Accessory

The ASUS ROG Phone has multiple USB type C ports, so that it can support accessories that need two of these ports. A Redditor has demonstrated that this feature can be hi-jacked in order to make it appear that the phone can charge itself. However, the effect may be less than authentic.

A new official battery case for the iPhone XS or possibly the XS Max may be available soon. This possibility has arisen from clues found in the code of an Apple software beta, which has resulted in accurate predictions about upcoming products in the past. This case, should it exist, has undergone somewhat of a design update to match the new iPhone.

A new report on the wearables market shows that Xiaomi was the single biggest company in this space in the third quarter of 2018, keeping Apple as the runner-up in terms of market share. The market also grew by 21.7% in general compared to last year. This was attributed to the release of new products and increased uptake in the Asia-Pacific region.

Google has filed a patent with the United States Patent and Trademarks Office (USPTO) that depicts motion sensors built into a smartwatch. They expand the wearable's range of user interface feedback to the device's immediate surroundings. In practice, this means the watch can turn part of the user's arm into a 'mousepad' to select letters while typing and for other similar actions.

Amazon Alexa is probably Google Assistant's most consistent competitor. The voice-powered software will add another feature to its set soon: Apple Music support. Amazon has announced that users will be able to play tracks associated with this streaming service from December 17, 2018.

QNAP's new HS-453DX silent NAS is a storage accessory for home users that sports an Intel Celeron quad-core processor, 4K real-time transcoding, and 10 GbE connectivity. The best part of it all is that these capabilities are provided via a fanless set-top design that is perfect for living rooms and home theater setups.

Antlion Audio claims that its ModMic Wireless attachment adds mic capabilities to any kind of headphone. It has the aptX low-energy Bluetooth codec, 16-bit 48khz audio and a USB type A receiver. The ModMic Wireless also has a patented clasp to stay attached to its headphone cup.

Apparently called First Snow White to commemorate the first snowfall of the year in Taiwan, the white Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is now official. Obviously, this color option for Samsung's latest Galaxy Note also comes with a white S Pen. Those interested will be able to buy it starting next month for the equivalent of almost US$1,000.

The Gameband, formerly known as the Atari Gameband, looked like a promising gaming-focused smartwatch during its successful Kickstarter campaign last year. Despite raising a total of $500,000 between Kickstarter backers and other investors, the Gameband has officially been killed. Worst of all, backers may never receive a refund

Whatever happened to the Apple-branded Chromecast/TV Stick competitor? What indeed; however, some sources close to Apple allege that there was a team dedicated to such a product at one time. A cheaper version of Apple TV could have benefited some groups...however, it's apparently long gone now.

Valve quietly announced that once physical stock of the Steam Link streaming device sells out, they will no longer sell physical units. Instead, Valve will shift focus and support to the Steam Link mobile app, currently only available for Android. While the reasons for the discontinuation aren't entirely clear, it's likely that the Steam Link is no longer selling enough to warrant continued support.

Many Microsoft users will soon be able to make Skype calls over their Alexa-powered smart speakers. This feature is only available in select countries, however. Those living in them may be able to find the new function in the speakers' Settings menu.

The cycling deals will run throughout the week with savings between 10 percent and 35 percent across Lenovo's popular product lines. Newer models like the Legion Y530, however, have much smaller discounts compared to older models.

Samsung is one of the world leaders in curved display technology, and is to take flexible OLEDs even further with its upcoming foldable phone range. However, IceUniverse believes that the company has even more of the same up its sleeve; a 360-degree type of transparent display.

Microsoft is offering a sneak peek at its Black Friday deals for 2018. They include US$330 off the Surface Pro 6 bundled with its Type cover (in any color so long as it's black) and $310 off the Surface Pro Core M. There is also a range of XBox offers, including a Game Pass for $1 to new users.

Wear OS is getting a new update. Known as "H", it adds a new battery-saving mode to Android-powered watches. The new update also overhauls how a watch reboots or shuts down, as well as how it resumes apps and handles the switch to sleep mode.

Corsair has announced that its wide range of gaming keyboards and mice will support the Xbox One. Microsoft recently announced keyboard and mouse support for the Xbox One and developers can choose to support their game for such input if desired. Corsair also said that the Elgato Stream Deck can now be integrated with Mixer for improved live streaming.

It has been claimed that Apple will be releasing the successor to its AirPods product before the end of the year. There has been speculation that AirPods 2 could feature a case that can be charged wirelessly, but nothing has been confirmed from Cupertino yet. Leaked images of stacked AirPods cases have added fuel to the fire.

Google Glass was the search giant's first attempt at smart glasses, and could clip onto transparent spectacles to deliver info and shots from its camera via an eyeball-level LED. It was not a popular release, not least because of its ultra-high price tag. Nevertheless, Google is developing second-gen Glass, which is to target corporations rather than consumers.

Huawei introduced a new feature known as reverse (or inverted) wireless charging with the Mate 20 Pro. It means that the new flagship can be used as a charging pad for other devices with compatible technology. However, Android Authority found it to work very slowly for a Pixel 3 in comparison with its own chargers.

Microsoft is making good on their September promise to bring mouse-and-keyboard input support to the Xbox One. Starting this Wednesday, November 14, select titles will receive updates that will allow them to be played with a mouse and a keyboard instead of a traditional controller. The first titles to receive the update will be Fortnite and Warframe. Microsoft will also partner with Razer to release "Designed for Xbox" branded mice-and-keyboard sets.

11.11 was a major sales event for Chinese and international e-sellers that took place (accordingly enough) on November 11. Xiaomi has reportedly had a marked success for the day, making US$747 million by the end of the promotional period. It was also the most popular brand in various price brackets.

LaCie, a subsidiary of Seagate, has released its latest portable SSD with USB type C. The company claims that it can transfer data at up to 540 MB/s and support up to USB 3.0 standards. The LaCie type C portable SSD is also supposedly shock-proof, despite its carefully styled 9mm-thick chassis.

The Black Shark is Xiaomi's take on a gaming phone. It is powered by up-to-date hardware, although it lacks a headphone jack. Xiaomi has announced that it will release this phone into the European market on November 16.

Remember Samsung's DeX? While that program has so far been a failure, it had led to Linux on DeX, an exciting new feature for select Samsung Galaxy devices. Linux on DeX will allow users to load a full desktop Linux environment within an app container on their Android phone. After connecting their phone to an external monitor, users will be able to enjoy a full desktop Linux experience, all running off their Samsung Galaxy device.

The Fossil Sport smartwatch is now available for order as of today (November 8, 2018). This is the first smartwatch from this brand with the Snapdragon Wear 3100 chipset. The Fossil Sport also comes with 6 colors of interchangeable silicone strap.

8BitDo has just released a wireless controller adapter for the Switch and Windows PCs. The GBros. Wireless Adapter for Switch allows gamers to connect Gamecube controllers, NES and SNES Classic controllers, and the Wii Classic controller to either the Nintendo Switch or a Windows device (running compatible software) wirelessly.

DJI is putting a number of its drones, including the Mavic Air and Spark, on sale for the Black Friday season. This sale also includes the Osmo 2 Mobile and Racing Edition Goggles. This promotion is starting later this month.

Download links for a Spotify app for iOS have appeared on its community website. In addition, a Redditor also claims that there is also a WatchOS variant of the same in beta. However, the app is still in beta and does not much more beside the control of playback using the streaming service.

Casio wants to solve its customer's daylight savings time problems with the latest versions of its EDIFICE line. These motorsport-inspired watches can sync via a smartphone in order to maintain its timekeeping accuracy. On the other hand, this is all the supposed connected devices do.

Alienware might have not been able to hit the jackpot with its gaming mice yet, but that can change anytime. Although most gamers would rather use a wired mouse, Frank Azor has confirmed that Alienware is currently developing a wireless one which is supposed to hit the market next year.

2018 could be considered the year of the successful hybrid smartwatch. The LG Watch W7, which has a physical timepiece in addition to a digital display, was received well, as was the dual-display Ticwatch Pro. Now, a new patent suggests that Samsung is at least considering this design choice as well.

The 48 MP ISOCELL Bright GM1 and 32 MP ISOCELL Bright GD1 are Samsung's new 0.8-micrometer image sensors for mobile devices that enable camera module manufacturers to build smaller modules or cram more pixels into existing designs. These sensors support Gyro-based image stabilization and the Tetracell technology for increased light sensitivity.

Corsair has introduced new low profile RGB mechanical keyboards in the K70 MK.2 lineup. The K70 MK.2 Low Profile and the K70 MK.2 Low Profile Rapidfire offer Cherry MX Low Profile RGB and Low Profile RGB Speed respectively. As with other Corsair keyboards, the new K70 MK.2 Low Profile keyboards are fully customizable using the iCUE software.

A report published by Microsoft Research has described an Integrated Display Cover for use in conjunction with a regular smartphone. The Display Cover would offer users an additional e-ink display for viewing information, thus increasing the amount of screen real estate available. Concept images of the cover were shared on Twitter.

Anker's Nebula Capsule is a 720p portable cinema projector that could put your streamed or saved movies on any flat surface. Now, the company is back with the Nebula Capsule II. This Android-powered projector has raised just about US$650,000 on Kickstarter so far.

A list of proposed rules put out by the U.S. Copyright Office would make jailbreaking devices like smartphones and smart speakers completely legal, if adopted. Jailbreaking, or circumventing DRM, is currently in a legally grey area. If these rules are implemented, then people could create their own tools to jailbreak a device for repair purposes. However, jailbreaking tools could not be distributed under these rules.

The new device-as-a-service program from HP is limited to select customers for the time being and it targets creative professionals like photographers, video editors, graphic designers, and CG artists. Each professional group gets a specific hardware bundle with included accessories and a monthly "rent," plus access to the 24/7 Concierge program for streamlined setup.

The music streaming service Spotify has finally pushed an update for the app used on Android smartwatches. This version takes on the functions users formerly had to turn to 3rd-party solutions for. For example, the new Spotify for Wear OS has an actual set of music controls, and also syncs speakers with them.

The RED Hydrogen One is the high-end camera company's first attempt at a smartphone. A spec-rich infographic of the phone has leaked, indicating the majority of its ports and components. However, the release date is not among these details.

Powered by the Intel Celeron J1800 processor, the QNAP TS-351 NAS targets home users with features like media streaming and real-time transcoding, two M.2 slots with support for M.2 PCIe NVMe SSDs with the 2280 form factor, 2 or 4 GB of memory (upgradeable to 8 GB), 3 hot-swappable bays, and more.

Although Samsung has been providing solutions for the automotive industry for a while, it had no dedicated brand for this market. The new Exynos Auto and ISOCELL Auto come to fill in the gap and "to bring cutting-edge application processor and image sensor technology solutions to the road."

More compact than Silicon Power's previous power banks, the new Dash C50, Cell C100, and Share C200 feature a high-quality Lithium-polymer battery encased in a plastic body. These accessories come in black or white, are capable of charging two devices simultaneously, and provide a capacity of 5,000, 10,000, and 20,000 mAh.

The American telecommunications company Verizon will be offering the new Palm “mini-smartphone” device that has been developed by a start-up backed by the huge Chinese multinational, TCL. The diminutive companion gadget has been designed to be used in conjunction with an existing larger smartphone. The Palm is expected to be made available in November, with a price starting at US$349.

Each headset has been designed to better fit users with glasses by easing the pressure around the temple. The higher-end Elite Atlas model includes a host of additional features that both mainstream and hardcore gamers can appreciate.

The Home Hub is the newest form of domestic voice assistant from Google. It has been revealed as part of the Made by Google event, along with the new Pixel phones and Pixel Slate. The Hub is supposedly designed to subtly blend in with a home, while forming a central control point for its connected devices.

KRY, a company that describes itself as a "digital healthcare provider", is the world's first group to offer treatment for public-speaking phobias in VR. This form of therapy is to be made available to adults of 18 and older. It involves doing therapeutic 'exercises' using a VR headset worn at home.

The Internet of Things (IoT) market is now estimated it will attain a value of just under US$1,500 billion by 2024. This is particularly impressive as it was worth $334 billion in 2016. A new report attributes this potential growth to the general demand for state-of-the-art technology.

Do your best to show off how Lucky the dragon can look when fused with the Venom Symbiote and you could win a new MSI Trident 3 mini PC or 27-inch curved gaming monitor. The contest celebrates the release of the movie Venom starring Tom Hardy in the titular role.

A developer has created an app that can test the 60fps rendering capabilities of the S4 SIP, the processing platform found in the 4th-gen Apple Watch. He has reported that the watch equals the iPhone 6S in this test. The watch also used less than 70% of its processing power while running this app.