Latest Tech News

Without warning, the US government has now slammed Chinese smartphone makers Xiaomi with an American investment ban supposedly due to ties with the Chinese military. Xiaomi, in return, refutes those claims but that's unlikely to count for much.

Apple supply chain specialist Ming-chi Kuo has issued a new note to investors detailing some of the changes expected on the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models. According to Kuo, the new models will drop in mid-2021 and will include minor design changes but will most notably drop the somewhat controversial OLED Touch Bar.

Ice Lake laptops had a lot of flak for launching at high prices, but these newer deals can be hard to pass for those who don't want to spend hundreds more for the latest 11th gen Intel processors.

After we recently took a look at the MagicBook 14 with AMD's Ryzen 5 4500U, it's now the MagicBook 15's turn. It reveals small and big improvements but also known weaknesses.

Intel's NUC 11 series is official, following months of delays. The company has unveiled three models of varying sizes and specifications, although all are based on its Tiger Lake-U platform. There is even a NUC for gamers with a dedicated GeForce RTX 2060 onboard.

An AMD EPYC 7543 server processor from the Zen 3-based Milan family has been unearthed on Geekbench where it amassed a huge multi-core score of 25,909 points with the help of its 32 cores. This result places the EPYC 7543 at a similar level as the average result for the 64-core monster that is the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X.

Samsung recently made a PR gaffe when the marketing team unintentionally tweeted about the Galaxy Unpacked event from an iPhone. The post was taken down in short order, however.

Eve has delayed the release of its Spectrum monitors in what is the least shocking news of 2021, and probably 2020. The company had originally planned to begin shipping its latest product on February 26, but now will not until April 20 at the earliest. The 144 Hz QHD model will not arrive until the 'end of Q2', too.

The Galaxy SmartTag is a new consumer-grade electronic tracker from Samsung. It has a versatile array of use-cases, from potentially protecting bags from theft to finding lost pets. It is rated for up to 6 months of use per charge, and for ultra-wide-band (UWB) technology, which helps with its AR Tracking feature.

The NUC V6-i5 offers an Intel Core i5-7200U processor, M.2 storage, DDR4 SO DIMM RAM, and a built-in LCD screen. The machine measures 118 x 118 x 78 mm and features plenty of I/O, including two video outputs and four USB ports.

ECS has released ARM versions of its LIVA brand of mini-PCs. The Q1A and Q1A Plus have Rockchip SoCs, 2 GB of LPDDR3 RAM and measure just 74 x 74 x 34.6 mm. The two machines run Android 8.1 and Ubuntu 18.04 natively.

The Edge S will reputedly be Motorola's next premium smartphone, but new information suggests that the Snapdragon 865 or Snapdragon 888 will not be powering it. Instead, Qualcomm will leverage the Motorola Edge S launch to announce a new Snapdragon 800 series chipset. Apparently, a new 5 nm chipset codenamed Shima may be at the heart of the Edge S.

Xiaomi is likely to break one or the other record with the Mi 11 Pro, as it is accustomed to doing with its flagship smartphones. According to one reliable leaker, the Chinese company plans to bring its 80 W wireless charging capabilities to the upcoming smartphone, which it showcased last year.

Samsung has added Pro variants to its Galaxy Buds series of TWS earbuds. They are rated for upgraded active noise cancellation (ANC), voice-call quality and 360° Audio. They can also switch automatically between different mobile devices from their OEM depending on what the user is doing with either one.

After launching the Galaxy S21, S21 Plus, and S21 Ultra today, Samsung has also opened its trade-in program for the series. It's pretty good, actually, with Galaxy S10 series owners being able to trade in their phones for a massive US$550, for example.

The latest addition to the Sound Blaster Z lineup comes with updated features, new gaming profiles, microphone and headphone EQ presets. The Sound Blaster Z SE has the same audio specs as the regular edition, such as up to 116 dB SnR and 24-bit/192 kHz sound. However, now there is virtual 7.1 support for headphones and 5.1 discrete audio on speakers.

The Zen 3 Cezanne part AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS has been spotted on Geekbench as part of the fascinating Asus ROG Flow X13 2-in-1 laptop. However, the results don’t seem as high as could be expected, when the Ryzen 9 5900HS should be flying past the Ryzen 9 4900HS and Tiger Lake Intel Core i7-1165G7.

Samsung has made the Galaxy S21 Ultra official, alongside its smaller S21 and S21+ siblings. Its heretofore well-leaked specs is housed in a fresh case design with a metallic rear camera housing and an otherwise matte finish. The OEM also confirms its newly-acquired S Pen compatibility, new 108MP main shooter and Knox Vault security features.

The highly-awaited Samsung Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21+ are finally here. Both phones come with fairly identical specifications, including a 120Hz FHD+ screen, three rear cameras, 8GB of RAM, up to 256GB of storage, no micro SD expansion and an Exynos 2100/Snapdragon 888 SoC. Prices start at US$799 for the Galaxy S21 and US$999 for the Galaxy S21+, and both phones will hit stores on January 29.

Lu Weibing has now confirmed that Xiaomi is ending production of the Redmi K30 Ultra. The Redmi K30 Ultra was launched alongside the Mi 10 Ultra and was also never sold outside China, despite fans asking for a global release. The Redmi K40 will succeed it and there are reports it could sport the Dimensity 1200.

Although they have different colors and frequencies (minor factory overclocks, of course), the two new ZOTAC video cards that use the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 as foundation stay within the 170 W TDP value of the reference design. Thankfully, since these are (almost) low-end parts, finding them should not be a problem.

Alder Lake is probably the last CPU lineup to be produced exclusively by Intel's fabs. After that, Intel plans to gradually outsource CPU lineups to TSMC, with the low-end Core i3 models scheduled to be produced by the Taiwanese fabs in the second half of 2021. A year later, TSMC is also expected to begin mass-production for Intel's mid-range and high-end processors on the 3 nm nodes.

HP introduces some of the first business laptops powered by AMD's Ryzen Pro 5000 APUs. The new EliteBook 805 G8 series comes with lightweight chassis and three sizes to choose from, including 13.3-inch, 14-inch and 15.6-inch. These models can be equipped with up to 64 GB of RAM and up to 2 TB NVMe SSD storage, plus quite a few display options.

Asus and MSI have released details about their new Z590 motherboards with the LGA 1200 socket that offer support for Comet Lake and Rocket Lake chips from Intel. MSI’s range features 12 boards that are headlined by a revamped MEG Z590 GODLIKE while the 13 boards from Asus are led by the pricey ROG Maximus XIII Extreme Glacial.

The ThinkBook 14s Yoga doesn't attract attention by setting performance records but rather with its good ergonomics. The Lenovo engineers have focused on low emissions, good stamina and a decent keyboard. The touchscreen display can be used both with your fingers and with the included Smart Pen.

The LG Rollable is real, and it will be coming to market this year, an LG spokesperson has confirmed. LG will source BOE displays for its first rollable smartphone, but the so-called LG Rollable may retail for US$500 more than a Galaxy Z Fold2.

CDPR CEO Marcin Iwiński has apologised to fans for the ongoing mess of Cyberpunk 2077. Iwiński has shared insights into the launch of the company's latest game and an update roadmap for Cyberpunk 2077 throughout 2021. The first patch is due this month, with another patch and free DLC to follow later this year. Iwiński has teased the arrival of the update for next-generation consoles, too.

Samsung has teased its first display with an under display camera. Somewhat surprisingly, the technology will find its way into a Samsung laptop before it makes its way into a Samsung smartphone.

With its Snapdragon 690 SoC and 90 hertz (Hz) FHD IPS display, the HTC Desire 21 Pro 5G has stepped into the ring with the OnePlus Nord N10. However, while that phone is destined for multiple markets, its new rival has only debuted in its native Taiwan to date. Its price there works out much higher compared to its competition, however.

Asus has released its new ZenBook 13 OLED UM325 and ZenBook 14 UM425 thin and light laptops. These ZenBooks differ primarily with respect to the display and available Ryzen 5000 APU options. While the ZenBook 13 OLED UM325 offers a mix of both Cezanne and Lucienne APUs, the ZenBook 14 offers only Lucienne parts.

EVGA and ZOTAC have followed ASUS in increasing the price of their NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series custom cards. The changes range from 4% to 23%, which correlate to price increases of between US$70 and US$350. Overall, prices hikes average 10% across over 30 cards.

The huge catch is that you'll have to live with an older quad-core Core i5-10200H CPU and just 8 GB of base RAM. Shipments are expected to arrive by February 2nd.

The LG UltraFine OLED Pro 32EP950 may be intended for professional users, but it is also the first device with a 32-inch, 4K, and OLED screen. The 32EP950 promises exceptional colour accuracy with over 99% coverage of the AdobeRGB and DCI-P3 colour spaces.

According to AMD and NVIDIA, there will not be an uptick in GPU availability for a few months yet. Stock levels of the GeForce RTX 30 series will remain 'lean' until at least May, according to NVIDIA, while AMD believes that things will improve once the impact of COVID lessens.

Asus has upgraded its ROG Strix Scar 17 with AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX and RTX 3080 Mobile. Like all ROG models in 2021, the Scar 17 will use liquid metal as the thermal interface material for the CPU. The Scar 17 also features a 360 Hz display, optical mechanical keyboard, ROG Keystone II, and more.

XMG has announced that the 2021 iterations of its PRO and NEO 15/17 laptops will have new, slim cases in addition to new specs. The NEO 15 and 17 also boasts fresh Ryzen 9 5900HX or 7 5800H AMD platforms, while the PROs stick with a Core i7 processor so as to be among the first on the market to combine RTX 3000 graphics with Thunderbolt 3.

For almost a decade, Electronic Arts has had exclusive access to the Star Wars IP. EA was the sole creator of AAA Star Wars games - an arrangement, which did not turn out to be very productive. And it is now coming to its end: Disney's new Lucasfilm Games division is opening up the IP for other partners, starting with Ubisoft.

Asus has refreshed the ZenBook Duo 14 with Intel 11th gen Tiger Lake and NVIDIA MX450 graphics. In our time with the unit, we found that the new ZenBook Duo 14 UX482 offers better sustained boost performance and an improved ScreenPad Plus experience.

Asus has refreshed its unique ZenBook Pro Duo design with updated internals. The new ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED comes with Comet Lake-H and RTX 3070 Mobile options. Asus has also improved the multi-tasking experience with the new ScreenPad Plus that now brings native support for Adobe apps.

Samsung has announced the Galaxy A32 5G, and it is a step back from the Galaxy A31 in a crucial area. While the Galaxy A32 5G features up to 8 GB of RAM, 128 GB of storage and a 5,000 mAh battery, Samsung has equipped it with a paltry 720p IPS display. Pricing for Germany has only been confirmed so far, where it will retail for €279.

The new ChromeBook CX9 and Flip CX5 models from Asus powered by the latest Intel Tiger Lake-U CPUs show that the Chrome OS laptops can easily match the performance of the traditionally more powerful Windows-based systems. The new premium-grade CX9 business laptop comes with enhanced security features and two Thunderbolt 4 connectors, while the Flip CX5 focuses on an expanded cloud-connected gaming experience.

Asus has upgraded its ultralight ExpertBook B9 line of business laptops. The new ExpertBook B9450CEA features Intel 11th Gen Tiger Lake Core i7 CPUs, Intel vPro, and are Intel Evo certified.

Asus has debuted its new Instant Guard facility in the new RT-AX68U Wi-Fi 6 home router. The device also sprouts 3x3 MIMO antennae for speeds of up to 2.7 gigabits per second (Gb/s). It also supports the OEM's AiMesh software, so as to integrate into and proliferate any such network it finds itself in.

Asus is clearly pitching its new ExpertCenter D700 and D500 machines at the IT professionals who would maintain them as well as the employers that would buy them. Their cases can go down to 9 liters (L) in size, and are made to US MIL-STD-810G durability standards. Furthermore, they have a tool-less design and have legacy serial and parallel ports.

The Asus BR1100 is a new ruggedized convertible designed for the education market. In addition to features typical of a ruggedized school notebook (e.g., a rubberized bumper), the BR1100 includes an active stylus that can detect up to 4096 levels of pressure. The laptop can charge the stylus for up to 45 minutes of use in just 15 seconds.

Asus unveiled three new 4k monitors with HDMI 2.1 and support for gaming at 3840x2160 144 Hz. The company also announced a 1440p display with a blazing fast 240 Hz refresh rate and 1 ms response time.

With a design that had already managed to receive multiple awards, the Asus ZenBeam Latte projector is the first of its kind to offer a fabric exterior that enhances the audio experience and provides a familiar look. It also sports up to three hours of autonomy on a single charge and features a 10 W Harman Kardon speaker.

Asus announced two new ProArt displays, one of which is a portable 14-inch touchscreen monitor. This little display also has hotkeys and a physical dial for use with Adobe software. Asus also released a 15.6-inch portable monitor for business users.

The new Asus Chromebook Flip CM5 brings together a daring minimalist design and the AMD Ryzen platform (up to Ryzen 5 3500C) to deliver an excellent 15.6-inch tool for creativity. The list of specs and features includes Wi-Fi 6, up to 10 hours of battery life, as well as support for both GeForce NOW and Stadia.

A new all-in-one from Asus is (almost) ready to hit the market, and what we will get is probably a new hardware setup for one of the existing designs. The Zen AiO 24 (M5401) uses various AMD Ryzen 5 processors and features up to a 93% screen-to-body ratio, Harman Kardon-certified speakers, a built-in HD camera with privacy shutter, and more.