Accessory

Google may have sparked some dissatisfaction by announcing YouTube Music for wearables, then confirming that it is compatible with smartwatches capable of running the latest Wear OS 3 version only. A mobile security analyst has tried what is probably one of the most effective work-arounds for this potential problem, but ultimately came up unsuccessful in this effort.

Eyesafe, a body that issues standards and certificates for low blue-light emissions in display products, has announced a new addition to its board of directors. Frank Azor finds it an honor to join Eyesafe in this capacity, and has noted its potential role in user health protection, particularly as screen-time has skyrocketed during the Covid-19 era.

The inexpensive Baseus charger can charge up to three devices simultaneously at up to 65 W total. Not bad for a universal charger that's just a fraction of the size of most other chargers.

Xiaomi's smart-tech event of today (August 26, 2021) was perhaps dominated by the launch of 2 new Mi Notebooks and the Mi TV 5X in India. However, there were one or two other appearances at this show, such as the new Mi Router 4A (Gigabit Edition) - not to mention the new Xiaomi Running Shoes.

Xiaomi has finally made the Mi Band 6, or Mi Smart Band 6 rather, official in India. Many fitness-tracker fans might welcome its upgraded 1.56-inch AMOLED display, expanded workout mode line-up and blood oxygen sensor. It will be available to buy via the OEM's channels in the country soon.

The ELITE SHARK CA700 has just arrived as Sharkoon's latest and most ambitious PC case to date. This open-frame PC case can accommodate up to eight RGB fans and a water-cooling system with two 360 mm radiators and includes five 120 mm RGB LED PWM fans, all for a manufacturer's suggested price of 399 Euros (roughly US$469).

Microsoft has launched its first special edition Xbox Series X console. The new machine is Halo themed and is being launched to coincide with the release of Halo Infinite in November.

Panasonic has launched its take on what is often called the "wearable speaker" in 2021. Like some others on the market, the accessory is worn around the neck for "immersive" sound. The OEM is pitching this version - the SoundSlayer WIGSS or SC-GN01 - at gamers, with wired compatibility for consoles such as the PlayStation 5 or Nintendo Switch.

Although Apple remains unsurprisingly silent, a Chinese e-commerce app has apparently spilled the beans on the release date of the next-gen iPhone and third-gen AirPods. According to this source, the handset will drop on September 17 and the headphones will follow on September 30.

The power-accessory OEM Volta has revealed that its next product is to be the GIGA, a charger of the ultra-compact gallium nitride- (GaN) based variety. There will be 2 variants of this product: one rated to charge at up to 130W and one for up to 200W. The company notes that it will be available as an Indiegogo campaign reward soon, at potentially substantial discounts over retail.

OPPO is currently at the Smart China Expo 2021 to launch new additions to its VOOC line of mobile-device chargers. They are (surprise, surprise) new magnetic wireless chargers for improved attachment to their compatible phones. This new MagVOOC series consists of a slim charging puck, a power bank and a new charging stand thus far.

A marketing video for the Fitbit Charge 5 tracker has been leaked onto social media. The promo clip reveals a lot of pertinent details about the Fitbit Charge 5, including its price, release date, and key features. These include a built-in GPS, ECG app, EDA sensor, and a host of tools for keen fitness users.

The Galaxy Watch4 and 4 Classic still have a few days to go before reaching their new owners. However, that has apparently not stopped them from receiving an OTA update already. This new firmware is rated to optimize stability and performance on the new wearables as they start to go to work tracking a user's health.

Asus has launched the Chromebook Detachable CZ1, a device with a processor from a series recently started by MediaTek with tablet-specific optimizations in mind. Its latest vehicle is also patently geared towards education with its robust construction and essentialist port selection. It also comes with a keyboard dock/cover that incorporates a stylus and a kickstand.

Tronsmart has announced the Studio 30W SoundPulse as its latest wireless speaker. It is rated to cover an open space of up to 10 meters in size with 2.1 channel sound for up to 15 hours per charge. Unlike most portable accessories of this type, it has a housing made of aluminum, yet is still IPX4-rated. It goes for ~US$70, or less with a coupon active at the time of writing.

Tesla has held a 2021 AI Day virtual conference, during which the company has apparently confirmed many predictions of a future in which jobs involving manual labor will no longer be a thing. This, according to Elon Musk, is because his company's Bot will take over from humans in doing them. This new machine may be one of the most convincing anthropomorphic automatons yet.

Chargeasap has launched successors to its super-charged Flash power bank via Indiegogo. The OEM asserts that the new Pro series incorporates its forebear's best attributes, a 100W USB-C Power Delivery (USB-PD) 3.0 output suitable for MacBook Pros included, albeit with upgrades such as more type-C ports and a very Apple-specific variant this time around

Mobvoi, for one, has announced a fresh app update many more of its newer and higher-end wearables. This latest version of WearOS (2.0) expands the eligibility to use Pay (new interface and all) to users in more countries. The update also unlocks Messages on a watch's screen in full, as well as Tiles for apps such as Spotify.

The Qualcomm Flight RB5 5G Platform has launched as the world's first reference build for 5G- and AI-capable drones. Its maker asserts that this emerging form of airborne IoT for industry and commerce makes for powerful, yet power-efficient and above all smart UAVs with mmWave connectivity. It is already on the market, although it does not come cheap.

Realme has now officially announced the upcoming release of its first tablet device, the Realme Pad. The Realme Pad 5 is expected to do battle with Xiaomi's well-received Mi Pad 5 and may already have an edge thanks to an AMOLED display.

Klipsch has announced the T5 II Series True Wireless ANC Earphones, which come in Standard and McLaren Editions. They are rated for Dirac HD-tuned sound and for up to 21 hours of battery life with their USB type-C case. Their new racing-inspired special edition also comes with a "2X" wireless charging pad with NuCurrent technology.

OPPO has had a new patent for potential next-gen wearables granted in its native China. It is intended to allow the accessories in question to authenticate the user by reading their veins rather than their fingerprints or faces. This form of biometric recognition could thus be added to a future Band or Watch from this OEM.

Realme has confirmed that it will launch its first-ever ultrabook in a few days from today (August 15, 2021). This PC - to be called the Book Slim in some markets - is now also said to come with some additional features and accessories that might bring it up to the level of some rival OEMs such as Xiaomi and Huawei.

A new market analysis report shows that Sony retained the greatest share of the CMOS image sensor market in 2020, while Samsung came in second. Then again, the latter OEM's actual sales were seen to rise compared to 2019, whereas those of Sony dropped slightly year-on-year. This was due to a formerly major player virtually dropping out of the smartphone market.

Samsung seems to believe foldable phones are the future; however, that future has come with the potential disadvantage of cases that come in 2 parts and do not cover their hinges. However, Speck has addressed this issue with its new Presidio Perfect-Clear Fold line for the Galaxy Z Fold3 and Flip3.

A patent that surfaced recently shows a MacBook with a new input device, namely the Apple Pencil. The images that accompany this patent show the pencil docked within the keyboard, and the Touch Bar as we know it will be gone. A much smaller one will be used, most likely in the next MacBook Pro.

Xiaomi has announced its latest top-end Mi Wireless Charging Stand. It has the same premium build as its predecessor, although it upgrades to a maximum rate of 100 watts (W). The new accessory supports the Mi Mix 4, and comes with a 120W wall charger in the box.

TCL, a maker of display panels and products, has released its financial performance figures for the first half of 2021 (1H2021). It claims to have made approximately US$1.426 billion. About 71% of that figure was made by its screen technology specialist division CSOT. The OEM asserts that all aspects of its business has posted "significant" growth and has surpassed its estimates for the half-year.

Renders of the Fitbit Charge 5 tracker have been leaked, showing off the fitness and health-related accessory in a choice of three colors. The most noticeable upgrade over the Fitbit Charge 4 is the color display, and it seems the Fitbit Charge 5 release date has also been teased in the new marketing renders.

Panasonic has launched a new version of its rugged Toughbook 55 laptop with updated specs and I/O. They include 11th-gen Intel CPUs - which also of course makes one of its ports Thunderbolt 4. However, the PC is still fully compatible with the user-swappable xPAK modules that can customize a unit to a customer's specific professional or public service needs.

TCL has announced updates to its 2020 5- and 6-series big screens. They, like their predecessors, remain QLED and mini-LED respectively; however, they drop the Roku OS of yesteryear for the new Google TV software. It confers an up-to-date UI on the new devices, as well as the option of voice control for the first time.

It may be pricey, but this 15.6-inch portable monitor seems to have checked all the right boxes for both gamers and editors. Hopefully its black-white and gray-gray response times won't be as slow as on the smaller 14-inch version.

The MediaTek Kompanio 1300T is a new SoC that is exclusive to the new Honor Tab V7 Pro tablet on its launch. It drives a 2K display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a 16:10 aspect ratio. The new slate also challenges the iPad line with its own optional stylus and keyboard dock.

If it ain't got RGB lighting, then it ain't a Razer accessory. These second generation earbuds from Razer are compatible with Chroma and have built-in active noise cancellation alongside additional nifty features to justify the high $129 USD MSRP.

Samsung wrapped its latest Galaxy Unpacked show up with the latest generation of its Galaxy Buds. They offer many of the features found in their immediate Pro predecessors, as well as up to 20 hours of battery life and new colors. However, they also start for less than these high-end TWS peripherals.

Samsung has launched its latest high-end wearables, the Galaxy Watch4 series, today (August 11, 2021). These new smartwatches incorporate the cutting-edge sensors for health metrics that include blood pressure and advanced sleep tracking as might be expected from the OEM. However, they have something new as well: body-composition sensing that apparently rivals industry-standard equipment.

Razer has redesigned and re-named Project Hazel, its high-tech face mask. The project is now Zephyr, and it will arrive next quarter. Razer is recruiting beta testers for the Zephyr, too.

Cable Matters' latest USB type-C dongle is rated to connect an up-to-Thunderbolt 4/USB4 PC to an 8K monitor via HDMI 2.1. It has 2 variants: one with a DisplayPort and an 8K-capable HDMI port, and another with dual HDMIs for 1 8K monitor or 2 at 4K. Therefore, the OEM touts its new portable accessory as ideal for both remote work and gaming.

A well-known leaker claims to have found out that OnePlus is making a new, special-edition version of its first-gen Watch. Unlike the gaming theme of the last, this one is apparently Harry Potter-themed. Then again, availability in only 1 market has been mentioned thus far.

Xiaomi introduced a new Mi Mix, Mi Pad and Mi TVs during its August 2021 product event. However, the OEM also had something much less expected to unveil at the end of this show: an apparently fully-functional, well-spec'd robot dog. The company might even put this groundbreaking product on sale soon.

The new Mi Mix 4 dominated its product launch today (August 10, 2021); however, this did not stop its maker introducing new ecosystem products to go along with it. The new Xiaomi Sound is a speaker that shares an audio partnership and new wireless technology with its potential phablet companion.

After releasing the Mi Pad 4 way back in 2018, Xiaomi has returned with new entries in its Mi Pad series. The new phones, the Mi Pad 5 and Mi Pad 5 Pro, were just launched in China and offer Snapdragon 800-series chipsets as well as 2.5K 120 Hz displays, with the lineup starting at the equivalent of just over US$300.

Xiaomi has updated its line of smart TVs today (August 10, 2021) with new OLED-enabled models. This comes with an ultra-high contrast ratio, HDR10+ and "True 10-bit" color on the new 6-series. For those in need of even more premium specs, the new Mi TV OLED 77 model has Harman Kardon-tuned speakers, high-wattage speakers and a new spec in common with the Mi Mix 4.

Samsung’s forthcoming Galaxy Z Fold3 will come with a pre-order ‘Note Pack’ in some countries. The latest tip suggests it will include the new S-Pen Pro and companion case as well as a charger. The latter inclusion suggests that Samsung is going to stop bundling the charger with the device.