 is expected to match the Snapdragon 855+ SoC.

The motorized pop-up module integrates a 32 MP main sensor with a 105-degree FOV 8 MP ultra-wide angle shooter, plus an additional earpiece and a flash unit. The V17 Pro comes with a Snapdragon 675 SoC coupled with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB storage and it also features a rear quad-cam setup with 48 / 13 / 8 / 2 MP sensors.

On the bottom end of the spectrum is the Gigabyte Aero 15-Y9 which offers approximately 20 to 30 percent slower performance than the Razer despite carrying the same GPU by name. Power consumption, however, is also highest on the Razer system.

Facebook is still persisting with its Portal hardware-based communications platform. The social media company has unveiled three new models including an 8-inch Portal Mini, a 10-inch Portal and a new Xbox Kinect-like Portal TV device designed to turn your living room TV into an AV communications tool.

The Huawei Watch GT 2 is this OEM's latest smartwatch. It has a 1.39-inch HD OLED display encased in "3D Glass". It comes in 42 and 46 millimeter (mm) variants, and is rated for 2 weeks of battery life.

The Huawei Mate 30 series has been launched in the absence of Google Play Services. In lieu of this, Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) are slated to take over on these phablets. The OEM claims that the OS in which they will operate will keep user data to itself.

Huawei also unveiled a new smart TV at its Mate 30 launch. It is called the Huawei Vision, and will come in 55- to 85-inch variants. The OEM asserts that it can also act as a full smart home control, and has AI-powered user interaction.

Huawei released its new Mate 30-line flagships at a Munich event today (September 19, 2019). A new special edition of the same developed in collaboration with Porsche was also introduced. It was unveiled on stage by the OEM's Richard Yu and Jan Becker from the car-maker's design team.

The first reviews of the new iPhone 11 series have gone live, so before we have finished with ours, we thought it would be apt to summarise the prevailing views of Apple's new babies. Camera innovations like the new ultra-wide sensor and night mode feature heavily, as do Apple's new comically named "Slofies".

The Huawei Mate 30 Pro has a new quadruple rear camera set-up that incorporates dual 40MP shooters. One of these is a "dedicated cine-camera" for 4K HDR recording at 60fps. This device also offers 10x zoom with an ultra-low ISO of 51200 and up to 7680fps slow-motion. These specs beat those of competitors such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 series by a good margin.

Vivaldi 2.8.1664.35 arrives less than three weeks since the release of the 2.7 update, but it only features various tweaks and fixes that aim to provide "a smoother browsing experience" alongside images toggle via keyboard and a few new bookmark customization options. Those who missed the news should know that a beta for Android handsets is also available.

Huawei has unveiled its latest line of flagship phablets on stage today in Germany as scheduled. It is powered by the new Kirin 990 processor, and also has variants based on the 5G version of the same. However, the complete lack of Google apps and services during the EMUI 10 parts of the show was inescapable.

This is not the fastest quantum computer to date, as Google already has a 72-qubit computer and is working on even better ones, but IBM intends to make the new 53-qubit model the fastest commercially available prototype this October. This way, more clients can access the quantum processing power and provide solutions to problems that cannot be solved via traditional computing methods.

The upcoming GTX 1650 Ti is supposed to give AMD's Radeon RX 5600 a run for the money, replacing the older GTX 1050 Ti. Chinese insiders claim that the GTX 1650 Ti is scheduled for a late-October release, with an MSRP close to US$155, which would most likely translate to a US$185 pricing in the West.

Intel is lining up its next-generation High-End Desktop (HEDT) processors, which it will still base on its 14 nm FinFET process. A new Threadripper 3000 Geekbench listing demonstrates how far Intel is behind AMD in the HEDT space though, with a 32 core SKU exceeding 65,000 points again in multicore work. The Zen 2-based series looks set to be compatible with Socket TR4 and the X570 chipset too.

Business Insider has published a new report that claims to offer an insight into the development of Google-brand smartwatches. It also outlines the nature of the "secret" technology purchased by this company from Fossil, which allegedly results in hybrid devices that are removed from the pure Wear OS device that may be expected of a first-gen Pixel Watch.

An image of an apparent final design mockup of the next-generation Apple iPad Pro has found its way online, and if you are not a fan of Apple’s choice for the main camera design on the iPhone 11 series then there’s a good chance you’re not going to be keen on the decision made for the high-end tablet, either.

Google's I/O 2019 event saw announcements for plans to bring Chrome's Incognito Mode to mobile services such as Search. This is now reportedly in testing for Maps. It is accessed by tapping the avatar associated with a Google account within this app.

New findings in Apple's Xcode confirm earlier AnTuTu posts showing that the new iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max have 4 GB of RAM. While the iPhone XR from last year had only 3 GB of RAM, both the iPhone XS and XS Max had 4 GB, making the iPhone 11 family less tantalizing to potential upgraders.

A OnePlus 7T sporting an octa-core processor has apparently been spotted on the Geekbench 5 benchmark. The device in question amassed very respectable scores in both the single-core and multi-core tests, generally outperforming the OnePlus 7 Pro by a small margin. The OnePlus 7T is expected to come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ SoC.

It seems that the US ban on Huawei may have landed its biggest scalp yet. According to multiple industry insiders, Huawei will not be launching the Mate 30, Mate 30 Lite, Mate 30 RS Porsche Design or Mate 30 Pro in Central Europe, despite unveiling the series in Munich tomorrow. Read on to find out everything we know so far about the matter.

Realme has announced that it will launch a new 64MP camera phone for the Chinese market on September 24, 2019. The brand has also released some details of this device - the X2 - which make it sound suspiciously like the XT that is now official in India. However, it has some crucial differences, such as its 32MP selfie camera.

The rumours were true, Apple has finally equipped an iPhone with a large battery. Early teardowns show that the company's latest flagship of flagships includes a sizable upgrade over the iPhone XS Max, which should help give it stellar battery life.

The Nokia 7.2 is HMD Global's first phone with a triple rear camera. Now, the brand has revealed its inaugural release date in the US: September 30, 2019. The 7.2 will be an Android One device in this country, and will be sold in a single 4GB RAM SKU.

Another 10 core Cascade Lake-X processor has appeared on Geekbench, with the numbering scheme of Intel's next High-End Desktop (HEDT) series now seemingly having been confirmed. The upcoming processor even gets within 10% of the AMD Ryzen 9 3900X in multicore workloads and scores 10% more than the Threadripper 2950X too. However, Cascade Lake-X does not seem to offer much competition with the Zen 2-based Threadripper CPUs that are on the horizon too.

OnePlus has a launch event scheduled for September 26 in the US, and it's looking more and more like the company will only release the OnePlus 7T for the region. The OnePlus 7T Pro will be sold in Europe, however.

The Asus ROG Phone has one of the most impressive specification sheets we've ever seen on a smartphone, and it looks like the device could be making its way to the US soon, as it's now been listed on the Asus US website. Even better is the fact that it comes with adequate LTE band support.

Good news V30 owners, LG has not forgotten about following through on its promise to bring Android 9.0 Pie to its former flagship. The South Korean company nixed a recent build last month, forcing people to remain on Android 8.0 Oreo. Now, the Android 9.0 Pie rollout has been restarted, with builds hitting several countries. Only over a quarter late, right LG?