Launch

OtterBox and CASETiFY have confirmed that they are among the first of the popular accessory brands to support the newly-announced Google Pixel Fold with protective accessories. Both companies assert that the new cases can protect the first-gen flexible-display device with no hindrance to its unique new function. OtterBox also backs its versions to keep any added bulk to a minimum, whereas CASETiFY offers certified military-standard protection.

Volkswagen has now announced that its impending ID.7 electric sedan is also coming in GTX form. The newer variant is backed to debut with all-wheel drive and even more performance than the original vanilla model can get out of its platform. It is also slated to stand out with design tweaks that reflect the "intelligent sportiness" of its new suffix.

Subaru recently released its 2022-2023 financial results in which it revealed that by 2026 its electric lineup will grow to four crossover models. Subaru and Toyota have thusfar been very late to the electric vehicle party, and the pair may lose revenue as a result. Subaru intends to sell 200,000 electric vehicles per year by 2026, with an additional 200,000 units per year of production starting in 2028.

Canon has unveiled the PowerShot V10, a camera aimed at vloggers and video creators. The unique, compact form factor of the PowerShot V10 positions it as a solid attempt at drawing beginner vloggers and content creators away from smartphones, despite the camera lacking some key features for video creators.

Fairphone has presented the Fairbuds XL, a new pair of over-ear headphones centred around repairability and sustainability. The Fairbuds XL supports Qualcomm aptX HD, ANC, Bluetooth Multipoint and is rated for up to 26 hours of battery life with ANC enabled. The Fairbuds XL is already orderable in multiple markets in black or green colourways.

Now that Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for iPad have been announced, more users might be on the look-out for an accessory that can help them switch between one- and two-handed use with ease. To this end, ESR has released the SHIFT Magnetic Case for the 11-inch version of the latest iPad Pro. Its two-part design is rated to let the tablet tilt through multiple angles and go from portrait to landscape mode quickly and conveniently.

Honor has now launched the Band 7 in Europe and the UK. The Honor Band 7 has a large OLED display, and is compatible with most Android smartphones or iPhones. The fitness tracker provides 5 ATM water resistance too, among other features.

Xiaomi has introduced the Mi TV ES Pro 90-inch, a new flagship in its Mi TV ES Pro range. Spanning 90-inches and with a 98-inch screen-to-body ratio, the new Mi TV ES Pro delivers a native 4K image with a 144 Hz refresh rate, 1,000 nits peak brightness and HDMI 2.1 connectivity, among other features.

Sony has introduced the Xperia 10 V, a new mid-range smartphone based on the same Snapdragon 695 chipset as its predecessor. The Xperia 10 V retains its predecessor's 60 Hz OLED display too, but features a new 48 primary camera.

GPD is now taking orders for a 2023 refresh of the Win Max 2. As expected, the Win Max 2 2023 features AMD Phoenix APUs, faster RAM and an OcuLink port for connecting eGPUs. Prices start at US$799 or US$1,049 for Ryzen 7 7840U models.

Sony has lifted the lid on the Xperia 1 V, one of two smartphones the company has introduced today. Launched alongside the Xperia 10 V, the Xperia 1 V offers various improvements over the outgoing Xperia 1 IV, such as a new 48 MP primary camera and a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. Pre-orders will open next month in most markets but for more than comparable versions of the iPhone 14 Pro Max or Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Huawei has announced that its 3:2 aspect-ratio flagship laptop has a new 2023 version, as does the 2.5K display MateBook 16s. Both Windows 11 PCs owe their new suffix to new Raptor Lake processors, if not much else. Then again, there is a screen brightness upgrade for the new 16-inch model.

Google has introduced the Pixel Tablet, a 10.95-inch tablet based on the Tensor G2 chipset. The Pixel Tablet also has 8 GB of RAM, a choice between two storage options and a 27 Wh battery. At launch, Google offers the Pixel Tablet in three colour options with colour-matching charging docks.

Google has finally taken wraps off the Pixel 7a. The Pixel 7a is powered by the Google Tensor G2 SoC and features an FHD+ display, 64 MP primary camera, and a host of AI-powered enhancements. The Pixel 7a will retail for ₹43,999 or US$499.

Nikon has released the Z 8, pitching it as the spiritual successor to the D850. The Z 8 takes a lot of what makes the Z 9 flagship a great camera, packs it into a 30% more compact form factor, and cuts the price by US$1,500. Pre-orders for the Z 8 start shipping on May 25.

Huawei has confirmed European pricing for the Mate X3, the company's flagship foldable. Arguably more advanced than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4, the Mate X3 has a high price to match.

Realme has unleashed the 11 Pro Plus to push 200MP main cameras even further into the mainstream today (May 10, 2023). It has been joined by vanilla 11 and 11 Pro siblings with the same new camera-ring design, Realme UI 4 based on Android 13 and 5,000mAh batteries. All three new devices ship with MediaTek's latest refreshed SoCs and FHD+ AMOLED displays

MediaTek has officially unveiled its flagship Dimensity 9200+ chipset with faster Cortex-X3/Cortex-A715 cores and a 17% faster Arm Immortalis G715 GPU.

The Dell UltraSharp U3224KB 6K monitor, first announced during CES 2023, is now available for US$3,200. The UltraSharp U3224KB is built with collaboration in mind and comes with an integrated 4K HDR webcam, auto KVM, and a good number of ports including Thunderbolt 4.

Huawei has introduced the Watch 4 and Watch 4 Pro, its latest flagship smartwatches. Both feature several exciting features, including a dive mode, fall detection and premium designs. Both have premium launch prices to match their high-end feature set, though.

Dell has showcased the UltraSharp 38 (U3824DW), a 37.5-inch curved monitor with an IPS Black panel. The monitor also has numerous ports, with 9 USB ports of various standards and three video outputs.

Alpine has shared details about its A290_ẞ (A290_beta) compact hot hatch that is set to launch in 2024 and compete with the likes of the Golf GTI, Abarth 500e, and Mini Cooper SE. The A290_ẞ is a dual-motor front-wheel-drive sporty hatchback concept based on the Renault 5, but with a few unique design cues and a central driver's seat.

Fisker's Ocean crossover has received a major makeover thanks to 33-inch wheels, a suspension upgrade, and underbody protection for improved off-road performance. The package will be available for any all-wheel-drive Ocean SUVs by the end of 2023.

FREEDARE has announced that it will bring its new option in electrified mobility to Indiegogo later in May 2023. The start-up describes it as "the world's first smart fat tire e-bike", which seems to mean the multi-terrain IP5X two-wheeler comes with battery management, theft detection and route-planning via its own smartphone app. Its range, comfort and early-bird prices are also now being hyped ahead of its debut.

Powkiddy is now selling its X55 gaming handheld directly. While a third-party retailer priced the Powkiddy X55 at just under US$150, Powkiddy has listed the same device for over 40% less.

Xiaomi has now revealed full pricing for the POCO F5 and POCO F5 Pro, global versions of the Redmi Note 12 Turbo and Redmi K60, respectively. Thus, both models should deliver excellent performance, as well as comparable camera hardware and 120 Hz AMOLED displays.

The US$799 Voigtlander NOKTON 55 mm f/1.2 SLIIs lens that was announced back in February has finally been properly unveiled and is available for pre-order. The Nikon F-mount lens is just the latest in a long line of vintage-inspired manual lenses to hit the market. Pre-orders are open at B&H Photo in the US, and at a number of European vendors.

Tecno has now confirmed a switch to a pointedly distinctive rear camera housing in its latest Camon-series smartphones. It houses a combination of 64MP and 2MP shooters in the new 20, 20 Pro and 20 Pro 5G variants, only upgrading to a 50MP+108MP+2MP set-up in the flagship 20 Premier. The 5G-capable members of this new family are also the first Android devices to launch with the "new" MediaTek Dimensity 8050 processor.

The DTRe Stella electric flat-tracker motorcycle features an 11 kW motor and is available as both a street version with all the necessary road-going equipment and a stripped-back, dirt-ready version for weekend fun. A 3 kW external charger takes the batteries on the Stella to 100% in just over an hour. Topping out at just 101 kg (~223 lbs), the Stella is aimed squarely at the weekend warrior rather than the daily commuter.

P16v instead of P15v: One of the last ThinkPad models that still used 16:9 models makes the transition to 16:10. Part of this transition is a completely new design. The new ThinkPad P16v looks very similar to the ThinkPad P16, with top base hinges and a dual fan cooling system. The ThinkPad P16v is also upgraded to Ada GPUs.

Huawei has launched the P60 Pro globally. While the smartphone packs plenty of flagship hardware, it has a high starting price. Specifically, Huawei has priced the P60 Pro at €1,199 with 256 GB of storage, or €1,399 if you want a 512 GB option.

Lenovo is releasing an updated 2023 workstation portfolio. While the T series based P14s and P16s receive a upgrade to the Ampere based RTX A500, ThinkPad P1 Gen 6 and P16 Gen 2 will feature Ada Lovelace chips. Apart from the new GPUs, there are new screen options, an increased amount of RAM and PCIe 5 SSDs for the P16.

Leveraging the mature 3D NAND processes that are used in today's most advanced SSD storage devices, Neo Semiconductor's 3D X-DRAM technology can offer 128 Gb capacity per chip, which is 8x the capacity of current DDR5 2D DRAM solutions.

ArtraLab has announced the NONIKKOR-MC f/1.4 35 mm full-frame lens for three popular lens mounts. The NONIKKOR-MC comes in two flavours inspired by the Nikkor 35 mm designs from the 1960's and 1980's. Retro camera and lens designs have been hot for a few years, and ArtraLab already has a catalogue of competent manual lenses.

Dell has launched an upgrade to the XPS 13 Plus 9320. The laptop is now available with both Intel 12th gen Alder Lake and 13th gen Raptor Lake options up to the Core i7-1370P. The current configuration on Dell's website with a Core i7-1360P starts from US$1,399.

According to reports, Google is finalising the development of two new smartwatches. Reputedly, Google plans to release a second-generation Pixel Watch, currently thought of as the Pixel Watch 2. A child-friendly smartwatch is also expected to land this autumn too but under the Fitbit brand.

The first Fisker Ocean electric SUV has been delivered just weeks after the company started to ramp up production. Fisker plans to produce over 40,000 units of its Ocean SUV in 2023, just two years after the unique electric vehicle was announced in 2021.

Goertek predicts that extended, mixed and/or augmented reality (XR/MR/AR) is ready to take over, through the medium of the glasses it helps other companies to make. To this end, the OEM also now asserts that smartwatch-like devices will be best to pair with and control this eyewear of the future. It has presented a reference "smart bracelet" demonstrating the high-speed, high-precision connectivity that this combination might need to work.

The specs for the leaked 2024 Mini Cooper Electric have been officially announced, and range numbers for Mini's exciting hot hatch have almost doubled. In contrast to the previous Cooper's 145-mile rating, the 2024 Cooper SE's 248-mile range is very promising.

A new Twitter teaser from Tesla shows the Model S Plaid ripping around a track, reaching speeds in excess of 200 mph. The Model S Plaid launched with a top speed of 163 mph that was later upped to 175 mph via the addition of Track Mode. Previously, Elon Musk revealed that the only way to safely get the Plaid to its originally promised 200 mph limit was with ceramic brakes.

Tesla has re-introduced the Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive Model 3 Long Range on the US design page. Changes to the vehicle's rated range and pricing make for a confusing package that makes the Model Y look particularly good.

Google has heralded "a major step" toward a future in which the password is obsolete with a new Account option sign-in option. They enable the user to generate a passkey instead of setting a password, and link it to their stored biometrics or PIN in order to access services from the Mountain View giant. The emerging login method is touted as a more convenient and secure form of authentication, although it may have its own drawbacks.

The Note 16 Pro's unique selling point on its launch preview is that it is a Ulefone device with an up-to-date version of Android out of the box. The new smartphone also boasts a 50MP main camera, a more-or-less modern "ultra-thin" build and a generous RAM-boosting feature - then again, some compromises have been made to get it to its "significant" launch-day special-offer price.

Motorola has presented the Edge 40, its latest upper mid-range smartphone. Arriving as a cheaper option to the Edge 40 Pro, the Edge 40 has a 144 Hz display, a Dimensity 8020 chipset and supports 68 W fast charging, among other features.

Xiaomi has expanded the colour options in which it sells the Xiaomi 13 Ultra. Previously, Xiaomi sold its premier smartphone in muted options, but the Xiaomi 13 Ultra Limited Edition rectifies this with Cabernet Orange, Ginkgo Yellow and Starry Sky Blue colourways.

Reportedly, Huawei plans to host a big launch event later this month. According to the same leaker, Huawei will use the event to showcase the long-awaited Watch 4 series, as well as various laptops like a 2023 refresh of the MateBook X Pro. Huawei could also introduce the MatePad Air, among other tablets.

HMD Global has introduced the Nokia XR21, a rugged smartphone that it claims is as robust as halcyon Nokia phones. The Nokia XR21 is billed as also delivering up to 2 days of battery life, with a few modern features thrown in too.

Panasonic has unveiled 2 new pairs of TWS earbuds, both of which have the brand's ErgoFit build for comfort, in-house XBS "extra bass" enhancements and Bluetooth 5.3. The RZ-B310Ws are equipped with (hybrid) active noise cancellation (ANC), whereas their RZ-B110W siblings are rated for prolonged battery life instead.

Xiaomi has announced the Redmi Note 12R Pro, its latest mid-range smartphone sold under the Redmi Note 12 series. The Redmi Note 12R Pro features a Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 chipset, 12 GB of RAM, 256 GB of storage and an AMOLED display that peaks at 1,200 nits with a 120 Hz refresh rate. The Redmi Note 12R Pro is also relatively affordable, although it remains a Chinese exclusive for now.

AMD has unveiled four new laptop processors, the Ryzen 7 7840U, Ryzen 5 7640U, Ryzen 5 7540U and Ryzen 3 7440U. All four SKUs have a TDP of 15-30 Watts and come with a new RDNA3-based iGPU.