While many laptops run out of steam quite quickly, the IdeaPad S540-15IML proves to be extremely enduring. Here you'll find a short and clear overview of what the 15-incher has otherwise to offer.

Intel is getting ready to release another package of Comet Lake U processors for laptops. More specifically: For business laptops, as these new processors feature the manageability feature vPro. The most powerful of Comet Lake chips, the Intel Core i7-10810U, has been revealed through the product page of the upcoming ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020.

SEGA Europe has pledged to use nothing but recyclables in the original packaging for its hard-copy products in the future. This will take effect with the release of its new PC title, Total War: ROME II. The material in question will eschew plastic in favor of cardboard; even the shrink-wrap will be eco-friendly.

While CES 2020 showed us the in-game potential of a Tiger Lake and Xe DG1-powered laptop, another X1 DG1 product seemingly went under the radar. Now, that possible product has been spotted on Geekbench, hinting at a twin-track approach by Intel to take on AMD and NVIDIA in the laptop GPU market.

The Surface Book 3 may have appeared on 3DMark yesterday sporting an Intel Core i7-1065G7 and NVIDIA Max-Q GPUs, but the same leaker has uncovered what could be more powerful models. These SKUs retain the same Max-Q GPU, but eschew the 15 W Core i7-1065G7 for the 28 W Core i7-1068G7 and possibly even a Tiger Lake-U CPU.

Sony has already confirmed that it will be unveiling new Xperia handsets at MWC 2020 in Barcelona next month, with a previous rumour claiming that one will be the world's first 5G and 4K OLED smartphone. Now, a new leak claims that the device, possibly the Xperia 1.1, will feature five rear-facing cameras with claims of f/1.5 apertures and 64 MP sensors being touted.

The 13.3-inch WoA laptop comes with a special 7 nm Snapdragon SoC for a thickness and weight of just 11.8 mm and 0.96 kg, respectively. LTE Cat.18 Nano SIM, touchscreen, Windows Hello, and a keyboard backlight all come standard.

Huawei's Austrian regional manager has reportedly indicated that the OEM's phones will use its own in-house version of Google Mobile Services going forward, never returning to the use of the Play Store and its apps as normal. The company has developed its own alternatives for both following its ban from trading with US companies.

Is the XPS 13 9300 thinner and lighter than the XPS 13 7390? Well, Dell seems to think so at least, even though its product listings state otherwise. Confused? So are we.
Update: Dell has clarified that it has changed how it measures the thickness of its laptops. Accordingly, the XPS 13 9300 is 1 mm thinner than its predecessor.

Qualcomm has announced that it has broken into the Japanese IoT market. The carrier KDDI has approved the 9205 modem for this platform. Therefore, its network for high-volume, low-power electronics can now transfer data at 4G/LTE speeds.

What is Jasper Lake? This has been a valid question since a leak referenced it alongside Rocket Lake in July 2019. Now, new evidence suggests that it is a mobile SoC based on the new Tremont microarchitecture. The same also nods to a novel micro-server chipset called Jacobsville.

The upcoming KaiXian KX-6780A octa-core CPUs should be launched this March, but they will only be available as part of pre-built budget gaming systems, as the chips themselves are soldered and require special motherboards. Preliminary performance tests prove that the Chinese CPUs still lag behind Intel's i5-7400 models.

Transparent displays may become a commonplace backdrop for the future of technology. They can show colored images and videos, while allowing whatever's behind them to remain visible. A new research report indicates that their market could grow to a value of just over US$4.9 billion in 4 years.

Not much is known about the new "Original" brand that will be unveiled at MWC this year, but industry insiders found out that the Nokia 8.2 5G will be powered by a Snapdragon 765 SoC coupled with 6 / 8 GB of RAM and 128 / 256 GB storage for around $500. The 5.2 will integrate a Snapdragon 632 SoC coupled with 3 / 4 GB of RAM and 32 / 64 GB of storage, while the 1.3 entry-level model will sport a MediaTek Helios A SoC with 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB storage.

The Outer World's will be released on the Nintendo Switch on March 6th 2020. It will retail for $59.99 and will only be available in digital format. Physical copies of the game will just be a piece of plastic with a download code on it.

The Mate 20 Lite may share its name with two of Huawei's former flagships, but the mid-range handset has not been afforded the same software support as the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro. While the latter two received EMUI 10 globally in November, the Mate 20 Lite has spent the last two months on EMUI 9.1. Owners of the Mate 20 Lite may have now started seeing notifications to upgrade to EMUI 10 and Android 10, though.

Chuwi has released a new version of the HeroBook Pro, its affordable imitation of the Apple MacBook. The new model is clearly more powerful than its predecessor with its improved processor and more RAM, but without any uplift in price.

Xiaomi has seemingly been toing and froing about whether to bring Android 10 to the Mi A2 Lite, despite it being an Android One handset. Now, the company has cleared up confusion about the update, although a timescale for its release remains out of reach.

The Samsung Galaxy A11 has been cleared by the Federal Communications Commission. This documentation shows that it will offer a 4000mAh battery with a rear-facing fingerprint sensor. Therefore, it could be a fairly standard new budget smartphone prospect in the US soon.

Motorola's upcoming stylus-ready phone will be called the Moto G Stylus, according to a Tweet by Evan Blass. Additionally, a Geekbench for the device has also surfaced, corroborating Evan's Tweet. We can expect Motorola to tell us more about the device at MWC 2020.

An alleged poster featuring renders of the upcoming Poco X2 along with its price in India and some key specifications has been posted online. The image, if genuine, seems to confirm the oft-repeated similarity the new smartphone has with the Xiaomi Redmi K30. However, at a price of ₹18,999 (~US$266) the cost of the Poco X2 could be higher than expected.

An interesting tweet by an “industry insider” has stirred the pot once more in regard to the performance capabilities of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. It seems overall that the next-gen console from Sony will offer better performance than Microsoft’s effort, with the PS5 also having a superior SSD and RAM. However, the Xbox Series X has the all-important GPU advantage.

After receiving feedback at the Open Ears Forum last month, OnePlus has taken the time out to collate user pain points with its camera app, and confirms that it is working on major improvements that will be implemented in software updates.

Well-connected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has issued his latest research note on Apple’s 2020 product pipeline for TF International Securities and Apple fans are in for a treat if Kuo’s predictions materialize. Among new products expected in the first half of 2020 include Apple’s budget 4.7-inch iPhone, an iPad Pro refresh, AirTags, MacBook Pro/Air refresh, a small wireless charging mat and a set of high-end Bluetooth headphones.

If you're running out of juice and don't have a charger nearby, welcome to the club. The Quick-E charger is a small and environmentally friendly one-time use battery bank with a pre-paid postage stamp for buyers to return once the battery bank is depleted.

Chuwi has launched its latest 2-in1 tablet, the Hi10 X. The tablet is aiming to tempt people in with its affordable pricing and its metal unibody design, along with dual USB Type-C ports and a detachable keyboard dock.

News about new Xiaomi smartphones has been a bit quiet recently, what with the arrival of the POCO X2 and all. The Mi 10 series may arrive as early as February 14, though. Ahead of that rumoured release date, several leakers have posted a screenshot purporting to show specifications of the Mi 10 Pro in what would make for an excellent successor to the Mi 9.

The Galaxy S8 and Note 8 may now be two generations old, but they are still mighty powerful smartphones. Although they have started life on Android Nougat too, both can now be upgraded to Android 10. The Exynos 8895 and Snapdragon 835 should be well-suited for running Google's latest OS, too.

Microsoft might be releasing the Surface Duo and Surface Neo later this year, but a Surface Book 3 could be in development too. Two devices that would fit the description have now appeared on 3DMark, which suggest that the Surface Book 3 will come with Intel Ice Lake processors and a choice of NVIDIA Max-Q GPUs.

A collection of new phone certifications allegedly found on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or Eurasian Communications Commission (EEC) websites may have leaked some of the specs of upcoming Realme devices. One is thought to be a successor to the C2.

Smart speakers are increasingly popular household items. Their market is now thought to be capable of growing until it is worth US$19.91 billion in 4 years. This success may be driven by the rise of 5G, urbanization, consumer interest in smart homes and interest in the devices themselves.

A new leak has thrown more light on the sensor Samsung will use on the telephoto shooters of the Galaxy S20 and S20+. Sadly, all it manages to do is raise more questions, as it potentially implies terrible low-light performance when taking telephoto shots with the phones.

Indian Realme X2 Pro users will soon be able to use VoWiFi on Reliance Jio and Airtel. The functionality comes via its latest software update which also brings the January security patch. It is rolling out now and will be available to users over the coming week.

A phone calling itself the OPPO PCLM50 has surfaced on Geekbench 5 recently. This putative new phone has an unnamed chipset, but one that may very well be Qualcomm's new mid-tier flagship, the Snapdragon 765G - or its nearest variant, the 765. It may also ship with the latest ColorOS 7 and 8GB of RAM.

2019 brought the highest revenues in six years for AMD and the red team expects increased 7 nm CPU adoption for 2020 together with increased demand for custom embedded solutions via the release of the next gen consoles. CEO Lisa Su confirmed that the RDNA architecture is getting a refresh and the second half of 2020 should also bring new data center GPUs.

The official AMD site does not provide exact specs for the new Pro 500 chipsets, but it looks like Lenovo already plans to release some IdeaCentre ThinkCentre models that integrate a Pro 560 chipset. According to the Lenovo spec sheet, the Pro 560 chipset appears to support up to 32 GB DDR4-2666 RAM and is only compatible with the PCIe 3.0 standard.

Intel could be accelerating the launch of Comet Lake-H and Comet Lake-S CPUs to March this year to counter AMD's launch of Renoir Ryzen 4000 APUs around the same time. As per reports, a reduced pricing is also on the cards. The question, however, still remains. Will an early launch period help with Intel's fortunes against AMD's 7nm onslaught?

The Galaxy XCover 4s is one of the latest in Samsung's line of rugged smartphones. It currently runs Android 9.0 (Pie). Now, however, devices with its model number have appeared on a benchmarking site running a major upgrade to this OS.

Is 2020 the year when foldables go mainstream? Probably not, but it is likely the dawn on mainstream OEMs releasing foldable smartphones en-masse, albeit at ludicrous prices. The Galaxy Z Flip may seem better value than the Motorola Razr 2019 on paper, but it is still a waste of money.

The Mi A3 is not due to receive Android 10 until next month, right? Not so, according to Xiaomi. The company has informed fans that the OS upgrade is live and rolling out to handsets now. There appears to be no evidence of this being the case, though.

An APK teardown has revealed that Google will be bringing native call recording functionality to the Google Phone app in Pixel devices. The updated Google Phone app will allow users to record, transcribe, and export the recordings. It will also prompt users on either side of the call whenever recording is initiated or terminated.

Huawei has given users of the Huawei Y9 (2019) Indian variant and the Nova 3/Nova 3i a cold shoulder as the company has confirmed the said devices will not be updated to EMUI 10. This is surprising considering that global variants of the Huawei Y9 are confirmed to received the update after a recent backlash and that these phones use the same Kirin 710 SoC as the Honor 8X, which is already getting its share of EMUI 10 goodness.

Google has been working hard to bring all sorts of AI-powered smarts to Android smartphones for some time. The latest application of this technology will bring Android closer to realizing the Star Trek vision of universal translator with a forthcoming update to Google Translate for Android.

The upcoming Poco X2 smartphone is confirmed to feature a 120 Hz RealityFlow display, and all the hints point it to be a rebadged Redmi K30 for the Indian market. Leaked images of the Poco X2 also seem to confirm a Redmi K30-esque design including the presence of a dual punch-hole front camera notch. The Poco X2 is all set to be officially released on February 4.

In addition to the long-awaited dual-barreled tanks that have been added to the Russian tech tree (namely the IS-2-II, IS-3-II, and the ST-II), World of Tanks 1.7.1 also comes with the Demount Kit feature that allows players to send complex equipment to the depot without spending gold. However, this kit can only be gained from Reward for Merit drops.