Notebook, Smartphone, and Tablet News

A member of the upcoming Matisse family of Ryzen 3000 processors from AMD has been spotted on Geekbench, and the seemingly entry-level sample has delivered scores that will have Intel concerned. The apparent price-performance ratio of the Zen 2 chip appears to be impressively high, if it is actually the SKU that many have speculated it is.

An old 10.2-inch Samsung NC10-14GB loaded with six of the world’s most dangerous computer viruses is currently being auctioned with bids over US$1.2 million. Why you may ask? Because it is actually a piece of contemporary art called The Persistence of Chaos by internet artist Guo O Duong.

MSI has removed support for Bristol Ridge CPUs in the BIOS latest update to select A320 motherboards. Many other OEMs are expected to cut down legacy socket AM4 CPU support on low-end motherboards as they find it increasingly difficult to accommodate the ever expanding size of the microcode for backward compatibility as newer generations of processors are released.

Apple looks to be working on an in-display Touch ID solution for a future iPhone, possibly in time for a 2020 or 2021 release. With most of the flagship competition working hard to eliminate notches for a truly all-display design, it looks as though Face ID may be on the way out.

At the time that Huawei was placed on the US government's Entity List last week, Huawei is thought to have built enough supplied of key components to last up to 12 months. The report comes via the Nikkei Asian Review that says Huawei told suppliers that it wanted to build up a year's worth of inventory to help cushion the impact of the US-China trade war.

Scuf has launched its new Xbox One and PC Prestige game pad designed to take on Microsoft’s own customizable Elite controller. Not only can the buttons be remapped, the device also includes mappable paddles and other customizable options to give players a distinct edge over the competition.

The 12 nm 35 W Ryzen 7 3750H is essentially on par with the 14 nm 45 W Core i5-8300H and even i5-9300H in terms of multi-threaded performance. Now, all that's left is for more OEMs to adopt the Ryzen H-series so more budget-conscious or mainstream gamers can benefit from the generally less expensive AMD parts.

Budget gaming laptops don't have to cost $1000. With Computex 2019 right around the corner, retailers are now offering heavy discounts on last generation SKUs to make room for newer models. The best part is that these older processors are still able to offer nearly the same performance as the latest generation hardware.

ASUS is currently holding a "30 Years Together" event to celebrate 3 decades as a hardware and peripherals OEM. It involves competitions in which contestants can enter a PC-centric quiz or tell their own ASUS/ROG ownership story to gain points. The prizes to be won include laptops, cutting-edge graphics cards and accessories.

BLU Products has released the G9, a smartphone with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. It also has AI-enhanced dual rear cameras and a decently large 4000mAh battery. It is sold via Amazon for a price of US$179.99.

Xiaomi's high-value sub-brand, Redmi, is set to release its two flagship phones in the coming weeks: the Redmi K20 and K20 Pro. Details of the regular K20 have now surfaced, painting an image of an extremely attractive sub-premium device.

We were big fans of the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 when it was released a year ago, mostly because of its high performance to price ratio. Asus is keeping it alive for one more year, too, with users of the device around the globe currently receiving the much-anticipated Android Pie update.

Casio has released the WSD-F30RG, its newest smartwatch from the PRO TREK line. It has an OLED display, but also has individual monochrome and color overlays. The OEM also asserts that it has an improved resolution for detailed legibility on its screen.

The Samsung Galaxy Fold had been available in the US through a pre-order system at Best Buy. However, this retail giant has reportedly been sending emails to its customers advising them that these transactions have been revoked. Many affected consumers are being sent a US$100 savings code by means of compensation.

New specifications for AMD’s Navi-based RX 3080 graphics card have apparently been leaked. It’s believed the RX 3080 will offer eight shader engines and 2,560 stream processors. It seems Nvidia is not too keen on AMD’s rumored naming scheme and has filed to trademark the numbers 3080, 4080, and 5080 with the European Union Intellectual Property Office.

Some well-crafted concept renders from PhoneArena have offered a good idea of how the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 could end up looking. The new designs are based on recent leaks and rumors, which seem to have been mostly based on the front and rear camera setups of the upcoming high-end phablet series.

Dell is holding a sitewide Memorial Day sale that covers the full gamut of products that the American manufacturer offers. There is over US$300 in savings to be had on a Dell XPS 15 that sports an 8th-Gen CPU and discrete GPU, but even that great offer is overshadowed by the incredible price for an Alienware 15 gaming laptop that has been reduced by 44%.

Marketing material and the features and technical specifications sheet for the Dell Precision 7740 workstation have apparently been leaked on the Chinese website Chiphell. The new information seems to match the details in documents that were also leaked earlier this month. The Precision 7740 will offer users a choice between AMD Radeon Pro WX GPUs and Nvidia’s seemingly brand-new mobile Quadro RTX GPUs.

The news for Huawei seems to be getting worse by the day, as if that was even possible. In the latest blow to the company, the SD Association has blocked the ability for Huawei to offer phones or devices featuring SD or microSD card slot.

A new Microsoft patent has emerged pointing in the direction of where its forthcoming Surface Pro 7 is likely headed. Changes apparent in the sketch include the long overdue introduction of a USB-C port, thinner bezels as well as a new TypeCover design.

The Vivo V15 and Y17 are MediaTek Helio SoC-powered devices. They have been on sale for Rs. 19,990 (US$288) and 17,990 ($259) respectively in India. These prices have been apparently reduced by Rs. 2000 ($29).

The Redmi K20 is available to order from today (May 24, 2019) after a manner of speaking. Those who wish to pre-order the new flagship phone need to pay a deposit of 100 yuan (about US$14.50) on Mi.com or JD.com. They can then pay the balance on May 28.

In an effort to improve and expand services for its clients, AT&T is now offering the possibility of using Bitcoin to pay for monthly bills. AT&T is collaborating with BitPay, as many of its clients are already suing this payment processor. The Bitcoin payments do not apply to handset purchases and are only available online, not in storefronts.

Due to their small footprint, the new Intel NUC 8 Mainstream-G mini PCs have a limited number of upgradeable components. These models integrate Intel's 15 W i7-8565U and i5-8265U quad-core CPUs, but the 8 GB of LPDDR3-1866 RAM and the Radeon RX 540X GPU are soldered. There are variants with Intel Optane Memory, SSD + HDD storage combos, plus kits that come without any storage or OS.

Although the deal does not cover the Steam or console versions of the game, those interested in taking RiME for a spin on their Windows PCs can grab it for free from the Epic Games Store. This offer will expire on May 30, when City of Brass will replace it as a new Epic Games Store freebie.

Who needs an Amazon Kindle when you can build one yourself? The Waveshare e-paper HAT comes in numerous display sizes ranging from 1.54-inches to 9.7-inches. The HAT communicates with a Raspberry Pi via SPI, UART or USB depending on the model and comes in a choice of two, three or four supported colours. The Waveshare e-paper HAT costs between US$15.99 and US$169.99 and ships worldwide.

OxygenOS 9.0.2 comes to the OnePlus 3 and 3T with the April 2019 security patch from Google, a brand-new user interface, Google Duo support in the Dialer, a new gaming mode (3.0, with notification for third party calls and displaying the text content of the heads-up notifications), Google Lens support, as well as various bug fixes and tweaks.

GPD has posted a video of one of its upcoming P2 MAX devices being put through its paces. An intense fight sequence from Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition is shown and the console/mini laptop hybrid seems to take the high demands on its hardware in its stride. The gameplay looks seamless, which will please those considering a purchase.

Russian luxury phone accessory maker Caviar has announced a special Samsung Galaxy Fold Game of Thrones edition modeled on writer George R.R. Martin's eagerly anticipated book, 'The Winds of Winter'. Only seven Galaxy Fold GoT editions will be made available keeping in accordance with the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros depicted in Martin's books.

Asus has posted a teaser to its ROG Global Twitter account that appears to show some new hardware coming from the Taiwanese manufacturer. The four-second clip doesn’t reveal too much and is deliberately shy with details. However, Asus has already denied it’s a successor to the innovative ROG Mothership (GZ700) device.

Chuwi has increased its product line with the launch of the Chuwi GT Box mini PC. The company claims the GT Box is an affordable successor to the HiGame PC that did so well on the crowdfunding website Indiegogo. This little machine sports a veteran i3 processor, 8 GB RAM, a 256 GB SSD, and it comes in a lightweight metal case.

Nvidia has shared a new video clip on YouTube that claims “something super is coming” in the video’s description. The clip itself is very short on information – it simply shows the word “super” being slowly and magnificently brought into focus. Unsurprisingly, a lot of speculation has landed on the possibility of Nvidia producing a new “super”-branded GPU lineup.

The two-year old GE63 is getting a full-on makeover with a new, thinner chassis based on the 17.3-inch GE75. MSI is promising better ventilation and faster wireless performance with the 802.11ax Killer WLAN. The announcement coincides with the recent reveal of the GT76 flagship.

The P65 Creator will match the Core i9 and 4K UHD options of the latest Dell XPS 15 while offering faster RTX 2070 Max-Q graphics compared to only the GTX 1650 or 1050 Ti Max-Q on the Dell. The business-professional gray chassis stands out from the otherwise black and red MSI G series for gamers.

With Computex 2019 right around the corner, now is the time to buy new gear for cheap as many OEMs will be throwing sales on older configurations. The affordable Nitro 5 with Core i5-8300H and GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, for example, will be just $630 USD all week.

Controversial security researcher SandboxEscaper revealed three zero-day exploits that are still not patched in the latest May update for Windows 10. The researcher details how attackers can gain complete access of a Windows 10 system through flaws in the Windows Error Reporting service, the Windows Task Scheduler and Internet Explorer 11, and promised to unveil two more exploits soon.

The new AMD-only laptops will hopefully be cheaper than the Intel and Nvidia GTX 16-powered SKUs already in the market. The Radeon RX 540X and 560X, however, are beginning to show their age even for budget gamers.

Ever fancied having a small home server? Well now you can with the NODE Mini Server V2. Caution: soldering skills required.

ARM's recent announcement to cut ties with Huawei may leave the Chinese dragon in a lurch. While Huawei manufactures its own custom processors, they are built on ARM's architecture. Should ARM revoke Huawei's ability to use this architecture, Huawei has few options outside of developing its own CPU architecture to continue its electronics business.

Californian U.S. District Court judge Lucy Koh ruled in favor of FTC, which charged Qualcomm with antitrust violations involving complete disregard of FRAND practices, forced use of proprietary modems over competing ones, and slowed adoption of competing telecommunications technologies. Qualcomm immediately appealed, but if the higher court decides another hearing is not necessary, companies like Samsung, MediaTek and Huawei could provide competitively priced alternatives.

Sipeed has designed the Maixduino for use in AI and IoT applications. The single board computer (SBC) has the form factor of an Arduino Uno and comes with a 2.4-inch TFT display along with an OV2640 2 MP camera module. The Maixduino has various ports and connectors including USB Type-C and can be pre-ordered for US$23.90 or US$20.90 without the camera and display. The SBC will ship worldwide on May 27.

A certification for what may be 2019 iPhones has allegedly surfaced on the Eurasian Economic Commission's database. The submission details a total of 11 different model numbers apparently associated with the Apple brand. They may represent different SKUs of the XR, XS and XS Max's successors.

According to new documents apparently filed with the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO), ASUS has designed a phone along the lines of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3. However, this version may be able to slide out from the bottom of the phone as well as the top.

A 16-core Zen 2 AMD Ryzen 3000 processor has apparently been benchmarked on Cinebench R15 and offered up a score that will surprise or amaze many. It’s believed the chip in question has a base clock of 3.2 GHz with a boost available up to 4.3 GHz. The unnamed AMD product is supposed to have attained a score of 4,278 points.

The Redmi K20 flagship-killer smartphone has made a couple of rendered appearances on the official Weibo account for the Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi. Considering its high-end specifications, it’s obviously important that the exterior matches the attraction of the interior. The device shown in the promo image is certainly eye-catching, but it won’t appeal to everyone.

Released for Windows in September 2014 and for macOS in February 2015, The Sims 4 received mixed reviews from both the press and the general public. Now, anyone can enjoy it for free thanks to Origin's generosity. Sadly, only the Windows and macOS variants of the game are part of this deal which will last until May 28.

The Samsung Galaxy A10e with model number SM-102U has just been spotted on FCC, but the only piece of information revealed is the battery model number, namely EB-BA202ABU. If the rumors turn out to be true, this handset will launch as a slightly cheaper (and less potent, obviously) Galaxy A10.

Panic, a software developer better known for its Mac and iOS apps has announced its first piece of hardware and it is about as cute and cool as it gets. Its new PlayDate handheld gaming will feature retro style games on a small Game Boy-like device fitted with a high-quality black and white display a D-pad, a couple of buttons and an analogue crank.

All paths point to foldable. Samsung, Lenovo and now Dell? Frank Azor has had his say on the company's progress towards releasing a foldable laptop and the current pitfalls that trying to fit all that tech in a small form factor presents.

A recent survey run by Blind shed some light on what various tech employees think of Apple and the App Store. Apple's own employees largely believe the company doesn't hold a monopoly on iOS app distribution, but other companies (namely Qualcomm and Spotify) believe that Apple's App Store constitutes a monopoly. The survey comes as a response to a recent Supreme Court ruling upholding the validity of a lawsuit filed against Apple for monopolistic practices.