Latest Tech News

The Chrome Web Store has updated its policy concerning extensions with crypto-mining scripts, outright banning such extensions from the store. Any existing extensions that can be used for mining cryptocurrencies will be removed by the end of June 2018. While the policy will prevent future extensions that are obviously used for crypto-mining, it remains to be seen if this will solve the problem of surreptitious mining scripts hidden in otherwise innocuous extensions.

Samsung's lesser-known Odyssey gaming series is getting an overhaul. The completely new design is aiming at the thin-and-light market with its unique outer lid, keyboard design, and vapor chamber cooler to stand out from the crowd. The system will be available later this month in South Korea.

It's a big day for Intel with new laptops coming in from every direction seemingly all at once. We've compiled a list of everything announced to keep track of it all and we expect more to be come throughout the rest of the month. Here is the first wave of Coffee Lake-H notebooks.

Meizu decided to steer clear from notched or bezel-less displays for its 15/15+ anniversary models, keeping the tried and true bezel-less sides + upper/lower bezel design of yesteryear models. The 15+ model will feature a 5.95-inch QHD screen and an Exynos 8895 SoC, while the standard model will come with a 5.46-inch FHD display and a Snapdragon 660 SoC. Both models integrate 4/6 GB RAM and 64/128 GB storage, plus a sturdy metal back.

Dell has announced refreshes to its Alienware 15 and 17 gaming notebooks. Dubbed the 15R4 and the 17R5, these notebooks come with all the hexa-core overclockable goodness of Intel's new 'Coffee Lake-H' CPUs in a premium finish. The new Alienwares feature a multitude of customization options, including GPU choices from AMD and NVIDIA and debut a new TactX keyboard with support for n-key rollover. Dell also introduced an updated Alienware Command Center software to offer more granular control over the CPU and GPU. Also on the anvil is a new rewards program. Both the Alienware notebooks are available for purchase starting this month.

The handset that is believed to be the compact (and less potent) version of the Samsung Galaxy S9 flagship has just been spotted on Geekbench, where it is listed under the model number SM-G8750. This handset is rumored to be currently tested in China and features 4 GB RAM and a mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor.

Dell has announced a new G-series of budget-friendly gaming laptops which offer a more affordable alternative to their premium Alienware line-up. This move helps to separate their gaming laptops from the Inspiron notebooks, even though the G5 looks distinctly like the previous Inspiron 15 7000.

The Dell XPS 15 9570 is certainly one of the highly anticipated refreshes both fans and reviewers were eager to catch hold of. In the wake of the 'Coffee Lake-H' launch, Dell has unveiled what could be its most ambitious XPS 15 yet. Sporting CPU options up to the Core i9-8950HK and GPU options up to the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, the XPS 15 9570 has everything a multimedia enthusiast would require and more. Prices start from US$999 for the Core i5-8300H variant with expected availability sometime in May 2018.

The latest 15.6-inch Nitro 5 laptops from Acer will integrate CPUs up to Intel's hexa-core i7-8850H coupled with as much as 32 GB of DDR4-2666 RAM and 512 NVMe SSD storage. All refreshed models will also include Nvidia's GTX 1050 Ti GPUs, an FHD IPS display and support for Intel's Optane memory. Availability is slated for May.

If Intel was counting on keeping Apple as a customer into the future, it might have to think again if a new report from Bloomberg is accurate. The Cupertino giant, which has long made the market-leading silicon powering its iPhone lineup, could end up powering its Mac line as soon as 2020.

All the new updates on the second generation model will be the 144 Hz/7 ms and 4K UHD Pantone-certified display options, USB 3.1 Type-A instead of USB 3.0, a faster UHS-II SD reader for up to 300 MB/s, a slightly thinner 1.8 cm profile, Dolby Atmos audio software, ambient light sensor, a sleeker "AERO" logo, and finally a hexa-core Core i7-8750H to top it all off.

The Core i7-8750H offers the biggest leap in performance that the 45 W HQ-Series has seen in years. Its CineBench R15 Multi-Thread score of 1168 points is just 15 percent slower than a stock Core i7-8700K. Actual performance, however, will be highly dependent on the overarching cooling solution as we are able to record a score as low as 966 points on a pre-production MSI GS65 sample.

Asus is expanding its Zephyrus family with a new member equipped with the latest Intel Coffee Lake-H Core i7-8750H CPU. The processor upgrade is not surprising, but the fact that the updated design is backtracking on some defining characteristics of the original Zephyrus is unexpected. It also introduces manual graphics switching for the first time in the family.

The Aorus X9 in particular will receive the unlocked Core i9-8950H CPU, GTX 1080 GPU, and 144 Hz IPS display option with G-Sync for $3900 USD. Gone is the dual GTX 1070 SLI option in favor of a redesigned cooling solution fit for a single GPU. The 13.9-inch Aorus x3 will be the only one left out of 8th gen Coffee Lake-H bandwagon.

The Intel Core i9 for mobile has arrived and it brings native Optane support to gaming laptops for the first time. Asus has internally refreshed its powerful 17.3-inch gaming notebook to take advantage of the faster Turbo Boost, faster DDR4-2666 RAM, and Optane memory options. The chassis and core hardware features remain identical.

The bezels of the brand-new design are just 4.9 mm thick on three sides for a high 82 percent screen-to-body ratio. MSI is promising the thinnest bezels ever on a 15.6-inch gaming notebook for a final chassis size close to that of a 14-inch notebook. Of course, 8th gen Core i7 options will come standard.

Intel has taken the wraps off the new 45W hexa-core CPUs belonging to the 8th generation 'Coffee Lake-H' family. The SKUs start from the quad-core Core i5-8300H and go all the way up to the hexa-core Core i9-8950HK. As one of the new aspects of Coffee Lake, Intel is touting what they call 'Thermal Velocity Boost', a technology that offers a maximum turbo single-core boosts up to 4.8 GHz under certain conditions.

One of Steam Machine's most attractive features at the time was the ability to allow PC gamers to play games in the living room. As time went on, Valve and Nvidia slowly began incorporating this same feature onto existing PCs. The demand for a dedicated Steam Machine PC quickly dropped and its high price of entry deterred even the most fervent of gamers.

The OnePlus 6 is about due for an announcement. There have been reports that the device will launch with an MSRP of US$700 for its highest-specced variant. We are, of course, not at all convinced.

The S6 was released in April 2015. The device has had its time out in the sun but that is at an end, with Samsung officially ending support for the device. The S6 Edge, S6 Active, and S6 Edge+ also get the same treatment, with the Note 5 set to follow in a few months.

Although Google is currently involved in lower-cost initiatives like Android Go and Android One, the Google Pixel smartphones and phablets released so far always targeted the top tier of the market. However, the company is now planning to adjust its strategy in some markets like India, where a mid-range Pixel phone is expected to launch by the summer's end.

A developer on XDA has devised a means of unlocking bootloaders of the Nokia 2, Nokia 5, Nokia 6, and Nokia 8. While testers have confirmed the fact that it does work, the methods involved may not be the safest.

While the Moto Z3 Play renders that have just surfaced online show a handset with a side-mounted fingerprint reader, as well as a dual-camera setup and the contacts for Moto Mods on the back, the recent FCC listing reveals a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor, 4 GB RAM, and 32 GB or 64 GB internal storage.

A new exclusive report about LG's next-gen flagship — which might not hit the market as the LG G7 after all — reveals that this handset will feature a dedicated AI button and a rear camera with f/1.5 aperture (obviously, a dual camera setup). If the rumor turns out to be true, this device will be unveiled by the end of the month.

With as much as 13,280 x 9,184 effective pixels, the 120MXS CMOS sensor provides remarkable clarity and definition even at considerably increased magnification. The sensor is also capable of recording videos at 9.4 fps in full RGB or 18.8 fps in black& white, making it suitable for advanced surveillance systems.

After a rather long wait, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 phablet owners on T-Mobile can finally enjoy the benefits delivered by the Android Oreo update. Sadly, the release notes page has not been updated by T-Mobile yet, but the update is most likely based on Android 8.0, as it happens with the other Samsung flagships that recently received the update.

Fans of the Mi X5 will probably be disappointed to learn that the 6X is set to feature only a slightly more powerful Snapdragon 626 SoC. The imaging setup, however, has been substantially upgraded to include a 20 MP selfie cam along with a dual 20 MP + 8 MP rear cam. The display was also replaced with a larger 5.99-inch 2160x1080 IPS panel, but the memory and storage configuration remained the same 4 GB + 64 GB.

Not long after HMD Global managed to bring back two classic Nokia phones, namely the 3310 and the 8110, we hear that another iconic handset will be revived by the current owners of the Nokia brand. This is the Nokia 2010, a handset that was introduced in 1994 and is widely recognized as the first mobile phone that made it easy to write messages.

Oppo has officially launched the R15 and R15 Pro flagship smartphones in its home market of China. As previously leaked, the devices both incorporate a notched display, which looks set to be the smartphone trend of 2018.

The new Samsung Notebook 5 and Notebook 3 come with 7th and 8th generation Intel Core i7 (quad-core models only) processor options, a dual storage system, as well as up to NVIDIA GeForce MX150 graphics options. Both notebooks are expected to hit South Korea later this month, and other markets will follow in Q2 2018.

UMIDIGI's latest device is the A1 Pro. The device will be powered by the new MT6739 SoC, and will feature dual rear cameras, an 18:9 HD+ display, 3 GB of RAM, and 16 GB of storage. The presence of a USB Type-C port is, perhaps, the biggest surprise on this.

Xiaomi's new Mi TV 4S will be an improved refresh of the Mi TV 4 that was launched last year. The TV features a 55-inch 4K HDR display, 2 GB of RAM, 8 GB of storage, a quad-core Cortex A53 SoC clocked at 1.5 GHz, a Mali-450 MP5 GPU, and a 28W audio output setup.

Intel takes the guesswork out of game compatibility by testing the most popular games throughout the Core ix series themselves. The most recent additions are the Core i7-8809G and Core i7-8705G with suggested graphical settings on current titles for what Intel deems would be an optimal gaming experience.

If the unconfirmed prices are accurate, then we can expect the Core i7-8750H and Core i9-8950HK SKUs to retail for approximately $2600 USD and $3500 USD, respectively, with an uncommon 144 Hz IPS 1080p display. The Helios 500 looks to be a completely new design compared to the existing Helios 300 with even larger rear ventilation grilles.

Huawei may have struggled in its bid to get into the US smartphone market, facing disappointments from all prospective partners. The company will not be giving up on that particular venture, though, according to CEO Richard Yu.

Huawei launched the Mate 10 devices towards the end of 2017. While the Mate 10 Pro is being sold in the US officially, the base Mate 10 and Mate 10 Lite never made the trip over. The latter is currently listed on Amazon, though, with a US$310 price tag.

If you are looking for a Facebook alternative, then Arbtr might be your thing. Returning to the basics of social networking, this Kickstarter project aims to create an "anti-feed" where users can share a single thing at a time. The project has just been posted and there are 30 days left to meet the US$32,551 goal.

This seems serious, although there is a slim chance for it to be an April Fool's Day joke. However, the Facebook privacy-related scandal is not something to joke about, especially when an emerging targeted social network decides to delete its page which has an impressive number of 1.5 million fans.

Since the Lenovo Tab 4 has been around for a while, the time seems right for a new Android slate from the Chinese brand. Sadly, the FCC arrival of the Dolby Atmos-certified Lenovo TB-8304F1 does not reveal anything else than its audio certification and the power input of just 5 V and 1 A, but many expect it to hit the market as the Lenovo Tab 5.

In case you weren’t aware, March 31 is World Backup Day. Today is the day when computer users should no longer procrastinate with that crucial task and take a few moments to backup their data. It might seem like an April Fools’ Day joke, but facts offered by the World Backup Day website show just how important it is to keep a regular backup of your files.

After being around for less than a decade, Google's URL shortener goo.gl — initially used for Feedburner and Google Toolbar — will go down in three stages. Support for it went down yesterday, from April 13 only existing users will be able to create short links, and the service is scheduled to go down for good on March 30, 2019.

Although War Thunder has been around for more than 5 years, today its players can enjoy the experience of a sub commander for the first time. Although the "Silent Thunder" game mode is now only an April Fools' Day joke, it might also become a part of the game in the future, as it happened with last year's modern tanks.

Although Apple also had some problems with inflated batteries lately, the class action lawsuit involving no less than 63,767 South Korean customers has been filed to seek damages because of the company's intentional CPU throttling on older models to increase their battery life. The amount Apple might pay is the equivalent of almost US$12 million.

The upcoming Google Pixel 3 flagship is expected to feature a new Pixel Launcher design, but some of the changes have been already discovered inside the APK file of the existing app by a senior member of the popular XDA Developers community. The tech giant is expected to show these changes in May, at this year's Google I/O 2018 developer conference.

Although using an external GPU on a MacBook was possible in the past by booting up Windows on it, macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 finally brings native support for external graphics processors to Apple's operating system. This update also contains multiple minor tweaks and fixes, including a fix for the graphics corruption issues encountered in certain apps on the iMac Pro.

The family of gaming headsets introduced by SteelSeries earlier this month includes the Arctis Pro + GameDAC, which is the first certified Hi-Res Audio headset in the gaming world, and the Arctis Pro Wireless. Their prices are US$249.99 and US$329.99, but those on a tight budget can also pick the Arctis Pro without the USB DAC for US$179.99.

Although the official launch might still be a week or two ahead of us, a Hungarian online store has just published the product pages for the Moto G6 and G6 Plus, revealing all the details. According to it, both handsets feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 64 GB internal storage, and a main camera that combines a 12 MP sensor and a 5 MP one.

Apple has baked a new privacy feature into iOS 11.3, the latest software update for its iPhones and iPads. Following the update, a new icon will appear each time personal information is required to enable a service providing users with a new layer of transparency over how their data is handled.

It's only been one week since Huawei's last promotion on the Mate 10 Pro and now the manufacturer is bringing it back but with a deeper $150 discount. The news follows on the footsteps of Best Buy's plan to drop all Huawei devices because of U.S. Intelligence intervention.

Xiaomi's last device with a MediaTek SoC was the Redmi Note 4. The MediaTek Redmi Note 4 never attained the critical acclaim of its Snapdragon sibling but it would seem the Chinese company is set to make a return to its old MediaTek ways.