Month: December 2020

The Galaxy A51 is arguably more important than the S20 — it’s the affordable phone you’re more likely to buy, the phone that caters to a wide audience instead of enthusiasts. And Samsung apparently knows it. Well-known leaker OnLeaks has shared renders of what he says is the Galaxy A52 5G, and it looks like Samsung isn’t in a rush to reinvent one of its best-selling designs.

The images suggest the Galaxy A52 will hew very closely to the template Samsung established with the A51. You’ll still get a 6.5-inch display with a hole-punch selfie camera, an under-the-screen fingerprint reader, and a quad rear camera array. The largest outward change may be the look of those rear cameras, which visually resemble what you see on the Note 20 family.

Specs weren’t mentioned, although it’s safe to presume Samsung will use faster Snapdragon and Exynos processors and make other iterative performance upgrades.

This wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. If the rumor is accurate, Samsung would keep the 3.5mm headphone jack on the Galaxy A52 and the plain-but-durable “glasstic” back. If you have no complaints about the A51, its sequel might please you.

There’s no mention of a release date or price for the Galaxy A52. Given the reportedly conservative design, though, we wouldn’t be surprised if Samsung ships the new model relatively quickly at a price similar to the $499 of the A51. That could make it a compelling option if the Galaxy S20 FE and the upcoming Galaxy S21 are beyond what you’re willing to spend.

AirPods Max feature incredible high-fidelity audio, Adaptive EQ, Active Noise Cancellation, and spatial audio

Cupertino, California — Apple today announced AirPods Max, innovative wireless headphones that bring the magic of AirPods to an over-ear design with high-fidelity sound. AirPods Max combine a custom acoustic design, H1 chips, and advanced software to power computational audio for a breakthrough listening experience with Adaptive EQ, Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency mode, and spatial audio. AirPods Max come in five gorgeous colors, including space gray, silver, sky blue, green, and pink, and are available to order starting today, with availability beginning Tuesday, December 15.

“AirPods are the most popular headphones in the world, beloved for their effortless setup, incredible sound quality, and iconic design. With AirPods Max, we are bringing that magical AirPods experience to a stunning over-ear design with high-fidelity audio,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The custom acoustic design, combined with powerful H1 chips, and advanced software enable AirPods Max to use computational audio to wirelessly deliver the ultimate personal listening experience.”

Custom Acoustic Design

From the canopy to the ear cushions, every part of AirPods Max is carefully crafted to provide exceptional acoustic performance for each user. The breathable knit mesh canopy, spanning the headband, is made to distribute weight and reduce on-head pressure. The stainless steel headband frame provides strength, flexibility, and comfort for a wide variety of head shapes and sizes. Telescoping headband arms smoothly extend and stay in place to maintain the desired fit.

Each ear cup attaches to the headband through a revolutionary mechanism that balances and distributes ear cup pressure, and allows it to independently pivot and rotate to fit the unique contours of a user’s head. Each ear cushion uses acoustically engineered memory foam to create an effective seal — a critical factor in delivering immersive sound. The Digital Crown, inspired by Apple Watch, offers precise volume control and the ability to play or pause audio, skip tracks, answer or end phone calls, and activate Siri.

Breakthrough Listening Experience

AirPods Max feature a 40-mm Apple-designed dynamic driver that provides rich, deep bass, accurate mid-ranges, and crisp, clean high-frequency extension so every note can be heard. A unique dual neodymium ring magnet motor allows AirPods Max to maintain total harmonic distortion of less than 1 percent across the entire audible range, even at maximum volume.1 Equipped with an Apple-designed H1 chip in each ear cup, a custom acoustic design, and advanced software, AirPods Max use computational audio to deliver the highest quality listening experience possible. Utilizing each of the chips’ 10 audio cores — capable of 9 billion operations per second — computational audio powers a breakthrough listening experience that includes Adaptive EQ, Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency mode, and spatial audio.

Adaptive EQ: AirPods Max use Adaptive EQ to adjust the sound to the fit and seal of the ear cushions by measuring the sound signal delivered to a user and adjusting the low and mid-frequencies in real time — bringing rich audio that captures every detail.

Active Noise Cancellation: AirPods Max deliver immersive sound through Active Noise Cancellation so users can focus on what they are listening to. Each ear cup features three outward-facing microphones to detect environmental noise, while one microphone inside the ear cup monitors the sound reaching the listener’s ear. Using computational audio, noise cancellation continuously adapts to the headphone fit and movement in real time.

Transparency Mode: With AirPods Max, users can switch to Transparency mode to simultaneously listen to music while hearing the environment around them — ensuring everything, including a user’s own voice, sounds natural while audio plays perfectly. Switching between Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency mode can be done with a single press using the noise control button. 

Spatial Audio: AirPods Max use spatial audio with dynamic head tracking to place sounds virtually anywhere in a space — delivering an immersive, theaterlike experience for content recorded in 5.1, 7.1, and Dolby Atmos. Using the gyroscope and accelerometer in AirPods Max and iPhone or iPad, spatial audio tracks the motion of a user’s head as well as the device, compares the motion data, then remaps the sound field so it stays anchored to the device, even as the user’s head moves.

The Magic of AirPods

AirPods Max join the existing AirPods family in delivering unparalleled wireless audio, whether a customer is listening to music, making phone calls, enjoying TV shows and movies, playing games, or interacting with Siri. The magical setup experience customers love with today’s AirPods and AirPods Pro extends to AirPods Max with one-tap setup, followed by automatic pairing with all the devices signed in to a user’s iCloud account, including iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV.

AirPods Max automatically detect when they are on a user’s head using the optical and position sensors. Once in place, AirPods Max play audio and can pause once removed or when the user simply lifts one ear cup. With AirPods Max, voice calls and Siri commands are crisp and clear due to beam-forming microphones that block out ambient noise and focus on the user’s voice.

Battery and Performance

AirPods Max feature great battery life with up to 20 hours of high-fidelity audio, talk time, or movie playback with Active Noise Cancellation and spatial audio enabled.2

AirPods Max come with a soft, slim Smart Case that puts AirPods Max in an ultralow power state that helps to preserve battery charge when not in use.

Additional Features

Automatic switching allows users to seamlessly move sound between iPhone, iPad, and Mac. When playing music on Mac, users can easily take a call on iPhone and AirPods Max will automatically switch over.

Audio Sharing makes it possible to easily share an audio stream between two sets of AirPods on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Apple TV 4K. Simply bring AirPods Max near the device and connect with a single tap.3

Siri capabilities include the ability to play music, make phone calls, control the volume, get directions, and more. Siri can also read incoming messages as they arrive with Announce Messages with Siri.

Pricing and Availability

AirPods Max are available to order starting today for $549 (US) from apple.com and in the Apple Store app in the US and more than 25 other countries and regions. AirPods Max will begin shipping on Tuesday, December 15.

AirPods Max require Apple devices running iOS 14.3 or later, iPadOS 14.3 or later, macOS Big Sur 11.1 or later, watchOS 7.2 or later, or tvOS 14.3 or later.

AirPods start at $159 (US) and AirPods Pro are available for $249 (US).

Customers can add personal engraving to AirPods Max, AirPods Pro, and AirPods for free on apple.com and in the Apple Store app.

Customers are able to find the same great shopping and support services at apple.com/shop, in the Apple Store app, and at Apple Store locations. Customers can get shopping help from Apple Specialists, choose monthly financing options, get special carrier offers for iPhone, trade in eligible devices, and get Support services and no-contact delivery or Apple Store pickup options. Customers are encouraged to check apple.com/retail for more information on the health and safety measures in place, and the services available, at their local store.

Pickup options include in-store, curbside, or Express storefront, and vary by store. Same-day delivery may also be available. Customers can check apple.com/retail for services available at their local store.

With Apple Card, customers in the US get 3 percent Daily Cash back when they buy directly from Apple and have the option to choose Apple Card Monthly Installments so they can pay over time, interest-free.

Razer may be offering the world’s most compact 15-inch gaming laptops, but most of the variants are not exactly budget-friendly, even when specced with slower dGPUs. In an effort to make its solution more affordable throughout the Holiday season, Razer is now announcing the Razer Blade 15 Base Edition priced at only $1,499.99. However, the enticing price comes with some unfortunate compromises.

The Core i7-10750H CPU from Intel is plenty fast for a budget model, and, while the included 16 GB of DDR4-2933 RAM might be a bit slower than the industry standard 3200, it certainly is not one of the compromises we were talking about. Now, Razer is including only a 120 Hz 1080p 15.6-inch panel instead of the 144 Hz or higher refresh rate ones. We could argue that this is not really a compromise seeing that the model only features the GTX 1660 Ti dGPU. This graphics card is not really able to crunch too many frames in more demanding games, anyway. Razer could have also included a larger capacity SSD Instead of the 256 GB of NVMe solution; at least users can add another NVMe drive themselves.

Here is a list with all the notable downgrades:

Battery capacity slightly reduced from 65 Wh to 60.8 Wh

No Thunderbolt 3 connector, only 2x USB-C 3.2 Gen 1, 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 and HDMI 2.0b

No Ethernet

No Wi-Fi 6, only Wi-Fi 5 + Bluetooth 5.0

These more affordable models can be pre-ordered now from the official site, and estimated shipping date is set for December 25. The strange thing is Razer is currently selling the better models that come with 144 Hz screens, Thunderbolt 3 connector, Wi-Fi 6 connectivity and slightly bigger battery for the same $1,499.99 (limited promo sale).

Windows 10 could soon get a whole lot better thanks to a fresh idea from Microsoft. The Redmond firm has just announced a new concept called the “Windows Feature Experience Pack” which look set to bring more features and regular fixes throughout the year.

So, instead of Windows 10 fans having to wait for Microsoft’s two big blockbuster updates, which are usually released in the Spring and Autumn, the “Feature Experience Pack” will allow the company to roll out improvements away from these main upgrades. It could also mean it’s easier to for the tech giant to mend those irritating issues and bugs that so often rear their ugly heads after the big releases are pushed out to PCs

Explaining more, Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc said: “We are testing a new process for delivering new feature improvements to our customers outside of major Windows 10 feature updates. Through the Windows Feature Experience Pack, we can improve certain features and experiences that are now developed independently of the OS.”

Right now this concept is in its test phase via the Windows Insider programme but eventually, “Windows Feature Experience Pack” updates will be delivered to customers through Windows Updates.

“By testing this process first with Windows Insiders, we hope to expand the scope and the frequency of releases in the future,” LeBlanc added.

Although this is great news for the future there won’t be any shiny new treats for Windows 10 users this year.

Microsoft has suspended its Windows 10 changes until the new year as the firm starts to wind down for the Christmas period. This is something that takes place every year, although Microsoft is slowing down operations a little earlier this in 2020. The company has confirmed that it won’t be offering any new features throughout this month.

Don’t panic if things go wrong though as the Microsoft software team will still be available to fix crucial security updates throughout December as needed. However, there will be a limited number of engineers working during the month as Microsoft rewards its employees with annual leave after an unprecedented year.

ASRock has introduced its first graphics card in an M.2-2280 form-factor. The M_2 VGA module is designed to add legacy display connectivity to any system that has an M.2 slot with a PCIe interface. 

The ASRock M_2 VGA module uses Silicon Motion’s SM750 display controller with 16MB of embedded memory and a PCIe x1 interface. The card has a 15-pin header to connect a D-Sub output that supports resolutions of up to 1920×1440. Since this is a single-chip board, its power consumption is rated at 1.49 Watts, which is almost negligible by today’s standards in the PC world. Meanwhile, the unit still has an additional power connector. 

The Silicon Motion SM750 is a rather simplistic display controller that only supports 2D graphics and a basic video engine. The chip features two display engines and has two 300 MHz RAMDACs, one TMDS transmitter, and one LVDS transmitter.

As far as compatibility is concerned, ASRock Rack’s M2_VGA module (as well as the Silicon Motion SM750 graphics controller in general) can be installed into any system based on a CPU from AMD, Intel, Freescale PPC, AMCC, STMicro, Marvell, Loongson, and ZFMicro, basically any platform supporting PCIe. Silicon Motion also promises a broad OS support that includes various versions of Windows and Linux. For example, if someone needs to quickly add a Full-HD display to a system that is already in use, the M2_VGA module is an adapter to choose.

ASRock Rack traditionally does not disclose prices of its products. Given that the M2_VGA module is to a large degree a niche device, it will be available only from resellers specializing in this kind of products.