Latest Tech News

One of the considered proposals might be a US battery plant ownership where CATL isn't an investor but just managing production and providing the LFP cell technology. The world's largest battery maker may have been exploring a battery plant in Mexico before the subsidy act passed.

Samsung's leader in the modern-day Android clamshell smartphone market, the Galaxy Z Flip4, has a new and compelling rival in the freshly-launched OPPO Find N2 Flip. Now, a third brand Vivo is tipped to use the same product name for an upcoming contender of its own. It is depicted as belonging to the premium X series of mobile devices, with the processing power to match its main competitors.

Valve has confirmed details about its plans to release newer versions of the Steam Deck and the Steam Controller. The company has also disclosed hardware upgrades for the current Steam Deck that would otherwise go unnoticed.

OnePlus has unveiled plans for a move into PC accessories today (December 17, 2022) as part of its ninth anniversary event. The well-known mobile device brand has outlined plans to make its own mechanical keyboard, complete with its own custom switches and gaskets. They are touted to fit into a "meticulously crafted" metallic casing for a unique typing experience.

OnePlus has confirmed that its upcoming flagship Android smartphone is called the 11 today (December 17, 2022). The brand has also dropped an official preview clip that seems to confirm a premium design update in line with the device's leaks to date. Its launch date remains a mystery, however, as OnePlus preferred to devote its birthday speech to its future instead.

Instead of an outright price cut, Tesla keeps piling incentives for American and European customers if they take buy a car for a December delivery from the EV maker. After the generous credit towards the purchase of a car in stock both in the US and Europe, Tesla now adds free Supercharger miles.

Xiaomi has started selling the Watch S2 in China, a smartwatch series that consists of 42 mm and 46 mm sizes. Only available in China for now, the Xiaomi Watch S2 features bright AMOLED displays, advanced health features and long battery life, regardless of the model chosen.

By the time Tesla's Cybertruck launches, it may have a veritable onslaught of competition in the electric pickup category and not only by Ford or Rivian. Toyota just teased its first fully electric pickup truck, too, the Hilux Revo BEV.

The Intel Core i9-13900KS has been benchmarked on Cinebench R23, where it scores 2,366 and 40,998 in the single and multi-threaded tests. It bests both the Intel Core i9-13900K and AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, albeit by a narrow margin.

While the reference design arrived in mid-March 2021 with a US$479 price tag, the Asus Dual AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT OC Edition has an Amazon list price of no less than US$649.99. Fortunately for those interested, the ongoing 40% discount brings the price tag down to a more affordable US$389.99.

The MediaTek Dimensity 9200 sports an Immortalis-G715 as its GPU. Before it debuted last month, reports claimed the flagship SoC could outperform the iPhone 14 Pro's A16 Bionic GPU-wise. Those reports weren't baseless, it now appears.

Intel is reportedly working on an ultra-high-end Raptor Lake processor called the Core i9-13980HX. It will have a base TDP of 55 W, a 5.6 GHz boost clock and 24 cores (8C + 16c).

Although the deal only applies to the Satin Silver finish and only for US-based customers, the 43% discount that pushes the Beats Solo3 wireless on-ear headphones from US$199.95 to US$114.95 should not be overlooked. Compatible with both Apple and Android devices, these wireless headphones provide up to 40 hours of battery life.

The TicWatch GTH 2 is a fitness-tracking smartwatch rated to track the user's skin temperature as well as their heart rate and blood-oxygen levels. It has a display 10% larger than its predecessor, yet is rated for up to 10 days of battery life. The GTH 2 is now available at a price of under US$100.

OPPO has unveiled new foldable Android smartphones as the acme of its market-ready mobile tech. However, it has also indicated that its successors might go beyond that in terms of design. They include a new kind of smartphone made completely of glass, a potential next-gen smartwatch and the OEM's latest edge-to-edge display tech.

Xiaomi sets the right tone with the Mix Fold 2, winning it many fans in the process. Those same fans will be sad at the knowledge that the foldable will most likely not come to Europe. In our opinion, there are several good reasons for this.

The quantum computers offered by SpinQ are indeed remarkably smaller compared to the fastest models produced by IBM, but they are definitely not that easy to carry around, as weights vary between 14 and 44 kg, and pricing is still far away from consumer-level products. With only 2-qubit and 3-qubit processors, these systems are supposed to be educational solutions that introduce users to quantum programming.

Vehicles equipped with the affordable LFP batteries of the type Tesla uses in its standard range Model Y and Model 3 will be able to cover 500 miles on a charge with Svolt's new Dragon Armor battery packs. Employing cell-to-chassis technology, the packs are also much safer than traditional EV batteries.

The OPPO Find X6 is projected to launch as a premium Android smartphone, albeit one overshadowed by the debut of a Pro counterpart on the same day. However, according to the latest rumors, the OEM has furnished both X6 variants with all of its latest top-end specs - with the exception of one. Then again, the resulting camera upgrades could leave it thicker and heavier then potential rivals like the new Xiaomi 13.

The base Ford F-150 Lightning model now starts from US$56,000, in a second round of price increases for the last three months or so. Meanwhile, Tesla is offering a Model Y and Model 3 price discounts for cars in existing inventory sitting in its European warehouses.

MSI Delta 15 with a Ryzen 7 5800H and a Radeon RX 6700M is going for 38% off on Walmart. With the Delta 15, MSI has crafted a well-rounded machine that is lighter and thinner than most competing gaming laptops. In addition to superb gaming performance, the Delta 15 also enjoys a good battery life.

Released back in early November 2020 with a US$799 price tag, the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X processor is still stuck at the US$799 list price on Amazon. However, the ongoing 38% discount and the extra savings shaped as the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection game offering make this aging 16-core processor more appealing.

Samsung Electronics has postponed the launch of its first laptop with foldable OLED screen for next year, and it will be sourcing the bendy 17.3-inch panel from its Samsung Display subsidiary. Its launch in 2023 will coincide with the release of HP's first laptop with 17-inch foldable screen made by LG.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra specifications have seemingly been posted online by the Chinese TENAA authority. In addition, well over a dozen images have been shared that purport to show dummy units of the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy S23 Ultra. The designs appear to be as expected, with the S23 Ultra bearing a premium aesthetic.

Nvidia announced the RTX 4090 and the RTX 4080 on September 20. While both cards have been commended for their stellar performance increases over RTX 30 Ampere GPUs, many have bemoaned Nvidia’s lackluster pricing, especially for the RTX 4080. But it appears RTX 4080’s sky-high price tag hasn’t dissuaded customers from buying the board as the card has become the best-selling GPU on Newegg.

With a list price lower than other custom designs of US$869.99, the XFX Speedster SWFT319 AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT CORE is now 23% down on Amazon. After the discount, the price tag of this RDNA 2-based video card shows US$669.99. In a period when finding the RX 7900 XT/XTX is very hard, this deal is not bad at all.

A couple of new Sony Xperia 1 V leaks have surfaced, with one somewhat sketchy leak matching a prediction made by a well-known Xperia commenter. While a supposed Geekbench record offers exciting news for the Xperia 1 V, a couple of other sources have bemoaned how boring the 2023 Xperia flagship will be in other areas.

Although PCIe NVMe SSDs have become increasingly economical over the years, drives >500 GB in capacity are still relatively expensive. Thankfully, the PCIe Gen 3 PNY CS1030 SSD is now on sale on Amazon for a worthy US$56 off for the larger 1 TB capacity.

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti scores 219,504 and 214,654 in Geekbench's OpenCL benchmark, putting it between the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti and RTX 3090. The graphics card will supposedly be launched at CES 2023 for US$899.

Pine64, the makers of inexpensive Linux gadgets like the Pinebook Pro and PinePhone, today announced the PineTab2. The tablet will use a Rockchip SoC and run Linux. It will ship sometime in February after the Chinese New Year.

Anker has discounted its 737 Power Bank (PowerCore 24K) in the US, UK, Canada and the EU. Customers can save up to 29% or US$49 off the device at Amazon or the Anker online store. The gadget has a 24,000 mAh battery and can charge or be recharged at up to 140 W.

KOSPET has launched a global pre-sale campaign for its TANK M2 smartwatch on AliExpress. The gadget is said to last for up to 60 days in standby mode or 15 days with typical use. The wearable allegedly has health features such as heart rate and blood oxygen level monitors, and you can receive Bluetooth calls on the watch.

The gigantic 77-inch version of the extremely popular LG C2 originally had a lofty price tag of US$3,499 when it was released earlier this year, but thanks to another enticing OLED TV deal, one of the most popular large screens on the market has now dropped back to its most compelling sale price yet.

Xiaomi has tended to release gaming-focused smartphones with powerful SoCs but otherwise sub-premium specs, designed mainly for the budget gamer crowd. That may be set to change shortly, however, with company executive Lu Weibing hinting at a change in plans.

The Realme GT Neo 5 is rumored to launch as what might be the world's fastest-charging Android smartphone in 2023. Now, a design for this allegedly record-breaking mobile device has allegedly been revealed in advance. The new leak hints at inspiration drawn from former Xiaomi flagship phablets.

OPPO has announced some new special editions of existing products as well as its latest foldable Android smartphones today (December 15, 2022). They include the Watch 3 Pro Glacier Gray, a new SKU of the OEM's highest-end smartwatch optimized for skiing; the Golden Years Edition of the Enco X2 flagship TWS earbuds and a new artist's rendition of the OPPO Pad.

One-netbook has finally announced pricing for the ONEXPLAYER 2, its next-generation gaming handheld. To be available from US$899 with early bird pricing, the ONEXPLAYER 2 will cost up to US$1,429 via Indiegogo when it goes live later this week.

ASUS has started selling the VivoWatch 5 Aero, a fitness tracker that debuted in September at IFA 2022. While the device's core feature set remains, it seems that ASUS has reverted to a clunkier design, eschewing the slim look of the original VivoWatch 5 Aero.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has announced expectations for supply chain improvements throughout 2023. While stock levels are anticipated to remain light in Q1 2023, the Pi Foundation hopes there will be no issues by the end of next year. The return to normality will coincide with price rises for the Pi Zero and Pi Zero W, though.

Nothing has released the first Android 13 beta to the Nothing Phone (1), its only smartphone released to date. Offered as Nothing OS 1.5, the Android 13-based update will not reach stable status until early 2023.

Reportedly, Apple is in the latter stages of developing a MacBook Air 15. Now expected to launch with a 15.5-inch panel, the MacBook Air 15 is said to be in line for a spring 2023 launch.

Motorola has introduced its alternative to the Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro. While the Moto X40 features a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and a 165 Hz display, Motorola has priced the eventual Edge 40 Pro for CNY 3,399 (~US$489), undercutting the Xiaomi 13 by nearly US$100 at current exchange rates.

Motorola has unveiled the Moto G53 in China as it kicks off another generation of the Moto G series. Offered with the Snapdragon 480 Plus, the Moto G53 has a 5G modem, a 5,000 mAh battery and an IPS display that resolves at 120 Hz. The Moto G53 starts at CNY 899 (~US$129), too.

Masimo has announced that all W1 smartwatches will now receive a Hydration Index (Hi) tool. The feature lets you view your hydration level and observe how this affects your body. Plus, the wearable has other health monitoring tools, such as a pulse oximeter, heart rate and respiratory sensors.

Xiaomi has revealed the Mobile SSD 1 TB via a crowdfunding campaign in China. The company claims that the device can read and write at speeds up to 2,000 Mbps and is compatible with a wide range of products. The compact gadget weighs 60 g (~2.1 oz) and is 77.8 mm (~3.1-in) long, making it easy to transport.

Tesla's new 'automotive grade' in-car SSD does what other durable 1TB solid-state drives can do, but for the whopping price of US$350 when it launches in February. On the other hand, Tesla cut its home charging station prices both in its online store and over at Best Buy where the home charger recently went on sale, too.

The problematic A0 silicon revision was apparently the reason why AMD delayed the launch of the flagship RDNA 3 GPUs by almost a year. Despite this, AMD still launched the RX 7900 cards with this stepping that is exhibiting high GPU clock variability, power draw issues and disabled shader prefetch instructions.

The new Mogo 2 Pro is Xgimi's first projector to feature the company's latest version of Intelligent Screen Adaptation (ISA). The new version of ISA allows the projector to automatically focus the image and correct the keystone without interrupting playback.

Dell's engineers have continued to work on Concept Luna, the company's sustainability-focused laptop design, over the past year, refining elements of the project to better improve repair and upgrade options. Key among these is the elimination of wires and adhesives and the inclusion of telemetry to help users and robots track the status of the laptop's components.

More details about the ThinkPhone have surfaced ahead of the smartphone's 2023 anticipated release. Reputedly to be marketed as the ThinkPhone by Motorola, the handset will contain a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset, a sizeable pOLED display and a 50 MP primary camera, among other features.