CES 2016 : Monitors and laptops are at the forefront of Dell's CES showing

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Dell’s CES showing this year is mainly dominated by laptops and monitor which are really interesting.

For starters, Dell announced that they will be introducing a new line of laptops in the Latitude series of business class products. The first new product in the series is the Latitude 13 7000 series. Design wise, the Latitude 13 7000 has taken cues from Dell’s other laptop, the XPS 13, as it sports the “InfinityEdge” bezel-less screen. It is also a tad lighter than the XPS 13, measuring at 2.48 pounds. Depending on the customisation, it can come with a QHD+ touch screen. Dell is boasting that the Latitude 13 7000 will have a 10 hour battery life, but we suspect that wouldn’t be the case should the laptop comes with said QHD+ display. The biggest improvement that the Latitude 13 has over the XPS 13 is the fact that the laptop will be powered by USB Type-C.

Things start to differ between the XPS 13 and the Latitude 13 when it comes to specifications, as the Latitude 13 uses a Core M line instead of the Core i5 and i7 that the XPS 13 uses. The keyboard and the trackpad has been worked on to better suit business users and a smartcard reader is an available option.

Speaking of the XPS 13, Dell will be introducing a gold version of the XPS 13. According to Dell, the gold colour option will only be made available for the high-end version of the XPS 13 that comes with an Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and a QHD+ display. Priced at USD 1,699, Dell plans to release the gold XPS 13 on the 2nd of February in the US.

Monitors are the most interesting part of Dell’s catalogue as the company has revealed that they will be releasing a pair of wreless monitors. The Dell 23 Wireless Monitor is a 23-inch full HD display that allows you to cast your screen from Windows and Android devices via Miracast and Bluetooth. However, the best part of the monitor is the base as it comes with a built-in charging pad that supports both Qi and PMA wireless charging standards. The other wireless monitor, the Dell 24 Wireless Monitor, doesn’t feature the charging pad, but it does have a bigger screen, four USB 3.0 ports, better colour reproduction, and a smaller bezel. The monitors will go on sale on March 31st with the 23-inch being price at USD 429 while the 24-inch costs USD 469.

If those monitors seem too small for you, Dell has also revealed the new UltraSharp 30. This 30-inch monitor is Dell’s first 4K OLED display and features a contrast ratio of 400,00:1 as well as a response time of 0.1 milliseconds. The monitor will support USB Type-C for video, data, and single-cable power purposes. The UltraSharp 30 will be launching in March with an eyewatering asking price of USD 4,999.

Lastly, Dell revealed two new 2-in-1 tablets that are part of the Latitude line. The Latitude 12 7000 is a 12.5-inch tablet that runs on either Windows 10 or 8 and is powered by Intel’s Core M3, M5 or M7 processors. Various configurations for the screen exists with the higher end model featuring a 4K UHD touchscreen. The Latitude 12 will come with two USB 3.1 (Type-C/Thunderbolt) ports, an SD card reader, a micro SIM slot, a 8MP rear camera, and a 5MP front camera. This tablet will have a starting price of USD 1,049 and will be available in February.

Too expensive for your taste, Dell has a lower end 2-in-1 tablet by way of the Latitude 11 5000. The tablet comes with an 11-inch full HD screen and is powered by Intel’s Core M3 or M5 processors. Coming with either Microsoft 10 or 8, the Latitude 11 sports a regular USB Type-C port, a USB 3.0 port, a micro-HDMI port, a micro SIM slot, and an SD card reader. The Latitude 11 5000 will have a starting price of USD 749 and will be launching in February.

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CES 2016 : Netflix goes global, arrives in Malaysia

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After years of waiting, Netflix has finally arrived in Malaysia early this morning.

Netflix has finally decided to launch its services simulataneously around the world at CES today, making the service available in 130 new countries around the world. Alongside the worldwide launch, Netflix has added support for Arabic, Korean, Simplified and Traditional Chinese to the 17 languages it already supports.

While the Netflix’s global launch brings the service to many countries, there are a few that have been omitted thus far. China, Crimea, North Korea and Syria are not part of the global launch, and as such, they will not have access to the video streaming service just yet.

For Malaysians, a subscription to Netflix begins at RM33 per month for the Basic option with the Standard subscription costing RM42 while the Premium subscription costs RM51.

Thus far, our quick browse through the Netflix library has been good thus far as it sports all the American TV shows as well as Netflix Originals. Censorship doesn’t seem to be an issue either as Zoolander is available on the service and
that scene
in 300 hasn’t been removed. That said,
Netflix has warned that censorship may come into play in the future
.

Now that Netflix is here, it’s going to be interesting to see how
iflix
 will react to this.

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CES 2016 : Nvidia introduces self-driving car tech at press conference

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Last year, Nvidia voiced their interest in the automotive industry as they demo-ed their Tegra-powered dashboard. At CES 2016, they have moved from merely powering dashboards to fully powering self-driving cars.

In today’s Nvidia press conference, Nvidia President and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang went on stage to present the company’s solution to the self-driving cars problem. That solution is the Nvidia Drive PX2, the world’s first in-car AI supercomputer. It is powered by 12 CPU cores, 4 chips with Pascal GPUs and 8 teraflops of processing capability. The device itself is roughly the size of a lunchbox and requires water cooling.

The key feature of the Drive PX2 is the fact that the AI is capable of Deep Learning. Deep Learning is a branch of machine learning based on a set of algorithms that attempt to model high-level abstractions in data by using multiple processing layers with complex structures, or otherwise composed of multiple non-linear transformations. In layman’s terms, the Drive PX2 will learn as it drives, making it more efficient over time; or at least, that’s the concept behind it.

Couple this self-learning AI with superhuman image recognition technology that Microsoft and Google has, and self-driving cars aren’t as farfetched as previously though. A demo shown of on stage includes a car driving down the road while highlighting potential hazards such as cars and humans, as well as street signs. Cameras are placed at almost all sides of the car, minimising the amount of blind spots the car has. The radar will also map out the car’s surrounding, representing them as pixels

According to Nvidia, Audi is currently using Nvidia GPUs in their cars and the feedback from them is encouraging. Nvidia also announced that Daimler and Ford will also be utilising this tech in their future cars. For now, the first car manufacturer that will utilise the Drive PX2 will be Volvo.

Source :
Nvidia

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CES 2016 : Qualcomm puts the Snapdragon 820 under the spotlight

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When compared to other press conferences, Qualcomm is the most simplistic as the company has put much of its focus onto the Snapdragon 820. While the reveal of a single chip isn’t all that impressive, what IS impressive is where the chip is going.

Let’s start with the basics. The Snapdragon 820 will be powering smartphones in the near future. One of the first smartphones that will be using the 820 is the LeTV Le Max Pro. Details surround the phone is scarce but Qualcomm CEO Steven Mollenkopf revealed that the extra processing power of the Snapdragon 820 allows the Le Max Pro to utilize an ultrasonic fingerprint detector. This ultrasonic detector allows the sensor to be placed anywhere on the phone and is much more reliable than a standard glass processor. Mollenkopf states that the version included in the Le Max Pro is just an early iteration of the sensor and we can expect a much more sophisticate one down the line.

With the phone out of the way, Qualcomm shifts its focus onto automotives by way of Mollenkopf announcing that Qualcomm will be entering a new partnership with Audi. This partnership will see Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 602A processor be implemented into Audi’s 2016 A5 lineup. This allows the cars to be able to connect to Wi-Fi quickly and reliably.

A specialized version of the 820 will also be made specifically for cars. This variant of the 820 will be capable of handling multiple HD displays, GPS and GLONASS tracking, as well as traffic sign and lane tracking in real time. On stage, Qualcomm demoed the 820’s ability to seamlessly move a GPS navigation app to the dashboard display while maintaining a separate, secondary navigation app on an entirely different screen. Besides driver assitance, the 820 can also be used for passenger entertainment as it is able to output multiple HD streaming services to multiple seperate HD displays.

While the car demo is certainly impressive, it seems that Qualcomm is looking beyond the automotive industry. Mollenkopf envisions that the processor can be used on smaller scale devices such as wearables and modern health monitors as the Snapdragon.

Rounding up the presentation, Qualcomm reveals more details about the Snapdragon Flight drone platform. Mollenkopf confirmed that one of the first droones to use the Snapdragon Flight will be Tencent’s YING, and it specialize in 4K video capture and sharing.

Suffice to say, Qualcomm is getting very ambitious for 2016.

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CES 2016 : Razer reveals an ultrabook, a watch and a camera

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Razer’s showing at CES this year is an interesting one as they debuted a new ultrabook in the Blade line of laptops, a new smartwatch under the Nabu line, as well as an all new webcam.

Let’s start of with the ultrabook first. Dubbed the Razer Blade Stealth, this laptop measures at 0.52 inches and weights 2.75 pounds, which is the standard size and weight of an ultrabook. Size aside, everything else about the Blade Stealth’s design is more or less identical to the full sized Blade laptop, with the difference being that the keyboard on the Blade Stealth now features individually backlit RGB keys, allowing you to fully customise your keyboard. The laptop packs a 12.5 inch QHD or UHD touchscreen display and comes with two USB ports and a Thunderbolt USB Type-C port.

Specifications are where things get interesting. For starters, the Blade Stealth comes with Intel’s latest Core i7 processor and an Intel HD 520 graphics solution. This may seem underwhelming, but Razer has an ace up its sleeve by way of the Core accessory. The Core accessory is an external desktop graphics enclosure that can house almost any PCI-E graphics card from Nvidia or AMD, much like Alienware’s Graphics Amplifier dock or MSI’s Gaming Dock. The Core would be connected to the Blade Stealth via the Thunderbolt USB-C port which allows the external graphics card to power the display on the laptop itself, negating the need of a dedicated monitor. This feature is something that neither Alienware nor MSI has achieved thus far.

Prices on the Razer Blade Stealth begins at USD 999 and goes up to USD 1,599. The Core accessory has not be priced as of yet.

Moving on, we have the Nabu watch. The Nabu Watch is the first proper watch in the Nabu line as previous items were fitness bands instead of proper timepieces. Looking like a typical digital watch made by companies such as Casio, the Nabu Watch sports the functionality of the Nabu fitness bands, allowing you to track stats like steps taken, calories burned and many others. Curiously enough, the watch portion of the Nabu Watch is powered by a coin-shaped battery like a standard watch does, while the stat tracking functions (called the Nanu functions), is powered by a rechargeable battery that lasts up to 7 days. The Nabu Watch will come in a standard variant that is composed of tough polucarbonate materials and green colour highlights, and a Forged Edition which replaces the highlights with stainless steel buttons and sports a premium black finish. It is available now and is priced at USD 149.99 and USD 199.99 respectively.

The last product that Razer showed of is a webcam called Stargazer. Featuring Intel RealSense, the Stargazer is more than just a regular webcam. For starters, it is able to remove the background surroundings of its user without resorting to a greenscreen. It is also able to record at 60FPS and will be compatible with Windows 10’s Windows Hello feature. The most interesting gimmick however, is the fact that the Stargazer is able to use the RealSense camera to enable gestures for games, effectively making it a pseudo-Kinect. No word on whether or not if this feature is more gimmick than practical, but we’re still intrigued nonetheless. The Stargazer will be launching in the second quarter of this year with a price tag of USD 199.99.

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CES 2016 : Samsung press conference covers televisions, fridges and tablets

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Samsung had its press event earlier today and involves almost all of its electronic divisions. The event covered appliances, televisions, and even notebooks. There is a ton of products that were announced by Samsung, so we’re going to break down all the products announced by the Korean company.

For 2016, Samsung continues to focus on the Internet of Things and the company’s own open IoT ecosystem. As such, Samsung will be launching a SmartThings Extend USB Adapter. This USB stick will allow users to use their 2016 SUHD TVs to control IoT features directly from their TVs via the SmartThings Platform. Samsung is pitching that the USB stick will allow the TV to control over 200 compatible devices, ranging from appliances to baby monitors. The device will be made available for free to anyone who purchase a Samsung SUHD TV this year.

Samsung will also be paying attention to the growth of the mobile sector by way of the “Samsung Galaxy Ecosystem”. This ecosystem will include devices such as the Galaxy-series of smartphones, the Tab series of tablets and the Gear S2. Some of the features that “Samsung Galaxy Ecosystem” includes the Gear VR and Samsung Pay. Speaking of which, Samsung Pay will be launching in Australia, Singapore and Brazil in addition to the United Kingdom, China and Spain.

For the virtual reality side of things, Samsung will be demo-ing Project Beyond on the CES showfloor. This device is the world’s first fully automated 360 degree professional VR camera that is meant to allow users to take advantage of Samsung’s Gear VR headset.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Samsung event if there were no mentions of televisions. For CES 2016, Samsung has brought their flagship 2016 SUHD TV models. The SUHD TVs for 2016, according to Samsung, is the world’s first bezel-less TV design and will come in 5 sizes, beginning at 49″ and ending at 88″. All of the SUHD TVs will come with Quantum Dot, which is a tiny semiconductor that is able to convert light into nearly any colour in the visible spectrum with very high efficiency, making the colours displayed on the screen much more vivid. These SUHD TVs will be powered by Tizen, making them Smart TVs as well.

On another note, if you prefer your Ultra HD movies to come in physical form, Samsung will be opening pre-orders for its own Ultra HD Blu-Ray player.

Moving on to appliances, Samsung has brand new washing machines and a refrigerator on display at Las Vegas. Remember that washing machine with the sink on top of it? Samsung has an update for it. The 2016 Samsung activewash washing machine now comes with a digital touchscreen at the middle of the lid and the sink is now wider than the first iteration.

The other washing machine showcased by Samsung is the AddWash, a front loading washing machine. The “gimmick” for this washing machine is that it allows you to pause the wash cycle, allowing you to add additional clothing into the washing machine without opening the front door of the machine. Samsung’s flagship AddWash model offers 5 cubic feet of capacity, the largest capacity frontload washer of its class.

Remember about Samsung’s IoT strategy? Samsung is bringing IoT to the kitchen by way of the Samsung refrigerator with a huge touchscreen that you have seen floating around on the net. Officially named the Family Hub Refrigerator, this fridge features a 21.5″ Full HD touchscreen that functions like any other smart device, allowing you to view photos, stream music, and use social media.

For the IoT side of things, Samsung is partnering up with MasterCard to give the Family Hub Refrigerator a program called “Groceries by MasterCard”, a shopping app that allows users to purchase groceries directly online and have it sent to their home. The app will also be available on the smartphone, tablet, and of course, the fridge.

The Gear S2 makes an appearance on stage as Samsung announces two new additions to the smartwatch line : The Gear S2 Classic. Coming in Gold and Platinum variants, the Gear S2 Classic features a classier design while still retaining all the features of the normal Gear S2. For iPhone users, Samsung has announced that the Gear S2 will be iOS compatible later this year.

Rounding up the press conference, Samsung debuts the latest entry into its Galaxy Tab series of tablets : The Galaxy TabProS. Being the first Samsung tablet to be powered by Windows 10 instead of Android, the TabProS will feature a 2160 x 1440 Super AMOLED display and 10.5 hours of battery life. Under the hood, the TabProS comes with an Intel Core M processor, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Peripherals will also be available for the TabProS, with the first featured being the Type Cover-like detachable keyboard case.

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CES 2016 : Sony press conference centres on the audio visual department

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Sony’s press conference for this year’s CES is one that focuses on the company’s audio visual catalogue. Featuring camcorders, speakers, TVs and even a vinyl player, Sony has some really interesting stuff coming our way in 2016.

First off the bat is the newest camcorder from Sony. Called the FDR-AX53, this new 4K Handycam replaces the AX33 as the company’s top-of-the-line 4K camcorder. The AX53 comes with a 1/2.5 inch 16:9 aspect ratio sensor and now uses the entire 8-megapixel sensor, allowing the camcorder to take better quality videos in low-light conditions. Other improvements made to the AX53 include implementing an advanced aspherical lens, doubling the optical zoom range from 10x to 20x, a faster autofocus algorithm and a new five-directional microphone designed for less sound boosting around the capsule. The AX53 now includes high-framerate recoding, allowing users to create slow-motion HD videos and automatic 4K timelapse creation. This camcorder will be released in March and sports a USD 1,000 price tag.

As expected of Sony, the company brought their latest BRAVIA television to CES as well. Called the BRAVIA 4K LCD X93D, this television includes HDR support and features a new Slim Backlight Drive technology. This technology uses a unique backlight system structure to achieve grid array backlighting without traditional full-array direct LED backlights. Other tech included in the X93D includes Sony’s own X-tended Dynamic Range PRO contrast-enhancing technology and the TRILUMINOS tech that gives the TV a wide colour gamut. Topping off the 4K rush, Sony’ has announced that it will be launching a 4K HDR streaming app called ULTRA. The service will be launched in the US later this year and will offer new and classic titles from Sony’s 4K library.

In the audio department, Sony’s is expanding its high resolution audio line of headphones and speakers, beginning with the company’s h.ear line of audio devices. First up on stage is the h.ead go, the world’s smallest portable high resolution wireless speaker with multiroom capability. For earphones and headphones, Sony features the h.ear in high resolution audio earphones and the h.ear on high resolution audio headphones, both of which are wireless.

Sony’s is also bringing back the vinyl player with a modern taste. The PS-HX500 is a traditional turntable that is able to connect to your computer or stereo system via a USB cable. It also has features that allows you to convert your vinyl records in to hi-res audio files such as Sony’s own DSD file format or 24-bit WAV files.

For the bassheads among us, Sony will be expanding their Extra Bass lineup with an Extra Bass Bluetooth wireless speaker. The flagship of this model, the XB3, will feature full range speakers, dual passive radiators, extended 24 hour battery life, dual layout, and water resistance.

With the audio and visual stuff done, Sony shifts gear to focus on their smart home platform, Life Space UX. To demonstrate the possibility of Life Space UX, Sony introduces multipurpose devices such as a LED bulb speaker, a short throw projector and a glass sound speaker that features an LED light in it. All of these devices can be connected via a simple Bluetooth connection.

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CES 2016: Sphero announces the Force Band for its BB-8 Droid Robot

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Still not through with the Force yet? Me neither and I’m beginning to start liking Sphero, as the company just unveiled a wearable called the Force Band that will let you control the company’s famous BB-8 app enabled droid toy that has recently begin to gross after the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Since you can already control BB-8 with a smartphone app via Bluetooth SMART, the Force Band would make a great accessory and lets you control it as if you have “The Force”.

While the Force Band won’t be immediately available for customers, The Verge’s Ross Miller have explained a little on how the Force Band will control BB-8 and it pretty much works like how you would expect to be if you are inside a Star Wars movie. For instance, wearing the Force Band while resting your hand activates the Droid’s driving mode, and once you lift up your palm like a “Stop” gesture, the droid looks towards you and you will be able to control its moving direction. The usage of the Force Band isn’t as easy as the controls on the app, and its too early to judge its usability at an early stage.

The Force Band is expected to be released in Fall 2016 and its a good thing that Sphero has kept its product future proof, and we should probably see more sales or variants of the BB-8 toy after that.

Source:
The Verge

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CES 2016: The LG Gram 15 is here to solve your MacBook woes

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LG has been renowned for making some great hardware and this time in CES 2016, the Korean firm has managed to churn out the Gram 15, a 15-inch Ultrabook that totally resembles Cupertino’s machine, except that it is really way bigger and more feature packed. Measuring at only 15mm thick and weighing 980 grams, this is now probably the world’s lightest 15-inch machine ever and to add to the premium touch, LG has made the Gram 15 available in premium gold color.

In terms of specs, the Gram 15 is fitted with either a Core i5 or i7 Skylake processor and should technically support up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM, it comes with a 1080p panel, a USB Type-C port, HDMI, USB 3.0, microUSB and microSD slot. From its thin body profile, we can also expect the Gram 15’s storage to be flash based an soldered on to the motherboard itself, and LG has claimed up to 7 hours of battery life on a single charge. No exact pricing has been revealed by LG and it might give the MacBook a run for its money if it is priced similarly, we definitely look forward to see it somewhere.

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CES 2016 : Zeiss announces partnership to produce premium lens for smarphone photography

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If you’re into smartphone photography, then you will be ecstatic to know that Zeiss has partnered with Fellowes Brands to produce three new high-performance mobile phone accessory lens, as announced during CES 2016.

The three lenses presented at CES comprised of a telephoto, a wide-angle and a macro lens, all scheduled to launch in late Q2 2016. The macro lens features a zoom function, while the wide-angle and telephoto offers edge-to-edge contrasts and better image performances. All lenses feature a smooth surface made of black adonised aluminium with white labeling, which is similar to current families of ZEISS lenses. All of the lenses showcased will include T* reflective coating from ZEISS, which cuts reflections and improves lighting transmissions.

Now, these lenses will be attached to device-specific ExoLens machined aluminium bracket using a screw thread. This bracket will only be available for all of Apple iPhone 6 models for now. There will be more devices that will be able to use these lenses in the future, but no further hints on which devices we can be expecting next.

Check out some of the photos taken using a smartphone mounted by these three new lenses, tested by four ZEISS Lens Ambassadors: Christian Dandyyk, Topher DeLancy, Brian Matiash, John Win.

Source:
Lenspire

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CES 2017: 4K HDR G-Sync monitors are coming your way from ASUS and Acer

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HDR TVs may already be widely available in stores, but not quite yet with gaming monitors, which is why you should start saving up right now for one, as ASUS and Acer will be bringing you stunning 4K HDR gaming monitors in Q2 this year equipped with NVIDIA G-Sync, that means you get to experience a buttery smooth 144Hz refresh rate on these monitors while enjoying immersive visuals in games, NVIDIA has showed us an unannounced ASUS ROG PG27UQ monitor right here in CES 2017 and the experience is simply different from a standard dynamic range monitor.

While you can’t see properly in camera, the saturation between these two monitors above demonstrates a great difference in display quality, the left without HDR don’t reflect lighting properly and some particles aren’t even noticeable. The ASUS PG27UQ 4K HDR monitor shown to us has 1000 nits of brightness and has a 384 zone backlight, the display covers the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is already use in some professional monitors and shows more colors, which is why you will be able to notice more details on the display while gaming. In conjunction with the announcement of these monitors, NVIDIA is also announcing support for HDR on Mass Effect: Andromeda, which will arrive on PC at 21 March, 2017.

No pricing is mentioned for the 4K HDR G-Sync monitors, but do expect to pay premium prices and we are sure more manufacturers will be making displays like this.

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CES 2017: Acer rolls out its latest batch of laptops

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Acer has brought a bunch of laptops to the CES showfloor in Vegas, and said laptops ranges from the affordable to the ridiculous.

Let’s start out with the most affordable of the lineup: the Acer Chromebook 11 N7. Mainly targeted for use in schools, the Chromebook 11 N7 is made with durability in mind. As such, the laptop itself is capable of handling up to 60kg of downward force on the top cover and it comes with a spill-resistant keyboard that provides protection against spills of up to 330ml of water.

The laptop will come with a 11.6″ 1366×768 display that comes in either non-touch display or touch display variants, and it will have a either 16GB or 32GB of eMMC storage with 4GB of RAM. The Chromebook 11 N7 will be priced at USD229 (RN1,030) and will go on sale in the U.S. this month.

Next up is the Acer V Nitro Black Edition gaming laptop. Acer’s refresh of the Nitro Black now gives the laptop the ability to be powered by a 7th-gen Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor. For the graphics card, the Nitro Black can be equipped with either an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 or a 1050 Ti. Other components of the Nitro Black laptop includes up to 16GB of DDR4 system memory, the option of a NVMe PCIe Gen 3 or SATA SSD, as well as a 2TB HDD.

For connectivity, the laptop comes with a USB Type-C port with Thunderbolt 3 support, two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, a HDMI connection, and a Gigabit Ethernet port. The Acer V Nitro Black Edition will be available with either a 17.3″ display or a 15″ display. Sales of the Acer V Nitro Black Edition will begin in February in the U.S. with the 15″ model retailing from USD1,199 while the 17″ model starts at USD1,399.

If the Nitro is a bit too expensive for your tastes, Acer has the Aspire VX 15, a gaming laptop that sports a 15.6″ Full HD IPS screen. For components, the laptop is capable of supporting a 7th-gen Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor and a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti graphics card. The laptop also comes with 16GB of DDR4 memory that is upgradable to 32GB, a 512GB SSD and a 1TB HDD. The Aspire VX 15 will be available in January in the U.S. with a starting price of USD799.

Rounding up the laptops that were brought to CES 2017, we have the infamous Predator 21 X. Sporting a curved 21″ IPS display, this monster of a gaming laptop comes with a 7th-gen Intel Core i7-7820HK processor, two Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 graphics cards in SLI, 64GB of DDR4-2400 memory, up to four 512GB SSDs in RAID 0 configuration, and a 1TB 7200RPM hard drive. Besides the components and the screen, the Predator 21 X will also come with a full-sized mechanical keyboard that features Cherry MX Brown switches, Tobii eye-tracking technology, as well as USB Type-C ports with Thunderbolt 3 support. The Predator 21 X will go be available in the U.S. in February with prices starting at USD8,999.

If the 21 X is too prohibitively expensive for you, Acer has also refreshed the Predator 17 X. The refreshed laptop now comes with a Core i7-7820HK processor, a GTX 1080 GPU, up to 64GB of DDR4-2400 memory, an NVMe PCIe SSD or three SATA-SSD RAID 0 array. The laptop houses a 17.3″ G-Sync Full HD IPS display or a UHD IPS display.

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CES 2017: BlackBerry 'Mercury' will be the first wholly-new BlackBerry phone produced by TCL

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Were you unimpressed by the BlackBerry DTEK phones that were put out by TCL thus far? We might have some good news for you then as TCL has brought out a prototype BlackBerry phone that the company has been working on since it first bought the BlackBerry brand.

Currently codenamed ‘Mercury’, this new BlackBerry phone feels more like a traditional BlackBerry phone as it comes with a Qwerty keyboard. Special mention needs to be made of the Qwerty keyboard as TCL claims that it also doubles as a touchpad. On top of that, a fingerprint sensor has been embedded into the space bar, meaning you’ll be able to unlock your phone placing it on top of the space bar. For the software side of things, the Mercury will run on Android 7.0 Nougat, and it will come preinstalled with BlackBerry Messenger, BlackBerry Hub as well as the DTEK app.

In short, the BlackBerry Mercury isn’t just another rebranded Alcatel phone. It is a standalone BlackBerry phone on its own, although whether or not the phone is any good remains to be seen. More details about the BlackBerry Mercury will be revealed at this year’s Mobile World Congress. Until then, we can only wait and hope that TCL’s first take on a proper BlackBerry phone is a good one.

Source:
Android Authority
,
CrackBerry

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CES 2017: Boltt wants to inspire you to train smarter with its AI fitness trackers

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As far as fitness trackers go, they mostly work the same way, and you kind of throw them at a side after sometime because you simply get sick with all that motivation messages, and you still think why the heck you are still not slimming down. This could all change with Boltt, an Indian based company that’s about to make fitness tracking a little smarter with AI.

Boltt has announced three things in its CES press conference, a connected shoe, stride sensor and fitness tracker. All of these products are all managed by an AI Health Assistant called ‘B’, which interacts with the user and rather than just showing messages of how you are doing on screen, B actually tells what you should look out on your health based on your activities. For instance, if you happen to have logged too much sugar intake for the day which affects your deep sleep, B says it out loud that you should cut down your intake by a certain amount to improve your sleep. Otherwise, B also gives the user real time feedback while working out, such as asking you to slowdown your running speed if you overdo it.

Boltt’s connected shoes, which comes equipped with functionalities like energy bounce back, impact absorption, supportive cushioning balance and balanced gripping ground control for a natural movement, is the first of its kind where users will be able to track their real-time movement up to 97% accuracy all thanks to a Smart Stride sensor, Boltt says it uses a SDM technology of Garmin to enable better readings than a typical fitness tracking wearable.

If you have your own pair of shoes for running already and want to make it smart, Boltt does sell the Smart Stride sensor separately, you can either attach the sensor to your shoe laces or hide it under the sole, whichever the user prefer. The Smart Stride sensor can also help to analyse performance metrics on sports that requires running such as rugby and soccer, with the help of ‘B’, it could provide information on how you shouldn’t stress your legs too much to avoid any sport injury.

Boltt is accepting preorders for its new connected AI fitness devices later this month on Kickstarter, however you can already claim early bird discounts now over at
Boltt’s website
, you will then apply the discount code on Kickstarter when it goes live.

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CES 2017: BWW just showed us how we can interact with the car without touching anything

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In a super early morning here in Las Vegas today, 6.30AM to be exact, BMW held its CES 2017 press conference at the Las Vegas Convention Centre and we were there to witness the unveiling of BMW’s i Vision Future interaction concept car. The concept car shows how autonomous and advanced future BMW’s cars would be designed to enhance the driving experience and redefines how an enjoyable journey should be like, BMW has even went on to call it a spaceship and has decorated the back seat of the car like a small driving living room.

One of the interesting things that you will find here is BMW HoloActive Touch, which is the company’s latest take on the future of in-car control and display technology, there’s a holographic panel that is visible to the driver and it will attempt to smartly recognise your gesture interactions. For instance, a building object gets projected and when interacted, it will be able to show information such as the distance from your current position to that place.

Furthermore, the concept car also features a panoramic display on the dashboard featured last year, which works like a touch screen but doesn’t require any contact at all, BMW calls this the Air Touch technology and it has now been taken a step further with the BMW HoloActive Touch, the technology has fuses the advantages of the BMW Head-Up Display, BMW gesture control and intuitive touchscreen functionality to create a completely new kind of user interface for the vehicle interior of the future.

While a concept car’s features may remain conceptual and never see the day, BMW’s commitment in redefining how drivers can interact with the car’s features and controls seem pretty legit, considering that our lives are getting more connected than ever, it would make sense that future marques could do things on par with what our current gadgets could already do.

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CES 2017: Dell reveals a Surface Studio-like monitor called Canvas

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It is probably safe to say that the Surface Studio was one of the biggest surprise that Microsoft announced back in 2016. So it is no surprise that some people are working on a Studio Surface of their own. One such company would be Dell, but unlike Microsoft, the company is not aiming to re-create the entire Surface Studio, it’s looking to create a monitor that can rival the Surface Studio.

The monitor in question is called Canvas, and much like the Surface Studio’s screen, the 27″ monitor can be folded down into a sloped surface for artists and designers to lean in and draw on it. As mentioned earlier, the Canvas is just a screen and not a 2-in-1. As such, you can plug in almost any computer into it to give yourself the pseudo-Surface Studio experience.

Also like the Surface Studio, the Canvas monitor comes with its own puck-shaped controller called Totem. Totem works exactly like how the Microsoft Dial works. By placing it on the screen of the Canvas, the Canvas will bring out a circular menu that can be used to control Windows and applications. As Totem uses the very same code that Dial operates on, you could potentially use a Microsoft Dial on the Canvas if you so happen to have one.

Resolution-wise, the Canvas loses out when compared to the Surface Studio. Where the Surface Studio comes with a 4500 x 3000 screen, the Canvas only has a 2560 x 1440 screen. Dell’s choice of a lower resolution monitor stems from the fact that the Canvas would better support a wider range of computers as which has merits of its own.

No pricing was given just yet for the Dell Canvas. As for availability, Dell has said that the Canvas will begin shipping in the U.S. in April.

Source:
The Verge

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CES 2017: Dell reveals a two-in-one XPS 13

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The Dell XPS 13 is one of the more popular laptops available on the market as it is a great combination of portability and performance. So how do you improve on it? Dell answered said question at CES 2017 by turning the XPS 13 into a two-in-one with the release of the XPS 13 9365.

For the most part, the XPS 13 9365 is visually identical to the standard XPS 13. The 13.3″ two-in-one comes with the edge-to-edge Infinity Display that is available in two variants: 1080p Full HD, or Quad HD+ (3200 x 1800). Performance-wise, the Dell XPS 13 comes with the new Kaby Lake Core i5 and Core i7 processors. One thing to note is that these processors are not the actual Core processors, but are the newly rebranded Core M processors.

There are a few changes that were made when Dell converted the XPS 13 into a two-in-one. The first of these changes has to do with the ports. Continuing the trend of shiting towards USB-C, the XPS 13 9365 comes with two USB Type-C ports and a microSD slot. Thankfully, Dell will be bundling a USB-A adapter with the two-in-one. Another change that Dell has done to the XPS 13 9365 is the camera as it now sits at the center of the bottom of the screen, instead of being located at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. Said camera is now Windows Hello-compatible, so you can unlock the two-in-one with just your face.

Pricing for the XPS 13 9365 will be a tad bit higher as it will retail for USD999 (RM4,488), which is USD100 more expensive than the standard XPS 13. The XPS 13 9365 will be available on the 5th of January in the States. Dell Malaysia has yet to reveal if this version of the XPS 13 will be available here, so we’re going to have to wait for an official announcement until then.

Source:
The Verge
,
Dell

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dell
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CES 2017: Dual cam Honor 6X with two day battery life unveiled

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We’ve all been gearing up for one of the biggest tech shows of the year which is CES 3027 at Las Vegas. Honor has conducted an event, two days before CES 2017 officially commences. Having launched in China not too long ago, the Honor 6X has now made its way to CES 2017 at the Huawei subsidiary’s “Double or Nothing” launch event.

The mid range Honor 6X has also hopped onto the dual camera bandwagon. But first things first, the handset sports a 5.5-inch display on the front at Full HD 1080p resolution. Assuming that the Honor 6X is the successor for the Honor 5X, the former features Huawei’s own HiSilicon Kirin 655 processor this time instead of a Snapdragon chipset seen underneath the hood of the former. Alongside that comes two memory configurations – 3GB RAM with 32GB of internal storage and 4GB RAM with 64GB of storage.

Like most high end smartphones by Huawei and Honor, the Honor 6X sees a dual rear camera configuration. The phone is fitted with 12MP and 2MP sensors respectively for its rear camera setup. The pixel size has been ncreased to an impressive 1.25um, and the camera setup boasts an aperture that starts at f/0.95. Moving onto the front is a selfie shooter of 8 megapixels.

Honor has also made a tripod selfie stick to complement the Honor 6X, featuring a 270-degree collapsible rotation. So far, itdoes seem like the Honor 6X is a smartphone which is close to the high end spectrum of handsets.

As for battery, Honor claims the Honor 6X to last up to 2 days, having fitted a 3,340mAh for its power consumption. The phone is currently running on Android Marshmallow, but will be updated to Android 7.0 Nougat with Huawei’s EMUI 5.0 software in the second quarter of 2017. An added bonus feature of the Honor 6X is the Wi-Fi Bridge capability which allows you to share your Wi-Fi with up to 4 devices at once.

The Honor 6X will set you back $250 for the 3GB RAM/32GB variant, and $300 for the 4GB RAM/64GB model. Offered in three colors – Gold, Silver and Gray, the phone will be available at selected markets beginning 4th January 2017, including Malaysia. The Malaysian pricing for the Honor 6X hasn’t yet been unveiled. Till then, stay tuned with us as we bring you more news live from CES 2017 at Las Vegas!

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CES 2017: GeForce Experience now supports streaming gameplay directly to Facebook Live

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As Facebook Live gets popular these days, it would make total sense for gaming companies to incorporate that feature into their game titles. However, NVIDIA has taken a step further to implement Facebook Live streaming to its GeForce Experience (GFE) software, the feature is immediately available now once you update the GFE client. Unlike advanced streaming software like Open Broadcast Software and XSplit, Facebook Live streaming on GFE is a simpler and straightforward feature, all you need to do is to pull up the in-game overlay, click on the broadcast button and enter your Facebook login credentials for the first time, name your live stream title and you are good to go.

While this is a convenient feature, there are certain limitations that you can’t do on GFE’s broadcast feature such as adding a logo or playing a background music, you will also not be able to see comments from your friends as well. Furthermore, Facebook Live limits any streaming source to 720p at 30 fps for its maximum quality, so even if you game at smooth 60 fps on your screen, your viewers may not be able to experience the same quality like you do on screen, and for that you will need to resort to dedicated game live streaming services like YouTube Gaming and Twitch.

If all of that technical limitation don’t matter to you and you probably just want to show off to the world that you bought the most expensive game, update your GFE client now and yes, you will need a GeForce GPU to enjoy this feature.

facebook
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CES 2017: Gigabyte announces the P56 and Sabre 15 gaming laptops

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Gaming component manufacturers Gigabyte is at CES and they brought with it two new 15″ gaming laptops with them to the showfloor: the P56 and Sabre 15.

The first of the gaming laptops is the P56, a laptop that is targeted towards the gaming enthusiasts. This particular model comes with a 15.6″ UHD (3840 x 2160) display and is powered by an 7th-gen Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor and a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card.

Besides the P56, Gigabyte has also unveiled the Sabre 15, a gaming laptop meant for 1080p gaming. This machine sports a 15.6″ screen and is powered by a 7th-gen Intel Core i7 processor. For graphics, the Sabre 15 is capable of sporting either a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti or a GTX 1050, both of which are graphics cards that are sufficient for 1080p gaming. Other standout features of the Sabre 15 includes an RGB backlight keyboard, an optional UHD Blu-Ray Drive, and a USB Type-C port that supports Thunderbolt 3.

Apart from the new laptop entries, Gigabyte’s pre-existing laptop models have also been given a refresh. The P55 and P57 laptops have been given a processor refresh while retaining the GeForce 10 series graphics cards that they currently have. Meanwhile, the P15 and P17 entry-level laptops have also received a processor refresh.

gaming
gigabyte
intel
laptop
nvidia
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sabre15


CES 2017: Google Assistant will be available on Android TVs in the future

258

Google Assistant, Google’s own take on the digital assistant, has not been widely available considering that the feature can only be found on the Google Home speaker and the Pixel smartphones thus far. That being said, Google has officially announced that the feature will be coming to another platform in the near future: Android TVs.

According to Google, Google Assistant will be coming as part of an update to any Android TV device that is capable of running Android 6.0 Marshmallow or 7.0 Nougat. This means that standard smart TVs and media boxes like Xiaomi’s Mi Box and Nvidia’s new Shield will be able to utilise Google Assistant when the update goes live. With Google Assistant available for Android TV, you can now leverage the assistant from the comforts of your living room sofa.

Google has yet to outline a timeline for when Google Assistant will be made available for Android TV, so we’ll hazard a guess that it’ll still be a while to go before we see it. Another thing we don’t know is if Google Assistant will made available globally or if it would be a region-specific feature, so try not to get your hopes up just yet.

Source:
Engadget

ai
androidtv
assistant
google
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CES 2017: Intel debuts the Compute Card

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Remember the Compute Stick that Intel debuted a few years ago? The Compute Card is the successor to it. This little credit card-sized device is meant to be used when your smart devices go obsolete.

Hidden within the card-shaped container is a full Intel computer, complete with a 7th-gen Intel Core processor, RAM, storage, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. The card itself uses what Intel is calling the “USB-C plus extension connector” to provide USB and PCIe data connectivity alongside HDMI and DisplayPort video signals to the device.

As mentioned earlier, the Compute Card is mainly targeted at Internet of Things-capable devices such as smart TVs and smart appliances. As technology marches forward, the components inside these devices may age and eventually become obsolete. With the Compute Card, you’ll be able to slot in this device and immediately upgrade said device, negating the need to go out and purchase a new IoT-ready appliance.

For now, Intel will be working with Dell, HP, Lenovo, Sharp, Seneca, DTx, InFocus, TabletKiosk, and Pasuntech to explore the possibilities of the Compute Card. The card itself is expected to be available by mid-2017.

Source:
CNet

computecard
devices
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CES 2017: Intel unveils all remaining Kaby Lake processors

267

After months of waiting, Intel has finally decided to come clean with all of its desktop-based Kaby Lake processors, more specifically the “H-Series” of processors that are meant for “performance laptops and mobile workstations, and the “S-series”, “K-series” and “T-series” processors that are meant for the traditional desktop.

We begin with the H-series processors, chips that Intel says will perform “20 percent faster than a comparable fourth-gen chip”. The chips in the H-series are quad-core CPUs with a TDP of 45W. The sole exception to this is the low-end Core i3-7100H, a dual core, four-thread chip with a 35W TDP. The flagship of the H-series is the i7-7820HK, a 2.9GHz processor that is overclockable. Apart from clockspeed, the chip has an integrated Intel HD 630 GPU and is able to support 2400MHz DDR4 RAM and 2133MHz LPDDR3 RAM.

For the desktop builders, Kaby Lake will come in the form of the “S-series”, “K-series” and “T-series” processors. The base version of the Kaby Lake chip for desktop is the S-series processors. The S-series processors consists of a 65W quad-core i7 processors, three quad-core i5 processors and three 51W dual-core i3 processors. Alongside the S-series processors, Intel has the T-series processors. These processors have the same amount of cache and general features like the S-series, but they have a lower clockspeed and consumes less power than the S-series. The T-series consists of one i7 processor, three i5 processors, and two i3 processors.

Rounding up the list, we have the overclockable K-series processors. At first glance, the new Kaby Lake K-series appears to be replacing the Skylake’s 6700K and 6600K with the new i7-7700K and i5-7600K. However, new to the K-series as a whole is an overclockable i3 processor in the form of the dual core i3-7350K processor. All of the desktop processors mentioned will be able to run on the LGA 1151 motherboards, assuming that the motherboard in question has received a BIOS upgrade that would allow it to support Kaby Lake.

Finally, if you’re looking to get the new 270 motherboards for your Kaby Lake processors, you may be interested to know that 270 motherboards are deemed by Intel to be “Intel Optane memory ready.” In short, this means that the motherboards are capable of supporting Intel’s new 3D XPoint storage drives that will boost the speed of a standard SSD.

Source:
Ars Technica

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core
hseries
i3
i5
i7
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CES 2017: MSI announces new motherboards and peripherals

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Laptops aren’t the only things that MSI has refreshed prior to CES 2017 as the company has also brought its refreshed motherboards, as well as some new peripherals, to the Las Vegas event.

For the new batch of gaming motherboards, MSI is looking towards the Kaby Lake processors. As such, the company has updated its GAMING M7, GAMING PRO CARBON and TOMAHAWK line of gaming motherboards to the Z270 designation. Besides support for Kaby Lake processors, MSI’s gaming motherboards will sport features such as the M.2 Shield to protect against thermal throttling on M.2 SSDs, as well as VR Boost to deliver a smooth VR experience.

Much like many other gaming components these days, the MSI gaming motherboards will come with the company’s own RGB Mystic Light system that allows the user to change the colours and effects with a single click of the mouse.

Besides gaming components, MSI will also be making a renewed push into the gaming peripherals market. This will be coming in the form of a gaming headset, a gaming mouse and two gaming keyboards. For the headset, MSI has the upcoming Immense GH70 GAMING Headset that features Hi-Res drivers with virtual 7.1 Surround Sound. Moving on to the mouse, MSI has the Clutch GM70 GAMING mouse that comes with an 18,000 DPI optical sensor. Finally, MSI’s two mechanical keyboards, the Vigor GK80 and the GK70 GAMING Keyboard, will feature a multitude of hotkeys while sporting Cherry MX Switches. All the peripherals mentioned above will support MSI’s RGB Mystic Light system.

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CES 2017: MSI’s brings 7th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and GTX 1050 to its new gaming notebooks

309

As a leading manufacturer of gaming notebooks, MSI has finally announced that all of its current products will be upgraded to Intel’s 7th Gen Core i7 processor, which will offer up to 15-20% of performance boost over the current Skylake processor while ensuring efficiency. In addition, the new processor complements NVIDIA’s Pascal GPUs that is already available on MSI’s gaming notebooks, offering performance improvements of up to 10% in 4K video edits and 15% in VR applications.

MSI will also be installing Nahimic VR sound enhancement in selected VR capable gaming notebooks, which takes VR gaming to the next level with 7.1 surround sound and gamers will be able to experience directional sound as if they are actually in the virtual world, it will also be optimised for the HTC Vive headset in early 2017.

As for which MSI gaming notebooks are being updated to the new Kaby Lake processor, here’s a list of them:

GT Series – GT83VR, GT73VR, GT72VR, GT62VR

GS Series – GS73VR, GS63VR, GS43VR

GE Series – GE72VR, GE62VR

GP Series – GP72VR, GP62MVR, GP72, GP62

GL Series – GL72, GL62

Apart from processor upgrades, certain gaming notebook models such as the GE62-7RE Apache Pro receives a GPU upgrade to NVIDIA’s all new GTX 1050Ti discrete graphics and comes with 4GB GDDR5 RAM, which offers a 15% boost in gaming performance over the previous GTX965M GPU. Otherwise, the entry-level GP62 and GL62 notebooks have also been upgraded with a GTX 1050 GPU with 2GB GDDR5 memory, while the Prestige series PE60 notebook is upgraded with a GTX 1050 GPU with 4GB of GDDR5 memory.

MSI will be showcasing its Kaby Lake powered gaming notebooks in CES 2017 and we are on the show floor to find out more about it. But meanwhile, MSI Malaysia has also announced the availability and pricing of some of its new notebooks, which is detailed as below:

GE62-7RE Apache Pro – i7-7700HQ, GTX 1050Ti 4GB GDDR5 – RM6,299

GP62M-7RD Leopard – i7-7700HQ, GTX 1050 2GB GDDR5 – RM5,199

GL62M-7RD – i7-7700HQ, GTX1050 2GB GDDR5 – RM4,599

PE60-7RD –  i7-7700HQ, GTX 1050 4GB GDDR5 – RM5,299

The GE62-7RE looks like a pretty sweet deal though, what do you think?

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CES 2017: NVIDIA GeForce NOW breathes high end gaming life to Macs and Ultrabooks

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Don’t have the cash to purchase a high-end gaming notebook? Have one but just can’t play with high graphics setting? NVIDIA is here to eliminate the woes and bringing GeForce Now to PC and Mac on March this year, you will be able to play your purchased games from Steam, GoG, U Play and more using NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1080 and GTX 1060 powered cloud computers.

The GeForce NOW service was originally announced alongside the first generation NVIDIA Shield TV, which allows you to stream certain game titles from NVIDIA’s GRID platform for $8.99 per month. With the new GeForce NOW for PC and Mac, gamers will not be limited to that and all you really need is a high speed internet connection to be able to stream your own purchased games anytime, anywhere.

In terms of pricing and availability, any user who signs up to the GeForce NOW service will be able to play free on a GTX 1060 computer for 8 hours and a GTX 1080 computer for 4 hours. However if you think that’s not enough, you can pay $25 a month to extend the gameplay hours of the GTX 1060 and GTX 1080 computers to 20 and 10 hours respectively. GeForce NOW for PC and Mac will be available first in the United States, with more countries to come throughout the year.

To sign up for the early access, you can head on to
https://goo.gl/No9Dp3
.

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CES 2017: Qualcomm officially announces the Snapdragon 835

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After a week of rumours, Qualcomm has decided to pull the curtains off its latest flagship processor, the Snapdragon 835. Succeeding the Snapdragon 820, the Snapdragon 835 will be the first Qualcomm SoC that is producing using the 10nm FinFET processor.

The core of the Snapdragon 835 utilises the Kryo CPU architecture, the same one that can be found in the Snapdragon 820 series of chips. With the Kryo 280 architecture, the Snapdragon 835 will have four additional cores that will focus on running efficiently with a clockspeed of 1.9GHz. Alongside the efficient cores, the Snapdragon 835 will have four performance cores that have a clockspeed of 2.45GHz.

For graphics, the Snapdragon 835 will sport the new Adreno 540 GPU. This graphics chip will support OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan and DirectX 12. This allows the Snapdragon to support 4K video recording at 30FPS, 60FPS 4K playback, as well as Google Daydream VR support. Imaging fans would also be glad to hear that the Snapdragon 835 will allow phone makers to build devices with 32MP cameras or dual 16MP cameras.

Making its debut with the Snapdragon 835 is the X16 LTE modem, giving devices that use the chip support for Category 16 download sppeds and Category 13 upload speeds. In addition to this, the Snapdragon 835 is also the first commercial chip that is officially certified fr Blueooth 5.0. Rounding this all up, the Snapdragon 835 will mark the debut of Quick Charge 4.0. Quick Charge 4.0 will be 20% faster and 30% more efficient than Quick Charge 3.0, and it will support USB-C power delivery.

The Snapdragon 835 will be making its way into devices these years as mass production is already underway. While Qualcomm did not mention which company will be the first to implement the Snapdragon 835, rumours are going around that a version of the Samsung Galaxy S8 will come with Qualcomm’s new chip. Only time will tell if that is true.

Source:
GSMArena
,
Qualcomm

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CES 2017: Razer debuts Project Valerie laptop

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Gaming equipment maker Razer has once again taken the CES showfloor by storm as the company has debuted a laptop that comes with not one, not two, but three screens built into the laptop chassis itself.

Dubbed Project Valerie, this new concept laptop from Razer comes with three 17.3″ 4K IGZO displays that are equipped with Nvidia’s G-Sync technology built into it. Razer has made it so that the two other monitors deploy automatically by sliding out of both sides of the mainscreen. The screens also support 100 percent Adobe RGB colour accuracy, which is a great thing for professionals who work in the creative industry.

While the actual specifications have yet to be revealed, it appears that Project Valerie will have components that are similar to the 17″ Razer Blade Pro and it will come with a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card. On top of that, Valerie is the second Razer laptop that utilises Razer’s own Ultra-Low-Profile Mechanical switches for its keyboard. As always, the laptop comes with Razer’s own Chroma lighting.

Interesting though Project Valerie may be, do remember that the laptop is currently in its concept stages. Judging by Razer’s previous concept projects (Project Christine comes to mind), Project Valerie may still be years away from being an actual purchasable product. Nevertheless, its interesting to see how laptops are getting more absurd over time.

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CES 2017 Roundup: AI, Cars and Gaming

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The Consumer Electronics Show may have ended last week, however the buzz of what has been announced in the largest tech trade show is far from over. This is the first time that the team had the opportunity to be on the ground, we experience some of the craziest tech stuffs before the public does, walked thousands of footsteps in between booths and press conferences, this is definitely the craziest experience that we’ve ever had in our international events. If you have missed our coverage during the exciting week of CES, fret not as we roundup the news of CES and our thoughts in this post.

AI and Autonomous Cars

Artificial Intelligence and autonomous cars have played an important role in CES this year, as our lives get more digitized than ever, it makes sense that machines are starting to learn how to assist us in our daily lives. While there are many concept cars around the CES show floor by various car makers, we attended BMW’s press conference in an early morning, we were shown the
BMW I Vision Future concept car,
 which BMW thinks that the future of cars should be fully autonomous and lets you control its functions using holograms, the concept car also tends to redefine how stress-free traveling can be with its intuitive features, there’s a mini living space made at the rear seat just to show that.

If you would like to see things a little more realistic, then NVIDIA has its Drive PX 2 AI Car Computer up for show this year in CES. While announcing a partnership with Audi and Mercedes Benz, the GPU company has shown off its car computer in a self driving Audi Q7, which we sat on it and experienced how smart it knows how to drive on rocky roads and avoid obstacles when a barricade is pulled out intentionally to block its way. In fact, the Drive PX 2 has built-in artificial intelligence and deep learning capabilities that could learn things on the go, hence enabling it to predict road conditions and avoid accidents when possible.

Cars aren’t just the only thing that’s doing AI, HTC has also announced two new AI-enabled flagship smartphones, the
HTC U Ultra and U Play
 smartphones are beautiful devices that learn user behaviours while you are using the device. While HTC didn’t specifically demonstrate how the feature works on the spot, the company claims that the phone will be able to make recommendations at least a month later, for instance setting up an appointment in the calendar and suggesting places that you should go try out, while integrating with apps like Foursquare and Yelp. HTC has also done away with the 3.5mm headphone jack on its new phones, while its disappointing that the company didn’t add water resistant capabilities to the phone, the phones will work with the company’s new AI-enabled HTC U Sonic USB-C earphones, it detects the user’s background noise and sets the appropriate listening and noise cancelling levels to offer a decent music listening experience.

Fitness tracking devices are also getting smarter as well, apart from the usual stuffs,
Boltt
 is doing differently by enabling AI on its fitness tracking devices,
 the Indian startup announced a fitness band, a smart stride sensor and a pair of running shoes, all of which will be powered by an AI assistant called ‘B’. B interacts with the user during workouts, it provides feedback of how the user is doing on their workouts and how not to overdo them to ensure proper fitness. Boltt will be selling its fitness trackers on
Kickstarter
 and giving an early bird discount at this time of writing.

Gaming

As Intel launches its Kaby Lake processors during CES, many PC manufacturers have taken the opportunity to launch new systems. Starting with MSI, the company has updated all of its gaming notebooks to 7th Gen Intel Core i7 processors, which most of them will see significant improvements in gaming and VR applications, the company has also made NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1050 and GTX 1050 Ti graphics available on its entry-level gaming notebooks, which the company has claimed to perform the best among the competition all thanks to its Cooler Boost thermal solution. Furthermore, MSI has also introduced its collection of Intel Z270 motherboards for the Kaby Lake platform.

Although NVIDIA made quite an impressive show with its self-driving car technology, the company has also made some huge announcements about its core business in CES. One of the most exciting announcements would be
GeForce Now for PC and Mac
, a cloud gaming streaming service that was previously made available with the company’s Shield TV box, starting March this year gamers who sign up to the service can finally play any purchased games from platforms such as Steam on any PC and Mac devices, as long as you have a fast Internet connection. Furthermore, the company has also announced support for
Facebook Live
 on its GeForce Experience platform and new
G-SYNC HDR monitors
 by ASUS and Acer.

A spotlight of the CES show floor, and a sad one as well, Razer’s
Project Valerie
 is a powerful gaming laptop that has two extra displays that expands from its main display, which creates a portable surround gaming experience, while it is a conceptual product that probably won’t make it to retail that soon, it sets a new standard on how gaming laptops could move on in the near future. But right before that, two units of the
Project Valarie were stolen
 from Razer’s CES meeting room and might have also made its way
rather successfully to China
.

Smartphones

Smartphone announcements aren’t usually the highlight of CES, but companies like ASUS has decided to make it a big one with its Zennovation event by announcing two new smartphones.
The Zenfone 3 Zoom
 takes on the same camera approach as the iPhone 7 Plus, by offering dual lenses with different focal lengths which translates into 12x optical zoom, but performance internals remain the same as the original Zenfone 3. On the other hand, the Zenfone AR is the first Android smartphone to offer both Tango and Daydream VR capabilities, it is also the first to sport 8GB of RAM onboard alongside with a Snapdragon 821 processor, making it the powerful Android smartphone on paper for now.

While Huawei is present in CES this year presenting its Mate 9 once again, its sub brand Honor has launched the
Honor 6x
 smartphone, a decent mid-range device that features dual cameras and a long battery life, its dual camera lens setup is different from what you see in the higher end Honor 8 or other Huawei flagships, the secondary 2-megapixel camera assists the main 12-megapixel camera in measuring depth of field, which allows users to selectively focus on objects after taking a picture. Powered by a Kirin 655 processor with up to 4GB of RAM, the Honor 6x is a decent performer as a mid-range device that costs less than US$300.

Xiaomi
 attends CES this year without making any new products available in the US market, however the company has never ceased to impress the audience with every keynote they’ve held, we saw the latest Mi TV 4 with a super slim 4mm frame, a new white color for the Mi MIX concept phone, and finally a powerful enterprise grade Mi Router HD network router.

Blackberry
 has also made a surprising appearance in CES with its TCL-manufactured Mercury smartphone, what’s interesting is that this smartphone comes with a physical keyboard on it, a hardware that Blackberry fans have missed dearly. While not exactly a launch, this Android 7.0 Nougat powered Blackberry smartphone will make its official debut later at Mobile World Congress this year.

Final Thoughts on CES 2017

My colleague
Reuben has written a piece of what he thinks about attending CES
 and you should read it if you haven’t done so. Having attended Computex for the past two years, I have to say CES is a lot bigger and more interesting than the former and you will definitely want to check out every single booth available in the show floor, while this isn’t really possible unless you have a big team. This year, the biggest highlight of CES would be the future of autonomous technology, things such as AI, robots, drones are getting better than ever, however when it comes to exciting innovations, there really isn’t anything striking my excitement like many years back, every big thing seems to be so conceptual that you don’t even know if it would become true in real life. But still, I look forward to attending next year’s CES, hoping to feel how fast technology has moved on despite being just a year apart.

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CES 2017: Samsung returns to the laptop market with four new laptops

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After a long absence in the laptop market, Samsung is returning with four new laptops at CES, all of which caters to different segments of the market.

The first two laptops that Samsung introduced at CES are part of the company’s Chromebook line. The Samsung Chromebook Plus and Chromebook Pro comes with a sleek metal body as well as a 360-degree rotating screen that allows it to turn from a laptop into a tablet in a single snap. Both laptops sport a quad HD screen and will feature a digitizer pen. The Chromebook Plus will be powered by an ARM CPU while the Chromebook Pro comes with an Intel Core m3 processor.

Moving on, Samsung has the new 15″ Notebook 9. Made for maximum performance and mobility, the Note 9 is powered by a 7th-gen Intel Kaby Lake processor as well as a discrete GPU to tackle hardware intensive tasks.

Finally, we have the Samsung Notebook Odyssey, the company’s first foray into the highly competitive gaming notebook space. Available in 15″ and 17″ variants, the 15″ Notebook Odyssey will come with a 7th-gen Intel Core i7 processor with up to 32GB of DDR4 RAM, up to 256GB SSD and HDD dual storage, as well as a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 graphics card. Details on the 17″ variant will be made available in Spring.

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CES 2017: Say goodbye to bad hair days with world's first smart hairbrush by Keratase and Withings

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Everything is going smart these days, even beauty products so it is a pleasant surprise that we now have the first smart hairbrush unveiled today at CES 2017 by Keratase and Withings, in collaboration with L’Oreal Research and Innovation Technology Incubator.

This luxurious hairbrush actually features Withings’ advanced sensors and L’Oreal’s patent-pending signal analysis algorithms in order to score the quality of hair and monitor the effects of different hair care routines. There is also a mobile app that accompanies this special hairbrush to provide additional insights and product recommendations customized according to your hair needs.

So, why a smart hairbrush? According to L’Oreal scientists, brushing your hair forcefully has been proven to cause hair damage, especially breakage and split ends. So what this smart hairbrush does is utilize the Withings’ sensors to provide information about your hair quality and brushing patterns. It does that with a microphone that listens to the sound of hair brushing to identify patterns to further provide insights into manageability, frizziness, dryness, split ends and breakage of your hair. It also features a 3-axis load cells that measure the force of your brushing on your hair and scalp, and an accelerometer and a gyroscope to further analyze brushing patterns and count strokes, with haptic feedback if you are being too vigorous in your hair care. There is also conductivity sensors on the brush to determine whether you are brushing wet or dry hair in order to provide accurate hair measurement.

All these sensors will feed data to its mobile app and offer recommendations on products, hair care tips and brushing advice while taking into account weather factors like humidity, temperature, UV and wind.

This smart hairbrush is a three-way collaboration between Keratase, Withings, and L’Oreal Research and Innovation Technology Incubator, and will retail for under US$200. It will be available mid-2017 at select Kérastase hair salons and the brand’s website, and through Withings’ online sales and distribution channels.

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CES 2017: Sony steps into the OLED world with its OLED Bravia 4K TV

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Sony has finally moved on to using OLED panels for its TV’s, making it a competition against the likes of South Korean manufacturer LG. LG has been the been known to adopt OLED panels for quite some time now, but it looks like Sony has joined in the game. Sony’s latest OLED Bravia 4K TV, named XBR-A1E has finally been unveiled here at CES 2017 Las Vegas.

The OLED Bravia TV is powered by Sony’s 4K HDR Processor X1 Extreme, which accurately controls the amount of pixels being pushed out to provide an impressive 4K HDR picture. Sony has also made full use of OLED panels, with the XBR-A1E boasting great dynamic contrast, rich colors, wide viewing angles and blur-less images, thanks to the OLED’s incredible amount of 8 million self illuminating pixels.

Sony has also taken the advantage of the OLED panel’s non-backlight structure, making a new sound technology known as the Acoustic Surface. This advanced technology allows sound to originate from the screen itself. This means that the entire screen resonates to produce sound, definitely a step ahead when compared to traditional TV’s. The sound technology complement’s the TV’s wide viewing angles, providng a wide angled aural experience as well. Sony has ditched TV speakers altogether with the development of Acoustic Surface, also contributing to the XBR-A1E’s slim and stand-less form factor.

To top it all off, the XBR-A1E operates on Android TV, which allows users to browse through videos, music, games, apps and so on. The OLED TV also happens to have Google’s Chrome Cast built into it, enabling users to stream content from their smartphones to the TV. A current added bonus is that the TV is compatible with Google Home, hence users will be able to voice control the TV.

Sony hasn’t announced the release date of the XBR-A1E, neither has the Japanese company revealed its pricing. But based on Sony’s history of CES products, it is likely that this OLED Bravia 4K TV will be officially released some time in Q2 this year.

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CES 2017: The Blade V8 Pro is another of ZTE's dual camera smartphones

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If you happen to be frowning at the fact that the ZTE Axon 7 Max isn’t available outside of China, fret not, especially if you’re looking for a phone with two cameras. ZTE has showcased yet another phone with a dual camera configuration at CES 2017, the Blade V8 Pro, featuring some similar specs when put up against the Axon 7 Max.

First of all, ZTE opted with a plastic rear backing for the Blade V8 Pro, accentuating the fact that it is a mid range device. The phone sports a 5.5-inch Full HD display on the front with Gorilla Glass 3 protection. Underneath the hood, the handset is powered by the same octa core Snapdragon 625 processor seen in the Axon 7 Max, clocked at 2.0 GHz, but comes equipped with 1GB lesser RAM, leaving it with 3GB of RAM.

As for the camera setup, as mentioned earlier, the ZTE Blade V8 Pro features a dual rear camera configuration of two 13MP sensors, for better control of depth of field when capturing photos. ZTE’s software allows the tweaking of bokeh effects for captured images. On the front, the Blade V8 Pro has an 8MP selfie shooter, which is sufficient.

6

The handset features a rarity for mid range and high end devices, a removable battery. That is probably why ZTE went with a plastic backing for this phone. The battery capacity of this phone is a little larger than the 3,000mAh standard as well, at 3,140mAh, enough to provide a decent battery life. Oddly enough, the phone only supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 2.0 instead of the newer 3.0 technology.

Nevertheless, the ZTE Blade V8 Pro won’t break the bank with its $230 (RM1,028.79) price tag. Given it’s midrange specs with a dual camera setup, I wouldn’t think twice. Will you?

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CES 2017: The ZenFone 3 Zoom goes up to 12X total zoom for its dual rear camera

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The ASUS ZenFone AR isn’t the only device that ASUS showcased at its Zennovation event on Day 0 of CES 2017 at Las Vegas. On top of the first ever Tango and Daydream support handset is a refresh of last year’s ZenFone Zoom. The ZenFone Zoom might be a camera centric smartphone, but its camera performance somehow proved to be inferior compared to more premium handsets. Let’s see whether this year’s ZenFone 3 Zoom lives up to its name.

ASUS has opted for a premium metal design this time round with the ZenFone 3 Zoom. Its predecessor from last year sported a leather textured body instead. Seen on the front is a Full HD AMOLED screen at 5.5-inches, protected with Corning’s newest Gorilla Glass 5. Underneath the hood, the ZenFone 3 Zoom sports a Snapdragon 625 octa core processor with up to 4GB of RAM and up to 128GB of onboard storage. Storage can be expanded for up to a whopping 2TB via the micro SD card slot.

ASUS is also another company that has fallen victim to the dual camera configuration trend, and it shows with the ZenFone 3 Zoom. The rear camera setup of the handset consists of a 12MP main camera and a 12MP zoom camera. The main camera is of a Sony IMX362 image sensor, featuring a large 1.4um pixel size and improved light sensitivity with ASUS’ own SuperPixel technology. The main camera also comes with 4-axis OIS and 3-axis EIS, including a 0.03s instant focus with the TriTech+ Auto Focus system. The zoom camera on the other hand speaks for itself, being the one that zooms in on objects. The zoom camera however, features less optical zoom at 2.3X as compared to the ZenFone Zoom’s 3X optical zoom, but the device is capable of a total zoom of 12X. The front camera of the handset is of 13 megapixels with an aperture of f./2.0.

ASUS has fitted the ZenFone 3 Zoom with a pretty large battery of 5,000mAh. The phone can also be used as a powerbank to charge other devices if you happen to be in a pinch. With that amount of battery, the phone will be able to record 4K UHD video for up to 6.4 hours according to the company. ASUS also claims the ZenFone 3 Zoom to be the slimmest and lightest 5.5-inch 5,000mAh battery smartphone, weighing at only 170g, sporting a thickness of 7.9mm. Like the ZenFone AR, the ZenFone 3 Zoom also features 24-bit Hi-Res Audio and the all new 5 Magnet Structure Speaker which will produce louder sounds with less distortion.

It is however rather unfortunate that the ZenFone 3 Zoom still runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow of yesteryear, but ASUS promises a Nougat rollout to arrive soon. The ZenFone 3 Zoom is set for a release next month. Other details such as pricing and specific memory configurations have yet to be revealed. What do you think of the ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom?

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CES 2017: The ZenFone AR is the first ever Tango and Daydream ready phone

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With CES 2017 officially kicking off tomorrow at Las Vegas, Chinese manufacturer ASUS has managed to turn some heads at its Zennovation event a day before the popular tech show commences. As rumored before, ASUS has finally unleased the “Zennovative” ZenFone AR. Being the first ever Google Tango and Daydream supported handset, the ZenFone AR is definitely a phone to look forward to this year.

For starters, the ZenFone AR sports a 5.7-inch WQHD AMOLED display on the front, the sweet spot for easy handling and immersive experience. ASUS certainly did not skimp on any of its internals, given the fact that it features Qualcomm’s powerful top-tier Snapdragon 821 processor. The phone isn’t only the first Tango and Daydream compatible device, but it is also the first ever handset with 8GB of RAM. As ridiculous as 8GB RAM may sound, it is probably needed for all the Tango and Daydream capabilities. The ZenFone AR comes packed with up to 256GB of internal storage, alongside storage expansion for up to a further 128GB.

The fun part begins with the ZenFone AR’s TriCam System that is made to support Google Tango. Seen on the rear panel of the device is a Fisheye camera which tracks motion, a depth sensing camera with an IR blaster for measurement of distances, plus a 23MP Pixel Master rear camera for viewing of virtual objects in real environments. Speaking of which, the 23MP rear camera is of the Sony IMX318 sensor, featuring an f/2.0 aperture, 6P lens, 4-axis OIS and 3-axis EIS. The rear camera also boasts a subject tracking TriTech Autofocus system, plus a speedy 0.03s instant focus.The front camera on the other hand is of 8 megapixels with an aperture of f/2.0.

The ZenFone AR comes packed with a 3,300mAh battery, which is decent though we would expect a little more power given the fact that it will be used for Tango and Daydream VR purposes. The phone supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 via its USB Type-C port. Other features include a brand new 5 Magnet Structure Speaker for less distortion of sound while being able to go louder at the same time. Along with that is a virtual 7.1 surround sound from DTS Headphone:X technology, plus 24-bit Hi-Res Audio.

The first ever Tango and Daydream ready handset runs on Android 7.0 Nougat. ASUS hasn’t revealed the pricing of the ZenFone AR, but the company has announced that the handset will be released in Q2 later this year. Stay tuned with us for more CES 2017 coverage live from Las Vegas!

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CES 2017: The ZTE Axon 7 Max features a larger display and an extra camera

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It looks like ZTE has begun making dual camera phones as well, like most major smartphone manufacturers out there. Having unveiled in China late last year, the ZTE Axon 7 Max finally makes an appearance to western shores at CES 2017, Las Vegas.

Compared to the company’s Axon 7 flagship, the Axon 7 Max sports a more rectangular design with sharper edge, possibly giving users a better grip, depending on personal preference. The phone does away with the front firing speakers, which is a bummer. Seen on the front is a large 6-inch display at 1080p Full HD resolution. The display appears to be called the “Naked Eye 3D Display”, allowing users to view 3D images and videos without 3D glasses. Things also differ when you look underneath the hood. The Axon 7 Max is powered by a mid range Snapdragon 625 processor, unlike the top tier Snapdragon 820 chip in the Axon 7. Alongside that are 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, further expandable to 256GB via the micro SD card slot.

With a larger form factor, ZTE has also added an extra camera to the Axon 7 Max. The Axon 7 only sports a single 21MP rear camera, but the Max variant is equipped with two 13MP image sensors with an f/2.0 aperture. The dual rear camera setup, coupled with ZTE’s software enables the Axon 7 Max to capture 3D images. This feature however, only works when capturing photos in landscape mode, and with objects being a certain distance away from the cameras. Moving onto to front, the phablet sports yet another 13MP camera with an f/2.2 aperture, ideal for hi-res selfie shots.

The ZTE Axon 7 Max’s larger screen and extra camera would mean that it requires more power, and ZTE has got that aspect covered. The handset packs a large 4,100mAh battery and supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0.

There seems to be no word of the ZTE Axon 7 Max going out of China in the near future, hence we are still stuck with the China pricing of the device at 2,999 CNY (RM1,938.94). Keep your eyes peeled if ZTE were to announce a global availability of the Axon 7 Max. Till then, stay tuned as we bring you more CES 2017 coverage!

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CES 2017: Xiaomi announces Mi TV 4, Mi Router HD and Mi Mix White

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As Xiaomi continues to widen its presence out of China, the company has attended CES 2017 in Las Vegas and has made three new product announcments, the super slim 4.9mm 4K Mi TV 4, the enterprise grade Mi Router HD, and the white color edition of its concept Mi Mix smartphone. These new products will be showcased at Xiaomi’s booth over at the Las Vegas Convention Centre and we have been very fortunate to be invited by Xiaomi to attend its press conference earlier on.

The Mi TV 4 rocked the show floor by boasting an extremely slim profile of 4.9mm at its thinnest point, if you do some calculations it is actually 30% thinner than an iPhone 7 and 37% thinner than the company’s own Mi Mix concept phone. The Mi TV 4 has no frame around its display and looks simply stunning, Xiaomi managed to achieve this engineering with a modular design, the motherboard is separated from the display and integrates with the TV’s independent sound system.

The Mi TV Bar for the 65″ model provides all the required processing power and inputs to the TV through the Mi Port and Cable, it also helps to eliminate messy wires in the living room and users will save trouble plugging in devices through the back of a typical TV. The Mi TV 4 also comes preloaded with Xiaomi’s PatchWall AI system running on top of Android, which is able to recognize a particular user using the TV and suggest content based on age or browsing history. Lastly, the Mi TV 4 does come with an optional Dolby Atmos Home Theater system that offers an immersive movie watching experience.

Availability of the Mi TV 4 as usual is only made available in China and Xiaomi has remained hush-hush on its actual retail price, it is expected to price below $1500 and will have screen sizes of 49″, 55″ and 65″.

As a leading company in the Internet of Things, Xiaomi recognises the need to provide a reliable network connection to all of its connected devices and has announced the enterprise grade Mi Router HD, featuring an aluminum alloy housing, the router has four powerful MU-MIMO high-gain antennas that deliver speeds of up to 2600Mbps in 802.11ac standard. The Mi Router HD also serves as a NAS server and comes included with storage options of 1TB and 8TB. Again, this great device should only be available in China and will be priced under $500 for the 8TB model and under $200 for the 1TB model.

Lastly, the Mi Mix concept phone gets a new white color model, which is a welcome addition as the white color chassis would really help hide those fingerprints, specs remain the same as its black color sibling and Xiaomi hasn’t announce plans on bringing the Mi Mix to markets outside of China. Watch our hands on video down below.

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CES 2017: Xiaoyi's new carbon fiber build drone weighs 540g and speeds as fast as 120km/h

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Xiaomi may be one of the companies that rocked the show floor with three new product announcements, however its
subsidiary
 partner YI has also put up its booth in The Venetian ballroom at CES 2017, and what I’ve found there is a new drone from the company. Not to be mistaken with its parent company, the YI Erida is the company’s very first drone and its a rather huge one, which is around the size of a DJI Inspire drone. The YI folks have assured me that the drone would be as stable as quadcopters due ot its three long propellers, and all thanks to its full carbon fiber body, the drone weighs 540g and will go fast as 120km/h with up to 40 minutes of flight time.

Developed together with Atlas Dynamics, the YI Erida drone is originally called the Erida Copter. Attached to its gimbal is technically a YI 4K Action Camera, which has a 12-megapixel Sony IMX377 sensor that records 4K footage at 30 frames per second, the Yi Erida will work in extreme temperatures from a range of -15-40 degree celsius. Like every other drones, you use your smartphone and tablet to control the drone airborne, which connects using either Wi-Fi or the drone controller’s wireless connection. The drone will also have 7 flying modes, including Follow, Random, Beam, Focus, Orbit, Freeflight and Mission, all of which can be used for work purposes rather than just being a toy drone.

In typical Xiaomi fashion, the YI Erida drone has no pricing and availability yet, and we doubt this drone will ever made it to markets out of the U.S, but let’s hope it will be competitively priced like the rest of the company’s products.

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CES 2018: Acer unveils a 65-inch gaming display with 4K HDR support

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Acer has just unveiled a mammoth of a screen that they are introducing to PC gaming. The 65-inch Predator Big Format Gaming Display is made to play content in 4K with HDR.

The display, come with Nvidia G-Sync enabled and Nvidia Shield built in so you can stream all your favourite movies and series without an external device. It comes with gaming specifications that users have requested for the Predator line of gaming devices. Alongside the G-Sync technology is a 4K display with a refresh rate of 120Hz to offer you a buttery smooth gaming experience on any game. The display delivers 1,000 nits peak luminance and local dimming provides higher contrast, deeper blacks and brighter whites. Acer will provide a remote and game controller to take full advantage of all the games and features that Nvidia Shield provides.

Acer has yet to announce the launch date or a price for the monitor. We are also unsure if it will make its way to our shores but if it does, its going to be one glorious screen too game on!

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CES 2018: Acer’s new Swift 7 measures only 8.98mm thin

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Every year is another year that any tech company would claim that they have the world’s thinnest or lightest tech gadget, and this time it goes to Acer, which they have announced the redesigned Swift 7 as the world’s thinnest (and possibly the lightest) laptop, measuring at 8.98mm. The current generation Swift 7 measures at 13.3mm, which is already incredibly thin for a 13.3-inch device, so that further reduction in thickness sure is impressive.

If not the thinnest laptop in CES 2018, the Swift 7 (SF714-51) is sure to capture some attention at the show floor, though we won’t be seeing an Intel Kaby Lake-R processor onboard, the laptop is reported to have 4G LTE connectivity, a larger 14-inch Corning Gorilla Glass touch display, 256GB of SSD storage, 8GB LPDDR3 RAM, and a fingerprint sensor for Windows Hello.

However, what’s not pretty here would be the expected retail price of the Swift 7, as the laptop will go on sale in the US at April starting at $1699 (RM6,791), which costs RM1800 more than the current outgoing model with very minimal update in specs, but let’s hope when Acer makes the new Swift 7 available here, it would at least comes with an 8th generation Intel processor.

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CES 2018: Asus launches Chromebox 3 powered by 8th gen Intel processor

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Chrome OS might not be the most widely operating system in the market, and although Chromeboxes and Chomebooks can carry premium price tags for their limited capabilities, they still exist today for lightweight users. Asus has unveiled a Chromebox refresh at CES 2018, which features Intel’s latest generation processor.

The Chromebox 3 sports a design similar to its predecessor the Chromebox 2. This marks more than 2 years since Asus did a refresh on its Chromebox. It is still the same old square shaped compact machine, with a bunch of ports – 2 USB 3.0 ports, a USB Type-C port for future proofing, a microSD card slot, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, Gigabit LAN, a DisplayPort, and a HDMI port.

Underneath the hood, the Chromebox 3 is powered by an Intel 8th generation processor, along with DDR4-2400 type memory. Asus did not disclose any specific processor or the amount of RAM this Chromebox packs, but we don’t expect high end specs since Chrome OS does not require a lot of processing power.

Asus did not reveal the pricing of the Chromebox 3 either, but the company did mention that it will be available in the second half of this year, which is still at least 5 months away. Stay tuned for more news relating to CES 2018!

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CES 2018: Asus shows off their own 65-inch BFGD gaming monitor

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Acer has just unveiled their BFGD monitor during CES 2018 which will play all your games on a glorious 65-inch display with 4K resolutions. Asus is not going to be left out of the big format game and has announced their own BFGD monitor which is glorious in its own way.

The ROG Swift PG65 comes with Nvidia G-Sync and is designed to bring excellent performance to the PC gaming market alongside smooth gaming experience with a 120Hz supported display. It has 1,000 nits of peek brightness and the direct-lit full-array LED backlight is dynamically controlled across all zones to provide high contrast for more natural dark scenes. It also comes with 178-degree viewing angles and DCI-P3 colour gamut support which is 25% wider than sRGB. It also comes with Nvidia Shield built-in so users can stream their movies and series directly on the monitor and take advantage of smart home command capabilities.

Just like most of the products shown at CES, Asus has not given us a release date or pricing on the ROG Swift PG65 but we should know more when they announce the release date.

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CES 2018: Asus unveils the NovaGo, a Snapdragon 835 laptop running on Windows 10

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Asus is having a rather quiet CES, but that did not stop them from unveiling their first entry into the Snapdragon Windows laptop with the Asus NovaGo 2-in-1 laptop which comes with the Snapdragon 835 and Windows 10S inside.

For those of you that don’t want to use the rather limited Windows 10S will get a free upgrade option to Windows 10 Pro. The NovaGo comes with a 13.3-inch FHD screen, 4GB, 6GB or 8GB of LPDDR4x memory, 64GB, 128GB or 256GB of UFS2.0 storage and a Snapdragon X16 modem which supports download speeds of up to 1Gbps and upload speeds up to 150Mbps. As for I/O, it comes with two USB 3.1 ports, audio jack, Nano SIM tray, MicroSD card reader and an HDMI port. Asus claims that it can offer 22 hours of battery life and over 30 days of standby which outperforms many other laptops out there thanks to the Snapdragon processor. The laptop also supports quick-charge which can give you 5 hours of battery life with just a 15-minute charge.

As of now, Asus has listed Star Gray as the only colour option for the NovaGo and it will come with a hefty price tag of $799. It is still debatable whether it’s worth paying that much for a laptop that runs on a mobile phone processor, we can only know more once we get our hands on one.

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CES 2018: D-Link’s new 802.11ax router features insane wireless speeds

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The interesting thing about CES is that you get to find some weird yet interesting tech on the show floor, and networking giant is showing off two new wireless routers that sports the crazy fast 802.11ax standard. For starters, the dual-band AX6000 Ultra wireless router can clock reach up to 6000Mbps of transfer rate and the tri-band AX11000 Ultra can hit a maximum 11,000Mbps, both of which are theoretical speeds and as of now, no devices will be able to support that kind of speed, let’s not even think about whether our hard drives could handle that. D-Link states that these two routers will be available 2nd half of 2018, though the 802.11ax standard will only be approved starting next year, we’ll keep our fingers crossed by then.

Fortunately, D-Link isn’t just showing off these two crazy routers on the show floor, as the company has launched dual-band and tri-band wireless packs for its Covr mesh wireless system, and a AC2600 dual-band 802.11ac router that is protected by Intel’s McAfee security software, which aims to protect IoT devices and offers better parental controls in the network environment. No pricing has been announced yet for the AC2600, but we would assume this to be a rather practical networking product to invest if you are particular about network security.

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CES 2018: DJI has finally made a one handed stabilizer for your DSLR

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DJI isn’t just famous for its drones, as the company’s gimbal technology has also played a major role in the success of its products. The Ronin line up of stabilizers has always lacked a simple handheld stabilizer product like the Osmo, DJI has therefore decided to introduce the Ronin-S in CES this year, which is set to launch in Q2 this year, unlike the rest of the Ronin products, the Ronin-S is a much simpler stabilizer to mount your DSLR and you don’t need to build complex rigs in order to use it, competing with companies such as Zhiyun and Beholder, which both the latter has been making such products for a while.

DJI hasn’t revealed the specs of the Ronin-S, such as the battery life and the payload it could take on, the high torque motors on the gimbal however could actually allow it to handle camera bodies like Canon’s 5D line up and the commonly used full frame lenses for videography. The Ronin-S has a lot of other features to boast about, such as the ability to mount to an RC buggy for low angle shoots or mount to a jib to act as a stabilized remote head, a Sport Mode is also present to increase responsiveness of the tracking performance when the videographer is moving fast with it. Finally, like other Ronin products, you will also be able to control the Ronin-S using the DJI GO app and use intelligent shooting features like Panorama and Hyperlapse.

No pricing has been speculated just yet, but we can expect this product to easily cross the RM3000 mark with all of its features when it arrives here. After all, competing products like the Zhiyun Crane 2 is already priced this way, let’s look forward to Q2 for its release then.

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CES 2018: HTC introduces a Pro model of their Vive headset

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HTC has just announced another variant of their Vive headset called Vive Pro. The new headset comes with new features and upgraded visuals that users have been asking for.

The Vive Pro now features built-in headphones with an amplifier and increase resolutions of 2880 x 1600 over the standard model which has 2160 x 1200 resolution effectively increasing the pixel count by 78%. Other than that, it has dual microphones and dual front-facing cameras designed to empower developer creativity, which is assumed to be augmented reality applications. HTC is also releasing the Vive Wireless Adapter so you can enjoy the headset without any wires connected and Viveport VR, which is their subscription services where users can try out new games before buying them and explore a virtual environment where they can meet other users.

The Vive Pro has no price or release date but HTC has mentioned that it will be coming soon. As for the Wireless Adaptor, it will be available in Q4 2018 and the price will be announced closer to the release date.

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