Software

Zepp Health has announced that its increasingly popular brands Amazfit and Zepp broke into the top 4 of names in the smartwatch market in terms of shipments for the first quarter of 2021 (1Q2021). They sold nearly 69% more units compared to 1Q2020. Zepp Health brands were also #1 in several countries for the quarter.

Labeled 2.7 "Red Skies" and released earlier today, the latest update to War Thunder introduces rank VII jets, alongside two new locations, 11 new ground vehicles (including modern Chinese SPAA), 5 helicopters, 6 new ships, as well as a comprehensive list of minor tweaks and fixes.

Huawei describes its latest FreeBuds 4 as high-sound-quality TWS earbuds with active noise cancellation (ANC). They are also pitched as particularly comfortable earphones, due to their light build and design. They are rated for up to 22 hours of battery life, counting their wireless-charging-enabled case.

Huawei has launched its latest smartwatches alongside its new MatePads. The 3 and 3 Pro have eSIM functions in addition to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and NFC. The OEM also claims 24/7 heart-rate and blood-oxygen tracking, as well as long battery life, for the new HarmonyOS-powered wearables.

NVIDIA is bringing its DLSS image upscaling technology to Linux users via Proton. This will enable supported games on Linux to leverage the Tensor cores on RTX GPUs for AI-based supersampling. NVIDIA said that DLSS will be enabled for Vulkan games this month followed by DirectX titles in the fall.

Released earlier today, Firefox 89 comes with a clean design "is easy on the eyes, bright and buoyant on screens of all sizes" across multiple platforms. The list of visual changes is pretty long and includes a new icon set crisp typography, streamlined toolbar and menus, a new look for tabs, expanded privacy protections, and more.

Honor has officially confirmed that its 50-series of smartphones will launch in mid-June 2021. The OEM is now hyping them as capable of "beautiful" images and videography, although it has yet to hint at the devices' looks. Then again, it is also known that they will launch with the new Snapdragon 778G processor.

Huawei has reportedly hung physical posters teasing its second-gen MatePad Pro up around its domestic market ahead of its imminent launch. They depict a high-end slate with slim enough bezels, not to mention screen contents seemingly lining up with those from earlier HarmonyOS-related leaks. The device might also sell alongside a new keyboard dock and a compatible stylus.

Apple's Podcasts app will soon spawn a new wave of titles, to be published by new partner brands such as the Washington Post and Sony Music and also by independent creators. These new streams will require monthly or yearly fees, for which bonus or early-access content, as well as an ad-free experience, are thrown in. The new subscriptions are to be available in 170 countries from May 2021.

Today (May 31, 2021) is the last day on which LG's production lines for smartphones and tablets will be open. The OEM had previously announced that it would no longer be making these kinds of devices, and will now repurpose their former plant to make new home appliances instead. It might also now churn out new displays and camera components.

ViewSonic's ColorPro VP2768a has won one of the Technical Image Press Association's (TIPA) World Awards for 2021, in recognition of specs and features prized by photography experts. The monitor also already boasts Pantone validation and TÜV SÜD-certified color-blindness simulations; therefore, the OEM might now tout its performance yet further with this new title.

The Mi 10 Lite and Mi Note 10 Lite are the latest two devices to start receiving MIUI 12.5 outside of China.

Meizu has just announced a new smartwatch powered by the latest Snapdragon Wear 4100 platform for wearables. The OEM has packed it with a raft of health-monitoring features, heart-rate and blood-oxygen measurements included, not to mention 4G/LTE support. It can be pre-ordered from tomorrow (June 1, 2021) at a price equivalent to US$235.

Marvell has announced that its latest line of SSD controllers has upgraded to PCIe 5.0 and NVMe 1.4b support. These specs render the Bravera SC5 series compatible with up-to-date cloud-related demands, or so the OEM asserts. They are also rated to offer advanced security and response-time features.

Youtuber The Resident Gamer got hold of Necromunda: Hired Gun days before the game's June 1st launch. An extended gameplay video indicates that Hired Gun will feature fast-paced gunplay that brings Doom: Eternal to mind.

Developers apparently cannot leverage the full capabilities of the 2021 Apple iPad Pro models powered by the M1 SoC. The new iPads come in 8 GB and 16 GB RAM options, but developers can leverage a maximum of only up to 5 GB limiting the potential of their apps even though the iPadOS itself can access the entire unified memory. It is possible that the upcoming iPadOS 15 may overcome this limitation.

Ulefone has announced the Armor 11T as a ruggedized smartphone with the special feature of a thermal imaging camera which, as the OEM claims, is co-engineered with FLIR. The smartphone is also slated to ship with Android 11, which will run on the MediaTek Dimensity 800 5G processor.

The OPPO Watch is probably one of the most Apple-like smartwatches with Wear OS out there. Now, some leaks hint strongly at a second generation powered by Qualcomm's most up-to-date platforms for wearables. Meanwhile, the company Ambiq seems to have already gone ahead and confirmed that it has provided a back-up SoC that conserves battery life on this device.

Xiaomi is now expanding its Android 11 rollout to the Mi 9T. The flagship killer is currently receiving the OS upgrade, albeit only in global model guise. The OTA doesn't deliver MIUI 12.5, however, so owners will have to wait a while longer for that. The update weighs in at about 2.4 GB.

The Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is a new Samsung tablet that definitely falls into the budget category. Despite this, it has both Wi-Fi and 4G/LTE-enabled variants. It will be available in certain European markets from June 2021 with an 8.7-inch HD+ TFT display, a 5,100mAh battery and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The medical-grade wearables company AliveCor has decided to push for an anti-trust suit against Apple over the manner in which the Cupertino giant has taken over the market for smart watches or bands that support on-device electroechocardiography (ECG). It follows allegations that Apple Watches with this technology infringes on AliveCor's patents.

ROCCAT has introduced its new Syn Pro Air as its latest high-end gaming headset. It combines a range of potential advantages of its maker's association with Turtle Beach in its build, including a TruSpeak flip-up mic, the Superhuman Hearing sound setting and ProSpecs ear-cushions. The Syn Pro Air also supports Stellar Wireless connectivity and the AIMO RGB system.

Xiaomi has started distributing MIUI 12.5 to another four devices outside of China. The company has now introduced the Mi 9 SE, Mi 10T, Mi 10T Pro and POCO X3 Pro to its latest OS, albeit only on the Mi Pilot program, for the time being.

Twitter may soon launch Twitter Blue, a premium tier service that comes with features like delaying tweets, changing threads to more readable formats, and changing color themes. However, there has yet to be an official announcement. Further, many of these features are available through free web services or third-party apps.

NVIDIA's cloud-gaming service GeForce NOW has announced support for no less than 22 new games, including Biomutant, Maneater and Imagine Earth, which have also just launched on Steam. The platform is also starting to add DLC without the downloads, supporting major expansions for 3 titles thus far.

Nubia's premium Android gaming brand has launched a new variant for its 2021 smartphone series. This 6R has frankly near-mid-tier looks, yet still manages to pack the Snapdragon 888 processor and up to 12GB of RAM. It starts at ~US$425, although its top-end Buddha IP Limited Edition is closer to $630.

The Enco Free series are the more affordable of OPPO's TWS earbuds; nevertheless, the latest generation boasts active noise cancellation (ANC) for just under US$100. They also feature an IP54 ingress-protection, up to 30 hours of the future and input from the OEM's high-end audio partner Dynaudio.

Today (May 27, 2021), OPPO has launched the Reno6 series of premium mid-range smartphones. It largely consists of refreshes for their immediate predecessors; then again, the OEM has introduced the new Dimensity 900 processor in the base 6. This phone also follows the emerging flat-edge trend among Android phones and starts at about US$440.

Unreal Engine 5 is available as a demo starting today, and users are gravitating toward its Temporal Super Resolution feature. TSR is similar to Nvidia's DLSS in that, while advertised as an anti-aliasing technique, it vastly improves high-resolution frame rates by upscaling lower resolutions. The technology is impressive at first glance.

Redmi's new AirDots 3 Pro are rated for a kind of noise-cancelling that apparently adapts to the ambient condition by themselves, using AI. The Bluetooth 5.2 accessories are rated for up to 28 hours of play-time with their new case, which is also capable of wireless charging. They start for under US$50 in China at present, although this price might increase after their initial promotional window.

OnePlus has announced a new promotion by which those who buy certain new smartphones in the UK, Germany or France can claim a new Stadia Premiere Edition from Google. The units included in this new deal are those of the new flagship 9 series, the 8 Pro, 8T or mid-range Nord. The OEM asserts that these combos will deliver "powerhouse gaming" for new customers.

Panasonic has just introduced the "evolved", Mark II form of the Micro Four Thirds GH5 camera. The new up-to-4K/60fps/10-bit unit improves on its immediate forebear in a number of ways, an upgrade to USB type-C charging at a reduced starting price compared to the Mark I included. Then again, the OEM projects that the flagship GH6 will also be there to hold out for before the end of 2021.

Xiaomi has rolled out the latest security patch to the Mi A2, one of four Android One smartphones that the company released. This month's update could be of the Mi A2's last though, as the device comes to the end of its allotted software support.

The latest version of iOS (14.6) brings many new features and improvements, but one major change wasn't announced by Apple. Multiple users are reporting that tasks scripted in the Shortcuts app run in about half the time they used to.

CD Projekt Red's Adam Kicinski recently stated at a shareholder meeting that Sony has yet to reapprove Cyberpunk 2077, despite having been delisted in December. With patch 1.2 performance still not optimal on last-gen consoles, Cyberpunk's PlayStation remains an open question.

Razer's latest keyboard is the Blackwidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed. It has a 65% form-factor, which translates to a 60% form-factor that retains arrow keys. The new board also features the OEM's HyperSpeed Wireless Technology, an aluminium frame and a choice of 2 switch types.

Honor's chief executive officer Zhao Ming has denied that his OEM will follow others into the emerging trend towards developing services for next-gen automobiles. Instead, the company intends to focus on strengthening its smartphone business following its split from Huawei. On that note, rumors that its upcoming launches will return to supporting Google apps out of the box are gaining traction.

Fuchsia is the name of an in-house OS Google has reportedly had in the works for years. Now, it is finally due to see a roll-out on one of the OEM's more recent smart-home products. The Nest Hub is slated to start using this new system in an impending update.

Huawei is projected to launch a second-generation MatePad Pro premium slate in June 2021. A device with what might be its model number has just shown up on Geekbench, possibly revealing its specs ahead of its launch. Interestingly, a second Huawei device that has appeared alongside it has what seems to be a Snapdragon 888 SoC and 8GB of RAM.

DOOGEE has launched the DG Band, a wearable of the traditional fitness tracker form-factor. It has a 1.05-inch LCD display, which can display data from its sensors for heart-rate, stress and blood-oxygen. It is also rated to track 14 different exercise types, and to last for up to 10 days between charges.

Xiaomi has released a new update to the Mi A2 Lite, contrary to rumours that it had stopped supporting the device. V11.0.19.0.QDLMIXM contains the latest Android security patch and is rolling out now as an OTA download.

Xiaomi's Mi 11 Ultra features a secondary display on its rear but has received criticism for the poor implementation of that feature. That is set to change shortly, as new information indicates that an upcoming build will allow modes like video recording, portrait, and a bunch of other camera modes on the rear display.

OnePlus India has revealed that it will add a new member to its Y series of smart TVs soon. It has also already confirmed some of its specs ahead of its imminent launch, its 40-inch size, Dolby Audio support and 20W speakers included. It will debut via Flipkart on May 24, 2021.

Huawei has set a date for the launch of its first-party operating system, HarmonyOS, in its native China. The software may have originally been intended to replace Android on its smartphones, but may also ship with other new products such as the MatePad Pro 2 and Watch 3, which are also now expected to debut on the same day.

The GT is Realme's Snapdragon 888-powered flagship smartphone that launched early in 2021. Despite this, it has not made it far outside the Chinese market thus far. This situation will change soon however, with a release onto AliExpress' EU website. It will join the Narzo 30 5G on this platform in June of this year.

The SOUNDFORM Connect is a new Belkin audio adapter designed to bring any powered speaker with a 3.5mm or optical input into an Apple-heavy smart home set-up. The user can then control it via AirPlay 2 on their iPhone, iPad or TV. Therefore, a traditional speaker can become as responsive to voice-control and automation as shiny new high-tech models.

The Realme Watch 2 Pro is a new smartwatch with a blood-oxygen sensor, 90 sports modes and sleep-tracking - as does its vanilla sibling. However, it has a bigger 1.75-inch display, as well as the in-built GPS the plain Watch 2 lacks. It also has exclusive new watch-faces, as well as a larger battery rated for up to 14 days of use between charges.

Xiaomi began the MIUI 12.5 rollout for the Redmi Note 10 Pro last week, but is now expanding it to include the European model of the device. This means that the global, Indian, and European are now receiving the MIUI 12.5 update, albeit only in stable beta form.

CTL, a company that normally caters to the needs of modern offices or schools in its devices, has announced a pair of monitors touted to match up to this reputation. The 24-inch FHD IP2381 has a VA IPS panel, whereas the IP2781 is an ADS QHD 27-inch display. They both have the same new minimalist stand and bezels, however.

An AMD patent filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office offers a glimpse at how its DLSS-competitor, apparently named "Gaming Super Resolution," could work.