Latest Tech News

The ZTE brand Nubia has reportedly registered a new device called the NX667J. This new leak has led to speculation that it is a premium-grade phone called the Z30, not the least because it has been certified to use top-end 120 watt (W) charging. It might thus be combined with under-display camera technology in this potential upcoming flagship.

The Mi 11 Ultra is Xiaomi's new, camera-heavy flagship Android smartphone. It debuted in China in March 2021, but is still not available in various regions, Europe included. Now, however, a corporate Facebook page may have let a date for the release of the hyper-premium device in the Dutch market slip.

Research firm Counterpoint has published a report about global smartphone market share by quarter, including the first quarter of 2021. Apple has shrunk a little but still remains strong and Samsung looks solid as ever. However, Huawei’s situation seems perilous as the Chinese OEM has slipped from 20% share to just 4% in under a year.

Death, taxes, and Xiaomi phones going up in flames—the three certainties of life. Or so it seems recently, anyway. Another Xiaomi phone has now blown up, just two weeks after a similar case with a Poco X3. The device in this case was a Redmi Note 9 Pro, however.

A fresh report combined with code snippets points to Apple launching a new CD-quality tier for its Apple Music streaming service. Currently, Apple Music streams in 256 Kbps AAC files, which are sub-CD standard and as high quality as offerings from competitors like Tidal and recently announced Spotify HiFi service coming later this year.

Last year's Gram 14 laptop can be an appealing buy for users who really want an ultralight laptop without needing to settle for slow Atom CPUs or smaller subnotebook screen sizes.

The ZBook Firefly 15 G7 already heated up considerably under load, but it could just about keep heat development under control. The follow-up model now shows a similar behavior.

The Galaxy S20 Fan Edition (or FE) is rumored to get a successor in 2021. Now, a Samsung store website has reportedly posted an ad for a device by a corresponding name by accident. According to this new potential tip, it also looks much like the rest of the S21 series.

The European Commission (EC) has issued a preliminary verdict as a result of its anti-trust investigation against Apple. It concerns the treatment of third-party music apps on its App Store. The Commission has ruled that the OEM leverages its "dominant position" in this market to subvert competition and consumer choice, particularly when it comes to payment methods and rates.

The Checkra1n jailbreak was recently updated to feature support for iOS 14.5 and compatibility with Macs sporting the M1 processor. Version 0.12.3 adds these new features, along with a host of bug fixes.

MSI's first stab at a luxurious subnotebook convertible is already good enough to rival the best from Dell. It's not perfect, but it offers enough extras to make it worth considering on your list.

Huawei is currently said to have upgrades for its premium MatePad Pro and Watch in the works. A well-known leaker now asserts that they do in fact exist and will launch soon. The tipster also now claims that the Watch3 will have a Pro variant, which, according to other recent rumors, will not come cheap.

Recent reports suggest that Samsung is developing an "Armor"-themed series of new design features for its next-gen mobile devices, the latest of which could be applied to rear panels, displays or both. These leaked marketing buzzwords have sparked speculation that they are intended to enhance durability in next-gen products, the Galaxy Z Flips and Folds of the future included.

Apple has now officially made its new 2021 24-inch iMac computers with M1 Apple Silicon available to order. There are plenty of configurations for shoppers to choose from, with prices ranging from US$1,299 for the entry-level iMac to US$3,127.98 for the model with all the hardware and software it can handle.

Cyberpunk 2077's notoriously troubled launch has apparently not had an impact on the major bonuses cleared by CD Projekt Red's senior executives this year. CDPR heads received over $US28 million, thanks in large part to Cyberpunk's hype-driven sales success.

Worries worsen that Chia, a storage-based cryptocurrency, could trigger a future shortage of SSDs and HDDs, as ADATA registered a massive 500 percent spike in sales in April, alongside a 6x increase in Chia's storage capacity.

The mid-range Inspiron 14 5000 series sits in between the lower-end Inspiron 14 3000 series and higher-end Inspiron 14 7000 series. For $500, you'll essentially be paying a low-end price for what is considered the latest generation mid-range laptop.

With the MateBook D 16, Huawei offers a stylish laptop in a metal case with a 16.1-inch display for under 1,000 Euros (~$1,212). Is the device only compelling in terms of looks or does it also manage to convince with its components? And how does it compare to the very similar Honor MagicBook Pro?

The Nord N100 and N10 5G are OnePlus' foray into the low- and mid-tiers of the smartphone market. Despite this, it has yet to be released in all the regions where the OEM is active. A new leak hints they might be destined for a new launch in India, however.

What happens when you bend a ~US$3,000 foldable phone the wrong way? Fans of the YouTube channel JerryRigEverything can now find out, as the Huawei Mate X2 has paid it a visit. Its new chassis endured various tests of its robustness in the process, ending with a possibly surprising end to the vlogger's famous test.

Xiaomi has announced a new round of MIUI 12.5 Global Stable ROM testing, albeit only for POCO devices this time. All POCO smartphones apart from the Pocophone F1 are eligible to join the program. Xiaomi has not explained why the Pocophone F1 is missing from the program.

The ~$900 Swift X model listed on the Acer Thailand site features a Ryzen 5 5500U APU coupled with 8 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and a 512 GB NVMe SSD, plus it features a 14-inch FHD IPS display connected to an Nvidia GTX 1650 dGPU. There should also be a Ryzen 7 5700U model with 16 GB of RAM for just under $1,000.

Realme has officially unveiled its latest budget smartwatch, the Realme Watch 2. The device contains some significant improvements compared to its predecessor, such as many more exercise modes and a larger battery. The Realme Watch 2 costs ~US$56 and is IP68 certified.

The TL50 mini PC is now available for pre-order on the Makuake crowdfunding platform from Japan at around $650, and it integrates an Intel Core i5-1135G7 CPU with Iris Xe integrated graphics, 12 GB LPDDR4-3200 soldered RAM and 512 GB NVMe SSD. It also features a Thunderbolt 4 connector and supports 4x PCIe 4.0 lanes for the NVMe drives.

The LEM15 is a Frankenstein's monster of a device, with specifications that are closer to a smartphone than a smartwatch. Unsurprisingly, the LEM15 is large and heavy, so it will not be to everyone's tastes.

Rumour has it that Huawei plans to release two MateView monitors soon; one aimed at gamers and the other at professionals. The latter has already leaked, while the former is reportedly a 42-inch monitor with a 21:9 aspect ratio and a 165 Hz refresh rate.

More ZenFone 8 series details have been revealed, and it seems that only the ZenFone 8 Mini will have a flip-up camera. The 5.92-inch device will also have a 4,000 mAh battery and up to 16 GB of RAM. All ZenFone 8 devices should feature a 3.5 mm headphone jack, too.

Xiaomi has developed a penchant for raising the prices of its devices in India without warning, after launch. The latest victim is the Redmi Note 10 that was launched a few months ago, with the company raising prices by Rs 500 across all configurations of the device.

A South Korean Tech forum post claims that Intel's 12th-generation Alder Lake processors are 40% slower than initially anticipated. It also says that Intel's Xe DG2 HPG graphics cards will come with at least 6GB of VRAM and cost less than Nvidia and AMD alternatives.

Samsung is reportedly developing the new "Armor" frame for the smartphones of the immediate future. Now, a new tip suggests the OEM might combine it with another new feature called Pro-Shield. It is apparently destined for various device categories, and might thus benefit the potential tri-folding tablets hinted at in another new leak.

Huawei is on the verge of launching the P50 series, although it remains to be seen in what capacity. Various dummy handsets have confirmed some earlier rumours about the upcoming flagship series, including its camera design and that it will run HarmonyOS rather than EMUI.

Qualcomm has now released its fiscal performance report for the second quarter of 2021 (2FQ2021). The OEM claims to have made a total of US$7.9 billion in terms of revenue, ~$1.8 billion of which is its net income. Most of this has come from its semiconductor-producing arm, which has posted a 137% growth in pre-tax earnings year-on-year (YoY).

Samsung has started issuing new updates to the Galaxy Watch Active and Watch Active 2. The updates improve the stability of the smartwatches in vital areas and will be available through the Galaxy Wearable app. The new updates are approximately a 35 MB download.

Sony's pricing for the Xperia 1 III has emerged, and it is a lot higher than what the company charged for previous models. While the Xperia 1 launched at CNY 6,299 (~US$973), the Xperia 1 III starts at CNY 8,499 (~US$1,313). The Xperia 1 II currently costs CNY 7,499 (~US$1,159) in China too.

Respawn has announced that it is bringing a new permanent gaming mode to Apex Legends with its new ‘Legacy’ update. The ‘Arena’ gaming mode brings a more Titanfall-like battle experience that is faster and with just two teams going head-to-head in a 3v3 shootout over several rounds.

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) has published its State of the Game Industry 2021 report, which once again features some fascinating poll results. While the PlayStation 5 is the console developers are most interested in, nothing comes close to the interest shown in the PC. The Xbox Series X|S struggled to attract interest compared to the PS5 and Nintendo Switch.

The Core i7-11375H looks destined to become a niche processor that will be all but forgotten in the growing Tiger Lake lineup. Its unremarkable performance when compared to a standard Core i7-1165G7 gives OEMs and end-users little reason to invest in it.

It looks like HP might be trying to sell off all of its older 15.6-inch Pavilion Gaming 15 models to make room for its newer and better 16.1-inch options.

It seems that OnePlus has gone all LG with its software support for older smartphones. The company has confirmed that the OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T will not receive Android 11 Open Beta updates until the end of August, just in time for Android 12's arrival. So much for Never Settle, OnePlus.

Apple has yet to update the vanilla iPad, not to mention its Mini variant, despite having been repeatedly rumored to do so in 2021. Now, new registrations with the EEC authority may point to a launch for these tablets soon. In less expected news, they have been joined on this database by what look like a new accessory for the AirPort Time Capsule, Extreme and Express.

Microsoft advertises the new Surface Laptop 4 very aggressively, also openly attacking Apple. However, after our test of the new Surface Laptop 4 15 we are rather disappointed overall, since we don't find much innovation here.

The Galaxy Tab S7+ (or Plus) is a 2020 premium Samsung device with an AMOLED display. Unfortunately, as such, it has reportedly run afoul of the "green tint" issue. Some customers claim to have faced this on-screen blemish for months, and that the OEM has yet to push a definitive solution of any kind as yet.

The latest update for Vivaldi, which was released earlier today, brings the version number up to 3.8 on both desktop and mobile. The list of changes includes a new way to add bookmarks, redesigned panels, Google's FLoC component blacklisted by default, a built-in cookie crumbler, quick ways to access the Start Page (Android version), and more.

Honor is already on the verge of launching another smartphone, the Honor Play 5. Apparently, the Honor Play 5 will be more powerful than the Play 5T Youth Edition that Honor launched earlier this month.

The Galaxy Book Flex 2 Alpha has arrived, even if it missed the cut at yesterday's Galaxy Unpacked event. The convertible laptop has a 13.3-inch display, a choice between two Intel Tiger Lake laptops and a 54 Wh battery. The Galaxy Book Flex 2 Alpha will start shipping next month in two colours.

Huawei has afforded the Watch GT 2 Pro another update, further optimising the device. Firmware version 11.0.5.22 is rolling out to the Watch GT 2 Pro via the Huawei Health app.

The Galaxy Book Go did not debut at Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event yesterday, but Roland Quandt has published marketing renders of the 14-inch laptop, anyway. The renders confirm that the Galaxy Book Go has massive bezels and a simple design.

The Realme Watch 2 has leaked again, this time in an unboxing video. The budget smartwatch will launch on April 30 and looks an awful lot like the Apple Watch.

OnePlus has released the results for its business in the European region for the first quarter of 2021 (1Q2021). The OEM asserts that sales in this market have increased by 388% compared to 1Q2020, leading to revenues of 286% more year-on-year (YoY). It also claims to be in the top 3 among smartphone brands in multiple countries of this zone.

Gamers looking to get their hands on a PS5 anytime soon will be disappointed to know that the console will continue to remain scarce in 2021. Despite the supply issues, Sony is optimistic that it will move at least 14 million PS5 units this year.