Month: November 2019

After we got to our first look at the upcoming Galaxy A51 last week, a new set of renders just revealed its bigger brother – the Samsung Galaxy A71. The phone appears to follow the same design language with a centered punch hole in the display, slim bezels all around and an L-shaped camera on the back.

The Galaxy A71 is believed to feature a 6.7-inch Infinity-O AMOLED display with a built-in fingerprint reader and 32MP selfie cam. The front design is quite similar to that of the Galaxy Note10 series with the exception of the flat glass.

Going around the back we see a clean design with a Samsung logo in the bottom half and a rectangular glass cutout in the top left which house the quad-camera setup and LED flash. According to speculations, the main sensor will have 48MP resolution, while the phone will also feature a 12MP ultrawide camera, 12MP telephoto module and a ToF sensor.

The right side houses the power and volume keys while the SIM slot is located on the left. The bottom is where we find the headphone jack, Type-C port and speaker grill. The dimensions come in at 163.5 x 76 x 7.9 mm.

The Galaxy A71 was spotted in a Geekbench listing back in August which revealed it’s packing the Snapdragon 675 paired with 8GB RAM, and running Android 10. We’ll surely see more details of the new Galaxy-A series phone soon enough so we’ll update you with our findings.

iBuyPower is one of the more affordable PC builders out there, making our list of the best gaming PCs. Of course, the price of your build will vary based on what components you put in it, and if you add any extras like an extended warranty or a new monitor to your purchase. But when it comes to the usual up-charge of paying someone else to build your PC, iBuyPower isn’t much more than a DIY home build. This value proposition is on display with its Intel Z390 9900KS gaming desktop.

For $2,300, you’re getting a well-designed high-end build in a beautifully unique case that’s small enough to fit on top of just about any desk. iBuyPower leans more toward the intermediate to advanced PC gamer, as you’ll see by the plethora of brands and products that it offers for your custom build. If you’re new to building PCs, the over-abundance of options might seem overwhelming, so going with a more focused builder like NZXT, Maingear, or Origin could be easier. But if you’ve built PCs in the past and just don’t have the time to spare for your next one, iBuyPower gives you the customization options you’re looking for—plus professional cable management and a good warranty.

While iBuyPower’s cases aren’t the most sleek or glamorous, the design of its Slate MR mid-ATX case is one of my favorites that I’ve seen in the last year, and I’m normally partial to simple, rectangular cases with clean lines. The front of this case functions like a 2-way mirror. You can only see your reflection when the PC is off, but as soon as you boot it up, three fans light up from behind like car headlights through the fog. The effect is subtle and beautiful, and is the best use of RGB lighting that I have seen. The front is divided into three asymmetrical triangle sections, which allows for some additional cool air intake next to the vent that’s on the front right side.

One nit-picky thing is that the tempered glass side panel is screwed into the chassis with only two thumb screws at the back, so the front-facing side of it pops out slightly. I am not sure if that side is supposed to be magnetic, but if it is then the magnet doesn’t work. But there are more good features like the magnetic dust filter on the top. Even with it on hot air escapes efficiently. There’s a single fan at the back to help with that, too. This PC stays cool even when pushed to the max.

The hardware inside is a healthy mix of high-end components, too—or extreme in the case of the Intel Core i9-9900KS, an 8-core 5.0GHz behemoth of a processor. It’s nicely paired with an RTX 2080 Super, and when sitting idly, the Corsair H100i Pro is dead silent. For a build of this caliber, though, I wish there was a different storage solution. Intel’s 660p SSD M.2 isn’t bad, it’s just that for a little extra you can get the same storage capacity with better performance.

For brand name storage, $70 more (excluding any deals) gets you Intel’s 760p, which is a better option that has average read speeds of 3040 MB/s, compared to the 660p’s 1901 MB/s. Or go with the Samsung 970 Evo Plus with read speeds up to 3500MB/s, as it’s consistently one of the best NVMe SSDs. Or get the Adata XPG 8200 Pro 1TB for only $40 extra.

The RAM is also something that could be changed. There’s nothing wrong with Adata. If you’re looking to save the most money on a good 16GB RAM kit, Adata is a good choice. However, the timings for the RAM in this desktop configuration are 16-18-18—not bad but not great either, and there are RAM kits with better timings out there for a minor increase in price, similar to SSDs. G.Skill, for instance, has a variety of DDR4-3200 CL14 kits. On sale, they can go for as low as $100, but of course that’s the non-RGB variety.

While better storage and memory won’t massively improve performance, choosing the Adata RAM and Intel’s 660p SSD for this build comes down to getting the best possible components while saving the most money, which isn’t a bad strategy. Besides, for gaming performance, the processor and graphics card are what matter most, and an i9-9900KS and an RTX 2080 Super is a beautiful marriage, churning out excellent, albeit expected, benchmark numbers: fantastic single-core Cinebench numbers at 2164cb, and intimidating 3D Mark numbers at 1080p and 1440p resolutions. The same goes for in-game benchmarks, too.

Total War: Warhammer II showed the processor’s power at 1080p and 1440p, with an average fps between 85 and 120. The Division 2 averaged 116 fps on 1080p and 80 fps on 1440p. Metro Exodus’ performance takes a bit of a hit at those resolutions, with only 80 fps on 1080p and 63 fps on 1440p. 60 isn’t the lowest bar as far as fps is concerned, but it’s still a ‘gold standard’.

4K performance is where things get dicey for this GPU, which is also not unexpected: Total War: Warhammer II averaged between 48 fps and 57 fps; The Division 2 averaged 44 fps; and Metro Exodus averaged 40 fps. But, some good news—ray tracing (set to high on 1440p) performance on Metro Exodus averaged 60 fps, so you can almost have your cake and eat it too.

Playing at 1080p or 1440p is super responsive and smooth, and arguably a better choice than 4K for now. Having a good monitor helps, but regardless of your display this configuration will run games reliably and with super precision.

iBuyPower is a little less enticing on the customer service side compared to other builders like Maingear. It will professionally build your PC and include all the extra cables in the box, but it’s missing that boutique-touch with neatly wrapped swag or “personal” messaging from the company’s president. If you’re someone who doesn’t need to feel special with those things, then iBuyPower is a good no-frills option. The base warranty is solid as well, covering the entire system (sans monitors and other peripherals) for three years labor against defects in materials or workmanship, and one year parts from the date of purchase.

Intel is still not producing enough 14-nanometer processors to meet demand, many of which are on our list of the best CPUs for gaming, and in a rare move, the company issued an apology to customers for coming up short. At the same time, Intel says it has “not yet resolved this challenge,” so expect the shortage to continue.

“I’d like to acknowledge and sincerely apologize for the impact recent PC CPU shipment delays are having on your business and to thank you for your continued partnership,” Michelle Johnston Holthaus, executive vice president and general manager of sales, marketing, and communications at Intel, wrote in an open letter.

Intel has struggled to meet demand for its 14nm processors for more than a year. At times, certain models have been either out of stock or selling at higher prices than they normally would. Intel’s delay in bringing mass produced 10nm processors to market only exacerbated the issue, putting even more demand on its 14nm CPUs.

So, what’s being done? Our friends at Tom’s Hardware say they’ve heard from sources close to the matter that Intel is tapping third-party foundries to ease some of the pressure on its manufacturing. According to those sources, Intel is sending outside fabs products other than processors (such as chiplets) so that it can devote more of its own resources to cranking out CPUs.

Holthaus does not mention outsourcing in the letter, though she does say Intel has “invested record levels” into its 14nm wafer capacity while also ramping 10nm production.

“The added capacity allowed us to increase our second-half PC CPU supply by double digits compared with the first half of this year. However, sustained market growth in 2019 has outpaced our efforts and exceeded third-party forecasts. Supply remains extremely tight in our PC business where we are operating with limited inventory buffers,” the letter states.

In other words, Intel expects to continue falling short of demand, though for how long is unclear. It also means we may not see as many Black Friday deals on Intel CPUs as usual, but that’s often the case. AMD CPU deals, on the other hand, could be great if it’s anything like past years.

The bright side for Intel is that this is not the worst problem in the world to have. Even with AMD hitting its stride with its Zen 2 architecture, and in particular its third-generation Ryzen processors, Intel is still seeing demand for its 14nm CPU outpace supply.

Looking longer term, however, this is something Intel will need to get a handle on, to stave off AMD’s continued march into datacenters, businesses, and consumer PCs.

Amazon has priced the Asus Zephyrus GX351 down to its lowest ever price. Previously, you’ve had to fork out almost three and a half grand for this epic gaming device – grab it now for less than £2500.

Gaming laptops are a pricey bunch but, thankfully, Amazon and Asus have answered our prayers. This corker of a deal delivers over £1000 off the RRP – making Asus Zephyrus GX351 just £2499.99.

The stand out feature of the Asus Zephyrus GX351 is its graphics card. The GX351 brings the mammoth Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 8GB to a mobile form-factor.

If you aren’t aware, RTX means the graphics card is capable of raytracing – a new kind of gaming tech which provides improved in-game lighting and leads to some stunning results.

While the graphics card itself is hugely impressive, the size of the Asus Zephyrus is remarkable. Gaming laptops are famed for being chunky beasts but this laptop is 15.75 thin at its thickest point.

You can’t ignore the display on this gaming superstar either. The Asus Zephyrus GX531 sports a 15.6-inch 1080p 240Hz screen – stats that will make any avid gamer salivate.

Other cracking specs include an Intel Core i7-9750H processor, 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage. This laptop is the full package and will chew up and spit out the highest of high-end games.

With this level of specs, you may be a tad concerned about how hot this laptop could get but Asus has thought of that too.

The Zephyrus GX351 specially designed vent that sits between the keyboard and the screen. The vent offers a 5mm air chamber that adds 14 per cent more space for air circulation and ups airflow by up to 22 per cent. All this combines to reduce internal temperatures by up to 11 per cent.

If you are after a top of the range laptops to leave all your gaming mates looking on in envy then you really can’t miss out on this deal. The Asus Zephyrus GX351 has never been priced this low on Amazon – just £2499.99 due to that stunning £1000 off.

Lately, I’ve been using an external monitor with the Pixelbook Go for testing purposes and didn’t realize that Chrome OS notifications don’t quite work correctly.

According to an open bug report, when a notification pops up it does appear on both the internal and external displays but isn’t always actionable on the external monitor:

when there’s a screenshot or a file downloaded, the notifications mirror on both the internal and external display.

– But for screenshot, you can’t press COPY on the external monitor. You can on the internal monitor for the same notifications.

– For file download, you can’t OPEN on the external monitor. You can on the itnernal[sic] monitor.

So, everything appears but you just can’t press on that buttom. The

dismissal X on the top right of the notification is OK on both internal and

external notifications.

Initially, the bug appeared specific to the Pixelbook Go, but subsequent testing has replicated the issue on other Chromebooks.

As it stands now, a fix is planned for Chrome OS 79 although it’s rather late in the software release cycle for that to happen.

I say that not just because Chrome OS 79 is expected to land in mid-December, but also because there aren’t yet any code changes to actually fix the issue as of today.

My expectation is that Chrome OS 80 will correct this problem, although it’s possible that code is quickly written and tested in Chrome OS 79. If you want to track this progress, you can star the bug report for updates.

I know I’m late to the game when using an external monitor with a Chromebook but that’s mainly because I never felt the need to. Since taking some online coding courses, however, the dual-monitor setup is a huge efficiency booster. On my internal Chromebook display, I watch step-by-step video lessons and on the larger external display, I add and test code, providing me more room to navigate many lines of code.

Google today launched a nice new Assistant feature called My Storytime that lets parents simulate reading to their kids when one parent is away from home. A parent will be able to record themselves reading chapters of stories, and the other parent (or babysitter) can ask Google Nest to read those recordings to the kids.

Google says that, once the feature is set up, the person at home just has to say “Hey Google, talk to My Storytime” to their Google Nest, and they will be able to pick the recording of the chapter they want to listen to with their children.

Recording a story takes a bit of initial setup, but it’s pretty easy to do. Visit the My Storytime website, log into your Google account that’s connected to your Nest speaker, and you’ll be prompted to make a number of short recordings to help guide storytime through your Nest, including phrases like: “Which story would you like to hear?” and “Should we keep reading, listen to that chapter again, or read a different story?”

Once you’ve recorded those, you’ll build a module for a specific story and then you can record yourself reading entire chapters of the book. Those recordings will also be saved on your My Storytime page if you and your family want to listen to them that way. Google says the files are saved securely in the cloud and can only be accessed by the people you share them with.

I don’t have a Nest device, so I wasn’t able to test asking to hear the story recordings on one. But the short clips I recorded sounded just fine from the web interface, so I assume they would sound good from a Nest device as well.

This feature could be a great way to keep families connected when they have to be apart.

Microsoft announced a suite of Surface products earlier in October, and that included a new audio option in the form of the Surface Earbuds.

The earbuds had originally been planned for a 2019 release, but Microsoft chief product officer Panos Panay has just confirmed their launch is being pushed back globally to Spring 2020 (March through May for the southern hemisphere).

Panos announced the delay in a tweet.

A number of Twitter responses to the tweet from Panay are positive about the company’s choice to delay the product rather than launching it in a sub-par state.

That being said, it’s especially important for Microsoft to make sure it gets the Surface Earbuds right, as they will come at a launch price of $249 (about £199, AU$360), which is more expensive than almost all of the world’s best wireless earbuds, and just as expensive as the Apple AirPods Pro.

Made for many purposes

Part of what could be holding up the Surface Earbuds is just how much they can be used for: The dual-microphones on each bud can cancel out background noise while taking calls or talking to a digital assistant. And, the earbuds can handle dictation. They also have a number of touch gestures on the round surface of each bud.

All that, and the Surface Earbuds will also be supporting devices running Windows 10, iOS 9 and later, and Android 4.4 and later. That’s a wide array of devices to support numerous features on, and may be part of Microsoft’s difficulty in getting everything working just right.

Despite the delay, the Surface Earbuds have a lot going for them. They will have an 8-hour battery life bolstered by an extra two full charges in the carrying case, plus fast charging for an hour of playtime in 10 minutes and three hours of playtime in 15 minutes.

In the time since the Surface Earbuds were announced, Apple released the AirPods Pro. That increases the competition the Surface Earbuds will face when they launch, and with this delayed release date potentially pushing them back as late as June, Microsoft may have even more competition.

Duet Air is getting a nice update that allows customers to make use of a Mac or PC as a secondary external display. This offers great flexibility, especially for users in both ecosystems.

Duet launched the new functionality with the release of Duet Air 2.0. With less than 30ms latency and 256-bit encryption, the latest software from the company offers a fast, secure, and flexible way to expand your digital workspace beyond just an iPad as an external display.

This means you can use a Mac or a PC as the source computer with either one becoming an external display. It also solves the problem of Apple’s 5K iMacs not supporting Target Display Mode.

Duet also highlights that it runs all via software, so no hardware purchase is needed.

Duet Air 2.0 highlights:

Turn your Mac or PC into a wireless second or mirrored display

Enable your iOS device, Mac or PC to remote desktop (RDP) into your other devices from anywhere in the world

All with minimal latency

Android support coming in January 2020

Duet Air 2.0 is available now for Mac and PC direct from the company, starting from $2/month or $20/year. And you can find Duet Display for iPhone and iPad on the App Store.

Last month Luna introduced Mac to Mac functionality but there isn’t PC support at the time of writing. Luna also works via a small hardware dongle.

Both Duet and Luna have been under more pressure since Apple released its Sidecar feature with macOS Catalina and iPadOS 13 that turns an iPad into a secondary Mac display.