Latest Tech News

Notebookcheck has partnered with Dutch premium smartphone case maker Mujjo to offer readers a sitewide discount. All you need to do is type in the custom code for a 15% discount to help treat your mother, or yourself, to a great new case or sleeve.

Dell XPS boss Frank Azor has revealed that the next iteration of the XPS 15 laptop will have its webcam located on the top bezel. Many XPS 15 9570 owners have complained about the location of the camera under the Dell logo on the bottom bezel of their laptops, which effectively turned the webcam into a “nosecam”.

An executive for Slightly Mad Studios has admitted that the future development of the Mad Box console is looking “questionable”. Slightly Mad, which is the company behind the Project CARS series of games, revealed it was planning on producing a console that could offer incredible VR support amounting to 60 FPS per eye, or 120 FPS in total.

A Samsung Galaxy S10 5G owner has taken to an online platform to share some disturbing photos of the flagship smartphone after it apparently caught fire and exploded. It’s clear to see in the images the massive amount of damage the device has sustained; fortunately, it seems the user was not injured in the incident.
Samsung has issued a brief statement about the matter.

Dell reportedly sat silently on a critical SupportAssist vulnerability for nearly 6 months, according to the security researcher that reported it to the company. If you have the software installed, then chances are that your laptop will be affected, and it will be open to attackers unless you have recently updated SupportAssist.

Counterpoint Research's latest data on the smartwatch market indicates that 48% more of these products were shipped in 2019's first quarter (1Q2019) compared to that of 2018. Apple still has a considerable majority in these terms. This may have something to do with the ECG functionality of its fourth-gen Watch.

Ever wanted an XPS 13 but found its screen too small and graphics too slow? The Asus ZenBook S13 UX392FN offers a larger display and much more powerful GPU while being lighter and almost the same size as the Dell equivalent for about the same price.

Are you a fan of open source? Do you like making things? If so, then the SmarchWatch, a homebrew smartwatch, could be the ideal project for you. You will need a 3D printer and plenty of patience though.

Details regarding the SoC and rear cam setup are still unclear, but everything else is pointing at a solid mid-range handheld with up to 6 GB of RAM and up to 128 GB storage, a 6.3-inch FHD+ IPS screen, 8 MP selfie cam in a teardrop notch, circular fingerprint sensor on the back, plus a 3,930 mAh quick charging battery.

The Universal Windows Platform created for the Microsoft Store apps could soon be ditched, as Microsoft already discontinued support for its Windows Phone devices. App developers are reluctant to create programs for his platform, since it is much easier to program apps for Android, iOS and even Windows through regular win32 code. Microsoft may completely remove the apps and keep only the games, music and video section.

Launched in India back in January 2017, Samsung Mall will apparently go down on June 30. This piece of bad news reached the users of this service in the shape of a notification message on their handsets. However, the official website still does not show any information regarding its imminent closure.

Vade Secure is an email-security company that produces a series of reports called "Phisher's Favorites". The 2019 first-quarter (1Q2019) issue shows that the targeting of social media by this kind of hacker has increased by 74.7% compared to 1Q2018. Facebook and Instagram are prominent example of the sites in question.

The Recon 70 headset already exists for the Nintendo Switch; now, Turtle Beach has released variants of the same that are compatible with the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The headphones have faux-leather cups over 40mm drivers, complemented by the OEM's flip-up mic.

HP is currently running a sale on the numerous business and consumer laptops until May 5. One of the highlights is the EliteBook x360 1040 G5, which the company has reduced by up to US$2,009. The Chromebook x360 14 G1 is another good deal too with US$600 off its retail price.

Arun Maini is a popular tech YouTuber who claims to be in contact with the also-famous leaker IceUniverse. The former has reportedly gained even more detail on the upcoming Galaxy Note "Pro" variants than the latter has posted to Twitter.

Google will release its first mid-tier smartphones on May 7, 2019. It has been all but confirmed that they will be called the Pixel 3a and 3a XL. New tips on the subject claim to have more details on their prices in USD, as well as a new possible Geekbench score for the 3a.

New Moto Z4 renders have seemingly confirmed more features about the upcoming flagship smartphone. The Z4 will have dual-microphones, USB Type-C charging and even the hallowed headphone jack.

A report from market analyst company Counterpoint Research has stated that Apple’s iPhone X was the best-selling smartphone in the world in 2018. Top 10 charts for both the world and China were shared online and while Apple has dominated the global market, it seems the domestic manufacturer Oppo is the top dog in its home market.

In an issue reminiscent of Apple’s iPhone 4 ‘Antennagate’ woes, it appears that Samsung’s flashy new Galaxy Tab S5e is suffering from Wi-Fi signal attenuation issues when users place their hand in a certain position on the device. The problem is repeatable and has been encountered by several users according to SamMobile.

The company behind the crowdfunded laptop shell still has its order page live, despite admitting privately to backers that it has run out of money with potentially thousands of orders still unfulfilled.

As part of its quarterly earnings report, Qualcomm has revealed that will book US$4.5 to $4.7 billion dollars as a result of its legal settlement with Apple. The sizeable figure, previously unrevealed, leaves in no doubt that Qualcomm emerged from its legal wrangle with Apple the undisputed winner.

Amazon US is currently offering XFX’s Radeon RX 590 Fatboy video card for a pinch under US$200. Buyers willing to shell out US$199.99 for this version of AMD’s board will get a piece of hardware that packs 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and a boost clock rate of 1,580 MHz. Buy it before June 8 and you will also get a download code for two new games for your Fatboy to run.

The latest BIOS updates (version 1.4.0 and above) to the Dell XPS 15 9575 2-in-1 have become a cause for concern as they seem to render the keyboard and touchpad unresponsive whenever a user tries to login to the Linux desktop environment. Those who have filed this bug have confirmed that this is indeed a BIOS issue as the problem was resolved upon downgrading to the older 1.2.0 BIOS version.

Sony has already announced the PlayStation 5 is in development and even shared some scant but vital component details about the next-generation console. However, there is still no real idea of what the gaming hardware will actually look like when it finally hits the shelves, which will hopefully be sometime in 2020.

With the 1.5 update, World of Tanks brings a few new Swedish medium tanks that feature hydropneumatic suspension, the ability to choose which map to avoid in standard battles, changes — mainly nerfs — to Japanese heavy tanks, the infamous FV 4005, and the artillery branch. A special deal for Twitch Prime members is also available.

Intel will also be handing out $20 gift cards to GMG and promo codes for 10 percent off Origin laptops to select entrants. Winners will be announced every week for the next three weeks when the contest will finally close.

Dell may have just fixed the device's DPC-related latency issues, but the popular 15.6-inch laptop is still plagued by other problems that the company has failed, or refuses, to fix.

If you're a CAD student, medical researcher, or video editor in need of some serious horsepower for your schoolwork, then a simple Ultrabook just isn't going to cut it. The new Eurocom program will run all year long for high school students, recent graduates, and their families who want a high-power laptop fit for 3D rendering and CAD work.

Huawei is rumored to release its first TV this year. Most recently, the outlet Nikkei Asian Review has reported that this product could have an 8K resolution when it comes out. It also alleges that the same device will have its own 5G connectivity.

LG had planned to release its first-ever 5G smartphone, the V50 ThinQ, by now. However, some less-than-specified technical difficulties obliged the OEM to delay this event. It has now announced a new launch date for the phone: May 10, 2019.

Even though the OnePlus 7 Pro 12 GB RAM version has similar hardware specs compared to Samsung's Galaxy S10+ model, the GeekBench scores appear to slightly favor the Chinese smartphone. It should be noted that the high-end OnePlus 7 Pro version with 12 GB RAM will cost almost 50% less and it also comes with a better display.

Xbox chief Phil Spencer announced that Project xCloud has already entered the "take Home" stage, so more Xbox employees can test the game streaming service. Public testing for this service should become available some time after E3 this year. The service is similar to Google's Stadia, but Microsoft claims it will have a larger game portfolio.

Intel is currently preparing for the release of its new line of discrete graphics cards. Today (May 1, 2019), the company's senior principal engineer has officially confirmed that these new GPUs will support ray-tracing on a hardware basis. This puts them directly in Turing's firing-line - or possibly vice-versa.

Samsung has unveiled a new line of TVs in South Korea recently. However, rather than being mere flat content-displays, this new line is apparently designed to fit into the 'millennial' lifestyle. To this end, one of them, the Sero, can be switched between horizontal and vertical orientations.

The Unisoc Tiger T310 combines 3 ARM Cortex-A55 cores and 1 A75 core. This arrangement, as the OEM claims, makes it the world's first quad-core 4G/LTE SoC for smartphones. Therefore, the new chipset is a potentially affordable way to gain near-state-of-the-art performance.

One of Huawei's best smartphones this year is hundreds of dollars off just three to four months after its initial launch. If you're in the U.S., however, you'll have to give up the original warranty for the new cheaper price.

Noted tipster Ice universe appears to have gone back on his slightly cryptic comment about the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 (the Pro 4G version) coming with 25 W fast charging capability. The leaker admitted the probability of this was giving out the “wrong message”. However, another rumor that has been around for some time is that the Note 10 will get a pop-up camera.

In one of the greatest Indiegogo fails ever, the Energizer "brick smartphone" with an 18,000 mAh only managed to gain 11 backers. The sum pledged was US$15,005 — not much more than 1 percent of the US$1,200,000 fixed goal that had to be reached for the Power Max P18K Pop to enter production.

While the overall smartphone market may be down, Huawei is bucking the industry trend by confirming its position as the number 2 smartphone maker in the world ahead of Apple. While both Apple and Samsung lost ground, Huawei enjoyed incredible year-over-year growth with a 50.3 percent increase in smartphone sales.

Happy 50th Anniversary, AMD. The red team is celebrating half a century in business, having been founded on May 1, 1969. There are numerous celebratory products brandishing a flash of gold to enliven proceedings and Newegg is offering all sorts of goodies to those who buy an AMD Ryzen 7 2700X AMD50 Gold Edition – which at one point included entry into a prize draw to win a Matisse processor.

The latest update for the Galaxy Note 9 makes it easier to switch between taking regular and wide-angle selfies. The firmware updates the device to the April Android security patch too and introduces an option to automatically schedule Night Mode. Frustratingly, not all devices will receive these features this month though.

Facebook’s Oculus has announced that its two newest VR headsets will begin shipping on May 21. The Oculus Quest is the company’s first all-in-one VR gaming system while the Oculus Rift S is the successor t the original Oculus Rift headset and is targeted at more serious VR gamers with decent PC gaming rigs.

The announced OLED panel update for the Dell XPS 15 has already been delayed since March, and it now looks like those hoping for this display type on this particular performance laptop will have to wait even longer before making a purchase. However, there are signs that Dell could finally deliver the much-requested display option in June.

AMD has announced in an earnings conference call that its 7nm Navi GPU series will be launched in the third quarter of 2019. It is expected that there will be some sort of revelation about Navi at this year’s Computex, which starts at the end of May, with a possible full reveal at E3 in the second week of June.

Perhaps more importantly, will the toaster be compatible with Razer Chroma and require a Razer Synapse account to toast bread?

Apple has reported its Q2 results for 2019 which showed that its iPhone sales have continued the downward trend first recorded in Q1. However, Apple stock was up seemingly in response to its services business which crested US$11 billion for the first time along with news of a further US$75 billion in share buybacks.

The smartphone will be available first in Switzerland on the Sunrise network and will retail for CHF 847 (~ US$830). The Mi Mix 3 5G will cost closer to €599 (~ US$671) globally though and will feature the Snapdragon 855, which incorporates the 5G capable X50 modem.

HiSilicon will include 5G modems in all Kirin 985 SoCs, company representatives in Taiwan have confirmed. Manufacturing will begin in Q3 ready for Huawei's probable announcement of the Mate 30 series in October.

Foxconn's reported directions as regards display technology production have sparked speculation that the iPhones of the future may have microLED displays. This next-gen form of screen is starting to manifest in TVs at this point. However, Foxconn may think it is also the future of smartphone panels.

These affordable Precision laptops will carry a very wide range of processor options from a U-class Core i5-8265U up to an H-class Core i9-9880H. GPU options, however, will be limited to the Quadro P620 and the older Radeon Pro WX 2100. Wi-Fi 6, fingerprint reader, smart card reader, and IR camera are optional extras.