Latest Tech News

Do not install iOS 13.2. If you have a HomePod and have installed iOS 13.2, DO NOT RESET YOUR HOMEPOD. Multiple users are reporting that iOS 13.2, released yesterday, bricked their HomePod smart speakers. Apple has since pulled the update.

The new 1000-nit display will be about two times brighter than the display of the XPS 15. FirstNet integration comes standard with optional Wi-Fi 6 and LTE to aid first responders with critical information.

A leak from earlier in 2019 suggested that the next processor designed for Wear OS devices would be based on the Snapdragon 429, an SoC that features in low-end phones and tablets. It was hypothesized to be called the Wear 2700. However, code recently added to a Qualcomm kernel source code database suggests that it is in fact to be known as the 3300 instead.

The Rich Communications Service (RCS) standard has been touted as the ultimate messaging platform for some time. Unfortunately, its implementation and adoption worldwide could be described as sluggish at best. Therefore, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile have collaborated on the Cross Carrier Messaging Initiative (CCMI), which aims to bring it to their customers by 2020.

The leaks allegedly come from sources attending Nvidia's latest AIB partner briefings on the upcoming Ampere GPUs that are scheduled to launch in 1H 2020. Among the improvements rumored to come to the RTX 3000-series, the leaks point to greatly increased ray tracing performance, boosted rasterization capabilities, more VRAM for each model, slightly higher clocks, but lower TDPs and voltages that could lead to limited overclocking range.

The two leading foundries unexpectedly dropped any patent infringement claims and struck an agreement that allows both parties to license each other’s existing patents. Additionally, the agreement would also cover any other patents that would be filed by any side in the next 10 years.

While Xiaomi has announced that the Mi Note 10 is arriving and that it will feature a 108 MP primary rear-facing camera, the Chinese company has been quiet on other specs. However, leaked specifications from a renowned tipster suggest that the device could be a power user's dream in the making. Xiaomi is throwing everything but an active stylus in with this one, it seems.

Google’s parent company Alphabet is said to be deep in negotiations to buy fitness wearables company Fitbit. Fitbit had indicated late last month that it was interested in a sale of the company and it looks like it might likely end up either as part of Google’s product lineup or as a standalone Alphabet backed brand.

Microsoft has reintroduced its Xbox All Access program for customers in Australia, the UK, and the US. The regular subscription scheme includes the opportunity to upgrade to Project Scarlett in Holiday 2020, and there is also a limited time deal for UK/US Xbox One X buyers to sign up to get their hands on the next-generation console.

The rumor mill for the Samsung Galaxy S11 phones is starting to pick up, and code in the One UI 2.0 beta has revealed a few major details of the devices. They will be powered by the Exynos 9830 and Snapdragon 865, depending on region. UFS 3.0 storage and LPDDR5 RAM will also make an appearance on the phones.

Now there are two of them. Just yesterday, we received word of the Mi CC9 Pro, with the upcoming phone confirmed to sport five rear cameras, one of which will be a 108 MP sensor. Xiaomi has now announced yet another device, the Mi Note 10, with similar camera specifications.

Sony Interactive Entertainment has been busy registering some important terms with the Japan Patent Office. The trademarks are related to future PlayStation releases beyond the forthcoming PlayStation 5 console. The company has been securing all iterations up to number 10, which following past release schedules for PlayStations, could see the light of day by 2050.

A report from noted market analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has detailed when Apple could set the long-awaited iPhone SE 2 into production. Apparently, the diminutive smartphone will start being mass manufactured in January 2020, with March set as the potential launch period. Rumored hardware specifications for the iPhone SE 2 include the presence of a fast A13 Bionic chip.

Apple launched iOS 13.2 and iPadOS 13.2 today. The update brings 60 new emoji, the ability to opt-out of sharing Siri interactions with Apple, and Apple's Deep Fusion image processing technology for the iPhone 11 family of smartphones. However, given prior iOS 13 updates, it may be wise to wait on this one.

Apple unveiled its new AirPods Pro wireless earbuds earlier today. The buds feature a new design and active noise cancellation. However, the $249 price tag is significantly higher ($90) than the current AirPods'. AirPods Pro will be available for purchase starting October 30th.

BlizzCon, which starts this Friday, may have a few surprises in store for Overwatch and World of Warcraft fans. Citing inside sources, ESPN claims that Overwatch 2 will be announced at the convention. The next expansion for World of Warcraft, dubbed Shadowlands, may also make an appearance.

The Lenovo IdeaPad C340-15IWL is equipped with a Core i5-8265U processor, a GeForce MX230 graphics core and dual-channel RAM. The IPS touchscreen display supports the Lenovo Active Pen 2.

If you're a user of the Sprint model LG V40 who's been expecting the Pie update...well, look away; today's just not your day. A new OTA update is now rolling out to the last-gen flagship but therein lies disappointment, despair, and misery.

We're less than four months away from the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S11 phones. According to popular leakster Ice Universe, all major design and hardware elements of the phones have now been finalized, and that puts us bang right at the start of prime leak season. So, what do we know about the S11 at this point?

The Realme 5 Pro is a cost-effective Android phone released in 2019. Its latest software update adds the ability to shoot video in wide-angle mode. This upgrade also raises the 5 Pro's security patch level to 5 October 2019, although the phone remains on Android Pie (9.0).

The Arduino MKR WAN 1310 developer board can bring LoRa connectivity to projects without requiring continuous mains power. The board is just 67.6 x 25.0 mm and integrates an ARM Cortex M0+ processor. The MKR WAN 1310 is available to order now for €33 (~US$37).

NVIDIA now stocks the new Pro and non-Pro variants of the SHIELD TV on its official site. As projected, the latter is a 4K streaming stick with HDR 10. Both new Android 9.0 devices support Dolby Audio, can access GeForce NOW and have Google Assistant built in.

The "Mi Watch" is the likely name of Xiaomi's next wearable. The OEM has indicated that it is to be released on November 5, 2019, alongside the Mi TV 5 and Mi CC9 Pro. This new product is also projected to be a Wear OS device.

Earlier today, Kojima Productions announced that its hotly anticipated title Death Stranding will come to PC in the early summer of 2020. The game is slated for a PS4 release on November 8th of this year. Considering the impressive motion capture and model details in the game, it's likely the title will require high-end hardware to run at full settings.

Although it can also be used on iOS-powered devices, Google Play Music has just hit an impressive milestone with the help of its Android users alone — no less than five billion downloads. This music streaming service is available in 63 countries and will probably be replaced by YouTube Music in the long run.

The LG G Pad 5 appeared on Geekbench yesterday, but the scores suggest old silicon. The Geekbench post lists a quad-core Qualcomm CPU clocked at 2.19 GHz, suggesting the Snapdragon 821 speculated by earlier rumors. The scores are in line with other Snapdragon 821-equipped devices, meaning the G Pad 5 would be using a three-year-old chip.

The latest software update for the Galaxy S10 series comes with slow-motion video capabilities for the front camera, improved fingerprint recognition, Auto Hotspot, and a few minor changes. In China, these handsets have already started to receive the Android 10-based One UI 2.0 update (in a Beta testing stage).

There have multiple reports of an upcoming Xiaomi device with a 108 MP camera and 5x optical zoom. Well, that device is here now. The just-confirmed Mi CC9 Pro features a whopping five rear cameras and promises to be an affordable photography beast. Live images and details of the details of the device have now been revealed.

Microsoft's semi-custom approach to Ryzen isn't really any better than the best Ryzen 5 3500U or Ryzen 7 3700U laptop you can buy in terms of performance. It's certainly good and comparable to the Core i7-1065G7 in some respects, but benchmarks for the Ryzen 5 3580U show it to be nothing special.

Bitcoin had a wild ride this week. After dipping over 6% on Wednesday, the cryptocurrency rallied about 30% to finish the week 18% higher. Bitcoin is up over 50% since last October. The most likely causes of the swings this week involved Google's quantum computing success and Facebook's failures with Libra.

It's a common cost-cutting maneuver for budget gaming laptops that most high-end gaming laptops offer as standard. Retailers and resellers often neglect to mention the mode or how many RAM slots are available on product pages.

Apple's AirPods are currently projected to gain a Pro version soon, thanks to a recent slew of leaks and rumors. The latest of these may indicate that they will finally launch in colors besides white for a change. Furthermore, it is even vaguely possible that they will match those of the iPhone 11 Pros.

Artem Russakovskii of Android Police has posted a video showing his Pixel 4 XL taking ages to open the Settings and Spotify apps. Video recording on the phones also appears to be less than stellar, with obvious stutters at the start of the video. So much for being the smoothest Android device.

The Apollo Max is a new 10000mAh power bank that, according to its maker ELECJET, integrates the emerging graphene standard as a battery material. This, it is claimed, gives it an "unbeatable charging efficiency of 96%". This new product is currently available as a reward on its Indiegogo campaign page.

The GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER looks set to be a decent mid-range offering by NVIDIA, with the card offering almost GTX 1660 Ti performance at GTX 1660 pricing. The US$229 GPU is slated for an October 29 launch and has flexed its muscles in another gaming benchmark ahead of its official unveiling.

Redmi has teased a new promotion for the Note 8 Pro that ties in with the movie Terminator: Dark Fate. It will be available via the brand's Spanish division from October 29, 2019, and appears to consist of the offer of an appropriately-branded case with every sale of the standard 6GB model of the phone.

The first benchmarks of the Intel Core i9-10980XE Cascade Lake-X have been published early and the processor seems to be facing tough competition from the likes of the AMD Ryzen 9 3900X. In tests such as Cinebench R20, the 10980XE seems to have posted lower scores than even the Core i9-9980XE. The 10980XE's initial data however seem to be not a very good representative of a mature platform such as Skylake.

The consumer-grade security development group Nok Nok Labs has unveiled its new SDK. It asserts that it is the first such app software capable of conferring FIDO-based authentication on smartwatches. This, then, may help users depend more on their wearable for more functions typically carried out on a phone.

The Canon RF lens series has now added its 9th and 10th members, in the form of the 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM and 85mm F1.2L USM DS products respectively. The former is described as the most compact device in its class, whereas the latter debuts the novel feature of Defocus Smoothing. The OEM asserts that either would be an asset to those with EOS R or RP cameras.

The Xiaomi Mi A1 was released back in 2017 and has already received two major OS updates: Oreo and Pie. Owners of the phone have been curious about their chances of getting the Android 10 and, well, there's bad news for them.

The Nokia 9 PureView was plagued by several launch delays that saw it finally released earlier this year, with an outdated SoC. Its successor, the Nokia 9.1 PureView, has apparently been hit with a similar delay.

Motorola hasn't delivered a proper flagship in the last two years. That may be set to change in the near future, however, as a new report claims the company has its sights on a true flagship device that will sit above the sub-premium Moto Z line.

The foldable market stands at the very peak of the premium smartphone segment, and cameras are a rather important feature in that price bracket. It's no surprise, then, that Microsoft has announced its intent to provide the upcoming Surface Duo with brilliant camera performance.

With the G5 15 5590-PCNJJ, Dell has an interesting gaming laptop on offer. For 1,000 Euros (~$1,112), buyers receive a Core i5-9300H and a GeForce GTX 1650 for a combination that is able to run almost all games at high settings.

Another artbook-related leak has added fuel to the fire that Blizzard Entertainment is finally preparing to reveal Diablo 4 to expectant gamers. A single page about a character that is expected to appear in the dungeon crawler has been shared on Twitter, and it seems the Daughter of Hatred herself has good news for Diablo fans.

A certificate from Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has confirmed the existence of the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 device. In a further surprise, the documents also revealed that there will be a Pro variant of the smartphone that the Chinese manufacturer has skillfully managed to keep under wraps so far. Speculation in regard to potential price has been optimistic.

Phones with a headphone jack are becoming unicorns, especially in the premium segment of the market. After the launch of the Galaxy Note 10 duo, lovers of the 3.5mm jack now have their work cut out for them in the search for impressive phones with the ever-elusive port, so why not make things a tad easier for them?

A recent study by the analyst group Asurion has concluded that being brought along to celebrate Halloween is one of the biggest potential nightmares a smartphone can go through. The risks of damage and other adversity these devices may face go up by as much as 42% on the date in question. The study indicates this is linked to phone use at night during these festivities.

Lenovo's mobile workstation scores points with great input devices, good battery life and a Thunderbolt 3 port. But the laptop isn't able to reach its full performance potential.

The latest AGESA 1.0.0.4 microcode update for AMD Ryzen 3000 processors seems to enhance all-core boost clocks and improve boot times, according to preliminary test results. This update is in beta and will soon be seeded for all compatible Ryzen motherboards, but it does not yet contain all the improvements that are touted to be available in this microcode release.