Laptop, Smartphone, and Tablet News

The Razer Kishi is a recently-launched smartphone accessory that snaps around a phone to give it physical in-game controls. Its controls include analog mechanical thumbsticks, which might be handy in the course, of, say, using Xbox Game Pass. Conveniently, the Kishi now works with this new cloud-gaming solution for Android.

There is a rumor that Redmi is developing a new laptop that could be offered as a RedmiBook gaming laptop due to the standard of the Comet Lake processor apparently chosen for it. It has been stated that an as-of-yet unreleased Intel Core i5-10200H mobile chip would be used for the gaming-centric RedmiBook.

New case leaks may reveal how a pair of Huawei phones called the Enjoy 20 and 20 Plus may look ahead of their launch. They may both have triple rear cameras, housed in a square module for the former and a round one for the latter. The Plus variant also has a feature that is getting rare in 2020: a motorized front-facing camera.

Realme has updated some of its phones' sales listings in India with new color options. The devices in question are far from the OEM's newest offerings: therefore, this change may reflect how well they are selling, or need to sell in the immediate future, perhaps. The C3 is an example of these chosen few.

The Sony Xperia 1 II recently made the trip over to DxOMark for an evaluation of its audio performance. The results turned out to be rather unimpressive, but some nuance is required for proper judgment.

A US patent uncovered by tipster @Underfox3 indicates that AMD is working on a hybrid computing design that appears similar to ARM’s big.LITTLE architecture, with high performance cores paired to power efficient, low-power cores.

Xiaomi released the 65-inch Mi TV Master Series last month and is set to follow it with yet another premium OLED TV. Not much has been revealed so far but word on the grapevine implies a much larger TV, with an accompanying premium in pricing.

Tipster @KOMACHI_ENSAKA claimed that internal AMD references to GCD and MCD likely refer to the “Graphics Complex Die” and “Memory Complex Die” of the purported Navi 31. These terms strongly indicate that Navi 31 (an upcoming RDNA 3 part) will likely be chiplet-based like Zen CPUs.

The first impression is not very positive: The combination of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ and 12 GB of RAM is powerful. However, it is unable to beat the competition. At a second glance, the flagship from Realme looks much better, thanks to fast internal storage, fast Wi-Fi and support for many satellite navigation systems.

Samsung's latest smartwatch reportedly already has a firmware update. The new download confers blood-oxygen measurements as well as the ability to track maximal oxygen uptake (or VO2Max). Therefore, the wearable may be better equipped to help the user get an idea of important aspects of their health and fitness.

Many Samsung fans may have been disappointed to learn that the latest in the Galaxy Note lines were getting Exynos-powered SKUs in some markets via pre-launch leaks. However, other reports claimed that this processor – the 990 – had been updated so as to improve performance in these newer devices compared to the Galaxy S20 series with which they share the chipset. Preliminary customer feedback hints this is indeed the case.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S and Mi Mix 3 users in China have been reporting receiving a stable update for MIUI 12 on their smartphones. This indicates that the global, European, and Indian releases of the MIUI 12 stable update ROM for these two Mi Mix smartphones should take place over the coming weeks.

After weeks of waiting, the stable MIUI 12 update is finally seeding to the Poco X2 in India. The Redmi K30-based phone is getting the OTA with build number "MIUI 12.0.1.0 QGHINXM" and an 813 MB file size.

Our test of the Mi 10 Lite reveals a good trend in the smartphone mid-range: The OLED displays used in the mid-range price segment are at a very good level at this point. A while ago (in the 60-Hz era), the AMOLED panel of the Mi 10 Lite could have passed also as a flagship panel.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G | Qualcomm Adreno 620 | 6.57" | 192 g

The Mi 10 Ultra is shaping up to be quite the flagship smartphone. According to leaked specifications, Xiaomi will equip the device with a Snapdragon 865+ chipset, along with up to 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. The Mi 10 Ultra also appears to have four rear-facing cameras, 120x zoom capabilities and could be the first device with a selfie camera underneath its display. Xiaomi is thought to be launching the Mi 10 Ultra in two colours. Prices for it and the Redmi K30 Ultra have been offered too, but these seem unlikely.

The Pixel 4a may have unsurprising specifications, but it is proving popular on websites like Amazon and Best Buy. The device is so popular, in fact, that is currently one of the best-selling smartphones on the two eCommerce platforms in the US. The Pixel 4a retails for US$349.

An apparent image of the upcoming Huami Amazfit Neo smartwatch has been leaked, revealing a design language that is not entirely dissimilar to that of the rugged Amazfit Ares smartwatch. No specifications for the Amazfit Neo have been unearthed yet, but it should appeal to those after a sportier-looking smart wearable.

Of all the computer manufacturers, Apple is probably the most restrictive when it comes to user upgradability. MacBooks lost their upgradable storage years ago. Now, even the all-in-one desktop Apple iMac will be no longer upgradable.

Sources close to WCCFTech confirmed the product positioning of the whole stack of upcoming NVIDIA GeForce Ampere 3000 series cards, alongside their board numbers and tentative launch timeframes. The report adds further credence to claims that Ampere cards will arrive in September.

Reddit, one of the most popular social media sites on the Internet, suffered a major breach. The hackers, whose identities and affiliations are currently unknown, used hacked moderator accounts to post strangely worded pro-Trump messages. Many of the compromised subreddits boast over one million members.

QNAP has announced that it will no longer officially support vQTS-built virtual machines (VMs) on its servers. This means that, while users can still operate the VMs they have previously constructed on this platform, they will no longer be supported or updated by the company. Machines set up using the newer QuTSCloud will, however.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 has secured the top place in AnTuTu’s Android smartphone SoC chart for the first half of 2020; however, MediaTek has made a strong showing with three entrants, including the Dimensity 1000+ in second. The Taiwanese company has also pipped its American rival in mobile chip shipment market share in China for Q2 2020.

Code relating to second-generation Amazfit smartwatches from Huami has been discovered along with a small detail about a potentially new product. Codenames for the devices were found in code for the Zepp 4.8.9 app and appear to relate to successors of the well-received Huami Amazfit GTS and Huami Amazfit GTR.

The number of devices that have started receiving MIUI 12 has grown to 48. A detailed list outlines which devices have been upgraded to Xiaomi's latest OS, and on which branches of MIUI too.

The Creative SXFI AIR is a US$140 pair of over-ear headphones that packs plenty of features. With a Super X-Fi DSP, Bluetooth, line-in, USB Type-C and a microSD card reader, you are spoilt for choice with the SXFI AIR. Average battery life and underwhelming drivers hold the SXFI AIR back, though.

The stable MIUI 12 update has started being issued to the Redmi Note 7 Pro outside of India. It is bad news for the Pocophone F1 though, as Xiaomi has delayed its planned OS upgrade once again.

Samsung has reportedly applied for a European trademark for a "Book Flex" with an unusual new addition: 5G. Therefore, it may have a convertible PC with this connectivity in the works. This leak offers no hints as to the putative next-gen device's further specs, OS and chipset included, however.

The well-regarded analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has reportedly issued a new research note that may help explain why Apple may have to put off launching its iPhone 12 line until later in the year than usual. It seems the OEM is having trouble sourcing good-quality wide-angle lenses for the cheaper variants of this series.

Igor's Lab has revealed a new OPN ID indicating a 3.5 GHz base clock and 4.8 GHz boost clock for a 16-core 32-thread Zen 3 Vermeer engineering sample. This is a 100 MHz higher boost than the current Ryzen 9 3950X, and AMD may be able to manage speeds closer to the 5 GHz mark in the retail units. It is also being rumored that AMD may change the branding to Ryzen 5000 to avoid confusion with existing Ryzen 4000 Renoir APUs for mobile and desktop. Update: Two more OPNs discovered

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 was marketed as a device that would be capable of generating electrocardiograms (ECGs) for advanced health-tracking purposes. Now - almost exactly one year after its launch - the OEM has activated this function. However, it still only works for units sold in their own home market.

The Redmi K30 Ultra will be arriving a few days earlier than expected. Instead of its rumoured August 14 launch date, the Redmi K30 Ultra will be unveiled alongside the Mi 10 Ultra on August 11. The device, also called the Redmi K30 Extreme Commemorative Edition, will feature the MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ SoC and up to 12 GB of RAM.

Days after Canon, Intel is the next major company to face a massive data breach. Over 20GB of confidential design data including SDKs, flash tools, marketing templates, debug tools, and more were stolen and subsequently leaked online.

NVIDIA is reportedly in advanced talks with SoftBank to buy ARM for about US$32 billion. However, this is not set in stone, as the seller may have other options. One, according to Nikkei Asian Review, is other firms in this business such as Foxconn and TSMC clubbing together to buy the pivotal architecture IP-holder instead.

Xiaomi is set to launch the Mi 10 Pro+ on August 11. The phone has now also been referred to as the Mi 10 Ultra, and is tipped to "shock the world". As expected, this should see it take on the new Galaxy Note 20 Ultra while being quite a bit cheaper too.

MediaTek and Intel had previously announced a partnership to ultimately result in 5G-capable laptops powered by the latter's CPUs. Now, this collaboration has reached a stage at which the modem necessary has been tested and validated for these purposes. It is thus now rated for standalone- and non-standalone sub-6GHz connectivity.

The Realme X3 Pro is a phone that has been shrouded in mystery, not to mention uncertainty as to whether a device of this name will even see a launch event this year. Some leaks have thrown up more new model numbers associated with this brand with possible specs that may yet fit the bill.

Redmi has shown itself to be the clear champion of AnTuTu’s latest price-performance charts. Not only does the Xiaomi subsidiary top three of the charts, but it also has a total of 11 devices appearing in the five tables. Only the iQOO Z1 manages to disturb Xiaomi and Redmi’s dominance in leading each chart.

The Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro has picked up the MIUI 12 upgrade. The device remains on Android 9.0 Pie for some reason, though. Additionally, Xiaomi has started upgrading the Mi 10 to its latest OS in Russia.

The XCY X51 is a mini-PC and an incredibly small one at that. Based on the Intel Celeron N4100, the X51 features 8 GB of RAM, a 128 GB M.2 2242 SSD and a host of ports. The 62 x 62 x 42 mm device weighs 121 g and can be purchased for US$179.

Barely ten months after the launch of the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL, Google has now discontinued the two phones. Typically, Google's offerings stay on the market for about eighteen months, so this is something of a surprise.

Sony has finally released the WH-1000XM4, almost two years after it released its last edition in the WH-1000XM series. Little has changed from the WH-1000XM3 and WH-1000XM4 save for a few new features. Battery life remains at 30 hours with NC on and the new model has the same 40 mm neodymium drivers. Bluetooth 5.0 is now supported, but aptX and aptX HD have been dropped.

Razer’s workstation features a lot of performance, a 4K OLED touchscreen, a Thunderbolt 3 port, 32 GB of RAM (running in dual-channel mode), 16 of VRAM and a 1 TB NVMe SSD.
Intel Core i7-10875H | NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 Max-Q | 15.6" | 2.2 kg

The Ovisen S201 is reminiscent of many cheap smartwatches, but it has a trick up its sleeve. Unusually, Ovisen has integrated a pair of wireless earbuds that charge from within the body of the smartwatch.

The Rock Pi 4 Model C is available to order from another retailer for the princely sum of US$59.00. Previously, AllNetChina had been the only retailer to offer the single-board computer at that price, but Seeedstudio has now got in on the act.

The Razer Arctech Pro is compatible with the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra. The company claims that the Arctech Pro not only protects the two new flagships against drops, but also that it offers enough passive cooling to improve performance.

The release of the WH-1000XM4 is almost upon us, at least according to the publication of more retailer listings and even a video review. Sony appears to have made some minor changes from the headphones that it released two years ago, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Call quality apparently remains unchanged, though.

OnePlus users have been asking for the always on display feature for quite some time now, and it looks like it could finally arrive with the OxygenOS 11 release later this year. An open beta test is scheduled for September. OnePlus recently teased the look of the interface, which includes a thin gradient line running down the center of the screen.

The release date of the Pixel 4a (5G) and Pixel 5 may have been revealed by Google France. According to an amended blog post, the two 5G smartphones will be available to pre-order from October 8. The Pixel 4a (5G) will start at US$499, but it and the Pixel 5 will only be available to purchase in nine markets.

The CAT S62 Pro is a compact and rugged smartphone with a professional-grade thermal imaging camera. The CAT S62 Pro also has 6 GB of RAM, 128 GB of storage, a 4,000 mAh battery and a Snapdragon 660 SoC. Caterpillar Inc will begin shipping its latest rugged smartphone from August 17.

Hands-on images of the PS5 DualSense controller have been published online, purportedly from the FCC. The images show the DualSense from all angles in its two-tone colour scheme and also offer a look at an unannounced black version. Sony has confirmed that the PS5 DualSense controllers will receive dedicated software updates too, a change from how the company currently delivers updates for the DualShock 4.