Linux / Unix

The single board computer comes with up to 4 GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 32 GB of eMMC 5.1 storage. The Khadas VIM3 will launch on June 24 and runs Android 9.0 Pie, LibreELEC or Ubuntu.

It has been a long time coming, but a final version of the Smach Z will apparently be at E3 2019. The conference, hosted at the LA Convention Center between June 11 and 13, will be the first opportunity to see the much delayed handheld console in the flesh. The Smach Z is still available to pre-order with prices currently starting at US$629.10.

War Thunder 1.89 "Imperial Navy" comes with a full naval tech tree for Japan, a first — premium, as usual — helicopter for the same nation, a few new ground vehicles — the long-awaited French Leclerc tank is one of them — and planes for most nations, two new locations, reworked clouds, and more.

The news for Huawei seems to be getting worse by the day, as if that was even possible. In the latest blow to the company, the SD Association has blocked the ability for Huawei to offer phones or devices featuring SD or microSD card slot.

Ever fancied having a small home server? Well now you can with the NODE Mini Server V2. Caution: soldering skills required.

GPD has announced the pricing for its upcoming P2 Max via Twitter. The company will launch two versions of the 8.9-inch mini laptop, both of which will run Windows 10 and will feature a trackpad, a fingerprint sensor and a webcam.
GPD confirms specification change

Although apparently not available in this moment, Firefox 67 is scheduled to arrive today all over the world. The new release of Mozilla's browser comes with private browsing mode extension controls, WebRender enabled for 5 percent of compatible systems, as well as various performance improvements and fixes.

The Jetson Nano Developer Kit is one mighty single-board computer (SBC). The device can churn out up to 472 GFLOPS of performance, despite its compact form factor, thanks to its quad-core CPU and 128 CUDA core GPU performance. The Developer Kit definitely gives other SBCs like the Raspberry Pi a run for their money.

The ToyBrick RK3399 Pro is a developer board that is powered by an RK399Pro SoC, which integrates an ARM Mali-T860MP4 GPU and an RK1808 NPU that can achieve up to 3.0 TOPS. The board can dual-boot Android and Linux out of the box and comes with up to 6 GB RAM and 32 GB of eMMC flash storage.

Khadas has announced its new single board computer, the VIM3. The company has based the board on the powerful Amlogic S922X SoC and will equip it with up to 4 GB of RAM along with 32 GB of eMMC storage. The VIM3 supports Wi-Fi 5 and PCIe NVMe SSDs too.

Have you been unable to source an Atomic Pi? Well, it is now available to order worldwide once again. The Raspberry Pi alternative comes with an Intel Atom Cherry Trail processor, 2 GB RAM and 16 GB of eMMC flash storage. Orders for the developer board will ship on May 20.

A Raspberry Pi enthusiast has managed to use one of the single-board computers as the basis of a mini laptop that looks amazing. The pocket RPi notebook features stripped-down components so that it could be assembled into its neat form, and the battery for the mini laptop was taken from a Xiaomi powerbank.

The RPI Relay Board allows the Raspberry Pi to control high current and voltage devices like home appliances. The expansion board supports up to 5A/250V AC or 5A/30V DC and comes with extensive development resources such as sample programs written in BCM2835, python, shell, WebIOPi and WiringPi. The RPI Relay Board is available worldwide for US$18.99.

Set your alarms to next Thursday. One-Netbook has already revealed most of the specifications for its next device, the One Mix 3, and now it has confirmed when it will be making the mini laptop available to pre-order too. It is still keeping pricing secret though.

The Pocket 2 Max is an 8.9-inch mini laptop that includes a Core m3-8100Y processor, up to 16 GB RAM and a removable PCIe NVMe SSD. Oh, and a dreaded nosecam too.
Update: New device photos and hands-on video added.

Vivaldi 2.5 is now live and this update turns Opera 12's spiritual successor into the first browser to feature full integration with Razer Chroma — the world's largest lighting ecosystem for gaming devices. Other noticeable changes are the ability to resize Speed Dial thumbnails and improved Tab Selection options.

The new Linux kernel update integrates support for using persistent storage as regular system memory, a new Linux Security Module (LSM), live patching, as well as multiple minor tweaks and fixes. All these will be included in the first point release that should go live later this month, but those in a hurry can grab the sources and compile the new kernel right now.

The Grove AI HAT is designed to assist the Raspberry PI with running edge computing workloads. The board has a Sipeed MAix M1 module that integrates a Kendryte K210 dual-core processor along with numerous connectors, ports and sensors. The Grove AI HAT is available to pre-order on Seeed Studio for US$24.50 and will ship in mid-June.

Pine64, a Chinese company known for its single-board computers, has delivered a video update of the upcoming Pinebook Pro laptop. The manufacturer seems to be working out some teething problems with the 14-inch device, but it is still expected to be released within the next few months at a budget price point of around US$200.

The open-source OpenGL and Vulkan Linux drivers for the upcoming Intel Gen11 GPU are now considered to be complete according to code updates spotted by Phoronix. The drivers will be a part of the Linux 5.2 kernel and are said to be working at full performance.

The NanoPi NEO 4 is an affordable and compact Raspberry Pi alternative that FriendlyElec equips with a six-core processor and 1 GB RAM. The board has numerous ports and sensors including HDMI 2.0 and USB Type-C too. The NanoPi NEO 4 ships worldwide for US$50.

The Atomic Pi is an affordable Raspberry Pi alternative equipped with an Intel Atom Cherry Trail processor, 2 GB RAM and 16 GB of eMMC flash storage. The developer board has numerous expansion connectors, ports and sensors too. The Atomic Pi costs just US$35.
Update: Shipping information clarified.

Motorola has just released the kernel source code for Android 9 Pie for the Moto G6 Play. This release should make it much easier for modders and developers to create Android Pie-based custom ROMs for the handset, extending its life a bit. Motorola is one of the few companies left that still routinely releases source code for its handsets.

Samsung has expanded the list of devices supporting its Linux on DeX project. Originally supported only on Galaxy Note 9 and Tab S4 devices, it is now supported on the Galaxy S9, S9+ and the Galaxy S10 range along with the Tab S5e.

Compulab has announced its Airtop3 device that comes with up to an Intel Core i9-9900K CPU and Nvidia Quadro RTX 4000 graphics card. The ruggedized IoT edge server is passively cooled and has been designed for industrial use. Numerous customization options are available for the Airtop3 PC, including extended and industrial operating temperature ranges.

The newly-introduced Helios lineup can easily replace a high-end desktop, as it comes with desktop-grade components like Intel's Core i5-9600K / i7-9700K / i9-9900K CPUs coupled with up to 64 GB of DDR4-2666 RAM and up to 12 TB of storage, plus RTX 2060 / RTX 2070 / RTX 2080 GPUs. The chassis is clearly bulkier and the laptops come with 330 W power adapters.

Atari announced this week that the Atari VCS would switch to an AMD Ryzen Embedded R1000 APU, officially ditching the Bristol Ridge A10 it had planned to use last year. While the R1000 will bring better performance and support for modern features (like 4K video playback), it brings a heavy negative to the effervescent console - delays.

ASRock has revealed its new mini desktop PC that features chips from Intel’s Whiskey Lake-U series. Along with the modern processor, the ASRock iBOX has a fanless design with fins covering the surface of the desktop to assist with cooling. The new product is expected to be utilized in industrial environments.

Despite word of layoffs at Google’s hardware division, it appears that a successor or stablemate for the Pixel Slate is still in the works. A slideshow presented at the Cloud Next 19 conference in San Francisco hints that a smaller variant of the Slate could be in offing.

Opera Reborn 3 — also known as Opera 60 — comes as the first desktop browser with Web 3 support, also featuring an improved built-in VPN, support for Windows 10 dark mode, a built-in Crypto Wallet, various interface changes, and more. Those interested can grab Opera 60 right away for Windows, macOS, and Linux (deb, RPM, and snap).

AMD has taken a bite out of Intel’s overall share in Steam’s monthly survey in the PC processor usage category. The red team was up to 18.1% for March, rising 0.5% from 17.6% for February. AMD took share away from Intel for systems running Windows, but the latter chipmaker gained a little for computers operating on Linux.

Although Mozilla is reviewing the extensions available in the official add-ons store for Firefox, the process is now working using the "publish first/review later" approach. However, the Recommended Extensions program comes with a list of curated extensions that comply with Mozilla's "highest standards of security, utility, and user experience."

In a new partnership announced today, Purism and Private Internet Access (PIA) have announced that the companies will develop a specialized VPN service for the Librem 13 and Librem 15 laptops as well as the Librem 5 smartphone. The VPN will be backed into PureOS and the Librem 5 out-of-the-box and aims to continue both Purism's and PIA's mission of protecting user data and privacy.

SPURV is a new project by Collabora, an open source software development and integration company. SPURV can run a full instance of Android in a container, allowing the mobile OS to directly access system hardware and run apps natively on a Linux system. The process essentially runs two operating systems on a machine at the same time and can be quite resource intensive.

AAEON has added a new single-board computer (SBC) to the UP product family: the UP Xtreme. As is befitting the hyperbolic name, the board can operate with a CPU from Intel’s 8th Generation Whiskey Lake series. The board also has the UHD 620 iGPU solution at its disposal and can be fitted with up to 16 GB RAM.

Facebook has announced that it is finally cracking down on white nationalism and white separatism on both Facebook and Instagram. The move follows live streaming of an attack on two New Zealand mosques which was also shared repeatedly on the social network via various groups.

Vivaldi 2.4 comes with no less than 42 bug fixes, as well as 9 new features. The most important changes are the ability to remove buttons from the Navigation Toolbar and move them between the Navigation and Status bars, as well as the introduction of multiple user profiles — each with a separate set of Bookmarks, Extensions, history, and so on.

Nvidia has launched the Jetson Nano, a small computer that offers machine-learning capabilities at an entry-level price. The developer kit costs US$99 while a production-ready module will cost US$129. The Jetson Nano module offers 472 GFLOPS of computing performance in a 69.6 mm x 45 mm package. Worldwide distribution for the module version will begin in June; the developer kit is available now.

War Thunder 1.87 "Locked On!" is a massive update to Gaijin Entertainment's popular vehicular combat title and — just like its predecessors — has a suggestive name. The game now features French helicopters, new cruisers, rank VII ground vehicles, advanced supersonic jets, complex radar systems, and more.

The H500 Overwatch Edition retails for US$149.99 and features the game's black, white and orange colouring. There is a backlit Overwatch logo too and a tempered glass panel to show off your build.

System76 has revised its Oryx Pro laptop, bringing Nvidia GeForce RTX 20-series GPUs and an 8th Gen Intel Core chip into the mix. The champions of open-source software are offering potential buyers the chance to choose from an RTX 2060, RTX 2070, and an RTX 2080 graphics card. More RAM and storage options are also available in the company’s online configurator.

The MXCHIP EMW3060 is a small Wi-Fi board that integrates an ARM processor, which can help developers deliver small IoT projects affordably. The EMW3060 may have less flexibility than its Arduino alternatives though.

The latest update to the VLC media player (4.0) will bring more features, especially for iOS. However, it will also no longer support older versions of the same platform, along with some others (e.g. Windows XP). It also now offers the ability to play a full list of music without pauses of any kind.

Pine64, the organization behind the Pine A64 SBC and Pinebook, is planning to release a new Linux-based laptop and a new tablet. Dubbed the Pinebook Pro and PineTab, respectively, the two devices aim to offer an open-source computing experience at a low price. The Pinebook Pro is priced at US $199 while the PineTab is priced at US $79.

The original Darter from System76 was launched back in 2013, and now the company is refreshing the specs with up to date operating systems and components. Powered by Intel's Whiskey Lake-U CPUs, the new Darter Pro can integrate up to 32 GB of DDR4-2400 RAM and 2 TB of NVMe SSD storage, plus it comes in a lightweight chassis and has long-lasting battery life.

A new device has been added to Dell’s Project Sputnik line-up: the XPS 13 9380 Developer Edition. Dell had already announced the XPS 13 9380, and the listed operating systems in the technical specifications sheet included Ubuntu 18.04. The Developer Edition of the laptop is now available in the US, Canada and Europe regions, with a price starting at US$739.99.