Storage

The OnePlus 7 Pro is already definitely associated with the UFS 3.0 standard ahead of its launch on May 14, 2019. Now, the OEM has confirmed that this phone will support HDR10+ content. In ongoing leak terms, it may also have had all its colorways exposed in more detail.

Nebra put its innovative projector, the AnyBeam, up as a reward for its crowdfunding campaign. The start-up claims that this product is the "world's first pocket laser projector". This, apparently, was quite the draw among backers, as this project has gained 1.57 times its original goal.

It was already rumored that at least one device in the upcoming OnePlus 7 series would feature fast UFS 3.0 storage, but now it has been confirmed by CEO Pete Lau himself that the regular OnePlus 7 smartphone and the Pro and Pro 5G variants will have this storage solution. The Samsung Galaxy Fold was going to be the first device to bring UFS 3.0 to the mass market until it was recalled.

Reviewers and GPU aficionados have previously observed that there are two "classes" of the dies that make up NVIDIA RTX cards. They are essentially the TU10x-xxxA and TUx-xxx chips, the "A"s of which are approved for factory overclocking. However, new variants of the same dies negate this dichotomy.

The Red Magic 3 is the first gaming phone to feature a physical fan. This stand-out Snapdragon 855 is set to be available to order in China from today (May 3, 2019). GizTop now also offers the possibility of ordering a truncated range of variants from outside this region. It starts by asking US$539 for a 6GB/64GB SKU.

Vade Secure is an email-security company that produces a series of reports called "Phisher's Favorites". The 2019 first-quarter (1Q2019) issue shows that the targeting of social media by this kind of hacker has increased by 74.7% compared to 1Q2018. Facebook and Instagram are prominent example of the sites in question.

Google will release its first mid-tier smartphones on May 7, 2019. It has been all but confirmed that they will be called the Pixel 3a and 3a XL. New tips on the subject claim to have more details on their prices in USD, as well as a new possible Geekbench score for the 3a.

NVMe SSD and mobile storage prices are at an all-time low due to NAND memory oversupplies, and, even though this greatly benefits end users, chip makers are concerned about a possible market crash. In order to avoid such complications, Intel, Micron, SK Hynix, and possibly even Samsung are looking to reduce legacy node production and overall wafer output.

The Royole FlexPai had been available in China in December 2018, but only in pre-order form. No new units have been offered in subsequent events - until now. The company had reportedly put the flexible phone back on the retail site Tmall in April 2019.

Today (28 April 2019), Nikon opens its "Capture the Savings" event. It offers "instant savings" on products such as the award-winning Z Series full-frame camera bodies, as well as the D-series DLSRs and many types of Nikkor lenses. Most of these deals are available until 1 June 2019.

The device-diagnostics company Blancco claims to have bought over 100 second-hand hard drives on the eBay sites of 4 different counties, to see what data, if any, could be accessed on them. It claims that 42% of these drives still stored information from their previous owners that can be thought of as sensitive.

Need an original twist on the common-or-garden wireless speaker? The start-up Coolgeek might have you covered with their new Soundesk product. It is a round glass coffee table with a conical aluminum stand - that also houses a 360-degree speaker. The Soundesk can work via Bluetooth or an AUX cable for allegedly clear, high-quality sound.

The May 2019 update is set to be the next major upgrade to Windows 10. However, those with older machines may have particular trouble with getting it to work after installing it. This is because Microsoft has raised the minimum recommended hard-drive storage to support doing so to 32GB.

MyDrivers has reported that the upcoming third-gen Nubia gaming phone has made it through the Master Lu benchmark. However, the Red Magic 3 had allegedly made this trip before, posting a 470,000+ score. This new apparent result is comparably impressive.

Lenovo officially launched the Z6 Pro, a new flagship smartphone, in China only 2 days ago. Now, the OEM has released a celebratory poster on Weibo claiming that this device has attracted over 200,000 reservations already. Then again, these clicks do not necessarily presage actual orders, which will begin on April 29, 2019.

It has been projected that Nintendo is preparing 2 new versions of its latest console this year. One of them, a 'budget' model, has been slated for a release in 2 months in a new Bloomberg report. It also states that the other 2nd-gen Switch will be a "modest upgrade".

The OnePlus 7 Pro could cost the rough equivalent of $US928 in one of its markets. At least, this is what the prolific leaker Ishan Agarwal has apparently heard. A Tweet from this individual has set out the apparent memory SKUs of this upcoming phone, as well as their respective prices in Euros.

The latest figures on the global premium smartphone market reportedly show that OPPO increased its share of it by a stunning 863% in 2018. This stripped out comparable performances on the part of competitors such as Xiaomi and even Huawei. On the other hand, it did not threaten Apple's place at the top of this market.

Lenovo's latest flagship smartphone has been released today (April 23, 2019), as scheduled. Its launch confirms the presence of a quadruple rear camera, which incorporates a 48MP module as expected. Besides this, it has a Snapdragon 855 processor, a 12GB RAM variant and a 4000mAh battery.

The new NVIDIA 1650 card is to be unleashed soon. However, it seems there is also a Ti variant of this graphics solution in the works. ASUS has apparently developed several different models of this new GPU, which have surfaced on the Russian ECC certification database.

Honor's latest phone, the 20i, has been launched in China. This phone has a 32MP front-facing camera in its U-shaped notch. In addition, the new phone has a 6.21-inch IPS-LCD full-HD screen, triple rear cameras and the Kirin 710 processor. Its prices start at 1,599 RMB (about US$238) for a 4GB SKU.

A short video clip of a Samsung Galaxy Fold smartphone running AndroBench 5 ends with the device achieving some very impressive results. The sequential read rate was measured at 1478.85 MB/s, and a 4 kB random read performance measurement of 37,635.85 IOPS was also recorded. The Galaxy Fold utilizes Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 3.0.

Mark Cerny, lead architect behind the PlayStation 4, has confirmed several details about the specifications of Sony's next-generation console. The PlayStation 5, as it is rumored to be called, will run on an AMD APU consisting of a 7 nm Zen 2-based CPU and a Navi-based GPU that will support real-time ray tracing and 8K resolutions. The PS5 will also include a lightning-fast SSD that should drastically cut down on load time.

The Nubia X is one of a very few phones with working displays on both sides. It also now has Android 9 (Pie), albeit in beta form. Its maker is releasing it in a form that requires installation via local upgrade.

Xiaomi's Black Shark 2 is a powerful gaming phone that can be spec'd out to as much as 12GB in RAM. However, it does have one drawback: no 3.5mm jack. However, a brand spokesperson has indicated that this discrepancy will be rectified in its successor.

AnTuTu has taken to Weibo to present the first benchmark score derived from the newly-released OPPO Reno line. It is associated with the '10X Zoom' variant, which has a Snapdragon 855 processor and 6GB of RAM. This alleged super-camera-phone has returned a result of 369254, which is just about what is expected of its flagship SoC.

The action camera market is projected to be worth over $10 billion in 7 years. It has been found to be made up of the popular brands in this space, such as GoPro, Sony, Olympus, Garmin and others. This market is reportedly driven by increasing levels of disposable income and interest in relevant outdoor pursuits.

Intel detailed some of the technical specifications and performance numbers of its latest Optane H10 storage that combines 3D Xpoint and QLC NAND flash onto a single M.2 drive. The Optane H10 requires the latest Intel 8th gen U-series processor and Rapid Storage Technology drivers. It is slated to be available with major notebook OEMs starting Q2 2019.

Nokia's new punch-hole camera phone, the X71, has been launched in China today (April 8, 2019). This device is a variant of the 7 Plus, but with a triple rear camera set-up. It is available in 6/64GB or 6/128GB configurations.

TrendForce was predicting back in early 2019 that DDR4 RAM prices would see up to 35% cuts by Q2 2019, and this now appears to be indeed the case judging by the price trend data provided by CamelCamelCamel. These graphs also show that the DDR4 prices got halved compared to the peak prices of late 2017.

The concept of a whole new brand for OPPO could have been a major reveal for the company at its next launch event. However, this possibility has been disrupted by a multitude of leaks on the subject. Now, the OEM is said to have to be threatening a store with legal action over one of them.

ZTE Nubia is slated to release a new generation of its Red Magic gaming smartphone soon. A Weibo account-holder has posted screenshots that may show an AnTuTu benchmark score for this phone. Should it be proven accurate, the device is capable of attaining 437,524 points in this test.

A start-up called Nebra has included its AnyBeam portable projector as a reward on its current Kickstarted campaign. It claims that, as this product uses lasers rather than bulbs, it avoids many of the drawbacks of other similar projectors. This new product comes either in a housing or as a Raspberry Pi-mountable module.

Samsung produced a smaller-screen version of its S-line flagships this year. Now, a Korean news outlet claims that its sources have said the OEM will do the same with the Note series. However, this version may be exclusive to the European market.

UMIDIGI unveiled the F1 in December 2018. This phone shook up the US$200-300 bracket with a 5000mAh battery and other decent specs such as an FHD display and 4GB RAM. Now, a new version of the same adds a 48MP camera sensor, even more battery and a new, even lower price.

Reno is a new line of OPPO smartphones set to launch later this year. At least one of its devices has reportedly leaked due to its submission to international certifiers such as TENAA recently. Now, a SlashLeaks contributor claims that a possible Lite variant of the same has also passed through this body's doors.

Xiaomi's Black Shark 2 is powered by the Snapdragon 855 SoC and comes with up to 12GB of RAM. It was released earlier this month, albeit to the Chinese market only. Now, however, the OEM has released it for sale on its EU sales site.

The 5G variant of the Samsung Galaxy S10 will be released in South Korea on April 5, 2019. A news outlet in that country has claimed to have uncovered pricing details on this flagship option. It will start at the equivalent of about US$1285.

Despite Apple’s reputation for build quality and design it has been having a few quality issues of late, particularly with regard to its MacBook line. A search on Apple’s website has revealed all of the products in its lineup that are currently eligible for its “Exchange and Repair Extension” programs.

The G8 ThinQ is LG's latest flagship, and introduces its Crystal Sound technology among other features. This smartphone will become available in the United States from April 11, 2019. However, those who want it on Sprint can pre-order it from tomorrow (March 29).

Sony's RX0 line is the company's take on the compact camera. Its latest version, the RX0 II, crams 4K recording, advanced image processing and electronic stabilization into "the world's smallest and lightest premium compact camera". This device is also fit for outdoors videography, and it comes with water, dust and shock resistance.

Huawei has just released its new P30 flagship series in Paris. Its specs line up pretty well with the various leaks that have already been spilled about the 2 phones in question. They are available from today (March 26, 2019) and start at €799 (about US$900).

Researchers at the University of Washington and Microsoft Research have successfully demonstrated a large scale random retrieval of data from a DNA molecule in the quest towards exploiting the properties of DNA for massive capacities and long term storage. The researchers used short molecules called DNA primers for random access of data at specific sites. The technology is still restricted to the lab for now but this proof-of-concept shows immense potential and prospects for the future of data storage and retrieval.

Vivo has announced that it will partner with Tencent Games in order to sponsor the annual PUBG Mobile Club Open 2019. This involves competitive battles of the game in question in 10 regions worldwide for an ultimate prize of US$2.5 million. These players will be provided with Vivo hardware in order to play in this tournament.

Samsung's first flexible device, the Galaxy Fold, is now officially displayed on its website as a saleable product. These pages describe the Fold's SoC as a "7nm 64-bit Octa-Core Processor", leading to worries that it may not necessarily be the Snapdragon 855 processor in all markets. However, an analysis of its firmware appears to confirm that this is in fact the case

The transparent variant of the Xiaomi Mi 9 seems to be doing very well this year. Chinese blogs have reported that the OEM cannot keep it on shelves, despite its relatively high price tag. Perhaps this is why a new, cheaper variant with less RAM has just been announced.

Some more rumored details of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 have appeared online. It seems the flagship phablet will sport a similar camera setup to the Galaxy S10 5G, with four cameras on the rear and two on the front. The device, which is expected to come with either a 6.6-inch or 6.66-inch display, could be launched as early as August 8.

Could a phone establish data connections and load webpages independent of either WiFi or a SIM card? Volk Fi apparently thinks so. This company is currently advertising its first smartphone, the Volk One, which can apparently form part of its own 'mesh network' with every other unit of the same around it.

Xiaomi has a thriving presence in Ukraine, with numerous physical stores and online sales through partner websites. This now extends to the new Redmi 7, the second device line to be sold under the OEM's latest sub-brand. Its availability has been announced on Mi Ukraine's Facebook page.