Software

The Velvet 2 Pro would have been LG's flagship smartphone for 2021 - had the OEM not chosen to pull out of the smartphone business prior to its planned launch. Now, the marketing material outlining this device's design and main features has allegedly leaked. They indicate that it had a completely button-less form-factor and a 64MP main camera.

Screen captures from Godfall - one of the first games to support FSR - suggest that image quality with AMD's new upscaling technique might not be substantially better than conventional resolution scaling, while offering worse performance, bringing back memories of DLSS 1.0

The Eyesafe display specialists have confirmed that Gigabyte monitors have achieved its TÜV Rheinland certification for user health and comfort. Four of these Aorus-brand models are on the market, whereas one still awaits a launch. Therefore, the OEM can say the displays are as low on blue-light emissions as they are high on gaming performance.

Google has formally launched its latest TWS earbuds, albeit as effectively cut-down versions of its original Pixel Buds for $100 less than their original price. Therefore, the new A variants' design is much unchanged from their predecessors. They also retain features such as noise reduction and touch controls, but lose others, wireless charging included.

Recent leaks have pointed to a mysterious Motorola phone with the code-name of Denver, rumored to have a stylus and a new affordable-grade Qualcomm processor. Now, it has just surfaced again, on Geekbench and as a registered Bluetooth device this time. Both new tips may confirm that it will be called the Moto G Stylus 5G on its launch.

According to a new leak, OnePlus is about to join the growing number of smartphone OEMs with its own smart tag. The report asserts that the company has registered a relevant trademark, alongside others for pre-existing products. Therefore, a product to go with that name might launch soon.

Xiaomi has opened a survey for fans to complete in regard to MIUI (Global ROM). The feedback form is short and sweet with focus on MIUI features and bugs. Xiaomi’s own MIUI 12 Global ROM bug tracker is filled with dozens of entries covering a wide range of Mi, Redmi, and POCO devices.

Fitbit has brought a raft of changes to its most recent smartwatches with their latest updates. FitbitOS now supports faster access to the pair's SpO2 sensors and improved Google Assistant integration, among other changes.

Samsung has patented a device known as the "Galaxy Z Fold Tab" on the rumor mill. It seems to confirm that the OEM is planning to launch an inaugural tablet with 2 hinges and that can fold in a number of ways to give a number of modes. Some new renders might hint at how such a device might look and work in the real world.

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.