Latest Tech News

Reports indicate that Apple is keen on investing in satellite technology. If the company’s under-wraps satellite project succeeds, data transfer to iDevices could be possible without the internet. In an era of increased digital surveillance, this could provide users with greater control over their own data.

Google announced yesterday that it has acquired Typhoon, an independent game developer. Typhoon's first game, Journey to the Savage Planet, is due out January 28, 2020. While Google has not given much detail surrounding the acquisition, it's likely the search giant bought the studio to develop games for its ailing Stadia game streaming service.

Ruby Weapon, the hardest superboss from Final Fantasy 7, will Final Fantasy 14's rogues' gallery with Patch 5.2 in February. Ruby Weapon joins other optional bosses from prior entries in the RPG series, like Kefka from Final Fantasy 6 and Ultima Weapon, Ruby's brother from Final Fantasy 7.

A new listing in Geekbench 5's database shows benchmark results for what may be the Snapdragon 765. The SoC in the listing looks similar to the CPU of the upcoming Oppo Reno 3 Pro, which will use the 765. If these listings are legitimately the Snapdragon 765, they place the chip just behind 2018's Snapdragon 845.

Motorola had planned to open Razr 2019 pre-orders in the United States on December 26, 2019. However, the OEM has now pushed this event, as well as its subsequent launch, back to an unspecified date. This is said to be due to unexpected levels of interest in buying the foldable phone.

The OnePlus Security Response Center (or OneSRC) is this OEM's first bug-bounty initiative. It offers cash incentives (in USD) to report deficiencies in its own software. They start from US$50, but go into 3 to 4 figures for the more severe vulnerabilities.

Unable to stream Amazon Prime in HD since their release earlier this year, the Redmi K20 and K20 Pro are no longer stuck in the mire of standard definition. While Xiaomi stated in October that it was working to address the issue, it seems that the fault may have lay at Amazon's door instead.

Were you disappointed by the Redmi K30? Well, if you were after a more powerful SoC and more RAM, then the K30 Pro will probably do nicely for you. However, if you were holding out for a better screen or improved cameras, then the awaited successor to the K20 Pro may leave you feeling underwhelmed.

The new build, which contains the January 1, 2020, security patch, brings Android 10 one step closer for Samsung's soon to be two-generations old flagship. The third One UI 2.0 beta should be rolling out to enrolled handsets globally within the next few days.

Huawei's CEO, Yu Chengdong, has revealed that the upcoming Mate Xs device will have a more robust display compared to the original foldable phone. It is also slated to have a new hinge with an improved design. This Kirin 990 device will also be showcased at next year's Mobile World Congress.

A new and comprehensive Galaxy S10 Lite purports to spill many more details on this upcoming launch. It asserts that it will be a Snapdragon 855 device, and will support the TiltOIS camera feature debuted in the Galaxy A90. The S10 Lite is also now touted as a triple-camera phone.

There is no need for a Surface Connect port now that Thunderbolt 3 is becoming ubiquitous amongst mid-range to high-end laptops and tablets. There is nothing that Microsoft can't do with the more universal Thunderbolt 3 port that they are already doing with the expensive proprietary Surface Connect port.

Asus is a manufacturer that has often shown risk affinity and a willingness to experiment in the past. The latest trial, the ROG Mothership, is a 17-inch gaming laptop with a detachable keyboard.

The Steam Winter Sale of 2019 has begun! Gamers can nab popular titles at a discount now through January 2. Steam is also offering opportunities for users to earn "festivity tokens," which can be used to purchase Chat Stickers and Chat Effects.

OnePlus took its time on finalising the Android 10 update for the OnePlus 6 and 6T, having pulled the initial Oxygen OS 10 build for both handsets because of various bugs. However, the company has now raced ahead with issuing a fresh stable build for the two devices just a day after announcing a new Open Beta. Both builds bring the OnePlus 6 and 6T up to the November security patch and add a notch hiding feature, among other changes. While OnePlus stresses that the rollout of the stable build, Oxygen OS 10.3.0, will be gradual, Open Beta 3 is available to download now.

Every new leak only serves to confirm that Samsung will offer unrivaled camera performance on its upcoming Galaxy S11 phones. According to a new report, the Galaxy S11 line will feature a high-res sensor—48 MP at least—as its telephoto shooter. Even better, all three phones will get such a sensor, even the S11e.

PoE Texas has announced the GBT-NUC, a new type of lid for certain Intel mini PCs that enables them to access power and data through just 1 Ethernet cable. Therefore, the devices can function independently of a conventional wall-plug, and may make them into more versatile office computers, display controllers or media-centers.

Vivo has launched the X30 series, its first pair of smartphones to come with dual-mode 5G as standard. Its unveiling has confirmed a slew of rumors and leaks, including that the Pro variant has quad rear cameras containing a 64MP sensor, a 50mm portrait lens and a periscope lens. The X30s can now be pre-ordered in China.

OnePlus' next upcoming series of smartphones has been subject to rumors that suggest it will have specs such as the Snapdragon 865 SoC, 5G and LPDDR5 RAM. Now, it is linked to a next-gen charging standard apparently called "Super Warp". The 8 Lite's processor is also mentioned in this leak.

Samsung has reportedly put a device called the SM-G715FN/DS through FCC testing, suggesting that it will be released soon. Some leaks allege that this phone will be marketed as the XCover Pro, thus resurrecting the OEM's line of these toughphones. Its new addition will have Bluetooth 5.0 and a display of about 6.3 inches in size.

One of Huawei's primary aims with the Mate 30 Pro is to revolutionise videography among smartphones. While the largest camera sensor in any smartphone may help the Mate 30 Pro achieve this, Huawei's latest flagship may not be the best choice for most people. We are not even talking about the absence of Google Play Services, either.

The Radeon RX 5500 XT may have just arrived, but do not forget that AMD is unleashing another mid-range in a few months. Expected to rear its head at CES next month, little is currently known about the RX 5600 XT, but Gigabyte has already confirmed its existence.

LG unveiled several new monitors today. The flagship is a 38-inch UltraWide that boasts a 3840x1600 resolution, a 144 Hz refresh rate, and a 1 ms response time. The UltraWide connects via Thunderbolt 3 and covers 98% of the P3 colorspace, according to LG. Other monitors announced today are detailed below.

Facebook announced today that it has acquired cloud gaming startup PlayGiga. The startup, which is based in Madrid, has experience working with telecoms to build gaming-as-a-service platforms that rely on 5G networks. This is yet another step in Facebook's journey of snatching up gaming-oriented companies.

Have you been undecided about which pair of wireless noise-cancelling headphones to buy this Christmas? While the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 and the Sony WH-1000XM3 are currently some of the most options on the market, it appears that Sony has another top-tier pair of WH-1000XM headphones in the works. The WH-1000XM4 are expected to arrive at CES 2020, although we would not rule out a June 2020 release date yet, either.

After the Galaxy Fold’s well-documented problems, Samsung seems to have had a design rethink: this alleged Fold 2 leak sports a completely different foldable design, reminiscent of the 2019 Motorola Razr. Spotted on China’s Weibo microblogging platform, the new Fold is smaller and sleeker.

Roland Quandt of WinFuture has all but confirmed the existence of the Galaxy Note 10 Lite, having published a slew of marketing pictures of the device. They confirm that Samsung has taken inspiration from the Galaxy S10e in designing the Note 10 Lite, with a pinch of the existing Note 10 series thrown in too. Elements of the Note 10 Lite may also point to how the Galaxy S11 series will look, which is due early next year.

A first glance at the two smartphones and another at the specs shows that the Huawei Nova 5T is based on the Honor 20. However, as we found out in our test, there are also some important differences!

Xiaomi's Redmi line is one of the most successful smartphone series right now, with the Redmi Note 7 phones having sold over 20 million units. The company released the Redmi 8 back in August and is set to follow it up in early 2020 with a direct successor. Details of the budget Redmi 9 have now surfaced, painting an interesting picture.

About two months away from the launch of the Galaxy S11 phones, we're yet to get concrete, live images of the flagships. Things may have changed, though, as a new leak shows what appears to be live images of the Galaxy S11, albeit in awful resolution.

Facing mixed reviews in its Early Access days (a stage that has begun in 2017), Citadel: Forged With Fire has managed to grow into a solid title thanks to the multiple content updates it received in the meantime. Released on November 1, this massive online sandbox RPG offers a large world to explore, beasts to kill or tame — dragons included, and more.

Twitter is testing some much-needed changes to the interface of its iPad app. Multiple columns make full use of the iPad’s larger display, among other quality of life improvements.

An alleged fraud ring at Foxconn used defective parts to assemble and sell iPhones, raking in over US$40 million over three years. Apple's Business Assurance and Audit team launched an investigation to assess the situation.

Redditor _rogame spotted GPU configurations for the entire Renoir APU lineup in a data dump of AMD's Bootcamp driver. The leak indicates that Renoir will feature Vega graphics. CPU performance, however, will see a big boost thanks to Zen 2.

The HP Spectre series consists of ultra-thin flagship laptops and convertibles to represent the best that the manufacturer has to offer for consumers. Nonetheless, all models thus far have been lacking in one particular area.

Fundamental aspects of the ThinkPad line have been scrapped, redesigned, and tweaked over the last 10 years. Have these changes improved the lineup of laptops, or have these modifications turned the modern ThinkPads into Ideapads?

The Redmi Note 7 and Note 7 Pro received the MIUI 11 update a while ago but it was an Android Pie-based build. Users of the phones can rest easy, though, as they're on course to receive a proper Android 10 update in the near future.

The Samsung Galaxy S11 phones are two months away from launch at this point. The S11+ will feature a massive 108 MP camera and more details of the CMOS sensor, the ISOCELL Bright HM1, have now been revealed.

JBL has launched the Reflect Eternal headphones via Indiegogo. The OEM claims that they are capable of self-charging, so that it may never run out of battery life or be dependent on a cable for play-time. This is conferred by Powerfoyle technology, which is found in the device's headband.

The OPPO Reno3 and 3 Pro have shown up as a set of results on the Master Lu benchmark. They show that the Snapdragon 765G may be slightly better than the MediaTek Dimensity 1000L SoC. In addition, it appears the Reno3 has a 12GB RAM variant, and that neither phone will have a 1440p display.

The latest firmware update for Nikon Z-series cameras allows them to use CFexpress, a new memory-card format associated with faster transfers compared to XQD. This new software also allows the Z 6 or Z 7 to record 4K UHD or full-HD video in RAW. However, this can only be done with Atomos recorders and may not be available for free.

Aipower is a start-up that had great success in its crowdfunding endeavors for its Wearbuds product. This is a type of fitness band that also houses a pair of truly wireless (or TWS) earbuds. They will be on show at CES 2020, along with some new products, a smartwatch included.

Some new price tags for two variants of the Sony PlayStation 5 have made their way online but have rapidly been denied by the manufacturer of the next-generation console. It was claimed that a PS5 with a 4 TB SSD would cost the equivalent of over US$1,000, while the same source stated that December 4, 2020 had been confirmed as the official release date.

The only known “Nintendo PlayStation” console is being offered up for auction, and it is possible the intriguing device could end up fetching in the region of US$1 million or even more. The prototype was built during a joint venture between Nintendo and Sony in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, the partnership ended when Nintendo made a deal with Philips.

Huawei is bringing Android 10 to a multitude of new devices in the latest phase of its EMUI 10 roll out. The list of eligible devices extends beyond recent flagships too.

Pokémon Go is heading into its fourth year with an overhaul of its buddy system. New updates for Android and iOS versions of the game introduce multiplayer AR too, among other changes and fixes.

Huawei has gone on the charm offensive with members of the French press, having invited them to interview Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, in Shenzhen. Yu confirmed multiple details about the P40 series, in what seemed like a wide-ranging Q&A about Huawei's next flagships.

The Redmi Note 8 Pro may have been spotted running Android 10 builds of MIUI 11 several times now, but a stable version may still be a way off. A fix for the European variant's Widevine DRM L1 certification will not arrive before next year either, according to Xiaomi Indonesia General Manager, Alvin Tse.

What do the Mi A2, Mi A2 Lite and Mi A3 all have in common? Well, they are Xiaomi's only handsets to be receiving new Android One updates, meaning that they are free from the sham that is the rollout of MIUI 11. They are also in line for being upgraded to Android 10, with Xiaomi hinting at when the three devices shall receive it too.

According to a University of Manchester study, your smartphone’s night mode might not let you fall asleep as previously thought. The warmer light transmitted may actually keep you awake for longer than with night mode disabled.