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Intel has released its new low-power solution in full today (October 24, 2019). It is an x86 microarchitecture associated with "significant" IPC enhancements compared to its predecessor. Tremont can also support an L2 cache of up to 4.5MB, as well as crypto acceleration that includes dual 128-bit AES units. It is pitched at IoT, server, client and connectivity applications.

Qualcomm's Venture division has announced the implementation of the 5G Ecosystem Fund, a source of investment worth up to US$200 million. As the name suggests, it will help support start-ups involved in new, innovative and potentially lucrative applications of the new mobile-data standard. The company also intends the new fund to help get 5G in devices besides smartphones.

ARM has revealed four new processors that should help enrich consumer tech products aimed at the mainstream market. The new additions to the company’s lineup are the Ethos-N57 and Ethos-N37 Neural Processing Units (NPU), the Mali-G57 Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), and the Mali-D37 Display Processor Unit (DPU).

Qualcomm has commissioned a Signals Research Group (SRG) study of 5G performance, efficiency and general UX in those countries and cities to which the new radio bands have been rolled out. It reportedly found that 5G can achieve up to 10X performance compared to 4G/LTE. In addition, it is also capable of 5 times the download speeds than the older standard.

"Joker" is a relatively new form of malware that reportedly acts to steal contacts and sign those with infected devices up for premium SMS services. Most recently, it has been detected in a heretofore-overlooked host on Android by the Pradeo security team. This lab has had the app removed from the Google Play Store, but potentially affected users are advised to uninstall it immediately.

LG's South Korean telecomms company has announced the debut of its new app, "U+ AR Shopping". It enables users to transform the content of 2 popular TV shopping channels into augmented reality (AR) experiences. Consumers can then leverage them to visualize and manipulate their potential purchases in 3D.

The 13.3-inch foldable notebook from Lenovo was recently spotted at an event in Barcelona, and it looks like Lenovo is just waiting for Microsoft to finalize the Windows 10X OS specifically designed for dual-screen devices. The hardware good to go, so, with a bit of luck, we might be able to test the foldable notebook next summer.

Tremont is a collective name for Intel's next-gen SoCs developed for mobile, low-end and IoT devices. Currently, they are thought to have a microarchitecture based on a 10 nanometer (nm) process. The Linley Group now asserts that this will be confirmed or denied at its upcoming conference in Santa Clara, California.

The QD-OLED technology promises to lower production costs by three times and improve color gamut along with light output over conventional OLEDs. Samsung has been against the adoption of OLEDs in large screen devices for over 5 years now, but the QD-OLED technology somehow changed the company's perspective, as it plans to heavily invest in OLED panels and eventually convert most of its LCD lines into OLED.

A video of someone unboxing a brand-new Huawei Mate X foldable smartphone has made its way onto YouTube. The vaunted device has been apparently thoroughly revised by the Chinese manufacturer and should be released soon, with various reports stating a November timeline. The Mate X in the video now sports a handy red button that pops the smartphone open.

Intel's Ice Lake platform performs convincing in the first reviews. With the Lenovo Yoga C940 convertible we recently reviewed another Ice Lake laptop, which directly competes with Dell's XPS 13 7390 2-in-1. In terms of battery life the Lenovo Yoga C940 is even better than the XPS.

Google unveiled its second-generation Pixel Buds at its 2019 'Made By' event. They are truly wireless products that, as the OEM claims, have been designed to be as compact and streamlined as possible. Nevertheless, they are rated for 5 hours of battery life, or 24 hours from their charging case.

Samsung has released an updated schedule of repair charges for a number of its newer phones. The recently-released Galaxy Fold is at the top of this list. It shows that an out-of-guarantee repair for its flexible screen costs US$599.

New research has shown that the market for semiconductors is estimated to grow to US$573 billion in 5 years. This may be driven by a demand for these materials in wireless communications, vehicles and online connectivity. However, the common-or-garden integrated circuit will continue to influence the market into the next decade.

Amazon updated the Fire HD 10 with a faster processor and a new USB Type-C charging port that supports fast charging. There are a few additional upgrades as well. Thankfully, the price tag remains constant at US $149 for the standard model and $199 for the Kids Edition, which includes a bumper case, a two-year replacement program, and a year of Amazon's FreeTime service.

Scheduled to arrive globally this week, the PlayStation 4 system update labeled 7.0 is expected to bring Remote Play to smartphones and tablets running Android 5.0 Lollipop or later, 16-player parties, chat transcription, enhanced audio, an improved backend that should take care of most connectivity issues, system-level HDR tuning, and more.

Google has announced that Red Dead Redemption 2 will come to its Stadia platform on it November 2019 launch. The wildly popular Rockstar game will thus be available for streaming via the new service from its very first day. At present, it is not clear if this title will allow saving across platforms.

Google has announced the re-institution of its Shopping service, albeit for users located in the US only. The company claims that the renewed feature can analyse millions of retail listings and other data in order to show customers the best deals. It is also now possible to order the resulting items directly through Google.

Chrome OS PCs have many advantages; however, one of their worst drawbacks is that system recovery requires external media. Now, it appears Google is developing an alternative method: Chromebook restore via Android phone. This new way out of a software failure can only be enacted through a specific keyboard shortcut.

Samsung has been helping to blaze the 5G smartphone trail and it looks set to do the same for tablets. A new Galaxy Tab S6 variant has been spotted going through a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth certification process that also carries the label Galaxy Tab S6 5G suggesting a release isn’t far away.

Not content with just releasing newer versions of existing Surface products, Microsoft has upped its game and announced two foldable Surface devices. The larger is called the Surface Neo and features two 9-inch displays, a fold-out keyboard, a 360° hinge and is compatible with the Surface Slim Pen that docks on the rear of the device. The Surface Neo is powered by Intel's upcoming Lakefield processors and will be available from late 2020.

The next-generation Surface Pro is here, and it starts at US$999. The Surface Pro X, previously leaked as the Surface Campus and Surface 7, has a 13-inch Pixel Sense display with a 2,880 x 1,920 resolution and is just 5.3 mm thick. The Surface Pro 7 features a custom 7 W ARM processor that delivers up to 3x more power per watt than the Surface Pro 6 too and is available to pre-order today.

Microsoft has more up its sleeve than just the Surface Laptop 3 and Surface Pro 7, according to veteran leaker Evan Blass. Leaked marketing images give a first glimpse at the device, while Blass has hinted about the OS that it will be running too. Bring on tomorrow, for there may be a dual-screen Surface device in the wings too.

The wait for the next Surface hardware event is almost over. However, Evan Blass has come through early and delivered the first look at the Surface Pro 7, courtesy of what are likely leaked marketing images. The device looks like a minor revision of last year's Surface Pro, but with one notable change.

A new registration of Microsoft's with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) hints at a new accessory that could be launched tomorrow in conjunction with the Surface 7 line. It is a wireless charger with a 300 milliwatt capacity. This is also more evidence that the next Surface Pen may go with the same device.

New alleged details about Microsoft’s upcoming new Surface products have emerged. Apparently, a selection of fresh colors for the next generation of Surface devices is inbound, and the newest edition to the Surface Laptop line will be shorn of its Alcantara coat. Arguably, the most exciting leak is the supposed almost borderless display that the Surface Pro 7 (or just "Surface 7") will sport.

Visionox is a company involved in the manufacture of flexible display panels. Its latest trick has been the Mi Mix Alpha, Xiaomi's new limited-edition wraparound-screen phone. It has recently opened a new assembly line on which similar screens measuring up to 18 inches can be produced.

The market for fingerprint readers (from capacitive to thermal, and consumer- to government-grade) is estimated to be worth about US$3.5 billion at present. This worth is thought to grow to as much as $7.1 billion by 2024, however. The scanner type we have become most familiar with is thought to represent the largest sector over these next 5 years.

Despite all the bans and restrictions imposed on Huawei that ultimately lead to a delay of the Mate X, the company is considering the release of improved versions that also includes a stylus, as revealed by the latest published patent. The stylus option really makes much more sense for the larger screen integrated in foldable devices, and, with this move, Huawei could provide a serious competitor for Samsung's Galaxy Note.

The 12b model is the first 12-incher to join the Chromebook x360 lineup form HP. It integrates a 3:2 1366 x 912 touchscreen and it weighs around 3 pounds, while the new 14-incher gets 768p or 1080p 16:9 displays and weighs ~3.5 pounds. Both may be equipped with up to a Pentium Gold dual-core CPU, up to 8 GB RAM and up to 128 GB of eMMC storage.

Current PCBs are eating too much space and researchers think these can easily be replaced with a new silicon-interconnect fabric that would lead to more powerful devices in reduced form-factors. The use of such new fabrics would also cut production costs and improve heat dissipation. Smartphone SoCs and servers may also benefit from the more streamlined design introduced with the silicon-interconnect fabric.

Music is a rather unique Apple app in that it is cross-platform (or, in other words, has an Android version). Its latest updates also make it compatible with Google's Chromecast. It has also acquired a dark mode, presumably to align with iOS' new system-wide option.

A 3DMark entry for an apparent Microsoft Surface 7 Pro device has been spotted, with the benchmark record providing various details about the specifications of the upcoming 2-in-1 detachable. The unit was tested on the Sky Diver 1.0 benchmark, which listed the presence of a 10nm Ice Lake processor from Intel but only 16 GB RAM.

Google has announced that future updates will make it more difficult to activate the Assistant by mistake. The company has also taken pains to reassure users that their audio data will not be collected by default in the same release. A specific opt-in determines whether the same will be analysed by humans or not.

Samsung has announced that it will release the Galaxy Fold to the US market once and for all on September 27, 2019. However, the devices are only to be made available in various physical locations run by certain businesses and chains. They are AT&T, Best Buy and Samsung Experience stores.

An XDA contributor has observed that it is now possible to control media on their Chrome OS device even though the screen is locked. The feature has not been part of this system by default in the past, but is reportedly there in its 79 Canary (or 'advance') version. It has been shown working for YouTube content.

Smart materials may prove to be the basis of the electronic components of the future. Their market's value was estimated at US$36 billion in 2017. That figure is now thought to grow until it hits $127 billion in 7 years from now.

An image of an apparent final design mockup of the next-generation Apple iPad Pro has found its way online, and if you are not a fan of Apple’s choice for the main camera design on the iPhone 11 series then there’s a good chance you’re not going to be keen on the decision made for the high-end tablet, either.

Google's I/O 2019 event saw announcements for plans to bring Chrome's Incognito Mode to mobile services such as Search. This is now reportedly in testing for Maps. It is accessed by tapping the avatar associated with a Google account within this app.

The latest member of the C400-series of Chromebooks from Asus is a slightly more affordable version of the existing C434 model. Its specs are very similar, except it is missing the i7-8500Y CPU option and the 14-inch IPS FHD touchscreen has color gamut limited to 45%. On the plus side, the stereo speakers get a more ergonomic placement on the right and left chassis edges.

Google Assistant had been reported to gain a dark theme at the start of 2019. However, this update did not get to all users at once. Now, it appears that the Mountain View giant is pushing this change again. This new roll-out, which also affects the Google App, has been observed in a small number of countries thus far.

Leviton's new duplex wall socket also has in-built USB outputs. These welcome and increasingly welcome upgrades to electrical fittings are type-C ports with the Power Delivery (USB-PD) standard. This means they are rated to charge compatible devices at up to 30 watts.

GX is a version of the Opera browser specificially designed with gaming in mind. It has been available as an early-access build since June 2019, and has proved so popular that it has accrued over 1 million downloads to date. Opera GX offers Twitch support, a section for new releases and a network limiter.

Android tablets are a dying breed and LG is doing its best to beat that fact into our heads. The South Korean company is apparently set to release a new tablet, the G Pad 5. It will feature a 10.1-inch display, LTE support, and rather bizarrely, a Snapdragon 821.

Some details of Microsoft’s upcoming Surface Pro 7 have apparently been leaked with five different configurations being mentioned. It seems the entry-level Surface Pro 7 will feature an Intel Core i3 processor while the top-end device will sport an Intel Core i7. RAM options will reach from a lowly 4 GB up to a stately 16 GB.

Users who pre-ordered the UBook launched in early 2019 were not really impressed with the outdated CPU and have been requesting an upgrade to a newer model. Chewi listened and is now preparing to launch the UBook Pro powered by the Amber Lake m3-8100Y dual-core CPU from Intel. It still packs 8 GB of LPDDR3 RAM, but upped the default storage to 256 GB, and also comes with a larger 12.3-inch screen.

Apple has now unveiled the latest addition to its iPad lineup in the shape of the seventh-generation iPad. The new tablet has increased in size from its 2018 predecessor, growing from 9.7 inches to 10.2 inches. The device is currently available to pre-order and will start shipping on September 30. The cheapest model costs US$329.

The latest Apple keynote introduced the new iPhones and iPad, yet did not stop there. It also outlined the company's new gaming- and TV-streaming services in detail. They will both go live in November 2019, cost US$4.99 per month and have content ready to go.