Following the release of the Samsung Galaxy S21 release, information about the phones' hardware has now been revealed, detailing camera models and other important bits, with one notable takeaway being the incremental nature of the S21 and S21+.

Units are expected to ship as early as January 22 while the $1800 GeForce RTX 3070 configuration will come a bit later. Asus is betting big on both AMD and liquid metal to pull itself ahead of the competition this year.

AV1 is a video codec rated to enhance file compression compared to its current alternatives. Google has become its a major proponent, to the extent that it is now reportedly insisting that manufacturers need to have it enabled in devices with compatible SoCs if they want to use the Android 10 for TV interface.

HP offers a privacy filter for its ultra-thin workstation that is supposed to protect the screen content from curious eyes. However, the HP Sure View technology is more of a curse than a blessing.

NVIDIA appears to have silently announced a GeForce GT 1010 GPU earlier this week. The GT 1010 is a Pascal card featuring the 14 nm GP108 GPU similar to the GT 1030. The GT 1010 has only 256 CUDA cores enabled, supports 2 GB GDDR5 VRAM, and has a TDP of 30 W. Availability information is not known yet.

WhatsApp has taken to social media channels to try to allay deep concerns that users have been voicing about data sharing and privacy. The company has decided to extend the deadline for its terms update acceptance from February 8 to May 15. However, millions have already decided to move to rival messenger services such as Signal and Telegram.

Realme is a brand that has built its appeal on affordable mobile and personal audio devices. Initial leaks suggest it is going to keep this going in 2021 with the launch of the C21 smartphone and the Buds Wireless 2 Neo. They are slated to be the successor to the cost-effective C11 and to be neckbuds rather than TWS earbuds respectively.

A recent leak may have generated confusion, if also some potential enthusiasm, at the prospect of the first in a new line of Samsung Galaxy M-series tablets. However, the device in question has now undergone testing at the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), which apparently reveals it is actually just another smartphone. Nevertheless, it is still touted to launch with an internal storage upgrade.

The ZenBook Duo series is aching for a panel provider who can mass produce OLED displays in the form factor that Asus needs. The IPS ScreenPad for the UX482 works better than it did on the UX481, but its core viewing angle disadvantages remain.

OPPO may have set a rough date for the launch of its 2021 premium smartphone series, likely to be called the Find X3 and X3 Pro. At the opposite end of its mobile-device spectrum, the A93 5G has debuted with Qualcomm's latest 5G-for-the-masses SoC. It offers decent specs, including 8GB of RAM and a headphone jack, for about US$310 in China.

The Nintendo Switch was the best-selling game console in the USA, Japan, UK, and Australia in 2020. With the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S only arriving at the end of the year and then suffering from severe supply issues, sales of the Nintendo Switch ended on a high in December. Switch devices grabbed 87% of console sales in Japan in 2020.

The IdeaPad series is marketed as a mid-range offering to contrast to high-end Yoga series. Apparently, this also means that certain Yoga laptops with lesser Core i5 CPUs may slightly pull ahead of some IdeaPad laptops with the pricier Core i7.

NVIDIA has just unveiled a 12 GB version of the GeForce RTX 3060, which will be available sometime in February. However, a new EEC registration by Palit suggests that even more Ampere cards are on the way. Specifically, the board partner has registered multiple SKUs for the GeForce RTX 3050 Ti and GeForce RTX 3080 Ti; both are rumoured to be arriving within the next few months.

NVIDIA has all but confirmed that the 2021 HP Omen 15 gaming laptop will be powered by RTX 3000-series graphics. According to a clearly premature sales listing on bestbuy.com, they will comprise the RTX 3070 Max-Q hinted at in previous tips. Its latest leak puts its starting price at US$1600.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra launched with a new 108MP main shooter, even though the OEM did not introduce it by name exactly during the show. However, it is apparent that it is called the ISOCELL HM3, the first of its kind to debut with nine-pixel binning and a 0.8 micron pixel size. Samsung asserts that it can enhance dynamic range, clarity and detail compared to its predecessors.

The new LG UltraWide 40WP95C is a monster of a monitor, with a 40-inch curved screen that operates natively at 5K. The nano IPS panel has a 21:9 aspect ratio, covers 98% of the DCI-P3 colour space and offers a peak refresh rate of 72 Hz. The 40WP95C supports Thunderbolt 4, too.

Escobar Inc has gone dark, just two months after it claimed to be suing Klarna for withholding funds from its smartphone sales. The company may be planning to release another device, but it has removed practically all evidence that it ever sold skinned smartphones produced by legitimate companies.

The AMD Ryzen 5 4500U-powered AYA NEO is coming to global audiences, and for as little as US$699. The Indiegogo campaign for the handheld console will begin as early as February, with device estimated to start shipping in April. Only Super Early Bird backers will be eligible to purchase the AYA NEO at US$699, though.

With Bob Swan gone, new Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has set out a bold aim for the chipmaker ahead of the beginning of his reign next month. Apparently, he wants Intel to build better chips than the Apple M1, which has impressed with its custom ARM cores' performance. Naturally, Gelsinger belittled Apple as a 'lifestyle company in Cupertino'.

The iQOO 7 is the world's second Snapdragon 888-based phone in the world, although it is only available to order in China at present. These sales kicked off today (January 15, 2021), an event its OEM now claims made it 200 million yuan (~US$30.86 million). Its new OS update also upgrades its touch-sampling rate to no less than 1000Hz.

A possible Snapdragon 870 processor has been spotted on Geekbench as part of a Vivo V2045 device. The recorded single-core and multi-core scores reveal decent gains of up to +18% over the Snapdragon 865. The “Snapdragon 870”, which might be basically an overclocked SD865, wasn’t too far behind the Snapdragon 888 on this benchmark.

A recent video from WindowsCentral's YouTube channel purports to demo the Windows 10X interface. The latest word on this version of the OS is that it will first arrive on devices that are single-screen, touchscreen-oriented or both. Its new leak seems to bear that impression out in detail.

Live images of a Xiaomi foldable smartphone have been shared online, indicating that the Chinese company seems to be almost ready to launch its first commercial foldable phone. The Xiaomi foldable device, which is clearly operating on MIUI 12, has a very noticeable crease running down the middle that will hopefully be less egregious in the final retail model.

Initially supposed to hit the market in mid-2020, the DisplayPort 2.0 monitors got delayed by the global pandemic and are now expected to become available in the second half of 2021. DP 2.0 is clearly superior to HDMI 2.0, as it offers an 80 Gbps bandwidth that can support 4K resolutions @240 Hz with uncompressed HDR color depth or 16K @60Hz with DSC.

Cyberport has revealed the price of what will probably be the flagship SKU of the new ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15, and it is expensive. At €2,799, the ROG Zephyrus G15 features an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS APU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Max-Q GPU a 165 Hz display with a native 1440p resolution. There is only one SO-DIMM slot though, with ASUS soldering 8 GB of RAM to the motherboard.

GPD has launched its latest handheld games console on Indiegogo, and it has already proven exceedingly popular with fans. The Tiger Lake-powered machine has raised over US$1.1 million from backers in less than a day. The GPD Win3 will begin shipping in May 2021 and is available to order with a Core i5-1135G7 or a Core i7-1165G7 processor. Both CPUs feature Intel's latest Iris Xe Graphics GPUs.

The Slimbook Titan offers an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H APU, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 and a 165 Hz display with a native QHD resolution. The machine currently starts at €1,599 and is intended for Linux users, but you can also configure it with Windows 10 licenses. The inclusion of a 93.4 Wh battery should keep the Slimbook Titan ticking over, too.

ASUS recently announced the Fanless Chromebox, a small form-factor PC based on the ChromeOS platform, with a wide range of display outputs and great wireless connectivity.

Without warning, the US government has now slammed Chinese smartphone makers Xiaomi with an American investment ban supposedly due to ties with the Chinese military. Xiaomi, in return, refutes those claims but that's unlikely to count for much.

Apple supply chain specialist Ming-chi Kuo has issued a new note to investors detailing some of the changes expected on the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models. According to Kuo, the new models will drop in mid-2021 and will include minor design changes but will most notably drop the somewhat controversial OLED Touch Bar.

Ice Lake laptops had a lot of flak for launching at high prices, but these newer deals can be hard to pass for those who don't want to spend hundreds more for the latest 11th gen Intel processors.

After we recently took a look at the MagicBook 14 with AMD's Ryzen 5 4500U, it's now the MagicBook 15's turn. It reveals small and big improvements but also known weaknesses.

Intel's NUC 11 series is official, following months of delays. The company has unveiled three models of varying sizes and specifications, although all are based on its Tiger Lake-U platform. There is even a NUC for gamers with a dedicated GeForce RTX 2060 onboard.

An AMD EPYC 7543 server processor from the Zen 3-based Milan family has been unearthed on Geekbench where it amassed a huge multi-core score of 25,909 points with the help of its 32 cores. This result places the EPYC 7543 at a similar level as the average result for the 64-core monster that is the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X.

Samsung recently made a PR gaffe when the marketing team unintentionally tweeted about the Galaxy Unpacked event from an iPhone. The post was taken down in short order, however.

Eve has delayed the release of its Spectrum monitors in what is the least shocking news of 2021, and probably 2020. The company had originally planned to begin shipping its latest product on February 26, but now will not until April 20 at the earliest. The 144 Hz QHD model will not arrive until the 'end of Q2', too.

The Galaxy SmartTag is a new consumer-grade electronic tracker from Samsung. It has a versatile array of use-cases, from potentially protecting bags from theft to finding lost pets. It is rated for up to 6 months of use per charge, and for ultra-wide-band (UWB) technology, which helps with its AR Tracking feature.

The NUC V6-i5 offers an Intel Core i5-7200U processor, M.2 storage, DDR4 SO DIMM RAM, and a built-in LCD screen. The machine measures 118 x 118 x 78 mm and features plenty of I/O, including two video outputs and four USB ports.

ECS has released ARM versions of its LIVA brand of mini-PCs. The Q1A and Q1A Plus have Rockchip SoCs, 2 GB of LPDDR3 RAM and measure just 74 x 74 x 34.6 mm. The two machines run Android 8.1 and Ubuntu 18.04 natively.

The Edge S will reputedly be Motorola's next premium smartphone, but new information suggests that the Snapdragon 865 or Snapdragon 888 will not be powering it. Instead, Qualcomm will leverage the Motorola Edge S launch to announce a new Snapdragon 800 series chipset. Apparently, a new 5 nm chipset codenamed Shima may be at the heart of the Edge S.

Xiaomi is likely to break one or the other record with the Mi 11 Pro, as it is accustomed to doing with its flagship smartphones. According to one reliable leaker, the Chinese company plans to bring its 80 W wireless charging capabilities to the upcoming smartphone, which it showcased last year.

Samsung has added Pro variants to its Galaxy Buds series of TWS earbuds. They are rated for upgraded active noise cancellation (ANC), voice-call quality and 360° Audio. They can also switch automatically between different mobile devices from their OEM depending on what the user is doing with either one.

After launching the Galaxy S21, S21 Plus, and S21 Ultra today, Samsung has also opened its trade-in program for the series. It's pretty good, actually, with Galaxy S10 series owners being able to trade in their phones for a massive US$550, for example.

The latest addition to the Sound Blaster Z lineup comes with updated features, new gaming profiles, microphone and headphone EQ presets. The Sound Blaster Z SE has the same audio specs as the regular edition, such as up to 116 dB SnR and 24-bit/192 kHz sound. However, now there is virtual 7.1 support for headphones and 5.1 discrete audio on speakers.