Latest Tech News

Two images of a printed circuit board (PCB) have been posted on Beidou that could be part of AMD’s upcoming Navi graphics cards. The AMD logo can clearly be seen on the PCB and there is an obvious space for a GPU. The PCB in the pictures is still covered in a protective film.

The well-known smartphone industry tipster Ice universe has sparked a flurry of speculation with two enigmatic tweets pertaining to Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note 10. His two clues consisted of the simple line “Da Vinci is symmetrical,” which was followed by a tweet containing a picture of the famous Vitruvian Man drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci.

A list of purported Comet Lake CPUs has surfaced online and in addition to the U-series, we are getting to see a new G-series as well. The target segment of Comet Lake G is still unclear, but Intel is introducing a 6C/12T part in the U-series that is expected to succeed the current Whiskey Lake-U generation. The base clocks seem to be low but there is good turbo boost potential with Intel even indicating the attainable boosts based on core counts.

Radeon driver code for Navi has been spotted that appears to confirm the upcoming graphics solution from AMD will be based on the Graphics Core Next (GCN) microarchitecture. There was still some speculation that Navi might feature next-generation architecture that had been mentioned on AMD’s graphics roadmap but that seems highly unlikely now.

An upcoming feature that recently debuted in the latest Android Q beta may not be officially seen until next year. Scoped Storage, a feature that hopes to curtail app permission issues by sandboxing applications, has been found to break legacy applications under some common circumstances.

Six apps from Chinese developer DO Global have been found to secretly collect user data and send it to Chinese servers. While these apps have now been removed, this issue has once again turned a spotlight on a serious privacy problem that continues to plague the Google Play Store: unwarranted app permissions.

Google is currently running a sale on the Pixel 3 and 3 XL until May 6. The deal applies to all colours and storage options. At launch, the Pixel 3 and 3 XL cost up to US$899 (£839) and US$999 (£969) respectively, but they are now down to a minimum of US$599. Only while stocks last, mind.

The device-diagnostics company Blancco claims to have bought over 100 second-hand hard drives on the eBay sites of 4 different counties, to see what data, if any, could be accessed on them. It claims that 42% of these drives still stored information from their previous owners that can be thought of as sensitive.

According to reports from China, Apple will start mass-producing its next iPad Pros between the end of this year and the start of 2020. The upcoming tablets will be manufactured in Taiwan before a spring or summer 2020 release.

iPhone leaks are like buses. You wait for one and two turn up at once. The iPhone XI Max is the supersized version of its little brother; both have the same gargantuan notch and square rear-facing camera bump. Undoubtedly, both will be ludicrously expensive too.

Huawei will sell the P Smart Z in Emerald Green, Midnight Black and Sapphire Blue. The device will be marketed as the P Smart Pro in some countries and is equipped with a Kirin 710 SoC, 4 GB RAM along with 64 GB of storage. The P Smart Z will have a 4,000 mAh battery too and will retail for €210 (~ US$234).

Intel has made its earnings report for the first quarter of this financial year (Q1FY2019) available to the public. In it, overall revenue is described as "flat" compared to Q1FY2018. Its "data" business has declined by 5% in the same terms, although its "PC-centric" revenues are up 4%.

The 4K display standard is likely to be immediately succeeded by its 8K counterpart in the fullness of time. ResearchandMarkets has estimated that, even though this next-gen solution only pulled in about US$2 billion worldwide in 2017, this will increase to just over $68 billion in 2026.

Need an original twist on the common-or-garden wireless speaker? The start-up Coolgeek might have you covered with their new Soundesk product. It is a round glass coffee table with a conical aluminum stand - that also houses a 360-degree speaker. The Soundesk can work via Bluetooth or an AUX cable for allegedly clear, high-quality sound.

The May 2019 update is set to be the next major upgrade to Windows 10. However, those with older machines may have particular trouble with getting it to work after installing it. This is because Microsoft has raised the minimum recommended hard-drive storage to support doing so to 32GB.

A reliable Apple analyst has reported that the Cupertino-based company plans to bring 5G iPad Pros to market in 2021. The prediction comes just a week after Apple and Qualcomm made headlines for signing a deal to supply 5G modems for the 2020 generation of iPhones.

Samsung PR is in overdrive. After delaying the public release of the Galaxy Fold following reports of numerous display issues, the company is now doing its best to shut down any negative press about the foldable smartphone.

Sony has released its consolidated financial results for the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2019 (FY2018). Although hardware sales for the PlayStation 4 have slowed down, they are still selling at an impressive rate. Total sales for the PS4 stand at 96.8 million units and should easily top 100 million before the PS5 is released.

Triple rear-facing cameras? Check. Huge camera bump? Check. Gargantuan notch? Check. No USB Type-C? Check. This is the iPhone XI.
Updated: YouTube video fixed & additional photos added

A record for a processor that utilizes the Glacier Falls platform has been spotted in SiSoftware’s Sandra database. “Glacier Falls PCH” was mentioned in a leaked Gigabyte presentation slide in December and was categorized as “Extreme” with availability starting in Q3 2019. The High End Desktop (HEDT) processor in this particular case could be a member of the upcoming Cascade Lake-X series.

Danish desktop enthusiasts have built an incredible workstation based around an AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X. The desktop computer was actually undergoing a thorough upgrading session in a venture labeled “Project Threadripper”. The end product looks terrific and features hardware from Corsair, Samsung, Asus, and Cooler Master.

An Alienware Area-51m owner has managed to score a very respectable 26,435 points in 3DMark’s Fire Strike test (1.1). The laptop was fitted with an Intel Core i9-9900K CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 GPU. But it seems a couple of overclocking Clevo owners have proved their gaming pedigree by immediately responding with reminders of how well their particular laptops performed.
Clarification: The Clevo laptops recorded their scores earlier this month.

After running a successful Indiegogo campaign, Chuwi will be selling its Aerobook at a reduced price on April 29th and 30th. The Aerobook features an Intel Core m3-6Y30 (the same CPU used in the 2016 12-inch MacBook), 8 GB of RAM, and a 256 GB SSD.

China Unicom has deployed a 5G network in an area of Shenzhen called the Qianhai-Shekou Free Trade Zone. This makes China one of only 3 countries with the new generation of wireless networks. The carrier is now planning exhibitions of 5G applications in the Zone.

The A9 was added to OPPO's store without an official announcement, and the store page does not even reveal the full specs. OPPO most likely used the MediaTek Helio P70 SoC to power the A9 and added 6 GB of RAM plus 128 GB of storage. Also included are a large 6.53-inch FHD+ IPS screen and a 4,020 mAh battery, together with a 16 MP selfie cam and a 16 MP + 2 MP dual-cam on the back.

While ZTE is still recouping from last year's bans, the company is certainly not holding back when it comes to 5G tech, as the company is ready to launch its first 5G-comaptible handheld in a few weeks. The Axon 10 Pro integrates Qualcomm's X50 5G modem and the Snapdragon 855 SoC, which can be couple with up to 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage.

Asus is about to launch a handful of high-end gaming laptops retailing for $1500 up to even $2500. Unfortunately, the majority of these new releases will not integrate Thunderbolt 3 connectivity. Meanwhile, MSI and Razer have been including Thunderbolt 3 as a staple on the super-thin GS series and Blade series for years.

Did you buy a Mac, iOS device or the Apple World Travel Adapter Kit between 2003 and 2010? If you did, chances are that you received a wall plug too. Turns out that the three-prong adapters sold in certain countries during that period can break and cause an electric shock if touched.

MyDrivers has reported that the upcoming third-gen Nubia gaming phone has made it through the Master Lu benchmark. However, the Red Magic 3 had allegedly made this trip before, posting a 470,000+ score. This new apparent result is comparably impressive.

The Samsung Galaxy Fold was supposed to see an official release tomorrow (April 26, 2019). However, as many of us know by now, teething problems uncovered by reviewers have postponed the launch of this next-gen smartphone. A tweet allegedly referencing an AT&T email suggests that it will now take place in June.

Lenovo officially launched the Z6 Pro, a new flagship smartphone, in China only 2 days ago. Now, the OEM has released a celebratory poster on Weibo claiming that this device has attracted over 200,000 reservations already. Then again, these clicks do not necessarily presage actual orders, which will begin on April 29, 2019.

As part of its international roll-out, the European prices for the OPPO Reno series have been announced. The base model will cost €500 (about US$557), whereas the one with 10X zoom will be €800 (~US$892). The 5G variant of the same will be €100 (a total of $1003) more than this.

The South Korean manufacturer is reportedly switching production of its flagship smartphones from its home country to an existing plant in Vietnam. The move is an effort to reduce manufacturing costs amid seven consecutive quarters of losses. LG currently manufacturers up to a fifth of its smartphones in South Korea.

Details of the upcoming Honor 20's cameras have been revealed. The phones, the Honor 20 and Honor 20 Pro, are said to feature camera hardware similar to the Huawei P20 Pro and the new P30 Pro. The big, RYYB and RGB sensors are also joined by telephoto and ultra-wide angle lenses.

OnePlus will launch its new OnePlus 7 phones on May 14. This will be the first time the company launches a Pro model and it looks increasingly like an attempt to move upmarket, as the top trim OnePlus 7 Pro is now being touted to have an MSRP north of US$800.

As rumored, and completely expected, Samsung will launch a 5G variant of the Galaxy Note 10. Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg spilled the beans on the yet to be officially unveiled device during the company’s fiscal Q1 2019 earnings call.

Microsoft’s Surface sales are up 21 percent in strong signs that its bet on hardware is starting to pay off. It is now the seventh quarter in a row that its Surface sales have topped US$1 billion.

A patent has been unearthed that shows one of Xiaomi’s ideas for solving the problem of the notch. In the drawings contained in the application, Xiaomi has gone with a stick-out notch that stretches beyond the normal display area of the smartphone. The stick-out notch is filled with two cameras facing the front while the rear of the notch is left bare.

The supposed key specifications for the upcoming Redmi 855 flagship smartphone have been shared online. The device, which is expected to be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, still hasn’t got any other name than “Redmi 855” at the moment. The smartphone is expected to be released in either May or June and could feature an AMOLED display.

Update: New table included summarizing the deals involved. The price cuts are relatively minor at just $5 to $20 for the smartwatches and tablets while the MateBook X Pro laptop gets a permanent and more attractive $150 to $200 savings.

Rockchip announced a new 8-core mobile SoC yesterday. The RK3588 will feature four ARM Cortex-A55 cores and four ARM Cortex-A76 cores and will be manufactured on an 8nm process. Rockchip claims that the new manufacturing process will increase performance by up to 30% while reducing power consumption by 40%.

Using several pieces of A.I-based upscaling software, a modder has upscaled about 15,000 textures used in Fallout: New Vegas. The textures have a 4x upscale (2x horizontal, 2x vertical), giving New Vegas a sharper, cleaner look. This isn't the first instance of a mod team using A.I to upscale textures; Final Fantasy VII received an upscale mod earlier this year.

The creator of the Metal Gear franchise envisions a future where streamers could directly interact with their viewers in new types of games, thanks to increased Internet speeds and more stable cloud gaming services. Advanced AI developments will also play an important role not only in games, but in movies as well. AI may also help consumers choose movies and games according to preset preferences.

Specifically designed for selfie fans, the new Redmi Y3 from Xiaomi comes with a 32 MP frontal cam that offers AI enhancements for low-light pictures, portrait enhancements, and also provides a face unlock feature. The handheld is powered by the Snapdragon 632 SoC coupled with either 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB storage or 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB storage. There is a bright 6.26-inch display with 720p resolution and a generous 4,000 mAh battery, as well.

The GTX 1660 Ti is designed with a graphics subsystem power of 60 W to 80 W compared to 80 W to 90 W on the mobile RTX 2060 to suggest that the GTX 1660 Ti is already an "RTX 2060 Max-Q" is several ways. We take a closer look at their performance numbers to find out how these GPUs compare to each other.

It has been projected that Nintendo is preparing 2 new versions of its latest console this year. One of them, a 'budget' model, has been slated for a release in 2 months in a new Bloomberg report. It also states that the other 2nd-gen Switch will be a "modest upgrade".

Xiaomi launched the Mi 6 back in April 2017 originally with MIUI 8. Two years on, the Chinese manufacturer has released an Android 9 Pie beta build for its China and Global branches. Proceed with caution.

The latest reports on the subject of new Intel platforms suggest that the first 10-nanometer (nm) chipsets will be here later in 2019. However, according to a new image characterized as the company's latest release schedule, this does not apply to commercial CPUs. It puts the launch of the next-gen architecture at the 3rd quarter of 2021.

Microsoft is currently investigating an inappropriate drive reassignment bug that prevents Windows 10 1903 or the May 2019 update Setup from proceeding and as such, is not offering the update to devices that have USB storage devices plugged in. The issue will be resolved in a future servicing update and in the meanwhile, a workaround is to remove all external storage devices before initiating the update procedure.

The OnePlus 7 Pro could cost the rough equivalent of $US928 in one of its markets. At least, this is what the prolific leaker Ishan Agarwal has apparently heard. A Tweet from this individual has set out the apparent memory SKUs of this upcoming phone, as well as their respective prices in Euros.