Latest Tech News

The AirPods Studio may not be arriving until December at the earliest, according to a new report. March 2021 is another likely candidate for the release window of Apple's over-ear headphones, which are rumoured to cost up to US$599. The AirTags are now slated to arrive next month alongside iOS 14.3, though.

Dell has announced a whole range of sales events and deals for Black Friday, Cyber Monday and winter 2020 in general already. They include discounts on some Alienware laptops, desktops and monitors. Some of this hardware will be cut by up to 50% in price during these events.

Dell's end-of-2020 holiday deals have been outlined in good time this year. They are a range of discounts on PCs and monitors for entrepreneurs as well as those looking for gift ideas already. This includes Vostro-brand machines, in addition to the new XPS 13 Touch.

A South Korean media outlet says that Samsung is planning to release the Galaxy S21 series early. Its launch could be pushed to as early as late December 2020, but January 2021 seems more likely. The report also states that the Galaxy S21 Ultra will ship with an S Pen.

Xiaomi has taken to social media to poke some light fun at Apple’s decision to remove the charger (and EarPods) from the iPhone 12 packaging. There is some irony about the Chinese OEM trolling the same company it has frequently been accused of closely imitating, though.

According to a Gematsu report, the Korean Game Rating and Administration Committee listed ratings for "Mass Effect Legendary Edition." This fuels speculation that the unannounced but very likely Mass Effect trilogy remaster might be arriving soon.

An Aliexpress seller recently listed what appears to be a rare, unreleased AMD APU from the Excavator era. The 8-core A9-9820 leverage R7 350 graphics and bear striking similarities to the Xbox One's performance profile.

The ROG Strix G17 doesn't lower its guard and displays all modern games smoothly on the matte screen (IPS, Full HD, 144 Hz). The individually configurable LED bar on the bottom brings color into play. The laptop can accommodate up to three M.2 SSDs.

The differences between the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Pro models were thought to be only camera-based, but it turns out that Apple has also equipped them with different volumes of RAM. The increase in RAM for the Pro models should give them an advantage over the regular iPhone 12 and their predecessors, but an initial Geekbench listing offers up some rather disappointing multi-core performance.

Mobvoi, the OEM behind popular lines of smartwatch and AirPod-clone accessories, has announced discounts on some newer models of these wearables. They include the TicWatch Pro 2020, as well as the stainless steel-cased TicWatch C2+ and TicPods ANC. Most of these products are 30% off their regular prices.

The Nubia Watch is now available to order globally for US$219. The futuristic-looking smartwatch features a curved AMOLED screen, a heart-rate monitor and an e-SIM, among other features.

ASUS has begun issuing Android 11 beta builds to the ZenFone 7 Pro, stealing a march on other Android OEMs. The first beta build for the recently released flagship introduces a host of changes, not just Android 11.

Samsung has started beta testing One UI 3.0 in Europe. Testing began in South Korea and the US last month and remains limited to the Galaxy S20 series. The S20 FE is not eligible for One UI 3.0 beta yet though, and you must have an unlocked S20, S20 Plus or S20 Ultra to participate.

The Xiaomi AX3600 router is now available to order from multiple retailers, and for under US$100. The router offers Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, MU-MIMO and an AIoT smart antenna, among other features.

OnePlus has launched the Buds Z, its no-frills pair of TWS earbuds. The company promises that the earbuds will deliver top-quality audio, water-resistance and a stable Bluetooth 5.0 connection for US$49.99. Google Assistant integration is included for that price, too.

Android 11 may be slowing down smartphones like the Pixel 4a and Pixel 4 XL, HotHardware has discovered. The two Google smartphones perform demonstrably worse in benchmarks running Android 11 than they do on Android 10; the website is not the only one to be complaining of slowdowns on Android 11, either.

The first MIUI 12 update has arrived for the global version of the Redmi Note 9 Pro. Currently rolling out to Turkish handsets, the arrival of V12.0.1.0.QJZTRXM should predate equivalent updates for the global and European branches of MIUI by a few days. The inaugural MIUI 12 update has formally landed for the Redmi Note 7 Pro, too.

A new Poco smartphone is in development, and it is intended for the global market. However, a recent certification listing suggests that the device may be a rebrand of another upcoming Xiaomi smartphone, the Redmi Note 10 4G.

Apple's new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini are now official and feature a largely common feature set including the powerful A14 Bionic SoC, 5G connectivity, dual 12 MP cameras, and more. The iPhone 12 Mini with a 5.4-inch display is being touted as the world's smallest and lightest 5G phone

The CAD renders leaked a few months ago might be showing the regular Mate 40, while the Pro version could feature a new design, or Huawei just decided to change some design elements in the meantime. In any case, the sneak peek render posted by He Gang himself shows that the rear camera bump is not circular anymore, and the volume button appears to be back.

Nintendo will sell more consoles than Microsoft and Sony this holiday season, despite the arrival of the next-generation PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X, according to analysis from NPD. Call of Duty is expected to continue to dominate the market too, while the sale of gaming subscriptions and accessories will receive a boost.

ASUS will support the X470 and B450 chipsets into Zen 3, the company has confirmed. It has reaffirmed support for the two chipsets after representatives apparently informed a customer that the X470 chipset would never receive the BIOS upgrade to run Ryzen 5000 processors.

ASRock has announced three new Intel NUCs based on the chipmaker's Tiger Lake-U architecture. The NUC 1100 BOX series will be available with up to the Core i7-1165G7, although all SKUs will offer the same connectivity and plethora of ports.

AMD may have increased price points for the Ryzen 5000 desktop CPUs, but keep in mind that we have not yet seen any non-X versions. According to a new leak, the non-X Ryzen 5000 CPUs are expected to launch in Q1 2021, and the Ryzen 5 5600 could be priced at $220 while almost matching the performance of an Intel Core i7-10700.

The Oculus Quest 2 is now shipping to customers and starts from US$299. The second-generation standalone VR headset features several improvements on the original including a much more powerful Qualcomm SoC.

The Redmi Note 8 Pro seems unmovable in AnTuTu’s price-performance charts as the latest Android tables from the noted smartphone benchmark has shown the Note 8 Pro is still the number one pick for the budget end. At the other end of the scale, the iQOO 5 Pro is far ahead of rivals like the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra and Mi 10 Pro.

On its way to the scheduled November 19 release, Cyberpunk 2077 has a script that will hit — and surpass — the one-million-word barrier. Last week, CD Projekt RED’s localization manager Yuki Nishio posted an image on Twitter that shows the entire script printed out and it looks insane.

Details of three devices from Huami’s Amazfit range have been leaked. The wearables are supposedly the Amazfit Pop, Amazfit London, and Amazfit GTS 2 Mini. While few concrete specifications have been revealed, it seems the GTS 2 Mini will still offer users the opportunity to constantly track their heart rate.

A Burger King promo posted on Twitter has excited gamers thanks to its obvious connections with the PlayStation 5. While some have posited that a PS5 UI reveal is going to take place in a couple of days, it’s more likely the fast food restaurant chain is planning a contest to win one of the next-gen consoles.
Update: As expected, Burger King is holding a PS5 sweepstakes.

Powerful gaming laptops can get very expensive very fast. If you want limit yourself to less than $1,500 you may want to take a closer look at MSI's GF75 Thin 10SDR, a 17-inch laptop with plenty of gaming prowess thanks to its built-in GeForce GTX 1660 Ti.

Samsung has launched two new lines of memory cards with compelling speeds and specs. They are the new EVO Plus and PRO Plus series, which both have the full SD form-factor and come in sizes of 32 to 256GB. They are rated for high speeds and for advanced 'sevenfold' durability.

You can't expect too much from a 21.5-inch monitor for less than $100 USD. The Auzai is great for basic browsing and multimedia tasks, but casual gamers or even amateur content creators will want to invest in something better.

The Beats by Dre brand has launched its latest pair of wireless earphones. Like the Powerbeats Pro before them, they are of the neckbud variety, but are also much cheaper this time. Nevertheless, they are rated for potentially superior audio quality and connectivity thanks to their Apple audio tech.

A well-known and reliable leaker has divulged that several smartphone manufacturers are working towards delivering next-generation wireless fast-charging. Apparently, the technologies will be capable of transferring up to 100 W wirelessly, which would be a generational leap for smartphones.

MIUI 12 is rolling out more widely for the global version of the Pocophone F1, according to multiple reports. V12.0.2.0.QEJMIXM is rolling out now as an OTA, while the Redmi 8A Dual has been upgraded to Android 10, sans MIUI 12.

Amazon's Prime Day is now in full swing in multiple regions, the US included. Here, the retail giant has good deals on the latest Samsung flagship smartphones, so long as the buyer wants a factory-unlocked version. They include up to 19% off the Galaxy Note 20 series, or 25% off most S20 and S10 variants.

Just as promised, the third installment in the Torchlight series is now available for Windows PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 gamers. The piece of news that makes today's launch even better is the launch date of the Nintendo Switch version, which is no longer a secret: October 22.

ASUS will not be enabling support for Ryzen 5000 Zen 3 processors on X470 motherboards. The move comes following AMD's confirmation that the X470 and B450 chipsets should start receiving beta BIOSes that enable support as of January 2021.
Update: ASUS has stated that a customer service representation was misinformed in their comments.

The Dell UltraSharp 32 HDR PremierColor UP3221Q is the world's first 2,000-zone mini-LED monitor, and it will begin shipping as early as November 5. The monitor can reach 1,000 nits, but it will set you back US$5,000.

Apple has registered eight unreleased Mac model numbers with the EEC. Five are entirely new, so it would seem that Apple is readying itself to release some new Mac hardware. Rumour has it that the company's first ARM MacBooks will be unveiled in November.

Apple announced the new Homepod Mini, a tiny smart speaker. The device features a single high-range driver and two subwoofers, as well as plenty of software smarts. Key features include Apple's trademark ecosystem integration, including Intercom, a new tool that allows people to send voice messages from the speaker to multiple other Apple devices.

The next Apple Special Event is scheduled for today (October 13, 2020) - the same day on which Evan Blass has decided to leak high-quality renders of the products thought to be involved in all their new colors. They comprise all 4 variants of the iPhone 12 series as well as the alleged new HomePod Mini.

The Radeon RX 6000 series will support the new AV1 hardware acceleration, Microsoft has confirmed. AMD joins NVIDIA and Intel in supporting the AV1 video codec, which promises to offer up to 50% better compression than H.264 and 20% better than VP9.

The Rollme S08 is a smartwatch with 4G LTE, dual cameras and a built-in GPS module, along with 32 GB of storage and 3 GB of RAM. The smartwatch has a steel body, a ceramic bezel and is IP68 certified.

AMD Ryzen 5000 Zen 3 support has been added to multiple 500 series motherboards, including the likes of the A520 and X570 chipsets. ASUS, ASRock, Biostar, Gigabyte and MSI are the first manufacturers to add support, but it will be at least January 2021 before 400 series chipsets like the B450 or X470 can run Zen 3 processors.

Last year, AMD started its anti-NUC initiative, as many of its embedded and laptop-grade APUs can now easily be included in mini PCs. This initiative could soon culminate with gaming mini PCs that are based on AMD's Project Quantum presented 5 years ago at E3.

OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei has quietly exited the company to start a new venture. Pei’s departure appears to have happened shortly after the OnePlus Nord was launched.

An AnTuTu listing reportedly belonging to the HiSilicon Kirin 9000 has been posted online. It nets an overall score of 693,603, putting it ahead of the Samsung Exynos 1080. The chip appears to use four ARM Cortex-A77 cores clocked at 3.1 GHz and an ARM Mali G78 GPU. Huawei is expected to unveil it alongside the Mate 40 series on October 22.

Fake MIUI 12 builds for the Redmi Note 8 and Redmi Note 7/7S have been discovered. The software versions apply to both the Global and India variants of the Redmi Note 8 and Redmi Note 7/7S. Owners of these smartphones are advised to disregard false information about these particular MIUI 12 forgeries.

The Redmi 10X Pro 5G and the Redmi 10X 5G are still the leaders of the pack in AnTuTu’s mid-range smartphone performance chart for September. Both devices are powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 820 processor. The rumored upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon 775G will be a force to be reckoned with though.