Windows

The last two Windows 10 Mobile handset available in the Microsoft Store, namely the HP Elite x3 and the Alcatel Idol 4S, are no longer in stock. This can be considered the final nail in the coffin of Windows for smartphones and phablets since no other such devices are expected to launch anytime soon.

Available as a standalone antispyware program for Windows XP, Windows Defender shipped with Visa and Windows 7, then it replaced Microsoft Security Essentials as a full antivirus solution since Windows 8. Now, the time has come for it to protect those using the popular Chrome browser, as an extension.

The E485 model will feature a 14-inch 1366 x 768 IPS screen, while the E585 will come with a 15.6-inch FHD display. Hardware configurations for both variants are identical and include AMD Ryzen Mobile CPUs all the way up to Ryzen 7 2700U coupled with up to 32 GB of DDR4 RAM and up to 1 TB HDDs, plus up to 512 GB NVMe SSDs on select SKUs.

The Dell XPS 15 9570 could be available by the end of April according to Dell's Frank Azor. Pre-orders seem to be live at the moment but they require a purchase of a pre-order gift card via Cashstar, which has caused quite a flutter among prospective buyers.

The new Lenovo Air 2018 has a 15.6-inch display, an 82.7 percent screen-to-body ratio, and starts at US$923. The Lenovo 7000 has a 14-inch display, an 80.8 percent screen-to-body ratio, and the same starting price as its sibling. Both feature 8th generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processor choices, as well as the NVIDIA GeForce MX150 GPU.

Intel has responded to concerns that its software-based fixes for Spectre and Meltdown are hampering CPU performance. A future patch coming through Microsoft's servers will offload memory scanning to the iGPU

Dell has launched the new Inspiron 13 7000 convertible and Inspiron 15 5000 notebooks powered by AMD Ryzen APUs without much fanfare. Both notebooks come with options of either the Ryzen 5 2500U or the Ryzen 7 2700U APU and are available in a range of price options. However, initial user reviews on Reddit have criticized Dell for reusing a 2016 Inspiron 13 7368 chassis.

With the 2018 EliteBooks, HP has put a focus on premium-features such as a Unibody-design and higher-quality displays – which of course also raises the costs. To bridge the gap compared with its older EliteBooks, HP has released a refresh of its older EliteBook 840 G4, which brings the newest CPUs to the older design.

Reliance Jio, the largest cellular network provider in India, is teaming up with Qualcomm for an inexpensive Snapdragon-powered Windows 10 laptop with integrated LTE. No word yet on the exact SoC planned or if the notebook would be based on an existing design from a major manufacturer. The idea is similar in concept to Intel eSIM which has garnered a very slow adoption rate.

Less than a month since it managed to reach 200 million users within a 30-day period, Telegram Messenger has to take a serious blow as the Russian authorities decide to ban its use in the country. The reason for this decision is the company's unwillingness to provide the keys required by the Federal Security Service to decrypt the users' messages.

Artists, designers, and editors with Surface Pro 4's can now enjoy full on-screen controls when using a Surface Dial on their Surface device. The Surface Dial provides basic functionality for all Bluetooth 4.0 LE equipped Windows 10 devices, but only the Surface Studio, Surface Book 2, Surface Pro 2017, and Surface Pro 4 provide the full experience.

The refreshed X407/X507 ultrabooks are some of the slimmest models out there, featuring CPUs up to gen 7 Core i7-7500U coupled with up to 8 GB DDR4 RAM, Nvidia's GeForce MX110 GPUs, storage combos made of a 256 GB SSD and a 1 TB HDD, Nanoedge IPS FHD displays with thin bezels, and fingerprint sensors compatible with Windows Hello.

Sales of desktop PCs and laptops are continuing their downward trend into the new year according to Gartner. While EMEA is seeing a slight uptick, the sharper declines in other regions worldwide paint a more pessimistic picture. This latest quarter marks the fourteenth in a row of slowing PC sales. Note that the data does not include iPads or Android tablets.

With the promise of all-day battery life, always-on LTE, and smartphone-like standby and resume, the first Windows 10 on ARM devices are here. Windows 10 on ARM may be great feat of engineering, but it does come with limitations unique to it, impacting what one can and cannot get out of an ARM-powered PC. Windows 10 on ARM is still in its infancy and, in its current manifestation, is better worth skipping for future refinements.

Market intelligence provider IDC has released a report detailing the state of the worldwide traditional PC market for the first quarter of 2018 (1Q18). According to the data, both Dell and HP have seen increases in market share in comparison to the first quarter of 2017 (1Q17). However, the total of global PC shipments for the quarter has experienced a flat year-on-year growth.

According to PCPowerPlay, Dell's marketing for its new laptops in China involves hailing the ability of the devices to enhance cheating in PUBG. Players in the region have become notorious for their blackhat gameplay, so this isn't surprising. Update: Dell has issued an official statement on the issue.

HP has refreshed the Pavilion and Pavilion x360 lineup with modern thin bezel designs, borrowing many cues from the premium Envy series. Both the Pavilion and the Pavilion x360 come in 14 and 15-inch versions and come in a range of configuration options and price points.

The refreshed G75 Titan gaming laptops are the only MSI series to pack the high-end i9 hexa-core mobility CPUs. The rather bulky chassis feature large intakes/exhausts and gamers can choose among several configurations that can include the more affordable i7 hexa-core CPUs coupled with 16/32 GB of DDR4-2666 RAM, GTX 1070/1080 GPUs, and a choice between FHD 3 ms TN or 4K 17.3-inch panels.

HP has announced a revamp to its Pavilion Power Desktop lineup. The new generation is christened Pavilion Gaming and comes in two chassis options with options of the latest Intel 8th generation hexa-core 'Coffee Lake-H- series or AMD 2nd generation Ryzen CPUs along with options of a GeForce GTX 1060/GTX 1080 or a Radeon RX 580 GPU. These PCs are aimed at those who value both content creation and gaming on a budget and feature a stand-out design language.

A bug in Google Chrome is causing the inbuilt antivirus scanner in the browser to initiate scans during startup causing delays in launching the program. While Google will be addressing this bug in a future patch, the only workaround right now is to clear the download history to prevent the scan from occurring at launch.

Microsoft has released the source code for the original Windows File Manager that debuted nearly 28 years ago in Windows 3.0. The source code has been modified a bit to make it compatible with modern Windows versions and can be downloaded via GitHub and compiled using Visual Studio 2015 and above.

The Fermi microarchitecture was first released 8 years ago, and was used in the 400, 500, 600 series on desktop and mobile, as well as the 700 and 800 series mobile cards. Nvidia has now stopped support for these GPUs, with a full list of affected cards in the article.

As part of a feature upgrade to Outlook.com and OneDrive, Microsoft is adding security and privacy features to help users protect their synced files and sent emails. These include password protected sharing, optional end-to-end email encryption, attachment encryption, and forwarding-prevention measures.

Ransomware has the ability to cause a lot of problems for those who aren't prepared. Businesses and students can lose days or weeks worth of work, and consumers can find years worth of treasured photos are no longer accessible. People are bad at doing regular backups, and that's why ransomware protection is an important feature for storage and syncing products.

For a limited time Paradox Interactive is offering Crusader Kings II for free (yours to keep). CK2 is a grand strategy game set in medieval Europe where players use warfare, assassinations, and strategic marriages to attempt to build a dynasty that spans over hundreds of years.

PC game retail joins peripherals, laptops, and smartphones in Razer's product line up as they diversify their portfolio. The store sells legitimate keys that can be redeemed on other platforms such as Valve's Steam and Ubisoft's Uplay. There is a strong focus on rewards/loyalty points with access to exclusives and discounts on Razer hardware acting as draw cards.

If Microsoft is serious about keeping its Windows 10 on ARM dreams alive, it needs to bring support for 64-bit x86-based apps to the platform as soon as possible. A new SDK set to be introduced next month could help make this happen sooner rather than later.

The Taiwanese manufacturer is promising a battery life of up to 17 hours with the new Swift 1 SF114-32. Its starting price in Europe is at 450 Euros to be competitive against other budget offerings shipping with Celeron CPUs. The model is yet to be available in North America where the latest SKU is carrying only the Pentium N4200.

The newly announced HP ZBook Studio x360 G5 is a creator and designer focused convertible that packs workstation class Intel Xeon and Nvidia Quadro hardware into a flexible device. It features a screen that meets 100% of the AdobeRGB color standard and a pen with 4000 levels of sensitivity. HP claims it is the most powerful convertible notebook in the world, placing it ahead of the Microsoft Surface Book 2 and new Dell XPS 15 9575

Among HP's refreshed ZBook line of portable workstations is the ZBook 15V, which HP is aiming squarely at a broader consumer market. The workstation, which starts at USD $950, can be specced with up to an Intel Core i7-8750H or Xeon E-2176M CPU and quite a few other powerful components.

Dell has announced refreshes of the Inspiron 24 5000 AIO and Inspiron 27 7000 AIO bringing Intel 8th Gen processors and Nvidia 10-series graphics. Display options include matte touch screens and 4k UHD. Dell is placing an emphasis on the multimedia capabilities of these AIOs, particularly the 27-inch model.

The new Inspiron 15 7000 2-in-1 Special Edition brings dedicated 10-series Nvidia graphics for improved hardware acceleration in supported software. In a nod to creators and those who prefer to hand write digital notes, Dell has included an active stylus in the box and 16 GB of RAM to handle editing and design applications.

The heavily customizable EVO15-S gaming laptops are getting refreshed with Intel's latest hexacore CPUs, new 4K screens and GTX 1070 Max-Q GPUs to reduce the Chassis profile even more. Users can add up to 32 GB of DDR4-2666 and up to 1 TB of NVMe SSD storage combiend with up to 2 TB HDDs. Prices start at ~US$1,600.

Dell has announced a new G-series of budget-friendly gaming laptops which offer a more affordable alternative to their premium Alienware line-up. This move helps to separate their gaming laptops from the Inspiron notebooks, even though the G5 looks distinctly like the previous Inspiron 15 7000.

The Dell XPS 15 9570 is certainly one of the highly anticipated refreshes both fans and reviewers were eager to catch hold of. In the wake of the 'Coffee Lake-H' launch, Dell has unveiled what could be its most ambitious XPS 15 yet. Sporting CPU options up to the Core i9-8950HK and GPU options up to the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, the XPS 15 9570 has everything a multimedia enthusiast would require and more. Prices start from US$999 for the Core i5-8300H variant with expected availability sometime in May 2018.

The latest 15.6-inch Nitro 5 laptops from Acer will integrate CPUs up to Intel's hexa-core i7-8850H coupled with as much as 32 GB of DDR4-2666 RAM and 512 NVMe SSD storage. All refreshed models will also include Nvidia's GTX 1050 Ti GPUs, an FHD IPS display and support for Intel's Optane memory. Availability is slated for May.