Storage

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.

OWC is a company that caters to iMac fans who want to upgrade their new Apple all-in-ones. It has announced its new Memory Kits for the 2019 27-inch iMac (the 5K model). As this new 2019 variant has 4 user-accessible slots, OWC is also currently testing out the possibility of maxing its RAM to 128GB.

Vivo has announced its newest devices in a Chinese event today (March 19, 2019). They are the X27 and X27 Pro. The X27 has 2 variants with either the Snapdragon (SD) 675 or 710, although they both have the same screen and single pop-up selfie camera. The Pro version has a larger display, and a more novel wider pop-up module with a dedicated flash.

Kingston has just announced two new lines of enterprise-grade SATA SSDs. The drives offer similar features of other enterprise-level flash storage solutions, including ECC, onboard power loss protection, and more. Compared to other enterprise solutions, Kingston's drives are competitive and look to be aimed at smaller cloud service providers.

The Xiaomi Black Shark 2 has been launched today (March 18, 2019) in China. As expected, it is powered by the Snapdragon 855 processor, has a 6GB RAM base model and has a 6.39-inch FHD+ AMOLED display. This panel has some interesting HDR features, touted to enhance gaming and media experiences.

Roland Quandt has posted a new article in which he claims to set out every detail on the upcoming Huawei P30 and P30 Pro prior to their launch. This includes nearly every major spec and detail of the phones, including their relative RAM capacities, camera counts, new color schemes and battery capacities.

Xiaomi's new gaming phone, so far known as the 'Black Shark 2', has been listed by the online retailer JD.com. Although this page does not reveal its price, it allows potential buyers to reserve a unit ahead of its launch date (March 18, 2019). At this point, the final cost of the phone will presumably be revealed.

Samsung has announced that it is ready to start producing its highest-capacity RAM module for mobile devices. It has a 10-nanometer architecture and should deliver data speeds of up to 34.1 gigabytes (GB) per second. This 12GB low-power double data rate 4X (LPDDR4X) chipset is likely to be integrated into phones such as the Galaxy Fold.

NVMe technology is slowly trickling down to more affordable SSDs. The WD Blue SN500 will performance faster than any other drive before it in its family while costing less than a high-end WD Black SSD.

Xiaomi had planned a sales event for the Mi 9 Transparent Edition, as well as the Mi 9 SE, for today (March 14, 2019) in China. However, reports that it has been abruptly cancelled have come in from that country. The OEM cited unit supply issues while apologizing for this move.

A recent post on SlashLeaks shows real-life images of a device with Honor branding. The poster alleges that it is of the brand's 10 line - however, it can't be the pre-existing 10 Lite, as it appears to have triple rear cameras. Therefore, its contributor has dubbed it the Honor 10i.

A Huawei device with the model name VOG-L29 has surfaced on Geekbench today (March 12, 2019). It has exhibited 2019 flagship specs and the scores to go with it. They have beaten up-to-date entries for the P20 Pro on the same database by a considerable margin.

A slew of leaks and speculations have pointed to the resurrection of the RAZR product line in the release of the first foldable under the Motorola brand. A new post on SlashLeaks consists of the new logo for this putative phone. It is accompanied by a supposed list of its major specs.

Months ahead of its launch, the OnePlus 7 has appeared in sale-page form on the retail website GizTop. It contains a list of specs with many details that may be plausible for this new release. On the other hand, there is no guarantee that it will prove accurate.

Although it became commercially available more than three years later, the compact disc as we know it was demonstrated for the international press by Philips on March 8, 1979. Later that month, Sony joined in and the two companies quickly managed to turn the CD format into a global standard and bring this technology to the masses.

Multiple new entries for the same device - a 'blackshark AAA' - have appeared on the Geekbench 4.3 database. They are all powered by the same SoC, which is likely to be the Snapdragon 855. Interestingly, all but 2 of the 10 listings specify 12GB of RAM.

The OPPO F11 Pro has been characterized as a phone that would come out with a pop-up selfie camera on release. These leaks have been vindicated at its launch. It was also joined by the F11, a second variant of the same basic phone, but with a water-drop notch to house its own front-facing camera.

The Meizu Note 9 is one of a handful of phones that rocks the new 48MP Samsung camera sensor. It has been launched today in China for prices ranging from about US$208 to $238, depending on the variant selected. However, it will not be on sale until March 11, 2019.

Some Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL smartphone owners have been reporting that the March update for their devices has optimized read/write storage performance to a considerable degree. Images of AndroBench comparisons between February’s update and March’s update show some benchmark results drastically improving.

A blog has claimed that a GTX 1060 6GB card had gone down to €179.90 (about US$204) in a French computing store. However, this price is no longer available. In any case, it turns out that the card in question was of the single-fanned variety, and those with any more are still often above the €300 ($340) mark.

Unveiled more than four months ago, the AI-ready TS-2888X NAS lineup is finally available for purchase. As previously announced, these storage accessories can support up to 4 graphics cards and feature Intel Xeon W processors, ASETEK liquid cooling, up to 512 GB of memory, a 2,000 Watt PSU switch and connector.

An Indian Twitter user has alleged that an Android TV to which he had access allowed him to see all the other accounts linked to the same via the Google Home app. The bug in question also could have let him put their Google Photos-stored images up on the screen. Google has responded by temporarily suspending the app options involved.

While the CFExpress 2.0 standard promises speeds reaching 4 GB/s, Sony's first cards will be on par with the average NVMe SSDs. The new CFExpress cards are still meant for professional DSLRs and video cams, however, since they support the new NVMe interface, they can also be used as external SSDs for compute clusters and enterprise servers.

The HERO7 Black is the top-spec'd SKU of its GoPro camera series. It is now available in a limited-edition alternative finish, Dusk White. This version will be released on March 3, 2019 on gopro.com and selected retailers worldwide.

Without any fanfare, Google Play Movies has started to offer US$0.99 movie rentals, down from a previous US$5.99. However, this deal does not apply to B-rated movies as one would expect. The list of US$0.99 Google Play Movie rentals includes blockbusters like "A Star Is Born," "Bohemian Rhapsody," and more.

There is a new alternative to the foldable phone already. Nubia has unveiled the Alpha, a device with a screen that curves along a wide watch-like form factor. This display is 4 inches long, and operates using the Snapdragon 2100 wearables processor.

Energizer, a brand known better for disposable lithium-ion batteries, has brought new smartphones made under its name to MWC. One is an extremely typical mobile device, although it has a dual pop-up camera. Another is a foldable prototype with specs to challenge Samsung or Huawei in the same regard.

BlackBerry had an announcement of its own for the MWC19 event. It was not for a new device, however, but for a new variant of the pre-existing Key2. It is a vibrant, red, dual SIM, 128GB version of this phone.

Western Digital and Micron both announced 1 TB microSD cards earlier today. At 1 TB, these will be the largest microSD cards upon release later this year. Additionally, the SD Association announced SD Express, a new protocol that will be part of the upcoming SD 7.1 specification. SD Express promises to bring transfer rates of 985 MB/s to SD cards and microSD cards, although there is no word on when the standard will be released.

Alcatel has brought four new phones to show off at 2019's Mobile World Congress (MWC19). The 1X and 1S are bugdet-friendly options, whereas the 3 and 3L are slightly more premium. They have been finished with some attractive materials, and boast some up-to-date features such as AI camera enhancements and face unlocking.

Meizu has announced that its Note 9 is to be launched on March 6, 2019. This phone will feature a Samsung GM1 48MP camera sensor. It may also have 6GB of RAM, a 6.2-inch FHD display and the Snapdragon 675 processor.

STT-MRAM is one of the alternatives for current SRAM and NAND flash memory / storage solutions. Intel's current implementation is manufactured on the 22 nm node and promises faster read/write speeds, better endurance, and long-term data storage at higher temperatures. Its hybrid nature should allow Intel to include it in future Optane products.

A YouTuber has asserted that Microsoft will port some games and features to the Nintendo Switch later this year. The indie title Ori has been specifically named in relation to this new purported deal to link the two platforms. This development will also apparently bring Xbox Game Passes to the Switch.

Adobe is offering a discount on the prices of all-app Creative Cloud (CC) plans. This offer applies to monthly-paid prices for CC and CC plus Adobe Stock plans only, and drops them to US$39.99 and $69.98 respectively. It is valid from now until March 1, 2019.

Reuters has reported that the South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix is planning on investing 120 trillion won (~US$106.6 billion) on chip manufacturing plants. The company will also spend an additional 55 trillion won (US$49 billion) on two existing factories over the next 10 years. SK Hynix is the world’s third-largest semiconductor vendor by revenue.

Samsung also devoted some of its latest launch event to 5G and its potential in the future of telecommunicatons and online life in general. This led to the unveiling of the Galaxy S10 5G. It has an extra 3D-sensing module on its rear panel, in addition to the three cameras also found in the S10 and S10+.

The Realme 2 Pro is a phone directed at the younger market in a number of countries, including India. Here, the 2 Pro is available at Rs. 1000 (about US$14) less than usual. However, its better-spec'd SKUs are currently out of stock.

Canon has launched a new full-frame mirrorless camera, the EOS RP. Unlike other DSLRs, even those with APS-C, these devices use a sensor equivalent to traditional film (i.e. they measure 36x24mm in total). This confers advantages such as improved depth-of-field and general image quality.