Latest Tech News

Dell has launched the new Inspiron 13 7000 convertible and Inspiron 15 5000 notebooks powered by AMD Ryzen APUs without much fanfare. Both notebooks come with options of either the Ryzen 5 2500U or the Ryzen 7 2700U APU and are available in a range of price options. However, initial user reviews on Reddit have criticized Dell for reusing a 2016 Inspiron 13 7368 chassis.

Three “clues” have been unearthed that all seemingly point toward the development of Watch Dogs 3. Watch Dogs was released by Ubisoft in 2014 and was a huge commercial success. The sequel landed in 2016 and also received favorable reviews. Unsurprisingly, Ubisoft has not commented on the rumors in regard to a possible third title in the series.

The next Galaxy S flagship phone from Samsung could well incorporate a notched display, if a new patent application is any indication. Also in tow is a second Galaxy Note-like design that is completely bezel-less.

The entry-level consumer TLC series includes 256-bit encryption and Opal 2.0 at affordable starting prices of $60 USD for the 120 GB model. Kingston SSDs are notable for their five-year standard warranty as opposed to two to three years from many other storage manufacturers. The UV500 SSDs will likely find their way into inexpensive or mainstream laptops since they lack NVMe support.

Law enforcement agencies in the US and UK have accused Russia of attempting to hack routers on a global scale. The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) has released an alert today entitled “Russian State-Sponsored Cyber Actors Targeting Network Infrastructure Devices.” Apparently, millions of network devices have been targeted.

Recently, there have been reports of what appeared to be a Samsung Galaxy S9 Mini. More details of that device have been revealed and it would seem that we've been bamboozled yet again, with the device apparently a Galaxy S9 variant designed exclusively for the Chinese market.

British tabloid newspaper The Daily Star has reported that Sony may be planning to discontinue the PlayStation Vita handheld game console, possibly this year. The device was launched in 2011, and although it’s believed it has sold 10 to 15 million units, it just hasn’t managed to keep up with the fierce competition from Nintendo.

Honor, Huawei’s online-focused brand, announced today their new budget-range Honor 7A and Honor 7C smartphones. While most of the specifications are as expected for this end of the market, these would be among the cheapest smartphones with face unlock functionality, as well as dual-Bluetooth and a triple card slot.

After Razer and Xiaomi, Asus could become the third big brand to hop on the gaming smartphone bandwagon. The rumor has been around for a while, but the device did not arrive at MWC 2018 as mentioned. Now, the company's CEO Jerry Shen also confirmed that a gaming phone by Asus can be expected, but did not reveal any details.

Introduced with the OxygenOS Open Beta all the way back in January, the new gesture-based navigation system for the OnePlus 5T is now available for everyone thanks to the OxygenOS 5.1.0 update. Once this feature is enabled, the navigation buttons are hidden, and the user needs to swipe the display for Home, Back, and Recent Apps.

Ultrabook owners stuck with USB Type-C now have more options to expand their existing Thunderbolt 3 ports and support a variety of legacy connections including eSATA and USB Type-A. The pricey adapters support daisy-chaining and will work with both PCs and Macs to utilize the most out of a single Thunderbolt 3 port.

The new God of War game has come with all the bell and whistles associated with games in the series. Reviews have been exceedingly glowing, and the game currently ranks second on Metacritic. Sadly, like all other God of War games, it's a PlayStation exclusive.

A study by Tech.pinion has shown Facebook's ever-dwindling fortunes in the eyes of the public. According to the study, 17% of the population has deleted the app from their smartphones since the details of the recent privacy violation case were brought to light a few weeks ago. A further 9% has deactivated their accounts altogether.

Although there is no official announcement yet and last year's Galaxy Xcover 4 was only released in Europe and Canada, a Galaxy Xcover 5 was recently discovered on Samsung New Zealand's website. Since the webpage was taken down in the meantime, it is rather safe to assume that it was all an accident and this rugged phone will be unveiled soon.

OnePlus' official store in North America ended sales of the OnePlus 5T a few weeks ago, citing a depletion of stock intended for the region. The company's web stores in Europe and India are also saying the same, which could be evidence of just how well the device has done commercially.

The United States Department of Commerce has banned all American companies from selling components to Chinese phone manufacturer ZTE. This includes Qualcomm and Dolby, both of whom have made major contributions to previous ZTE phones. The loss of Qualcomm-made SoCs is sure to damage the salability of ZTE phones.

The 5-inch LG Fortune 2 comes about one year after the introduction of the Android Marshmallow-driven LG Fortune and provides more than enough for a backup device. Its list of specs and features includes a Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor, 2 GB RAM, 16 GB internal storage, an 8 MP main camera, and runs Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box.

The i7-8086K would be a limited anniversary edition marking 40 years since Intel first launched the 8086 16-bit microprocessor. Spec-wise, it is very similar to an i7-8700K, but the base and boost clocks got bumped to 4 GHz and 5.1 GHz, respectively. With proper cooling, the i7-8086K could be overclocked easily to 5.0 GHz and beyond.

The Android 8.1 Oreo OTA update for the Razer Phone has started its rollout earlier today. Its list of features includes multiple optimizations, an improved visual layout, as well as the latest security patches and bug fixes. The update rolls out in stages and all Razer Phone users should get the new firmware within the coming weeks.

Although most leaks and rumors that we heard so far mentioned a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 as the heart of the upcoming Moto G6 Plus handset, this mobile device features in fact the Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 chip, which is listed by Geekbench as a Snapdragon 660 due to a bug. Other features apparently include 4 GB RAM and a 5.93-inch display.

Intel might be looking to retire its 'Kaby Lake-X' series of chips in late 2018 and focus instead on a 'Skylake-X' Refresh ranging from 6 to 18 cores. Also in tow is a new Solder Thermal Interface Material (STIM) for the Integrated Heat Spreader that can offer up to 200 MHz boosts on base and turbo frequencies. On the other hand, 'Cascade Lake' might get delayed till Q2 2019.

Although the stable Android Oreo firmware for the Nokia 3 smartphone brings a faster boot time, autofill, picture-in-picture mode, Instant Apps, Google Play Protect, and the April security patch, it also takes away a feature that was present in the latest beta, namely the Night Light mode.

The external NVMe SSDs from OWC are aimed at high-end users who create UHD content. Capacities range from 1 to 8 TB but prices are considerably higher than the mass produced NVMe solutions. Two ThunderBlade models can be connected in SoftRAID mode in order to provide increased read speeds of up to 3800 MB/s.

Sony has surprised by making the XZ2 Premium official less than two months after the launch of the XZ2 and XZ2 Compact. The new flagship features a 4K HDR display and dual rear cameras as well as a host of other other upgrades over the XZ2.

The Samsung Pro now comes with its most requested feature -- a backlit keyboard. In all other respects the device remains the same, but its newest feature makes it a viable alternative for users who normally buy higher end Windows or Apple notebooks.

A patent that is over one-year old reveals what appears to be a Switch tablet without the controllers, but it can also show a way to play games on more than a single display, similar to the Sifteo Cubes "intelligent game system" which has been discontinued more than three years ago.

The upcoming Gmail design update aims to bring the desktop user experience closer to that provided by the email service on mobile devices. The list of features currently being tested includes smart replies, snooze, a new sidebar, as well as a special mode that stops email recipients from forwarding certain emails.

Nvidia's voluntary-but-shady program that puts financial preferences for its members over non-members has turned away two of the largest OEMs in the world due to what the source claims to be "likely illegal" practices. The chipmaker has yet to provide any direct comments surrounding the details of its GeForce Partner Program.

With the 2018 EliteBooks, HP has put a focus on premium-features such as a Unibody-design and higher-quality displays – which of course also raises the costs. To bridge the gap compared with its older EliteBooks, HP has released a refresh of its older EliteBook 840 G4, which brings the newest CPUs to the older design.

The AMD Ryzen 2700X was given a test drive ahead of its official announcement and the CPU has managed to put up an impressive show. The Ryzen 2700X has managed to beat or come in close proximity to the Intel Core i7-8700K in gaming benchmarks and was absolutely stellar in multi-threaded performance.

A firmware teardown by XDA-Developers has revealed details of Xiaomi's upcoming device, the Mi 6X. The Mi 5X—also the Mi A1—was an immensely popular device but the Mi 6X could fail to match its success, with what appears to be a downgrade in battery capacity, and the lack of a headphone jack.

The WD Purple series is designed to withstand more rewrites and at wider temperature ranges than a consumer-grade variant. Applications where constant data access is vital, such as on surveillance systems or servers, can benefit from the increased reliability of the WD Purple MicroSD card. Prices start at just $18 USD for the 32 GB version with a 64 GB version coming next month.

Acer has updated its Chromebox line with new 8th Gen Intel Core-series processors up to i7 variants. The new Chromebox CXI3 lineup also feature additional upgrades including USB Type-C ports and M2 SSDs.

Sega has announced its classic adventure games Shenmue and Shenmue II will be made available for the PC sometime this year. Shenmue was originally released for the Dreamcast console in 1999, with a sequel coming out shortly afterwards, in 2001. A further sequel, which received over US$6 million in funding through a Kickstarter project, is also expected later on this year.

The Japanese video-game developer Sega has unveiled a Mega Drive Mini console at the recent Sega Fes 2018 event. The original Sega Mega Drive (known as the Genesis in North America) was released in Japan in 1988, and it ended up being immensely popular with over 30 million consoles sold worldwide. The micro-console is expected to be released later this year.

Move over, Hades Canyon. There's a new Kaby Lake G mini PC in town. The Beelink KB-G1 Game is an ultra-SFF desktop sporting Intel's new Core i7-8809G CPU with RX Vega M graphics. Although the KB-G1 Game is slightly thicker then the Hades Canyon NUC, it can support up to four displays at one time.

AMD has officially launched its 2nd Gen Ryzen Series high-performance chips for desktop computers. While faster acrosss the range, AMD has also been aggressive with its pricing strategy, cutting prices and putting further pressure on Intel in the process.

Reliance Jio, the largest cellular network provider in India, is teaming up with Qualcomm for an inexpensive Snapdragon-powered Windows 10 laptop with integrated LTE. No word yet on the exact SoC planned or if the notebook would be based on an existing design from a major manufacturer. The idea is similar in concept to Intel eSIM which has garnered a very slow adoption rate.

Sony's new flagships are finally hitting the US. The devices, the Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact are now on sale on Best Buy. Potential buyers can now pre-order, with shipping estimated for April 20. The flagships will make their way to brick-and-mortar stores by May 6.

The Moto E5 Plus has made the trip over to Geekbench. The budget device will be powered by a Snapdragon 430, which is an improvement over the MT6737 on the Moto E4 Plus.

Xiaomi has a terrible history with releasing kernel sources—a direct violation of the General Public License. The company looks to have seen the light, with a company spokesperson declaring that devices will now have their sources released to the public, albeit with a slight caveat.

The Snapdragon 710 (SDM710) will be Qualcomm's first SoC in its new Snapdragon 700-series. The chipset will feature two A75 cores and six efficient A55 cores. It will also see likely see its first use on two Xiaomi devices that will be released later in the year.

A report from Kotaku about the video-game company Hangar 13 has mentioned the development of a new BioShock game. BioShock Infinite was the last release in the popular series from 2K Games, and that title came out in 2013. There has been no official announcement about the game yet, which is apparently codenamed “Parkside.”

An internal memo warning Apple employees about the consequences of leaking information has been leaked. The tech giant has suffered from a considerable number of leaks in the past, and the memo warns that leakers face losing their jobs and may be fined and even imprisoned. Apparently, the Cupertino-based firm caught 29 leakers in 2017.

Less than a month since it managed to reach 200 million users within a 30-day period, Telegram Messenger has to take a serious blow as the Russian authorities decide to ban its use in the country. The reason for this decision is the company's unwillingness to provide the keys required by the Federal Security Service to decrypt the users' messages.

The new Vivo Y71 phablet has a generous 6-inch display and features a low-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor, 3 GB RAM, just 16 GB internal storage (expandable thanks to a microSD slot), as well as a single 13 MP camera on the back and a 5 MP selfie shooter. However, it also comes at a price of around US$168.

Artists, designers, and editors with Surface Pro 4's can now enjoy full on-screen controls when using a Surface Dial on their Surface device. The Surface Dial provides basic functionality for all Bluetooth 4.0 LE equipped Windows 10 devices, but only the Surface Studio, Surface Book 2, Surface Pro 2017, and Surface Pro 4 provide the full experience.

The refreshed X407/X507 ultrabooks are some of the slimmest models out there, featuring CPUs up to gen 7 Core i7-7500U coupled with up to 8 GB DDR4 RAM, Nvidia's GeForce MX110 GPUs, storage combos made of a 256 GB SSD and a 1 TB HDD, Nanoedge IPS FHD displays with thin bezels, and fingerprint sensors compatible with Windows Hello.

According to rumors, AMD's Navi-based GPUs, which are slotted for release in 2019, may compete with Nvidia's GTX 1080 but not supersede it. This could spell trouble for AMD; the GPU shortage caused by the cryptomining craze particularly hit AMD's stock, and the lack of a competitive GPU next year may cause a loss of market share.

Although it is not a compact handset, the new ZTE Nubia Z18 also carries the "Mini" attribute. This 5.7-inch handset is powered by the Snapdragon 660 processor, next to 6 GB RAM, as well as 64 GB or 128 GB internal storage. Sadly, it is only available in China for now, where it can be acquired for the equivalent of US$285 or US$335 (depending on the amount of storage).